After those visits of charity, they sometimes prolonged their way by the
Sloping Mountain, till they reached my dwelling, where I had prepared
dinner for them upon the banks of the little river which glides near my
cottage. I produced on those occasions some bottles of old wine, in order
to heighten the gaiety of our Indian repast by the cordial productions of
Europe. Sometimes we met upon the seashore, at the mouth of little rivers,
which are here scarcely larger than brooks. We brought from the plantation
our vegetable provisions, to which we added such as the sea furnished in
great variety. Seated upon a rock, beneath the shade of the velvet
sunflower, we heard the mountain billows break at our feet with a dashing
noise; and sometimes on that spot we listened to the plaintive strains of
the water curlew Madame de la Tour answered his sorrowful notes in the
following sonnet:--
SONNET
TO THE CURLEW.
Sooth'd by the murmurs on the sea-beat shore
His dun grey plumage floating to the gale,
The curlew blends his melancholy wail
With those hoarse sounds the rushing waters pour.
Like thee, congenial bird: my steps explore
The bleak lone seabeach, or the rocky dale,
And shun the orange bower, the myrtle vale,
Whose gay luxuriance suits my soul no more.
I love the ocean's broad expanse, when dress'd
In limpid clearness, or when tempests blow.
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