give riſe to a great number of ſprings. They are, nevertheleſs, very rare; as the earth is not ſufficiently attenuated to retain the water, which filtrating through the volcanic ſoil, diſcharges itſelf, for the greater part, into the ocean, without collecting into regular ſtreams.
As ſoon as we had ſurmounted theſe thick clouds, we enjoyed a ſpectacle beautiful beyond conception. The clouds heaped up below us appeared blended with the diſtant ocean, and concealed the iſland from our ſight. The ſky above us formed a vault of the moſt tranſparent azure, whilſt the peak appeared like an inſulated mountain placed in the midſt of a vaſt expanſe of waters.
Soon after we had left the clouds beneath us, I obſerved a phenomenon, which I had formerly had occaſion to remark, during my ſtay amongſt the high mountains of Keſroan in Natolia. It was with new ſurpriſe that I ſaw the outlines of my figure, delineated in all the beautiful tints of the rainbow, upon the clouds below me, ſituated oppoſite to the ſun.
The decompoſition of the rays of the ſun, by
of September, unleſs ſome violent current of the atmoſphere ſhould happen to counteract its natural diſpoſition. Perhaps this may be the ſole reaſon of the attraction that appears to exiſt between mountains and clouds.
