On
either hand they were shut in by masses of rock, which, with their
stratified and fractured lines, resembled walls, the rude masonry of
giants. A projecting crag shut out from sight the stream above them;
but, attracted by the sound of falling waters, they pushed their way
by a few careful steps round it, and full in view, and close at hand,
the stream fell over a ledge of rock in a beautiful cascade,
descending at once twenty feet into a rock-girdled pool, which in the
course of ages it had hollowed out for itself. Here the water ran
eddying round, as lingering on a spot it loved, and loath to resume
its onward course.
The perpetually falling waters fanned and freshened the noonday air;
while overhead, on every ledge that gave footing to their roots, the
myrtle and lauristinus, mingled with the oleander, the rhododendron
ponticum, and other evergreen shrubs, fed by the fostering moisture of
the atmosphere, almost to the size of trees, spread out their
luxurious branches to shut out each straggling sunbeam, and deepen the
shade of the narrow dell almost to twilight. It was a cavern, with
its vaulted roof removed, laying it gently open to the light of day,
without its glare.
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