Petals Plucked from Sunny ClimesBrooks, A. M. (Abbie M.)
History
Petals Plucked from Sunny Climes
Brooks, A. M. (Abbie M.)
Cuba -- Description and travel; Florida -- Description and travel; Florida -- History
When the wheels
strike a rock it is accompanied with no unpleasant jolts, like our
American carriages. Fancy could not conceive of spirits borne on the
wings of an ethereal messenger being wafted more gently. As I was
carried through clouds, illumined by the morning sun, which ascended
sweetly as incense from the altar of devotion, I was seized with
indescribable sensations, elevating emotions, comparable to
nothing--partaking of no other event of which history has any record,
except the transit of a perfect man, who passed beyond the realms of
space, and never returned. It is materialized enjoyment, the realization
of momentary happiness, at peace with all the world; our feelings are
pure like the air that surrounds us, which comes direct from its
heavenly home on cloud-like wings. If permitted to live longer, I feel
prepared to tread paths of life with fortified strength, meeting ing
its exigencies "with a more calm and virtuous majesty." If the angel of
death were to come, he would find me ready in feelings--the mowing-blade
of Time could cut me down and swing me off without a pang. Every sound
appears harmonious, from the bird-orchestra, tuned by the voice of God,
to the cricket that chirps from the rock-wall as we pass.
That remarkable cavern of _El Cueva de Bellamar_ was discovered over
twenty years since, under the following circumstances: A slave, having
been engaged in the preparation of a lime-kiln, accidentally dropped one
of his tools in a cavity near the place where he had been collecting
rock. Hoping soon to recover it, for fear of punishment, he commenced
reaching where he had last seen it. All his efforts proved useless. He
then threw in rocks, which were a long time finding soundings. The next
day excavations were made, which revealed a cave over two hundred feet
perpendicular below the surface of the earth, and a mile in length. This
remarkable subterranean passage has, no doubt, been the work of
centuries, the water dripping on the lime-rock, which dissolved it--all
these beautiful transformations taking place in midnight darkness, under
the guidance of the great Architect whose omnipotent hand formed all
things, whether above or under the earth. While descending the steps
which lead into the cave, a singular phenomenon is observable. It is an
intense, stifling heat, which increases as we advance, and oppresses us
until we become accustomed to it. This descent may be compared to an
approach into the lower regions--the torches in the hands of our guides
flickering and snapping like fiery serpents. Any fears of having found
the realm of his Satanic majesty are soon dispelled by the prismatic
view presented to us. As we enter the cave two avenues describing a
triangle are seen, it being the commencement of an apex with converging
lines, which terminate not in regions _inferno_, but the "Devil's
Gorge," near which stands _El Organ_, with its silent pipes reaching to
the dome.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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