T RAV

76 TRAVELSIN EUROPE•.He had figured in the court of 'Portugal, and retired hither completelydisgusted with the worJd, and happy where he is. The worthy hermitsalways laughed at being questioned on the subject of :1\11'. Thicknesse'sstory of their brother, who had domiciliated the birds of the air, and soForth$. And certairily itmusthave struck them as a wretched puerility, orworse, in a travelIer, to come so far, and take home such stories, evenif there were any slight foundation for them ; and equally so, for otherstoadvert to and carry in their minds such trash,becauseoncella~~~ted.The inquiry always, after a smile, 'produceda gra:\Tea.n~wêr:that, by the·laws of their order, orrule, no livingbeing1"-;save the individual hermit,can l'emain, during the night,under the roof of any hermitage.· Theyoccupy their time in the intervals of devotion by cultivating theirgardens, turning with a Jathe little toys, which are sold. at the convent,and similar occupations. To sum up what is to be said, upon th~ subjeetof Montserrat, it only remains to, add, that no traçe of.volcanicoperation appears t. Its geologyis: unique, its botàny interesting, andits picturesque astonishing. Such as corne to visit itshould, put the ideaof haste out of their mincis. The accounts. hitherto given of it are verybare. Those of the natives themselves are insufficient. And as forfashionahle tourists, invesügations sucb as these, are in.deed mattermuch too ponderous for tbeir' volatile ep,istles. Little fear nced be excitedtbat the matter it affords will be speedilyexhausted. Such isNature, and the· globe which we inhabit, that the most trodden path'*' They mention an ascertained fact, that no two birds, of a wild nature, will live b:>gether undlM"the same roof. One will kiIl the other.. Mr. Thicknesse's' work; with its·. private details of suchfashionable literary intercst, is, transmitted by himself, in the library of the convent.t The hermits make three vows : solitude, poverty, and chastity. They ara permitted to visitthe convent on holidays.,t At six hours journey, however" hene.e, are hot bathsJ. very serviceable ingun-shot wounds •.