But before I take leave of this
subject, I must return for a minute or two to that most perfectly lovely
creature Venus. She was a true crescent; we could imagine we saw the
jagged edge of the inner side of the crescent, but the transition from
the planet to the delicate sky was so gradual, that as far as this inner
edge was concerned, this was probably only imagination. Her colouring
on this jagged side was of the most transparent silvery hue. The outer
edge was very sharply defined against the sky, and her colour shaded off
on this side to a pale golden yellow with a red or pink tint in it; this
being the side she was presenting to the sun. No words can express her
beauty. She is the planet that I told you lately looked so very large.
On our way to the station, and in our drives about the town, we had an
opportunity of seeing the City of Washington. The town was originally
laid out by Washington himself, and divided off into streets, or rather
wide avenues, which are crossed by other streets of great breadth; but
though the streets are named, in many of them no houses are yet built,
and those that are have a mean appearance, owing to their being unsuited
in height to the great width of the streets, which are in many cases, I
should think, three times the width of Portland Place, and long in
proportion.
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