noon
That path led to a clump of forest trees , in the centre of which grew a cultivated tree , loaded with fruit . Here was a field ripe with corn , there an orchard . From that avenue you had a view of the cottages ; from this , of the inaccessible summit of the mountain . Beneath that tufted bower of gum trees , interwoven with lianas , no object could be discerned even at noon , while the point of the neighbouring rock , which projects from the mountain commanded a few of the whole enclosure , and of the distant ocean , where sometimes we spied a vessel coming from Europe , or returning thither . On this rock the two families assembled in the evening , and enjoyed , in silence , the freshness of the air , the fragrance of the flowers , the murmurs of the fountains , and the last blended harmonies of light and shade . `` Nothing could be more agreeable than the names which were bestowed upon some of the charming retreats of this labyrinth . That rock , of which I was speaking , and from which my approach was discerned at a considerable distance , was called the Discovery of Friendship .