of which, more than sixty feet in height, towered over the landscape. The plain was covered with tufts of cassias, capers, and those arborescent minosas, which, like the pine trees of Italy, extend their branches in the form of an umbrella. The pinnated, or winged leaves of the palms, were peculiarly conspicuous on the azure expanse of an unclouded sky. As the sun ascended, a dazzling light was spread through the air along the hills, and over the bosom of the ocean. The splendour of the day, the vivid colouring of the vegetable world, the forms of the plants, the varied plumage of the birds, every thing announced the grand aspect of nature in the equinoctial regions.

On their landing the excessive heat of the atmosphere was found to be augmented by the intense reflection of light, from a soil nearly destitute of vegetation. They were conducted to the town through the suburbs of the Indians: the streets of these suburbs were regular, and formed by houses that were quite new and of pleasing appearance. This part of Cumana had lately been rebuilt, in consequence of an earthquake by which the city had been laid waste about eighteen months before.

Baron de Humboldt remarked a great extent of limestone rocks in the neighbourhood of Cumana, some of which were covered with thick forests of a kind of columnar trees, divided into several branches of singular appearance, and in the form of candelabras. These were chiefly a kind of cactus, or Indian fig trees, from thirty to forty feet high, and upwards of four feet in the circumference of the stems.

The town of Cumana, at this time, occupied a considerable space of ground, but it contained no remarkable buildings; for earthquakes had occurred so frequently, that the inhabitants were deterred from erecting expensive edifices of any description. The whole population of the town and suburbs, was estimated at about twenty thousand persons. In the suburbs, which

were very extensive, there were some fine tamarind trees; and the shore, near the mouth of the river, was bordered with mangroves.

The soil of the plain on which the city was built, appeared nearly destitute of vegetation. This arid plain, after heavy showers, exhibited an extraordinary phenomenon. The earth, drenched with rain, and again heated by the rays of the sun, emitted a strong musky odour, similar to that, which, under the torrid zone, is common to many kinds of animals, particularly animals of the cat kind; to crocodiles, vipers, and rattlesnakes. The smell was perceptible in proportion as the mould, containing the spoils of an innumerable quantity of reptiles, worms, and insects, was impregnated with water. Wherever the soil was turned up, says Baron de Humboldt, he was surprised with the mass of organic substances, in a decomposed state, which by turns were developed.

Near the river the Baron found a delightful grove shaded by tamarind trees, silk-cotton trees, and others, remarkable for their leaves and flowers. The soil of the adjacent ground was rich in pasturage. Dairyhouses, built with reeds, were separated from each other by clumps of trees; and, hot as the climate was, milk could here be kept fresh for a considerable time in porous earthen vessels. From a prejudice common in northern countries, Baron de Humboldt had been led to believe that cows under the torrid zone, did not yield rich milk; but his residence in this part of America, where he saw vast plains covered with grasses and herbaceous sensitive plants, convinced him that the cattle, and other ruminating animals of Europe, may become perfectly habituated even to the most scorching climates, provided they be supplied with water and nutritive food. The milk was excellent, and the butter much better than in many parts of Europe.

The banks of the Manzanares were overshadowed by numerous kinds of trees; and this beautiful and limpid stream was of inestimable benefit to the inha

bitants of Cumana. All these, even women of the most opulent families, were able to swim. In a respectable society, with which Baron de Humboldt associated during his residence at Cumana, it was customary, in moonlight nights, to have chairs placed in the water. The men and women, all lightly clothed, assembled in the river, and often passed several successive hours there; the men amusing themselves with smoking, and the whole company in conversation.

Earthquakes are very frequent in Cumana, and the Baron, during his residence there, felt several violent shocks. He says, that somewhat more than thirty years before he was there, the place was entirely destroyed by an earthquake: the whole of the houses were overturned in the space of a few minutes; and the shocks were repeated several times a day, for nearly fourteen months afterwards. During all this time the inhabitants lived in tents in the streets; and when the earthquakes did not take place more than once a month, they began to rebuild their houses. Another remarkable earthquake occurred in December, 1797. The shock was attended by a loud subterraneous noise; and more than four-fifths of the city were destroyed. Happily the most violent shock was preceded by a slight undulating motion, which alarmed the inhabitants, and gave most of them time to escape into the streets; and, consequently, a small number only perished. Half an hour before the catastrophe, a strong smell of sulphur was perceived near a hill at a little distance, and, at the same time, a sudden flame burst from a place upon the bank of the river.

The first weeks of the abode of the travellers at Cumana, were employed in examining and setting in order their philosophical instruments, in botanizing in the neighbouring fields; and in examining the traces of the earthquake in 1797. Overpowered at once by a great number of objects, they were at first embarrassed as to the manner in which they should lay down a regular plan of study and observation. Every thing

around inspired them with a lively interest. The house in which they resided was situated in the great square of Cumana. Part of it was surrounded with arcades, over which extended a long wooden gallery. This was the place where slaves, brought from the coast of Africa, were sold. Here Baron de Humboldt was sometimes an involuntary witness of afflicting scenes. Shortly after his arrival a Danish slave ship arrived in the harbour, and a great number of young negroes, from fifteen to twenty years of age, were daily exposed to sale. Every morning cocoa-nut oil was distributed among them, and with this they rubbed their bodies, to give their skin a black polish. The persons who came to purchase examined the teeth of these slaves, to judge of their age, in the same manner as horse dealers do those of horses in a market.

The first excursion which the travellers made from Cumana was toward the peninsula of Araya, and those countries which were formerly celebrated for the slave trade and pearl-fishery. They embarked about two o'clock in the morning of the nineteenth of August, on the river Manzanares. The principal objects of this excursion were to see the ruins of the castle of Araya, to examine the salt-works there, and to make some observations on the mountains. The night was delightfully cool; swarms of luminous insects glittered in the air, and upon the banks of the river. On approaching one of the plantations, their attention was excited by some bonfires which had been kindled by the negroes. It was Sunday, and the slaves had been amusing themselves by dancing all night to the music of a guitar. Although the travellers had yet been scarcely two months under the torrid zone, they had already become so sensible to the variation of slightest temperature, that the cold prevented them from sleeping.

They landed about eight o'clock in the morning, at the point of Araya, near the new salt-works. A solitary house stood in a plain destitute of vegetation, near a battery of three guns, the only defence of this

part

of

the coast. The inspector of the salt-works passed the chief part of his life in a hammock, whence he issued his orders to the workmen. These works formerly excited the jealousy of the English, Dutch, and other maritime powers, from the great supply of salt which they were capable of affording to distant colonies and countries; but at this time very little salt was made here. The place was chiefly worthy of observation on account of the nature of the soil which contained the salt marshes: there was a large mere or pool, from the bottom of which, in dry seasons, masses of pure crystallized salt, three or four feet in thickness, were sometimes taken.

From the salt-works the travellers walked some miles to sleep at an Indian hut, near the ruins of the castle of Araya; and in their way they traversed a clayey plain, stripped of vegetation, and two chains of hills. A hill on which the castle stood was crowned with American aloes, Indian fig-trees, and thorny mimosas; and had at the foot a deep and gloomy forest. On the ensuing day they passed through an Indian village, in which they observed some potteries, that were entirely managed by females. These were unacquainted with the use both of the potter's wheel and of ovens; yet they were able, with great address, to form vessels of two or three feet in diameter, and, by placing around them the slender branches of trees, and setting these on fire, they contrived to bake them in the open air.

Baron de Humboldt remarks, that the seas of this neighbourhood abound in shoals, on which are found great numbers of pearl oysters: that anciently pearls of large size and excellent quality were obtained here; but that the pearl-fishery had diminished rapidly toward the end of the sixteenth century, and had entirely ceased before the year 1683. When he was at Cumana, although the pearl oysters had again become numerous, he says that the pearls found in them were in general of small size and of very inferior value; a fact for which he was wholly unable to account. At present