mana, they stand independent, within the Spanish government, and are Pagans in the midst of Christians. This phenomenon is owing to the flat surface of the land which they inhabit, and which, during six weeks in the year, is nearly covered with water by the rise of the Oronoko. At this season they may be said to live on the tops of trees; for, in order to raise their abodes above the surface of the waters, they support them on the cut trunks of mangrove-trees, and on those of a kind of palm-trees, which grow in morassy places. The manners of the Guaraunos have always been the same. Even in the sixteenth century they are described to have been a people who built their houses in trees. By the effect of long habit, these Indians are able to run with perfect safety on muddy lands, where whites, negroes, or other Indians would not dare to trust themselves.

Such vast swarms of various insects are bred here, as render these islands uninhabitable to all except the natives. The Guaraunos being also a peaceable nation, and never committing depredations on the property of their neighbours, the Spanish government have considered it inexpedient to molest them. Their number is supposed to be about eight thousand. They frequent the civilized villages to sell the fish which they catch, and some articles which they manufacture.

In their general habits and customs all the Indians of Terra Firma nearly resemble those that have been already described. Their marriage ceremonies consist in little else than dancing and drinking to excess. M. Depons describes one of these marriages. He says, that the relations, neighbours, and friends of both parties were invited. The men who attended carried wood and straw to build a hut for the young couple: the women presented to the bride as much fish, fruit, bread, and liquor as was necessary for the celebration of the marriage. The men sung an epithalamium to the bridegroom, and the women to the bride. They danced and sang till night; and, as soon

as darkness succeeded to the light of day, they presented the bride to her husband, and the ceremony was closed.

She

The state of an Indian woman is deplorable. The day of her nuptials is the last that a female of Oronoko has not to lament the unhappy state of her sex. Domestic labours of every kind form her task, and no exemption from them can be obtained. All the toil of culture and harvest are performed by her. stands exposed to the heat of a scorching sun to the torrents which rush from the sky, and even when exhausted by fatigue, her barbarous husband supinely reclines in his hammock, smokes his segar, and regales himself with spirituous liquors, without addressing a single word to his companion. She prepares his meals, stands silently by him till he has finished, and then feeds on the fragments he has left.

The Otomacs are the only Indians who permit women to join in their public diversions; and, with regard to domestic drudgery, they differ in no respect from the other tribes. These are the only Indians who do not admit of a plurality of wives. Among them every husband is confined to one wife; and, what is extraordinary, young men are always married to old women, and old men to girls: because, in their opinion, household affairs are better managed, when the inexperience of youth is placed under the direction and subjected to the prudence of old age.

On

The funeral ceremonies of the Indians are as various as the tribes. When a Guarauno Indian dies, his companions, having fastened a cord to the body, throw it into the Oronoko, and then tie the cord to a tree. the following day they drag it out; and, it is said, that they find it a skeleton, perfectly clean and white, stripped of all its flesh, which has been devoured by the fish. They then disjoint the bones, lay them up curiously in a basket, and suspend them from the roof of the house.

The Aroacas inter their dead with much pomp,

burying their weapons with them. One particular is attended to by them: they do not suffer the earth to touch the body, but invest it in a thick covering of banana leaves.

The Salives, who inhabit the northern bank of the Oronoko, not far from its sources, place the coffin of a person who dies in the middle of the house where he had resided. Stakes painted with different colours, and resembling all the emblems of mourning, are made to form a circle round it. The widow sits beside it. Every visitant who arrives, weeps bitterly before he enters, and his woful cries are echoed from within. Soon after this, the party assume an air of gaiety, and begin to drink and dance. The transition is a very extraordinary one, from excessive grief to excessive joy, from apparently unfeigned tears, to peals of unaffected laughter. These people perform very singular dances to the sound of funereal instruments, which cannot be heard, by any one unaccustomed to them, without horror. When fatigued, they repose for some hours, after which they resume their singing, drinking, and dancing. At the end of about three days, the whole company march in procession to the river, into which they plunge the coffin and its contents, together with every thing that belonged to the deceased. After this, they wash themselves, and retire to their respective homes.

When the Achagoas bury their caciques or chiefs, they cover the place of interment with a coat of mortar; and, for some time afterwards, they every morning carefully fill up the chinks, occasioned by the dryness of the weather. The intention of this is to prevent the ants, which are in immense numbers, from devouring the body.

Tenth Day's Instruction.

TERRA FIRMA CONTINUED.

Paria and Cumana.

WE will commence our survey of Terra Firma with the province of Paria. This formerly constituted a part of Spanish Guiana, but it is now subject to the government of Caraccas; and, with Cumana, it has the general appellation of New Andalusia. Columbus landed here, and found the country extremely fertile. It abounds in gums, drugs, medicinal plants, sugar, tobacco, and many valuable kinds of timber; but it does not, at present, contain any towns or settlements of importance.

Between this province and the island of Trinidad is a bay, called the Gulf of Paria. This, which has two principal openings to the sea, is one of the largest and most excellent harbours in the world. Its bottom is muddy, and its depth from eight to thirty fathoms. On the south-west it receives a considerable volume of water from different mouths of the Oronoko. In this gulf the tide rises and falls with a violence not to be conceived by those who are unacquainted with the great ebbings and flowings of the sea.

Cumana.

WEST of Paria is the government of Cumana. This is composed of two provinces, Cumana, properly so called, and Barcelona.

The capital of Cumana is a large town of the same name, situated at the foot of a hill destitute of verdure, and about a mile from the shore; and it is divided into two parts by the Manzanares. This river, however, is so shallow as to be navigable only by small

vessels; merchantmen usually anchor at the distance of about a league from the shore.

The port of Cumana is very extensive, and affords excellent anchorage for vessels of any burthen. The sea is here generally calm; and is disturbed by none of those hurricanes, which cause so much devastation in the West Indies. On approaching the town from the sea, no steeple nor dome attracts from afar the eye of the voyager: only a few trunks of tamarind, cocoanut, and date trees, are visible above the flat roofs of the houses. The surrounding plains, especially those along the coast, wear a melancholy, dusty, and arid appearance: but the eye is relieved from this by beholding the fresh and luxuriant vegetation which marks the windings of the river.

A more full and satisfactory account of Cumana and its vicinity will be found in the following

Description of Cumana and its Environs. From the

Travels of ALEXANDER DE HUMBOLDT and AIME BONPLAND, in the Equinoctial Regions of the New Continent.

ABOUT the beginning of the year 1799, Baron de Humboldt obtained permission to visit and make scientific researches in the Spanish colonies of South America. Accompanied by his friend, M. Bonpland, he sailed from Spain in the beginning of June, and after a voyage of forty-one days, arrived off the coast of Cu

mana.

It was on the 16th of July, a little after break of day, that the voyagers reached a verdant and picturesque shore. The mountains of New Andalusia, half veiled by mists, bounded the horizon to the south. The city of Cumana and its castle appeared between groups of cocoa-nut trees. The vessel was anchored in a port opposite to the mouth of the Manzanares; and the eyes of the voyagers were fixed on the groups of of cocoa-nut trees that bordered this river, the trunks

G