22 MEMOIR OP 



that island, and ascended the Peak. Resuming the 

 voyage, during the whole of which they w^ere occu- 

 pied in making physical observations, they, on the 

 16th of July, safely arrived at Cumana, on the 

 north-east coast of South America. 



The first excursion w^iich our travellers made was 

 to the peninsula of Araya ; after which they under- 

 took a journey to various Indian missionary stations. 

 At Cumana they observed an eclipse of the sun, on 

 the 28th of October ; and on the 4th of November 

 they experienced three shocks of an earthquake. 

 Having in some measure become acclimatized, they 

 proceeded to the city of Caraccas ; from thence tra- 

 versed the Llanos, or Great Plains, to the missionary 

 stations of the Orinoco ; ascended that river as far 

 as the Rio Negro ; and returned to Cumana by An- 

 gostura, the capital of Spanish Guiana. They next 

 visited Cuba, the largest of the West Indian islands. 

 Returning to the continent of South America, they 

 landed at Carthagena, and sailed up the Rio Mag- 

 dalena ; leaving which, after a hazardous voyage of 

 thirty-five days, they proceeded to Santa Fe de 

 Bogota, the capital of New Grenada, to Popayan, 

 and Quito. From Quito they made excursions to 

 the snowy mountains in that region, especially the 

 celebrated Chimborazo, which they ascended to the 

 height of 19,798 feet above the sea-level, being an 

 elevation more than any that had been attained by 

 man. The summit of the mountain was still 1439 

 feet higher, but they were prevented from proceed- 

 ing to it by a deep chasm in the snow. From 



