Ch. VII. SOUTH AMERICA. 53 



ties and kinds, as wonderfully difplay the diverfity 

 which the Author of nature has llicwn in the multi- 

 tude of his works. The quadrupeds and reptiles fre- 

 quent the dry and defcrt places, and arc difiinguifhed 

 by an endlefs variety of fpots, whillt the vivid plumage 

 of the t'eathered race glows with exquiiite beauty; and 

 the brilliant fcales of another kind conceal the moil 

 active-poiibns. 



The only tame eatable animals are the cow and the 

 hog, of which there are great plenty. The beef, 

 though not abiblutely bad, cannot be laid to be pala- 

 table. The conftant heat of the climate preventing the 

 beans from fattening^- deprives their flelli of that fuc- 

 culency it would othcrwife have acquired : the pork is 

 delicate, and allowed not only to be the beft in all 

 America, but even to exceed any in Europe. This, 

 which is the ufual food of Europeans and Creoles at 

 Carthagena, bcfides its palatablenel's, is alfo looked 

 upon to be fo wholelome, that even iick perfons are 

 allowed it preferably to poultry, which is here very- 

 good and in great abundance. 



I MUST not omit a lingular flratagem praiiifed here 

 for taking wild gecfe, the extreme cheapnefsof which 

 naturally inclined us to atk how they caught them in 

 fuch quantities : in anfwer to our queilion, we received 

 the following account. Near Carthagena, to theeafi:- 

 ward of Monte de la Popa, is a large lake called la 

 Ciénega de Tefcas, abounding with fifh, but reckoned 

 unwholefome. The water of this lake, commu!)icating 

 with the fea, is ialt, but without increale or dccreafe, 

 the difference of the tides here bcin«: inlignilicant. 

 Every evening vail flights of gecle retire hither from 

 all the neighbouring countries, as their natural place of 

 reft during the night. The perfons who catch thefe 

 birds, throw into the lake aboat 15 or 20 large cala- 

 bafhes, which they call totumos ; and the geefe, being 

 accuftomed to fee thefe calabafhes floating on the 

 water, never avoid them. In three or four days the 



E 3 perfons 



