ACCOUNT OF BOOKS. 



927 



brated Llanos, that immense suc- 

 cession of deserts, in extent two 

 liundred miles, where there is no 

 water or other herbage than a kind 

 of dry grass, they suffered greatly 

 from the excess of the heat, which 

 was from 110 to 115 degrees of 

 the thermometer of Fahrenheit. 

 At St. Fernando, on the river 

 Apura, they entered the Oro- 

 nooko, in the 7th degree of north 

 latitude, they proceeded up its vast 

 bed to its confluence with the 

 Guaviari ; from whence they went 

 up the small rivers of Atabapo, 

 Juimini, and Temi. From the 

 mission of Saritta they went by 

 land to the sources of the famous 

 Rio Negro, where they found 

 about thirty Indians employed in 

 transporting canoes through thick 

 forests to the creek of Pemichin. 

 Committing themselves to the 

 stream of the Negro, they fell 

 down to fort St. Charles ; from 

 whence, by the Cassiquiari, they 

 went again to the river Oronooko 

 and the mission of Esmeralda. But 

 they werepreventedbyGuaicosand 

 independent tribes of Indians, peo- 

 ple of clear complexions and small 

 stature, but of very warlike disposi- 

 tions, from mounting up the country 

 to the sources of the Oronooko ; 

 wherefore they fell down the river 

 towards its mouth. This naviga- 

 tion was most disagreeable and 

 painful ; in the day-time they suf- 

 fered from the want of provisions, 

 and in the night they were deluged 

 by torrents of rain, which poured 

 on them incessantly. When they 

 had recourse for shelter and some 

 miserable sustenance, they were 

 tormented with clouds of insects ; 

 ror durst they seek any relief by 

 bathing in the rivers, which were 

 watched in all parts by the croco- 



diles, ready to devour any thing 

 living that should come within their 

 reach. Having made their escape 

 from these pains and perils, as well 

 as the dangerous exhalations pro- 

 duced by the burning rays of the 

 sun, they returned to Cumana by 

 the plains of Cari and mission of 

 the Caribs ; a race of men distinct 

 from all others, and, next to the 

 Patagonians, perhaps of the most 

 gigantic stature and strength in the 

 known world. 



After some months repose, which 

 was necessary to recruit their ex- 

 hausted strength, our travellers 

 went to the Island of Cuba, where 

 they remained three months, dur- 

 ing which time Humboldt ascer- 

 tained the longitude of the Havan- 

 nah, and assisted the planters in 

 the construction of works for mak- 

 ing their sugar. It was then their 

 intention to go to \''era Cruz, and 

 thence to proceed by Mexico and 

 Acapulco to the Phillippine Isles, 

 and from thence, if possible, by 

 Bombay and Aleppo, to Constan- 

 tinople. But false intelligence res- 

 pecting the sailing of captain Bau- 

 din, on a voyage round the world, 

 above-mentioned, induced him to 

 change his route. For preventing 

 accidents, Humboldtsent his collec- 

 tions of manuscripts from Cuba di- 

 rectly to Europe. 



In March, 1801, he hired a small 

 vessel, in which he set sail from 

 Barbatono to Cartha'gena. But 

 continual calms and contrary cur- 

 rents rendered the voyage very 

 tedious and irksome, and the sea- 

 son was too far advanced to admit 

 of crossing the isthmus of Panama, 

 and thus reaching Guyaquil or 

 Lima, where it was expected to 

 meet the French navigator. This 

 plan was therefore abandoned, 



and 



