60 TIIEY KEACH CUMANA. 



versing with the Indian pilot respecting the animals ooid 

 plants of his country. 



At daybreak on the 16th of Julj^, 1799, forty-one 

 days after their departure from Corunna, they beheld a 

 verdant coast of picturesque aspect. The mountains of 

 New Andalusia, half- veiled by mists, bounded the hori- 

 zon to the south. The city of Cumana and its castle 

 appeared between groups of cocoa-trees. They anchored 

 in the port about nine in the morning : the sick dragged 

 themselves on deck to enjoy the sight of a land which 

 was to put an end to their sufferings. The eyes of the 

 naturalists were fixed on the groups of cocoa-trees which 

 bordered the river: their trunks, more than sixty feet 

 high, towered over every object in landscape. The 

 plain was covered with tufts of Cassia, Caper, and ar- 

 borescent mimosas, which spread their branches in the 

 form of an umbrella. The pinnated leaves of the palms 

 were conspicuous on the azure sky, the clearness of 

 which was unsullied by any trace of vapour. The sun 

 was ascending rapidly towards the zenith. A dazzling 

 light was spread through the air, along the whitish hills, 

 which were strewed with cactuses, and over a sea ever 

 calm, the shores of which were peopled with brown 

 pelicans, egrets, and flamingoes. The splendour of the 

 day, the vivid colouring of the vegetable Tvorld, the 

 forms of the plants, the varied plumage of the birds, 

 everything was stamped with the grand character of 

 nature in the equinoctial regions. 



