106 SICK liUT mouD. 



his tail : and, letting fall the rest of his body, swings 

 himself till in one of his oscillations he reaches the neigh- 

 bouring branch. The w Ae file performs the same 

 movements on the same inot. The Indians told the 

 travellers that when the monkeys filled the forests with 

 their howling, there was always one that chaunted as 

 leader of the chorus. During a long interval one soli- 

 tary and strong voice was generally distinguished, till 

 its place was taken by another voice of a different pitch. 

 The Missionaries asserted that when a female among 

 them was on the point of bringing forth, the choir sus- 

 pended its bowlings till the moment of the birth of the 

 3^oung. 



At Guigue they lodged with an old sergeant, a native 

 of Murcia, a man of a very original character. To prove 

 to them that he had studied among the Jesuits, he re- 

 cited the history of the creation of the world in Latin. 

 He knew the names of Augustus, Tiberius, and Diocle- 

 tian ; and while enjoying the agreeable coolness of the 

 nights in an inclosure planted with bananas, he employed 

 himself in reading all that related to the courts of the 

 Roman emperors. He inquired of Humboldt for a remedy 

 for the gout, from which he suffered severely. " I know," 

 said he, "a Zambo of Valencia, a famous curioso^ who 

 could cure me; but the Zambo would expect to be treated 

 with attentions which I cannot pay to a man of his 

 colour, so I prefer remaining as I am." 



In the Mesa de Paja, in the ninth degree of latitude, 

 they entered the basin of the Llanos. The sun was 

 almost at its zenith ; the earth, wherever it appeared 

 sterile and destitute of vegetation, was at the temperature 

 of 118° or 122°. Not a breath of air was felt at the height 



