170 PLAIN OF THE VOLCANOES. 



according to the seasons. Few parts of Carthagena 

 are so well deserving of attention as this celebrated 

 spot; itself a vast plain, covered with volcanic cones, 

 whose deep and sullen sounds break at intervals the 

 silence of the place ; and bounded by a forest of 

 palms, beautifully varied with balm of tolu trees, 

 and the flowers of the Nymphea and the Cavanillesia 

 mocundo, whose membranous and transparent fruit 

 resembles elegantly shaped lamps, suspended at the 

 ends of the branches. Botanists repair thither from 

 the beautiful village of Turbaco, in search of plants, 

 and are amply rewarded, not only by collecting 

 such as grow within, or on the verge of the forest, 

 but by such as seem peculiar to the marshy plain of 

 the Little Volcanoes. The situation of the village 

 also is one of peculiar interest, and affords a secure 

 retreat to Europeans who are unable to endure the 

 excessive heat of Carthagena, and of the arid 

 coasts of Baru and Tierra Bomba. At an eleva- 

 tion of nearly a thousand feet above the level of the 

 sea, the inhabitants enjoy the most delightful 

 breezes, especially in the night; beautiful views 

 extend on every side, while, to the south-eastward, 

 a majestic forest skirts the village, and reaches far 

 as the canal of Mahates, and the river Magdalen. 

 The houses, built of bamboo, and covered with palm- 

 trees, rise among the limestone rocks, which often 

 contain numerous fragments of petrified coral; from 

 these clear sparkling streams leap forth, even by 

 the doors of the inhabitants, and are often over- 

 shadowed by the splendid foliage of the Anacardium 

 caracole, a tree of colossal size, to which the natives 

 attribute the property of attracting from a dis- 



