128 HISTORY OF 



days, through boggy roads, in which the mules 

 at every step sunk up to their bellies, we began 

 at length to perceive an alteration in the climate ; 

 and having been long accustomed to heat, we 

 now began to feel it grow sensibly colder. 



" It is remarkable, that at Tariguagua " we 

 often see instances of the effects of two opposite 

 temperatures, in two persons happening to meet ; 

 one of them leaving the plains below, and the 

 other descending from the mountain. The for- 

 mer thinks the cold so severe, that he wraps 

 himself up in all the garments he can procure ; 

 while the latter finds the heat so great, that he 

 is scarcely able to bear any clothes whatsoever. 

 The one thinks the water so cold, that he avoids 

 being sprinkled by it ; the other is so delighted 

 with its warmth, that he uses it as a bath. Nor 

 is the case very different in the same person, who 

 experiences the same diversity of sensation upon 

 his journey up, and upon his return. This diffe- 

 rence only proceeds from the change naturally 

 felt at leaving a climate to which one has been 

 accustomed, and coming into another of an oppo- 

 site temperature. 



" The ruggedness of the road from Tarigua- 

 gua, leading up the mountain, is not easily de- 

 scribed. In some parts the declivity is so great, 

 that the mules can scarcely keep their footing ; 

 and in others, the acclivity is equally difficult. 

 The trouble of having people going before to 

 mend the road, the pains arising from the many 

 falls and bruises, and the being constantly wet to 

 the skin, might be supported, were not these 



