FROM CORUNNA TO PUERTO CABELLO. 263 



Much additional detail is contained in a letter to Delame- 

 therie dated 30th Messidor, VII. (July 18, 1799), three days 

 after landing at Cumana, from which we find that Humboldt 

 had already commenced his researches upon the currents, tem- 

 perature, and phosphorescence of the ocean, together with other 

 kindred investigations, which he prosecuted with the view of 

 aiding in the solution of some of the grand problems in science. 

 After a voyage of nineteen days Humboldt came in sight, on 

 July 13, of the lofty coasts of Tobago and Trinidad, and on the 

 16th inst. the ship was safely anchored in the harbour of 

 Cumana. The voyage throughout had indeed been, a pros- 

 perous one to him, for not only had he entirely escaped sea- 

 sickness, but he had been preserved from a contagious fever 

 of a typhoid character which had broken out on board. In 

 consequence of this sickness among the crew, it was thought 

 advisable to change the original direction of the ship's course, 

 and instead of making for Cuba or the coast of Mexico, the 

 vessel was run into the nearest harbour on the north coast of 

 South America and anchored at Cumana. 



Humboldt thus wrote to his brother the day he landed : ' 



1 Cumana, 2 South America t July 16, 1799, 



6 The same good fortune, my dear brother, which enabled us 

 to run into Teneriffe in the face of the English, has continued 

 with us to the end of our voyage. I have worked hard all the 

 way, especially with astronomical observations. We intend 

 remaining some months in the Caracas, where we are truly in a 

 wonder-land of fertility and luxuriance ; we have on all sides of 

 us extraordinary plants, electric eels, tigers, armadillos, apes, 

 and parrots, besides numbers of genuine Indians half wild 

 a very handsome and interesting race. 



' Cumana, on account of its proximity to the Snowy Moun- 

 tains, is one of the coolest and most healthy places in South 



1 Humboldt's letters are mostly written in the style of a journal : the date 

 merely denotes when the letter was begun or finished. 



2 Cumana, first colonised in 1521, was very early an important place 

 of trade. The name, however, is not down in the large chart of the Gulf 

 of Mexico by Martin Suares ; it is also wanting in Arrowsmith's Atlas, 

 published in 1804, in which La Guayra and Caracas are also omitted. 



