FROM CORUNNA TO PUERTO CABELLO. 265 



they were eating fish. The plantations are all open for every- 

 one to go in and out as they please ; the inhabitants here are 

 so well disposed that in most of the houses the doors are left 

 open through the night. There are more Indians here than 

 negroes. 



' What magnificent vegetation ! Cocoa-nut palms from fifty 

 to sixty feet in height ; Poinciana pulcherrima, with pyramidal 

 bunches of flowers a foot high, and of a splendid bright red 

 colour ; bananas, and a host of trees with enormous leaves and 

 sweet-smelling flowers as large as one's hand, all of which are 

 entirely new. You may irnagine how completely unexplored 

 this country is, when I tell you that a new genus, first 

 described by Mutis (see "Cavanilles Icones," vol. iv.) only two 

 years ago, is growing here as a wide-spreading tree, sixty feet 

 high. We had the good fortune to meet with a specimen of 

 this magnificent plant yesterday ; the stamens are an inch long. 

 What a vast number of smaller plants, therefore, must have as 

 yet escaped observation! How brilliant the plumage of the 

 birds and the colours of the fishes ! even the crabs are sky-blue 

 and gold! 



' Hitherto we have been running about like a couple of fools ; 

 for the first three days we could settle to nothing, as we were 

 always leaving one object to lay hold of another. Bonpland 

 declares he should lose his senses if this state of ecstacy were to 

 continue. But far more thrilling than the contemplation of 

 these marvellous objects individually is the overpowering sight 

 of the whole mass of such magnificent vegetation, the elegant 

 luxuriance of which is so exhilarating and, at the same time, so 

 soothing. I feel sure that I shall be very happy here, and that 

 the agreeable impressions I am now receiving will often cheer 

 me by their inspiring influence. 



6 1 do not yet know how long I shall remain here, but I think 

 that I shall probably spend three months between here and 

 Caracas possibly, however, a still longer time. We must 

 make the best use we can of what lies nearest to us. Next 

 month, when the winter here ceases, and the hottest and laziest 

 part of the year sets in, I shall probably undertake a journey to 

 the mouth of the Orinoco, known as the Bocca del Drago 

 (Dragon's Mouth) : there is a good and safe road all the way. 



