266 ALEXANDER VON HUMBOLDT. 



We sailed past the mouth of this river, and were amazed at the 

 spectacle presented by these mighty waters. On the night of 

 the 4th of July I saw the Southern Cross for the first time in 

 all its splendour. 



; Postscript. You need not feel alarmed for me on account 

 of the heat of these regions. I have nearly been a month now 

 within the tropics, and I feel no inconvenience from the 

 temperature. The thermometer usually stands at about 78 or 

 82 not higher ; it was as low as 66 of an evening off the 

 coast of Cayenne, when I felt quite frozen. Thus, you see, the 

 heat is by no means extreme in this neighbourhood. 



c I hope you will follow my voyage upon the map. On the 

 5th of June we sailed from Corunna, on the 17th we touched at 

 frraciosa, from the 19th to the 25th we spent at Teneriffe : on 

 leaving there we experienced strong gales from the east, with 

 rain, and on the 5th and 6th of July were sailing off the 

 coast of Brazil ; on the 14th we passed between Tobago and 

 Grenada; on the 15th we sailed through the channel sepa- 

 rating Margarita from the mainland of South America, and 

 on the morning of the 16th we anchored- in the harbour of 

 Cumana.' 



Humboldt's first visit to Cumana lasted from July 16 to 

 November 28, 1799. His letters written during this period 

 are full of detail on a variety of subjects, and we have therefore 

 thought it desirable to introduce here short extracts from 

 some of them, commencing with the following letter to Von 

 Zach : 



1 Cumana : September 1, 1799. 



c A Spanish brigantine from Cadiz, which has anchored here 

 this morning, gives me the welcome opportunity of sending 

 you a token of my existence, as well as some account of my 

 scientific labours. I am compelled to write in some haste, as I 

 am on the eve of setting off on an expedition to the interior, 

 and intend starting to-morrow for the mountains of Caripe and 

 Carapana, where only four days ago there were eleven very 

 severe shocks of earthquake. Thence I shall proceed to the 

 interior of Paria, among the mission stations of the Capuchins, 

 a district abounding with objects of the highest possible 



