286 ALEXANDEK VON HUMBOLDT. 



' Abundant compensation for these annoyances is afforded by 

 the sight of the majestic forests of palms, and by the study of 

 so many independent races of Indians who still bear about 

 them the evidences of ancient Peruvian civilisation. And yet 

 these nations, while possessing considerable knowledge of agri- 

 culture and exercising the rights of hospitality, combine, like 

 the inhabitants of Otaheite, a mild and gentle aspect with the 

 savage custom of cannibalism. Wherever we went throughout 

 the wild districts of South America I refer to those parts south 

 of the cataracts of the Orinoco, where, with the exception of 

 some five or six Franciscan monks, no Christian had previously 

 penetrated we scarcely ever entered a hut without encounter- 

 ing the horrible remains of repasts on human flesh ! ! 



6 My health and spirits have decidedly improved since I left 

 Spain, notwithstanding the perpetual changes of heat, cold, and 

 damp to which I am exposed. The tropics are my element, and 

 I have never enjoyed such uninterrupted good health as 

 during the last two years. 



4 1 work very hard, and give myself but little time for sleep ; 

 while making astronomical observations I am often exposed 

 to the sun for four or five hours, with no covering on my 

 head, and in places where the yellow fever was raging, as, for 

 instance, at La Gruayra and Puerto Cabello, my health was 

 never even interrupted by a headache. I was only twice laid 

 up, with slight attacks of fever lasting three days ; on the first 

 occasion at Angostura, the capital of Gruiana, upon my return 

 from the Kio Negro, when, after a long fast, I ate immode- 

 rately of bread, which we had not before met with in those 

 regions ; in the second instance at Nueva Barcelona, from 

 being wet through in sunshine, which has here always the 

 effect of producing fever. On the Atabapo, in a climate where 

 even the Indians are continually suffering from a kind of 

 putrid fever, my health kept surprisingly good. 



6 My reception in the Spanish colonies is as flattering as the 

 vainest and most aristocratic of men could desire. In countries 

 where public opinion exercises no influence, and where every- 

 thing is governed by despotic rule, the favour of the court is a 

 powerful talisman. The report that I had been personally 

 distinguished by the King and Queen of Spain, and had received 



