COAST OF NEW-ANDALTJSIA. 55 



On the 16th they beheld a verdant coast of pictu- 

 resque appearance ; the mountains of New- Anda- 

 lusia bounded the southern horizon, and the city of 

 Cumana and its castle appeared among groups of 

 trees. They anchored in the port about nine in the 

 morning, when the sick crawled on deck to enjoy 

 the sight. The river was bordered with cocoa- 

 trees more than sixty feet high, the plain was cov- 

 ered with tufts of cassias, capers, and arborescent 

 mimosas, while the pinnated leaves of the palms 

 were conspicuous on the azure of a sky unsullied 

 by the least trace of vapour. A dazzling light was 

 spread along the white hills clothed with cylindrical 

 cactuses, and over the smooth sea, the shores of 

 which were peopled by pelicans, egrets, and flamin- 

 goes. Every thing announced the magnificence of 

 nature in the equinoctial regions. 



Before accompanying our learned friends to the 

 city of Cumana, we may here take a glance of the 

 physical observations made by them during the 

 voyage, and which refer to the temperature of the 

 air and sea, and other subjects of general interest. 



Temperature of the Air. In the basin of the 

 northern Atlantic Ocean, between the coasts of Eu- 

 rope, Africa, and America, the temperature of the 

 atmosphere exhibits a very slow increase. From 

 Corunna to the Canary Islands, the thermometer, 

 observed at noon and in the shade, gradually rose 

 from 50 to 64, and from Teneriffe to Cumana from 

 64 to 7"/. The maximum of heat observed during 

 the voyage did not exceed 79*9. 



The extreme slowness with which the tempera- 

 ture increases during a voyage from Spain to South 

 America is highly favourable to the health of Eu- 

 ropeans, as it gradually prepares them for the intense 

 heat which they have to experience. It is in a 

 great measure attributable to the evaporation of the 

 water, augmented by the motion of the air and 

 waves, together with the property possessed by 



