92 CATUARO. 



creasing heat, and faint with fatigue, endeavoured to 

 learn from them the distance of the missionary con- 

 vent of Vera Cruz, where they intended to pass 

 the night ; but little information could be obtained 

 on account of their imperfect knowledge of the Span- 

 ish language. 



Continuing to descend amid scattered blocks, they 

 unexpectedly found themselves at the -end of the 

 forest, when they entered a savanna, the verdure 

 of which had been renewed by the winter rains. 

 Here they had a splendid view of the Sierra del 

 Guacharo, the northern declivity of which presented 

 an almost perpendicular wall, exceeding 3200 feet in 

 height, and scantily covered with vegetation. The 

 ground before them consisted of several level spaces, 

 lying above each other like vast steps. The mission 

 of Vera Cruz, which is situated in the middle of it, 

 they reached in the evening, and next day continued 

 their journey towards the Gulf of Cariaco. 



Proceeding on their way, they entered another 

 forest, and reached the station of Catuaro, situated 

 in a very wild spot, where they lodged at the house 

 of the priest. Their host was a doctor of divinity, 

 a thin little man, of petulant vivacity, who talked 

 continually of a lawsuit in which he was engaged 

 with the superior of his convent, and wished to know 

 what Humboldt thought of free-will and the souls of 

 animals. At this place they met with the corregidor 

 of the district, an amiable person, who gave them 

 three Indians to assist in cutting a way through the 

 forest, the lianas and intertwining branches having 

 obstructed the narrow lanes. The little missionary, 

 however, insisted on accompanying them to Cariaco, 

 and contrived to render the road extremely tedious 

 by his observations on the necessity of the slave- 

 trade, the innate wickedness of blacks, and the ben- 

 efit which they derived from being reduced to 

 bondage by Christians. 



The road which they followed through the forest 



