CARIACO INTERMITTENT FEVER. 93 



of Catuaro resembled that of the preceding day. 

 The clay, which filled the path and rendered it ex- 

 cessively slippery, was produced by layers of sand- 

 stone and slate-clay which cross the calcareous 

 strata. At length, after a fatiguing march, they 

 reached the town of Cariaco, on the coast, where 

 they found a great part of the inhabitants confined 

 to their beds with intermittent fever. The low situa- 

 tion of the place, as well as of the surrounding dis- 

 trict, the great heat and moisture, and the stagnant 

 marshes generated during the rainy season, are 

 supposed to be the causes of this disease, which 

 often assumes a malignant character, and is accom- 

 panied with dysentery. Men of colour, and espe- 

 cially Creole negroes, resist the influence of the cli- 

 mate much better than any other race. It is gen- 

 erally observed, however, that the mortality is less 

 than might be supposed; for although intermittent 

 fevers, when they attack the same individual several 

 years in succession, alter and weaken the constitu- 

 tion, they do not usually cause death. It is remark- 

 able that the natives believe the air to have become 

 more vitiated in proportion as a larger extent of land 

 has been cultivated; but the miasmata from the 

 marshes, and the exhalations from the mangroves, 

 avicenniae, and other astringent plants growing on 

 the borders of the sea, are probably the real causes 

 of the unhealthiness of the coasts. 



In 1800 the town of Cariaco contained more than 

 6000 inhabitants, who were actively employed in the 

 cultivation of cotton, the produce of which ex- 

 ceeded 10,000 quintals (9057 Ibs. avoirdupois). The 

 capsules, after the separation of the wool, were 

 carefully burnt, as they were thought to occasion 

 noxious exhalations when thrown into the river. 

 Cacao and sugar were also raised to a considerable 

 extent. 



As our travellers were not sufficiently inured to 

 the climate, they considered it prudent to leave Cari- 



