ARRIVAL AT ANGOSTURA. 519 



Muitaco and the island of Ceiba a hill entirely com- 

 posed of balls with concentric layers, in which we perceived 

 a close mixture of hornblende and feldspar, with some traces 

 of pyrites. The griinstein resembles that in the vicinity of 

 Caracas ; but it was impossible to ascertain the position of 

 a formation which appeared to me to be of the same age aa 

 the granite of Parima. Muitaco was the last spot where we 

 slept in the open air on the shore of the Orinoco : we pro- 

 ceeded along the river two nights more before we reached 

 Angostura, which terminated our voyage. 



It would be difficult for me to express the satisfaction we 

 felt on landing at Angostura, the capital of Spanish Guiana. 

 The inconveniences endured at sea in small vessels are trivial 

 m comparison with those that are suffered under a burning 

 sky, surrounded by swarms of mosquitos, and lying stretched 

 in a canoe, without the possibility of taking the least bodily 

 exercise. In seventy-five days we had performed a passage 

 of five hundred leagues (twenty to a degree) on the five great 

 rivers, Apure, Orinoco, Atabapo, Bio Negro, and Cassi- 

 quiare; and in this vast extent we had found but a very 

 small number of inhabited places. After the life we had led 

 in the woods, our dress was not in the very best order, yet 

 nevertheless M. Bonpland and I hastened to present our- 

 selves to Don Felipe de Tnciarte, the governor of the pro- 

 vince of Guiana. He received us in the most cordial man- 

 ner, and lodged us in the house of the secretary of the Inten- 

 dencia. Coming from an almost desert country, we were 

 struck with the bustle of the town, though it contained only 

 six thousand inhabitants. We admired the conveniences 

 which industry and commerce furnish to civilized man. 

 Humble dwellings appeared to us magnificent; and every 

 person with whom we conversed, seemed to be endowed 

 with superior intelligence. Long privations give a value to 

 the smallest enjoyments ; and I cannot express the pleasure 

 we felt, when we saw for the first time wheaten bread on 

 the governor's table. Sensations of this sort are doubtless 

 familiar to all who have made distant voyages. 



A painful circumstance obliged us to sojourn a whole 

 month in the town of Angostura. "We felt ourselves on the 

 first days after our arrival tired and enfeebled, but in perfect 

 health. M. Bonpland began to examine the small numbei 



