64 A HISTORY OF 



were our clothes a sufficient defence for the rest of our bodies ; foi 

 their stings penetrating through the cloth, caused a very painful and 

 fiery itching. One night, in coming to an anchor near a large and 

 handsome house that was uninhabited, we had no sooner seated our- 

 selves in it, than we were attacked on all sides by swarms of moschi- 

 toes, so that it was impossible to have one moment's quiet. Those 

 who had covered themselves with clothes made for this purpose, 

 found not the smallest defence ; wherefore, hoping to find some re- 

 lief in the open fields, they ventured out, though in danger of suffer- 

 ing in a more terrible manner from the serpents. But both places 

 were equally obnoxious. On quitting this inhospitable retreat, we the 

 next night took up our quarters in a house that was inhabited; the 

 host of which being informed of the terrible manner we had past the 

 night before, he gravely told us, that the house we so greatly com- 

 plained of, had been forsaken on account of its being the purgatory 

 of a soul. But we had more reason to believe that it was quitted on 

 account of its being the purgatory of the body. After having jour- 

 neyed for upwards of three days, through boggy roads, in which the 

 mules at every step sunk up to their bellies, we began at length to 

 perceive an alteration in the climate ; and having been long accus- 

 tomed to heat, we now began to feel it grow sensibly colder. 



" It is remarkable, that at Tariguagua we often see instances of the 

 effects of two opposite temperatures, in two persons happening to 

 meet ; one of them leaving the plains below, and the other descend- 

 ing from the mountain. The former thinks the cold so severe, that 

 he wraps himself up in all the garments he can procure ; while the 

 latter finds the heat so great, that he is scarce able to bear any clothes 

 whatsoever. The one thinks the water so cold, that he avoids being 

 sprinkled by it ; the other is so delighted with its warmth, that he 

 uses it as a bath. Nor is the case very different in the same person, 

 who experiences the same diversity of sensation upon his journey up, 

 and upon his return. This difference only proceeds from the change 

 naturally felt at leaving a climate to which one has been accustomed, 

 and coming into another of an opposite temperature. 



" The ruggedness of the road from Tariguagua, leading up the 

 mountain, is not easily described. In some parts, the declivity is so 

 Croat, that the mules can scarce keep their footing; and in others, 

 t'ho acclivity is equally difficult. The trouble of having people going 

 before to mend the road, the pains arising from the many falls and 

 bruises, and the being constantly wet to the skin, might be supported, 

 wore not these inconveniences augmented by the sight of such fright- 

 ful precipices, and deep abysses, as must fill the mind with ceaseless 

 terror. There are some places where the road is so steep, and yet 

 so narrow, that the mules are obliged to slide down, without making 

 any use of their feet whatsoever. On one side of the rider, in this 

 situation, rises an eminence of several hundred yards ; and on the 

 other, an abyss of equal depth ; so that if he in the least checks his 

 mule, so as to destroy the equilibrium, they both must unavoidably 

 perish. 



" After .laving travelled about nine days in this manner, slowly 

 winding along the side of the mountain, we began to find the whole 



