PICTUEESQUE SCENEEY. 7 



The same may be said m regard to the temperature of La 

 Guaira, The thermometer seldom rises above ninety de- 

 grees Fahrenheit ; yet, as the variation daring the twenty- 

 four hours, and even from one season to another, is com- 

 paratively slight, one can easily conceive that the quantity 

 of heat received must be very great. The intense suiFering, 

 therefore, in the tropics, results, as Humboldt observes, not 

 from an excess of heat, but from its long continuance at a 

 high temperature. 



The summit of the Cordillera is at length reached, and 

 over it we ride rapidly, and commence the descent at a 

 still greater pace. The first view of Caracas, which lies 

 just at the base of the mountain where the road makes 

 its descent into the valley, is obtained at no great distance. 

 It is neai'ly dark as we enter tlie capital of Venezuela. 

 Our lumbering, three-horse vehicle rattles over the rough, 

 stony pavement of the streets, and stops in front of a po- 

 sada, kept by Madame St. Amand, who welcomes us in 

 English, and shows us at once to a fine suite of rooms, 

 which, like all the apartments of Jhe house, open upon a 

 court-yard in the centre, containing beautiful shrubbery 

 and a maguey-plant in full bloom. 



Ul^on the evening of our arrival, we Avere met hj Mr. 

 Wilson, the minister from our country, who gave xis a 

 most cordial reception. We were also happy in making 

 the acquaintance of Profs. Ernst and Gearing, two dis- 

 tinguished German naturalists. The rich and varied flora 

 of the tropics, comparatively but little known to the bota- 

 nist, had enticed Mr. Ernst from Europe to this his adopted 

 country. For three years he had been engaged in his 

 favorite pursuit, confining his researches to the district of 

 Caracas and vicinity. During that time he had collected 

 and classified over three thousand species of plants, Avhich 

 is more than twice the entire number described in the 

 Natural History of New York. The result of his labors 



