20G HUMBOLDT MEETS A FELLOW-COUNTRYMAN. 



stories of boas, vipers, and the attacks of jaguars; but 

 during a long residence among the Chavma Indians of the 

 Orinoco, the travellers were used to these exaggerations. 

 Quitting the coast of Zapote, covered with mangroves, 

 they entered a forest remarkable for a great variety of 

 palm-trees. 



After an hour's walk, they found, in a cleared spot, 

 several inhabitants employed in collecting palm-tree 

 wine. The dark tint of the Zambos formed a strong 

 contrast with the appearance of a little man with light 

 hair and a pale complexion, who seemed to take no share 

 in the labour. Humboldt thought at first that he was a 

 sailor who had escaped from some North American ves- 

 sel ; but was soon undeceived. This fair-complexioned 

 man was his countryman, born on the coast of the Bal- 

 tic ; he had served in the Danish navy, and had lived for 

 several years in the upper part of the Rio Sinu, near 

 Santa Cruz de Lorica. He had come, to use the words 

 of the loungers of the country, " to see other lands, and 

 to roam about : nothing else." The sight of a man who 

 could speak to him of his country, seemed to have no 

 attraction for him ; and, as he had almost forgotten Ger- 

 man without being able to express himself clearly in 

 Spanish, the conversation was not very animated. Dur- 

 ing the five years of his travels in Spanish America, 

 Humboldt found only two opportunities of speaking his 

 native language. The first Prussian he met with was a 

 sailor from Memel, who served on board a ship from 

 Halifax, and who refused to make himself known till 

 after he had fired some musket-shot at his boat. The 

 second, the man he met at the Rio Sinu, was very amica- 

 bly disposed. Without answering his questions, he con- 



