NATURAL GLUE. 71 



affected our sensations. AVe spent thirteen days in crossing 

 the plains, resting a little in the Caribbee (Caraibes) mis- 

 sions, and in the little town of Pao. The eastern part of 

 the Llanos, through which we passed, between Angostura 

 and Nueva Barcelona, presents the same wild aspect as the 

 western part, through which we had passed from the valleys 

 of Aragua to San Fernando de Apure. In the season of 

 drought, (which is here called summer,) though the sun is 

 in the southern hemisphere, the breeze is felt with 

 greater force in the Llanos of Cumana, than in those of 

 Caracas ; because those vast plains, like the cultivated fields 

 of Lombardy, form an inland basin, open to the east, and 

 closed on the north, south, and west, by high chains of pri- 

 mitive mountains. Unfortunately, we could not avail our- 

 selves of this refreshing breeze, of which the Llaneros, or the 

 inhabitants of the plains, speak with rapture. It was now 

 the rainy season north of the equator; and though it did 

 not rain in the plains, the change in the declination of the 

 sun had for some time caused the action of the polar cur- 

 rents to cease. In the equatorial regions, where the traveller 

 may direct his course by observing the direction of the clouds, 

 aud where the oscillations of the mercury in the barometer 

 indicate the hour almost as well as a clock, everything is 

 subject to a regular and uniform rule. The cessation of the 

 breezes, the setting-in of the rainy season, and the fre- 

 quency of electric explosions, are phenomena which are 

 found to be connected together by immutable laws. 



On entering the Llanos of Nueva Barcelona, we met with 

 a Frenchman, at whose house we passed the first night, and 

 who received us with the kindest hospitality. He was a 

 native of Lyons, and he had left his country at a very early 

 age. He appeared extremely indifferent to all that was 

 passing beyond the Atlantic, or, as they say here, disdain- 

 fully enough, when speaking of Europe, "on the other side 

 of the great pool" (al otro lado del charco). Our host was 

 employed in loining large pieces of wood by means of a kind 

 of glue called guayca. This substance, which is used by the 

 carpenters of Angostura, resembles the best animal glue. It 

 is found perfectly prepared between the bark and the albur- 

 iium of a creeper * of the family of the Combretaceae. It 

 Combretum guayca. 



