TIIE CAHIB EACE. 73 



astonishment how many things are connected \vith the 

 existence of a single plant. The winds, losing their velocity 

 when in contact with the foliage and the branches, accumu- 

 late sand around the trunk. The smell of the fruit, and the 

 brightness of the verdure, attract from afar the birds of 

 passage, which love to perch on the slender, arrow-like 

 branches of the palm-tree. A soft murmuring is heard 

 around; and overpowered by the heat, and accustomed to 

 the melancholy silence of the plains, the traveller imagines 

 he enjoys some degree of coolness on hearing the slightest 

 sound of the foliage. If we examine the soil on the side 

 opposite to the wind, we find it remains humid long after 

 the rainy season. Insects and worms, everywhere else so 

 rare in the Llanos, here assemble and multiply. This one 

 solitary and often stunted tree, which would not claim the 

 notice of the traveller amid the forests of the Orinoco, spreads 

 life around it in the desert. 



On the 13th of July we arrived at the village of Cari, the 

 first of the Caribbee missions that are under the Observan- 

 tin monks of the college of Piritu. "We lodged as usual 

 at the convent, that is, with the clergyman. Our host could 

 scarcely comprehend " how natives of the north of Europe 

 could arrive at his dwelling from the frontiers of Brazil by 

 the Bio Negro, and not by way of the coast of Cum ana." 

 He behaved to us in the most affable manner, at the same 

 time manifesting that somewhat importunate curiosity which 

 the appearance of a stranger, not a Spaniard, always excites 

 in South America. He expressed his belief that the mi- 

 nerals we had collected must contain gold; and that the 

 plants, dried with so much care, must be medicinal. Here, 

 as in many parts of Europe, the sciences are thought worthy 

 to occupy the mind only so far as they confer some imme- 

 diate and practical benefit on society. 



We found more than five hundred Caribs in the village 

 of Cari ; and saw many others in the surrounding missions. 

 It is curious to observe this nomade people, recently attached 

 to the soil, and differing from all the other Indians in their 

 physical and intellectual powers. They are a very tall race 

 of men, their height being from five feet six inches, to five 

 feet ten inches. According to a practice common in Ame- 

 rica, the women are more sparingly clothed than the men. 



