104 FEAT JUAW GONZALES, 



but whenever the clergy were dissatisfied with the inhabi* 

 tants of the new city, the Virgin fled at night, and returner! 

 to the trunk of the tree at the mouth of the river. This 

 miracle did not cease, till a fine convent (the college of the 

 Propaganda) was built, to receive the Franciscans. In a 

 similar case, the Bishop of Caracas caused the image of Our 

 Lady de los Valencianos to be placed in the archives of the 

 bishopric, where she remained thirty years under seal. 



The climate of Barcelona is not so hot as that of Cumana, 

 but it is extremely damp, and somewhat unhealthy in the 

 rainy season. M. Bonpland had borne very well the irksome 

 journey across the Llanos; and had recovered his strength 

 and activity. With respect to myself, I suffered more at 

 Barcelona than I did at Angostura, immediately after our 

 passage on the rivers. One of those extraordinary tropical 

 rains, during which, at sunset, drops of enormous size fall at 

 great distances from one another, caused me to experience 

 sensations which seemed to threaten an attack of typhus, a 

 disease then prevalent on that coast. We remained nearly 

 a month at Barcelona, where we found our friend Fray Juan 

 Gronzales, of whom I have often spoken, and who had tra- 

 versed the Upper Orinoco before us. He expressed regret that 

 we had not been able to prolong our visit to that unknown 

 country; and he examined our plants and animals with 

 that interest which must be felt by even the most uninformed 

 man for the productions of a region he has long since visited. 

 Fray Juan had resolved to go to Europe, and to accompany 

 us as far as the island of Cuba. We were together for the 

 space of seven months, and his society was most agreeable: 

 he was cheerful, intelligent, and obliging. How little did we 

 anticipate the sad fate that awaited him. He took charge of 

 a part of our collections ; and a friend of his own confided 

 to^ his care a child, who was to be conveyed to Spain for its 

 education. Alas ! the collection, the child, and the young 

 ecclesiastic, were all buried in the waves. 



South-east of Nueva Barcelona, at the distance of two 

 leagues, there rises a lofty chain of mountains, abutting on 

 the Cerro del Bergantin, which is visible at Cumana. This 

 spot is known by the name of "the hot waters," (aguas ea- 

 lientea). When I felt my health sufficiently restored, we 



