BAHBABOUS EEVENGB. 227 



five miles distant from the coast, it is of little service as a 

 signal to mariners who seek the port of Saint Marta. 

 1'idalgo during the whole time of his operations, near the 

 shore, could take only one observation of the Nevados. 



A gloomy vegetation of cactus, Jatropha gossypifolia, 

 croton and mimosa, covers the barren declivity of Cerro da 

 la Popa. In herbalizing in those wild spots, our guides 

 shewed us a thick bush of Acacia cornigera, which had be- 

 come celebrated by a deplorable event. Of all the species of 

 mimosa the acacia is that which is armed with the sharpest 

 thorns ; they are sometimes two inches long ; and being hol- 

 low, serve for the habitation of ants of an extraordinary size 

 A woman, annoyed by the jealousy and well founded re 

 preaches of her husband, conceived a project of the most 

 barbarous vengeance. With the assistance of her lover she 

 bound her husband with cords, and threw him, at night, 

 into a bush of Mimosa cornigera. The more violently he 

 struggled, the more the sharp woody thorns of the tree tore 

 his skin. His cries were heard by persons who were passing, 

 and he was found after several hours of suffering, covered 

 with blood, and dreadfully stung by the ants. This crime is 

 perhaps without example in the history of hum an turpitude: 

 it indicates a violence of passion less assignable to the 

 climate than to the barbarism of manners prevailing among 

 the lower class of the people. 



My most important occupation at Carthagena was the 

 comparison of my observations with the astronomical posi- 

 tions, fixed by the officers of the expedition of Fidalgo. 

 In the year 1783 (under the ministry of M. Valcles), 

 Don Josef Espinosa, Don Dionisio Galiano, and Don Josef 

 de Lanz, proposed to the Spanish government a plan for 

 taking a survey of the coast of America, in order to extend 

 the atlas of Tofino to the western colonies. The plan was 

 approved ; but it was not till 1792, that an expedition was 

 fitu-dout at Cadiz, and they were enabled to commence 

 their scientific operations at the island of Trinidad. 



