MALIGNANT FEVER. 53 



verdure of the scattered tufts of trees upon it. The chap, iv 

 mountains are covered with very tall opunticc, which isijmXof 

 alone are enough to apprize the navigator that he has Tobago, 

 arrived on an American coast. 



After doul)ling the north cape of Tobago and the Optical 

 point of St Giles, they discovered from the mast-head '^'^•^1"'°°- 

 what they regarded as a hostile squadron ; which how- 

 ever turned out to be only a group of rocks. Crossing 

 the shoal which joins the former island to Grenada, they 

 found that, although the colour of the sea was not visibly 

 changed, the thermometer indicated a temperature 

 several degrees lower than that of the neighbouring 

 parts. The wind diminished after sunset, and the 

 clouds dispersed as the moon reached the zenith. 

 Numerous falling-stars were seen on this and the fol- 

 lowing nights. 



On the 14th, at sunrise, they were in sight of the p.neca del- 

 Bocca del Drago, and distinguished the island of Chaca- J^rago. 

 chacarreo. When 17 miles distant from the coast, they 

 experienced, near Punta de la Baca, the effect of a 

 current which drew the ship southward. Heaving the 

 lead, they found from 230 to 275 feet, with a bottom of 

 very tine green clay, — a depth much less than, ac- 

 cording to Dampier's rule, might have been expected 

 in the vicinity of a shore formed of very elevated and 

 perpendicular mountains. 



The disease which had broken out on board the prngress of 

 Pizarro made rapid progress from the time they ap- disease, 

 proached the coast. The thermometer kept steady at 

 night between 71'6° and 73*4°, and during the day rose 

 to between 75'2° and 80'6°. The determination to the 

 head, the extreme dryness of the skin, the prostration 

 of strength, and all the other symptoms became more 

 alarming : but it was hoped that the sick would recover 

 as soon as they were landed on the island of Margarita 

 or at the port of Cumana, both celebrated for their 

 great salubrity. This hope, however, was not entirely 

 realized, for one of the passengers fell a victim to the 

 distemper. He was an Asturian, nineteen years of age, 



