5G 



COAST OF NEAr ANDALUSIA. 



CHAP. IV. 



Peri'ltJ'ity 

 of the 

 voyugcrs. 



Native 

 luduius. 



Caman,^ 



Plants and 



Tempera- 

 ture. 



heated surface. The deserts and sandy shores of all 

 countries present this appearance. The aspect of this 

 phice not corresponding with the ideas which they had 

 ibrnu'd of the island of Margarita, and the greatest per- 

 plexity existing as to their position and course, tliey 

 cast anchor in shallow water, and were visited by some 

 Guayquerias in two canoes, constructed each of the 

 single trunk of a tree. These Indians, who were of a 

 coppery colour and very tall, informed them that they 

 had kept too far south, that the low islet near which 

 they were at anchor was tlie island of Coche, and that 

 Spanish vessels coining from Europe usually passed to 

 the northward of it. The master of one of the canoes 

 offered to remain on board as coasting pilot, and towards 

 evening the captain set sail. 



On the IGtli they beheld a verdant coast of picturesque 

 appearance ; the mountains of New Andalusia bounded 

 the southern horizon, and the city of Cumana and its 

 castle appeared among groups of trees. They anchored 

 in the port al)out nine in the morning, when the sick 

 crawled on deck to enjoy the sight. The river was 

 bordered with cocoa-trees more than sixty feet high, — 

 the plain was covered witli tuits of cassias, capers, and 

 arborescent mhnosas, while the pinnated leaves of the 

 palms were conspicuous on the azure of a sky unsullied 

 by the least trace of vapour. A dazzling light was 

 spread along the white liills clothed with cylindrical 

 cactuses, and over the smooth sea, the shores of which 

 were peopled by pelicans, egrets, and flamingoes. Everj> 

 thing announced the magnificence of nature in the 

 equinoctial regions. 



Before accompanying our learned friends to the city 

 of Cumana, we may here take a glance of the physical 

 observations made by them during the voyage, and 

 whicii refer to tlie temperature of the air and sea, and 

 other subj<-cts of general interest. 



Temperature of the ^j>.— In the basin of the northern 

 AtlaJitic Ocean, between the coasts of Europe, Africa, 

 and America, the temperature of the atmosphere exhi- 



