EXCURSION TO AKAYA. 69 



tints of the rainbow, and 1° 43' in diameter. The chap. \a 

 intermediate space was of the deepest azure. " 



Part of the great square is surrounded with arcades, slave 

 over which is a long wooden gallery, where slaves '"aiiift 

 imported from the coast of Africa are sold. These were 

 young men from fifteen to twenty years of age. Every 

 morning cocoa-nut oil was given them, with which they 

 rubbed their skin, to render it glossy. The persons 

 who came to purchase them examined their teeth, as we 

 do those of horses, to judge of their age and health. 

 Yet the Spanish laws, according to our author, have 

 never favoured the trade in African slaves, the number 

 of whom in ] 800 did not exceed GOOO in the two pro- 

 vinces of Cumana and Barcelona, while the whole 

 population was estimated at 110,000. 



The first excursion which our travellers made was to Excursion 

 the peninsula of Araya. They embarked on the Man- '** Araya. 

 zanares, near the Indian suburb, about two in the 

 morning of the 19th August. The night was delight- 

 fully cool. Swarms of shining insects (^Elater noctilucus) 

 sparkled in the air and along the banks of the river. 

 As the boat descended the stream they observed a com- 

 pany of negroes dancing to the music of the guitar by 

 the light of bonfires, — a practice which they prefer to 

 mere relaxation or sleep, on their daj's of rest. 



The bark in which they passed the Gulf of Cariaco gj-eat cold, 

 was commodious, and large skins of the jaguar were 

 spread for their repose during the night. The cold, 

 however, prevented them from sleeping, although, as 

 they were surprised to find, the thermometer was as 

 high as 71*2°. The circumstance, that in a warm 

 country a degree of cold, which would be productive of 

 no inconvenience to the inhabitant of a temperate cli- 

 mate, excites a disagreeable feeling, is worthy of the 

 attention of physiologists. When Bouguer reached the 

 summit of Pelee, in the island of Martinico, he trembled 

 with cold, although the heat was above 70*7° ; and in 

 heavy showers at Cumana, when the thermometer indi- 



