VERA CULZ AND CATUARO. 93 



a splendid view of the Sierra del Guacharo, the northern chap, viii 

 declivity of which presented an almost perpendicular sien^T^, 

 wall, exceeding 3200 feet in height, and scantily covered Guacharo. 

 with vegetation. The ground before them consisted of 

 several level spaces, lying above each other like vast 

 steps. Tlie mission of Vera Cruz, which is situated in 

 the middle of it, they reached in tlie evening, and next 

 day continued their journey toward the Gulf of Cariaco. 



Proceeding on their way they entered another forest, Catuaio 

 and reached the station of Catuaro, situated in a very 

 wild spot, where they lodged at the house of the priest. 

 Their host was a doctor of divinity, a thin little man, of 

 petulant vivacity, who talked continually of a lawsuit 

 in which he was engaged with the superior of his con- 

 vent, and wished to know what Humboldt thought of 

 free-will and the souls of animals. At this place they 

 met with the corregidor of the district, an amiable per- 

 son, who gave them three Indians to assist in cutting ,u 

 way through the forest, the lianas and intertwining 

 l)i-anches having obstructed the narrow lanes. The 

 little missionary, however, insisted on accompanying 

 them to Cariaco, and contrived to render the road 

 extremely tedious by his observations on the necessity 

 of the slave-trade, the innate wickedness of blacks, and 

 the benefit which they derived from being reduced to 

 bondage by Christians. 



The road which they followed through the forest of Road 

 Catuaro resembled that of the preceding day. The |}Je°forest. 

 clay, which filled the path and rendered it excessively 

 slippery, was produced by layers of sandstone and slate- 

 clay which cross the calcareous strata. At length, after 

 a fatiguing march, they reached the town of Cariaco, on Cariaco. 

 the coast, where they found a great part of the inhabi- 

 tants confined to their beds with intermittent fever 

 The low situation of the place as well as of tlie sur- 

 rounding district, the great heat and moisture, and the 

 stagnant marshes generated during the rainy season, are 

 supposed to be the causes of this disease, which often 

 assumes a malignant character, and is accompanied with 



