112 DEPARTUKE FROM CUMANA, 



CHAPTER XL 



Voyage from C'umana to Guayra. 



e from Cumana to La Guayra — Phosphorescenco of the Sea — 

 Group of the Caraccas and Chinianas — Port of New Barcelona — 

 La Guayra — Yellow fever — Coast and Cape Blanco — Road from 

 La Guayra to Caraccas. 



CHAP. XI. Having completed the partial investigations which their 



rreparations short residence admitted, and having in some measirre 



for kaviiig become acclimatized, the adventurous piiilosophers pre- 



"^^'"'■^ pared to leave Cumana. Passing by sea to La Guayra, 



they intended to take up their abode in the town of 



Caraccas until the rainy season should be over ; from 



thence to traverse the Llanos, or great plains, to the 



missions of the Orinoco ; to go up that river as far as 



the Rio Negro ; and to return to Cumana by Angostura, 



tlie capital of Spanish Guiana. 



Dortutuic On the 18th November, at eight in the evening, they 



took their passage in one of the boats which trade 



between these coasts and the West India Islands, They 



arc thirty-two feet long, three feet high at the gunwale, 



without decks, and generally carry from 200 to 250 



quintals (181 to 226 cwts. avoirdupois). Although the 



sea is very rough from Cape Codera to La Guayra, and 



these boats have an enormous triangular sail, there liad 



not been an instance for thirty years of tlie loss of one of 



tliem on the passage from Cumana to Caraccas, so great 



is the skill of the Guayqueria pilots. They descended 



the Manzanares witli rajiidity, delighted witli the sight 



- of its marginal cocoa-trees, and the glitter of the thorny 



