134 MANGROVES. 
the 20th, at sunrise, they were so far advanced as to 
be in expectation of doubling the Cape in a few 
hours ; but some of the passengers having suffered 
from sea-sickness, and the pilot being apprehensive 
of danger from the privateers stationed near La 
Guayra, they made for the shore, and anchored at — 
nine o'clock in the Bay of pr westward of 
the Rio Capaya. . 
On landing, they found two or three huts in- 
abited by mestizo fishermen, the livid tint of whom, 
together with the miserable appearance of their 
children, gave indication of the unhealthy nature of 
the coast. The sea is so shallow that one cannot go 
ashore in the smallest boat without wading. The 
woods come nearly to the beach, which is covered 
with mangroves, avicennias, manchineel-trees, and _ 
Suriana maritima, called by the natives romero de 
lamar. Hereas elsewhere the insalubrity of the air 
is attributed to the exhalations from the first of these 
plants. A faint and sickly smell was perceived, re- 
sembling that of the galleries of deserted mines. The 
temperature rose to 93:2°, and the water along the 
whole coast acquired a yellowish-brown tint where- 
ever it was in contact with these trees. 
Struck by this phenomenon, Humboldt gather- 
ed a considerable quantity of branches and roots, 
with the view of making experiments on the man- 
grove upon his arrival at Caraccas. The infusion 
in warm water was of a brown colour, and had an 
astringent taste. It contained extractive matter and 
tannin. When kept in contact with atmospheric 
air under a glass jar for twelve days, the purity of the 
latter was not perceptibly affected. The wood and 
roots placed under water were exposed to the rays of 
