148 | CULTIVATION. 
during a great part of the year prevails only in the 
low districts adjoining the sea, or on the elevated 
table-lands of the interior. The intermediate zone is 
misty and variable. 
In this province the sky is generally less blue than 
at Cumana. The intensity of colour measured by 
Saussure’s cyanometer was commonly 18°, and 
never above 20°, from November to January, while 
on the coasts it was from 22° to 25°. The mean 
temperature is estimated by Humboldt at 68° or 
72°. The heat very seldom rises to 84°, and in 
winter it has been observed to fall as low as 52°. 
The cold at night is more felt on account of its being 
‘usually accompanied by amisty sky. Rains are-very 
frequent in April, May, and June. No hail falls 
in the low regions of the tropics, but it is seen here 
every fourth or fifth year. 
The coffee-tree is much cultivated in ‘the val- 
ley, and the sugar-cane thrives even at a still 
greater height. The banana, the pine-apple, the 
vine, the strawberry, the quince, the apple, the 
peach, together with maize, pulse, and corn, grow 
in great perfection. _But although the atmospheric 
constitution of this Alpine vale be favourable to di- 
versified culture, it is not equally so to the health 
of the inhabitants, as the inconstancy of the weather, 
and the frequent suppression of cutaneous perspira- 
tion, give rise to catarrhal affections ; and a Euro- 
pean, once accustomed to the violent heat, enjoys 
better health in the low country, where the air is 
not very humid, than in nia elevated and cooler 
districts. | 
The travellers yeaa’ two months at Caraccas, 
where they lived in a large house in the upper ~ 
