178 HOT SPRINGS OF LA TRINCHERA. 
filled with water in rainy weather, became extreme- 
ly dangerous to the buildings. 
On the 26th they set out for the farm of Barbula, 
to examine a new road that was making from the 
city to Porto Cabello; and on the 27th visited the 
hot springs of La Trinchera, three leagues from Va- 
lencia. These fountains were.so copious as to form 
a rivulet, which, during the greatest droughts, was 
two feet deep and eighteen wide. The temperature 
of the water was 194:°5°.. Eggs immersed in them. 
were boiled in less than four minutes. : They issued 
from granite, and were strongly impregnated with 
sulphuretted hydrogen. A sediment of carbonate 
of lime was deposited, and the most luxuriant vege- 
tation surrounded the basin,—mimosas, clusias; and 
fig-trees, pushing their roots into the water, and ex- 
tending their branches over it. Forty feet distant 
from ‘these remarkable sources there’ rose others 
which were of the ordinary temperature. Hum- 
boldt remarks, that in all climates people show the 
same predilection for heat. In Iceland the first 
Christian converts would be baptized only in the 
tepid streams of Hecla; and in the torrid zone, the 
natives flock from all parts to. the thermal waters. 
The river which is formed by the fountains of La 
Trinchera runs toward the north-east, and near - 
coast expands to a considerable size. 
Descending toward Porto: Cabello, the travellers 
passed through a very picturesque district, beauti- 
fied by a most luxuriant vegetation and numerous 
cascades. A stratified coarse-grained. granite oc- 
curred near the road. The heat became suffocating 
as they approached the coast, and a reddish vapour 
veiled the horizon. In the evening they reached 
