310 LANDING AT THE RIO SINU. 
sphere, which blew from the north. During the 
whole of the 23d March not a single cloud was 
seen in the firmament, although the air and the 
horizon were tinged with a fine red colour; but 
towards evening large bluish clouds formed, and 
when they disappeared, converging bands of fleecy 
vapours were seen at an immense height. On the 
24th they entered the kind of gulf bounded by 
the shores of Santa Martha and Costa Rica, which 
is frequently agitated by heavy gales. As they ad- 
vanced toward the coast of Darien the north-east 
wind increased to a violent degree, and the waves 
became very rough at night. At sunrise they per- 
ceived part of the archipelago of St Bernard, and 
passing the southern extremity of the Placa de San 
Bernardo, saw in the distance the mountains of 
Tigua. The stormy weather and contrary winds 
induced the master of the vessel to seek shelter in 
the Rio Sinu, after a passage of sixteen days. 
Landing again on the continent of South Ame- 
rica, they betcok themselves to the village of Za- 
pote, where they found a great number of sailors, 
all men of colour, who had descended the Rio Sinu 
in their barks, carrying maize, bananas, poultry, 
and other articles, to the port of Carthagena. The 
boats are flat-bottomed, and the wind having blown 
violently on the coast for ten days, they were unable 
to proceed on their voyage. These people fatigued 
the travellers with idle questions about their books | 
and instruments, and tried to frighten them with 
stories of boas, vipers, and jaguars. Leaving the — 
shores, which are covered with Rhizophore, theyen- 
tered a forest remarkable for the great variety of : 
palm-trees which it presented. One of them, the 
