322 BARANCAS NUEVAS. 
tion, their only remaining barometer had been 
broken in passing the canal ; but they consoled them- 
selves by examining some beautiful species of par- 
rots which they obtained from the natives. 
On the 20th April, at three in the morning, 
the air feeling deliciously cool, although the ther- 
mometer was at 71:6°, they were on their journey 
to the village of Barancas Nuevas, amid a forest 
of lofty trees. Half-way between Mahates and 
that hamlet they found a group of huts elegantly 
constructed of bamboos, and inhabited by Zambos. 
Humboldt remarks, that the intermixture of Indi- 
ans and negroes is very common in those countries, 
and that the women of the American tribes have a 
great liking to the men of the African race. To the 
east of Mahates the limestone formation, containing 
corals, ceases to appear; the predominant rocks being 
siliceous with argillaceous cement, forming alter- 
nating beds of small-grained quartzose and slaty 
sandstone, or conglomerates containing angular frag- 
ments of lydian-stone, clay-slate, gneiss, and quartz, 
and varying in colour from yellowish-gray to brown- — 
ish-red. 
Hitherto the narrative of the important journey 
performed by Humboldt and Bonpland, through — 
those little known but highly interesting regions 
of South America which were visited by them, has 
been given as much in detail as is consistent with : 
the nature of a work like the present; but here, as 
no minute account of their further progress has yet 
been laid before the public, we must cease to follow | 
them step by step, and content ourselves witha 
brief narrative of their proceedings. 
