lii 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 



governor. Nothing could surpass the hospitality of 

 the principal inhabitants. They never seemed satis- 

 fied unless we were partaking of the dainties which 

 their houses afforded. Indeed, we had feasting, 

 dancing, and music, in superabundance. The go- 

 vernor, Don Felipe de Ynciarte, was tall and corpu- 

 lent. On our first introduction, he told me that he 

 expected the pleasure of our company to dinner 

 every day during our stay in Angustura. We had 

 certainly every reason to entertain very high notions 

 of the plentiful supply of good things which the 

 Orinoco afforded ; for, at the first day's dinner, we 

 counted no less than forty dishes of fish and flesh. 



The governor was superbly attired in full uniform 

 of gold and blue ; the weight of which alone, in that 

 hot climate, and at such a repast, was enough to 

 have melted him down. He had not got half through 

 his soup, before he began visibly to liquefy. I looked 

 at him, and bethought me of the old saying, " How 

 I sweat ! said the mutton chop to the gridiron." He 

 now became exceedingly uneasy ; and I myself had 

 cause for alarm ; but our sensations arose from very- 

 different causes. He, no doubt, already felt that the 

 tightness of his uniform^ and the weight of the orna- 

 ments upon it, would never allow him to get through 

 that day's dinner with any degree of comfort to 

 himself. I, on the other hand (who would have been 

 amply satisfied with one dish well done), was horri- 

 fied at the appalling sight of so many meats before 

 me. Good breeding whispered to me, and said, " Try 

 a little of most of them." Temperance replied, " Do 

 so at your peril : and, for your over-strained courtesy, 



