62 



EARTHQUAKES. 



in the river, smoking cigars and chatting on the 

 usual subjects of conversation, such as the extreme 

 drought, the abundance of rain in the neighbouring 

 districts, and the female luxury which prevails in 

 Caraccas and Havana. The company were not 

 disturbed by the bavas, or small crocodiles, which 

 are only three or four feet lonor, and are now ex- 

 tremely rare. Humboldt and his companions did 

 not meet with any of them in the Manzanares ; but 

 they saw plenty of dolphins, which sometimes as- 

 cended the river at night, and frightened the bathers 

 by spouting water from their nostrils. 



The port of Cumana is capable of receiving all 

 the navies of Europe ; and the whole of the Gulf of 

 Cariaco, which is forty-two miles long, and from 

 seven to nine miles broad, affords excellent anchor- 

 age. The hurricanes of the West Indies are never 

 experienced on these coasts, where the sea is con- 

 stantly smooth, or only slightly agitated by an east- 

 erly wind. The sky is often bright along the shores, 

 while stormy clouds are seen to gather among the 

 mountains. Thus, as at the foot of the Andes, on the 

 western side of the continent, the extremes of clear 

 weather and fogs, of drought and heavy rain, of ab- 

 solute nakedness and perpetual verdure, present 

 themselves on the coasts of New-Andalusia. 



The same analogy exists as to earthquakes, which 

 are frequent and violent at Cumana. It is a gene- 

 rally received opinion that the Gulf of Cariaco owed 

 its existence to a rent of the continent, the remem- 

 brance of which was fresh in the minds of the na- 

 tives at the time of Columbus's third voyage. In 

 1530 the coasts of Paria and Cumana were agitated 

 by shocks ; and towards the end of the sixteenth 

 century, earthquakes and inundations very often oc- 

 curred" On the 21st October, 1766, the city of Cu- 

 mana was entirely destroyed in the space of a few 

 minutes. The earth opened in several parts of the 

 province, and emitted sulphureous waters. During 



