82 



TXEW FROM THE COCOLLAR. 



convent of Caripe, the principal station of the Chay- 

 ma missions, choosing, instead of the direct road, 

 the line of the mountains Cocollar and Turimiquiri. 

 At the Hato de Cocollar, a solitary farm situated on 

 a small elevated plain, they rested for some time, 

 and had the good fortune to enjoy at once a delight- 

 ful climate and the hospitality of the proprietor. 

 From this elevated point, as far as the eye could 

 reach, they saw only naked savannas, although in 

 the neighbouring valleys they found tufts of scat- 

 tered trees, and a profusion of beautiful flowers. 

 The upper part of the mountain was destitute of 

 wood, though covered with gramineous plants — a 

 circumstance which Humboldt attributes more to 

 the custom of burning the forests than to the eleva- 

 tion of the ground, which is not sufficient to prevent 

 the growth of trees. 



Their host, Don Mathias Yturburi, a native of 

 Biscay, had visited the New World with an expedi- 

 tion, the object of which was to form establishments 

 for procuring timber for the Spanish navy. But 

 these natives of a colder climate were unable to sup- 

 port the fatigue of so laborious an occupation, the 

 heat, and the effect of noxious vapours. Destruc- 

 tive fevers carried off most of the party, when this 

 individual withdrew from the coast, and settling on 

 the Cocollar, became the undisturbed possessor of 

 five leagues of savannas, among which he enjoyed 

 independence and health. 



"Nothing," says Humboldt, " can be compared to 

 the impression of the majestic tranquillity left on 

 the mind by the view of the firmament in this soli- 

 tary place. Following with the eye, at evening- 

 tide, those meadows which stretch along the hori- 

 zon, and the gently-undulated plain covered with 

 plants, we thought we saw in the distance, as in the 

 deserts of the Orinoco, the surface of the ocean 

 supporting the starry vault of heaven. The tree 

 under which we were seated, the luminous insects 



