RETURN TO CUMANA. 



95 



Its duration does not generally exceed ninety or a 

 hundred years ; at which period its mean height is 

 about eighty feet. Throughout this coast a cocoa- 

 tree supplies annually about a hundred nuts, which 

 yield eight flascoes of oil. The fiasco is sold for 

 about sixteen pence. A great quantity is made at 

 Cumana, and Humboldt frequently witnessed the 

 arrival there of canoes containing 3000 nuts. The 

 oil, which is clear and destitute of smell, is well 

 adapted for burning. 



After sunset they left the farm of Pericautral, and 

 at three in the morning reached the mouth of the 

 Manzanares, after passing a very indifferent night in 

 a narrow and deeply-laden canoe. Having been for 

 several weeks accustomed to mountain scenery, 

 gloomy forests, and rainy weather, they were struck 

 by the barrenness of the soil, the clearness of the 

 sky, and the mass Of reflected light by which the 

 neighbourhood of Cumana is characterized. At sun- 

 rise they saw the zamuro vultures (Vultur aura), 

 perched on the cocoa-trees in large flocks. These 

 birds go to roost long before night, and do not quit 

 their place of repose until after the heat of the solar 

 rays is felt. The same idleness, as it were, is in- 

 dulged by the trees with pinnate leaves, such as the 

 mimosas and tamarinds, which close these organs 

 half an hour before the sun goes down, and unfold 

 them in the morning only after he has been some 

 time visible. In our climates the leguminous plants 

 open their leaves during the morning twilight. Hum- 

 boldt seems to think that the humidity deposited 

 upon the parenchyma by the refrigeration of the 

 foliage, which is the effect of the nocturnal radia- 

 tion, prevents the action of the first rays of the sun 

 ^pon them. 



