114 



ISLAND OF BORACHA. 



the effect of mirage. Their height, which is prob- 

 ably not more than 960 feet, seemed much greater 

 when enlightened by the moon, which now shone in 

 a clear sky. The travellers were becalmed in the 

 neighbourhood of these islands, and at sunrise drifted 

 towards Boracha, the largest of them. The temper- 

 ature had sensibly increased, in consequence of the 

 rocks giving out by radiation a portion of the heat 

 which they had absorbed during the day. As the 

 sun rose, the cliffs projected their lengthened shad- 

 ows on the ocean, and the flamingoes began to fish 

 in the creeks. The insular spots were all uninhab- 

 ited ; but on one of them, which had formerly been 

 the residence of a family of whites, there were wild 

 goats of a large size and brown colour. The inhab- 

 itants had cultivated maize and cassava; but the 

 father, after the death of his children, having pur- 

 chased two black slaves, was murdered by them 

 One of the assassins subsequently informed against 

 his accomplice, and at the time of Humboldt's visit 

 was hangman at Cumana. 



Proceeding onwards, they anchored for some 

 hours in the road of New-Barcelona, at the mouth 

 of the river Neveri, which is full of crocodiles. 

 These animals, especially in calm weather, occa 

 sionally make excursions into the open sea, — a fact 

 which is interesting to geologists, on account of the 

 mixture of marine and fresh water organic remains 

 that are occasionally observed in some of the more 

 recent deposites. The port of Barcelona had at 

 that time a very active commerce, arising from the 

 demand in the West Indies for salted provision, 

 oxen, mules, and horses ; the merchants of the Ha- 

 vana being the principal purchasers. Its situa- 

 tion is extremely favourable for this exportation, 

 the animals arriving in three days from the Llanos, 

 while they take more than double that time to reach 

 Cumana, on account of the chain of mountains which 

 they have to cross. Eight thousand mules were 



