SHARKS LA GUAYRA. 



119 



rains and inundations. The former he describes as 

 rather a road than a port, the sea being always agi- 

 tated, and ships suffering from the action of the wind, 

 the tideways, the bad anchorage, and the worms. 

 The lading is taken in with difficulty. The free mu- 

 lattoes and negroes, who carry the cocoa on board 

 the ships, are remarkable for their strength. They 

 go through the water up to their middles, although 

 this place abounds in sharks, from which, however, 

 they have in reality nothing to dread. It is singular, 

 that while these animals are dangerous and blood- 

 thirsty at the island opposite the coast of Caraccas, 

 at the Roques, at Buenos Ayres, and at Curassao, 

 they do not disturb persons swimming in the ports 

 of Guayra and Santa Martha. As an analogous fact, 

 Humboldt mentions that the crocodiles of one pool 

 in the Llanos are cowardly, while those of another 

 attack with the greatest fierceness. 



The situation of La Guayra resembles that of 

 Santa Cruz in Teneriffe ; the houses, which are built 

 on a flat piece of ground about 640 feet broad, being 

 backed by a wall of rock, beyond which is a chain 

 of mountains. The town consists of two parallel 

 streets, and contains 6000 or 8000 inhabitants. The 

 heat is greater than even at Cumana, Porto Cabello, 

 or Coro, the Seabreeze being less felt, and the tem- 

 perature being increased by the radiant caloric emitted 

 by the rocks after sunset. 



The examination of the thermometrical observa- 

 tions made at La Guayra during nine months by 

 Don Joseph Herrera enabled Humboldt to compare 

 the climate of that port with those of Cumana, 

 Havana, and Vera Cruz. The result of this com- 

 parison was, that the first mentioned is one of the 

 hottest places on the globe ; that the quantity of heat 

 which it receives in the course of a year is a little 

 greater than that experienced at Cumana ; but that 

 in November, December, and January, the atmo- 

 sphere cools to a lower point. The mean temperature 



