INTENSE HEAT PARARTJMA. 



197 



amid this apparent silence, should one listen atten- 

 tively, he hears a stifled sound, a continued murmur, 

 a hum of insects, that fill the lower strata of the air. 

 Nothing is more adapted to excite in man a senti- 

 ment of the extent and power of organic life. My- 

 riads of insects crawl on the ground, and flutter 

 round the plants scorched by the heat of the sun. 

 A confused noise issues from every bush, from the 

 decayed trunks of the trees, the fissures of the rocks, 

 and from the ground, which is undermined by lizards, 

 millipedes, and blindworms. It is a voice proclaim- 

 ing to us that all nature breathes, that under a thou- 

 sand different forms life is diffused in the cracked 

 and dusty soil, as in the bosom of the waters, and in 

 the air that circulates around us. The water of the 

 river was very disagreeable here, as it had a musky 

 smell and a sweetish taste. In some parts it was 

 pretty good ; but in others it seemed loaded with 

 gelatinous matter, which the natives attribute to pu- 

 trified crocodiles." 



After sleeping at the foot of an eminence they 

 continued their voyage, and passed the mouths of 

 several rivers ; and on the 9th arrived, early in the 

 morning, at the beach of Pararuma, where they 

 found an encampment of Indians, who had assem- 

 bled to search the sands for turtles' eggs. The pilot, 

 who had brought them from San Fernando de Apure, 

 would not undertake to accompany them farther; 

 but they procured a boat from one of the mission- 

 aries who had come to the egg-harvest. 



This assemblage or encampment afforded to the 

 travellers an interesting subject of study. " How 

 difficult," says Humboldt, " to recognise in this in- 

 fancy of society, this collection of dull, taciturn, and 

 unimpassioned Indians, the original character of our 

 species ! Human nature is not seen here arrayed 

 in that gentle simplicity of which poets in every 

 language have drawn such enchanting pictures. 

 The savage of the Orinoco appeared to us as hideous 

 R2 



