LANDING AT THE RIO SINU. 267 



the whole of the 23d March not a single cloud was 

 seen in the firmament, although the air and the hori- 

 zon were tinged with a fine red colour ; but towards 

 evening large bluish clouds formed, and when they 

 disappeared, converging bands of fleecy vapours were 

 seen at an immense height. On the 24th they en- 

 tered the kind of gulf bounded by the shores of Santa 

 Martha and Costa Rica, which is frequently agitated 

 by heavy gales. As they advanced towards the 

 coast of Darien the north-east wind increased to a 

 violent degree, and the waves became very rough at 

 night. At sunrise they perceived part of the archi- 

 pelago of St. Bernard, and passing the southern ex- 

 tremity of the Placa de San Bernardo, saw in the 

 distance the mountains of Tigua. The stormy 

 weather and contrary winds induced the master of 

 the vessel to seek shelter in the Rio Sinu, after a 

 passage of sixteen days. 



Landing again on the continent of South America, 

 they betook themselves to the village of Zapote, 

 where they found a great number of sailors, all men 

 of colour, who had descended the Rio Sinu in their 

 barks, carrying maize, bananas, poultry, and other 

 articles, to the port of Carthagena. The boats are 

 flat-bottomed, and the wind having blown violently 

 on the coast for ten days, they were unable to pro- 

 ceed on their voyage. These people fatigued the 

 travellers with idle questions about their books and 

 instruments, and tried to frighten them with stories 

 of boas, vipers, and jaguars. Leaving the shores, 

 which are covered with Rhizophora, they entered a 

 forest remarkable for the great variety of palm- 

 trees which it presented. One of them, the 'Mlais 

 melanococca, is only six feet four inches high, but its 

 spathae contain more than 200,000 flowers, a single 

 specimen furnishing 600,000 at the same time. The 

 kernels of the fruit are peeled in water, and the layer 

 of oil that rises from them, after being purified by 



