A BREAKFAST PARTY. 175 



my friend, Senor Rovera, which he had 

 kindly lent me for the occasion. All the com- 

 pany being assembled, I distributed plans of 

 the Lagoon, and calculations of the expense 

 of clearing it by a syphon, and the time ne- 

 cessary for doing it. A boy, whom I had 

 previously instructed, was then ordered to 

 draw out the air from the syphon, which, 

 however, he failed to effect; when many 

 called out, I told you it could not be 

 done ; how is it possible that a crooked 

 tube can convey water from one vessel to 

 another?" I now found them so inclined 

 to raise a laugh at my expense, that I 

 went down into the court-yard, and suc- 

 ceeded in extracting the air, on which the 

 water flowed briskly from one vessel to 

 the other. Many would hardly believe it, 

 and made me repeat the experiment more 

 than once, and were scarcely satisfied with 

 the explanation I gave them, of the natural 

 cause of the action of the syphon. Guata- 



