243 



some plantations, or charas, we saw bonfires 

 kindled by the negroes ; a light and undulating 

 smoke rose to the tops of the palm trees, and 

 gave a reddish color to the disk of the Moon. 

 It was on a Sunday night, and the slaves were 

 dancing to the noisy and monotonous music of 

 the guitar. The people of Africa, of negro race, 

 have an inexhaustible store of activity and gay- 

 ety in their character. After having passed 

 through the painful labours of the week, the 

 slaves, on days of festival, prefer the sounds of 

 music, and the dance, to listless sleep. Let us 

 not blame this mixture of carelessness and levity, 

 which softens the bitterness of a life full of pains 

 and sorrows ! 



The bark in which we passed the Gulf of Ca- 

 riaco was very spacious. Large skins of the 

 jaguar, or American tiger, were spread for our 

 repose during the night. We had scarcely been 

 two months under the torrid zone, and our or- 

 gans were already become so sensible to the 

 smallest variation of temperature, that the cold 

 prevented us from sleeping ; while to our sur- 

 prise we saw that the centigrade thermometer 

 was as high as 21*8°. This observation, well 

 known to those who have lived a long time in 

 the Indies, is worthy the attention of physiolo- 

 gists. Bouguer relates, that, when he reached 

 the summit of Montagne Pelee, in the island of 

 Martinico, he and his companion shook with 



