268 



than that of the Indian tiger. We vainly repre- 

 sented to our guide, that those animals did not 

 attack men, on coasts where the goats furnished 

 them with abundant food ; we were obliged to 

 yield, and return. After having proceeded three 

 quarters of an hour along a shore covered by the 

 tide, we were joined by the negro, who carried 

 our provision. Uneasy at not seeing us arrive, 

 he was come to meet us, and led us across a 

 wood of nopals to a hut inhabited by an'Indian 

 family. We were received with that cordial 

 hospitality, which is met with in this country 

 among people of every tribe. The hut in which 

 we slung our hammocks was very clean ; and 

 there we found fish, plantains, and what in the 

 torrid zone is preferable to the most sumptuous 

 food, excellent water. 



The next day at sunrise, we found, that the 

 hut in which we had passed the night formed 

 part of a group of small dwellings on the borders 

 of the salt lake, the remains of a considerable 

 village which had formerly stood near the castle. 

 The ruins of a church appeared buried in the 

 sand, and covered with brushwood. When in 

 1765, to save the expence of the garrison, the 

 castle of Araya was totally dismantled, the In- 

 dians and Mulattoes, who were settled in the 

 neighbourhood, emigrated by degrees to reside 

 at Maniquarez, at Cariaco, and in the suburb of 

 the Guayquerias at Cumana. A small number, 



