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forty days sail from Spain. The natives have 

 some confused notions with respect to the exist- 

 ence of this machine, and they would make use 

 of it if they had a model. The quarries whence 

 they draw the clay are half a league to the east 

 of Maniquarez. This clay is produced by the 

 natural decomposition of a mica-slate reddened 

 by oxid of iron. The Indian women prefer the 

 part most abounding in mica ; and with great 

 address fashion vessels two or three feet in 

 diameter, giving them a very regular curve. As 

 they are not acquainted with the use of ovens, 

 they place twigs of desmanthus, cassia, and the 

 arborescent capparis, around the pots, and bake 

 them in the open air. To the east of the quarry 

 that furnishes the clay is the ravine of la Mina. 

 It is asserted that, a short time after the con- 

 quest, some Venetians extracted gold from the 

 mica-slate. It appears, that this metal was not 

 collected in veins of quartz, but was found dis- 

 seminated in the rock, as it is sometimes in gra- 

 nite and gneiss. 



At Maniquarez we met with some Creoles, 

 who had been hunting at Cubagua. Deer of 

 the small breed are so common in this uninha- 

 bited islet, that a single person may kill three or 

 four in a day. I know not by what accident 

 these animals have got thither, for Laet and 

 other chroniclers of these countries, speaking of 

 the foundation of New Cadiz, mention only the 



