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at Cumana, where the sky is generally clear 

 and serene. We had not sufficient time to 

 reach the banks of the Oroonoko ; and the high 

 vallies of Caraccas promised less favourable 

 opportunities, on account of the vapours that 

 accumulate around the neighbouring moun- 

 tains. In fixing with precision the longitude of 

 Cumana, I had a point of departure for the 

 chronometrical determination of longitudes on 

 which alone I could depend, when I did not 

 stop long enough to take lunar distances, or ob- 

 serve* be satellites of Jupiter. 



I found myself however near being compelled 

 by a fatal accident, to renounce, or at least to 

 delay for a long time, my journey to the Oroo- 

 noko. On the 27th of October, the day before 

 the eclipse, we went as usual, to take the air, 

 on the border of the Gulf, and to observe the 

 instant of high water, which in those parts is 

 only twelve or thirteen inches. It was eight in 

 the evening, and the breeze did not yet blow. 

 The sky was cloudy ; and during a dead calm 

 it was excessively hot. We crossed the beach, 

 which separates the suburb of the Guayqueria 

 Indians from the landing place. I heard some 

 one walking behind be, and on turning, I saw 

 a tall man of the colour of the Zamboes, naked 

 to the waist. He held almost over my head 

 a macana, a great stick of palm-tree wood, en- 

 larged toward the end like a club. I avoided 



