513 



Ocumare, behind which begins the unknown 

 world of the Oroonoko and Amazonia, a thick fog 

 rose from the plains to the elevated regions. 

 It first filled the bottom of the valley of Carac- 

 cas. The vapours, illumined from above, pre- 

 sented a uniform tint of a milky white. The 

 valley appeared full of water : it seemed to be 

 an arm of the sea, of which the adjacent moun- 

 tains formed the steep shore. In vain we wait- 

 ed for the slave, who carried the great sextant 

 of Ramsden. I was obliged to avail myself of 

 the present state of the sky, and I resolved to 

 take a few altitudes of the Sun with a sextant 

 by Troughton of two inches radius. The disk, 

 of the Sun was half concealed by the mist. 

 The difference of longitude between the quar- 

 ter of the Trinidad and the eastern peak of the 

 Silia appears scarcely to exceed 0° 3' 22" * • 



While, seated on the rock, I was employed 

 in determining the dip of the needle, I found 

 my hands covered with a species of hairy bee, 

 a little smaller than the honey bee of the north 

 of Europe. These insects make their nests in 

 the ground. They seldom fly ; and, from the 

 slowness of their movements, I should have be- 

 lieved they were benumbed by the cold of the 

 mountains. The people, in these regions, call 



* The difference of longitude between the Silla and JL* 

 Guayra, according to Mr. Fidalgo, is 0° 6' 4C', 

 VOL. III. 2 L 



