f 



43 



choly reveries, and the contemplative life of 

 missionaries. Though extremely busy about a 

 cow. which was to be killed the next day, the 

 old monk received us with kindness, and per- 

 mitted us to hang up our hammocks in a gal- 

 lery of his house. Seated, without doing any 

 thing, the greater part of the day, in an arm 

 chair of red wood, he bitterly complained of 

 what he called the indolence and ignorance of 

 his countrymen. He asked a thousand ques- 

 tions on the real object of our journey, which 

 appeared to him hazardous, and at all events 

 useless. Here, as at Oroonoko, we were fatigued 

 by that restless curiosity, which the Europeans 

 preserve in the forests of America, respecting 

 the wars and political convulsions of the Old 

 World. 



Our missionary, however, seemed well satis- 

 fied with his situation. He treated the Indians 

 with mildness ; he beheld his Mission prosper, 

 and he praised with enthusiasm the waters, the 

 bananas, and the dairy produce of the canton. 

 The sight of our instruments, our books, and 

 our dried plants, drew from him a sarcastic 

 smile ; and he acknowledged, with the naivete 

 peculiar to those climates, that of all the enjoy- 

 ments of life, without excepting sleep, none was 

 comparable to the pleasure of eating good beef 

 (came de vacca) ; so true it is, that sensuality 

 obtains an ascendency, where there is no occu- 



