88 



superb lobelia* with purple flowers ; the brown- 

 ea coccinea, which is upwards of a hundred feet 

 high ; and above all, the pejoa, celebrated in 

 the country on account of the delightful and 

 aromatic perfume emitted by it's leaves when 

 rubbed between the fingers ^. But what 

 charmed us the most in this solitary place was 

 the beauty and serenity of the nights. The 

 proprietor of the farm prolonged his evenings 

 with us ; he seemed to enjoy the astonish- 

 ment produced on Europeans newly transplant- 

 ed to the tropics by that freshness of the air 

 like spring, which is felt on the mountains after 

 sunset. In those distant climates, where men 

 yet feel the full value of the gifts of nature, a 



phaelis salicifolia, stylosanthes angustifolia, salvia pseudo- 

 coccinea, eryngium faetidum. We found a second time this 

 last plant, but at a considerable height, in the great forests of 

 bark -trees, surrounding the town of Loxa, in the centre of 

 the Cordilleras. 



* Lobelia spectabilis. 



t It is the gualtheria odorata, described by Mr. Willde- 

 nouw (Neue Schriften der. Nat. Freunde, t. iv, p. 218), from 

 specimens that we had given him. The pejoa is found round 

 the lake of Cocollar, which gives birth to the great river Gua- 

 rapiche. We met with the same shrub at the Cuchilla de 

 Guanaguana. If, is a subalpine plant, which, as we shall see 

 very soon, forms at the Silla de Caraccas a zone much higher 

 than in the province of Cumana. The leaves of the pejoa 

 have a more agreeable smell even than those of the myrtus 

 pimenta, but they yield no perfume when rubbed a few 

 hours after their separation from the tree. 



