311 



satisfied with simply stealing a hat? In an 

 examination he underwent, his answers were so 

 confused and stupid, that it was impossible to 

 clear up our doubts. Most frequently he main- 

 tained, that his intention was not to rob us ; 

 but that, irritated by the bad treatment he had 

 suffered on board the privateer of St. Domingo, 

 he had not been able to resist the desire of 

 doing us mischief, when he heard us speak 

 French. Justice being so slow in this country, 

 that the prisoners, of which the jail is full, re- 

 main seven or eight years without being able to 

 obtain a trial, we learnt with some satisfaction, 

 that a few days after our departure from Cu- 

 mana, the Zambo had succeeded in breaking 

 out of the Castle of St. Antonio. 



In spite of Mr. Bonpland's accident, I was 

 the next day, the 28th of October, at five in the 

 morning, on the terrace of our house, making 

 preparations for the observation of the eclipse. 

 The weather was fine and serene. The crescent 

 of Venus, and the constellation of the Ship, so 

 splendid from the disposition of it's immense 

 nebulae, were lost in the rays of the rising sun. 

 I had the greater reason to congratulate myself 

 on so fine a day, as during several weeks the 

 storms, which had regularly gathered to the 

 south and south-east, two or three hours after 

 the passage of the Sun over the meridian, had 

 prevented rne from regulating the time-keepers 



