123 



rocky island in the lake, the waters of which 

 gradually diminish. We spent seven very 

 agreeable days at the Hacienda de Cura, in a 

 small habitation surrounded by thickets ; for 

 the house itself, situate in a fine sugar planta- 

 tion, was infected with the bubas [ yaws ?~}, a 

 disease of the skin very common among the 

 slaves in these valleys. 



We lived after the manner of the rich in this 

 country; we bathed twice, slept three times, 

 and made three meals in the twenty-four hours. 

 The temperature of the water of the lake is 

 rather warm, being from twenty-four to twenty- 

 five degrees ; but there is another cool and 

 delicious bathing-place, under the shade of 

 ceibas and large zamangs, at Toma, in a torrent 

 gushing from the granitic mountains of the 

 Rincon del Diablo. In entering this bath, w r e 

 had not to fear the sting of insects, but the 

 little brown hairs, that cover the pods of the 

 dolichos pruriens, cowitch. When these small 

 hairs, well characterised by the name of pica- 

 pica, stick to the body, they excite a violent 

 irritation on the skin ; the dart is felt, but the 

 cause is unperceived. 



Near Cura we found all the people occupied in 

 clearing the ground covered with mimosa, ster- 

 culia, and coccoloba excoriata, in order to extend 

 the cultivation of cotton. This product, which 

 partly supplies the place of that of indigo, has 



*■ 



