491 



weighing half a quintal, and of which the greater 

 part is destroyed by men. In general nature 

 multiplies less the great species of animals than 

 the small. 



The labours of collecting the eggs, and pre- 

 paring the oil, last three weeks. It is at this 

 period only, that the missionaries have any com- 

 munication with the coast, and the civilized 

 neighbouring countries. The monks of St. Fran- 

 cis, who live South of the cataracts, come to the 

 harvest of eggs less to procure oil, than to see, 

 as they say, " white faces and to learn, " whe- 

 ther the king inhabits the Escurial or Saint 

 Ildefonso, whether the convents remain sup- 

 pressed in France, and above all whether the 

 Turks continue to keep quiet." These are the 

 only subjects, that are interesting to a monk of 

 the Oroonoko, and on which the little traders of 

 Angostura, who visit the encampments, can give 

 no very exact notions. In those distant coun- 

 tries no doubt is ever entertained of the news 

 brought by a white man from the capital. To 

 doubt is almost to reason ; and how can it be 

 otherwise than irksome to exercise the under- 

 standing, where people pass their lives in com- 

 plaining of the heat of the climate, and the sting- 

 ing of moschettoes ? The profit of the traders 

 in oil amounts to seventy or eighty per cent ; 

 for the Indians sell it them at the price o£ a 

 piastre a jar or hotija, and the expense of car- 



