g 



general of the province, recommendations from 

 the bishops and the guardian of the missions 

 of the Oroonoko. From the coasts of New 

 California to Valdivia and the mouth of the Rio 

 de la Plata, a space of two thousand leagues, 

 every difficulty of a long journey by land may 

 be surmounted, if the traveller enjoy the pro- 

 tection of the American clergy. The power 

 which this body exercises in the state is too well 

 established, to be soon shaken by a new order 

 of things. Our host could scarcely comprehend, 

 " how natives of the north of Europe could 

 arrive at his dwelling from the frontiers of Bra- 

 zil by the Rio Negro, and not by way of the 

 coast of Cumana." He behaved to us how- 

 ever in the most affable manner, and showed a 

 curiosity somewhat importunate respecting us, 

 which the appearance of a stranger, who is not 

 a Spaniard, always excites in South America. 

 The minerals, which we had collected, must 

 contain gold ; the plants, dried with so much care, 

 must be medicinal. Here, as in many parts of 

 Europe, the sciences are thought worthy to oc- 

 cupy the mind only so far as they confer some 

 solid benefit on society. 



We found more than five hundred Caribbees 

 in the village of Cari ; and saw many others in 

 the surrounding missions. It is curious to ob- 

 serve a nomade people, recently attached to the 

 soil, and differing from all the other Indians in 



