511 



Europe for thirty years past have not yet been 

 heard of, a lively interest is still preserved for 

 what is called el alboroto de los frailes (the 

 sedition of the monks). In this country, as in 

 the East, no conception is formed of any other 

 revolutions than those that are made by the 

 governors themselves ; and we have just seen^ 

 that the effects are not very alarming. 



If the villa of Esmeralda, with a population of 

 twelve or fifteen families, be at present consider- 

 ed as a frightful abode, this must be attributed 

 to the want of cultivation, the distance from 

 every other inhabited country, and the excessive 

 quantity of moschettoes. The site of the mis- 

 sion is highly picturesque ; the surrounding 

 country is lovely, and of great fertility. I never 

 saw clusters of plaintains of so large a size as 

 these; and indigo, sugar, and cacao might be pro- 

 duced in abundance, if any trouble were taken for 

 their cultivation. TheCerroDuidais surrounded 

 with fine pasturage; and, if the Observatins of 

 the college of Pi ritu partook a little of the indus- 

 try of the Catalonian Capuchins settled on the 

 banks of the Carony, numerous herds would be 

 seen wandering between the Cunucunumo and 

 the Padamo. In the present state of things, not 

 a cow or a horse is to be found ; and the inha- 

 bitants, victims of their own indolence, are often 

 reduced to eat hams of alouate monkeys, and 

 flour of the bones of fish, of which I shall have 



