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run against the wind, stopping from time to 

 time as if they were exploring space ; they follow 

 less the impressions of sight than of smell; and 

 at length announce by prolonged neighings, 

 that there is water in the direction of their 

 course. All these movements are executed 

 more promptly, and with readier success, by 

 horses born in the Llanos, and which have long 

 enjoyed their liberty in wandering troops, than 

 by those that come from the coast, and descend 

 from domestic horses. In animals for the most 

 part, as in man, the quickness of the senses is 

 diminished by long subjection, and by the habits 

 that arise from stability of abode, and the pro- 

 gress of cultivation. 



We followed our mules in search of one of 

 those pools, whence the muddy water was 

 drawn, that had so ill quenched our thirst. 

 We were covered with dust, and tanned by the 

 sandy wind, which burns the skin still more 

 than the rays of the Sun. We longed impa- 

 tiently to take a bath, but we found only a great 

 reservoir of feculent water, surrounded with 

 palm-trees. The water was turbid, though, to 

 our great astonishment, a little cooler than the 

 air. Accustomed during our long journey to 

 bathe whenever we had an opportunity, often 

 several times in the same day, we hastened to 

 plunge into the pool. We had scarcely begun 

 to enjoy the coolness of the bath, when a noise, 



