lOi 
FBAY JUAN GONZALES. 
but whenever the clergy were dissatisfied wdth the inhabi- 
tants of the new city, the Virgin fled at night, and returned 
to the trunk of the tree at the nioutli of the river. This 
miracle did not cease, till a fine convent (the college of the 
Propaganda) was built, to receive the Franciscans. In a 
similar case, the Bishop of Caracas caused the image of Our 
Lady de los Valencianos to be placed in the archives of the 
bishopric, where she remained thirty years under seal. 
The climate of Barcelona is not so hot as that of Cumana, 
but it is extremely damp, and somewhat unhealtliy in the 
rainy season. M. Bonpland had borne very well thc'irksomo 
journey across the Llanos; and had recovered his strength 
.and activity. With respect to myself, I suffered more at 
Barcelona than I did at Angostura, immediately after our 
passage on the rivers. One of those extraordinary tropical 
rains, during which, at sunset, drops of enormous size fall at 
great distances from one another, caused me to experience 
sensations which seemed to tliroaten an attack of typhus, a 
disease then prevalent on that coast. We remained nearly 
a month at Barcelona, where we found our friend Fray Juaii 
Gonzales, of whom I have often spoken, and who had tra- 
versed the Upper Orinoco before us. He expressed regret that 
we had not been able to prolong our visit to that unknown 
country; and he examined our plants and animals witii 
that interest which must be felt by even the most uninformed 
man for the productions of a region he has long since visited. 
Fray Juan had resolved to go to Europe, and to accompany' 
us as far as the island of Cuba. We were together for thi: 
space of seven months, and his society was most agreeable: 
ho was cheerful, intelligent, and obliging. How little did we 
anticipate the sad fate that awaited liim. He took charge of 
a part of our collections ; and a friend of his own eoutided 
to his care a child, who was to be conveyed to Spain for its 
education. Alas ! the collection, the child, and the young 
ecclesiastic, were all burled in the waves. 
South-east of Nueva Barcelona, at the distance of two 
leagues, there rises a lofty chain of mountains, abutting on 
the Cerro del Bergantin, which is visible at Cumana. Tliis 
spot is known by the name of “the hot waters,” (aguas ca- 
hentes). When 1 felt my health sufficiently restored, we 
