PE^'IXSULA or AEAYA. 
lU 
*^tan!is), and the stentor or alouate of the steppes of CaraciU! 
(Simla ursina), had been already received. The arrival of so 
p'eat a number of French military officers, and the manifes- 
tation of political and religious opinions not altogether con- 
torinahle with the interests of the governments of Europe, 
^cited singular agitation in the population of Curaana. 
■the governor treated the French authorit ’es with the forms 
m civiiitjr consistent ■svith the friendly relations subsisting at 
that period between France and Spain. In the streets the 
floured people crowded round the agent of the French 
■pirectory, whose dress was rich and theatrical. White men, 
too, with' indiscreet curiositj', whenever they could make 
themselves understood, made enquiries concerning the degree 
01 influence granted by the republic to the colonists in the 
government of Gruadaloupe. The king’s officers doubled their 
i'-eal in furnishing provision for the little squadron. Stran- 
Sors, who boasted that they wore free, appeared to these 
people troublesome guests ; and in a country', of which the 
growing prosperity depended on clandestine coinmimiea- 
■ JOQ tvith the islands, and on a freedom of trade forced from 
le ministry, the European Spaniards extolled the wdsdoin ol 
oe old code of laws (leyes de Indias), which permitted the 
entrance of foreign vessels into their ports only in extreme 
eases of wmnt or distress. These contrasts between the 
lestless desires of the colonists, and the distrustful apathy 
et the government, throw some light on the great political 
®rents which, after long preparation, have separated Spain 
i^olonies. 
th “sain passed a few agreeable days, from the third to 
‘lofiftii of November, at the peninsula of Araya, situated 
^J^.yond the gulf of Cariaeo, opposite to Ciimana.* We 
'ere informed, that the Indians carried to the town from 
j to time considerable quantities of native .alum, found 
the neighbouring mountains. The specimens shewn to 
to indicated, that it w'as neither alunite, similar 
^the rock of Tolfa and Piomhino, nor those capillary 
ne ■ alkaline sulphate of alumina and inag- 
®>a, that line the clefts and cavities of rocks, hut real 
•nd already described the pearls of Araya j its sulphurous deposits. 
, ®“®arine springs of liquid and colourless petroleum. See voL i< 
