flAEBAEOUS EEVEUGB. 
227 
fije miles distant from tlie coast, it is of little service as a 
signal to mariners wlio seek the port of Saint Marta. 
Tidalgo during the whole time of his operations, near the 
shore, could take only one observation ot the Nevados. 
A gloomy vegetation of cactus, Jatropha gossypifolia, 
croton and mimosa, covers the barren declivity of Cerro da 
la Popa. In herbalizing in those wild spots, our guides 
shewed us a thick bush of Acacia cornigera, which had be- 
come celebrated by a deplorable event. Of all the species of 
mimosa the acacia is that which is armed with the sharpest 
thorns ; they are sometimes two inches long ; and being hol- 
low, serve for the habitation of ants of an extraordinary size 
A woman, amroyed by the jealousy and well founded re 
proaches of her husband, conceived a project of the most 
barbarous vengeance. "With the assistance of her lover she 
bound her husband with cords, and threw him, at night, 
into a bush of Mimosa cornigera. The more violently he 
struggled, the more the sharp woody thorns of the tree tore 
bis skin. His cries were heard by persons who were passing, 
and he was found after several hours of suffering, covered 
with blood, and dreadfully stung by the ants. This crime is 
perhaps without example in the history of human turpitude : 
it indicates a violence of passion less assignable to the 
climate than to the barbarism of manners prevailing among 
the lower class of the people. 
My most important occupation at Carthagena was tlio 
comparison of my observations with the astronomical posi- 
tions, fixed by the officers of tho expedition of lidalgo. 
In the year 1783 (under tho ministry of M. I' aides), 
Hon Josef Espinosa, Don Dionisio Galiano, and Don J oset 
do Lanz, proposed to the Spanish government a plan for 
taking a survey of the coast of America, in order to extend 
the atlas of Tofino to the western colonies. The plan was 
approved ; but it was not till 1792, that an expedition was 
fitted out at Cadiz, and they were enabled to commence 
their scientific operations at the island of Trinidad. 
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