*64 
EARTHQUAKES. 
ordinary in a country not volcanic, is pretty frequent in the 
Alpine calcareous mountains near Cumanacoa, in the valley 
of Bordones, in the island of Margareta, and amidst the 
Llanos or savannahs of New Andalusia. In these savan- 
nahs, flakes of fire rising to a considerable height, are seen 
for hours together in the dry est places ; and it is asserted, 
that, on examining the ground no crevice is perceptible. This 
fire, which resembles the springs of hydrogen, or Salse, of 
Modena, or what is called the will-o’-the-wisp of our 
marshes, does not bum the grass ; because, no doubt, the 
column of gas, which dcvelopes itself, is mixed with azote 
and carbonic acid, and does not bum at its basis. The 
people, although loss superstitious here than in Spain, call 
these reddish flames by the singular name of ' the soul of 
the tyrant Aguirre;’ imagining that the spectre of Lopez 
Aguirre, harassed by remorse, wanders over these countries 
sullied by his crimes.* 
The great earthquake of 1797 produced some changes 
in the configuration of the shoal of Morro Eoxo, towards 
the mouth of the Eio Bordones. Similar swellings were 
observed at the time of the total destruction of Cumana, in 
1766. At that period, the Punta Delgado, on the southern 
coast of the gulf of Cariaeo, became perceptibly enlarged; and 
in the Eio Guarapiche, near the village of Maturin, a shoal 
was formed, no doubt by the action of the elastic fluids, 
which displaced and raised up the bed of the river. 
In order to follow a plan conformable to the end we pro- 
posed in this work, we shall endeavour to generalize our 
ideas, and to comprehend in one point of view everything 
that relates to these phenomena, so terrific, and so difficult 
to explain. If it be the duty of the men of science who 
visit the Alps of Switzerland, or the coasts of Lanland, 
to extend our knowledge respecting the glaciers and the 
aurora borealis, it may be expected that a traveller who 
* When at Cumana, or in the island of Margareta, the people pro- 
nounce the words el tirano (the tyrant), it is always to denote the hated 
Lopez d’Aguirre, who, after having taken part, in 1560, in the revolt of 
Fernando de Guzman against Pedro de Ursua, governor of the Omeguas 
and Dorado, voluntarily took the title of traidar, or traitor. He descended 
the river Amazon with his band, and reached by a communication of tha 
rivers of Guyana the island of Margareta. The’ port of Paraguache still 
oears. in tiiis island, the name of the Tyrant's Port. 
