194 
INDIAN APATHY. 
hare so little brilliancy,* whilst, on the Spaniards arrival, 
they were extremely beautiful, though the Indians doubtless 
had not taken the trouble of diviug to collect them. The 
problem is so much the more difficult to solve, as we know 
not whether earthquakes may have altered the nature of the 
bottom of the sea, or whether the changes of the submarine 
currents may have had an influence either on the tempera- 
ture of the water, or on the abundance of certain mollusea on 
which the Aronde feeds. 
On the morning of the 20th our host’s son, a young and 
very robust Indian, conducted us by the way of Barigon and 
Caney to the village of Maniquarez, which was four hours’ 
walk. From the effect of the reverberation of the sands, the 
thermometer kept up to 31° 3'. The cyliudric cactus, which 
bordered the road, gave the landscape an appearance of ver- 
dure, without affording either coolness or shade. Before 
our guide had walked a league, he began to sit down every 
moment, and at length he wished to repose under the shade 
of a fine tamarind tree near Casas de la Yela, to await 
the approach of night. This characteristic trait, which 
we observed every time we travelled with Indians, has 
given rise to very erroneous ideas of the physical consti- 
tutions of the different races of men. The copper-coloured 
native, more accustomed to the burning heat of the climate, 
than the European traveller, complains more, because he is 
stimulated by no interest. Money is without attraction for 
him ; and if he permits himself to be tempted by gain for a 
moment, he repents of his resolution as soon as he is on the 
road. The same Indian, who would complain, when in her- 
borizing we loaded him with a box iilled with plants, would 
row his canoe fourteen or fifteen hours together, against the 
strongest current, because he wished to return to his family. 
In order to form a true judgment of the muscular strengh of 
the people, we should observe them in circumstances where 
their actions are determined by a necessity and a will equally 
energetic. 
We examined the ruins of Santiago,! the structure of 
* The inhabitants of Araya sometimes sell these small pearls to the 
retail dealers of Cumana. The ordinary price is one piastre per dozen. 
t On the map accompanying Robertson’s History of America, we 
find the name of this cast!* confounded with that of Nueva Cordoba. 
