201i 
BOAD TO UUMAirACOi. 
vigour of character and that natural vivacity which in every 
(state of society are the noble fruits of independence. By 
subjecting to invariable rules even the slightest actions of 
their domestic life, they have been rendered stupid by the 
effort to render them obedient. Their subsistence ‘is in 
general more certain, and their habits more pacific, but sub- 
ject to the constraint and the dull monotony of the govern- 
ment of the Missions, they show by their gloomy and reserved 
looks that they have not sacrificed their liberty to their repose 
without regret. 
On the 4th of September, at five in the morning, we 
began our journey to the Missions of the Chayma Indians 
and the group of lofty mountains which traverse New 
Andalusia. On account of the extreme difficulties of the 
road, we had been advised to reduce our bag cr a nr e to a verv 
small bulk. Two beasts of burden were sufficient to carry 
our provision, our instruments, and the paper necessary to 
dry our plants. One chest contained a sextant, a dipping- 
needle, an apparatus to determine the magnetic variation, °a 
few thermometers, and Saussure’s hygrometer. The greatest 
changes in the pressure of the air 'in these climates, on the 
coasts, amount only to 1—1'3 of a line ; and if at any given 
hour or place the height of the mercury be once marked, the 
variations which that height experiences throughout ' the 
whole year, at every hour of the dav or uight, may with 
some accuracy be determined. 
The morning was deliciously cool. The road, or rather 
path, which leads to Cumanacon, runs along the right bank 
ot the Manzanares, passing by the hospital of the Capuchins, 
situated m a small wood of lignum-vitie aud arborescent 
cappans * _ On leaving Cuinana we enjoyed during the short 
duration ot the twilight, from the top of the bill of San Fran- 
cisco an extensive view over the sea, the plain covered with 
beraf and its golden flowers, and the mountains of the 
Brigantine. IV e were struck by the great proximity in 
* These caper-trees are called in the country, by the names pachaca, 
" 'VO- and a J ,to = th V>' a !' e t! ' c Ca l'l’ a ' is tcnuisiliqno, Jacq., C. ferruginea 
C. emargmata, C. elliptic;., C. reticulata, C. racemosa. 
+ Palo sano, Zygophyllum arboreum, Jacq. The flowers have the 
smell of vanilla, it is cultivated in the gardens of the Havannah uater 
the strange name ot the dictanno real (royal dittany). 
