by which M. Pozo saw it go out." Enormous boas or water-serpents are often found by the Indians in the same lethargic state.

On the 25th of March, the travellers crossed the smoothest part of the plains of Caraccas, the Mesa de Pavones, on which not a single object fifteen inches high could be discovered, with the exception of the cattle which they met in large herds. On the 27th they reached the Villa de San Fernando, on the river Apure, where their journey across the Llanos ended.

The town of San Fernando, the capital of the missions of the Capuchins, in the province of Varinas, was founded in 1789, or little more than ten years before the visit of our travellers. It is advantageously situated on the Apure (a tributary of the Orinoco), near the mouth of another stream which traverses the whole of Varinas; and thus all the productions of the province pass through it on their way to the coast. The place is remarkable for the excessive heat which prevails there during the greater part of the year. The temperature of the white sand on the shores, when exposed to the sun, was 106° at two o'clock in the afternoon; eighteen inches above the sand the thermometer stood at 109°, and at six feet above it, nearly 102°. In the shade it was at 97°. Yet high as these temperatures were, an increase of five degrees ensued when the wind began to blow.

The Apure, like other streams in South America, swells during the rainy season, so as to overflow its banks, and inundate a vast extent of the adjoining level. At this period the savannahs are covered with water twelve or fourteen feet deep; the country presents the appearance of a vast lake, with the scattered villages and farm-houses rising in it on islands scarcely

Commerce is then very

elevated above its surface. active; the inhabitants cross the flats in their boats, instead of ascending the rivers, and by so doing avoid the strong currents, and escape the danger to which the trees carried down the streams would expose them. Great numbers of horses, mules, and cows perish before they have time to reach the higher grounds; and their carcases furnish an abundant repast to the zamuros, or carrion vultures, which have "the name of Pharaoh's chickens, and render the same service to the inhabitants of the Llanos, as the vultur percnopterus to the inhabitants of Egypt." The mares, followed by their colts, may be seen swimming about and feeding on the grass, the top of which alone rises above the water. In this state they are pursued by the crocodiles, and those which are fortunate enough to escape destruction, often bear the prints of the teeth of these carnivorous reptiles *.

* Dr. Southey, in his History of Brazil, relates an extremely interesting anecdote, which may be here introduced from its reference to the swelling of the South American rivers. In the sixteenth century, when the Jesuit missionaries, despising toil and danger, penetrated into Paraguay for the conversion of the Indians, Ortega, one of the most active, was in the habit of making long journeys among the native tribes, accompanied by a few converts. "In one of these excursions Ortega was caught by a sudden flood between two rivers; both overflowed, and presently the whole plain had the appearance of one boundless lake. The missionary, and the party of neophytes who accompanied him, were used to inconveniences of this kind, and thought to escape as heretofore, with marching mid-deep in water; but the waters continued to rise, and compelled them to take to the trees for safety. The storm increased, the rain continued, and the inundation augmented; and, among the beasts and reptiles whom the waters had surprised, one of the huge American serpents approached the tree upon which Ortega and his catechist had taken refuge, and, coiling round one of the branches, began to ascend, while they fully expected to be devoured, having neither means of escape nor of defence; the branch by which he sought to lift himself broke under his weight, and the monster swam off. But though they were thus delivered from this danger, their situation was

"We cannot reflect," says Humboldt, " on the effects of these inundations, without admiring the prodigious pliability of the organization of the animals that man has subjected to his sway. In Greenland the dog eats the refuse of the fisheries; and, when fish are wanting, feeds on sea-weed. The ass, and the horse, originally natives of the cold and barren plains of Upper Asia, follow man to the New World, return to the savage state, and lead a restless and painful life in the burning climate of the tropics. Pressed alternately by excess of drought and of humidity, they sometimes seek a pool in the midst of a bare and a dusty soil, to quench their thirst; and at other times flee from water, and the overflowing rivers, as menaced by an enemy that threatens them on all sides. Harassed during the day by gad-flies and moschettoes, the horses, mules and cows find themselves attacked at night by enormous bats, that fasten on their backs, and cause wounds that become dangerous, because they are filled with ascaridæ, and other hurtful insects. In the time of great drought, the mules gnaw even the thorny melocactus, (melon thistle,) in order to drink its cooling juice, and draw it forth as from a vegetable fountain. During the great truly dreadful; two days passed, and, in the middle of the second night, one of the Indians came swimming towards the tree by the lightning's light, and called to Ortega, telling him that six of his companions were at the point of death; they who had not yet been baptized entreated him to baptize them; and those who had received that sacrament, requested absolution ere they died. The Jesuit fastened his catechist to the bough by which he held, then let himself down into the water, and swam to perform these offices; he had scarcely completed them, before five of these six people dropped and sunk; and, when he got back to his own tree, the water had reached the neck of his catechist, whom he had now to untie, and help him to gain a higher branch. The flood, however, now began to abate. Ortega, in swimming among the thorny boughs, received a wound in his leg, which was never thoroughly healed, during the two-and-twenty years that he survived this dreadful adventure."

EFFECTS OF THE INUNDATIONS.

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inundations, these same animals lead an amphibious life, surrounded by crocodiles, water-serpents, and manatees. Yet, such are the immutable laws of nature, their races are preserved in the struggle with the elements, and amid so many sufferings and dangers. When the waters retire, and the rivers return again into their beds, the savannah is spread over with a fine odoriferous grass; and the animals of Europe and Upper Asia seem to enjoy, as in their native climate, the renewed vegetation of spring."

CHAPTER XI.

Preparations for the voyage down the Apure-The tribe of the Yaruroes -Wild animals on the banks of the river-The vegetation-Crocodiles-Story of an Indian girl seized by one-Chiguires-An enormous jaguar-Senor Don Ignacio, the jaguar hunter-Incidents of a night-Nocturnal noises in the forests-The Caribe fish-Humboldt's adventure with a jaguar-Manatees-Juncture of the Apure and Orinoco.

OUR travellers having taken a short rest at San Fernando, proceeded on their way to the Orinoco. There was a land route from the town thither, and an obliging offer to conduct them over it was made by an old farmer, bearing the name of Don Francisco Sanchez, whose dress, as Humboldt remarks, denoted the great simplicity of manners prevailing in these distant regions. He had acquired a fortune of 100,000 piastres, yet he mounted his horse bare-legged and barefooted, though armed with large silver spurs. His offer, however, was not accepted; the rainy season had already begun, and the land route lay across an unhealthy and uninteresting flat. The travellers there