36

EFFECTS OF THE MISSIONS.

celona; and even in the missions they retain their characteristics unchanged, although they all there lead the same kind of life. There is nothing particularly remarkable in the habits of these tribes. The Guaranos who inhabit the delta of the Orinoco are worthy of notice, on account of the singularity of their dwellings, which are elevated on trees, in order to gain security from the inundations of the river. The nature of their country enables them to enjoy a greater degree of independence than other tribes.

Humboldt concludes his notice of this subject with some interesting remarks concerning the supposed influence of climate, and other external agents upon the colour of races. In speaking of the division of the natives of the New World into two classes, the esquimaux, whose skin is originally white,—and the coppercoloured class, which includes all the others, he says, "Those nations which have white skins begin their cosmogony with white men; according to them, negroes and dark-coloured people have been blackened or embrowned by the intense heat of the sun. This theory, adopted by the Greeks, though not without opposition, has descended to our own times. Buffon has repeated in prose what Theodectes said in verse two thousand years before, that nations wear the livery of the climates they inhabit.' If history had been penned by Negroes, they would have maintained what Europeans themselves have latterly advanced, that man was originally black, or of a deep olive colour; that he became white in some races, by civilization and progressive deterioration, in the way that animals in the domestic state pass from dark to lighter shades. In plants and animals, accidental varieties formed under

own eyes are become fixed, and are propagated

THE ABORIGINES OF AMERICA.

37

without alteration; but in the present state of human organization, there is no proof of the different races of men, black, yellow, copper-coloured, and white, deviating materially from the primitive type by the influence of climate, food, or other exterior agents." Referring to the Spanish traveller and philosopher, Ulloa, our author continues: "This learned man has seen the Indians of Chili, of the Andes, of Peru, of the scorching coasts of Panama, and also those of Louisiana, which is situated under the northern temperate zone. He had the advantage of living at a period when theories were not so common as in the present day; and, like me, he was surprised at finding the indigenous native, under the line, as dark and swarthy in the cold region of the Cordilleras as in the plains. When we observe differences of colour, they are peculiar to the race. We shall presently find on the fiery banks of the Orinoco, Indians with skins inclining to white."

CHAPTER IV.

Residence at Cumana-The travellers attacked by a Zambo-Eclipse of the sun-Singular phenomena-an earthquake-Remarkable display of fire-balls and falling stars.

[1799.]

AFTER their return to Cumana, our travellers remained in that city for a month, engaged in preparing for the long expedition which they were about to undertake on the Orinoco and the Rio Negro. Their stay afforded them an opportunity of observing an eclipse of the sun, and of comparing the result with the chronometer,-an advantage of great importance, considering that one of

38

THE TRAVELLERS ATTACKED BY A ZAMBO.

the main objects of their journey was to determine with precision geographical positions. An accident, however, had well nigh marred their hopes. On the evening of the 27th of October, (the day preceding the eclipse), the travellers went out to take the air according to their practice. Crossing the beach which separates the suburb of the Guayquerias from the landingplace, they heard the sound of footsteps behind; turning round, they beheld a tall Zambo, who advancing quickly, flourished a great palm tree over Humboldt's head. The latter leaped aside, and avoided the formidable weapon; Bonpland, less fortunate, was felled to the earth by a blow on the temple. After Humboldt had assisted his companion to rise, the two pursued their assailant, who had run off with the hat of one of them; the ruffian on being seized drew a long knife from his trousers, but as some Biscayan merchants, who had been walking on the shore, advanced to the travellers' aid, he again took to flight, and sought refuge in a cowhouse, whence he was conducted to prison. Bonpland had a fever in the night, but quickly recovered. The Zambo afterwards made his escape from prison; and the motive of his attack was never ascertained.

On the 28th the eclipse occurred; for several days, both before and after it, some very remarkable atmospheric phenomena were observed. It was the season of what is called winter in those countries; that is to say, of clouds and slight electric showers. From the 10th of October to the 3d of November, a reddish vapour rose in the evening above the horizon, and covered, in a few minutes, as with a veil, the whole vault of the heavens. This mist sometimes disappeared in the night for a time, when masses of brilliantly white clouds formed in the zenith, once so transparent that even

SINGULAR PHENOMENA.

39

the smaller stars were seen through it, and the spots on the moon were clearly distinguished.

1 "From the 28th of October, to the 3rd of November," says Humboldt, "the reddish mist had become denser than it had yet been; the heat of the night was oppressive, although the thermometer was no higher than seventy-eight degrees. The breeze which generally cools the air about eight or nine at night, did not spring up. The atmosphere appeared on fire; and the burnt and dusty ground was cleft in all directions. On the 4th of November, about two in the afternoon, thick clouds of extraordinary blackness enveloped the lofty mountains of the Brigantine and the Tataraqual. They extended by degrees to the zenith. About four, we heard sharp and broken thunder over our heads, though at an immense height. At twelve minutes past four, the moment of the strongest electric explosion, there were two shocks of an earthquake; the second followed after an interval of fifteen seconds. The people ran shrieking into the streets. Mr. Bonpland, who was leaning over a table examining some plants, was almost thrown down. I felt the second shock violently, though lying stretched in my hammock. What is rare at Cumana, its direction was from north to south. Some slaves, who were drawing water from a well more than twenty feet deep, close to the Rio Manzanares, heard a report like the explosion of a strong charge of gunpowder. It seemed to come from the bottom of the well; a very singular phenomenon, though sufficiently known indeed in most of the countries of America that are subject to earthquakes."

A few minutes before the first shock, there was a violent gust of wind; large drops of rain, an electric shower followed, and then succeeded a dead calm,

which continued all night. In this thick gloom, the setting of the sun, with its disc enormously enlarged, distorted and undulating, against a back-ground of the colour of indigo, displayed a scene of extraordinary magnificence. The edges of the clouds were gilded, and the sky exhibited rays of the prismatic colours in extreme brilliance. About nine o'clock, a third shock was felt, much weaker than either of the preceding shocks, but accompanied by a subterranean noise. The inhabitants regarded the shocks of the earthquake, the accompanying thunder, and the red vapour which had been seen for so many days, as being all the effect of the eclipse; the night preceding, the red vapour had been so thick that the moon's place could be distinguished only by a large and beautiful halo. Not two years before this period, the city of Cumana had been almost wholly destroyed by an earthquake, and it was therefore not surprising that the people who looked upon the red mist and the failure of the evening breeze, as unfailing prognostics of disaster, should upon the present occasion, regard those phenomena accompanied by actual shocks, as the certain predecessors of another fatal calamity. Our travellers, whose reputation for science had already spread, were visited by many persons anxious to know whether their instruments indicated an approaching renewal of the shocks. On the following day, the gust of wind and the thunder recurred at exactly the same hour, unaccompanied, however, by any agitation; and the same phenomena were repeated for several days. This was the first earthquake which Humboldt had felt, and it made a strong impression upon him; but he afterwards became familar with this terrific display of nature, until it excited in him little apprehension.