We left the road of Santa Cruz on the 25th of June, and directed our course towards South America. We soon lost sight of the Canary Islands, the lofty mountains of which were covered with a reddish vapour. The Peak alone appeared from time to time, as at intervals2 the wind dispersed3 the clouds that enveloped4 the Piton. We felt, for the first time, how strong are the impressions left on the mind from the aspect of those countries situated5 on the limits of the torrid zone, where nature appears at once so rich, so various, and so majestic6. Our stay at Teneriffe had been very short, and yet we withdrew from the island as if it had long been our home.
Our passage from Santa Cruz to Cumana, the most eastern part of the New Continent, was very fine. We cut the tropic of Cancer on the 27th; and though the Pizarro was not a very fast sailer, we made, in twenty days, the nine hundred leagues, which separate the coast of Africa from that of the New Continent. We passed fifty leagues west of Cape8 Bojador, Cape Blanco, and the Cape Verd islands. A few land birds, which had been driven to sea by the impetuosity of the wind followed us for several days.
The latitude9 diminished rapidly, from the parallel of Madeira to the tropic. When we reached the zone where the trade-winds are constant, we crossed the ocean from east to west, on a calm sea, which the Spanish sailors call the Ladies’ Gulf10, el Golfo de las Damas. In proportion as we advanced towards the west, we found the trade-winds fix to eastward11.
These winds, the most generally adopted theory of which is explained in a celebrated12 treatise13 of Halley,* are a phenomenon much more complicated than most persons admit. In the Atlantic Ocean, the longitude14, as well as the declination of the sun, influences the direction and limits of the trade-winds. In the direction of the New Continent, in both hemispheres, these limits extend beyond the tropics eight or nine degrees; while in the vicinity of Africa, the variable winds prevail far beyond the parallel of 28 or 27°. It is to be regretted, on account of the progress of meteorology and navigation, that the changes of the currents of the equinoctial atmosphere in the Pacific are much less known than the variation of these same currents in a sea that is narrower, and influenced by the proximity15 of the coasts of Guinea and Brazil. The difference with which the strata16 of air flow back from the two poles towards the equator cannot be the same in every degree of longitude, that is to say, on points of the globe where the continents are of very different breadths, and where they stretch away more or less towards the poles.
[* The existence of an upper current of air, which blows constantly from the equator to the poles, and of a lower current, which blows from the poles to the equator, had already been admitted, as M. Arago has shown, by Hooke. The ideas of the celebrated English naturalist17 are developed in a Discourse18 on Earthquakes published in 1686. “I think (adds he) that several phenomena19, which are presented by the atmosphere and the ocean, especially the winds, may be explained by the polar currents.”— Hooke’s Posthumous20 Works page 364.]
It is known, that in the passage from Santa Cruz to Cumana, as in that from Acapulco to the Philippine Islands, seamen21 are scarcely ever under the necessity of working their sails. We pass those latitudes22 as if we were descending23 a river, and we might deem it no hazardous24 undertaking25 if we made the voyage in an open boat. Farther west, on the coast of Santa Martha and in the Gulf of Mexico, the trade-wind blows impetuously, and renders the sea very stormy.*
[* The Spanish sailors call the rough trade-winds at Carthagena in the West Indies los brisotes de Santa Martha; and in the Gulf of Mexico, las brizas pardas. These latter winds are accompanied with a grey and cloudy sky.]
The wind fell gradually the farther we receded27 from the African coast: it was sometimes smooth water for several hours, and these short calms were regularly interrupted by electrical phenomena. Black thick clouds, marked by strong outlines, rose on the east, and it seemed as if a squall would have forced us to hand our topsails; but the breeze freshened anew, there fell a few large drops of rain, and the storm dispersed without our hearing any thunder. Meanwhile it was curious to observe the effect of several black, isolated28, and very low clouds, which passed the zenith. We felt the force of the wind augment29 or diminish progressively, according as small bodies of vesicular vapour approached or receded, while the electrometers, furnished with a long metallic30 rod and lighted match, showed no change of electric tension in the lower strata of the air. It is by help of these squalls, which alternate with dead calms, that the passage from the Canary Islands to the Antilles, or southern coast of America, is made in the months of June and July.
Some Spanish navigators have lately proposed going to the West Indies and the coasts of Terra Firma by a course different from that which was taken by Columbus. They advise, instead of steering32 directly to the south in search of the trade-winds, to change both latitude and longitude, in a diagonal line from Cape St. Vincent to America. This method, which shortens the way, cutting the tropic nearly twenty degrees west of the point where it is commonly cut by pilots, was several times successfully adopted by Admiral Gravina. That able commander, who fell at the battle of Trafalgar, arrived in 1802 at St. Domingo, by the oblique34 passage, several days before the French fleet, though orders of the court of Madrid would have forced him to enter Ferrol with his squadron, and stop there some time.
This new system of navigation shortens the passage from Cadiz to Cumana one-twentieth; but as the tropic is attained35 only at the longitude of forty degrees, the chance of meeting with contrary winds, which blow sometimes from the south, and at other times from the south-west, is more unfavourable. In the old system, the disadvantage of making a longer passage is compensated37 by the certainty of catching38 the trade-winds in a shorter space of time, and keeping them the greater part of the passage. At the time of my abode39 in the Spanish colonies, I witnessed the arrival of several merchant-ships, which from the fear of privateers had chosen the oblique course, and had had a very short passage.
Nothing can equal the beauty and mildness of the climate of the equinoctial region on the ocean. While the trade wind blew strongly, the thermometer kept at 23 or 24° in the day, and at 22 or 22.5° during the night. The charm of the lovely climates bordering on the equator, can be fully33 enjoyed only by those who have undertaken the voyage from Acapulco or the coasts of Chile to Europe in a very rough season. What a contrast between the tempestuous40 seas of the northern latitudes and the regions where the tranquillity41 of nature is never disturbed! If the return from Mexico or South America to the coasts of Spain were as expeditious42 and as agreeable as the passage from the old to the new continent, the number of Europeans settled in the colonies would be much less considerable than it is at present. To the sea which surrounds the Azores and the Bermuda Islands, and which is traversed in returning to Europe by the high latitudes, the Spaniards have given the singular name of Golfo de las Yeguas (the Mares’ Gulf). Colonists43 who are not accustomed to the sea, and who have led solitary45 lives in the forests of Guiana, the savannahs of the Caracas, or the Cordilleras of Peru, dread46 the vicinity of the Bermudas more than the inhabitants of Lima fear at present the passage round Cape horn.
To the north of the Cape Verd Islands we met with great masses of floating seaweeds. They were the tropic grape, (Fucus natans), which grows on submarine rocks, only from the equator to the fortieth degree of north and south latitude. These weeds seem to indicate the existence of currents in this place, as well as to south-west of the banks of Newfoundland. We must not confound the latitudes abounding48 in scattered49 weeds with those banks of marine47 plants, which Columbus compares to extensive meadows, the sight of which dismayed the crew of the Santa Maria in the forty-second degree of longitude. I am convinced, from the comparison of a great number of journals, that in the basin of the Northern Atlantic there exist two banks of weeds very different from each other. The most extensive is a little west of the meridian50 of Fayal, one of the Azores, between the twenty-fifth and thirty-sixth degrees of latitude.* The temperature of the Atlantic in those latitudes is from sixteen to twenty degrees, and the north winds, which sometimes rage there very tempestuously51, drive floating isles52 of seaweed into the low latitudes as far as the parallels of twenty-four and even twenty degrees. Vessels54 returning to Europe, either from Monte Video or the Cape of Good Hope, cross these banks of Fucus, which the Spanish pilots consider as at an equal distance from the Antilles and Canaries; and they serve the less instructed mariner55 to rectify56 his longitude. The second bank of Fucus is but little known; it occupies a much smaller space, in the twenty-second and twenty-sixth degrees of latitude, eighty leagues west of the meridian of the Bahama Islands. It is found on the passage from the Caiques to the Bermudas.
[* It would appear that Phoenician vessels came “in thirty days’ sail, with an easterly wind,” to the weedy sea, which the Portuguese57 and Spaniards call mar26 de zargasso. I have shown, in another place (Views of Nature Bohn’s edition page 46), that the passage of Aristotle, De Mirabil. (ed. Duval page 1157), can scarcely be applied58 to the coasts of Africa, like an analogous59 passage of the Periplus of Scylax. Supposing that this sea, full of weeds, which impeded60 the course of the Phoenician vessels, was the mar de zargasso, we need not admit that the ancients navigated61 the Atlantic beyond thirty degrees of west longitude from the meridian of Paris.]
Though a species of seaweed* has been seen with stems eight hundred feet long, the growth of these marine cryptogamia being extremely rapid, it is nevertheless certain, that in the latitudes we have just described, the Fuci, far from being fixed62 to the bottom, float in separate masses on the surface of the water. In this state, the vegetation can scarcely last longer than it would in the branch of a tree torn from its trunk; and in order to explain how moving masses are found for ages in the same position, we must admit that they owe their origin to submarine rocks, which, lying at forty or sixty fathoms63’ depth, continually supply what has been carried away by the equinoctial currents. This current bears the tropic grape into the high latitudes, toward the coasts of Norway and France; and it is not the Gulf-stream, as some mariners64 think, which accumulates the Fucus to the south of the Azores.
[* The baudreux of the Falkland Islands; Fucus giganteus, Forster; Laminaria pyrifera, Lamour.]
The causes that unroot these weeds at depths where it is generally thought the sea is but slightly agitated65, are not sufficiently66 known. We learn only, from the observations of M. Lamouroux, that if the fucus adhere to the rocks with the greatest firmness before its fructification, it separates with great facility after that period, or during the season which suspends its vegetation like that of the terrestrial plants. The fish and mollusca which gnaw67 the stems of the seaweeds no doubt contribute also to detach them from their roots.
From the twenty-second degree of latitude, we found the surface of the sea covered with flying-fish,* which threw themselves up into the air, twelve, fifteen, or eighteen feet, and fell down on the deck. I do not hesitate to speak on a subject of which voyagers discourse as frequently as of dolphins, sharks, sea-sickness, and the phosphorescence of the ocean. None of these topics can fail to afford interesting observations to naturalists68, provided they make them their particular study. Nature is an inexhaustible source of investigation69, and in proportion as the domain70 of science is extended, she presents herself to those who know how to interrogate71 her, under forms which they have never yet examined.
[* Exocoetus volitans.]
I have named the flying-fish, in order to direct the attention of naturalists to the enormous size of their natatory bladder, which, in an animal of 6.4 inches, is 3.6 inches long, 0.9 of an inch broad, and contains three cubic inches and a half of air. As this bladder occupies more than half the size of the fish, it is probable that it contributes to its lightness. We may assert that this reservoir of air is more fitted for flying than swimming; for the experiments made by M. Provenzal and myself have proved, that, even in the species which are provided with this organ, it is not indispensably necessary for the ascending72 movement to the surface of the water. In a young flying-fish, 5.8 inches long, each of the pectoral fins73, which serve as wings, presented a surface to the air of 3 7/16 square inches. We observed, that the nine branches of nerves, which go to the twelve rays of these fins, are almost three times the size of the nerves that belong to the ventral fins. When the former of these nerves are excited by galvanic electricity, the rays which support the membrane74 of the pectoral fin7 extend with five times the force with which the other fins move when galvanised by the same metals. Thus, the fish is capable of throwing itself horizontally the distance of twenty feet before retouching the water with the extremity76 of its fins. This motion has been aptly compared to that of a flat stone, which, thrown horizontally, bounds one or two feet above the water. Notwithstanding the extreme rapidity of this motion, it is certain, that the animal beats the air during the leap; that is, it alternately extends and closes its pectoral fins. The same motion has been observed in the flying scorpion78 of the rivers of Japan: they also contain a large air-bladder, with which the great part of the scorpions79 that have not the faculty80 of flying are unprovided. The flying-fish, like almost all animals which have gills, enjoy the power of equal respiration81 for a long time, both in water and in air, by the same organs; that is, by extracting the oxygen from the atmosphere as well as from the water in which it is dissolved. They pass a great part of their life in the air; but if they escape from the sea to avoid the voracity82 of the Dorado, they meet in the air the Frigate-bird, the Albatross, and others, which seize them in their flight. Thus, on the banks of the Orinoco, herds83 of the Cabiai, which rush from the water to escape the crocodile, become the prey84 of the jaguar85, which awaits their arrival.
I doubt, however, whether the flying-fish spring out of the water merely to escape the pursuit of their enemies. Like swallows, they move by thousands in a right line, and in a direction constantly opposite to that of the waves. In our own climates, on the brink87 of a river, illumined by the rays of the sun, we often see solitary fish fearlessly bound above the surface as if they felt pleasure in breathing the air. Why should not these gambols88 be more frequent with the flying-fish, which from the strength of their pectoral fins, and the smallness of their specific gravity, can so easily support themselves in the air? I invite naturalists to examine whether other flying-fish, for instance the Exocoetus exiliens, the Trigla volitans, amid the T. hirundo, have as capacious an air-bladder as the flying-fish of the tropics. This last follows the heated waters of the Gulf-stream when they flow northward89. The cabin-boys amuse themselves with cutting off a part of the pectoral fins, and assert, that these wings grow again; which seems to me not unlikely, from facts observed in other families of fishes.
At the time I left Paris, experiments made at Jamaica by Dr. Brodbelt, on the air contained in the natatory bladder of the sword-fish, had led some naturalists to think, that within the tropics, in sea-fish, that organ must be filled with pure oxygen gas. Full of this idea, I was surprised at finding in the air-bladder of the flying-fish only 0.04 of oxygen to 0.94 of azote and 0.02 of carbonic acid. The proportion of this last gas, measured by the absorption of lime-water in graduated tubes, appeared more uniform than that of the oxygen, of which some individuals yielded almost double the quantity. From the curious phenomena observed by MM. Biot, Configliachi, and Delaroche, we might suppose, that the swordfish dissected90 by Dr. Brodbelt had inhabited the lower strata of the ocean, where some fish* have as much as 0.92 of oxygen in the air-bladder.
[* Trigla cucullus.]
On the 3rd and 4th of July, we crossed that part of the Atlantic where the charts indicate the bank of the Maal-stroom; and towards night we altered our course to avoid the danger, the existence of which is, however, as doubtful as that of the isles Fonseco and St. Anne. It would have been perhaps as prudent91 to have continued our course. The old charts are filled with rocks, some of which really exist, though most of them are merely the offspring of those optical illusions which are more frequent at sea than in inland places. As we approached the supposed Maal-stroom, we observed no other motion in the waters than the effect of a current which bore to the north-west, and which hindered us from diminishing our latitude as much as we wished. The force of this current augments92 as we approach the new continent; it is modified by the configuration93 of the coasts of Brazil and Guiana, and not by the waters of the Orinoco and the Amazon, as some have supposed.
From the time we entered the torrid zone, we were never weary of admiring, at night, the beauty of the southern sky, which, as we advanced to the south, opened new constellations94 to our view. We feel an indescribable sensation when, on approaching the equator, and particularly on passing from one hemisphere to the other, we see those stars, which we have contemplated96 from our infancy97, progressively sink, and finally disappear. Nothing awakens98 in the traveller a livelier remembrance of the immense distance by which he is separated from his country, than the aspect of an unknown firmament99. The grouping of the stars of the first magnitude, some scattered nebulae, rivalling in splendour the milky100 way, and tracts101 of space remarkable102 for their extreme blackness, give a peculiar103 physiognomy to the southern sky. This sight fills with admiration104 even those who, uninstructed in the several branches of physical science, feel the same emotion of delight in the contemplation of the heavenly vault105, as in the view of a beautiful landscape, or a majestic site. A traveller needs not to be a botanist106, to recognize the torrid zone by the mere86 aspect of its vegetation. Without having acquired any notions of astronomy, without any acquaintance with the celestial107 charts of Flamsteed and De La Caille, he feels he is not in Europe, when he sees the immense constellation95 of the Ship, or the phosphorescent Clouds of Magellan, arise on the horizon. The heavens and the earth — everything in the equinoctial regions, presents an exotic character.
The lower regions of the air were loaded with vapours for some days. We saw distinctly for the first time the Southern Cross only on the night of the 4th of July, in the sixteenth degree of latitude. It was strongly inclined, and appeared from time to time between the clouds, the centre of which, furrowed109 by uncondensed lightnings, reflected a silvery light. If a traveller may be permitted to speak of his personal emotions, I shall add, that on that night I experienced the realization110 of one of the dreams of my early youth.
When we begin to fix our eyes on geographical111 maps, and to read the narratives112 of navigators, we feel for certain countries and climates a sort of predilection113, which we know not how to account for at a more advanced period of life. These impressions, however, exercise a considerable influence over our determinations; and from a sort of instinct we endeavour to connect ourselves with objects on which the mind has long been fixed as by a secret charm. At a period when I studied the heavens, not with the intention of devoting myself to astronomy, but only to acquire a knowledge of the stars, I was disturbed by a feeling unknown to those who are devoted114 to sedentary life. It was painful to me to renounce115 the hope of beholding117 the beautiful constellations near the south pole. Impatient to rove in the equinoctial regions, I could not raise my eyes to the starry118 firmament without thinking of the Southern Cross, and recalling the sublime119 passage of Dante, which the most celebrated commentators120 have applied to that constellation:—
Io mi volsi a man’ destra e posi mente
All’ altro polo, e vidi quattro stelle
Non viste mai fuorch’ alla prima gente.
Goder parea lo ciel di lor fiammelle;
O settentrional vedovo sito
Poiche privato sei di mirar quelle!
The pleasure we felt on discovering the Southern Cross was warmly shared by those of the crew who had visited the colonies. In the solitude121 of the seas we hail a star as a friend, from whom we have long been separated. The Portuguese and the Spaniards are peculiarly susceptible122 of this feeling; a religious sentiment attaches them to a constellation, the form of which recalls the sign of the faith planted by their ancestors in the deserts of the New World.
The two great stars which mark the summit and the foot of the Cross having nearly the same right ascension, it follows that the constellation is almost perpendicular123 at the moment when it passes the meridian. This circumstance is known to the people of every nation situated beyond the tropics, or in the southern hemisphere. It has been observed at what hour of the night, in different seasons, the Cross is erect124 or inclined. It is a timepiece which advances very regularly nearly four minutes a-day, and no other group of stars affords to the naked eye an observation of time so easily made. How often have we heard our guides exclaim in the savannahs of Venezuela, or in the desert extending from Lima to Truxillo, “Midnight is past, the Cross begins to bend!” How often those words reminded us of that affecting scene, where Paul and Virginia, seated near the source of the river of Lataniers, conversed125 together for the last time, and where the old man, at the sight of the Southern Cross, warns them that it is time to separate.
The last days of our passage were not so felicitous126 as the mildness of the climate and the calmness of the ocean had led us to hope. The dangers of the sea did not disturb us, but the germs of a malignant127 fever became manifest on board our vessel53 as we drew near the Antilles. Between decks the ship was excessively hot, and very much crowded. From the time we passed the tropic, the thermometer was at thirty-four or thirty-six degrees. Two sailors, several passengers, and, what is remarkable enough, two negroes from the coast of Guinea, and a mulatto child, were attacked with a disorder128 which appeared to be epidemic129. The symptoms were not equally alarming in all the cases; nevertheless, several persons, and especially the most robust130, fell into delirium131 after the second day. No fumigation132 was made. A Gallician surgeon, ignorant and phlegmatic133, ordered bleedings, because he attributed the fever to what he called heat and corruption134 of the blood. There was not an ounce of bark on board; for we had emitted to take any with us, under the impression that this salutary production of Peru could not fail to be found on board a Spanish vessel.
On the 8th of July, a sailor, who was near expiring, recovered his health from a circumstance worthy135 of being mentioned. His hammock was so hung, that there was not ten inches between his face and the deck. It was impossible to administer the sacrament in this situation; for, agreeably to the custom on board Spanish vessels, the viaticum must be carried by the light of tapers136, and followed by the whole crew. The patient was removed into an airy place near the hatchway, where a small square berth137 had been formed with sailcloth. Here he was to remain till he died, which was an event expected every moment; but passing from an atmosphere heated, stagnant138, and filled with miasma139, into fresher and purer air, which was renewed every instant, he gradually revived from his lethargic140 state. His recovery dated from the day when he quitted the middle deck; and as it often happens in medicine that the same facts are cited in support of systems diametrically opposite, this recovery confirmed our doctor in his idea of the inflammation of the blood, and the necessity of bleeding, evacuating141, and all the asthenic remedies. We soon felt the fatal effects of this treatment.
For several days the pilot’s reckoning differed 1 degree 12 minutes in longitude from that of my time. This difference was owing less to the general current, which I have called the current of rotation142, than to that particular movement, which, drawing the waters toward the north-west, from the coast of Brazil to the Antilles, shortens the passage from Cayenne to Guadaloupe.* On the 12th of July, I thought I might foretell143 our seeing land next day before sunrise. We were then, according to my observations, in latitude 10° 46′, and west longitude 60° 54′. A few series of lunar distances confirmed the chronometrical result; but we were surer of the position of the vessel, than of that of the land to which we were directing our course, and which was so differently marked in the French, Spanish, and English charts. The longitudes144 deduced from the accurate observations of Messrs. Churruca, Fidalgo, and Noguera, were not then published.
[* In the Atlantic Ocean there is a space where the water is constantly milky, though the sea is very deep. This curious phenomenon exists in the parallel of the island of Dominica, very near the 57th degree of longitude. May there not be in this place some sunken volcanic145 islet, more easterly still than Barbadoes?]
The pilots trusted more to the log than the timekeeper; they smiled at the prediction of so speedily making land, and thought themselves two or three days’ sail from the coast. It was therefore with great pleasure, that on the 13th, about six in the morning, I learned that very high land was seen from the mast-head, though not clearly, as it was surrounded with a thick fog. The wind blew hard, and the sea was very rough. Large drops of rain fell at intervals, and every indication menaced tempestuous weather. The captain of the Pizarro intended to pass through the channel which separates the islands of Tobago and Trinidad; and knowing that our sloop146 was very slow in tacking147, he was afraid of falling to leeward148 towards the south, and approaching the Boca del Drago. We were in fact surer of our longitude than of our latitude, having had no observation at noon since the 11th. Double altitudes which I took in the morning, after Douwes’s method, placed us in 11° 6′ 50″, consequently 15 minutes north of our reckoning. Though the result clearly proved that the high land on the horizon was not Trinidad, but Tobago, yet the captain continued to steer31 north-north-west, in search of this latter island.
An observation of the meridian altitude of the sun fully confirmed the latitude obtained by Douwes’s method. No more doubt remained as to the position of the vessel, with respect to the island, and we resolved to double Cape North (Tobago) to pass between that island and Grenada, and steer towards a port in Margareta.
The island of Tobago presents a very picturesque149 aspect. It is merely a heap of rocks carefully cultivated. The dazzling whiteness of the stone forms an agreeable contrast to the verdure of some scattered tufts of trees. Cylindric150 and very lofty cactuses crown the top of the mountains, and give a peculiar physiognomy to this tropical landscape. The sight of the trees alone is sufficient to remind the navigator that he has reached an American coast; for these cactuses are as exclusively peculiar to the New World, as the heaths are to the Old.
We crossed the shoal which joins Tobago to the island of Grenada. The colour of the sea presented no visible change; but the centigrade thermometer, plunged151 into the water to the depth of some inches, rose only to 23°; while farther at sea eastward on the same parallel, and equally near the surface, it kept at 25.6°. Notwithstanding the currents, the cooling of the water indicated the existence of the shoal, which is noted152 in only a very few charts. The wind slackened after sunset, and the clouds disappeared as the moon reached the zenith. The number of falling stars was very considerable on this and the following nights; they appeared less frequent towards the north than the south over Terra Firma, which we began to coast. This position seems to prove the influence of local causes on meteors, the nature of which is not yet sufficiently known to us.
On the 14th at sunrise, we were in sight of the Boca del Drago. We distinguished153 Chacachacarreo, the most westerly of the islands situated between Cape Paria and the north-west cape of Trinidad. When we were five leagues distant from the coast, we felt, near Punta de la Boca, the effect of a particular current which carried the ship southward. The motion of the waters which flow through the Boca del Draco, and the action of the tides, occasion an eddy154. We cast the lead, and found from thirty-six to forty-three fathoms on a bottom of very fine green clay. According to the rules established by Dampier, we ought not to have expected so little depth near a coast formed by very high and perpendicular mountains. We continued to heave the lead till we reached Cabo de tres Puntas* and we every where found shallow water, apparently155 indicating the prolongation of the ancient coast. In these latitudes the temperature of the sea was from twenty-three to twenty-four degrees, consequently from 1.5 to two degrees lower than in the open ocean, beyond the edge of the bank.
[* Cape Three Points, the name given to it by Columbus.]
The Cabo de tres Puntas is, according to my observations, in 65° 4′ 5″ longitude. It seemed to us the more elevated, as the clouds concealed156 the view of its indented157 top. The aspect of the mountains of Paria, their colour, and especially their generally rounded forms, made us suspect that the coast was granitic158; but we afterwards recognized how delusive159, even to those who have passed their lives in scaling mountains, are impressions respecting the nature of rocks seen at a distance.
A dead calm, which lasted several hours, permitted us to determine with exactness the intensity160 of the magnetic forces opposite the Cabo de tres Puntas. This intensity was greater than in the open sea, to the east of the island of Tobago, in the ratio of from 237 to 229. During the calm the current drew us on rapidly to the west. Its velocity161 was three miles an hour, and it increased as we approached the meridian of Testigos, a heap of rocks which rises up amidst the waters. At the setting of the moon, the sky was covered with clouds, the wind freshened anew, and the rain descended162 in one of those torrents163 peculiar to the torrid zone.
The malady164 which had broken out on board the Pizarro had made rapid progress, from the time when we approached the coasts of Terra Firma; but having then almost reached the end of our voyage we flattered ourselves that all who were sick would be restored to health, as soon as we could land them at the island of St. Margareta, or the port of Cumana, places remarkable for their great salubrity.
This hope was unfortunately not realised. The youngest of the passengers attacked with the malignant fever fell a victim to the disease. He was an Asturian, nineteen years of age, the only son of a poor widow. Several circumstances rendered the death of this young man affecting. His countenance165 bore the expression of sensibility and great mildness of disposition166. He had embarked167 against his own inclination168; and his mother, whom he had hoped to assist by the produce of his efforts, had made a sacrifice of her affection in the hope of securing the fortune of her son, by sending him to the colonies to a rich relation, who resided at the island of Cuba. The unfortunate young man expired on the third day of his illness, having fallen from the beginning into a lethargic state interrupted only by fits of delirium. The yellow fever, or black vomit169, at Vera Cruz, scarcely carries off the sick with so alarming a rapidity. Another Asturian, still younger, did not leave for one moment the bed of his dying friend; and, what is very remarkable, did not contract the disorder.
We were assembled on the deck, absorbed in melancholy170 reflections. It was no longer doubtful, that the fever which raged on board had assumed within the last few days a fatal aspect. Our eyes were fixed on a hilly and desert coast on which the moon, from time to time, shed her light athwart the clouds. The sea, gently agitated, emitted a feeble phosphoric light. Nothing was heard but the monotonous171 cry of a few large sea-birds, flying towards the shore. A profound calm reigned172 over these solitary regions, but this calm of nature was in discordance173 with the painful feelings by which we were oppressed. About eight o’clock the dead man’s knell174 was slowly tolled175. At this lugubrious176 sound, the sailors suspended their labours, and threw themselves on their knees to offer a momentary177 prayer: an affecting ceremony, which brought to our remembrance those times when the primitive178 christians179 all considered themselves as members of the same family. All were united in one common sorrow for a misfortune which was felt to be common to all. The corpse180 of the young Asturian was brought upon deck during the night, but the priest entreated181 that it might not be committed to the waves till after sunrise, that the last rites182 might be performed, according to the usage of the Romish church. There was not an individual on board, who did not deplore183 the death of this young man, whom we had beheld184, but a few days before, full of cheerfulness and health.
Those among the passengers who had not yet felt symptoms of the disease, resolved to leave the vessel at the first place where she might touch, and await the arrival of another packet, to pursue their course to the island of Cuba and to Mexico. They considered the between-decks of the ship as infected; and though it was by no means clear to me that the fever was contagious185, I thought it most prudent to land at Cumana. I wished not to visit New Spain, till I had made some sojourn186 on the coasts of Venezuela and Paria; a few of the productions of which had been examined by the unfortunate Loefling. We were anxious to behold116 in their native site, the beautiful plants which Bose and Bredemeyer had collected during their journey to the continent, and which adorn187 the conservatories188 of Schoenbrunn and Vienna. It would have been painful to have touched at Cumana, or at Guayra, without visiting the interior of a country so little frequented by naturalists.
The resolution we formed during the night of the 14th of July, had a happy influence on the direction of our travels; for instead of a few weeks, we remained a whole year in this part of the continent. Had not the fever broken out on board the Pizarro, we should never have reached the Orinoco, the Cassiquiare, or even the limits of the Portuguese possessions on the Rio Negro. To this direction given to our travels we were perhaps also indebted for the good health we enjoyed during so long an abode in the equinoctial regions.
It is well known, that Europeans, during the first months after their arrival under the scorching189 sky of the tropics, are exposed to the greatest dangers. They consider themselves to be safe, when they have passed the rainy season in the West India islands, at Vera Cruz, or at Carthagena. This opinion is very general, although there are examples of persons, who, having escaped a first attack of the yellow fever, have fallen victims to the same disease in one of the following years. The facility of becoming acclimated190, seems to be in the inverse191 ratio of the difference that exists between the mean temperature of the torrid zone, and that of the native country of the traveller, or colonist44, who changes his climate; because the irritability192 of the organs, and their vital action, are powerfully modified by the influence of the atmospheric193 heat. A Prussian, a Pole, or a Swede, is more exposed on his arrival at the islands or on the continent, than a Spaniard, an Italian, or even an inhabitant of the South of France. With respect to the people of the north, the difference of the mean temperature is from nineteen to twenty-one degrees, while to the people of southern countries it is only from nine to ten. We were fortunate enough to pass safely through the interval1 during which a European recently landed runs the greatest danger, in the extremely hot, but very dry climate of Cumana, a city celebrated for its salubrity.
On the morning of the 15th, when nearly on a line with the hill of St. Joseph, we were surrounded by a great quantity of floating seaweed. Its stems had those extraordinary appendages194 in the form of little cups and feathers, which Don Hippolyto Ruiz remarked on his return from the expedition to Chile, and which he described in a separate memoir195 as the generative organs of the Fucus natans. A fortunate accident allowed us the means of verifying a fact which had been but once observed by naturalists. The bundles of fucus collected by M. Bonpland were completely identical with the specimens196 given us by the learned authors of the Flora197 of Peru. On examining both with the microscope, we found that the supposed parts of fructification, the stamina198 and pistils, belong to a new genus, of the family of the Ceratophytae.
The coast of Paria stretches to the west, forming a wall of rocks of no great height, with rounded tops and a waving outline. We were long without perceiving the bold coasts of the island of Margareta, where we were to stop for the purpose of ascertaining199 whether we could touch at Guayra. We had learned, by altitudes of the sun, taken under very favourable36 circumstances, how incorrect at that period were the most highly-esteemed marine charts. On the morning of the 15th, when the time-keeper placed us in 66° 1 minute 15 seconds longitude, we were not yet in the meridian of Margareta island; though according to the reduced chart of the Atlantic ocean, we ought to have passed the very lofty western cape of this island, which is laid down in longitude 66° 0′. The inaccuracy with which the coasts were delineated previously200 to the labours of Fidalgo, Noguera, and Tiscar, and I may venture to add, before the astronomical201 observations I made at Cumana, might have become dangerous to navigators, were not the sea uniformly calm in those regions. The errors in latitude were still greater than those in longitude, for the coasts of New Andalusia stretch to the westward202 of Cape Three Points (or tres Puntas) fifteen or twenty miles more to the north, than appears in the charts published before the year 1800.
About eleven in the morning we perceived a very low islet, covered with a few sandy downs, and on which we discovered with our glasses no trace of habitation or culture. Cylindrical203 cactuses rose here and there in the form of candelabra. The soil, almost destitute204 of vegetation, seemed to have a waving motion, in consequence of the extraordinary refraction which the rays of the sun undergo in traversing the strata of air in contact with plains strongly heated. Under every zone, deserts and sandy shores appear like an agitated sea, from the effect of mirage205.
The coasts, seen at a distance, are like clouds, in which each observer meets the form of the objects that occupy his imagination. Our bearings and our chronometer206 being at variance207 with the charts which we had to consult, we were lost in vain conjectures208. Some took mounds209 of sand for Indian huts, and pointed210 out the place where they alleged211 the fort of Pampatar was situated; others saw herds of goats, which are so common in the dry valley of St. John; or descried212 the lofty mountains of Macanao, which seemed to them partly hidden by the clouds. The captain resolved to send a pilot on shore, and the men were preparing to get out the long-boat when we perceived two canoes sailing along the coast. We fired a gun as a signal for them, and though we had hoisted213 Spanish colours, they drew near with distrust. These canoes, like all those in use among the natives, were constructed of the single trunk of a tree. In each canoe there were eighteen Guayqueria Indians, naked to the waist, and of very tall stature214. They had the appearance of great muscular strength, and the colour of their skin was something between brown and copper-colour. Seen at a distance, standing77 motionless, and projected on the horizon, they might have been taken for statues of bronze. We were the more struck with their appearance, as it did not correspond with the accounts given by some travellers respecting the characteristic features and extreme feebleness of the natives. We afterwards learned, without passing the limits of the province of Cumana, the great contrast existing between the physiognomy of the Guayquerias and that of the Chaymas and the Caribs.
When we were near enough to hail them in Spanish, the Indians threw aside their mistrust, and came straight on board. They informed us that the low islet near which we were at anchor was Coche, which had never been inhabited; and that Spanish vessels coming from Europe were accustomed to sail farther north, between this island and that of Margareta, to take a coasting pilot at the port of Pampatar. Our inexperience had led us into the channel to the south of Coche; and as at that period the English cruisers frequented this passage, the Indians had at first taken us for an enemy’s ship. The southern passage is, in fact, highly advantageous215 for vessels going to Cumana and Barcelona. The water is less deep than in the northern passage, which is much narrower; but there is no risk of touching75 the ground, if vessels keep very close to the island of Lobos and the Moros del Tunal. The channel between Coche and Margareta is narrowed by the shoals off the north-west cape of Coche, and by the bank that surrounds La Punta de los Mangles216.
The Guayquerias belong to that tribe of civilized217 Indians who inhabit the coasts of Margareta and the suburbs of the city of Cumana. Next to the Caribs of Spanish Guiana they are the finest race of men in Terra Firma. They enjoy several privileges, because from the earliest times of the conquest they remained faithful friends to the Castilians. The king of Spain styles them in his public acts, “his dear, noble, and loyal Guayquerias.” The Indians of the two canoes we had met had left the port of Cumana during the night. They were going in search of timber to the forests of cedar218 (Cedrela odorata, Linn.), which extend from Cape San Jose to beyond the mouth of Rio Carupano. They gave us some fresh cocoa-nuts, and very beautifully coloured fish of the Chaetodon genus. What riches to our eyes were contained in the canoes of these poor Indians! Broad spreading leaves of Vijao* covered bunches of plantains. The scaly219 cuirass of an armadillo (Dasypus), the fruit of the Calabash tree (Crescentia cujete), used as a cup by the natives, productions common in the cabinets of Europe, had a peculiar charm for us, because they reminded us that, having reached the torrid zone, we had attained the end to which our wishes had been so long directed.
[* Heliconia bihai.]
The master of one of the canoes offered to remain on board the Pizarro as coasting pilot (practico). He was a Guayqueria of an excellent disposition, sagacious in his observations, and he had been led by intelligent curiosity to notice the productions of the sea as well as the plants of the country. By a fortunate chance, the first Indian we met on our arrival was the man whose acquaintance became the most useful to us in the course of our researches. I feel a pleasure in recording220 in this itinerary221 the name of Carlos del Pino, who, during the space of sixteen months, attended us in our course along the coasts, and into the inland country.
The captain of the corvette weighed anchor towards evening. Before we left the shoal or placer of Coche, I ascertained222 the longitude of the east cape of the island, which I found to be 66° 11′ 53″. As we steered223 westward, we soon came in sight of the little island of Cubagua, now entirely224 deserted225, but formerly226 celebrated for its fishery of pearls. There the Spaniards, immediately after the voyages of Columbus and Ojeda, founded, under the name of New Cadiz, a town, of which there now remains227 no vestige228. At the beginning of the sixteenth century the pearls of Cubagua were known at Seville, at Toledo, and at the great fairs of Augsburg and Bruges. New Cadiz having no water, that of the Rio Manzanares was conveyed thither229 from the neighbouring coast, though for some reason, I know not what, it was thought to be the cause of diseases of the eyes. The writers of that period all speak of the riches of the first planters, and the luxury they displayed. At present, downs of shifting sand cover this uninhabited land, and the name of Cubagua is scarcely found in our charts.
Having reached these latitudes, we saw the high mountains of Cape Macanao, on the western side of the island of Margareta, which rose majestically230 on the horizon. If we might judge from the angles of altitude of the tops, taken at eighteen miles’ distance, they appeared to be about 500 or 600 toises high. According to Berthoud’s time-keeper, the longitude of Cape Macanao is 66° 47′ 5″. I speak of the rocks at the extremity of the cape, and not that strip of very low land which stretches to the west, and loses itself in a shoal. The position of Macanao and that which I have assigned to the east point of the island of Coche, differ only four seconds in time, from the results obtained by M. Fidalgo.
There being little wind, the captain preferred standing off and on till daybreak. We passed a part of the night on deck. The Guayqueria pilot conversed with us respecting the animals and plants of his country. We learned with great satisfaction that there was, a few leagues from the coast, a mountainous region inhabited by the Spaniards, in which the cold was sensibly felt; and that in the plains there were two species of crocodiles, very different from each other, besides, boas, electric eels108, and several kinds of tigers. Though the words bava, cachicamo, and temblador, were entirely unknown to us, we easily guessed, from the pilot’s simple description of their manners and forms, the species which the creoles distinguished by these denominations231.
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1
interval
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| n.间隔，间距；幕间休息，中场休息 | |
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intervals
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| n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 )；间隔时间；[数学]区间；（戏剧、电影或音乐会的）幕间休息 | |
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3
dispersed
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| adj. 被驱散的, 被分散的, 散布的 | |
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enveloped
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| v.包围，笼罩，包住( envelop的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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situated
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| adj.坐落在...的，处于某种境地的 | |
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majestic
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| adj.雄伟的，壮丽的，庄严的，威严的，崇高的 | |
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fin
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| n.鳍；(飞机的)安定翼 | |
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cape
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| n.海角，岬；披肩，短披风 | |
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latitude
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| n.纬度，行动或言论的自由(范围)，(pl.)地区 | |
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gulf
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| n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂 | |
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eastward
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| adv.向东；adj.向东的；n.东方，东部 | |
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12
celebrated
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| adj.有名的，声誉卓著的 | |
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13
treatise
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| n.专著；(专题)论文 | |
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14
longitude
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| n.经线，经度 | |
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proximity
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| n.接近，邻近 | |
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strata
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| n.地层（复数）；社会阶层 | |
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naturalist
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| n.博物学家(尤指直接观察动植物者) | |
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discourse
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| n.论文，演说；谈话；话语；vi.讲述，著述 | |
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phenomena
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| n.现象 | |
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20
posthumous
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| adj.遗腹的；父亡后出生的；死后的，身后的 | |
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seamen
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| n.海员 | |
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latitudes
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| 纬度 | |
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23
descending
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| n. 下行 adj. 下降的 | |
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hazardous
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| adj.(有)危险的，冒险的；碰运气的 | |
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undertaking
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| n.保证，许诺，事业 | |
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mar
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| vt.破坏，毁坏，弄糟 | |
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receded
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| v.逐渐远离( recede的过去式和过去分词 )；向后倾斜；自原处后退或避开别人的注视；尤指问题 | |
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isolated
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| adj.与世隔绝的 | |
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augment
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| vt.(使)增大，增加，增长，扩张 | |
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metallic
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| adj.金属的；金属制的；含金属的；产金属的；像金属的 | |
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steer
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| vt.驾驶，为…操舵；引导；vi.驾驶 | |
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steering
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| n.操舵装置 | |
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fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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oblique
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| adj.斜的，倾斜的，无诚意的，不坦率的 | |
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attained
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| （通常经过努力）实现( attain的过去式和过去分词 )； 达到； 获得； 达到（某年龄、水平、状况） | |
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favourable
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| adj.赞成的，称赞的，有利的，良好的，顺利的 | |
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compensated
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| 补偿，报酬( compensate的过去式和过去分词 )； 给（某人）赔偿（或赔款） | |
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catching
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| adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住 | |
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abode
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| n.住处，住所 | |
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40
tempestuous
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| adj.狂暴的 | |
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41
tranquillity
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| n. 平静, 安静 | |
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42
expeditious
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| adj.迅速的，敏捷的 | |
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43
colonists
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| n.殖民地开拓者，移民，殖民地居民( colonist的名词复数 ) | |
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colonist
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| n.殖民者，移民 | |
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45
solitary
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| adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士 | |
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46
dread
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| vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧 | |
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47
marine
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| adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵 | |
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48
abounding
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| adj.丰富的，大量的v.大量存在，充满，富于( abound的现在分词 ) | |
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49
scattered
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| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
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meridian
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| adj.子午线的；全盛期的 | |
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51
tempestuously
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| adv.剧烈地，暴风雨似地 | |
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52
isles
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| 岛( isle的名词复数 ) | |
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53
vessel
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| n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管 | |
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54
vessels
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| n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人 | |
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55
mariner
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| n.水手号不载人航天探测器，海员，航海者 | |
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56
rectify
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| v.订正，矫正，改正 | |
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57
Portuguese
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| n.葡萄牙人；葡萄牙语 | |
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58
applied
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| adj.应用的；v.应用，适用 | |
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analogous
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| adj.相似的；类似的 | |
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60
impeded
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| 阻碍，妨碍，阻止( impede的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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61
navigated
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| v.给（船舶、飞机等）引航，导航( navigate的过去式和过去分词 )；（从海上、空中等）横越；横渡；飞跃 | |
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62
fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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63
fathoms
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| 英寻( fathom的名词复数 ) | |
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mariners
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| 海员，水手（mariner的复数形式） | |
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65
agitated
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| adj.被鼓动的，不安的 | |
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66
sufficiently
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| adv.足够地，充分地 | |
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gnaw
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| v.不断地啃、咬；使苦恼，折磨 | |
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naturalists
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| n.博物学家( naturalist的名词复数 )；（文学艺术的）自然主义者 | |
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investigation
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| n.调查，调查研究 | |
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domain
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| n.(活动等)领域，范围；领地，势力范围 | |
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71
interrogate
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| vt.讯问，审问，盘问 | |
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ascending
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| adj.上升的，向上的 | |
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73
fins
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| [医]散热片；鱼鳍；飞边；鸭掌 | |
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membrane
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| n.薄膜，膜皮，羊皮纸 | |
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75
touching
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| adj.动人的，使人感伤的 | |
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extremity
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| n.末端，尽头；尽力；终极；极度 | |
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standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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scorpion
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| n.蝎子，心黑的人，蝎子鞭 | |
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79
scorpions
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| n.蝎子( scorpion的名词复数 ) | |
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80
faculty
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| n.才能；学院，系；(学院或系的)全体教学人员 | |
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81
respiration
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| n.呼吸作用；一次呼吸；植物光合作用 | |
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82
voracity
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| n.贪食，贪婪 | |
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83
herds
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| 兽群( herd的名词复数 )； 牧群； 人群； 群众 | |
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84
prey
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| n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨 | |
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85
jaguar
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| n.美洲虎 | |
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86
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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87
brink
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| n.(悬崖、河流等的)边缘，边沿 | |
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88
gambols
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| v.蹦跳，跳跃，嬉戏( gambol的第三人称单数 ) | |
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89
northward
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| adv.向北；n.北方的地区 | |
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90
dissected
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|
| adj.切开的，分割的，（叶子）多裂的v.解剖（动物等）( dissect的过去式和过去分词 )；仔细分析或研究 | |
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91
prudent
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| adj.谨慎的，有远见的，精打细算的 | |
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92
augments
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| 增加，提高，扩大( augment的名词复数 ) | |
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93
configuration
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| n.结构，布局，形态，(计算机)配置 | |
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94
constellations
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| n.星座( constellation的名词复数 )；一群杰出人物；一系列（相关的想法、事物）；一群（相关的人） | |
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95
constellation
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| n.星座n.灿烂的一群 | |
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96
contemplated
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|
| adj. 预期的 动词contemplate的过去分词形式 | |
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97
infancy
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| n.婴儿期；幼年期；初期 | |
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98
awakens
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| v.（使）醒( awaken的第三人称单数 )；（使）觉醒；弄醒；（使）意识到 | |
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99
firmament
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| n.苍穹；最高层 | |
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100
milky
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|
| adj.牛奶的，多奶的；乳白色的 | |
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101
tracts
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| 大片土地( tract的名词复数 )； 地带； （体内的）道； （尤指宣扬宗教、伦理或政治的）短文 | |
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102
remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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103
peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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104
admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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105
vault
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| n.拱形圆顶，地窖，地下室 | |
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106
botanist
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| n.植物学家 | |
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107
celestial
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| adj.天体的；天上的 | |
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108
eels
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| abbr. 电子发射器定位系统（=electronic emitter location system） | |
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109
furrowed
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| v.犁田，开沟( furrow的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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110
realization
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| n.实现；认识到，深刻了解 | |
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111
geographical
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| adj.地理的；地区(性)的 | |
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112
narratives
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| 记叙文( narrative的名词复数 )； 故事； 叙述； 叙述部分 | |
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113
predilection
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| n.偏好 | |
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114
devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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115
renounce
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| v.放弃；拒绝承认，宣布与…断绝关系 | |
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116
behold
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| v.看，注视，看到 | |
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117
beholding
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| v.看，注视( behold的现在分词 )；瞧；看呀；（叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现）哎哟 | |
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118
starry
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| adj.星光照耀的, 闪亮的 | |
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119
sublime
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| adj.崇高的，伟大的；极度的，不顾后果的 | |
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120
commentators
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| n.评论员( commentator的名词复数 )；时事评论员；注释者；实况广播员 | |
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121
solitude
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| n. 孤独; 独居,荒僻之地,幽静的地方 | |
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122
susceptible
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| adj.过敏的，敏感的；易动感情的，易受感动的 | |
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123
perpendicular
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| adj.垂直的，直立的；n.垂直线，垂直的位置 | |
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124
erect
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| n./v.树立，建立，使竖立；adj.直立的，垂直的 | |
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125
conversed
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| v.交谈，谈话( converse的过去式 ) | |
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126
felicitous
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| adj.恰当的，巧妙的；n.恰当，贴切 | |
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127
malignant
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| adj.恶性的，致命的；恶意的，恶毒的 | |
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128
disorder
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| n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调 | |
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129
epidemic
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| n.流行病；盛行；adj.流行性的，流传极广的 | |
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130
robust
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| adj.强壮的，强健的，粗野的，需要体力的，浓的 | |
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131
delirium
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| n. 神智昏迷,说胡话;极度兴奋 | |
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132
fumigation
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| n.烟熏，熏蒸；忿恨 | |
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133
phlegmatic
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|
| adj.冷静的，冷淡的，冷漠的，无活力的 | |
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134
corruption
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| n.腐败，堕落，贪污 | |
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135
worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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136
tapers
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| （长形物体的）逐渐变窄( taper的名词复数 )； 微弱的光； 极细的蜡烛 | |
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137
berth
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| n.卧铺，停泊地，锚位；v.使停泊 | |
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138
stagnant
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| adj.不流动的，停滞的，不景气的 | |
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139
miasma
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| n.毒气；不良气氛 | |
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140
lethargic
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| adj.昏睡的，懒洋洋的 | |
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141
evacuating
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| 撤离，疏散( evacuate的现在分词 )； 排空（胃肠），排泄（粪便）； （从危险的地方）撤出，搬出，撤空 | |
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142
rotation
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| n.旋转；循环，轮流 | |
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143
foretell
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| v.预言，预告，预示 | |
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144
longitudes
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| 经度 | |
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145
volcanic
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| adj.火山的；象火山的；由火山引起的 | |
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146
sloop
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| n.单桅帆船 | |
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147
tacking
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| （帆船）抢风行驶，定位焊[铆]紧钉 | |
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148
leeward
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| adj.背风的；下风的 | |
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149
picturesque
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| adj.美丽如画的，（语言）生动的，绘声绘色的 | |
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150
cylindric
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| adj.圆筒的，圆柱状的 | |
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151
plunged
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| v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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152
noted
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| adj.著名的，知名的 | |
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153
distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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154
eddy
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| n.漩涡，涡流 | |
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155
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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156
concealed
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| a.隐藏的，隐蔽的 | |
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157
indented
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| adj.锯齿状的，高低不平的；缩进排版 | |
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158
granitic
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| 花岗石的，由花岗岩形成的 | |
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159
delusive
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| adj.欺骗的，妄想的 | |
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160
intensity
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| n.强烈，剧烈；强度；烈度 | |
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161
velocity
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| n.速度，速率 | |
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162
descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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163
torrents
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| n.倾注；奔流( torrent的名词复数 )；急流；爆发；连续不断 | |
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164
malady
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| n.病，疾病(通常做比喻) | |
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165
countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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166
disposition
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| n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署 | |
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167
embarked
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| 乘船( embark的过去式和过去分词 )； 装载； 从事 | |
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168
inclination
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| n.倾斜；点头；弯腰；斜坡；倾度；倾向；爱好 | |
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169
vomit
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| v.呕吐，作呕；n.呕吐物，吐出物 | |
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170
melancholy
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| n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的 | |
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171
monotonous
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|
| adj.单调的，一成不变的，使人厌倦的 | |
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172
reigned
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| vi.当政，统治（reign的过去式形式） | |
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173
discordance
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| n.不调和，不和，不一致性；不整合；假整合 | |
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174
knell
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| n.丧钟声；v.敲丧钟 | |
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175
tolled
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| 鸣钟（toll的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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176
lugubrious
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| adj.悲哀的，忧郁的 | |
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177
momentary
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| adj.片刻的，瞬息的；短暂的 | |
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178
primitive
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| adj.原始的；简单的；n.原(始)人，原始事物 | |
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179
Christians
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| n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 ) | |
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180
corpse
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| n.尸体，死尸 | |
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181
entreated
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| 恳求，乞求( entreat的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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182
rites
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| 仪式，典礼( rite的名词复数 ) | |
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183
deplore
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| vt.哀叹，对...深感遗憾 | |
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184
beheld
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| v.看，注视( behold的过去式和过去分词 )；瞧；看呀；（叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现）哎哟 | |
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185
contagious
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| adj.传染性的，有感染力的 | |
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186
sojourn
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| v./n.旅居，寄居；逗留 | |
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187
adorn
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| vt.使美化，装饰 | |
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188
conservatories
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| n.（培植植物的）温室，暖房( conservatory的名词复数 ) | |
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189
scorching
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| adj. 灼热的 | |
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190
acclimated
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| v.使适应新环境，使服水土服水土，适应( acclimate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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191
inverse
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| adj.相反的，倒转的，反转的；n.相反之物；v.倒转 | |
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192
irritability
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| n.易怒 | |
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193
atmospheric
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| adj.大气的，空气的；大气层的；大气所引起的 | |
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194
appendages
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| n.附属物( appendage的名词复数 )；依附的人；附属器官；附属肢体（如臂、腿、尾等） | |
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195
memoir
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| n.[pl.]回忆录，自传；记事录 | |
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196
specimens
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| n.样品( specimen的名词复数 )；范例；（化验的）抽样；某种类型的人 | |
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197
flora
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| n.(某一地区的)植物群 | |
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198
stamina
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| n.体力；精力；耐力 | |
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199
ascertaining
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| v.弄清，确定，查明( ascertain的现在分词 ) | |
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200
previously
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| adv.以前，先前（地） | |
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201
astronomical
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| adj.天文学的，（数字）极大的 | |
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202
westward
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| n.西方，西部；adj.西方的，向西的；adv.向西 | |
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203
cylindrical
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| adj.圆筒形的 | |
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204
destitute
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| adj.缺乏的；穷困的 | |
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205
mirage
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| n.海市蜃楼，幻景 | |
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206
chronometer
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| n.精密的计时器 | |
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207
variance
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| n.矛盾，不同 | |
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208
conjectures
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| 推测，猜想( conjecture的名词复数 ) | |
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209
mounds
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| 土堆，土丘( mound的名词复数 )； 一大堆 | |
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pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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alleged
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| a.被指控的，嫌疑的 | |
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descried
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| adj.被注意到的，被发现的，被看到的 | |
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hoisted
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| 把…吊起，升起( hoist的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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214
stature
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| n.（高度）水平，（高度）境界，身高，身材 | |
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advantageous
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| adj.有利的；有帮助的 | |
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216
mangles
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| n.轧布机，轧板机，碾压机（mangle的复数形式）vt.乱砍（mangle的第三人称单数形式） | |
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217
civilized
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| a.有教养的，文雅的 | |
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cedar
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| n.雪松，香柏(木) | |
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scaly
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| adj.鱼鳞状的；干燥粗糙的 | |
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220
recording
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| n.录音，记录 | |
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221
itinerary
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| n.行程表，旅行路线；旅行计划 | |
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222
ascertained
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| v.弄清，确定，查明( ascertain的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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223
steered
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| v.驾驶( steer的过去式和过去分词 )；操纵；控制；引导 | |
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224
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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225
deserted
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| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
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formerly
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| adv.从前，以前 | |
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remains
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| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
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vestige
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| n.痕迹，遗迹，残余 | |
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229
thither
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| adv.向那里；adj.在那边的，对岸的 | |
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230
majestically
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| 雄伟地； 庄重地； 威严地； 崇高地 | |
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231
denominations
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| n.宗派( denomination的名词复数 )；教派；面额；名称 | |
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