The days we passed at the Capuchin convent in the mountains of Caripe, glided2 swiftly away, though our manner of living was simple and uniform. From sunrise to nightfall we traversed the forests and neighbouring mountains, to collect plants. When the winter rains prevented us from undertaking3 distant excursions, we visited the huts of the Indians, the conuco of the community, or those assemblies in which the alcaldes every evening arrange the labours of the succeeding day. We returned to the monastery4 only when the sound of the bell called us to the refectory to share the repasts of the missionaries5. Sometimes, very early in the morning, we followed them to the church, to attend the doctrina, that is to say, the religious instruction of the Indians. It was rather a difficult task to explain dogmas to the neophytes, especially those who had but a very imperfect knowledge of the Spanish language. On the other hand, the monks7 are as yet almost totally ignorant of the language of the Chaymas; and the resemblance of sounds confuses the poor Indians and suggests to them the most whimsical ideas. Of this I may cite an example. I saw a missionary8 labouring earnestly to prove that infierno, hell, and invierno, winter, were not one and the same thing; but as different as heat and cold. The Chaymas are acquainted with no other winter than the season of rains; and consequently they imagined the Hell of the whites to be a place where the wicked are exposed to frequent showers. The missionary harangued9 to no purpose: it was impossible to efface10 the first impression produced by the analogy between the two consonants11. He could not separate in the minds of the neophytes the ideas of rain and hell; invierno and infierno.
After passing almost the whole day in the open air, we employed our evenings, at the convent, in making notes, drying our plants, and sketching12 those that appeared to form new genera. Unfortunately the misty13 atmosphere of a valley, where the surrounding forests fill the air with an enormous quantity of vapour, was unfavourable to astronomical15 observations. I spent a part of the nights waiting to take advantage of the moment when some star should be visible between the clouds, near its passage over the meridian16. I often shivered with cold, though the thermometer only sunk to 16°, which is the temperature of the day in our climates towards the end of September. The instruments remained set up in the court of the convent for several hours, yet I was almost always disappointed in my expectations. Some good observations of Fomalhaut and of Deneb have given 10° 10′ 14″ as the latitude18 of Caripe; which proves that the position indicated in the maps of Caulin is 18 minutes wrong, and in that of Arrowsmith 14 minutes.
Observations of corresponding altitudes of the sun having given me the true time, within about 2 seconds, I was enabled to determine the magnetic variation with precision, at noon. It was, on the 20th of September, 1799, 3° 15′ 30″ north-east; consequently 0° 58′ 15″ less than at Cumana. If we attend to the influence of the horary variations, which in these countries do not in general exceed 8 minutes, we shall find, that at considerable distances the variation changes less rapidly than is usually supposed. The dip of the needle was 42.75°, centesimal division, and the number of oscillations, expressing the intensity19 of the magnetic forces, rose to 229 in ten minutes.
The vexation of seeing the stars disappear in a misty sky was the only disappointment we felt in the valley of Caripe. The aspect of this spot presents a character at once wild and tranquil20, gloomy and attractive. In the solitude21 of these mountains we are perhaps less struck by the new impressions we receive at every step, than with the marks of resemblance we trace in climates the most remote from each other. The hills by which the convent is backed, are crowned with palm-trees and arborescent ferns. In the evenings, when the sky denotes rain, the air resounds22 with the monotonous23 howling of the alouate apes, which resembles the distant sound of wind when it shakes the forest. Yet amid these strange sounds, these wild forms of plants, and these prodigies24 of a new world, nature everywhere speaks to man in a voice familiar to him. The turf that overspreads the soil: the old moss25 and fern that cover the roots of the trees; the torrents26 that gush27 down the sloping banks of the calcareous rocks; in fine, the harmonious28 accordance of tints30 reflected by the waters, the verdure, and the sky; everything recalls to the traveller, sensations which he has already felt.
The beauties of this mountain scenery so much engaged us, that we were very tardy31 in observing the embarrassment32 felt by our kind entertainers the monks. They had but a slender provision of wine and wheaten bread; and although in those high regions both are considered as belonging merely to the luxuries of the table, yet we saw with regret, that our hosts abstained34 from them on our account. Our portion of bread had already been diminished three-fourths, yet violent rains still obliged us to delay our departure for two days. How long did this delay appear! It made us dread35 the sound of the bell that summoned us to the refectory.
We departed at length on the 22nd of September, followed by four mules36, laden37 with our instruments and plants. We had to descend38 the north-east slope of the calcareous Alps of New Andalusia, which we have called the great chain of the Brigantine and the Cocollar. The mean elevation39 of this chain scarcely exceeds six or seven hundred toises: in respect to height and geological constitution, we may compare it to the chain of the Jura. Notwithstanding the inconsiderable elevation of the mountains of Cumana, the descent is extremely difficult and dangerous in the direction of Cariaco. The Cerro of Santa Maria, which the missionaries ascend41 in their journey from Cumana to their convent at Caripe, is famous for the difficulties it presents to travellers. On comparing these mountains with the Andes of Peru, the Pyrenees, and the Alps, which we successively visited, it has more than once occurred to us, that the less lofty summits are sometimes the most inaccessible42.
On leaving the valley of Caripe, we first crossed a ridge43 of hills north-east of the convent. The road led us along a continual ascent44 through a vast savannah, as far as the table-land of Guardia de San Augustin. We there halted to wait for the Indian who carried the barometer45. We found ourselves to be at 533 toises of absolute elevation, or a little higher than the bottom of the cavern46 of Guacharo. The savannahs or natural meadows, which yield excellent pasture for the cows of the convent, are totally devoid47 of trees or shrubs48. It is the domain49 of the monocotyledonous plants; for amidst the gramina only a few Maguey* plants rise here and there; their flowery stalks being more than twenty-six feet high. Having reached the table-land of Guardia, we appeared to be transported to the bed of an old lake, levelled by the long-continued abode50 of the waters. We seemed to trace the sinuosities of the ancient shore in the tongues of land which jut51 out from the craggy rock, and even in the distribution of the vegetation. The bottom of the basin is a savannah, while its banks are covered with trees of full growth. This is probably the most elevated valley in the provinces of Venezuela and Cumana. One cannot but regret, that a spot favoured by so temperate52 a climate, and which without doubt would be fit for the culture of corn, is totally uninhabited.
[* Agave Americana.]
From the table-land of Guardia we continued to descend, till we reached the Indian village of Santa Cruz. We passed at first along a slope extremely slippery and steep, to which the missionaries had given the name of Baxada del Purgatorio, or Descent of Purgatory53. It is a rock of schistose sandstone, decomposed54, covered with clay, the talus of which appears frightfully steep, from the effect of a very common optical illusion. When we look down from the top to the bottom of the hill the road seems inclined more than 60°. The mules in going down draw their hind55 legs near to their fore1 legs, and lowering their cruppers, let themselves slide at a venture. The rider runs no risk, provided he slacken the bridle56, thereby57 leaving the animal quite free in his movements. From this point we perceived towards the left the great pyramid of Guacharo. The appearance of this calcareous peak is very picturesque58, but we soon lost sight of it, on entering the thick forest, known by the name of the Montana de Santa Maria. We descended59 without intermission for seven hours. It is difficult to conceive a more tremendous descent; it is absolutely a road of steps, a kind of ravine, in which, during the rainy season, impetuous torrents dash from rock to rock. The steps are from two to three feet high, and the beasts of burden, after measuring with their eyes the space necessary to let their load pass between the trunks of the trees, leap from one rock to another. Afraid of missing their mark, we saw them stop a few minutes to scan the ground, and bring together their four feet like wild goats. If the animal does not reach the nearest block of stone, he sinks half his depth into the soft ochreous clay, that fills up the interstices of the rock. When the blocks are wanting, enormous roots serve as supports for the feet of men and beasts. Some of these roots are twenty inches thick, and they often branch out from the trunks of the trees much above the level of the soil. The Creoles have sufficient confidence in the address and instinct of the mules, to remain in their saddles during this long and dangerous descent. Fearing fatigue60 less than they did, and being accustomed to travel slowly for the purpose of gathering61 plants and examining the nature of the rocks, we preferred going down on foot; and, indeed, the care which our chronometers62 demanded, left us no liberty of choice.
The forest that covers the steep flank of the mountain of Santa Maria, is one of the thickest I ever saw. The trees are of stupendous height and size. Under their bushy, deep green foliage63, there reigns64 continually a kind of dim daylight, a peculiar65 sort of obscurity, of which our forests of pines, oaks, and beech-trees, convey no idea. Notwithstanding its elevated temperature, it is difficult to believe that the air can dissolve the quantity of water exhaled66 from the surface of the soil, the foliage of the trees, and their trunks: the latter are covered with a drapery of orchideae, peperomia, and other succulent plants. With the aromatic67 odour of the flowers, the fruit, and even the wood, is mingled68 that which we perceive in autumn in misty weather. Here, as in the forests of the Orinoco, fixing our eyes on the top of the trees, we discerned streams of vapour, whenever a solar ray penetrated69, and traversed the dense70 atmosphere. Our guides pointed17 out to us among those majestic71 trees, the height of which exceeded 120 or 130 feet, the curucay of Terecen. It yields a whitish liquid, and very odoriferous resin72, which was formerly73 employed by the Cumanagoto and Tagiri Indians, to perfume their idols74. The young branches have an agreeable taste, though somewhat astringent75. Next to the curucay and enormous trunks of hymenaea, (the diameter of which was more than nine or ten feet), the trees which most excited our attention were the dragon’s blood (Croton sanguifluum), the purple-brown juice of which flows down a whitish bark; the calahuala fern, different from that of Peru, but almost equally medicinal;* and the palm-trees, irasse, macanilla, corozo, and praga.* The last yields a very savoury palm-cabbage, which we had sometimes eaten at the convent of Caripe. These palms with pinnated and thorny77 leaves formed a pleasing contrast to the fern-trees. One of the latter, the Cyathea speciosa,* grows to the height of more than thirty-five feet, a prodigious78 size for plants of this family. We discovered here, and in the valley of Caripe, five new kinds of arborescent ferns.* In the time of Linnaeus, botanists79 knew no more than four on both continents.
[* The calahuala of Caripe is the Polypodium crassifolium; that of Peru, the use of which has been so much extended by Messrs. Ruiz and Pavon, comes from the Aspidium coriaceum, Willd. (Tectaria calahuala, Cav.) In commerce the diaphoretic roots of the Polypodium crassifolium, and of the Acrostichum huascaro, are mixed with those of the calahuala or Aspidium coriaceum.]
[* Aiphanes praga.]
[* Possibly a hemitelia of Robert Brown. The trunk alone is from 22 to 24 feet long. This and the Cyathea excelsa of the Mauritius, are the most majestic of all the fern-trees described by botanists. The total number of these gigantic cryptogamous plants amounts at present to 25 species, that of the palm-trees to 80. With the cyathea grow, on the mountain of Santa Maria, Rhexia juniperina, Chiococca racemosa, and Commelina spicata.]
[* Meniscium arborescens, Aspidium caducum, A. rostratum, Cyathea villosa, and C. speciosa.]
We observed that the fern-trees are in general much more rare than the palm-trees. Nature has confined them to temperate, moist, and shady places. They shun80 the direct rays of the sun, and while the pumos, the corypha of the steppes and other palms of America, flourish on the barren and burning plains, these ferns with arborescent trunks, which at a distance look like palm-trees, preserve the character and habits of cryptogamous plants. They love solitary81 places, little light, moist, temperate and stagnant82 air. If they sometimes descend towards the sea-coast, it is only under cover of a thick shade. The old trunks of the cyathea and the meniscium are covered with a carbonaceous powder, which, probably being deprived of hydrogen, has a metallic83 lustre84 like plumbago. No other plant presents this phenomenon; for the trunks of the dicotyledons, in spite of the heat of the climate, and the intensity of the light, are less burnt within the tropics than in the temperate zone. It may be said that the trunks of the ferns, which, like the monocotyledons, are enlarged by the remains85 of the petioles, decay from the circumference86 to the centre; and that, deprived of the cortical organs through which the elaborated juices descend to the roots, they are burnt more easily by the action of the oxygen of the atmosphere. I brought to Europe some powders with metallic lustre, taken from very old trunks of Meniscium and Aspidium.
In proportion as we descended the mountain of Santa Maria, we saw the arborescent ferns diminish, and the number of palm-trees increase. The beautiful large-winged butterflies (nymphales), which fly at a prodigious height, became more common. Everything denoted our approach to the coast, and to a zone in which the mean temperature of the day is from 28 to 30°.
The weather was cloudy, and led us to fear one of those heavy rains, during which from 1 to 1.3 inches of water sometimes falls in a day. The sun at times illumined the tops of the trees; and, though sheltered from its rays, we felt an oppressive heat. Thunder rolled at a distance; the clouds seemed suspended on the top of the lofty mountains of the Guacharo; and the plaintive87 howling of the araguatoes, which we had so often heard at Caripe, denoted the proximity88 of the storm. We now for the first time had a near view of these howling apes. They are of the family of the alouates,* the different species of which have long been confounded one with another. The small sapajous of America, which imitate in whistling the tones of the passeres, have the bone of the tongue thin and simple, but the apes of large size, as the alouates and marimondes,* have the tongue placed on a large bony drum. Their superior larynx has six pouches89, in which the voice loses itself; and two of which, shaped like pigeons’ nests, resemble the inferior larynx of birds. The air driven with force into the bony drum produces that mournful sound which characterises the araguatoes. I sketched90 on the spot these organs, which are imperfectly known to anatomists, and published the description of them on my return to Europe.
[* Stentor, Geoffroy.]
[* Ateles, Geoffroy.]
The araguato, which the Tamanac Indians call aravata,* and the Maypures marave, resembles a young bear.* It is three feet long, reckoning from the top of the head (which is small and very pyramidal) to the beginning of the prehensile91 tail. Its fur is bushy, and of a reddish brown; the breast and belly92 are covered with fine hair, and not bare as in the mono colorado, or alouate roux of Buffon, which we carefully examined in going from Carthagena to Santa Fe de Bogota. The face of the araguato is of a blackish blue, and is covered with a fine and wrinkled skin: its beard is pretty long; and, notwithstanding the direction of the facial line, the angle of which is only thirty degrees, the araguato has, in the expression of the countenance93, as much resemblance to man as the marimonde (S. belzebuth, Bresson) and the capuchin of the Orinoco (S. chiropotes). Among thousands of araguatoes which we observed in the provinces of Cumana, Caracas, and Guiana, we never saw any change in the reddish brown fur of the back and shoulders, whether we examined individuals or whole troops. It appeared to me in general, that variety of colour is less frequent among monkeys than naturalists94 suppose.
[* In the writings of the early Spanish missionaries, this monkey is described by the names of aranata and araguato. In both names we easily discover the same root. The v has been transformed into g and n. The name of arabata, which Gumilla gives to the howling apes of the Lower Orinoco, and which Geoffroy thinks belongs to the S. straminea of Great Paria, is the same Tamanac word aravata. This identity of names need not surprise us. The language of the Chayma Indians of Cumana is one of the numerous branches of the Tamanac language, and the latter is connected with the Caribbee language of the Lower Orinoco.]
[* Alouate ourse (Simia ursina).]
The araguato of Caripe is a new species of the genus Stentor, which I have above described. It differs equally from the ouarine (S. guariba) and the alouate roux (S. seniculus, old man of the woods). Its eye, voice, and gait, denote melancholy95. I have seen young araguatoes brought up in Indian huts. They never play like the little sagoins, and their gravity was described with much simplicity96 by Lopez de Gomara, in the beginning of the sixteenth century. “The Aranata de los Cumaneses,” says this author, “has the face of a man, the beard of a goat, and a grave demeanour (honrado gesto.)” Monkeys are more melancholy in proportion as they have more resemblance to man. Their sprightliness97 diminishes, as their intellectual faculties98 appear to increase.
We stopped to observe some howling monkeys, which, to the number of thirty or forty, crossed the road, passing in a file from one tree to another over the horizontal and intersecting branches. While we were observing their movements, we saw a troop of Indians going towards the mountains of Caripe. They were without clothing, as the natives of this country generally are. The women, laden with rather heavy burdens, closed the march. The men were all armed; and even the youngest boys had bows and arrows. They moved on in silence, with their eyes fixed99 on the ground. We endeavoured to learn from them whether we were yet far from the Mission of Santa Cruz, where we intended passing the night. We were overcome with fatigue, and suffered from thirst. The heat increased as the storm drew near, and we had not met with a single spring on the way. The words si, patre; no, patre; which the Indians continually repeated, led us to think they understood a little Spanish. In the eyes of a native every white man is a monk6, a padre; for in the Missions the colour of the skin characterizes the monk, more than the colour of the garment. In vain we questioned them respecting the length of the way: they answered, as if by chance, si and no, without our being able to attach any precise sense to their replies. This made us the more impatient, as their smiles and gestures indicated their wish to direct us; and the forest seemed at every step to become thicker and thicker. At length we separated from the Indians; our guides were able to follow us only at a distance, because the beasts of burden fell at every step in the ravines.
After journeying for several hours, continually descending100 on blocks of scattered101 rock, we found ourselves unexpectedly at the outlet102 of the forest of Santa Maria. A savannah, the verdure of which had been renewed by the winter rains, stretched before us farther than the eye could reach. On the left we discovered a narrow valley, extending as far as the mountains of the Guacharo, and covered with a thick forest. Looking downward, the eye rested on the tops of the trees, which, at eight hundred feet below the road, formed a carpet of verdure of a dark and uniform tint29. The openings in the forest appeared like vast funnels103, in which we could distinguish by their elegant forms and pinnated leaves, the Praga and Irasse palms. But what renders this spot eminently104 picturesque, is the aspect of the Sierra del Guacharo. Its northern slope, in the direction of the gulf105 of Cariaco, is abrupt106. It presents a wall of rock, an almost vertical107 profile, exceeding 3000 feet in height. The vegetation which covers this wall is so scanty108, that the eye can follow the lines of the calcareous strata109. The summit of the Sierra is flat, and it is only at its eastern extremity110, that the majestic peak of the Guacharo rises like an inclined pyramid, its form resembles that of the needles and horns* of the Alps.
[* The Shreckhorner, the Finsteraarhorn, etc.]
The savannah we crossed to the Indian village of Santa Cruz is composed of several smooth plateaux, lying above each other like terraces. This geological phenomenon, which is repeated in every climate, seems to indicate a long abode of the waters in basins that have poured them from one to the other. The calcareous rock is no longer visible, but is covered with a thick layer of mould. The last time we saw it in the forest of Santa Maria it was slightly porous111, and looked more like the limestone112 of Cumanacoa than that of Caripe. We there found brown iron-ore disseminated113 in patches, and if we were not deceived in our observation, a Cornu-ammonis, which we could not succeed in our attempt to detach. It was seven inches in diameter. This fact is the more important, as in this part of America we have never seen ammonites. The Mission of Santa Cruz is situated114 in the midst of the plain. We reached it towards the evening, suffering much from thirst, having travelled nearly eight hours without finding water. The thermometer kept at 26°; accordingly we were not more than 190 toises above the level of the sea.
We passed the night in one of those ajupas called King’s houses, which, as I have already said, serve as tambos or caravanserais to travellers. The rains prevented any observations of the stars; and the next day, the 23rd of September, we continued our descent towards the gulf of Cariaco. Beyond Santa Cruz a thick forest again appears; and in it we found, under tufts of melastomas, a beautiful fern, with osmundia leaves, which forms a new genus of the order of polypodiaceous plants.*
[* Polybotya.]
Having reached the mission of Catuaro, we were desirous of continuing our journey eastward115 by Santa Rosalia, Casanay, San Josef, Carupano, Rio Carives, and the Montana of Paria; but we learnt with great regret, that torrents of rain had rendered the roads impassable, and that we should run the risk of losing the plants we had already gathered. A rich planter of cacao-trees was to accompany us from Santa Rosalia to the port of Carupano; but when the time of departure approached, we were informed that his affairs had called him to Cumana. We resolved in consequence to embark116 at Cariaco, and to return directly by the gulf, instead of passing between the island of Margareta and the isthmus117 of Araya. The Mission of Catuaro is situated on a very wild spot. Trees of full growth still surround the church, and the tigers come by night to devour118 the poultry119 and swine belonging to the Indians. We lodged120 at the dwelling121 of the priest, a monk of the congregation of the Observance, to whom the Capuchins had confided122 the Mission, because priests of their own community were wanting.
At this Mission we met Don Alexandro Mexia, the corregidor of the district, an amiable123 and well-educated man. He gave us three Indians, who, armed with their machetes, were to precede us, and cut our way through the forest. In this country, so little frequented, the power of vegetation is such at the period of the great rains, that a man on horseback can with difficulty make his way through narrow paths, covered with lianas and intertwining branches. To our great annoyance124, the missionary of Catuaro insisted on conducting us to Cariaco; and we could not decline the proposal. The movement for independence, which had nearly broken out at Caracas in 1798, had been preceded and followed by great agitation125 among the slaves at Coro, Maracaybo, and Cariaco. At the last of these places an unfortunate negro had been condemned126 to die, and our host, the vicar of Catuaro, was going thither127 to offer him spiritual comfort. During our journey we could not escape conversations, in which the missionary pertinaciously129 insisted on the necessity of the slave-trade, on the innate76 wickedness of the blacks, and the benefit they derived130 from their state of slavery among the Christians131! The mildness of Spanish legislation, compared with the Black Code of most other nations that have possessions in either of the Indies, cannot be denied. But such is the state of the negroes, that justice, far from efficaciously protecting them during their lives, cannot even punish acts of barbarity which cause their death.
The road we took across the forest of Catuaro resembled the descent of the mountain Santa Maria; here also, the most difficult and dangerous places have fanciful names. We walked as in a narrow furrow132, scooped133 out by torrents, and filled with fine tenacious134 clay. The mules lowered their cruppers and slid down the steepest slopes. This descent is called Saca Manteca.* There is no danger in the descent, owing to the great address of the mules of this country. The clay, which renders the soil so slippery, is produced by the numerous layers of sandstone and schistose clay crossing the bluish grey alpine135 limestone. This last disappears as we draw nearer to Cariaco. When we reached the mountain of Meapira, we found it formed in great part of a white limestone, filled with fossil remains, and from the grains of quartz136 agglutinated in the mass, it appeared to belong to the great formation of the sea-coast breccias. We descended this mountain on the strata of the rock, the section of which forms steps of unequal height. Farther on, going out of the forest, we reached the hill of Buenavista,* well deserving the name it bears; since it commands a view of the town of Cariaco, situated in the midst of a vast plain filled with plantations137, huts, and scattered groups of cocoa-palms. To the west of Cariaco extends the wide gulf; which a wall of rock separates from the ocean: and towards the east are seen, like bluish clouds, the high mountains of Paria and Areo. This is one of the most extensive and magnificent prospects138 that can be enjoyed on the coast of New Andalusia. In the town of Cariaco we found a great part of the inhabitants suffering from intermittent140 fever; a disease which in autumn assumes a formidable character. When we consider the extreme fertility of the surrounding plains, their moisture, and the mass of vegetation with which they are covered, we may easily conceive why, amidst so much decomposition141 of organic matter, the inhabitants do not enjoy that salubrity of air which characterizes the climate of Cumana.
[* Or the Butter–Slope. Manteca in Spanish signifies butter.]
[* Mountain of the Fine Prospect139.]
The chain of calcareous mountains of the Brigantine and the Cocollar sends off a considerable branch to the north, which joins the primitive142 mountains of the coast. This branch bears the name of Sierra de Meapire; but towards the town of Cariaco it is called Cerro Grande de Curiaco. Its mean height did not appear to be more than 150 or 200 toises. It was composed, where I could examine it, of the calcareous breccias of the sea-coast. Marly and calcareous beds alternate with other beds containing grains of quartz. It is a very striking phenomenon for those who study the physical aspect of a country, to see a transverse ridge connect at right angles two parallel ridges143, of which one, the more southern, is composed of secondary rocks, and the other, the more northern, of primitive rocks. The latter presents, nearly as far as the meridian of Carupano, only mica-slate; but to the east of this point, where it communicates by a transverse ridge (the Sierra de Meapire) with the limestone range, it contains lamellar gypsum, compact limestone, and other rocks of secondary formation. It might be supposed that the southern ridge has transferred these rocks to the northern chain.
When standing40 on the summit of the Cerro del Meapire, we see the mountain currents flow on one side to the gulf of Paria, and on the other to the gulf of Cariaco. East and west of the ridge there are low and marshy144 grounds, spreading out without interruption; and if it be admitted that both gulfs owe their origin to the sinking of the earth, and to rents caused by earthquakes, we must suppose that the Cerro de Meapire has resisted the convulsive movements of the globe, and hindered the waters of the gulf of Paria from uniting with those of the gulf of Cariaco. But for this rocky dyke145, the isthmus itself in all probability would have had no existence; and from the castle of Araya as far as Cape128 Paria, the whole mass of the mountains of the coast would have formed a narrow island, parallel to the island of Santa Margareta, and four times as long. Not only do the inspection146 of the ground, and considerations deduced from its relievo, confirm these opinions; but a mere33 glance of the configuration147 of the coasts, and a geological map of the country, would suggest the same ideas. It would appear that the island of Margareta has been heretofore attached to the coast-chain of Araya by the peninsula of Chacopata and the Caribbee islands, Lobo and Coche, in the same manner as this chain is still connected with that of the Cocollar and Caripe by the ridge of Meapire.
At present we perceive that the humid plains which stretch east and west of the ridge, and which are improperly148 called the valleys San Bonifacio and Cariaco, are enlarging by gaining on the sea. The waters are receding149, and these changes of the shore are very remarkable150, more particularly on the coast of Cumana. If the level of the soil seem to indicate that the two gulfs of Cariaco and Paria formerly occupied a much more considerable space, we cannot doubt that at present the land is progressively extending. Near Cumana, a battery, called La Boca, was built in 1791 on the very margin151 of the sea; in 1799 we saw it very far inland. At the mouth of the Rio Neveri, near the Morro of Nueva Barcelona, the retreat of the waters is still more rapid. This local phenomenon is probably assignable to accumulations of sand, the progress of which has not yet been sufficiently152 examined. Descending the Sierra de Meapire, which forms the isthmus between the plains of San Bonifacio and Cariaco, we find towards the east the great lake of Putacuao, which communicates with the river Areo, and is four or five leagues in diameter. The mountainous lands that surround this basin are known only to the natives. There are found those great boa serpents known to the Chayma Indians by the name of guainas, and to which they fabulously153 attribute a sting under the tail. Descending the Sierra de Meapire to the west, we find at first a hollow ground (tierra hueca) which, during the great earthquakes of 1766, threw out asphaltum enveloped154 in viscous155 petroleum156. Farther on, a numberless quantity of sulphureous thermal157 springs* are seen issuing from the soil; and at length we reach the borders of the lake of Campoma, the exhalations from which contribute to the insalubrity of the climate of Cariaco. The natives believe that the hollow is formed by the engulfing158 of the hot springs; and, judging from the sound heard under the hoofs159 of the horses, we must conclude that the subterranean160 cavities are continued from west to east nearly as far as Casanay, a length of three or four thousand toises. A little river, the Rio Azul, runs through these plains which are rent into crevices161 by earthquakes. These earthquakes have a particular centre of action, and seldom extend as far as Cumana. The waters of the Rio Azul are cold and limpid162; they rise on the western declivity163 of the mountain of Meapire, and it is believed that they are augmented164 by infiltrations from the lake Putacuao, situated on the other side of the chain. The little river, together with the sulphureous hot springs, fall into the Laguna de Campoma. This is a name given to a great lagoon165, which is divided in dry weather into three basins situated north-west of the town of Cariaco, near the extremity of the gulf. Fetid exhalations arise continually from the stagnant water of this lagoon. The smell of sulphuretted hydrogen is mingled with that of putrid166 fishes and rotting plants.
[* El Llano de Aguas calientes, east-north-east of Cariaco, at the distance of two leagues.]
Miasms are formed in the valley of Cariaco, as in the Campagna of Rome; but the hot climate of the tropics increases their deleterious energy. These miasms are probably ternary or quaternary combinations of azote, phosphorus, hydrogen, carbon, and sulphur.
The situation of the lagoon of Campoma renders the north-west wind, which blows frequently after sunset, very pernicious to the inhabitants of the little town of Cariaco. Its influence can be the less doubted, as intermitting fevers are observed to degenerate167 into typhoid fevers, in proportion as we approach the lagoon, which is the principal focus of putrid miasms. Whole families of free negroes, who have small plantations on the northern coast of the gulf of Cariaco, languish168 in their hammocks from the beginning of the rainy season. These intermittent fevers assume a dangerous character, when persons, debilitated169 by long labour and copious170 perspiration171, expose themselves to the fine rains, which frequently fall as evening advances. Nevertheless, the men of colour, and particularly the Creole negroes, resist much better than any other race, the influence of the climate. Lemonade and infusions172 of Scoparia dulcis are given to the sick; but the cuspare, which is the cinchona of Angostura, is seldom used.
It is generally observed, that in these epidemics173 of the town of Cariaco the mortality is less considerable than might be supposed. Intermitting fevers, when they attack the same individual during several successive years, enfeeble the constitution; but this state of debility, so common on the unhealthy coasts, does not cause death. What is remarkable enough, is the belief which prevails here as in the Campagna of Rome, that the air has become progressively more vitiated in proportion as a greater number of acres have been cultivated. The miasms exhaled from these plains have, however, nothing in common with those which arise from a forest when the trees are cut down, and the sun heats a thick layer of dead leaves. Near Cariaco the country is but thinly wooded. Can it be supposed that the mould, fresh stirred and moistened by rains, alters and vitiates the atmosphere more than the thick wood of plants which covers an uncultivated soil? To local causes are joined other causes less problematic. The neighbouring shores of the sea are covered with mangroves, avicennias, and other shrubs with astringent bark. All the inhabitants of the tropics are aware of the noxious174 exhalations of these plants; and they dread them the more, as their roots and stocks are not always under water, but alternately wetted and exposed to the heat of the sun.* The mangroves produce miasms, because they contain vegeto-animal matter combined with tannin.
[* The following is a list of the social plants that cover those sandy plains on the sea-side, and characterize the vegetation of Cumana and the gulf of Cariaco. Rhizophora mangle175, Avicennia nitida, Gomphrena flava, G. brachiata, Sesuvium portulacastrum (vidrio), Talinum cuspidatum (vicho), T. cumanense, Portulacca pilosa (zargasso), P. lanuginosa, Illecebrum maritimum, Atriplex cristata, Heliotropium viride, H. latifolium, Verbena cuneata, Mollugo verticillata, Euphorbia maritima, Convolvulus cumanensis.]
The town of Cariaco has been repeatedly sacked in former times by the Caribs. Its population has augmented rapidly since the provincial176 authorities, in spite of prohibitory orders from the court of Madrid have often favoured the trade with foreign colonies. The population amounted, in 1800, to more than 6000 souls. The inhabitants are active in the cultivation177 of cotton, which is of a very fine quality. The capsules of the cotton-tree, when separated from the woolly substance, are carefully burnt; as those husks if thrown into the river, and exposed to putrefaction178, yield noxious exhalations. The culture of the cacao-tree has of late considerably179 diminished. This valuable tree bears only after eight or ten years. Its fruit keeps very badly in the warehouses180, and becomes mouldy at the expiration181 of a year, notwithstanding all the precautions employed for drying it.
It is only in the interior of the province, to the east of the Sierra de Meapire, that new plantations of the cacao-tree are seen. They become there the more productive, as the lands, newly cleared and surrounded by forests, are in contact with an atmosphere damp, stagnant, and loaded with mephitic exhalations. We there see fathers of families, attached to the old habits of the colonists182, slowly amass183 a little fortune for themselves and their children. Thirty thousand cacao-trees will secure competence184 to a family for a generation and a half. If the culture of cotton and coffee have led to the diminution185 of cacao in the province of Caracas and in the small valley of Cariaco, it must be admitted that this last branch of colonial industry has in general increased in the interior of the provinces of New Barcelona and Cumana. The causes of the progressive movement of the cacao-tree from west to east may be easily conceived. The province of Caracas has been from a remote period cultivated: and, in the torrid zone, in proportion as a country has been cleared, it becomes drier and more exposed to the winds. These physical changes have been adverse186 to the propagation of cacao-trees, the plantations of which, diminishing in the province of Caracas, have accumulated eastward on a newly-cleared and virgin187 soil. The cacao of Cumana is infinitely188 superior to that of Guayaquil. The best is produced in the valley of San Bonifacio; as the best cacao of New Barcelona, Caracas, and Guatimala, is that of Capiriqual, Uritucu, and Soconusco. Since the island of Trinidad has become an English colony, the whole of the eastern extremity of the province of Cumana, especially the coast of Paria, and the gulf of the same name, have changed their appearance. Foreigners have settled there, and have introduced the cultivation of the coffee-tree, the cotton-tree, and the sugar-cane of Otaheite. The population has greatly increased at Carupano, in the beautiful valley of Rio Caribe, at Guira, and at the new town of Punta di Piedra, built opposite Spanish Harbour, in the island of Trinidad. The soil is so fertile in the Golfo Triste, that maize189 yields two harvests in the year, and produces three hundred and eighty fold the quantity sown.
Early in the morning we embarked190 in a sort of narrow canoe, called a lancha, in hopes of crossing the gulf of Cariaco during the day. The motion of the waters resembles that of our great lakes, when they are agitated191 by the winds. From the embarcadero to Cumana the distance is only twelve nautical192 leagues. On quitting the little town of Cariaco, we proceeded westward193 along the river of Carenicuar, which, in a straight line like an artificial canal, runs through gardens and plantations of cotton-trees. On the banks of the river of Cariaco we saw the Indian women washing their linen194 with the fruit of the parapara (Sapindus saponaria, or soap-berry), an operation said to be very injurious to the linen. The bark of the fruit produces a strong lather195; and the fruit is so elastic196 that if thrown on a stone it rebounds197 three or four times to the height of seven or eight feet. Being a spherical198 form, it is employed in making rosaries.
After we embarked we had to contend against contrary winds. The rain fell in torrents, and the thunder rolled very near. Swarms199 of flamingoes, egrets, and cormorants200 filled the air, seeking the shore, whilst the alcatras, a large species of pelican201, alone continued peaceably to fish in the middle of the gulf. The gulf of Cariaco is almost everywhere forty-five or fifty fathoms202 deep; but at its eastern extremity, near Curaguaca, along an extent of five leagues, the lead does not indicate more than three or four fathoms. Here is found the Baxo de la Cotua, a sand-bank, which at low-water appears like a small island. The canoes which carry provisions to Cumana sometimes ground on this bank; but always without danger, because the sea is never rough or heavy. We crossed that part of the gulf where hot springs gush from the bottom of the sea. It was flood-tide, so that the change of temperature was not very perceptible: besides, our canoe drove too much towards the southern shore. It may be supposed that strata of water must be found of different temperatures, according to the greater or less depth, and according as the mingling203 of the hot waters with those of the gulf is accelerated by the winds and currents. The existence of these hot springs, which we were assured raise the temperature of the sea through an extent of ten or twelve thousand square toises, is a very remarkable phenomenon. Proceeding204 from the promontory205 of Paria westward, by Irapa, Aguas Calientes, the gulf of Cariaco, the Brigantine, and the valley of Aragua, as far as the snowy mountains of Merida, a continued band of thermal waters is found in an extent of 150 leagues.
[* In the island of Guadaloupe, there is a fountain of boiling water, which rushes out on the beach. Hot-water springs rise from the bottom of the sea in the gulf of Naples, and near the island of Palma, in the archipelago of the Canary Islands.]
Adverse winds and rainy weather forced us to go on shore at Pericantral, a small farm on the south side of the gulf. The whole of this coast, though covered with beautiful vegetation, is almost wholly uncultivated. There are scarcely seven hundred inhabitants: and, excepting in the village of Mariguitar, we saw only plantations of cocoa-trees, which are the olives of the country. This palm occupies on both continents a zone, of which the mean temperature of the year is not below 20°.* It is, like the chamaerops of the basin of the Mediterranean206, a true palm-tree of the coast. It prefers salt to fresh water; and flourishes less inland, where the air is not loaded with saline particles, than on the shore. When cocoa-trees are planted in Terra Firma, or in the Missions of the Orinoco, at a distance from the sea, a considerable quantity of salt, sometimes as much as half a bushel, is thrown into the hole which receives the nut. Among the plants cultivated by man, the sugar-cane, the plantain, the mammee-apple, and alligator-pear (Laurus persea), alone have the property of the cocoa-tree; that of being watered equally well with fresh and salt water. This circumstance is favourable14 to their migrations207; and if the sugarcane of the sea-shore yield a syrup208 that is a little brackish209, it is believed at the same time to be better fitted for the distillation210 of spirit than the juice produced from the canes211 in inland situations.
[* The cocoa-tree grows in the northern hemisphere from the equator to latitude 28°. Near the equator we find it from the plains to the height of 700 toises above the level of the sea.]
The cocoa-tree, in the other parts of America, is in general cultivated around farm-houses, and the fruit is eaten; in the gulf of Cariaco, it forms extensive plantations. In a fertile and moist ground, the tree begins to bear fruit abundantly in the fourth year; but in dry soils it bears only at the expiration of ten years. The duration of the tree does not in general exceed eighty or a hundred years; and its mean height at that age is from seventy to eighty feet. This rapid growth is so much the more remarkable, as other palm-trees, for instance, the moriche,* and the palm of Sombrero,* the longevity212 of which is very great, frequently do not attain213 a greater height than fourteen or eighteen feet in the space of sixty years. In the first thirty or forty years, a cocoa-tree of the gulf of Cariaco bears every lunation a cluster of ten or fourteen nuts, all of which, however, do not ripen214. It may be reckoned that, on an average, a tree produces annually215 a hundred nuts, which yield eight flascos* of oil. (One flasco contains 70 or 80 cubic inches, Paris measure.) In Provence, an olive-tree thirty years old yields twenty pounds, or seven flascos of oil, so that it produces something less than a cocoa-tree. There are in the gulf of Cariaco plantations (haciendas) of eight or nine thousand cocoa-trees. They resemble, in their picturesque appearance, those fine plantations of date-trees near Elche, in Murcia, where, over the superficies of one square league, there may be found upwards216 of 70,000 palms. The cocoa-tree bears fruit in abundance till it is thirty or forty years old; after that age the produce diminishes, and a trunk a hundred years old, without being altogether barren, yields very little. In the town of Cumana there is prepared a great quantity of cocoa-nut oil, which is limpid, without smell, and very fit for burning. The trade in this oil is not less active than that on the coast of Africa for palm-oil, which is obtained from the Elais guineensis, and is used as food. I have often seen canoes arrive at Cumana laden with 3000 cocoa-nuts.
[* Mauritia flexuosa.]
[* Corypha tectorum.]
We did not quit the farm of Pericantral till after sunset. The south coast of the gulf presents a most fertile aspect, while the northern coast is naked, dry, and rocky. In spite of this aridity217, and the scarcity218 of rain, of which sometimes none falls for the space of fifteen months,* the peninsula of Araya, like the desert of Canound in India, produces patillas, or water-melons, weighing from fifty to seventy pounds. In the torrid zone, the vapours contained by the air form about nine-tenths of the quantity necessary to its saturation219: and vegetation is maintained by the property which the leaves possess of attracting the water dissolved in the atmosphere.
[* The rains appear to have been more frequent at the beginning of the 16th century. At any rate, the canon of Granada (Peter Martyr220 d’Anghiera), speaking in the year 1574, of the salt-works of Araya, or of Haraia, described in the fifth chapter of this work, mentions showers (cadentes imbres) as a very common phenomenon. The same author, who died in 1526, affirms that the Indians wrought221 the salt-works before the arrival of the Spaniards. They dried the salt in the form of bricks; and our writer even then discussed the geological question, whether the clayey soil of Haraia contained salt-springs, or whether it had been impregnated with salt by the periodical inundations of the ocean for ages.]
At sunrise, we saw the Zamuro vultures,* in flocks of forty or fifty, perched on the cocoa-trees. These birds range themselves in files to roost together like fowls222. They go to roost long before sunset, and do not awake till after the sun is above the horizon. This sluggishness223 seems as if it were shared in those climates by the trees with pinnate leaves. The mimosas and the tamarinds close their leaves, in a clear and serene224 sky, twenty-five or thirty-five minutes before sunset, and unfold them in the morning when the solar disk has been visible for an equal space of time. As I noticed pretty regularly the rising and setting of the sun, for the purpose of observing the effect of the mirage225, or of the terrestrial refractions, I was enabled to give continued attention to the phenomena226 of the sleep of plants. I found them the same in the steppes, where no irregularity of the ground interrupted the view of the horizon. It appears, that, accustomed during the day to an extreme brilliancy of light, the sensitive and other leguminous plants with thin and delicate leaves are affected227 in the evening by the smallest decline in the intensity of the sun’s rays; so that for vegetation, night begins there, as with us, before the total disappearance228 of the solar disk. But why, in a zone where there is scarcely any twilight229, do not the first rays of the sun stimulate230 the leaves with the more strength, as the absence of light must have rendered them more susceptible231? Does the humidity deposited on the parenchyma by the cooling of the leaves, which is the effect of the nocturnal radiation, prevent the action of the first rays of the sun? In our climates, the leguminous plants with irritable232 leaves awake during the twilight of the morning, before the sun appears.
[* Vultur aura.]
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fore
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| adv.在前面；adj.先前的；在前部的；n.前部 | |
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glided
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| v.滑动( glide的过去式和过去分词 )；掠过；（鸟或飞机 ） 滑翔 | |
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undertaking
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| n.保证，许诺，事业 | |
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monastery
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| n.修道院，僧院，寺院 | |
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missionaries
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| n.传教士( missionary的名词复数 ) | |
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monk
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| n.和尚，僧侣，修道士 | |
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monks
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| n.修道士，僧侣( monk的名词复数 ) | |
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missionary
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| adj.教会的，传教(士)的；n.传教士 | |
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harangued
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| v.高谈阔论( harangue的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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efface
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| v.擦掉，抹去 | |
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consonants
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| n.辅音，子音( consonant的名词复数 )；辅音字母 | |
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sketching
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| n.草图 | |
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misty
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| adj.雾蒙蒙的，有雾的 | |
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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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astronomical
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| adj.天文学的，（数字）极大的 | |
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meridian
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| adj.子午线的；全盛期的 | |
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pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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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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intensity
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| n.强烈，剧烈；强度；烈度 | |
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tranquil
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| adj. 安静的, 宁静的, 稳定的, 不变的 | |
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solitude
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| n. 孤独; 独居,荒僻之地,幽静的地方 | |
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resounds
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| v.（指声音等）回荡于某处( resound的第三人称单数 )；产生回响；（指某处）回荡着声音 | |
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monotonous
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| adj.单调的，一成不变的，使人厌倦的 | |
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prodigies
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| n.奇才，天才（尤指神童）( prodigy的名词复数 ) | |
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moss
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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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gush
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| v.喷，涌；滔滔不绝(说话)；n.喷，涌流；迸发 | |
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harmonious
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| adj.和睦的，调和的，和谐的，协调的 | |
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tint
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| n.淡色，浅色；染发剂；vt.着以淡淡的颜色 | |
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tints
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| 色彩( tint的名词复数 )； 带白的颜色； （淡色）染发剂； 痕迹 | |
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tardy
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| adj.缓慢的，迟缓的 | |
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embarrassment
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| n.尴尬；使人为难的人(事物)；障碍；窘迫 | |
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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abstained
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| v.戒（尤指酒），戒除( abstain的过去式和过去分词 )；弃权（不投票） | |
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dread
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mules
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| 骡( mule的名词复数 )； 拖鞋； 顽固的人； 越境运毒者 | |
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laden
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descend
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| vt./vi.传下来，下来，下降 | |
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elevation
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| n.高度；海拔；高地；上升；提高 | |
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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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ascend
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| vi.渐渐上升，升高；vt.攀登，登上 | |
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inaccessible
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| adj.达不到的，难接近的 | |
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ridge
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| n.山脊；鼻梁；分水岭 | |
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ascent
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| n.(声望或地位)提高；上升，升高；登高 | |
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barometer
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| n.气压表，睛雨表，反应指标 | |
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cavern
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| n.洞穴，大山洞 | |
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devoid
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| adj.全无的，缺乏的 | |
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shrubs
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| 灌木( shrub的名词复数 ) | |
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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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abode
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| n.住处，住所 | |
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jut
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| v.突出；n.突出，突出物 | |
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temperate
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| adj.温和的，温带的，自我克制的，不过分的 | |
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purgatory
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| n.炼狱；苦难；adj.净化的，清洗的 | |
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decomposed
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| 已分解的，已腐烂的 | |
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hind
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| adj.后面的，后部的 | |
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bridle
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| n.笼头，束缚；vt.抑制，约束；动怒 | |
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thereby
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| adv.因此，从而 | |
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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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descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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fatigue
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| n.疲劳，劳累 | |
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gathering
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| n.集会，聚会，聚集 | |
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chronometers
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| n.精密计时器，航行表( chronometer的名词复数 ) | |
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foliage
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reigns
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| n.君主的统治( reign的名词复数 )；君主统治时期；任期；当政期 | |
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peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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exhaled
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| v.呼出，发散出( exhale的过去式和过去分词 )；吐出（肺中的空气、烟等），呼气 | |
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aromatic
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| adj.芳香的，有香味的 | |
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mingled
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| 混合，混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 )； 混进，与…交往[联系] | |
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69
penetrated
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| adj. 击穿的，鞭辟入里的 动词penetrate的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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70
dense
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| a.密集的，稠密的，浓密的；密度大的 | |
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71
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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72
resin
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| n.树脂，松香，树脂制品；vt.涂树脂 | |
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73
formerly
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| adv.从前，以前 | |
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74
idols
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| 偶像( idol的名词复数 )； 受崇拜的人或物； 受到热爱和崇拜的人或物； 神像 | |
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75
astringent
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| adj.止血的，收缩的，涩的；n.收缩剂，止血剂 | |
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76
innate
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| adj.天生的，固有的，天赋的 | |
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77
thorny
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| adj.多刺的，棘手的 | |
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78
prodigious
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| adj.惊人的，奇妙的；异常的；巨大的；庞大的 | |
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79
botanists
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| n.植物学家，研究植物的人( botanist的名词复数 ) | |
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80
shun
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| vt.避开，回避，避免 | |
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81
solitary
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| adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士 | |
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82
stagnant
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| adj.不流动的，停滞的，不景气的 | |
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83
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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84
lustre
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| n.光亮，光泽；荣誉 | |
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85
remains
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| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
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86
circumference
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| n.圆周，周长，圆周线 | |
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87
plaintive
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| adj.可怜的，伤心的 | |
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88
proximity
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| n.接近，邻近 | |
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89
pouches
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| n.（放在衣袋里或连在腰带上的）小袋( pouch的名词复数 )；（袋鼠等的）育儿袋；邮袋；（某些动物贮存食物的）颊袋 | |
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90
sketched
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| v.草拟（sketch的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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91
prehensile
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| adj.（足等）适于抓握的 | |
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92
belly
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| n.肚子，腹部；(像肚子一样)鼓起的部分，膛 | |
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93
countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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94
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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95
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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96
simplicity
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| n.简单，简易；朴素；直率，单纯 | |
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97
sprightliness
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| n.愉快，快活 | |
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98
faculties
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| n.能力( faculty的名词复数 )；全体教职员；技巧；院 | |
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99
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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100
descending
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| n. 下行 adj. 下降的 | |
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101
scattered
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| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
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102
outlet
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| n.出口/路；销路；批发商店；通风口；发泄 | |
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103
funnels
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| 漏斗( funnel的名词复数 )； （轮船，火车等的）烟囱 | |
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104
eminently
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| adv.突出地；显著地；不寻常地 | |
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105
gulf
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| n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂 | |
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106
abrupt
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| adj.突然的，意外的；唐突的，鲁莽的 | |
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107
vertical
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| adj.垂直的，顶点的，纵向的；n.垂直物，垂直的位置 | |
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108
scanty
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| adj.缺乏的，仅有的，节省的，狭小的，不够的 | |
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109
strata
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| n.地层（复数）；社会阶层 | |
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110
extremity
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| n.末端，尽头；尽力；终极；极度 | |
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111
porous
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| adj.可渗透的，多孔的 | |
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112
limestone
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| n.石灰石 | |
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113
disseminated
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| 散布，传播( disseminate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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114
situated
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| adj.坐落在...的，处于某种境地的 | |
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115
eastward
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| adv.向东；adj.向东的；n.东方，东部 | |
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116
embark
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| vi.乘船，着手，从事，上飞机 | |
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117
isthmus
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| n.地峡 | |
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118
devour
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| v.吞没；贪婪地注视或谛听，贪读；使着迷 | |
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119
poultry
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| n.家禽，禽肉 | |
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120
lodged
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| v.存放( lodge的过去式和过去分词 )；暂住；埋入；（权利、权威等）归属 | |
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121
dwelling
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| n.住宅，住所，寓所 | |
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122
confided
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| v.吐露（秘密，心事等）( confide的过去式和过去分词 )；（向某人）吐露（隐私、秘密等） | |
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123
amiable
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| adj.和蔼可亲的，友善的，亲切的 | |
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124
annoyance
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| n.恼怒，生气，烦恼 | |
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125
agitation
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| n.搅动；搅拌；鼓动，煽动 | |
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126
condemned
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| adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词 | |
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127
thither
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|
| adv.向那里；adj.在那边的，对岸的 | |
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128
cape
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| n.海角，岬；披肩，短披风 | |
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129
pertinaciously
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| adv.坚持地；固执地；坚决地；执拗地 | |
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130
derived
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| vi.起源；由来；衍生；导出v.得到( derive的过去式和过去分词 )；（从…中）得到获得；源于；（从…中）提取 | |
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131
Christians
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| n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 ) | |
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132
furrow
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| n.沟；垄沟；轨迹；车辙；皱纹 | |
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133
scooped
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| v.抢先报道( scoop的过去式和过去分词 )；（敏捷地）抱起；抢先获得；用铲[勺]等挖（洞等） | |
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134
tenacious
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| adj.顽强的，固执的，记忆力强的，粘的 | |
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135
alpine
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| adj.高山的；n.高山植物 | |
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136
quartz
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| n.石英 | |
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137
plantations
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| n.种植园，大农场( plantation的名词复数 ) | |
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138
prospects
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| n.希望，前途(恒为复数) | |
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139
prospect
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| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
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140
intermittent
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| adj.间歇的，断断续续的 | |
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141
decomposition
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| n. 分解, 腐烂, 崩溃 | |
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142
primitive
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| adj.原始的；简单的；n.原(始)人，原始事物 | |
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143
ridges
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| n.脊( ridge的名词复数 )；山脊；脊状突起；大气层的)高压脊 | |
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144
marshy
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| adj.沼泽的 | |
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145
dyke
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| n.堤，水坝，排水沟 | |
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146
inspection
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| n.检查，审查，检阅 | |
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147
configuration
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| n.结构，布局，形态，(计算机)配置 | |
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148
improperly
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| 不正确地，不适当地 | |
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149
receding
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| v.逐渐远离( recede的现在分词 )；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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150
remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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151
margin
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| n.页边空白；差额；余地，余裕；边，边缘 | |
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152
sufficiently
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| adv.足够地，充分地 | |
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153
fabulously
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| 难以置信地，惊人地 | |
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154
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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155
viscous
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| adj.粘滞的，粘性的 | |
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156
petroleum
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| n.原油，石油 | |
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157
thermal
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| adj.热的，由热造成的；保暖的 | |
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158
engulfing
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| adj.吞噬的v.吞没，包住( engulf的现在分词 ) | |
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159
hoofs
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| n.（兽的）蹄，马蹄( hoof的名词复数 )v.（兽的）蹄，马蹄( hoof的第三人称单数 ) | |
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160
subterranean
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| adj.地下的，地表下的 | |
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161
crevices
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| n.（尤指岩石的）裂缝，缺口( crevice的名词复数 ) | |
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162
limpid
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| adj.清澈的，透明的 | |
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163
declivity
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| n.下坡，倾斜面 | |
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164
Augmented
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| adj.增音的 动词augment的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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165
lagoon
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| n.泻湖，咸水湖 | |
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166
putrid
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| adj.腐臭的；有毒的；已腐烂的；卑劣的 | |
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167
degenerate
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| v.退步，堕落；adj.退步的，堕落的；n.堕落者 | |
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168
languish
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| vi.变得衰弱无力，失去活力，（植物等）凋萎 | |
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169
debilitated
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| adj.疲惫不堪的，操劳过度的v.使（人或人的身体）非常虚弱( debilitate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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170
copious
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| adj.丰富的，大量的 | |
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171
perspiration
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| n.汗水；出汗 | |
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172
infusions
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| n.沏或泡成的浸液（如茶等）( infusion的名词复数 )；注入，注入物 | |
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173
epidemics
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| n．流行病 | |
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174
noxious
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| adj.有害的，有毒的；使道德败坏的，讨厌的 | |
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175
mangle
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| vt.乱砍，撕裂，破坏，毁损，损坏，轧布 | |
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176
provincial
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| adj.省的，地方的；n．外省人，乡下人 | |
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177
cultivation
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| n.耕作，培养，栽培（法），养成 | |
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178
putrefaction
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| n.腐坏，腐败 | |
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179
considerably
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| adv.极大地；相当大地；在很大程度上 | |
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180
warehouses
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| 仓库，货栈( warehouse的名词复数 ) | |
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181
expiration
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| n.终结，期满，呼气，呼出物 | |
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182
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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183
amass
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| vt.积累，积聚 | |
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184
competence
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| n.能力，胜任，称职 | |
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185
diminution
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| n.减少；变小 | |
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186
adverse
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| adj.不利的；有害的；敌对的，不友好的 | |
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187
virgin
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| n.处女，未婚女子；adj.未经使用的；未经开发的 | |
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188
infinitely
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| adv.无限地，无穷地 | |
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189
maize
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| n.玉米 | |
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190
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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191
agitated
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| adj.被鼓动的，不安的 | |
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192
nautical
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| adj.海上的，航海的，船员的 | |
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193
westward
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| n.西方，西部；adj.西方的，向西的；adv.向西 | |
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194
linen
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| n.亚麻布，亚麻线，亚麻制品；adj.亚麻布制的，亚麻的 | |
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195
lather
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| n.(肥皂水的)泡沫，激动 | |
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196
elastic
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| n.橡皮圈，松紧带；adj.有弹性的；灵活的 | |
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197
rebounds
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| 反弹球( rebound的名词复数 )； 回弹球； 抢断篮板球； 复兴 | |
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spherical
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| adj.球形的；球面的 | |
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swarms
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| 蜂群，一大群( swarm的名词复数 ) | |
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cormorants
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| 鸬鹚，贪婪的人( cormorant的名词复数 ) | |
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pelican
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| n.鹈鹕，伽蓝鸟 | |
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202
fathoms
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| 英寻( fathom的名词复数 ) | |
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203
mingling
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| adj.混合的 | |
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proceeding
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| n.行动，进行，(pl.)会议录，学报 | |
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promontory
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| n.海角；岬 | |
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Mediterranean
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| adj.地中海的；地中海沿岸的 | |
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migrations
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| n.迁移，移居( migration的名词复数 ) | |
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syrup
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| n.糖浆，糖水 | |
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brackish
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| adj.混有盐的；咸的 | |
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distillation
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| n.蒸馏，蒸馏法 | |
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canes
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| n.（某些植物，如竹或甘蔗的）茎( cane的名词复数 )；（用于制作家具等的）竹竿；竹杖 | |
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longevity
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| n.长命；长寿 | |
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attain
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| vt.达到，获得，完成 | |
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ripen
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| vt.使成熟；vi.成熟 | |
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annually
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| adv.一年一次，每年 | |
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upwards
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| adv.向上，在更高处...以上 | |
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aridity
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| n.干旱，乏味；干燥性；荒芜 | |
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scarcity
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| n.缺乏，不足，萧条 | |
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saturation
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| n.饱和(状态)；浸透 | |
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martyr
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| n.烈士，殉难者；vt.杀害，折磨，牺牲 | |
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221
wrought
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| v.引起；以…原料制作；运转；adj.制造的 | |
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fowls
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| 鸟( fowl的名词复数 )； 禽肉； 既不是这； 非驴非马 | |
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sluggishness
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| 不振，萧条，呆滞；惰性；滞性；惯性 | |
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serene
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| adj. 安详的，宁静的，平静的 | |
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mirage
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| n.海市蜃楼，幻景 | |
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phenomena
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| n.现象 | |
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affected
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| adj.不自然的，假装的 | |
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disappearance
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| n.消失，消散，失踪 | |
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twilight
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| n.暮光，黄昏；暮年，晚期，衰落时期 | |
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stimulate
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| vt.刺激，使兴奋；激励，使…振奋 | |
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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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irritable
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| adj.急躁的；过敏的；易怒的 | |
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