Identifier: humboltstravelsd00humb (find matches)
Title: Humbolt's travels and discoveries in South America
Year: 1846 (1840s)
Authors: Humboldt, Alexander von, 1769-1859
Subjects:
Publisher: London, John W. Parker
Contributing Library: University Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Digitizing Sponsor: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

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s who had accompanied our travellersfrom Cumana, disliking to encounter the rough seatlirough which lay the rest of the voyage, resolved toproceed to Caraccas by land. Bonpland followed theirexample; while Humboldt, continuing the voyage, in<^rder to take care of the instruments which had been-embarked in the boats, reached La Guayra on the 21st -of November. The place is described by him as beingrather a road than a harbour: it affords little protec-tion to ships, the loading of which is a task of difficulty.The sea is constantly agitated, and the ships sufferat once by the action of the wind, the tideways, the badanchorage, and the worms. The lading is taken in with . difficulty, and the height of the swell prevents the em-barkation of mules, as at New Barcelona and Porto \Cabello. The free mulattoes and negroes, who carrythe cacao on board the ships, are a class of men of veryremarkable muscular strength. They go up to theirniiddles through the water, and, what is well worthy of
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The Man grove Tree E2 ITS EXCESSIVE HEAT. 53 attention, they have nothing to fear from the sharkswhich are so frequent in this harbour. This factseems connected, says Humboldt, with what I haveoften observed between the tropics, relative to otherclasses of animals that live in society, for instance,monkeys and crocodiles. In the missions of the Ori-noco, and the River of Amazons, the Indians, whocatch monkeys to sell, know very well that they caneasily succeed in taming those which inhabit certainislands; while monkeys of the same species, caught onthe neighbouring continent, die of terror or rage, whenthey find themselves in the power of man. The croco-diles of one pool in the Llanos are cowardly, and flee,even in the water; while those of another, attack witheltreme intrepidity. It would be difficult to explainthis difference of manners and habits by the aspect oftheir respective localities. The sharks of the port ofLa Guayra seem to furnish an analogous example.They are dangerous a

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