Personal Narrative of Travels to the Equinoctial Regions of the New Continent During the Years 1799-1804, Volume 3

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Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, 1818 - Natural history
 

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Page 34 - If he feel strongly the beauty of picturesque scenery, he can scarcely define the various emotions which crowd upon his mind; he can scarcely distinguish what most excites his admiration, the deep silence of those solitudes, the individual beauty and contrast of forms, or that vigour and freshness of vegetable life which characterise the climate of the tropics.
Page 131 - The stalactites which descend from the vault, and which resemble columns suspended in the air, display themselves on the back-ground of verdure. The opening of the cavern appeared singularly contracted when we saw it about the middle of the day, illumined by the vivid light reflected at once from the sky, the plants, and the rocks.
Page 227 - European. It is only in white men, that the instantaneous penetration of the dermoidal system by the blood can take place ; that slight change of the colour of the skin, which adds so powerful an expression to the emotions of the soul. " How can those be trusted, who know not how to blush ?" says the European, in his inveterate hatred to the Negro and the Indian.
Page 284 - Oroonoko, are distinguished by their almost gigantic size from all the other nations I have seen in the new continent. Must it on this account be admitted, that the Caribbees are an entirely distinct race ? and that the Guaraons and the Tamanacks, whose languages have an affinity with the Caribbee, have no bond of relationship with them ? I think not.
Page 451 - ... of radiant caloric. What indeed can we imagine more delightful, than a temperature, which in the day keeps between 20° and 26°...
Page 43 - Indian parishes is very complicated; they have their governor, their majoralguazils, and their militia-commanders, all copper-coloured natives. The company of archers have their colours, and perform their exercise with the bow and arrow, in shooting at a mark ; this is the national guard (militia) of the country. This military establishment, under a purely monastic system, seemed to us very singular.
Page 124 - The spread of the wings, which are composed of seventeen or eighteen quill feathers, is three feet and a half. The guacharo quits the cavern at night-fall, especially when the moon shines. It is almost the only frugiferous nocturnal bird, that is yet known ; the conformation of it-s feet sufficiently shows, that it does not hunt like our owls. It feeds on very hard fruits ; as the nut-cracker * and the pyrrhocorax.
Page 125 - ... to the end of a long pole. These nests were fifty or sixty feet high above our heads, in holes in the shape of funnels, with which the roof of the grotto is pierced like a sieve. The noise increased as we advanced, and the birds were scared by the light of the torches of copal.
Page 452 - Caraccas complain of having several seasons in the same day ; and of the rapid change from one season to another. In the month of January for instance, a night, of which the mean temperature is 16°, is followed by a day, when the thermometer during eight successive hours keeps above 22° in the shade.
Page 120 - ... changes which the exterior crust of our planet has undergone. So great a uniformity led me to believe that the aspect of the cavern of Caripe would differ little from what I had observed in my preceding travels. The reality far exceeded my expectations. If the configuration of the grottoes, the...

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