Personal Narrative Of Travels To The Equinoctial Regions Of America During The Years 1799-1804 - Volume 1 - By Alexander Von Humboldt And Aime Bonpland.
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We
Distinguished 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 eddy.
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* (* Cape Three Points, the name given to it by Columbus.) and
we every where found shallow water, apparently 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.
The Cabo de tres Puntas is, according to my observations, in 65
degrees 4 minutes 5 seconds longitude. It seemed to us the more
elevated, as the clouds concealed the view of its indented top.
The aspect of the mountains of Paria, their colour, and especially
their generally rounded forms, made us suspect that the coast was
granitic; but we afterwards recognized how delusive, 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 intensity 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 velocity 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 descended in one
of those torrents peculiar to the torrid zone.
The malady 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.
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