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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(* The Spaniards Designate By The Name Of
Dormideras (Sleeping Plants), The Small Number Of Mimosas With
Irritable Leaves.
We have increased this number by three species
previously unknown to botanists, namely, the Mimosa humilis of
Cumana, the M. pellita of the savannahs of Calabozo, and the M.
dormiens of the banks of the Apure.)
On leaving the Indian suburb, and ascending the river southward, we
found a grove of cactus, a delightful spot, shaded by tamarinds,
brazilettos, bombax, and other plants, remarkable for their leaves
and flowers. The soil here is rich in pasturage, and dairy-houses
built with reeds, are separated from each other by clumps of trees.
The milk remains fresh, when kept, not in the calabashes* of very
thick ligneous fibres (* These calabashes are made from the fruit
of the Crescentia cujete.), but in porous earthen vessels from
Maniquarez. A prejudice prevalent in northern countries had long
led me to believe, that cows, under the torrid zone, did not yield
rich milk; but my abode at Cumana, and especially an excursion
through the vast plains of Calabozo, covered with grasses, and
herbaceous sensitive plants, convinced me that the ruminating
animals of Europe become perfectly habituated to the hottest
climates, provided they find water and good nourishment. Milk is
excellent in the provinces of New Andalusia, Barcelona, and
Venezuela; and butter is better in the plains of the equinoctial
zone, than on the ridge of the Andes, where the Alpine plants,
enjoying in no season a sufficiently high temperature, are less
aromatic than on the Pyrenees, on the mountains of Estremadura, or
of Greece. As the inhabitants of Cumana prefer the coolness of the
sea breeze to the sight of vegetation, their favourite walk is the
open shore. The Spaniards, who in general have no great
predilection for trees, or for the warbling of birds, have
transported their tastes and their habits into the colonies. In
Terra Firma, Mexico, and Peru, it is rare to see a native plant a
tree, merely with the view of procuring shade; and if we except the
environs of the great capitals, walks bordered with trees are
almost unknown in those countries. The arid plain of Cumana
exhibits after violent showers an extraordinary phenomenon. The
earth, when drenched with rain, and heated again by the rays of the
sun, emits that musky odour which in the torrid zone, is common to
animals of very different classes, namely: to the jaguar, the small
species of tiger cat, the cabiai or thick-nosed tapir,* (* Cavia
capybara, Linn.; chiguire.) the galinazo vulture,* (* Vultur aura,
Linn., Zamuro, or Galinazo: the Brazilian vulture of Buffon. I
cannot reconcile myself to the adoption of names, which designate,
as belonging to a single country, animals common to a whole
continent.) the crocodile, the viper, and the rattlesnake. The
gaseous emanations, which are the vehicles of this aroma, seem to
be evolved in proportion only as the mould, containing the spoils
of an innumerable quantity of reptiles, worms, and insects, begins
to be impregnated with water.
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