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 Intermediate Zone Is At The
Same Height As The First Strata Of Clouds Which Surround The
Surface Of The Earth; And The Climate Of This Zone, The Temperature
Of Which Is So Mild, Is Essentially Misty And Variable.
Notwithstanding the elevation of the spot, the sky is generally
less blue at Caracas than at Cumana.
The aqueous vapour is less
perfectly dissolved; and here, as in our climates, a greater
diffusion of light diminishes the intensity of the aerial colour,
by introducing white into the blue of the air. This intensity,
measured with the cyanometer of Saussure, was found from November
to January generally 18, never above 20 degrees. On the coasts it
was from 22 to 25 degrees. I remarked, in the village of Caracas,
that the wind of Petare sometimes contributes singularly to give a
pale tint to the celestial vault. On the 22nd of January, the blue
of the sky was at noon in the zenith feebler than I ever saw it in
the torrid zone.* (* At noon, thermometer in the shade 23.7 (in the
sun, out of the wind, 30.4 degrees); De Luc's hygrometer, 36.2;
cyanometer, at the zenith, 12, at the horizon 9 degrees. The wind
ceased at three in the afternoon. Thermometer 21; hygrometer 39.3;
cyanometer 16 degrees. At six o'clock, thermometer 20.2; hygrometer
39 degrees.) It corresponded only to 12 degrees of the cyanometer.
The atmosphere was then remarkably transparent, without clouds, and
of extraordinary dryness. The moment the wind of Petare ceased, the
blue colour rose at the zenith as high as 16 degrees. I have often
observed at sea, but in a smaller degree, a similar effect of the
wind on the colour of the serenest sky.
We know less exactly the mean temperature of Caracas, than that of
Santa Fe de Bogota and of Mexico. I believe, however, I can
demonstrate, that it cannot be very distant from twenty to
twenty-two degrees. I found by my own observations, during the
three very cool months of November, December, and January, taking
each day the maximum and minimum of the temperature, the heights
were 20.2; 20.1; 20.2 degrees.
Rains are extremely frequent at Caracas in the months of April,
May, and June. The storms always come from the east and south-east,
from the direction of Petare and La Valle. No hail falls in the low
regions of the tropics; yet it occurs at Caracas almost every four
or five years. Hail has even been seen in valleys still lower; and
this phenomenon, when it does happen, makes a powerful impression
on the people. Falls of aerolites are less rare with us than hail
in the torrid zone, notwithstanding the frequency of thunder-storms
at the elevation of three hundred toises above the level of the
sea.
The cool and delightful climate we have just been describing is
also suited for the culture of equinoctial productions. The
sugar-cane is reared with success, even at heights exceeding that
of Caracas; but in the valley, owing to the dryness of the climate,
and the stony soil, the cultivation of the coffee-tree is
preferred: it yields indeed but little fruit, but that little is of
the finest quality. When the shrub is in blossom, the plain
extending beyond Chacao presents a delightful aspect. The
banana-tree, which is seen in the plantations near the town, is not
the great Platano harton; but the varieties camburi and dominico,
which require less heat. The great plantains are brought to the
market of Caracas from the haciendas of Turiamo, situated on the
coast between Burburata and Porto Cabello. The finest flavoured
pine-apples are those of Baruto, of Empedrado, and of the heights
of Buenavista, on the road to Victoria. When a traveller for the
first time visits the valley of Caracas, he is agreeably surprised
to find the culinary plants of our climates, as well as the
strawberry, the vine, and almost all the fruit-trees of the
temperate zone, growing beside the coffee and banana-tree. The
apples and peaches esteemed the best come from Macarao, or from the
western extremity of the valley. There, the quince-tree, the trunk
of which attains only four or five feet in height, is so common,
that it has almost become wild. Preserved apples and quinces,
particularly the latter,* (* "Dulce de manzana y de membrillo," are
the Spanish names of these preserves.) are much used in a country
where it is thought that, before drinking water, thirst should be
excited by sweetmeats. In proportion as the environs of the town
have been planted with coffee, and the establishment of plantations
(which dates only from the year 1795) has increased the number of
agricultural negroes,* the apple and quince-trees scattered in the
savannahs have given place, in the valley of Caracas, to maize and
pulse. (* The consumption of provisions, especially meat, is so
considerable in the towns of Spanish America, that at Caracas, in
1800, there were 40,000 oxen killed every year: while in Paris, in
1793, with a population fourteen times as great, the number
amounted only to 70,000.) Rice, watered by means of small trenches,
was formerly more common than it now is in the plain of Chacao. I
observed in this province, as in Mexico and in all the elevated
lands of the torrid zone, that, where the apple-tree is most
abundant, the culture of the pear-tree is attended with great
difficulty. I have been assured, that near Caracas the excellent
apples sold in the markets come from trees not grafted. There are
no cherry-trees. The olive-trees which I saw in the court of the
convent of San Felipe de Neri, were large and fine; but the
luxuriance of their vegetation prevented them from bearing fruit.
If the atmospheric constitution of the valley be favourable to the
different kinds of culture on which colonial industry is based, it
is not equally favourable to the health of the inhabitants, or to
that of foreigners settled in the capital of Venezuela.
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