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 Soil, Almost Destitute Of
Vegetation, Seemed To Have A Waving Motion, In Consequence Of The
Extraordinary Refraction Which The Rays Of The Sun Undergo In
Traversing The Strata Of Air In Contact With Plains Strongly
Heated.
Under every zone, deserts and sandy shores appear like an
agitated sea, from the effect of mirage.
The coasts, seen at a distance, are like clouds, in which each
observer meets the form of the objects that occupy his imagination.
Our bearings and our chronometer being at variance with the charts
which we had to consult, we were lost in vain conjectures. Some
took mounds of sand for Indian huts, and pointed out the place
where they alleged the fort of Pampatar was situated; others saw
herds of goats, which are so common in the dry valley of St. John;
or descried the lofty mountains of Macanao, which seemed to them
partly hidden by the clouds. The captain resolved to send a pilot
on shore, and the men were preparing to get out the long-boat when
we perceived two canoes sailing along the coast. We fired a gun as
a signal for them, and though we had hoisted Spanish colours, they
drew near with distrust. These canoes, like all those in use among
the natives, were constructed of the single trunk of a tree. In
each canoe there were eighteen Guayqueria Indians, naked to the
waist, and of very tall stature. They had the appearance of great
muscular strength, and the colour of their skin was something
between brown and copper-colour.
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