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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By A Fortunate Chance,
The First Indian We Met On Our Arrival Was The Man Whose
Acquaintance Became The Most Useful To Us In The Course Of Our
Researches.
I feel a pleasure in recording in this itinerary the
name of Carlos del Pino, who, during the space of sixteen months,
attended us in our course along the coasts, and into the inland
country.
The captain of the corvette weighed anchor towards evening. Before
we left the shoal or placer of Coche, I ascertained the longitude
of the east cape of the island, which I found to be 66 degrees 11
minutes 53 seconds. As we steered westward, we soon came in sight
of the little island of Cubagua, now entirely deserted, but formerly
celebrated for its fishery of pearls. There the Spaniards,
immediately after the voyages of Columbus and Ojeda, founded, under
the name of New Cadiz, a town, of which there now remains no
vestige. At the beginning of the sixteenth century the pearls of
Cubagua were known at Seville, at Toledo, and at the great fairs of
Augsburg and Bruges. New Cadiz having no water, that of the Rio
Manzanares was conveyed thither from the neighbouring coast, though
for some reason, I know not what, it was thought to be the cause of
diseases of the eyes. The writers of that period all speak of the
riches of the first planters, and the luxury they displayed. At
present, downs of shifting sand cover this uninhabited land, and
the name of Cubagua is scarcely found in our charts.
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