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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Having Seen The Signal Which We Had
Fixed Up For The Purpose Of Observing The Height Of The Tides, He
Had Watched The Moment When He Could Attack Us On The Beach.
But
why, after having knocked one of us down, was he satisfied with
simply stealing a hat?
In an examination he underwent, his answers
were so confused and stupid, that it was impossible to clear up our
doubts. Sometimes he maintained that his intention was not to rob
us; but that, irritated by the bad treatment he had suffered on
board the privateer of St. Domingo, he could not resist the desire
of attacking us, when he heard us speak French. Justice is so tardy
in this country, that prisoners, of whom the jail is full, may
remain seven or eight years without being brought to trial; we
learnt, therefore, with some satisfaction, that a few days after
our departure from Cumana, the Zambo had succeeded in breaking out
of the castle of San Antonio.
On the day after this occurrence, the 28th of October, I was, at
five in the morning, on the terrace of our house, making
preparations for the observation of the eclipse. The weather was
fine and serene. The crescent of Venus, and the constellation of
the Ship, so splendid from the disposition of its immense nebulae,
were lost in the rays of the rising sun. I had a complete
observation of the progress and the close of the eclipse. I
determined the distance of the horns, or the differences of
altitude and azimuth, by the passage over the threads of the
quadrant. The eclipse terminated at 2 hours 14 minutes 23.4 seconds
mean time, at Cumana.
During a few days which preceded and followed the eclipse of the
sun, very remarkable atmospherical phenomena were observable. It
was what is called in those countries the season of winter; that
is, of clouds and small electrical showers. From the 10th of
October to the 3rd of November, at nightfall, a reddish vapour
arose in the horizon, and covered, in a few minutes, with a veil
more or less thick, the azure vault of the sky. Saussure's
hygrometer, far from indicating greater humidity, often went back
from 90 to 83 degrees. The heat of the day was from 28 to 32
degrees, which for this part of the torrid zone is very
considerable. Sometimes, in the midst of the night, the vapours
disappeared in an instant; and at the moment when I had arranged my
instruments, clouds of brilliant whiteness collected at the zenith,
and extended towards the horizon. On the 18th of October these
clouds were so remarkably transparent, that they did not hide stars
even of the fourth magnitude. I could distinguish so perfectly the
spots of the moon, that it might have been supposed its disk was
before the clouds. The latter were at a prodigious height, disposed
in bands, and at equal distances, as from the effect of electric
repulsions: - these small masses of vapour, similar to those I saw
above my head on the ridge of the highest Andes, are, in several
languages, designated by the name of sheep.
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