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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As We Came Very
Near This Group Of Mountainous Islands, We Were Becalmed; And At
Sunrise, Small Currents Drifted Us Toward Boracha, The Largest Of
Them.
As the rocks rise nearly perpendicular, the shore is abrupt;
and in a subsequent voyage I saw frigates at anchor almost touching
the land.
The temperature of the atmosphere became sensibly higher
whilst we were sailing among the islands of this little
archipelago. The rocks, heated during the day, throw out at night,
by radiation, a part of the heat absorbed. As the sun arose on the
horizon, the rugged mountains projected their vast shadows on the
surface of the ocean. The flamingoes began to fish in places where
they found in a creek calcareous rocks bordered by a narrow beach.
All these islands are now entirely uninhabited; but upon one of the
Caracas are found wild goats of large size, brown, and extremely
swift. Our Indian pilot assured us that their flesh has an
excellent flavour. Thirty years ago a family of whites settled on
this island, where they cultivated maize and cassava. The father
alone survived his children. As his wealth increased, he purchased
two black slaves; and by these slaves he was murdered. The goats
became wild, but the cultivated plants perished. Maize in America,
like wheat in Europe, connected with man since his first
migrations, appears to be preserved only by his care. We sometimes
see these nutritive gramina disseminate themselves; but when left
to nature the birds prevent their reproduction by destroying the
seeds.
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