The hate that Indians show for nearly all human beings who speak another language, and are considered to be barbarians of an inferior race, often erupts in the missions after years of slumber. A few months before our arrival at Esmeralda, an Indian born in the jungle behind the Duida was travelling with another who previously, having been captured by the Spaniards on the banks of the Ventuario, had lived peacefully in the village or, as they say, 'under the sound of a bell' (debajo de la campana). This latter Indian had to walk slowly because of a fever he had caught in the mission, usually due to a sudden change in diet. Annoyed by this delay his companion killed him and hid the corpse under some thickets near Esmeralda. The crime, like so many others committed among the Indians, would not have been discovered if the murderer had not proposed to celebrate a feast the following day. He tried to persuade his sons, who were born in the mission and were Christians, to accompany him to the jungle and fetch bits of the corpse to eat. The boys had difficulty in stopping him. The family squabble alerted a soldier who found out what the Indians had tried to conceal.

In San Fernando we were most struck by the pihiguado or pirijao palm, which gives the countryside its peculiar quality. Covered with thorns, its trunk reaches more than 60 feet high. The fruit of this tree is extraordinary; each bunch has some fifty to eighty; they are yellow, like apples, but turn purple on ripening, when they are 2 or 3 inches thick. Generally they fall off before the kernel develops. Of the eighty to ninety palm trees peculiar to the New World that I have described in my Nova Genera plantarum aequinoctialem (1815-25) none has such a fleshy fruit. The pirijao fruit yields a substance rather like flour, as yellow as egg yolk, slightly sweet and very nutritious. It is eaten like banana or sweet potato, cooked or baked in ashes, and is as healthy as it tastes good. Indians and missionaries vie in praising this magnificent palm, which could be called the peach palm. In these wild regions I was reminded of Linnaeus's assertion that the country of palm trees was man's first abode, and that man is essentially palmivorous. (110) When we examined what food the Indians stored in their huts we noticed that their diet depends as much on the fruit of the pirijao as on cassava and banana.

I met the Swedish Consul Skiöldebrand, who passed through Paris on his way to embark in Marseille on a missionto bring gifts to the Dey of Algiers. That respectable gentleman had lived for a long time on the African coast and, as he was well known in theAlgerian Court, could get me authorization to visit the Atlas mountains. Every year he despatched a ship to Tunis, which brought pilgrims to Mecca, and he promised to let me go to Egypt that way. I did not hesitate to seize that chance and was convinced Icould carry out the plan I had hatched before my arrival in France. Up until then no geologist had ever exploredthe high mountain ranges that in Morocco reach the perpetual snows. Iquickly completed my collection of instruments and obtained books thatdealt with the countries I was to visit. I said good-bye to my brother, whose example and advice had helped guidemy thinking. He approved of my motives for wanting to abandon Europe; a'secret voice told me we would see each other again. I left Paris eager toembark for Algeria and Egypt, andchance - so often playing a decisive role in human lives - had it that Iwould see my brother again after returning from the Amazon and Peru, putting a foot on African soil.

The harbors of Ferrol and La Coruña both communicate with the samebay, so a ship driven by foul weather towards the coast may anchor ineither, according to the wind. Such an advantage is invaluable where thesea is almost always rough, as it is between Capes Ortegal and Finisterre, the promontories Trileucum and Artabrumof ancient geography. A narrow passage, flanked by perpendicular graniterocks, leads to the extensive bay of Ferrol. No port in Europe offers suchan extraordinary anchorage, from its very inland position. The narrow and tortuous passage by which vesselsenter this port has been opened, either by the pounding of waves or thereiterated shocks of very violent earthquakes. In the New World, on thecoasts of New Andalusia, the Lagunadel Obispo is formed exactly like the port of Ferrol. The most curiousgeological phenomena are often repeated at immense distances on the surfaceof different continents; and naturalists who have examined different partsof the globe are struck by the extreme resemblances observed in the fracturing of coasts, in the sinuositiesof the valleys, in the appearance of mountains, and in their distributionby groups. The accidental concurrence of the same causes must everywherehave produced the same effects; and amidst the variety of nature an analogy of structure and form is observedin the arrangement of inanimate matter, as well as in the internalorganization of plants and animals.

The current dragged us towards the coast with more force than wassafe. As we advanced we saw first the island of Fuerteventura, famous forthe many camels that live there, and then later the small island of Lobos, the channel that separates Fuerteventura from Lanzarote. We spent the night on deck; the moon illumined theisland's volcanic peaks, whose slopes, covered in ash, shone like silver. night was beautifully serene and fresh; although we were only a shortdistance from theAfrican coast and the limit of the torrid zone, the thermometer recordedonly 18¡C. It seemed as if the phosphorescence of the sea heightened the mass oflight diffused in the air. After midnight great black clouds rose behindthe volcano and intermittently covered the moon and the beautiful Scorpion constellation. On the shorewe saw lights move in all directions; probably fishermen getting ready forwork. During the voyage we had been reading the ancient Spanish navigators, those moving lights reminded us of Pedro Gutiérrez Queen Isabel's page, who saw similarlights on Guanahani Island on the memorable night the New World wasdiscovered.

Our pilot had tied up the pirogue at the Playa de Huevos to buy provisions as our stores were running out. We found fresh meat, Angostura rice and even biscuits made of wheat. Our Indians filled the boat with live young turtles and sun-dried eggs for their own use. After saying good-bye to the missionary who had been so friendly to us we continued our journey upstream. There was a fresh wind that turned into squalls. Since we had entered the mountainous part of the country we had begun to notice that our boat sailed poorly, but the pilot wanted to show the Indians gathered on the bank that by sailing close to the wind he could reach the middle of the stream without tacking. Just as he was boasting of his skill and the daring of his maneuver the wind gusted against the sail with such violence that we nearly sank. One of the boat's sides was submerged. Water poured in so suddenly that we were soon knee-deep in water. It washed over a table I was writing on in the stern. I just managed to rescue my diary, and then saw our books, dried plants and papers floating away. Bonpland was sleeping in the middle of the boat. Woken by the flooding water and the shrieking Indian he immediately took control of the situation with that coolness which he always showed in danger. (96) As one side of the boat rose up out of the water he did not think the boat would sink. He thought that if we had to abandon boat we could swim ashore as there were no crocodiles about. Then the ropes holding the sails broke, and the same gust of wind that almost sank us now helped us recover. We baled the water out with gourds, mended the sail, and' in less than half an hour we were able to continue our journey. When we criticized our pilot for having sailed too close to the wind he resorted to that typical Indian phlegmatic attitude: 'that the whites would find plenty of sun on the beaches to dry their papers'. We had lost only one book overboard - the first volume of Schreber's Genera plantarum. Such losses are particularly painful when you are able to take so few scientific books.