The Chaimas, like all semi-wild people in hot climates, show a great aversion to clothes. In the torrid zone the Indians are ashamed so they say to wear clothes, and if they are forced to do so too soon they rush off into the jungle in order to remain naked. Despite the efforts of the monks the Chaima men and women walk around naked in their houses. When they go into villages they put on a kind of cotton shirt, which hardly reaches to their knees. Sometimes we met Indians outside the mission grounds, during a rainstorm, who had taken their clothes off and rolled them under their arms. They prefer to let the rain fall on their naked bodies than letting it wet their clothes. The older women hid behind trees and burst into loud fits of laughter when they saw us pass by fully dressed.

On the 15th of July we reached the fundaciòn, or the Villa de Pao, established in 1744 and well situated as a depot between Nueva Barcelona and Angostura. Many geographers have mistaken its position, confusing it with other small towns. Though it was cloudy I was able to determine the latitude and the longitude from the sun. The astronomical fixing of Calabozo and Concepciòn del Pao are very important to the geography of this country where there are so few fixed points in the savannahs. Around about we saw some fruit trees, quite rare in the steppes. We also noticed coconut palms, despite the distance from the sea. I insist on this observation as some have doubted the veracity of travelers describing coconut palms, a coastal plant, in Timbuktu and in the heart of Africa.

In the Atabapo, above San Fernando, there are no longer any crocodiles; every now and then you come across some bavas, numerous freshwater dolphins, but no manatees. You would not find tapirs, nor araguato monkeys, nor howler monkeys, zamuros, or guacharacas, a kind of crested pheasant. However, enormous water snakes similar to boas are very common and endanger Indian bathers. From the first day we saw them swimming past our canoes, reaching 14 feet in length.

On the road to the harbor we were struck by the countless phosphorescent insects (Cocuyo, Elater noctilucus). The grass, the branches and the leaves of trees all shone with that reddish, flickering light. It seemed as if the stars had fallen on to the savannah! In the poorest hut in the country fifteen cocuyos, placed in a gourd pierced with holes, give sufficient light to look for things at night. Shaking the gourd excites the animals and increases the luminous discs on their bodies. A young woman at Trinidad told us that during a long passage from the mainland she used the phosphorescent cocuyos when she wanted to nurse her baby at night. The captain of the ship would use only cocuyos lights so as not to attract pirates.

We saw several beautiful species of large aras (guacamayos) in the hands of Indians who had killed them in the nearby jungle to eat them. We began to dissect their enormous brains, though they are far less intelligent than parrots. I sketched the parts while Bonpland cut them apart; I examined the hyoid bone and the lower larynx, which cause this bird's raucous sounds. It was the kind of research that Cuvier had recently instigated in anatomy and it appealed to me. I began to console myself for the loss of my barometer. Night did not allow me to determine our latitude through the stars. On the 20th of April at three in the morning, while it was still delightfully fresh, we set off for the Magdalena river landing-stage in the village of Barancas Nuevas. We were still in the thick jungle of bamboos, Palma amarga and mimosas, especially the inga with purple flowers. Halfway between Mahates and Barancas we came across some huts raised on bamboo trunks inhabited by zambos. This mixture of negro and Indian is very common around here. Copper-colored women are very attracted to African men and many negroes from Choco, Antioquia province and Simitarra, once they gained their freedom by working hard, have settled in this river valley. We have often reminded you how the wisdom of the oldest Spanish laws favored the freeing of black slaves while other European nations, boasting of a high degree of civilization, have hindered and continue to hinder this absurd and inhuman law. (146)