When we reached the Piton's summit we were surprised to find that there was barely enough room to sit down comfortably. We faced a small circular wall of porphyritic lava, with a base of pitchstone, which prevented us from seeing the interior of the crater called La Caldera or the Cauldron. The wind blew so hard from the west that we could scarcely stand on our feet. It was eight in the morning and we were frozen though the temperature was just above freezing-point. We had become accustomed to heat, and the dry wind increased the sensation of cold.

Once on board we had to contend with strong winds. It poured with rain, and near by thunder rolled. Flocks of flamingos, egrets and cormorants flew past towards the shore. Only the alcatras, a large kind of pelican, continued to fish calmly in the gulf. We were eighteen on board, and the narrow pirogue, overloaded with sugar cane and bunches of bananas and coconuts, could hardly hold our instruments. The edge of the boat barely stood above the water-line.

As far back as the sixteenth century travelers have greatly differed in their opinions about chocolatl. Benzoni said, in his crude language, that it is a drink 'fitter for pigs than humans'. The Jesuit Acosta asserts that 'the Spaniards who inhabit America are fond of chocolate to excess . . . Fernando Cortez highly praised chocolate as being an agreeable drink if prepared cold and, especially, as being very nutritious. Cortez's page writes: 'He who has drunk one cup can travel all day without further food, especially in very hot climates. We shall soon celebrate this quality in chocolate in our voyage up the Orinoco. It is easily transported and prepared: as food it is both nutritious and stimulating. (83)