fever, here called calenturu amarilla, is stated to have been unknown at La Guayra prior to 1797; and many individuals, Humboldt says, preferred the ardent but uniform temperature of the port, to the cooler but extremely variable climate of the capital. That scourge of the equinoctial regions was confined, on this coast, to Puerto Cabello, Carthagena, and Santa Marta. Since 1797, however, it has committed great ravages at La Guayra. Here, there is no beach of mangroves; the soil is extremely dry and destitute of vegetation, and there would appear to be nothing to produce miasmata. The streets, moreover, are tolerably clean, and the aspect of the place would seem to exclude the idea that the fever can be strictly endemic, as at Vera Cruz; although it finds a limit, as in Mexico, at La Cumbre and the Cerro de Avila, the height of which a little exceeds that of Encero.* Intermittent, putrid, and billious fevers, often prevail at Macuto and Caravalleda. To these the natives are subject, whereas the yellow fever appears to be the effect of the climate on the constitution of strangers; and it is remarkable, that hitherto it has been confined almost entirely to the sea-ports. This has been accounted for by supposing that the persons bring the disease who disembark there; but how does this explain the circumstance, that whites and mestizoes coming from the interior, are still more liable to contract the disorder than Europeans who arrive by sea? Its appearance at La Guayra certainly seems to favour the idea, that it propagates itself by contagion; and yet, Humboldt asserts, that immediate contact does not augment the danger; and no instance has been known of the fever's being communicated by the sick, when removed to the inland country. The latter circumstance, however, would prove only, that, like the plague, this pestilential fever requires a certain * See Mod. Trav. Mexico, vol. i. p. 209. temperature of the atmosphere, to communicate the infection. Humboldt cites the opinion of M. Bailly, some time chief physician to the colony of St Domingo, as according with his own, that "the typhus is very often, but not always contagious." With this agrees the statement of Sir Gilbert Blane. "I saw enough," he says, "in the hospital at Barbadoes, and in the ships and hospital at Jamaica, to convince me of its contagious nature in certain circumstances; and from the best consideration I have since been able to give this subject, I remain persuaded, that whenever it is so aggravated as to appear in an epidemic and pestilential form, it is truly contagious."* Instances are cited by this writer, of the fever's being communicated from one ship to another at sea. The fact appears to be, that, under the names of yellow fever, vomito prieto, and calentura amarilla, two distinct distempers have been confounded, differing both in their origin and character, but resembling each other in their more obvious symptoms; the one strictly * "Select Dissertations on several Subjects of Medical Science. By Sir Gilbert Blane, Bart., F.R.S., &c." p. 285. This very intelligent writer, whose extensive experience gives weight to his authority, makes a remark of great importance, but requiring to be verified by further observation. "It seems,' he says, "to be a general rule, that no effluvia emanating from corrupted dead matter, even in a state of the rankest putrefaction, ever produces a fever of a contagious nature. It is presumable, therefore, when these exhalations do produce contagious fevers, or convert a common fever into one of an infectious and malignant character, that they consist, in part at least, of the vitiated effluvia generated by the living human body, constituting some form of typhous morbific poison."-Ibid. p. 289. The yellow fever cannot be traced further back than the middle of the seventeenth century, and it appears certain, that no such malady had previously existed. If all specific contagions take their origin from animals, is it not very probable, as the learned writer suggests, that this dreadful distemper may have arisen from circumstances connected with the importation or treatment of the African slaves? endemic and non-contagious, the other epidemic and pestilential, the true typhus icterodes. The yellow colour of the skin, which forms a conspicuous point of resemblance, is said to differ, however, in the two diseases in the latter, it becomes of a dingy orange; in the former, it is a bright yellow. It appears, moreover, that there are instances of the endemic yellow fever degenerating into the contagious; and this transition, which is seen in other intermittent fevers, has contributed still more to their being confounded. Thus, the endemic vomito prieto of Vera Cruz has occasionally assumed a more virulent and infectious character, which the natives always trace to the arrival of shipping. At La Guayra, the yellow fever would appear to be not endemic; and it seems to have been the epidemic which committed such ravages. The Author of "Letters from Colombia" says: "Humboldt speaks of the yellow fever as prevailing at La Guayra: if it was known there in his time, it has since disappeared, that there is no trace of it at present. An English physician directed his inquiries particularly to this point during a short stay at La Guayra and Caracas, but could not any where meet with or hear of the yellow fever." The apprehension, therefore, expressed by the learned Traveller, that, owing to the extreme equality of temperature which characterises this climate, the typhus, if it once esta · blished itself, would become permanent, appears to be groundless. No instance, we believe, exists of an epidemic distemper degenerating into one of an endemic character. During the five months that Mr. Semple remained in this country, La Guayra might vie, he says, in point of healthiness, with any settlement in the West Indies; although in the summer months, he was told, that the heat reflected from the hills renders the place intolerable to Europeans La Guayra is in lat 10° 36′ 19′′ N., lon 67° 6′ 45′′ W, The road from the port to Caracas, resembles the passages over the Alps. It is infinitely finer, Humboldt, says, than that from Honda to Bogota, or from Guayaquil to Quito, and is even kept in better order than the ancient road from Vera Cruz to Perote. With good mules, it requires but three hours to ascend, and only two hours to return. With loaded mules or on foot, the journey occupies from four to five hours. The elevation of Caracas is but a third of that of Mexico, Quito, or Bogota; and " among all the capitals of Spanish America which enjoy a cool and delicious climate in the midst of the torrid zone, Caracas stands nearest to the coast." For the first mile, the road continues along the shore to Macuta (or Maiquetia), a neat and pleasant village, where most of the wealthier inhabitants of La Guayra have houses. Here, the mountains recede a little from the shore, leaving a small opening, better adapted, Mr Semple says, for the situation of the port than the rude spot on which it has been built. The road then turns to the left, and ascends to a considerable height through a deep clay or rich mould, which, in rainy weather, would be impassable, were not the road in many places paved. In the steepest parts, it ascends by zig-zags, but is sometimes so narrow, that two loaded mules cannot pass each other, and the banks are high and steep on each side. "Wo betide the traveller," says Mr Semple, of whose description we shall now avail ourselves, "who, in these passes, meets a line of mules loaded with planks, which stretch transversely almost from side to side. He must either turn about his horse's head, or pass them with the utmost caution, at the risk of having his ribs encountered by a long succession of rough boards, which, at every swerve of the mules, scoop out long grooves in the clayey banks. "We continue constantly to ascend. On the road was the stone body of the statue of a saint on a miser able low sledge, which had been with great difficulty brought thus far, when the project seemed to have been abandoned in despair, as it continued here for several months. The head, we were informed, had already reached Caracas, where it was impatiently waiting the arrival of the body to be joined to it, and reared on high as an object of veneration to surrounding multitudes. The stoppage of this statue marked the increasing difficulties of the ascent. From clay, the road changes in many parts to rugged rock, which appears not merely to have been thus purposely left, but to have been formed in its present state. At the height of about a thousand feet, we begin to breathe already a lighter and cooler air; and, turning back, enjoy the view of Macuta and the coast beneath our feet. We see the white breakers along the shore, and hear their noise, which now sounds like a hollow murmur among the woods which begin to crown the steeps. Opposite to us is a high and steep hill, covered with vegetation, and all the deep hollow between is dark with trees. Here and there, spots are cleared away, plantations are formed, and the experienced eye can distinguish the various hues of the fields of coffee, sugar, or maize. We pass also, from time to time, two or three miserable huts, where the muleteers are accustomed to stop and refresh themselves. In this manner we continue to ascend, the mountains still rising steep before us, till we arrive at a draw-bridge over a deep cut made across the narrow ridge upon which we have been advancing. On each side are deep valleys, clothed with tall trees and thick underwood, through which there is no path. This point is defended by two or three guns and a few soldiers, and forms the first military obstacle to the march of an enemy. In its present state, it is by no means formidable, but a very little care might render it so. Having passed this, the steepness increases, so that the mules, and even the foot traveller, can pro |