extremely sweet.* (* The people of the country attribute to it an
astringent quality, and call it tapaculo.) I know not whether it be a
variety of the Carica microcarpa, described by Jacquin.

The environs of the lake are insalubrious only in times of great
drought, when the waters in their retreat leave a muddy sediment
exposed to the rays of the sun. The banks, shaded by tufts of
Coccoloba barbadensis, and decorated with fine liliaceous plants,* (*
Pancratium undulatum, Amaryllis nervosa.) remind us, by the appearance
of the aquatic vegetation, of the marshy shores of our lakes in
Europe. We find there, pondweed (potamogeton), chara, and cats'-tail
three feet high, which it is difficult not to confound with the Typha
angustifolia of our marshes. It is only after a careful examination,
that we recognise each of these plants for distinct species,* (*
Potamogeton tenuifolium, Chara compressa, Typha tenuifolia.) peculiar
to the new continent. How many plants of the straits of Magellan, of
Chile, and the Cordilleras of Quito have formerly been confounded with
the productions of the northern temperate zone, owing to their analogy
in form and appearance.

The inhabitants of the valleys of Aragua often inquire why the
southern shore of the lake, particularly the south-west part towards
los Aguacotis, is generally more shaded, and exhibits fresher verdure
than the northern side. We saw, in the month of February, many trees
stripped of their foliage, near the Hacienda de Cura, at Mocundo, and
at Guacara; while to the south-east of Valencia everything presaged
the approach of the rains. I believe that in the early part of the
year, when the sun has southern declination, the hills around
Valencia, Guacara, and Cura are scorched by the heat of the solar
rays, while the southern shore receives, along with the breeze when it