EMMA. "I shall be grateful to Captain Hall if his pathetic description of the funeral of 'Dolly' checks your desire to become a sailor, George; for I cannot bear to think of it. We are now to sail along the coast of South America, and the first gulfs in the north of this coast are the gulfs of Maracaybo, Coro, Trieste, and Paria, by the island of Trinidad, where----" CHARLES. "Stop! stop! Emma. Out of four gulfs there must be something to be had worth fishing for, is there not?" MR. BARRAUD. "You may fish for melancholy in the Gulf of Trieste, Charles, if you are so disposed, for it is a dreadful place. Here, in the midst of furious waves, enormous rocks raise their isolated heads, and scarcely, even with a fair wind, can ships overcome the strength of the stream." CHARLES. "We will not angle in _that_ gulf; but I have fished up an island in Maracaybo, or Venezuela Gulf. It is called Curacoa, and is arid and sterile. There is very little water, and only one well in the island, and the water is sold at a high price. Its capital is Williamstadt, one of the neatest cities in the West Indies." MRS. WILTON. "The entrance to the Gulf of Paria on the north side is called Dragon's Mouth, on the south, Serpent's Mouth. This gulf separates Trinidad from South America. Trinidad is about 70 miles from east to west, and nearly 50 from north to south. The most remarkable phenomenon there is a bituminous lake, situated on the western coast, near the village of La Brea. It is nearly three miles in extent, of a circular form, and about 80 feet above the level of the sea. Small islands, covered with plants and shrubs, are occasionally observed on this lake, but it is subject to frequent changes, and the verdant isles often disappear. Trinidad is important on account of its fertility, its extent, and its position." EMMA. "The next bay in our course is the Bay of Oyapok." MRS. WILTON. "And the next country in our course is Guiana, washed by the Atlantic. This country is subject to annual inundations. All the rivers overflow their banks; forests, trees, shrubs, and parasitical plants seem to float on the water, and the sea tinged with yellow clay, adds its billows to the fresh-water streams. Quadrupeds are forced to take refuge on the highest trees: large lizards, agoutis, and pecaries[12] quit their watery dens and remain on the branches. Aquatic birds spring upon the trees to avoid the cayman[13] and serpents that infest the temporary lakes. The fish forsake their ordinary food, and live on the fruits and berries of the shrubs through which they swim,--the crab is found upon trees, and the oyster multiplies in the forest. The Indian, who surveys from his canoe this new chaos, this confusion of earth and sea, suspends his hammock on an elevated branch, and sleeps without fear in the midst of so great danger." [Footnote 12: Animals similar to the wild boar of Europe, but very small.] [Footnote 13: Cayman: a species of alligator.]