The air is on that account moist and
unhealthy, and it rains very frequently. The rising sun draws up
such dense vapours, that they float like impenetrable clouds, four
or five feet above the earth. These vapours are said to be the
cause of many diseases, especially fever and dropsy. In addition to
this, the people are so foolish as to build their houses in among
the bushes and under thick trees, instead of in open, airy, and
sunny places. Villages are frequently passed, and scarcely a house
is to be seen. The men are remarkably idle and stupid; they are
tawny and lean. The natives seldom reach the age of sixty; and it
is said that the climate is even more unhealthy for strangers.
Still I believe that much might be done in this country by
industrious settlers and agriculturists. There is abundance of
land, and three-fourths of it certainly lies uncultivated. By
thinning the woods and draining the land, the badness of the climate
would be lessened. It is already, even without cultivation, very
fruitful; and how much this might be increased by a proper and
rational mode of treatment.
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