JOHNSTON: FLORA OF MARGARITA ISLAND. 171 



of the reservoir, although they are rapidly being cleared off in all 

 directions. Immediately below this is the extensive coconut grove 

 reaching down into Porlamar. The configuration of the land about 

 the village of El Valle makes it an ideal place for botanical study. 

 .North and South Hills as before mentioned leave the mountain in a 

 southerly direction and both give off short ridges running toward 

 each other and also away from each other on the other side. 



About a kilometer and a half from the mountain, South Hill turns 

 to the southeast, and North Hill turns to the southwest, the two stop- 

 })ing but a short way from each other, thus leaving a narrow entrance 

 into a nearly enclosed valley. In this small area there are exposures 

 to all points of the compass. There is one dry river bed extending 

 from the foot of the mountain to the sea, that is important in the 

 rainy season. It is here that the heavy vegetation of the valley grows. 



Asuncion is the only other valley of importance. The head of it 

 has been described in the discussion of the mountain rivers. The 

 lower part is quite open and is continuous with the plains to the sea. 

 This valley faces to the northeast so that it gets the wind and mois- 

 ture. The clouds, however, are usually at an altitude of from 400 

 to 600 meters so that it is only the upper part of the valley that is 

 extremely moist, the richest part of the island. Otherwise the valley 

 is similar to any of the lowlands. 



Intervening between the valleys, partially surrounding them, and 

 also standing as outlying features are the hills and small mountains 

 conspicuous by their red soil and by their desolation. In the case 

 of the hills attaining the height of 300 meters the summit has a few 

 scattered trees. Other vegetation is either lacking or restricted to 

 small patches of dry bushes. The soil is very conspicuously red, or 

 on a few hills made gray by the preponderance of limestone. It is 

 loose and easily weathered into small slabs or into a crumbling mass, 

 which rapidly washes or rolls down the steep hills. At the time of 

 the heavy showers the hills are gullied everj^'here. As a consequence 

 of their condition the soil is thin and can maintain only shallow- 

 rooted vegetation. 



From the very nature of the rock it is to be expected that caverns 

 of some size are to be found. Within twenty meters of the summit 

 of Bat Cave Peak is a large cave which opens above near the summit, 

 and also at the side. About one hundred meters from the foot of 

 the hill there is a hole in the rocks through which I could with diffi- 



