170 PROCEEDINGS: BOSTON SOCIETY NATURAL HISTORY. 



The first stream has a very shallow and rather indistinct bed. 

 The land is wet and muddy on both sides of it. The second stream 

 is a little larger and forms distinct pools at intervals. Below the 

 trail this river has a very steep bed and appears on the surface only 

 occasionally from underneath the rocks. Intervening between this 

 and the next river is a slight elevation which extends as a small ridge 

 into the valley. On the northwest side of this ridge is a ravine about 

 twenty meters deep, at the bottom of which runs the third river. 

 The southeast slope is very steep, the northwest is a gradual rise. A 

 little farther on is another ravine of similar depth and its southeast 

 side is almost perpendicular. The northwest slope is gradual. A 

 short way from this is the third and deepest ravine containing the 

 fifth river. Another and shallower ravine is near by containing the 

 sixth river. These four ravines are similar in having a steep slope 

 on the southeast side and a gradual rise on the opposite side. The 

 unimportant dry river beds of the seventh and eighth streams are 

 but a short way farther, very near to the ridge separating the large 

 Asuncion valley from that of Tacarigua. 



The valley of Tacarigua, the next in the series around the moun- 

 tain, is very long and has steep sides. The one river, the Rio Blanco, 

 flows down to the bottom of the valley where it is lost eleven or twelve 

 kilometers from the sea. The water is very impure though from 

 what source I do not know. It is slightly muddy in color and tastes 

 similar to a sulphur spring. Adjoining the valley of Tacarigua is 

 that of San Juan, the last of the series surrounding the mountain. 

 As this has nothing but a dry river bed it is of little importance. 



As has been said, the mountain as a whole is covered by dense 

 woods. The summit of San Juan Mountain is the only exposed part. 

 The highest part of all the ridges is covered with shrubs which lower 

 down gradually give place to small trees and still lower to the very tall 

 trees. In all parts rocks are projecting in an irregular fashion. Not 

 even in the densest part of the woods is there a soil of any consider- 

 able depth, and of course the river beds are extremely rocky. Where 

 the mountain slope is interrupted by some hill, there the woods stop, 

 but where the slope is continuous with a valley the woods extend to 

 a much lower level. This latter condition occurs characteristically 

 in El Valle and in the valley of Asuncion which are the only two 

 worthy of detailed consideration. 



The woods of El Valle are heavy as low as fifty meters, the height 



