JOHNSTON: FLORA OF MARGARITA ISLAND. 289 



kilometer the beach extends eastward, still a dazzling white. In one 

 portion of the lake, the bottom is covered with a pink animal growth 

 while the rest is a clear blue The presence of quicksands prevented 

 any close examination of the lake. 



Inland from the beach on this end the hills rise gradually and are 

 rounded. In general, the hilltops are hard, covered with loose stone 

 and sand. A few hilltops are entirely '\\'ithout soil, merely a mass of 

 loose broken fragments of rock with no vegetation. The surface 

 inland is rolling, there being no level surface of any extent. From the 

 hilltops to the hollows or small valleys, the surface gradually gets 

 sandier until at the bottom it is a clear stretch of sand free from any 

 stones. 



The seashore on the southwest side presents a contrast to that on the 

 west. The beach is about a meter in width for three kilometers or 

 more, and gravel and stony cliffs rise abruptly to the height of twenty- 

 five or thirty meters. From the top of the cliffs the inland surface 

 does not rise over thirty meters higher. About three kilometers from 

 San Pedro the cliffs are lower, and here show abundance of hard rock. 

 The lower part of the cliff and also huge boulders broken off are 

 smoothly worn and dark red or broA\Ti in color. At the eastern ex- 

 tremity of the south shore, the beach stretches to the southwest in a 

 long narrow spit of land. 



The total length of the island is about twelve kilometers, and breadth 

 three kilometers. From almost any of its hills can be seen Margarita, 

 at the nearest point wdthin eight kilometers ; and to the south the high 

 mountain ranges show distinctly on the mainland about twenty-four 

 kilometers away. The village of San Pedro is composed entirely of 

 homes of ordinary fishermen and of the pearl fishers. There is a 

 church, a graveyard, and seventy-five to a hundred houses besides sev- 

 eral stores. The eastern extremity of the island is used for the pearl- 

 fishing business but there is no village there. 



No mention of rain on the island has been made because the existence 

 of any at any time was not apparent. The natives claimed there 

 never was any. As a matter of fact at the time of this visit there was a 

 slight mist in the afternoon during the passing of a heavy thunder- 

 storm on the coast of the mainland. This mist was barely perceptible 

 and of course not sufficient to furnish water in any quantity. No 

 streams or springs exist on the island. The unweathered condition of 

 the rocks suggests the great lack of rain, while the presence of the sand 



