Geological Delineation of South Anierka, .3.3J 



"been formed at a time vc hen riie ergarMC ejeatien had not 

 been properly expanded. It would be of great impor.li&Bce 

 to gefviogy if a sea voyage \% er« undertaken, at the ex-peuj^ 

 of some government, to e-xamine the rising and deprcsgioij 

 and the relalive eituation of the mGuntaiiiS to the taUent 

 and re-entering angles of America and Africa, The same 

 analogy would he found here as is observed in the English 

 Channei, in the Sounci, the -Straits of OibraUar, and the 

 Hellespont; sn«all -creeks whieh ape as new as the secondftv.v 

 formation of the chaJk rocks of Jura, of Pappenheini, La, 

 Mancha, Marseilles, Derbyshire, and Suez, which, hav-e alj 

 been produced at the same time by precipitation. 



Of the three cordilleras of priKiitive mountains w^hic'k 

 trav/erse South America from west to east, the most north' 

 ern, that of \^e«ezuela, is the highest, but the narrowest.. 

 The real chain of the Andes extends from the large plairs 

 of OnitOj throtigh Popayan and Choco, to tlie western side 

 of the river Atrato (or Rio San Juan) , between the valley 

 of Tataiie, in the provinces <3f Zitara and Biruguete, to- 

 wards the isthmus, \s. here it foni&s a m-ountainous district 

 ■of not more than two -or three hundred toises m height otj 

 the bank of the Chagrc. From the*e A«des arises the cor- 

 •dillera on the coast of VcKezuela. Rows of mountains 

 higher, but forming groups less regular, extend on tlie 

 ■east bide of the Rio Atrato under the name of the Sierra d«- 

 Abifcie and the Montes de Cauca, through the high savau:^- 

 •ruhs of Jo-l-u towiiid* Mag^dalen river and the province o.t 

 St. Martha. The cordillera of the c^ast contracts itself like 

 that of the Gulpli of Mexico^ approaches nearer to Ca^3e 

 Vela, and then proceeds first from south-.?o<.ith-west ttj 

 aorth-uorth-east, and then from weet to east to the ridge 

 of Paria, or ralh<;r to the Pun<.a de ia Galera in the Islan<3 

 of Trinidad. its greatest height is found at that place 

 where it nas tlic name of Sierra de Nevada de St, INhirtha \n 

 ■iatitude 10" g', -avA of Sit;rra Nevi^la de Merida in latitude 

 ii^ 30' ; the former is about 5000 the latter 5400 Spanir^U 

 flis {rwrai), or 2350 toises iu height,. The Paramo de la 

 itosa and de Macuchi, and al^o the mountain of ^krida, 

 arp continually covered vvitii snow: boiling water (uith 

 hydrogenated .sulphur) issues frwn their sidet;, and they 

 /•xceed in height -the Peak of Tesverift", and are, perhaps, 

 equal to Moait filaiic, which has been more accurately mea-r 

 i"ured. These colossal masses and St. Alartba stand aho'Ht 

 ;nsulated, being surrounded bv few high ridges. To thii 

 ufst of Santa Pe, or as far as the Sierra of Zuiudiu, no 

 AUuw-clad peaks ar*' sfen. and thi; Sierra NVvad;>4i; .Mcridu 

 1 tit^iuUi 



