Geological T)elineathn of South America. S5 



Caracas, at the height of 1 130 toises, proves that the water 

 once, as on the Bonhorame in Savoy, formed this aperture 

 between the two peaks or pyramids of the Avila, an aper- 

 ture which is much older than the five counted in the Cor- 

 dillera of the coast, namely, those of Rio Neveri, Unare, 

 Tuy, Mamon, and Guyaca. Among the mountains of the 

 province of Cumana, there are very singular valleys of a 

 perfect circular form, which seem to be dried up lakes. Of 

 this kind are the valleys of Cumanacoa and St. Augustine, 

 507 toises in depth, which are celebrated for the refreshing 

 coolness which travellers experience in them. 



When the modem action of water is considered, two op- 

 posite effects are observed : one recollects a very distant 

 epoch, when the irruption of the sea formed the Gulph ot 

 Cariaco and the Golfo Triste ; separated Trinidad and Mar- 

 garet ha from the main land, and convulsed the coast ot 

 Mochima and Santa Fe, where the islands of la Boracha, 

 Picua, and Caracas, form a heap of ruins. The sea then 

 attacked the land ; but the contest did not long continue : 

 the ocean again begins to draw back. The islands Coche 

 and Cuagua are shoals which emerged from the water : the 

 large plain of Salado, lying in Cumana, belongs to the Bay 

 of Cariaco, and is only 5J- toises above the level of the sea. 

 The hill on w hich the castle of St. Antonio is situated was 

 an island in this gulph, as an arm of the sea passed to the 

 north of Tatoraqual through the Charas towards Punta De- 

 legada, as is proved by a multitude of unaltered shells. It 

 is observed here and at P)arcelona that the sea is daily 

 retiring : in the harbour of Barcelona it has lost in 20 years 

 above 900 toises. Is this decrease of the sea in the Gulph 

 of Mexico general, or is it the case licre, as in the Mediter- 

 ranean Sea, that it gains in one point and loses in another? 

 This retreat of the sea nmst not be confounded with an- 

 other real phDenomenon easy to be explained, namely, the 

 decrease of fresh water, of rain, and of the rivers in this 

 continent. The Orinoco, as we see it at present, is no 

 lonscr the shadow of what it was 1000 years ago, accord- 

 ing to the evidence of the traces which the water has left 

 on^both banks at the height of 70 or 80 toises. These traces 

 have long attracted the notice of learned Europeans who 

 have seen the Barraguan, the Cucva de Atarnipe (the bur\'- 

 ing place of the Atures Indians, who formed a kind of 

 mummies), tlie Cerro Cuma, the Daminari, the Kcri, Oco, 

 and Ouivitari, the bottom of which at present is scarcely 

 covered by tlie foam of the Cataracts of Maypure. These 

 traces remind the Indians of a great imuulation, during 



C 2 which 



