I r-i Geological Delineation of South America. 



nature in the land of the Tupinambaros Indians. La Con* 

 daniine discovered this variation of the hard nephrite, which 

 is known under the name of the Amazon stone. 



The granite, gneiss, and micaceous schist, contain here, 

 as in Europe, strata of chlorite schist arranged under each 

 other in the sea at Cape. Blanc west from Guayra. Very 

 pure and beautiful hornblend schist is found in the streets of 

 Guyana ; and, still niorc south, in the cordillera of Parinia, 

 feldspar eilioresces into porcelain earth in the Silla de Ca- 

 racas ; strata of quartz, with magnetic iron-stone, is found 

 at the sources of the Cutuche, near Caracas ; grained folia- 

 ceous, primitive limestone, without tremolite, but with a 

 great deal of sulphureous pyrites and sparry iron-stone, on 

 the Ouebrada deTopo on the road from Caracas to Guayra. 

 This limestone is entirely wanting in the cordillera of Pa- 

 rinia, where it has been sought for many years. Zeiehcn 

 schist, a kind of carbonaceous iron, and pretty pure gra- 

 phite, arc found in the Ouebrada de Tocunie near Chacao, 

 in the Ouebrada Secca near Tuy, and north from the La- 

 guna Chica ; on the difficult road which leads across the 

 isthmus of Cariaco to Chiparipara, there are found veins 

 of quartz, which contain auriferous sulphureous pyrites 

 and antimony, native gold, gray silver ore, mountain blue, 

 malachite, &c. 



The copper ore of Aroa is the only kind here taken from 

 the earth : sixty or seventy slaves obtain yearly 1500 quin- 

 tals at most of refined copper. Tlie quintal is sold for 

 twelve piastre?. The valley in which this ore is dug up is 

 less unheallhful than the valleys near the sea where the 

 Indians wash gold ; namely, Urama, Maron, and Alpago- 

 ton, where the air appears to be poisonous, as is the case 

 in the fertile' valley of Cararinas between Nirgua and Rio 

 Jaracuy. The gold is dispersed throughout the whole pro- 

 vince, particularly in the strata of quart? at Baruta, Catia, 

 Guigne, Quebrada del Oro near Tuy, and on the Cerro de 

 Chacao, and Real de Santa Barbara near St. John, where 

 I found barytic spar, the only instance I ever met with in 

 this country. All the rivers of the province of Characas, 

 wash down gold. It however does not thence follow that 

 this province is rich, and contains v^eins of gold not yet 

 discovered : the gold may be interspersed in whole masses 

 of granite ; and 1 am acquainted with no high granite cor- 

 dillera, either here or in Europe, the rivers of which do 

 not wash down e:oId. The Cerro Dulda t)f Esmeralda in 

 Dorado, the Ouebrada du Tigre near Encaramada, and the 

 Cerros de Aniuco, the Real de S. Barbaro near St. John, 



the 



