96 THE G..TE OF THE SADDLE. 



had filled up the furrows hollowed out by the waters, the 

 flame appeared in a dark night like currents of lava sus- 

 pended over the valley. The vivid but steady light 

 assumed a reddish tint, when the wind, descending from 

 the Saddle, accumulated streams of vapour in the low 

 regions. At other times these luminous bands, enve- 

 loped in thick clouds, appeared only at intervals where it 

 was clear; and as the clouds ascended their edges re- 

 flected a splendid light. These various phenomena, so 

 common in the tropics, acquired additional interest from 

 the form of the mountains, the direction of the slopes, 

 and the height of the savannahs covered with alpine 

 grasses. During the day, the wind of Petare, Ijlowing 

 from the east, drove the smoke towards the town, and 

 diminished the transparency of the air. 



On the morning of the 8d of January they commenced 

 the ascent of the Saddle, a celebrated mountain near 

 Caracas. The party consisted of eighteen persons, and 

 they all walked one behind another, in a narrow path, 

 traced on a steep acclivity, covered with turf They 

 reached a hill, connected with the body of the mountain, 

 and called the Gate of the Saddle. Here they crossed a 

 narrow dyke of rocks, which led to the ridge of the 

 mountain, and looked down on two valleys, filled with 

 thick vegetation. In one of these valleys they heard the 

 roaring of waterfalls, which they could not see, they were 

 so thickly hidden in groves of fig-trees. 



From the Gate of the Saddle the ' steepness of the • 

 ascent increased, and they were obliged to incline their 

 bodies considerably forwards as they advanced. Thej 

 felt the want of cramp-irons, or sticks shod with iron. 

 Short grass covered the rocks of gneiss, and it was 



