CATARACTS OF THE ORINOCO. 165 



of our planet, the colossal remains of extinct terrestrial 

 animals, and the oceanic creatures of a chaotic world, found 

 one common grave in the indurating crust of our earth. 



At the most northern extremity of the cataracts our atten- 

 tion is attracted by what are called the natural representations 

 of the Sun und Moon. The rock of Keri, to which I have 

 more than once referred, derives its name from a glistening 

 white spot seen at a considerable distance, and in which the 

 Indians profess to recognize a striking resemblance to the 

 disc of the full moon. I was not myself able to climb this 

 precipitous rock, but it seems probable that the white spot is a 

 large knot of quartz, formed by a cluster of veins in the 

 greyish -black granite. 



Opposite to the Keri rock, on the twin mountain of the 

 island of Uivitari, which has a basaltic appearance, the Indians 

 point, with mysterious admiration, to a similar disc, which 

 they venerate as the image of the Sun, Camosi. The geogra- 

 phical position of these two rocks may have contributed to 

 their respective appellations, for I found that Keri was turned 

 towards the west, and Camosi towards the east. Some 

 etymological inquirers have thought they could recognize an 

 analogy between the American word Camosi and the word 

 Camosh, a name applied in one of the Phoenician dialects to 

 the sun, and identical with the Apollo Chomeus or Beel- 

 phegor and Aniun. 



The lofty falls of Niagara, which are 150 feet in height, 

 derive their origin, as is well known, from the combined pre- 

 cipitation of one enormous mass of water. Such, however, 

 is not the case with respect to the cataracts of Maypures, nor 

 are they narrow straits or passes through which the stream 

 rushes with increasing velocity, like the Pongo of Man- 

 seriche on the Amazon, but rather to be regarded as a 

 countless number of small cascades succeeding each other 

 like steps. The Raudal, (as the Spaniards term this kind of 

 cataract,) is formed by an archipelago of islands and rocks, 



