224 CURIOUS J'LANTS. 



On these stony flats of Carichana we observed with inte- 

 rest the rising vegetation in the different degrees of its 

 development. We there found lichens cleaving the rock, 

 and collected in crusts more or less thick ; little portions of 

 sand nourishing succulent plants ; and lastly layers of black 

 mould deposited in the hollows, formed from the decay of 

 roots and leaves, and shaded by tufts of evergreen shrubs. 



At the distance of two or three leagues from the Mission, 

 we find, in these plains intersected by granitic hills, a vege- 

 tation no less rich than varied. On comparing the site of 

 Carichana with that of all the villages above the Great Ca- 

 taracts, we are surprised at the facility with which we tra- 

 verse the country, without following the banks of the rivers, 

 or being stopped by the thickness of the forests. M. Bon- 

 pland made several excursions on horseback, which fur- 

 nished him with a rich harvest of plants. I shall mention 

 only the paraguatan, a magnificent species of the macroc- 

 nemum, the bark of which yields a red dye ;* the guaricamo, 

 with a poisonous root ;f the Jacaranda obtusifolia ; and the 

 serrape, or jape$ of the Salive Indians, which is the Couma- 

 rouna of Aublet, so celebrated throughout Terra Firm a for 

 its aromatic fruit. This fruit, which at Caracas is placed 

 among linen, as in Europe it is in snuff, under the name of 

 tonca, or Tonquin beau, is regarded as poisonous. It is a 

 false notion, very gei.eral in the province of Cumana, that 

 the excellent liqueur fabricated at Martinique owes its pecu- 

 liar flavour to the jape. In the Missions it is called sima- 

 ruba ; a name that may occasion serious mistakes, the true 

 simaruba being a febrifuge species of the Quassia genus, 

 found in Spanish Guiana only in the valley of Rio Caura, 

 where the Paudacot Indians give it the name of acheccJiari. 



I found the dip of the magnetic needle, in the great square 

 at Carichana, 33'7 (new division). The intensity of the 

 magnetic action was expressed by two hundred and twenty- 

 seven oscillations in ten minutes of time ; an increase of 

 force that would seem to indicate some local attraction. 

 Yet the blocks of the granite, blackened by the waters of the 

 Orinoco, have no perceptible action upon the needle. 



The river had risen several inches during the day on the 



* Macrocnemum tinctorium. "\" Ityania coccidea. 



t Dipterix odorata, Willd. or Baryosma tongo of Gaertner. The jap( 

 frnishes Carichana with excellent timber. 



