PEAK OP J1UIDA. 457 



one hundred and seventy-nine metres, or one thousand one 

 hundred and eighteen toises, above the plain of Esmeralda. 

 The Cerro Duida thus yields but little in height (scarcely 

 eighty or one hundred toises) to the summit of St. Gotham, 

 or the Silla of Caracas on the shore of Venezuela. It is 

 indeed considered as a colossal mountain in those countries ; 

 and this celebrity gives a precise idea of the mean height of 

 Parima and of all the mountains of eastern America. To 

 the east of the Sierra Nevada de Merida, as well as to the 

 south-east of the Paramo de las Eosas, none of the chains 

 that extend in the same parallel line reach the height of the 

 central ridge of the Pyrenees. 



The granitic summit of Duida is so nearly perpendicular 

 that the Indians have vainly attempted the ascent. It is 

 a well-known fact that mountains not remarkable for eleva- 

 tion are sometimes the most inaccessible. At the beginning 

 and end of the rainy season, small flames, which seem to 

 change their place, are seen on the top of Duida. This 

 phenomenon, the existence of which is borne out by con- 

 current testimony, has caused this mountain to be im- 

 properly called a volcano. As it stands nearly alone, it 

 might be supposed that lightning from time to time sets 

 fire to the brushwood ; but this supposition loses its pro- 

 bability when we reflect on the extreme difficulty with 

 which plants are ignited in these damp climates, it ntust 

 be observed also that these flames are said to appear often 

 where the rock seems scarcely covered with turf, and that 

 the same igneous phenomena are visible, on days entirely 

 exempt from storms, on the summit of Guaraco or Murcie- 

 lago, a hill opposite the mouth of the Eio Tamatama, on 

 the southern bank of the Orinoco. This hill is scarcely 

 elevated one hundred toises above the neighbouring plains. 

 If the statements of the natives be correct, it is probable 

 that some subterraneous cause producee these flames on the 

 Duida and the Guaraco ; for they never appear on the lofty 

 neighbouring mountains of Jao and Maraguaca, so often 

 wrapped in electric storms. The granite of the Cerro 

 Duida is full of veins, partly open, and partly filled with 

 crystals of quartz and pyrites. Gaseous and inflammable 

 emanations, either of hydrogen or of naphtha, maj psiss 

 through these veins. Of this the mountains of Cannnuiiitii 



