CAPE CODEUA. 117 



" Besides," says Humboldt, " a thick wood cover- 

 ing a muddy ground would difTuse noxious exhala- 

 tions in the atmosphere, were it composed of trees 

 which in themselves have no deleterious property. 

 Wherever mangroves grow on the margin of the 

 sea, the beach is peopled with multitudes of niol- 

 lusca and insects. These animals prefer the shade 

 and a faint light ; and find shelter from the waves 

 among the closely interlaced roots which rise like 

 lattice-work above the surface of the water. Shells 

 attacli themselves to the roots, crustaceous animals 

 nestle in the hollow trunks, the seaweeds which 

 the wind and tide drive upon the shore remain 

 hanging upon the recurved branches. In this man- 

 ner the maritime forests, by accumulating masses 

 of mud among their roots, extend the domain of the 

 continents; but, in proportion as they gain upon 

 the sea, they scarcely experience any increase in 

 breadth, their very progress becoming the cause of 

 their destruction. The mangroves and the other 

 plants with which they always associate die as the 

 ground dries, and when the salt-water ceases to 

 bathe them. Centuries after, their decayed trunks, 

 covered with shells, and half-buried in the sand, 

 mark both the route which they have followed in 

 their migrations, and the limit of the land which 

 they have wrested from the ocean." 



Cape Codera, seven miles distant from the Bay of 

 Iliguerota, is more imposing on account of its mass 

 than for its elevation, which appeared to be only 

 1280 feet. It is precipitous on the north, west, and 

 east. Judging from the fragments of rock found 

 along the coast, and from the hills near the to\vn, 

 it is composed of foliated gneiss, containing nodules 

 of reddish felspar, and little quartz. The strata 

 next the bay have the same dip and direction as the 

 great mountain of the Silla, which stretches from 

 Caraccas to Maniquarez in the isthmus of Araya, 

 and seem to prove that the primitive chain forming 



