A THUNDEK-STOIvM. 21 



At our right was a large cofiee-estate, the shrubs shaded 

 by gigantic trees whose trunks and brawny arms were 

 clothed with parasitic plants, and hung with long, tangled 

 tufts of Tillandsite, that gvay moss which so ornaments 

 our own Southern forests. On either side, the road was 

 hedged with trees and bushes, thickly interlaced with vines 

 and creeping plants. These at length gave place to rows 

 of mango-trees, whose arching boughs, spread with dark- 

 green foliage, formed a most beautiful arcade. The mango, 

 which to us seemed possessed of no particular gustatory 

 virtues, is considered by the natives as one of the finest 

 of tropical fruits. 



About ten A. m., while enjoying our breakfast of 

 oranges and bananas, we were forced by a sudden shower 

 to seek shelter in a way-side pulperia. A thunder-storm 

 in the tropics is an incredible exaggeration of a northern 

 tempest. The rain does not spatter down in drops, but 

 falls in almost unbroken sheets of water, which in a fev.- 

 minutes completely flood the earth. The thunder and 

 lightning which accompany these showers in the elevated 

 regions of the country are generally " moderate in cfuan- 

 tity but inferior in quality ; " yet on the llanos of the in- 

 terior they are in good keeping with the terrific storms 

 which sweep over those plains. 



Our A'isit to Caracas was during the rainy season, 

 which commences about the last of Aj^ril, and continues 

 until November. It must, however, not be supposed that 

 even during this season the sky is continually overcast witli 

 clouds which are incessantly discharging their contents 

 upon the land. The showers generally last only a few 

 minutes, seldom half an hour, when they cease as suddenly 

 as they commence. The anniial fall of rain is about thirty- 

 five inches ; the time of greatest heat is during the wet 

 l^eriod. This regular alternation of the seasons in the val- 

 leys of Caracas and Valencia is not, however, the same 



