SITUATION OF UliBANA. 115 



ence upon the fish and turtles of the river, cassava and 

 maize from the Apurc and other sections, and upon their 

 lierds, which find abundant pasturage on the savannas 

 amone: the broken sierras of Guiana. Other necessaries 

 of life are brought up from Angostura ; with which town 

 there is carried on a considerable trade in hides, large 

 numbers of which are exported annually from Urbana. 



The A'illage of Urbana is beautifully situated at the 

 foot of semi-isolated hills, whose granitic rocks, under the 

 effects of decomposition, exhibit upon their summit gro- 

 tesque columns which appear like the remains of ancient 

 ruins. "We were desirous of visiting these curious forma- 

 tions of Nature ; so one morning, accompanied by some 

 natives, we made the ascent of the cerros. Their sides 

 are exceedingly precipitous, and covered with matted 

 woods, which were difficult to penetrate. At length, after 

 an hour's hard climbing, we stood upon the rocky crest, 

 and clambered up to the cross that had been planted by 

 devotees of the Catholic faith, upon the top of the natural 

 tower which rises high above the forest. From here wo 

 had a most lovely view of savannas, mountains, and the 

 broad expanse of the Orinoco, Avhich here spreads out like 

 a vast lake. The little village of Ui-bana lay quietly nes- 

 tled at our feet, and beyond, across the broad river, a 

 boundless forest of eternal green, while in other directions 

 rose range after range of the broken sierras of Guiana. 

 We saw few landscapes in the tropics so varied and ex- 

 tended. These hills seemed to be a perfect den for casca- 

 bels, or rattlesnakes. Of no other section, visited in our 

 equatorial wanderings, could we more truthfully speak as 

 being a place , 



" Where at each step the stranger fears to wake 

 The rattlmg terrors of the vengeful snake." 



Occasionally they found their way into the town. Seated 



