CATARACTS OF THE ORINOCO. 225 



Droseras, and with small silver-leaved mimosas and ferns. 

 These spots recal to the recollection of the European those 

 blocks of granite decked with flowers which rise solitary 

 amidst the glaciers of Savoy, and are called by the dwellers 

 in the Alps "Jardins," or "Courtils." 



In the blue distance the eye rests on the mountain chain 

 of Cunavami, a long extended ridge which terminates abruptly 

 in a truncated cone. We saw the latter, (Calitamini is its 

 Indian name), glowing at sunset as if in roseate flames. 

 This appearance returns daily : no one has ever been near 

 the mountain to detect the precise cause of this brightness, 

 which may perhaps proceed from a reflecting surface pro- 

 duced by the decomposition of talc or mica slate. 



During the five days which we passed in the neighbour- 

 hood of the cataracts, it was striking to hear the thunder of 

 the rushing torrents sound three times louder by night than 

 by day. In all European waterfalls the same phenomenon 

 is remarked. What can be its cause in a wilderness where 

 there is nothing to interrupt the repose of nature ? Perhaps 

 the currents of heated ascending air by causing irregular 

 density in the elastic medium impede the propagation of 

 sound during the day, by the disturbance they may occasion 

 in the waves of sound ; whereas during the nocturnal cooling 

 of the earth's surface the upward currents cease. 



The Indians called our attention to ancient tracks of 

 wheels. They speak with admiration of the horned animals, 

 (oxen), which in the times of the Jesuit missions used to 

 draw the canoes on wheeled supports, along the left bank of 

 the Orinoco, from the mouth of the Cameji to that of the 



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