ILLUSTRATI6NS AND ADDITIONS. 



(1) p. 1 " The Lake of Tacarigua" 



ON advancing through the interior of South America, freia 

 the coast of Caracas or of Venezuela towards the Brazilian 

 frontier (from the 10th degree of north latitude to the equator), 

 the traveller first passes a lofty chain of mountains (the littoral 

 chain of Caracas) inclining from west to east ; next vast tree- 

 less Steppes or plains (Los Llanos), which extend from the 

 foot of the littoral chain to the left bank of the Orinoco; 

 and, lastly, the mountain range which gives rise to the cata- 

 racts of Atures and Maypure. This mountain chain, which I 

 have named the Sierra Parime, passes in an easterly direction 

 between the sources of the Rio Branco and Rio Esquibo, 

 in the direction of Dutch and French Guiana. This region, 

 which is the seat of the marvellous myths of the Dorado, 

 and is composed of a mountain mass, divided into numerous 

 gridiron-like ridges, is bounded on the south by the woody 

 plain through which the Rio Negro and the Amazon have 

 formed themselves a channel. Those who would seek further 

 instruction regarding these geographical relations, may com- 

 pare the large chart of La Cruz Olmedilla (1775), which has 

 served as the basis of nearly all the more modern maps of South 

 America, with that of Columbia, which I drew up in accordance 

 with my own astronomical determinations of place, and pub- 

 lished in the year 1825. 



The littoral chain of Venezuela is, geographically considered, 

 a portion of the Peruvian Andes. These are divided at the 

 great mountain node of the sources of the Magdalena (lat. 

 1 55' to 2 20') into three chains, running to the south of 

 Popayan, the easternmost of which extends into the snowy 

 mountains of Merida. These mountains gradually decline 

 towards the Paramo de las Rosas into the hilly district of 

 Quibor and Tocuyo, which connects the littoral chain of Ve- 

 nezuela with the Cordilleras of Cundinamarca. 



This littoral chain extends murally and uninterruptedly from 

 Portocabello to the promontory of Paria. Its mean elevation 

 is scarcely 750 toises, or 4796 English feet; but some few sum- 

 mits, like the Silla de Caracas (also called the Cerro de Avila), 



