CATARACTS OF THE ORINOCO. 165 



of our planet, the colossal remains of extinct terrestrial 

 animals, and the oceanic creatures of a chaotic world, found 

 one common grave in the indurating crust of our earth. 



At the most northern extremity of the cataracts our atten- 

 tion is attracted by what are called the natural representations 

 of the Sun and Moon. The rock of Keri, to which I have 

 more than once referred, derives its name from a glistening 

 white spot seen at a considerable distance, and in which the 

 Indians profess to recognize a striking resemblance to the 

 disc of the full moon. I was not myself able to climb this 

 precipitous rock, but it seems probable that the white spot is a 

 large knot of quartz, formed by a cluster of veins in the 

 greyish-black granite. 



Opposite to the Keri rock, on the twin mountain of the 

 island of Uivitari, which has a basaltic appearance, the Indians 

 point, with mysterious admiration, to a similar disc, which 

 they venerate as the image of the Sun, Camosi. The geogra- 

 phical position of these two rocks may have contributed to 

 their respective appellations, for I found that Keri was turned 

 towards the west, and Camosi towards * the east. Some 

 etymological inquirers have thought they could recognize an 

 analogy between the American word Camosi and the word 

 Camosh, a name applied in one of the Phoenician dialects to 

 the sun, and identical with the Apollo Chomeus or Beel- 

 phegor and Amun. 



The lofty falls of Niagara, which are 150 feet in height, 

 derive their origin, as is well known, from the combined pre- 

 cipitation of one enormous mass of water. Such, however, 

 is not the case with respect to the cataracts of Maypures, no* 

 are they narrow straits or passes through which the stream 

 rushes with increasing velocity, like the Pongo of Man- 

 seriche on the Amazon, but rather to be regarded as a 

 countless number of small cascades succeeding each other 

 like steps. The Randal, (as the Spaniards term this kind of 

 cataract,) is formed by an archipelago of islands and rocks, 



