MOUNTAINS OP PARIME. 335 



action of volcanic force, the changes in the direction of 

 currents, and the consequent swelling of the waters, are very 

 different frotn the effects manifested at once over the space 

 of several hundred square leagues. 



IV. GBOTJP OF TUB MOUNTAINS or PATIIME. It is essen- 

 tial to mineralogical geography, to designate by one name 

 all the mountains that form one system. To attain this end, 

 a denomination belonging to a partial group only may be 

 extended over the whole chain ; or a name may be employed, 

 which, by reason of its novelty, is not likely to give rise to 

 homogenic mistakes. Mountaineers designate every group 

 by a special denomination ; and a chain is generally con- 

 sidered as forming a whole only when it is seen from afar 

 bounding the horizon of the plains. We find the name of 

 * snowy mountains ' (Himalaya, Lmaus) repeated in every 

 zone, ' white* (Alpes, Alb), * black,' and * blue.' The greater 

 part of the Sierra Parime is, as it were, edged round by the 

 Orinoco. I have, however, avoided a denomination having 

 reference to this circumstance, because the group of moun- 

 tains to which I am about to direct attention extends far 

 beyond the banks of the Orinoco. It stretches south-east, 

 towards the banks of the Eio Negro and the Rio Branco, 

 to the parallel of 1^ north latitude. The geographical 

 name of Parime has the advantage of reviving recollections 

 of the fable of El Dorado, and the lofty mountains which, 

 in the sixteenth century, were supposed to surround the 

 lake Eupunuwini, or the Laguna de Parime. The mis- 

 sionaries of the Orinoco still give the name of Parime to 

 the whole of the vast mountainous country comprehended 

 between the sources of the Erevato, the Orinoco, the Caroni, 

 the Eio Parime* (a tributary of the Eio Branco), and the 

 Eupunuri or Rupunuwini, a tributary of the Eio Essequibo. 

 This country is one of the least known parts of South 

 America, and is covered with thick forests and savannahs ; 

 it is inhabited by independent Indians, and is intersected 

 by rivers of dangerous navigation, owing to the frequency 

 of shoals and cataracts. 



* The Rio Parime, after receiving the waters of the Uraricuera, joim 

 the acutu, and forms, near the fort of San Joacquini, the Rio Branco, 

 one of the tributary streams of the Rio Negro. 



