THE IMPOSSIBLE. 77 



They arrived on the summit only a little before dusk. chap. VIL 



The setting of the sun was accompanied by a very rapid „ 



T • ,• /• , , 11 111 Summit of 



dimmution or temperature, the thermometer suddenly ihemoun- 



falling from 77'4° to 70-8°, although the air was calm. ^"'^ '^""^^ 

 They passed the night in a house at which there was a 

 military post of eight men, commanded by a Spanish 

 sergeant. When, after the capture of Trinidad by the 

 English in 1797, Cumana was threatened, many of the 

 people fled to Cumanacoa, leaving the more valuable of 

 their property in sheds constructed on this ridge. The 

 solitude of the place reminded Humboldt of the nights 

 which he had passed on the top of St Gothard. Several 

 parts of the surrounding forests were burning, and the Burning 

 reddish flames arising amidst clouds of smoke, presented forests. 

 a most impressive spectacle. The shepherds set fire to 

 the woods for the purpose of improving the pasturage, 

 though conflagrations are often caused by the negligence 

 of the wandering Indians. The number of old trees on 

 the road from Cumana to Cumanacoa has been greatly 

 reduced by these accidents ; and in several parts of the 

 province the dryness has increased, owing both to the 

 diminution of the forests, and the frequency of earth- 

 quakes, which produce crevices in the soil. 



Leaving the Impossible on the 6th before sunrise, Descent 

 they descended by a very narrow path borderinsr on f'''^™ '*>« 



•• mi ■ r 1 -1 n mOUHtaillS. 



precipices, ihe summit of the ridge was of quartzy 

 sandstone, beneath which the Alpine limestone reap- 

 peared. The strata being generally inclined to the 

 south, numerous springs gush out on that side, and in 

 the rainy season form torrents, which fall in cascades, 

 shaded by the hura, the cuspa, and the trumpet-tree. 

 The cuspa, which is common in the neighbourhood of 

 Cumana, had long been used for carpenter-work, but 

 has of late attracted notice as a powerful tonic or febri- 

 fuge. 



Emerging from the ravine which opens at the foot of forest 

 the mountain, they entered a dense forest, traversed by 

 numerous small rivers, which were easily forded. They 

 observed that the leaves of the cecropia were more or 



