countrv. 



86 VALLEY OF CARIPE. 



CUAP. vii. passed a limestone ridge which separates it from that of 

 ViiieTof Guanaguaiia, — an undertaking which they found rather 

 Ciuip'e. difficult, the path being in several parts only fourteen 

 or fifteen inches broad, and the slopes being covered 

 with very slippery turf. When they had readied the 

 summit, an interesting spectacle presented itself to their 

 view, consisting of the vast savannahs of Maturin and 

 Rio Tigre, the Peak of Turimiquiri, and a multitude of 

 parallel hills resembling the waves of a troubled ocean. 

 Woody Descending the height by a winding path, they en- 



tered a woody country, where the ground was covered 

 by moss and a species of Drosera. As they approached 

 the convent of Caripe, the forests grew more dense, and 

 the power of vegetation increased. The calcareous 

 strata became thinner, forming graduated terraces, while 

 the stone itself assumed a white colour, with a smooth 

 or imperfectly conchoidal fracture. This rock Hum- 

 boldt considers as analogous to the Jura dcposites. He 

 found the level of the valley of Caripe 127t) feet higher 

 than that of Guanaguana. Although the former is only 

 separated from tlie latter by a narrow ridge, it affords a 

 complete contrast to it, being deliciously cool and salu- 

 brious, while the other is remarkable for its gre<\t ht;at. 



