INTENSE HEAT. 19; 



excess of cold, the crocodiles of the Llanos are reduced CHAP.yvii. 

 to the same state throup;h deficiency of moisture. 



They now entered the passage of the Baraguan, where Passage of 

 tlie Orinoco is hemmed in by precipices of granite, *'": ^'"■^" 

 forming part of a range of mountains through whith it 

 has found or forced a channel. Like all the other 

 granitic hills which they observed on this river, they 

 were formed of enormous cubical masses piled upon each 

 other. Landing in the middle of the strait, they found 

 the breadth of the stream to be 1895 yards. They 

 looked in vain for plaftts in the fissures of the rocks ; 

 but the stones were covered with multitudes of lizards. 

 Tliere was not a breath of wind, and the heat was so Intense 

 intense tliat the thermometer placed against the rock ^'^^^ 

 rose to 122-4°. " How vivid," says Humboldt, "is the 

 impression which the noontide quiet of nature produces 

 in these burning climates ! The beasts of the forest re- 

 tire to the thickets, and the birds conceal themselves 

 among the foliage or in the crevices of rocks. Yet 

 amid this apparent silence, should one listen attentively 

 he hears a stifled sound, a continued murmur, a hum of 

 insects, that fill the lower strata of the air. Nothing is 

 more adapted to excite in man a sentiment of the extent 

 and power of organic life. Myriads of insects crawl on jfynadsof 

 the ground, and flutter round the plants scorched by the '"sects, 

 heat of the sun. A confused noise issues from every 

 busli, from the decayed trunks of the trees, the fissures 

 of the rocks, and from the ground, which is undermined 

 by lizards, millepeds, and blindworms. It is a voice 

 proclaiming to us that all nature breathes, that under a 

 thousand different forms life is diff'used in the cracked 

 and dusty soil, as in the bosom of the waters, and in the 

 air that circulates around us." The water of the river 

 was very disagreeable here, as it had a musky smell and 

 a sweetish taste. In some parts it was pretty good ; but 

 in others it seemed loaded with gelatinous matter, which 

 the natives attribute to putrefied crocodiles. 



After sleeping at the foot of an eminence they con- 

 tinued their voyage, and passed the mouths of several 



