548 Mr. P. R. Lowe on tae Birds of 
prepossessing. We were fresh from the riotous vegetation 
and verdant wonders of Trinidad, and were hardly prepared 
for the forbidding and almost cruel aspect of nature as it 
exists on this offshoot from the mainland of Venezuela. In 
the space of a bare eighteen hours’ sea-passage, rampant 
growths of tropical forests had given place to bare mountains, 
sandy wastes, and scrubby plains. One could hardly have 
experienced a more striking contrast. 
The Island of Margarita is thirty-seven miles in length, 
and consists of two mountainous masses of rock (Archean 
schists), connected by a low sandy isthmus. In places this 
isthmus is very narrow, and, as it is roughly ten miles long, 
the island, when viewed from only a short distance to the 
north or south, appears as two islands. 
At the eastern end, where we first landed, is a formidable 
chain of mountains el broken up into ridges and spurs, 
between which are cultivated valleys. In the centre of 
this chain rises Mount Margarita to a height of about 
3240 feet. 
The western portion of the island consists of practically an 
unbroken rocky mass which bears the name of Cerros de 
Macanao. These rocks reach an altitude of 2304 feet above 
sea-level. Towards their summits Bek are very bare and of 
a deep ferruginous tint. 
The whole area of the island is 440 square miles, and it is 
said to have a population of 20,000. 
The eastern extremity, Punta de la Ballena, is only seven- 
teen miles distant from the nearest point of Venezuela. The 
island is not well watered. A few small streams find their 
way down from the southern face of the mountains, swelling, 
no doubt, during rains to respectable torrents, but with the 
exception of one stream which enters the sea to the east of 
Porlemar they are quite insignificant. 
From the height of the mountains one would have 
expected a goodly quantity of rain to be extracted from the 
moisture-laden trade-winds, but apparently this is inter- 
cepted by the outer chain of islands forming the Windward 
group of the Autilles, and so Margarita remains a dry and 
