UNKEEGROUND FOECES IN VENEZUELA. 87 



south of the Carib Mountains. The flickering flames often seen hovering over 

 the ground are now known to be in no way connected with igneous disturbances. 

 This curious phenomenon has been noticed on the slopes of Duida, on Mount 

 Cuchivano in the province of Cumana, and in the marshy valley of the Catatumbo 

 and of other streams flowing to Lake Maracaibo, where it is known as the " light- 

 house " or " lantern," because it indicates to mariners the position of the land. 

 Flames are also frequently seen flitting about amid the grasses of the llanos 

 without burning them. These are " the fire of the tyrant Aguirre," say the natives, 

 who after more than three hundred years are still haunted by the legends asso- 

 ciated with this sixteenth -century corsair. The vapours rising from certain " asphalt 

 lakes" similar to that of Trinidad are also said at times to be subject to spon- 

 taneous combustion. Such escapes of pitchy substances, known by the names of 

 hra, alquitran, neme, or mené, are of frequent occurrence in the Orinoco delta, in 

 the TJnare basin, and on the shores of Lake Maracaibo, where they are used mixed 

 with salt for caulking vessels. 



Possibly the last manifestations of volcanic action may be indicated by the 

 numerous hot springs, mostly sulphurous and saline, which well up in the moun- 

 tainous districts, especially along the lines of fracture in the Cumana uplands 

 around the Gulf of Cariaco, on the banks of Lake Tacarigua, in the Sierra de 

 Merida. Sievers records altogether as many as fifty-seven groups of thermal 

 springs in north Venezuela. According to Humboldt the most famous are those 

 of Las Trincheras, between Valencia and Puerto Cabello, near the hoqueron, or 

 breach, formerly followed by the outlet of the lake. In the Araya peninsula, 

 north of the Gvdf of Cariaco, the sulphurous jets known as the Azufral Grande 

 and Azufral Chiquito form geysers at a temperature of 212° Fahr., and deposit 

 crystals of sulphur, as well as calcareous and silicious sediment resembling 

 agate. 



Terrific seismic disturbances are of frequent occurrence in Venezuela, which 

 was even regarded by Humboldt as the land of earthquakes in a pre-eminent 

 sense. One of the most destructive was that of 1812, when over 12,000 persons 

 were buried under the ruins of Caracas. In 1550 the sea, rising 20 feet above 

 the normal level, swept away the town and fortress of Cumana, and the same 

 place was again overthrown in 1766, when the ground continued to tremble for a 

 period of fifteen months. Caracas and Merida have both suffered on other occa- 

 sions, and round the former city numerous fissures are still visible, which date 

 from the catastrophe of 1812, and which have since been enlarged by the action of 

 water. 



The Llanos. 



The Venezuelan llanos, which develop a regular crescent between the high- 

 lands and the course of the Orinoco, and which are limited eastwards by the 

 delta of the great river, have a total extent of some 200,000 square miles. This 

 vast space, however, is by no means of uniform aspect, nor are all the plains 

 old marine beds levelled by the sea. The slight rising grounds, hancos, and 

 even mesas, that is, heights and terraces with regular flat platforms and abrupt 



