62 



OUR SEARCH FOR A WILDERNESS, 



mountains in that direction — nothing but flat, green miles 

 of mangroves, stretching to the horizon over the immense 

 delta of the Orinoco. The pitch lake itself is surrounded on 

 all sides by dense forests, the front ranlis of which are made 

 up of the marvellously tall and graceful moriche palms. 

 There is one oasis in this pitchy expanse — Parrot Island it 



Fig. 51. White-headed Chimachima Hawk and Eta Palm. 



may be called. To this shelter, guarded on all sides bv soft, 

 quaking pitch, Amazon Parrots come at dusk by hundreds, 

 roosting there until the next morning. 



Near the northern edge is the "mother of the lake," just 

 above the deep-hidden source of supply, where the pitch is 

 always soft, and where no vegetation grows. It is a veritable 

 pool of death, and nothing can enter it and live. The lizards 



