Bendrat — Notes on Region about Caicara, Venezuela. 445 



however, have been produced by man, as in close proximity a 

 series of so-called petroglyphics were found, the grooves of 

 which, however, were considerably deeper and wider. 



The distribution of granite and gneiss in the hills and ridges 

 north of Cabruta and south and southeast of Caicara also 

 reveals a prevalence of gneiss over granite. For, with the 

 exception of Cerro de Cabruta north of the Orinoco, and Cerro 

 de los Spiritos, the lower portions of Cerro de Arinoza, and 

 possible the whole of Pan de Azugar,* all the other cerros con- 

 sist of gneiss. Pan de Azugar could not be visited and the 

 nature of its rock ascertained because of the inaccessibility of 

 the mountain from the land, while a planned ascent from the 

 river side was not carried out because of the departure of the 

 writer. Its outlines, however, are those characteristic of gran- 

 ite hills. 



Rising abruptly with its southwestern terminus from the 

 waters of the Orinoco to a height of about 290 meters above 

 sea-level, the Cerro de Cabruta trends for a distance of about 

 twelve kilometers in a northeastern direction and gradually 

 falls off towards the llano-plateau. It is made up of a coarse- 

 grained granite of a tan color weathering purple. Towards 

 the top it becomes more quartzose, and is cut by quartz veins. 

 A dike of felsite traverses the granite in a direction E.-W. on 

 one of the smooth, facette-like cliffs of the cerro near the top. 

 Exfoliation of the granites is strikingly exhibited. A vein of 

 quartz cuts the granite in a direction N.N.W.-S.S.E., and 

 probable determines the direction of the southwestern spur of 

 the cerro in the process of erosion. 



The cerros on the east and southeast side of the Orinoco 

 within the area begin with the Cerro de Caicara, which 

 approaches the stream south of the village of Caicara and rises 

 to a height of 127 meters above sea-level. It extends about 

 two kilometers to the south along the stream and consists of a 

 light-colored, fine-grained gneiss. The general strike of the 

 lamination is N.-S. and the dip to the west, as is the case with 

 all the gneisses along the river. 



About three kilometers south of Caicara the Cerro de Ari- 

 noza attains a height of 146 meters, while its foot is 71 meters 

 above sea-level. Only the lowest levels of this hill consist of 

 a coarse-grained quartzose granite, much the same as that 

 encountered in the Cerro de Cabruta. The structure is at 

 places pegmatite and the joint planes run INT.-S. and E.-W. as do 

 quartz and pegmatitic veins of various thickness. Higher up 

 the granite yields to a medium-grained gneiss with lamination 

 E. 70° S.E. ; on the southeastern top apparently dipping 27° 

 JST.E. On this top occurs a similar coarse-grained and highly 

 quartzose granite, like that found at the foot of the cerro, 



* Due south of the former. 



