98 VALLEY OF CARIPE. 
principally depend for food ; and when it happens 
to be destroyed by a protracted drought, they be- 
take themselves to the surrounding forests, where 
they find subsistence in succulent plants, cabbage- 
palms, fern-roots, and the produce of various trees. 
Proceeding towards the valley of Caripe, the tra- 
vellers passed a limestone ridge which separates it 
from that of Guanaguana,—an undertaking which 
they found rather difficult, the path being in several 
parts only fourteen or fifteen inches broad, and the 
slopes being covered with very slippery turf. When 
they had reached the summit, an interesting spec- 
tacle presented itself to their view, consisting of the - 
vast savannahs of Maturin and Rio Tigre, the Peak 
of Turimiquiri, and a multitude of parallel hills 
resembling the waves of a troubled ocean. 
Descending the height by a winding path, they 
entered a woody country, where the ground was 
covered by moss and a species of Drosera. As they 
approached the convent of Caripe, the forests. grew 
more dense, and the power of vegetation increased. 
The calcareous strata became thinner, forming gra- 
duated terraces, while the stone itself assumed a 
white colour, with a smooth or imperfectly conchoi- 
dal fracture. This rock Humboldt considers as ana- 
logous to the Jura deposites. He found the level of 
the valley of Caripe 1279 feet higher than that of 
Guanaguana. Although the former is only sepa- 
rated from the latter by a narrow ridge, it affords a 
complete contrast to it, being deliciously cool and 
salubrious, while the other is remarkable for its great 
heat. 
