MORRO DE BARCELONA. 133 
while they take more than double that time to 
reach Cumana, on account of the chain of mountains 
which they have to cross. Eight thousand mules 
were embarked at Barcelona, six thousand at Porto 
Cabello, and three thousand at Carupano, in 1799 
and 1800, for the several islands. 
Landing on the right bank of the river, they 
ascended to a small fort, the Morro de Barcelona, 
built on a calcareous rock, at an elevation of about 
400 feet above the sea, but commanded by a much 
higher hill on the south. Here they observed a 
very curious geological phenomenon, which recurred 
in the Cordilleras of Mexico. The limestone, which 
had a dull, even, or flat conchoidal fracture, and 
was divided into very thin strata, was traversed by 
layers of black slaty jasper, with a similar frac- 
ture, and breaking into fragments having a paral- 
lelopipedal form. It did not exhibit the little veins 
of quartz so common in Lydian stone, and was de- 
composed at the surface into a yellowish-gray crust. 
Setting sail on the 19th at noon, they found the 
temperature of the sea at its surface to be 73°6° ; 
but when passing through the narrow channel 
which separates the Piritoos, in three fathoms it 
was only 76:1°. These islands do not rise more 
than eight or nine inches above the mean height 
of the tide, and are covered with long grass. To 
the westward of the Morro de Barcelona. and the 
mouth of the river Unare, the ocean became more 
and more agitated as they approached Cape Codera, 
the influence of which extends to a great distance. 
Beyond this promontory it always runs very high, 
although a gale of wind is never felt along this 
coast. It blew fresh during the night, and on 
