MOUNTAINOUS DISTRICT. v2] 
the foot of a mountain composed of detached blocks of 
granite, in the caverns formed by which hieroglyphic 
figures are sculptured. Measuring the breadth of 
the Orinoco here, they found it, at a distance of 
670 miles from the mouth, to be 5700 yards, or 
nearly three miles. The temperature of the water 
at its surface was 82°. As the strength of the 
current increased the progress of the boat became 
much slower, while at one time the woods de- 
prived them of the wind, and at another a violent 
gust descended from the mountain-passes. Opposite 
the lake of Capanaparo, which communicates with 
the river, the number of crocodiles was increased. __ 
The Indians asserted that they came in troops to 
the water from the savannahs, where they lie buried 
in the solid mud until the first showers awaken 
them. Humboldt remarks, that the dry season of 
the torrid zone corresponds to the winter of the 
temperate regions of the globe; and that while the 
alligators of North America become torpid through 
excess of cold, the crocodiles of the Llanos are reduced 
to the same state through deficiency of moisture. — 
They now entered the passage of the Baraguan, 
where the Orinoco is hemmed in by precipices of gra- 
nite, forming part of a range of mountains through 
which it has found or forced a channel. Like all | 
the other granitic hills which they observed on this 
river, they were formed of enormous cubical masses 
piled upon each other. Landing in the middle of 
the strait, they found the breadth of the stream to 
be 1895 yards. They looked in vain for plants in 
the fissures of the rocks ; but the stones were cover- 
ed with multitudes of lizards. There was not a 
breath of wind, and the heat was so intense that 
