MORRO DE BARCELONA, 



115 



embarked at Barcelona, six thousand at Porto Ca- 

 bello, and three thousand at Carupano, in 1799 and 

 1800, for the several islands. 



Landing on the right bank of the river, they as- 

 cended 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 curi- 

 ous 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 fracture, and 

 breaking into fragments having a parallelopipedal 

 form. It did not exhibit the little veins of quartz so 

 common in Lydian stone, and was decomposed 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 78*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 agi- 

 tated 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 the 20th, at sunrise, 

 they were so far advanced as to be in expectation 

 of doubling the cape in a few hours ; but some of 

 the passengers having suffered from sea-sickness, 

 and the pilot being apprehensive of danger from the 

 privateers stationed near La Guayra, they made for 

 the shore, and anchored at nine o'clock in the Bay 

 of Iliguerota, westward of the Rio Capaya. 



On landing, they found two or three huts inhab- 



