132 



IMMENSE PRECIPICE. 



reaching the eastern summit before sunset, and of 

 returning to the hollow separating the two peaks, 

 where they might pass the night. With this view 

 they sent half of their attendants to procure a sup- 

 ply, not of olives, but of salt beef. These arrange- 

 ments were scarcely made when the east wind 

 began to blow violently, and in less than two minutes 

 the clouds dispersed. The obstacles presented by 

 the vegetation gradually diminished as they ap- 

 proached the eastern summit, in order to attain 

 which it was necessary to go close to the great pre- 

 cipice. Hitherto the guests had preserved its lamel- 

 lar structure ; but as they climbed the cone of the 

 Silla they found it passing into granite, containing, 

 instead of garnets, a few scattered crystals of horn- 

 blende. In three-quarters of an hour they reached 

 the top of the pyramid, which was covered with 

 grass, and for a few minutes enjoyed all the serenity 

 of the sky. The elevation being 8633 feet, the eye 

 commanded a vast range of country. The slope, 

 which extends nearly to the sea, had an angle of 

 53° 28', though when viewed from the coast it seems 

 perpendicular. Humboldt remarks that a precipice 

 of 6000 or 7000 feet is a phenomenon much rarer 

 than is usually believed, and that a rock of 1600 feet 

 of perpendicular height has in vain been sought for 

 among the Swiss Alps. That of the Silla is partly 

 covered with vegetation, tufts of befariae and andro- 

 medae appearing as if suspended from the rock. 



Seven months had elapsed since they were on the 

 summit of the Peak of Teneriffe, where the apparent 

 horizon of the sea is six leagues farther distant than 

 on the Silla; yet while the boundary line was seen 

 distinct in the former place it was completely 

 blended with the air in the latter. The western 

 dome concealed the town of Caraccas ; but they dis- 

 tinguished the villages of Chacao and Petare, the 

 coffee-plantations, and the course of the Rio Guayra. 

 While they were examining the part of the sea 



