196 



MOUNTAINOUS DISTRICT. 



glyphic figures are sculptured. Measuring the 

 breadth of the Orinoco here, they found it, at a dis- 

 tance 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 be- 

 came 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 savannas, 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 

 granite, 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 mid- 

 dle 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 cov- 

 ered with multitudes of lizards. There was not a 

 breath of wind, and the heat was so intense that the 

 thermometer placed against the rock rose to 122'4°. 

 " How vivid," says Humboldt, " is the impression 

 which the noontide quiet of nature produces in these 

 burning climates ! The beasts of the forest retire 

 to the thickets, and the birds conceal themselves 

 among the foliage or in the crevices of rocks. Yet 



