6 



LA GUAYRA. 



town, the interior of the shattered walls is 

 seen overgrown with weeds and shrubs, and 

 reminds the spectator but too forcibly of 

 that terrible event, yet the effect produced 

 by this luxuriant vegetation, in the varied 

 brilliancy of its verdure, is altogether ex- 

 hilarating. The deserted ruins, covered in 

 the inside with exotic foliage, form ro- 

 mantic inclosures, in which a variety of 

 tall trees and shrubs have sprung up, rais- 

 ing their tufted heads above the roofless 

 walls, or emerging through the openings 

 which once contained windows. 



The appearance of the surface of the 

 earth, as well as that of the strata dis- 

 closed by the banks of the little mountain- 

 stream of Guayra, that runs through the 

 town, and, in short, every surrounding ob- 

 ject, indicates the excessive heat which is 

 the characteristic and scourge of La Guayra. 

 The place is consequently at certain periods 



