23 



pital, built by the side of a powder-magazine, 

 and affords every kind of aid to travellers. The 

 same detachment inhabits the mountains five 

 or six months. The post is for the most part 

 occupied by soldiers who have chacras, or 

 plantations, in the neighbourhood. When Cu- 

 mana, after the capture of Trinidad by the En- 

 glish, in 1797, was threatened with an attack^ 

 many of the inhabitants fled to Cumanacoa, 

 and deposited what they possessed of most va- 

 lue in sheds hastily constructed on the top of 

 the Impossible. It was then resolved, in case of 

 any unforeseen invasion, to abandon the castle 

 of St. Antonio, after a short resistance, and to 

 concentrate the whole force of the province 

 round the mountains, which may be considered 

 as the key of the Llanos. The military events, 

 which, in consequence of political revolutions, 

 have since taken place in these countries, have 

 shown how wisely this first plan was framed. 



The top of the Impossible, as nearly as I could 

 perceive, is covered with a quartzose sand- 

 stone, free from petrifactions. It's strata are 

 here, as on the ridge of the neighbouring moun- 

 tains, pretty regularly directed from N. N. E. 

 to S. S. W.* I have already observed, that 

 this direction is also the most common in the 

 primitive formations in the peninsula of Araya, 



* Hor. 3 — 4: 45° of southern inclination. 



