137 



would have been sufficient, to render it celebrat- 

 ed. These nocturnal birds have been no where 

 yet discovered, except in the mountains of Ca- 

 ripe and Cumanacoa. 



The missionaries had prepared a repast at 

 the entry of the cavern. Leaves of bananas 

 and vijao*, which have a silky lustre, served 

 us as a table cloth, according to the custom of 

 the country. Nothing was wanting to our en- 

 joyment, not even remembrances, which are so 

 rare in those countries, where generations dis- 

 appear without leaving a trace of their exist- 

 ence. Our hosts took pleasure in reminding 

 us, that the first monks, who came into those 

 mountains to found the little village of Santa 

 Maria had lived during a month in the ca- 

 vern ; and there, on a stone, by the light of 

 torches, had celebrated the mysteries of reli- 

 gion. This solitary retreat served as a refuge 



first information respecting the Cueva del Guacharo in 1800 

 in my letters to Messrs. Delambre and Delam6therie, pub- 

 lished in the Journal de Physique. See also my Geog. des 

 Plantes, p. 84. 



* Heliconia bihai, Lin. The Creoles have changed the 

 b of the Haytian word bihao into v, and the h into j, agree- 

 ably to the Castilian pronunciation. 



+ This village, situate to the South of the cavern, was 

 formerly the chief place of the Chayma Missions* It is for 

 this reason, that in the Chorographia of Father Caulin, p. 7 

 and 310, he mentions them as Missiones de Santa Maria de 

 los P. P. Capuchinos Aragoneses. 



