186 



Bocca, was built in 1791 on the very edge of 

 the sea ; in 1799 we saw it very far in land. At 

 the mouth of the Rio Neveri, near the Morro of 

 Nueva Barcelona, the retreat of the waters is 

 still more rapid. This local phenomenon is 

 owing probably to the accumulation of sand, the 

 progress of which has not yet been sufficiently 

 examined. Descending the Sierra de Meapira, 

 which forms the isthmus between the plains of 

 San Bonifacio and Cariaco, we find toward the 

 east the great lake of Putacuao, which commu- 

 nicates with the river Areo, and is four or five 

 leagues in diameter. The mountainous lands 

 that surround this basin are known only to the 

 natives. There are seen those great boa ser- 

 pents, which are known to the Chayma Indians 

 by the name of guainas, and to which they fa- 

 bulously attribute a sting under the tail. On 

 descending the Sierra de Meapira to the west, 

 we find at first a hollow ground (tierra huecaj 

 which during the great earthquakes of 1766, 

 threw out asphaltum enveloped in viscous pe- 

 troleum ; farther on a numberless quantity of 

 hydrosulphurous thermal springs * are seen 

 springing up from the soil; and at length we 

 reach the borders of the lake of Campoma, the 

 exhalations from which contribute to render the 



* El Llano de Aguas calientes, to the E. N. E. of Cariaco, 

 at the distance of two leagues. 



