457 



high valley of Caraccas, and, getting cooler by 

 it's dilatation, and by it's contact with the ad- 

 jacent strata, deposits a great portion of the 

 water it contains. This inconstancy of climate, 

 these somewhat rapid transitions from a dry 

 and transparent air to air humid and misty, are 

 inconveniences, which Caraccas shares in com- 

 mon with the whole temperate region of the 

 tropics, with all the places situate between four 

 and eight hundred toises of elevation, either on 

 table-lands of small extent, or on the slope of 

 the Cordilleras, as at Xalapa, in Mexico, and 

 Guaduas in New Grenada. A serenity unin- 

 terrupted during a great part of the year pre- 

 vails only in the low regions at the level of the 

 sea, and at considerable heights on those vast 

 table-lands, where the uniform radiation of the 

 soil seems to contribute to the perfect dissolu- 

 tion of vesicular vapours. The intermediate 

 zone is at the same height as the first strata of 

 clouds, that surround the surface of the Earth ; 

 and the climate of this zone, the temperature 

 of which is so mild, is essentially misty and va- 

 riable. 



Notwithstanding the elevation of the spot, 

 the sky is generally less blue at Caraccas than 

 at Cumana. The aqueous vapour is less per- 

 fectly dissolved ; and here, as in our climates^ 

 a greater diffusion of light diminishes the in- 

 tensity of the aerial colour, by introducing white 



