502 



hundred toises of elevation ; much higher than 

 the andromedas, the thibaudias, and the rhodo- 

 dendron of the Cordilleras # . In a chain of 

 mountains no less elevated, and more northern, 

 in the blue mountains of Jamaica, the Hell- 

 conia of the parrots, and the bihai, rather grow 

 in the alpine shaded situations -f-. 



Wandering in this thick wood of musaceae or 

 arborescent plants, we constantly directed our 

 course toward the eastern peak, which we sought 

 to attain, and which we perceived from time to 

 time through an opening. On a sudden we 

 found ourselves enveloped in a thick mist ; the 

 compass alone could guide us ; but in advanc- 

 ing toward the north, we were in danger at 

 every step of finding ourselves on the brink of 

 that enormous wall of rocks, which descends 

 almost perpendicularly to the depth of six thou- 

 sand feet toward the sea. We were obliged to 

 stop. Surrounded by clouds sweeping the 

 ground, we began to doubt whether we should 

 reach the eastern peak before night. Happily 

 the Negroes, who carried our water and provi- 

 sion, rejoined us, and we resolved to take some 

 refreshment. Our repast did not last long. 

 Whether the capuchin father had not thought 



* Befaria. 



+ Heliconia psittacorum, and h. bihai. (Salisbury in the 

 Trans, of the Hort. Society, vol. i, p. 273.) These two heli- 

 conias are very common in the plains of Terra Firma. 



