n 



traordinary conflagrations. The strength of vege- 

 tation, the interweaving of the lianas and thorny 

 plants, hindered our progress. Happily the in- 

 habitants of the valley themselves felt a warm 

 interest in our researches, less from the fear of 

 a volcanic explosion, than because their imagi- 

 nation was struck with the idea, that the Risco 

 del Cuchivano contained a gold mine ; and al- 

 though we expressed our doubts of the existence 

 of gold in a secondary limestone, they wanted 

 to know " what the German miner thought of 

 the richness of the vein." Since the time of 

 Charles V, and the government of the Welsers, 

 the Alfingers, and the Sailers, at Coro and Carac- 

 cas, the people at Terra Firma still preserve a 

 great confidence in the Germans, with respect 

 to all that relates to the working of mines. 

 Wherever I passed in South America, when the 

 place of my birth was known, I was shown sam- 

 ples of ore. In these colonies every Frenchman 

 is a physician, and every German a miner. 



The farmers, with the aid of their slaves, opened 

 a path across the woods to the first fall of the Rio 

 Juagua ; and on the 10th of September, we made 

 our excursion to the Cuchivano. On entering 

 the crevice, we recognized the neighbourhood 

 of tigers, by a porcupine recently embowelled, 

 and also by the offensive smell of their excre- 

 ments, not unlike those of an European cat. 

 For greater security the Indians returned to the 



