174 



ourselves unexpectedly at the end of the forest 

 of Santa Maria. A savannah % the verdure of 

 which had been renewed by the winter rains, 

 stretched before us farther than the eye could 

 reach. On the left, we discovered a narrow 

 valley, which ended at the mountains of Gua- 

 charo. The bottom of this valley is covered 

 with a thick forest. The eye looked down on 

 the tops of the trees, which, at eight hundred 

 feet below the road, formed a carpet of verdure 

 of a dark and uniform tint. The openings in 

 the forest appeared like vast funnels, in which 

 we distinguished by their elegant forms and 

 pinnated leaves the palms praga and irasse. 

 But what renders this spot eminently pictur- 

 esque is the aspect of the Sierra del Guacharo. 

 It's northern slope, which looks toward the 

 Gulf of Cariaco, is abrupt ; it displays a wall 

 of rocks, an almost vertical profile, the height 

 of which exceeds 3000 feet. The vegetation 

 that covers this wall is so scanty, that the eye 

 can follow the lines of the calcareous strata. 

 The summit of the Sierra is flattened, and it is 

 only at it's eastern extremity, that the majes- 

 tic peak of the Guacharo rises like an inclined 

 pyramid. It's form reminds us of the needles 

 and horns -f* of the Alps. As most mountains 



* We found in it the paspalum conjugatum, p. scoparium, 

 isolepis junciformis, &c. 



t Schreckhcerner, Finsteraarhorn. 



