358 



stretches from Bordones in the same direction 

 east and west. The Gulfs of Mochima and of 

 Santa-Fe, which will no doubt one day become 

 frequented ports, lie behind those little islands. 

 The rents in the land, the fracture and dip 

 of the strata, every thing here denotes the ef- 

 fects of a great revolution. It was perhaps the 

 same, that tore asunder the chain of the primi- 

 tive mountains, and separated the mica-schistus 

 of Araya and the island of Margaretta from 

 the gneiss of Cape Codera. Many of these 

 islands are visible at Cumana, from the terraces 

 of the houses, and display, according to the 

 superposition of layers of air more or less heat- 

 ed, the most singular effects of suspension and 

 mirage*. The height of these rocks does not 

 probably surpass one hundred and fifty toises ; 

 but at night, enlightened by the moon, they 

 seem to be of a very considerable elevation. 



It may appear extraordinary, to find Carac- 

 cas Islands so distant from the city of that 

 name, opposite the coast of the Cumanagotoes ; 

 but the denomination of Caraccas -f" denoted 

 at the beginning of the Conquest not a par- 



* See note D at the end of this volume. 



f Oviedo y Bancs, Hist, de Venezuela^ Lib. iii, cap. 9, p. 

 140, One of the smaller West India islands, Guadalonpc, 

 was anciently called Caracqueira. Pet. Martyr, Ocean., Dec. 

 iii, Lib. ix, p. 306. 



