447 



dera, two hundred and ninety-five toises. This 

 river forms in the chain of the coast a kind of 

 longitudinal valley, while the waters of the 

 Llanos, or of five sixths of the province of Ca- 

 raccas, follow the slope of the land toward the 

 south, and join the Oroonoko. This hydro- 

 graphic sketch may throw some light on the 

 natural tendency of the inhabitants of the 

 same province, to export their productions by 

 different roads. 



If the valley of Oaraccas be only a lateral 

 branch of that of the Tuy, the two valleys still 

 remain parallel during some time. They are 

 separated by hilly ground, which we cross in 

 going from Caraccas to the high savannahs 

 of Ocumare, passing by La Valle and Salaman- 

 ca. These savannahs themselves are beyond 

 the Tuy ; and the valley of the Tuy being a 

 great deal lower than that of Caraccas, the des- 

 cent is almost constantly from north to south. 

 In the same manner as Cape Codera, the Silla, 

 the Cerro de Aviia between Caraccas and La 

 Guayra, and the mountains of Mariara, consti- 

 tute the most northern and elevated range of 

 the mountains of the coast ; the mountains of 

 Panaquire, Ocumare, Guiripa, and the villa 

 de Cura, form the most southern range. We 

 have already several times observed, that the 

 general direction of the strata composing this 

 vast chain of the coast is from south-west to 



c 



