452 



ward the Pastora of Caraceas, and the adjacent 

 quarter of Trinidad. At the view of this misty 

 sky, I could scarcely think myself in one of the 

 temperate valleys of the torrid zone; but ra- 

 ther in the north of Germany, among* the pines 

 and the larches overshadowing the mountains of 

 the Hartz. 



But this gloomy and melancholy aspect, this 

 contrast between the clearness of the morning, 

 and the cloudy sky of the evening, are not 

 observed in the midst of summer. The nights 

 of J une and July are clear and delicious. The 

 atmosphere then preserves, almost without in- 

 terruption, that purity and transparency, which 

 are peculiar to table-lands and all elevated 

 valleys in calm weather, and as long as the 

 winds do not mix strata of air of unequal tem- 

 perature. This is the season for enjoying all 

 the beauty of a landscape, which I saw illu- 

 mined only a few days at the end of January. 

 The two rounded summits of the Silla are be- 

 held at Caraccas, almost under the same an- 

 gles of elevation * as the peak of TenerifFe at 

 the port of Orotava. The first half of the moun- 

 tain is covered with short grass; then suc- 

 ceeds the zone of evergreen trees, which reflects 

 a purple light at the season, when the befaria, 



* I found, at the square of Trinidad, the apparent height 

 of the Silla 11° 12' 49". It was about four thousand five 

 hundred toises distant. 



