494 



The mountains of New Grenada surrounding* 

 the table-lands of Bogota are more than two 

 hundred leagues distant from those of Caraccas, 

 and yet the Silla, the only elevated peak in the 

 chain of low mountains, presents those singular 

 groupings of befaria with purple flowers, of an- 

 dromedas, of gaultherias, of myrtilli, of uvas 

 camaronas # , of nerteras, and of aralias with 

 hoary leaves which characterize the vegeta- 

 tion of the paramos, on the high Cordilleras of 

 Santa Fe. We found the same thibaudia glan- 

 dulosa at the entrance of the table-land of Bo- 

 gota, and in the Pejual of the Silla. The chain 

 of the coast of Caraccas is connected, without 

 the least doubt (by the Torito, the Palomera, 

 Tocuyo, and the paramos of Rosas, of Bocono, 

 and of Niquitao,) with the high Cordilleras of 

 Merida, Pamplona, and Santa Fe ; but from 

 the Silla to Tocuyo, a distance of seventy 

 leagues, the mountains of Caraccas are so low, 

 that the shrubs of the family of the ericineous 

 plants, which we have just cited, do not find the 

 cold climate necessary for their developement. 



* The name of vine- tree and uvas camaronas is given in 

 the Andes to plants of the genus thibaudia, on account of 

 their large succulent fruits. Thus the ancient botanists gave 

 the name of bear's vine, uva ursi, and vine of Mount Ida, vitis 

 id&a, to an arbutus and a myrtillus, which belong, like the 

 thibaudia, to the family of the ericineae. 



+ Nertera depressa, aralia reticulata, hedyotis blcerioides. 



