49 



sand square leagues (reckoning only that part of 

 the llanos, which is bounded by the Rio Apure 

 on the South, and by the Sierra Nevada de Me- 

 rida and the Paramo de las Rosas on the West), 

 is a phenomenon so much the more remarkable 

 in that region of the globe, because in the whole 

 of the Sierra de la Parima, between the right 

 bank of the Oroonoko and the Rio Negro, there 

 is, as in Scandinavia, a total absence of second- 

 ary formations. The red sandstone, containing 

 some vestiges of fossil wood (of the family of 

 monocotyledons), is seen every where in the 

 steppes of Calabozo ; farther East it is overlaid 

 by calcareous and gypseous rocks, which con- 

 ceal it from the research of the geologist. 

 The marly gypsum, of which we collected spe- 

 cimens near the Caribbee mission of Cachipo, 

 appeared to me to belong to the same formation 

 as the gypsum of Ortiz. To class it according 

 to the type of European formations, I would 

 range it among the gypsums, often muriatife- 

 rous, that cover the Alpine limestone, or z ec li- 

 st ein. Farther North, toward the mission of 

 San Josef de Curataquiche, Mr. Bonpland pick- 

 ed up in the plain some fine pieces of ribband 

 jasper, or Egyptian pebbles. We did not see 

 them in their native place enchased in the rock ; 

 and are ignorant whether they belong to a very 

 recent conglomerate, or to that limestone which 

 we saw at the Morro of New Barcelona, and 

 voj vr, e 



