101 



of the waters. The capital of the island, la 

 Asuncion the port of Pampatar, and the vil- 

 lages of Pueblo de la Mar, Pueblo del Norte, 

 and San Juan, belong to the second and most 

 easterly of these groups. The western group, 

 the Macanao, is almost entirely uninhabited. 

 The isthmus, that divides these large masses of 

 micaslate, was scarcely visible ; it appeared 

 disfigured by the effect of the mirage, and we 

 recognized this intermediate part, cut by the 

 Laguna grande, only by two small hills f , in the 

 form of a sugarloaf, in the meridian of the Punta 

 de Piedras. Nearer, we look down on the small 

 desert archipelago of the four Morros del Tunal, 

 the Caribbee, and the Lobos islands. 



After many vain searches, we at length found, 

 before we descended to the northern coast of 

 the peninsula of Araya, in a ravine of very dif- 

 ficult access {aroyo del Robalo), the mineral 

 which had been shown to us at Cumana. The 

 micaslate changed suddenly into carburetted and 

 shining clayslate. It was an ampelite ; and 

 the waters (for there are small springs in those 

 parts, and some have recently been discovered 

 near the village of Maniquarez) were impreg- 

 nated with yellow oxyd of iron, and had a styp- 

 tic taste. We found the sides of the neighbour- 



* Lat. 11° 0'30"; long, 0° 19' east of the meridian of 

 Cumana. 



f Lat. 10° 57 f ; long. 0° 3' 30" east of Cumana. 



