527 



Baraguan, the mouth of the Rio Zama, and 

 the Esmeralda) the line of the mountains is ge- 

 nerally in the direction of N. 70° W. Such is 

 also the position of a distant coast, that of the 

 Portugueze, French, Dutch, and English Gu- 

 yanas, from Cape North to the mouth of the 

 Oroonoko ; such is the mean direction of the 

 course of the Rio Negro and Yupura. I wish 

 to fix the attention of geognosts on the angles 

 formed by the partial chains, in different regions 

 of America, with the meridians ; because on less 

 extended surfaces, for instance in Germany # 5 

 we find also this singular co-existence of groupes 

 of neighbouring mountains which follow laws 

 of direction altogether different, although we 

 observe in every groupe insulately, the greatest 

 uniformity in the line of chains. 



The soil on which the mountains of Parime 

 rise, is slightly convex I found by baro- 

 metric measures, that between 3° and 4° of north 

 latitude, the plains are elevated from 160 to 

 180 toises above the level of the sea, This 

 height will appear considerable if we reflect 

 that at the foot of the Andes of Peru, at Tome- 

 penda, 900 leagues distant from the coast of 



* Leopold von Buck, uber Dolomit, zweite Abhoudl., 1823, 

 p. 54. 



f Recueil d'Obs. astronomiques } Tom. ii, p. 298. Personal 

 Narrative, Vol. v, p. 252, 550. 



