64 



from that of rains, has nearly attained it's maxi- 

 mum of dryness. The plants with very tough 

 and glossy leaves alone resist this absenee of 

 humidity. Beneath the fine sky of the tropics, 

 the traveller is struck with the aspect almost 

 hibernal of the country ; but the freshest ver- 

 dure again appears, when he has reached the 

 banks of the Oroonoko, where another climate 

 prevails ; and the great forests preserve by their 

 shade a certain quantity of moisture in the 

 soil, which they shelter from the devouring 

 ardor of the Sun. 



Beyond the small village of Antimano the 

 valley becomes much narrower. The river is 

 bordered with lata, that fine gramineous plant 

 with distich leaves, which sometimes reaches 

 the height of thirty feet, and which we have 

 described under the name of gynerium*. Every 

 hut is surrounded with enormous trees of per- 

 sea-)~, at the foot of which the aristolochiae, 

 paullinia, and other creepers, vegetate. The 

 neighbouring mountains, covered with forests, 

 seem to spread humidity over the western ex- 

 tremity of the valley of Caraccas. We passed 

 the night in a plantation of sugar-canes, before 

 our arrival at Las Ajuntas. A square house % 



* G. Soccharoides. Plant, cequin., vol. ii, tab. 115. Nova 

 Gener., vol. i, p. 149. 

 t Laurus jjersea, alligator pear. 

 % Hacienda de Don Fernando Key-Munoz. 



