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CHAPTER XVI. 



Lake of Tacarigua.- — Hot Springs of Mar lava. 

 — Town of Nueva Valencia de el Key. — 

 Descent toward the coasts of Cabello. 



The valleys of Aragua, of which we have dis- 

 played the rich cultivation and the admirable 

 fecundity, form a narrow basin between granitic 

 and calcareous mountains of unequal height. 

 On the North, they are separated by the Sierra 

 Mariara from the seacoast; and toward the 

 South, the chain of Guacimo and Yusma serves 

 them as a rampart against the heated air of the 

 steppes. Groups of hills, high enough to de- 

 termine the course of the waters, close this 

 basin on the East and West, like transverse 

 dikes. We find these hills between the Tuy 

 and La Victoria *, as well as on the road from 



* The lofty mountains of Los Teques, which give birth to 

 the Tuy, may be looked upon as the eastern boundary of 

 the valleys of Aragua, The level of the ground continues in 

 fact to rise from La Victoria (2(59 t.) to the Hacienda de 



VOL. IV. K 



