1 32 



with the rich cultivation of the sugar-cane, 

 coffee-tree, and cotton. Paths, bordered with 

 cestrums, azedaracs, and other shrubs, always 

 in flower, cross the plain, and join the scattered 

 farms. Every house is surrounded by clumps 

 of trees. The ceiba with it's large yellow* 

 flowers gives a peculiar character to the land- 

 scape, mingling it's branches with those of the 

 purple erithryna. This mixture of vivid vege- 

 table colours contrasts with the uniform tint of 

 an unclouded sky. In the season of drought, 

 where the burning soil is covered with an undu- 

 lating vapour, artificial irrigations preserve thes 

 verdure and fertility. Here and there the gra- 

 nitic rock pierces through the cultivated ground. 

 Enormous stony masses rise abruptly in the 

 midst of the valley. Bare and forked, they 

 nourish a few succulent plants, which prepare 

 mould for future ages. Often at the summit of 

 these lonely hills a fig-tree or a clusia with 

 fleshy leaves has fixed it's roots in the rock, and 

 towers over the landscape. With their dead and 

 withered branches they look like signals erected 

 on a steep cliff. The form of these mounts be- 

 trays the secret of their ancient origin ; for, 

 when the whole of this valley was filled with 

 water, and the waves beat at the foot of the 

 peaks of Mariara, the Devil's Wall and the 



* Carries tollendas ; bombax hibiscifolius. 

 + El Rincon del Diablo, 



