MI^•£S OF iliUJI. 
113 
|sftmus wMch, stretclimg from nortli to south, formerly 
I°iiied the peninsula of Araya to the island of Alargareta. 
that island a neck of very low land, three thousand 
oises long, and less than two hundred toises broad, conceals 
the northern sides the two hilly groups, known by the 
i^mes of La Vega de San Juan, and the Macauao. The 
^ffuiia Grande of Margareta has a very narrow opening to 
, ® south, and small boats pass by portage over the neck of 
Jind or northern dyke. Though the waters on these shores 
1 at present to recede from the continent, it is neverthe- 
probable, that in the lapse of ages, cither by av 
^rthquake or by a sudden rising of the ocean, tlie long 
*l^and of Margareta will be divided into two rocky islands ot 
•‘trapezoidal form. 
„ -the limestone of the Barigon, which is a part of the great 
ormation of sandstone or calcareous breccia of Cum ana, is 
H'led with fossil shells in as perfect preservation as those of 
her tertiary limestones in I’rance and Italy. We detached 
Oftie blocks, containing oysters eight inches in diameter, 
c'^ctens^ venuscs, and lithopbyte polypi. I recommend to 
“ralists better versed in the knowledge of fossils than I 
f examine witli care this mountainous _ coast 
V' hmh is easy of access to European vessels), in their way 
,? Cumana, Guayra, or Curasao. It would bo curious to 
discover whether any of these shells, and these species of 
petrifiod zoophytes, still inhabit the sea of the West Indies, 
of ^ ^enplan'd conjectured, and as is the case in the island 
fiiuor, and perhaps in Guadaloupe. 
We sailed on the 4th of November, at one o’clock in the 
.°^’i'ng, in search of the mine of native alum. I took 
. uh me the chronometer and my largo DoUond telescope, 
mending to observe at the Laguna Chica (Small Lake), east 
I the village of Maniquarez, the immersion of the first 
melliteof Jupiter; this design, however, was not accom- 
P 'shed, contrary winds having prevented our arrival before 
•‘yhght. The spectacle of the phosphorescence of the 
‘^san, and the sports of the porpoises which surrounded 
porpoises 
.'^anoo, somewhat atoned for this disajipointmcnt. AVe 
Sain passed those spots where sjirings ot petroleum gush 
‘'“l‘\mica-slate at the bottom of the sea, and the smell of 
fnich is perceptible from a considerable distance. AVhen it 
III. • ' 1 
