394 
GYPSUM OP TUK LLANOS. 
formation tlian tlie secondary rocks. ■\A^e must not be sur- 
prised that tlie doubts whicli ai’ise in tlie mind of the geo- 
logist when endeavouring to decide on the relative age of 
the limestone of the high mountains in the Pyrenees, the 
Apeniiiiies (south of the lake of Perugia), and in the Swiss 
Alps, should extend to the limestone strata of the high moun- 
tains ot New Andalusia, and everywhere in America where 
the presence oi rod sandstone is not distinctly recognized. 
IX. S.AixnsTOiirE of the Eetio.vnti:s. — Between Nueva 
Barcelona and the Cerro del Bergantin a quartzosc sandstone 
covers the J lira limestone of Cuinanacoa. Is it an arena- 
ceous rock analogous to green sandstone, or does it belong 
to the sandstone of Cocollar? In the latter case, its presence 
seems to prove still more clearly that the limestones of 
Cumanaco and Caripe are only two parts of the same system, 
alternating with sandstone, sometimes quartzose, sometimes 
slaty. 
X. Gypsum of tub Llaxos of Ve-vezuela. — Deposits 
of lamellar gypsum, containing numerous strata of marl, are 
found in patches on the steppes of Caracas and Barcelona; 
for instance, in the table-land of San Diego, between Ortiz 
and the Mesa de Paja ; and near the mission of Cachipo. 
They appeared to me to cover the Jura limestone of Tisnao, 
which is analagOLis to that of Caripe, where we find it mixed 
u ith masses of fibrous gypsum. I have not given the name 
formation either to the sandstone of the Orinoco, of 
Cocollar, ot Bergantin, or to the gypsum of the Llanos, 
because nothing as yet proves the independence of those 
arenaceous and gypsous soils. I think it will one day be 
ascertained that the gypsum of the Llanos covers not only 
the Jura limestone of the Llanos, but that it is sometimes 
enclosed in it like the gypsum of the Golfo Triste on the 
east of the Alpine limestone of Cumanacoa. The great 
masses ot sulphur found in the layers, almost entirely clayey, 
of the steppes (at Guayuta, valley of San Bonifacio, Buen 
Pastor, conlliiencc of the Bio Pao with the Orinoco), may 
possibly belong to the marl of the gypsum of Ortiz. These 
clayey beds are more worthy of attention since the interesting 
observations of Von Buch, and several other celebrated 
geologists, respecting the cavernosity of gypsum, the irre- 
