HOT SPRINGS OP THE LAKE* 
21 
muddy sediment exposed to the rays of the sun. The 
banks, shaded by tufts of Coccoloba barbadensis, and 
decorated with fine liliaceous plants,* remind us, by the 
appearance of the aquatie vegetation, of the marshy shores 
of our lakes in Europe. "We find there, pondweed (pota- 
mogeton), chara, and cats’ -tail three feet high, which it 
is difficult not to confound with the Typha angustifolia of 
our marshes. It is only after a careful examination, that 
we recognise each of these plants for distinct species, f 
peculiar to the new continent. How many plants of the 
Straits of Magellan, of Chile, and the Cordilleras of Quito 
have formerly been confounded with the productions of the 
northern temperate zone, owing to their analogy in form 
and appearance. 
The inhabitants of the valleys of Aragua often inquire 
why the southern shore of the lake, particularly the south- 
west part towards los Aguacotis, is generally more shaded, 
and exhibits fresher verdure than the northern side. We 
saw, in the month of February, many trees stripped of their 
foliage, near the Hacienda de Cura, at Mocundo, and at 
Guacara ; while to the south-east of Valencia everything 
presaged the approach of the rains. I believe that in the 
early part of the year, when the sun has southern declina- 
tion, the hills around Valencia, Guacara, and Cura are 
scorched by the heat of the solar rays, while the southern 
shore receives, along with the breeze when it enters the 
valley by the Abra de Porto Cabello, an atmosphere which 
has crossed the lake, and is loaded with aqueous vapour. 
On this southern shore, near Guaruto, are situated the 
finest plantations of tobacco in the whole province. 
Among the rivers flowing into the lake of Valencia some 
owe their origin to thermal springs, and deserve particular 
attention. These springs gush out at three points of the 
granitic Cordillera of the coast ; near Onoto, between Tur- 
mero and Maracay; near Mariara, north-east of the Hacienda 
de Cura; and near Las Trincheras, on the road from Nueva 
Valencia to Porto Cabello. I could examine with care only 
we physical and geological relations of the thermal waters of 
Mariara and Las Trincheras. In going up the small river 
* Pancratium undulatum, Amaryllis nervosa, 
t Potamogeton tenuifolium, Chara compressa, Typha tenuifoiis. 
