224 
CUEIOTJS PLANTS. 
On. these stony flats of Carichana we observed, with inte- 
rest the rising vegetation in the different degrees of it* 
development. "We there found lichens cleaving the rock, 
and collected in crusts more or less thick ; little portions of 
sand nourishing succulent plants ; and lastly layers of black 
mould deposited in the hollows, formed from the decay of 
roots and leaves, and shaded by tufts of evergreen shrubs. 
At the distance of two or three leagues from the Mission, 
we find, in these plains intersected by granitic hills, a vege- 
tation no less rich than varied. On comparing the site of 
Carichana with that of all the villages above the Great Ca- 
taracts, we are surprised at the facility with which we tra- 
verse the country, without following the banks of the rivers, 
or being stopped by the thickness of the forests. M. Bon- 
pland made several excursions on horseback, which fur- 
nished him with a rich harvest of plants. I shall mention 
only the paraguatan, a magnificent species of the maeroc- 
nemum, the bark of wlficb yields a red dye ;* tbe guaricaino, 
with a poisonous root ;t the Jacaranda obtusifolia; and the 
ter rape, ov jape% of tbe Salive Indians, which is tbe Counia- 
rouna of Aublet, so celebrated throughout Terra Eirma for 
its aromatic fruit. This fruit, which at Caracas is placed 
among linen, as in Europe it is in snuff, under tlie name of 
tonea, or Tonquin beau, is regarded as poisonous. It is a 
false notion, very gei.eral in tbe province of Cumana, that 
tbe excellent liqueur fabricated at Martinique owes its pecu- 
liar flavour to the jape. In the Missions it is called siw< 1 ’ 
rvba ; a name that may occasion serious mistakes, tlie true 
simarula being a febrifuge species of the Quassia genus, 
found in Spanish Guiana only in the valley of Itio Caura, 
where the Paudacot Indians give it the name of acheccliari- 
I found the dip of the magnetic needle, in the great square 
at Carichana, 33 - 7° (new division). The intensity of the 
magnetic action was expressed by two hundred and twenty- 
seven oscillations in ten minutes of time; an increase of 
force that would seem to indicate some local attraction- 
Yet the blocks of tbe granite, blackened by tbe waters of tb e 
Orinoco, have no perceptible action upon tbe needle. 
The river bad risen several inches during tbe day on tf' e 
* Macrocnemum tinctorium. f Ityaiiia coccidea. 
X Dipterix odorata, Willd. or Baryosma tongo of Gaertner. The 
frnishes Carichana with excellent timber. 
