1’EAK OF DU III A. 
457 
one hundred, and seventy-nine metres, or one thousand one 
hundred and eighteen toises, above the plain of Esmeralda. 
The Cerro Duida thus yields but little in height (scarcely 
eighty or one hundred toises) to the summit of St. Gothard, 
or the Silla of Caracas on the shore of Venezuela. It is 
indeed considered as a colossal mountain in those countries ; 
and this celebrity gives a precise idea of the mean height of 
Parima and of all the mountains of eastern America. To 
the east of the Sierra Nevada de Merida, as well as to the 
south-east of the Paramo de las Bosas, none of the chains 
that extend in the same parallel line reach the height of the 
central ridge of the Pyrenees. 
The granitic summit of Duida is so nearly perpendicular 
that the Indians have vainly attempted the ascent. It is 
a well-known fact that mountains not remarkable for eleva- 
tion are sometimes the most inaccessible. At the beginning 
and end of the rainy season, small flames, which seem to 
change their place, are seen on the top of Duida. This 
phenomenon, the existence of which is borne out by con- 
current testimony, has caused this mountain to be im- 
properly called a volcano. As it stands nearly alone, it 
might be supposed that lightning from time to time sets 
fire to the brushwood ; but this supposition loses its pro- 
bability when we reflect on the extreme difficulty with 
which plants are ignited in these damp climates. It must 
be observed also that these flames arc said to appear often 
where the rock seems scarcely covered with turf, and that 
the same igneous phenomena are visible, on days entirely 
exempt from storms, on the summit of Guaraco or Murcie- 
lago, a hill opposite the mouth of the Bio Tamatama, on 
the southern bank of the Orinoco. This hill is scarcely 
elevated one hundred toises above the neighbouring plains. 
If the statements of the natives be correct, it is probable 
that some subterraneous cause produce? these flames on the 
Duida and the Guaraco ; for they never appear on the lofty 
neighbouring mountains of .Jao and Maraguaca, so often 
wrapped in electric storms. The granite of the Cerro 
Duida is full of veins, partly open, and partly filled with 
crystals of quartz and pyrites. Gaseous and inflammable 
emanations, either of hydrogen or of naphtha, may pass 
through these veins. Of this the mountains of Cara mania, 
