MIXED VEGETATION. 
243 
,} 1 he / S llm fi te °f these mountains is so mild that at the farm 
ol the Cocollar the cotton and coffee tree, and even the sugar 
cane, are cultivated with success. Whatever the inhabitants 
l™ 48 mayaUege, hoar-frost has never been found in 
the M 10 ! ° n , hc l? hts soaree ly exceeding those of 
T,f J • r° r> ° r , the Pej-de-Ddme. The pastures of 
lurnmqum become less rich in proportion to the elevation. 
Wherever scattered rocks afford shade, lichens and some 
European mosses are found. The Melastoma guacito* and 
a shrub, the large and tough leaves of which rustle like 
parchmentf when shaken by the winds, rise here and there 
m the savannah. But the principal ornament of the turf of 
these mountains is a liliaceous plant with golden flowers the 
Manca martancensis It is generally observed in the ’pro- 
elevation t ^The ° ara ? S °' Pv at 400 or 500 t^iscs of 
elevation. J The whole rocky mass of the Turimiquiri is 
andTnttf tr a P i m ! llm „ estone > Pke *hat of Cumlnacoa, 
nd a pretty thin strata of marl and quartzose sandstone. 
be limestone contains masses of brown oxidated iron and 
zss&pjzzzl "* 
¥e distinguished clearly the round summit of the Turimi- 
quin and the lofty peaks or, as they are called, the Cucu- 
rachos, covered with thick vegetation, and infested bv tigers 
which arc hunted for the beauty of their skin. This rounr 
summit, which is covered with turf, is 707 loises above the 
level of the ocean A ridge of steep rocks stretches out 
westward, and is broken at the distance of a mile by an 
enormous crevice that descends toward the gulf of Cariaco 
til f P“ nt .7 hl( * might be supposed to be the continua- 
, n , oi t J* e rlcl Sh two calcareous paps or peaks arise the 
most northern of which is the loftiest. It is this last which 
18 more Particularly called the Cucumcto de Tmdmiquiri! 
1 pf ast0 “a xanthostacliys, called guacito at Caracas. 
wnie C, ! aparr0 iovo - In savannahs, or llanos, the 
me Castilmn name is given to a tree of the family of the proteace*. 
to I •“ i de Avila < on the roadfrom Caracas 
