368 
Ei MOItKO DE BAECEXON'A. 
the sea. The Moito is a calcareous rock which has been 
lately fortified. 
The view from the summit of the Morro is not without 
beauty. The rocky island of Boracha lies on the east the 
lotty promontory of Unare is on the west, and below are seen 
the mouth of the nver Neveri, and the arid shores on 
which the crocodiles come to sleep in the sun. Notwith- 
standing the extreme heat oi the air, for the thermometer 
exposed to the reflection of the white calcareous rock, rose 
to 38 , we traversed the whole of the eminence. A fortu- 
nate cliauce led us to observe some very curious geological 
phenomena, which we again met with in the Cordilleras of 
Mexico. The limestone of Barcelona has a dull, even or 
conchoidal fracture, with very flat cavities. It is divided 
into very thin strata, and exhibits less analogy with the 
limestone of Cumanacoa, than with that of Caripe, form- 
ing the cavern ot the Guacharo. It is traversed bv banks of 
schistose jasper,* * * § black, with a conchoidal fracture, and break- 
ing into fragments ot a parallelopipedal figure. This fossil 
does not exhibit those little streaks of quartz so common 
ni the Lydian stone. It is found decomposed at its sur- 
face into a yellowish grey crust, and it does not act upon 
the magnet. Its edges, a little translucid, give it some 
resemblance to the homstone, so common in secondary lime- 
stones.! It is remarkable that we fhid the schistose" jasper 
which ui Europe characterizes the transition rocks, i in a 
limestone having great analogy with that of Jura. In the 
study ot formations, which is the great end of geognosv 
the knowledge acquired in the old and new worlds should 
be made to furnish reciprocal aid to each other. It appears 
that these black strata are found also in the calcareous 
mountains of the island of Boraclm.§ Another jasper that 
known by the name of the Egyptian pebble, was found bv 
M. Bonpland near the Indian village of Curacatiche or 
* Kieselschiefer of Werner. 
f In Switzerland, the homstone passing into common jasper is found in 
ku ney-stones, and'm layers both in the Alpine and Jura limestone, espe- 
cially m the former. 
* The transition-limestone and schist. 
§ We saw some of it as ballast, in a fishing ooat at Punta Araya, It* 
fragments might have been mistaken for basalt. 
