402 VALLEYS OF CARACA3 ASD OF T1IE TUT. 
Eio Guayra rises in the group of primitive mountains of 
Higuerote, which separates the valley of Caracas from, that 
of Aragua. It is formed, near Las Ajuntas, by the junction 
of the little rivers of San Pedro and Macarao, and runs first 
eastward as far as the Cuesta of Auyamas, and then south- 
ward, uniting its waters with those of the Eio Tuy, below 
Tare. The Eio Tuy is the only considerable river in the 
northern and mountainous part of the province. 
The river flows in a direct course from west to east, the 
distance of thirty leagues, and it is navigable along more 
than three quarters of that distance. By barometrical mea- 
surements 1 found the slope of the Tuy along this length, 
from the plantation of Manterola* to its mouth, east of 
Cape Codera, to be two hundred and ninety-five toises. 
This river forms in the chain of the coast a kind of longi- 
tudinal valley, while the waters of the llanos, or of five- 
sixths of the province of Caracas, follow the slope of the 
land southward, and join the Orinoco. This hydrographic 
sketch may throw some light on the natural tendency of the 
inhabitants of each particular province, to export their pro- 
ductions by different roads. 
The valleys of Caracas and of the Tuy run parallel for a 
considerable length. They are separated by a mountainous 
tract, which is crossed in* going from Caracas to the high 
savannahs of Ocumare, passing by La Tallo and Salamanca. 
These savannahs themselves are beyond the Tuy ; and the 
valley of the Tuy being a great deal lower than that of 
Caracas, the descent is almost constantly from north to 
south. As Cape Codera, the Silla, the Cerro de Avila 
between Caracas and La Guayra, and the mountains of 
Mariara, constitute the most northern and elevated range of 
the coast chain ; so the mountains of Panaquire, Ocumare, 
Guiripa, and of the Tilla de Cura, form the most southern 
range. The general direction of the strata composing this 
vast chain of the coast is from south-east to north-west ; 
and the dip is generally towards north-west : hence it follows, 
that the direction of the primitive strata is independent 
of that of the whole chain. It is extremely remarkable, 
At tnc foot of the high mountain of Cocuyza, 3 east from Victoria. 
