STRATA 01' THE MOUNTAIN* 
439 
the summit of the eastern peak. They fell interested in 
nearing the account of our expedition, but they were not 
mushed, with the result of our measurement, which did not 
assign to the Silla even the elevation of the highest summit 
of the lyrcnees* One cannot blame the national feelin«- 
winch suggests exaggerated ideas of the monuments of 
nature, in a countiy in which the monuments of art are 
nothing ; nor can we wonder that the inhabitants of Quito 
and Biobamba, who have prided themselves for ages on the 
height of Chimborazo, mistrust those measurements which 
elevate the mountains of Himalaya above all the colossal 
Cordilleras ? 
During our journey to the Silla, and in all our excursions 
m the valley of Caracas, wo were very attentive to the lodes 
and indications of oro which we found in the strata 01 
gneiss. No regular diggings having been made, we could 
only examine the fissures, the ravines, and the laud-slips 
occasioned by torrents in the rainy season. The rock ol 
gneiss, passing sometimes into a granite of new formation 
sometimes into mica-slate, f belongs in Germany to the 
most metalliferous rocks; but iu the Now Continent, the 
gneiss has not hitherto been remarked as very rich in ores 
worth working. The most celebrated mines of Mexico and 
Peru are found in the primitive and transition schists in 
the trap-porphyries, the grauwalcke, and the alpine lime- 
stones. In several spots of the valley of Caracas, the gneiss 
contains a small quantity of gold, disseminated in small 
veins of quartz, sulphuretted silver, azure copper-ore, and 
galena ; but it is doubtful whether these different metalli- 
ferous substances are not too poor to encourage any attempt 
at working them. Such attempts ’were, however, made at 
the conquest of the province, about the middle of the six- 
teenth century. 
Prom the promontory of Paria to beyond cape Vela, the 
early navigators had seen gold ornaments and gold dust, iu 
the possession of the inhabitants of the coast. They penc- 
trated into the interior of the country, to discover •whence the 
* It was formerly believed that the height of the Silla of Caracas 
scarcely differed from that of the peak of Teneriffc. 
t Especrally at great elevations. 
