J4 
RORAIMA. 
prospect opened before us. An Indian village occupied the foreground, and unlike the other Indian settlements we had seen, it was 
enclosed or barricaded ; and Roraima, that remarkable range of flat-topped sandstone mountains, resembling basalt in their outline, 
rising like a wall in the north, formed the background. Dark opaque clouds hovered round their summits, which, chased by the 
morning breeze, produced such a sudden change of light and shade on these mural precipices, that they appeared perpetually under 
new shapes and colours. Our delight at this varying scene was of short duration, the mountains were suddenly enveloped in clouds, 
and hidden from our view. We reached the Indian village of Arawayam-botte, at eleven o’clock, which was inhabited by Arecuna 
Indians, and consisted of three square houses, with gable ends, and a round cabin. Unfavourable weather detained us here eight days ; 
the mountains were almost constantly clouded, and no day passed without thunder and lightning. 
We started at last, on the 2d of November, for the Roraima range, crossed several intermediate ridges and rivulets, and 
ascended Kaimari, a mountain about four thousand feet above the level of the sea, in doing which a tract of the finest white clay 
attracted our attention. On reaching the summit we could not but admire the regularity with which a number of blocks of different 
sizes were placed. If human hands had set them with line and compass they could not have been laid more regularly *. We 
halted at the foot of Roraima, at a settlement of two houses, built on the left bank of the river Kukenam, the inhabitants of which 
fled to the woods when they saw us approaching; but we soon reassured them, and they returned, when they told us that they had 
taken us for Brazilians come to capture and lead them into slavery. After we had rested and refreshed ourselves, we commenced 
the steep ascent, and stood, at six o’clock in the evening, within a mile of the perpendicular walls of Roraima. We encamped 
for the night in a hollow, about three thousand seven hundred feet above the Arecuna village of Arawayam-botte, where we had the 
greatest difficulty in procuring fire, the constant moisture which prevails on these heights having rendered the brushwood too damp to burn. 
At midnight the thermometer stood at 59° Fahr., and the cold rendered us quite uncomfortable, for our constitutions had become sensible 
to such a decrease of heat, accustomed as we were to the uniform temperature of the lowlands; nor did the fires, which we could 
not kindle into bright flames, afford us any warmth. Before sunrise, and half an hour after, Roraima was beautifully clear, which 
enabled us to see it in all its grandeur. These stupendous walls rise to a height of one thousand five hundred feet, their summit is 
therefore five thousand two hundred feet above Arawayam-botte. They are as perpendicular as if erected with the plumbline ; nevertheless 
in some parts they are overhung with low shrubs, which, seen from a distance, give a dark hue to the reddish rock, and an appearance 
of being altered by the action of the atmosphere. Baron de Humboldt observes, that a rock of one thousand six hundred feet of 
perpendicular height has in vain been sought for in the Swiss Alps, nor do I think that Guiana offers another example of that 
description. A much more remarkable feature of this locality, however, lies in the cascades, which fall from this enormous height, and 
strange as it may appear, afterwards flow in different directions, into three of the mightiest rivers of the northern half of South America, 
namely, the Amazon, the Orinoco, and the Essequibo. The origin of this abundance of water can only be explained by the circumstance, 
that the precipitation of atmospheric vapours is much promoted by those cold and high mural precipices : local peculiarities, and among 
these the thick forests, which towards the north extend from the foot of these mountains to the coast of the Atlantic, while large savannahs 
spread to the south, may in many respects contribute to the increase of aqueous vapours. The summit of the mural precipices is 
somewhat rounded, and overgrown with shrubs ; but that part which rises in a rounded form above the walls, must be of inconsiderable 
elevation, perhaps not more than fifty feet; nevertheless at this height from the summit, where the mountains assume the wall-like 
appearance, the supply of water is so great, that it falls in streams, and forms those wonderful cascades for which Roraima is famed 
among the Indians, who in their dances sing of the wonders of “ Roraima, the red rocked, wrapped in clouds, the ever fertile source 
of streams : ” and in consequence of the darkness which frequently prevails, when thick clouds hover about its summit, it is likewise 
called the night mountain — “ Of Roraima, the red rocked, I sing, where with daybreak night still prevails.” This was one of the 
burdens which we heard many times repeated, during the dance of the Arecuna Indians, in the vicinity of this mountain group. Roraima 
and the neighbouring mountains of the same structure represent, on a large scale, that which the spring of the Brocken in the Hartz 
mountains offers in miniature ; namely, water breaking out from the side of the mountain only a short distance below its summit. 
We left our cam]? soon after sunrise, and attempted to reach one of the cataracts which appeared more voluminous in water than 
the others. We had to cross a marshy savannah, abounding in most curious and interesting plants. Among these was an Utricularia, 
the prettiest of its tribe, and which I have since had the pleasure of dedicating to the most distinguished among American travellers, 
Baron de Humboldt. The stem is of a dark purple colour, rises to a height of three or four feet, and bears several flowers about two 
* They consisted of decomposed felspar, and their direction was S. 84° W. We found similar blocks at the foot of Roraima, and the white clay which we noticed was 
no doubt the remainder of decomposing felspar. We likewise saw, at Mount Kaimari, a few blocks of compact felspar, of a blue colour; the surface, however, from exposure 
to the air, was white and pulverulent. At the river Kukenam, where it passes the foot of Roraima, similar compact stratified felspar occurred, a bed of yellow ochre resting upon it. 
Red Jasper (Hornstone) is frequently met with in the vicinity of Roraima, chiefly at the river Cako, but the predominant rock is sandstone more or less compact, which surmounts 
the other formations, and forms the mural precipices. Carefully as I tried to find limestone and gypsum in the vicinity of this mountain group, I could not discover either. 
