Personal Narrative Of Travels To The Equinoctial Regions Of America During The Years 1799-1804 - Volume 1 - By Alexander Von Humboldt And Aime Bonpland.
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As The Basin Is Covered With An Arched Vault, The Water,
Which Is Of Excellent Quality, Keeps Very Cool:
The confervae,
while they decompose the carburetted hydrogen, also shelter worms
which hinder the propagation of small insects.
It had been believed
for ages, that the peninsula of Araya was entirely destitute of
springs of fresh water; but in 1797, after many useless researches,
the inhabitants of Maniquarez succeeded in discovering some.
In crossing the arid hills of Cape Cirial, we perceived a strong
smell of petroleum. The wind blew from the direction in which the
springs of this substance are found, and which were mentioned by
the first historians of these countries.* (* Oviedo terms it "A
resinous, aromatic, and medicinal liquor.") Near the village of
Maniquarez, the mica-slate* (* The Piedra pelada of the Creoles.)
comes out from below the secondary rock, forming a chain of
mountains from one hundred and fifty to one hundred and eighty
toises in height. The direction of the primitive rock near Cape
Sotto is from north-east to south-west; its strata incline fifty
degrees to the north-west. The mica-slate is silvery white, of
lamellar and undulated texture, and contains garnets. Strata of
quartz, the thickness of which varies from three to four toises,
traverse the mica-slate, as we may observe in several ravines
hollowed out by the waters. We detached with difficulty a fragment
of cyanite from a block of splintered and milky quartz, which was
isolated on the shore.
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