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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At Length We Separated From The Indians; Our Guides
Were Able To Follow Us Only At A Distance, Because The Beasts Of
Burden Fell At Every Step In The Ravines.
After journeying for several hours, continually descending on
blocks of scattered rock, we found ourselves unexpectedly at the
outlet of the forest of Santa Maria.
A savannah, the verdure of
which had been renewed by the winter rains, stretched before us
farther than the eye could reach. On the left we discovered a
narrow valley, extending as far as the mountains of the Guacharo,
and covered with a thick forest. Looking downward, the eye rested
on the tops of the trees, which, at eight hundred feet below the
road, formed a carpet of verdure of a dark and uniform tint. The
openings in the forest appeared like vast funnels, in which we
could distinguish by their elegant forms and pinnated leaves, the
Praga and Irasse palms. But what renders this spot eminently
picturesque, is the aspect of the Sierra del Guacharo. Its northern
slope, in the direction of the gulf of Cariaco, is abrupt. It
presents a wall of rock, an almost vertical profile, exceeding 3000
feet in height. The vegetation which covers this wall is so scanty,
that the eye can follow the lines of the calcareous strata. The
summit of the Sierra is flat, and it is only at its eastern
extremity, that the majestic peak of the Guacharo rises like an
inclined pyramid, its form resembles that of the needles and horns*
of the Alps.
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