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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Examining The Mosses Which Cover The Rocks Of Gneiss In The
Valley Between The Two Peaks, I Was Surprised At
Finding real
pebbles, - rounded fragments of quartz.* (* Fragments of brown
copper-ore were found mixed with these pebbles, at an
Elevation of
1170 toises.) It may be conceived that the valley of Caracas was
once an inland lake, before the Rio Guayra found an issue to the
east near Caurimare, at the foot of the hill of Auyamas, and before
the ravine of Tipe opened on the west, in the direction of Gatia
and Cabo Blanco. But how can we imagine that these waters could
ascend as high as the Silla, when the mountains opposite this peak,
those of Ocumare, were too low to prevent their overflow into the
llanos? The pebbles could not have been brought by torrents from
more elevated points, since there is no height that commands the
Silla. Must we admit that they have been heaved up, like all the
mountains which border the coast.
It was half after four in the afternoon when we finished our
observations. Satisfied with the success of our journey, we forgot
that there might be danger in descending in the dark, steep
declivities covered by a smooth and slippery turf. The mist
concealed the valley from us; but we distinguished the double hill
of La Puerta, which, like all objects lying almost perpendicularly
beneath the eye, appeared extremely near. We relinquished our
design of passing the night between the two summits of the Silla,
and having again found the path we had cut through the thick wood
of heliconia, we soon arrived at the Pejual, the region of
odoriferous and resinous plants.
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