Image to be placed in the archives of his bishopric, and kept it
thirty years under seal. It was not restored to the inhabitants of
Cura till 1802.
After having bathed in the cool and limpid water of the little river
of San Juan, the bottom of which is of basaltic grunstein, we
continued our journey at two in the morning, by Ortiz and Parapara, to
the Mesa de Paja. The road to the Llanos being at that time infested
with robbers, several travellers joined us so as to form a sort of
caravan. We proceeded down hill during six or seven hours; and we
skirted the Cerro de Flores, near which the road turns off, leading to
the great village of San Jose de Tisnao. We passed the farms of Luque
and Juncalito, to enter the valleys which, on account of the bad road,
and the blue colour of the slates, bear the names of Malpaso and
Piedras Azules.
This ground is the ancient shore of the great basin of the steppes,
and it furnishes an interesting subject of research to the geologist.
We there find trap-formations, probably more recent than the veins of
diabasis near the town of Caracas, which seem to belong to the rocks
of igneous formation.
