Personal Narrative Of Travels To The Equinoctial Regions Of America During The Years 1799-1804 - Volume 3 - By Alexander Von Humboldt And Aime Bonpland.
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To Comprehend The Cordillera Of Venezuela In Mass We Must
Carefully Study The Direction And Windings Of The Coast From Punta
Tucacas (West Of Porto Cabello) As Far As Punta De La Galera Of The
Island Of Trinidad.
That island, those of Los Testigos, Marguerita and
Tortuga constitute, with the mica-slates of the peninsula of Araya,
one and the same system of mountains.
The granitic rocks which appear
between Buria, Duaca and Aroa cross the valley of the Rio Yaracui and
draw near the shore, whence they extend, like a continuous wall, from
Porto Cabello to Cape Codera. This prolongation forms the northern
chain of the Cordillera of Venezuela and is traversed in going from
south to north, either from Valencia and the valleys of Aragua, to
Burburata and Turiamo, or from Caracas to La Guayra. Hot springs*
issue from those mountains (* The other hot springs of the Cordillera
of the shore are those of San Juan, Provisor, Brigantin, the gulf of
Cariaco, Cumucatar and Irapa. MM. Rivero and Boussingault, who visited
the thermal waters of Mariara in February, 1823, during their journey
from Caracas to Santa Fe de Bogota, found their maximum to be 64
degrees centigrade. I found it at the same season only 59.2 degrees.
Has the great earthquake of the 26th March, 1812, had an influence on
the temperature of these springs? The able chemists above mentioned
were, like myself, struck with the extreme purity of the hot waters
that issue from the primitive rocks of the basin of Aragua. Those of
Onoto, which flow at the height of 360 toises above the level of the
sea, have no smell of sulphuretted hydrogen; they are without taste,
and cannot be precipitated, either by nitrate of silver or any other
re-agent. When evaporated they have an inappreciable residue which
consists of a little silica and a trace of alkali; their temperature
is only 44.5 degrees, and the bubbles of air which are disengaged at
intervals are at Onoto, as well as in the thermal waters of Mariara,
pure nitrogen. The waters of Mariara (244 toises) have a faint smell
of sulphuretted hydrogen; they leave, by evaporation, a slight
residuum, that yields carbonic acid, sulphuric acid, soda, magnesia
and lime. The quantities are so small that the water is altogether
without taste. In the course of my journey I found only the springs of
Cumangillas hotter than the thermal waters of Las Trincheras: they are
situated on the south of Porto Cabello. The waters of Comangillas are
at the height of 1040 toises and are alike remarkable for their purity
and their temperature of 96.3 degrees centigrade.), those of Las
Trincheras (90.4 degrees) on its southern slope and those of Onoto and
Mariara on its southern slope. The former issue from a granite with
large grains, very regularly stratified; the latter from a rock of
gneiss. What especially characterizes the northern chain is a summit
which is not only the loftiest of the system of the mountains of
Venezuela, but of all South America, on the east of the Andes.
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