ABODE AT CARACAS.--MOUNTAINS IN THE VICINITY OF THE TOWN.--
EXCURSION TO THE SUMMIT OF THE SILLA.--INDICATIONS OF MINES.

CHAPTER 1.14.

EARTHQUAKES AT CARACAS.--CONNECTION OF THOSE PHENOMENA WITH THE
VOLCANIC ERUPTIONS OF THE WEST INDIA ISLANDS.

CHAPTER 1.15.

DEPARTURE FROM CARACAS.--MOUNTAINS OF SAN PEDRO AND OF LOS TEQUES.--
LA VICTORIA.--VALLEYS OF ARAGUA.

***

INTRODUCTION BY THE AUTHOR.

Many years have elapsed since I quitted Europe, to explore the
interior of the New Continent. Devoted from my earliest youth to
the study of nature, feeling with enthusiasm the wild beauties of a
country guarded by mountains and shaded by ancient forests, I
experienced in my travels, enjoyments which have amply compensated
for the privations inseparable from a laborious and often agitated
life. These enjoyments, which I endeavoured to impart to my readers
in my 'Remarks upon the Steppes,' and in the 'Essay on the
Physiognomy of Plants,' were not the only fruits I reaped from an
undertaking formed with the design of contributing to the progress
of natural philosophy. I had long prepared myself for the
observations which were the principal object of my journey to the