enters the valley by the Abra de Porto Cabello, an atmosphere which
has crossed the lake, and is loaded with aqueous vapour. On this
southern shore, near Guaruto, are situated the finest plantations of
tobacco in the whole province.

Among the rivers flowing into the lake of Valencia some owe their
origin to thermal springs, and deserve particular attention. These
springs gush out at three points of the granitic Cordillera of the
coast; near Onoto, between Turmero and Maracay; near Mariara,
north-east of the Hacienda de Cura; and near Las Trincheras, on the
road from Nueva Valencia to Porto Cabello. I could examine with care
only the physical and geological relations of the thermal waters of
Mariara and Las Trincheras. In going up the small river Cura towards
its source, the mountains of Mariara are seen advancing into the plain
in the form of a vast amphitheatre, composed of perpendicular rocks,
crowned by peaks with rugged summits. The central point of the
amphitheatre bears the strange name of the Devil's Nook (Rincon del
Diablo). The range stretching to the east is called El Chaparro; that
to the west, Las Viruelas. These ruin-like rocks command the plain;
they are composed of a coarse-grained granite, nearly porphyritic, the
yellowish white feldspar crystals of which are more than an inch and a
half long. Mica is rare in them, and is of a fine silvery lustre.
Nothing can be more picturesque and solemn than the aspect of this
group of mountains, half covered with vegetation. The Peak of
Calavera, which unites the Rincon del Diablo to the Chaparro, is
visible from afar. In it the granite is separated by perpendicular
fissures into prismatic masses. It would seem as if the primitive rock
were crowned with columns of basalt. In the rainy season, a
considerable sheet of water rushes down like a cascade from these
cliffs. The mountains connected on the east with the Rincon del