To reach the peak we had to approach as near as possible to the great cliff that falls to the coast. We needed three quarters of an hour to reach the top. While sitting on the peak observing the inclination of the magnetic needle I saw a great number of hairy bees, somewhat smaller than the northern European ones, crawling all over my hands. These bees nest in the ground and rarely fly. Their apathy seemed to derive from the cold mountain air. Here they are called angelitos (little angels) because they hardly ever sting. Until you are sure about the harmlessness of these angelitos you remain suspicious. I confess that often during astronomic observations I almost dropped my instruments when I realized my face and hands were covered with these hairy bees. Our guides assured us that these bees only attacked when you annoyed them by picking them up by their legs. I did not try.

The race of guàcharo would long ago have become extinct had not diverse circumstances combined to preserve them. The superstitious Indians rarely dare to penetrate deep into the grotto. It appears that these birds also nest in other nearby caves inaccessible to man. Perhaps this great cave is repopulated by colonies coming from smaller ones because the missionaries assured us that these birds had not diminished in numbers. When the gizzards of the young birds in the cave are opened they contain all kinds of hard and dried fruits, which, under the name of semilla del guàcharo, are a famous remedy against intermittent fevers. The adult birds carry these seed to their young. They are carefully collected and sent to the sick at Cariaco.

There is a saying that a mountain is high enough to reach the rhododendron and befaria limit, in the same way one says one has reached the snow limit. In employing this expression it is tacitly assumed that under identical temperatures a certain kind of vegetation must grow. This is not strictly true. The pines of Mexico are absent in the Peruvian Andes. The Caracas La Silla is not covered with the same oaks that flourish in New Granada at the same height. Identity of forms suggests an analogy of climate, but in similar climates the species may be very diversified.