National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1880-08-28
a Mountain NIysterY.

In Guiana travellers report certain remark.
able mountains. Their height is not extraor.
binary, being not far from that of tho high
est peaks Of the White mountains, but they
arc unique in this, that the summit of each
forms a nearly level plateau several miles in
length and bounded on all sides by abrupt
rocky procipices 1000 feet or more in height,
which cannot be scaled. The plateau Is,
therefore, quite inaccessible. No human foot
has ever trOdden it, no human eye has seen
what manner of life may be on those lofty
plains, The plateau of Roralma, the best
known of these mountains, is said TO DO
eight or ten miles long, aud those of the
others, Kukcnau and Illebeapeur, are larger
Forests can be seen upon their SUBMITS, and
from tho wall Of Rorama a stream falls with
n clear, uninterrupted descent of 1000 feet.
At that distance from the summit IL strikes
the slightly slopipg wall of rock, aud 1000
feet lower the descent ceases to be quito so
prccipitous; but for 1000 feet more it slopes ut
an angle Of about iorty-fve degrees. Since
tho tops of these mountains are well wooded
/. Is inferred that they are not without animal
life, but if they are as inaccessible as the
natives report, and as those who have
explored the region believe, what
over living creatures inhabit those
Businesses must have maintained them
selves there through successive generations
Tor thousands OF years, without admixture
with the animals which dwell in the plains
below. 1t is conjectured that there may he
survivRIs of the species which fourishcd in
the miocene age, or if not the same, that
they may have followed their own lines Of
development, aud that the species now exist
ing there may be different from any now
known to naturalsts. The fascinating pos
sibilities ola visit to tho summit OF Roralma
are thus suggested by reviewer Of recent
book of travel in Guiana:
Perhaps balloon may ono day solve tho
mystery which lends charm to these island
mountains, and the happy naturalist who
lands-as one will Of course and in time-on
the summit Of Roraml, may find himself
among tho descendants Of the races long since
blotted from the lower world in which tho
evidence of their oXistanco is recorded in the
great stone books alone. Amid tho forest
depths, on which rests large cloud he may
not find tho gigantic saurinns of the youthful
world, grim monsters Of tho hsh-lizard form,
but the great progentors Of existing mann.
malta. Leaving the tapir one of the
most ancient of oxtant creatures at
the bottom of the Roralma cascade, no
may find at its top its gigantic cogenors-
huge herbivorous animals, fifteen and eighteen
feet in length the dinotherium, u tapir-like
creature, larger than tho elephant; antique
analogues Of the mastodon, ancestors of the
horse, the hog, and the great cats which in the
known parts Of the continent are represented
by the jaguar the puma and the ooolot The
prospect of the dinotherium alono would be
sufficient to compensate an enthusiastic natu-
ralist for the labor of years. 1t Is the
largest Of the terrestrial mammalia which
have inhabited our globe, and deservedly
stands at the head of tho thlcl.skinned
animals, as tho megatherium or gigan-
tic soth vt that OF the tardl.grades.
Probably the dinotherium would be found,
if found at all, pursuing a life like that of the
hippopotamus. Its great head aud tusks arc
fitted for grubbing up aquatic plants, and
like those Of tho walrus, for helping the ami
NAL out Of the water. But tho dinotherium
is but one Of tho startling forms which might
BIZ looked for on Roralma, if its cliffs be really
as difficult as painted. Lizards in the semi.
ophidan stage might be encountered, and
other animals which, as the little boy said
who had been taken into lecture of Professor
Owens had not quito made up their minds
what they were going TO Worcester
Spy,