ILLUSTRATIONS (2). BANKS. 27 



old sea-shore of the Llanos. Further to the north, rise the far- 

 famed cavernous and grotesquely-shaped elevations known 

 as the Morros de San Juan, which form a species of devil's 

 dyke, the grain of which is crystalline, like upheaved dolo- 

 mite. They are, therefore, to be regarded rather as portions 

 of the shore than as islands in the ancient gulf. I consider 

 the Llanos to have been a gulf, for when their inconsiderable 

 elevation above the present sea level, the adaptation of their 

 form to the rotation current, running from east to west, and 

 the lowness of the eastern shore between the mouth of the 

 Orinoco and the Essequibo are taken into account, it can 

 scarcely be doubted that the sea once overflowed the whole of 

 this basin between the coast chain and the Sierra de la 

 Parime, extending westward to the mountains of Merida and 

 Pamplona (in the same manner as it probably passed through 

 the plains of Lombardy to the Cottian and Pennine Alps). 

 Moreover, the inclination or line of strike of these Llanos is 

 directed from west to east. Their elevation at Calabozo, a 

 distance of 100 geographical (400 English) miles from the sea, 

 scarcely amounts to 30 toises, or 1 92 English feet ; consequently 

 15 toises (96 English feet) less than the elevation of Pavia, and 

 45 toises (288 English feet) less than that of Milan in the plain 

 of Lombardy between the Swiss Lepontine Alps and the Ligu- 

 rian Apennines. This conformation of the land reminds us of 

 Claudian's expression, " curvata tumore parvo planities." The 

 surface of the Llanos is so perfectly horizontal that in many 

 parts over an area of some 480 English square miles, not a 

 single point appears elevated one foot above the surrounding 

 level. When it is further borne in mind that there is a total 

 absence of all shrubs, and that in some parts, as in the Mesa 

 de Pavones, there is not even a solitary palm-tree to be seen, it 

 may easily be supposed that this sea-like and dreary plain 

 presents a most singular aspect. Far as the eye can range, it 

 scarcely rests on any object elevated many inches above the 

 general level. If the boundary of the horizon did not con- 

 tinually present an undefined flickering and undulating out- 

 line, owing to the condition of the lower strata of air, and 

 the refraction of light, solar elevations might be determined 

 by the sextant above the margin of the plain as above the 

 horizon of the sea. This perfect flatness of the ancient sea- 

 bottom renders the banks even more striking. They are 



