( Si ) 



Comparative Rema?-ks on the Distribution of Vegetation on the 

 greatest Heights of the Himalayah and of Upper Peru. 

 By J. Meyen. * (Read before the Geographical Society 

 of Berlin.) 



I HAVE already, on one occasion, had the honour of direct- 

 ing the attention of the Society to that plateau on which there 

 exist ruins of magnificent buildings, indicating the high cultiva- 

 tion of the inhabitants at a period very remote, and now almost 

 beyond the reach of history. It was the fanatical Incas, er- 

 roneously represented in our histories and poetry, as mild and 

 wise sovereigns, who with conquering hands destroyed the high 

 degree of civilization of the people of the plateaus of Chuquito 

 and Tiahuanaca. The present memoir does not refer to those 

 works of art, which, after an existence of a few centuries, are 

 now nearly totally destroyed ; but to that eternal delightful 

 covering of our planet, \jhose character is with difficulty al- 

 tered even by the most abundant population. 



A perpetual spring pi'evails on the plateau of Chuquito; 

 snow is a rare phenomenon, and yet this fruitful region lies 

 beyond the natural boundaries of trees. The great lake of the 

 country, situated at a height of 12,700 English feet, is traversed 

 by canoes made of rushes at all seasons of the year, and, never- 

 theless, wheat and rye do not ripen. Maize, which in Europe 

 does not extend to the sub-arctic zone, is not cultivated on the 

 banks of the lake ; but, under particular precautions, ripens on 

 the island of Titicaca, in the middle of the lake. This maize, 

 was consecrated in former times, and was carried to all parts of 

 the Peruvian empire by virgins dedicated to the worship of the 

 sun. These few facts are sufficient to authorize the observa- 

 tion, that there must prevail on the plateau of Chuquito a cli- 

 mate very peculiar, and widely different from that belonging to 

 the corresponding zones of northern Europe. 



If we compare the vegetation of the district now before us, 

 in regard to its physiognomy, with that of European districts, 



• From Wiegmann's Arch'wfur Naturgeschichte, 1836. 



