40 Meyen on the D-lstribution of Vegetation on the 



South America, the southern part of New Holland, Van Die- 

 men's Land, New Zealand, &c. 



Many splendid cities existed on tliis plateau of Chuquito ; 

 and their temples are among the most magnificent I have seen 

 in South America. Large villages, with the remains of vast 

 monasteries, are situated in this district, which was once the 

 seat of agriculture and of the fine arts ; but its inhabitants never 

 experience the shade of trees, and hence an everlasting spring-cli- 

 mate, although so exquisite to the imagination of the poet, and 

 although in our cold climate it delights us so much after the 

 long winter, is yet united with many and great deprivations. It 

 is to be hoped, that the great work now being published by 

 D*'0rbign3', who has enjoyed the rare good fortune of spending 

 a considerable time on the eastern bank of the lake of Titicaca, 

 will throw great light on this hitherto very imperfectly known 

 region. The beautiful map of the district, which this indefa- 

 tigable traveller has published, is one of the most important mo 

 dern additions to our geographical knowledge ; it proves that 

 the eastern side of the lake is as abundantly peopled as the 

 western, which latter I was able to visit but for a few hours. 

 Relations of this kind, and at such a height, are entirely un- 

 known in the Himalayah ; they might be expected at a height 

 of 10,000 feet, owing to the higher latitude of the mountains 

 compared with the plateau of upper Peru ; but this is, in fact, 

 not the case. 



It is not merely a supposition, that the want of trees on the 

 plateau of Chuquito is to be regarded as a local phenomenon ; 

 for that such is the case, is fully proved by the following ob- 

 servations. It is a well known fact that our fruit trees, such 

 as apples, pears, and quinces, are much less calculated to resist 

 a rough climate than fir-trees, beeches, and other forest trees 

 of a similar description ; and yet we actually find these fruit trees 

 in the gardens of the towns of Puno, Chuquito, Acona, &c., 

 where they have reached a height not inferior to that of those 

 in our gardens. In the secluded ravines which are not reach- 

 ed by the sun, apples and quinces are ripened ; but they taste, as 

 might be expected, not better than if they were ripened at 

 Christiania. A beautiful little tree, — a buddlea, quite covered 

 with golden-red bunches of blossom, is sometimes the ornament 



