which afford a Passage to liivers. 41 



mountains by running through a fissure. In this part of its 

 course, it forms the great cataracts of Maypuris and Atures ; 

 its bed is confined between enormous masses of rocks, and, as 

 it were, divided into difl:erent reservoirs by natural dykes. 

 After passing Carichana," it flows languidly through a plain to 

 the Ocean. 



From the lake of Lauricocha to St .Jean de Bracameros, the 

 Maragnou, or river Amazon, follows a longitudinal valley, 

 nearly parallel with the ridge of the Andes, and, after a course 

 of more than 200 leagues towards the north, it turns to the 

 east, in order to avail itself of a passage between two moun- 

 tains ; it then cuts all the lateral branches of the Andes, by 

 running between two nearly perpendicular walls of rock, and 

 finally issuing in the direction of Borja by a very narrow pass 

 called the Pongo de Manseriche from the name of an adjoin- 

 ing country. The Pongo, at its narrowest part, is twenty-five 

 toises broad, and two leagues in length from the place where 

 the contraction commences as far as the to\\Ti of Borja. M. 

 de la Condamine, who descended the river in a boat, estima- 

 ted that it ran at the rate of two toises (12 feet) in a second. 



We have now mentioned numerous examples of rivers flow- 

 ing across mountain-chains bj'^assages excavated, as it were, 

 expressly to afford them an outlet ; insomuch, that this pro- 

 cedure is far from being confifled to the Indus and Setledje, 

 but is so often met with that it may even be regarded as a 

 general phenomenon, by no means to be ascribed to accident, 

 but to an evident design. 



I iihall terminate this note by transcribing the following re- 

 flections which I find among my numerous manuscripts. 



There are strong reasons for believing that chance has not 

 presided over tlie arrangement of mountains and valleys, hills 

 and plains, seas and continents ; neither are we to ascribe to 

 that cause the fixing of the level of the ocean relatively to 

 the land. If it were so, how could it have happened tliat this 

 distril)ution should have been so marvellously adapted to the 

 existence of tiie innumerable oi'ganised beings, animal as well 

 as vegetable, which people the earth .'' Who does not perceive 

 in this the superintendence of a great intelligent Being, wlio, 



