90 M. Boussingault on the Effect qfdearmg Land 



situated on a peninsula. Lastl)?, in two islands of granite, 

 those, namely, of Cura and of Cabo-Blanco, M. de Humboldt 

 discovered, among tlie bramble-bushes, several yards above the 

 level of the water, deposits of fine sand, containing many heli- 

 cites. Facts which are so speaking as these, and withal so well 

 ascertained, could scarcely fail of exciting the ingenuity of the 

 learned on the spot, in the way of supplying explanations of the 

 remarkable change ; and they all agreed thus far, that some sub- 

 terranean conduit had been opened up, which allowed the waters 

 to flow freely to the ocean. M. de Humboldt, when on the spot, 

 paid all due regard to this supposition, and, after an accurate 

 examination of the localities, came very decidedly to the con- 

 clusion, that the cause of the diminution of the waters of the 

 lake of Tacarigua was nothing more than the extensive clear- 

 ing away of the woods, over the whole valley, during the 

 course of the former half century. " In laying low the trees," 

 he observes, " which covered the tops and flanks of the moun- 

 tains, mankind, in all climates, are, at one and the same time, 

 entailing two great calamities upon succeeding generations; 

 they are producing a scarcity both of wood and water." 



Since the time of Oviedo, who, like all the older chronolo- 

 gists, is perfectly silent concerning any subsidence of the wa- 

 ter of the lake, the cultivation of indigo, sugar, cotton, and co- 

 coa, had been carried to a great extent. In the year 1800 the 

 valley of Aragua maintained a population as dense as that of 

 any of the most poj)ulous portions of France. The smiling 

 prosperity which existed in the numerous villages which teem- 

 ed with its industrious population, could not be witnessed 

 without the greatest satisfaction. Such was the prosperous 

 condition of this charming country when M. de Humboldt was 

 sojourning in La Hacienda de Cura. 



After a lapse of twenty- two years, it was my lot afresh to 

 visit the valley of Aragua. I fixed my residence in the small 

 town of Maracay. I soon found that, for many years, the in- 

 habitants had been remarking not only that the waters of the 

 lake had ceased to subside, but, on the other hand, they affirm- 

 ed they were very decidedly rising. The lands which had 

 been formerly occupied in the cultivation of cotton were now 

 submerged. The islands of Las Nuevas Aparccidas. which 



