94 M. Boussingault on the Effect ofckar'ins; Land 



It is true I cannot adduce here, as I did in the former case 

 of Lake Valencia, a returning increase of the water on the sus- 

 pension of the cultivation, and the renewed appearance of the 

 woods. T may, however, procure some support for the opinion 

 I am propounding, from the extreme slowness of the present 

 desiccation of the valley of Fuquena, since there have been no 

 more forests to cut down. The cultivators of the soil perceiv- 

 ing that there is no longer the same retiring of the waters as 

 formerly, and a corresponding appearance of land, have been 

 thinking of some more direct method than the clearing by which 

 they might attain the same end. It was with this object that 

 some speculative individuals thought of a plan by which they 

 might drain off the whole water, by cutting a deep water-course. 

 But, instead of dwelling on such speculative points as these, I 

 shall here adduce a direct proof; and I beUeve it may be found 

 in continued attention to the same class of phenomena we have 

 been dwelling on. I proceed, therefore, to demonstrate, that 

 those lakes which are so circumstanced that no clearing has ever 

 taken place in their environs, are not subjected to any alteration 

 of their level. 



I begin with the lake Tota, because it is not far distant from 

 Fuquena ; also because these two are in very similar circum- 

 stances in a geological point of view ; and finally, because it is 

 the most curious lake that is to be met with throughout the 

 whole of New Grenada. 



The lake Tota is situated at a great height in the Cordillera 

 of Sogamoso. Its elevation is above 12,000 feet. At this 

 height vegetation almost entirely disappears. Here and there 

 we perceive, scattered over the sandstone rocks, some of the 

 plants which characterize the region of the Paramos,* viz. Saxi- 

 frages and Freglejonas, covered with a thick down, and gra- 

 minese not unlike dry straw, which have led to the name of Pa- 

 jonales being applied to the open savannahs. The lake is near- 

 ly circular, and Piedrahita, who visited it in the year 1652, as- 

 signs two leagues as its diameter. Its waters, when they are 

 roused by the wind, form waves which make its navigation dan- 



* The regions termed by the Spanish inhabitants Paramos extend from a 

 height of 1500 to 1800 toises; and are wild desert districts, exposed to great 

 vicissitudes of weather Edit. 



