in Colombia between the Years 1820 and 1830. 99 



few, almost impassable, and lead to no seaport of importance 

 except Guayaquil. Journeys thither are undertaken with 

 fear and hesitation; and the character of the Serranos is 

 marked with all the traits of isolation resulting from the geo- 

 graphy of the country. 



Next to the direct influence exercised by climate on the 

 frame of man, we may consider it relatively to the facility it 

 affords of nourishing him, and advancing his progress in ci- 

 vilization. The most important presents made by the Old to 

 the New World are cattle and cerealia. The only domesti- 

 cated quadruped known to the Indians was the llama, which 

 furnished, like the sheep, with thick wool, unwillingly de- 

 scends or is propagated in the sultry lowlands. The horned 

 cattle of Europe, on the contrary, have multiplied almost 

 equally on the plains as on the paramos. On the farm of 

 Antisana, for instance, at an elevation of from 12,000 to 16,000 

 feet, there are no less than 4000 head. The herds raised on 

 the plains of Venezuela, as on ihePamjms of Buenos Ayres, are, 

 or were, previous to the revolution, almost countless. Two 

 immense magazines of animal food are thus placed at the two 

 extremes of temperature, in situations uninterfered with by 

 agricultural labour. The horse has been destined to figure in 

 the political changes of the New World. The fear and respect 

 with which he inspired the natives at the period of the Con- 

 quest is well known. Horses have since multiplied prodigiously 

 in all parts of the country, but more especially in the plains 

 of Venezuela. There, during the war of independence, Paez, 

 and other guerilla chiefs, "at the head of an irregular cavalry, 

 and maintained by the cattle, defied the efforts of the Spanish 

 infantry, and kept alive the embers of the revolution. 



The best kinds of horses are those that are bred in the 

 lowlands, and brought to the mountains at about four years 

 old, where they acquire hardihood by the influence of a colder 

 climate, and their hoofs, accustomed only to soft pastures, are 

 hardened on a stony soil. 



The breed of sheep, like that of llamas, is limited to the 

 loftier regions of the Cordillera ; while goats multiply more 

 readily on such parts of the low country as are both hot and 

 barren, as in the province of Coro, where they form the chief 

 wealth of the inhabitants. 



But while nature facilitates the dispersion oyer the globe of 

 certain species of animals, she seems to limit others by an 

 impassable barrier. The dog undergoes the fate of his Eu- 

 ropean master ; his sagacity and strength decay in a hot cli- 

 mate, and the breed dwindles rapidly into an animal totally 

 inferior in habits and organization. The foresters accord- 



H 2 



