276 MIRAGE OF THE LLANOS. 



of the ancient sea*, and that the waters flowing at 

 the era of the deluge into a still lower level, left 

 their bed exposed and dry, and caused it to become 

 a fit dwelling-place for men and animals. On no 

 portion of the globe is this fact more strongly im- 

 pressed than on the plains of the Llanos. He who 

 journeys across them sees, for the most part, merely 

 a wide expanse, at one time nearly level, at another 

 with a gently swelling surface, which often in colour 

 so exactly resembles the ocean, under a peculiar sky, 

 that it is extremely difficult to dispossess the mind 

 of a conviction that a rolling sea is actually in view. 

 The effect is further heightened by the appearance 

 of distant insulated trees, which rise above the 

 horizon like strange sails heaving in sight. So 

 exact is the resemblance in many parts that Captain 

 Hall once observed, that if a sailor had been present 

 he would immediately have conjectured what canvass 

 these magical vessels were carrying. At even-tide 

 the illusion is still more complete, and when the eye 

 ranges over the magnificent expanse, the level line 

 that forms the horizon appears exactly similar to the 

 utmost verge of a tranquil sea. The stars also, as 

 they rise and set, are clearly reflected in the stratum 

 of air which rests immediately on the earth, and 

 produce the same beautiful effect as when seen to 

 sparkle on the bosom of the deep. 



Humboldt also notices this remarkable illusion. 

 When looking in the gray of the evening over those 

 vast savannas that seem to meet the horizon, those 

 plains covered with verdure and gently undulated, 

 he thought that he beheld from afar the surface of 



* Progress of Creation. 



