CLIMATE OF THE LLANOS. 2 79 



sunbeams. Cold and frequent, too, are the winds 

 that sweep over the Southern Polar ocean, and chill 

 the current of sea water that flows from Terra del 

 Fuego along the coast of Peru. The sea thus chilled, 

 and the wind which aids in producing this effect, 

 change the atmosphere of the adjacent countries; 

 and the mitigation which is effected even in parts 

 immediately beneath the Line, is further heightened 

 by the number of mountain-chains, many of which 

 are covered with perpetual snow, and lift their fore- 

 heads far above the clouds; by the majestic rivers, 

 such as Europe has not to boast, and by the im- 

 penetrable forests that cover especially the equatorial 

 regions, often to the extent of several thousand 

 miles, and shade the earth, so as to preserve its 

 moistened surface from evaporation. 



The climate of the Llanos, when compared with 

 that of the Sahara is, therefore, tempered, and 

 allows an abundant growth of luxuriant herbage as 

 well as of noble forest-trees. Yet, still, at certain 

 seasons of the year the heat is strongly felt, and the 

 cold also is severe. In England we observe with 

 interest the arrival and departure of migratory birds, 

 the successive opening of different flowers, and the 

 unvaried rising of the stars. Those who dwell on 

 the vast plains of which we speak might add to 

 these, the regular and uniform succession of the 

 several atmospheric phenomena which invariably 

 occur. Two seasons, the dry and the rainy, divide 

 the year, and are dependent upon the absence or the 

 presence of the sun. Those countries which lie 

 northward of the Line are visited with rain when the 

 sun is in the northern half of the ecliptic, that is, 



