166 WANDERINGS IN SOUTH AMERICA 



appear the savannas or natural meadows, teeming 

 with innumerable herds of cattle, where the Por- 

 tuguese and Spaniards are settled, but desert as 

 Saara, where the English and Dutch claim domin- 

 ion ! How gradually the face of the country rises ! 

 See the sand-hills all clothed in wood first emerg- 

 ing from the level, then hills a little higher, rugged 

 with bold and craggy rocks, peeping out from 

 amongst the most luxuriant timber. Then come 

 plains, and dells, and far-extending valleys, ar- 

 rayed in richest foliage ; and beyond them, moun- 

 tains piled on mountains, some bearing prodigious 

 forests, others of bleak and barren aspect. Thus 

 your eye wanders on, over scenes of varied loveli- 

 ness and grandeur, till it rests on the stupendous 

 pinnacles of the long-continued Cordilleras de los 

 Andes, which rise in towering majesty and com- 

 mand all America. 



How fertile must the low-lands be, from the 

 accumulation of fallen leaves and trees for cen- 

 turies! How propitious the swamps and slimy 

 beds of the rivers, heated by a downward sun, to 

 the amazing growth of alligators, serpents, and 

 innumerable insects! How inviting the forests 

 to the feathered tribes, where you see buds, blos- 

 soms, green and ripe fruit, full grown and fading 

 leaves, all on the same tree ! How secure the wild 

 beasts may rove in endless mazes ! Perhaps those 

 mountains too, which appear so bleak and naked, 

 as if quite neglected, are, like Potosi, full of pre- 

 cious metals. 



Let us now return the pinions we borrowed 

 from Icarus, and prepare to bid farewell to the 

 wilds. The time allotted to these Wanderings is 



