98 STEPPES AND DESERTS. 



5 et 8, noctu 0.4 consistere vidi ; Huancavelica, propter cinna- 

 baris venas celebrata, ubi altitudine 1835 hexap. fere totum per an- 

 num temperies mensis Martii Parisiis." (Humboldt de distrib. 

 geogr. Plant., p. 104.) 



( 14 ) p. 29. " The Andes and the eastern mountains send forth 

 detached spurs, which advance towards each other." 



The vast region situated between the eastern coast of South Ame- 

 rica and the eastern declivity of the Andes, is narrowed by two 

 mountain passes, which partially divide from each other the three 

 valleys or plains of the Lower Orinoco, of the Amazons, and of the 

 River Plate. The most northern mountains, called the group of the 

 Parime, are opposite to the Andes of Cundinamarca, which project 

 far to the east, and assume, in the 66th and 68th degrees of longi- 

 tude, the form of high mountains, connected by the narrow ridge of 

 Pacaraima with the granite hills of French Guiana. On the map of 

 Columbia constructed by me from my own astronomical observations, 

 this connection is .clearly marked. The Caribs, who penetrated from 

 the missions of the Caroni to the plains of the Rio Branco, and as far 

 as the Brazilian boundary, crossed in the journey the ridges of Paca- 

 raima and Quimiropaca. The second mountain mass, which divides 

 the valley of the Amazons from the River Plate, is the Brazilian 

 group. In the province of Chiquitos (west of the Parecis range of 

 hills), it approaches the promontory of Santa Cruz de la Sierra. As 

 neither the group of the Parime, which causes the great cataracts of 

 the Orinoco, nor the Brazilian group of mountains, are absolutely 

 connected with the Andes, the plains of Venezuela have a direct 

 connection with those of Patagonia. (See my geognostical view of 

 South America, in Relat. Hist. t. iii. pp. 188-244.) 



( 15 ) p. 30." Troops of dogs." 



European dogs have become wild in the grassy plains or Pampas 

 of Buenos Ayres. They live in society, and in hollows in which 

 they hide their young. If the society becomes too numerous, some 

 families detach themselves and form new colonies. The European 

 dog, which has become wild, barks as loud as the original American 

 hairy race. Garcilasso relates that, before the arrival of the Spaniards, 



