TLOODS IN T1IE SAVANNAHS. 132 



poly hedron, formed of planes variously inclined, we may 

 conceive by the mere inspection of the maps, that the inter- 

 section of these slopes, rising towards the north, the west, 

 and south,* between San Fernando de Apure, Caycara, and 

 the mouth of the Meta, must cause a considerable depres- 

 sion. The savannahs in this basin are covered with twelve 

 or fourteen feet of water, and present, at the period of 

 rains, the aspect of a great lake. The farms and villages 

 which seem as if situated on shoals, scarcely rise two 

 or three feet above the surface of the water. Everything 

 here calls to mind the inundations of Lower Egypt, and the 

 lake of Xarayes, heretofore so celebrated among geogra- 

 phers, though it exists only during some months of the year. 

 The swellings of the rivers Apure, Meta, and Orinoco, are 

 also periodical. In the rainy season, the horses that wander 

 in the savannah, and have not time to reach the rising 

 grounds of the Llanos, perish by hundreds. The mares are 

 seen, followed by their colts,t swimming during a part of 

 the day to feed upon the grass, the tops of which alone 

 wave above the waters. In this state they are pursued by 

 the crocodiles, and it is by no means uncommon to find the 

 prints of the teeth of these carnivorous reptiles on their 

 thighs. The carcases of horses, mules, and cows, attract an 

 innumerable quantity of vultures. The zamuros are the 

 ibisis of this country, and they render the same service to 

 the inhabitants of the Llanos as the Vultur percnopterus 

 to the inhabitants of Egypt. 



We cannot reflect on the effects of these inundations 

 without admiring the prodigious pliability of the organiza- 

 tion of the animals which man has subjected to his sway. 

 In Greenland the dog eats the refuse of the fisheries ; and 

 when fish are wanting, feeds on seaweed. The ass and the 



* The risings towards the north and west are connected with two lines 

 of ridgea, the mountains of Villa de Cura and of Merida. The third 

 lope, running from north to south, is that of the land-strait between 

 the Andes and the chain of Parime. It determines the general inclina- 

 tion of the Orinoco, from the mouth of the Guaviare to that of tht 

 Apure. 



f The colts are drowned everywhere in large numbers, because they 

 we sooner tired of swimming, and strive to follow the mares in places 

 where the latter alone can touch the ground. 



