646 VENEZUELA. 



the sagacity to do this ; while the mule, when it discovers 

 the melon, sets to work at once with its fore-feet, and then 

 cautiously sips the refreshing liquid. 



Day after day the sun, with a lurid glare spread far and 

 wide over the cloudless sky, rises above the arid plains, drawing 

 up every particle of moisture, and withering with the intense 

 heat of his rays every blade of grass and green leaf, till it 

 seems as if the whole region were doomed to eternal desolation. 

 At length, however, a wonderful change takes place over the 

 hitherto arid waste. A thick veil of mist is drawn across 

 the blue sky. A low bank of clouds appears on the horizon. 

 Gradually it rises, assuming the form of distant mountain-chains 

 above the plain. Onwards it advances, increasing in density, 

 while vivid flashes of lio^htnino- dart forth ; the thunder is 

 heard rolling in the distance, and now loud crashing peals 

 burst from the clouds, which rapidly spreading across the 

 vault of heaven, plenteous showers rush downwards on the 

 parched earth, filling up the dry cracks in the marshes, re- 

 plenishing the pools, and swelling the streams. The grass 

 springs up on every long-dry spot, the leaves burst forth, 

 while thousands of flowers of every tint and hue enamel the 

 plain ; and, as if by magic, the whole face of nature is in a few 

 hours changed. In a short time the thorny bushes of the 

 delicate and feathery -foliaged mimosas are loaded w^ith masses 

 of canary-coloured blossoms, from their summits down to the 

 lowest branches, sending forth an almost overpowering per- 

 fume ; while the fronds of the beautiful mauritias — the palm 

 of the Llanos —risino" to the heii-'ht of one hundred feet above 

 the plain, sprout forth in rich luxuriance. 



Animal life, too, wakes up. The savage alligator and the 

 huge anaconda crawl forth from the bed of cla}^ in which 



