CENTRAL AMERICA 131 



more regular forests of mixed pines, oaks, and evergreen, 

 hard-leaf trees and shrubs, strikingly like mediter- 

 ranean woodlands. The South American species which, 

 in the south, replace the flora of the northern continent, 

 retain the same forms of growth and leave the general 

 aspect of the vegetation unchanged. 



In Colombia and Ecuador, the equatorial regimen of 

 rainfall being more strongly felt, the Andean valleys 

 enjoy a richer vegetation of high forests, grassland, and 

 tall jungles. The branch of the Andes which strikes off 

 to the east through northern Venezuela is generally 

 much drier in point of climate ; and here lighter tropical 

 forests alternate frequently with barren cactus scrubs and 

 grassy savanas. Much of the forests of those Venezuelan 

 Cordilleras has been destroyed and replaced by dreary 

 scrub slopes. The northern sides of the coast ridges are 

 still partly covered with stately trees, due to the 

 moisture of the trade winds, the influence of which, 

 however, grows weaker as range succeeds range towards 

 the interior. The troughs of the valleys are lined with 

 savanas and occasional savana-woods. The ancient 

 native populations of these tropical mountain-lands 

 were, as in southern Mexico and the West Indies, mostly 

 devoted to agriculture. Among those which had attained 

 a fair measure of culture before the invasions of Euro- 

 peans may be mentioned the Pipil-Quichue of the Gua- 

 temalan valleys and the Muysca or Chibcha of the 

 Colombian plateaus, skilled also in arts and crafts, 

 though their civilizations have now been wiped out. 



Orinoco Llanos. Between the Venezuelan Cordilleras 

 and the Guiana highlands lies an open lowland which 

 extends from the mouth of the Orinoco to the Cassiquiare 

 and the upper Apure. To the north of the Orinoco 

 there is a low mesa which passes southwards to a level 



K 2 



