THE LLANOS, G5 



these rivers during the season of rains causes the inun- 

 dation of large portions of the country, so that it can be 

 traversed only by canoes. When the waters subside, the 

 grass, which has been parched under the cloudless sky of 

 the dry season preceding the overflow, quickly springs 

 up, and in a short time the earth is again clothed with 

 beautiful verdure. That part of the Llanos situated 

 north of the Orinoco and Apui'e is divided into tracts 

 known as the "plains of Matvirin, Barcelona, and Guarico, 

 while the more southern portions are known as the savan- 

 nas of the Apure, Meta, and Guaviare. The general slope 

 of the Llanos is toward the northeast ; or, rather, they 

 describe a quadrant, the upper portion of the basin slop- 

 ing toward the north, the lower toward the east, which 

 gives direction to the waters of the Orinoco. The slight 

 elevation of these great plains, as well as that of the 

 basin of the Amazons, is one of the striking features in 

 their physical aspect. " If, " says Humboldt, " fi'om the 

 effects of some peculiar attraction, the waters of the At- 

 lantic were to rise fifty toises * at the mouth of the Ori- 

 noco, and two hundred toises at the mouth of the Amazons, 

 the floods would submerge more than the half of South 

 America. The entire eastern declivity, or the foot of the 

 Andes, now six hundred leagues distant from the coast of 

 Brazil, would become a shore beaten by the waves. " 



One of the most significant of the streams that flow 

 into the basin of the Llanos of Venezuela from the north- 

 ern Cordilleras is the Rio Pao, which, taking its rise 

 among the mountains of the littoral chain, winds over the 

 plains in a southerly direction, assuming the name of 

 Portuguesa before its confluence with the Apure. Distant 

 one and a half leagues from the summit of the sierras, where 

 we first came in view of the Llanos, is situated the town 

 of Pao, upon the bank of the stream whose name it bears. 



* A toise is a Frencli measure, containing about 6.4 English feet. 



