ANNOTATIONS AND ADDITIONS. 27 



ANNOTATIONS AND ADDITIONS. 



( ! ) p. 1." The Lake of Tacarigua" 



In proceeding through the interior of South America 

 from the Caraccas or Venezuela shore towards the boundary 

 of Brazil, from the 10th degree of North latitude to the 

 Equator, the traveller crosses first an elevated mountain- 

 chain running in an east and west direction, next vast 

 treeless Steppes or Plains (los Llanos), which stretch from 

 the foot of the above-named mountains (the coast chain of 

 Caraccas) to the left bank of the Orinoco, and lastly the 

 range which occasions the Cataracts of Atures and Maypure. 

 This latter range of mountains, to which I have given the 

 name of the Sierra Parime, runs in an easterly direction 

 from the Cataracts to Dutch and Trench Guiana. It is a 

 mass of mountains divided into many parallel ridges, and is 

 the site of the fabled Dorado. It is bordered on the south 

 by the forest plain, through which the river of the Amazons 

 and the Kio Negro have formed the channels in which 

 their waters flow. Those who desire a fuller acquaintance 

 with the geography of these regions will do well to consult 

 and compare the great map of La Cruz-Olmedilla, bearing 

 date 1775, (from which almost all the more recent maps of 

 South America have been formed,) and the map of Columbia 



