34 STEPPES AND DESERTS. 



the ancient sea-shore of the Llanos. Farther to the north 

 are the celebrated grotesque- shaped cavernous rocks of 

 Morros de San Juan ; they form a kind of rampart, have 

 a crystalline grain like upheaved dolomite, and are rather to 

 be regarded as parts of the shore of the ancient gulf than as 

 islands. I term the Llanos a gulf, for when we consider 

 their small elevation above the present sea level, their form 

 open as it were to- the equatorial current sweeping from east 

 to west, and the lowness of the eastern coast between the 

 mouth of the Orinoco and the Essequibo, we can scarcely doubt 

 that the sea once overflowed the whole basin between the 

 coast chain of Caraccas and the Sierra de la Parime, and 

 beat against the mountains of Merida and Pamplona ; (as it is 

 supposed to have overflowed the plains of Lombardy, and beat 

 against the Cottian and Pennine Alps). The strike or 

 inclination of the American Llanos is also directed from 

 west to east. Their height at Calabozo, 400 geographical 

 miles from the sea, is barely 30 toises (192 English feet) ; 

 being 15 toises (96 English feet) less than that of Pavia, 

 and 45 toises (288 English feet) less than that of Milan, in 

 the plains of Lombardy between the Alps and Apennines. 

 The form of the surface of this part of the globe reminds 

 one of Claudian's expression, " curvata tumore parvo plain- 

 ties/' The horizontally of the Llanos is so perfect that in 

 many portions of them no part of an area of more than 480 

 square miles appears to be a foot higher than the rest. If, 

 in addition to this, we imagine to ourselves the absence of 

 all bushes, and even in the Mesa de Pavones the absence of 

 any isolated palm-trees, it will afford some idea of the 



