188 STEPPES AND DESERTS. 



Pelusiuni, and on the dark-complexioned Dionysos or 

 Osiris, see Zoega's ancient, and now for the most part 

 abandoned views, in his great work " De Origine et Usu 

 Obeliscorum," p. 577. 



( 45 ) p. 24. a Tlie boundary of a partial European 

 cultivation ." 



In the Capitania general de Caracas, as generally every 

 where on the eastern shores of America, the cultivation 

 introduced by Europeans, and their presence and influence, 

 are limited to a narrow strip of country along the coast. 

 In Mexico, New Granada, and Quito, on the other hand, 

 European civilisation has penetrated deep into the interior 

 of the country, and advanced up the ridges of the Cordil- 

 leras. There existed in these last-named regions a consi- 

 derable degree of settled and civilised life previous to the 

 arrival of the Spaniards ; and they have followed this civili- 

 sation wherever they found it, regardless whether its seat 

 was near or at a distance from the sea coast. They retained 

 and enlarged the ancient cities, of which they either muti- 

 lated the old significant Indian names, or gave them new 

 names, as, for example, of Christian saints. 



( 46 ) p. 24. " Massive leaden-coloured granite rocks." 



In the Orinoco, and more especially at the Cataracts of 

 Maypures and Atures, all blocks of granite, and even white 

 pieces of quartz, whenever they are touched by the water of 

 the river, acquire a greyish-black coating which scarcely 

 penetrates a hundredth of a line below the surface of the rock. 



