290 SUMMARY OF THE CONTENTS OF VOL. I. 



Since the discovery of America the Llanos have become more habitable. 

 Extraordinary increase in the number of wild cattle, horses, asses, 

 and mules. Description of the season of extreme dryness, and of 

 the rainy season. Appearance of the surface of the ground and of 

 the sky. Life of the animals their sufferings, their conflicts ; 

 power of adaptation with which certain animals and plants are 

 endowed. Jaguars, crocodiles, and electric fishes. Unequal conflict 

 between Gymnoti and horses 17 23 



Retrospective glance at the countries surrounding the Steppes and 

 Deserts. .Forest wildernesses of the Orinoco and the Amazons. 

 Indian tribes separated by the wonderful diversity of their languages 

 and differences of their habits ; their hardships, and frequent 

 variance between the different tribes. Figures graven on the rocks 

 show that these solitudes were once the seat of a degree of civili- 

 sation which has now disappeared . . . . 23 26 



Scientific Elucidations and Additions p. 27 to p. 204. 

 The island-studded lake of Tacarigua ; its relations to the neighbouring 

 mountain chains. Geological description. Progress of cultivation 

 and of European civilisation. Varieties of the sugar-cane. Cacao 

 plantations. Great fertility of soil associated within the tropics 

 with insalubrity of atmosphere 27 33 



"Banks" or broken strata. General horisontality of the surface. 

 Subsidences, of the surface 3335 



Resemblance of the distant steppe to the ocean. Naked stony crust. 

 Tabular masses of syenite ; whether prejudicial to health 36 37 



General views respecting the mountain systems of North and South 

 America, embracing the most recent information. Chains running 

 in a south-west and north-east direction in Brazil and in the 



