VENEZUELA 147 



flow back. No rock, no stones, not even a pebble is seen on 

 these plains. The soil consists of a mixture of sand and chalk. 

 It is covered with very nourishing grass, and large numbers of 

 •cattle, horses, and mules always find pasture. The only in- 

 equalities of the surface are some sandliills, which rise a few 

 yards above the conunon level, and some slightly elevated 

 grounds called banks. These banks are hardly perceptible, but 

 are of great value, as they are not subject to inundation, and 

 consequently afford pasturage for the cattle when the lower parts 

 of the plain are covered with water. In the dry season this 

 plain is one immense pasture-ground, until it is again flooded 

 from the Apure and Meta, when the tract on both sides of the 

 lower Apure resembles the Delta of Egypt. The whole plain 

 becomes an immense lake, in which the banks appear like islands. 

 There are tracts then more than 100 miles in length, 20 miles 

 wide, in which the water is from 10 to 12 ft. deep, capable of 

 floating large barges. 



The most uneven portion of the cattle-plains lies west of the 

 Hiver Orinoco. This country is covered with low hills, resem- 

 bling the waves of the ocean when agitated by a gale, being 

 overgrown with coarse grass. The level grassy plains are few, 

 and not of great extent. On the southern edge of this uneven 

 part of the plain are several isolated hills, which are surrounded 

 by extensive plains covered with fine grass; these plains may be 

 ■considered as the commencement of the immense savannahs 

 which extend southward. 



The plains of Venezuela extend over about 26,000 leagues, or 

 312,000 square miles. This tract, though one immense plain, 

 presents a great variety in elevation, climatic, and productive 

 powers. Some tracts are hardly elevated above the sea, whilst 

 others rise to nearly 1300 ft. Some are arid deserts, while the 

 vegetation of others is extremely vigorous nearly all through the 

 year. The trees on these plains stand singly or form groves of 

 small extent. 



The Venezuelans are great meat eaters, literally devouring 

 their own flocks of sheep and herds of cattle. The consumption 

 of meat is immense in the country, being on a level with 

 Australia in that respect. The town of Caracas, with a popu- 

 lation of one-tenth of that of Paris, consumes more than one- 

 half the quantity of beef annually used in the capital of France. 

 The iguana is eaten and considered a great dainty. Twenty-five 

 years ago Venezuela had 9,000,000 cattle, 6,000,000 sheep and 



