232 PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 



in length, quite flat at the top ; and vaulted elevations, or mesas, rising imperceptibly a 

 few feet, which occasion the diver tia aquarum of Livy, the parting of the waters, 

 where the river flows in opposite directions. The streams which proceed southward to 

 the Orinoco, and northward to the coast of Terra Firma, have their course determined by 

 these convexities of the surface which lie between them, and are of very trivial elevation. 



According to Humboldt, the general level face which these regions present ; the extra- 

 ordinary rareness of habitations ; the periodical difficulties of traversing dried downs, 

 under a burning sky, and in an atmosphere darkened with dust ; the aspect of the horizon, 

 which incessantly seems to fly before the traveller ; the isolated stems of palm trees which 

 all possess the same physiognomy, and which appear never to be reached, because con- 

 founded with other stems which gradually appear to view; all these causes, taken toge- 

 ther, make the Llanos apparently much larger than they really are. Still they unfold 

 immense spaces of surface completely monotonous, equal in extent to the distance between 

 Paris and Naples, and in some instances from Timbuctoo to the northern margin of the 

 Sahara. 



The central level of South America bears the local name of Selvas (woods), and 

 extends along both sides of the river Amazon, from the Andes to the ocean. It embraces 

 an area about six times larger than France, and of equal size with European Russia. It 

 is an immense forest region, with open patches of a similar character to the Llanos, inter- 

 sected by numerous rivers flowing into the great basin of the Amazon. This district is 

 but little known to Europeans, except on the borders of the streams ; and many of these 

 have not been traversed through the whole of their course. The powerful vegetation 

 here conceals, in a great measure, the uniform level of the soil. The trees attain a great 

 height, with straight clear stems, the foliage uniting in a canopy above, and leaving all 

 beneath in perfect shade and quiet. This longitudinal development is unfavourable to 

 protracted existence, as age and climate soon attack the trees ; but others very speedily 

 fill up their vacant places. These primeval woods occupy about 719,000 square miles of 

 territory ; and including the waters, enclosed open plains, and some ranges of hills, the 

 whole surface presents an area of 2,340,000. The, trees vary greatly in species, scarcely 

 any two trees standing together being of the same kind. Thirty or forty different species 

 are found in an area of twenty square yards. Bushes and creepers fill up the intervals 

 between them, uniting the whole together, and constituting a woody fabric which defies 

 the intrusion of man. " The industry of man," says a recent writer, " has in all other 

 countries succeeded in subjecting the productive power of nature to his sway, and to 

 direct its operation to his ends. In the Sahara it has taken possession of all the resources 

 of the country till it has arrived at the very limits which Nature herself has fixed. No 

 farther improvement can there take place. In some countries situated within the polar 

 circle, a course of improvement has been adopted, and is pursued with success. Its 

 progress is slow, but certain. The ungrateful soil of the Falkland Islands has even fallen 

 under the fertilising hand of man, and will doubtless be converted into fruitful fields in the 

 progress of time. But there is little hope that such will ever be the case with the plain 

 of the Amazon. The productive powers of this country, it appears, are too great and 

 too active to be subdued. If its soil was but half as fertile, its air half as moist, and 

 its vegetation half as vigorous as it is, man would easily master nature, and compel it to 

 administer to his wants^ or to supply him with riches. But he finds here that all the efforts 

 of his industry are in vain ; he is overwhelmed by the bounties of nature. His mind sinks 

 into despair when he contemplates the immense work before him, whilst his body feels 

 the exhaustion produced by that climate which imparts to the soil its never ceasing power 

 of reproduction. He finds himself reluctantly compelled to abandon his plans, and to 

 leave to Nature that portion of the globe which she seems to have reserved for her 



