LAKE OF VALENCIA. Ijl 



they are imprudently destroyed, the S])rings become less cnAP. XIV. 

 abundant, or are entirely dried uj). 'J'ill the middle of Dcst^ion 

 the last century, tlie mountains that surround the val- of woods. 

 leys of Aragua were covered with woods, and the plains 

 with thickets interspersed with large trees. As culti- 

 vation increased, the sylvan vegetation suffered ; and as 

 the evaporation in this district is excessively powerful, 

 the little rivers were dried up in the lower portion of 

 their course during a great part of the year. The land 

 that surrounds the lake being quite flat and even, the 

 decrease of a few inches in the level of the water ex- 

 posed a vast extent of ground, and as it retired the 

 planters took possession of the new land. 



The idea that the lake will soon entirely disappear, Balance of 

 Humboldt treats as chimerical, considering it probable influences, 

 that a period will shortly arrive when the supply of 

 water by the rivers and the evaporation will balance 

 each other. The mean depth is from 77 to 96 feet, and 

 there are some jiarts not less than 224 or 256 feet. The 

 length is thirty-four and a half miles, and the breadth 

 four or five. The temperature at the surface, in Feb- 

 ruary, was from 73*4° to 74-7'', which was a little lower 

 than the mean temperature of the air. 



The Lake of Valencia is covered with beautiful islands i^]^^^^ qq 

 to the number of fifteen, some of which are cultivated, the lake. 

 It is well stocked with fish, although it furnishes only 

 three kinds, which are soft and insipid. A small croco- 

 dile, the bava, which generally attains the length of 

 three or four feet, is very common ; but it is remarkable 

 that neither the lake nor any of the rivers which flow 

 into it have any large alligators, though these animals 

 abound, a few leagues off, in the streams that unite 

 with the Apure and Orinoco, or pass directly into the 

 Caribbean Sea. The islands are of gneiss, like the sur- 

 rounding country. Of the plants which they produce, peculiar 

 many have been believed to be peculiar to the district, plauts. 

 such as the papaws of the lake, and the tomatoes of the 

 island of Cura. The aquatic vegetation along the shores 

 reminded the travellers of the lakes of Europe, although 



