206 WANDERINGS IN SOUTH AMERICA. 



able herds of cattle, where the Portuguese and Spaniards 

 are settled, but desert as Saara, where the English and 

 Dutch claim dominion ! How gradually the face of the 

 country rises ! See the sand-hills all clothed in wood first 

 emerging from the level, then hills a little higher, rugged 

 with bold and craggy rocks, peeping out from amongst the 

 most luxuriant timber. Then come jDlains, and dells, and 

 far-extending valleys, arrayed in richest foliage ; and beyond 

 them, mountains piled on mountains, some bearing pro- 

 digious forests, others of bleak and barren aspect. Thus 

 your eye wanders on, over scenes of varied loveliness and 

 grandeur, till it rests on the stupendous pinnacles of the 

 Ions-continued Cordilleras de los Andes, which rise in 

 towering majesty, and command all America. 



How fertile must the low-lands be, from the accumula- 

 tion of fallen leaves and trees for centuries ! How pro- 

 pitious the swamps and slimy beds of the rivers, heated 

 by a downward sun, to the amazing growth of alligators, 

 serpents, and innumerable insects ! How inviting the 

 forests to the feathered tribes, where you see buds, blos- 

 soms, green and ripe fruit, full grown and fading leaves, all 

 on the same tree ! How secure the wild beasts may rove 

 in endless mazes ! Perhaps those mountains too, which 

 appear so bleak and naked, as if quite neglected, are, like 

 Potosi, full of precious metals. 



Let us now return the pinions we borrowed from Icarus, 

 and prepare to bid farewell to the wilds. The time allotted 

 to these Wanderings is drawing fast to a close. Every day 

 for the last six months has been employed in paying close 

 attention to natural history in the forests of Demerara. 

 Above two hundred specimens of the finest birds have been 

 collected, and a pretty just knowledge formed of their 

 haunts and economy. From the time of leaving England, 

 in March, 1816, to the present day, nothing has intervened 



