VENEZUELA 209 



inches. The rain which descends in this tract in one day 

 frequently exceeds what falls in a whole week in the southern 

 countries of Europe during the most rainy period of the year. 

 On the lower grassy plains the annual rainfall varies between 

 70 and 80 inches. On the higher region of the Andes it rains 

 all the year round, especially after sunrise. On the paramos or 

 higher ground (more than 10,000 ft. above sea-level) it snows 

 and hails continuously, and the air is always charged with a 

 thick fog, which disappears at midnight but returns at sunrise. 



Between the Rio Apure and the Rio Meta, both affluents of 

 the Orinoco, are the llanos of Apure, containing the lowest por- 

 tion of the cattle-plains. The lowest tract is only 224 ft. above 

 the level of the sea, though more than 500 miles distant from 

 that part of the ocean to which the waters descend. This plain 

 is so level that the current of the Apure and Meta is impercep- 

 tible, and the least rise in the Orinoco causes their waters to 

 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 sandhills, which rise a few yards 

 above the common level, and 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 

 River Orinoco. This country is covered with low hills, re- 

 sembling 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 



