BRIEFER ARTICLES 
NOTES OF TRAVEL. I. 
VENEZUELA. 
Tue aim of the expedition with which the writer is connected, 8 
planned by Mr. Barbour Lathrop, of Chicago, and carried out at his 
own expense, has forbidden any exhaustive research into the botanical | 
resources of South American countries. It has permitted rapid com 
parisons, however, and it is these comparative sketches which it ® 
believed will interest American botanists. 
The first approach to a great continent, if it has thousands 0 
square miles of unexplored territory in it, as South America has, 5 
ela, satis | 
The steep mountains behind the town shut it in like a green wall, 
the low hanging clouds and dark rainy valleys, into one of . 
famous railroad to Caracas disappears, are characteristically tropic . 
By characteristically tropical the writer may give a wrong impress 
since what could be characterized as tropical in one region might 
be true of another. The xerophytes are as abundant in the tropics ® : 
in temperate regions, although in the popular mind the 
acteristic of the tropics. Venezuela landscapes show 4 
portion of xerophytes than I had expected to see, and a ten 
tram ride to the small bathing place of Moquendo gave mea good oppo 
tunity of seeing the characteristic cactus vegetation of the ° 
Almost barren patches of reddish-brown soil and frequent signs of pram 
fires on the hillside surprise one, while the tufted grasses, agave” 
cacti give the whole a decidedly arid look. The climate of La a 
is a dangerous one for foreigners, as the malarial fevers there pen 
severe. We were informed, however, by intelligent English 
living in Caracas that the latter are no more severe than rhe 
acas itself. From my friend’s most uncomfortable experien 
evident that the capital hasa serious form of malarial fever, 2 ° 
care must be exercised to avoid exposure after sunset. favor | 
122 ae 
