STEPPES AND DESERTS. 7 



and from the arid Deserts of Africa devoid of all vegetation, 

 let us now return to those South American plains of which 

 I have already began to trace the picture, albeit in rude 

 outlines. 



The interest which this picture can offer to the beholder 

 is, however, exclusively that of pure nature. Here no 

 Oasis recalls the memory of earlier inhabitants ; no carved 

 stone, ( 12 ) no ruined building, no fruit tree once the care of 

 the cultivator but now wild, speaks of the art or industry of 

 former generations. As if estranged from the destinies of 

 mankind, and riveting attention solely to the present mo- 

 ment, this corner of the earth appears as a wild theatre for 

 the free development of animal and vegetable life. 



The Steppe extends from the Caraccas coast chain to the 

 forests of Guiana, and from the snowy mountains of Merida 

 (on the slope of which the Natron Lake Urao is an object of 

 superstitious veneration to the natives,) to the great delta 

 formed by the Orinoco at its mouth. To the south-west 

 a branch is prolonged, like an arm of the sea, ( 13 ) beyond 

 the banks of the Meta and Vichada to the unvisited 

 sources of the Guaviare, and to the lonely mountain to 

 which the excited fancy of the Spanish soldiery gave the 

 name of Paramo de la Suma Paz the seat of perfect peace. 

 This Steppe occupies a space of 16,000 (256,000 English) 

 square miles. It has often been erroneously described as 

 running uninterruptedly, and with an equal breadth, to the 

 straits of Magellan, forgetting the forest-covered plain of 

 the Amazons which intervenes between the grassy Steppes 

 of the Apure and those of the river Plate. The Andes of 



