88 SOUTH AMERICA— THE ANDES REGIONS. 



scarps, like the gûrs of the Saharan plains, are evidently the remains of plateaux 

 which formerly stood at a higher level, but which have been eaten away by 

 erosions. 



Some of the heights develop long chains of hills forming secondary divides for 

 the running waters. Thus, in the eastern llanos the streams diverge in one direc- 

 tion towards the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Paria, in the other towards the 

 Orinoco. But so low is the parting-line that in some districts it remains quite 

 imperceptible. The level plains are also intersected at intervals by deep ravines 

 excavated by the heavy tropical rains, and the generally monotonous aspect of the 

 llanos is further diversified by the greater or less abundance of moisture in different 

 districts. The humid or arid character of the land is revealed by the greater 

 wealth or poverty of the arboreal, bushy, or herbaceous vegetation. In the extreme 

 east the section of the llanos protected by the Cumana mountains from the trade 

 winds is so parched that travellers crossing the steppe would perish of thirst should 

 they neglect to bring a supply of water with them. 



In the central parts of the llanos, where the surface seems perfectly level, 

 where the line of the encircling horizon is broken by no eminen e, the firmament 

 unfolds its azure dome above a silent sea of herbaceous growth, yellowish and 

 scorched during the prevalence of the dry trade winds, dense and verdant from 

 the first appearance of the winter rains. Although extremely rich in different 

 species, the boundless prairie seems to merge all its plants in the same uniform 

 element. Except a few objects close at hand, a drooping flower b}" the wayside, 

 some startled beast or insect seeking the cover of the herbage, nothing stands out 

 distinctly in the vast circuit lit up by the solar rays. Nature reposes in its strength 

 and majesty, inspiring with a sense of awe and sadness the solitary wayfarer lost 

 in the wilderness. Wherever the eye sweeps the horizon the details of the land- 

 scape are the same, though its physiognomy, as a whole, changes slowly with 

 the hours, the shifting hues and shadows. 



That section of the plains which stretches along the foot of the mountains, 

 and which may be regarded as a huge talus formed by the triturated débris of the 

 neighbouring rocks, bears the name of Uanoa altos ("high llanos"), its mean 

 altitude being several hundred yards higher than that of the Unnos bojoa (" low 

 llanos") skirting the Apure and Orinoco. In some districts, especially south of 

 Caracas and the province of Carabobo, the foothills present towards the llanos the 

 aspect of parallel rocky terraces, disposed in the form of petrUes. (" balconies "), of 

 such regular structure as to seem raised by the hand of man. 



The limit of the plain is clearly marked by a fringe of woodlands. Here the 

 flanks of the sierra are clothed with a continuous mantle of verdure, but at the 

 point where the lower slopes begin to merge in the llano the forests break into 

 groves and thickets with intervening clearings. The grassy expanse seems to 

 penetrate into the bordering woodlands, like marine inlets into the interior of the 

 mainland ; the savanna takes the aspect of a sea with its bays, bights, creeks 

 and islands. Here and there the brushwood forms a transition between the forest 

 and the natural prairie, which stretches away bej^ond the horizon destitute of any 



