148 NATURAL HISTORY OF 



have snapped n, ar the fulcrum of its western side, nearly two 

 thirds of the whole length, from Terra del Fuego to California, 

 and sunk that portion of the continent in such deep sea, for 

 many degrees seaward, that scarcely an island remains above 

 water. Freed, it would seem, from the adhesion of the broad 

 surface, as naturally belonging to this side as on the other, and 

 to counterbalance it, as is the case in Asia, the Andes, in their 

 whole extent in the vicinity of the ocean, retain volcanic 

 activity in full force, and consequently heave up, at the present 

 time, as perseveringly as at the remotest periods. They con- 

 tinue to rise with every great shock of an earthquake, perhaps 

 affecting the whole height of the mountains, but certainly the 

 western or maritime side, where successive stages may be 

 traced to a great elevation, and rocky heads, lines of beaches, 

 and shoaling waters, become more and more evident; as if 

 nature labored to recover from the deep a portion of long-lost 

 terrestrial soil.* 1 The multitude of enormous volcanoes in the 

 Andes do not appear to have depressed the east coast to a per- 

 ceptible submersion, or, rather, to what is more than fully 

 replaced by the deposits of the vast and numerous rivers 

 which intersect the whole surface. It is, moreover, stayed by 

 the mountain system of Brazil, Guiana, and Venezuela, from 

 whence, and from the basins at the foot of the Quindiu Cordil- 

 lera and the Pacaraima mountains, have been effected many 

 entire discharges of elevated lakes, such as the Amucu and 

 Savannas of Dutch Guiana, while the swamps of the Parana, 

 and the lagoons on the coast, remain unchanged. But at the 

 northern extremity of South America, where the Andes pre- 

 sent an interruption in the direct chain, a branch turning east- 

 ward, and then to the north, shows a connection from volcanic 

 Trinidad, through the West Indian Islands, till the mountain 

 character, but not the volcanic connection, is lost in the island 



* In most volcanic upheavings, there follows a subsidence, — nature 

 endeavoring to return to its anterior equilibrium, — but the result is rarely 

 down tc he former level. 



