VIEW FROM THE COCOLLAR. 95 
From this elevated point, as far as the eye could 
reach, they saw only naked savannahs, although in 
the neighbouring valleys they found tufts of scattered 
trees, and a profusion of beautiful flowers. The upper 
part of the mountain was destitute of wood, though co- 
vered with gramineous plants,—a circumstance which 
Humboldt attributes more to the custom of burning 
the forests than to the elevation of the ground, which 
is not sufficient to prevent the growth of trees. 
Their host, Don Mathias Y turburi, a native of Bis- 
eay, had visited the New World with an expedition, 
the object of which was to formestablishments for pro- 
curing timber for the Spanish navy. But these natives 
of a colder climate were unable to support the fatigue 
of so laborious an occupation, the heat, and the effect 
of noxious vapours. Destructive fevers carried off 
most of the party, when this individual withdrew 
from the coast, and settling on the Cocollar, became 
the undisturbed possessor of five leagues of savannahs, 
among which he enjoyed independence and health. 
* Nothing,” says Humboldt, ‘ can be compared 
to the impression of the majestic tranquillity left on 
the mind by the view of the firmament in this soli- 
tary place. Following with the eye, at evening- 
tide, those meadows which stretch along the horizon, 
and the gently-undulated plain covered with plants, 
we thought we saw in the distance, as in the deserts 
of the Orinoco, the surface of the ocean supporting 
the starry vault of heaven. The tree under which 
we were seated, the luminous insects that vaulted 
in the air, and the constellations which shone in the 
south, seemed to tell us that we were far from our 
native land. In the midst of this exotic nature, 
when the bell of a cow or the lowing of a bull was 
heard from the bottom of a valley, the remembrance 
