CHAPTER XIX. 



ORIGIN OF AGRICULTURE. 



The alimentary resources offered to man by the natural vegetation 

 of different countries, are by no means in proportion to the fertility of 

 the soil, or the variety of the productions. And the wanderer, would 

 be in more danger of perishing from hunger in the wilds of Brazil, 

 than in Terra del Fuego. 



The first part of the voyage of the Expedition, led into regions 

 which present striking peculiarities and marked contrasts in the 

 vegetable growth. And after visiting successively, Madeira, the 

 Cape Verd Islands, Brazil, Patagonia, Terra del Fuego, Chili, the 

 Chilian Andes, and Lower Peru, I hardly anticipated further novelty 

 in the general aspect of vegetation. A new phase, however, awaited 

 me at the very next stage of my progress ; and one, in regard to 

 which I will enter into some details. 



The western slope of the Peruvian Andes, at the elevation of from 

 six thousand to eleven thousand feet, presents nothing of the wildness 

 and magnificence of primeval forests; it is not, like some Northern 

 ' prairies,' clothed with a grassy sward, or at one season of the year, 

 with a fleeting array of a few kinds of flowers; neither again, like 

 most open countries, is it fairly arid. There is no general tendency 

 to the production of spines; and if occasionally, a woody plant of 

 moderate height, has a tree-like trunk, there are yet no marks of 

 stunted growth. Proper shrubs, of various affinity, are common 

 enough; yet they nowhere grow in contiguity, or form thickets. 

 Cacti, too, are everywhere conspicuous; not such as are familiarly 

 known in green-houses, but a varied and peculiarly fantastic series. 

 The soil, however, is principally occupied by herbaceous and other 

 humble plants ; growing, not in such a manner as to cover the surface, 

 but detached, almost as if artificially set out. Ornamental plants, arc 



