THE GREAT CORDILLERA. 



139 



beyond is a vast expanse of what, at first, very 

 much resembles the ocean, but which one soon re- 

 cognises as the vast plains of Mendoza and the 

 Pampas. 



The natural exhalation from the earth covers 

 them with a cloud of uncertainty : places which 

 one has heard talked of as points of importance 

 are lost in space, and the hopes and passions and 

 existence of mankind are buried in the atmosphere 

 which supports them. But one has not much 

 time for moralizing on the summit of the Para- 

 millo, for it is such a windy spot, that a man's 

 most rational exertion there is to hold on his hat ; 

 and as the large broad-brimmed one, which I 

 had purchased at Mendoza, made several attempts 

 to return there, I and my mule proceeded towards 

 the valley of Uspallata. After going a league or 

 two, I observed on both sides of me large tawny- 

 coloured fungus-looking substances, which in size, 

 shape, and colour, so resembled lions lying on the 

 ground, that sometimes I really could not distin- 

 guish whether they were or not. 



In the Pampas I had always observed the singu- 

 lar manner in which all animals, particularly birds. 



