PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY OP PERU. 



29 



doms. On the eastern side, the fragrant groves are peopled 

 by ferocious beasts, serpents, inse6ts, and the tribe of am- 

 phibii. To the westward, the timid quadrupeds feed in secu- 

 rity beneath the shade of the cedar and the plaintain, amid 

 aromatic shrubs and odour-distiUing flowers. In the bays, 

 aquatic monsters skim the surface of the watery deep. 



The ruins which surround these dehghtful spots, point out 

 the mines of ele6lric fire, the subterraneous dire6tions they 

 have taken, and the points at which they suffer the greatest 

 resistance in their explosions. On contemplating the destruc- 

 tion they have occasioned, the spe6tator might be disposed to 

 say, that Nature, disgusted with the temple she had herself 

 ere£led with so much care, had established it on immense 

 masses of the igneous element, to the end that it should be 

 devoured. He might be led to observe that the French natu- 

 ralist, BufFon, adverted to Peru, when he affirmed that " the 

 terraqueous globe is a confused chaos, which presents no other 

 image than that of a heap of ruins, and of a world fallen into 

 decay." But let us not insult Nature : she is great, wise, and 

 beautiful, in the midst even of her demolitions. Without 

 them, her works would be left imperfe6t, and our speculations 

 would be vain and steril. Let us suppose for a moment that 

 we could be surrounded by the fragments of Memphis, of 

 Athens, and of ancient Rome, and that we could bring them 

 within our reach. What an extacy would then take possession 

 of our spirit and intelle6tual faculties ! Our insatiable thoughts 

 would meditate and refle61: on the remains of the pyramids, 

 and on the vestiges of the areopagus and triumphal arcs. 

 With how much pleasure should we record the power of time, 

 and the personages by whom they were erected ! Their anti- 

 quity 



