184 



The seeming proximity, in which, from the 

 summit of the Peak, we behold the hamlets, the 

 vineyards, the gardens on the coast, is increased 

 by the prodigious transparency of the atmo- 

 sphere, Notwithstanding the great distance, we 

 distinguished not only the houses, the sails of the 

 vessels, and the trunks of i,^cs, our eyes dwelt 

 on the rich vegetation of the plains, enamelled 

 with the most vivid colouring. These pheno- 

 mena are owing not only to the height of the 

 site, but to the peculiar modifications of the air 

 in warm climates. Under every zone, an object 

 placed on a level with the sea, and viewed in a 

 horizontal direction, appears less luminous, than 

 when seen from the top of a mountain, where 

 vapors arrive across strata of air of decreasing 

 density. Differences equally striking are pro- 

 duced by the influence of climates ; the surface 

 of a lake or large river is less resplendent, when 

 we see it at an equal distance, from the top of 

 the higher Alps of Switzerland, than when we 

 view it from the summit of the Cordilleras of 

 Peru or Mexico. In proportion as the air is pure 

 and serene, the solution of the vapors becomes 

 more perfect, and the light loses less in it's pas- 

 sage. When from the coast of the South Sea we 

 reach the elevated plain of Quito, or that of An- 

 tisana, we are struck for some days at the near- 

 ness at which we think we see objects which are 

 seven or eight leagues distant. The Peak of 



