68 



Grenada, Quito, and Peru, are not to be found 

 in low regions ; as the megatherium of Rio 

 Luxan * and Virginia ^f 9 the great mastodontes 

 of the Ohio, and the fossil elephants of the 

 Susquehana, in the temperate zone ; but on ta- 

 ble-lands having from six to fourteen hundred 

 toises of elevation. 



As we approached the Southern bank of the 

 basin of Cumanacoa, we enjoyed the view of 

 Tumiriquiri ^. An enormous wall of rocks, the 

 remains of an ancient cliff, rises in the midst of 



* At the distance of one league South-east of the town of 

 Buenos Ayres. 



t The megatherium of Virginia is the megalonyx of Mr. 

 Jefferson. All the enormous remains found in the plains of 

 the new continent, either North or South of the equator, do 

 not belong to the torrid but to the temperate zone. On the 

 other hand Pallas observes, that in Siberia, consequently 

 also beyond the tropics, fossil bones are never found in 

 mountainous parts. (Nov. Comment. Petrop., 1772, p. 577.) 

 These facts, intimately connected together, appear to lead 

 toward the discovery of a great geological law. 



I Some of the inhabitants pronounce Tumuriquiri, others 

 Turumiquiri, or Tumiriquiri. During all our stay at Cuma- 

 nacoa, the summit of this mountain was covered with clouds. 

 It appeared uncovered the 11th of September in the evening, 

 but only for a few minutes. The angle of elevation, taken 

 from the great square of Cumanacoa, was 8° 2'. This de- 

 termination, and the barometrical measurement, which I 

 made on the 13th, may enable us to fix within a certain 

 approximation, the distance of the mountain at 6 miles J, or 

 6050 toises ; admitting that the part uncovered by clouds 

 was 850 toises above the plain of Cumanacoa. 



