512 



served it's primitive characteristics, man no 

 longer appears as the centre of the creation. Far 

 from taming the elements, all his efforts tend 

 to escape from their empire. The changes 

 made by savage nations during the lapse of 

 ages on the surface of the globe disappear be- 

 fore those, that are produced in a few hours 

 by the actions of volcanic fires, the inundations 

 of mighty floods, and the impetuosity of tem- 

 pests. It is the conflict of the elements, which 

 characterizes in the New World the aspect of 

 Nature. A country without population appears 

 to the people of cultivated Europe like a city 

 abandoned by it's inhabitants. In America, 

 after having lived during several years in the 

 forests of the low regions, or on the ridge of 

 the Cordilleras ; after having surveyed coun- 

 tries as extensive as France*, containing only 

 a small number of scattered huts ; a deep 

 solitude no longer affrights the imagination. 

 We become accustomed to the idea of a 

 world, that supports only plants and animals ; 

 where the savage has never uttered either the 

 shout of joy, or the plaintive accents of sorrow. 



We could not long avail ourselves of the ad- 

 vantage arising from the position of the Silla, 

 commanding all the neighbouring summits. 

 While we were examining with our glasses that 

 part of the sea, the horizon of which was clearly 

 terminated, and the chain of the mountains of 



