863 



auriferous alluvial lands far from the Cordilleras 

 of the Andes, on the north of the Amazon ; as 

 there are on the south, in the mountains of Brazil. 

 The Caribbees of the Carony, the Cuyuni, and 

 the Essequebo have practised on a small scale 

 the washing of the alluvial earth from the re- 

 motest times *. When we examine the structure 

 of mountains, and embrace in one point of view 

 an extensive surface of the globe, distances dis- 

 appear, and places the most remote draw near 

 each other insensibly. The basin of the Upper 

 Oroonoko, the Rio Negro, and the Amazon, to 

 which I have consecrated the whole of the eighth 

 book of my work, is bounded by the mountains 

 of Parime on the north, and by those of Minas- 

 Geraes, and Matogrosso on the south. The 

 opposite slopes of the same valley often display 

 an analogy in their geological relations. 



I have described in this and the preceding 

 volume the vast provinces of Venezuela and 

 Spanish Guyana. While examining their na- 

 tural limits, their climate, and their produc- 

 tions, I have discussed the influence produced 

 by the configuration of the soil on agriculture, 

 commerce, and the more or less rapid progress 

 of society. I have successively passed over the 

 three regions that suceeed each other from north 

 to south ; from the Mediterranean of the West 



* See note A, at the end of this volume. 



