163 



tic birds, herons, flamingoes, and wild ducks, 

 cross the lake to roost in the islands, and the 

 broad zone of mountains, that surround the 

 horizon, is covered with fire. The inhabitants, 

 as we have already mentioned, burn the mea- 

 dows in order to produce fresher and finer grass. 

 Gramineous plants abound, especially at the 

 summit of the chain ; and those vast conflagra- 

 tions extend sometimes over a length of a thou- 

 sand toises, and appear like streams of lava 

 overflowing the ridge of the mountains. When 

 reposing on the banks of the lake in one of those 

 beautiful evenings peculiar to the tropics, to 

 enjoy the soft freshness of the air, it is delight- 

 ful to contemplate, in the waves that beat the 

 shore, the image of the red fires that inflame the 

 horizon. 



Among the plants, which the rocky islands of 

 the lake of Valencia produce, many have been 

 believed to be peculiar to those spots, because 

 till now they have not been discovered else- 

 where. Such are the papaw-trees of the lake ; 

 and the love-apples* of the island of Cura. 

 TThe latter differ from our solanum lycopersi- 

 cum ; their fruit is round and small, but has a 



* The tomatoes are cultivated, as well as the papaw-tree 

 of the lake, in the Botanical Garden of Berlin, to which I had 

 sent some seeds. Mr. Willdenow has described and deline- 

 ated this solanum, under the name of solanum Humboldtii, 

 in the Hortut BcraL, p. 27, tab. 27. 



M 2 



