310 , 



ward the East and^ South-East. When we re- 

 flect on their small elevations above the surface 

 of the ocean, we are tempted to consider them 

 as gulfs stretching in the direction of the cur- 

 rent of rotation. If, from the effect of some 

 peculiar attraction, the waters of the Atlantic 

 were to rise fifty toises at the mouth of the 

 Oroonoko, and two hundred toises at the mouth 

 of the Amazon, the great tide would cover more 

 than half of South America. The eastern de- 

 clivity, or the foot of the Andes, now six hun- 

 dred leagues distant from the coast of Brazil, 

 would become a shore beaten by the waves. 

 This consideration is the result of a barometric 

 measurement, taken in the province of Jaen de 

 Bracamoros, where the Amazon issues out from 

 the Cordilleras. I found the mean height of this 

 immense river* only a hundred and ninety- 

 four toises above the present level of the At- 

 lantic. The intermediate plains however, co- 

 vered with forests, are still five times higher 

 than the Pampas of Buenos Ayres, and the 

 Llanos of Caraccas and the Meta, covered with 

 gramina. 



Those Llanos, which form the basin of the 

 Oroonoko, and which we crossed twice in one 

 year, in the months of March and July ? com- 



* In the latitude of 6° 31' 28" South, and longitude 

 80° 56 ' 37'' West. 



