337 



the left bank of that river ? Why does it not 

 fill that vast space, that reaches as far as the 

 Cordillera of the coast, and which is fertilized 

 by numerous rivers? This question is connected 

 with all that relates to the history of our planet. 

 If, indulging in geological reveries, we suppose, 

 that the steppes of America, and the desert of 

 Sahara, have been stripped of their vegetation 

 by an irruption of the ocean ; or that they 

 formed originally the bottom of an inland lake ; 

 we may conceive, that thousands of years have 

 not sufficed for the trees and shrubs to advance 

 from the borders of the forests, from the skirts 

 of the plains either naked or covered with turf, 

 toward the centre, and darken so vast a space , 

 with their shade. It is more difficult to explain 

 the origin of bare savannahs, enchased in forests, 

 than to recognize the causes that maintain 

 forests and savannahs within their ancient limits, 

 like continents and seas. 



We found the most cordial hospitality at Cala- 

 bozo, in the house of the administrator of the 

 Real Hacienda, Don Miguel Cousin. The town, 

 situate between the banks of the Guarieo and the 

 Uritucu, had at this period only five thousand 

 inhabitants ; but every thing denoted increasing 

 prosperity. The wealth of most of the inhabitants 

 consists in herds, under the management of far- 

 mers, who are called hateros, from the word hato, 

 which signifies in Spanish a house or farm placed 



vol. iv. z 



