66 



psidium, the croton, the cassia, or the tamarind, 

 which prefer dry and open spots. I am far 

 from believing, that men will ever cause the 

 savannahs to disappear entirely ; and that the 

 llanos, useful for pasturage and the commerce 

 of cattle, will ever be cultivated like the vallies 

 of Aragua, or other parts near the coast of 

 Caraccas and Cumana : but I am persuaded, 

 that in the lapse of ages a considerable portion 

 of these plains, under a government favorable 

 to industry, will lose the savage aspect they 

 have preserved since the first conquest of the 

 Europeans. 



These progressive changes, this increase of 

 population, will not only augment the prosperity 

 of those countries, but will also exert a benefi- 

 cial influence on their moral and political state. 

 The llanos form more than two thirds of that 

 part of the ancient cap it a n la g enera I of Caraccas, 

 which is situate to the north of the Oroonoko and 

 the Rio Apure. Now, in times of civil troubles, 

 the vast steppes, by their solitude, and the abun- 

 dant subsistence they offer in their innumerable 

 herds, serve at once as an asylum and support 

 to a party, that is desirous of raising the stand- 

 ard of revolt. Armed bands (guerillas) may 

 maintain themselves, and annoy the rear of the 

 inhabitants of the coast, among whom civili- 

 zation and agricultural wealth are concentred. 

 If the Lower Oroonoko were not sufficiently 



