553 



velopment. We there found lichens cleaving 

 the stone, and collected in crusts more or less 

 thick ; little portions of quartzose sand nourish- 

 ing succulent plants ; and lastly layers of black 

 mould deposited in the hollows, formed from the 

 decay of roots and leaves, and shaded by tufts 

 of ever-green shrubs. I should not mention our 

 gardens, and the timid works of art, if I had to 

 speak of the great effects of nature ; but this 

 contrast of rocks and thickets loaded with 

 flowers, these tufts of little trees scattered in the 

 savannah, involuntarily recall to mind what our 

 plantations display of most varied and most 

 picturesque. It would seem as if man, guided 

 by a deep feeling of the beauties of nature, had 

 sought to soften the savage rudeness of these 

 places. 



At the distance of two or three leagues from 

 the mission, we find, in these plains intersected 

 by granitic hills, a vegetation no less rich than 

 varied. On comparing the site of Carichana 

 with that of all the villages above the Great 

 Cataracts, we are surprised at the facility with 

 which we traverse the country, without follow- 

 ing the banks of the rivers, or being stopped by 

 the thickness of the forests. Mr. Bonpland 

 made several excursions on horseback, that fur- 

 nished him with a rich harvest of plants *. I 



* Combretum frangula folium, bignonia carichanensis, b. 

 ftittialilis, b. salicifotia, hypericurn eugeriicefolium, convolvulus 



