150 
TRAVELS ON THE AMAZON. [September, 
Our only remedy was to descend on the other side into 
the sandy plain which extended along its base. We first 
took a good view of the prospect which spread out before 
us, — a wide undulating plain covered with scattered trees 
and shrubs, with a yellow sandy soil and a brownish 
vegetation. Beyond this were seen, stretching out to 
the horizon, a succession of low conical and oblong hills, 
studding the distant plain in every direction. Not a 
house was to be seen, and the picture was one little 
calculated to impress the mind with a favourable idea 
of the fertility of the country or the beauty of tropical 
scenery. Our descent was very precipitous. Winding 
round chasms, creeping under overhanging rocks, cling- 
ing by roots and branches, we at length reached the 
bottom, and had level ground to walk on. 
We now saw the whole side of the mountain, along 
its summit, split vertically into numerous rude columns, 
in all of which" the action of the atmosphere on the dif- 
ferent strata of which they were composed was more or 
less discernible. They diminished and increased in thick- 
ness as the soft and hard beds alternated, and in some 
places appeared like globes standing on pedestals, or the 
heads and bodies of huge giants. They did not seem 
to be prismatic, but to be the result of successive earth- 
quake shocks, producing vertical cracks in cross direc- 
tions, the action of the sun and rains then widening the 
fissures and forming completely detached columns. 
As we proceeded along the sands we found the heat^ 
very oppressive. We had finished the water in our 
gourd, and knew not where to get more. Our Indian 
told us there was a spring half-way up the mountain, 
