mMKXSE T.XTEXT OP VIEW. 
09 
than eight hundred toises high, it may be seen su]!- 
posing only an ordinary refraction of one fourteenth of tlie 
tb ’ distance of twenty-seven nautical leagues ; but 
. oe state of the atmosphere long concealed from us the ma- 
jestic view of this curtain of moxmtains. It appeared at first 
Ike a fog-bank, which hid the stars near the pole at tlieir 
isujg and setting ; gradually this body of vapour seemed to 
"Ugiiient and condense, to assume a bluish tint, and become 
ounded by sinuous and fixed outlines. The same eti’ects 
kich the mariner observes on approaching a new land pre- 
6kt themselves to the traveller on the borders of the Llano, 
ne horizon began to enlarge in some part, and the vault of 
j^aven seemed no longer to rest at an equal distance on the 
^rass-covered soil. A. llauero, or inhabitant of the Llanos, is 
kappy ojjjy ag expressed in the simple phraseology of 
.^6 country, ho can see ei erywhcre well ai’onnd him.” 
V hat appears to European eyes a covered country, slightly 
Mulated by a few scattered hills, is to him a rugged 
®gion bristled with mountains. After having passed several 
Jonths in the thick forests of the Orinoco, in places where 
ke IS accustomed, when at any distance from the river, to see 
stars only in the zenith, as through the mouth of a well, 
^jlkurney in the Llanos is peculiarly agreeable and attrac- 
The traveller experiences new sensations ; and, like the 
j^.anero, he enjoys the happiness “of seeing well around 
jj But this enjoyment, as we ourselves experienced, is 
and ■ duration. There is doubtless something solemn 
Yi ^*kppsing in the aspect of a boundless horizon, whether 
am^l summits of the Andes or the highest Alps, 
im 1 expanse of the ocean, or in the vast plains of Vene- 
kud Tucuman. Infinity of space, as poets in every 
whf say, is rcfiected within ourselves ; it is associated 
a.i- ,^'^eas of a superior order; it elevates the mind, which 
’ " TJ -.'-- It is true, ’ 
(-m'S^ds in the calm of solitary meditation. It is true, also, 
Tact unbounded space bears a peculiar cha- 
ace pro.spect surveyed from a solitary peak, varies 
as the clouds reposing on the plain extend inlajer-s, 
eye '^P.^'SI^k^kerated in groups, or present to the astonished 
labn ^ '^kkgh broad openings, the habitations of man, the 
our of agriculture, or the verdant tint of the aerial ocean, 
kkuiense sheet of water, animated by a thousand various 
u 2 
