DIMINUTION' OF THE LAKE. 
5 
or five miles. The dimensions, as deduced from mv observa- 
tions are much less than those hitherto adopted by the 
nati\ es. It might be thought that, to form a precise idea 
ot the progressive diminution of the waters, it would be 
sufficient to compare the present dimensions of the lake 
. “l ose . attributed to it by ancient chroniclers , by 
viedo for instance, in his History of the Province of Yene- 
zueia, published about the year 1723. This writer in his 
emphatic style, assigns to “this inland sea, this momtruoso 
cnerpo dela laguna de Valencia,’'* fourteen leagues in length 
and six m breadth. He affirms that at a small distance 
rom the shore the lead finds no bottom ; and that large 
floating islands cover the surface of the waters, which are 
constancy agitated by the winds. Ho importance can be 
attached to estimates which, without being founded on any 
measurement, are expressed in leagues (leguas) reckoned in 
the colonies at three thousand, five thousand, and six thou- 
sand six hundred and fifty varas. f Oviedo, who must so 
thl to rir ed , tLe vallc . vs of Aragua, asserts that 
otth r f Xue J a yalencia del Eey was built in 1555, 
at the distance of half a league from the lake ; and that 
h™ Proportion between the length of the lake and its 
Dreadth, is as seven to three. At present, the town of 
thanWo 1S fV, eparat a d fr ° m f® la , k< \ b . y level ground of more 
3,; *'« “« fi it 
, in as t to 1 b. line appearance of the 
* “ Enormous body of the lake of Valencia.” 
intmdu e ceTUo ei rL th S ^ { ° r * time the only, persons who 
m l wl i , Spamsh colonies any precise ideas on the astrono- 
“r of 2854 m,'l» it f ^ the h ° ua nantica " f 
throughout <?m?h A 20 a u egree n ’ was or, g>nally used in Mexico and 
reduced to “ n If 16 " 08 ’ b u Ut , tllIS le, J ua nauiica ll!,s been gradually 
veiling , 1(T „ t , la f ° r on . e ‘ third - on account of the slowness of tra- 
people °r dry and burnin S plains. The common 
infer from ti l u « dlrectly ’ and the “* b y arbitrary hypotheses, 
mT™ f T" the l paCe ° f fir0Und traveUed °' er - ^ ‘he course of 
■nbiinv the If 1 b f’ e had **!««* opportunities of exa. 
tances hetofn fff , these , lea S ues ’ b y comparing the itinerary dis- 
of latitudes r ° mtS lymg “ nd9r the same “ L ' ridia " with the difference 
