194 
PHYSICAL HISTORY OF THE 
to the great beauty and extraordinary extent 
of the view to be obtained from it. Indeed, 
it was here that for the first time the geogra¬ 
phy of the country presented itself to my mind 
as a living reality, in all its completeness. 
Insignificant as is its actual height, the serra 
of Errer6 commands a wider prospect than is 
to he had from many a more imposing moun¬ 
tain ; for the surrounding plain, covered with 
forests, and ploughed by countless rivers, 
stretches away for hundreds of leagues in 
every direction, without any object to obstruct 
the view. Standing on the brow of the serra 
with the numerous lakes intersecting the low 
Ends at its base, you look across the Yalley 
of the Amazons, as far as the eye can reach, 
and through its midst you follow for miles on 
either side the broad flood of the great river, 
carrying its yellow waters to the sea. As I 
stood there, panoramas from the Swiss moun¬ 
tains came up to my memory, and I fancied 
myself standing on the Alps, looking across 
the plain of Switzerland, instead of the bed 
of the Amazons, the distant line of the San- 
tarem hills on the southern bank of the river 
and lower than the northern chain repre- 
