ACROSS UNKNOWN SOUTH AMERICA 
Notwithstanding the constant annoyance of my fol¬ 
lowers, I really enjoyed my journey over the central 
plateau. The air was fresh and deliciously crisp and clear. 
One could see for miles and miles and distinguish the 
smallest detail in the far-away mountain-sides, so pure 
was the atmosphere. This scene was unlike any in other 
countries. One could describe an entire circle around 
oneself, and nowhere did the eye meet a column of smoke 
rising above ground to indicate the presence of man. Not 
a bird was to be seen or heard, not a footprint upon the 
ground of any beast or creature of any kind. The silence 
of that land was most impressive. Our voices, as we spoke, 
sounded astonishingly and abnormally sonorous, in that 
region which for thousands of years had not been con¬ 
taminated by sound. It seemed as if the sound-waves, 
undisturbed by the myriads of sounds which, as is well 
known, remain floating in the atmosphere in inhabited 
countries, were heard there in all their full and absolute 
purity. So much were we all impressed by this fact — 
my men unconsciously — that all the men began to sing, 
so pleased they seemed with the powerful vibration of 
their own voices. 
To the northwest another lovely sight was before us: 
another huge plateau in dim greyish blue barred the 
horizon. In front of it was one more tableland, more 
broken up, and sloping on the south side. 
When we reached the northeast edge of the plateau 
we were travelling upon, we were treated to a marvellous 
scene. Straight in front of us, on the opposite side of a 
deep depression, at 30° bearings magnetic, there stood one 
of the characteristic, two-tiered tablelands stretching from 
east to west. Below us in the depression was an undu¬ 
lating line from north to south of great bosses or domes 
of exquisite, grassy land, resting upon a kind of spur or 
peninsula jutting out from our plateau, but at a lower 
elevation, of which it formed part. 
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