means
in preparing the globe for the habitation of man. There came then a
glacial period. Ponderous blocks of ice, resting not only on the
mountainsides, but extending over the plains, and acting the part of
mighty mill-stones, ground into impalpable powder the pieces of detached
rock of which the lower surface was composed, till a soil was formed
capable of producing a wondrous and varied vegetation to clothe that
Amazonian valley.

[The continent, Professor Agassiz supposes, extended at that time
between 200 and 300 miles further east than it does at present; but the
waters from the rapidly-melting mass of ice, forcing a passage towards
the ocean, carried a large portion away, leaving only certain tracts
which now appear in the form of islands at the mouths of the Amazon and
Orinoco.]

The work has been accomplished--the land prepared for its future
inhabitants! Mighty torrents fall from the lofty mountains, meandering
through the vast Amazonian plain. The age of winter has passed away.
The earth, warmed by the fires beneath and the hot sun above, steams
with vapour. Lofty trees rise from the alluvial soil. A dense mass of
underwood springs up; creepers innumerable hang from the boughs;
countless multitudes of insects have been called into existence--
termites, ants, and beetles--feeding on the leaves and herbage, and on
the giant trunks themselves. It might seem, numerous and voracious as
they are, that they must quickly destroy the clothing of verdure which
covers the soil. But they are not destined thus to triumph over the
wonderful work of the Creator's hand.

A law has been framed by which all things are beautifully and
wonderfully balanced. Monstrous animals have been created to place
bounds on their too great increase. Huge, awkward-looking beasts
covered with shaggy hair, with thick, short limbs, and powerful, sharp
claws bent inwards on soft pads--compelling them to move on the edge of
their paws--are busy with the clay-formed nests of the insects, dashing
them asunder, and devouring their active builders--taking in whole
armies at a mouthful.

See yonder huge creature, its body the size of a rhinoceros, covered
with a coat of armour, a convex oval shield, formed of hexagonal plates
wonderfully fitted to each other! It is an armadillo, the precursor of
a race still abounding in the land, though of diminutive form compared
to its mighty predecessor. See how, with powerful jaws, it crunches up