APTER TWO.

A GENERAL VIEW OF SOUTH AMERICA.

Three separate mountain-systems exist in South America:--that of the
Andes on the west, Guiana and Venezuela on the north, and the serras of
Brazil in the centre. The surface of the remainder of the continent is
occupied by vast level, or undulating tracts of different elevations.
The chief portion of the region through which the Amazon flows, but
slightly raised above its surface, is covered with the richest and most
varied vegetation to be found on any part of the globe, extending on
either side of its course, as also along the shores of the Atlantic,
north and south, for many hundreds of miles. Here enormous trees of
many descriptions, of varied shapes and heights, grow in wonderful
profusion. The candelabra, sumaumera, the manicaria, and raphia, with
their enormous leaves, and other palms innumerable, tower towards the
sky. To the south of the Orinoco is another thickly-wooded region,
known as the Silvas; which, united to the woods of Guiana and those of
Brazil, Eastern Peru and Bolivia, form one enormous forest. From the
north bank of the last-named river, the ground gently rises towards the
interior at the rate of five feet in a mile. At a distance of one
hundred miles from its hanks, at a slightly increased elevation, appears
a sandy terrace--the greater portion barren, though in some places
bearing grasses, and supplying water to the wide-extending plains below.
This barren region, which occupies the most northern part of South
America, is called the Llanos Altos. A far wider and more level country
extends between the base of the Andes and the banks of the Orinoco, at a
height of between two hundred and five hundred feet. Not a stone or
rock, not even a pebble, is to be seen on these vast plains. So level
are they, that the currents of the rivers crossing them are almost
imperceptible, and are frequently sent back towards their sources when
met by strong winds. They are covered with grass, which affords
pasturage to large herds of wild cattle--the only other species of
vegetation being a few bushes growing on the banks of the streams; while
here and there, scattered at considerable distances apart, a few tall
palm-trees are seen, reminding the traveller of the deserts of Arabia.

In the southern part of the continent are the treeless plains of the
Pampas, extending from about 20 degrees south latitude for a distance of
fully two thousand miles into Patago