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Show TEPI'E AND DESERT • 29 in Pnnnonin, on the Marne, and on the Po, desolating those fair and fertile field' which, since the time of An tenor, civilized man had adorned with monument after monument. Thus went forth from the Mongolian de ert a deadly blast, which withered on Cisalpine ground the tender, long-cherished flower of art. From the alt teppes of Asia, from the European Heaths smiling in ummer with their purple blossoms rich in honey, and from the arid De ert of Africa, devoid of all vegetation, let us now return to tho e outh American plains of which I have already begun to trace the picture, albeit in rude outlines. The interest which this picture can offer to the beholder is, however, exclusively that of pure nature. Here no Oasis recalls the memory of earlier inhabitants; no carved stone, (12) no ruined building, no fruit tree once the care of the cultivator, but now wild, speaks of the art or industry of former generations. As if estranged from the destinies of mankind, and rivetting attention solely to the pre ent moment, this corner of the earth appears as a wild theatre for the free development of animal and vegetable life. The Steppe extends from· the Caraccas coast chain to the forests of Guiana, and from the snowy mountains of Merida (on the slope of which the Natron Lake Urao is an object of superstitious veneration to the natives) to the great delta formed by the Orinoco at its mouth. To the south-west a branch is prolonged, like an arm of the sea, (13) beyond the banks 'of the Meta and Vichada to the unvisited sources of the Guaviare, and to the lonely mountain to which the excited fancy of the Spanish soldiery gave the name of Paramo de la Suma Paz- the seat of perfect peace. This Steppe occupies a space of 16,000 (256,000 English) square miles. It has often been erroneously described as running uninterruptedly, and with an equal breadth, to the Straits of Magellan, forgetting the forest-covered plain of the Amazons, which intervenes between the grassy Steppes of the Apure and those of the river Plate. The Andes of Cochabamba, and the Brazilian group of mountains, send forth, between the province of Chiquitos and the isthmus of Villabella, some detached spurs, which advance, as it were, to meet each other. (14) A narrow plain connects the forest lands of the Amazons with the Pampas of Buenos Ayres. The 3* |