Llanos of South America, 2;
the great plains of the, 7;
extent of, 8;
adapted for breeding cattle, 10;
have become habitable to man, 13, 14;
extension of, 22;
of Caracas, 26, 27, 94;
elevation of, 27;
of Barcelona, 28;
effect of, on the mind, 28;
general observations on, 29;
of the valley of the Amazon, 83;
situated in the torrid zone, 88;
de Apure, temperature of, 137;
extensively overflowed by the Orinoco, 185.
Löffling’s expedition to Cumana, 181.
London’s Arboretum, &c., quoted, 273.
Loxa, town of, 390.
Luminosity of sea-water, 246;
attributed to Mollusca, 247 _et seq._
Lupata, Cordilleras of, covered with eternal snow, 9;
mountain range of, 120.
Lyctonia, ancient land of, 265, 266.
Macos, race of the, 20.
Macrocystis pyrifera, a species of marine fucus, colossal size of, 276.
Macusi Indians, religious traditions of the, 147.
Madagascar River, hedgehogs and tortoises of, 242, 243.
Madrepores, the, 253.
Magdalena River, called “The Great Water,” by the natives, 155;
valley of, 416.
Magellan, straits of, the temperature of, 107.
Magnetic needle, physical effects of the sudden variations of the, 249.
Mahu River, description of the, 186.
Majonkong Indians, mountainous country of the, 176, 180.
Malvaceæ (Mallows), one of the vegetable forms by which the aspect of
Nature is principally determined, 224;
its various families, 305, 306;
on the natural history of the, 306.
Mammalia, the ratio of their numerical distribution, 287, 288.
Man, various races of, in the South American wilds, 20, 142;
his ferocity in a savage state, 20, 151;
discordant elements of, even in civilized life, 21;
everywhere is man opposed to man, 21;
the monuments of his creative genius pass away, while the
life-springs of Nature remain eternal, 173.
Manco Capac, his mysterious appearance in Peru, 397.
Manimi, perilous cataract ledges of, 166.
Mapires, the coffins of the Indians, 171.
Maps, of South America, 181.
Maquitares, race of the, 20.
Mar de Sargasso, geographical situation of, 48.
Marañon, valley of, 402.
Maravaca, mountain of, 179.
Marmot, the, 233.
Massaruni River, navigated, 184, 185.
Mastodons, elephantine, 222.
Matter, vital force of, affinitive and repulsive, 383;
various combinations of, 384, 385.
Mauritia-palms of South America, 12;
useful and nutritious properties of, 13, 135, 136.
Maypures, cataracts of, 153 _et seq._;
general account of the waterfalls of, 162, _et seq._;
missionary village of, 163;
Parrot of, 172.
Mediterranean, great catastrophe by which it was formed, 216, 262–265;
Strato’s account of, 263.
——, three peninsulas of the, Iberian, Italian, and Hellenic, 265.
Medusa hysocella, electric light struck from the, 249.
Mehemet Ali, his exploring expeditions to the Mountains of the Moon,
117.
Melastomaceæ, 160;
one of the vegetable forms by which the aspect of Nature is
principally determined, 229, 346.
Melocactuses, the, 15, 138, 226;
vegetable springs, 312.
Meta, whirlpool and rock at the entrance of the, 161.
Mexican Gulf, rotatory stream of the, 121–124;
coral islands in the, 256.
Mexico, plateau of, its elevation, 58;
elevation of, in the equinoctial zone, 208;
general elevation of, 209;
the Coniferæ and oaks of, 315 _et seq._
Microscope, wonderful discoveries of the, 211.
Migrations, through northern Asia to the western coast of America, 11,
131.
Mimosas, the steppes of South America covered with, 16, 216;
one of the vegetable forms by which the aspect of Nature is
principally determined, 224;
the habitat and natural history of, 307, 308.
Mirage, deceptive appearances of the, 13, 137.
Mississippi, its sources and elevation, 39;
the forest, prairies of, 40;
temperature of the valley of the, 102, 103.
Missouri, deposits of the, 38.
Mœris, Lake, probably once connected with the sea, 244.