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 Patagonia, and averaging in width five
hundred miles. Stretching, as do these plains, across a large portion
of the South Temperate Zone, they present great varieties of climate.
The northern portion is watered by the River La Plata and its
tributaries. To the south of Buenos Ayres the rivers are fewer and of
less extent. The north-western Pampas consist of slightly undulating
and dry plains, though interspersed with vast tracts on which lofty
thistles rear their heads--useful, however, as fuel to the inhabitants.
Further on, to the west, is a wide-extending pastoral district; and yet
beyond, reaching to the foot of the Cordilleras, the soil is well-suited
for agriculture. The pastoral region is almost a dead level, with large
shallow salt-lakes,--one of them measuring fifty miles in length by
twenty in width. Scarcely a tree is to be found throughout this region,
and but few permanent water-courses. To the north extends a salt desert
for upwards of one hundred miles, with a width of two hundred miles. It
is crossed by the River Salado, which, rising in the Cordilleras, falls
into the Plata, to the south of which rises a number of step-like
terraces, sterile during the heats of summer, but covered with verdure
after the rains of spring. Huge boulders, brown grass growing in tufts,
and low spine-covered bushes, diversify the surface. In this
inhospitable region transitions from heat to cold are very great. Now
the traveller is panting under the intense heat of the sun's rays; and
anon an icy blast rushes across the plain, compelling him to draw close
around his body his thick poncho, for protection against its chilling
influences.
Further to the south are found large swamps and lagoons, one of them
having an area of one thousand square miles, its surface covered with
aquatic plants. In the rainy season, the rivers, overflowing their
banks, inundate the plains--leaving behind, however, a thick deposit of
fertilising soil, from which, as elsewhere, rich crops are capable of
being produced. Further on, to the south, the Pampas, over which the
yet savage and untamed Patagonians roam, and hunt the huanacu and
ostrich, is generally higher and drier.
The South American continent, it will thus be seen, consists of several
distinctly different descriptions of country:--the long line of the
Cordilleras, with their snow-capped peaks and their lofty punas or high
table-lands, and the narrow strip of arid soil at their western base;
the three separate mountain-systems of Venezuela, Guiana, and the
Brazils; the mighty forests bordering the great rivers and their
tributaries, to which must be added the wooded heights of the
inter-tropical regions, where tall trees, including several palms,
flourish at an elevation of many thousand feet above the level of the
ocean; and lastly, the wide-extending regions of the Llanos and the
Pampas. These, as might be supposed, present great varieties of animal
life--though scarcely so great as might have been expected, when it is
remembered that they extend from 10 degrees north to 50 degrees south
latitude. Several species indeed are found far to the north of the
equator, and also near the southern end of the continent. But to give
an idea of these different regions, they must be described in detail.