l Guayana; and on the other side the countries or provinces of Cumana,
Maturm, Barcelona, Bolivar, Guarico, Apure, and many others." I then
gave a rapid description of the northern half of the country, with its
vast llanos covered with herds in one part, its plantations of coffee,
rice, and sugar-cane in another, and its chief towns; last of all
Caracas, the gay and opulent little Paris in America.

This seemed to weary her; but the moment I ceased speaking, and before
I could well moisten my dry lips, she demanded to know what came after
Caracas--after all Venezuela.

"The ocean--water, water, water," I replied.

"There are no people there--in the water; only fishes," she remarked;
then suddenly continued: "Why are you silent--is Venezuela, then, all
the world?"

The task I had set myself to perform seemed only at its commencement
yet. Thinking how to proceed with it, my eyes roved over the level area
we were standing on, and it struck me that this little irregular plain,
broad at one end and almost pointed at the other, roughly resembled the
South American continent in its form.

"Look, Rima," I began, "here we are on this small pebble--Ytaioa; and
this line round it shuts us in--we cannot see beyond. Now let us imagine
that we can see beyond--that we can see the whole flat mountaintop; and
that, you know, is the whole world. Now listen while I tell you of all
the countries, and principal mountains, and rivers, and cities of the
world."

The plan I had now fixed on involved a great deal of walking about and
some hard work in moving and setting up stones and tracing boundary
and other lines; but it gave me pleasure, for Rima was close by all
the time, following me from place to place, listening to all I said in
silence but with keen interest. At the broad end of the level summit I
marked out Venezuela, showing by means of a long line how the Orinoco
divided it, and also marking several of the greater streams flowing
into it. I also marked the sites of Caracas and other large towns
with stones; and rejoiced that we are not like the Europeans, great
city-builders, for the stones proved heavy to lift. Then followed
Colombia and Ecuador on the west; and, successively, Bolivia, Peru,
Chile, ending at last in the south with Patagonia, a cold arid land,
bleak and desolate. I marked the littoral cities as we progressed
on that side, where earth ends and the Pacific Ocean begins, and
infinitude.

Then, in a sudden burs