the mountain region, and _La Montaña_, or the wooded region
east of the Andes. _La Costa_, in which Lima is situated, at
the distance of about six miles from the sea, may be briefly
described as a sandy desert, interspersed with fertile valleys,
and watered by several rivers of no great magnitude. It seldom
or never rains there, but there are heavy dews at night which
freshen and preserve the vegetation. The magnificence of the
mountain region baffles all attempts at word-painting, as it
baffles the art of the painter. Church, the artist, gives us what
is, perhaps, the best representation we are ever likely to
have of it, but it is only a glimpse after all. Still more
indescribable, if that be possible, are the enormous wildernesses
which stretch from the Andes to the vast pampas to the eastward.
"Here everything is on Nature's great scale. The whole country
is one continuous forest, which, beginning at very different
heights, presents an undulating aspect. One moves on his way with
trees before, above, and beneath him, in a deep abyss like the
ocean. And in these woods, as on the immensity of the waters,
the mind is bewildered; whatever way it directs the eye there it
meets the majesty of the Infinite. The marvels of Nature are in
these regions so common that one becomes accustomed to behold,
without emotion, trees whose tops exceed the height of 100 varas
(290 English feet), with a proportionate thickness, beyond the
belief of such as never saw them; and, supporting on their trunks
a hundred different plants, they, individually, present rather
the appearance of a small plantation than one great tree. It
is only after you leave the woods, and ordinary objects of
comparison present themselves to the mind, that you can realize
in thought the colossal stature of these samples of Montana
vegetation."