When the Spaniards first settled in the beautiful mountain valleys of Caraccas and on the Orinoco, they found the Llanos, in spite of their abundant verdure, almost entirely uninhabited by man, for the Indians were unacquainted with pastoral life; and if the mauritia had not here and there tempted a few savages to settle on the open savannahs, they would have been left entirely to the animal life which from time immemorial had thriven on their herbage. But the Spaniards introduced new quadrupeds into the new world,--the ox, the horse, the ass, our faithful companions over the whole surface of the globe,--and the progeny of these domestic animals, returning to their wild state, has multiplied amazingly in the vast pastures of the Llanos. Man has followed them into their new domain; and small hamlets, often situated whole days’ journeys one from another, and consisting only of a few wretched huts, though generally dignified with the name of towns, proclaim that he has at least made a beginning to establish his empire over these boundless plains. [Illustration: HIGH TABLE-LANDS OF PERU.] CHAPTER III. THE PUNA, OR THE HIGH TABLE-LANDS OF PERU AND BOLIVIA. Striking Contrast with the Llanos--Northern Character of their Climate--The Chuñu--The Surumpe--The Veta: its Influence upon Man, Horses, Mules, and Cats--The Vegetation of the Puna--The Maca-- The Llama: its invaluable Services--The Huanacu--The Alpaca-- The Vicuñas: Mode of Hunting Them--The Chacu--The Bolas--The Chinchilla--The Condor--Wild Bulls and Wild Dogs--Lovely Mountain Valleys. Between the two mighty parallel mountain chains of the Cordillera and the Andes,[3] the giant bulwarks of Western South America, we find, extending throughout the whole length of Peru and Bolivia, at a height of from ten to fourteen thousand feet above the level of the sea, vast plateaus, or table-lands, which are named, in the language of the country, the Puna, or ‘the Uninhabited.’ They present a striking contrast to the Llanos of Venezuela; for though situated, like these sultry plains, within the torrid zone, their great elevation paralyses the effects of a vertical sun, and transfers the rigours of the north to the very centre of the tropical world.