WW) f ' . < f ■ : ;^. ' 1 ■_ ■ ', '. '; ' I f vm y \: '^( Jir >' • ) ■ / • ■ r ' 1' 1 * I- 1 ■: 1 V' !■■• 1^; I ' '■ ^ M ^^S ^^f *F^- I'i/tKifcik I*!,, Wfltf^^'''' THE TRAVELS AND RESEARCHES ALEXANDER VON HUMBOLDT, W. MACGILLIVRAY, LL.D., F.R.S.'E., Professor of Natural History in Marischal College and University of Aberdeen. WITH A NARRATIVE HUMBOLDT'S MOST RECENT RESEARCHES, INXLUDING HIS CELEBRATED JOUBNET TO THE URAL MOLTS'TAIN'S, AND THE CASPIAN SEA, ETC. LONDON: T. NELSON AND SONS, PATERNOSTER ROW; EDINBURGH ; AND NEW YORK. KSIVERSn Y OV CALIFORNH 6AM A BAHBAilA PREFACE. The celebrity which Baron Humboldt enjoys, and which he has earned by a life of laborious investigation and perilous enterprise, renders his name familiar to eveiy person whose attention has been drawn to political statistics or natural philosophy. In the estimation of the learned no author of the present day occupies a higher place among those who have enlarged the boundai'ies of human knowledge. To every one accord- ingly whose aim is the general cultivation of the mental faculties, his works are recommended by the splendid pictures of scener}'- which they contain, the diversified information which they afford respecting objects of uni- versal interest, and the graceful attractions with which he has succeeded in investing the majesty of science. These considerations have induced the Publishers to offer a condensed account of his Travels and Researches, such as, without excluding subjects even of laboured investigation, might yet chiefly embrace those which are best suited to the purposes of the general reader. The public taste has of late years gradually inclined towards objects of useful knowledge, — works of imagi- nation have in a great measure given place to those occupied with descriptions of nature, physical or moral, — and the phenomena of the material world now afford entertainment to many who in former times would have sought for it at a different source. Romantic incidents, perilous adventures, the struggles of conflicting armies, 6 PHEFACE. and vivid delineations of national manners and indivi- dual character, naturally excite a lively interest in every bosom, whatever may be the age or sex ; but, surely, the great focts of creative power and wisdom, as exhibited in regions of the globe of which they have no personal knowledge, are not less calculated to iix the attention of all reflecting minds. The magnificent vegetation of the tropical regions, displaying forests of gigantic trees, interspersed with the varied foliage of in- numerable shrubs, and adorned with festoons of climbing and odoriferous plants ; the elevated table-lands of the Andes, crowned by volcanic cones, whose summits shoot high into the region of perennial snow ; the earthquakes that have desolated populous and fertile countries ; the vast expanse of the Atlantic Ocean, with its circling currents ; and the varied aspect of the heavens in those distant lands, — are subjects suited to the taste of every individual who is capable of contemplatmg the wonder- ful machinery of the universe. It is unnecessiiry here to present an analysis of the labours of the illustrious philosopher whose footsteps are traced in this volume. Suffice it to observe, that some notices respecting his early life introduce the reader to an acquaintance with his character and motives, as the adventurous traveller, who, crossing the Atlantic, tra- versed the ridges and plains of Venezuela, ascended the Qrinoco to its junction with the Amazon, sailed down the former river to the capital of Guiana, and after examining the Island of Cuba mounted by the valley of the Magdalen a to the elevated platforms of the Andes, explored the majestic solitudes of the great Cordilleras of Quito, navigated the margin of the Pacific Ocean, and wandered over the extensive and interesting provinces of New Spain, wjience he made his way back by tliQ PREFACE. 7 United States to Europe. The publication of the im- portant results of this journey was not completed when he undertook another to Asiatic Russia and the confines of China, from which he has but lately returned. From the various works which he has given to the world have been derived the chief materials of this nar- rative ; and, when additional particulars were wanted , application was made to M. de Humboldt himself, who kindly pointed out the sources whence the desired in- formation might be obtained. The life of a man of letters, he justly observed, ought to be sought for in his books ; and for this reason little has been said respecting his occupations during the intervals of repose which have succeeded his perilous journeys. It is only necessary further to apprize the reader, that the several measurements, the indications of the ther- mometer, and the value of articles of industry or commerce, which in the original volumes are expressed according to French, Spanish, and Russian usage, have been reduced to English equivalents. Finally, the Publishers, confident that this abridged account of the travels of Humboldt will prove beneficial in diflFusing a knowledge of the researches of that eminent naturalist, and in leading to the study of those phenomena which present themselves daily to the eye, send it forth with a hope that its reception will be as favourable and extensive as that bestowed upon its predecessors. Edinburgh, October 1832. This edition of Professor Macgillivray's valuable narrative of the journey and researches of Baron Humboldt, is now ex- tended so as to embrace his more recent labours, including his celebrated journey to the Ural Mountains, and his explora- 8 PREFACE. tion of the Altaiau range, and tlie Caspian Sea. It also em- braces a sketch of the profound philosophical speculations sug- gested by the phenomena observed in the Asiatic continent, and published to the world both in his " Central Asia," and his more recent " Kosinos." Enlarged as this work now is by such necessary and valu^ able additions, the publisher confidently anticipates for it a still more favourable reception, and extended popularity, than it commanded in its original form, ECLXBL'ROll. June IS^L CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. INTRODDCTIOX. Birth and Education of Humboldt — His early Occupations—He resolves to visit At'rica— Is disappointed in his Views, and goes to Madrid, where he is introduced to the Kin^, and obtains Per- mission to visit the Spanish Colonies — Observations made on the Journey through Spain — Geological Constitution of the Country between Madrid and Corunna — Climate — Ancient Submersion of the Shores of the Mediterranean— Reception at Corunna, and Preparations for the Voyage to South America, Page 17 CHAPTER II. VOYAGE FROM CORUNNA TO TENERIFFE. Departure from Corunna — Currents of the Atlantic Ocean — Ma- rine Animals — Falling Stars — Swallows — Canary Islands — Lan- cerota — Fucus vitifolius — Causes of the Green Colour of Plants — La Graciosa — Stratified Basalt alternating with Marl — Hya- lite— Quartz Sand — Remarks on the Distance at which Mountains are visible at Sea, and the Causes by which it is modified— Land- ing at TenerifFe, 24 CHAPTER TIL ISLAND OF TENERIFFE. Santa Cruz — Villa de la Laguna — Guanches — Present Inhabitants of TenerifFe — Climate — Scener}' of the Coast — Orotava — Dragon- tree — Ascent of the Peak — Its Geological Character — Eruptions — Zones of Vegetation — Fires of St John, 37 10 CONTENTS. CHAPTER IV. PASSAGE FROM TENERIFFE TO CUMANA. Departure from Santa Cruz— Floatinjr Seaweeds— Flying-fish— Stars — Mali^mant Fever— Island of Tobajjo— Death of a Pas- sen^r Island of Coclie— Port of Cumana — Observations made durinj^ the Voyage; Temperature of the Air; Temperature of the Sea ; Hygrometrical State of the Air ; Colour of the Sky and Ocean, Paj^e 40 CHAPTER V. Landing at Cumana — Introduction to the Governor — State of the Sick — Description of the Country and Citj' of Cumana — Mode of Bathing in the Manzanares — Port of Cumana — Earthquakes ; Their Periodicity ; Connexion with the State of the Atmosphere; Gaseous Emanations ; Subterranean Noises ; Propagation of Sliocks ; Connexion between those of Cumana and the West In- dies ; and General Phenomena, CO CHAPTER VI. RESIDENCE AT CUMANA. Lunar Halo— African Slaves — Excursion to the Peninsula of Araya — Geological Constitution of the Country — Salt-works of Araya — Indians and Muiattoes — Pearl-fishery — Maniquarez Mexi- can Deer— Spring of Naphtha, 68 CHAPTER VII. MISSIONS OF THE CHAYMAS. Kzcursion to the Missions of the Cliayma Indians— Remarks on Cultivation— Tlie Impossible— Aspect of the Vegetation San COM'EMS. J 1 Fernando — Account of a Man who suckled a Child — Curaanacoa — Cultivation of Tobacco — lyneous Exhalations — Jaguars — Mountain of Cocollar — Turimi(juiri — Missions of San Antonio and Guanaguana, Page 75 CHAPTER Vlir, EXCtTHSION CONTINUED, AND RETURN TO CUMANA. Convent of Caripe — Cave of Guacharo, inhabited by Noctinnal Birds— Purgatory — Forest Scenery — Howling Monkeys — Vera Cruz — Cariaco — Intermittent Fevers — Cocoa-trees — Passage across the Gulf of Cariaco to Cumana, i)7 CHAPTER IX. INDIANS or NEW ANDALUSIA. Physical Constitution and Manners of tlie Chaymas — Their Lan- guages— American Races, it? CHAPTER X. RESIDENCE AT CUJIANA. Residence at Cumana— Attack of a Zambo— Eclipse of the Sun — Extraordinary Atmospherical Phenomena — Shocks of an Earth- quake— Luminous Meteors, •1^'' CHAPTER XL VOYAGE FR03I CUMANA TO GUAYRA- Passage from Cumana to La Guayra— PhospLorescence of the Sea- Group of the Caraccas and Chimanas— Port of New Barcelona- La Guayra— Yellow fever— Coast and Cape Blanco— Road irom La Guayra to Caraccas, ''"' 12 CONTENTS. CHAPTER XII. CITY OF CARACCAS AND SURROUNDING DISTRICT. City of Caraccas — General View of Venezuela — Population — Cli- mate— Character of the Inhabitants of Caraccas — Ascent of the Silla— Geological Nature of the District, and the Mines,.. Page 12.5 CHAPTER XIII. EARTHQUAKES OF CARACCAS. Extensive Connexion of Earthquakes — Eruption of the Volcano of St Vincent's— Eartliquake of the 2()lh Marcli 1812— Destruc- tion of the City — Ten Tliousand of the Inhabitants killed. — Con- sternation of the Survivors — Extent of the Commotions, 13 CHAPTER XIV. JOURNEY FROM CARACCAS TO THE LAKE OF VALENCIA. Departure frnm Caraccas — La Biienavista — Valleys of San Pedro and the Tuy — Manterola — Zamang-tree — Valleys of Aragua — I ake of Valencia — Diminution of its Waters — Hot Springs — Jaguar — New Valencia — Thermal Waters of La Trincliera — Porto Cahcllo — Cow-tree — Cocoa-plantations — General View of the Littoral District of Venezuela, 144 CHAPTER XV. JOURNEY ACROSS THE LLANOS FROM ARAGUA TO SAN KEH.S'ANDO. Mountains hclwcen the Valleys of Aragua and the Llanos — Their Geological Constitution — The Llanos of Caraccas — Koute over the Savannah to tiie Rio .\pure— Cattle and Deer— Vegetation — CalalK)zo_Gymnoti or Electric Eels— Indian Girl — Alligators and Boas — Arrival at San Fernando de A[)iire, 161 CO.NTENTS. 13 CHAPTER XVI. VOYAGE DOWN THE IllO APUBE. San Fernando— Commencement of tlie Rainy Season — Progress nf Atmospherical Phenomena — Cetaceous Animals — Voyaj^e down the Rio Apure — Vegetation and Wild Animals — Crocodiles, Chiguires, and Jaguars— Don Ignacio and Donna liiabella — Water-fowl — Nocturnal Howlings in the Forest — Caribe-fish — Adventure with a Jaguar — Manatees — Mouth of the Rio Apure,." Page 17"» CHAPTER XVII. VOYAGE UP THE ORIKOCO. Ascent of the Orinoco — Port of Encararaada — Traditions of a Uni- versal Deluge — Gathering of Turtles' Eggs — Two Species de- scribed— Mode of collecting the Eggs and of manufacturing the Oil — Probable Number of these Animals on the Orinoco — Deco- rations of the Indians — Encampment of Paraniraa — Height of the Inundations of the Orinoco — Rapids of Tabage, I'JO CHAPTER XVIII. VOYAGE UP THE ORINOCO CONTINUED. Mission of Atures — Epidemic Fevers — Black Crust of Granitic Rocks^Causes of Depopulation of the INlissions — Falls of Apures — Scenery — Anecdote of a Jaguar — Domestic Animals — Wild Man of the Woods — Mosquitoes and other poisonous Insects — Mission and Cataracts of Maypures. — Scenery — Inhabitants — Spice-trees — San Fernando de Atabapo — San Baltasar — The Mother's Rock — Vegetation — Dolphins — San Antonio de Javita — Indians — Elastic Gum — Serpents — Portage of the Pimichin — Arrival at the Rio Negro, a Branch of the Amazon — Ascent ot the Casiquiare, 20P 1 4 CONTENTS. CHAPTER XIX. ROUTE FROM ESMERALDA TO AXGOSTURA. Mission of Esmeralda — Ciirare Poison — Indians — Dnida Moun- tain —Descent of the Orinoco — Cave of Ataniipe — Raudalito of Carucari — Mission of Uruana'— Character of the Otomacs^ Clav eaten bj- tlie Natives — Arrival at Anj^ostura — The Travel- lers attacked by Kever — Ferocity of the Crocodiles Page 233 CHAPTER XX. JOURNEV ACROSS THE LLANOS TO NEW BARCELONA. Departure from Angostura — Village of Cari — Natives — Nevp Bar- celona— Hot Springs — Crocodiles — Passage to Curaana, 246 ( IIAPTER XXI. PASSAGE TO IJAVAXNAH, AND RESIDENCE IN CUBA. Passage from New Barcelona to Havannah — Description of the latter — Extent of Cuba — Geological Constitution — Vegetation — Climate — Population — Agriculture — Exports — Preparations for joining Captain Baudin's Expedition — Journey to Batabano, and Voyage to Trinidad de Cuba, 254 ( IIAPTKH XXII. VOYAGE IltOM CIBA TO CAHTIIAGENA. Passage from Trinidad of Cuba to Carthagena — Description of the latter — Village of Turbaco— Air-volcanoes — Preparations for anccnding the Hio Magdalena 2f)4 CONTENTS. 1 5 CHAPTER XXIII. BRIEF ACCOUNT OF THE JOURNEY FROM CARTHAGENA TO QUITO AND MEXICO. vAscent of the Rio Magdalena — Santa Fe de Bogota — Cataract of Tequendama — Natural Bridges of Icononzo — Passage of Quin- diu — Cargueros — Popaj'an — Quito — Cotopaxi and Chimborazo — Route from Quito to Lima^Guayaquil — Mexico — Guanaxuato — Volcano of Jorullo — Pyramid of Cholula, Page 276 CHAPTER XXIV. DESCRIPTION OF NEW SPAIN OR MEXICO. General Description of New Spain or Mexico— Cordilleras — Cli- mates— Mines — Rivers — Lakes — Soil — Volcanoes — Harbours - Population — Provinces — Valley of Mexico, and Description of the Capital — Inundations, and Works undertaken for the Purpose of preventing them, 293 CHAPTER XXV. STATISTICAI. ACCOUNT OF NEW SPAIN CONTINUED. Agriculture of Mexico— Banana, Manioc, and Maize— Cereal Plants — Nutritive Roots and Vegetables — Agave Americana — Colonial Commodities — Cattle and Animal Productions, 320 CHAPTER XXVI. MINES OF NEW SPAIN. Mining' Districts — Metalliferous Veins and Beds — Geological Re- lations of the Ores — Produce of the Mines — Recapitulation.. .333 J 0 CONTENTS. CHAPTER xxvrr. I'ASSAOE FHOM VERA CHUZ TO LLDA AXU PHILADELPHIA, AKD VOYAGE TO EUROPE. Departure from Mexico — Passage to Havannah and Philadelphia — Return to Europe — Results of tlie Journeys in America,.- Page 342 CHAPTER XXVIII. JOURNEY IN CENTRAL ASIA. Qualifications as a Traveller — Great Designs — Invitation by the Emperor of Russia — Uralian Mountains — Ores — Volcanic Phenomena — Geological Observations — The Chinese Frontier — Relations of Plains and Mountain Systems— Depth of the Sea — Climatology — Ethnology — Altaic Mountain Range — Thian Clian — Himalaya System — Lunar Phenomena — Isothermal Zones — Magnetic Currents— Conclusion , S48 ENGRAVINGS. Portrait of Bauon F. H. A. Humboldt,— 7*0 /ace f/ie Vignette. N'IGKETTE— Basaltic Rocks and Cascade of Rejila. DrajTon-tree of Orotava, Pagi- 41! HtiMilwidl's, Route on the Orinoco, ll."} .laj^uar, or American Tiger, IIW Air-volcanoes of Turbaco, 271 Costuraca of the Indians of Mcclioacan, 291 TEAVELS AND EESEAECHES OF BARON HUMBOLDT. CHAPTER I. Introduction. Birth and Education of Humboldt — His early Occupations — He resolves to visit Africa— Is disappointed in his Vievrs, and goes to Madrid, where he is introduced to tlie King-, and obtains per- mission to visit the Spanish Colonies — Observations made on the Journey through Spain — Geological Constitution of the Country between Madrid and Corunna — Climate — Ancient Submersion of the Shores of the Mediterranean — Reception at Corunna, and Preparations for the Voyage to South America. With the name of Humboldt we associate all that is ciiAi' i interesting in the physical sciences. No traveller who soiciuinc has visited remote regions of the globe, for the purpose "ssociutiur of observing the varied phenomena of nature, has added so much to our stock of positive knowledge. While the navigator has explored the coasts of unknown lands, dis- covered islands and shores, marked the depths of the sea, estimated the force of currents, and noted the more ob- vious traits in the aspect of the countries at whix-di lie has touched ; while the zoologist has investigated tlie multiplied forms of animal life, the botanist the diversi- fied vegetation, the geologist the structure and relations of the rocky masses of which the exterior of the earth is composed ; and while each has thus contributed in HIRTII AND EDUCATION OF HUMBOLDT. CiiAl'. L to the illiistnUion of the wonderful constitution of our ,.j^.~,~, planet, the distin.suished traveller whose discoveries kiiuwifUije. form the suhject of this volume stands alone, as uniting in himself a knowledge of all these sciences. Geography, meteorology, magnetism, the distribution of heat, the various ilepartmeiits of natural history, together with the affinities of races and languages, the history of na- tions, tiie political constitution of countries, statistics, commerce, and agriculture, — all have received accumu- lated and valuable additions from the exercise of his rare talents. The narrative of no traveller therefore could be more interesting to the man of varied information. But as from a work like that of which the present volume constitutes a jiart subjects strictly scientific must be excluded, unless when they can be treated in a manner intelligible to the public at large, it may here be stated. that many of the investigations, of which we present the results, must be traced in the voluminous works which the author himself has jmblished. At the same Plnn of il.<- time enough will l)e given to gratify the scientific reader ; **"'" and while the narrative of personal adventure, the phe- noma of tiie ])hysical world, the condition of societies, and the numerous other subjects di^cu;-sed, will afford amu>ement and instruction, let it be remembered, that truths faithfully extracted from tlie Imok of nature are alone calculated to enlarge tiie sjjhere of mental vision ; and that, while fanciful descriptidu is more apt to mis- lead tlian to direct tiie footstej)s of the student, there is reflected from llu' actual examination of tlie material universe a light wlijeh never fails to conduct the mind at once to f-ure knowledge and to pious sentiment. i;lrtii r„-ni>- Frederick Henry Alexiinder Von Humboldt was born nt IJerlin on the 14th of Septemljer 17fi9. He received his academic edneiiti(tn at Gottingen and Frankfort on tlie Oder. In 17'.>0 lie visited Holland and JMigland in' company wiiji .Messrs George Forster and Van Geuns, and in the mine year published his first work, entitled " (JliservHtioiis on tiic Basalts of the Rhine." In IT'JI he went to Fr.yberg to receive the instructions of the HIS EARLV OCCUPATIONS. 19 celebrated Werner, tlie founder of geological science, chap, l The results of some of his observations in tbe mines of that district were published in ] 793, under tlie title of Specimen F/orce Freibergensis Suhterranece. Having been appointed assessor of the Council of Assessor- Mines at Berlin in 1792, and afterwards director-gene- siiipof couiicU of ral of the mines of the principalities of Baireuth and mines. Anspach in Franconia, he directed his efforts to the for- mation of public establishments in these districts ; and in 1795, he visited part of Ital}^ and Switzerland. His active and comprehensive mind engaged in the study of all the physical sciences ; but the discoveries of Galvani seem at this period to have more particularly attracted his attention. The results of his experiments on animal electricity were published in 1796, with notes by Pro- fessor Blumenbach. In 1795 he had gone to A'ienna, visit to where he remained some time, ardently engaged in the Vienna, study of a fine collection of exotic plants in that city. He travelled through several cantons of Salzburg and Styria with the celebrated Von Buch, but was prevented by the war which then raged in Italy from extending his journey to that country, whither he was anxious to proceed for the purpose of examining the volcanic districts of Naples and Sicily. Accompanied by his -po pans. brother William Von Humboldt and Mr Fischer, he then visited Paris, where he formed an acquaintance with M. Aime Bonpland, a pupil of the school of Medi- cine and Garden of Plants, who afterwards becoming his associate in travel, has greatly distinguished himself by his numerous discoveries in botany. Humboldt, from his earliest youth, had cherished an Desire to ardent desire to travel into distant regions little known '''^'^' to Europeans, and, having at the age of eighteen re- solved to visit the New Continent, he prepared himself by examining some of the most interesting parts of Europe, that he might be enabled to compare the geo- logical structure of these two portions of the globe, and acquire a practical acquaintance with the instruments best adapted for aiding him in his observations. For- 20 PROPOSES TO VISIT AFRICA. Pecuniary It-sou rtcs. Proposed visit to Egypt. CHAP. I. tunatc in possessing ample pecuniary resources, he did not experience tlic privations ^vllich have disconcerted the i)hins and retarded the progress of many eminent individuals ; but, not the less subject to unforeseen vicissitudes, he had to undergo several disappointments that thwarted tiie schemes \vhicli, like all men of ardent mind, he had indulged himself in forming. Meeting with a person passionately fond of the fine arts, and anxious to visit Ui)per Egypt, he resolved to accompany liim to that interesting country ; but political events interfered and forced him to ab^mdon the project. The kno\vlcdii:e of the monuments of the more ancient na- tions of the Old World, which he acquired at this period, was subsequently of great use to him in his researches in the New Continent. An expedition of discovery to the southern hemisphere under the direction of Captain Baudiii, then preparing in France, and with which MM. Michaux and Bonpland were to be associated as na- turalists, held out to him the hope of gratifying his desire of exploring unknown regions. But the war Interference wliicli broke out in Germany and Italy compelled the government to withdraw the funds allotted to this cnterpi'ise. Becoming acquainted with a Swedish con- sul who happened to pass through Paris with the view of embarking at Marsiillcs on a mission to Algiers, he resolved to embrace the opportunity thus offered of visiting Africa, in order to examine the lofty chain of mountains in the empire of f.Iorocco, and ultimately to join the body of scientific men attached to the French army in Kgypt. Accompanied by his friend Bonpland, lie tiicrefore betook himself to Marseilles, where he waited for two months the arrival of the frigate which was to convey the consul to his destination. At length, learning that this vessel had been injured by a storm, lie resolved to p;us» the v.'inter in Spain, in hopes of findiuL' another tiie following spring. On his way to Madrid, be deti rmined the geographical position of several important parts, and ascertained the height of the central plain of Ciistile. In March 1799 ith liii olaiis. V'iidl to Maurid. OBTAINS LEAVE TO VISIT SPANISH COLOMKS. 21 he was presented at the court of Aranjucz, and gra- chai>. u ciously received by the king, to Avhom he explained pian~of~ the motives which induced him to undertake a voyage ^''^'t ^" to the New Continent. Being seconded in his applica- tion by the representations of an enlightened minister, Don Mariano Luis de Urquijo, he to his great joy ob- tained leave to visit and explore, without impediment or restriction, all the Spanish territories in America. The impatience of the travellers to take advantage of the permission thus granted did not allow them to bestow much time upon preparations ; and about the middle of May they left Madrid, crossed part of Old Castile, Leon, and Galicia, and betook themselves to Corunna, whence they were to sail for the island of Cuba. According to the observations made by our travellers. Observations the interior of Spain consists of an elevated table-land, "* ^'^"'' formed of secondary deposites, — sandstone, gypsum, rock-salt, and Jura limestone. The climate of the Castiles is much colder tlian that of Toulon and Genoa, its mean temperature scarcely rising to 59° of Fahren- heit's thermometer. The central plain is surrounded by a low and narrow belt, in several parts of which the fan-palm, the date, the sugar-cane, the banana, and many plants common to Spain and the north of Africa, vegetate, without suffering from tlie severity of the winter. In the space included between the parallels of thirty-six and forty degrees of nortli latitude the mean temperature ranges from 62° to G8° Fahrenheit, and by a concurrence of favourable circumstances this section has become tlie jjrincipal scat of industry and intellectual cultivation. Ascending from the shores of the Mediterranean, to- '''ain of La wards the elevated plains of La Mancha and the Castiles, one imagines that he sees far inland, in the extended precipices, the ancient coast of the Peninsula, — a cir- cumstance which brings to mind the traditions of the Samothracians and certain historical testimonies, accord- ing to which the bursting: of the waters through the oo AHKIVAI, AT COKUNNA. DardanclK-s, while it enlarged the basin of the Mediter- ranean, overwhelmed the southern part of Europe. The high central plain just descrihcd would, it may be presumed, resist tlie effects of the inundation until the escape of the waters by the strait formed l)etween the Pillars of lli'rcules had gradually lowered the level of the Mediterianean, and thereby once more laid bare Upper Egypt on the one hand, and on the other the fertile valleys of Tarragon, Valentia, and Mureia. From Astoi-ga to Corunna the mountains gradually rise, the secondary strata disappear l)y degrees, and the transition- rocks which succeed announce tiie proximity of primitive formations. Large mountains of gray wacke and gray wacke-slate present themselves. In the vici- nity of the latter town are granitic summits which extend to Cape Ortegal, and which might seem, with those of Brittany and Cornwall, to have once formed a chain of mountains that has l)een broken up and sub- mersed. This rock is characterized by large and beautiful crystals of felspar, and contains tin-ore, which is worked with much labour and little profit by the Galicians. On arriving at Corunna, they found the port block- aded by the English, for the purpose of interrupting the communication between the mother-country and the American colonies. The principal secretary of state had recommended them to Don Raliiel Clavigo, recentl}' appointed director-general of the maritime posts, who neglected nothing that could render their residence agreeable, and advised them to enibark on board the corvette Pizarro bound for Ilavannah and Mexico. Instructions were given for the safe disposal of the iiistrunu-nts, and the captain was ordered to stop at TcncriHc so loni; as should be found necessary to en- able the travellers to visit the port of Orotava and n-scend the IVak. During the few days of their detention, they occupied thcnisclvcs in j)r(i)aring the i)lants which they had collected, and in makiim sundry obsur\\».tioijs. Crossing TEMPERATLRE OP THE SEA 23 to FciTol they made some interesting- experiments on CUAP. I. the temperature of the sea and the decrease of heat in KxperimentB the successive strata of the water. The thermometer '-^^ i'enol on the bank and near it was from 5-i'5^ to 55-9°, while in deep water it stood at 59° or 59-5°, the air being 55°. The fact that the proximity of a sand-bank is indicated by a rapid descent of the temperature of the sea at its surface, is of great importance for the safety of navi- gators ; for, although the use of the thermometer ought not to supersede that of the lead, variations of tempera- ture indicative of danger may be perceived by it long before the vessel reaches the shoal. A heavy swell from the north-west rendered it impossible to continue their experiments. It was produced by a storm at sea, and obliged the English vessels to retire from the coast, — a circumstance which induced our travellers speedily to embark their instruments and baggage, although they were prevented from sailing by a high westerly wind that continued for several days. 24 DEPAUTUUE FROM CORUNAA. CHAPTER II. Voyage from Corunna to Teneriffe. Departure from Corunna — Currents of the Atlantic Ocean — Ma- rine Animals — Falling Stars — Swallows — Canary Islands— Lan- cerota — Fucus vitifolius — Causes of the Green Colour of Plants — La Graciosa— Stratified Basalt alternating^ with Marl — Hj-a- lite — ^Quartz Sand — Remarks on the Distance at which Mountains are visible at Sea, and the Causes by which it is modified — Land- iuir at Teneriffe. lu^piirture from Co- runna. tvcninc lioriiuu ul •cu. The wind having come round to the north-east, the Pizarro set sail on the afternoon of the 5th of June 1799, and after working out of the narrow passage passed the Tower of Hercules, or lighthouse of Corunna, at half-past six. Towards evening the wind increased, and the sea ran high. They directed their couree to the north-west, for the purpose of avoiding the English frigates which wore cruising off the coast, and about nine spied the fire of a fishing-liut at Si.'iitrga, which was tlie last oliject they bclield in the west of Europe. As tliey advanced, the light mingled itself witli the stars which rose on tlie horizon. " Our eyes," says Huinl)oldt, " remained involuntarily fixed upon it. Such impressions do not fode from tlie memory of tiiose wlio have undertaken long voyages at an age when the emotions of tlie heart are in full force. How many recollections are awakened in tite imagination by a luminous jjoint, wliit-li in the middle of a dark night, appearing at intervals above the agitated waves, marks tliu shore of one's native land !" EQUINOCTIAL CURRENT. 2i) They were obliged to run under courses, and pro- Ciur. il cceded at the rate of ten knots, although the vessel was stoi-mv" not a fast sailer. In the morning of the 6th she rolled weather. so much that the fore topgallant-mast was carried away. On the 7th they were in the latitude of Cape Finisterre, belonging to the group of granitic rocks named the Sierra de Torinona, which is visible at sea to the distance of 59 miles. On the 8th at sunset, they discovered from the mast-head an English convoy ; and to avoid them they altered their course during the night. On the 9th they began to feel the effect of the great current which flows from the Azores towards the Straits of Gibraltar and tlie Canaries. Its direction was at first east by south ; but nearer the inlet it became due east, and its force was such as, between 37° and 30° lat., sometimes to carry the vessel, in twenty-four hours, from 21 to 80 miles eastward. Between the tropics, especially from the coast of Equmoctiaj Senegal to the Caribbean Sea, there is a stream that '=^"^°'- always flows from east to west, and which is named the Equinoctial Current. Its mean rapidity may be esti- mated at ten or eleven miles in twenty-four hours. This movement of the waters, which is also observed in the Pacific Ocean, having a direction contrary to that of the earth's rotation, is supposed to be connected with Supposed the latter only in so far as it changes into trade-winds <=™^^- those aerial currents from the poles, which, in the lower regions of the atmosphere, carry the cold air of the high latitudes towards the equator ; and it is to the general impulse which these winds give to the surface of the ocean that the phenomenon in question is to be attributed. This current carries the waters of the Atlantic to- its effect wards the Mosq\iito and Honduras coasts, from which they move northwards, and passing into the Gulf of Mexico follow the bendings of the shore from Vera Cruz to the mouth of the Rio del Norte, and from thence to the mouths of the Mississipi)i and the shoals at 2(3 GULF STHKAM. Oiance of cuurse. ciiAi'. II. the southern extremity of Florida. After ])en'orming foi.r5e"oi- this circuit, it again directs itself northward, rushing tl.e cuiTtnt with great impetuosity througli the Straits of Bahama. At the end of these narrows, in the parallel of Cape Canaveral, the flow, which rushes onward like a torrent sometimes at the rate of five miles an hour, runs to the north-east. Its velocity diminishes and its breadth enlarges as it proceeds northward. Between Cayo Biscaino and the Bank of Bahama the width is only 52 miles, while in 285^ of lat. it is 5'J ; and in the parallel of Charlestown, opposite Cape Ilenlopen, it is from 138 to 173 miles, the rapidity being from three to five miles an hour where the stream is narrow, and only one mile as it advances towards the north. To the east of Boston and in the meridian of Halifax the current is nearly 270 miles broad. Here it suddenly turns towards the east ; its western margin touching the extremity of the great bank of Newfoundland. From this to the Azores it continues to flow to the E. and E.S.E., still retaining part of the impulse which it had received nearly 3500 miles distant in the Straits of Florida. In the mer"dian of the Isles of Corvo and Flores, the most western of the Azores, it is not less tiian 552 miles in breadth. From the Azores it directs itself towards the Straits of Gibraltar, the island of Madeira, and the Canary Isles. To the south of Ma- deira, we can distinctly follow its motion to the S.E. and S.S.E. bearing on the sliores of Africa, between Capes Cantin and Bojador. Cape Blanco, which, next to Cape "N'erd, farther to the south, is the most promi- nent part of that coast, seems again to influence the direction of the stream ; and in this parallel it mixes witii the great equinoctial current already described. In tliis maimer the waters of the Atlantic, between the parallels of 11° and -13°, are carried round in a continual whirliwol, which lIuml)ol(lt calculates must take two years and ten months to perform its circuit of 13,1 18 miles. This great current is named the Gulf- Clrcnlt of tlic een orden d to toucli at Lancerota, one of the Canaries, to ascertain whether the harbour lA ISLAND OF LANCKKOTA. 29 Santa Cruz in TenerifFe was blockaded by the English ; chap. II. and on the IGth, in the afternoon, the seamen discovered , ,„,"~~»„ land, which proved to be that island. As they advanced, tliey saw first the island of Fortevontura, famous for the number o-f camels reared upon it, and soon after the smaller one of Lobos, Spending part of the night on deck, the naturalists viewed the volcanic summits ol Lancerota illumined by the moon, and enjoyed the beautiful serenity of the atmosphere. After a time, great black clouds, rising behind the volcano, shrouded at intervals the moon and the constellation of Scorpio. They observed lights carried about on the shore, pro- bably by fishermen, and having been employed occa- sionally during their passage in reading some of the old Spanish voyages, these moving fires recalled to their imagination those seen on the island of Guanahani on the memorable night of the discovery of the New World. In passing through the archipelago of small islands, Configia- situated to the north of Lancerota, they were struck by coasts! ^^^ the configuration of the coasts, which resembled the banks of the Rhine near Bonn. It is a remarkable cir- cumstance, our author observes, that, while the forms of animals and plants exhibit the greatest diversity in different climates, the rocky masses present the same appearances in both hemispheres. In the Canary Isles, as in Auvergne, in the Mittelgebirge in Bohemia, in Mexico, and on the banks of the Ganges, the trap for- mation displays a symmetrical arrangement of the mountains, exhibiting truncated cones and graduated platforms. The whole western part of Lancerota announces the Voican character of a country recently deranged by volcanic '^"'^^^ action, every part being black, arid, and destitute of soil. The Abbe' Viera relates, that in 1730 more than half of the island changed its appearance. The great volcano ravaged the most fertile and best cultivated district, and entirely destroyed nine villages. Its erup- tions were preceded by an earthquake, and violent 30 COI.OIR OF MARINE PLANTS. CHAP. Contiiiut tion of bliocks. Aiicicn Cuiianaii Marine Effects of llfihL IL sliocks coiitiniud to he felt for several j-ears, — a iilieno- iiienon of rare occurrence, the agitation of the ground usually ceasing after a disengagement of lava or other volcanic products. The summit of the great crater, called the corona, is rounded, and its height has been accurately determined at 18(57 feet. The island of Lan- cerota was formerly named Titeroigotra, and at the time of the arrival of the Spaniards its inhabitants were *• more civilized than the other Canarians, living in houses built of hewn stone, while the Guanches of Tencritfe resided in caves. There was then a very singular institution in the island. The women had several husijands, each of whom enjoyed the prerogative be- longing to the head of a family in succession, the others remaining for the time in the capacity of common domestics.* The occurrence, between the islands of Alegranza and ."^lontana Clara, of a singular marine jjroduction with light-green leaves, which was brought up by the lead from a great dej)th, affords our author, in his narrative, an opportunity of stating some interesting facts respect nig the colouring of plants. This seaweed, growing at the bottom of the ocean at a depth of 205 feet, had its vine-shaped leaves as green as those of our gramineffi. According to Bouguer's experiments, light is weakened after a piissage of 11)2 feet, in the proportion of 1 to 1477"8. At the depth of 205, this fucns could only have had light equal to half of that supplied I)y a candle seen at the distance of a foot. The germs of several of the liliacea-, the embryo of the mallows and other * A similar practice is stated by Mr Fraser, in his "Journal oJ a Tour throiiirli tlie Himala JMoiiiitaiiis." p. 20t), to occur in seve ral of the kil, provinces of India. " It is usual all over the coun- try (,.r the liitui e hushaiid to purchase his wile Croni her jiarents ; and the .sum thfis paid varies oC course with tlie rank of the purchaser. 1 he diHicuhy of laisin^' this sum, and the allcj^'ed expense of main- lauiiiij: women, may in part account fur, if it cannot excuse, a most di>t:nsliii^; u'Hjie, whi. Ii is universal over the country. Three or lour .ir Miore hrolh.-rs many and cohahit with one woman, who is the wife ..I all. They are unahle to raise the requisite sum indiviilually, und ihus club llieir shares, and buy this one common spouse.' LA GHACIOSA. 31 families, the branches of some subterranean phxnts, and CiiAl'. il. vegetables transported into mines in which the air colour contains hydrogen oi' a great quantity of azote, become witiiout green without light. From these facts one might be '^ ' ' induced to think that the existence of carburet of iron, which gives the green colour to the parenchyma of plants, is not dependent upon the presence of the solar rays only. Turner and many other botanists are of Marine opinion that most of the seaweeds which we find floating "'--'' on the ocean, and which in certain parts of tlie Atlantic present the appearance of a vast inundated meadow grow originally at the bottom of the sea, and are torn off b}^ the waves. If this opinion be correct, the femily of marine algs presents great difficulties to those jthy- siologists who persist in thinking that, in all cases, the absence of light must produce blanching. The captain, having mistaken a basaltic rock for a Opportune castle, saluted it, and sent one of the officers to inquire ™'''"'^'^ if the Englisli were cruising in those parts. Our travellers took advantage of the boat to examine the land, which they had regarded as a prolongation of the coasts of Lancerota, but which turned out to be the small island of La Graciosa. " Nothing," says Hum- boldt, " can express the emotion a naturalist feels when Emotions on for the first tune he lands in a place which is not ''^"''^"S European. The attention is fixed upon so many ob- jects, that one can hardly give an account of the impres- sions which he receives. At every step he imagines that he finds a new production ; and, in the midst of this agitation, he often does not recognise those which are most common in our botanical gardens and museums." A fisherman, who, having been frightened by the firing, had fled from them, but whom the sailors overtook, stated that no vessels had been seen for several weeks. The rocks of this small island were of basalt and marl, destitute of trees or shrubs, in most places without a trace of soil, and but scantily crusted with lichens. The basalts are not columnar, but arranged in strata from 10 to IG inches thick, and incline to the north-west 32 GEOLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS. Basaltic rocka Different ciiAi'. II. at an angle of 80 degrees, alternating with marl. Some of these strata are compact, and contain large crystals of foliated olivine, often porous, with oblong cavities, from two to eight lines in diameter, which are coated with calcedon y, and enclose fragments of compact basalt. The marl, which alternates more than a hundred times witli the trap, is of a yellowish colour, extremely friable, very tenacious internally, and often divided into irre- gular prisms like those of basalt. It contains much lime, and effervesces strongly with muriatic acid. The travellers had not time to reach the summit of a hill, the base of which was formed of clay, with layers of basalt resting on it, precisely as in the Scheibenberger Huegel of Saxony. These rocks were covered with hyalite, of which they procured several fine specimens, leaving masses eight or ten inches square untouched. On the shore there were two kinds of sand, the one l)lack and basaltic, the other white and quartzy. Ex- posed to the sun's rays the thermometer rose in the former to 12-i-2°, aitd in the latter to 10-4° ; while in the shade the temperature of the air was 81'8°, being 13'5° higher than the sea air. The quartzy sand contains fragments of felspar. Pieces of granite have been olj- served at Teneriffe ; and the island of Gomera, according to M. Broussonet, contains a nucleus of mica-slate. From these facts lIuml)oldt infers, that, in the Canaries as in the Andes of Quito, in Anvcrgne, Greece, and most ])arts of the globe, the subterranean fires have made their way through i)rimitivc rocks. Having re-embarked, they hoisted sail, and cndea- vnured to get out again by the strait whicli separates Alcgranza from Montana Clara; but, the wind having fallen, tlie currents drove them close upon a rock marked in old ciiarts I)y the name of Infierno, and in modern ones under that of Roca del Oeste, — a basaltic mass which has prol)ably l)een raised by volcanic agency. 'Jacking during tlie night between Montana Clara and this islet, tliey were several times in great danger among «hi;lve8 towards which they were drawn by the motion Clianfjc of wimL PEAK OF TENERII FE. 3,; of the water ; but the wind freshening in the morning, CHAP. ii. they succeeded in passing the channel, and sailed along ^^^{^^ the coasts of Lancerota, Lobos, and Forteventura. of atmos- The haziness of the atmosphere prevented them from ^ '*"'■ seeing the Peak of TenerifFe during the whole of their passage from Lancerota ; but our traveller, hi his nar- rative, states the following interesting circumstances relative to the distance at which mountains may be seen. If the height of the Peak, he says, is 12,182 feet, as indi- cated by the last trigonometrical measurement of Borda, its summit ought to be visible at the distance of 148 miles, supposing the eye at the level of the ocean, and the refraction equal to 0*079 of the distance. Navigators who frequent these latitudes find that the Peaks of Te- Peaks of nerifFe and the Azores are sometimes observed at very great distances, while at other times they cannot be seen when the interval is considerably less, although the sky is clear. Such circumstances are of importance to navi- gators, who, in returning to Europe, impatiently wait for a sight of these mountains to rectify their longitude. The constitution of the atmosphere has a great influence on the visibility of distant objects, the transparency of the air being much increased when a certain quantity of water is uniformly diffused through it. It is not surprising that the Peak of Teneriffe should Causes of be less frequently visible at a great distance than the Jjfvi^luf tops of the Andes, not being like them invested with perpetual snow. The Sugar-loaf, which constitutes the summit of the former, no doubt reflects a great degree of light, on account of the white colour of the pumice with which it is covered ; but its height does not form a twenty-secondth part of the total elevation, and the sides of the volcano are coated with blocks of dark- coloured lava, or with luxuriant vegetation, the masses of which reflect little light, the leaves of the trees being separated by shadows of greater extent than the illu- minated parts. Hence the Peak of TenerifFe is to be referred to the class of mountains which are seen at great distances only B 34 DISTANCE AT WHICH MOUNTAINS ciiAi'. u ill what Bouguer calls a negative manner, or because Ciaion is one minute only when the dimensions of objects are the same in all directions. EffcTtof As the visibility of an object, which detaches itself ros'iilm" from the sky of a brown colour, depends on the quan- tities of light the eye meets in two lines, of which one ends at the mountain and the other is prolonged to the surface of tlie aerial ocean, it follows that the farther we remove from the o])ject, the less also becomes the ditt"erence between tlie light of the surrounding atmos- phere and that of the strata of air placed before the niountain. For this reason, when summits of love elevation begin to appear above the horizon, they are of a darker tint than those more elevated ones which we discover at very great distances. In like manner, the vi-»f.io(rical The hill on which the Villa de la Laguna stands be- longs to the series of basaltic mountains, which forms a girdle around the Peak, and is independent of the newer volcanic rocks. The basalt on which the travellers walked was blackish-brown, compact, and partially de- composed. Tliey found in it hornblende, olivine, and transparent pyroxene, with lamellar fracture, of an olive-green tint, and often crystallized in six-sided prisms. The rock of Laguna is not columnar, but divided into thin beds, inclined at an angle of from 30'' to 40°, and has no appearance of having been formed by a current of lava from the Peak. Some arborescent Kupliorbiip, Cacalia kleinia, and Cacti, were the only jilants observed on these parched acclivities. The mules blijtped at every step on the inclined surfaces of the rock, althougli traces of an old road were observable, which, with tlie numerous other indications that occur in these colonies, afford evidence of the activity displayed by the Spanish nation in the sixteenth century. ii'.-it nf The heat of Siuita Cruz, which is suffocating, is in a «^ '"-"^ great niejisure to be attributed to the reverberation of the rocks in its vicinity ; but as the travellers approached Lagnim they became sensible of a very pleasant dimi- GUANCiirs. .30 niition of temperature. In fact, tlie perpetual coolness chap, ul which exists here renders it a delightful residence. It LaKuua is situated in a small plain, surrounded by gardens, and commanded by a hill crowned with the laurel, tlie myrth', and the arbutus. The rain, in collecting, forms from time to time a kind of large pool or marsh, which has induced travellers to describe the capital of TenerifFe as situated on the margin of a lake. Tlie town, which was deprived of its opulence in consequence of the port of Garachico having been destroyed by the lateral erup- tions of the volcano, has only 9000 inhabitants, of which aliout 400 are monks. It is surrounded by numerous com wind- windmills for corn. Humboldt observes, that the cereal "''"*• grasses were known to the original inhabitants, and that parched barley flour and goat's milk formed their prin- cipal meals. This food tends to show that they were connected with the nations of the Old Continent, perhaps even with those of the Caucasian race, and not with the inhabitants of the New World, who, previous to the arrival of the Europeans among them, had no knowledge of grain, milk, or cheese. The Canary Islands were originally inhabited by Guanches. a people famed for their tall stature, and knovvn by the name of Guanches. They have now entirely disappeared under the oppression of a more powerful and more en- lightened race, which, assuming the superiority supposed to be sanctioned by civilisation and the profession of the Christian faith, disposed of the natives in a manner little accordant with the character of a true follower of the cross. The archipelago of the Canaries was divided Tiieir into small states hostile to eacli other ; and in the M- ment. teenth century, the Spaniards and Portuguese made voyages to these islands for slaves, as the Europeans have latterly been accustomed to do to the coast of Guinea. One Guanche then became the property of another, who sold him to the dealers ; while many, rather than become slaves, killed their children and themselves. The natives had been greatly reduced in this manner, when Alonzo de Lugo completed their 40 CLIMATE OF TENERIFFE, r>e8truc- rion of the native:!. Population. CHAP. III. sulijugation. The residue of that unhappy people perished by a terrible pestilence in 1494, which was supposed to have originated from the bodies left exposed by the Spaniards after the battle of Laguna. At the present day, no individual of pure blood exists in these islands, where all that remains of the aborigines are certain mummies, reduced to an extraordinary de- gree of desiccation, and found in the sepulchral caverns which are cut in the rock on the eastern slope of the Peak. These skeletons contain remains of aromatic plants, especially the Chenopodium ambrosioides, and are often decorated with small laces, to which are suspended little cakes of baked earth. The people who succeeded the Guanches were de- scended from the Spaniards and Normans. The present inhabitants are described by our author as being of a moral and religious character, but of a roving and enterprising disposition, and less industrious at home than abroad. The population in 1790 was 174,000. The produce of the several islands consists chiefly of wheat, barley, maize, potatoes, wine, a great variety of fruits, sugar, and other articles of food ; but the lower orders are frequently obliged to have recourse to the roots of a species of fern. The principal ol)jects of commerce are wine, brandy, archil (a kind of lichen used as a dye), and soda. TeneritfV- has been praised for the salubrity of its climate. The ground of the Canary Islands rises gra- dually to a great heiglit, and presents, on a small scale, the temperature of every zune, from the intense heat of Africa to the cold of the Alpine regions ; so that a person may have the benefit of whatever climate' best suits his temperament or disease, A similar variety exists as to the vegetation ; and no country seemed to our traveik-rs more fitted to dissipate nn lancholy, and restore j)eHce to an agitated mind, than Teneriffe and Madeira, where the natural l)eauty of the situation, and the salubrity of the air, conspire to quiet the anxieties ji tlie spirit and invigorate the body, while the feelings A-EGETATION OF TENERIFFE. -1 1 arc not harassed by the revolting sight of slavery, which chap, hi exists in almost all the European colonies. In winter the climate of Laguna is excessively foggy, Winter and the inhabitants often complain of cold, although ^"^^ snow never falls. The lowest height at which it occurs annually in TenerifFe has not been ascertained ; but it has been seen in a place lying above Esperanza de la Laguna, close to the town of that name, in the gar- dens of which the breadfruit-tree {^Artocarpus incisa), introduced by M. Broussonet, has been naturalized. In connexion with this subject, Humboldt remarks, that in hot countries the plants are so vigorous that they can bear a greater degree of frost than might be expected, provided it be of short duration. The banana is culti- vated in Cuba, in places where the thermometer some- times descends to very near the freezing-point ; and in Spain and Italy, orange and date trees do not perish, although the cold may be nearly four degrees below that point. Trees growing in a fertile soil are remarked by cultivators to be less delicate, and less affected by changes of temperature, than those planted in land that affords little nutriment. From Laguna to the port of Orotava, and the western western coast of Teneriffe, the route is at first over a hilly "^'^^ country covered by a black argillaceous soil. The sub- jacent rock is concealed by layers of ferruginous earth ; but in some of the ravines are seen columnar basalts, with recent conglomerates, resembling volcanic tufas lying over them, which contain fragments of the former, and also, as is asserted, marine petrifactions. This delightful country, of which travellers of all nations speak with enthusiasm, is entered by the valley of Tacoronte, and presents scenes of unrivalled beauty. The seashore is ornamented with palms of the date and Palm trees cocoa species. Farther up, groups of muste and dragon- trees present themselves. The declivities are covered with vines. Orange-trees, myrtles, and cypresses, sur- round the chapels that have been raised on the little hills. The lands are separated by enclosures formed of 42 SCENERY — DUUASNO. CHAP. iiL the agave and cactus. Multitudes of cryptogamic plants, rian~ i-specially ferns, cover the walls. In winter, while tlie volcano is wrajiped in snow, there is continued spring in this beautiful ciistrict ; and in summer, towards evening, the sea-breezes diffuse a gentle coolness over it. From Teguestc and Tacoronte to the village of San Juan de la Ranibla, the coast is cultivated like a garden, and might lie compared to the neighbourliood of Capua or Valcntia ; but tlie western part of Teneriffe is much more beautiful, on account of the proximity of the Peak, the sight of Volcanic which has a most imposing effect, and excites the ima- action gination to penetrate into the mysterious source of volcanic action. For thousands of years no light has been observed at the summit of the mountain, and yet enormous lateral eruptions, the last of which happened in 1798, prove tlie activity of a fire wiiicli is far from being extinct. There is, besides, something melancholy in the sight of a crater placed in the midst of a fertile and highly cultivated country. Mantanza Pursuing their course to the port of Orotava, the ai.J \-ittoiij. travellers passed the beautiful hamlets of Matanza and Vittoria (slaughter and victory), — names which occur together in all the Spanish colonies, and present a dis- agreeable contrast to the feelings of peace and quiet which these countries inspire. On their way they Prfitanic visited a botanic garden at Durasno, where they found Lu. jyj_ T^^ Gros, the French vice-consul, who subsequently served as an excellent guide to the Peak. The idea of forming such an establishment at TenerifFe originated witli the Marquis de Nava, who thought that the Canary Inlands afford the most suital)]e place for naturalizing tlie j)lants of the East and West Indies, previous to their introduction to Europe. They arrived very late nt the port, and next morning commenced their journey to the Peak, accompanied by M. Le Gros, M. Lalande, secretary of the French consulate at Santa Cruz, the English gardener of Dura-sno, and a numl)er of guides. Orjur.. Orotava, the 'I'aoro of the Guanches, is situated on a verv hteej) declivity, and lias a pleasant aspect wlien DKAGON-TREE OF CKOTAVA. 43 CHAT, in Drafcon-trec of Orotava. viewed from a distance, although the houses, when seen DragoTitree. at hand, have a gloomy appearance. One of the most remarkable objects in this place is the dragon-tree in the garden of M. Franqui, of which an engraving is here presented, and which our ti'avellers found to be about 60 feet high, with a circumference of 48 feet near tlie roots. Tlie trunk divides into a great number of branches, which rise in the form of a candelabrum, and are terminated by tufts of leaves. This tree is said to Great ape. have been revered by the Guanches as the ash of Ephesus was by the Greeks ; and in 1402, at the time of the first expedition of Bethencour, was as large and as hollow as our travellers found it. As the species is of very slow growth, the age of this individual must be great. Leaving Orotava, they passed by a narrow and stony path through a beautiful wood of chestnuts to a place covered with brambles, laurels, and arborescent heaths, 41 ASCKN r or THE PEAK. Ascent of tlic peu'ii. plieno- Dieiion. I maces of fAee of tt I. where, under a solitary pine, known by the name of I'ino del Doinajito, they procured a supply of water. From this place to the crater they continued to ascend without crossing a single valley, passing over several regions distinguished by their peculiar vegetation, and rested during part of the night in a very elevated position, where they suffered severely from the cold. About three in the morning they began to climb the Sugar- loaf, or small terminal cone, by the dull light of fir- torches, and examined a small subterranean glacier or cave, whence the towns below are supplied with ice througliout the summer. In tlie twilight they observed a phenomenon not unusual on high mountains, — a stratum of white clouds spread out beneath, concealing the face of the ocean, and presenting the appearance of a vast plain covered with snow. Soon afterwards another very curious sight occurred, namely, the semblance of small rockets thrown into the air, and which they at first imagined to be a certain indication of some new erujjtion of the great volcano of Laneerota. But the illusion soon ceased, and they found that the luminous points were only the images of stars magnified and refracted by the vapours. They remained motionless at intervals, then rose per- pendicularly, descended sidewise, and returned to their original position. After three hours' march over an extremely rugged tract, the travellers readied a small ))lain called La Kambleta, from the centre of which rises the Piton or Sugar-loaf. The slope of this cone, covered with volcanic ashes and pumice, is so steep that it would have been almost impossible to reach the summit, had they not ascended by an old current of lava, wliicli had in some measure resisted the action of the atmosphere. ic On attaining the top of this steep, they found them- selves on the edge of the crater, from whicli they de- s<'ended to the bottom of the funnel or caklera, the tjreatcst diameter of wliich at the mouth seimed to be 020 feet. There were no large openings in the crater ; I'KAK OF TENERIFFK. 4.'} hut aqueous vapours were emitted by some of the ere- chap. mi. vices, in which heat was perceptible. In fact, the E-uptto,'* volcano has not been active at the summit for tliousands of years, its eruptions having been from the sides, and the depth of the crater is only about 106 feet. After examining the objects tliat presented themselves in tliis elevated spot, and enjoying the vast prospect, the travellers commenced their descent, and towards evening reached tlie port of Orotava. The Peak of TenerifFe forms a pyramidal mass having Dimension* a circumference at the base of more than 116,110 yards, "^'■'^p^^'^ and a height of 12,176 feet.* Two-thirds of the mass are covered with vegetation, the remaining part being steril, and occupying about ten square leagues of surface. The cone is very small in proportion to the size of the mountain, it having a height of only 637 feet, or ^^^ of the whole. The lower part of the island is composed of Geological basalt and other igneous rocks of ancient formation, and ''■*^'■''■" is separated from the more recent lavas and the products of the present volcano by strata of tufa, puzzolana, and clay. The first that occur in ascending the Peak are of a black colour, altered by decomposition, and sometimes porous. Their basis is wacke, and has usually an irre- gular, but sometimes a conchoidal fracture. They are divided into very tliin layers, and contain olivine, magnetic iron, and augite. On the first elevated plain, that of Retama, the basaltic depositcs disappear beneath heaps of ashes and pumice. Beyond this are lavas, " Various measurements have been made of the heij^^Iit of the Peak.of Tenerifte ; but Humboldt, after enumerating- fourteen, states that the followint;- alone can be considered as deservinjr of confidence : Borda's, by trigonometry, 1905 toises. Borda's, by the barometer, 1976 Lamanou's, by the same, 1902 Cordier's, by the same, 1920 The average of these four observations makes the height 1926 toises; but if the barometric measurement of Borda be rejected, as liable to objections particularh- stated by our author, the mean of the remainmg measurement is 19119 toises, or 12.20!i Engli--h feet. It is seen above, that the height adopted by Humboldt is 1904 toises, or 12,176 English feet. 4(; VOLCANIC KlUPTIONS. Accounts of eruptions. CHAP. III. vitli a basis of pitch-stone and obsidian, of a blacl thing announced the magnificence of nature in the equinoctial regions. Before accompanying our learned friends to the city of Cumana, we may here take a glance of the physical observations made by them during the voyage, and whicii refer to tlie temperature of the air and sea, and other subj<-cts of general interest. Temperature of the ^j>.— In the basin of the northern AtlaJitic Ocean, between the coasts of Europe, Africa, and America, the temperature of the atmosphere exhi- TEMPERATURE. 57 bits a very slow increase. From Corunna to the cmvp. iv Canary Islands, the thermometer, observed at noon, and in the shade, gradually rose from 50° to 64°, and from TenerifFe to Cumana from 64° to 77°. The maximum of heat observed during the voyage did not exceed 79*9°. The extreme slowness with which the temperature Oradnai increases during a voyage from Spain to South America ^ '""^es. is highly favourable to the health of Europeans, as it gradually prepares them for the intense heat which they have to experience. It is in a great measure attributable to the evaporation of the water, augmented by the motion of the air and waves, together with the property possessed by transparent liquids of absorbing very little light at their surface. On comparing the numerous observations made by navigators, we are surprised to see that in the torrid zone, in eitlier hemi- sphere, they have not found the thermometer to rise in the open sea above 93° ; while in corresponding latitudes on the continents of Asia and Africa, it attains a much greater elevation. Tlie difference between the tempera- ture of the day and night is also less than on land. Temperature of the Sea. — From Corunna to the mouth Tempera- of the Tagus, the temperature of the sea varied little '""'® "^ ^*'*' (between 59° and 60-8°) ; but from lat. 39° to 10° N., the increase was rapid, and generally uniform (from 59° to 78'4°), although inequalities occurred, probably caused by currents. It is very remarkable, that there is a great uniformity in the maximum of heat every where in the equinoctial waters. This maximum, which varies from 82° to 84-2°, proves that the ocean is in general warmer than the atmosphere in direct contact with it, and of which the mean temperature near the equator is from 78*8° to 80-6°. Hygrometrical State of the Air. — During the whole of HyCTo- the voyage, the apparent humidity of the atmosphere ^'^['^of .ij. indicated by the h3'grometer underwent a sensible in- crease. In July, in lat. 13° and 14° N., Saussure's hygrometer marked at sea from 88° to 92°, in perfectly clear weather, tlie thermometer being at 75-2°. On the Real 58 COLOUR OF THE SKY. banks of the Lake of Geneva the mean Immidity of the same month is only 80*^, the average heat being G6"2°. iiuinidity On reducing these observations to a uniform temperature, we lind that the real humidity in the equinoctial basin of the Atlantic Ocean is to that of the summer months at Geneva as 12 to 7. This astonishing degree of mois- ture in the air accounts to a great extent for the vigorous vegetation which presents itself on the coast of South America, where almost no rain falls during many years. Intensity Intensity of the Colour of the Sky and Ocean. — From ?i ^'."'"" the coasts of Spain and Africa to those of South America, the azure colour of the sky increased from 13^ to 23° of Saussure's cyanometer. From the 8th to the 12th of July, in lat. 12.',° and 14° N., the sky, although no vapour could be observed, was of an extraordinary paleness, the instrument indicating only 16° or 17°, although on the preceding days it had been at 22°. The tint of the sky is generally deeper in the torrid zone than in high lati- tudes, and in the same parallel it is fainter at sea than on land. The latter circumstance may be attributed to the quantity of aqueous vapour which is continually rising towards tlie higher regions of the air from the surface of the sea. From the zenitli to the horizon, there is in all latitudes a diminution of intensity, which follows nearly an arithmetical progression, and depends upon the moisture suspended in the atmosphere. If the cyano- meter indicate this accumulation of vapour in the more elevated portion of the air, the seaman possesses a simpler method of judging of the state of its lower regions, by So'ioj dib'i observing the colour and figure of the solar disk at its rising and setting. In the torrid zone, where meteoro- logical ])henoniena followeach other witli great regularity, the prognostics are more to be depended upon than in nortliern regions. Great paleness of the setting sun, and an extraordinary disfiguration of its disk, almost certainly pre&ige a storm ; and yet one can hardly con- ceive iiow tlic condition of the lower strata of the air, which is announced in this manner, can be so intimately COLOUR OF THE OCEAN. 59 conpectcd with those atmospherical changes that take chap, iv place after eight or ten hours. Mariners, are accustomed to observe the appearances Ji;>riners of the sky more carefully tlian landsmen, and among cat^is! '' the numerous meteorological rules which pilots transmit to each other, several evince great sagacity. Prognostics are also in general less uncertain on the ocean, and especially in the equinoctial parts of it, than on land, where the inequalities of the ground interrupt the re- gularity of their manifestation. Humboldt also applied the cyanometer to measure Colo-ar of the colour of the sea. In fine calm weather, the tint ^^^ was found to be equal to 33°, 38°, sometimes even 44° of the instrument, although the sky was very pale, and scarcely attained 14^ or 15°. When, instead of directing the apparatus to a great extent of open sea, the observer fixes his eyes on a small part of its surface viewed through a narrow aperture, the water appears of a rich ultramarine colour. Towards evening again, when the edge of the waves, as the sun shines upon them, is of an emerald-green, the surface of the shaded side reflects a purple hue. Nothing is more striking than the rapid Rapid changes which the colour of the sea undergoes under a -^'^^'ises- clear sky, in the midst of the ocean and in deep water, when it may be seen passing from indigo-blue to the deepest green, and from this to slate-gray. The blue is almost independent of the reflection of the atmosphere. The intertropical seas are in general of a deeper and purer tint than in high latitudes, and the ocean often remains blue, when, in fine weather, more than four- fifths of the sky are covered with light and scattered clouds of a white colour. (K) LANDING AT CUMANA. CHAPTER V. Cumana. Landing at Cumana — Introduction to the Governor — State of the Sick — Description of the Country and City of Cumana— Mode of Bathini^ in the Manzanares — Port of Cumana — Earthquakes ; Their Periodicity ; Connexion with the State of the Atmosphere; Gaseous Emanations; Subterranean Noises; Propajjation of Shocks; Connexion between those of Cumana and the West In- dies ; and General Phenomena. CHAP. V The city of Cumana, the capital of New Andalusia, is a C:t)'^f~ mile distant from the landing-place, and in proceeding Cumana. towards it our travellers crossed a large sandy plain, which separates the suburb inhabited by the Guayqueria Indians from the seashore. The excessive heat of the atmosphere was increased by the reflection of the sun's rays from a naked soil, the thermometer immersed in which rose to 99 •0°. In the little pools of salt water it remained at 86'9°, while the surface of the sea in the port generally ranges from 77"4° to 79'3'^. The first plant gathered by them was the Avicennia tomentosa, which is remarkable for occurring also on the Malabar coast, and belongs to the small number that live in so- ciety, like the heaths of Europe, and are seen in the torrid zone only on the shores of the ocean and the ele- vated platforms of the Andes. Don Vicente Crossing the Indian suburb, the streets of which were mparau. ^,^^^, j^^,^^^^ ^]^^y ^^.^^.^ conducted by the captain of the I'izarro to the governor of the province, Don Vicente Emparan. who received them with frankness ; expressed STATE OF THE SICK. (]\ his satisfaction at the resolution which they had taken chap. V. of remaining for some time in New Andalusia ; showed j, ~T" them cottons dyed with native plants, and furniture made of indigenous wood ; and surprised them with questions indicative of scientific attainments. On dis- embarking their instruments, they had the pleasure of finding that none of them had been damaged. They hired a spacious house in a situation favourable for as- tronomical observations, in which they enjoyed an agree- able coolness when the breeze arose, the windows being without glass, or even the paper panes which are often substituted for it at Cumana. The passengers all left the vessel. Those who had Recovery of been attacked by the fever recovered so very slowly, ^^^ ^'^^ that some were seen a month after, who, notwithstanding the care bestowed upon them by their countrymen, were still in a state of extreme debility. The hospitality of the inhabitants of the Spanish colonies is such that the poorest stranger is sure of receiving the kindest treatment. Among the sick landed here was a negro, Death of a who soon fell into a state of insanity and died ; which negra fact our author mentions, as a proof that persons Lorn in the torrid zone are liable to suffer from the heat of the tropics after having resided in temperate climates. This individual, who was a robust young man, was a native of Guinea, but had lived for some years on the elevated plain of Castile. The soil around Cumana is composed of gypsum and c,p;| ^^^ calcareous breccia, and is supposed at a remote period to plants. have been covered by the sea. The neighbourhood of v the city is remarkable for the woods of cactus which are spread over the arid lands. Some of these plants were thirty or forty feet high, covered with lichens, and di- vided into branches in the form of a candelabrum. When the large species grow in groups they form a thicket which, while it is almost impenetrable, is ex- tremely dangerous on account of the poisonous serpents that fiisquent it. The fortress of St Antonio, which is built on a calcar- 62 CITY OF CUMANA. CHAP. V eous hill, commands the town, and forms a picturesqus ,. , ohiect to vessels entcrinirtlie port. On the south-western st^Viitonio slope of the same rock are the ruins of the castle of St Mary, from the site of which there is a fine view of the Gulf, together with the island of Margarita and the small isles of Caraccas, Picuita, and Boracha, which present the most singular appearances from the effect of mirage. Site of the "^^^^ ^^^Y °^ Cumana, properly speaking, occupies the city. ground that lies between the castle of St Antonio and the small rivers IManzanares and Santa Catalina. It has no remarkable buildings, on account of the violent earthquakes to which it is subject. The suburbs are almost as populous as the town itself, and are three in number : namely, Serritos, St Francis, and that of the Guayquerias. The latter is inhaluted by a tribe of civilized Indians, who, for upwards of a century, have adopted the Castiiian language. The whole populatior in 1802 was about eighteen or nineteen thousand. Surronndini; The plains wliicli surround the city have a parched country. and dusty aspect. The hill on wliich the fort of St Antonio stands is also bare, and composed of calcareous breccia, containing marine shells. Southward, in the distance, is a vast curtain of inaccessible mountains, also of limestone. These ridges are covered by majestic forests, extending along the sloping ground at tluir base to an open plain in the nciglibourhood of Cumana, through which the river Manzanares winds its way to the sea, fringed with mimosas, erythrinas, ceibas, and other trees of gigantic growth. RivorMan- This river, tlie temperature of -which in the season of the floods descends as low as 71 '6'', when that of the air is as high as OT, is an inestimable benefit to the inhabi- tants ; all of whom, even the women of the most opu- lent families, learn to swim. Tlie mode of bathing is various. Our travellers frequented every evening a very respectalilc society in the suburb of the Guay- querias. In the beautiful moonlight, chairs were placed in the water, on which were seated the ladies and uiuaies. BATHING IN THE RIVER. G3 gentlemen, lightly clothed. The family and the stran- CHAp. v. gers passed several hours in the river, smoking cigars Native and chatting on the usual subjects of conversation, such pas'imes. as tlie extreme drought, tlie abundance of rain in the neighbouring districts, and the female luxuiy which prevails in Caraccas and Ilavannah. The company were not disturbed by the bavas, or small crocodiles, which are only three or four feet long, and are now extremely rare. Humboldt and his companions did not meet with any of them in the Manzanares ; but they saw plenty of dolphins, which sometimes ascended the river at night, and frightened the bathers by spouting water from their nostrils. The port of Cumana is capable of receiving all the Tort of navies of Europe ; and the whole of the Gulf of Cariaco, which is forty-two miles long and from seven to nine miles broad, affords excellent anchorage. The hurricanes of the West Indies are never experienced on these coasts, where the sea is constantly smooth, or only slightly agitated by an easterly wind. The sky is often bright along the shores, while stormy clouds are seen to gather among the mountains. Thus, as at the foot of the Andes, on the western side of the continent, the extremes of clear weather and fogs, of di-ought and heavy rain, of absolute nakedness and perpetual verdure, present them- selves on the coasts of New Andalusia. The same analogy exists as to earthquakes, which are Frequency of irequent and violent at Cumana. It is a generally- received opinion that the Gulf of Cariaco owed its existence to a rent of the continent, the remembrance of which was fresh in the minds of the natives at the time of Columbus' third voyage. In 1530, the coasts of Paria and Cumana were agitated by shocks ; and towards the end of the sixteenth century, earthquakes and inundations very often occurred. On the 21st October 17C6, the city of Cumana was entirely destroyed in the space of a few minutes. Tlie earth opened in several parts of the province, and emitted sulphureous waters. During the years 1766 and 1767, the inhabi- 64 EARTHQUAKES. CHAP. V Destruction of tbe city. Prp\1ous indications Irregular occurrences. Atmospheric (adlcutiong. tants encamped in the streets, and tliey did not begin to rebuild tbeir liouses until tbe earthquakes took place only once in four weeks. These commotions had been preceded by a drought of fifteen months, and were accompanied and followed by torrents of rain which swelled the rivers. On the 14th December 1797, more than four-fifths of the city were again entirely destroyed. Previous to this, the shocks had been horizontal oscillations ; but the shaking now felt was that of an elevation of the ground, and was attended by a subterraneous noise, like the explosion of a mine at a great depth. The most violent concussion, however, was preceded by a slight undulating motion, so that the inhabitants had time to escape into the streets ; and only a few perished, who had betaken themselves for safety to the churches. Half an hour before the catastrophe, a strong smell of sulphur was experienced near the hill of the convent of St Francis ; and on the same spot an internal noise, which seemed to pass from S.E. to N.W., was heard loudest. Flames appeared on the banks of the I\Ian- zanarcs and in the Gulf of Cariaco. In describing this frightful convulsion of nature, our author enters upon general views respecting earthquakes, of which a very brief account may be here given. The great earthquakes which interrupt the long series of small shocks do not appear to have any stated times at Cumana, as they have occurred at intervals of eighty, of a hundred, and sometimes even of less than thirty years ; whereas, on the coasts of Peru, — at Lima, for example, — there is, without doubt, a certain degree of regularity in the periodical devastations thereby occa- sioned. It has long been believed at Cumana, Acapulco, and Lima, that there exists a perceptible relation between eartiiquakes and the state of the atmosphere which pre- cedes these phenomena. On the coasts of New Anda- lusia the people become uneasy when, in excessively liot weather and after long drought, the breeze suddenly EARTHQUAKES. 65 ceases, and tlie sky, clear at the zenith, presents the chap. v. appearance of a reddish vapour near the horizon. But these prognostics are very uncertain, and the dreaded evil has arrived in all kinds of weather. Under the tropics the regularity of the horary vaT'ia- EfTect tions of the haronieter is not disturhed on the days when n"ete'r ^^°' violent shocks occur. In like manner, in the temperate zone the aurora horealis does not always modify the variations of the needle, or the intensity of the magnetic forces. When the earth is opened and agitated, gaseous Gaseous emanations occasionally escape in places considerably emanatioas. remote from unextinguished volcanoes. At Cumana, flames and sulphureous vapours spring from the arid soil, while in other parts of the same province it throws out water and petroleum. At Riobamba, a muddy inflammable mass called moya issues from crevices which Moya close again, and forms elevated heaps. Flames and smoke were also seen to proceed from the rocks of Alvidras, near Lisbon, during the earthquake of 1755, by which that city was ravaged. But in the greater number of earthquakes it is probable that no elastic fluids escape from the ground, and when gases are evolved, they more frequently accompany or follow than precede the shocks. The subterranean noise which so frequently attends Sutten-a- earthquakes is generally not proportionate to the strength "'^'*° """"^ of the shocks. At Cumana it always precedes them ; while at Quito, and for some time past at Caraccas and in the West India Islands, a noise like the discharge of a battery was heard long after the agitation had ceased. The rolling of thunder in the bowels of the earth, which continues for months without being accompanied by the least shaking, is a very remarkable phenomenon. In all countries subject to earthquakes the point at which the effects are greatest is considered as the source or focus of the shocks. We forget that the rapidity with which the undulations are propagated to great distances, even across the basin of the ocean, proves the D in New Andalusi.u 66 EAUTUQUAJIES. CHAP. V. centre of action to be very remote from the earth's Diffusimi surface. Hence it is clear tliat earthquakes are not of eartii- restricted to certain species of rocks, as some naturalists **"" *"*■ assert, but pervade all ; although sometimes, in the same rock, the upper strata seem to form an insuperable obstacle to the propagation of the motion. It is curious also, that in a district of small extent certain formations interrupt the sliocks. Thus, at Cumana, before the catastrophe of 1797, the earthquakes were felt only along the southern or calcareous coast of the Gulf of Cariaco, as far as the town of that name, while in the peninsula of Araya, and at the village of Maniquarez, the ground was not agitated. At present, however, the peninsula is as liable to earthquakes ixs the district around Cumana. Eartiiquaki'4 In New Andalusia, as in Chili and Peru, the shocks follow the line of the shore, and extend but little into the interior, — a circumstance which indicates an inti- mate connexion between the causes that produce earth- quakes and volcanic eruptions. If the land along the coasts is most agitated because it is generally lowest, why should not the shocks be equally strong in the savannahs, which are onl}' a few yards above the level of the sea ? Relation The earthquakes of Cumana are connected with those Quakcv' <^f the West Indies, and are even suspected to have some relation to the volcanic phenomena of tlie Andes. On the 4th February 1797, the province of Quito under- went so violent a conmiotion that 40,000 pursons were destroyed ; and at the same period shocks were experi- enced in the Eastern Antilles, followed by an ei-uption of the volcano of Guadaloupe, in the end of September 1707. On the 14th December the great concussion took place at Cumana. r.^iont of It has long been remarked, that earthquakes extend their cfl^ects to much greater distances than volcanoes ; and it is i)roba))le, as has just been mentioned, that the causes wliicli produce the former have an intimate con- nexion with the latter. When seated within the verge etl EARTHQUAKES. f)7 of a burning crater, one feels the motion of the ground cHAP. v. several seconds before each partial eruption. The phe- . — nomcna of earthquakes seem strongly to indicate the the giouud. action of elastic fluids endeavouring to force their way into the atmosphere. On the shores of the South Sea the concussion is almost instantaneously communicated from Chili to the Gulf of Guayaquil, over a space of 2070 miles. The shocks also appear to be so much the stronger the more distant the country is from active volcanoes ; and a province is more agitated, the smaller the number of funnels by which the subterranean cavi- ties communicate with the open air. G8 LUNAR UALOEB. CHAPTER VI. Residence at Cumana, Lunar Halo — Africnn Slaves — Excursion to the Peninsula of Araya — Geological Constitution of the Country — Salt-works of Arava — Indians and Mulattoes — Pearl-fishery — Maniquarez — Mexi- can Deer — Spring of Naphtha. CHAP. Yl The occupations of our travellers were much disturLed Disturbnnce during the first weeks of their abode at Cumana, by the of TUitors. intrusion of persons desirous of examining their astro- nomical and other instruments. They however deter- mined the latitude of tlie great square to be 10° 27' 52", and its longitude 64° 10' 2". i.tmarhnio. ^^ *-'^^ ^'"''^^ ^^ August, a halo of the moon attracted the attention of the inhabitants, who viewed it as the presage of a violent earthquake. Coloured circles of this kind, Humboldt remarks, are much rarer in the northern than in the southern countries of Europe. They are seen more especially when the sky is clear and tlic weather settled. In the torrid zone they appear ahnrist every night, and often in the space of a few minutes disappear several times. Between the latitude of 15° N. and tlic equator he has seen small haloes around tlie planet Venus, but never observed any in connexion witli the fixed stars. While the halo was seen at Cumana, the liygrometer indicated great humi- dity, altliough the atmosphere was perfectly transparent. It consisted of two circles ; a larger, of a whitish colour, and 44° in diameter, and a smaller, displaying all the Planetary EXCURSION TO AKAYA. 69 tints of the rainbow, and 1° 43' in diameter. The chap. \a intermediate space was of the deepest azure. " Part of the great square is surrounded with arcades, slave over which is a long wooden gallery, where slaves '"aiiift imported from the coast of Africa are sold. These were young men from fifteen to twenty years of age. Every morning cocoa-nut oil was given them, with which they rubbed their skin, to render it glossy. The persons who came to purchase them examined their teeth, as we do those of horses, to judge of their age and health. Yet the Spanish laws, according to our author, have never favoured the trade in African slaves, the number of whom in ] 800 did not exceed GOOO in the two pro- vinces of Cumana and Barcelona, while the whole population was estimated at 110,000. The first excursion which our travellers made was to Excursion the peninsula of Araya. They embarked on the Man- '** Araya. zanares, near the Indian suburb, about two in the morning of the 19th August. The night was delight- fully cool. Swarms of shining insects (^Elater noctilucus) sparkled in the air and along the banks of the river. As the boat descended the stream they observed a com- pany of negroes dancing to the music of the guitar by the light of bonfires, — a practice which they prefer to mere relaxation or sleep, on their daj's of rest. The bark in which they passed the Gulf of Cariaco gj-eat cold, was commodious, and large skins of the jaguar were spread for their repose during the night. The cold, however, prevented them from sleeping, although, as they were surprised to find, the thermometer was as high as 71*2°. The circumstance, that in a warm country a degree of cold, which would be productive of no inconvenience to the inhabitant of a temperate cli- mate, excites a disagreeable feeling, is worthy of the attention of physiologists. When Bouguer reached the summit of Pelee, in the island of Martinico, he trembled with cold, although the heat was above 70*7° ; and in heavy showers at Cumana, when the thermometer indi- JO PENINSULA OF ARAYA. Landing. Salt woi'ks CHAP \i. cates the same temperature, the inhabitants make bitter complaints. About eight in tlie morning they landed at the point of Araya, near the new salt-works, which are situated in a plain destitute of vegetation. From this spot are seen tlie islet of Cubagua, the lofty hills of JMargarita, the ruins of the catitle of St Jago, the Cerro de la Vela, and the limestone ridge of the Bergantin, bounding the horizon toward the south. Here salt is procured by digging brine-pits in the clayey soil, which is impreg- nated with muriate of soda. In 1799 and 1800, the consumption of this article in the provinces of Cumana and Barcelona amounted to 9000 or 10,000 fanegas, each 16 arrobas, or 405| 11)S. avoirdupois. Of this quantity the salt-works of Araya yield only about a third part ; the rest being obtained from sea- water in the IMorro ot Barcelona, at Pozuelos, at Piritu, and in the Golfo Triste. In order to understand the geological relations of this saliferous clay, it is necessary to follow our author in his exposition of the nature of the neighbouring country. Three great parallel chains of mountains extend from east to west. The two most noitherly, which are primitive, constitute the Cordilleras of the island of Margarita, as well as of Araya. The most southerly, the Cordillera of Bergantin and Cocollar, is secondary, although more elevated than the others. The two former have been separated by the sea, and the islets of Coche and Cubagua are supposed to be remnants of the submersed land. The Gulf of Cariaco divides the chains of Araya and Cocollar, which are connected, to the east of the town of Cariaco, between the lakes of Campoma and PutiUjuao, by a kind of dike. This barrier, which has the name of Cerro de Meapire, prevented, in remote times, the waters of the Gulf of Cariaco from uniting with those of the Gulf of Paria. The western slope of the peninsula of Araya, and the jdains on which rises the castle of St Anthony, are covered with recent deposites of sandstone, clay, and frooloffical relations of saliferous c'.ay. Recent deiiObltca. SALT WORKS OF ARAYA. 71 gypsum. Near Maniquarez, a conglomerate with cal- CHAP. vr. careens cement rests on the mica-slate ; while on the upperstrau opposite side, near Punta Delgada, it is superimposed on a compact bluish-gray limestone, containing a few organic remains, traversed by small veins of calcareous spar, and analogous to that of the Alps. The saliferous clay is generally of a smoke-gray colour, Appearance earthy and friable, but encloses masses of a dark -brown of^saiiferous tint and more solid texture. Selenite and fibrous gypsum are disseminated in it. Scarcely any shells are to be seen, although the adjacent rocks contain abundance of them. The muriate of soda is not discoverable by the naked eye ; but when a mass is sprinkled with rain- water, and exposed to the sun, it appears in large crys- tals. In the marsh to the east of the castle of St Jago, Muriate of which receives only rain- water, crystallized and very ^^^'^ pure muriate of soda forms, after great droughts, in masses of large size. The new salt-works of Araya have five very extensive reservoirs, with a depth of eight inches, and are supplied partly with sea-water and partly with rain. The evaporation is so rapid, that salt is col- lected in eighteen or twenty days after they are filled ; and it is freer from earthy muriates and sulphates than that of Europe, although manufactured with less care. After examining these works, they departed at the Overtaken decline of day, and proceeded toward an Indian cabin ^^ "'§'"• some miles distant. Night overtook them in a narrow path between a range of perpendicular rocks and the sea. Arriving at the foot of the old castle of Araya, which stands on a bare and arid mountain, and is crowned with agave, columnar cactus, and prickly mimosas, they were desirous of stopping to admire the majestic spectacle, and observe the setting of the planet Venus ; but their guide, who was parched with thirst, earnestly urged them to return, and hoped to work on their fears by continually warning them of jaguars and rattlesnakes. They at length yielded to his solicitations ; but, after proceeding three quarters of an hour along a shore covered by the tide, they were joined by the negro that carried their 72 PEARL FISHERIES. CHAP. VI. provisions, who led them through a wood of nopals to IndiaiT" ^^^ '^^^ '^^ ^^ Indian, where they were received with hospitality, cordial liospitality. The several classes of natives in this district live by catching fish, part of which they carry to Curaana. The wealth of the inhabitants consists chiefly of goats, which are of a very large size, and brownisli-yellow colour. They are marked like the mules, and roam at large. Spanisii Among the muLittoes, whose hovels surrounded the ^"^"^ salt-lake near which they had passed the night, they found an indigent Spanish cobbler, who received them with an air of gravity and importance. After amusing them with a display of his knowledge, he drew from a leathern bag a few very small pearls, which he forced them to accept, enjoining them to note on their tablets, "that a poor shoemaker of Araya, but a white man, and of noble Castilian descent, was enabled to give them what, on the other side of the sea, would be sought for as a tiling of great value." Pearl-bheU. The pearl-shell (^Avicula Margaritifera) is abundant on the slioals wliich extend from Cape Paria to the Cape of Vela. Margarita, Cuhagua, Coche, Punta Araya, and the mouth of the Rio la Ilacha, were as celebrated in the sixteenth century for them as the Persian Gulf was among the ancients. At the beginning of the conquest, the island of Coche alone furnished 1500 marks (i)25 Produce r,f Troy pounds) monthly. The portion whicli the king's uie peai ». offi(.(.i.3 drew from the produce of the pearls amounted to £32G5 ; and it would a])pear, tliat up to 1530 the value of those sent to Europe amounted, at a yearly average, to more than £170,000. Towards the end of the sixteenth century, this fishery diminished rapidly ; and, according to Laet, had been long given up in 1633. Tlie artificial imitations, and the great diminution of the shells, rendered it less lucrative. At present, the Gulf of Panama and tlie mouth of the Rio de la Hacha are the only parts of Soutli America in which this branch of industry is continued. On the morning of the 20thj a young Indian conducted GEOLOGICAr. PHKNOMENA. 73 the travellers over Barigon and Caney, to the villaffe oi chap. vi. Maniquarez. The thermometer kept as high as 88-3°, ,, j — 7 and before their guide had travelled a league, he fre- quently sat down to rest himself, and expressed a desire to repose under the shade of a tamarind-tree until night should approach. Humboldt explains the circumstance, that the natives complain more of lassitude under an in- tense heat than Europeans not inured to it, by a refer- ence to their listless disposition, and their not being excited by the same stimulus. In crossing the arid hills of Cape Cirial they perceived Petroleum. a strong smell of petroleum, the wind blowing from the side where the springs of that substance occur. Near the village of Maniquarez they found the mica-slate cropping out from below the secondary rocks. It was of a silvery white, contained garnets, and was traversed by small layers of quartz. From a detached block of this last, found on the shore, they sepai-ated a fragment of cyanite, the only specimen of that mineral seen by them in South America. A rude manufacture of pottery is carried on at that jj^tive hamlet by the Indian women. The clay is produced by pottery. the decomposition of mica-slate, and is of a reddish colour. The natives being unacquainted with the use of ovens, place twigs around the vessels, and bake them in the open air. At the same place they met with some Creoles who cenms had been hunting small deer in the uninhabited islet of Mesicanna Cubagua, where they are very abundant. These crea- tures are of a brownish-red hue, spotted with white, and of the latter colour beneath. They belong to the species named by naturalists Cervus Mexicanus. In the estimation of the natives the most curious pro- duction of the coast of Araya is what they call the eye- Eyo-stoDc. stone. They consider it as both a stone and an animal, and assert, that when it is found in the sand it is motionless ; whereas on a polished surface, as an earthen plate, it moves when stimulated by lemon-juice. When introduced into the eye, it expels every other substance /4 EVE-STONES. CHAT. M. that may liave accidentally insinuated itself. The people offered these stones to the travellers by hundreds, and wished to put sand into their eyes, that they might try the power of this wondrous remedy ; which, however, was nothing else than the operculum of a small shellfish, srrcam of Near Cape de la Brea, at the distance of eighty feet "••P ''^ from the shore, is a small stream of naphtha, the produce of which covers the sea to a great extent. It is a singular circumstance that this spring issues from mica-slate, all others that are known belonging to secondary deposites. After examining the neighbourhood of Maniquarez, the adventurers embarked at night in a small fishing- boat, so leaky that a person was constantly employed in baling out the water with a calabash, and arrived in safety a*' Cumana. EXCURSIOJV TO SAN FERNANDO. JiJ , CHAPTER VII. Missions of the Chaymas. Excursion to the Missions of the Ciiayma Indians — Remarks on Cultivation — The Impossible — Aspect of the Vej^etation — San Fernando— Account of a Man wlio suckled a Child — Cumanacoa — Cultivation of Tobacco — Igneous Exhalations — Jaguars — Mountain of Cocollar — Turimiquiri — Missions of San Antonio and Guanaguana. On the 4th of September, at an early hour, our tra- CJIAP. vii. vellers commenced an excursion to the missionary stations Excursion to of the Chayma Indians, and to the lofty mountains ">e Chayma which traverse New Andalusia. Tlie morning was deliciously cool ; and from the summit of the hill of San Francisco they enjoyed in the short twilight an ex- tensive view of the sea, the adjacent plain, and the distant peaks. After walking two hours they arrived at the foot of the chain, where they found different rocks, together with a new and more luxuriant vegeta- Luxnriant tion. They observed that the latter was more brilliant wherever the limestone was covered by a quartzy sand- stone,— a circumstance which probably depends not so much on the nature of the soil as on its greater humi- dity ; the thin layers of slate-clay which the latter contains preventing the water from filtering into the crevices of the former. In those moist places they always discovered appearances of cultivation, huts in- habited by mestizoes, and placed in the centre of small enclosures, containing papaws, plantains, sugar-canes, and maize. In Europe, the wheat, barley, and other kinds' of grain, cover vast spaces of ground, and, in general, wherever the inhabitants live upon corn, the je STATE OF CULTIVATION. Moderate wants. CIL\P VII. cultivated lands are not separated from each other by Fertility of the uitervention of large wastes ; but in the torrid zone, the sou. where the fertility of the soil is proportionate to the heat and humidity of the air, and where man has appro- priated plants that yield earlier and more abundant crops, an immense population finds ample subsistence on a narrow space. The scattered disposition of the huts in the midst of the forest indicates to the traveller the fecundity of nature. In so mild and uniform a climate, the only urgent want of man is that of food ; and in the midst of abun- dance, his intellectual faculties receive less improvement than in colder regions, where his necessities are nume- rous and diversified. While in Europe, w^e judge of tho inhabitants of a country by the extent of laboured ground ; in the warmest parts of South America, popu- lous provinces seem to the traveller almost deserted, because a very small extent of soil is sufficient for the maintenance of a family. The insulated state in which the natives thus live prevents any rapid progress of civilisation, although it develops the sentiments of inde- pendence and liberty. As the travellers penetrated into the forest the baro- meter indicated the ])rogressive elevation of the land. About three in the afternoon they halted on a small flat, where a few houses had been erected near a spring, the water of which they found delicious. Its ten)pera- ture was 72-5°, while that of the air was 83-7°. From the top of a sandstone-hill in the vicinity, they bad a splendid view of the sea and part of the coast, while in the intervening space, the tops of the trees, intermixed with flowery lianas, formed a vast carpet of deep verdure. As they advanced toward the south-west the soil became dry and loose. They ascended a group of rather high mountains, destitute of vegetation, and having steep declivitiis. This ridge is named the Impossible, it being imagined tbat, in case of invasion, it might afford a safe retreat to the inhabitants of Cumana. The prospect was finer and more extensive than from the fountain above mentioned. Barometric iiidi cations. THE IMPOSSIBLE. 77 They arrived on the summit only a little before dusk. chap. VIL The setting of the sun was accompanied by a very rapid „ T • ,• /• , , 11 111 Summit of dimmution or temperature, the thermometer suddenly ihemoun- falling from 77'4° to 70-8°, although the air was calm. ^"'^ '^""^^ They passed the night in a house at which there was a military post of eight men, commanded by a Spanish sergeant. When, after the capture of Trinidad by the English in 1797, Cumana was threatened, many of the people fled to Cumanacoa, leaving the more valuable of their property in sheds constructed on this ridge. The solitude of the place reminded Humboldt of the nights which he had passed on the top of St Gothard. Several parts of the surrounding forests were burning, and the Burning reddish flames arising amidst clouds of smoke, presented forests. a most impressive spectacle. The shepherds set fire to the woods for the purpose of improving the pasturage, though conflagrations are often caused by the negligence of the wandering Indians. The number of old trees on the road from Cumana to Cumanacoa has been greatly reduced by these accidents ; and in several parts of the province the dryness has increased, owing both to the diminution of the forests, and the frequency of earth- quakes, which produce crevices in the soil. Leaving the Impossible on the 6th before sunrise, Descent they descended by a very narrow path borderinsr on f'''^™ '*>« •• mi ■ r 1 -1 n mOUHtaillS. precipices, ihe summit of the ridge was of quartzy sandstone, beneath which the Alpine limestone reap- peared. The strata being generally inclined to the south, numerous springs gush out on that side, and in the rainy season form torrents, which fall in cascades, shaded by the hura, the cuspa, and the trumpet-tree. The cuspa, which is common in the neighbourhood of Cumana, had long been used for carpenter-work, but has of late attracted notice as a powerful tonic or febri- fuge. Emerging from the ravine which opens at the foot of forest the mountain, they entered a dense forest, traversed by numerous small rivers, which were easily forded. They observed that the leaves of the cecropia were more or 7B VEGETATION OF NEW ANDALUSIA. Slnpralnr lupect of uuture. CHAP. VII. less silvery according as the soil was dry or marshy, and Cecroj^ specimens occurred in which they were entirely green on both sides. The roots of these shrubs were concealed beneath tufts of dcrstenia, a plant which thrives only in shady and moist places. In the midst of the forest they found i)Hpaws and orange-trees bearing excellent fruit, which they conjectured to be the remains of some Indian plantations ; as in these countries they are no more indigenous than the banana, the maize, the manioc, and the many other useful plants whose native country is unknown, although they have accompanied man in his migrations from the most remote periods. " When a traveller newly arrived from Europe," says Humboldt, " penetrates for the first time into the forests of South America, Nature presents herself to his view in an unexpected aspect ; the objects by which he is surrounded bear but a faint resemblance to the pictures drawn by celebrated writers on the banks of the Missis- sippi, in Florida, and in other temperate regions of the New World. He perceives at every step, that he is not upon the verge, but in the centre of the torrid zone, — not in one of the West India islands, but upon a vast continent, where the mountains, the rivers, the mass of vegetation, and every thing else, are gigantic. If he be sensible to the beauties of rural scenery, he finds it difficult to account to himself for the diversified feelings which he experiences: lie is unable to determine what most excites his admiration ; whether the solemn silence of the wilderness, or the individual ])eauty and contrajst of the forms, or the vigour and freshness of vegetable life that characterize the climate of the tropics. It might be said that the earth, overloaded with plants, does not leave them room enough for growth. The trunks of tlie trees are every where covered with a tliick carpet of verdure ; and were the orchides and the plants of the genera Piper and Pothos, which grow uptin a single courbarij or American fig-tree, transferred to tlie ground, tliey would cover a large space. By thia singular dcnseriess of vegetation, the forests, like .Vnnce of ulini ration. FOREST BIRDS. — SAN FERNANDS. 79 the rocks and mountains, enlarge the domain of organic CHAP. viL nature. The same lianas, which creep along the ground, Denseoess of rise to the tops of the trees, and pass from the one to vegetation, the other at a height of more than a hundred feet. In consequence of this intermixture of parasitic plants, the botanist is often led to confound the flowers, fruits, and foliage, which belong to different species." The philosophers walked for some hours under the Nests of tiie shade of these arches, which scarcely admitted an '"'"'^"^^ occasional glimpse of the clear blue sky, and for the first time admired the pendulous nests of the orioles, which mingled their warblings with the cries of the parrots and macaws. The latter fly only in pairs, while the former are seen in flocks of several huudrt'ds. At the distance of about a league from the village of San Fernando they issued from the woods, and entered an open country covered with aquatic plants from eight to ten feet high ; there being no meadows or pastures in the lower parts of the torrid zone as in Europe. The road was bordered with a kind of bamboo rising more than forty feet. These plants, according to Humboldt, are less common in America than is usually supposed, although they form dense woods in New Grenada and Quito, and occur abundantly on the western slope of the Andes. They now entered San Fernando, which is situated San Fer- in a narrow plain, and bounded by limestone rocks, "undo. This was the first missionary station they saw in Amer- ica. The houses of the Chayma Indians were built of clay, strengthened by lianas, and the streets were straight, and intersected each other at right angles. The great square in the centre of the village contains the church, the house of the missionary, and another destined for the accommodation of travellers, which bears the pompous name of the king's house (Casa del Rey). These royal residences occur in all the Spanish settlements, and are of the greatest benefit in countries where there are no inns. They had been recommended to the friars, who no FRANCISCO LOZANO. CHAP va Reception by the mission- jiries. Founding of tlie mis-siuii. Francisco Ltizanu. Sinijular occarrema Camanacim superintend the missions of the Chaymas, by their syndic at Cumana, and the superior, a corpulent and jolly old capuchin, received them with kindness. This respectable ])ersonage, seated the greater part of the day in an arni-cliair, complained bitterly of the indolence of his countrj-men. lie considered the pursuits of the travellers as useless, smiled at the sight of their instru- ments and dried plants, and maintained that of all the enjoyments of life, without excepting sleep, none could be compared with the pleasure of eating good beef. This mission was founded about the end of the seven- teenth century, near tlie junction of the Manzanares and Lucasperez ; but, in consequence of a fire, was removed to its present situation. The number of families now amounted to a hundred, and, as the head of the estab- lishment observed, the custom of marrying at a very early age contributes greatly to tlie rapid increase of population. In the village of Arenas, which is inhabited by Indians of tlie same race as those of San Fernando, there lived a labourer, Francisco Lozano, who had suckled a child. Its mother happening to be sick, he took it, and in order to quiet it, pressed it to his breast, when the stimulus imparted by the sucking of the child caused a flow of milk. The travellers saw the certificate drawn up on the spot to attest this remarkable fact, of which several eyewitnesses were still living. The man was not at Arenas during their stay at the mission, but afterwards visited them at Cumana, accompanied by his son, when j\I. Bonpland examined his breasts, and found them wrinkled, like those of women who have nursed. lie was not an Indian, but a white descended from European parents. Alexander Benedictus relates a si- milar case of an inhal)itant of Syria, and other authors have given examjjles of the same nature. Returning towards Cumana, they entered the small town of Cumanacoa, situated in a naked and almost circular plain, surroundid by lofty mountains, and con- taining about two thousand three hundred inhabitants. CUMANACOA TOBACCO. 81 The houses were low and slight, and with very few chap. vil. exceptions huilt of wood. The travellers were surprised narometrical to find the column of mercury in the harometer scarcely observations. •3 lines shorter than on the coast. The hollow on which the town is erected is not more than 6C5 feet above the level of the sea, and only twenty-four miles from Cu- mana ; but the climate is much colder than in the latter place, where it scarcely ever rains ; whereas at Cuma- nacoa there are seven months of severe weather. It was during the winter season that our travellers visited the missions. A dense fog covered the sky every night ; the thermometer varied from 65^ to 68° ; and Deluc's hygrometer indicated 85°. At ten in the morning the thermometer did not rise above 69"8°, but from noon to three o'clock attained the height of from 78-8° to 80-6°. About two, large black clouds regularly formed, and Rain and poured down torrents of rain accompanied by thunder, "^"""i^'' At five the rain ceased, and the sun reappeared ; but at eight or nine the fog again commenced. In consequence of the humidity, the vegetation, although not very di- versified, is remarkable for its freshness. The soil is highly fertile ; but the most valuable production of the district is tobacco, the cultivation of which in the pro- vince of Cumana is nearly confined to this valley. Next to tlie tobacco of Cuba and the Rio Negro, that Tobacco grown here is the most aromatic. The seed is sown in *^ "'^''* the beginning of September, and the cotyledons appear on the eighth day. The young plants are then covered with large leaves to protect them from the sun. A month or two after, they are transferred to a rich and well-prepared soil, and disposed in rows, three or four feet distant from each other. The whole is carefully weeded, and the principal stalk is several times topped, until the leaves are mature, when they are gathered. They are then suspended by threads of the Agave Ame- ricana, and their ribs taken out ; after which they are twisted. The cultivation of tobacco was a royal mono- poly, and employed about loOO persons. Indigo is also raised in the valley of Cumanacoa. 82 MOUNTAINS — SEARCH FOR A GOLD MINE. CHAP. VII. This singular plain appeared to be the bed of an riaiiTor ancient lake. The surrounding mountains are all preci- Cumanacoa. pitous, and the soil contains pebbles and bivalve shells. One of the gaps in the range, they were informed, was inhabited by jaguar:;;, wliich passed the day in caves, and roamed about the plantations at night. The pre- ceding year, one of them had devoured a horse belonging to a farm in tlie neighbourhood. The groans of the ilying animal awoke the slaves, who went out armed with lances and large knives, with which they despatched the tiger after a vigorous resistance. Fire caverns. From two caverns in this ravine there at times issue flames, which illumine the adjacent mountains, and are seen to a great distance at night. The phenomenon was accompanied by a long-continued subterraneous noise at the time of the last earthquake. A first attempt to penetrate into this pass was rendered unsuccessful by the strength of the vegetation and the intertwining of lianas and thorny plants ; but the inhabitants becoming interested in the researches of the travellers, and being Search for desirous to know what the German miner thought of ^° ' the gold ore which they imagined to exist in it, cleared a path through the woods. On entering the ravine they found traces of jaguars ; and the Indians returned for some small dogs, upon which they knew these animals would spring in preference to attacking a man. The rocks that bound it are perpendicular, and Avliat geolo- gists term Alpine limestone. The excursion was ren- dered hazardous by the nature of the ground ; but they at length reached the pretended gold mine, which was merely an excavation in a bed of black marl containing ii'on pyrites, — a sub.--tance which the guides insisted was no other than the precious metal. Cavern?. They continued to penetrate into the crevice, and after undergoing great fatigue, reached a wall of rock, which, rising perpendicularly to the height of 5116 feet, presented two inaccessible caverns inhal)ited by nocturnal I)irds. Halting at the foot of one of the caves from which ilames had been seen to issue, they listened VIEW PROM THE COCOLLAR. 83 to the remarks of the natives respecting the probability chap, vil of an increase in the frequency of the agitations to which New Andalusia had so often been subjected. The cause of the luminous exhalations, however, they were unable to ascertain. On the 12th they continued their journey to the Convent of convent of Caripe, tlie principal station of the Chayma *"'"''?'-'■ missions, choosing, instead of the direct road, the line of the mountains Cocollar and Turimiquiri. At the Hato de Cocollar, a solitary farm situated on a small elevated plain, they rested for some days, and liad the good for- tune to enjoy at once a delightful climate and the hospitality of the proprietor. From this elevated point, as far as the eye could reach, they saw only naked savannahs, although in the neighbouring valleys they found tufts of scattered trees, and a profusion of beau- tiful flowers. The upper part of the mountain was destitute of wood, though covered with gramineous plants, — a cii'cumstance which Humboldt attributes more to the custom of burning the forests than to the elevation of the ground, which is not sufficient to prevent the growth of trees. Their host, Don Mathias Yturburi, a native of Biscay, i^o" had visited the New World with an expedition the YtmbmL object of whicli was to form establishments for procuring timber for the Spanish navy. But these natives of a colder climate were unable to support the fatigue of so laborious an occupation, the heat, and the effect of noxious vapours. Destructive fevers carried off most of the party, when this individual withdrew from the coast, and settling on the Cocollar, became the undis- turbed possessor of five leagues of savannahs, among which he enjoyed independence and health. " Nothing," says Humboldt, " can be compared to the Tmpreesion impression of the majestic tranquillity left on the mind by the view of the firmament in this solitary place. Following with the eye, at evening-tide, those meadows which stretch along the horizon, and the gently undu- lated plain covered with plants, we thought we saw in n4 STERRA DE LOS TAGERE3. CHAP. VII the distance, as in the deserts of the Orinoco, the Vasrpilin. surface of the ocean supporting the starry vault of heaven. Tlie tree under which we were seated, tlie luminous insects that vaulted in the air, and the con- stellations which shone in the south, seemed to i«ll us that we were far from our native land. In the midst of this exotic nature, when the bell of a cow or the lowing of a bull was heard from tlie bottom of a valley, the remembrance of our country was suddenly awakened by the sounds. They were like distant voices, that came from beyond the ocean, and by the magic of which we were transported from the one hemisphere to the other. Strange mobility of the human imagination, the never- failing source of our enjoyments and griefs !" Accent of In the cool of the morning they commenced the Turiraiquiri. ^^.^^^^ ^f Turiiniquiri, the summit of the Cocollar, which with the Brigantine forms a mass of mountains, formerly named by the natives the Sierra de los Tageres. They travelled part of the way on horsis, which are left to roam at large in these wilds, though some of them have been trained to the saddle. Stopping at a spring which issued from a bed of quartzy sandstone, they found its temperature to be 6'J-8°. To the height of 4476 feet, this mountain, like those in its vicinity, was covered with gramineous plants. The pastures became less rich in proportion to the elevation, and wherever the scattered rocks afforded a shade lichens and mosses Hiciiest occurred. The summit is 4521 feet above the level of ^**"" the sea. The view from it was extensive and highly picturesque : chains of mountains, running from east to west, enclosed longitudinal valleys, which were inter- sected at right angles by numberless ravines. The distant peninsula of Araya formed a dark streak on a glittering sea, and the more distant rocks of Cape Macanao rose amidst the waters like an immense ram- part. CocoDar On the 14th of September they descended the Cocol- lar in the direction of San Antonio, where was also a mission. After passin/^ over savannahs strewed with GUANAGUANA AND SAN ANTONIO. 85 blocks of limestone, succeeded by a dense forest and two chap. vii. very steep ridcs i;l".uit, of Uie party. DESCENT OF THE BRIGANTIXE. PI enjoy a little needful repose, tliey partook of a repast chap, viii which the missionaries had prepared, and in due tiint, returned to the convent. The days which our travellers passed at this religious Oceupntion house glided hastily and pleasantly away. From morn- ° ^""'^' ing to night tliey traversed the forests and mountains collecting plants ; and when the rains prevented them from making distant excursions, they visited the huts of the Indians ; returning to the good monks only when the sound of the hell called them to the solace of the refectory. Sometimes also they followed them to the church, to witness the religious instruction given to the Indians ; which was found a difficult task, owing to the imperftct knowledge of the Spanish language possessed by the latter. The evenings were employed in taking notes, drying plants, and sketching those that ajjpeared new. The natural beauties of this interesting valley engaged Embarrass- them so much, that they were long in perceiving the {116?/ hosts embarrassment felt by their kind entertainers, who had now but a very slender store of wine and bread. At length, on the 22d September, they departed, followed by four mules carrying their instruments and plants. The descent of the rugged chain of the Brigantine and Cocollar, which is about 4400 feet in height, is exceed- ingly difficult. The missionaries have given the name of Purgatory to an extremely steep and slippery decli- Pnrgatoiy. vity at the base of a sandstone rock, in passing which the mules, drawing their hind legs under their bodies, slide down at a venture. From this point they saw toward the left the great peak of Guacharo, which presented a very picturesque appearance ; and soon after entered a dense forest, through which they descended for seven hours in a kind of ravine, the path being formed of steps from two to three feet high, over which the mules leaped like wild goats. The Creoles have sufficient confidence in these animals to remain in their saddles during this dangerous passage ; but our travellers preferred walking. The forest was exceedingly dense, and consisted of 92 VEGETATION AND ANIMALS. Talms. CHAP. VIII. trees of stupendous size. The guides pointed out some ln,n,~ whose height exceeded 130 feet, while the diameter of trees. many of the curucays and hymeneas was more than three yards. Next to these, the plants which most attracted their notice were the dragon's-blood {Crotov sanguifluurn), the purple juice of which flowed along the whitish bark, various species of palms, and arborescent ferns of large size. The old trunks of some of the latter were covered with a cai-bonaceous powder, having a metallic lustre like graphite. As they descended the mountain the tree-ferns dimi- nished, while the number of palms increased. Large- winged butterflies (riymphales) became more common^ and every thing showed that they were approaching the coast. The weather was cloudy, the heat oppressive, and the howling of the monkeys gave indication of a coming thunder-stonn. These creatures, the arguatoes, resemble a young bear, and are about three feet long from the top of the head to the root of the tail. The fur is bushy and reddish-brown, the face blackish-blue, with a bare and wrinkled skin, and the tail long and prehensile. While engaged in observing a troop of them cross the road upon the horizontal branches of the trees, the travellers met a company of naked Indians proceeding towards the mountains of Caripe. The men were armed with bows and arrows, and the women, heavily laden, brought up the rear. They marched in silence, with their eyes fixed on the ground. Our philosophers, oppressed with the increasing heat and faint with fatigue, endeavoured to learn from them the distance of the missionary convent of Vera Cruz, where they intended to pass the night ; but little information could be ob- tained on account of their imperfect knowledge of the Spanish language. Continuing to descend amid scattered blocks, they unexpectedly found themselves at the end of the forest, wlien tliey entered a savannah, the verdure of which hud been renewed by the winter rains. Here they had Trnvellir.g Jiidicin!!. 92 VEGETATION AND ANIMALS. ciivl'lil'lw VERA CULZ AND CATUARO. 93 a splendid view of the Sierra del Guacharo, the northern chap, viii declivity of which presented an almost perpendicular sien^T^, wall, exceeding 3200 feet in height, and scantily covered Guacharo. with vegetation. The ground before them consisted of several level spaces, lying above each other like vast steps. Tlie mission of Vera Cruz, which is situated in the middle of it, they reached in tlie evening, and next day continued their journey toward the Gulf of Cariaco. Proceeding on their way they entered another forest, Catuaio and reached the station of Catuaro, situated in a very wild spot, where they lodged at the house of the priest. Their host was a doctor of divinity, a thin little man, of petulant vivacity, who talked continually of a lawsuit in which he was engaged with the superior of his con- vent, and wished to know what Humboldt thought of free-will and the souls of animals. At this place they met with the corregidor of the district, an amiable per- son, who gave them three Indians to assist in cutting ,u way through the forest, the lianas and intertwining l)i-anches having obstructed the narrow lanes. The little missionary, however, insisted on accompanying them to Cariaco, and contrived to render the road extremely tedious by his observations on the necessity of the slave-trade, the innate wickedness of blacks, and the benefit which they derived from being reduced to bondage by Christians. The road which they followed through the forest of Road Catuaro resembled that of the preceding day. The |}Je°forest. clay, which filled the path and rendered it excessively slippery, was produced by layers of sandstone and slate- clay which cross the calcareous strata. At length, after a fatiguing march, they reached the town of Cariaco, on Cariaco. the coast, where they found a great part of the inhabi- tants confined to their beds with intermittent fever The low situation of the place as well as of tlie sur- rounding district, the great heat and moisture, and the stagnant marshes generated during the rainy season, are supposed to be the causes of this disease, which often assumes a malignant character, and is accompanied with 94 CAUIACO — IXTKR.MITTENT FEVER. Population of Caiiaco. CMAT. viiL dysentery. Men of colour, and especially Creole ne- FcverT" groes, resist the influence of the climate much better than any other race. It is generally observed, however, that the mortality is less than might be supposed ; for although intermittent fevers, when they attack the same individual several years in succession, alter and weaken the constitution, they do not usually cause death. It is remarkable that the natives believe the air to have become more vitiated in proportion as a larger extent of land has been cultivated ; but the miasmata from the marshes, and the exhalations from the man- groves, avicenniae, and other astringent plants growing on the borders of the sea, are probably the real causes of the unhealthiness of the coasts. In 1800 the town of Cariaco contained more than 6000 inhabitants, who were actively employed in the cultivation of cotton, the produce of which exceeded 10,000 quintals (90.57 cwts. avoirdupois). The capsules, after the separation of the wool, were carefully burnt, as they were thought to occasion noxious exhalations when thrown into the river. Cacao and sugar were also raised to a considera])le extent. As our travellers were not sufficiently inured to the climate, they considered it prudent to leave Cariaco as expeditiously as possible on account of the fever. Em- barking early in the morning, they proceeded westward along the river of Carenicuar, which flows through a deep marshy soil covered with gardens and plantations of cotton. The Indian women Avere washing their linen with the fruit of the parapara (^Sapindus saponaria). Contraiy winds, accompanied Avith heavy rain and thunder, rertdercd the voyage disagreeable ; more espe- cially as the canoe w\is narrow and overloaded with rav,- sugar, plantains, cocoa-nuts, and passengers. Swarms of flamingoes, egrets, and cormorants, were flying toward the shore, while the alcatras, a large species of pelican, less affx'cted l)y the weatlier, continued fishing in the ])ay. The general depth of the sea is from 288 to 820 feet ; but at the eastern extremity of the gulf it is only Fmbarka- t'.dii on tlie C^rcnicuiir. GULF OF CARIACO. 95 from nineteen to twenty-five feet for an extent of seven- chap, vm teen miles, and there is a sandbank, which at low water — resembles a small island. They crossed the part where the sea. the hot springs rush from the bottom of the ocean ; but it being high water the change of temperature was not very perceptible. The contrary winds continuing, they were forced to land at Pericantral, a small farm on tiie south side of the gulf. The coast, although covered by a beautiful vegetation, was almost destitute of human labour, and scarcely possessed seven hundred inhabitants. The cocoa-tree is the principal object of cultivation, p^^^,^ ^^^ This palm thrives best in the neighbourhood of the sea, and like the sugar-cane, the plantain, the mammee-apple, and the alligator-pear, may be watered either with fresh or salt water. In other parts of America it is generally nourished around farm-houses ; but along the Gulf of Cariaco it forms real plantations ; and at Cumana they talk of a hacienda de coco, as they do of a hacienda de canna, or de cacao. In moist and fertile ground it begins to bear abundantly the fourth year ; but in dry soils it does not produce fruit until the tenth. Its duration does not generally exceed eighty or a hundred years ; at which period its mean height is about eighty feet. Throughout this coast a cocoa-tree supplies annually about a hundred nuts, which yield eight fiascos of oil. The fiasco is sold for about sixteenpence. . A great quantity is made at Cumana, and Humboldt frequently witnessed the arrival thei-e of canoes containing 3000 nuts. The oil, which is clear and destitute of smell, is well adapted for burning. After sunset they left the farm of Pericantral, and at .Arontu of the three in the morning reached the mouth of the Manza- Manzauarts. nares, after passing a very indifferent night in a narrow and deeply laden canoe. Having been for several weeks accustomed to mountain-scenery, gloomy forests, and rainy weather, they were struck by the bareness of the soil, the clearness of the sky, and the mass of reflected light by which the neighbourhood of Cumana is charac- terized. At sunrise they saw the zamuro vultures 96 RETun>; to cumaxa. CHAP. VIII. (^Vultur aura) perched on the cocoa-trees in large flocka. Hookof Tliese birds go to roost long before night, and do not ruituros. quit their place of repose until after the heat of the solar rays is felt. The same idleness, as it were, is indulged by the trees with pinnate leaves, such as the mimosas and tamarinds, which close these organs half an hour before the sun goes down, and unfold them in the morning only after he has been some time visible. In our climates the leguminous plants open their leaves during the morning twilight. Humboldt seems to think that the liumidity deposited upon the parenchyma by the refrigeration of the foliage, which is the effect of the nocturnal radiation, prevents the action of the first rays of the sun upon them. NATIVE RACES. 97 CHAPTER IX. Indians of New Andalusia. Physical Constitution and JSIanners of the Chaymas — Their Lan- guages — American Races. It is the custom of Humboldt, in liis " Journey to tlie chap. ix. Equinoctial Regions," to stand still after an excursion, — i-eflect, and present to his readers the result of his in- wi-itmg. quiries on any subject that has fixed his attention. For example, on concluding the narrative of his visit to the Chayma missions, he gives a general account of the aborigines of New Andalusia, of which an abridgment is here offered. The north-eastern part of Equinoctial America, Terra Aborigines Firma, and the shores of the Orinoco, resemble, in the of New multiplicity of the tribes by which they are inhabited, the defiles of Caucasus, the mountains of Hindoo-kho, and the northern extremity of Asia, beyond the Tun- gooses and the Tartars of the mouth of the Lena. The barbarism which prevails in these various regions is perhaps less owing to an original absence of civilisation than to the effects of a long debasement ; and if every thing connected with the first population of a continent were known, we should probably find that savages are merely tribes banished from society and driven into the forests. At the commencement of the conquest of America, the natives were collected into large bodies only on the ridge of the Cordilleras and the coast opposite to Asia, where the vast savannahs, and the great plains F dii KUMBER OF ABORIGINES. Number of aborigines. Missionary Elutiuus cilAP. IX. covered by forests and intersected by rivers, presented Avandering tribes, separated by differences .of language and manners. In Cumana and New Barcelona, the aborigines still form fully one-half of the scanty population. Their number may be about 60,000, of which 24,000 inhabit New Andalusia. This amount appears large when we refer to the hunting- tribes of North America, but seems the reverse when we look to those districts of New Spain where agriculture has been followed for more than eight centuries. Thus, the intendancy of Oaxaca, which forms part of tlie old Mexican empire, and which is one- third smaller than the two provinces of Cumana and Barcelona, contains more than 400,000 of the original race. The Indians of Cumana do not all live assembled in the missions, some being found dispersed in the neigh- bourhood of towns along the coasts. The stations of the Arragonese Capuchins contain 15,000, almost all of the Chayma tribe. The villages, however, are less crowded than in the province of Barcelona, their indigenous population being only between five and six hundred ; whereas, more to the west, in the establishments of the Franciscans of Piritoo, there are towns of 2000 or 3000 inhabitants. Besides the G0,000 natives of the provinces of Cunuina and Barcelona, there are some thousands of Guaraunos wlio have preserved their independence in the islands at the mouth of the Orinoco. Excepting a few families, there are no wild Indians in New Andalusia. The term wild or savage, Humboldt says he uses with regret, because it implies a difference of cultivation wliich does not always exist between the reduced or civilized Indian, living in the missions, and the free or independ- ent Indian. In tlie forests of South America there are tribes which dwell in villages, rear plantains, cassava, and cotton, and are scarcely more barbarous than those in the religious establishments, who have been taught to make the sign of tlie cross. It is an error to consider all the free natives as wandering hunters ; fur agriculture existed on the contineut lont? before the arrival of the Distinction araontr ttic Tndiarx PROGRESS OF THE MISSIONS. 09 Europeans, and still exists between the Orinoco and the cHAP. ix. Amazons, in districts to whicli they have never pene- p 7^^ <■ trated. The system of the missions has produced an agncuituia attacliment to landed property, a fixed residence, and a taste for quiet life ; but the baptized Indian is often as little a Christian as his heathen brother is an idolater, — both discovering a marked indifference for religious opinions, and a tendency to w^orship nature. There is no reason to believe, that in the Spanish increase of colonies the number of Indians has diminished since the ti^e nativef. conquest. There are still more than six millions of the copper-coloured race in both Americas ; and although tribes and languages have been destroyed or blended in those colonies, the natives have in fact continued to in- crease. In the temperate zone the contact of Europeans with the indigenous population becomes fatal to the latter ; but in South America the result is different, ana there they do not dread the approach of the whites. In the former case a vast extent of country is required by the Indians, because they live by hunting ; but in the latter a small piece of ground suffices to afford subsistence for a family. In these provinces the Europeans advance slowly ; Relipinns and the religious orders have founded establishments estcbUsU- between the regions inhabited by them and those pos- sessed by the independent Indians, The missions have no doubt encroached on the liberty of the natives, but they have generally been favourable to the increase of the population. As the preachers advance into the in- terior the planters invade their territory ; the whites and the castes of mixed breed settle among the Indians ; the missions become Spanish villages ; and finally, the old inhabitants lose their original manners and language. In this way civilisation advances from the coasts towards the centre of the continent. New Andalusia and Barcelona contain more than Indian tribes fourteen tribes of Indians. Those of the former are the Chaymas, Guayquerias, Pariagotos, Quaquas, Aruacas, Caribs, and Guaraunos ; and those of the latter, the 100 CHARACTER OF THE INDIAKS. Distinction of tribes CHAP. IX. Cumanagotos, Palenkas, Caribs, Piritoos, Tomoozas, Topocuares, Cliacoiiatas, and Guarivas. The precise Hutson trees, number of the Guaraunos, who live in huts elevated on trees at the mouth of the Orinoco, is not known. There are two thousand Guayquerias in the suburbs of Cumana and the peninsula of Araya. Of the other tribes the Cliaymas of the mountains of Caripe, the Caribs of New- Barcelona, and the Cumanagotos of the missions of Piritoo, are the most numerous. The language of the Guaraunos, and that of the Caribs, Cumanagotos, and Chaymas, arc the most general, and seem to belong to the same stock. Althougli the Indians attached to the missions are all agriculturists, cultivate the same plants, build their huts in the same manner, and lead the same kind of life, yet the shades by which the several tribes are distinguished remain unchanged. There are few of these villages in whicli tlie families belong to different tribes, and speak different languages. The missionaries have indeed pro- hibited the use of various practices and ceremonies, and have destroyed many superstitions ; but they have not been able to alter the essential character common to all the American races from Hudson's Bay to the Straits of Magellan. The instructed Indian, more secure of sub- sistence than the untamed native, and less exposed to the fury of hostile neighbours or of the elements, leads a more monotonous life, possesses the mildness of char- acter which arises from the love of repose, and assumes a sedate and mysterious air ; but the sphere of his ideas has received little enlargement, and tiie expression of melanclioly wliicli his countenance exhibits is merely the result of indolence. The Chaymas, of whom more than fifteen thousand inhabit the Spanish villages, and who border on the Cuniaiiagotos toward the west, the Guaraunos toward the east, and the Caribs toward tlie south, occupy part of the elevated mountains of the CocoUar and Guacharo, as also tlie banks of the Guarapiclie, Rio Colorado, Areo, and the Cano of Caripe. The first attemi>t to reduce Mildness of cliaracter The Chu7- mus. CIIAYMAS. 101 them to subjection was made in the middle of the CHAP, ix, seventeentli century by Father Francisco of Pamplona, a person of great zeal and intrepidity. The missions subsequently formed among these people suffered greatly in 1681, 1697, and 1720, from the invasion of the Caribs ; while during six years subsequently to 1730 the popula- tion was diminished by the ravages of the small-pox. The Chaymas are generally of low stature, their Fijirure and ordinary height being about five feet two inches ; but stature their figures are broad and muscular. The colour of the skin is a dull brown inclining to red. The expression of the countenance is sedate and somewhat gloomy ; the forehead is small and retiring ; the eyes sunk, very long and black, but not so small or oblique as in the Mon- golian race ; the eyebrows slender, nearly straight, and ^ipieasion. black or dark-brown, and the eyelids furnished with very long lashes ; the cheekbones are usually high ; the hair straight ; the beard almost entirely wanting, as in the same people, from whom, however, they differ es- sentially in having the nose pretty long. The mouth is wide, the lips broad but not prominent, the chin ex- tremely short and round, and the jaws remarkable for their strength. The teeth are white and sound, the toothach being a disease with which they are seldom afflicted. The hands are small and slender, while the feet are large, and the toes possessed of an extraordinary mobility. They have so strong a family look, that on Family entering a hut it is often difficult, among grown-up per- li^^^ncss. sons, to distinguish the father from the son. This is attributable to the circumstance of their only marrying in their own tribe, as well as to their inferior degree of intellectual improvement : the differences between un- civilized and cultivated man being similar to those between wild and domesticated animals of the same species. As they live in a very warm country they are exces- Aversion to sively averse to clothing. In spite of the remonstrances clotliing. of the monks, men and women remain naked while within their houses ; and, when they go out, wear only 102 MANNERS OF THE CHAYMAS. CHAP. IX. fi kind of cotton gown scarcely reaching to the knees. . — The dress of tlie men lias sleeves, while that of the women and hoys has none, the arms, shoulders, and upper part of the breast l)eing uncovered. Till the age of nine the twirls are allowed to go to church naked. The missionaries complain that the feeling of modesty is very little known to the vounger of the sex. The women are not handsome ; but the maidens have a kind of plea- sant melancholy in their looks. No instances of natural deformity occurred to the travellers. Humboldt re- Customs and iiiarks, that deviations from nature are exceedingly rare habits of life, among certain races of men, especially such as have the skin highly coloured, — an effect which he does not ascribe solely to a luxurious life or the corruption of morals but lather imagines that the immunity enjoyed by the American Indians arises from hereditary organization. The custom of marrying at a very early age, which depends upon the same circumstance, is stated to be no way detrimental to population. It occurs in the most northern parts of the continent here the whites, the negroes, or other Indian tribes, will not venture ; and this circumstance has given rise to the 104 OTHER NATIVE TRIBES. CHAP. D (innj'queiia: Quaquas Cumana- gotos. Caiibbees. Katives of idea of tlieir being specifically lighter than the rest of the natives. The Guayqucrias are the most interpid fishermen of these countries, and are the only persons well acquainted with the great bank that surrounds the islands of Coche, Margarita, Sola, and Testigos. They inhabit Margarita, the peninsula of Araya, and a suburb of Cumana. The Quaquas, formerly a very warlike tribe, are now mingled witli the Cliaymas attached to the missions of Cumana, although their original abode was on the banks of the Assivcru. The Cumanagotos, to the number of more than twenty-six thousand, subject to the Christian stations of Piritoo, live westward of Cumana, where they cultivate the ground. At the beginning of the sixteenth century they inhabited the mountains of the Brigantine and Parabolota. The Caribbees of these countries are part of the rem- nant of the great Carib nation. The natives of America may be divided into two great classes. To the first belong the Esquimaux of Green- land, Labrador, and Hudson's Ba}', and the inhabitants of Behring's Straits, Alaska, and Prince William's Sound. Tlie eastern and western brandies of this great family, the Esquimaux proper and the Tchougazcs, are united by the most intimate similarity of language, altiiough separated to the immense distance of eight hundred leagues. The inhabitants of the north-east of Asia are evidently of the same stock. Like the Malays, tliis hyperborean nation resides only on the scacoast. They are lively and loquacious, and of smaller stature than the other Americans. Their liair is straight and black ; but their skin is originally white, in which respect they essentially differ from the other class. The second race is dispersed over the various regions of the continent, from the northern jiarts to the south- ern extremity. They are of larger size, more warlike, and more taciturn, and differ in the colour of their skin. I AMERICAN RACES. 105 At the earliest age it has more or less of a coppery tinge chap. ix. in most of the tribes, while in others the childeni are ,,.«■ ' , 1 /-. UifferenccE fair, or nearly so ; and certain tribes on the Orinoco in colour. preserve the same complexion during their whole life. Humboldt is of opinion that these differences in colour are but slightly influenced by climate or other external circumstances, and endeavours to impress the idea that they depend on the original constitution. lU Population. court of justice, and one of the eight archbishoprics into which Spanish America was divided. Its population in 1800 was about 40,000. In 1766 great devastation was made by the small-pox, from 6000 to 8000 individuals having perished ; but since that period inoculation has become general. In 1812 the inhabitants amounted to 60,000, of which 12,000 were destroyed by the earth- quakes ; while the political events which succeeded that catastrophe reduced their number to less than twenty thousand. The town is situated at the entrance of the valley ofvaiieyof Chacao, which is ten miles in length, eight and a half Cl'acio miles in breadth, and about 2650 feet above the level of 128 CLIMATE OF CARACCAS. CHAP. XII. rnundation uf Caraccas. Scenery. the sea. The ground occupied by it is a steep uneven slope. It was founded by Diego de Losada in 1507. Three small rivers descending from the mountains traverse the line of its direction ; it contained eight churches, five convents, and a tlieatre capable of holding 1500 or 1800 persons. The streets were wide, and crossed each other at right angles ; the houses spacious and loi'ty. The small extent of the valley, and the proximity of the mountains of Avila and the Silla, give a stern and gloomy character to the scenery, particularly in Novem- ber and December, when the vapours accumulate towards evening along the liigh grounds ; in June and July, however, the atmosphere is clear, and the air pure and delicious. Tlie two rounded summits of the latter are seen from Caraccas, nearly under the same angle of ele- vation as the Peak of TenerifFe is observed from Orotava. The first half of the ascent is covered with grass ; then succeeds a zone of evergreen trees ; while above this the rocky masses rise in the form of domes destitute of vegetation. The cultivated region below forms an agreeable contrast to the sombre aspect of the towering ridges which overhang the town, as well as of the liills to the north. The climate of Caraccas is a perpetual spring, the temperature by day being between 68° and 79°, and by night between G0° and 04°. It is, however, liable to great variations, and the inhabitants complain of having several seasons in twenty-four hours, as well as a too rapid transition from one to another. In January, for example, a night of which the mean heat does not ex- ceed 60" is followed by a day in which the thermometer rises above 71° in the shade. Although in our mild climates oscillations of this kind produce no disagreeable effects, yet in the torrid zone Europeans themselves are so accustomed to uniformity in the temperature, that a difference of a few degrees is productive of unpleasant sensations. This inconvenience is aggravated here by the nosition of the town in a narrow valley, which is at CULTIVATION. 129 one time swept by a wind from the coast, loaded with chap. xii. humidity, and depositing its moisture in the higher incoiiveiii- regions as the warmth increases ; and at another by a ^'l^c "f the dry breeze from the interior, wliich dissipates the vapours and unveils the mountain-summits. This inconstancy of climate, however, is not peculiar to Caraccas, but is common to the whole temperate regions near the tropics, to all places elevated from 2500 to 6000 feet above the sea. Uninterrupted serenity during a great part of the year prevails only in the low districts adjoining the sea, or on the elevated table-lands of the interior. The intermediate zone is misty and variable. In this province the sky is generally less blue than at Tempera- Cumana. The intensity of colour measured by Saus- sure's cyanometer was commonly 18% and never above 20', from November to January, while on the coasts it was from 22° to 26°. The mean temperature is estimated by Humboldt at 70° or 72°. The heat very seldom rises to 84°, and in winter it has been observed to fall as low as 62°. The cold at night is more felt on account of its being usually accompanied by a misty sky. Rains are very frequent in April, May, and June. No hail falls in the low regions of the tropics, but it is seen here every fourth or fifth year. The coffee- tree is much cultivated in the valley, and Coftee-tree. the sugar-cane thrives even at. a still greater height. The banana, the pine-apple, the vine, the strawberry, the quince, the apple, the peach, together with maize, pulse, and corn, grow in great perfection. But although the atmospheric constitution of this Alpine vale be favourable to diversified culture, it is not equally so to the health of the inhabitants, as the inconstancy of the weather, and the frequent suppression of cutaneous perspiration, give rise to catarrhal affections ; and a European, once accustomed to the violent heat, enjoys better health in the low country, where the air is not very humid, than in the elevated and cooler districts. The travellers remained two months at Caraccas, Residence at where they lived in a large house in the upper part of 130 RESIDENCE AT CARACCAS. CHAP, xii the town, from which they had an extensive view of — the mountain-plain, the ridge of the Gallipano, and the summit of tlie Silla. It was the season of drought, and the conflagrations intended to improve the pasturage produced tlie most singular effects when seen at night. Uospitality. They experienced the greatest kindness from all classes of the inhabitants, and more especially from the captain-general of the province, M. de Guevara Vascon- zelos. Caraccas being situated on the continent, and its population less mutable than that of the islands, the national manners had not undergone so material a change. Notwithstanding the increase of the blacks, says Humboldt, at Caraccas and the Havannah, we seem to be nearer Cadiz and the United States than in any other part of the New World. There was notliing to be seen of the cold and assuming air so common in Europe ; on the contrary, conviviality, candour, uniform cheerfulness, and politeness of address, characterized the natives of Spanish origin. The travellers found in several families a taste for instruction, some knowledge of French and Italian literature, and a particular predilection for music. But there was a total deficiency of scientific attainments ; nor had the simplest of all the physical sciences, botanyj a single cultivator. Previous to 1806 there were no printing-offices in Caraccas. Irifiiffcr- Believing that in a country which presents such en- ence of the chanting views, and exhibits such a profusion of natural productions, he should find many persons well ac- quainted with the surrounding mountains, Humboldt yet failed to discover one individual who had visited the summit of tlie Silla. Bat the governor having ordered the proprietor of a plantation to furnish the philosophers with negro guides who knew something of the way, they prepared for the ascent. Ascent of tlie As in the whole month of December the mountain Silla. jj^^j appeared only five times without clouds, and as at that season two clear days seldom succeed each other, they were advised to choose for their excur.'»iuu an inter- val when, the clouds being low, they might hope, by ASCENT OF THE SILLA. 131 passing through them, to enter into a transparent atmo- chap. xii. sphere. They sjKjnt tlie night of the 2d January at a coffee-plantation near a ravine, in wlii-ch the little river Chacaito formed some fine cascades. At five in the JJepartme. morning they set out, accompanied hy slaves carrying their instruments, and about seven reached a promon- tory of the Silla, connected with the body of the mountain by a 'narrow dike. The weather was fine and cool. They proceeded along this ridge of rocks, between two deep valleys covered with vegetation ; the large, shining, and coriaceous leaves, illumined by the sun, presenting a very picturesque appearance. Beyond this point the ascent became very steep, the acclivity being often 82° to 33°. The surface was covered with short grass, which afforded no support when laid hold of, and it was impossible to imprint steps in the gneiss. The persons who had accompanied them from the town were discouraged, and at length retired. Slender streaks of mist began to issue from the woods, Creoles and and afforded indications of a dense fog. The familiar I°2 HOT SPRINGS OP MARIARA. CHAP. XIV. the species of ])otamogcton, cliara, and equisctum, were peculiar to tlie New Continent. R.rcrs, Some of tlie rivers that flow into this fine sheet of water owe their origin to hot springs, of which, how- ever, the travellers wore able to examine only those of Mariara and Las Trincheras. In going up the Cura toward its source, the mountains of Mariara are seen advancing into the plain, in the form of an amphitheatre composed of steep rocks, crowned by serrated peaks. Ricoii ad '^^^^ central point is named Rincon del Diablo. These Diablo. masses are composed of a coarse-grained granite, and are j)artially covered with vegetation. In the hills toward the east of the Rincon is a ravine containing several small basiiLS, the two uppermost of which are only eight inches in diameter, while the three lower are from two to three feet. Their depth varies from three to fifteen inches, and their temperature is from 133^ to 138^. Hot sprin"-i '^^^^ ^^^^ water from these funnels forms a rill, which thirty feet lower has a temperature of only 118-4°. These springs are slightly impregnated with sulphuretted hydrogen gas, the fluid having a thin pellicle of sulphur ; while a few plants in the vicinity are crusted with the same substance. To the south of this ravine, in the plain extending to the shores of the lake, is another fountain of the same kind, which issues from a crevice. The water, which is nnt so hot, collects in a basin fifteen or eighteen feet in diameter and three feet deep, in which the slaves of the neighbouring plantations wash at tlic end of the day. Here the travellers also bathed, and afterwards found in the surrounding woods a great variety of beautiful plants. Bntliing. While drying themselves in the sun, after coming out of the pool, a little mulatto approached them, bowing gravely, and making a long speech on the virtues of the water. Siiowing tiiem his hut, he assured them they should find in it all the conveniences of life ; but his attentions ceased the moment he heard they had come merely to satisfy their curiosity, and had no intention to try tlie cHicacy of the baths. They are said to be NEW VALENCIA. ]o3 used with success in rheumatic swellings, old ulcers, and CHAP. xiv. the dreadful affections of the skin called bubas. On the 21st February the travellers set out from the Nicl't tra- Hacienda de Cura for Guacara and New Valencia. As ^"^ '"^' the heat was excessive, they preferred travelling by night. Near the hamlet of Punta Zaniuro, at the foot of the lofty mountains of Las Viruelas, the road was bordered by large mimosas sixty feet in height, and with horizontal branches meeting at a distance of more than fifty yards, so as to form a most beautiful canopy of verdure. The night was gloomy, and the Rincon del Diablo with its serrated cliffs appeared from time to time illuminated by the burning of the savannahs. At a place where the wood was thickest their horses were frightened by the yelling of a large jaguar, which seemed to follow them closely, and which they were informed had roamed among these mountains for three years, having escaped the pursuit of the most intrepid hunters. They spent the 22d in the house of the Marquis de ^(y^^e of Toro, at the village of Guacara, a large Indian commu- the Marquis nity ; and in the evening, after visiting Mocundo, an ® ^^°' extensive sugar-plantation near it, they continued their journey to New Valencia. They passed a little wood of palms of the genus Corypha, the withered foliage of which, together with the camels feeding in the plain, and the undulating motion of the vapours on the arid soil, gave the landscape quite an African character. The sterility of sterility of the land increased as they advanced towards tiie land. the city, which is said to have been founded in 1655 by Alonzo Diaz Moreno, and contains a population of six or seven thousand individuals. The streets are broad ; and as the houses are low, they occupied a large extent of ground. Here the termites or white ants were so numerous that their excavations resembled subterranean canals, which, being filled with water in rainy weather, became extremely dangerous to the buildings. On the 26th they set out for the farm of Barbula, to j^-^^ ^^^^^ examine a new road that was making from the city to 154 nor spuings of la trinchera. CHAP. XIV Porto Cabcllo ; and on the 27tli visited the hot springs ~~ of La Trincliera, ten miles from Valencia. These foun- tains were so copious as to form a rivulet, which, during the greatest droughts, was two feet deep and eighteen wide. The temperature of the water was 194-5°. Ef^gs immersed in them were boiled in less than four minutes. They issued from granite, and were strongly impregnated with sulphuretted hydrogen. A sediment of carbonate of lime was deposited, and the most luxu- riant vegetation surrounded the basin, — mimosas, clu- sias, and fig-trees, pushing their roots into the water, and extending their branches over it. Forty feet distant from these remarkable sources there rose others Pi'^'iiicction which were of the ordinary temperature. Humboldt lur litat. remarks, that in all climates people show the same pre- dilection for heat. In Iceland the first Christian con- verts would be baptized only in the tepid streams of Ilecla ; and in the torrid zone, the natives flock from all parts to the thermal waters. The river which is formed by the fountains of La Trincliera runs toward the north-cast, and near the coast expands to a consider- able size. Potto Descending towai'd Porto Cabello, the travellers CabtUo. passed tlirough a very picturesque district, beautified by a most luxuriant vegetation and numerous cascades. A stratified coarse-grained granite occurred near the road. The heat became suffocating as they approached the coast, and a reddish vapour veiled the horizon. In the evening they reached the town, where they were V, Ju;i.ic l^''"^b' received by a Frencli physician, M. Juliac, whose house contained an interesting collection of zoolo- gical subjects. This gentleman was principal surgeon to the royal hospital, and was celebrated for his profound ocfpiaintance witli the yellow fever. He stated, that wlien he had treated his patients by bleeding, aperients, and acid drinks, in hospitals wliere the sick were crowded, the mortality was 33 in 100 among the white Creoles, and 05 in 100 among recently-disembarked Eun.])eans ; but that since a stimulating treatment, and PORTO CABELLO. 155 the use of opium, benzoin, and alcoholic draughts liad CHAP. xiv. been sul)stitutcd for the old del)ilitating method, the mortality had been reduced to 20 in 100 among Euro- peans, and 10 among natives. The heat of Porto Cahello is not so intense as that of ir,.at of La Guayra, the breeze being stronger and more regular, i'"'''o . o ' Cubtrllo* and the air having more room to circulate between the coast and the mountains. The cause of the insalubrity of the atmosphere is therefore to be sought for in the exhalations that arise from the shore to the eastward, where at the beginning of the rainy season tertian fevers prevail, which easily degenerate into the continued typhoid. It has been observed that the mestizoes employed in the salt-works have a yellower skin when they have suffered several successive years from these fevei's. The fishermen assert, that the unwholesomencss of the air is owing to the overflowings of the rivers, and not to inundations of the sea ; and it has been found that the extended cultivation along the banks of the Kio Estevan has rendered them less pestilential. The salt-works are similar to those of Araya, near Cumana ; but the earth at Porto Cabello contains less muriate of soda. As the employment is Tery unhealthy, the poorest persons alone engage in it. The defence of the coasts of Terra Fir ma was maintained at six points, the castle of San Antonio at Cumana, the Morro de Nueva Barcelona, the fortifications of La Guayra, Porto Cabello, Fort St Charles, and Carthagena. Next to Carthagena the most important place is Porto Cabello. The harbour is one of the finest in the world, resembling a basin or little inland lake, opening to the westward by a passage so narrow that only one vessel can anchor at a time, and is defended by batteries. The upper part of it is marshy ground filled with stagnant and putrid water. At the time of Humboldt's visit the number of inhabitants was 9000. Leaving Porto Cabello on the 1st March at sunrise, our travellers were astonished at the number of boats boats which they saw laden with fruit for the market. They |j("; C(nv-TriEE. CHAP. XIV. returned to tlie valleys of Aragua, and again stopped at — ^ the fann of Barbula. Having heard of a tree the juice of wliich resembles milk and is used as an article of food, tliey visited it, and to their surprise found that the statements which had been made to them with respect to it were correct. It is named the palo de vaca or cow- tree, and has oblong pointed leaves, with a somewliat fleshv fruit containing one or sometimes two nuts. When an incision is made in the trunk, there issues abundantly a tliiek glutinous milky fluid, perfectly free from acrimony, and having an agreeable smell. It is Juice. drunk by the negroes and free people who work in the plantations, and the travellers took a considerable quan- tity of it without the least injurious effect. When exposed to the air, this juice presents on its surface a yellowish cheesy substance, in membranous layers, which are elastic, and in live or six days become sour, and afterwards putrefy. The cow-tree appears to be peculiar to the littoral Cordillera, and occurs most plentifully between Barbula and tlie Lake of Maracaybo. obsen-atinns " ■'^"^ong the many curious phenomena," says Hum- ol Humboldt boldt, " which presented themselves to me in the course of my travels, I confess there were few by which my imagination was so powerfully affected as the cow-tree. All that relates to milk and to the cereal plants inspires us with an interest, which is not merely that of the physical knowledge of things, but which connects itself with another order of ideas and feelings. We can hardly imagine how the human species could exist without fari- naceous substances, and without the nutritious fluid which the breast of the mother contains, and which is ajipropriated to the condition of the feeble infant. The amylaceous matter of the cereal plants — the object of religious veneration among so many ancient and modern nations — is distril)uted in the seeds, and deposited in the roots of vegetables ; while the milk which we use as ■ food appears exclusively the product of animal organi- zation. Such are the impressions which we receive in CAIINIVAL. ]')'] early childhood, and such is the source of the astonish- chap. XIV. uicnt with which w-e are seized on first seeing the cow- c ~ — TLr , p ~ . " surprise tree. Magnificent forests, majestic nvers, and lofty excited by mountains clad in perennial snows, are not the ohjects trc& °^" which we here admire, A few drops of a vegetable fluid impress us with an idea of the power and fecundity of nature. On the parched side of a rock grows a tree with dry and leathery foliage, its large woody roots scarcely penetrating into the ground. For several months in the year its leaves are not moistened by a shower ; its branches look as if they were dead and withered ; but when the trunk is bored, a bland and nourishing milk flows from it. It is at sunrise that the vegetable fountain flows most freely. At that time the blacks and natives are seen coming from all parts, pro- vided with large bowls to receive the milk, which grows yellow and thickens at its surface. Some empty their vessels on the spot, while others carry them to their children. One imagines he sees the family of a shepherd who is distributing the milk of his flock." The travellers had resolved to visit the eastern extre- chance of mity of the cordilleras of New Grenada, where they end piaus. in the Paramos of Timotes and Niquitas ; but learning at Barbula that this excursion would retard their arrival at the Orinoco thirty-five days, they judged it prudent to relinquish it, lest they should fail in the real object of their journey, — that of ascertaining by astronomical observations the point at which the Rio Negro and the River of Amazons communicate with the former stream. They therefore returned to Guacara, to take leave of the y^^^^^j^ ^^ family of the Marquis del Toro, and pass three days Guacara. more on the shores of the Lake of Valencia. It happened to be the time of carnival, and all was gayety. The games in which the common people indulged were oc- casionally not of the most pleasant kind. Some led about an ass laden with water, with which they sprinkled the apartments wherever they found an open window ; while others, carrying bags full of the hairs of the \->H I'LANTATIUNS OF CACAO. CHAP. XIV. Dolichos prurietis, which excite great irritation of the — skin, blew tliem into the faces of those who were passing by. From Guacara they returned to New Valencia, where they found a few French emigrants, the only ones they saw during five years in the Spanish colonies. Cacao-pi.in- '^'i'-' cacao-plantations have always been considered as utions. the principal source of the prosperity of these countries. The tree {Theobroma cacao) which produces this sub- stance is not now found wild in the woods to the north of the Orinoco, and begins to be seen only beyond the cataracts of Atures and Maypures ; but it abounds near the Ventuaro, and on the Upper Orinoco. In the plan- tations it vegetates so vigorously, that flowers spring out even from the woody roots wherever they are left un- covered. It suffers from the north-east winds ; and the heavy showers that fall during the winter season, from December to March, are very injurous to it. Great humidity is favourable only when it augments gradually and continues a long time without interruption. In the dry season, when the leaves and young fruit are wetted by a heavy shower, the latter falls to the ground. For these reasons the cacao harvest is very uncertain, and the causes of failure are increased by the depredations of worms, insects, birds, and quadrupeds. This branch of agriculture has the disadvantage, moreover, of obliging the new jdantcr to wait eight or ten years for the fruit of his labours, and of yielding an article of very difficult preservation ; but it requires a much less number of slaves than most others, one being sufficient for a thou- sand trees, which at an average yield twelve fanegas annually. Itaj)peared probable, that from 1800 to 1806 the yearly produce of the cacao-plantations of the capi- tania-general of Caraccas was at least 193,000 fanegas, or 287,290 bubhels, of which the province of Caraccas furnished three-fourths. The crojjs are gathered twice a-year, at the end of June and of December. Humboldt states, as the result of numerous local estimates, that Europe consumes, — CONSUMPTION OP CACAO. 159 23,000,000 pounds of cacao, at 120 fr. per 100 lbs. = 27,s Alii (I iiiUs. 'J^'ii^ principal characteristic of the savannahs of South America is the entire want of hills. In a space extend- ing to 300 square miles, there is not a single eminence a foot high. These ])lains, however, present two kinds of inequalities: the buncos, consi-sting of broken strata of sandstone or limestone, which stand four or five feet above the surface ; and the mesas, composed of small Prairies. MOUNTAINS OF SOUTH AMERICA. 1G5 flats or convex mounds, rising gradually to the height CHAP. XV. of a few yards. The uniform aspect of these flats, the x'nifi^ extreme rarity of inhabitants, the fatigue of travelling aspect of under a burning sky amid clouds of dust, the continual ' "^ "''^ recession of the horizon, and the successive appearance of solitary palms, make the steppes appear far more ex- tensive than they really are. It has even been imagined tliat the whole eastern side of South America, from the Orinoco and the Apure to the Plata and the Straits of Magellan, is one great level ; but this is not the case. In order to understand their limitations it will be necessary to take a general view of the mountain- ranges. The Cordillera of the coast, where the highest summit Cordillera, is the Silla of Caraccas, and which is connected by the Paramo de las Rosas to the Nevado de Merida, and the Andes of New Grenada, has already been described. A less elevated but much larger group of mountains extends from the mouths of the Guaviare and the Meta, the source of the Orinoco, the Marony, and the Esscquibo, toward French and Dutch Guiana. This, which is named the cordillera of Parime, may be followed for a length of 863 miles, and is sepai'ated from the Andes of New Grenada by a space 276 miles in breadth. A third chain of mountains, which connects the Andes of Peru with the mountains of Brazil, is the cordillera of Chiquitos, dividing the rivers flowing into the Amazon from the tributaries of the Plata. These three transverse chains or groups, extending Transvcrso from west to east within the limits of the torrid zone, chains of are separated by level tracts forming the plains of Car- < accas or of the Lower Orinoco, the flats of the Amazon and Rio Negro, and those of Buenos Ayres or La Plata. The middle basin, known by the colonists under the name of the basques or selvas of the Amazon, is covered with trees ; the southern, the pampas of Buenos Ayres, with grass ; and the northern, the llanos of Varinas and Caraccas, with plants of various kinds. The western coasts of South America are bordered by 166 MOUNTAINS OF SODTU AMERICA. tie Andca CHAP. XV. a wall of mountains, pierced at intervals hy volcanic C^ninicra of ^^^^' ^"^ constituting the celebrated cordiliera of the Andes, the mean height of which is 1 ] ,830 feet. It ex- tends in the direction of a meridian, sending out two lateral brandies, one in lat. 10° north, being tliat of the coast of Caraccas, the other in lat. 16° and 18° south, forming the cordiliera of Chiquitos, and widening cast- ward in Brazil into vast table-lands. Between these lines* is a group of granitic mountains, running from 3° to 7° north latitude, in a direction parallel to the equator, but not united to the Andes. These three chains have no active volcanoes, and none of their sum- mits enter the line of perpetual snow. They are separated hy plains, which are closed toward the west and open toward the east ; and they are so low, that were tlie Atlantic to rise 320 feet at the mouth of the Orinoco and 1280 feet at the mouth of the Amazon, more than the half of South America would be covered, and the eastern declivity of the Andes would become a shore of the ocean. We now accompany the travellers on their route from the northern side of the Llanos to the banks of the Aj)urc, in the province of Varinas. After passing two nights on horseback, they arrived at a little farm called El Cayman, where was a house surrounded by some small huts covered with reeds and skins. They found an old negro who had the management of the farm during his master's absence. Although he told them of herds composed of several thousand cows, tliey asked in vain for milk, and were obliged to content themselves witli some muddy and fetid water drawn from a neigh- bouring pool, of which they contrived to drink by using a linen cloth as a filter. When the mules were unloaded, tiiey were set at liberty to go and search for water, and the strangers following them came upon a copious reser- voir surrounded with palm-trees. Covered with dust, and scorched Ijy the sandy wind of the desert, they plunged into the pool, but had scarcely begun to enjoy its coolness when the noise of an alligator floundering in Wnnt fif H'Llcr MIRAGE — ANIMALS. H)7 tlie mutl induced them to make a precipitate retreat. CHAP. XV Might coming on, they wandLred about in search of tlic xi„i,^ fai-m, but did not succeed in finding it, and at length re- adventure, solved to seat themselves under a palm-tree, in a dry spot surrounded by short grass, v^'hen an Indian, who had been on his round collecting the cattle, coming up on horseback, was persuaded, though not without diffi- culty, to guide them to the house. At two in the morning they set off, with the view of reaching Calabozo before noon. The aspect of the country continued the same. There was no moonlight, but the great masses of nebuliE illumined part of the terrestrial horizon as they set out. As the sun ascended, the phenomena of mirage presented themselves in all their modifications. Mirage. The little currents of air that passed along the ground had so variable a temperature, that in a herd of wild cows some appeared with their legs raised from the surface, while others rested upon it. The objects were generally suspended, but no inversion was observed. At sunrise the plains assumed a more animated appearance ; the horses, mules, and oxen, which graze on them in a state of freedom, after having reposed during the night beneath the palms, now assembled in crowds. As the travellers approached Calabozo, they saw troops of small deer feeding in the midst of the cattle. These animals, which are called matacani, are a little larger than the Matacani. roe of Europe, and have a sleek fawn-coloured pile, spotted with white. Some of them were entirely of the latter hue. Their flesh is good ; and their number is so great that a trade in their skins might be carried on with advantage, but the inhabitants are too indolent to engage in any active occupation. These steppes were principally covered with grasses of Grasses, the genera kiUingia, cenchrus, and paspalum, which at that season scarcely attain a height of nine or ten inches near Calabozo and St Jerome del Pirital, although on the banks of the Apure and Portuguesa they rise to the length of four feet. Along with these ^vere mingled some turnerae, malvacese, and mimosae. The pastures 1G8 CALABOZO — CATTLE. CHAP. XV. are richest on the banks of the rivers, and under the rit^caT" ^^^^'^^ of corypha pahns. These trees were singularly uniform in size ; their height being from twenty- one to twenty-five feet, and their diameter from eight to ten inches. The wood is very hard, and the fan-like leaves are used for roofing the huts scattered over the plains. A few clumps of a species of rhopala occur here and there. Excessive The philosophers suffered greatly from the heat in liuat. crossing the Mesa de Calabozo. Whenever the wind blew, the temperature rose to 104° or 106°, and the air was loaded with dust. The guides advised them to fill their hats with the rhopala leaves, to prevent the action of the solar rays on the head, and from this expedient they derived considerable benefit. Caiaboza At Calabozo they experienced the most cordial hospi- tality from the administrator of the Real Hacienda, Don Miguel Cousin. The town, which is situatad between the Guarico and the Urituco, has a population of 5000. The principal wealth of the inhabitants consists of cattle, of which it was computed that there were 98,000 in the neighbouring pastures. M. Depons estimates the number in the plains, extending from the mouths of the Orinoco Nv.mi.eiof to the Lake of Maracaybo, at 1,200,000 oxen, 180,000 cjttic horses, and 90,000 mules ; and in the Pampas of Buenos Ayres, it is believed that there are 12,000,000 of cows and 3,000,000 of horses, not including cattle which have no acknowledged owner. In the Llanos of Caraccas, the richer projirietors of the great hatos, or cattle-farms, ])rand 14,000 head every year, and sell 5000 or 6000. The exportation from tlie whole capitania-general amounts annually to 174,000 skins of oxen and 11,500 of goats, for the West India Islands alone. This stock was first introduced a])Out 1548 1)y Christoval Rodriguez. They are of tlic Spanish breed, and tlieir disposition is 80 gentle tliat a traveller runs no risk of being attacked or j)ursucd by them. The horses are also descended from ancestors of the same country, and are generally of a brown colour. There were no sheep in tlie plains. ELECTRICAL EELS. ]()() Humboldt remarks, that wlicn we hear of the prodi- cilAP. XV. gious numbers of oxen, horses, and mules, spread over ,. — the plains of America, we forget that in civilized Europe cattlti the aggregate amount is not less surprising. According to M. Peucliet, France feeds 6,000,000 of the large horned class ; and in the Austrian monarcliy, the oxen, cows, and calves, are estimated by Mr Lichtonstein at about 13,400,000. At Calabozo, in the midst of the Llanos, the travellers Hccfric found an electrical apparatus nearly as complete as those appanitiis. of Europe, made by a person who had rie\^er seen any such instrument, had received no instructions, and was acquainted with the phenomena of electricity only by reading the treatise of Sigaud de la Fond, and Franklin's Memoirs. Next to this piece of mechanism, the objects that excited the greatest interest were the electrical eels, EiecMau or gymnoti, which abound in the basins of stagnant ^«^ water and the confluents of the Orinoco. The dread of the shocks given by these animals is so great among the common people and Indians, that for some time no specimens could be procured, and one which was at length brought to them afforded very unsatisfactory results. On the 19th March, at an early hour, they set off" for catching the village of Rastro de Abaxo, whence they were con- gymnoti. ducted by the natives to a stream, which in the dry season forms a pool of muddy water surrounded by trees. It being very difficult to catch the gymnoti with nets, on account of their extreme agility, it was resolved to procure some by intoxicating or benumbing them with the roots of certain plants, which when thrown into the water produce that effect. At this juncture the Indians informed them that they would fish with horses, and soon brought from the savannah about thirty of these animals, which they drove into the pool. " The extraordinary noise caused by the horses' hoofs Fisiung with makes the fishes issue from the mud, and excites them horses. to combat. These yellowish and livid eels resembling large aquatic snakes, swim at the surface of the water, and crowd under the bellies of the horses and mules. 170 FISHING WITH HORSES. CHAP. XV. The struggle 1)et\vecn animals of so different an organiza- — tion affords a very interesting sight. The Indians, nl!he"^ furnisliod with harpoons and long slender reeds, closely surround tlie pool. Some of tliem climb the trees, whose branches stretch horizontally over the water. By their wild cries and their long reeds, they prevent the horses from coming to the edge of the basm. The eels, stunned by the noise, defend themselves by repeated discharges of their electrical batteries, and for a long time seem likely to obtain the victory. Several horses T> str ctinn ^'"^ under the violence of the invisible blows which 01 tiie iiorsia they receive in the organs most essential to life, and, benumbed by the force and frequency of the shocks, disiippear beneath the surface. Others, panting, with erect mane, and haggard eyes expressive of anguish, raise themselves and endeavour to escape from the storm which overtakes them, but are driven back by the Indians. A few, however, succeed in eluding the active vigilance of the fishers ; they gain the shore, stumble at every step, and stretch themselves out on the sand, ex- hausted with fatigue, and having their limbs benumbed by the electric shocks of the gymnoti. Kiectric "-^^ ^'-'^^ than five minutes two horses were killed, discharge of The eel, which is five feet long, presses itself against the ' ^ *' belly of the horse, and makes a discharge along the whole extent of its electric organ. It attacks at once the heart, the viscera, and the ca;liac plexus of the abdominal nerves. It is natural that the effect which a horse ex- periences should be more powerful tlian that produced by the same fish on man, when he touches it only by one of the extremities. The horses are probably not killed but only stunned ; they are drowned from the impossibility of rising amid the prolonged struggle between the other horses and eels." Capture of '^^^^ gymnoti at length dispersed, and approached the the g)iimoil. edge of the pool, when five of them were taken by means of small hari)oons fastened to long cords. A few more were caught towards evening, and there was thus ob- tained a sufficient number of specimens on which to GYMNOTLS ELECTUrcUS. 171 make experiments. Tlie results of Humboldt's obscrva- chap. xv. tions on these animals may be stated briefly as follows : — ,, "^ , mi -11 1 ■ -1 . Expennients liie gymnotus is the largest electrical fish known, on the some of those measured by him being from 5 feet 4 ^'i™^*"'"^ inches to 6 feet 7 inches in length. One, 4 feet 1 inch long, weighed 16| Troy pounds, and its transverse diameter was 3 inches 7^ lines. The colour Avas a fine olive-green ; tlie under part of the head yellow mingled with red. Along the back are two rows of small yellow spots, each of which contains an excretory aperture for the mucus, with which the skin is constantly covered. The swimming-bladder is of large size, and before it is situated another of smaller dimensions ; the former separated from the skin by a mass of fat, and resting upon the electric organs, which occupy more than two-thirds of the fish. It would be rash to expose one's self to the first Danger from shocks of a very large individual, — the pain and numb- *^^ shock, ness which follow in such a case being extremely violent. When in a state of great weakness, the animal produces in the person who touches it a twitching, which is propagated from the hand to the elbow ; a kind of internal vibration lasting two or three seconds, and followed by painful torpidity, being felt after every stroke. The electric energy depends upon the will of the creature, and it directs it toward the point where it feels most strongly irritated. The organ acts only Organ of under the hnmediate influence of the brain and heart ; ^'^^''^"^ for, when one of them was cut through the middle, the fore part of the body alone gave shocks. Its action on man is transmitted and intercepted by the same sub- stances that transmit and intercept the electrical current of a conductor charged by a Leyden jar or a Voltaic pile. In the water the shock can be conveyed to a con- siderable distance. No spark has ever been observed to issue from the body of the eel when excited. The gymnoti are objects of dread to the natives, and their presence is considered as the principal cause of the 172 INDIAN GIRL — CROCODILES. want of fisli in tlie pools of the Llanos. All the inha- bitants of the waters avoid them ; and the Indians asserted, that when they take young alligators and these animals in tlie same net, tiie latter never display any appearance of wounds, because they disable their ene- mies before they are attacked Jiy them. It became nece^sary to change tiie direction of a road near Urituco, solely because they were so numerous in a river that they killed many mules in the course of fording it. On the 2J:th March the travellers left Calabozo, and advanced southward. As they proceeded they found the country more dusty and destitute of herbage. The palm-trees gradually disappeared. From eleven in the morning till sunset the thermometer kept at 03° or 95-'. Although the air was calm at the height of eight or ten feet, the ground was swept by little currents which raised clouds of dust. About four in the afternoon they observed in the savannah a young Indian girl, twelve or thirteen years of age, quite naked, lying on her back, exhausted with fatigue and thirst, and with her eyes, nostrils, and mouth, filled with dust. Her breathing was stertorous, and she was unable to answer the questions put to her. Happily one of the mules was laden with water, the application of which to her face aroused her. She was at first frightened, but by degrees took courage, and conversed with the guides. As she could not be prevailed upon to mount the beasts of liurden, nor to return to Urituco, she Avas furnished with some water ; upon which she resumed her way, and was soon separated from her preservers by a cloud of dust. In the night they forded the Rio Urituco, which is filled with crocodiles remarkable for their ferocit\', although those of the Rio Tisnao in the neighbourhood are not at all dangerous. They were shown a hut or shed, in wliich a singular scene had been witnessed by their host of Calabozo, who, having slept in it upon a bench covered with leather was awakened carlv in the MKSA DK PAVONES. 17.3 morning by a violent shaking, accompanied with a chap. xv. liorrible noise. Presently an alligator two or three ^- T~ feet long issued from under the l)ed, and darted at a dog iucideut lying on the threshold, but missing him ran toward the river. When the spot where the bench stood was examined, the dried mud was found turned up to a con- siderable depth, Avhere the alligator had lain in its state of torpidity or summer sleep. The hut being situated on the edge of a pool, and inundated during part of the year, the animal had no doubt entered at that period and concealed itself in the mire. The Indians often find enormous boas, or water-serpents, in the same lethargic state. On the 25th March they passed over the smoothest The Mesa de part of the steppes of Caraccas, the Mesa dc Pavones. '■'^™''<^s. As far as the eye could reach, no object fifteen inches high could be discovered excepting cattle, of which they met some large herds accompanied by flocks of the crotophaga ani, a bird of a black colour with olive reflections. They were exceedingly tame, and perched upon the quadrupeds in search of insects. Wherever excavations had been made, they found the ^ogts. rock to be old red sandstone or conglomerate, in which were observed fragments of quartz, kieselschiefer, and lydian stone. The cementing clay is feiTuginous, and often of a very bright red. This formation, which covers an extent of several thousand square leagues, rests on the northern margin of the plains upon transi- tion-slate, and to the south upon the granites of the Orinoco. After wandering a long time on the desert and path- farm-houso less savannahs of the IMesa de Pavones, they were agree- and -siUage. ably surprised to find a solitary farm-house surrounded with gardens and pools of clear water. Farther on they passed the night near the village of San Geronymo del Guyaval, situated on the banks of the Rio Guarico, which joins the Apure. The ecclesiastic, who was a young man, and had no other habitation than his CHAP. XV. Arrival at San Ker nauda I 74 VILLA DE SAN FERNANDO. cl lurch, received them in the kindest manner. Crossing tile Guarico they encamped in the plain, and early in tiie morning pursued their way over low grounds wliich are often inundated. On the 27th they arrived at the Villa de San Fernando, and terminated their journey over the Llanos. COMMENCEMENT OF THE UAINY SEASON. IJS CHAPTER XVI. Voyage down the Rio Apure. San Fernando — Commencement of the Rainy Season — Progress of Atmospherical Phenomena — Cetaceous Animals — Vo3-a<^e down the Rio Apure — Vegetation and Wild Animals — Crocodiles, Chiguires, and Jaguars — Don Ignacio and Donna Isabella — Wa- ter-fowl— Nocturnal Howlings in the Forest — Caribe-fish — Ad- venture with a Jaguar — Manatees — Mouth of the Rio Apure. The town of San Fernando, which was founded only in chap. XVX 1789, is advantageously situated on a large navigable xowiToTsan river, the Apure, a tributary of the Orinoco, near the Fernando. mouth of another stream which traverses the whole province of Varinas, all the productions of which pass through it on their way to the coast. It is during the rainy season, when the rivers overflow their banks and inundate a vast extent of country, that commerce is most active. At this period the savannahs are covered with water to the depth of twelve or fourteen feet, and j;:iiiiy present the appearance of a great lake, in the midst of '*'^*'^""' which the farm-houses and villages are seen rising on islands scarcely elevated above the surface. Horses, mules, and cows, perish in great numbers, and afford abundant food to the zamuros or carrion-vultures, as well as to the alligators. The inhabitants, to avoid the force of the currents, and the danger arising from the trees carried down by them, instead of ascending the course of the rivers, find it safer to cross the fiats in their boats. ]7() INTENSE HEAT — TIIUNUER. ciiAr. XVI. San Fernando is celebrated for the excessive heat — wliich prevails there during the greater part of the year. ^.xctssi\ ,^,j^^ travellers found the white sand of the shores, wherever it was exposed to the sun, to have a tempera- ture of 120*5°, at two in the afternoon. The thermo- meter, raised eighteen inclies above the sand, indicated 109' ; and at six feet, 101-7°. The temperature of the air in the shade was 97°. These observations were made during a dead calm, and when the wind began to blow the heat increased five degrees. Tliunder. 0" the 28th .March, Humboldt and his companion being on the shore at sunrise, heard the thunder rolling all around, although as yet there were only scattered clouds, advancing in opposite directions toward the zenitli. Deluc's hygrometer was at SS'', the thermo- meter stood at 7-4-7°, and the electrometer gave no par- ticular indication. As the clouds mustered, the blue of the sky changLd to deep azure, and then to gray ; and when it was completely overcast the thermometer rose Meteorologi- several degrees. Although a heavy rain fell, the tra- tnena.'^"'*' vellers remained on tlie shore to observe the electrometer. When it was held at the height of six feet from the ground, the pith-balls genei-ally separated only a few seconds before the lightning was seen. The separation was four lines. The electric charge remained the same for several minutes, and there were repeated oscillations from positive to negative. Toward the end of the storm the west wind blew with great impetuosity, and when the clouds dispersed the thermometer fell to 71*6°. oi.iect of Humboldt states, that he enters into these details '''"^'''^^"'""' because Europeans usually confine themselves to a description of the impressions made on their minds by the solemn spectacle of a tropical thunder-storm ; and because, m a country wliere tlie year is divided into two great seasons of drought and rain, it is interesting to trace the transition from the one to the other. In the valleys of Aragua, he had from the 18th of February observed clouds forming in the evening, and in the beginning of March the accumulation of vesicular va- ATMOSPHERIC PHENOMENA, 177 pcurs became visible. Flashes of lightning were seen chap. xvi. in the south, and at sunset Volta's electrometer rcgu- ^ hT^ , larly displayed positive indications, the separation of tlie pith-balls being from three to four lines. After the 26th of the latter month the electrical equilibrium of the atmosphere seemed broken, although the hygrometer still denoted great dryness. The following is an account of the atmospheric phe- Atmospheric nomena in the inland districts to the east of the cordil- Plitnouiena. leras of Merida and New Grenada, in the Llanos of Venezuela, and the Rio Meta, from the fourth to the tenth degree of north latitude, wherever the rains continue from May to October, and consequently include the period of the greatest heat, which is in July and A-Ugust : — " Nothing can equal the purity of the atmo- sphere from December to February. The sky is then constantly without clouds, and should one appear, it ia a phenomenon that occupies all the attention of the inhabitants. The breeze from the east and north-east blows with violence. As it always carries with it air of the same temperature, the vapours cannot become visible througli refrigeration. Towards the end of February and the beginning of March, the blue of the sky is less Hamidity, intense ; the hygrometer gradually indicates greater humidity ; the stars are sometimes veiled by a thin stratum of vapours ; their light ceases to be tranquil and planetary ; and they are seen to sparkle from time to time at the height of 20° above the horizon. At this period the breeze diminishes in strength, and becomes less regular, being more frequently interrupted by dead calms. Clouds accumulate towards the south-east, ap- Clouds. pearing like distant mountains with distinct outlines, • From time to time they are seen to separate from the horizon, and traverse the celestial vault with a rapidity which has no correspondence with the feebleness of the ■wind that prevails in the lower strata of the air. At the end oi March the southern region of the atmosphere is illuminated by small electric explosions, like phos- phorescent gleams confined to a single group of vanours. 178 ATMOSPHERIC PHENOMENA. ciiAr. XVL From this period the breeze shifts at intervals, and for several hours, to the west and south-west, affording a sure indication of the approach of the rainy season, which on tlie Orinoco commences about the end of April. The sky begins to be overcast, its azure colour Ileat iisappears, and a gray tint is uniformly diffused over it. At the same time the heat of the atmosphere gradually increases, and instead of scattered clouds the whole vault of the heavens is overspread with condensed vapours. The howling-monkeys begin to utter their plaintive cries long before sunrise. The atmospheric Atmospheric electricity, which, during the period of the greatest L-iecnidtj-. drought, from December to March, had been almost constantly in the daytime from 1-7 to 2 lines to Volta's electrometer, becomes extremely variable after March. During whole days it appears null, and again, for some hours, the pith-ljalls of the electrometer diverge from three to four lines. The atmosphere, which in the tori'id as in the temperate zone is generally in a state of positive electricity, passes alternately, in tlie course of eight or ten minutes, to the negative state. The rainy season is that of tlmnder-storms ; and yet I have found, from numerous experiments made during three years, that at this season the electric tension is less in the lower regions of the atmosphere. Are thunder-storms the effect of this unequal charge of the different super- imposed strata of the air ? What prevents the electri- city from descending towards the earth in a stratum of air which has become more humid since the month of Accumuia- March \ At this period the electricity, in place of being c/ccirkity ^^'^^scd through the whole atmosphere, would seem to be accumulated on the outer envelope at the surface of the clouds. According to M. Gay Lussac, it is the for- mation of the cloud itself that carries the fluid toward the surface. The storm rises in the phiins two hours after tlie sun passes through the meridian, and therefore shortly after the period of the maxinmm of the diurnal heat in the tropics. In the inland districts it is exceed- ingly rare to luar thunder at nii^lit or in the mornimr. ATMOSPHERIC I'HENOMENA. 179 nocturnal thunder-storms being peculiar to certain val- chap, xvi leys of rivers which have a particular climate." It may be interesting to present a very brief state- Explanation ment of Humboldt's explanation of these phenomena : °\^^'^ — The season of rains and thunder in the northern equinoctial zone coincides with the passage of the sun through the zenith of the place, the cessation of the breezes or north-east winds, and the frequency of calms, and furious currents of the atmosphere from the south- east and south-west, accompanied with a cloudy sky. While the breeze from tlie north-east blows, it prevents the atmosphere from being saturated with moisture. Tlie hot and loaded air of the torrid zone rises and flows off again towards the poles, while inferior currents from these last, bringing drier and colder strata, take the place of the ascending columns. In tliis manner the humidity, being prevented from accumulating, passes off towards the temperate and colder regions, so that the sky is always clear. When the sun, entering the northern signs, rises towards the zenith, the breeze from the north-east softens, and at length ceases ; this being the season at which the difference of temperature between the troj)ics and tlie contiguous zone is least. The column of air resting on the equinoctial zone ,r , ° , . . , Vapour ana becomes replete with vapours, because it is no longer clouds. renewed by the current from the pole ; clouds form in this atmosphere, saturated and cooled by the effects oi radiation and the dilatation of the ascending air, which increases its capacity for heat in proportion as it is rari- lied. Electricity accumulates in the higher regions in consequence of the formation of the vesicular vapours, the precipitation of which is constant during the day, but generally ceases at night. The showers are more violent, and accompanied with electrical explosions, shortly after the maximum of the diurnal heat. These phenomena continue until the sun enters the southern signs, when the polar current is re-established, because the difference between the heat of the equiuoctial and temperate regions is daily increasing. The air of the 180 VOYAGE DOWN THE APURE. CHAP. XVL tropics being thus renewed, the rains cease, the vapour? are dibsolved, and the sky resumes its azure tint. Cctacious At San Fernando, IlumLoldt observed in the river ■"^^^^"^ long files of cetaceous animals resembling the common porpoise. The crocodiles seemed to dislike them, and dived whenever thoy approached. They ■were three or four feet long, and appear to be peculiar to the great streams of South America, as he saw some of them above the cataracts of the Orinoco, whither they could not have ascended from the sea. Rainv season. The rainy season had now commenced, and as the way to that river by land lies across an unhealthy and uninteresting flat, they preferred the longer way by the Rio Apure, and embarked in a large canoe or lancha, having a pilot and four Indians for crew. A cabin was constructed in the stern, of sufficient size to hold a table and benches, and covered with corypha-leaves. They Provisions put on board a stock of provisions for a month, while iuiavoyuse. ^j^g Capuchin missionary, with whom they had lodged during their stay, supplied them with wine, oranges, and tamarinds. Fishing-instniments, fire-arms, and some casks of brandy, for bartering with the natives, were added to their store. On the 30th March, at four in the afternoon, they left San Fernando, accompanied by Don Nicolas Sojio, brother-in-law of the governor of the province. The river abounds in fish, manatees, and turtles, and its banks are peopled by numberless birds, of which the pauxi and guacharaca are the most useful Apurita ^^ man. Passing the mouth of the A purito, they coasted the island of the same name, formed by the Apure and Guarico, and which is seventy-six miles in length. On the banks they saw huts of the Yaruroes, who live by liunting and fishing, and are very skilful in killing jaguars, tlic skins of which they dispose of in the Spanish villages. Tlie iiight was passed at Diamante, a small sugar-plantation. On the .31st a contrary wind obliged them to remain on shore till noon, when they embarked, and as they proceeded found the river gradually widcnmg ; one of CROCODILES. 101 its banks being generally sandy and barren, the other CIIAP. xvi. liigher and covered with tail trees. Sometimes, how- nankTofthe ever, it was bordered on both sides l)y forests, and re- 1''" Ai>iir& sembled a straiglit canal 320 yards in breadth. Bushes of sauso (Permesia castancifolia) formed along the margins a kind of hedge about four feet high, in which the jaguars, tapirs, and pecaris, had made openings for the purpose of drinking ; and as these animals manifest little fear at the approach of a boat, the travellers had the pleasure of viewing them as they walked slowly along the shore, until they disappeared in tlie forest. When the sauso-hedge was at a distance from the current, crocodiles were often seen in parties of eight or CrocodOos. ten, stretched out on the sand motionless, and with their jaws opened at right angles. These monstrous reptiles were so numerous, that throughout the whole course oi the river there were usually five or six in view, although the waters had scarcely begun to rise, and hundreds were still buried in the mud of the savannahs. A dead individual which they found was 17 feet 9 inches long, and another, a male, was more than 23. This species is not a cayman or alligator, but a real crocodile, with feet dentated on the outer edge like that of the Nile. The Indians informed them, that scarcely a year passes at sinfrniar San Fernando without two or three persons being escape from drowned by them, and related the history of a young girl of Urituco, who, by singular presence of mind, made her escape from one. Finding herself seized and carried into the water, she felt for the eyes of the ani- mal, and thrust her fingers into them ; when the crocodile let her loose, after biting off^ the lower part of her left arm. Notwithstanding the quantity of blood which she lost, she was still able to reach the shore by swimming with the right hand. Mungo Park's guide, Isaaco, effected his preservation from a crocodile by em- ploying the same means. The motions of these animals are abrupt and rapid when they attack an oljject, although they move very slowly when not excited. In running they make a rustling noise, which seems to 182 JAGUAR. Cano dc h llgrcra. CHAP. XYI. proceed from their scales, and appear higher on their — legs than when at rest, at the same time bending the the crocoiiue, back. They generally advance in a straight line, but can easily turn when they please. They swim with great facility, even against the most rapid current. On the Apurc they seemed to live chiefly on the chiguires (Cavia capyhara), which feed in herds on the banks, and are of the size of our pigs. These creatures have no weapons for defence, and are alternately the prey of the jaguars on land and of the crocodiles in the water. Stopping below the mouth of the Cano de la Tigrera, m a sinuosity called La Vuelta del Joval, they measured the velocity of the current at its surface, which was only 3*4 feet in a second. Here they were surrounded by chiguires, swimming like dogs, with the head and neck out of the water. A large crocodile, which was sleeping on the shore in the midst of a troop of these animals, awoke at the approach of the canoe, and moved slowly into the stream without frightening the others. Near the Joval every thing assumed a wild and awful aspect. Here they saw an enormous jaguar stretched beneath the shade of a large zamang or mimosa. It had just killed a chiguire, which it held with one of its paws, while the zamuro-vultures were assembled in flocks around it. It was curious to observe the mixture of boldness and timidity which these birds exhibited, for although they advanced within two feet of the tiger, they instantly shrunk back at the least motion which he made. In order to examine more nearly their man- ners, the travellers went into the little boat ; when the tyrant of tlie ibrest withdrev/ behind the saus^o-hushes, leaving his victim, which the vultures in the mean time attempted to devour, but were soon put to flight by his rushing into the midst of them.* J:iguur. Vultures. * In tlie province of Tnciiman the common mode of killinj^ the jajjiiar is to trace liini to liis lair, by tlie wool left on the bushes, if he has carried ofi' a sheeii, or by means of a doj;- trained for the pur- pose. On findinj; the eniMiiy the i;aucho puts himself into a position lor recciviii)^ him on the pomt of a bayonet or spear, at the first JAGUAR-HUNTEU. 185 Continuing to descend the river, they met with a CHAP. xvr. great herd of chiguires that the tiger had dispersed, and Herdo7 from which he had selected his prey. These animals chigmres. seemed not to be afraid of men, for they saw the travel- lers land without agitation, but the sight of a dog put them to flight. They ran so slowly that the people succeeded in catching two of them. It is the largest ot the Glires or gnawing animals. Its flesh has a disagree- able smell of musk, although hams are made of it in the country, which are eaten during Lent ; as this quadru- ped, according to ecclesiastical zoology, is esteemed a fish. The travellers passed the night as usual in the open jaguar- air, although in a plantation, the proprietor of which, a ''"^'ter. jaguar-hunter, half-naked and as brown as a Zambo, prided himself on being of the European race, and called his wife and daughter, who were as slightly clothed as himself. Donna Isabella and Donna Manuela. Hum- boldt had brought a chiguire ; but his host assured him such food was not fit for white gentlemen like them, at Hospitality. the same time offering him venison. As this aspiring personage had neither house nor hut, he invited the strangers to sling their hammocks near his own, between two trees ; which they accordingly did. They soon spring which he makes, and thus waits until the dog's drive him out ; an exploit which he performs with such coolness and dexterity that there is scarcely an instance of failure. '• In a recent instance, re- lated hy our capitaz, the business was not so quickly completed. The animal lay stretched at full length on the ground, like a gorged cat. Instead of showing anger and attacking his enemies with fury, he was playful, and disposed rather to parley with the dogs with g-ood humour than to take their attack in sober earnestness. He was now fired upon, and a ball lodged in his shoulder; on which he sprung so quickly on his watching assailant, that he not only buried the baj'onet in his body, but tumbled over the capitaz who held it. and thev floundered on the ground together, t!ie man being com- pletely in his clutches. ' I thought,' said the brave fellow, ' I was no longer a capitaz, while I held my arm up to protect my throat, which the animal seemed in the act of seizing; but when I expected to feel his fangs in my flesh, the green fire of his eyes, which blazed upon me, flashed out in a moment. He fell on me, and expired at the very instant I thought myself lost for ever.'" — Captain Ah- lirews^ 'I ravels in South America, vol. L p. 219. 186 SCENERY OF THE APCRE. Midnight storm. Weather. Scenery of the Ap'iire. CHAP. XVI. found reason, however, to regret that they had not ob- tained better shelter ; for after midnight a thunder-storm came on, which wetted tliem to the skin. Donna Isa- bella's cat had perched on one of the trees, and fell into a cot, tlie inmate of which imagined he was attacked by some wild beast, and could hardly be quieted. At sunrise the lodgers took leave of Don Ignacio and his lady, and proceeded on their voyage. The weather was a little cooler, tlie thermometer having fallen from 86° to 75*^ ; but the temperature of the river continued at 79° or 80°. One might imagine that on smooth ground, where no eminence can be distinguished, the stream would have hollowed out an even bed for itself ; but this is by no means the case ; the two banks not opposing equal resistance to the water. Below the Joval the mass of the current is a little wider, and forms a perfectly straight channel, margined on either side by lofty trees. It was here about 290 yards broad. They passed a low island densely covered by flamingoes, roseate spoonbills, herons, and water-hens, which pre- sented a most divei-sified mixture of colours. On the right bank they found a little Indian mission, consisting of sixteen huts constructed of palm-leaves, and inhabited by a tribe of the Guamoes. These Christians were unable to furnish them with the provisions which they wanted, Imt hospitably offered them dried fish and water. The night was spent on a bare and very exten- sive beach. The forest being impenetrable, they had great difficulty in obtaining dry wood to light fires for the purpose of keeping off the wild beasts. But the night was calm, witli beautiful moonlight. Finding no tree on the banks, they stuck their oars in the sand, and suspended their hammocks upon them. About eleven there arose in the wood so terrific a noise that it was imjjossible to sleep. The Indians distinguished the cries of sapajous, alouates, jaguars, cougars, pecaris, Bloths, curassows, parraquas, and other gallinaceous birds. When the tigers approached the edge of the forest, a dog which the travellers had, began to howl Bivouac on the shore. CARIBES 137 and seek refuge under their cots. Sometimes, after chap, xvl a long silence, the cry of the ferocious animals came — from the tops of the trees, when it was followed by the sharp and long whistling of the monkeys. Humboldt supposes the noise thus made by the inhabitants of the thicket, at certain hours of the niglit, to be the effect of some contest that has arisen among tliem. On the 2d April they set sail Ijefore sunrise. The porpobci. river was ploughed by porpoises, and the shore crowded with aquatic birds ; while some of the latter, perched on the floating timber, were endeavourmg to surprise the fish that preferred the middle of the stream. The navigation is rather dangerous, on account of the large trees which remain obliquely fixed in the mud, and the canoe touched several times. Near the island of Cari- zales they saw enormous trunks covered with plotuses or darters, and below it observed a diminution of the waters of the river, owing to infiltration and evaporation. Ts^ear the Vuelta de Basilio, where they landed to gather Black plants, they saw on a tree two beautiful jet-black mon- nioni^es. keys of an unknown species, and also a nest of iguanas, which was pointed out by the Indians. The flesh of this lizard is very white, and, next to that of the arma- dillo, is the best food to be found in the huts of tJie natives. Towards evening it rained, and swallows were seen skimming along the water. They also saw a flock of parrots pursued by hawks. The night was passed on the beach. On the 3d they proceeded down the river in their caribefish solitary course. The sailors caught the fish known in the country by the name of caribe ; which, although only four or five inches in length, attacks persons who go into the water, and with its sharp triangular teeth often tears considerable portions of flesh from their legs. When pieces of meat are cast into the river, clouds ot these little fishes appear in a few minutes. There are three varieties in the Orinoco ; one of which seems to be the Salnia rhombeus of Linnajus. At noon they stopped in a desert spot called Algodonal, when Hum- 188 ADVENTURE WITH A JAGUAR. Group of crocodiles. Escape fiom a jagiur. CHAP XVI. hoklt left his companions and went along the beach to observe a group of crocodiles sleeping in the sun. Some little herons of a white colour were walking along iJieir backs, and even on their heads. As lie was proceeding, his eyes directed towards the river, he discovered recent footmarks of a beast of prey, and turning toward the forest, found himself within eighty steps of an enor- mously large jaguar. Although extremely frightened, he vet retained sufficient command of himself to follow the advice which the Indians had so often given, and continued to walk without moving his arms, making a large circuit toward the edge of the water. As the distance increased he accelerated his pace, and at length, judging it safe to look about, did so, and saw the tiger in the same spot. Arriving at the boat out of breath, he related his adventure to the natives, who seemed to think it nothing extraordinary. In the evening they passed the mouth of the Cano del Manati, so named on account of the vast numljer of manatees caught there. This aquatic hcrluvorous animal generally attains the length of ten or twelve feet, and abounds in the Orinoco below the cataracts, the Rio Meta, and the Apure. The flesh, although very savoury and resembling pork, is considered unwholesome ; but it is in request during Lent, being classed by the monks among fishes. The fat is used for lamps in the churches, as well as for cooking ; while the hide is cut into slips to supply the place of cordage. Whips are also made of it in the Spanish colonies for the castigation of negroes and other slaves. The fires lighted by the boatmen on the shore attracted the crocodiles and dolphins. Two persons kept watch during the night. A jaguar with her cub approached the encampment, but was driven away by the attendants ; and soon after the dog was bitten in the nose by a large bat or vampire. On the 4th they intended to pass the night at Vuelta del Palmito ; liut as the Indians were going to sling the hammocks, they found two tigers concealed behind a tree, and it was judged safer to re-embark and sleep on Slanateea. Tigers. SHOALS. U J) the island of Apurito. Multitudes of gnats made their ciiAi' appearance regularly at sunset, and covered their faces onatl" and hands. On the 5tli they were much struck by the diminution the waters of the Apure had undergone, which they attributed chiefly to al)sorption by the sand and evaporation. It was only from 128 to 170 yards broad, and about twenty feet deep. Humboldt estiriiates the mean fall of this river at 14 inches in a mile. The canoe touched several times on shoals as they approached the point of junction, and it became necessary to tow it by means of a line. 190 THE ORLNOCO. CHAPTER XVIL Voyage up the Orinoco. Ascent of the Orinoco — Port of Encaramada — Traditions of a Uni- versal Deluge — Gatherint^ of Turtles' Eg^s — Two Species de- scribed— Mode of collectinff the Eg-gs and of manufacturing the Oil — Probable Number of these Animals on the Orinoco — Deco- rations of the Indians — Encampment of Pararuma — Height of the Inundations of the Orinoco — Rapids of Tabage. c^APJC^^I. Leaving the Rio Apure the travellers entered the Tiie Orinoco. Orinoco, and presently found themselves in a country of an entirely different aspect. As far as the eye could reach there lay hefore them a sheet of water, the waves of which, from the conflict of the breeze and the current, rose to the height of several feet. The long files of herons, flamingoes, and spoonbills, which were observed on the Apure, had disappeared ; and all that supplied the place of those multitudes of animated beings by whom they had been lately accompanied, was here and there a crocodile swimming in the agitated stream. The horizon was bounded by a girdle of forests, separated from the river by a broad beach, the bare and parched surface of which refracted the solar rays into the sem- blance of pools, Pnnta The wind was favourable for sailing up the Orinoco ; un'iujin ijy^ ^]^p siiQ^t broken waves at the junction of the two rivers were exceedingly disagreeable. They passed the Punta Curiquima, a granitic promontory, between which and the mouth of the Apure the breadtli of the stream was ascertained to bo 4063 yards, and in the rainy season it extendB to 11,7U0. The temperature of the water was ia the middle of the cuiTent 82-9% and near CAUIB INDIANS. lUl the shores, 84-6°. They first went up toward the south- cuap.xvil west as far as the shore of the Guaricoto Indians on the t- — , left bank, and then toward the south. The mountains of Encaramada, forming a continued chain from west to east, seemed to rise from the water as distant land rises on the horizon at sea. The beach was composed of clay intermixed with scales of mica, deposited in very thin strata. At tlie j^ort of Encaramada, where they stopped for some time, they met with a Carib cacique going up the river in his canoe to gather turtles' eggs. He was q^^^ armed with a bow and arrows, as were his attendants, intiiana. and, like them, he Avas naked and painted red. These Indians were tall and athletic, and, with their hair cut straight across the forehead, their eyebrows painted black, and their gloomy hut animated countenances, had a singular appearance. The travellers were surprised to find that the anterior portion of the cranium is not so depressed as those of the Caribs are usually represented to be. The women carried their infants on their backs. The shore is here formed by a rock forty or fifty feet high, composed of blocks of granite piled upon each other ; the surface of which was of a dark-gray colour, although the mterior was reddish-white. The night was passed in a creek opposite the mouth of the Rio Cabullare. The evening was beautiful, with moonlight ; but towards twelve the north-east wind blew so violently that they became apprehensive for the safety of their canoe. On the 6th, continuing to ascend, they saw the, southern side of the mountains of Encaramada, which tradiuona stretch along the right bank of the river, and are inha- bited by Indians of a gentle character, and addicted to agriculture. There is a tradition here, and elsewhere on the Orinoco, among the natives, " That at the time of the Great Waters, when their fathers were obliged to betake themselves to their canoes in order to escape the general mundation, the waves of the sea beat upon the rocks of Encaramada." When the Tamanacs are asked how the human race survived this great deluge, they 192 TRADITIONS OP A DELUGE. CHAP.XVII. T!ie deluge. Correspon- dence til clii<«ic Interest of f.ich ti'adi- tii>ns. Their uiii- lonnity. say, " That a man and a woman saved themselves upon a high mountain called Tamanacu, situated on the bank of the Aseveru, and that, throwing behind them, over their heads, the fruits of the ]\Iauritia palm, they saw arising from the nuts of these fruits the men and women who repeopled the earth." Thus among the natives of America, a fable similar to that of Pyrrha and Deucalion commemorates the grand catastrophe of a general inun- dation. IIuml)oldt, in reference to the same event, mentions that hieroglyphic figures are often found along the Orinoco sculptured on rocks now inaccessible but by scaffolding, and that the natives, when asked how these fii,'ures could have been made, answer with a smile, as relating a fact of which a stranger only could be ignorant, " That at the period of the Great Waters their fathers went to that height in boats." " These ancient traditions of the human race," says Huml)oldt, " which we find dispersed over the surface of the globe, like the fragments of a vast shipwreck, are of the greatest interest in the philosophical study of our species. Like certain families of plants, which, not- withstanding the diversity of climates and the influence of heights, retain the impress of a common type, the traditions respecting the primitive state of the globe present amcna; all nations a resemblance that fills us with astonishment ; so many different languages, be- longing to branches which aj^pear to have no connexion with each other, transmit the same facts to us. The substance of the traditions respecting the destroyed races and the renovation of nature is every where almost the same, although each nation gives it a local colouring. In the great continents, as in the smallest islands of the Pa- cific Ocean, it is always on the highest and nearest moun- tain that the remains of the human race were saved ; and this event appears so much the more recent the more un- cultivated tlie nations are, and the shorter the period since they liave begun to acquire a knowledge of themselves. When we attentively examine the Mexican monuments anterior to the discovery of America, — penetrate into EGG-IIAUA'KST. 193 the forests of the Orinoco, and hecome aware of the CUAP.XVll. smallness of the European establishments, their solitude, c.,. .TT'„ r 1 -1 1-1 -1 Slicht influ- and the state ot the tribes which retain their iiulepen- enceoftiie dence, — we cannot allow ourselves to attribute the ""^^'lonancs. agreement of these accounts to the influence of mission- aries and to that of Christianity ujjon national traditions. Nor is it more probable that the sight of marine bodies, found on the summits of mountains, presented to the tribes of the Orinoco the idea of those great inundations which for some time extinguished the germs of organic life upon the globe. — The country which extends I'rom the right bank of the Orinoco to tlie Casiquiare and the Rio Negro consists of primitive rocks. I saw there a small dcposite of sandstone or conglomerate, but no secondary limestone, and no trace of petrifactions." At eleven in the morning the travellers landed on an Turtle egcv. island celebrated for the turtle-fisliery, or the " harvest of eggs," which takes place annually. Here tliey found encamped more than 300 Indians of different races, each tribe, distinguished by its peculiar mode of painting, keeping separate from the rest, together witli a few white men who had come to purchase egg-oil from them. The missionary of Uruaiia, whose presence was neces- xjruana sary to procure a supply for the lamp of the church and missionaiies. keep the natives in order, received the strangers with kindness, and made the tour of the island with them ; showing them, by means of a pole which he thrust into tlie sand, tlie extent of the stratum of eggs that had been deposited wherever there were no eminences. The Indians asserted, that in coming up the Orinoco, from its mouth to tlie junction of the Apure, there is no place where eggs can be collected in abundance ; and the only three spots where the turtles assemble annually in great numbers are situated between the mouth of the Apure and the great cataracts. These animals do not seem to pass beyond the falls, the species found above Ature* and Maypures being different. The arrau or tortuga, which deposites the eggs that are Fresh-water so much valued on the Lower Orinoco, is a large fresh- tortoise. 194 AQUATIC TORTOISES. ciiAPXViL water tortoise, •with webbed feet, a very flat licad, & deep groove between the e^es, and an upper shell com- posed of five central, eight lateral, and twenty-four marginal scutella or plates. The colour is dark-gray above and orange beneath. When of full size it weighs from forty to fifty pounds. The eggs are much larger than those of a pigeon, and are covered with a calcareous crust. nic terckav '^^^^ terekay, the species which occurs above the cataracts, is much smaller. It has the same number of dorsal plates, but the colour is olive-green, with two spots of red mixed with yellow on the toj) of the head, and a prickly appendage under the chin. The eggs have an agreeable taste, and are much sought after, but are not deposited in masses like those of the tortuga. This variety is found below the cataracts as well as in the Aj)ure, the Urituco, the Guarico, and the small rivers of the Llanos of Caraccas. PcposiUon of The period at which the arrau deposites its eggs is when egss- the river is lowest. About the beginning of February these creatures issue from the water and warm them- selves on the beach, remaining there a great part of the day. Early in the month of Marcli they assemble on the islands where they breed, when thousands are to b* seen ranged in files along the shores. Tlie Indians place Season of sentinels at certain distances, to prevent them from being incubation, disturbed, and tlie people who pass in boats are told to keep in the middle of the river. The laying of tlie eggs begins soon after sunset, and is continued throughout the niglit. The animal digs a hole three feet in diameter and two in depth, with its hind feet, which are very long and furnislied with crooked claws. So pressing is the desire whicli it feels to get rid of its burden, that great confusion prevails, and an immense number of eggs is broken. Some of tlie tortoises are surprised by day before tiiey have finished the operation, and, be- coming insensible to danger, continue to work with the greatest diliirencc even in the presence of the fishers. TJie Indians assemble about the beginning of April, HARVEST OF TORTOISE EGOS. J 9;" and commence operations under the direction of tlie CHAP.xvir. missionaries, who divide tlie egg-ground into portions. narv~T The leading person among them first examines, by eggs. means of a long pole or cane, how far the bed extends and then allots the shares. The natives remove the earth with their hands, gather up the eggs, and carry them in baskets to the camp, where they throw them into long wooden troughs filled with water. They are next broken and stirred, and remain exposed to tlie sun, until the yoke, which swims at the surface, has time to inspissate, when it is taken off and boiled. The oil thus Mode of obtained is limpid and destitute of smell, and is used for w-ikingoii. lamps as well as for cooking. Tlie shores of the missions of Uruana furnish 1000 botijas or jars annually, and the three stations jointly may be supposed to furnish 6000. It requires 5000 eggs to fill a jar ; and if we estimate at 100 or 116 the number which one tortoise produces, and allow one-third to be broken at the time of laying, we may presume that 830,000 of these animals assemble every year, and lay 33,000,000 of eggs. This calculation, however, is much below the truth. Many of them lay only 60 or 70 ; great numbers of them again Number of are devoured by jaguars ; the Indians take away a con- '"itoises. siderable quantity to eat them dried in tlie sun, and break nearly as many while gathering them ; and, besides, the proportion that is hatched is such, tliat Humboldt saw the whole shore near the encampment of Uruana swarming with young ones. Moreover, all tlie arraus do not assemble on the three shores of the en- campments, but many lay elsewhere. The number which annually deposite their eggs on the shores of the Lower Orinoco may therefore be estimated at little short of a million. The travellers were shown the shells of large turtles which had been emptied by the jaguars. These animals surprise them on the sand, and turn tliem on their back in order to devour them at their ease : they dig up the eggs also ; and, together with the gallinazo-vulture and the herons destroy thousands of their brood. 196 ASCKNT OF THE ORINOCO. CHAP.XVII Xaviga- tion of the Oiinoco. Moon li gilt sceuti. yonth of the IJio Araucii. Dangers of Uie rivers. After procuring some frcsli provision, and taking leave of the missionary, tliey set sail in tlie afternoon. The wind blew in srjualls, and after they had entered the mountainous part of the country, they found the canoe not very safe when under sail ; but the master was desirous of showing off to the Indians, and in going close upon the wind almost upset his vessel, which filled with water and nearly foundered. In the evening they landed on a barren island, where they supped under a beautiful moonlight, with turtle-shells for seats, and in- dulged their imagination with the picture of a ship- wrecked man, wandering on the desert shores of the Orinoco amid rivers full of crocodiles and caribe fishes. The night was intensely hot, and not finding trees on which to sling their hammocks, they slept on skins spread on the ground. To their surprise the jaguars swam to the island, although they had kindled fires to prevent them ; but these animals did not venture to attack them. On the 7th they passed the mouth of the Rio Arauca, which is frequented by immense numbers of birds. They also saw the mission of Uruana, at the foot of a moun- tain composed of detached blocks of granite, in the caverns formed by which hieroglyphic figures are sculp- tured. Measuring the breadth of the Orinoco here, they found it, at a distance of 670 miles from the mouth, to be 5700 yards, or nearly three miles. The tempera- ture of the water at its surface was 82°. As the strength of the current increased, the progress of the boat became much slower, while at one time the woods deprived them of the wind, and at another a violent gust descended from the mountain-passes. Opposite the lake of Capa- naparo, which communicates with the river, the number of crocodiles was increased. The Indians asserted that they came in troops to the water from the savannahs, where they lie buried in the solid mud until the first showers awaken them. Humboldt remarks, that the dry season of the torrid zone corresponds to the winter of the temperate regions of the globe ; and that while the alliijators of North America become torpid through INTENSE HEAT. 19; excess of cold, the crocodiles of the Llanos are reduced CHAP.yvii. to the same state throup;h deficiency of moisture. They now entered the passage of the Baraguan, where Passage of tlie Orinoco is hemmed in by precipices of granite, *'": ^'"■^" forming part of a range of mountains through whith it has found or forced a channel. Like all the other granitic hills which they observed on this river, they were formed of enormous cubical masses piled upon each other. Landing in the middle of the strait, they found the breadth of the stream to be 1895 yards. They looked in vain for plaftts in the fissures of the rocks ; but the stones were covered with multitudes of lizards. Tliere was not a breath of wind, and the heat was so Intense intense tliat the thermometer placed against the rock ^'^^^ rose to 122-4°. " How vivid," says Humboldt, "is the impression which the noontide quiet of nature produces in these burning climates ! The beasts of the forest re- tire to the thickets, and the birds conceal themselves among the foliage or in the crevices of rocks. Yet amid this apparent silence, should one listen attentively he hears a stifled sound, a continued murmur, a hum of insects, that fill the lower strata of the air. Nothing is more adapted to excite in man a sentiment of the extent and power of organic life. Myriads of insects crawl on jfynadsof the ground, and flutter round the plants scorched by the '"sects, heat of the sun. A confused noise issues from every busli, from the decayed trunks of the trees, the fissures of the rocks, and from the ground, which is undermined by lizards, millepeds, and blindworms. It is a voice proclaiming to us that all nature breathes, that under a thousand different forms life is diff'used in the cracked and dusty soil, as in the bosom of the waters, and in the air that circulates around us." The water of the river was very disagreeable here, as it had a musky smell and a sweetish taste. In some parts it was pretty good ; but in others it seemed loaded with gelatinous matter, which the natives attribute to putrefied crocodiles. After sleeping at the foot of an eminence they con- tinued their voyage, and passed the mouths of several 198 PARARUMA— EGGS— INDIANS. Encamp- ment of Indiana. CHAP.XVII. rivers ; and on the 0th anuveJ, early in the morning, at BcacTof ^^^^ beach of Pararunia, ^vhel•e they found an encamp- Puraruma. ment of Indians, who Iiad assembled to search the sanda for turtles' eggs. The pilot wlio had brought them from San Fcriiantlo de Apure would not undertake to accom- pany them farther ; but tliey procured a boat from one of the missionaries who had come to the egg-harvest. This assemblage or encampment afforded to the tra- vellers an interesting subject of study. " How difficult," says IIum])oldt, " to recognise in this infancy of society, this collection of dull, taciturn, and unimpassioned Indians, the original character of our species ! Human nature is not seen here arrayed in that gentle simplicity of which poets in every language have drawn such en- chanting pictures. The savage of the Orinoco appeared to us as hideous as the savage of the Mississippi, described by the philosophical traveller who best knew how to paint man in the various regions of the globe. One would fain persuade himself that these natives of the soil, crouched near the fire, or seated on large shells of turtles, their bodies covered with earth and grease, and their eyes stupidly fixed for whole hours on the drink which they are preparing, far from being the original type of our species, are a degenerated race, the feeble remains of nations which, after being long scattered in the forests, have been again immersed in barbarism." Red paint is the ordinary decoration of these tribes. The most common kind is obtained from the seeds of the BLrn orellana, and is called anotto, achote, or roucou. Another much more expensive species is extracted from the leaves of Bignonia chica. Both these are red ; but a black ingredient is obtained from the Genipa Americana, and is called caruto. Tlicse pigments arc mixed with turtle-oil or grease, and are variously applied according to national or individual taste. The Caril)sand Otomacs colour only the head and hair, while the Salivas smear the whole body ; but there ])revail3 in general as great a diversity in the mode of staining as is found in Europe in respect to dress ; and at Pararunia the travellers saw Red painta ENCAMPMENT OF INDIANS. 109 some Indians painted with a blue jacket and black CHAP.xvii, buttons. Women advanced in years are fonder of being jjoj^T^ thus ornamented than the younger ladies ; and so ex- pjinting. jDensive is this mode of decoration, that an industrious man can hardly gain enough by the labour of a fortnight to adorn himself with chica, of which the missionaries make an article of traffic. After all, the paintings that Difficulty of cost so much are liable to be effaced by a heavy shower ; removuL although the caruto long resists the action of water, as the travellers found by disagreeable experience ; for having one day in sport marked their faces with spots and strokes of it, it was not entirely removed till after a long period. It has been supposed that this usage pre- vents the Indians from being stung by insects : but this was found to be incorrect. The preference given by the American tribes to the red colour, Humboldt supposes to be owing to the tendency which nations feel to attribute the idea of beauty to whatever characterizes their national comj^lexion. The encampment of Pararuraa also afforded the tra- j^'ative vellers an opportunity of examining several animals animals, they had not before seen alive, and which the Indians brought to exchange with the missionaries for fish-hooks and other necessaries. Among these specimens were gallitoes, or rock-manakins, monkeys of different species, of which the titi or Simia sciuroa seems to have been a special favourite with Humboldt. He mentions a very sagacity ot interesting fact illustrative of the sagacity of this creature, the titi. One which he had purchased of the natives distinguished the different plates of a work on natural history so well, that when an engraving which contained zoological re- presentations was placed before it, it rapidly advanced its little hand to catch a grasshopper or a wasp ; which was the more remarkable as the figures were not coloured. Humboldt observes, that he never heard of even the most perfect picture of hares or deer producing the least eflfect upon a hound, and doubts if there be a well-ascertained example of a dog having recognised a fall-length portrait of its master. 200 INDIANS — SCENERY. Ineom- inodions resseL cnAr.xvii The canoe which they had i^rocured was forty-two — feet long and three broad. The missionary of Atures tionrfortiie and Maypures had offered to accompany them as far as voyage. ^^^^ frontiers of Brazil, and made preparations for the voyage. Two Indians who were to form part of the crew were chained during the night to prevent their escape ; and on the morning of the 10th the company set out. The vessel was found to be extremely incom- modious. To gain something in breadth a kind of frame had been extended over the gunwale in the hinder part of it ; but the roof of leaves which covered it was so low, that the travellers were obliged to lie down, or sit nearly double, while iu rainy weather the feet were liable to be wetted. The natives, seated two and two, were furnished with paddles three feet long, and rowed with surprising uniformity to the cadence of a monotonous and melancholy song. Small cages containing birds and monkeys were suspended to the shed, and the dried plants and instruments were placed beneath it. To their numerous inconveniences was added the continual torment of the mosquitoes, which they were \inable by any means to alleviate. Every night, when they esta- blished their watch, the collection of animals and instru- ments occupied the centre, around which were placed first their own hammocks, and then those of the Indians, while fires were lighted to intimidate the jaguars. At sunrise the monkeys in the cages answered the cries of those in the forests, affording an affecting display of sympathy between the captive and the free. Above the deserted mission of Pararuma the river is full of islands, and divides into several branches. Its total l)readth is about G395 3'ards. The country becomes more wooded. A granitic prism, tenninated by a flat surface covered with a tuft of trees, rises to the height of 213 feet in the midst of the forest. Farther on, the river narrows; and upon the east is an eminence, on whicli the Jesuits formerly maintained a garrison for l)rotecting the missions against the inroads of the Caribs, and for extending what, in the Spanish colonies, was Mosquitoes. IslancU. CARICIIANA. 201 called the conquest of souls, which of course was effected chap.xvii. through the conquest of bodies. The soldiers made in- panati~ cursions into the territories of the independent Indians, violence killed all who offered resistance, burned their huts, de- stroyed the plantations, and made prisoners of the old men, women, and children, who were afterwards divided among their establishments. The river again contracted, and rapids began to make their appearance, the shores becoming sinuous and precipitous. In a bay, between two promontories of granite, they landed at what is called the Port of Carichana, and proceeded to the port of mission of that name, situated at the distance of two Ciiriciiani. miles and a half from the bank, where they were hospitably received at the priest's house. The Christian converts at this station were Salivas, a social and mild people, having a great taste for music. Among these Indians they found a white woman, the AMiitc sister of a Jesuit of New Grenada, and experienced great '*^'cma^- pleasure in conversing with her without the aid of a third person. In every mission, says Humboldt, there are at least two interpreters, for the purpose of com- interpreters municating between the monks and the catechumens, the former seldom studying the language of the latter. They are natives, somewhat less stupid than the rest, but ill adapted for their office. They always attended the travellers in their excursions ; but little more could be got from them than a mere affirmation or negation. Sometimes, in attempting to hold intercourse with the Indians, he preferred the language of signs, — a method useofsipn? which he recommends to travellers, as the variety of languages spoken on the Meta, Orinoco, Casiquiare, and Rio Negro, is so great, that no one could ever make himself -understood in them all. The scenery around the mission of Carichana appeared p;j,e delightful. The village was situated on a grassy plain, scenery, bounded by mountains. Banks of rock, often more than 850 feet in circumference, scarcely elevated a few inches above the savannahs, and nearly destitute of vegetation, gave a peculiar character to the country. On these 202 MARKS OF INUNDATIONS. Vegetation. Harks of inundations. CHAP.xvii. stony flats they eagerly observed the rising vegetation — in the different sttiges of its development : Lichens cleaving the rock and collected into crusts ; a few succulent plants growing among little portions of quartz- sand ; and tufts of evergreen shrubs springing up in the black mould deposited in the hollows. At the distance of eight or ten miles from the religious house they found a rich and diversified assemblage of plants, among which M. Bonpland obtahied numerous new species. Here grew the Dipterix odorata, which furnishes excellent timber, and of which the fruit is known in Europe by the name of tonkay or tongo bean. In a narrow jiart of the river the marks of the great inundations were 45 feet above the surface ; but at various places black bands and erosions are seen, 106 or even 138 feet above the present highest increase of the waters. " Is this river, then," says Humboldt, " the Orinoco, which appears to us so imposing and majestic, merely the feeble remnant of those immense currents of fresh water which, swelled by Alpine snows or by more abundant rains, every where shaded by dense forests, and destitute of those beaches that favour evaporation, formerly traversed the regions to the east of the Andes, like arms of inland seas 1 What must then have been the state of those low countries of Guiana, which now experience the effects of annual inundations ! What a prodigious number of crocodiles, lamantines, and boas, must have inhabited these vast regions, alternately con- verted into pools of stagnant water and arid plains ! The more peaceful world in which we live has succeeded to a tumultuous world. Bones of mastodons and real American elephants are found dispersed over the plat- Antediluvian forms of the Andes. The megatherium inhabited the plains of Uruguay. By digging the earth more deeply in high valleys, which at the present day are unable to nourish i)alms or tree-ferns, we discover strata of coal containing gigantic remains of monocotyledonous plants. There was therefore a remote period, when the tribes of vegetables were differently distributed ; when the ani- Former state of tlie country. world RAPIDS AND TnUNDER-STOUM. 203 mals were larger, the rivers wider and deeper. There CHAKXVII stop the monuments of nature which we can consult. ~: — We are ignorant if the human race, whicli at the time iaccs. of the discovery of America scarcely presented a few feeble tribes to the east of the Cordilleras, had yet descended into the plains, or if the ancient tradition of the Great Waters, which we find among all the races of the Orinoco, Erevato, and Caura, belongs to other cli- mates, whence it had been transferred to this part of the new continent." On the 11th they left Carichana at two in the after- piedradel noon, and found the river more and more encumbered '^'gre. by blocks of granite. At the large rock known by the name of Piedra del Tigre, the depth is so great that no bottom can be found with a line of 140 feet. Towards evening they encountered a thunder-storm, which for a time drove away the mosquitoes il'Mt had tormented them during the day. At the cataract of Cariven the cataract of current was so rapid that they had great difficulty in Curiven. landing ; but at length two Saliva Indians swam to the shore, and drew the canoe to the side with a rope. The thunder continued a part of the night, and the river in- creased considerably. The granitic rock on which they slept is one of those from Avhich travellers on the Orinoco have heard subterranean sounds, resembling those of an organ, emitted about sunrise. Humboldt supposes that these must be produced by the passage of rarified air through the fissures, and seems to think, that the impulse of the fluid against the elastic scales of mica which intercept the crevices may contribute to modify their expression.* * Many examples of mysterious sounds produced under similar circumstances are on record. In the autumn of 1828, a recent tra- veller crossinjj;' the Pyrenees, when in a wild pass with the jNIala- detta mountain opposite, heard " a dull, low, moaning, ^Eolian sound, which alone broke upon the deathly silence, evidently proceeding from the body of this mighty mass." The air was perfiectly calm, and clear to an extraordinary defjree ; no waterfall could be seen even with the aid of a telescope, and no cause could be assigned for the phenomenon, unless the suu's rays, " at that moment impinging 204 MAJESTIC SCENERY. CHAPXVIL On the 12th they set off at four in the morning. The . Indians ro\YcJ 12 liours and a half without intermission, TOwei" during wliicli time they took no otlier nourishment than cassava and plantains. The bed of the river, to the length of 1280 yards, was full of granite rocks, the channels between which were often very narrow, inso- much that the canoe was sometimes jammed in between two blocks. When the current was too strong the sailors leaped out and warped the boat along. The rocks were of all dimensions, rounded, very dark, glossy like lead, and destitute of vegetation. No crocodiles were seen in these rapids. The left bank of the Orinoco, from Cabruto to the mouth of the Rio Serianico, a distance of nearly two degrees of latitude, is entirely uninhabited ; but to the westward of these rapids an Indian enterprising individual, Don Felix Relinchon,had formed village. a village of Jaruro and Otomac Indians. At nine in the morniiig they arrived at the mouth of the Meta, whicli, next to the Guaviare, is the largest river that joins the Orinoco. At the union of these streams the scenery is of a very impressive character. Solitary peaks rise on the eastern side, appearing in the distance like ruined castles, while vast sandy shores intervene between the bank and the forests. They passed two hours on a large rock in the middle of the Orinoco, upon whicli Humboldt succeeded in fixing his instruments, and in in all their f^lory on every point and peak of the snowy heifjhts," had some share " in vibrating;' these mountain-chords." — A''- M. Alag. XXX. 341 The granite statue of Memnon is well known to have emitted sounds when the morninjj beams darted upon it ; and iNIM. Jomard. Jolloi=, and Deviiliers, Tieard a noise resemblinfj that ot the breakiufi; of a strinjr, wliich proceeded at sunrise from a monument of f^ranite situated near the centre of the spot on which stands the p;ilace j)f (Jarnac. Sinfrular sounds have been heard from the interior of a mountain near Tor, in Arabia Petraea. They are familiar to the natives, who ascribe them to a convent of monks miraculously preserved under t;round, and were heard by M. Seet- zen and Mr Gray, the only iMiropean travellers who have visited the place. For an acrount of these curious phenomena, the reader may be referred to I)r IJrewster's Letters on Natural Ma>^ic, form injr No XXX 111. of the Family Library. MISSION OF SAN BORJA. 205 determining the longitude of the embouchure of the CllAPXVii Aleta, — a river whicli will one day he of great political niveriieta. nnportance to the inhabitants of Guiana and Venezuela, as it is navigable to the foot of the Andes of New Grenada. Above this point the current was comparatively free from shoals ; and in the evening they reached the Rapids of Tabaje. As the Indians would not venture to pass them they were obliged to land, and repose on a craggy platform having a slope of more than eighteen degrees, and having its crevices filled with bats. The cries of the jaguar were heard very near during the whole night ; the sky was of a tremendous blackness ; and the hoarse noise of the rapids blended with the thunder which rolled at a distance amongst the woods. Early in the morning they cleared the rapids, and Rapids of disembarked at the new mission of San Borja, where tabaje. they found six houses inhabited by uncatechis'ed Guahi- boes, who differed in nothing from the wild natives. The faces of the young girls were marked with black spots. This people had not painted their bodies, and several of them had beards, of which they seemed proud, taking the travellers by the chin, and showing by signs that they were like themselves. In continuing to ascend the river they found the heat less intense, the temperature during the day being 79° or 81 '5°, and at night about 75° ; but the torment of tlie mosquitoes increased. The crocodiles which they saw were all of tlae extraordinary size of 24 or 25 feet. The night was spent on the beach ; but the sufferings island of inflicted by the flies induced the travellers to start at Guachaco five in the morning. On the island of Guachaco, where they stopped to breakfast, they found the granite covered by a sandstone or conglomerate, containing fragments of quartz and felspar cemented by indurated, clay, and ex- hibiting small veins of brosvn iron-ore. Passing the mouth of the Rio Parueni, they slept on the island of Panu- mana, which they found rich in plants, and where they again observed the low shelves of rock partially coated with the vegetation which they had admired at Carichana. 206 MISSION OF ATURES. CHAPTER XVIII. Voi/age up the Orinoco continued. Mission of Atures — Epidemic Fevers — Black Crust of Granitic Rocks — Causes of Depopulation of the iMissions — Falls of Apures — Scenerj' — Anecdote of a Jaguar — Domestic Animals — Wild Man of the Woods — Mosquitoes and other poisonous Insects — Mission and Cataracts of Maypures — Scenerj- — Inhabitants — Spice-trees— San Fernando de Atabapo — San Baltasar — The Mother's Rock — Vefj^etation — Dolphins — San Antonio de Javita — Indians — Elastic Gum — Serpents — Portage of the Piniichin — Arrival at the Rio Nej^ro, a Branch of the Amazon — Ascent of the Casiquiare. CHAP.xvilL Leaving the island of Panumana at an early hour the navigators continued to ascend the Orinoco, the scenery on which became more interesting the nearer they ap- proached the great cataracts. The sky was in part obscured, and lightnings flashed among the dense clouds ; but no thunder was heard. On the western bank of the river they perceived the fires of an encampment of Guahiboes, to intimidate whom some shots were dis- charged by the direction of the missionary. In the evening they arrived at the foot of the great fall, and passed the niglit at the mission of Atures in its neigh- bourhood. Tile flat savannah which surrounds the village seemed to Humboldt to have formerly been the bed of the Orinoco. This station was found to be in a deplorable state, the Indians having gradually deserted it until only Interesting scenery. Native encamp- meuL EPIDEMIC FEVERS. 207 forty-seven remained. At its foundation m 1748 several chap.xviii tribes had been assembled, which subsequently dispersed, j,jss~ ~ and their places were supplied by the Guahiboes, who Btation. belong to the lowest grade of uncivilized society, and a few families of Macocs. The epidemic fevers, which prevail here at the commencement of the rainy season, contributed greatly to the decay of the establishment. This distemper is ascribed to the violent heats, excessive humidity of the air, bad food, and, as the natives believe, to the noxious exhalations that rise from the bare rocks of the rapids. This last is a curious circumstance, and, as Humboldt remarks, is the more worthy of attention on account of its being connected with a fact that has been observed in several parts of the world, although it has not yet been sufficiently explained. Among the cataracts and ftills of the Orinoco, the Cataracts of granitic rocks, wherever they are periodically submersed, '^^ Orinoco. become smooth, and seem as if coated with black lead. The crust is only 0"8 of a line in thickness, and occurs chiefly on the quartzy parts of the stone, which is coarse-grained, and contains solitary crystals of horn- blende. The same appearance is presented at the cata- racts of Syene as well as those of the Congo. This black deposite, according to Mr Children's analysis, consists of oxide of iron and manganese, to which some experiments of Humboldt induced him to add carbon and supercar- buretted iron. The phenomenon has hitherto been singular observed only in the torrid zone, in rivers that overflow piienomenon. periodically and are bounded by primitive rocks, and i=! supposed by our author to arise from the precipitation of substances chemically dissolved in the water, and not from an efflorescence of matters contained in the rocks themselves. The Indians and missionaries assert, that the exhalations from these rocks are unwholesome, and consider it dangerous to sleep on granite near the river ; and our travellers, without entirely crediting this asser- tion, usually took care to avoid the black rocks at night. But the danger of reposing on them, Humboldt thinks, may rather be owing to the very great degree of warmtli 208 CATARACTS OP THE OlilNOCO. Insalubrity of cliinute- Destnic- tioii of cliildi'eii. CHAP.xviil. they retain during the night, which was found to be — 9()-8^ while that of tlie air was 78-8°. In the day their temperature was 118-4°, and the heat which they emitted wivs stifling. Among the causes of the depopulation of the missions, Humboldt mentions the general insalubrity of the cli- mate, bad nouiishment, want of proper treatment in the diseases of children, and the practice of preventing pregnancy by the use of deleterious herbs. Among the savages 'of Guiana, when twins are produced one is always destroyed, from the idea that to bring more than one at a time into the world is to resemble rats, opos- sums, and the vilest animals, and that two children born at once cannot l)eIong to the same father. When any physical deformity occurs in an infant, the father puts it to death, and those of a feeble constitution sometimes unilergo the same fate, because the care which they require is disagreeable. " Such," says Humboldt, " is the simplicity of manners, — the boasted happiness of man, in the state of nature ! He kills his son to escape the ridicule of having twins, or to avoid travelling more slowly, — in fact, to avoid a little inconvenience." The two great cataracts of the Orinoco are formed by the passage of the river across a chain of granitic moun- tains, constituting part of the Parime range. By the natives they are called Mapara and Quittuna ; but the missionaries have denominated them the falls of Atures and Maypures, after the first tribes which they assembled in the nearest villages. They are only 41 miles distant from each other, and are not more than 845 miles west of the Cordilleras of New Grenada. They divide the Christian establishments of Spanish Guiana into two unequal parts ; those situated l)et\vccn the lower cata- ract, or that of Apures, and the mouth of the river, being called the missions of tlie Lower Orinoco, and those between the upper cataract and the mountains of Duida, being called the missions of the Upper Orinoco. The length of the lower section, including: its sinuosities, ia 807 miles, while that of the upper is 57G miles. The Great CaCaructs, Mission EtaliOiis. SCENERY OF THE LOWER CATARACT. 200 navigation of the river extends from its mouth to the cilAP.xvill. [joint where it meets the Anaveni near the lower cata- — ract, although in the upper part of this division there the nnvu" are rapids which can be passed only in small boats, eatiou. The principal danger, however, is that which arises from natural rafts, consisting of trees interwoven with lianas, and covered with aquatic plants carried down by the current. The cataracts are formed by bars stretch- ing across the bed of the river, which forces its way through a break in the mountains ; but beyond this rugged pass the course is again open for a length of more than 676 miles. The scenery in the vicinity of the lower fall is de- ggg^j^ ^ scribed as exceedingly beautiful. To the west of Atures, the scenery. a pyramidal mountain, the Peak of Uniana, rises from a plain to the height of nearly 3200 feet. The savan- nahs, which are covered with grasses and slender plants, though never inundated by the river, present a sur- prising luxuriance and diversity of vegetation. Piles of granitic blocks rise here and there, and at the margins of the plains occur deep valleys and ravines, the humid soil of which is covered with arums, heliconias, and lianas. The shelves of primitive rocks, scarcely ele- vated above the plain, are partially coated with lichens and mosses, together with succulent plants, and tufts of evergreen shrubs with shining leaves. On all sides the horizon is bounded by mountains, overgrown Avith forests of laurels, among which clusters of palms rise to the height of more than a hundred feet, their slender stems supporting tufts of feathery foliage. To the east of Atures other mountains appear, the ridge of which is composed of pointed cliffs rising like huge pillars above the trees. When these columnar masses are situated near the Orinoco, flamingoes, herons, and other wading birds, perch on their summits, and look like sentinels. In the vicinity of the cataracts, the moisture which is diffused in the air produces a perpetual verdure, and wherever soil has accumulated on the plains, it is occu- pied by the beautiful shrubs of the mountains. 210 CATARACTS OF THE ORINOCO. CHAP XVIII. liainy Dikes of rock. Pftssatre of tUe falls. Height of thctdlU The rainy season had scarcely commenced, yet the vegetation displayed all the vigour and brilliancy which, on the coast, it assumes only towards the end of the rains. The old trunks were decorated with orchides, bannisterias, bignonias, arums, and other parasitic plants. IMimosas, figs, and laurels, were the prevailing trees in the woody spots ; and in the vicinity of the cataract were groups of heliconias, bamboos, and palms. Along a space of more than five miles, the bed of the Orinoco is traversed by numerous dikes of rock, forming natural dams, filled with islands of every form, some rocky and precipitous, while others resemble shoals. By these the river is broken up into torrents, which are ever dashing their spray against the rocks. They are all furnished with sylvan vegetation, and resembled a mass of palm-trees rising amidst the foam of the watere. The current is divided into a multitude of rapids, each endeavouring to force a passage through the narrows, and is every where engulfed in caverns ; in one of which the travellers heard the water rolling at once over their heads and beneath their feet. Notwithstanding the formidable aspect of this long succession of falls, the Indians pass many of them in their canoes. When ascending they swim on before, and after repeated efforts succeed in fixing a rope to a point of rock, and thus draw the canoe up the rapid. Sometimes it fills with water, and is not unfrequently dashed to pieces against the shelves ; upon which the Bailors again swim, though not without difficulty, through the whirlpools to the nearest island. When the bars are very high the vessels are taken ashore, and drawn upon rollers, made of the branches of trees, to a place wlicrc the river agaui becomes navigable. During the flood, however, this operation is seldom necessary. Although tlie rapids of the Orinoco form a long series of falls, the noise of which is heard at the distance of more than three miles, yet the rocks were found by Humboldt not to have a greater height than thirty feet per])endicular. He thinks it probable that a consider- ANECDOTE OF A JAGUAR. 21 1 able part of tlie water is lost by passing into subterranean CHAP.XVIII. cavities, independently of that which disappears by being dispersed in the atmosphere. Numberless holes tiieiivci-bceriod when the New World was discovered, been already accustomed to tlie spices of India. The travellers rested at night on tile bank of the Orinoco, at the mouth of the Zama. This river is one of those which are said to have Ijlack water, as it appears of a dark-brown or greenish-black ; and here they entered the system of rivers to which the S.\N PERNANDO BE ATABAPO. 2J9 name of Aguas Negras is given. The colour is supposed CHAP, xvili. to be owing to a solution of vegetable matter, and the ^ — Indians attribute it to the roots of sarsaparilla. Negras. At three in the morning of the 23d they continued Mouth of tlie their voyage, and passed the mouth of the Rio IMataveni. ''!« /"^lata- The banks were still skirted by forests, but tlie moun- tains on the east retired farther back. The traces left by the floods were not higher than eight feet. At the place where they passed the night, multitudes of bats issued from the crevices, and hovered around their hammocks. Next day a violent rain obliged them to set out at a very early hour. In the afternoon they landed at the Indian plantation of San Fernando, and after midnight arrived at the mission, where they were received with the kindest hospitality. The village of San Fernando de Atabapo is situated San Fernando near the confluence of the Orinoco, the Atabapo, and the ^'^ Atabapo. Guaviare ; the latter of which Humboldt thinks might with more propriety be considered the continuation of the Orinoco than a branch. The number of inhabitants did not exceed 226. The missionary liad the title of president of the stations on the Orinoco, and superin- tended the twenty-six ecclesiastics settled on its banks as well as on those of the Rio Negro, Casiquiare, Atabapo, and Caura. The Indians were a little more Indians, civilized than the inmates of the other establishments, and cultivated cacao in small quantities, together with cassava and plantains. Tliey were surrounded with good jjasturage, but not more than seven or eight cows were to be seen. The most striking object in the neighbourhood was the pirijao palm, which lias a thorny trunk more than sixty-four feet high, pinnated leaves, and clusters of fruit two or three inches in diameter, and of a purple colour. The fruit furnishes a farinaceous substance, of a colour resembling that of the yolk of an egg, which when boiled or roasted affords a very wholesome and agreeable aliment. On entering the Rio Atabapo the travellers found a great change in the scenery, the colour of the stream. 220 CHANGE OF SCENERY. Slow pro- gress. CHAP XVIII. and the constitution of the atmosphere. The trees were —7^ of a different species ; the mosquitoes had entirely dis- appeared ; and the waters, instead of being turbid and loaded with earthy matter, were of a dark colour, clear, agreeable to the taste, and four degrees cooler. So great is their transparency, tliat the smallest fishes are distinguishable at tlie depth of twenty or thirty feet ; and the bottom, which consists of white quartzy sand, is usually visible. The banks covered with plants, among which rise numerous palms, are reflected by the surface of the river with a vividness almost as bright as that of the objects themselves. Above the mission no crocodiles occur, but their place is supplied by bavas and fresli-water dolphins. The chiguires, howling- monkeys, and zamuro-vultures had disappeared, though jaguars were still seen, and the water-snakes were extremely numerous. On the 26th the travellers advanced only eight or ten miles, and passed the night on a rock near the Indian plantations of Guapasoso. At two in the morning they again set out, and continued to ascend the river. About noon the\' passed the granitic rock named Piedra del Tigre, and at the close of the day had great difficulty in finding a suitable place for sleeping, owing to the inundation of the banks. It rained hard from sunset, and as tlie missionary had a fit of tertian fever they re- ombarked immediately after midnight. At dawn they landed to examine a gigantic ceiba-tree, which was nearly 128 feet in height, with a diameter of fifteen or sixteen feet. On the 29th the air was cooler, but loaded with vapours, and the current being strong they advanced slowly. It was niglit when they arrived at tile mission of San Baltasar, where they lodged with a C.italan priest, a livel^^ and agreeable person. The village was l)uilt with great regularity, and the planta- tions seemed l^etter cultivated than elsewhere. At a late hour in tlie morning they left his abode, and after ascending the Atabapo for five miles entered the Rio Tcmi. A granitic rock on the western bank of GleanHc ceiba-Ueo. ANECDOTE OF AN INDIAN WOMAN. 221 the former river attracted tlieir attention. It is called the CHAP.xvm Piedra de la Gualiiba or Picdra de la Madrc, and com- xiie rT memorates one of those acts of oppression of which Guaviaro. Europeans are guilty in all countries whenever they come into contact with savages. The missionary of San Fernando had led his people to the banks of the Rio Guaviare on a hostile excursion. In an Indian hut they found a Guahibo woman, with three children, occupied in preparing cassava-flour. She and her little ones attempted to escape, but were seized and carried away. The unhappy female repeatedly fled Avith her children ouahibo from the village, but was always traced by her Christian woman, countrymen. ^ At length the friar, after causing her to be severely beaten, resolved to separate her from her family, and sent her up the Atabapo toward the missions of the Rio Negro. Ignorant of the fate intended for her, but judging by the direction of the sun that her persecutors were carrying her far from her native coun- try, she burst her fetters, leaped from the boat, and swam to the left bank of the river. She landed on a rock ; but the president of the establishment ordered the Indians to row to the shore and lay hands on her. She was brought back in the evening, stretched upon the bai"e stone (the Piedra de la Madre), scourged with straps of manatee leather, which are the ordinary whips of the country, and then dragged to the mission of Javita, her hands bound behind her back. It was the rainy season, the night was excessively dark, forests believed to be impenetrable stretched from that station to San Fernando over an extent of 86 miles, and the only communication between these places was by the river ; yet the Guahibo mother, breaking her bonds, jiatenijU and eluding the vigilance of her guards, escaped under ^flection. night, and on the fourth morning was seen at the vil- lage, hovering around the hut which contained her children. On this journey she must have undergone hai-dships from which the most robust man would have shrunk ; was forced to live upon ants, to swim numerous streams, and to make her way through thickets and 222 ASCKNT OF THE RIO TEMT. CHAP. XVIII. tliorny lianas. And the reward of all tliis courage and r, r~Z devotion was — her removal to one of the missions of Barbanty , . . ,, . , of fhe the U})i)er Orinoco, where, despainng oi ever seenig her missionaries, ijp]^^.^.,] cliildren, and refusing all kind of nourishment, she died, a victim to the bigotry and barbarity of wretches blasphemously calling themselves the ministers of a reliirion wliich inculcates universal benevolence. EioTeinj. Above the mouth of the Guasucavi the travellers entered the Rio Tenii, which runs from south to north. The ground was flat and covered with trees, over which rose the pirijao palm with its clusters of peach-like fruits, and the Manritia aculeata, with fan-shaped leaves pointing downwards, and marked with concentric circles blue and green. Wherever the river forms sinuosities the forest is flooded to a great extent ; and, to shorten the route, the boat frequently pushed through the woods along open avenues of water four or five feet broad. An Indian furnished with a large knife stood at the bow continually cutting the branches wliich obstructed the passage. In the thickest part of it a shoal of fresh- water dolphins issued from beneath the trees and sur- rounded the vessel. At five in the evening tlie travel- lers, after sticking for some time between two trunks, and experiencing other difficulties, regained the proper channel, and passed the night near one of the columnar masses of granite which occasionally protrude from tlie level surface. Saiiinc Setting out before daybreak, they remained in the througli tlie bed of the river till sunrise, when, to avoid the force of the current, they again entered the inundated forest ; and soon arriving at the junction of the Temi with the Tuamini, they followed the latter toward the south- west. At eleven they reached San Antonio de Javita, where they liad the pleasure of finding a very intelli- gent and agreeable monk : though they were obliged to remain nearly a week, while the boat was carried by land to the Rio Negro. For two days the travellers Jiad felt an extraordinary irritation on the joints of the fingers and on the back of the hands, which the mission- MISSION OF SAN ANTONIO. 223 ary informed them was caused by insects. Nothing CHAP.xviit could be distinguished with a lens but parallel streaks ... r~~ of a whitish colour, the form of which has obtained for these animalculae the name of aradores, or ploughmen. A mulatto woman engaged to extirpate them one by one, and digging with a small bit of pointed wood, at length succeeded in extracting a little round bag ; but Humboldt did not possess suflficient patience to wait for relief from so tedious an operation. Next day, how- ever, an Indian effected a radical cure by means of the infusion of bark stripped from a certain shrub. In 1755, before the expedition to the boundaries, the Slave trade, country between the missions of Javita and San Baltasar was dependent on Brazil, and the Portuguese had ad- vanced from the Rio Negro as far as the banks of the Temi. An Indian chief named Javita, one of their auxiliaries, pushed his hostile excursions to a distance of more than 345 miles ; and, being furnished with a patent for drawing the natives from the forest " for the conquest of souls," did not fail to make use of it for selling slaves to his allies. When Solano, one of the javita. leaders of the expedition just described, arrived at San Fernando de Atabapo, he seized the adventurer, and by treating him with gentleness gained him over to the interests of the Spaniards. He was still living when the travellers proceeded to the Rio Negro ; and, as he at- tended them in all their botanical excursions, they obtained much information from him. He assured them, that he had seen almost all the Indian tribes which inhabit the vast countries between the Upper Orinoco, tlie Rio Negro, the Irinida, and the Jupura, devour human flesh. Their cannibalism he considered as the effect of a system of revenge, as they eat only enemies who are made prisoners in battle. The climate of the mission of San Antonio dc Javita Rainy is so rainy that the sun and stars are seldom to be seen, '^'™i'p- and the padre informed the travellers that it sometimes rained without intermission for four or five months. The water that fell in five hours on the first of May, 224 GIGANTIC TREES — ELASTIC GUM. CHAP.XVIIL Ilumholdt found to be 21 lines in height, and on the Quaiiuty of 2*^ ^^ ^^'"^y '^^ collected 14 lines in three hours ; whereas ruin. at Paris tliere fall only 28 or 80 lines in as many weeks. The temperature is lower than at Maypures, hut higher than on the Rio Negro ; the thermometer standing at 79~ or 80-6° by da^-, and at 69-8' by night. Indian boats. The Indians of the mission amounted only to 160. Some of them were employed in the construction of boats, which are formed of the trunks of a species of laurel (Ocotea cynibarum), hollowed by means of fire and the axe. These trees attain a height of more than a hundred feet, and have a yellow resinous wood which emits an agreeable odour. The forest between Javita and Pimi- chin affords an immense quantity of gigantic timber, as tall occasionally as 106 or 117 feet; but as the trees give out branches only towards the summit, the tra- vellers were disappointed, amid so great a profusion of unknown species, in not being able to procure the leaves and flowers. Besides, as it rained incessantly so long a time, M. Bonpland lost the greater part of his dried specimens. Although no pines or firs occur in these woods, balsams, resins, and aromatic gums, are abundantly furnished by many other trees, and are col- lected as objects of trade by the people of Javita. Gum of the ^^ *'^^ mission of San Baltasar they had seen the licvta tixc natives jireparing a kind of elastic gum, which they said was found under ground ; and in the forests at Javita, the old Indian who accom])anied them showed that it was obtained by digging several feet deep among the roots of two particular trees, the ITcvea of Aubletand one with pinnate leaves. This substance, which bears the nanie of dapicho, is white, corky, and brittle, with a laminated structure and undulating edges ; but on being roasted it assumes a black colour, and acquires the properties of caoutchouc. Knth-e The native's of these countries live in hordes of forty liurdu-s. Qf fifty, and unite under a common chief only when they wage war with tlieir neighbours. As the different tribes speak different languages, they have little com- INDIAN BITTEN BY A SNAKE. 225 munication. They cultivate cassava, plantains, and CIIAP.XVIIL sometimes maize ; but shift from place to place, so that ^ , r~ . ., ,-11 ^1 1 , , . . , Cultivation, they entirely lose the advantages resulting m other countries from agricultural habits. They have two great objects of worship, — the good principle, Cachimana, who regulates the seasons and favours the harvests ; and the evil principle, Jolokiamo, less powerful, but more active and artful. They have no idols ; but the botuto, or sacred trumpet, is an oliject of veneration, the initia- tion into the mysteries of which requires pure manners and a single life. Women are not permitted to see it, and are excluded from all the ceremonies of this religion. It took the Indians more than four days to drag the Bite of a boat upon rollers to the Rio Fimichin. One of them, a *"^®' tall strong man, was bitten by a snake, and was brought to the mission in a very alarming condition. He had dropped down senseless, and was afterwards seized with nausea, vertigo, and a determination of blood to the head, but was cured by an infusion of raiz de mato ; respecting the plant furnishing which, Humboldt could obtain no Ciuo. satisfactory information, although he supposes it to be of the family of Apocynese. In the hut of this individual he observed balls of an earthy and impure salt, two or three inches in diametei*. It is obtained by reducing to ashes the spadix and fruit of a palm-tree, and consists of muriate of potash and soda, caustic lime, and otlier ingredients. The Indians dissolve a few grains in water, which they drop on their food. On the 5th May the travellers setoff on foot to follow Dangerous their canoe. They had to ford numerous streams, the ^"'^'^ passage of which was somewhat dangerous on account of the number of snakes in the marshes. After passing through dense forests of lofty trees, among which they noted several new species of coffee and other plants, they arrived toward evening at a small farm on the Pimichin, where they passed the night in a deserted hut, not without apprehension of being bitten by serpents, as they were obliged to lie on the floor. Before they took possession of this shed their attendants killed two great 22G KIO NEGRO, A TRIBUTARy Kio N'ctn-o. CHAP. XV III. Mapanarc snakes, and in the morning a large viper was Snakes and found heneatli the jaguar-skin on which one of them vipei-s. had slept. This species of serpent is white on the belly, spotted with brown and black on the back, and grows to the length of four or five feet. Humboldt remarks, that if vipers and rattlesnakes had such a disposition for offence as is usually supposed, the human race could not have resisted them in some parts of America. Embarking at sunrise they proceeded down the Pimi- chin, whieli is celebrated for the number of its windings. It is navigal)le during tlie whole year, and has only one rapid. In four hours and a half they entered the Rio Negro. " The morning," says Humboldt, " was cool and beautiful ; we had been confined thirty-six days in a narrow canoe, so unsteady that it would have been overset by any one rising imprudently from his seat, without warning the rowers to preserve its balance by leaning to tlie opposite side. We had suffered severely from the stings of insects, but we had withstood the in- saluln-ity of the climate ; we had passed without accident the numerous falls and bars that impede the navigation of the rivers, and often render it more dangerous than long voyages by sea. " After all that we had endured, I may be allowed to of Humboldt mention the satisfaction which we felt in having reached the tributaries of the Amazon, — in having passed the isthmus which separates two great systems of rivers, — and in having attained a certainty of fulfilling the most important object of our journey, — that of determining l)y astronomical observations the course of that arm of the Orinoco whieli joins the Rio Negro, and whose ex- istence had been alternately proved and denied for half a century. In these inland regions of the New Continent we almost accustom ourselves to consider man as inessen- tial to the order of nature. The earth is overloaded with plants, of which nothing impedes the development. An immense layer of mould evinces the uninterrupted action of the organic powers. The crocodiles and boas are masters of the river ; the jaguar, pecari, dante, and Sntisfiiction OF THE AMAZON. 227 monkeys of numerous species, traverse the forest witliout CIIAP.XVIII fear and without danger, residing there as in an ancient Jr^^J^ — heritage. On the ocean and on the sands of Africa, we of wiw with difficulty reconcile ourselves to the disapj^earance '""^''^ of man ; but here his absence, in a fertile country clothed with perpetual verdure, produces a strange and melanclioly feeling." The Rio Negro, which flows eastward into the Amazon, importance was for ages considered of great political importance by «/ ii'« li'" the Spanish government, as it would have furnished to the Portuguese an easy introduction into the missions of Guiana. The jealousies of these rival nations, the ignorance and diversified languages of the Indians, the difficulty of penetrating into these inland regions, and other causes, rendered the knowledge of the sources, as well as the tributaries of the Negro and Orinoco, extremely defective. To endeavour to throw some light on this geographical point, and in particular to determine the course of that branch of the Orinoco which joins the Object of Rio Negro, was the great object of Humboldt's journey. Humboidfs This last, or Black River, is so named on account of the dark colour of its waters, wliich are of an amber hue wherever it is shallow, and dark-brown wherever the depth is great. After entering it by the Pimichin, and passing the rapid at the confluence of the two streams, the travellers soon reached the mission of Maroa, con- taining 150 Indians, where they purchased some fine toucans. Passing the station of Tomo they visited that of Davipe, where they were received by the missionary pavipe with great hospitality. Here they bought some fowls station, and a pig, which interested their servants so much that they pressed them to depart, in order to reach the island of Dapa where the animal might be roasted. They arrived at sunset, and found some cultivated ground and an Indian hut. Four natives were seated round a fire eating a kind of paste, consisting of large ants, of which several bags were suspended over the fire. There were more than fourteen persons in this small cabin, lying naked in the hammocks placed above each other. They 0 228 MISSION OF SAN CARLOS. Reception. The Casi- quiare. CHAP. XVIII. received Father Zea with great joy, and two young wonien prepared cassava-cakes ; after which the tra- vellers retired to rest. The family slept only till two in the morning, when they began to converse in their hammocks. This custom of being awake four or five hours before sunrise Humboldt found to be general among the people of Guiana ; and hence, when an attempt is made to surprise them, the first part of the night is chosen for the purpose. Proceeding down the Rio Negro they passed the mouth of the Casiquiare, the river by which a commu- nication is effected between the former and the Orinoco ; and towards evening reached the mission of San Carlos del Rio Negro, with the commander of which they lodged. The military establishment of this frontier- post consisted of seventeen soldiers, ten of whom were detached for the security of the neighbouring stations. The voyage from the mouth of the Rio Negro to Grand Para occupying only twenty or twenty-five days, it would not have taken much more time to have ,gone down the Amazon to the coast of Brazil, than to return by the Casiquiare and Orinoco to that of Caraccas ; but our travellers were informed that it was difficult to pass from the Spanish to the Portuguese settlements ; and it was well for them that they declined this route, for they afterwards learned that instructions had been issued to seize and convey them to Lisbon. This project, however, was not countenanced b}' the government at home, who, when informed of the zeal of its subaltern agents, gave instant orders that the philosophers should not be dis- turbed in their pursuits. Among the Indians of the Rio Negro they found some of those green pcl)blcs known by the name of Amazon- stones, and which are worn as amulets. The form usually given to them is that of the Persepolitan cylin- ders longitudinally perforated. These hard substances denote a degree of civilisation superior to that of the present inhabitants, who, so far from being able to cut them, imagine that they are naturally soft when taken Extent of vojage. Indian amulets. AMAZON-STONES — CASIQUIAUE. 229 out of the earth, and harden after they have been chap.xviii moulded by the hand. They were found to be jade or "— saussurite, approaching to compact felspar, of a colour Kicai cha- passing from apple to emerald green, translucent on the ''''•^'*=''"- edges, and taking a fine polish ; but the substance usually called Amazon-stone in Europe is different, being a common felspar of a similar colour, coming from the Uralian Mountains and Lake Onega, in Russia. Connected with this mineral are the warlike women, Amazons. whom the travellers of the sixteenth century named the Amazons of the New World ; and regarding whom Humboldt found no satisfactory accounts, although he is disposed to believe that their existence was not merely imaginary. The travellers passed three daj's at San Carlos, watch- g^n Carioi ing the greater part of each night, in the hope of seizing the moment of the passage of some star over the meridian ; but the sky was continually obscured by vapours. On the 10th May they embarked a little before sunrise to go up the Rio Negro. The morning was fine, but as the heat increased the firmament became darkened. Passing l)etween the islands of Zaruma and Mibita, covered with dense vegetation, and ascending the rapids of the Piedra de Uinumane, they entered the Casiquiare at the distance pritraiice of of 9| miles from the fort of San Carlos. The rock at the Casi- the rapids was granite, traversed by numerous veins of ''"'*'' ® quartz several inches broad. The night was spent at the mission of San Francisco Solano, on the left bank of the Casiquiare. The Indians were of two nations, the Pacimonales and Cheruvichahenas ; and from the lattei the travellers endeavoured to obtain some information respecting the upper part and sources of the Rio Negro, but without success. In one of the huts of the former tribe they purchased two large birds, a toucan and a Birds. macaw, to add to the already considerable stock which they possessed. Most of the animals were confined in small cages, while others ran at liberty all over the boat. At the approach of rain, the macaws uttered frightful screams, the toucan was desirous of gaining the shore in 230 ASCENT OP THE CASIQUIARE. Varied habits. CUAP.xviiL order to fish, and tlie little monkeys went in search of Father Zea to oljtain shelter in his large sleeves. At night the leathern case containing tlieir provisions was placed in the centre ; then the instruments and cages ; around which were suspended the hammocks of the travellers ; and beyond them the Indians slept, protected by a circle of fires to keep off the jaguars. LoTiKitiide On the 11th they left the mission of San Francisco andlaUtudc. golano at a late hour to make a short day's journey, for the vapours had begun to break up, and tlie travellers were unwilling to go far from the mouth of the Casi- quiare without determining the longitude and latitude. This they had an opportunity of doing at night in the neighbourhood of a solitary granite rock, the Piedra di Culimacari, which they found to be in lat. 2° 0' 42" north, and long. 67° 13' 20" west. The determination was of great importance in a geographical and political point of view, for the greatest errors existed in maps, and the equator had been considered as the boundary between the Spanish and Portuguese possessions. Leaving the Rock of Culimacari at half after one in the morning, they proceeded against the current, which Avas very rapid. The waters of the Casiquiare are white, and the mosquitoes again commenced their invasions, becoming more numerous as the boat receded from the black stream of the Rio Negro. In the whole course of the Casiquiare thoy did not find in the Christian settle- ments a population of 200 individuals, and the free Indians have retired from its banks. During a great part of tlie year tlie natives subsist on ants. At the mission of Mandavaca, which they reached in the evening, they found a monk who had spent twenty years in the country, and whose legs were so spotted by the stings of insects that the whiteness of the skin could scarcely be perceived. He complained of his solitude, and the sad necessity which often compelled him to leave the most atrocious crimes unpunished. An indigenous alcayde, or overseer, liad a few years before eaten one of his wives, after fattening her bv a:ood feeding. " You Rnck of Culliniuuiri. Soli tan- monk. SCENERY OF THE CASIQUIARE. 231 cannot imagine," said the missionary, " all the perversity chap.xvhi of this Indian family. You receive men of a new tril)e ^., — into the village ; they appear to he good, mild, and in- of tiie dustrious ; but suffer tlicm to take part in an incursion ^"'^"'"*- to bring in the natives, and you can scarcely prevent them from murdering all they meet, and hiding some portions of the dead bodies." The travellers had in t-lieir canoe a fugitive Indian from the Guaisia, who in a few weeks had become sufficiently civilized to be very Camubalism useful. As he was mild and intelligent, they had some desire of taking him into their service ; but discovering that his anthropophagous propensities remained they gave up the idea. He told them that " his relations (the I^eople of his tribe) preferred the inside of the hands in man, as in bears," accompanying the assertion with gestures of savage joy. Although the Indians of the Casiquiare readily return inteiiiirence to their barbarous habits, they manifest, while in the »'"i iiuiustry missions, intelligence, industry, and a great facility in leai'ning the Spanish tongue. As the villages are usually inhabited by three or four tribes who do not understand each other, the language of their instructor affords a general means of communication. The soil on the Casiquiare is of excellent quality. Rice, beans, cotton, sugar, and indigo, thrive wherever they have been tried ; but the humidity of the air, and the swarms of insects, oppose almost insuperable obstacles to cultivation. Im- mense bands of white ants destroy every thing that comes in their way ; insomucli, that when a missionary would cultivate salad, or any European culinary vegetable, he fills an old boat with soil, and having sown the seeds suspends it with cords, or elevates it on posts. From the 14tli to the 21st the travellers continued to Ascent of ascend the Casiquiare, which flowed with considerable the Casi- rapidity, having a breadth of 426 yards, and bordered ^^^''^• by two enormous walls of trees hung with lianas. No openings could be discovered in these fences ; and at night the Indians had to cut a small spot with their hatchets to make room enough for their beds, it being 232 IJlFURCATIOiN OF THE ORINOCO. CD shore. Channel of the Orinoca ciiAP.xvilI. impossible to remain in the canoe on account of the DifflcdHes mosquitoes and heavy rains. Great difficulty was ex- perienced in finding wood to make a fire, the branches being so full of sap that they would scarcely burn. On shore the pothoscs, arums, and lianas, furnished so thick a covering, that although it rained violently they were completely sheltered. At their last resting-place on the Casiquiare, the jaguars carried off" their great dog while they slept. On the 21st May they again entered the channel of the Orinoco, three leagues below the mission of Esme- ralda. Here the scenery wore a very imposing aspect, lofty granitic mountains rising on the northern bank. The celebrated bifurcation of the river takes place in this manner : The stream, issuing from among the mountains, reaches the opening of a valley or depression of the ground which terminates at the Rio Negro, and divides into two branches. The principal branch con- tinues its course toward the west-north-west, turning round the group of the mountains of Parime, while the other flows off southward and joins the Rio Negro. By this latter branch our travellers ascended from the river iust mentioned, and again entered the Orinoco, four weeks after they had left it near the mouth of the Guaviare. They had still a voyage perform before reaching Angostura. of 863 miles to MOUNTAINS OF 1>UIDa. 233 CHAPTER XIX. Route from Esmeralda to Angostura, Mission of Esmeralda — Curare Poison — Indians — Duida Moun- tain—Descent of the Orinoco — Cave of Ataruipe — Raudaiito of Carucari — Mission of Uruana — Character of the Otomacs — Clay eaten by the Natives — Arrival at Angostura — The Travel- lers attacked by Fever — Ferocity of the Crocodiles. Opposite the point where the division of the river takes cHAP. XIX. place, there rises in the form of an amphitheatre a group j)„j,|~ of granitic mountains, of which the principal one bears mountain. the name of Duida. It is about 8500 feet high ; and being perpendicular on the south and west, bare and stony on the summit, and clothed on its less steep decliv- ities with vast forests, presents a magnificent spectacle. At the foot of this huge mass is placed the most solitary and remote Christian settlement on the Upper Orinoco, — the mission of Esmeralda, containing eighty inhabi- tants. It is surrounded by a beautiful plain, covered with grasses of various species, pine-apples, and clumps of Mauritia palm, and watered by limpid rills. There was no monk at the village ; but the travellers HospitaWe were received with kindness by an old officer, who, reception, taking them for Catalonian shopkeepers, admired their simplicity when he saw the bundles of paper in which their plants were preserved, and which he supposed the}- intended for sale. Notwithstanding the smallness of the mission, three Indian languages were spoken in it ; and among the inhabitants were some Zamboes, mulattoes, 234 CUUAKE POISON. Curaro poison. CHAP. XIX. and copper-coloured people. A mineralogical error IsmenUda. ^^^6 celebrity to Esmeralda, the rock-crystals and cliloritic quartzes of Duida having been mistaken for diamonds and emeralds. The converts live in great poverty, and their misery is augmented by prodigious swarms of mosquitoes. Yet the situation of the estab- lishment is exceedingly picturesque ; the surrounding country is possessed of great fertility ; and plantains, indigo, sugar, and cacao, might be produced in abun- dance. Tliis village is the most celebrated spot on the Orinoco for tlie manufacture of the curare, a very active poison employed in war and in the chase, as well as a remedy for gastric obstructions. Erroneous ideas had been entertained of this substance ; but our travellers had an opportunity of seeing it prepared. When they arrived at Esmeralda, most of the Indians had just finislied an excursion to gather juvias or the fruit of the bei'tholletia, and the liana which yields the curare. Their return was celebrated by a festival, which lasted several days, during which they were in a state of intoxication. One less drunk than the rest was employed in preparing the poison. He was the chemist of the place, and boasted of his skill, extolling the composition as superior to any thing that could be made in Europe. Tlie liana which yields it is named bejuco, and appeared to be of the Strychnos family. The branches are scraped with a knife, and the bark tliat comes off is bruised, and reduced to very thin filaments on the stone employed for grinding cassava. A cold infusion is prepared by pouring water on this fibrous mass, in a funnel made of a plantain-leaf rolled up in the form of a cone, and placed in another somewhat stronger made of palm-leaves, the whole supported by a slight frame- work. A yellowisli fluid filters through the apparatus. It is the venomous liquor; wliich, however, acquires strength only when concentrated by evaporation in a large earthen pot. To give it consistence, it is mixed witli a glutinous vegetable juice, obtained from a tree Inlian lestivuL Mode (if prt'iiuriiig INDIAN- FEAST. 235 named kiracaguera. At the moment when this addition CHAP. xix. is made to the fluid, now kept in a state of ebulHtion, .r — ,. the whole blackens, and coagulates into a substance poison. resembling tar or thick syrup. The curare may be tasted without danger ; for, like the venom of serpents, it only acts when introduced directly into tlie blood, and the Indians consider it an excellent stomachic. It is universally employed by them in hunting, the tips of their arrows being covered with it ; and the usual mode of killing domestic fowls is to scratch the skin with one of these infected weapons. Other species of vegetable poison are manufactured in various parts of Guiana. After seeing this composition prepared, the philo- Festival of sophers accompanied the artist to the festival of the tiiejuvias. juvias. In the hut where the revellers were assembled, large roasted monkeys blackened by smoke were ranged against the wall. Humboldt imagines that the habit of eating animals so much resembling man has in some degree contributed to diminish the horror of anthropo- phagy among savages. Apes when thus cooked, and especially such as have a very round head, bear a hideous likeness to a child ; and for this reason such Europeans as are obliged to feed upon them separate the head and hands before the dish is presented at their tables. The flesh is very lean and dry. Among the articles brought by the Indians from their interestinj,' expedition were various interesting vegetable produc- vegetable tions ; fruits of different species, reeds upwards of fifteen feet long, perfectly straight and free of knots, and bark used for making shirts. The women were employed in serving the men with the food already mentioned, fermented liquors, and palm-cabbage, but were not per mitted to join in the festivities. Among all the tribes of the Orinoco the females live in a sort of slavery, almost the whole labour devolving upon them. Poly- gamy is frequently practised, and on the other hand a kind of polyandry is established in places where the fair sex are less numerous. When a native who has several wives becomes a Christian, the missionaries 236 DUIDA MOUNTAIN. Summit of llic Uuidii. r>warf Iiidiun CHAP. XIX compel him to choose her whom he prefers and to — dismiss tlie others. The summit of Duida is so steep that no person has ever ascended it. At the beginning and end of the rainy season, small flames, which appear to shift, are seen upon it. On this account the mountain has been called a volcano, which, however, it is not. The granite whereof it is composed is full of veins, some of which being partly open, gaseous and inflammable vapours may pass through them ; for it is not probable that the flames are caused Ity lightning, the humidity of the climate being such that plants do not readily take fire. The travellers had an opportunity of seeing at Esme- ralda some of the dwarf and fair Indians, that ancient traditions had mentioned as living near the sources of the Orinoco. The Guaicas, or diminutive class, whom they measured, were in general from 4 feet 10^ to 4 feet 1 1 i^ inches in height ; and it was said that the whole tribe was of the same stature. The Guahariboes, or fair variety, were similar to the others in form and features, and differed only in having the skin of a lighter tint. ^ ^ On the 23d May the travellers left the mission of departure i i - r- 1 i i i i_ from Esmer- ii.smeralda m a state of languor and weakness caused by '^^'^•^ the torment of insects, bad nourishment, and a long voyage performed in a narrow and damp boat. They had not attempted to ascend the Orinoco towards its sources, as the country above that station was inhabited by liostile Indians ; so that of the two geographical problems connected with the river, — the position of its sources and the nature of its communication with the Rio Negro, — tliey had been obliged to content themselves with the solution of the latter. When they embarked they were surrounded by tlie mulattoes and others who considered themselves Spaniards, and who entreated them to solicit from the governor of Angostura their return to the Llanos, or at least their removal to the missions of the Rio Negro. Humboldt pleaded the cause of these proscribed men at a subsequent period * PROGRESS DOWN THE RIVER. 237 but his efforts were fruitless. The weather was very CHAP. Xix. stormy, and tlie summit of Duida was enveloped in <, clouds ; but the thunders which rolled there did not wentUer. disturb the plains. Nor did they, generally speaking, observe in the valley of the Orinoco those violent electric explosions which almost every night, during the rainy season, alarm the traveller along the Rio Magda- lena. Alter four hours' navigation in descending the stream, they arrived at the bifurcation, and reposed on the same beach of the Casiquiare, where a few days before their dog had been carried oflf by the jaguars. The cries of these animals were again heard through the whole night. The black tiger also occurs in these districts. It is celebrated for its strength and ferocity, and appears to be larger than the other, of which, how- ever, it is probably a variety. Leaving their resting-place before sunrise, and sailing passape with the current, they passed the mouths of the Cunu- ''o^^'" ^^^ . •^ ^ river, cunumo, Guanami, and Puruname. The country was entirely desert, although rude figures representing the sun, the moon, and different animals, are to be seen on the granite rocks ; attesting the former existence of a people more civilized than any that they had seen. On the 27th May they reached the mission of San g,^„ j.gj._ Fernando de Atabapo, where they had lodged a month "undo de before on their ascent toward the Rio Negro. The '' '^^'^ president had allowed himself to become very uneasy respecting the object of then- journey ; and requested Humboldt to leave a writing in his hands, bearing testi- mony to the good order that prevailed in the Christian settlements on the Orinoco, and the mildness with which the natives were treated. This, however, he declined. From this point they retraced their former route, and passed the cataracts. On the 31st they landed before sunset at the Puerto de la Expedicion, for the purpose of visiting the cave of Ataruipe, which is the sepulchre of an extinct nation. " We climbed," says Humboldt, " with ditticulty and not without danger, a steep rock of granite, entirely 238 PROGRESS DOWN THE RIVER. CHAP. XIX. destitute of soil. It would have been almost impossible AscentTo a ^^ ^^ ^^^^ ^^^^ ^" *''^^ smooth and hif^hly inclined sui-- si-pulchral face, had not large crystals of felspar, which had resisted '^"^^ decomposition, projected from the roc'k so as to present points of support. Scarcely had we reached the summit of the mountain when we were struck with astonish- ment at the extraordinary appearance of the surrounding country : The foamy bed of tlie waters was filled with an archipelago of islands covered with palms. Toward Remarkable the west, on the left bank of the Orinoco, extended the view. savannahs of the Meta and Casanare, like a sea of verdure, the misty horizon of which was illuminated by the rays of the setting sun. The mighty orb, like a globe of fire suspended over the plain, and the solitary peak of Uniana, which appeared more lofty from being wrapped in vapours that softened its outlines, contri- buted to impress a character of sublimity upon the scene. We looked down into a deep valley enclosed on every side. Birds of prey and goatsuckers winged their solitary way in this inaccessible circus. We found I)leasure in following their fleeting shadows as they glided slowly over the flanks of the rock, Masses of " -^ narrow ridge led us towards a neighbouring granite. mountain, the rounded summit of which supported enormous blocks of granite. These masses are more than 40 or 50 feet in diameter, and present a form so perfectly spherical, that, as they seem to touch the ground only by a small number of points, it might be supposed that the slightest shock of an earthquake would roll them into the abyss. I do not remember to have seen any where else a similar phenomenon amid the decompositions of granitic deposites. If the balls rested upon a rock of a different nature, as in the case witli the blocks of Jura, it might be supposed that they had been rounded by tlie action of water, or projected by the force of an elastic fluid ; but their position, on tlie summit of a hill of the same nature, renders it more probable that they owe their origin to a gradual decom- position of the rock. CAVE OF ATARUIPE. 230 " The most remote part of the valley is covered by a cuap. xix dense forest. In this shady and solitary place, on the ^^^ ~r declivity of a steep mountain, opens the cave of Ata- Aturuipe. ruipe. It is less a cave than a projecting rock, in which the waters have scooped a great hollow, when, in the ancient revolutions of our planet, they had reached to that height. In this tomb of a whole extinct tribe we soon counted nearly 600 skeletons in good preservation, and arranged so regularly that it would have been difficult to make an error in numbering them. Each skeletons, skeleton rests upon a kind of basket formed of the petioles of palms. These baskets, which the natives call mapires, have the form of a square bag. Their size is proportional to the age of the dead ; and there are even some for infants which had died at the moment of birth. We saw them from ten inches and a half to three feet six inches and a half in length. All the skeletons are bent, and so entire that not a rib or a bone of the fingers or toes is wanting. The bones have been prepared in three different ways, — whitened in the air and sun, dyed red with onoto, a colouring matter obtained from the Bixa orellana ; or, like mummies, covered with odorous resins, and enveloped Mummies. in leaves of heliconia and banana. The Indians related to us, that the corpse is first placed in the humid earth, that the flesh may be consumed by degrees. Some months after it is taken out, and the flesh that remains on the bones is scraped off with sharp stones. Several tribes of Guiana still follow this practice. Near the mapires or baskets there were vases of half-burnt clay, which appeared to contain the bones of the same family. The largest of these vases or funereal urns are three feet two inches high, and four feet six inches long. They are of a greenish-gray colour, and have an oval form not unpleasant to the eye. The handles are mado in the form of crocodiles or serpents, and the edge Ls en- circled by meanders, labyrintlis, and grecqucs, with narrow lines variously combined. These paintincs are seen in all countries, among nations placed at the 240 SEPULCHRAL CAVE. CHAP. XIX. greatest distances from each otlicr, and tlie most different ^ in respect to civilisation. Tlie inhabitants of the little pottery. mission of Maypures execute them at the present day on their most common pottery. They adorn the shields of the Otaheitans, the fisliing-instruments of the Esqui- maux, the walls of the Mexican palace of Mitla, and the vases of Magna Gra;cia. Cranio. " ^^® opened, to the great concern of our guides, several mapires, for the purpose of attentively examining the form of the skulls. They all presented the charac- ters of the American race, — two or three only ap- proached the Caucasian form. We took several skulls, the skeleton of a child of six or seven years, and those of two full-grown men, of the nation of the Atures. All these bones, some painted red, others covered with odorous resins, were placed in the mapires or baskets already described. They formed nearly the whole lading of a mule ; and, as we were aware of the super- stitious aversion which the natives show towards dead bodies, after they have given them burial, we carefully Acntenessof covered the baskets with new mats. Unfortunately tlie Indians, for us, the penetration of the Indians, and the extreme delicacy of their organs of smell, rendered our precau- tions useless. Wherever we stopped, — in tlie Carib inis- sions, in the midst of the Llanos, between Angostura and New Barcelona, — the natives collected around our mules to admire the monkeys which we had brought from the Orinoco. These good people had scarcely touched our baggage when they predicted the approach- ing death of the beast of burden ' that carried the dead.' In vain we told them that they were deceived in their conjectures, that the panniers contained bones of croco- diles and lamantins ; they persisted in repeating, that they smelt the resin which surrounded the skeletons, and that ' they were some of their old relatives.' " We departed in silence from the cave of Ataruipe. It was one of those calm and serene nights which are so common in the torrid zone. The stars shone with a mild and planetary light ; their scintillation was CATARACTS OF ATURES. 241 scarcely perceptible at the horizon, which seemed illu- chap, xix minated by the great nebulie of tlie southern hemi- MghTsceiiu. sphere. Multitudes of insects diffused a reddish light over the air. The ground, profusely covered witli plants, shone with those living and moving lights as if the stars of the firmament had fallen upon the savannali. On leaving the cave, we repeatedly stopped to admire the beauty of this extraordinary place. The scented vanilla and festoons of bignoniee decorated its entrance ; while the summit of the overhanging hill was crowned by arrowy palm-trees that waved murmuring in the air." Similar caves are said to exist to the north of the Tombs of the cataracts ; but the tombs of the Indians of the Orinoco ^°'^'^"^- have not been sufficiently examined, because they do not, like those of Peru, contain treasures. The travellers staid at the mission of Atures only so rassape ( , long as was necessary for the passage of their canoe j'l'nsf"^"' through the great falls. The priest, Bernardo Zea, who had accompanied them to the Rio Negro, remained behind. His ague had not been removed ; but its attacks had become an habitual evil, to which he now paid little attention. Fevers of a more destructive kind prevailed in the establishment, insomuch that the greater part of the inmates were confined to their hammocks. Again embarked on the Orinoco the tra- vellers ventured to descend the lower half of the rapids of Atures, landing here and there to climb the rocks, Rapids of 2vturis> among which the golden manakin (^Pipra rupicola), one of the most beautiful birds of the tropics, builds its nest. At the Raudalito of Carucari they entered some of the caverns formed by the piling up of granite blocks, and enjoyed the extraordinary spectacle of the river dashing in a sheet of foam over their heads. The boat was to coast the eastern bank of a narrow island, and take them in after a long circuit ; but it did not make its appearance, and night approaching, together with a tremendous thunder-storm, M. Bonpland was desirous of swimming across, in order to seek assistance at Atures from Father Zea. Humboldt, and the other person 242 CLAY EATEN BY THE OTOJfACS. Mission of Uruana. CHAV.XIX. who was with thciii, dissuaded him with difficulty from Crocodilea so hazardous an enterprise ; and shortly after two large crocodiles made their appearance, attracted by the plaintive cries of the monkeys. At length the Indians arrived with the vessel, and the navigation was continued during part of the night. At Carichana the missionary received them with kindness. Here the travellers remained some days to recruit their exhausted strength, and M. Bonpland had the satisfaction of dissecting a manatee. From Carichana they went in two days to the mission of Uruana, the situation of which is extremely pictur- esque, the village being placed at the foot of a lofty granitic mountain, the columnar rocks appearing at intervals above the trees. Here the river is more than 6530 yards broad, and runs in a straight line directly east. The hamlet is inhabited by the Otomacs, one of tlie rudest of the American tribes. These Indians swallow quantities of eartli for the purpose of allaying hunger. When the waters are low they live on fish and turtles : but when tlie rivers swell, and it becomes dif- ficult to procure that food, they eat daily a large portion of clay. The travellers found in their huts heaps of it in the form of balls, piled up in pyramids three or four E(Lblcc]ay. feet high. This substance is fine and unctuous, of a yellowish-gray colour, containing silica and alumina, with three or four per cent, of lime. Being a restless and turbulent people, with unbridled passions and excessively given to intoxication, the little village of Uruana is more difficult to govern than any of the other missions. By inhaling at the nose the powder obtained fnjhi the pods of the Acacia niopo they throw themselves into a state of intoxication bordering on madness, that lasts sjveral days, during which dreadful murders are committed. The most vindictive cover the nail of the thuml) with the curare poison, the slightest scratch being tiius sufficient to produce death. When this crime is perpetrated at night they throw the body into the river. "Every time," said the monk, "that I see the women ARRIVAL AT ANGOSTURA. 2-J3 fetch water from a part of the shore to which they do chap. xix. not usually go for it, I suspect that a murder has been committed in my mission." On the 7th June the travellers took leave of Father Father Ramon Bueno, whom Humboldt eulogizes as the only 'fi""™ one of ten missionaries of Guiana whom they had seen who appeared to be attentive to any thing that regarded the natives. The night was passed at the island of Cucurupara, to the east of which is the mouth of the Cano de la Tortuga. On its southern bank is the almost deserted station of San Miguel de la Tortuga ; in the neighbourhood of which, according to the Indians, are otters with a very fine fur, and lizards witli two feet. From the island of Cucurupara to Angostura, the Rate nf capital of Guiana, a distance of little less than 328 miles, J""™^J- the travellers were only nine days on the water. On the 8th June they landed at a farm opposite the mouth of the Apure, where Humboldt obtained some good ob- servations of latitude and longitude ; and on the 9th met a great number of boats laden with goods, on their way to that river. Here Don Nicolas Soto, wlio had accompanied them on their voyage to the Rio Negro, took leave and returned to his family. As they ad- increasing vanced, the population became more considerable, population, consisting almost exclusively of whites, negroes, and mulattoes. On the 11th they passed the mouth of the Rio Caura, near which is a small lake formed in 1790 by the sinking of the ground in consequence of an earth- quake. The Boca del Infierno and the Randal de Camiseta, a series of whirlpools and rapids caused l)y a chain of small rocks, were the only remarkable features that occurred until they reached Angostura. On ai-riving at the capital, they hastened to present Arrival at tliemselves to Don Felipe de Ynciarte, the govej'uor of Angostura. Guiana, who received them in the most obliging manner. A painful circumstance forced them to remain a whole month in this place. They were both, a few days after their arrival, attacked by a disorder, which in M. Bon- p 244 ANGOSTURA — CROCODILES. Attack of fever. Angostura. CHAP. XIX pland assumed the diameter of a typhoid fever. A mulatto servant, who had attended them from Cumana, was simih\rly affected. His deatli was announced on the ninth day ; but he had only fallen into a state of insensibility which lasted several hours, and was fol- lowed l)y a salutary crisis. Humboldt escaped with a very violent attack, during which he was made to take a mixture of honey and the extract of Cortex angosturce. He recovered on the following da3% His fellow-travel- ler remained in a very alarming state for several weeks, but retained sufficient strength of mind to prescribe for himself. His fever was incessant, and complicated with dysentery ; but, in his case too, the issue was favour- able. At this period no epidemic prevailed in the town, and the air was salubrious ; so that the germ of the disease had probably been caught in the damp forests ot the Upper Orinoco. Angostura, so named from its being placed on a nar- row part of the river, stands at the foot of a hill of hornblende-slate, destitute of vegetation. The street.s are regular, and generally parallel to the course of the stream. Tlic houses are high, agreeable, and built of stone ; although the town is not exempt from earth- quakes. At the period of this visit the population was only 6000. There is little variety in the surrounding scenery ; but the view of the river is singularly majestic. When tiie waters are high they inundate the quays, and it sometimes hap])ens that even in tlie streets impru- dent persons fall a prey to the crocodiles, which are very numerous. Humboldt relates that, at the time of his stay at Angostura, an Indian from the island of IMargarita having gone to anchor his canoe in a cove where there were not three feet of water, a very fierce crocodile that frequented the spot seized him by the leg and carried him off. With astonishing courage he searched for a knife in his pocket, but not finding it, thrust his fingers Into 'he animal's eyes. The monster, however, did not Crocodiles. CROCODILES. 246 let go his hold, hut plunged to the hottom of the river, chap. XIX aad after drowning his victim, came to the surface and — dragged the body to an island. The number of individuals who perish annually in Great this manner is very great, especially in villages where 'it-s^'uctiTo- the neighbouring grounds are inundated. The same crocodiles remain long in the same places, and become more daring from year to year, especially, as the Indians assert, if they have once tasted human flesh. They are not easily killed, as their skin is impenetrable, — the throat and the space beneath the shoulder being the only parts where a ball or spear can enter. The natives catch them with large iron hooks baited with meat, and attached to a chain fastened to a tree. After the ani- mal has struggled for a considerable time, they attack it with lances. Affecting examples are related of the intrepidity of intrepidity African slaves in attempting to rescue their masters from of Africans the jaws of these voracious reptiles. Not many years ago, in the Llanos of Calabozo, a negro, attracted by the cries of his owner, armed himself with a long knife, and plunging into the river, forced the animal, by scooping out its eyes, to leave its prey and take to flight. The natives being daily exposed to similar dangers think little of them. They observe the manners of the croco- dile as the torero studies those of the bull ; and quietly calculate the motions of the enemy, its means of attack, and the degree of its audacity. The general nature of the vast regions bordering on guramary. the Orinoco may be sufficiently learned from the above condensed narrative ; and we think it unnecessary to follow our learned author through his description of that portion of the river which extends from Angostura to its mouths, especially as it is not founded on personal observation. 246 JOURSEY FEOJI AXGOSTUIU CHAPTER XX. Journey across the Llanos to New Barcelona. Departure from Angostura — Villag;e of Cari — Natives — New Bar- celona Hot Springs — Crocodiles — Passage to Cumana. CiiAP.xx It was night when our travellers for the last time De arture crossed the bed of the Orinoco. They intended to rest from Angos- near the little fort of San Rafael, and in the morning *^^ begin their journey over the Llanos of Venezuela, with tlie view of proceeding to Cumana or New Barcelona, whence they might sail to the island of Cuba and thence again to Mexico. There they purposed to remain a year, and to take a passage in the galleon from Acapulco to Manilla. Objects Tlie botanical and geological collections which they coUectcd. Y\&i{ brought from Esmeralda and the Rio Negro had greatly increased their baggage ; and, as it would have been hazardous to lose sight of such stores, they journeyed but slowly over the deserts, wliicli they crossed in thirteen days. This eastern part of the Llanos, be- tween Angostura and Barcelona, is similar to that already described on the passage from the valley of Aragua to San Fernando de Apure ; but tlie breeze is felt with greater force, although at this period it had ceased. They spent tlie iirst night at the house of a Frenchman, a native of Lyons, who received them with tlie kindest hospitality. He was employed in joining wood by means of a kind of glue called guayca, which resembles the best made from animal substances, and is TO BARCELONA — CAniBS. 247 found between the bark and alburnum of the Combretum cilAT.xx. (juayctty a kind of creeping plant. — On the third day they arrived at the missions of Cari. ... Some showers had recently revived the vegetation. A Citfl""*'' thick turf was formed of small grasses and herbaceous sensitive plants, Avhile a few fan-palms, rhopalas, and malphighias, rose at great distances from each other. The humid spots were distinguishable by groups of mauritias, which were loaded with enormous clusters of red fruit. The plain undulated from the effect of mi- rage, the heat was excessive, and the travellers found temporary relief under the shade of the trees, which had, however, attracted numerous birds and insects. On the 13th July they arrived at the village of Cari, yjnagool where, as usual, they lodged with the clergyman, wlio Cari. could scarcely comprehend how natives of the north of Europe should have arrived at his dwelling from the frontiers of Brazil. They found more than 500 Caribs in the hamlet, and saw many more at the surrounding missions. They were of large stature, from five feet ten inches to six feet two. Tlie men had the lower part of the body wrapped in a piece of dark-blue cloth, while the women had merely a narrow band. This race differs caribs. from the other Indians, not only in being taller, but also in the greater regularity of their features, in having tht nose less flattened, and the cheekbones less prominent. The hair of the head is partially shaven, only a circular tuft being left on the top, — a custom that might be sup- posed to have been borrowed from the monks, but which is equally prevalent among those who have preserved their independence. Both males and females are care- ful to ornament their persons with paint. The Caribs, once so powerful, now inhabit but a small part of the country which they occupied at the time when America was discovered. They have been exterminated in the West India Islands and the coasts of Darien, but in the provinces of New Barcelona and Spanish Guiana have formed populous villages, under the government of the missions. Humboldt estimates the number inhabiting 248 CARIC MISSIONS — ROBBERS. Number of Caribs. Indinn pri^iii'lices. IVuit- trees. the Llanos of Piritoo and tlie banks of the Caroni and Cuyuni at more than 35,000, and the total amount of the pure race at 40,000. The missionary led the travellers into several huts, where they found the greatest order and cleanliness, but were shocked by the torments that the women inflicted on tlicir infants, for the purpose of raising the flesh in alternate bands from the ankle to the top of the thigh, — a practice which the monks had in vain attempted to abolish. This effect was produced by narrow ligatures, which seemed to obstruct the circulation of the blood, although it did not weaken the action of the muscles. The foreliead, however, was not flattened, but left in its natural form. On leaving the mission the philosophers had some difficulty in settling with their Indian muleteers, who had discovered among the baggage the skeletons brought from the cavern of Ataruijje, and were persuaded that the animals which carried such a load would perish on the journey. The Rio Cari was crossed in a boat, and the Rio de Agua Clara by fording. The same objects every where recurred ; huts constructed of reeds and roofed with skins ; mounted men guarding the herds ; cattle, horses, and mules, running half wild. No sheep or goats were seen, these animals being unable to escape from the jaguars. On the 15th they arrived at the Villa del Pao, Avhere they found some fruit-trees as well as cocoa-palms, which properly belong to the coast. As they advanced the sky became clearer, the soil more dusty, and the atmosplierc more fiery. The intense heat, liowever, was not entirely owing to the temperature of the air, but arose jxirtly from the fine sand mingled with it. On the night of the IGth they rested at the Indian village of Santa Cruz de Cachipo. The warmth had increased so jnuch that they would have preferred travelling by night ; but the country was infested by roltbers, who .nurdercd the whites that fell into their hands. These were malefactors who had escaped from the prisons on AUiaVAL AT NKAV DAKCKI.ONA. 249 the coast and from the missions, and lived in the Llanos CHAP.XX. in a manner similar to that of the Bedouin Arabs. ,. . — Those vast i^lains, Humboldt thinks, can hardly ever be vohbln. subjected to cultivation ; although he is persuaded that in the lapse of ages, if placed under a government favourable to industry, they will lose much of the wild aspect which they have hitherto retained. After travelling three days they began to perceive the Mountains chain of the mountains of Cumana, which separates the """"'"■ Llanos from the coast of the Caribbean Sea. It ap- peared at first like a fog-bank, which by degrees con- densed, assumed a bluish tint, and became bounded by sinuous outlines. Although the Llanos of Venezuela are bordered on the south by granitic mountains exhib- iting in their broken summits traces of violent convul- sions, no blocks were found scattered upon them. The same remark is to be made in regard to the other great plains of South America. These circumstances, as Humboldt remarks, seem to prove that the granitic masses scattered over the sandy plains of the Baltic are a local phenomenon, and must have originated in some great convulsion which took place in the northern regions of Europe. On the 2.3d July they arrived at the town of New KewBarca- Barcelona, less fatigued by the hetit to which they had '"^'^ been so long accustomed, than harassed by the sand- wind, that causes painful chaps in the skin. They were kindly received by a wealthy merchant of French ex- traction, Don Pedro Lavie. This town was founded in 1(337, and in 1800 contained more than 1G,000 inhabi- tants. The climate is not so hot as that of Cumana, but very damp, and in the rainy season rather unhealthy. M. Bonpland had by this time regained his strength and activity, but his companion suffered more at Barcelona than he had done at Angostura. One of those extra- ordinary tropical rains, during which drops of enormous size fall at sunset, had produced uneasy sensations that seemed to threaten an attack of typhus, — a disease then prevalent on the coast. They remained nearly a month '250 HOT SPRINGS — CUOCODILES. Jlomitain chain. CHAP. XX. at Barcelona, where they found their friend Juan — Gonzales, who, having resolved to go to Europe, meant to accompany them as far as Cuba. At the distance of seven miles to the south-east of New Barcelona rises a chain of lofty mountains con- ntcted with the Cerro del Bergantin, which is seen from Cumana. When Humboldt's health was suffi- ciently restored, the travellers made an excursion in that direction, for the purpose of examining the hot sja-ines in the neighbourhood. These are impregnated with sulphuretted hydrogen, and issue from a quartzose sandstone, lying on a compact limestone resembling that of Jura. The temperature of the water was 109"8°. Their host had lent them his finest saddle-horses, warn- ing them at the same time not to ford the little river of Narigual, which is infested with crocodiles. They passed over by a kind of bridge formed of the trunks of trees, and made their animals swim, liolding them by the bridles. Humboldt's suddenly disappeared, and the guides conjectured that it had been seized by the caymans. The crocodiles of the Rio Neveri are numerous, but less ferocious than those of the Orinoco. The people of New Barcelona convey wood to market, by floating the logs on the river, while the proprietors swim here and there to set them loose when they are stopped by the hanks. This could not be done in most of the South American rivers infested by those animals. There is ni) Indian suburb as at Cumana, and the few natives seen lU the town are from the neighbouring missions, or mliabitants of huts scattered in the plain. They are of i mixed race, indolent, and addicted to drinking. The packet-boats from Corunna to Havannah and Mexico liad been due three months, so that they were supposed to liave been taken by the English cruisers ; when our travellers, anxious to reach Cumana, in order to avail themselves of the first opportunity for Vera Cruz, hired an oi)en vessel. It was laden with cacao, and carried on a contraband trade with the island of i:io Neven Detentinn I if packtt- Voats. ARRIVAL AT CUMANA. 251 Trinidad; for which reason the proprietor thought he chap.x:; had nothing to fear from the British ; but they had ^ ~ — . scarcely reached the narrow channel between tlie con- privateer/ " tinent and the islands of Boracha and the Chimanas, when they met an armed boat which, hailing them at a great distance, fired some musket-shot at them. It belonged to a privateer of Halifax, and the travellers wtre forthwith carried on board ; but while Humboldt was negotiating in the cabin, a noise was heard upon deck, and something was whispered to the master, who instantly left him in consternation. An English sloop Recapture of war, the Hawk, had come up, and made signals to and deliver the latter to bring to ; which he not having promptly obeyed, a gun was fired, and a midshipman sent to demand the reason. Humboldt accompanied this officer to the sloop, where Captain Garnier received him with the greatest kindness. Next day they continued their voyage, and at nine in the morning reached the Gulf of Cariaco. The castle of San Antonio, the forest of cactuses, the scattered huts of the Guayquerias, and all the features of a landscape well known to them, roso upon the view ; and on their landing at Cuniana they Landing ut were greeted by their numerous friends, who were Cumana. overjoyed to find untrue a report of their death on the Orinoco, which had been current for several months. The port was every day more strictly blockaded, and thp vain expectation of Spanish packets detained them two months and a half longer ; during which time they occupied themselves in completing their investigation of the plants of the country ; in examining the geology of the eastern part of the peninsula of Araya ; and in making astronomical observations, together with experi- ments on refraction, evaporation, and atmosphoric elec- tricity. They also sent off some of their more valuable collections to France. Having been informed that the Indians brought to Natiwoium. the town considerable quantities of native alum found in the mountains, they made an excursion for the pur- pose of ascertaining its position. Disembarking near NATIVE ALUM. CHAP. XX. Oia salt-pit. Search for tlic aU'.m works. Departnre from Cumana. Cape Caney they inspected the old salt-pit, now con- verted into a lake by an irruption of the sea ; the ruins of the castle of Araya ; and the limestone-mountain of Barigon, which contained fossil-shells in perfect preser- vation. When they visited that peninsula the preceding year, there was a dreadful scarcity of water. But during their absence on the Orinoco it had rained ahundantly on various parts along the coast ; and the remembrance of these showers occupied the imagination of the natives as a fall of meteoric stones would engage that of the naturalists of Europe. Their Indian guide was ignorant of the situation of the alum, and they wandered lor eight or nine hours among the rocks, which consisted of mica-slate passing into clay-slate, traversed by veins of quartz, and con- taining small beds of graphite. At length, descending toward the northern coast of tlie peninsula, they found the substance for which they were searching, in a ravine of very difficult access. Here the mica-slate suddenly changed into carburetted and shining clay- slate, and the springs were impregnated with yellow oxide of iron. The sides of the neighbouring cliffs were covered with capillary crystals of sulphate of alumina, and real beds, two inclies thick, of native alum, extended in the clay-slate as far as the eye could reach. Tlie formation appeared to be primitive, as it contained c^'anite, rutile, and garnets. Returning to Cumana, they made preparations for their departure, and availing themselves of an American vessel, laden at New Barcelona for Cuba, they set out on the I6th November, and crossed for tlie third time tlic Gulf of Cariaco. The night was cool and delicious, and it was not witliout emotion that they saw for the last time tiic disk of the moon illuminating the summits of the cocoa-trees along t\i3 the most powerful, is of Germanic race, and the two chap.xx. others belong to Latin Europe. The latter are more j. "7 numerous than the former ; the inliabitants of Spanish races. ''"" and Portuguese America constituting a population double that of the regions possessed by the English. The French, Dutch, and Danish possessions of the New Continent are of small extent, and the Russian colonies are as yet of little importance. The free Africans of Hayti are the only other people possessed of territory Haytians. excepting the native Indians. The British and Portu- guese colonists have peopled only the coasts opposite tc Europe ; but the Spaniards have passed over the Andes, and made settlements in the most western provinces, where alone they discovered traces of ancient civilisation. In the eastern districts, the inhaliitants who fell into the hands of the two former nations were wandering tribes or hunters, while in the remoter parts the Spa- niards found agricultural states and flourishing empires ; and these circumstances have greatly influenced the present condition of these countries. Among other instances may be mentioned the almost total exclusion of African slaves from the latter colonies, and the com- fortable condition of the natives of American race, who live by agriculture, and are governed hy European laws. But with resjject to the political constitution and re- I'oiitical lations of the provinces visited by the travellers, it is '-■^'^nges. not expedient here to enter into the details which they have given, more especially as those colonies have lately undergone revolutions that have converted them into independent states, the history of which would affbrd materials for many volumes. The very interesting sketch of the physical constitution of South America pre sented by Humboldt must also be passed over, because in the condensed form to which it would necessarily be reduced, it could not atf'ord an adequate idea of the subject. We must therefore, with our travellers, take leave of Terra Firma, and accompany them on their passage to Havannah. 254 VOYAGE TO CUBA. CHAPTER XXr. Passage to Havannah, and Residence in Cuba. Passage from New Barcelona to Havannah — Description of the latter — Extent of Cuba— Geological Constitution — Veg-etation — Climate — Pojjulation — Agriculture — Exports — Preparations for joining Captain Baudin's Expedition — Journey to Batabano, and Voyage to Trinidad de Cuba. CIIAP.5XL Humboldt and his companion sailed from the Road of Departiiie New Barcelona on the 24th November at nine in the from Xew evening, and next day at noon reached the island of Tortuga, remarkable for its lowness and want of vegeta- tion. On the 2Gth there was a dead calm, and about nine in the morning a fine halo formed round the sun, while the temperature of the air fell three degrees. The circle of this meteor, which was one degree in breadth, displayed the most beautiful colours of the rain- bow, while its interior and the whole vault of the sky was azure without the least haze. The sea was covered Marine with a Ijluish scum, wliich under the microscope appeared "■to be formed of filaments, that seemed to be fragments of fuel. On the 27t]i they passed near the island of Orchila, composed of gneiss and covered with plants, and toward sunset discovered the summits of the lloca de Afuera, over which the clouds were accumulated. Indications of stormy weather increased, the waves rose, and waterspouts threatened. On the night of the 2d Deccml)er a curious optical phenomenon presented itself. The full moon was very high. On its side, HAVANNAII. 255 forty-five minutes before its passage over the meridian, ciiap.xxi. a great arc suddenly appeared, having the prismatic y,,,~]~, colours, but of a gloomy aspect. It seemed higher than nomonon."'' tlie moon, had a breadth of nearly two degrees, and remained stationary for several minutes ; after which it gradually descended, and sank below the horizon. The sailors were filled with astonishment at this moving arch, which they supposed to announce wind. Next night M. Bonpland and several passengers saw, at the distance of a quarter of a mile, a small Hame, which ran on the surface of the sea towards the south-west, and illuminated the atmosphere. On the 4th and 6th they encountered rough weather, with heavy rain accompanied by thunder, and were in considerable danger on the bank of Vibora. At length, on the 19th, they anchored in the port of Havannah, after a boisterous passage of twenty -five days. Cuba is the largest of the West India Islands, and on cnba. account of its great fertility, its naval establishments, the nature of its population, — of which three-fifths are composed of free men, — and its geographical position, is of great political importance. Of all the Spanish colonies it is that which has most prospered ; insomuch, that not only has its revenue sufficed for its own wants, but during the struggle between the mother-country and her continental provinces, it furnished considerable sums to the former. The appearance which Havannah presents at the Havannah. entrance of the port is exceedingly beautiful and pic- turesque. The opening is only about 426 yards wide, defended by fortifications ; after which a basin, upwards of two miles in its greatest diameter, and communicating with three creeks, expands to the view. The city is built on a promontory, bounded on the north by the fort of La Punta, and on the south by the arsenals. On the western side it is protected by two castles, placed at the distance of 1407 and 2643 yards from, the walls, the in- termediate space being occupied by the suburbs. The public edifices are less remarkable for their beauty than CHAP. XXI. I'opiilation. Hospitals Palma reul. i:xtcntc>f Cubx 256 IIAVANNAII. for the solidity of their construction, and the streets are in general narrow and unpaved, in consequence of which they are extremely dirty and disagreeable. But there are* two fine public walks to which the inhabitants resort. Although the town of Havannah, properl}^ so called, is only 1918 yards long and 1060 broad, it contained in 1,S27 a population of 39,980 within the walls, and 54,043 in the suburbs. These were divided as follow : — Wliitcs,., 46,621 Free Pardos or flliilattoes, ({,215 ) „„ ./.£, Free Blacks 15.347 j" •■-^'^''- Pardos or Mulatto Slaves, 1,01(1) o-iuu\ Black Slaves, 22,830 j •■ "'''"•*" 94,023 There are two hospitals in the town, the number of sick admitted into which is considerable. Owing to the heat of tlie climate, the filth of the town, and the in- fluence of the shore, there is usually a great accumula- tion of disease, and the yellow fever or black vomiting is prevalent. The markets are well supplied. A peculiar character is given to the landscape in the vicinity of Havannah by the palma real {Oreodoxa rec/ia), tlie trunk of which, enlarged a little towards the middle, attains a height varying from 60 to 85 feet, and is crowned by pinnated leaves rising perpendicularly, and curved at the point. Numerous country-houses of light and elegant construction surround the bay, to which the proprietors retreat when the yellow fever rages in the town. The island of Cuba is nearly as large as Portugal ; its greatest length being 784 miles, and its mean breadth 61;^ miles. More than four-fifths of its extent is com- posed of low lands ; but it is traversed in various directions by ranges of mountains, the highest of which are said to attain an altitude of 7674 feet. The western [lart consists of granite, gneiss, and primitive slates ; which, as well as the central district, contains two formations of compact limestone, one of argillaceous EXTENT AND GEOLOGY OP CUBA. 257 sandstone, and another of gypsum. Tlie first of these cilAP.Xxi presents large caves near Matanzas and Jarucu, and is _ — filled with numerous species of fossils. The secondary foiinations to the east of the Ilavannah are pierced by syenitic and euphotide rocks, accompanied with serpen- tine. No volcanic eruptions, properly so called, have hitherto been discovered. Owing to the cavernous structure of tlie limestone Limestone, deposites, the great inclination of their strata, the small breadth of the island, and the frequency and nakedness of the plains, there are very few rivers of any magnitude, and a large portion of the territory is subject to severe droughts. Yet the undulating surface of the country, the continually renewed verdure, and the distribution of vegetable forms, give rise to the most varied and beautiful landscapes. The hills and savannahs are decorated by palms of several species, trees of other families, and shrubs constantly covered with flowers. Wild orange- trees ten or fifteen feet in height, and bearing a small fruit, are common, and probably existed before the in- troduction of the cultivated variety by Europeans. A species of pine (^Piniis occidentalis) occurs here and in San Domingo, but has not been seen in any of the other West India Islands. The climate of Havannah, although tropical, is marked Climate, by an unequal distribution of heat at different jjcriods of the year, indicating a transition to the climates of the temperate zone. The mean temperature is 78'3°, but in tlie interior only 73'4°. The hottest months, July and August, do not give a greater average than 83-8°, and the coldest, December and January, present the mean of 69'8°. In summer the thermometer does not rise above 82° or 86°, and its depression in winter so low as 50° or 53'5° is rare. When the north wind blows several weeks, ice is sometimes formed at night at a little dis- tance from the coast, at an inconsiderable elevation above the sea. Yet the great lowerings of temperature which occasionally take place are of so short duration, that the palm-trees, bananas, or the sugar-cane, do not suffer Meteoro)os I'opulatlon. 258 POPULATION AND AGRICULTURE OP CUBA. CHAP. XXL from them. Snow never falls, and hail so rarely that it is only ohscrvcd during thunder-storms, and with blasts from the S.S.W. once in fifteen or twenty years. The changes however are very rapid, and the inhabitants complain of cold when the thermometer falls quickly to 70^. Hurricanes are of much less frequent occurrence in Cuba than in the other West India Islands. According to the census of 1827 the population of the whole island amounted to 704,487, or, adding the military and seamen (26,075), to 730,562. Of these 311,051 were whites, 106,494 free coloured men, and 286,942 slaves. The original inhabitants have entirely disappeared, as in all the other West India Islands. Intellectual cultivation is almost entirely restricted to the whites ; and although in Havannah the first society is not perceptibly inferior to that of the richest commer- cial cities in Europe, a rudeness of manners prevails in tlie small towns and plantations. The common cereal grasses are cultivated in Cuba, together with the tropical productions peculiar to these countries ; but the principal exports consist of tobacco, coffee, sugar, and wax. The sugar-cane is planted in the rainy season, from July to October, and cut from February to May. The rapid diminution of wood in the island has caused the want of fuel to be felt in the manufacture of sugar, and Humboldt, during his stay, attempted several new constructions, with the view of diminisliing the expenditure of it.* Tlie tobacco of Cuba is celebrated in every part of Europe. The districts which produce the most aro- matic kind are situated to the west of the Havannah, in the Vuelta de Abajo ; but that grown to the east of the Tcibaocci • By the Custom-lionse returns, 1 5fi, 1 r)fi,924 lbs. of sug^r were exported from Cuba in lii27; and if the cjiiantity smuggled be estiiii;ited at one-fourth more, the total amount would be nearly 2U().()0U,0U0 lbs. In the .'iame year the exportation of coffee amounted to upwards of 50,000,000 Ihs., but it has since fallen off considerably — See MaccuUoclis Diet, of Commerce, art. Ha- VdOUuil. PREPARATIONS FOR LEAVING CLliA. 2.'>\) capital on the banks of the Mayari, in the province of chap, \\i Santiago, at Himias, and in other places, is also of p ,~7~ excellent quality. In 1827 the produce was ahout 113,212 cwts., of which 17,888 were exported. The value of this commodity shipped in 1828 was £145,045, and in 1829, £195,588. Cotton and indigo, althougli cultivated, are not to any extent made articles of commerce. Towards the end of February the travellers, having Proposed finished the observations which they had proposed to 'i''P'""ture. make, were on the point of sailing to Vera Cruz ; but intelligence, communicated by means of the pu])lic papers, respecting Captain Baudin's expedition, led them to relinquish the project of crossing Mexico in order to proceed to the Philippine Islands. It had been an- Captain nounced that two French vessels, the Geographe and the exneui'tjon Naturaliste, had sailed for Cape Horn, and that they were to go along the coast of Chili and Peru, and from thence to New Holland. Humboldt had promised to join them wherever he could reach the sliips, and !M, Bonpland resolved to divide their plants into three portions, one of which was sent to Germany by way of England, another to France by Cadiz, and the third left in Cuba. Their friend Fray Juan Gonzales, an estim- able young man, who had followed them to the Ha- vannah, on his way to Spain, carried part of their collections with him, including the insects found on the Orinoco and Rio Negro ; but the vessel in which he embarked foundered in a storm on the coast of Africa. General Don Gonzalo O'Farrill being then in Pecuniaiy Prussia as minister of the Spanish court, Humboldt was ^upi'i-es. enabled, through the agency of Don Ygnacio, the gene- ral's brother, to procure a supply of money ; and having made all the necessary preparations for the new enter- prise, freighted a Catalonian sloop for Porto Dello, or Carthagena, according as the weather should perniil. On tlie 6th March the travellers, finding tliat tiie vessel was ready to receive them, set out for Batabano, where they arrived on the 8th. This is a poor village Q 260 TURTLE-FISIIING. Dcpai-ture. l':i.>sof Don L listoval. CHAP. XXI. surrounded by marshes, covered with rushes and plants idCikiiTo. ^^' the Iris family, among which appear here and there a few stunted palms. The marslies are infested by two species of crocodile, one of which has an elongated snout, and is very ferocious. The hack is dark-green, the belly white, and the flanks are covered with yellow spots. On the 0th of March our travellers again set sail in a small sloop, and proceeded through the gulf of Bata- bano, which is bounded by a low and swampy coast. Humboldt employed himself in examining the influence which the bottom of the sea produces on the temperature of its surface, and in determining the position of some remarkable islands. The water of the gulf was so shallow, that the sloop often struck ; but the ground being soft and the weather calm, no damage was sus- tained. At sunset they anchored near the pass of Don Cristoval, which was entirely desei-tod, although in the time of Columbus it was possessed by fishermen. The inliabitants of Cuba then employed a singular method for procuring turtles ; they fastened a long cord to the tail of a species of ecJiineis or sticking-fish, which has a flat disk with a sucking apparatus on its head. By means of this it stuck to the turtle, and was pulled ashore carrying the latter with it. Tlie same artifice is resorted to by the natives of certain parts of the African coast. They were three days on tlieir passage through the Archipelago of the Jardincs and Jardinillos, small islands and shoals partly covered with vegetation ; remaining at anchor during the night, and in the day visiting those which wore of most easy access. The rocks were found to be fragmentary, consisting of jiieces of coral, cemented by carbonate of lime, and interspersed with quaitzy sand. On the Cayo Bonito, where they first landed, they o])servcd a layer of sand and broken gjiells five or six inches thick, covering a formation of madrepore. It was shaded by a forest of rhizophorae, intermiyed with euphorbiie, grasses, and other plants, Aicliipcmg of the Jar- dincs. CAYO FLAMENCO. 2(51 together with the magnificent Tournf/ortiagnnphaHoi(li;s, CHAP. XXI. with silvery leiives and odoriferous flowers. The sailors j,^.,; ~~ had been searching for langoustes ; but not fmdin;,' anv, avenged themselves on the young pelicans perched on the trees. The old birds hovered around, uttering hoarse and plaintive cries, and the young defended themselves with vigour, although in vain ; for the sailors, armed with sticks and cutlasses, made cruel havoc among them. " On our arrival," says Humboldt, " a profound calm prevailed on this little spot of earth ; but now every thing seemed to say, — Man has passed here." On the morning of the 11th they visited the Cayo Cayo Flamenco, the centre of which is depressed, and only 15 ^'^'"6"<^°- inches above the surface of the sea. The water was brackish, while in other cayos it is quite fresh, — a circumstance difficult to be accounted for in small islands scarcely elevated above tlie ocean, unless the springs be supposed to come from the neighbouring coast by means of hydrostatic pressure. Humboldt was informed by Don Francisco le Maur, that in the bay of Xagua, to the oast of the Jardinillos, fresh water gushes up in several places from the bottom with t>uch force as to prove dangerous for small canoes. Vessels sometimes take in supplies from them ; and the lamantins, or fresh-water cetacea, abound in the neighbourhood. To tlie east of Cape Flamenco they passed close to the Cayo de Piedras de Diego Perez, and in the evening landed at '^ ^^ Cayo de Piedras, two rocks forming the eastern extre- mity of the Jardinillos, on which many vessels are lost. They are nearly destitute of shrubs, the shipwrecked crews having cut them down to make signals. Next day, turning round the passage between tlie northern cape of the cayo and the island of Cuba, they entered a sea free from breakers, and of a dark-blue colour ; the increase of temperature in which indicated a great augmentation of depth. The thermometer was at 79-2° ; whereas in the shoal- water of the Jardinillos it had been sctm as low as 72-7°, the f'i'- beinir from 77° to 262 RECEPTION AT TRINIDAD OF CUBA. CHAP. XXI. 80-6° (luring the day. Passing in succession the marshy Kio Guaiir ^^^^ ^^ Camarcos, the entrance of the Bahia de Xagua, •bo. and the mouth of the Rio San Juan, along a naked and desert coast, they entered on the 14th the Rio Guaurabo to land their pilot. Disembarking in the evening, they made preparations for observing the passage of certain stars over the meridian, but were interrupted by some merchants that had dined on board a foreign ship newly arrived, and who invited the strangers to accompany them to the town ; which they did, mounted two and two on the same horse. The road to Trinidad is nearly five miles in length, over a level plain covered with a beautiful vegetation, to which the Miraguama palm, a species of corypha, gave a peculiar character. The houses are situated on a steep declivity, about 746 feet above the level of the sea, and command a magnificent view of the ocean, the two ports, a forest of palms, and Keception hy the mountains of San Juan. The travellers were received with the kindest hospitality by the administrator of the Real Hacienda, M. Munoz, The Teniente Governador, wlio was nephew to the celebrated astro- nomer Don Antonio Ulloa, gave them a grand entertain- ment, at which they met with some French emigrants of San Domingo, The evening was passed very agree- ably in the house of one of the richest inhabitants, Don Antonio Padron, where they found assembled all the select company of the place. Their departure was very unlike their entrance ; for the municipality caused them to be conducted to the mouth of the Rio Guaurabo in a splendid carriage, and an ecclesiastic dressed in velvet celebrated in a sonnet their voyage up the Orinoco. Population of The population of Trinidad, with the surrounding Trinidad farms, was stated to be 19,000. It has two ports at the distance of about ^.our miles, Puerto Casilda and Puerto Guaurabo. On their return to the latter of these the travellers were much struck by the prodigious number of phosphorescent insects which illuminated the grass rnd foliage. Tlicse insects {Elate)' noctilucus) are occasionally used for a lamp being placed in a calabash PHOSPHORESCENT INSECTS. 2G3 perforated with holes ; and a young woman at Trinidad chap. xxi. informed them that, during a long passage from tliCsing^^^ mainland, she always had recourse to this light when 'amp- she gave her child the breast at night, the captain not allowing any other on board for fear of pirates. 2(j4 DEPARTURE FROM CUBA. CHAPTER XXII. Deparhire trom Trini dad, Voyage from Cuba to Carthagena. Passage from Trinidad of Cuba to Carthagena— Description of the latter — Village of Turbaco — Air-volcanoes— Preparations for ascending the Rio Magdalena. CHAP.xxii. Leaving the island of Cuba the travellers proceeded in a S.S.E. direction, and on the morning of the 17th approached the group of the Little Caymans, in the neighbourhood of which they saw numerous turtles of extraordinary size, accompanied by multitudes of sharks. Passing a second time over the great bank of Vibora, they remarked that the colour of the troubled waters upon it was of a dirty gray, and made observations on the changes of temperature at the surface, produced by the varying depth of the sea. On quitting this shoal they sailed between the Baxo Nueva and the lighthouse of Camboy. The weather was n markably fine, and the surface of the bay was of an indigo-blue or violet tint, on account of the medusa; which covered it. Haloes of small dimensions appeared round the moon. The dis- appearance of one of them was followed by the forma- tion of a great black cloud, which emitted some drops of rain ; but the sky soon resumed its serenity, and a long series of falling-stars and fire-balls were seen moving in a direction contrary to the wind in the lower regions of the atmosphere, which blew from the north. During tlie whole of the 23d March not a single cloud was seen In the firmament, although the air and the horizon were Lunar lialoei LANDING AT THE RIO SINU. 265 tinged with a fine red colour; hut towards evening CHAP.XXli. large bluish clouds formed, and when they disappeared, Atmosplievic converging bands of fleecy vapours were seen at an aUangea. immense height. On the 24tli they entered the kind of gulf bounded by the shores of Santa Martha and Costa Rica, which is frequently agitated by heavy gales. As they advanced toward the coast of Daricn, the north-east wind increased to a violent degree, and the waves became very rough at night. At sunrise they perceived part of the archipelago of St Bernard, and passing the southern extremity of the Placa de San Bernardo, saw in the distance the mountains of Tigua. The stormy weather and contrary winds induced the master of the vessel to seek shelter in the Rio Sinu, after a passage of sixteen days. Landing again on the continent of South America, ViilaRe of they betook themselves to the village of Zapote, where '■^^vo^^ they found a great number of sailors, all men of colour, who had descended the Rio Sinu in their barks, carry- ing maize, bananas, poultry, and other articles, to the port of Carthagena. The boats are flat-bottomed, and the wind having blown violently on the coast for ten days, they were unable to proceed on their voyage. These people fatigued the travellers with idle questions about their books and instruments, and tried to frighten them with stories of boas, vipers, and jaguars. Leaving Forest-trees the shores, which are covered with Rhizophorce, they entered a forest remarkable for the great variety of palm-trees which it presented. One of them, the JEleis melariococca, is only six feet four inches high, but its spathie contain more than 200,000 flowers, a single specimen fuinishing 600,000 at the same time. The kernels of the fruit are peeled in water, and the layer of oil that rises from them, after being purified by boiling, yields the manteca de corozo, which is used for lighting churches and houses. After an hour's walk they found several inhabitants nilm-wice collecting palm-wine. The tree which affords this liquid is the Palma dolce or Corns hutyracea. The 2(56 PALM WINE. CHAP.xxii trunk, whicli diminishes but little towards the summit, ModeTf is first cut down, when an excavation eighteen inches obtaining it long, eight broad, and six in depth, is made below the place at which the leaves and spathiE come off. After throe days the cavity is found filled with a yellowish- white juice, having a sweet and vinous flavour, which continues to flow eighteen or twenty days. The last Degrees of that comes is less sweet, but having a greater quantity •trengtiL ^^ alcohol, it is moi"e highly esteemed. On their way back to tile shore they met with Zamboes, carrying on their shoulders cylinders of palmetto three feet in length, of which an excellent food is prepared. Night surprised them ; and, having broken an oar in returning on board, they found some difficulty in reaching the vessel. Bie Sinu. Tlie Rio Sinu is of the highest importance for provi- sioning Carthagena. The gold-washings, which were formerly of great value, especially between its source and the village of San Geronimo, have almost entirely ceased, although the province of Antioquia still furnishes, in its auriferous veins, a vast field for mining specula- tions. It would, however, be of more importance to direct attention to tlie cultivation of colonial produce in these districts, especially that of cacao, which is of supe- rior quality. The real febrifuge Cinchona also grows at tlic source of tlie Rio Sinu, as well as in the mountains of Abibe and Maria ; and the pi'oximity of the port of Carthagena would enhance its value in the trade with Europe. Eougli 6cfl. On the 27th March the sloop weighed anclior at sun- rise. Tlie sea was less agitated, although the wind blew as before. To the north was seen a succession of small conical mountains, rising in the midst of savannahs, where the balsam of Tohi, formerly so celebrated as a medicament, is still gathered. On leaving the gulf of IMorosquillo they finind the waves swelling so high, that tlie captain was glad to seek for shelter, and lay to on tlie north of the village of Rincon ; but discovering that they were upon a coral rock, they preferred the open water, and finally anchored near the isle of Arenas, BOISTEROUS WEATUER. 2()7 on the night of the 28th. Next day the gale hlew witli cnAP.xxii great violence ; but they again proceeded, hoping to be DangcTat able to reach the Boca Chica. The sea was so rough as sea. to break over the deck, and while they were running short tacks, a false manoeuvre in setting the sails exposed them for some minutes to imminent danger. It was Palm Sunday ; and a Zambo, who had followed them to the Orinoco, and remained in their service until they returned to France, did not fail to remind them, that on the same day the preceding year they had undergone a similar danger near the mission of Uruana. After this they took refuge in a creek of the isle of Baru, As there was to be an eclipse of the moon that night, Lnnar and next day an occultation of a Virginis, Humboldt ecUpsc. insisted that the captain should allow one of the sailors to accompany him by land to the Boca Chica, the distance being only six miles ; but the latter refused, on account of the savage state of the country, in which there was neither path nor habitation ; and an incident which occurred justified his prudence. The travellers were going ashore to gather plants by moonlight, when there issued from the thicket a young negro loaded with Rnnaivay fetters and armed with a cutlass. He urged them to °'^8ro. disembark on a beach covered with large lihizophorce, among which the sea did not break, and offered to conduct them to the interior of the island of Baru it they would give him some clothes ; but his cunning and savage air, his repeated inquiries as to their being Spaniards, and the unintelligible words addressed to his companions who were concealed among the trees, excited their suspicions, and induced them to return on board. These blacks were probably Maroon negroes, who had escaped from prison. The appearance of a naked man, PainM wandering on an uninhabited shore, and unable to rid '■'^^^ himself of the chains fastened round his neck and arm, left a painful impression on the travellers ; but the sailors felt so little sympathy with these miserable 268 CARTIIAGENA. Chap.xxii. creatures, that they wislied to return and seize the fuifitives, in order to sell them at Carthagcna. Pnnta Next morning they doubled the Punta Gigantes, and GlRantes. made sail towards the Boca Chica, the entrance to the port of Curtliagena, which is eight or ten miles farther up. On landing, Humboldt learned that the expedition appointed to make a survey of the coast, under the commami of M. Fidalgo, had not yet put to sea, and this circumstance enabled him to ascertain the astrono- mical position of several places which it was of impor- tance to determine. Eaiirsion at During the six days of their stay at Carthagcna, they Cariiiagena. ^y^.^^^. excursions in the neighbourhood, more especially in the direction of the Boca Grande, and the hill of Popa, ^^■hich commands the town. The port or bay is nearly eleven miles long. The small island of Tierra Bomba, at its two extremities, which approach, the one to a neck of land from the continent, the other to a cape of the isle of Bani, forms the only entrances to the BocsQvandc harbour. One of these, named Boca Grande, has been artificially closed for the defence of the town, in conse- quence of an attack attended with partial success made by Admiral Vernon in 1741. The extent of the work was 2640 varas, or 2345 yards, and as the water was from 14 to 20 feet deep, a wall or dike of stone, from 16 to 21 feet high, was raised on piles. The other opening, the Boca Chica, is about 550 yards broad, but is daily becoming narrower, while the currents acting upon the Boca Grande have opened a breach in it, which they are continually extending. Climate. The insalul)rity of Carthagcna, which has been ex- aggerated, varies with the state of the great marshes tluit surround it. The Cienega de Tesca, which is upwards of eigliteen miles in length, communicates with the ocean ; and, when in dry years the salt water does not cover tlie wiiole plain, the exhalations that rise from it during the heat of the day become extremely pernicious. The iiillv ground in the neighbourhood of RELIGIOUS MUMMERY. 26i) the town is of limestone, containing petiifactions, and is CHARXXII. covered by a gloomy vegetatioii of cactus, Jutropha veget«tioa yossypifolia, croton, and mimosa. While the ti-avellers were searching for plants, their guides showed them a thick bush of acacia cornigera, which had acquired celebrity from the following occurrence : A woman, wearied of the well-founded jealousy of her husband, bound him at night with the assistance of her paramour, and threw him into it. The thorns of this species of acacia are exceedingly sharp, and of great length, and the shrub is infested by ants. The more the unfortunate man struggled, the more severely was he lacerated by the prickles, and when his cries at length attracted some persons who were passing, he was found covered with blood, and cruelly tormented by the ants. At Carthagena the travellers met with several persons Agreeable whose society was not less agreeable than instructive ; ^''"^'y- and in the house of an officer of artillery, Don Domingo Esquiaqui, found a very curious collection of paintings, models of machinery, and minerals. They had also an opportunity of witnessing the pageant of the Pascua. Nothing, says Humboldt, could rival the oddness of the Pageant of dresses of the principal personages in these processions. ^^^ ^^'^^"*' Beggars, carrying a crown of thorns on their heads, asked alms, with crucifixes in their hands, and habited in black robes. Pilate was arrayed in a garb of striped silk, and the apostles, seated round a large table covered with sweetmeats, were carried on the shoulders of Zam- b'oes. At sunset, effigies of Jews in French vestments, and formed of straw and other combustibles, were burnt in the principal streets. Dreading the insalubrity of the town, the travellers vuiage of retired on the 6th April to the Indian village of Turbaco, '^f''** situated in a beautiful district, at the entrance of a large forest, about l7j miles to tlie south-'eest of the Popa, one of the most remarkable summits l"a the neighbour- hood of Carthagena. Here they rem<;iued until they made the necessary preparations for their voyage on the Rio ]\Iagdalena, and for the long journey which they 270 VILLAGE OF TURBACO. Number of snakes. Gi(;antic trec& CHAP.XXir. intended to make to Bogota, Popayan, and Quito. The village is about 1151 feet above the level of the sea. Snakes were so numerous that they chased the rats even in the houses, and pursued the bats on the roofs. From the terrace surrounding their habitation tlicy had a view of the colossal mountains of the Sierra Nevada de Siuita Marta, part of which was covered with perennial snow. The intervening space, consisting of hills and plains, was adorned with a luxuriant vegetation, resem- bling that of the Orinoco. There they found gigantic trees, not previously known, such as the lihinocarpits excelsa, with spirally-curved fruit, the Ocotea turbacen- m, and the Cavanillesia platanifoUa ; the large five- svinged fruit of which is suspended from the tips of the oranches like paper-lanterns. They botanized every day in the woods from five in the morning till night, though they were excessively annoyed by mosquitoes, zancudocs, xegens, and other tipulary insects. In the midst of these magnificent forests they frequently savsr plantations of bananas and maize, to which the Indians are fond of retiring at the end of the rainy season. The persons who accompanied the travellers on these expeditions often spoke of a marshy ground situated in the midst of a thicket of palms, and which they desig- nated by the name of Los Volcancitos. They said that, according to a tradition preserved in the village, the ground had formerly been ignited, but that a monk had extinguished it by frequent aspersions of holy water, and converted the fire-volcano into a water- volcano. With- out attaching much credit to this tradition, the philoso- phers desired their guides to lead them to the spot. After traversing a space of about 5300 yai-ds, covered with trunks of Cavanillesia, Piragra superba, and Gyro- carjius, and in wliich there appeared here and there projections of a limestone rock containing petrified corals, tliey reached an open place of about 060 feet square, entirely destitute of vegetation, but margined with tufts of Bromelia karatas. The surface was composed of layers of day of a dark -gray colour cracked by desiccation Los Volcaxi' citos. Petrified corah. Air bubbles. VOLCANCITOS OF TURBACO. 273 into pentagonal and lieptagonal prfsms. Tlie volcancitos CHAP.xxil consist of fifteen or t^venty small truncated cones rising j^y^"^ in the middle of this area, and having a height of from canoes. 19 to 25 feet. The most elevated were on the southern side, and their circumference at the base was from 78 to 85 yards. On climbing to the top of these mud- volcanoes, they found them to be terminated by an aperture from IG to 30 inches in diameter, filled with water, through which air-bubbles obtained a passage ; about five explosions usually taking place in two mi- nutes. The force with which the air rises would lead to the supposition of its being subjected to considerable pressure, and a rather loud noise was heard at intervals, preceding the disengagement of it fifteen or eighteen seconds. Each of the bubbles contained from 12 to 14^ cubic inches of elastic fluid, and their power of expan- sion was often so great that the water was projected beyond the crater, or flowed over its brim. Some of the openings by which air escaped were situated in the plain without being surrounded by any prominence of the ground. It was observed that when the apertures, which are not placed at the summit of the cones, and are enclosed by a little mud- wall from 10 to 15 inches high, are nearly contiguous, the explosions did not take place at the same time. It would appear that each neception crater receives the gas by distinct canals, or that these, °^s^^ terminating in the same reservoir of compressed air, oppose greater or less impediments to the passage of the aeriform fluids. The cones have no doubt been raised by these fluids, and the dull sound that precedes the disengagement of them indicates that the ground is hollow. The natives asserted that there had been no observable change in the form and number of the cones for twenty years, and that the little cavities are filled with water even in the driest seasons. The temperature of this liquid was not higher than that of the atmosphere ; the latter having been 81*5°, and the former 80"6'^ or 81°, at the time of Humboldt's visit. A stick could easily be pushed into the apertures to the depth of six 274 VEGETATION OF TURBACO. CHAP.XX Etrect uu combus- lioa. 15ot.inic.ll coileetioii. Ijfe at Tuibdco. lleassnt recoUtttiow: Ireparatioj for turtlicr libour. or seven feet, and the dark-coloured clay or mud was exceedingly soft. An ignited l)ody was immediately extinguished on heing immersed in the gas collected from the hubhles, which was found to be pure azote. The stay which our travellers made at Turbaco was uncommonly agreeable, and added greatly to their col- lection of plants. " Eve n now," says Humboldt, writing in 1881, " after so long a lapse of time, and after returning from the banks of the Obi and the confines of Chinese Zungaria, these bamboo-thickets, that wild luxuriance of vegetation, those orchidea? covering the old trunks of the ocotea and Indian fig, that majestic view of the snowy mountains, that light mist filling the bottom of the valleys at sunrise, those tufts of gigantic trees rising like verdant islets from a sea of vapours, incessantly present themselves to my imagination. At Turbaco wo lived a simple and laborious life. We were young ; possessed a similarity of taste and disposition ; looked forward to the future with hope ; were on the eve of a journey which was to lead us to the highest summits of the Andes, and bring us to volcanoes in action in a country continually agitated by earthquakes ; and we felt ourselves more happy than at any other period of our distant expedition. The j'cars which have since passed, not all exempt from griefs and pains, have added to the charn^s cf these impressions ; and I love to think that, in the midit of his exile in the southern hemisphere, in the solitudes of Paraguay, my unfortunate friend, M. iJonpland, sometimes remembers witli delight our bo- tanical excursions at Turbaco, the little spring of Tore- cillu, the first sight of a gus-tavia in flower, or of the cavaniJlcsia loaded with fruits having membranous and transparent edges." M. BonpL'jic "s health having suffered severely during the navigation of the Orinoco and Casiquiare, they re- solved to jjrovide themselves with all the convenier.ces necessary to secure their comfort during the ascent of the Rio Magdalena. They were accompanied on this voyage by an old French physician 51. de Rieux, ard BARANCAS NUEVAS. 275 two Spaniards. Leaving Turbaco, in a cool and very chap.XXIL (lark night they passed through a wood of bamboos rising .\rri^^at fl-om forty to fifty feet. At daj'brcak they reached Jiahatcsi Arjona on the borders of the forest, crossed an arm of the Rio Magdalcna in a canoe, and arrived at Mahatcs, where they had to w^iit nearly all day for the mules which were to convey their baggage to the place of embarkation. It Avas excessively hot, without a breath of wind, and, to add to their vexation, their only re- maining barometer had been broken in passing the canal ; but they consoled themselves l)y examining some beau- tiful species of parrots •which they obtained from the natives. On the 20th April, at three in the morning, the air Forest feeling deliciously cool, although the thermometer was ^ "^"^^^ at 71*6°, they were on their journey to the village of Barancas Nuevas, amid a forest of lofty trees. Half- way lietween Mahates and that hamlet they found a group of huts elegantly constructed of bamboos, and inhabited by Zamboes. Humboldt remarks, that the intermixture of Indians and negroes is very common in those countries, and that the women of the American Tribes have a great liking to the men of the African race. To the east of Mahates the limestone formation, con- taining corals, ceases to appear ; the predominant rocks being siliceous with argillaceous cement, formmg al- ternating beds of small-grained quartzose and slaty sandstone, or conglomerates containing angular fragments of lydian-stone, clay-slate, gneiss,and quartz, and varying in colour from yellowish-gray to brownish-red. Hitherto the narrative of the important journey per- Narrative formed by Humboldt and Bonpland, through those j'oniTiey. little known but highly interesting regions of South America which were visited by them, has been given as much in detail as is consistent with the nature of a work like the present ; but here, as no minute account of their further progress has yet been laid before the public, we must cease to follow them step by step, and content ourselves with a brief narrative of their proceedings. 276 ASCENT OF THE UIO MACiUALEXA. CHAPTER XXIII. Brief Account of the Journey from Carthagena to Quito and 3Iexico. Ascent of the Rio Magdalena — Santa Fe de Bogota — Cataract of Tequendama — Natural Bridges of Icononzo — Passage of Quin- diu — Cargueros — Popayan — Quito — Cotopaxi and Cliiniborazo — Route from Quito to Lima — Guayaquil — Mexico — Guanaxuato — Volcano of Jorullo — Pyramid of Clioluia. CiiAP.XXiIl. It has been already stated that Humboldt, previously to Proposed leaving Paris, had promised Baudin, that should his junction with projected expedition to the southern hemisphere ever ^^ ^^' take place, he would endeavour to join it ; and also that information received by him at Cuba had induced him to relinquish plans subsequently formed, and re-embark for the continent of South America, with the view of proceeding to Guayaquil or Lima, where he expected to . meet the navigators. Accordingly he went to Cartha- gena, where he learned that the season was too far advanced for sailing from Panama to Guayaquil. Giving up, therefore, his intention of crossing the isthmus of Panama, he passed some days in the forests of Turbaco, and afterwards made preparations for ascending the Rio ^Magdalena. Kio Magda- This river, from its sources near the equator, flows """■ almost directly north. " Nature," says a travelitr who sailed up it in 1823, "seems to have designedly dug the ])cd of tiic Magdalena in the midst of the cordilleras of Colombia, to form a canal of communication between i(M: ricrwagdalena. 277 the mountains and the sea ; yet it would have made ciIAP.xxin nothing but an unnavigable torrent, had not its course ^ — been stopped in many parts by masses of rock disposed ttmperatUro in such a manner as to break its violence. Its waters thus arrested flow gently into the plains of the provinces of Santa Martha and Carthagena, Avhich they fertilize ' and refresh by their evaporation. Three very distinct temperatures reign on the Magdalena. The sea-breezes blow from its mouth as far as Monpox ; from this town to Morales not a breath of air tempers the heat of the atmosphere, and man would become a victim to its power but for the abundant dews which fall during the night ; from Morales as far as the sources of the Mag- dalena, the south wind moderates the heat of the day, and forms the third temperature. These land-breezes cause the navigation of the Magdalena to be rarely fatal to Europeans."* But, according to the same author, multitudes of animals of various species continually harass the traveller. He cannot bathe on account of the caymans, and if he venture on shore he is in danger of being bitten by serpents. The voyage up this river, which lasted iifty-five days, was not performed without hazai-d and inconvenience. Humboldt sketched a chart of it, while his fiiend was busily occupied in examining the rich and beautiful vegetation of its banks. Disembarking at Honda, they proceeded on mules by dangerous paths, through forests of oaks, melastomoe, and cinchonse, to Santa Fe de Bogota, the capital of New Grenada. This city stands Bogota. in a beautiful valley surrounded by lofty mountains, and which would appear to have been at a former period the bed of a great lake. Here the travellers spent several months in exploring the mineralogical and botanical treasures of the country, the magnilicent cataract of Te quendama, and the extensive collections of the celebrated Mutis. The elevated plain on which this metropolis is built ilazardoiis voyages. Santa Fe dt * IMoUiep's Travels in Colombia. 278 SANTA FE DE B^boTA. Native tradition. CHAr.xxIIL is 8727 foot above the level of the sea, and is conse- Eiev^site. quently higher than the summit of St Bernard, The river of Funza, usually called Rio de Bogota, which drains the valley, has forced its way through the mountains to the south-west of Santa Fe, and near the farm of Tequendama rushes from the plain Iw a narrow outlet into a crevice, which descends towards the bed of » the Rio Magdalena. Respecting this ravine, Gonzalo Ximenes de Quesada, the conqueror of the country, found the following tradition disseminated among the people : — In remote times the inhabitants of Bogota were barbarians, living without religion, laws, or arts. An old man on a certain occasion suddenly appeared among them, of a race unlike that of the natives, and having a long bushy beard. He instructed them in the arts ; but he brought with him a very malignant, although very beautiful woman, who thwarted all his benevolent enterprises. By her magical power she swelled the current of the Funza, and inundated the valley ; so that most of the inhabitants perished, a few only having found refuge in the neighbouring mountains. The aged visiter then drove his consort from the earth, and she became the moon. He next broke the rocks that enclosed the valley on the Tequendama side, and by this means drained off the waters ; then he intro- duced the worship of the sun, appointed two chiefs, and finally withdrew to a valley, where he lived in the exer- cise of the most austere penitence during 2000 years. The cataract of Tequendama presents an assemblage TequenUama. ^f ^^j^ ^j^,^^. j^ pjeturesque. The river a little above it is 144 feet in breadth, but at the crevice narrows to a width of not more tlian 12 yards. The heiglit of the fall, which forms a double bound, is 574 feet, and the column of vapour that rises from it is visible from Santa Fe at the distance of 17 miles. The vegetation at the foot of the precipice has a totally different appearance from that at the summit ; and while the spectator leaves be- hind him a plain in which the cereal ])lants of Europe arc cultivated, and sees around him oaks, elms, and Cataract of /I NATURAL BRIDGE OF ICONONZO. NATURAL BRIDGES — ANDES. 279 NatTiral bridges of Icononzo. other trees resembling those of the temperate regions of CHAP.xxiu the northern hemisphere, he looks down upon a country covered with palms, bananas, and sugar-canes. Leaving Santa Fe, in September 1801, the travellers passed the natural bridges of Icononzo, formed by masses of rock lying across a ravine of immense profundity. The valleys of the cordilleras are generally crevices, the depth of which is often so great, that were Vesuvius seated in them its summit would not exceed that of the nearest mountains. One of these, that, namely, of Icononzo or Pandi, is peculiarly remarkable for the sin- gular form of its rocks, the naked to23S of which present the most picturesque contrast with the tufts of trees and shrubs which cover the edges of the gulf. A torrent, Cascades. named the Summa Paz, forms two beautiful cascades where it enters the chasm, and where it again escapes from it. A natural arch 47 ,j feet in length and 39 in breadth, stretches across the fissure at a height of 318 feet above the stream. Sixty-four feet below this bridge is a second, composed of three enormous masses of rock which have fallen so as to support each other. In the middle of it is a hole through which the bottom of the cleft is seen. The torrent, viewed from this place, seemed to flow through a dark cavern, whence arose a doleful sound, emitted by the nocturnal birds that haunt the abyss, thousands of which were seen flying over the surface of the water, supposed by Humboldt from their appearance to be goatsuckers. In the kingdom of New Grenada, from 2° 30' to 5° 15' Cordilleras 0/ of north latitude, the cordillera of the Andes is divided the Andes. into three parallel chains. The eastern one separates the valley of the Rio Magdalena from the plains of the Rio Meta, and on its western declivity are the natural bridges of Icononzo above mentioned. The central chain, which parts the waters between the basin of the Rio Magdalena and that of the Rio Cauca, often attains the limits of perpetual snow, and shoots far beyond it in the colossal summits of Guanacas, Baragan, and Quindiu. The western ridgo cuts off the valley of Cauca from the 280 PASSAGE OP THE QUINDIU. Descent of the eastern cliain. Mountain forest. CiiAP.XXm province of Choco and the shores of the South Sea. In passing from Santa Fe to Popayan and the banks of the river now mentioned, the traveller has to descend the eastern chain, either by the Mesa and Tocayma or the bridges of Icononzo, traverse the valley of the Rio Mag- dalena, and cross the central chain, as Humboldt did, by the mountain of Quindiu. This mountain, which is considered as the most difficult passage in the coi-dilleras, presents a thick un- inhabited forest, which, in the finest season, cannot be passed in less than ten or twelve days. Travellers usually furnish themselves with a month's provision, as it often happens that the melting of the snow, and the sudden floods arising from it, prevent them from descending. The highest point of the road is 11,499^ feet above the level of the sea, and the path, which is very narrow, has in several places the appearance of a gallery dug in the rock and left open above. The oxen, which are the beasts of burden commonly used in the country, can scarcely force their way through these pas- sages, some of which are 6562 feet in length. The rock is covered with a thick layer of clay, and the numerous gullies formed by the torrents are filled with mud. In crossing this mountain the philosophers, followed by twelve oxen carrying their collections and instru- ments, were deluged with rain. Their shoes were torn by the prickles which shoot out from the roots of the bamboos, so that, unwilling to be carried on men's backs, they Avere obliged to walk barefooted. The usual mode of travelling, however, is in a chair tied to the back of a cargucro or porter. When one reflects on the enor- mous fatigue to which these bearers are exposed, he is at a loss to conceive how the employment should be so eagerly embraced by all the robust young men who live at tlie loot of the Andes. The passage of Quindiu is not the only part of South America which is traversed in this manner. The wliole province of Antioquia is sur- rounded by mountains so difficult to be crossed, that those who refuse to trust themselves to the skill of a carguero, Deluge of rain. Great futiguc CARGUEROS, OR MEN-CARRIERS. 281 and are not strong enough to travel on foot, must relin- CHAP.X5:iii quish all thoughts of leaving the country. The number jiofl~7 of persons who follow this laborious occupation, at Choco, traveiung. Hague, and Medellin, is so great that our travellers sometimes met a file of fifty or sixty. Near the mines of Mexico there are also individuals who have no other employment than that of carrying men on their backs. The cargueros, in crossing the forests of Quindiu, take cargueros. with them bundles of the large oval leaves of the vijao, a plant of the banana family, the peculiar varnish of which enables them to resist rain. A hundredweight of these leaves is sufficient to cover a hut large enough to hold six or eight persons. When they come to a con- venient spot where they intend to pass the night, the carriers lop a few branches from the trees, with which tliey construct a frame ; it is then divided into squares by the stalks of some climbing plant, or threads of agave, on which are hung the vijao leaves, by means of a cut- made in their midrib. In one of these tents, which are cool, commodious, and perfectly dry, our travellers passed several days in the valley of Boquia, amidst vio- lent and incessant rains. From these mountains, where the truncated cone of vailey of Tolima, covered with perennial snow, rises amidst forests Cauca. of styrax, arborescent passiflora;, bamboos, and wax- palms, they descended into the valley of Cauca towards the west. After resting some time at Carthago and Buga, they coasted the province of Choco, whei'e platina is found among rolled fragments of basalt, greenstone and fossil wood. They then went up by Caloto and the mines of Qui- Caioto. lichao to Popayan, which is situated at the base of the snowy mountains of Purace and Sotara. This city, the capital of New Grenada, stands in the beautiful valley of the Rio Cauca, at an elevation of 6906 feet above the sea, and enjoys a delicious climate. On the ascent from Popayan towards the summit of the volcano of Purace, at a height of 8694 feet, is a small plain inhabited by Indians, and cultivated with the greatest care. It is 282 RIO VINAGRE. Hamlet «f Purace. Valley of Patia. CHAP.Xxm bounded by two ravines, on the brink of which is placed a village of the same name. The gardens, which ara enclosed with hedges of euphorbium, are watered by the springs that issue abundantly from the porphyritic rock ; and nothing can be more agreeable than the contrast betAveen the beautiful verdure of this plain and the chain of dark mountains surrounding the volcano. The ham- let of Purace, which the travellers visited in November 1801, is celebrated for the fine cataracts of the Rio Vin- agre, the waters of which are acid. This little river is warm towards its source, and after forming three falls, one of which is 894: feet in height and is exceedingly picturesque, joins the Rio Cauca, which for fourteen miles below the junction is destitute of fish. The crater of the volcano is filled with boiling water, which, amid frightful noises, emits vapours of sulphuretted hydrogen. The travellers then crossed the precipitous Cordilleras of Almaquer to Pasto, avoiding the infected and conta- gious atmosphere of the valley of Patia. From the latter town, which is situated at the foot of a burning volcano, they traversed the elevated platform of the province of Los Pastos, celebrated for its great fertility ; and after a journey of four months, performed on mules, arrived at Quito on the 6th January 1802. The climate of this pi-ovince is remarkably agreeable, and almost invariable. During the months of December, January, February, and Marcli, it generally rains every afternoon from half-past one to five ; but even at this season the evenings and mornings are most beautiful. The temperature is so mild that vegetation never ceases. " From the terrace of the government palace there is one of the most enchanting prospects that human eye ever witnessed, or nature ever exhibited. Looking to the south, and glancing along towards the north, eleven mountains covered witli perpetual snow present them- selves, their bases apparently resting on the verdant Iiills that surround tlie city, and their heads piercing the blue arch of heaven, while the clouds hover midway down tlieni, or seem to crouch at their feet. Among Climate. QUITO — COTOPAXl. 283 these the most lofty are Cayambeurcu, Imhaburu, CHAP.XXIIL Ilinisa, Antisana, Chimborazo, and the beautifully — magnificent Cotopaxi, crowned with its volcano."* Nearly six months were devoted to researches of varied various kinds. They made excursions to the snowy researches. mountains of Antisana, Cotopaxi, Tunguragua, and Chimborazo, the latter of which was considered as the highest on the globe until it was found to be exceeded by some of the colossal summits of the Ilimmaleh, and even by several in Upper Peru. In all these journeys they were accompanied by a young man, son of the Marquis of Selva-alegre, who subsequently followed them to Peru and Mexico.+ They twice ascended to the volcanic summit of Pichincha, where they made experiments on the constitution of the air, — its elasticity, its electrical, magnetic, and hygroscopic qualities, — and the temperature of boiling water. Cotopaxi is the loftiest of those volcanoes of the volcano of Andes which have produced eruptions at recent periods ; Cotopaxi. its absolute height being 18,878 feet. It is consequently 2625 feet higher than Vesuvius would be were it placed on the top of the Peak of TeneriflFe. The scoriae and rocks ejected by it, and scattered over the neighbouring valleys, would form a vast mountain of themselves. In 1 "38 its flames rose 2963 feet above the crater ; and in 1744 its roarings were heard as far as Honda, on the jMagdalena, at a distance of 690 miles. On the 4th Eruption. April 1768, the quantity of aslies thrown out was so great, that in the towns of Hambato and Tacunga the inhabitants were obliged to use lanterns in the streets. The explosion which took place in January 1803 was preceded by the sudden melting of the snows which * Stevenson's Residence in South America, vol. ii. p. 324. t This accomplished individual, Don Carlos Montutar, of vrhon. our author speaks veith approbation, having connected himselt'with the popular party in the strufjgles of which the Spanish colonies have late!}' been the theatre, was seized in Quito, in 1811, by Don Taribio Monies, sentenced as a traitor, and shot through the back; after which his heart was taken out and burnt. — See Stevenson's Residence in Soutli America, vol. iii. p. 44. 284 RIDGE OF THE ANDES. CHAP.XXIIL covered the surface ; and our travellers, at the port ot Guayaquil, 179^ miles distant, heard day and night the noises proceeding from it, like discharges of a battery. Fonn and This celebrated mountain is situated to the south-east positioii. ^^ Quito, at the distance of 41 miles, in the midst of the Andes. Its form is the most beautiful and regular of all the colossal summits of that mighty chain ; being a perfect cone, which is covered with snow, and shines with dazzling splendour at sunset. No rocks project through the icy covering, except near the edge of the crater, which is surrounded by a small circular wall. In ascending it is extremely difficult to reach the lower boundary of the snows, the cone being surrounded by deep ravines ; and, after a near examination of the summit, Humboldt thinks he may assert that it would be altogether Impossible to reach the brink of the crater. Chains of the ^^ ^^'^^ mentioned that, in the kingdom of New Andes. Grenada, the cordilleras of the Andes form three chains, in the great longitudinal valleys of which flow two large rivers. To the south of Popayan, on the table- land of Los Pastos, these three chains unite into a single group, which stretches far beyond the equator. This group, in the kingdom of Quito, presents an extraordi- Retnarkabie. ^^^y appearance from the riv(ir of Chota, the most appearance, elevated summits being arranged in two lines, forming as it were a double ridge to the cordilleras. These summits served for signals to the French academicians when employed in the measurement of an equinoctial degree. Bouguer considered them as two chains, sepa- rated by a longitudinal valley ; but this valley Humboldt views as the ridge of the Andes itself. It is an elevated plain, from 8858 to 9515 feet above the level of the sea ; and the volcanic summits of Pichincha, Cayambo, Cotopaxi, and other celebrated peaks, are, he thinks, so many protuberances of the great mass of the Andes. In consequence of the elevation of the territory of aMjri), penelopes, and pheasants. The Guinea fowl and common duck are also reared ; but the goose is nowhere ta be seen in the Spanish colonies. Siikworma The cultivation of the silkworm has never been extensively tried, although many parts of that continent seem favourable to it. An enormous quantity of wax is consumed in the festivals of the church ; and not- withstanding that a large proportion is collected in the country, much is imported from Havannah. Cochineal is obtained to a considerable amount. Fearla Although pearls were formerly found in great abun- dance in various parts of America, the fisheries have now almost entirely ceased. The western coast of Mexico abounds in caclialots or spermaceti-whales [Phy- seter inacrociphulus) ; but the natives have hitherto left the pursuit of these animals to Europeans. METALS OP THE ANCIENT MEXICANS. 333 CHAPTER XXVI. Mines of New Spain. Mining Districts — Metalliferous Veins and Beds — Geological Re- lations of the Ores — Produce of the Mines — Recapitulation. The mines of Mexico have of late years engaged the chap.xxvi attention and excited the enterprise of the English in a Mines o7 more than ordinary degree. The subject is therefore Mexico. one of mucli interest ; but as later information may be obtained in several works, and esjiecially in Ward's " Mexico in 1827," it is unnecessary to follow our author in all his details. Long before the voyage of Columbus, the natives of Native Mexico were acquainted with the uses of several metals, the'meta^I" and had made considerable proficiency in the various operations necessary for obtaining them in a pure state. Cortes, in the historical account of his expedition, states that gold, silver, copper, lead, and tin, were publicly sold in the great market of Tenochtitlan. In all the large towns of Anahuac gold and silver vessels were manufactured, and the foreigners, on their first advance to Tenochtitlan, could not refrain from admiring the ingenuity of the Mexican goldsmiths. The Aztec tribes Le^itJ and extracted lead and tin from the veins of Tlachco, and obtained cinnabar from the mines of Chilapan. From copper, found in the mountains of Zacutollan and Co- huixco, they manufactured their arms, axes, chisels, and other imjjlements. With the use of iron they seem to have been unacquainted ; but they contrived to give 334 MINING DISTRICTS. K umber of (uinea. CHAP. XXVI. the requisite hardness to their tools hy mixing a portion ~~ of tin with tlie copper of wliieh they were composed. At tlie period when Humboldt visited New Spain, it contained nearly 500 places celebrated for the metallic treasures in their vicinity, and comprehending nearly T5000 mines. These were divided into 37 districts, under the direction of an equal number of councils (^Dipiita- ciones de m'meria), as follows : — I. INTENDANCY OF GUAVAXUATO. 1. Mining' District ofGuanaxuato. 11. INTENDANCY OF ZACATECAS. 2. Zacatecas. I 4. Fresnillo. 3. Sombrerete. 5. Sierra (ie Pinos. III. INTENDAXCY OF SAN LUIS POTOSI 6. Catorce. 7. Potosi. 8. Charcas. I 9. Ojocaliente. I 10. San Nicolas de Croix. 11. Pacliuca. 12. El Doctor. \'A. Ziniapan. 14. Tasco. 18. IV. INTENDAXCY OF JIEXICO. 15. Zacualpan. If). Siiltepec. 17. Temascaltepec. v. INTENDANCY OF GU ADALAXAR A. Bolanos. I 20. Hostotipaquillo. 19. Asientos de Ibarra. 21. Cliibuahua. 22. Parral. 23. Guarisamey. INTENDANCY OF DIIRANGO. 24. Cosi^rniriachi. 25. Batopilas. 2fi. .alamos. 27. Copala. 28. Cosala. 29. San Franrisco Xavier de la Huerta. VII. INTENDANCY OF SOKOHA. 30. Guadalupe dft la Pnerta. 31. Santissima Trinidad de Pe- na Blanra. 32. San Francisco Xavier de Alisos. VIII. 33. Anpaufrueo. 34. Injjiiaran. INTENDANCY OF VALLADOLID. 135. Zitaquaro. 3B. TIalpujahua. IX. INTENDANCY OF OAXACA. 37. Oaxaca. METALLIFEROUS DEPOSITES. 335 CIUP.XXVI X. INTENDANCY OF PUEBLA. Several Mines. XI. INTENDANCY OF VERA CRUZ. Three Mines. XII, OLD CALIFORNIA. One Mine. In the present state of the country tlie veins are the Productive most productive, and tlie minerals disposed in beds or ''""^ masses are very rare. The former are chiefly in primi- tive or transition rocks, rarely in secondary deposites In the Old Continent granite, gneiss, and mica-slate, form the central ridges of the mountain-chains ; but in the Cordilleras of America these rocks seldom appear externally, being covered by masses of porphyry, green- stone, amygdaloid, basalt, and other trap-formations. The coast of Acapulco is composed of granite ; and as we ascend towards the table-land of Mexico, we see it pierce the porphyry for the last time between Zumpango and Sopilote. Farther to the east, in the province of Oaxaca, granite and gneiss are visible in the high plains which are of great extent, traversed by veins of gold. Tin has not yet been observed in the granites of Mexico. In the mines of Comanja syenite contains a seam of silver ; while the vein of Guanaxuato, the richest in America, crosses a primitive clay-slate passing into talc-slate. The porphyries of Mexico are for the most part eminently rich in gold and silver. They are Gold, silver all characterized by tlie presence of hornblende and the ''"' absence of quartz. Common felspar is of rare occur- rence, but the glassy variety is frequently observed in them. The rich gold-mine of Viilalpando, near Gua- naxuato, traverses a porphyry, of which the basis is allied to clinkstone, and in which hornblende is ex- tremely rare. The veins of Zimapan intersect porphy- ries, having a greenstone basis, and contain a great variety of interesting minerals, such as filirous zeolite, etilbite, grammatite, pycnite, native sulphur, fluor, 3r{(i METALLIl'KROUS DEPOSITES. Variety of veins. CiiAP.XXVi barytes, corky aslicstus, green garnets, carbonate and chroniate of lead, orpinient, chrysoprasc, and fire-opal. Silver ores. Among the transition rocks containing ores of silver, may be mentioned the limestone of tlie Real del Car- donal, Xaeala, and Lonio del Toro, to the north of Zimapan, In Mexico graywacke is also rich in metals. Tlie silver-mines of the Real de Catorce, as well as those of El Doctor and Xaschi, near Zimapan, traverse Alpine limestone, which rests on a conglomerate with siliceous cement. In that and the Jura limestone are contained the celebrated silver-mines of Tasco and Tehuilotepec, in the intendancy of Mexico ; and in the.se calcareous rocks the metalliferous veins display the greatest wealth. It thus appears that the cordilleras of Mexico contain veins in a great variety of rocks, and that the deposites which furnish almost all tlie silver exported from Vera Cruz are primitive slate, graywacke, and Alpine lime- stone. The mines of Potosi in Buenos Ayres are con- tained in primitive clay-slate, and the richest of those of Peru in Alpine limestone. Our author here observes, that there is scarcely a variety of rock which has not in some country been found to contain metals, and that the richness of the veins is for the most part totally independent of the nature of the beds which they intersect. Great advantage is derived in working the Mexican mines, from the circumstance that the most important of them are situated in temperate regions where the climate is favourable to agriculture. Guanaxuato is placed in a ravine, the bottom of which is somewhat lower than the level of the lakes of the valley of Mexico. Zacatecas and the Real de Catorce are a little hig'her ; but the mildness of the air at these towns, which are surrounded l)y the richest mines in the world, is a contrast to the cold and disagreeable atmo- sphere of tlie Peruvian districts. The produce of the Mexican mines is very unequally pportioned. The 2,500,000 marks, or l,6il,015 troy AdTantage- ous sitiuition ot mines. Irn'quaJlty. MINES OF .MEXICO. 337 pounds of silver, annually exported to Europe and CHAP.XXVI. Asia from Vera Cruz and Aciipulco, are drawn from a Annuiir very small number. Guanaxuato, Zacatecas, and Ca- exportation, torce, supply more than the half; and the vein of Guanaxuato alone yields more than a fourth part of the whole silver of Mexico, and a sixth of the produce of all America. The following is the order in which the richest mines of New Spain are placed, with reference to the quantity obtained from them : — Guanaxuato, in the intendancy of" the same name. Catorce, in the intendancy of San Luis PotosL Zacatecas, in the intendancy of the same name. Real del Monte, in the intendancy of Mexico. Bolanos, in the intendancy of Guadalaxara. Guarisamey, in the intendancy of Durani^o. Sorabrerete, in tlie intendancy of Zacatecas. Ta.sco, in the intendancy of Mexico. Batopilas, in the intendancy of Durango. Zimapan, in the intendancy of Mexico. Fresnillo, in the intendancy of Zacatecas. Ramos, in tlie intendancy of San Luis Potosi. Parral, in tlie intendancy of Durango. The veins of Tasco, Sultepec, Tlapujahua, and Pa- Earliest chuca, were first wrought by the Spaniards. Those of mines. Zacatecas were next commenced, and that of San Barnabe was begun in 1548. The principal one in Guanaxuato was discovered in 1558. As the total pro- duce of all in Mexico, until the beginning of the eighteenth century, never exceeded 369,844 troy pounds of gold and silver yearly, it must be concluded, that during the sixteenth little energy was employed in drawing forth their stores. The silver extracted in the thirty-seven districts was Silver. deposited in the provincial treasuries established in the chief places of the intendancies ; and from the reports of these offices the quantity furnished by the different parts of the country may be determined. The following is an account of the receipts of eleven of these boards from the year 1785 to 1789 : — 338 PRODUCE OF SILVER AND GOLD. CHAP. XXVI. ' Marks of Silver. „ — ' , Guanaxiiato, 2.4f;!l,O<>0 'Ifverfor S^" ^'''^ ^"t«si, 1,515,000 four years. Zacatecas, 1,205,000 ^ Mexico, 1,055,000 Diiraniro, 922,000 Rosario, CWiOOO Giiadala.xara,.., 509,000 Pachuca, 455.000 Bolanos, 364.000 Sombrerete 320,000 Zimapan, 241J.0OO Sum for five years, 9,730,000=5,9'J7,<)33 troy pounds. Mean pro- The mean produce of the mines of New Spain, in- duce, cludinfi; the northern part of New Biscay and those of Oaxaca, is estimated at above 1,541,015 troy pounds of silver, — a quantity equal to two thirds of what is aimually extracted from the whole globe, and ten times as much as is furnished by all the mines of Europe. Produce of On the other hand the produce of the Mexican mines k'''^''^- in gold is not much greater than those of Hungary and Transylvania ; amounting in ordinary years only to 4315 troy pounds. In the former it is chieHy extracted from river-deposites by washing. Auriferous alluvia are common in the province of Sonora, and a great deal of gold has been collected among the sands with which the bottom of the valley of the Rio Hiaijui, to the east of the missions of Tarahumara, is covered. Farther to the north, in Pimeria Alta, masses of native gold weighing five or six pounds liave been found. Part of it is also extracted from veins intersecting the primitive mountains. Veins of this metal are most frequent in the province of Oaxaca, in gneiss and mica-slate. The last rock is particularly rich in the mines of Rio San Antonio. Gold is also found pure, or mixed with silver-ore, in most of those which have been wrought in Mexico. The silver sui)plicd by the Mexican veins is extracted from a great variety of minerals. Most of it is obtained from sulphuretted silver, arsenical gray-copper, muriate GOLD AND SILVER OF AMERICA. 339 of silver, prismatic ])lack silver-ore, and red silver-ore. CHAP. XXVL Pure or native silver is of comparatively rare occurrence, qi]^^ Copper, tin, iron, lead, and mercury, are also procured metal*, in New Spain, but in very small quantities, although it would appear that they might be found to a great extent. The meicury occurs in various deposites, in beds, in secondary formations, and in veins traversing porphyries ; but the amount obtained has never been sufficient for the process of amalgamation. The total value of gold and silver extracted from the Value of tho mines of America, between 1499 and 1803, is estimated ^"ygr^" by Humboldt at 5,706,700,000 piasters, or (valuing the piaster at 4s. 4|d,) £1,248,340,625 sterling. The annual produce of the mines of the New World, at the beginning of the present century, is estimated as follows : — Gold Silver Value in Marllan for tra- velling through Egypt and the East, he visited Spain, in the hope of being able to pass from thence to Africa, when he obtained permission to explore the far more extended field of research in Central America, the fruits of which are narrated in the previous chapters. After comment- ing on the valuable results which science has reaped fi'om the labours and researches of Humboldt in South America, Dr. Alison remarks : — " The remainder of Humboldt's life has been chiefly devoted to the various and important publications, in which he has embodied the fruit of his vast and extensive researches in the New World. In many of these he has been assisted by M. Aime Bonpland, who, his companion in literary labour as in the danger and fatigues of travelling, has, with the generosity of a really great mind, been content to dimin- ish, perhaps destroy, his prospect of individual celebrity, by associating himself with the labours of his illustrious fiiend. Pursued even in mature years by the desire of fame, the thirst for still greater achievements, which be- longs to minds of the heroic cast, whether in war or science, he conceived, at a subsequent period, the design of visiting the upper piovinces of India and the Himalaya range. After having ascended higher than man had yet done on the elevated ridges of the New World, he was consumed with a thirst to surmount the still more lofty summits of the Old, wliich have remained in solitary and unapproachable grandeur since the waves of the Deluge first receded from their sides. But the East India Com- pany, within whose dominions, or at least beneath whose influence, the highest ridges of the Himalaya are sita- ated, gave no countenance to the design, and even, it is said, refused liberty to the immortal naturalist to visit their extensive territories." How far the proceedings ascribed to the merchant rulers of British India affected the plans of the great PREPARATIONS FOR TRAVEL. 351 tiaveller we are not prepared to say. Their jealousy of chapter the schemes of conquest entertained by some of the Euro- XXVIIL pean powers, were not unlikely to stimulate them even to such an excess of care, yet it is hardly conceivable that Humboldt's desiie was pressed with any urgency upon them, or it would certainly have met with a more credit- able reception, had circumstances permitted, of its fulfil- ment. The state of the political world, however, was by political im. no means favourable to travel or research by a European, P'^'i'menta. in the regions surrounding the Himalaya range, during the earlier years of the present century. An intelligent writer has remarked in referring to the same suliject : — "At two different periods of his life Baron Humboldt cherished the hope of penetrating into the interior of Asia. During the reign of the Emperor Alexander, and under the ministry of Count RomanzofF, he was invited to accompany the embassy which was about to be sent Russian to Thibet by the route of Kachghar and Yarkand ; but ["^^g"'"" " the war whicli burst out in 1812, prevented the execu- tion of this vast enterprise. Notwithstanding this dis- appointment, our author devoted several years to the study of the Persian language, in the expectation of being able to travel into India by Teheran or Herat, and he examined all the accessible documents which throw any light upon the orography and climatology of the whole of Asia. These labours and researches, though at first only of a preparatory character, were afterwards greatly extended, when, on the invitation of the Em- peror of Russia in 1829, he performed his celebrated journey to the Ural mountains, the Altaian range, and the Caspian Sea." It is this journey that we now propose to give the Asiatic reader some account of. The invitation of the Emperor Jowroey of Russia was chiefly directed to a mineralogical tour to the North of Asia and the Caspian Sea. But such an object promised also ample opportunities for gratifying the desire Humboldt had long entertained of visiting the East, and exploring its whole physical character. Accompanied by 352 MINERALOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS CHAPTER XXVTIL Uralian mountains. Gold and platiua. Gema IVI. Ehrenberg, the celebrated naturalist, and Gustavua Rose, no less famed as a chemist, he embarked at Nijnei- Nov-gorod, on the Volga, and descended to Kasan and the Tartar ruins of Bolgari. Thence they went by Perm to Ekatherinenberg, on the Asiatic side of the Uralian Mountains, a vast chain composed of se\eral ranges run- ning nearly parallel to each other, of which the higliest summits scarcely attain an elevation of 4593 or 49-2C feet, but which, like the Andes, follows the direction of a meridian, from the tertiai^' deposites in the neighbour- hood of Lake Aral to the greenstone rocks in the vicinity of the Frozen Sea. A month was occupied in visiting the central and northern parts of these mountains, which abound in alluvial beds containing gold and platina, the malachite mines of Goumeschevskoi, the great magnetic ridge of Blagodad, and the celebrated deposites at Mour- zinsk, in which topaz and beryl are found. Their miner- alogical investigations were rewarded with results of the gi-eatest practical value. Besides the precious metals and gems already mentioned, they found the zircon, ruby, garnet, anatase, and ceylanite. Near Nijnei-Ta- gilsk, a country which may be compared to Choco in South America, a mass of platina has been found weigh- ing nearly 22 pounds troy. The osmiuret of iridium has also been discovered ; and though they did not jierson- ally disinter the diamond, yet their observations have since led to its discovery. " In 1826, Professor Engel- Wamonds in hardt predicted that diamonds would be found in the thti Urals. alluvium on the Urals, which strikingly resemlded that of Brazil, containing diamonds. Humboldt saw the same similarity between the Ural and Brazilian mountains, but though the sand washed for gold was examined in his presence, no diamonds were found. Count Polier however, after separating from the Baron, repaired to the possessions of his lady, on the western side of the Urals, and discovered the first Ural diamond. Other diamonds were afterwards found, equal in beauty to those of Brazil." WOitKS ON CENTnAL ASIA. 3o3 It was Humboldt and his companions, however, who CHAm:R personally discovered the remarkable mass of platina re- ^^^^H- ferred to, and they were also successful in finding in the Discovery of vicinity of Miask, tiiree masses of native gold, two of ^ '' '"'*■ which weighed 18. 3G, and the third 28. 36 pounds troy. Soon after Ilumbokit's return from his Asiatic expe- FraEmens dition he published an account of his researches in his ^"^^'1"^ Fragmens Asiatiques. This work extended to two volumes, but though it contained a great mass of valu- able information, it included only a very small propor- tion of the results of his observations. When a second edition was called for, he adopted a new, and much more extended form, embracing the conclusions arrived at by study and investigation during the intervening period, and also included a systematic view of Asiatic geology. He thus intimates the limits which he assigned to himself in the treatment of the subject. " In pub- lishing this new work, a part of my studies in Asia, it New Asiatic was not my intention to delineate a physical picture, the different parts of which bore a due proportion to each other. I have confined myself to the most correct and recent information respecting the irregularities in the surface of the ground, and the influence which they have on the constitution of the atmosphere, under the double aspect of its temperature and dryness. As I still cherish the hope of publishing a very general work under the imprudent title of Kosmos, I confined myself by prefer- ence, in my C'cntral Asia, to the subject of terrestrial physics." The extejit of country explored by Baron Humboldt and his companions afforded ample opportunities for the most varied observations of the phenomena of nature. From Jekatherinenburg they proceeded by Tioumen to CourFeof Tobolsk on the Irtisch, and thence by Tara, a steppe or desert of Baraba, which is dreaded on account of the torments caused by the multitudes of insects belonging to the family of Tipulce, to Barnaoul on the banks of the Ob ; the picturesque lake of Kolyvan ; and the rich 354 CROSSING THE CHINESE FRONTIER. CHAPTER XXVUL Sliver mines. Route to the Cliiueee frontier. Salt mine of Uetzki. Return to .Moscow. Qualifica- tions of Ilurobuklt. silver-mines of Scli-Iangenl)erg,Rid(lersk, and Zyrianovski, sitvmted on the south-western declivity of the Altaic range, the highest summit of which is scarcely so ele- vated as the Peak of Teneriffe. The mines of Kolyvan produce annually upwards of 49,842 troy pounds of silver. Proceeding south-ward from Riddersk to Oust-Kamc- nogorsk, they passed through Boukhtarminsk to the frontier of Chinese Zungaria. They even ohtained per- mission to cross the frontier, in order to visit the Mongol post of Baty, or Khonimailakhou, nortlnvard of the Lake Dzaisang. After visiting the steppe of the Middle Horde of the Kirghiz, and reaching tiie southern part of the Ural, where the masses of gold referred to above were found, they passed by Gonberlinsk to Orenburgh, which, not- withstanding its distance from the Caspian Sea, is below the level of the ocean, and then visited the famous salt- mine of Iletzki, situated in the steppe of the Little Kirghiz Horde. They afterwards inspected the principal place of the Ouralsk Cossacks ; the German colonies of the Saratov government on the left bank of the Volga ; the great salt lake of Elton in the steppe of the Kal- mucks ; a tine colony of Moravians at Sarepta ; and, finally, arrived at Astracan. The principal objects of this excursion to the Caspian Sea were, the chemical analysis of its waters, which Mr. Rose intended to make ; the observation of the barometrical heights ; and the col- lection of fishes for the great work of Baron Cuvier and M. Valenciennes. From Astracan the travellers returned to IMoscow, by the isthmus which separates the Don and the Volga, near Tichinskaya, and the country of the Don Cossacks. The knowledge acquired by Ilumlioldt in his explora- tion of Central America furnished him with means of comparison and analysis, such as no other traveller, or scientilic observer, ever possessed before. lie is thus en- al)led to point out the analogies or differences between the great mountain ranges of Asia, the European Alps, VOLCANIC PHENOMENA. 355 and the Cordilleras of the New World, and to furnish data CHAPTEK. from whence to deduce some of the laws wiiicli govern ^^^^VIIL the most remarkable phenomena of the globe. In fol- lowing out the great plan which he had set himself, Baron Humboldt has devoted the two first volumes of his work to an elaborate treatise on the peculiar phe- nomena attendant on the upheaval of continents, and the remarkable geological changes which liave produced the Geological great mountain chains, and the other striking physical '^'"*"S'* conformations of the earth's crust. His Memoir on the Mountain Chains and the Volcanoes of Central Asia possesses very great attractions to the student of science, though much of the work, and the mode of treating the very comprehensive subjects which it includes, renders it too strictly scientific to offer the attractions which Hum- boldt's personal narrative possesses for the general reader. The following abstract will afford some idea of the earlier portion of this valuable work. In our present state of knowledge, volcanic phenomena Volcanic are not to be considered as relating peculiarly to the ^' science of geology, but rather as a department of general physics. When in action they appear to result from a permanent communication between the interior of the globe, which is in a state of fusion, and the atmosphere which envelopes the hardened and oxidated crust of our planet. Masses of lava issue like intermittent springs ; and the superposition of their layers which takes place under our eyes bears a resemblance, on a small scale, to the formation of the ancient crystalline rocks. On the crest of the Cordilleras of the New World, as well as in Uniformity the south of Europe and the western parts of Asia, an in- " "^^" '*" timate connexion is manifestly traceable between the chemical action of volcanoes properly so called, or those which produce rocks, — their form and position permitting the escape of earthy substances in a state of fusion, — and the mud-volcanoes of South America, Italy, and the Mud Caspian Sea, which at one period eject fragments of rock, vo''^""""- flames, and acid vapours, and at another vomit muddy 356 VOLCANIC ACTION. CHAPTER XXVIII. MetalliferonB deposits. clay, naptha, and irrespii-able gases. There is even an obvious relation between the proper volcano and the for- mation of beds of gypsum and anhydrous rock-salt, con- taining petroleum, condensed hydrogen, sulphuret of iron, and, occasionally, — as at Rio-Kualloga to the east of the Peruvian coasts, — large masses of galena and sulphuret Hot springs, of lead ; the origin of hot springs ; the arrangement of metallic deposits ; earthquakes, which are ever and anon accompanied by chemical phenomena : and the some- times sudden, and the sometimes very slow, elevations of certain parts of the earth's surface. It is during these great changes in the earth's crust that the most of the metalliferous deposits have occurred which now form so valuable a source of economic wealth. The altered rock, split into crevices, and, changed by the action of heat has been anew filled up and agglomerated by the metals forced upwards from nature's great laboratory into these cracks which become the metalliferous veins. An intel- ligent, scientific writer, in reviewing Baron Humboldt's " Researclies in Central Asia," has remarked : — " The study of these interesting phenomena, leads us to general views of the catastrophes which have taken place in times which preceded the historic era. The action of the interior of a planet upon its outer crust, varies with the stages of its progressive cooling, and with the inequa- lities in the solidity and fluidity of the matters which compose it. In our day this action is greatly enfeebled ; it is confined to a small number of points. It is inter- mittent, and less frequently displaced, and only produces rocks, round small circular apertures, or longitudinal crevices of small extent. It never exhibits its power at gnat distances, excepting in shaking the crust of the eartli in linear directions, or in circles of simultane- ous oscillations, which continue the same for many centuries. In these primeval ages, says Humboldt, the elastic fluids or volcanic forces of our earth, more energetic than at i)resciit, have made their way through the oxidated and slightly solidified crust of our planet. General views. Knfeebled volcanic actions. EPOCH OF REVOLUTIONS. 357 It was then they produced cracks in this crust, and filled CirAPTER them not only with dykes, but with shapeless masses of ^^^"^' matter of great density, such as ferruginous basalts, greenstones, and masses of metal, materials which were introduced subsequently to the solidification and flatten- ing of the planet. The epoch of great geological revolu- Period of tions, was that when the communication between the "'^''°"- fluid interior of the earth and its atmosphere were the most frequent — when they acted upon a greater number of points — when the tendency to establish these commu- nications lias upheaved, (at different epochs, and by dif- ferent kinds of action), upon long crevices, — Cordilleras, like the Himalaya and the Andes, or chains of moun- tains of less elevation, or finally those ridges and heights whose varied undulations embellish the landscape of our plains. It is as the witness of these upheavals, and mark- Relative ngo ing (after the grand and mgenious views of JVl. Elie de tains. Beaumont) the relative age of the mountains I have seen in the Andes of the New world, at Cundinamara; — of ex- tensive formations of grit, stretching oyer the plains of Magdalena and Meta almost uninterruptedly, in plateaus about 9000 feet high, that I have found still more re- cently in the north of Asia, in the chain of the Ural, the same bones of antediluvian animals, (so celebrated in the Bones of 1 • ^iT^ iiTis-i antedilnviau lower regions of the Koma and the Irtyche), mixed on animals, the back of the chain, and in the j^lateaus between Beresovsk and Ekaterinbourg with earths rich in gold, diamonds, and platina. It is also as a witness of the subterranean action of elastic fluids which raise conti- nents, mountain chains, and insulated domes — which displace rocks, and the organic debris which these rocks contain — which produce heights or hollows as the vaults crumble down, that we ought to consider the prat de- pression which the west of Asia presents to us. The sur- Area of face of the Caspian Sea, and of the Lake Aral, forms ^'=P'e^='°"' the lowest part of it ; but the depression extends itself far into the interior of the country beyond the Sarepta, as at the Lake of Elton, aud at the steppes of Bogdo, be- Y 358 INFLUENCE OF INTERNAL FORCES. CHAPTER XXVIIL Traces in Europe and Asia. Elucidation ot pvobleiiis iu science. Opflratinn of internaj forces. Previous aotiuuii. tween the "Wolga and the Jaik. The depression of a mass of continent 80 feet below the surface of the waters of the ocean, in tlieir mean state of equilibrium, has never been considered in all its importance, because we are ig- norant of the extent of this depression, of which some parts of the coasts of Europe and Egypt (in Holland, and at the Natron lakes) present only feeble traces." This intimate connexion between these diversified ap- pearances is now serving to elucidate many problems in geology and physics which had previously been consid- ered inexplicable. Tlie analogies of observed facts, and the strict investigation of phenomena of recent occur- rence, gradually lead us to more probable conjectures as to the events of those remote j)eriods which preceded his- torical records. The influence which the forces in the interior of our planet exercise upon its external envelope in the various stages of its refrigeration, on account of the unequal aggregation in which its component substances occur, is at the present day in a very diminished condi- tion. These forces appear now to be restricted to a small number of points ; intermittent ; simplified in their chemical effects ; producing rocks only around small circular apertures, or over longitudinal cracks of small extent ; and manifesting their power, at great distances, only dynamically, by shaking the crust of our planet in linear directions, or in spaces which remain the same during a great number of ages. Previous to the existence of the human race, the action of the interior of the globe upon the solid crust, which was increasing in volume, must have modified tlie temperature of the atmosphere, and rendered the whole surface capable of giving birth to those i)roductions which are now regarded as exclusively tropical . since that time, by the ett'ect of the radiation and refrigeration of the exterior, the relations of the earth to a central body, the sun, began almost exclusively to determine the diversity of geographical latitudes, and to give their present character to the various climates of the earth's zones. PERIOD OF CHANGES. 359 There is something extremely fascinating in the view chapter thus afforded us of the great worlc-shop and laboratory of ^^VI^IL nature as it may be justly called. We see the volcanic powers of the central earth at work, their hidden fires Central fusing and changing the materials of which it is com- P°w*^''*' posed, and the elastic fluids traversing the oxidated and solidified crust of the globe, intersecting this crust with crevices, and injecting it with masses and veins of basalt, metallic substances, and other matters, introduced after the solidiiicating of the planet had been completed. The period of the great geological changes which we are now Period of considering, is shown to have been that when the com- chlngea munication of the fluid interior of the planet and its at- mosphere were frequent, and gave rise, in the line of the long crevices, to the cordilleras of the Andes and Him- malaya Mountains, and the ridges whose indulations em- bellish the landscape of tamer scenery. It is as proofs of these protrusions that Humboldt refers to the sand- EWdence of stone formations which extend from the plains of the P'''^''^'"'"'^- Magdalena and Meta, over platforms having an elevation varying from 8950 to 10,232 feet ; and to the bones of antediluvian animals intermingled on the summit of the Uralian chain of North Asia with transported deposites, containing gold, diamonds, and platina. Another evi- dence of this subterranean action of elastic fluids is the great depression of the land already referred to, which occurs in the west of Asia, of which the Caspian Sea and Great Asiatic the Lake Aral form the lowest part many feet beneath '-P'^^^"''* the level of the ocean, but which extends far into the in- terior of the continent, stretching to Saratov and Oren- burg on the Jaik, and probably to the south-east as far as the lower course of the Sihon (Jaxartes) and the Amou (the Oxus of the ancients). This depression of a continental mass extending to 80 feet below the surface of the ocean in its mean state of equilibrium, has not hitherto obtained the necessary consideration which its importance demands, because it was not suflBciently known. 3G0 THE CHINESE FRONTIERS. CHAPTER XXVIIL Baron Humboldt, after a careful exploration of the country, and a comparison of its features with those which he had previously investigated in the New World, arrives at the conclusion that it has an intimate connexion Upheaval of with the upheaving of the Caucasian Mountains, those of mountain!., jjindoo-kho, and of tlie elevated plain of Persia which borders the Caspian Sea and the Mavar-ul-Nahar to the south ; and, perhaps, more to the eastward, with the ele- vation of the great mass of land, which is designated by the vague and incorrect name of the central plain of Asia. This concavity he considers as a crater-country, similar to the Hipparchus, Archimedes, and Ptolmey, of the moon's surface, which have a diameter of more than 100 miles, and which may be rather compared with Bo- hemia than with our volcanic cones and craters.* In the course of this journey of Baron Humboldt, in company with MM. Ehrenberg and Rose, he passed, in seven weeks, over the frontiers of Chinese Zungaria, be- tween the forts of Oust-Kamenogorsk, and Boukhtar- minsk, and Khonimailakhou (a Chinese post to the north of the Lake Dzaisang), the Cossach line of the Kirghiz steppe, and the shores of the Caspian Sea. In the im- portant commercial towns of Semipolatinsk, Petropa- lauska, Troitzkaia, Orenburg, and Astracan, he obtained from Tartars, Bucharians, and Tachkendis, information respecting the Asiatic regions in tlie vicinity of their na- tive country. At Orenburg, where caravans of several Oeographical thousand camels annually arrive, an enliglitened indi- vidual, M. de Gens, has collected a mass of materials of the highest importance for the geography of Central Asia. Among the numerous description of routes communi- cated bj' this person, o\ir author found the following Pnssasje of the Chinese frontiers. • It appears, however, tliat Professor Parrot, on the authority of whose barometrical measurements, made in 1811, this opinion was originally ad.iptcd, has since been led to doubt its accuracy. In fact, from obsen-a- tions made by him in 1829 and 1S30, he has found the mouth of the Don, T^hlcli enters the Black Sea, to be between tln'ee and four feet lower than that of tlic Volga, which empties itself into the Caspian. ASIATIC GEOGRAPHY. 361 remark : — " In proceeding from Semipolatinsk to Jer- CHAPTER kend, when we were arrived at the Lake Ala-koul or ^-^^^^ Ala-dinghiz, a little to the north-east of the great Lake Balkachi, which receives the waters of the Ele, we saw a very high mountain which formerly vomited fire. Old volcano. Even now this mountain, which rises in the Lake like a little island, occasions violent storms which incommode the caravans. For this reason some sheep are sacrificed to this old volcano by those who pass it." This account which was obtained from a Tartar who interesting travelled at the commencement of the present century, '"1^"^'^ excited a lively interest in the mind of Humboldt, more especially as it suggested some probable authority for the accounts of bui-ning volcanoes in the interior of Asia, made known through the researches of Abel Remusat and Klaproth in Chinese books, and the great distance of which from the sea has excited so much surprise. Soon after his departure fi-om Petersburg he received from M. de Klosterman, imperial director of police at Semipolatinsk, the following particulars which were ob- tained from Bucharians and Tachkendis ; — " The route from Semipolatinsk to Kouldja is twenty- Information five days. It passes by the mountains Alachan and '^'^ ^^ ^ Kondegatay, in the steppe of the JMiddle Horde of the Kirghiz the borders of the Lake Savande-koul, the Tarbagatai IMountains in Zungaria, and the river Emyl. When it has been traversed, the road unites with that which leads from Tchougeutchak to the province of Ele, From the banks of the Emyl to the Lake Ala-koul the distance is 39? miles. The Tartars estimate the distance of this lake from Semipolatinsk at 301 miles. It is to the right of the road, and extends from east to west 66i miles. In the midst of this lake rises a very high mountain named Aral-toube. From this to the Chinese post, situated between the little Lake Janalache-koul and the river Baratara, on the banks of which reside Kalmucks, are reckoned 36 miles." It is evident that the same mountain is alluded to in 362 MOUNTAIN SYSTEMS. cnAPTEK both these accounts ; and with the view of connecting ^^^Xi^^ it with the volcanoes discovered by Klaproth and Abel Remusat mentioned in very ancient Chinese books, as existing in the interior of Asia, to the north and south of Teen-shaw. Plains and In the succeeding section of this work on Central mountain Asia, Baron Humboldt supplies an exceedinprly interest- Fvstems. ' ' ^ 1 , ing and valuable account of the general character and relative features of the great plains and mountain systems of the continent of Asia. In no portion of his researches are the great value of his varied acquirements and ex- tended observations more apparent. Not only does he deduce from his investigations of these external features Katural laws, of our planet, new illustrations of the laws which govern its internal constitution, and produce those great com- motions of which the vast mountain chains and conca- vities are results, but he also shows the permanent influence which they have exercised on the distribution of planets and animals over the globe, on the repartition of heat throughout the different seasons, and on many of the meteorological changes which exercise so important an influence on climate, and on animal and vegetable life. Influence on Their very direction appears to have largely affected tioii'' ™'^"' the earliest migrations of the human race, and no doubt also guided the course pursued in the divergence of ani- mal life of every degree from the original Asiatic centre to which sacred history and modern science alike point as the scene of creation. Systematic In pursuing his investigations into the physical phe- UumboidL nomena of the Asiatic continent. Baron Humboldt has aimed at reducing these to their most simj)le elements. lie has accordingly, in considering the plains and moun- tain systems of Asia, regarded Europe as a part of it, setting aside what are fully as much political as physical lines of demarcation, he regards Europe as a peninsular prolongation of Asia, which from the extent of the sur- face over which the conjunction is prolonged, affords abundant opportunity for the continuation of the same ELEVATED PLATEAUS. 363 structural system throughout the whole. The same chapter singularly monotonous aspect pervades the vast area "^^^ extending fi-om Westphalia to the banks of the Obi Great plains and the Lena. The great plains are evidently the pri- mitive structures upheaved by some prolonged but uniform action extending over an extremely wide area. Upon this the chains of mountains have been superin- duced by subsequent upheavals, acting more irregularly over a more limited surface. The direction of south- west by north-east is, however, traceable alike in the principal axes of these vast elevated plateaus, and in the chains of mountains of later formation ; so that a con- nexion appears thus traceable in the sources of these Sources of successive upheavals, though productive of results so very different. The influence of the geological features resulting from these combined actions is very remarkable. The effect of these elevated plateaus, with their systems of mountain chains, is specially noticeable in relation to climate, and consequently to the distribution of the vegetable kingdom, to the nature of the animals located on their surface, and no less so to the physical and men- tal peculiarities of the large portion of the human race settled within these districts. Leaving this extremely interesting branch of the In- Relations of quiry which relates to the distribution of life in all its nio'untain various forms as exhibited in the animal and vegetable systems. kingdoms and in man himself, the observant traveller next proceeds to examine the relative connections of the area of the plains, and the area of the chains of moun- tains, and deduces from thence important conclusions in relation to the centre of gravity of that portion of our planet whicli is elevated above the present level of the sea. This subject had already excited much interest in the minds of various distinguished European scientific men, well qualified to investigate such phenomena, but possessed of very limited opportunities of comparison and observant study, when contrasted with those which Humboldt has commanded during his sojourn on the 364 AREAS OF ELEVATION. CHAPTER continents both of America and Asia. Tlie results of ^^^"^- one branch of Humboldt's elaborate investif^ations are summed up in the following comparative statement of all the observed areas of the Old and New World : — Mean Leiglits. North America, South America, All America, Asia, Europe, Area in Square Marine Leagues. 607,000 571,000 1,178,000 1,34G,000 304,000 Mean height of tlie centre of grarity in English feet 750 1132 934 1152 672 Mean depth of sea. Cnncluslnns ot Laplace. Extent of eiTor. Laplace had drawn the conclusion from his more limited opportunities of observation and comparison, that the mean depth of the sea nearly corresponded with the mean height of continents and islands above its level. Following out a naturally assumed analogy, he &ho concluded that there must be great cavities in the sea, corresponding to the lofty mountains on the surface of the earth ; though, at the same time, he conceived that, owing to the constant depositions of rivers, the denudations of currents, and the shift- ing of sands, as well as the accumulation of the exu- vial of marine animals, it seemed likely the original extreme depth of such cavities would be considerably decreased. It will be seen, however, that the investiga- tions of IIuml)oldt have led to very different conclu- sions. According to Laplace, the mean height of the continental regions of our globe above the level of the sea, should be found to be 3284 feet, whereas Humboldt assigns satisfactory reasons for concluding that it cannot greatly exceed 1020. Not only does this conclusion show Laplace's results to have been considerably up- wards of two-thirds in excess of the true phenomena of relative elevation, but it still more remarkably disagrees with his ideas as to the true arrangement and compara- tive deptbs of tbe bed of the ocean. Numerous import- ant observations have been made of late years by able MOUNTAIN SYSTEMS. 365 practical seamen on the actual depths of tlie ocean ; and chapter soundings have been made to a depth of 8540 feet ^^^'^^^- without finding a bottom ; so that, so far from the ocean Soimdinga being only a repetition, in an inverse ratio, on an infe- " ''ocean, rior scale, of relative depressions corresponding to the elevation on the earth's surface, it seems now probable that the bed of the ocean exceeds in depth, by five or six times, the elevation of the earth's heights. Manj' of the most remarkable investigations pursued Abstruse by Humboldt, as the results of his study of the pheno- yons. mena noted by him during his residence on the Asiatic continent, are of so complex and abstruse a nature, as to render it extremely difficult to reduce them to a popular form. The conclusions, however, are in all cases re- markable, and frequently of great practical value. Re- marking on the singularity and uniformity of arrange- ment discoverable in the mountain systems of Asia, our traveller points out their apparent natural subdivision in- to four systems, all running from west to east, along the greatest breadth of the surface of the land ; while these, again, are crossed by other mountain chains having a meridional direction. Aiming at the discovery of some General clearly pronounced indications of general laws, Hum- boldt arrives at the conclusion that, in a portion of the Asiatic continent most effectively surveyed by him, a predominance of auriferous and platiniferous deposits is clearly demonstrable in the latter mountain chains, or those having a meridional direction. In these, as in so many others of his most important conclusions as to general laws, Humboldt was greatly assisted by his pre- vious observation of the same class of phenomena, exhi- bited on so gigantic a scale in the New World. In the Phenomena of the New Andes, in the southern AUeghanies, and in the moun- world. tains of Brazil, all his conclusions pointed to similar results, and led to his adopting the opinion that this remarkable law was demonstrable in regard to the auri- ferous alluvions of the American continent. Hence the great value of the conclusion, put forth in the " Re- 366 ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE. Training of previous labours. Natural uptitudi. CH.\PTKR searches in Central Asia," as well as in the previous pre- ^^^ ^'^' paratory work, the " Frat^inens Asiatiques." Hurabohlt had already been trained by his previous labours, not onlj'^ as an observer and a collector of facts, but still more, as a detector of those general laws by which the numerous detached indications of such are united into a consistent and harmonious whole. We must not, however, overlook the no less important ele- ment of success in the great natural gifts by which he is so peculiarly fitted to become the scientific observer and explorer. Training, and opportunities of observation, were indispensable to him ; but without the natural apti- tude for his important self-imposed duties, no amount of preparatory trainint;, or means of observing, could have fitted him for those remarkable generalizations by which lie detected the operation of laws that govern the tem- perature of the earth, the variations in its external form and internal construction ; the disposition of its mine- ral wealth ; the distribution of its living occupants, both of the animal and vegetable kingdoms ; and the temper- ature of the atmosphere, which exercises so great an influence on most of these phenomena. CUmatoiopy- On the general subject of climatology and atmospheric jressure, Humboldt has thus expressed himself in his later work : — " As the most important fluctuations of the pressure of the atmosphere, whether occurring with horary or annual regularity, or accidentally, and then often attended by violence and danger, are, like all the other phenomena of the weather, mainly owing to the heating force of the sun's rays, it has long been sug- gested that the direction of the wind should be com- pared with the height of the barometer, alternations of temperature, and the increase and decrease of humidity. Tables of atmospheric pressure during different winds, termed barometric windroses, afford a deeper insight into the connection of meteorological phenomena. Dove has, with admirai^le sagacity, recognised, in the 'law of rota- tion' in both hemispheres, which he himself established. ATMOSPHERIC CURRENTS. 367 the cause of many important i)rocesses in the aerial chaffer ocean. The difference of temperature between tlie equa- -^^^^^^ torial and polar regions en£;enders two opposite currents Effects of in the upper strata of the atmosphere, and on the earth's '^™^®'^ "^"^ surface. Owing to the difference between the rotatory ve- locity at the poles and at the equator, the polar current is deflected eastward, and the equatorial current west- ward. The great phenomena of atmospheric pressure, the warming and cooling of the strata of air, the aqueous deposits, and even, as Dove has correctly represented, the formation and appearance of clouds, alike depend on Formation the opposition of these two currents, on the place where the upper one descends, and on the displacement of the one by the other. Thus the figures of the clouds, which form an animated part of the landscape, announce the processes at work in the upper regions of the atmos- phere, and, when the air is calm, the clouds will often present, on a bright summer sky, the ' projected image' of the radiating soil below. Where this influence of radiation is modified by the Continent.^ 1 ,. .^. J. , i.' J. 1 J • and oceanic relative position ot large continental and oceanic sur- jnfluencea. faces, as between the eastern shore of Africa and the western part of the Indian peninsula, its effects are manifested in the Indian monsoons, which change with the periodic variations in the sun's declination, and which were known to the Greek navigators under the name of Bippalos. In the knowledge of the monsoons, Monsoons. which undoubtedly dates back thousands of years amongst the inhabitants of Hindostan and China, of the eastern parts of the Arabian Gulf and of the west- ern shores of the Malayan Sea, and in the still more ancient and more general acquaintance with land and sea winds, lies concealed, as it were, the germ of that meteorological science, which is now making such rapid progress." Not the least remarkable of the indications afforded, Obsena- in late years, of the peaceful, but sure triumphs of sci- *°""- ence, is to be found in the great chain of observatories, — 308 MAGNETIC STATION'S. CHAPTER XXVI II. Astrono- mical obser- vatories. Magnetic EUtious. Anticipated results. r>istribution of liCat. the fortresses of science, — spread over so vast a portion of the known world. No longer confining itself to the European centre of civilization, observatories for watch- ing the stars, and extending the established truths relat- ing to the vast system of worlds that glitter in our mid- night sky, have been established in Africa and America ; while across the hemispheres, which includes an import- ant portion of the old continents of Asia and Europe, a long continuous chain of magnetic stations has been formed, extending from Moscow to Pekin, across the whole of Northern Asia. At these stations, also, com- plete meteorological observatories are established, so that it can hardly be doubted important truths must result from these, in relation to the great laws of nature, of which these phenomena are only the indices or results. On this Humboldt obsei-ves in his Cosmos : — " The com- parison of observations made at places lying so many hundred miles apart, will decide, for instance, whether the same east wind blows from the elevated desert of Gobi to the interior of Russia, or whether the direction of the aerial current first began in the middle of the series of the stations, by the descent of the air from the higher regions. By means of such observations we may learn, in the strictest sense, whence the wind cometh. If we only take the results on which we may depend from those places, in which the observations on tho direction of the winds have been continued more than twenty years, we shall find, that in the middle latitudes of the temperate zone, in both continents, the prevailing aerial current has a west-south-west direction. " Our insight into the distribution of Iieat in the atmos- phere has been rendered more clear since the attempt has l)een made to connect together by lines those places where the mean annual summer and winter tempera- tures have been ascertained by correct observations. The system of isothermal, isotheral, and isochimenal lines, wliich I finst brought into use in 1817, may, per- haps, if it be gradually perfected by the united eftbrts CLIMATOLOGY. 369 of investigators, serve as one of the main foundations of chapter comparative climatology. Terrestrial magnetism did not ^-^^'l- acquire a right to be regarded as a science, until partial results vi^ere graphically connected in a system of lines of equal declination, equal inclination^ and equal in- tensity.''' The subject of climatology involves an extensive and Climatology, extremely interesting class of phenomena, with their resulting laws, — trade winds, land and sea winds, ocean currents, the changes of seasons, &c. It also includes the investigation of the curious results flowing from the ex- tremely differing rates of variation of land and sea. From the last of these arises the important contrast between insular and littoral climates. "This remarkable contrast Differences has been fully developed by Leopold von Buch in all its various phenomena, ))oth with respect to its influence on vegetation and agriculture, on the transparency of the atmosphere, the radiation of the soil, and the elevation of the line of perpetual snow. In the interior of the Asiatic continent, Tobolsk, Barnaul on the Oby, and Irkutsk, have the same mean summer heat as Berlin, Munster, and Cherbourg in Normandy; the thermome- ter sometimes remaining for weeks together at 86° or 88°, Excessive whilst the mean temperature is, during the coldest month, as low as • — 0°'4 to — 4°. These continental climates have, therefore, justly been termed excessive by the great mathematician and physicist, Buffon ; and the inhabitants who live in countries having such excessive climates seem almost condemned, like the sad expur- gated souls in Dante's ' Purgatorio,' to suffer alike the torments of heat and cold. " In no portion of the earth, neither in the Canary Is- Astrachan. lands, in Spain, nor in the south of France, have I ever seen more luxuriant fruit, especially grapes, than in Astrachan, near the shores of the Caspian Sea (46^ 21'.) Although the mean annual temperature is 48°, the mean summer heat rises to 70°, as at Bordeaux, whilst not only there, but also farther to the south, as at Kislar on the 370 VAKIATIOXS OF TEMPERATUKE. Important chanjrus of temperature. CHAPTF.n mouth of the Terek, (in the latitude of Avignon and XXV IIL j{,iiiiiui) the thermometer sinks in the winter to — 13" or — 22°." No less remarkable are the important changes in temperature, animal and vegetable life, &c., produced by relative position, and deu;rees of elevation. To this, nearly as much as to tlie comparative distances from the equator and the pole, belong the great variations of tem- perature, and tlie changes in the living beings scattered through different portions of the same zone; so that it still remains an unsolved question, whether vast tracts in the interior of the African continent are arid wastes, burnt up by equatorial fires, or elevated plateaus clothed witli the rich herbages and occupied by the abundant life of a temperate clime. The Nile, it is now all but proved, rises in mountains covered with eternal snows, and in the supposed torrid centre of the African continent, very recent discoveries have brought to light a vast inland lake, or sea, the source of internal commu- nication, as well as of a more tempered clime. " The same relations," says Humboldt, " which exist between the equable littoral climate of the peninsula of Brittany, and the lower winter and higher summer temperature of the reinainder of the continent of France, are likewise manifested, in some degree, between Europe and the great continent of Asia, of which the former may be consi- dered to constitute the western peninsula. Europe owes its milder climate, in the first place, to its position with respect to Africa, whose wide extent of tropical land is favourable to the ascending current, while the equatorial region to the south of Asia is almost wholly oceanic; and next to its deeply articulated configuration, to the vicinity of the ocean on its western shores ; and, lastly, to the existence of an open sea, wliich bounds its northern confines. Europe would, therefore, become cohler if Africa were to be overflowed by the ocean; or if the mythical Atlantis were to arise and connect Europe with North America ; or if the- gulf stream were no Climates of Europe and Alrica. CHANGES OF TEMPKRATURE. 371 longer to diifuse the warminn; influence of its waters CHAPTEK into the North Sea; or if, finally, anotlicr mass of solid ^^^^L land should be upheaved by volcanic action, and inter- posed between the Scandinavian peninsula and Spitz- bergen. If we observe that in Europe the mean annual Chances of temperature falls as we proceed, from west to east, under [JJ'sain'cf ""^ the same parallel of latitude, from the Atlantic shores of r'H/'i'^^i of France through Germany, Poland, and Russia, towards the Uralian mountains, the main cause of this pheno- menon of increasing cold must be sought in the form of the continent, (which becomes less indented, and wider, and more compact, as we advance,) in the increasing distance from seas, and in the diminished influence of westerly winds. Beyond the Uralian mountains, these winds are converted into cool land-winds, blowing over extended tracts covered with ice and snow. The cold Temperature of western Siberia is to be ascribed to these relations of configuration and atmospheric currents, and not — as Hippocrates and Trogus Pompeius, and even celebrated travellers of the eighteenth centurj', conjectured — to the great elevation of the soil above the level of the sea." But it is impossible to reduce within limited space, Extent of and in a popular form, all the remarkable indications of ^"^ ^^'^ natural phenomena and great general laws, brought by the extensive researches, and singularly sagacious con- clusions of the great traveller. Humboldt treats, in another of the remarkable works Views of which we owe to his pen, of the sublime phenomena of creation, as illustrated by science. This has been de- signated " Views of Nature," and in it, also, he describes some of the most remarkable natural phenomena of the Asiatic continent. In the chapter in which he treats of steppes and deserts, he remarks — " On the mountainous range of Central Asia, between the Gold or Altai Moun- tain and the Kouen-lien, from the Chinese wall to the further side of the Celestial Mountains, and towards the Sea of Aral, over a space of several thousand miles, ex- tend, if not the highest, certainly the largest steppes in 372 ASIATIC STEPPES. CHAPTER XXVIIL Vepctation of the steppes. Eemarkatle lieiglit of flowering plants. Iiiflu.-nce on pupiilutiou. the world, I myself enjoyed an opportunity, full thirty years after my South American travels, of visiting that portion of the steppes which is occupied by Kalmuck- Kirghis tribes, and is situated between the Don, the Volga, the Caspian Sea, and the Chinese Lake of Dsai- san^^, and which consequently extends over an area of nearly 2800 geographical miles. The vegetation of the Asiatic steppes, which are sometimes hilly, and inter- spersed with pine forests, is in its groupings far more varied than that of the Llanos and the Pampas of Cara- cas and Buenos Ayres. The more beautiful portions of the plains, inhabited by Asiatic pastoral tribes, are adorned with lowly slirubs of luxuriant white-blossomed Rosacea;, Crown Imperials (Fritillarice), Cypripediee, and Tulips. As the torrid zone is in general distinguished bj' a tendency in the vegetable forms to become arbores- cent, so we also find, that some of the Asiatic steppes of the temperate zone are characterized by the remarkable height to which flowering plants attain ; as, for instance. Saussurese, and other Synanthereee ; all siliquose plants, and particularly numerous species of Astragalus. On crossing the trackless portions of the herb-covered steppes in the low carriages of the Tartars, it is necessary to stand upright in order to ascertain the direction to be pursued through the copselike and closely-crowded plants that bend under the wheels. Some of these steppes are covered with grass; others with succulent, evergreen, articulated alkaline plants; while many are radiant with the effulgence of licben-like tufts of salt, scattered irregularly over the clayey soil like newly- fallen snow. " These ^Mongolian and Tartar steppes, which are inter- sected by numerous mountain chains, separate the an- cient and long-civilized races of Thibet and Ilindostan from the rude nations of Northei-n Asia. They have also exerted a manifold influence on the changing des- tinies of mankind. They have inclined the current of population southward, impeded the intercourse of nations KACES OF CENTRAL ASIA. 373 r ore than the Himalayas, or the Snowy IMountains of chapter Sirinagur and Gorka, and placed permanent limits to the -^^^^^^ 1 rogress of civilization and refinement in a northerly direction. " History cannot, however, resrard the plains of Central ^J-^'"''' 9^ • 1,1 <• ? Central Asi.^ Asia under the character of obstructive barriers alone. Tliey have frequently proved tlie means of spreading misery and devastation over the face of the earth. Some of the pastoral tribes inhabiting this steppe, — the Mon- gols, Getse, Alani, and Usiini, — have convulsed the world. If in the course of earlier ages, the dawn of civi- lization spread like the vivifying light of the sun from east to west ; so, in subsequent ages and from the same quarter, have barbarism and rudeness threatened to over- cloud Europe. , " A tawny tribe of herdsmen of Tukiuish, i.e. Turkish The Turkish origin, the Hiongnu, dwelt in tents of skins on the ele- vated steppe of Gobi. A portion of this race had been driven southward towards the interior of Asia, after continuing for a long time formidable to the Chinese power. This dislodgement of the tribes was communi- cated uninterruptedly as far as the ancient land of the Fins, near the sources of the Ural. From thence poured forth bands of Huns, Avars, Chasars, and a numerous admixture of Asiatic races. Warlike bodies of Huns The Huna first appeared on the Volga, next in Pannonia, then on the Marne and the banks of the Po, laying waste those richly cultivated tracts, where, since the age of Antenor, man's creative art had piled monument on monument. Thus swept a pestilential breath from the Mongolian deserts over the fair Cisalpine soil, stifling the tender, long-cherished blossoms of art I" Thus remarkably are the features of nature, and the History of lavFS which science discloses, intimately blended with the race, history of the human race, on which the great Creator of the universe has bestowed, as their inheritance, the theatre of the world. It is at all times, indeed, equally instructive and remarkable to contemplate the connexion 374 STEPPES OF ASIA AND AMERICA. CHAPTER XXVIII. Value of romprclien- •=ive obser- vutiun. Steppes of Asia and America. .Sea-like pluins. wliich exists among all the sciences, and the light they aie calculated to throw on each other. They appear as a connected series of links in the great chain of natural truths, of which one seeker obtains a few detached links here, and another there, but rarely only, and at very re- mote interval, some man appears of giant mind, such as our great scientific traveller, Alexander von Humboldt, who takes in within his comprehensive grasp a connected series of many links, and discovers somewhat of the per- fect unity which ranges throughout the creation, as well as the providential government of God. In contrasting the steppes of Asia with the vast grassy plains of the New World, Humboldt gives the decided preference, in many points, both of interest and beauty, to the former. The Asiatic plains alike excel in beauty of vegetation, and in their rich and varied aspect. In his " Views of Nature," he remarks — " In a great portion of the Kirghis and Calrauck steppes which I have traversed, (extending over a space of 40 degrees of longitude,) from the Don, the Caspian Sea, and the Orenburg-Ural river Jaik, to the Obi and the Upper Irtysch, near the Lake Dsaisang, the extreme range of view is never bounded by a horizon in which the vault of heaven appears to rest on an unbroken sea-like plain, as is so frequently the case in the Llanos, Pampas, and Prairies of America. I have, indeed, never observed anything approaching to this phenomenon, excepting, ])eihaps, where I have looked only towards one quarter of the heavens, for the Asiatic plains are frequently intersected by chains of hills, or clothed with coniferous woods. The Asiatic vegetation, too, in the most fruitful pasture lands, is by no means limited to the family of the Cyperacese, but is enriched by a great variety of herbaceous plants and shrubs. In the season of spring, small snowy white and red flowering Rosacea; and Amygdalese {Jipirece, CratCB' gus, Pruiius spinosa, Amygdalus nana,) present a pleas- ing appearance. I have elsewhere spoken of the tall and luxuriant Synanthereoe, {Saussurea amara, S. salsa, ALT STEPPES. 3/0 Artemisioe, and Centaurea;^ and of leguminous plants, chapter (speciesof the Astralagus, Cytisus, and Caragana.) Crown -^^vill. Imperials {Fritillaria riUhenica and F. meleagroides,) C^^pripedise and tulips gladden the eye with their varied and hright hues. " A contrast is presented to this charming vegetation Bambinnki of the Asiatic plains by the dreary Salt Steppes, especially '' '^''^'^' by that portion of the Barabinski Steppe which lies at the base of the Altai Mountains, between Barnaul and the Serpent Mountain, and by the country to the east of the Caspian, Here the social Chenopodice, species of Salsola, Atriplex, Salicorniae, and Halimocnemis crassifolia^ cover the clayey soil with patches of verdure. Among the five hundred phanerogamic species which Claus and Gobel Plants peou- collected on the Steppes, Synantherese, Chenopodise, and s'teppes. ' Cruciferse, were more numerous than the grasses ; the latter constituting only one-eleventh of the whole, and the two former one-seventh and one-ninth. In Germany, owing to the alternation of hills and plains, the Gluma- ceee (comprising the Graminese, Cyperacese, and Junca- cese,) constitute one-seventh, the Synantherese (Compo- sita;) one-eighth, and the Cruciferse one-eigliteenth of all the German Phanerogamic species. In the most northern part of the flat land of Siberia, the extreme limit of tree Siberia. and shrub vegetation {Coniferce and Amentacece) is, ac- cording to Admiral Wrangell's fine map, 67° 15' north lat., in the districts contiguous to Behring's Straits, while more to the west, towards the banks of the Lena, it is 71°, which is the parallel of the North Cape of Lapland. The plains bordering on the Polar Sea are the domain of Plains bor- Cryptogamic plants. They are called Tundra (Tuntur po^a"^sea. in Finnish,) and are vast swampy districts, covered partly with a thick mantle of Sj^hagnum palustre and other Liverworts, and partly with a dry snowy-white carpet of Cenomyce rangiferina (Reindeer-moss,) Stereocaulon pas- chale, and other lichens. * These Tundraj' says Admiral Wrangell, in his perilous expedition to the Islands of New Siberia, so rich in fossil wood, 'accompanied me to 376 ASIATIC MOUNTAIN SYSTEMS. CnAPTEn xxvni. Dreary regions. Central mountain systems uf Asia. the extvemest Arctic coast. Their soil is composed of earth tliat has been fiozen for thousands of years. In the dreary uniformity of the landscape, and surrounded by reindeer, the eye of the traveller rests with pleasure on the smallest patch of green turf that shows itself on a moist spot.' " Returning from the consideration of this portion of the great general laws of the universe, so efficiently explored, Humboldt next passes to the detailed consideration of the great mountain systems of Central Asia, some of the phenomena observed in which have already been referred to. The middle and internal part of Asia, which forms neither an immense aggregate of hills nor a continuous platform, is intersected from east to west by four great systems of mountains, which have exercised a decided influence upon the movements of nations. These sys- l.imits of tiie tems are : — 1. The Altaic, which is terminated to the ^'^ ■ west by the mountains of the Kirghiz; 2. Thian Chan ; 3. Kwan-lun ; and, 4. The Himalaya chain. Between the Altaic range and Thian Chan are Zungari'i, and the basin of the Ele ; between Thian Chan and Kwan-lun, Little or Upper Bucharia, or Cashgar, Yarkand, Khoten, or Yu-thian, the great desert, Toorfan, Khamil, and Tangout, or the Northern Tangout of the Chinese, which must not be confounded with Thibet or Sefan. Lastly between Kwan-lun and the Himalaya are East- ern and Western Thihit, in which are Lassa and Ladak. Weie the three elevated plains situated between the Altai, Thian Chan, Kwan-lun, and the Himalaya, to be indicated by the position of three Alpine lakes, we might select for this purpose those of Balkachi, Lop, and Tengri, which correspond to the plains of Zunguria, Tangout, and Thibet. The mountain system of the Altai surrounds the sources of the Irtisch and Jenisei or Rem. To the east it takes the name of Tangnou ; between the lakes Kos- sogol and Baikal, that of the Sayanian Mountains ; be- Altai sj-atcin. ALTAIC MOUNTAINS. 377 yond this it takes the name of Upper Kentai, and the CiiAPTEit Davourian Mountains ; and, lastly, to the north-east it ' connects itself with the Jablonnoikhrebet chain, Khing- khan, and the Aldan Mountains, which advance along the Sea of Ochotzk. The mean latitude of its prolongation, Latitude of from east to west, is between 50' and 51° 30'. The Altaic range, properly so called, scarcely occupies seven degrees of longitude ; but the northern part of the mountains, sur- rounding the great mass of elevated land in the interior of Asia, and occupying the space comprised between 48° and 51°, is considered as belonging to this system, be- cause simple names are more easily retained by the memory, and because that of Altai is more known to Europeans by its great metallic richness, which amounts annually to 45,907 troy pounds of silver, and 1246 troy pounds of gold. A recent distinguished scientific reviewer furnishes Metalliferona PI 111 ii-i- treasures. this summary ot the remarkable metalhierous treasures of the Altaic Mountains, much of wliich, however, it will be seen is already exhausted : — " The Altai, properly so called, namely, the Altai Kolyvan of Russian geogra- phers, forms a mass of mountains which advances like a vast promontory to the western extremity of the chains which constitute the Altai system. Here were found the metallic eruptions, the working of which, between 1736 and 1745, excited such notice. These mines, how- ^ever, no longer exist ; but at the small town of Kolyva, we find the great establishment for the cutting and po- lishing of the pure granites, jaspers, and porphyries of the Altai. Near this establishment Nekita Demidoflf erected, in 1725. his celebrated copper- works, which, ^.^pp^'^" from the want of fuel, and the necessity of enlarging them for the silver ores afterwards discovered, were transplanted to the confluence of the Barnaoulka and the Obi, where the city of Barnaoul forms the centre of these magnificent inetallurgic establishments. The position of the rich mines of Schlangenberg, Zyriain- ovsk, Riddersk, and Kroukovsk, shows that the argen- 378 ELEMEXTS OF DIRECTION. CHATTF.R X-WIII. Area of tlie Altai Koly- vau. Cuhninatlnj points. Direction of strata. riements of direction. tiferous region forms only the third part of the Altai, properly so called. The area of the Altai Kolyvan is ahout 4400 square leagues, nearly equal to that of England. The direction of its mean axis is from west to east, and, with the exception of its eastern side, it is surrounded by low regions, — a peculiarity the more re- markable, that, at a distance of twenty-five leagues, the Alps of Tigratzki and the Korgou rise rapidly to 7000 feet, and at the distance of fifty or sixty leagues, the Alps of Bieloukha rise to the height of 10,300 feet above the sea. The culminating points of this system lie in the second meridional range, a little to the east of the sources of the Ouimon, where, between the snowy Alps of Katunia and the Tchouya, the majestic peak of Bie- loukha rises to the height of 10,300 feet. This inacces- sible mountain has two horns entirely covered with snow, the westernmost being the highest. A glacier similar to those in Switzerland, and terminated by huge and ancient moraines, gives birth to the river Katunia. The two next highest summits are the Alas-tou and the Irbis-tou, thirty or forty leagues farther to the east. After stating that in the Altai the mean direction of the schistoze strata is not, as in the Ural Mountains, parallel to the mean direction of the whole chain, our author discusses this curious subject with his usual perspicuity and learn- ing, and points out the necessity of distinguishing, what have been so often confounded, the various elements of direction, ^we in number, which exist in every mountain chain. These elements are — " 1. The longitudinal axis of the entire chain, or of the upheaved mass. "2. The line of ridge passing through its highest points. " 3. The line which follows the fissures of stratification. "4. The watershed, or the line which divides the waters. " 6. The line which separates, in horizontal sections, two contiguous formations ; for example, the granite GRANITIC PHENOMENA, 379 of the Silurian schists, the porphyries, and the red CHAPTER grits." * '^;^"- The Altaic Mountains are not a chain forming the boundary of a country like the Himalaya, which limit Elevation of the elevated plain of Thibet, and have a rapid slope only ^ "'"^ on the side next to India, which is lower. The plains ic the neighbourhood of the lake Balkachi have not an elevation of more than 1920 feet aI)ove the sea. Between the meridians of Oust-Kamenogorsk and Prolonpation Seniipolatinsk the Altaic system is prolonged, from east "vstem '""^ to west, under the parallels of 49 and 50 degrees by a chain of low mountains over an extent of 736 miles, as far as the steppe of the Kirghiz. This ridge has been elevated through a fissure which forms the line of sepa- ration of the streams of the Sara-sou and Irtisch, and which regularly follows the same direction over an ex- tent of 16 degrees of longitude. It consists of stratified granites not intermixed with gneiss, and of greenstone, porphyry, jasper, and transition-limestone, in which there occur various metallic substances. Humboldt observes when referring to the granitic phenomena cf this regian : — " In no part of the two hemispheres have I seen rocks Granitic which have more the character of eruption or effusion, i' ^'-"""i^°^- than the granites which surround the mass of the Altai. These insulated I'ocks rise in the steppe at the foot of the Alpine Mountains, in the most picturesque forms. In descending from the steppe of Platovsk to the rocky banks of Lake Kolyvan, we are surprised by the granitic eruptions which, over several square leagues, rise from a perfectly smooth soil. The rocks are sometimes in a row, sometimes dispersed over the plains, affecting the most bizarre forms of narrow walls and little towers or poly- gons. The smallest masses resemble tribunes, chairs, or funereal monuments. But what gives so singular an as- pect to this country, is the contrast in the height and volume of these granitic elevations. Some of them, such as the Vyssohaya Gora, attain a lieight of 400 or 500 feet, while others are only seven or eight feet high, and 380 SINGULAR GRANITIC FORMS. CHAPTER XXVIII. Forms of granite rocks. Ural cliain. Jasper porphyries. remind us of the small volcanic elevations which cover the ]\Ial])ays in South America. Other form.s, more extraordinary still, distinguish the granite roc'ks on the southein declivity of the Altai. These have either the shape of hells or flattened hemispheres, or cones ter- minated often h^' lateral effusions, in the form of low and lengthened walls, as if they had flowed in a melted state from a crevice. I have been particularly struck wit4i the form of a granite hill in the middle of a plain two versts from Bouklitarminsk. It resembles, on a large scale, the pyramid of Caius Cestius, near the Pro- testant burying-gruund at Rome. At Oustkamenogorsk, we saw, rising towards the S.S.E., at the distance of eighty versts, in the middle of the steppe beyond the Irtyclie, a mountain like a fortress flanked with small towers. It got the name of the mountain of the Con- vent fi'om its having the form of a building in ruins." This low range does not reach the southern extremity of the Ural, a cliain which, like the Andes, presents a long wall running north and south, with metallic mines on its eastern slope, but terminates abruptly in the me- ridian of Sverinogovloskoi. One of these is called the Round jNIountain, from its remarkable rounded form, and another the Ravennaja Sopka, or, Rhubarb Mountain. The latter is celebrated for its rich jasper porphyries. Tile imperial palaces of St. Petersburg are furnished with candelabra formed of this beautiful material nearly nine feet high ; and a magnificent vase of the same pre- cious material eight and a half feet in diameter, and four feet five inches deep. Tlie block of jasper out of which this dish was cut weighed 28,000 pounds, and, in 1818, was transported in eight days, and l.y 400 workmen, across the roughest mountains, to the works at Koly- vansk. It required three years for cutting the block and i>olishing the vessel. Notwithstanding the moderate wages of the workmen, it cost the establishment 35,000 francs, without reckoning the expense of carriage to St. Petersburg, a distance of 700 leagues. REGION OF LAKES. 381 Here commences a remarkable region of lakes, com- cilAPTKR prising the group of Balek-koul (lat, 51° 30'), and that -"^VIll. of Koumkoul (lat. 49° 45'), indicating an ancient com- munication of a mass of water with the Lake Ak-sakal, Lakes. which receives the Tourgai and the Kamichloi Irgliiz, as well as with the Lake Aral ; and which would seem from Chinese accounts to have formed part of a great plain extending to the borders of the Frozen Sea. The mean latitude of the system of the Thian Chan System of chain is the 42d degree. Its highest summit is perhaps '''^" '^"^ the mass of mountains covered with perpetual snow, and celebrated under the name of Bokhda-oola, from which Pallas gave the designation of Bogdo to the Avhole chain. From Bokhda-oola and Khatoun-bokhda, the Thian Chan, or Celestial Mountains, run eastward towards Barkoul, where they are suddenly lowered so as to fall to the level of the elevated desert, called the great Gobi or Shamo, which extends from Koua-tcheou, a Chinese town, to the sources of the Argoun. This forms, in reality, the Great moun great mountain chain of Central Asia. It extends almost central Asia uninterruptedly from east to west, between the latitudes of 40i^° and 43°, and is crossed by the meridional chain of Bolor, in east longitude 72° and latitude 401°. These two mountain chains cross each other nearly at right angles, and mark the results of two great epochs of up- heaval. They are, accordingl}', characterized by very diverse mineral characteristics, into the consideration of which the scientific traveller has entered with great acuteness and considerable minuteness of detail. If we now return to Bokhda-oola, we find the western prolongation of these mountains stretching to Goudja and Koutche, then between Lake Temourtou and Aksou to the north of Cashgar, and running towards Samarcand. The country comprehended between the Altaic chain and the Thian Chan mountains is shut up to the east, beyond the meridian of Pe-king, by the Khingkhan-oola, a lofty ridge, which runs from south-west to north-east ; but to the west it is entirely open. 382 MOUNTAINS OF CHINA. CHAPTER JlXVIII. F.olor. Chinese mouutuins. Western piolonffaiion of the Thiau Cliau. The case is very different with the country limited by the second and third systems, the Tliiau Chan and Kwan- lun ranges ; it being closed to tlie west by a transverse ridge, whicli runs north and south, under the name of Bolor or Beloot-taugh. This chain separates Little Bu- charia from Great Bucharia, the country of Cashgar, Badakshan, and Upper Djilioun. Its southern part, wliich is connected with the Kwan-lun system, forms a part of the Tsungling of the Chinese. To the north it joins the chain which passes to the north-west of Cash- gar. Between Khokand, Bervagel, and Hissar, conse- quently between the still unknown sources of the Sihon and Amou-deria, the Thian Chan rises before lowering again in the Kanat of Bochara, and presents a group of high mountains, several of whicli are covered with snow even in summer. More to the east it is less elevated. The road from Semipolatinsk to Cashgar passes to the east of Lake Balkachi and to the/vvest of Lake Issi-koul, and crosses the Narim, a tributary of the Sihon. At the dis- tance of G94 miles from the Nairn to the south it passes over the Rovat, which has a large cave, and is the highest point before arriving at the Chinese post to the south of the Aksou, the village of Artuche, and Cashgar. This city, which is built on the banks of the Ara-tunien, has 15,000 houses and 80,000 inhabitants, although it is smaller than Samarcand. Tile western prolongation of the Thiah Chan, or the Mouz-taugh, is deserving of a particular examination. At the point where the Bolor or Beloot-taugh joins the Mouz-taugh at right angles, the latter continues to run without interruption from east to west, under the name of Asferali-taugh, to the south of the Sihon, towards Kodjend and Ourat-eppeh in Ferganah. This chain of Asferah, whicli is covered with perpetual snow, sepa- rates the sources of the Sihon (Jaxartes) from tiiose of the Amou (Oxus). It turns to the soutli-west nearly in the meridian of Kodjend, and in this direction is named, till it approaches Samarcand, Ak-taugh, or Al- KWAN-LUX CHAIN, 383 Botom. Move to the west, on the fertile hanks of the chapteh Kohik, commences the vast depression of ground com- •'^^•"^^^ prising Great Buciiaria and the country of Mavar-ul- Nahar ; but beyond the Caspian Sea, nearly in the same latitude and in the same direction as the Tliian Chan range, is seen the Caucasus with its porphyries and Tlie trachytes. It may therefore be considered as a continu- ^""*^''^^* ation of the fissure upon which the Thian Chan is raised in the east, just as, to the west of the great mass of mountains of Azerbijan and Armenia, Mount Taurus is a continuation of the action of the fissure of the Hima- laya and Hindoo-Coosh mountains. The Kwan-lun or Koul-koun chain is between Khoten, Kwan-ltm the mountains of Khoukhou-noor and Eastern Thibet, '^^'^^ and the country named Katshi. It commences to the west at the Tsung-ling mountains. It is connected with the transverse chain of Bolor, as observed above, and, ac- cording to the Chinese books, forms its southern part. It crosses the Gobi between the meridians of Lake Gachoun, in longitude 86i, and the eastern extremity of Bassa- doungramoola, in longitude 92°. Humbolt remarks, that at a part of Gobi which forms the eastern border ot the desert of Makhai there is in the prolongation of this mountain chain a manifest perturbation, caused either by the upheaval of the plateau, or, as is perhaps more pro- bable, by the great mass of the snowy mountains of Khoukhou-noor. This corner of the globe, between Mineral Little Thibet and the Badakshan, is very little known, ''"^■**' although it is rich in rubies, lapis lazuli, and mineral turquois, and in various localities works ai"e established for the recovery of the mineral wealth with which the district abounds. Lieutenant John Wood, an enterpris- ing English traveller, succeeded in surmounting the numerous obstacles which had impeded previous research, and in the spring of 1838, reached the source of the Source of the river Oxus. The natural phenomena with which he was ^"^^ there surrounded are very remarkable. At the immense elevation attained by him, he remarks : " We stood, to 384 SOURCE OF THE OXUS. CHAPTER use a native expression, upon the Bam-i-duniah or Roof •^^^^'^' of the world, while before us lay stretched a noble but L:Uve Sir i- frozen sheet of water, (Lake Sir-i-kol,) from whose west- ern end issued the infant river of the Oxus. This fine lake lies in the form of a crescent, about fourteen miles long from east to west, by an average breadth of one mile. On three sides it is bordered by swelling hills, about 500 feet high, while along its southern bank they rise into mountains 3500 feet above the lake, or 19,000 above the sea, and covered with perpetual snow, from which never- failing source the lake is supplied." Elevated Few more remarkable points of elevation could re- Oxu3*^ " ' "^ P^y the toil of the enterprising traveller than this ele- vated source of the river Oxus. The Lake Sir-i-kol, from whence it flows, is situated some 15,600 feet above the level of the sea, and from the corresponding heights which surround it, some of the principal rivers of Asia take their rise. Lieutenant Wood has thus described one of tbe most important works in this district, by means of which some portion of its great mineral wealth is ren- Eiiby mines, dered available. "The ruby mines are within twenty miles of Ishkashm, in a district called Gharan, which signifies caves or mines, and on the riglit bank of the river Oxus. They face the stream, and their entrance is said to be 1 200 feet above its level. The formation of the mountain is either red sandstone or limestone, largely impregnated with magnesia. The mines are easily worked, the operation being more like digging a hole in sand than quarrying rocks. Tbe galleries are described as being numerous, and running directly in from the Mode of river. Wherever a seam of whitish blotch is discovered, ""'*'"" the miners set to work, and when a ruby is found, it is always encased in a round nodule of considerable size. The mines have not been worked since Badakhshan fell into the hands of the Kunduz chief, who, irritated, it is sup- posed, at the small jirofit they yielded, marclied the inhabi- tants of the district, then numbering about 500 families, to Kunduz, and disposed of them in the slave market." HIMALAYA SYSTEM. 385 According to the most recent accounts, tlie plain of cnAPTER Khorasan, which runs in the direction of Herat, and ^^^^^^- limits the Hindoo-kho to the north, appears to be rather a continuation of the Tsung-ling, or the Mountains of The TsunR- Onions, as tliis chain is somewhat quaintly distinguished, ''""■ and of the whole system of Kwan-lun to the west, than a prolongation of the Himalayas as has been commonly supposed. From the Tsung-ling the Kwan-lun, or Koul- koun range, runs from west to east towards the sources of the Hoang-ho or Yellow River, and penetrates with its snowy summits into Slien-see, a province of China. Nearly in the meridian of these springs rises the great mass of mountains on the lake Khoukhou-noor, resting Mountains to the north upon the snowy chain of the Nan-shan or Khoukhou- Ki-leen-shan, which also runs from west to east. Be- "oor. tween Nan-shan and Thian Chan, the heights of Tangout limit the margin of the upper desert of Cobi or Shamo, which is prolonged from south-west to north-east. The latitude of the central part of the Kwan-lung range is 35° 30'. The Himalaya system separates the valleys of Cash- Himalaya mere and Nepaul from Bootan and Thibet. To the west ^^ ^"'' it rises in the mountain Javaher to an elevation of 25,746 feet, and to the east in Dhwalagiri to 27,737 feet above the level of the sea. Its general direction is from north- west to south-east, and thus it is not at all parallel to the Kwan-lun range, to which it approaches so near in the meridian of Attok and Jellalabad that they seem to form the same mass of mountains. Following the Ha- Eastern malaya range eastward, we find it bordering Assam on the north, containing the sources of tlie Brahmapoutra, passing through the northern part of Ava, and penetrat- ing into Yun-nan, a province of China, to the west of Yong-tchang. It there exhibits pointed and snow-clad summits. It bends abruptly to the north-east, on the confines of Hou-quang, Kiang-see, and Fo-kien, and ad- vances its snowy peaks towards the ocean ; the island of Formosa, the mountains of which are in like manner 386 VOLCANIC ACTION. Continuous chain of mountains. Elevation of the mountain chains. CITAPTER covered during the greater part of summer, being its ter- " ' ■ mination. Tlius we may follow the Himalaya system as a continuous chain from the Eastern Ocean, through Hindoo-kho, across Candahar and Khorasan, to beyond the Caspian Sea in Azerbijan, along an extent of 73 de- grees, or half the length of the Andes. The western extremity, which is volcanic (like the eastern part), loses its character of a chain in the moimtains of Armenia, which are connected with Sangalou, Bingheul, and Kach- mirdaugh, in the pashalic of Erzeroum. The mean di- rection of the system is north 55° west. These mountain chains, with their various ramifica- tions and intervening platforms and valleys, afford evi- dence to our author of revolutions anciently undergone by the crust of the globe ; these having been elevated by matter thrust up in the line of enormous cracks and fissures. The great depression of Central Asia, spoken of above, he considers as having been caused by the same action. Analogous to the Caspian Sea and other cavities in this district, are the lakes formed in Europe at the foot of the Alps, and which also owe their origin to a sinking of the ground. It is chiefly in the extent of this depres- sion of Central Asia, and consequently in the space where the resistance was least, that we find traces of volcanic actions. On this subject of volcanic action, and the upheaval and depression of vast areas, much new and very impor- tant light has recently been brought to bear from an entirely novel source. Turning from the phenomena of our own planet, philosophers have directed their improved telescopes to the moon, and by an intelligent analj'ses of the peculiar features which it exhibits have been able largely to add to our knowledge of the sources of many of the most remarkal)]e physical characteristics of our own planet. At the meeting of the British Association, held at Edinlnu'gh in 1850, Mr Nasmyth made a most interesting communication on the lunar surface. His attention, he said, had been directed for some time to Volcanic action. LUNAR PHENOMENA. 387 the remarkable appearances on the surface of the moon, chapter in connexion with the Hght they seemed to throw on tiio -^•'^^'^'^- study of geology, and he had procured some powerful Application telescopes in order to observe them more particularly, in "^ ^^^'^^°v^ addition to liiniself constructing one of great power, by the aid of which many of his most valuable observations have been made. He exhibited a variety of drawings which have been taken by himself from what he observed. The largest was a map, on a great scale, of the entire lunar surface, on which was strikingly depicted the pe- culiar nature of its surface, crowded with craterlike cups, in some places so close as to overlie each other, and as it were elbow each other out of the way. Other views in- cluded various portions of the surface which had been se- lected for more minute study. These representations have concinsiona all been drawn from observations made in the most fa- established vourable circumstances, and with great care, the result of which is, that the conclusion is even stronger than in the case of the earth, that it was once wholly in a molten condition. The central cones seen in three-fourths of the lunar mountains show plainly that the formation observed is volcanic. These cones in the case of terres- trial volcanoes are the result of the expiring action of the volcano, after the eruptive energy has ceased to be able to project the molten mass over the sides of the crater, and the same thing has taken place in the moon. Many of its volcanoes are 60 or 70 miles across the SizcoflunaT crater — many times larger than those on the earth. But " "'^ it is just because it is a very small body that it has very large volcanoes. The force of gravitation is much less at the moon, and hence the ejective force is able to expel greater masses, and to act more uninterruptedly. The crater of Etna is but a spot compared with some of those in the moon. The proportional size of these lunar craters may indeed be described as bearing in some degree an inverse ratio to the relative size of the earth and moon. The smallness of the moon, its mass being to that of the earth as 1 to 64, and its surface as 1 to 16, is also 388 CRATEES AND STRIAE. CIIAPTE X-WIII Exi.l:in:iti of pheno- aiena. Trnchylic domca. Anoieist R the cause of the multitude as well as of the mau;nitu(le of these volcanoes. As tlie outer crust cooleJ, tlie moon n would become, so to speak, hide-bound, and, by the con- traction of the surface upon the liquid mass beneath, the latter would be spurted out in every direction, while the foi'mer would also exliibit those radiating striae or cracks which are so very marked a feature in its appearance. Some of these cracks are upwards of 700 miles long. In il- lustration of the mode in which it is probable this appear- ance was produced in the moon, Mr. Naysniith showed portions of glass globes, which, after being filled with hot water, and then hermetically sealed, were broken by the application of cold to the outside. Besides the craters and tliese striae, there are also many trachytic domes, where the force of ejtction has not been sufficiently great to form craters ; and lastly, there are great ranges of hills, the formation of which appears to have taken place in this way : — as contraction goes on, the liquid nucleus separates itself from the solid crust ; the latter is bent inwai-ds by the force of gravitation, and a cracking and crushing action takes place, with farther eruptions in mountain crests ; or two adjacent surfaces are raised edge on edge as in fields of ice. A shrivelled apple maj' be referred to as affording a familiar illustration of this ap- peai'ance and its cause. Several volcanoes are described by ancient Chinese writers, wlio also mention a variety of volcanic products, sucli as sal ammoniac and sulphur, which form articles of commerce. " We thus know," says Humboldt, " in the interior of Asia, a volcanic territorj-, the surface of which is u])\vards of 2500 square geographical miles, and wliicli is from 1400 to 1800 miles distant from the sea. It fills the half of the longitudinal valley situated between the first and second system of mountains. The jirincipal seat of volcanic action appears to be in the Thian Chan. Perhaps the colossal Bokhda-oola is a trachytic formation like Chimborazo." On both sides of the Thian Chan violent earthquakes occur. The city of ILLUSTKATXONS OF TERRESTRIAL PHENOMENA. 389 Aksou was entirely destroyed at the commencement of chapter the eighteenth century by a commotion of this nature. >^xviiL In Eastern Siberia, the centre of the circle of shocks ap- Volcanic pears to be at Irkutzk, and in the deep basin of the sI^^l^"!.'" Baikal lake, in the vicinity of which volcanic products are observed. But this point of the Altaic range is the extreme limit of these phenomena, no earthquakes hav- ing been experienced farther to the west, in the plains of Siberia, between the Altaic and Uralian ranges, or in any part of the latter. It at once satisfies all the requirements of our reason CoiTcspon and observation, to refer the origin of the great areas of fL^,".estri:a upheaval or depression to the same operations as are now and lunar ,. ,1- i-i c J phenomena, discoverable m an earner stage or progress, and upon a large scale, in the attendant lunar satellite of our own planet. Thus does extended observation, and legitimate scientific induction, bring apparently the most diverse and unconnected phenomena to bear upon each other, and prove a remarkable and uninterrupted harmony to pre- vail throughout systems which, to the superficial obser- ver, had seemed to possess no single feature in common. Viewed in the light of this new theory, many terres- trial phenomena will now be simplified and reduced to rule, which formerly were of difficult solution, if not apparently altogether lawless and incomprehensible ; and thus, even the intelligent observations and comprehen- sive deductions of Humboldt are illuminated by a new light, of which he was unaware. The volcanic territory of Bichbalik is situated to the Volcanic east of this great depression of Asia, for which it is con- uichbaiiii. ceived the singularly interesting speculations of Mr. Nasmyth are so entirely fitted to account. To the south and west of the same internal basin we find two cones in activity, — Demawutid, which is visible from Teheran, and Seiban of Ararat, which is covered with vitreous lavas. On both sides of the isthmus, between the Cas- pian and the Black Sea, springs of naphtha and mud- eruptions are numerous. 2 A 390 UEAL MOUNTAINS. CHAPTER Pursuing our investigations of tlie great features of K.vuiL |.|jg Asiatic continent where it passes into that of Europe, if we proceed from tlie Caucasian isthmus to the noi'th and north-west, we arrive at the territory of the great Soutiieni horizontal and tertiary deposites of Southern Russia and Pofaiii''"^ Poland. These are situated on the western margin of the great Asiatic area of depression. Here we find igne- ous rooks piercing the red sandstone of Jekaterinoslav, together with asphaltum, and springs impregnated with sulphurous gases. Central A. phenomenon so great as that of the central depres- depression of gj^j^ ^f ^gia, which resemhles the circular valleys of the moon, could have been produced only b}' such a very powerful cause acting in the interior of the earth, as has been assumed to account for the corresponding features visible on the moon's surface. This cause, while form- ing the crust of the globe by sudden raisings and sink- ings, probably filled with metallic substances the fissures of the Uralian and Altaic chains, injecting into them, from the liquid central regions, these rich veins of ores, and mineral treasures, which now repay the labours of the miner ; while they supply to the philosopher pecu- liar elements by which to classify the various ranges of upheaval, and even to assign a relative chronology to the several mountain chains that range across the continent of Asia, and are continued to the west of Europe. Ural inoun The great chain of the Ural mountains does not pro- tain system, pej.jy belong to the mountain systems of Central Asia, being itself the boundary line which separates the con- tinents of Asia and Europe, and having thus an Asiatic and a European slojie, the mineral and geological cha- racteristics of which differ in many important points. This subject has been illustrated at great lengtli, by Sir Roderick Impey Murchison, aided by M. De Verneuil and Count Alexander Von Keyserling, in their valuable work on the geology of Russia in Europe, and the Ural moun- tains. In this work, consideral)le advance is made on the previous observations of Humboldt. The great THE URAL MOUNTAINS. 391 meridional chain of the Ural mountains extends over chapter 18' of latitude, from the Arctic Ocean on the north, ac- ^^^"- cording to Humboldt, to the higher grounds between the Aral and the Caspian Sea. The Ural mountains Minerals anJ are composed of crystalline and slaty rocks, abounding °^'^ in minerals and metallic ores. Numerous outbursts of eruptive rocks have broken up, and overflowed the ear- lier strata, rendering their exact separation and orderly classification extremely difficult. In the remarkable series of geological changes which have produced these results, all the richest metalliferous ores have been pro- duced on the Asiatic flank, where they are found in veins, masses, or irregular deposits. This region accord- ingly supplied, for a considerable period, one of the chief sources of economic mineral wealth, and is still wrought for this purpose with considerable success. In accounting for some of the remarkable geological Geoloricai phenomena discoverable in the Ural mountains, the ^ enumena. authors of the Geology of Russia and the Ural Moun- tains remark : — " The low region of Siberia, into which these folds or corrugations pass, is to a great extent occupied by granitic rocks. With very limited excep- tions, true gi-anites seem never to enter into the higher portions of the Ural, the culminating points of which Character- generally consist of altered palseozoic strata, usually in the state of quartzose and chioritic rocks, sometimes as mica schists, with saccharoid marble, whilst promonto- ries of greenstone, porphyry, and syenite, indenting and breaking in, as it were, upon the central and sub-crystal- line ridge, often constitute the highest peaks. " Notwithstanding, however, the striking contrast which Successive is presented by the opposite sides of the Ural chain, we convinced ourselves that, in the early periods, there had taken place, all over this region, and probably extending far into Siberia, a deposition of Silurian, Devonian, and Carboniferous strata, which, by the linear outbursts of granitic rocks on some lines, and of porphyries and green- stones on others, in lines from N. to E., was thrown up 392 GEOLOGICAL PHENOMENA. CHAPTER XXVI a. IntTudpil ipieous rocks. into, and formed, this chain anterior to the accumula- tion of the Permian deposits. As the latter have not been observed on its eastern flank, we may be permitted to surmise, that in those early periods a large portion of Siberia adjacent to the Ural was also raised from beneath the sea, and put without the reach of these waters, un- der which the upper sands and their associated marine animals were accumulated." The geological phenomena of the great Ural system are of the most remarkable description. The strata ap- pear, in some cases, highlj' metamorphosed by the subse- quent action of heat ; in other cases, they ai'e dislocated and intermingled with intrusive igneous rocks, broken up, and thrown about in the most irregular manner, and even in some remarkable cases, completely inverted. It is ob- vious, indeed, that no single theory will sufRce to account for all the geological changes discoverable by the careful scientific observer in these extensive mountain systems. Some of the phenomena are the result of a slow, conti- nuous element of change, operating over a very long I^eriod of time ; while others can only be ascribed to some vast and terrible natural convulsion, in which the internal fountains of molten material have forced their way through the consolidated crust of the earth, break- ing up and dislocating its strata, crushing it together like ice flows, into the mountain ranges which remain extended through many degrees, and injecting and over- flowing the whole with igneous and metalliferous forma- tions. It is during some of the latest changes of geolo- Formatinn oi gical periods that the valuable metalliferous deposits are dlS'i^"""' supposed to have been formed. "That the Uralian chain," the authors of the Geology of the Ural Moun- tains remark, " became auriferous during the most recent disturbances liy which it was affected, and that this took i)lace when its highest peaks were thrown up, when its present water-shed was established, and when the .syenitic granites, and other comparatively recent igneous rocks were erupted along its western slopes. Various sources of change. FOSSIL MAMMALIA. 393 " The only detritus in which grains and portions of CHAPTEB gold and platinum have been found, is, in truth, that in ^^^Vlll. which remains of mammoths and rhinoceroses have also been detected ; and coupling this last fact with the omission of all auriferous veins in the more ancient allu- Auriferous via of the chain, there can be no doubt that in this ^''^"^^■ region gold was one of the most recent mineral produc- tions anterior to the historic era. The very nature and form of the ground in which the auriferous debris have been heaped up, shows, that unlike the ancient or Per- mian detritus; this took up its position when the pre- sent configuration had, to a great extent, been brought about, and when valleys existed, in which large quadru- peds, closely allied to those which now live among us, were entombed. We believe, then, that before the sur- face assumed its present outline, the tract we now call the Ural mountains was a low ridge, extending from north to south, and forming the western shore of a con- tinent on which such animals lived and died during long ages." Into the very interesting inquiries relating to the Jiammoth habitat of the mammoth, and the valuable discussions by which men of science have sought to clear up the mystery pertaining to this extinct species, it is not necessary to enter at any very great length. In 1829, the valuable gold mines of Peshanka, near Bogoslofsk, were discovered, and have since been wrought with great success. In the same auriferous district, the bones of Ossiferous the mammoth, the rhinoceros, and boss urus, have been found in great abundance in the clay which overlies the gravel, and also in the gold detritus. Cuvier, and other distinguished men of science, who have investigated this subject, have advocated the opinion that the mammoth was the native of a warm climate, and became extinct by some sudden change, which entirely altered the temperature of the regions of their habitat, preserving them therebj', in some cases embedded in masses of ice, in a perfect and entire state. This idea is now, however, 304 PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. CHAPTER XXVI 1 1. Importaiit collatera; points. Indications of mountain chains. Interest of physical geof;rapliy. very generally abandoned ; and the careful investiga- tions, both of zoologists and geologists, leaves little room to doubt that the gigantic mammoth was a native of the frozen north, along with the rein-deer and other inhabitants of the arctic regions. Numerous important collateral points, relating to the upheaval of land, volcanic action, marine influences, gaseous and boiling springs, mud volcanoes, and other remarkable natural phenomena, are brought under re- view by the great traveller, in the course of his valuable labours. The subject is not one calculated for popular readers, nor is it treated as such. Nevertheless, like all researches into the mysterious laws of the universe, it abounds in disclosures which cannot fail to attract the inquiring mind. The great mountain chains which have heretofore been regarded chiefly a.s the boundaries of kingdoms, or the natural demarcations of continents, are reviewed by Humboldt as the indices of those great changes by which the earth has been adapted for its present purposes, and made meet for the habitation of man. It is thus that the grasp of a profound intellect traces back the operations of nature to their source, and reveals to us the method by which the Creator works out his plans. By such means the study of physical geography has acquired an interest equal to that which the wondrous revelations of the astronomer, and the profound speculations of the geologist, had already thrown over these kindred sciences ; and now that we are learning to apply the remarkable phenomena dis- cernible in the moon's illuminated phase, to instruct us in deciphering the mysterious records of our own planet, we may anticipate fresh insight into the causes of the physical characteristics ])y which our earth is heaved up into such vast mountain chains, and spread out between into green valleys or vast plains, adapted for every stage of being, and wonderfully suited to supply the wants, and minister to the necessities of man. OPINION'S OP MEN OF SCIENCE. 395 It is no new idea to seek, in the attendant satellite cilAPTER of our earth, for illustrations and elucidations of ter- -X-Wni. restrial phenomena. It has long been the opinion of General scientific men, tliat the moon is, to a great extent, on'iunar passing through a stage of its being, corresponding to piienomena. one Avliich marked the prior existence of the planet on which it waits, and to the intelligent occupants of which it ministers so many important benefits. Mr. Nasniyth, in the graphic elucidation of his views, cha- racterized it as the great health-preserver, and scaven- ger, which maintained the waters of our planet in con- stant motion, and thus rescued us from the pestilence and horrors which must ensue, were the great high- Practical way of the nations to become a universally putrid and Jhe'^moon. stagnant sea. Again, he compared it to a mighty fixed engine, working with systematic precision in all our estuaries and rivers, and dragging our merchant navies up and down the great water thoroughfares of domes- tic traflBc. Since ever the universal dominion of tlie law of gravitation came to be fully recognised, a grow- ing conviction has been present in the minds of the students of science, that a perfect harmony prevails throughout the whole created universe. This idea has, indeed, been recently carried to an extravagant and foolish length. Men of shallow and superficial views, intent on carrying out this discovery to what they superficial assumed must be its legitimate conclusions, have ad- theories, vanced theories equally derogatory to the Creator and his works. Mistaking uniformity for harmony, they have assumed that our little planet is but a type in miniature of the whole creation, and that God, in multiplying worlds amid the immensities of space, has only been repeating £he one idea of which we are cognizant. Such a misconception of the powers of the Infinite happily does not stand in need of any elaborate argument to confute it, for every new dis- closure, alike of the telescope and the microscope, re- veals the boundless diversity which prevails amid the 396 GENERAL FORCES. CHAFFER harmony of the works of the Creator. Along with xxvii: General operation ot known laws. this diversity, however, it is unquestionable that many other laws besides that of gravitation operate beyond the limits of our own sphere ; and in pursuing our investi- gations into these, not only our own neighbouring satel- lite, but the solar system, and even the tixed stars and remoter nebular groups, are being laid under contribu- tion for evidence in proof of the same indications of har- monious order and benevolent design, with which we are familiar on the surface of our own planet. On this sub- ject, Professor Nichol has remarked : — " I have spoken concerning the probable existence of life through all these spheres. Let us look for one moment, before con- cluding the subject, at the real nature of the question, which is of all the most interesting. It appears equiva- lent to this : Are we, without passing into extravagance, entitled to assume that forces, which in so far as we have positively traced them, enter as essentials into the Grantation. constitution of our earth, are not confined within its conditions ? Think of gravity. Before science raised the veil from the distant, we knew it only in the fact of the fall of a stone, or in the roundness of a drop of water ; now, we have followed it through the complex motions of the moon, and through the order of the entire sys- tem. It pursues the comets through the abysses ; it governs the orbits of the double and triple stars ; it guides the sun in his path through the skies, ay, and even those stupendous evolutions of firmaments, during "which the stars congregate into dazzling clusters, or arrange themselves in gallaxies. Boundless the sphere of this force ; and shall an energy yet nobler, more sub- tle, probably with a root much more profound, be fan- cied so weak, so feeble, so dependent on circumstance, that only in our world, or some one like it, it is free to work out its wonderful jiroducts ? Look at its history in that very earth. In the chalk cliffs, in caverns unseen by the sun, in maislies that to man are desolation and death, life yet teems and rejoices — its forms growing in Its nniver salitj- PROGRESS OF ORGANIZATION. 397 adaptation to their conditions. Long ages ago the odd chapter tiilobite swarmed in our oceans, and the large-eyed -^^^vill. ichthyosaur dashed tlirough their waters. These are all Progress gone ; but plastic nature, ever forming with ceaseless me!"^^"""^ activity, has, by the most mysterious of her actions, brought up new forms to play their parts among her vast scenes. Through space, as through time, she is doubtless working ; and with all their joys and sorrows, evolving far mightier results than the formation of in- organic worlds. I see this in the blush of the morning which beams on all these globes, and there, too, awakens the glad creatures from their repose. I see it in the Evidence downfal of evening, that speaks of refreshment from toil, opemiol^f but also of the living-time of activities not fitted for the sun. I see it in the progress of the earth, and in its course, through much conflict, towards perfection : for its rocks and stones tell not only of change, but of the struggles of its creatures to become linked to something higher : — Yes ! ye worlds, wondrous and innumerable, that shine aloft, and shower around us your many mys- tic influences, — ye, too, are the abodes of sentience suited to your conditions, ay, and of intelligence, different, far different from ours, and in states of approach to the Divinity of all possible gradations ; but of which every constituent, where every creature, of whatever kind, is pressing outward like the bud in spring, and stretching, with longings that are unutterable, towards the Infinite and the Eternal!" Not the least gratifying idea which these reflections Capacity of suggest, is the endless progression in knowledge, and niind. the clearer understanding of the works of creation, which the mind of man is seen to be capable of. The past and th.e future, the near and the remote, all lie within its grasp ; and while the infinite works of the Creator can never be exhausted by his creature, it is a delightful thought to the intelligent mind, that amid all the ages of that future to which the hopes of the Chris- tian extend, his mind shall be ever expanding amid new 308 POWER OF THE CREATOR. CHAPTER and fuller disclosures of the wisdom, the power, the XXWII. goodness, and the infinite greatness, of Him who re- Oreatness moveth the mountains and they know not ; who over- thc Creator" turneth them in his an2;er : who shaketh the earth out of her place, and the pillars thereof tremble ; who com- mandeth the sun, and it riseth not, and sealeth up the stars; who alone spreadeth out the heavens, and tread- eth upon the waves of the sea ; who maketh Arcturus, Orion, and Pleiades, and the chambers of the south, . . . Hell is naked before him, and destruction hath no cover- ing. He stretcheth out the north over the void, and hangeth the earth upon nothing. He bindeth up the waters in his thick clouds ; and the cloud is not rent under them. He holdeth back the face of his throne, and spreadeth his cloud upon it. He hath compassed the waters with bounds, until the day and the night come to an end. The pillars of heaven tremble, and are astonished at his reproof. He divideth the sea with his power, and by his understanding he smiteth through the proud. By his spirit he hath garnished the hea- vens; lo, these are part of his ^cays; hut how little a por- timits of tio7i is heard of him ? The thunder of his poioer xoho can I'edire."^^" understand? Such were the reflections of the ancient patriarch of Uz, while yet the discoveries and the appli- ances of science were all unknown, and yet they come to us now with even more power when armed with all the revelations of modern science, and instructed by the profound reflections of an observer like Humboldt, who brings all the most valuable discoveries, and all the disclo- sures of his own extensive experience, to aid in elucidat- ing the phenomena with which we are surrounded. The same interesting popular author, whose general reflection on the harmony of the universe have already been referred to, thus remarks on that mo.st interesting, though extremely limited point of our own system, to which attention has been so vividly attracted by recent illustrations, drawn from it in elucidation of terrestrial phenomena : — " It is scarcely possible," observes Profes- TELESCOPIC PHASES. 399 sor Nichol, " to conceive a more remarkable contrast than chaptfr that between tlie appearance of the moon to tlie naked -^x^'UL eye, and that whicli she presents to the telescope, wlie- ther in quadrature, or when she is full. Instead of a plain and bright surface, sending from all its parts an illumination not far from equable, we discern a body of most strange character, broken by irregularities which, in extent ajid form, present few analogies with the moun- Mountainous tainous regions of our own globe. The reality of these, ''^^"^"^ as well as the singularity of their contours, the briefest glance at the crescent luminary is sufficient to establish. The incomplete edge is, in that case, under the influence of a morning or evening light ; and all the phenomena of lightened peaks, dark valleys, and long shadows, which occur in a broken district of the earth in such circum- stances, are there distinctly visible, but on a scale far more grand. Look, for example, at a scene near Tycho, where the sun is shining obliquely on the rims of tremen- dous pits, or circular caverns, some of which are as deep as Mont Blanc is high, — and say, if that beauteous lumi- Indications nary, notwithstanding her placid smile, has not, even as sions. our ov.n shattered globe, undergone a troublous his- tory ! The representations given, so far from being ex- aggerated, are but feeble approximations to the reality ; nor can the moon in any phase be painted. The living glory of the real object cannot be transferred to the can- vass— no shade or colouring can accomplish that ; but the features which are concerned with our scientific in- quiries may all be exactly preserved. " It will be seen," the author then remarks, in refer- Adequate ring to his illustrations of the appearance of the satellite, obsen-ation. " that a complete survey of the moon's surface is quite within our reach. No elevation of any magnitude, when on the EDGE, can fail to cast a long shadow, — the rays of the rising or setting sun then falling on \i\ery obliquely; and not only does this shadow reveal the existence of the elevation, but its length, which can be accurately mea- sured, must evidently indicate the height of the moun- 4UU SELENOTOPOGRAPIiy. CHAPTER XXVIII. Lunar raapf taia or ridge. We know that the shadows of the ohjects around us are longer or shorter just as the sun has attained to a lesser or greater height above the horizon ; and as the relations of that orb to the moon are per- fectly, understood, it is easily discovered what his eleva- tion is above the horizon of any body casting a shadow there ; so that the shadow is an accurate indication of both the form and the magnitude of the mountain from which it is thrown. It is the same with those remark- able caverns. Suppose a deep hole in a table, and let a candle approach it, — the deeper the pit, the nearer must the candle be before the light reach its bottom : and ex- actly thus must the position of the sun, when the pro- fundities of these lunar pits are pierced through, enable us to judge how far they descend into the body of that globe. Acting on these simple principles, and therefore watching the crescent edge through many lunations, several celebrated astronomers have constructed maps of our satellite. Without referring to the older labourers, who wrought under the disadvantage of imperfect tele- scopes, I must distinguish Schroeter, whose enthusiasm in this field was worthy its dazzling object. But it is to Maedler, now of Dorpat, that we owe the first accurate selenotopography. This excellent and industrious ob- server has, in conjunction with M. Baer of Berlin, drawn a map of the moon's surface, of three feet in diameter; of which, I believe, this at least may be said, — it is more accurate than any existing chart of either hemisphere of our own globe." It may seem, at first sight, altogether extravagant to speak of more perfect maps existing of the moon than of the earth ; but a very little reflection will show that, while the delineator of the surface of the moon literally draws that which he sees, it is only by a complicated and laborious system of triangulation and measurement, that charts and maps can be constructed, even of a very small portion of the earth's surface. Professor Nichol thus sums up the observations of various observers in LUNAR PHENOMENA. 401 relation to the mountain systems and intervening areas CTfAPTEH of the moon : — and these are of the more interest to the ^^^^^^'- reader, as putting him in possession of evidence in rela- tion to the similarity observable between terrestrial and lunar phenomena, published considerably prior to the recent demonstrations of Mr. Naysmith, which have been alluded to above. " Taking," the Professor remarks, " the lunar mountain formations in the order of their isolrxtcd. simplicity, we discern, at the outset, a great number of v^^^=' perfectly isolated peaks, or sugar-loaf mountains, uncon- nected with any group or range whatsoever. In our own globe, such peaks are not uncommon, as in Cantal, for instance, or Teneriffe ; but those generally belong to some large sphere of disturbance, and the nature of the forces and operation that produced them can, however dimly, still with some degree of certainty be conceived. These singular formations in the moon, however, very often present no analogy, in this respect, with the corres- ponding phenomena of our planet. They rise suddenly from the midst of unbroken flats, and at a great distance from general disturbances. They seem to have shot through the plain, in obedience to some sharp internal force, as one would push a needle through a sheet of paper ; and the plain has not been much more disturbed. Perhaps the finest instance of this is Pico, a very bi'il- Pice. liant rock, about half as high as the loftiest of our Alps, which towers almost precipitously north of Plato. No system whatever is connected with that remarkable peak ; it is there a solitary, unaccompanied protrusion. Strange, indeed, the internal energies resulting in such pheno- mena ! We are accustomed to consider apparently iso- lated outbursts on the earth, as isolated only in appear- ance— as the fragments — the remnants of some large and continuous system, whose parts have been abraded and washed away ; but in the moon there are none of those meteorological agencies that have broken and changed the contour of our mountains. As we proceed, however, greater apparent breaches of analogy will press 402 LUNAR MOUNTAIN KANGES. CHAPTEP. XXVIIL Mountain, lauges. Forms of mountaiu lidges. Mure lUibiium. for notice ; although, if I mistake not, hy their very con- trariety with what surrounds us, these will, in some in- stances, throw light on problems regarding the structure of our globe, which have hitherto baffled inquirers. " IMountain ranges, or chains, are by no means want- ing in the moon, although a glance at the map will show that they are not a chief feature among the elevations of that body. Their general position is a sort of circular but broken skirt of the greater flats or plains. For in- stance, the Apennines, the Caucasus, and the Alps, form- ing, in fragments of a ring, one edge of the Mare Im- brium. Some of these reach a great elevation ; the Apennines rising from eighteen to twenty thousand feet — much higher than Mont Blanc ; and there is another ridge, on the very rim of the moon, which appears to rival the gigantic Andes or Himalaya. There are two sets of phenomena connected with these lunar ranges, bearing so closely on some theories regarding similar terrestrial forms, that I am induced to specify them. " We find here, as on the earth, that the ridge is uni- formly extremely steep on one side, — descending to the plain through abrupt precipices, or a succession of abrupt terraces, while thej' slope away, as ours do also, on the other side, through an extensive and gently declining highland. The Lunar Apennines and the Asiatic Hima- laya are illustrations of this singular fact, of about equal force. But the moon unfolds something more : the aljrupt face of the mountain chain is uniformly towards the plain. This is very distinct in the case of the Mare Jmbriuni ; and we find the same with regard to every other plain, such as the Mare Serenitatis. Turn now to the earth. Suppose the vast Pacific drained of its waters, and that the Indian and Southern Oceans had become dry land ; that would be a mighty flat or low land, broken only as the lunar plains are broken — here and there by a ridge — a crater, and group of mountains ; but observe its edge ! Skirted on one side by the preci- pitous faces of the Andes and Rocky Mountains ; and on TERRESTRIAL AND LUNAR PHENOMENA. 403 the other, after some breaks, by the still more precipitous chapter Himalaya and the Paropamisan, and then by the fronts •^^^^" of the heiglits of Abyssinia and Lupata, — in all of whicli Wentitynf the slope is on the opposite side, forming, in the two i' "^""°'®''* chief instances, the continent of South America and the long inclination of Siberia. This is not a mere analogy but an identity of phenomena. And their solution must, in both orbs, be connected with the formation of the plains which these precipices engirdle. It has yet to be found : but our terrestrial geographer may, in the meantime, safely dismiss speculations concerning floods and vast currents as being the cause of the contrast of these opposite contours, seeing that he must comprehend the moon also, where there is no water, and never has been ! "It will be gi-anted, that when a terrestrial pheno- Test of tev- menon is sought to be referred to some cosinical agency, no'',^cniJ' '^ that is, to an agency not dependent on &i\y peculiarity of the earth, but inherent in its nature as a planet, it is wholly legitimate to test the truth of the theory by ap- plying it to the constitution of other orbs. Now, until vei-y lately, it was scarcely possible to scan a few pages of a geological work without encountering cosmical theo- ries regarding the elevation of our mountain chains. I shall refer to only one. The ingenious and learned De Beaumont proposed, not many years ago, what he termed Theory of De ii, *i, e ^ f J it ■ 1 ^ Beaumont, the theory 01 secular renageration. It was m substance this : — The earth is still cooling ; in the process of cool- ing the outer crust contracts ; and, in the course of ages, it will press so violently on the molten mass within, that, through the resistance of that mass, it must crack; and the fragments will, by the protrusion of the internal fluid, be pressed upwards, and form mighty ranges of mountains. It followed, from this theory, that all the ranges would, in the main, lie along great circles of the sphere ; and De Beaumont superadded the assertion, that there would be other parallel cracks at the same time ; so that all parallel ridges of mountains might safely be 404 THEORY OF CONTRACTION. CHAPTER assumed to be of the samg age, or to belong to the same epoch. How utterly the whole fair speculation vanishes before one glance into the universe farther than our own door-steps ! If the earth was cracked in this wise, so must the moon have been ; but in the moon there is not one instance of a chain l.ving along a great circle of the sphere, or having connection with aught save the great plains ; and there are no parallel ridges at all !" Opinions of From these observations, the reader will see that astro- observers. nomers have long been familiar with the illustrations derivable from lunar phenomena, of the successive changes through which our own planet has passed. He will observe, moreover, that the speculations already re- ferred to are only the revival of ideas previously advanced, though now rendered more consistent, and confirmed by much additional evidence, derived both from telescopic observation, and from analytic experiments. We see, however, in the remai'ks of Professor Nichol, in refer- ence to the theory of De Beaumont, that the idea of de- I^ression and upheaval being the result of the irregular contraction of the whole earth's crust has not hitherto been received without dispute, nor is it likely that it can ExporiiiKu- now be accepted implicitly. It is not, however, to be t.il rcsuiis. received in its latest form as a mere theory, but rather as the result of conclusions forced on the mind of an in- telligent and practical observer by the various pheno- mena brought under his notice by the telescope, and con- firmed by the analogies which his crucial experiments elicited. Professor Nichol attaches importance to the absence of a general parallelism in the striae on the moon's surface, as an evidence of the fallacy of De Beau- mont's theory, and in this he was so far justified, from that ingenious theorist having assumed th:it such would be the necessary result of tlie force which he sought to account for. The experiments of Mr. Nasmyth, how- ever, already referred to, bhow an entirely different re- sult, completely corresjionding with the radiating striae with which we are actually familiar on the surface of ISOTHERMAL PHENOMENA. 405 the moon. We are therefore confirmed in the value to chapter be attached to illustrations and elucidations of terrestrial "^^^''^^^ phenomena, derived from those which are discoverable in Value of its attendant satellite ; and though some of those most enceZ'^''^'^ recently advanced may be open to dispute, we cannot doubt that further observation will lead to still greater revelations of truth, in relation to those astonishing x-e- volutions on our own planet's surface, which supervened while yet " the earth was without form, and void, and darkness moved on the face of the deep." The third and concluding volume of Humboldt's Phiiosopiii.- "Researches in Central Asia," enters into questions no '"^^'•''*"^ '''^• less 'interesting to the natural philosopher than those which precede it ; though it is not easy to reduce to an abridged and popular form the original views, and numer- ous new and important facts and observations, which arri embodied in it. It includes " Considerations on the Temperature and Hygvometrical state of the Air, chiefly in Asiatic Russia ;"' " Researches on the Causes of the Inflexion of the Isothermal Lines ;" " On the Magneti- cal Inclination observed in Russia in 1829, and on the Peculiar Phenomena observed in the Climate of that country." It also includes a section on tlie " Routes in Central Asia." All of these embody many valuable and important observations, and those which specially refer to climate and the distribution of heat, embody an amount of original views and observed facts, such as no other in- dividual has ever brought to bear on these important subjects. To these observations, indeed, we owe the esta- blishment of many of the most important recognized meteorological laws, as well as the establishment of an Meteorolnrf- isothermal system applicable to the whole globe, and resting mainly, not on theory, but on well-ascertained data. The result of these may be thus briefly reduced to an abstract. The isothermal lines, or the lines of equal annual mean temperature over the globe, vary very considerably from the parallels of latitude, and de- viate with much irregularity in different countries, so 2 B 406 ISOTHERMAL LINES. CHAPTER XXVIU. Isothermal lines. Line of muximuni teinpeniture. Tlii^oretical an I ascer- tai:ica lines of tempera- ture. tht indeed to be accepted entirely as an established law. Various opinions have been advanced to account for the internal heat of the planet, and its increasing tempera- ture at various depths below the surface. Not the least important or curious of these relate to the mysterious principle of magnetism. Changes of temperature, it is now well ascertained, do call forth magnetic and electric currents ; but the phenomena exhibited by terrestrial magnetism are still only very partially understood, and these, as well as many other great natural laws, must await the labours of others for their complete elucida- tion. They bear, however, to an extent of which we Magnetic , . ^1 1 • , cuirenU. are yet only very imperiectly aware, on the nnportant subject elucidated by our author in his" Researches on the Causes of the Inflexion of the Isothermal Lines ;"' and which he has extended as an addition to a previous valuable " Memoir" on the same subject. Some of the important views indicated in these Researches have been traced on a previous page. But the entire treatise is of the utmost value to the natural philosopher, as well as of direct practical worth in relation to many depart- ments of our modern political economy. It contains the Practical most important exposition of philosophic views on cli- mate and the distribution of temperature which have ever been set forth by any single individual. The full value of these researches are still very partially appre- ciated, and they have yet almost wholly to be turned to their full practical account in relation to navigation, agriculture, colonization, and the various economic forms to which the researches of the profound observer are re- ducible for the amelioration and progress of his race. Such is a slight sketch of Baron Humboldt's Researches in Central Asia, and of some of the valuable facts and important deductions which have already resulted from his labours. Many of his speculations are too profound, 414 MODE OF ARRANGEMENT, Abstract fjieculations. Fnn'.ts o: system. CHAPTER and of too abstract a character, to be readily reducible to a popular form. They are, moreover, advanced, in his most extensive works, in a form which adds considerably to the difficulty of the ordinary student in attempting to master them. A want of method has, indeed, been complained of in all his works, pertaininc^ not to the ac- curacy of his scientific observations, but to the absence of any well defined system in their arrangement. Other difficulties occur to the student who seeks to master liis discoveries in the form in which they were originally presented. One of the most practical of these is thus referred to by Dr. Alison: "Akin to this is another fault of a more irremediable kind, as it originates in the varied excellences of the author, and the vast store of in- formation on many different subjects which lie brings to bear on the subject of his travels. He has so many topics of which he is master himself, that he forgets with how few, comparatively, his readers are familiar ; he sees so many objects of inquiry — physical, moral, and political — in the countries which he visits, that he be- comes insensible to the fact that, though each probably possesses a certain degree of interest to each reader, yet it is scarcely possible to find one to whom, as to himself, they are all alike the object of eager solicitude and anxious investigation. Hence, notwithstanding his attempt to detach his Personal Narrative from the learned works which contain the result of his scientific researches, he has by no means succeeded in effecting their separation. The ordinary reader, who has been fascinated by liis glowing description of trojjical scenery, or his graphic picture of savage manners, is, a few pages on, chilled by disquisitions on the height of the baro- meter, the disc of the sun, or the electricity of the atmosphere ; while the scientific student, who turns to Jiis works for information on his favourite objects of study, deems them strangely interspersed with rhap- sodies on glowing sunsets, silent forests, and sounding cataracts. It is scarcely possible to find a reader to Cnattractive Biibjtcts. HUMBOLDT'S DISTINCTION. 415 whom all these ol>jects are equally interesting ; and chaptfr therefore it is scarcely be to expected that his travels, ^J^^iVlll. unrivalled as their genius and learning are, will ever be the object of general popularity." The fault, it will be seen, is one fully as much of the ciscursire reader as the author. Nevertheless it is such as will treatment of ever in some respects preclude the great mass of readers from studying the discoveries and researches of this dis- tinguished scientific traveller directly from his own works. Like our own Newton, his vast contributions to science may be compared to a treasure of gold, the value of which cannot be augmented, but it may be reduced into a more convenient form of currency. Such is the process which is being applied to the pro- found researches of Alexander Von Humbolt, and already we see his works assuming a popular form, and circulat- ing throughout the various countries of Europe, dissemi- nating knowledge and instigating to further investiga- tion. Any formal eulogy on the great and illustrious author Distinction of these Researches would be entirely out of place here, tiior. It has been his fortune to experience what few profound scientific discoverers have done. Surviving to the extreme verge of the usual lot of human life, he has enjoyed in the calm serenity of an honoured old age the full appre- ciation of the labours of a life-time, and has been able to accomplish much, though he has not completed all the gigantic projects of his vast ideal. He thus introduces the comprehensive work, which he has offered as a " Sketch of a Physical Description of the Universe," in Physical the preface which he addresses to his own fellow coun- of the uni- trymen : — " In the late evening of an active life I offer ■^^^''*^- to the German public a work, whose undefined image has floated before my mind for almost half a century. I have frequently looked upon its completion as imprac- ticable, but as often as I have been disposed to relinquish the undertaking, I have again — although perhaps im- prudently— resumed the task. This wovk I now present 416 HIGH OBJECTS OF STUDY. Scientific occupations. Objects aimed at. ClI.^PTER to my contemporaries, with a diffidence inspired by a ^^^ ^^'' just mistruht of my own powers, whilst I wouhl willingly t'urn;t't that writings long expected are usually received with less indulgence. "Although the outward relations of life, and an irre- sistible impulse towards knowledge of various kinds, have led me to occupy myself for many years — and apparently exclusively — with separate branches of science, as, for instance, with descriptive botany, geognosy, chemistry, astronomical determinations of position, and terrestrial magnetism, in order that I might the better prepare my- self for the extensive travels in which I was desirous of engaging, the actual object of my studies has neverthe- less been of a liigher character. The principal impulse by which I was directed, was the earnest endeavour to comprehend the phenomena of phj'sical objects in their general connection, and to represent nature as one great whole, moved and animated by internal forces. My in- tercourse with highly-gifted men early led rae to discover that, without an earnest striving to attain to a know- ledge of special branches of study, all attempts to give a gi'and and general view of the universe would be nothing more than a vain illusion. These special departments in the great domain of natural science are, moreover, capable of being reciprocallj' fructified by means of the appropriative forces by which they are endowed. Descrip- tive botany, no longer confined to the narrow circle of the determination of genera and species, leads the observer who traverses distant lands and loft}^ mountains to the study of the geographical distribution of plants over the earth's surface, according to distance from the equator and vertical elevation above the sea. It is futher neces- sary to investigate the laws which regulate the differences of temperature and climate, and the njcteorological pro- cesses of the atmosphere, before we can hope to explain the involved causes of vegetable distribution; and it is thus that the observer wlio earnestly i)ursues the path of kuowledge is led from one class of phenomena to another, licpcriptive botany. GREAT ADVANTAGES. 4] 7 by means of the mutual dependence and connection chapter existing between tliem. XXVlll. " I have enjoyed an advantage which few scientific Advantages travellers have shared to an equal extent, namely, that veUer. of having seen not only littoral districts, such as are alone visited by tlie majority of those wlio take part in voyages of circumnavigation, but also tbose portions of tlie interior of two vast continents wliich ])resent most striking con- trasts, manifested in the Alpine tropical landscapes of South America, and the dreary wastes of the steppes in Northern Asia. Travels, undertaken in districts such as Enooiiras©- these, could not fail to encourage the natural tendency ge'nera'uza of my mind towards a generalization of views, and to tion. encourage me to attempt, in a special work, to treat of the knowledge wliich we at present possess, regarding the sidereal and terrestrial phenomena of the Cosmos in their empirical relations. The hitherto undefined idea of a physical geography has thus, by an extended and perhaps too boldly imagined plan, been comprehended, under the idea of a physical description of the universe, embracing all created things in the regions of space and in the earth, " The very abundance of the materials which are Abundant presented to the mind for arrangement and definition, necessarily impart no inconsiderable difficulties in the choice of the form under which such a woik must be presented, if it would aspire to the honour of being re- garded as a literary composition. Descriptions of nature pifficnlties ought not to be deficient in a tone of life-like truthful- appUcation. ness, whilst the mere enumeration of a series of general results is productive of a no less wearying impression than the elaljorate accumulation of the individual data of observation. I scarcely venture to hope that I have succeeded in satisfying these various requirements of composition, or that I have myself avoided the shoals and breakers which I have known liow to indicate to others. My faint hope of success rests upon the special indulgence which the German public have bestowed upon 418 CONCLUSION. CHAPTER xxvin. I/Bctures at Paris and Berlin. a small work bearing the title of Ansichten der NattiVy whicli I published soon after my return from Mexico. In the work on the Cosmos on which I am now en- gaged, I have endeavoured to show that a certain de- gree of scientific completene.'^s in the treatment of indi- vidual facts, is not wholly incompatible with a picturesque animation of style." The substance of these comprehensive speculations was originally delivered in the form of lectures, first in the French language, at Paris, and afterwards in German, at Berlin. In this profound and comprehensive work, the author has condescended to the necessities of the ordinary student, without sacrificing any of the higher objects he had in view, and has produced a work scarcely less acceptable to the profound man of science, than to the ordinary popular student of natural philosophy The remarks with which he has introduced it are peculiarly interesting as a fragment of auto-biography, and may not unfitly serve as a conclusion to this slight abstract of some of his earlier and most laborious researches. He has been, in a peculiar sense, the author and the con- troller of his own life, and has marked out a path for himself, which will remain, after his career shall have terminated, as a monument of intellectual greatness, more enduring than the passes of the Simplon which memoi-ialize the physical power of a great contemporary. Far above all such form of ambitious self-aggrandize- ment as distinguish the world's conquerors and heroes, Alexander Von Humboldt will be remembered as one of the greatest ornaments of an age peculiarly remarkable ill the world's history. EDINBL'UGII: TKIN'TED BV T. NELSOS AND SONS. University of California SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY 305 De Neve Drive - Parking Lot 17 • Box 951388 LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA 90095-1388 Return this material to the library from which it was borrowed. P 3 1205 00153 435 riV UC soil I Ml UN HI IIKINAI I IBHARY I ACIIITY AA 000 920G2G 9 . ' I I < ill I i 1-^ \ij^aMm ia-eUie^i