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Personal narrative of travels...

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Personal Parratthe
OF TRAVELS _

TO THE

EQUINOCTIAL REGIONS

OF THE

NEW CONTINENT,

DURING THE YEARS 1799-—-1804, —
; | BY, >)
ALEXANDER DE HUMBOLDT,
| Fe ie

AIME BONPLAND;

| WITH MAPS, PLANS, &c-
4 WRITTEN IN FRENCH BY
ALEXANDER DE HUMBOLDT,
AND TRANSLATED INTO ENGLISH BY

,

HELEN MARIA WILLIAMS.
VOLS..1. dy fi:
\ —<e-— -
Chtrd Cdition,
4 —— ae
LONDON:

PATERNOSTER ROW. .

> 1829,

PRINTED FOR LONGMAN, HURST, REES, ORME, AND BROWN,

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CONTENTS.

VOL. I.

BOOK I.

CHAPTER I.
PAGE
Preparations.—Instruments.—Departure from Spain.

—Landing at the Canary Islands. 2... 1
CHAPTER II.

Stay at Teneriffe.—Journey from Santa Cruz to Oro-
- tava. —Excursion to the top of the Peak of Teyde. 111

CHAPTER III.

Passage from Teneriffe to the coasts of South America.
—The Island of Tobago.— Arrival at Cumana. 1

BOOK. II.

CHAPTER IV.

First abode at Cumana.—Banks of the Manzanares. 176

CHAPTER V. |
' Peninsula of Araya,—Salt-marshes.—Ruins of the
Castle of San Giacomo, . . . . |. 282

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PREFACE.

Arter having so long withdrawn myself
from the public eye, it is only under the aus-
pices of the following work, that I should
have ventured to appear once more in it’s
presence. —

The narratives of travellers, and, above
all, the description of those remote coun-
tries of the globe, which have immortalized
the name of Cook, have always had a par-
ticular attraction for my mind; and led
me in my early youth, to weave an
- humble chaplet for the brow of that great
navigator, which my venerable friend,
Doctor Kippis, inserted. in the history of
his life. The narrative of Cook’s glorious

V1 PREFACE.

career derives a particular charm from
presenting to us new systems of social
organization; but it must be admitted,
that in general sea-expeditions have a
certain monotony, which arises from the
necessity of continually speaking of navi-
gation in technical language. The mariner
also, while he braves the element on which
he steers his perilous course, is chiefly
occupied by it’s dangers. The outlines
and the bearings of coasts are the leading
objects of his researches ; he visits only
the shores of the countries where he dis-
embarks, and holds but slight communica-
tions with the natives by whom they are |
peopled.

‘The history of journies by land in
distant regions is far more calculated to
excite general interest; not only by ex-
tending the limits of science, but by pre-
senting new aspects of the variegated
scenery of the Globe. Happy the traveller;
with whom the study of Nature has not —

PREFACE. Vu

been merely the cold research of the:
understanding, in the explanation of her
properties, or the solution of her problems!
who, while he has interpreted her laws, has
adored her sublimity, and followed her
steps with passionate enthusiasm, amidst |
that solemn and stupendous scenery, those
melancholy and sacred solitudes, where
she speaks in a voice so well understood by
the mysterious sympathy of the feeling
heart. With what soothing emotions,
what eager delight, do we follow the tra-
veller, who leads us from the cares, the
sorrows, the joys of ordinary life, to wan-
der in another hemisphere! to mark un-
known forms of luxuriant beauty, and
unknown objects of majestic greatness—
to view a new earth, and even new skies!
from which the stars known from child-
hood, the stars of home, have disappeared,
and are succeeded by a foreign firmament.
How often will posterity also turn from

the terrible page of our history, to repose

Sith ane PREFACE. .

on the charm of a narrative, which dis-
plays the most enlarged views of science
and philanthropy! What sympathy does the
traveller excite, while he imprints the first
step, that leads to civilization and all it’s
boundless blessings, along the trackless
desert, and, struggling with the savageness
of the untamed wilderness, obtains a vic-
tory that belongs to mankind. ;

It were erroneous to believe, that
countries, because they have been already
visited, are therefore known. A penetrat-
Ing and capacious mind finds every where
new materials for observation. The work,
of which I now offer the translation to the
public, relates to regions of which the
greater part have never till now been de- |
scribed by a scientific and learned traveller.
A few botanists had indeed herbalized
along those distant coasts, and added some
riches to the vegetable world. La Con-
damine, Don Jorge Juan, and Bouguer,

scaled the lofty Andes ; but it was only to

PREFACE. 1X

meéasure their height, and make astronomi-
cal observations.’ Their journals, which
date farther back than half a century,
were written when geology did not exist
‘as a science, and the physical structure of
those giants of our Globe was yet un-
known.

What has hitherto been wanting is now
accomplished. M. de Humboldt has in
this work displayed, more than in any other
he has yet published, his peculiar manner
of contemplating nature in all her over-
whelming greatness. ‘The appropriate cha-
racter of his writings is the faculty he pos-
sesses of raising the mind to general ideas,
without neglecting individual facts ; and
while he appears only to address himself to
our reason, he has the secret of awakening
the imagination, and of being understood
by the heart.

The general picture, which he has drawn
of the Isle of Teneriffe, and the geography
‘of it’s plants, proves, that in objects often

x - PREFACE.

viewed by others he has seen what_they
had failed to discern; and in almost the

whole of the remainder of his travels he

pursues alone the difficult path of scientific .

discovery. From the Canary Islands he
passes to Cumana, New Andalusia, and
the missions of the Indians, Chaymas, the
province of the Caraccas, the banks of the
Apure and the Rio Negro, to the limits of
Brazil, New Grenada, the Andes of Po-
payan, Porte, Quito, and Peru, the wes-

tern part of the Amazons, Mexico, and the

Isle of Cuba. How majestic is nature in

the forest and on the banks of the Oroono-
ko! the communications of which- flood
with that of the Amazons M. de Humboldt
has astronomically laid down and deter-
mined... >

‘This great work. will now soon ‘be ter-
minated. M. de Humboldt remains in ‘Paris
for this purpose, with the permission of
his own government. bi, :

In becoming his interpreter in the text

PREFACE. Xl

of the Picturesque Atlas, and the Personal
Narrative of his voyage, I have been en-
couraged by the care with which he has
read most of my pages, and corrected
many of my errors. My scanty knowledge
of the first principles of science seemed in-

_ deed to preclude the full comprehension of
_-many of the subjects of which he treats ;
but a short experience convinced me, that
what is clearly expressed may be clearly
understood ; and I shall perhaps be par-
doned, if, from the novelty of the subject,
neologisms sometimes occur. Long a
stranger to my country, I have indeed no
critical favor to expect; I mean that
species of favor, which arises from personal
acquaintance, and, perhaps even unknow-
ing to the critic himself, softens the stern
brow of reproof, and leads him unconsci-
ously to be indulgent, when he only meant-
to be just. I have nothing to hope from
such predilection. My literary patrons
belonged to what Ossian calls « the days

Xi. PREFACE.

of other years.” Above all, the learned
protector of my early pen, he, whom I
have already mentioned, and of whom I
never think without emotion, 1s long since _
‘no more! Butin appearing before an Eng-
lish tribunal, I will not fear injustice, if I
have nothing to hope from partiality ; and
whatever may be the fate of my imperfect
copy of a sublime model, I shall never feel, |
that the moments were mispent, which I
have employed in so soothing, and so no-
ble a task. |

HELEN MARIA WILLIAMS.

INTRODUCTION.

‘Tweuve years have elapsed since I quit-
‘ted Europe, to examine the interior of the
new continent. Devoted from my earliest
youth to the study of nature, feeling with
enthusiasm the savage beauties of a coun-
try guarded by mountains, and shaded by
ancient forests, I experienced in my travels
such enjoyments, as have amply compen-
sated for the privations inseparable from
a laborious, and often agitated life. ‘These
enjoyments, which I endeavoured to im-
part to my readers in my Remarks upon
the Steppes, and in the Essay on the Phy-
siognomy of Plants, were not the only
fruits I have reaped from an undertaking,
formed with the design of contributing to
the progress of natural philosophy. I had
long prepared myself for these observations

which were the principal objects of my
VOL. I.

i

voyage to the torrid zone. I was provided
with instruments of easy and convenient
use, constructed by artists of the highest
reputation ; and | enjoyed the special pro-
tection of a goverment, which, far from
presenting obstacles to my investigations,
constantly honoured me with every mark of
regard and confidence. I was aided by a
courageous and enlightened friend, and,
what is singularly propitious to the success
of participated labour, whose zeal and equa-
nimity never failed, amidst the fatigues
and dangers to which we were sometimes
exposed.

Under such. favorable Ginguswadieae
traversing regions which for ages have re-
mained almost unknown to the greatest
part of the nations of Europe, I might add
even to Spain, we have collected, Mr. Bon-
pland and myself, a considerable number
of materials, the publication of which may
throw some light on the history. of nations,
und the knowledge of nature. Our in-
quiries having been directed towards a
great variety of objects, we have been un-
able to present the result under the com-
mon form of an itinerary, and have there-

ill

fore consigned our observations in a series
of separate works, compiled in the same
view, and connected with each other by the
nature of the phenomena which they ex-
plain. ‘This sort of composition betrays
more readily the imperfection of partial
labors, and therefore is unfavorable to the
self-love of the traveller; but it 1s highly
preferable for whatever relates to the phy-
sical and mathematical sciences, because
the different branches of those sciences are
seldom cultivated by the same class of
readers. !

_1 had in view a double purpose in the
travels, of which I now publish the histori-
cal narrative. I wished to make known
the countries [ had visited ; and to collect
such facts as are fitted to elucidate a sci-
ence, of which we have possessed scarcely _
the outline, and which has been vaguely
denominated natural history of the world,
theory of the Earth, or physical geography.
The last of these two objects seemed to
me the most important. I was passionate-
ly devoted to botany, and certain parts of
zoology, and I flattered myself that our
investigations might add some new species

b2

iV

to those which have been already describ-
ed; but preferring the connection of facts,
which have been long observed, to the
knowledge of insulated facts, although
they were new, the discovery of an un- .
known genus seemed to me far less inter-
esting than an observation on the geogra-
phical relations of the vegetable world,
on the migration of the social plants, and
the limit of the height which their differ-
ent tribes attain on the flanks of the Cor-
dilleras.

The natural sciences are connected by
the same ties that link all the phenomena
of nature. The classification of the species
which we ought to consider as the funda-
mental part of botany,and thestudy of which _
is become more attractive and more easy by

the introduction of natural methods, 1s to
the geography of plants, what descriptive
mineralogy is to the indication of the rocks
which constitute the exterior crust of the
globe. 'To comprehend the laws which are
observed in the position of these rocks, and
determine the age of their successive -for-
mations, and their. identity in the most
distant regions, the geologist ought to be

V

previously acquainted with the simple fos-
sils, which compose the mass of mountains,
and of which the names and character are
the object of oryctognostical knowledge.
It is the same with that part of the natural |
history of the globe, that treats of the rela-
tions the plants have to each other, with the _
soil whence they spring, or the air which
they inhale and modify. ‘The progress of
the geography of plants depends in a great
measure on that of descriptive botany ; and
it would be injurious to the advancement
of the sciences to attempt rising to general
ideas. in neglecting the knowledge of par-
ticular facts.

I have been guided by these considera-
tions in the course of my inquiries; they
were always present to my mind. at the
period of my preparatory studies. When
I began to read the numerous relations of
voyages, which compose so interesting a
part of modern literature, I regretted that
travellers, the most enlightened in the in-
sulated branches of natural history, were
seldom possessed of a sufficient variety of
knowledge, to avail themselves of every ad-
vantage arising from their position. It ap-

V1

peared to me, that the importance of the
results, hitherto obtained did not keep
pace with the immense progress, which se-
veral parts of science, and particularly geo-
_ logy, the history of the modifications of
the atmosphere, and the physiology of
animals and. plants, had made at the end
of the eighteenth century. I saw with re-
gret, and. all scientific men have shared
this sentiment, that whilst the number of
accurate. imstruments was daily increas-
ing, we were still ignorant of the height of
so many mountains and elevated plains;
of the periodical oscillations of the aerial
ocean ; the limit of perpetual snows under
the polar circle, and on the borders of the
torrid zone; the variable intensity of the
magnetic forces, and so many other jae
nomena, equally important. |
Maritime expeditions, voyages round
the world, have conferred just celebrity on
the names of those naturalists and astro-
nomers, who have been appomted by go-
vernments to encounter the dangers they
present; but while those distinguished per-
sons have given precise notions of the ex-
ternal configuration of countries, of the

Vil

natural history of the ocean, and of the
productions of islands and coasts, their ex-
peditions seem less fitted to advance the
progress of geology, and other parts of ge-
neral: physics, than travels mto the interior
of a continent. The advancement of the
natural sciences has been subordinate to
that of geography and nautical astronomy.
During a navigation of several. years, the
land but seldom presents itself to the ob-
servation of the mariner ; and when, after
lengthened expectation, it 1s descried, he
often finds it stripped of it’s most beautiful
productions. Sometimes beyond a barren
‘coast he perceives a ridge of mountains
covered with verdure, but it’s distance for-
bids his examination, and the view serves
only to increase his regrets.

_ Journeys by land are attended siiiaith con-
aldebisble difficulty in the carriage of in- -
struments and collections ; but these diffi-
culties are compensated by real advantages,
which it would be useless to enumerate.
It is not by sailing along the coast, that we
can discover the direction of the chains of
mountains, and their geological constitu-
tron, the climate of each zone, and it’s in-

Vill

fluence on the forms and the habits of or-
ganized beings. In proportion to the breadth
of the continents, the greater is the display
on the surface of the soil, of the richness of
the animal and vegetable productions ; the —
more distant the central chain of moun-
tains from the shores of the ocean, the
greater variety we find, in the bosom of the
earth, of those stony strata, the regular
succession of which unfolds to us the his-
tory of our planet. In the same manner,
as every being considered apart is im-
pressed with a particular type, we find the
same impression in the arrangement of
brute matter organized in rocks, in the dis-
tribution and mutual relations of plants
and animals. The great problem of the
physical description of the globe, is the
determination of the form of these types,
the laws of their relations with each other,
and the eternal ties which link the phe-
nomena of life, and those of inanimate na-
ture. | Tee ah bose

In explaining the motives which en-
gaged me to undertake an expedition into
the interior of a continent, I merely state
the general direction of my ideas at an age

\
=

1X

when we have not obtained a just estimate
of our faculties. The plans of my early
youth have been very incompletely exe-
cuted. My journey has not had all the
extent, which I proposed when I ‘sailed
for South America; nor has it furnished
the number of general results which I had
hoped to obtain. The court of Madrid
had granted me in 1799 permission to
embark on board the galleon of Acapulco,
and visit the Marian and Philippine Islands,
after traversing the colonies of the new
continent. JI had then purposed to go
back to Europe by the great Archipelago
of Asia, the Persian Gulf, and the way of
Bagdad. I shall find occasion hereafter to
state the reasons, which determined me to
hasten my return. With respect to the
works which Mr. Bonpland and myself
have published, we hope that their imper-
_ fection, of which we are conscious, will be
attributed neither to a want of zeal during
the progress of our researches, nor to pre-
cipitation in the publication of our labors.
A determined will and active perseverance.
are not always sufficient to surmount every
obstacle.

».¢

_ Having stated the general object I had:
in view in my expeditions,. I shall hasten:
to give a slight sketch of the whole of the
collections and observations which we have
accumulated, and the wnion of which is
the aim and end of every scientific. jour-
ney. The maritime war, during our abode
in America, having rendered. the .commu-
nications. with Europe very uncertam, we
found. ourselves compelled, in order to: di-
minish. the chance of losses, to form: three:
different collections. Of these, the first
was embarked for Spain and France, the
second for the United States and England,
and the third, which was the most. consi-:
derable, remained almost constantly under
our eyes. Towards the close of our ex~
pedition, this last collection formed forty
two boxes, containing an herbal of six
thousand equinoctial plants, seeds *, shells,

* Among the plants which we have introduced
into the different gardens of Europe, I shall cite here,
as worthy the attention of botanists, the following,
species. Lobelia fulgens, 1. splendens, caldasia he-
terophylla, (bonplandia geminiflora, Cay.), maurandia
antirrhiniflora, gyrocarpus americana, Jacq., cesal-’
Pinia cassioides, salvia cesia, cyperus nodosus, | fa~

xd

imsects, and, what had hitherto never been
brought to Europe, geological specimens
from the Chimborazo, New Grenada, and
the banks of the river of the Amazons.

_ After thejourney to the Oroonoko, we left
a part of these objects at the island of
Cuba, in order to take them on our return
from Peru to Mexico. The rest followed
us during the space of five years, on the
chain of the Andes, across New Spain,
from the shores of the Pacific Ocean to the
West Indian seas. The conveyance of these
objects, and the minute care they required,
occasioned us such embarrassments as would
scarcely be conceived, by those even who

_ gara lentiscifolia, heliotropium chenopodioides, con-
volvulus bogotensis, c. arborescens, 1pomcea longi-
flora, solanum Humboldti, Willd., dichondra argentea,
piteairnia,. furfuracea, cassia pendula, c. mollissima,
c. prostrata, c. cuspidata, euphorbia Humboldti,
Willd., vuellia foetida, sisyrinchium tenuifolium, sida
comuta, s. triangularis, phaseolus heterophyllus,
glycine precatoria, g. sagittata, palea bicolor, pso-
ralea divaricata, myrica mexicana, atriplex linifolia,
inga microphylla, acacia diptera, a. flexuosa, a.
patula,.a. brachyacantha, a. ciliata, a. acicularis, a.
peruviana, a. edulis, and several varieties of geor-
gines. ea Willdenow Enum. ae hort. Berol.
" 1809.) “4

mah

have traversed the most uncultivated parts
_of Europe. Our progress was often re-
tarded by the threefold necessity of drag-
ging after us, during expeditions of five or
six months, twelve, fifteen, and sometimes
more than twenty loaded mules, exchang-
ing these animals every eight or ten days,
and superintending .the Indians who were
employed in leading so numerous a cara-
van. Often, in order to add to our col-
lections of new mineral substances*, we

* The mineral and vegetable substances which we
have brought from America, several of which were
till then unknown, have been submitted to chemical
analysis by M.M. Vauquelin, Klaproth, Descotils,
Allen, and Drapier, who have given descriptions of
them in separate memoirs. I shall here mention two
new mineral species: The feuer-opal, or quartz. resi-
nite miellé of Mexico (Klaproth, chem. Unters. der
Min. T. iv, p. 156. Sonneschmidt Beschr. der.Mex.
Bergref. S 119. Karsten min. Tabellen, 1808, p. 26,
88.) and the conchoidal muriated silver of Peru,
muschliches hornerz (Klapr. IV, 10. Karst, p. 60, 97.
Magazin der Berl. Naturf. I, 158); the silver ore, pa-
co of Pasco (Klapr.IV.) the antimonial gray copper ore,
graugultigerz of Tasco (Ki. IV, 74.); the: mete-
-oric iron, meteoreisen, of Durango, (Ki. IV, 101);
the ferriferous carbonated limestone, stznglicher
braunspath, of Guanaxuato, the crystals of which
reunited in bars form equilateral triangles (Ki. IV,

Xi

found ourselves obliged to throw away
others, which we had collected a consider-
able time before. ‘These sacrifices were not
Jess painful than the losses which we acci-
dentally made. Sad experience taught us
but too late, that from the sultry humidity
of the climate, and the frequent falls of the
beasts of burden, we could preserve nei-

199); the obsidians of the Knife mountain of Moran,
and the pierre perlée, perlstein of Cinapecuaro (Des-
cotils, Annales de Chimie, LAII, 260); concrete oxi-
dated tin, (wood tin) of Mexico (Descotils, Ann,
LII1, 266); the brown lead-ore of Zimapan (Desco-
tils, Ann. LIII, 268); the celestine of Popayan and
the wavellite, or hydrargillite; a pepite of platina
of Choco, weighing 1088°8 grains, which is 18-947
specific gravity (Karsten, 96) ; the moya of Pelileo,
a volcanic combustible substance, containing felds-
path (Klap. IV, 289); the guano of the islands of
Peru, containing urat of ammonia ( Klapr. IV,
299. Fourcroy et Vauquelin, Mem. of the Inst. VI,
369); the dapiché of. the river Temi, a species of white
caoutchouc, which is found at the depth of three or
four feetin adamp soil (Allen, Journ. Phys. Liv. XVII.
77); the tabasheer of the bamboos of America, dif
ferent from that of Asia (Vauquelin, Mem. de T Instit.
VI, 382); the cortex Angusture, bark of the bonplan-
dia trifoliata of Carony ; the cinchona condaminea. of
Loxa, and several other species of cinchina, which
we collected in the forests of New Grenada A a
quelin, Ann. LIX, 137).

XIV

ther the skins of animals too hastily pre-
pared, nor the fishes and reptiles placed in
phials filled with alcohol. I have thought
proper to enter into these details, which,
although little interesting in themselves,
prove that we had no means of bringing
back, in their natural state, many objects
of zoology. and comparative anatomy,
of which we have published descriptions
and drawings. Notwithstanding some ob-
stacles, and the expense occasioned by the
carriage of these articles, 1 had reason to
applaud the resolution I had taken before —
my departure, of sending to Europe the
duplicates only of the productions we had
collected. I cannot too often repeat, that
when the seas are infested with privateers,
a traveller can be sure only of the objects
in his own possession. A very small num-
ber of the duplicates, which we shipped
for the ancient continent during our abode
in America, were saved; the greater part
fell into the hands of persons unknown to
science. When a ship is condemned in a
foreign port, boxes containing only dried
plants or stones, far from being sent to the
scientific men to whom they are addressed,

.

KV

remain consigned to oblivion. Some of
our geological collections taken in the
Southern Ocean had, however, a happier
fate. We were indebted for their preser-
vation to the generous activity of Sir Jo-
seph Banks, President of the Royal Society
of London, who, amidst the political agi-
tations of Europe, has unceasingly labored
to strengthen the ties by which are united
the scientific of all nations. Bs eye

The same causes which checked our com-
munications, have contributed also to form
numerous obstacles, since our return, to the
publication of a work, which from it’s na-
ture must be accompanied by a consider-
able number of engravings and maps. If
such difficulties are sometimes encountered
in undertakings made at the expense, and
by the munificence of governments, how .
much more must they be felt by private
individuals! It would have been impossi-
ble for us to have surmounted them, if the
liberal zeal of the editors had not been
seconded by the extreme favor of the pub-
lic. More than two thirds of our work are
already published. The maps of the
Oroonoko, of the Cassiquiare, and of the

xvi

river Magdalena, founded on my astrono-
mical observations, together with several _
hundred plants, are engraved and ready
to appear. I shall not leave Europe to
undertake an expedition into Asia, till I
have laid before the public the whole result
of my travels in the New Continent.

In the memoirs in which we have in-
vestigated the various objects of our re-
marks, we have considered each pheno-
menon under different aspects, and classed
our observations according fo the relations
which they bear to each other. ‘To give a
just idea of the method we have followed,
I shall here add a succint enumeration of
the materials, with which we were furnished
for describing the volcanoes of Antisana
and Pichincha, as well as that of Jorullo,
which in the night of the 20th of September |
1759, rose from the earth one thousand
five hundred and seventy-eight French feet
above the surrounding plains of Mexico.
The positions of these singular mountains in
longitude and latitude was ascertained by —
astronomical observations. We took the
heights of the different parts by the aid of
the barometer, and determined the dip

XVil

of the needle and the intensity of the mag-
netic forces. Our collections contain the
plants which are spread on the flanks of
these volcanoes ; and specimens of different -
rocks, which, piled on each other, consti-
tute their external coat. We are en-
abled to indicate by measures sufficiently
exact the height above the level of the
ocean, at. which we found each group of
plants, and each volcanic rock. Our jour-
nals furnish us with a series of observations
on the humidity, the temperature, the elec-
tricity, and the degree of the transparency
of the air on the brinks of the craters of Pi-
chincha and Jorullo; the topographical plans
and the geological profiles of these moun-
tains, founded in part on the measure of
vertical bases, and on angles of altitude.
Each observation has been calculated ac-
cording to the tables and the methods, which
are considered as the most exact in the
actual state of our knowledge; and in
order to judge of the degree of confidence
which the results may claim, we have pre-
served the whole detail of our partial oper-
ations.

It would have been possible to blend
| Cc

| Xvill

these different materials in a work devoted
wholly to the descriptions of the volcanoes
of Peru and New Spain. Had I given the
physical. description of a single province, I
could have treated separately what relates
to geography, mineralogy, and botany ; but
how could I interrupt either the narrative,
a disquisition on the manners, the aspect
of nature, or the great phenomena of
general physics, by the fatiguing enumera-
tion of the productions of the country, the
description of new species of animals and
plants, or by the dry detail of astronomical
observations? Had I adopted a mode of
composition, which should have contained
in the same chapter all that has been ob-
served on the same point of the globe, I
should have composed a work of cumbrous
length, and devoid of that clearness, which
arises in a great measure from the methodi-
cal distribution of the matter. Notwith-
standing the efforts which I have made to
avoid, in this narration of my journey, the
errors I had to dread, I feel conscious, that
I have not always succeeded in separating
the observations of detail from those gene-
ral consequences, which interest every en-

“ X1X

lightened mind. These results comprise in
one view the climate, and it’s influence on
3 organized beings, the aspect of the country,
varied according to the nature of the soil
and it’s vegetable covering, the direction of
the mountains, and the rivers which sepa-
rate the races of men as well as the tribes
of vegetables ; and finally, those modifica-
tions, which the state of nations, placed in
different latitudes, and in circumstances
more or less favorable to the display of
their faculties undergoes. I am not afraid
of having too much enlarged on objects so
worthy of attention: one of the noblest
privileges, which distinguish modern civili-
zation from that of remoter times, is the hav-
ing enlarged the mass of our conceptions,
having rendered us more capable of per-
ceiving the connection between the physical
and intellectual world, and having thrown
a more general interest over objects, which
heretofore occupied only a small number of
scientific men, because these objects were
‘contemplated separately, and from a nar-
_ rower point of view.

It is probable that the volumes, which I
am now about to publish, will fix the atten-

c 2

XX

tion ofa greater number of readers than the
detail of observations merely scientific, or
than my researches on the population, the
commerce, and the mines of New Spain.
I may therefore be permitted to enume-
rate in this place all that we have hitherto
published. When several works are inter-
woven in some sort with each other, it may
perhaps be interesting to the reader, to
know the sources from which he may ob-
tain more circumstantial information. In
the journey of Pallas, which is so remark-
able for the precision and depth of his
researches, the same Atlas contains geogra- °

phical maps, the costumes of different
nations, relicks of antiquity, and figures
of plants and animals. In conformity to
the plan of our work, we have distributed
these plates into distinct parts; having
divided them into the two geographical and
physical Atlasses, which belong to the nar-
rative of the travels, and the Political Essay
on the Kingdom of New Spain; the Views
of the Cordilleras, and the monuments of
the natives of America ; and the Equinoctial
Plants, the Monography of the Melastomas,
and the Collection of zoological observations.

ip. 3:4|

As I shall often be obliged to cite these
different works, I shall mention in notes
the abbreviations, which I have used to in-
dicate the titles. !

cme Astronomical observations, trigonome-
trical operations and barometrical measure-
ments made during the course of a journey
to the equinoctial regions of the New Con-
tinent * from 1799 to 1804. This work,
to which are added historical researches
on the position of several points important
to navigators, contains, first, the original ob-
‘servations which I made from the 12° of
southern, to the 41° of northern latitude ;
the transits of the sun and stars over the
meridian; distances of the moon fromthe sun
and the stars ; occultations of the satellites ;
eclipses of the sun and moon ; transits of
mercury over the disk of the sun ;aZl imuths ; :

* Astron. Observations, two volumes in 4to. I
have discussed in the introduction, placed at the head
-of this work, the choice of the most proper instru-
ments to employ in distant journies, the degree of pre-
cision that can be obtained in the different kinds of
observations, the peculiar motions of certain great
stars of the southern hemisphere, and several methods,
the use of which is not sufficiently common among
navigators.

XX

circum-meridian altitudes of the moon, to
determine the longitude by the differences of
the declination ; researches on the relative |
intensity of the light of the austral stars ;
geodesical measures, &c. Secondly, a trea-
tise on the astronomical refractions under
the torrid zone, considered as the effect of
the decrement of caloric in the strata of the
air; thirdly, the barometric measurement
of the Cordillera of the Andes, of Mexico, of
the province of Venezuela, of the kingdom
of Quito, and of New Grenada ; followed by
geological observations, and containing the
indication of four hundred and fifty-three
heights, calculated, according to the me-
thod of Mr. Laplace, and the new co-
efficient of Mr. Ramond ; fourthly, a table
of near seven hnndred geographical posi-
tions on the New Continent ; two hundred
and thirty-five of which have been deter-
mined by my own observations, according
to the three coordinates of longitude, lati-
tude, and height.

II. Equinoctial plants collectedin Mexico,
in the Isle of Cuba, in the provinces of Ca-
raccas, Cumana, and Barcelona, on the
Andes of New Grenada, Quito, and Peru,

XXL

and on the banks of the Rio Negro, the
Oroonoko; and the river of Amazons *.
Mr. Bonpland has:given the figures of more
than forty new genera + of plants of the
torrid zone, classed according to their na-
tural families. The methodical descriptions
ef the species are both in French and in
Latin, and accompanied by observations
on the medicinal properties of the plants,
on their use in the arts, and: on the climate
of the countries where they are found.

Ill. Monography of the Melastontas, rhex-
ia, and other genera of this order of plants +.
This work will comprise upwards of a

* Equinottial plants, 2 vols. folio; with more than
120 plates. This number of plates has been greatly
augmented since M. de Humboldt wrote this intro-
duction. The number contained in the two voliines
will'exceed 150. See the’ prospectus of Ms de Hum-
boldt’s works, at the end of the volume.

4 We shall cite here only the genera, ceroxylon,
marathrum, cassupa, saccellium, cheirostemon, rhe-
tiniphyllum, machaonia, limnocharis, bertholetia;.ex-
ostema, vauquelinia, guardiola, turpinia, salpianthus,
hermesia, cladostyles, lila#a, cultitiam, espeletia,
bonplandia, platycarpum, andromachia, sienodbra,
gaylussaica, podopterus, leacophylluim, angelonia:

I Melastomas, 2 vols: folio, with colored plates.

‘

XX1V

hundred and fifty species of melastomacea,
which we collected during the course of
our expeditions, and which form one of
the most beautiful ornaments of tropical
vegetation. Mr. Bonplarfd has added the
_ plants of the same family, which, among so
many other rich stores of natural history,
Mr. Richard collected in his interesting ex-
pedition to the Antilles and French Gui-
ana, and of which he has communicated to
us the descriptions. | |

IV. Essay on the geography of plants,
accompanied with a physical table of the
equinoctial regions, founded on measures
taken from the tenth degree of northern
to the tenth degree of southern latitude *.
I have endeavoured to collect under a
single point of view the whole of the phy-
sical phenomena of that part of the New
Continent, comprised in the torrid zone,
from the level of the South Sea to the
highest summit of the Andes; namely, the

-»* This work, printed for the first time in 1806, will —
be reprinted with additions, and form part of the fifth
division of the complete collection, under the title of
General Physics. I have explained the first ideas of
the geography of plants, their natural associations, and -
the history of their migrations, in my Flora, &c.

XXV
vegetation, the animals, the geological facts,
the cultivation of the soil, the temperature
of the air, the limit of the perpetual snows,
the chemical constitution of the atmos-
phere, it’s electrical intensity, it’s barometri-
cal pressure, the decrement of gravitation,
the intensity of the azure color of the sky,
the diminution of the light during it’s pas-
sage through the successive strata of the air,
the horizontal refractions, and the heat of
boiling water at different heights. Four-
teen scales, disposed at the side of a pro-
file of the Andes, indicate the modifications
which these phenomena undergo from the
influence of the elevation of the soil above
the level of the ocean. Each group of
plants is placed at the height that nature
has assigned, and we may follow the pro-
digious. variety of their forms, from the
region of the palms and the fern-trees to
those of the johannesia (chuquiraga,
Juss.) the gramineous plants, and _ lichens.
These regions form the natural divisions of
the vegetable empire ; and in the same
manner as the perpetual snows are found
in every climate at a determinate height,

the febrifuge species of the quinquina

XXVI

(cinchona) have also their fixed limits,
which I have marked in the botanical cna
belonging to this essay.

V. Collection of observations on zoology
and comparative anatomy *. I have com-
prised in this work the history of the
condor; experiments on the electrical ac-
tion of the gymnotus +; a treatise on the
larynx of the crocodiles, the quadrumani,
and birds of the tropics; the description
of several new species of reptiles, fishes,
birds, monkeys, and other mammalia but
little known. A. distinguished man of sci-
ence, whose constant friendship has been.
highly honorable and advantageous to me
during a great number of years, Mr. Cu-
vier, has enriched the collection with a
very extensive treatise on the axolotl of
the lake of Mexico, and on the genera of

* Zoolog. Obs. two vols, in 4to. The first of: these
volumes is published with thirty plates, most of which
are colored. ‘The second volume is far advanced.

+ These experiments are connected with those I
published previous to my departure to America, in
the second volume of my essay on the irritability of
the nervous and muscular fibre, and on the chemical

action which keeps up the life of animals and plants.
1796.

XXV1l

the protei in general. ‘This naturalist has
also recognized iwo new species of masto-
dontes, and a real elephant, among the
fossil bones of quadrupeds which we
brought from America *. The description
of the insects collected by Mr. Bonpland
is due to Mr. Latreille, whose labours have
so much contributed to the progress of en-
tomology in our times. ‘The second vo-
Jume of this work will contain the figures
of the Mexican, Peruvian, and Aturian
skulls, which we have deposited in the Mu-
seum of Natural History at Paris, and on
which Mr. Blumenbach has already pub-
lished observations in the Decas quinta
craniorum diversarum gentium.

V1. Political essay on the kingdom of
New Spain, with a physical and geogra-
phical atlas, founded on astronomical ob-
servations, and trigonometrical and baro-
metrical measurement +. This work, found-

* Ann. of the Museum of Nat. Hist. t. viii, p. 57,
and pp. 412, 413, pl. 2, figs. 1, 5.

+ Polit. Ess. &c. in two vols, in 4to, and an Atlas
of twenty charts in folio. My general map of the
kingdom of New Spain, formed on astronomical obser-
vations, and on the whole of the materials which éx-
asted in Mexico in 1804, has been copied by Mr.

XXVIli

ed on a great number of official memoirs,
presents, in six divisions, considerations on
the extent and natural appearance of
Mexico, on the population, on the man-
ners of the inhabitants, their ancient civi-
lization, and the political division of their
territory. It embraces at the same time
the agriculture, the mineral riches, the ma-
nufactures, the commerce, the finances,
and the military defence of this vast coun-

Arrowsmith, who has appropriated it to himself, by
publishing it on a larger scale, under the title of
New Map of Mezico, compiled from original Docu-
ments, by Arrowsmith. It is “very easy to recognize
this map from the number of chalcographical errors
with which it abounds, from the explanation of the
signs which he has forgotten to translate from the
French into English, and from the word ocean, which
is engraved amidst the mountains, in a place where
the original states, that the elevated plain of Toluca
ts 1400 totses above the level of the ocean. ‘The conduct
of Mr. Arrowsmith is so much the more reprehen-
sible, as neither Messers. Dalrymple, Rennel, D’ Ar-
cy de la Rochette, nor any of thase other excel-
lent geographers England boasts, have ever given
him the example, either in their maps, or the ana-
lyses which accompany them. The reclamations of a
traveller must appear just, when mere copies of his
labors are published under the names of other
persons. i

XX1X

try. In treating on these different objects
of political economy, I have endeavoured
to consider them under a general point of
view: I have drawn the parallel of New
Spain, not only with the other Spanish co-
lonies, and the confederation of the United
States of North America, but also with
the possessions of the English in Asia; I
have compared the agriculture of the
countries situate under the torrid zone,
with that of the temperate climates ; and
I have examined the quantity of colonial
produce necessary to Europe in the pre-
sent state of it’s civilization. In tracing
the geognostic description of the districts
of the richest mines of Mexico, I have
. given a statement of the mineral produce,
the population, the imports, and exports,
of the whole of Spanish America; I have,
upon the whole, examined several ques-
tions, which, for want of precise data, had
never hitherto been treated with the import-
ance which they demand; such as those
on the influx and reflux of metals *, on their

* The recent Gaels of Major Zebulon Montgo-
mery Pike, in the northern provinces of Mexico,
(Account of the Expedition to the sources of lhe Mis

XXX

progressive accumulation in Europe and
Asia, and on the quantity of gold and sil-
ver, which, since the discovery of America
down to our own times, the old world has
received from the new. The geographical

sisippi, and to the interior Parts of New Spain, Phi-
ludelphia, 1810) contains valuable notions. on the ri-
vers La Platte and Arkansas, as well as on the
chain of mountains which extends to the North of
New Mexico, towards the sources of these two rivers :
but the numerous statistical data, which Mr. Pike has
collected in‘a country of the language of which he was
ignorant, are for the greater part very inaccurate. Ac-
cording to this author, the mint of Mexico coins every
year 50 millions of piastres in silver, and 14 millions
in gold: while it is proved by the tables annually
printed by order of the Court, and published in the
Political Essay, that, the year in which the produce of |
the mines was the most abundant, the coinage
amounted only to 25,806,074 piastres in silver, and to
1,359,814 piastres in gold. Mr. Pike displayed admi-
rable courage in an important undertaking for the
investigation of western Louisiana; but, unprovided
with instruments, and strictly watched on the road
from Santa Fe to Natchitoches, he could do nothing
towards the progress of the geography of the provin-
cias internas. The maps of Mexico, which are annexed
to the narrative of his journey, are reduced from
my great map of New Spain, of which I left a copy,
in 1804, at the secretary of states’s office at Wash-

ington.

XXX1

introduction at the beginning of this work
contains the analysis of the materials,
which have been used in the construction
of the Mexican Atlas.

VII. Views of the Cordilleras, ind monu-
ments of the indigenous nations of the new
continent *. 'This work is meant to display
a few of the great scenes of nature in the
lofty chain of the Andes, and at the same
time throw some light on the ancient civi-
lization of the Abniesidatiay from the study
of their monuments of architecture, their
hieroglyphics, their religious rites, and their
astrological reveries. I have given in this
work a description of the teocalli, or Mex-
ican pyramids, compared with that of the
temple of Belus; the arabesques which
cover the ruins of Mitla, idols in basalt,
ornamented with the calantica of the
heads of Isis ; and a considerable number
of symbolical paintings, representing the
serpent woman, who is the Mexican Eve:

* Monum. Amer. one vol. in folio, with 60 plates,
part of which are colored, accompanied by explana-
tory treatises. This work may be considered as the
picturesque Atlas to the historical narrative of the
voyage.

XXX

the deluge of Coxcox, and the first migra-
tions of the natives of the Azteck race..
I have endeavoured to prove the striking |
analogies which exist between the calendar
of the Toltecks, and the catasterisms of
their zodiac, and the division of time .of
the people of Tartary and Thibet; as well
as the Mexiean traditions on the four re-
generations of the globe, the pralayas of -
the Hindoos, and the four ages of Hesiod.
I have also included in this work, in addi-
tion to the hieroglyphical paintings I
brought back to Europe, fragments of all
the Azteck manuscripts, which are found
at Rome, Veletri, Vienna, and Dresden,
and of which the last reminds us, by it’s
lineary symbols, of the kouas of the Chi-
nese. ‘Together with the rude monuments of
the natives of America, the same volume
contains picturesque views of the moun-
tainous countries, which these people have —
inhabited ; such as those of the cataract
of ‘Tequendama, of Chimborazo, of the
volcano of Jorullo, and of Cayambe,
the. pyramidal summit of which, covered
with perennial ice, is situate directly un-
der the equinoctial line. In every zone

XXxill

the configuration of the ground, the phy-
siognomy of the plants, and the aspect of
a smiling or savage nature, have great in-
fluence on the progress of the arts, and on
the style which distinguishes their produc-
tions ; and this influence is so much. the
more perceptible, as man is farther removed
from civilization.

I could have added to this work re-
searches on the character of languages,
which are the most durable monuments of
nations. I have collected a number of
materials on those of America, of which
Messrs. Frederic Schlegel and Vater have
made use: the first in his Considerations
on the Hindoos, the second in his conti-
nuation of the Mithridates of Adelung, in
the Ethnographical Magazine, and in his
Inquiries into the Population ot the New
Continent. ‘These materials are now in
the hands of my brother, M. William de
Humboldt, who, during his journey in
Spain, and a long abode at Rome, formed
the richest collection:‘of American vocabu
laries, that has ever existed. His know-
ledge of the ancient and modern languages
being very extensive, he has made some

VOU.) 1. d

XXXIV

curious approximations on this object, so
important for the philosophical study of
the history of man. I flatter myself, that
a part of his labors will find a place in this
narrative.

Of those: different. works which I. ruil
here enumerated; the second and. third
were composed by Mr. Bonpland, from the
observations: which he made. on ,the.,spot,
in a botanical journal. This journal con-
tains more than four thousand methodical
descriptions of equinoctial plants, a ninth
part only of: which have been made, by
me, and will appear in a) separate. publi-
cation, under the title of Nova Genera
et Species Plantarum... In this. work, will
be found not only the new species which
we collected, and the number. of which,
after a long examination. by one. of: the
first botanists of the age, Prof. Willdenow,
amounts to fourteen or fifteen hundred*,
but also ithe interestmg observations made

i A hon eral part fs these | species. is already
inserted in. the second division of the fourth part of
the Species Plantarum of Linneeus, fourth edition.

Of the eringiums, which’we brought over from Ame!
rica, eleven new species: have. been-engraved in; ithe

XXXV

by Mr. Bonpland, on the plants which
have hitherto been imperfectly described.
The plates of this work will be engraved
and executed according to the method fol-
lowed by Mr. Labillardiere, in the Speci-
men Plantarum Nove Hollandia, which is a
model of sagacity in research, and order in
compilation.

The astronomical, geodesical, and baro-
metric observations, have ‘been calculated
ina uniform manner, by employing corre-
spondent observations, and according to
tables of the utmost precision, by Mr. Olt-
manns, professor of astronomy, and mem-
ber of the academy of Berlin; who under-
took the publication of my astronomical
journal, which he has enriched with the
results of his inquiries concerning the geo-
sraphy of America, the observations of
Spanish, French, and English travellers,
and the choice of the methods used by as-
tronomers. I had calculated, during the
course of my journey, two-thirds of my own
Se Tarn, a part of the results of which

beautiful monography of | this genus, ae by
Mr. de la Roche.
d 2

XXXVI

had been published previous to my return,
in the Connaissance des Temps, and in the
Ephemerides of Baron Zach. The trifling
differences, which exist between the results
obtained by Prof. Oltmanns and myself
arise from his having made a more rigerous.
calculation from the whole of my observa-
tions, and his having employed the lunar
tables of Burg, and of correspondent ob-
servations at Greenwich; while I used, only
the Connaissance des Temps, calculated
from the tables of Masson. hie

The observations I had made on the dip.
of the needle, the intensity of the magnetic
forces, and the small horary variations of
the variation, will appear in a separate.
treatise, which will be added to my Essay
on Geological Pasigraphy. This last work,
which I began to compose in Mexico, in
1803, will be accompanied by profiles, in-
dicating the stratification and relative age
of the rocks, the types of which were ob- |
served by Mr. Leopold Von Buch and
myself in the two continents, between the
twelfth of southern and the seventy-first of
northern latitude. Aided by the labors. of
this great geologist, who has examined

XXXVI

Europe from the North Cape in Lapland,
and with whom I had the happiness of
beginning my earliest studies at the school
of Freiberg, L have been enabled to extend
the plan of a work intended to throw some
light on the construction of the Globe,
and on the relative antiquity of it’s forma-
tion. :

After having distributed into separate
works all ‘that belongs to astronomy, bo-
tany, zoology, the political description of
New Spain, and the history of the ancient
civilization of certain nations of the New
_ Continent, there still remained a great num-
ber of general results and local descriptions,
which I might have collected into separate
treatises. I had prepared several during
my journey ; ; on the races of men in South
America ; on the missions of the Oreonoko ;
on the obstacles to the progress of society
in the torrid zone, from the climate, and
the’ strength of vegetation: the character
of the landscape in the Cordilleras of the
Andes, compared with that of the Alps in
Switzerland; the. analogies between the
rocks of the two hemispheres ; on the phy-
sical constitution of the air in the equinoctial

XXXVI

regions; &c. I had left Europe with the
firm intention of not writing what is usu-
ally called the historical narrative of a jour-
ney, but to publish the fruit of my inquiries
in works merely descriptive; and I had
arranged the facts, not in the order in which
they successively presented themselves, but
according to the relation they bore to each
other. Amidst the overwhelming majesty
of Nature, and the stupendous objects she
present sat every, step, the traveller is little
disposed to record in his journal what re-
lates only to himself, and the ordinary
details of life.

I had composed a very brief itinerary
during the course of my navigation on the
rivers of South America, and in my long
journies by land, in which I regularly des-
cribed, and almost always on the spot, the
excursions which I made toward the sum-
mit of a volcano, or any other mountain
remarkable for it’s height: but the compo-
sition of my journal. was interrupted when-
ever I resided in a town, or when other
occupations prevented me from continuing
a work, which I considered as having only
a secondary interest. When I employed

XXXI1X

myself in the composition, I had no other
motive than the preservation of some of
‘those fugitive ideas, which present them-
selves to a naturalist, the whole of whose
life is passed in the open air; to make a
temporary collection of such facts, as I
had not then leisure to class ;' and trace
the first impressions, whether agreeable or
painful, which I received from ‘nature, or
from man. Far from thinking at the time,
that these pages, precipitately composed,
would form the basis of an extensive work
to be offered to the public, it appeared to
me, that my journey, though it might fur-
nish certain data useful to science, would
present very few of those meidents, the
recitals of which pene the Juan charm
to an itinerary. a9)

~The ER cullsic: which I hive experienced
since my return in the composition of a
considerable number of treatises, in order
_to make known certain classes of phzno-
mena, insensibly overcame my repugnance
to write the narrative of my journey. In
undertaking ‘this task, I have been guided
‘ by the advice of a number of respectable

xl

persons, who honour me. with peculiar
‘kindness. 1/even perceived, that so dis-
tinguished a: preference is given to this sort
of composition, that scientific men, after
having presented in an’ isolated manner
the account of their researches on the pro-
ductions,: the manners, and the political
state of the countries through which they
have passed, imagine that they have: not
fulfilled ther engagements with the public,
till they have written their itinerary.

An- historical: narrative embraces. two
very distinct objects; the greater or less
important events that have a connection
with the purpose of the traveller, and the
observations which he has made during his
journey. The unity of composition also,
which distinguishes good works from those
on an ill constructed plan, can be strictly
observed only when the traveller describes
what has passed under his own eye; and
when his principal attention has been fixed
less on scientific observations, than on the
manners of a people, and the great phe-
nomena of nature. Now, the most faith-
ful picture of manners is that, which best

xh

displays the relations of men toward each
other. ‘The character of savage or civi-
lized nature is portrayed either in the ob-
stacles which a traveller meets with, or in
the sensations which he feels. It is the
man himself that we continually desire to
see in-contact with the objects that sur-
round him ; and his narration interests us
the more, when a local tint is spread over
the description of the country and it’s
inhabitants. Such is the source of the
interest excited by the history of those
first navigators, who, led on by intrepidity
more than by science, struggled against

the elements, while they sought a new
world in unknown seas. Such is the irre-
sistible charm which attaches us to the fate
of that enterprising traveller *, who, full
of enthusiasm and energy, penetrated
alone into the centre of Africa, in order
to discover amidst barbarous nations the |
traces of ancient civilization.

In proportion as voyages have been
made by persons more enlightened, and
whose views have been directed towards
researches into descriptive natural history,

Mungo Park.

xlii

geography or political economy, itineraries
have partly lost that unity of composition,
and «that simplicity, which characterised
those former ages. Itisnow become scarce-.
ly possible to connect so many: different
materials with the: narration of \events ;
and that part which we may call» drama-
tic gives way to dissertations merely des-
criptive. | The great number /of. readers,
who jprefer an agreeable amusement to so-
lid instruction, \have not: gained. by . the
exchange; and I am afraid) that the temp-
tation will not be great to follow those tra-
vellers:in their expeditions, who drag along
with them: a» considerable apparatus » of
instruments and collections.
dn >order togive ‘greater variety ; ito my
sicily I have often interrupted the histori-
cak narrative. by simple descriptions. \J
first describe the phenomena in the: order
in which they appeared; and I afterward
consider them in the whole of their indi-
vidual relations. | ‘This mode has been suc-
cessfully followed in the journey of Mr. de
Saussure, whose most valuable work. has
contributed’ more than any other to the
advancement of the sciences, and often,

xh

amidst dry discussions on meteorology,
contains many charming descriptions ; such
as those of the modes of life of the inha-
. bitants of the mountains, the dangers of
hunting the chamois, and the sensations
_felt-on the summit of the higher Alps.

. These ,are details of ordinary life, which
it might be useful to note in an itinerary,
because they serve to regulate the conduct
of those, who afterwards journey through
the same countries. I have preserved a
few, but have suppressed: the greater part
of those personal. incidents, which offer no
interesting situations, and which can be
rendered amusing only by the perfection
of) style.

» With respect to the country iliah has
been the object of my investigations, I do
not dissemble the great advantages, which
those who travel to Greece, Egypt, the
banks of the Euphrates, and the islands
of the Pacific Ocean, enjoy over those who
traverse America. In the ancient world,
nations, and the distinctions of their civiliz-
ation, formed the principal figures on ‘the
_ canvass; in the new, man and his produc-

xliv

tions almost disappear amid the stupendous
display of wild and. gigantic nature. | ‘The
human race here presents but a few rem-
nants-of indigenous hordes, slightly ad-
vanced in civilization ; or that uniformity
of manners and institutions, which has been
transplanted by’ European colonists to
foreign shores. What relates therefore to
the history of our ‘species,’ to the various
forms of ‘government, to the ‘monuments
of the arts, to‘those places which: are full
of gréat/- remembrances, ‘affect us far more
than the‘ descriptions of those vast solitudes,
which seem: destined.only: for the display
of vegetable life, and'to: form ‘the domain
of wild animals. ‘The savages of America,
who ‘have been: the object of so many’ syste-
matic reveries, and on whom Mr.:Volney ©
has lately published some highly just and
‘sagacious. observations, inspire less.interest,
since celebrated navigators have made
known to us the inhabitants of the islands
of the South Sea, in whose character we
find:so striking a mixture of perversity and
~«meekness. ‘The state of half-civilization,
in which those islanders are found, gives a

xlv

peculiar charm to the description of their
manners. Here a king, followed by a
numerous suite, comes and presents the
fruits of his orchard ; there, the funereal
festival imbrowns the shade of the lofty
forest. _ Such pictures, no doubt, have
more attraction than those, which portray
the solemn gravity of the inhabitant of the
banks of the Missouri or the Maranon.

If America occupies no important place
in the history of mankind, and of the
ancient revolutions which have agitated the
human race, it offers an ample field to the
labours of the naturalist. On no other
part of the Globe is he called upon more
powerfully by nature, to raise himself to
general ideas on the cause of the pheno-
mena, and their natural. connection. I
shall not speak of that luxuriance of vege-
tation, that eternal spring of organic life,
those climates varying by stages as we
climb the flanks of the Cordilleras, and
those majestic rivers which a celebrated.
writer * has, described with so much grace-

* Mr. Chateaubriand.

xlvi

ful precision. The means which the new
world affords for the study of geology and
natural philosophy in general are long since
acknowledged. Happy the traveller who
-1s conscious, that he has availed himself of
the advantages of his position, and that he
has added some new facts to the mass of
those which were already acquired !

It is almost useless to recapitulate what I
have already observed in the’ preface: to
- the equinoctial plants, that, connected by
the most intimate ties of friendship with
Mr. Bonpland, during the course of our
travels and the years that have followed,
we publish in common the whole of: the
works, which are the fruit of our labours.
I have endeavoured to’ explain: the: facts,
such. as -we observed: them together ; but:
this ‘narrative having been composed by
myself, from notes written by me on ‘the
spot, whatever errors may be found: in
my -recital: must be attributed. to eer
alone: : eM
‘The desiratilsé we made daridiy the’.
course of our journey have been distributed
into six sections: the first comprehends

xlvil

the historical narrative: the second zoology
and comparative anatomy ; the third, the
political essay on the kingdom of New
Spain; the fourth, astronomy; the fifth,
physics and geology; and the sixth, the
description of the new plants collected in
both Americas. The editors have dis-
played a liberal zeal to render these works
worthy of the public attention. I cannot
pass over in silence the frontispiece to this
itinerary. Mr. Gerard, with whom I have
had the pleasure of being acquainted these
fifteen years, has devoted to me some
moments of his time, and I feel the value
of this public testimony of his esteem and
friendship.

I have carefully mentioned in this work
the persons, who have had the kindness to
communicate to me _ their observations ;
and in this introduction I ought to express
my gratitude’ to Messrs. Gay-Lussac, and
Arago, my fellow members of the Institute,
who have annexed their names to important
labours, and:who are endowed with that
elevation of character, which is so congenial
_to/an ardent love’ of the sciences.) Living

xlvili

with them on terms of the most intimate
friendship, I have had the means of con-
sulting them daily on objects of chemistry,
natural history, and several branches of the.
mathematics. I have already mentioned
in the collection of my astronomical ob-
servations what I owe to the friendship of
Mr. Arago, who, after having terminated
the measure of the meridian of Spain, has
been exposed to so many dangers; and
who unites the talents of an astronomer
with those of a geometrician and a natu-
ralist. At the period of my return I
discussed particularly with Mr.Gay-Lussac
the different phenomena of meteorology
and physical geology, which I had amassed
in'my journey. For eight years past we
have usually dwelt under the, same roof in
France, Germany, and. Italy; .we have
witnessed together one of the great,erup-
tions. of Vesuvius; and have joined: our
labours on the chemical analysis of the
atmosphere, and the variations of terrestrial
magnetism. J! have been enabled to avail
myself of the profound and ingenious views
of this chemist, in correcting my. ideas re-

xlix

specting several objects, of which I treat
in the narrative of my journey.

Since I left America, one of those great
revolutions, which at certain periods agitate
the human race, has burst forth in the
Spanish colonies, and seems to prepare
new destinies for a population of fourteen
millions of inhabitants; spreading itself
from the southern to the northern hemi-
sphere, from the shores of Rio La Plata
and Chili to the remotest part of Mexico.
Deep resentments, excited by colonial legis-
lation, and fostered by mistrustful policy,
have stained with blood those countries,
which had enjoyed during the last three
ages what I will not call happiness, but
uninterrupted peace. Already at Quito
the most virtuous and enlightened citizens
have perished victims of devotion to their
country. While ] am giving the descrip-
tion of regions, the remembrance of which
is so dear to me, I meet at every step with
_ places, which recall to my mind the loss of
a friend |

When we reflect on the great political
agitations of the new world, we observe,

VOL. I. e

]

that the Spanish Americans are by no
means in so favorable a position as the
inhabitants of the United States, prepared
for independance by the long enjoyment of
constitutional liberty. Internal dissensions
are chiefly to be dreaded in regions, where
civilization is but slightly rooted ; and where,
from the influence of climate, the forests
may soon regain their empire over cleared
lands, if their culture be abandoned. It
is also to be apprehended, that, during a
long series of years, no foreign traveller
will be enabled to traverse the whole of the
countries, which I have visited. This cir-
- cumstance may perhaps add to the interest
of a work, that portrays the state of the
greater part of the Spanish colonies at the
beginning of the 19th century. I may
even indulge the hope, under the influence
of more soothing ideas, that this work will
be thought worthy of attention, when the
passions shall be hushed into peace; and
when, under the influence of a new social
order, those countries shall have made a
rapid progress towards public welfare. = If
then some pages of my book are snatched

/

Te

from oblivion, the inhabitant of the banks
of the Oroonoko will behold with extasy,
that populous cities enriched by commerce,
and fertile fields cultivated by the hands of
freemen, adorn those very spots, where, at
the time of my travels, I found only impe-
netrable forests, and inundated lands.

Pi

Ae Way

JOURNEY
EQUINOCTIAL REGIONS

1
OF

THE NEW CONTINENT.

BOOK I.
CHAPTER I.

Preparations. —- Instruments. — Departure from
Spain.— Landing at the Canary Islands.

Wuen a government undertakes one of those
maritime expeditions, which contributes to the
knowledge of the globe, and the progress of na-
tural philosophy, there is no obstacle to the ac-
complishment of it’s purpose. The time of
departure, and the direction of the voyage may be
‘fixed, whenever the vessel is equipped, and astro-
nomers and naturalists are appointed to traverse
unknown seas. | The islands and coasts, the pro-
ductions of which these travellers are prepared
- to examine, are subject to the influence of no Eu-
ropean policy. If it happen that the freedom of
FOL i. B

2

the seas be interrupted by lengthened hostilities,
passports are mutually granted by the belliger-
ent powers, and partial enmities disappear be-
fore the advancement of general knowledge,
which is the general cause of all nations, Far
different is the situation of) a private’ individual,
who undertakes a journey at his own expense
into the interior of a continent, over which Eu-
rope has extended it’s system of colonization.
The traveller in vain meditates the plan, which
he judges the most. convenient, either for the ob-
ject of his investigations, or the political state of
the country he intends toexamine; he collects in
vain all his resources, which in distant regions —
may secure him for a long time an independant
existence; his,designs are often thwarted, by.uns
foreseen, obstacles, atthe moment, that he thinks
of putting them into execution. Few individuals
have had greater difficulties to struggle with than
myself} before my departure: for Spanish Ameris
' ca; I should’ spare the recital, and begim this) ,
narrative by the expedition to the summit ofthe:
Peak of ‘Teneriffe, had wot the failuresef my: first
_ projects hada decided! influence on the direction:
L-have given my travels since my return from the
Orinoco. I'shall; however, passrapidlyoverthose
events: which: have no interest: for: science): buti
whieh I'wish te present in their true light;: The
curiosity of the public being: oftener:fixed:om the
persons of travellers than ou their works, what

3

relates to the first plans I had traced out, has
been strangely disfigured*.

From my earliest youth I had felt an ardent de-
sire to travel into distant regions, which Euro-
peans had seldom visited. This desire is the cha-
racteristic of a period of our existence, when life
appears an unlimited horizon, and when we find
an irresistible attraction in the impetuous agita-
tions of the mind, and the image of positive dan-
ger. Educated in a country which has no direct
communication with the colonies of either India,
living amidst mountains, remote from the coasts,
and celebrated for their numerous mines, I felt
an increasing passion for the sea, and distant
expeditions. The objects with which we are ac-
quainted only by the animated narratives of tra-
vellers, have a particular charm ; imagination
wanders with delight over what is vague and
undefined; and the pleasures of which we are
deprived, seem possessed of a fascinating power

* There beg leave to observe, that I never had the slight-
est. knowledge of a work in six volumes, published by Voll.
‘mer, at Hamburgh, under the strange title of “‘ Voyage
round the World, and in South America, by A. de Hum-
boldt.” This narrative, which appeared in my name, was
compiled, it seems, from ‘accounts given in the public papers, -
and from memoirs which I read to the first class of the Insti~_
tute. The compiler, with a view of engaging the attention
of the public, thought he might give to an expedition made
to some parts of the New Continent, the more attractive title
_ of Voyage round the World. |
Bb 2

4

4

compared to which all we daily feel in the nar
row circle of sedentary life appears insipid. The:
taste for herborisation, the study of geology, ra-
pid excursions to Holland, England, and France,
with the celebrated Mr. George Forster, who had
the happiness to accompany Captain Cook in
his second expedition round the globe, contri-
buted to give a determined direction to the plan
of travels which I had formed at eighteen years
of age. No longer deluded by the agitation of a
wandering life, I was anxious to contemplate
nature in all it’s variety of wild, and stupendous
scenery; and the hope of collecting some facts
useful to the advancement of science, incessant-
ly impelled my wishes towards the luxuriant
regions spread under the torrid zone. As my
personal situation then prevented me from exe-
cuting the projects by which I was so powerfully
influenced, I had leisure to prepare myself dur-
ing six years, for the observations I purposed to
make on the New Continent, to visit different
parts of Europe, and explore the lofty chain of
the Alps, the structure of which I might after-
wards compare with that of the Andes, of Qui-
to, and of Peru. As I employed successively
intruments of different constructions, I fixed
my choice on those which appeared to me the

most exact, and the least subject to break in the ’

carriage. I had an opportunity of repeating mea-
surements which had been taken. according ta

5)

the most rigorous methods ; and I learnt from
experience, the extent of the errors to which I
might be exposed. 3 |

I had traversed a part of Italy in 1795; but
had not been able to visit the volcanic regions of
Naples and Sicily; and I regretted leaving Eu-
rope without having seen Vesuvius, Stromboli,
and Aétna. I felt, that in order to form a pro-
per judgment of a grcat number of geological
phenomena, especially of the nature of the rocks |
‘of trap formation, it became necessary to
have examined strictly the phenomena offered by
burning volcanoes. I determined therefore to ~
return to Italy in the month of November, 1797.
{1 made a long stay at Vienna, where the: fine
collections of exotic plants, and the friendship
of Messrs. de Jacquin, and of Mr. Joseph Van
der Schott were highly useful to. my preparatory
-studies. I travelled with Mr. Leopold de Buch,
who has since published an excellent work on
Lapland, through several cantons of Salzburgh
and Styria, countries alike interesting to the
landscape-painter and. the geologist ; but at the
moment I was. passing the Tyrolian Alps, the
war which raged in Italy obliged me to abandon
the project of going to Naples. |

A short time before, a person who was passi-
onately fond of the fine arts, and who had visited
the coasts of Greece and Illyria to inspect their
monuments, made me a proposal to accompany

6

him in an expedition to upper Egypt. This ex-
pedition was to last only eight months: provid-
ed with astronomical instruments and able
draughtsmen, we were to ascend the Nile as far
as Assouan, after minutely examining the posi-
tions of the Said, between Tentyris and the ca-
taracts. Though my views had not hitherto
been fixed on any region beyond the tropics, I
could not resist the temptation of visiting coun-
tries so celebrated in the annals of human civili-
zation. -I therefore accepted this proposition, |
but with the express condition, that on our re-
turn to Alexandria, I should be at liberty to
continue my journey through Syria and Palestine.
I: directed henceforth my studies in conformity
to this new project, which I afterward found use-
ful, when I examined the relations between the
barbarous monuments of Mexico, and those be-
longing to the nations of the old world. I thought
myself on the point of embarking for Egypt, when
political events forced me to abandon a plan,
which promised me so much satisfaction. The
situation of the East was such, that no individual
could hope to pursue operations, which even in
the most peaceful times often expose the travel-
ler to the suspicion of it’s governments. |
An expedition of discoveries in the Southern
Ocean, under the direction of Captain Baudin,
wasthen preparing in France. The first plan was
great, bold, and worthy of being executed by a

7

more enlightened commander. The purpose of
this ‘expedition was to visit the Spanish posses-
sions of South America, from the mouth of the
river Plata, to the kingdom of Quito and the isth-
mus of Panama. After traversing the Archipe-
lago of thegreat Ocean, and exploring the coasts
of New Holland, from Diemen’s and to that of
Nuyts, both vessels were to stop at Madagascar,
and return by the Cape of Good Hope. | 1 was
at Paris when the preparations for this voyage
were begun. I had but little confidence in the
personal character of Captain Baudin, who had
given cause of discontent to the Court of Vien-
na, when he was commissioned to conduct to
Brazil one of my friends, the young botanist, Mr.
Van der Schott; but.as I could not hope, with
my own reseurces, to make a voyage of such
extent, and view so.fine a portion of the globe, I
determined to take the chances of this expedi
tion. obtained permission to embark with the
instruments I had collected, in one of the vessels
destined for the South Sea, and I reserved to
myself the liberty of leaving Captain Baudin,
whenever I'thought proper. Mr. Michaux, whe
had already visited Persia, and a part of North
Aterica, and Mr. Bonpland, with whom I form-
eda friendship that still unites us, were appoint-
ed to accompany this expedition as naturalists.
I had flattered myself during several months
with the idea of sharing in labors directed to se

_y

8

great and honourable an object, when the war
which broke out in Germany and Italy deter-
mined the French government to withdraw the
funds granted for their voyage of discovery,
and adjourn it to an indefinite period. Cruelly ©
deceived in my hopes, seeing the plans which I
had been forming during many years of my life,
overthrown in a single day, I sought at any
risk the speediest means of quitting Europe,
and engaging in some enterprize, which might
console me for my disappointment.

I became acquainted with a Swedish Consul
Mr. Skioldebrand, who, appointed by his Court —
to carry presents to the Dey of Algiers, passed
through Paris, in order to embark at Marseilles.
This estimable man had resided a long time on
the coasts of Africa, and being highly respected
by the government of Algiers, he could easily
procure me permission to visit that part of the
chain of the Atlas, which had not been the ob-
ject of the important researches of Mr. Desfon-
taines. He dispatched every year a vessel for
Tunis, where the pilgrims embarked for Mecca,
and he promised to convey me by the same oc-
casion to Egypt. I eagerly seized so favora-
ble an opportunity, and thought myself on the.
point of executing a plan, which I long formed
previous to my arrival in France. | No mineral-
ogist had yet examined that lofty chain of moun -
tains, which in the empire of Morocco rises to —

9

the limit of the perpetual snows. I flattered
myself, that, after executing some useful opera-
tions in the Alpine regions of Barbary, I should
receive in Egypt from those illustrious men who
had for some months formed the Institute of
Cairo, the same kind attentions with which I
had been honored during my abode in Paris.
I hastily completed my collection of instru-
ments, and purchased works which related to
the countries I was going to visit. I separa-
ted myself from a brother, who by his advice

and example had hitherto exercised a great in-

fluence on the direction of my thoughts. He
approved the motives which determined me to
quit Europe : a secret voice assured us that we
should meet again; and that hope, which has
not proved delusive, softened the pain ofa long
separation. I left Paris with the intention of
embarking for Algiers and Egypt ; but in conse-
-quence of one of those vicissitudes .which sway
the affairs of this life, I returned to my brother,
from the river of Amazons and Peru, without
having touched the continent of Africa.

The Swedish frigate, which was to ‘convey Mr.
Skioldebrand to Algiers, was expected at Mar-
seilles toward the end of October. Mr. Bon-
pland and myself repaired thither, with so much.
the more celerity,.as during our journey we
were tormented with the fear of being too late,
and missing our passage. We did not at that time
foresee the new impediments that awaited «us.

a

10

Mr. Skioldebrand was no less impatient thar
ourselves to reach his place of destination. Se-
veral times a day we climbed the mountain of
Notre Dame de la Garde, which commands an
extensive view of the Mediterranean. Every sail
which we descried in the horizon excited in us
the most powerful emotion: but after two months
of anxiety, and vain expectation, we learnt by
the public papers, that the Swedish frigate which
was to convey us, had suffered greatly in a storm
on the coasts of Portugal, and had been forced
to enter the port of Cadiz, to refit. This news
was confirmed by private letters, assuring us that

‘the Jaramas, which was the name of the frigate,
would not reach Marseilles before the Spring.

We had not the courage to prolong our stay
in Provence to this period. The country, and
especially the climate, were delightful, but the
aspect of the sea reminded us of the failure of
our projects. Jn an excursion we made to Hy-
eres, and Toulon, we found in this last port, the
frigate La Boudeuse, which had been command-
ed by Mr. de Bougainville in his voyage round
the world, fitting out for Corsica. ‘This illustri-
ous navigator had honored me with particular
kindness during my stay at Paris, when I was
preparing to accompany the expedition of Cap- |
tain Baudin. I cannot describe the impression
made upon my mind by the sight of the vessel
which had carried Commerson to the islands of

il

the Southern Sea. There are dispositions of the
soul, in which a painful emotion blends itself
with all our feelings.

We still persisted in our intention of visiting
the African coasts, and were nearly becoming the
- victims of this perseverance. A small vessel of
Ragusa, on the point of setting sail for Tunis,
was at this period in the port of Marseilles; we
thought the opportunity favorable to reach Egypt |
and Syria, and we agreed with the captain for our
passage. The vessel was to sail the following
day, but a circumstance, trivial in itself, happily
prevented our departure. The animals that were
to serve us for food, during our passage, were:
kept in the great cabm. We desired that some
changes should be made, which were indispens-
able for the safety of our instruments ; and dur-
ing this interval we learnt at Marseilles, that the
government of Tunis persecuted the French re-
siding in Barbary, and that every person coming
from a French port was thrown into a dungeon.
Having escaped this imminent danger, we were
compelled to suspend the execution of our pro-
jects, and resolved to pass the winter in Spain,
in hopes of embarking the next spring, either at
Carthagena, or at Cadiz, if the political situation
of the East permitted.

We crossed Catalonia, and the kingdom of Va-
lencia, in our way to Madrid. We visited the
ruins of Tarragona, and those of the antient Sa-

12

guntum; and from Barcelona made an excursion
to Montserrat*, the lofty peaks of which are in-
habited by hermits, and where the contrast. be-
tween luxuriant vegetation, and masses of naked
and arid rocks, forms a landscape of a peculiar
character. I employed myself in ascertaining by
astronomical methods the position of several im-
portant points for the geography of Spain+, and
determined by means of the barometer the height
of the central plainf; and I made several obser-

* Mr. William de Humboldt, who travelled through the _

whole of Spain, a short time after my departure from Europe,
has given a description of this place im the Geographical
Ephemerides of Weimar for 1803.

+ Astronomical Observations, Vol. 1. Entroduction, page
35 to 37, and lib. 1, page 3 to33. At this period the lati-
tude of Valencia was still several minutes uncertain, I found
the cathedral (which Tofino places in 39° 26’ 30’) to be 39°
28/ 42”, latitude, and’ 64 11/ 0:3 longitude. Four years
later, Baron de la Puebla, and Mr. Mechain, fixed this point
by zenith distances taken with a repeating circle, and by
the occultations of stars, to be 39° 28/ 37:6’ latitude, and
0° 11/ 0:6” longitude. At Murviedro (the ancient Saguntum)
I determined the position of the ruins of the temple of Diana,

near the convent of the Trinitarians. These ruins are in-

39° 40° 26” lat. and 0" 10’ 34” longitude.

} See my notice on the configuration of the territory of

Spain, in the itinerary of Mr. de la Borde, Vol. 1, p. 147. Ac-
cording to Mr. Bauza, the medium height of the barometer
at Madrid is 26 inches 2-4 lines, whence it results, accord-
ing to the method of Mr. Laplace, and the new coeftici-
ent of Mr. Ramond, that the capital of Spain is 309 toises

a

13

vations on the inclination of the needle, and on
the intensity of the magnetic forces. The results
of these observations have been separately pub-
lished, and I shall enter into no detail on the
natural history of a country, in which I resided
only six months, and which has recently been ex-_
amined by so many well-informed travellers.
On my arrival at Madrid I had reason to con-
gratulate myself on the resolution I had taken to
visit the peninsula. Baron de Forell, minister
from the court of Saxony, treated me with a de-
gree of kindness, of which I soon felt the value.
He was well versed in mineralogy, and had the
purest zeal for every undertaking, that promoted
the progress of knowledge. He observed to me,
that under the administration of an enlightened
minister, Don Mariano Luis de Urquijo, I might
hope to obtain permission to visit, at my own
expense, the interior of Spanish America. After

(603 metres) above the level of the ocean. ‘This result is
nearly the same as that found by Don Jorge Juan, and pub-
lished by Mr. Lalande, by which the height of Madrid above
the level of Paris is 294 toises (Mem. of the Acad. 1776, page
148). The highest mountain of the peninsula is not, as has
been hitherto thought, Mount Perdu, but the Mulahacen,
which forms part of the Sierra Nevada of Grenada. This
_ peak, according to the geodesical levelling of Don Clemente
Roxas, is 1824 toises of absolute height, whilst Mount Per-
du, inthe Pyrenees, is only 1763 toises. Near the Mulaha-
cen is situate the Pico de Veleta, which is 1781 toises.

14

the disappointments I had undergone, I did not
hesitate a moment to adopt this idea.

I was presented to the court of Aranjuez in
March, 1799. The king received me graciously.
_ I explained to him the motives, which led me to:
undertake a voyage to the new continent, and
the Philippine islands, and I presented a memoir’ —
on this subject to the secretary of state. Mr.
d’Urquijo supported my demand, and’ overcame’ -
every obstacle. The conduct of this’ minister
was so much the more generous, as I had no per-
sonal connection with him, and the zeal which:
he constantly showed for the execution of my
projects had no other motive than his love for
the sciences. I feel that it is no less a duty than
a pleasure, to record in this’ work the services
which he rendered me. ith |

F obtained two passports, one from’ the first
secretary of state, the other from the council of
the Indies. Never had so extensive a permission
been granted to any traveller, and never had any
foreigner been honoured with more confidence
on the part of the Spanish government. To dis-
sipate every doubt, which the viceroys or cap-
tains general, representing the royal authority in
America, might entertain with respect to the na-
ture of my labors, the passport of the primera
secretaria de estado stated, that. I was authorized
to make free use of my instruments of physic
and geodesy, that I might’ make astronomical

15

observations through the whole of the Spanish
dominions, measure the height of mountains,
examine the productions of the soil, and execute
all:operations which I should judge useful forthe
progress of the sciences*. These orders of the
court were strictly followed, even after the events
which obliged Mr. d’Urquijo: to quit the minis-
~ try. Tendeavoured on my part to justify by my
conduct these marks of unceasing attention.
During my. abode in America, I presented: the
governors of the Provinces with a duplicate of
the materials which I had collected, and which
might interest the mother country by throwing
some light on the geography: and: the statistics
of the colonies. Agreeably to the offer: I had:
‘made before my departure, I addressed: several
geological: collections to the cabinet of natural
history of Madrid: The purpose of our journey

* Ordena, S, M\ alos Capitanes-generales, comandantes,
gobernadores, yntendentes, conregidores. y demas justicias no
impidan por ningun motivo la conduccion de los. instrumen-
tos de fisica, quimica, astronomia y matematicas, ni el hacer
en todas las posessiones ultramarinas las observactones y ex-
perimentos que juzgue utiles, como tampoco el colectar libre-
mente plantas, animales, semillas y minerales, medir la altu-
ra. de. los. montes, examinar la naturaleza de estos y, hacer
observaciones astronomicas y descubrimentos utiles para el
progresso de las ciencias: pues por el contrario quiere el
Rey que todas las personas a quienes corresponda, den al
B..de Humboldt tedo el favor, auxilio: y proteccion que: ne-
cessite. (De Aranjuez; 7\de: mayo 1799) :

16

being merely scientific, we succeeded in concili-
ating the friendship of the natives, and that of
the Europeans entrusted with the administration
of these vast countries. During the five years
that we travelled throughout the new continent,
we did not perceive the slightest mark of mis-
trust; and we remember with pleasure, that a-
midst the most painful privations, and whilst we.
were struggling against the obstacles which
arose from the savage state of those regions, we
never had to complain of the injustice of men.
Many considerations might have induced us
to prolong our abode in Spain. The Abbe Cava-
nilles, no less remarkable for the variety of his’
attainments than his acute intelligence, Mr. Nee,
who, together with Mr. Henke, had, as botanist,
made part of the expedition of Malaspina, and
who had formed one of the greatest herbals that
was ever seen in Europe; Don Casimir Ortega,
the Abbe Pourret, and the learned authors of the
Flora of Peru, Messrs. Ruiz and Pavon, opened
to us without restriction their rich collections.
We examined part of the plants of Mexico dis-
covered by Messrs. Sesse, Mocino and Cervantes,
whose drawings had been sent to the Museum
of Natural History of Madrid. This great esta-

_ blishment, the direction of which was confided to

Mr. Clavijo, author of an elegant translation of | !
the works of Buffon, offered us, it is true, no ge- .

ological suite of the Cordilleras, but Mr. Proust,

17

so well known by the great accuracy of his
chemical labours, and a distinguished mineral-
ogist, Mr. Hergen, gave us curious details on se-
veral mineral substances of America. It would —
have been useful to us, to have employed a longer
time in studying the productions of the countries,
which were to be the objects of our researches,
but our impatience to take advantage of the
permission given us by the court was too great,
to suffer us to delay our departure. For a year
past, I had experienced so many disappointments,
that I could scarcely persuade myself, that my
most ardent wishes would be at length fulfilled.

We left Madrid about the middle of May,
crossed a part of Old Castile, the kingdoms of
Leon and Gallicia, and reached Corunna,whence
we were to embark for the Island of Cuba.
The winter having been long and tempestuous,
we enjoyed during the journey that mild tempe-
. rature of the spring, which in so southern a lati-
tude is commonly that of March and April. The
snow still covered the lofty granitic tops of the

-- Guadarama ; but in the deep vallies of Gallicia,

which resemble the most picturesque spots of
Switzerland and the Tyrol, cistuses loaded with
flowers and arborescent heathsclothed every rock.
We.quitted without regret the elevated plain of
the two Castiles, which is every where deprived
of vegetation, and where the severity of the win-
ter’s cold is followed by the overwhelming heat
VOL. I. C

18

of summer. From the few observations I per-
sonally made, the interior of Spain forms a vast -
plain, which, elevated three hundred toises (five
hundred and éighty-four metres) above the level
of the ocean, is covered with secondary forma-
tions, grit stone, gypsum, salgem, and the calea-
reous stoiie of Jura. The climate of the Cas-
tiles is much colder than that of Toulon and
Genoa ; for it’s mean temperature scarcely rises
to 15° of the centigrade thermometer*.

We are astonished to find, that in the latitude
ef Calabria, Thessaly, and Asia Minor, the
orange-trees do not flourish in the open air}.
The central elevated plain is encircled by a low
and ‘narrow zone, where the chamerops, the
date-tree, the sugar cane, the banana, and a
number of plants common to Spain and the
north of Africa, vegetate on several spots, with- -
out suffering from ‘the rigors of winter. From
the 36th to the 40th degrees of latitude, the me-
diam ‘temperature of the year is from 17 to

* Whenever inthe course of this work, the contrary is not
expressly indicated, the variations of the temperature are
noted after the centigrade scale of the thermometer with
mercury; but to avoid tlie errors which may arise from the
‘reductions of the different’scales, and the frequent suppression
of decimal fractions, I have printed the ’ partial observations,
‘such as the instrument I made use of.gave me. On this
point I have followed the plan adopted by the illustrious

author of the Basis of the Metrical System, M. Delambre.
+ For the note see the following page.

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20

20 degrees; and by a concurrence of circam-
stances, which it would be too long to explain,
this happy region is become the principal seat
of industry and intellectual improvement.
Ascending from the shores of the Mediterranean
into the kingdom of Valencia, towards the lofty
plains of La Mancha and the Castiles, we seem
to recognize far inland, from the lengthened de-
clivities, the ancient coast of the Peninsula.
This curious phenomenon recalls the traditions
of the Samothracians, and other historical testi-
monies, according to which it is supposed, that
the eruption of the waters through the Darda-
nelles, augmenting the basin of the Mediterra-
nean, rent and overflowed the southern part of
Europe. If we admit that these traditions owe
their origin, not to mere geological reveries, but
to the remembrance of some ancient catastro-
phe, we see the central elevated plain of Spain
resisting the efforts of these great inundations,
till the draining of the waters, by the straights
formed between the pillars of Hercules, brought
the Mediterranean progressively to it’s level,
while Lower Egypt emerged above it’s surface
on the one side, and the fertile plains of Tarra-
gon, Valencia, and Murcia, on the other. Every
thing that relates to the formation of this sea*,

* Diodor. Sicul. edit. Wesseling. Amstelodam., 1746,
Lib. iv, ¢. 18, p. 3386; Lib. v. c. 47, p. 369. Dionys.

21

which has had so powerful an influence on the
first civilization of mankind, is highly interest-
ing. We might suppose, that Spain, forming a
promontory amidst the waves, was indebted for
it’s preservation to the height of it’s land; but
in order to give weight to these systematic ideas,
we must clear up the doubts that have arisen
respecting the rupture of so many transverse
dikes; we must discuss the probability of the

Halicarn. ed. Oxon. 1704, Lib. i, c. 61, p. 49. Aristot. Opp.
omn. ed. Casaub. Lugdun. 1590. Meteorolog. Lib. i, c. 14,
t.1, p. 336. H. Strabo, Geogr. ed. Thomas Falconer. Oxon.
1807, t.1,p. 76 et 83. (Tournefort, Voyage au Levant,
p- 124. Pallas, Veyage en Russie, t. v, p. 195. Choiseul-
Gouffier, Voyage pittoresque, t.1i, p.116. Dureau de la
Malle, Géographie physique de la Mer Noire, p. 157, 196, et
341. Olivier, Voyage en Perse, t. iii, p.130. Meiners
iiber die Verschiedenheiten der Menschennaturen, p. 118.)
‘ Some of the ancient geographers, such as Straton, Eratost-
henes, and Strabo, believed, that the Mediterranean, swelled
by the waters of the Euxine, the Palus Meotis, the Caspian
Sea, and the lake Aral, had broken the pillars of Hercules;
others, such as Pomponius Mela, admitted, that the irrup-
tion was made by the waters of the ocean. In the first of
these hypotheses, the height of the land between the Black
Sea and the Baltic, and between the ports of Cette and Bour-
deaux, determines the limit, which the accumulation of the
waters may have reached before the junction of the Black
Sea, the Mediterranean, and the Ocean, as well to the north
of the Dardanelles, as to the east of this strip of land, which
formerly joined Europe to Mauritania, and of which in the
time of Strabo certain vestiges remained in the Islands of Ju-
no and the Moon.

22

_ Mediterranean having been formerly divided
into several separate basins, of which Sicily and —
the Isle of Crete appear to mark the ancient
limits. We will not here risk the solution of
these problems, but will satisfy ourselves in fix-
ing the attention on the striking contrast in the
configuration of the land in the eastern and west-
ern extremities of Europe. Between the Baltic
and the Black Sea, the ground is at present
scarcely fifty toises above the level of the ocean,
while the plain of La Mancha, if placed between
the sources of the Niemen and the Borysthenes,
would figure as a group of mountains of consi-
derable height. If the causes, which may have
changed the surface of our planet, be an inte-
resting speculation, investigations of the pheno-
mena, such as they offer themselves to the mea-
sures and observations of the naturalist, lead to
far greater certainty.

_ From Astorga to Corunna, especially from
Lugo, the mountains rise gradually. The se-
condary formations gently disappear, and are
succeeded by the transition rocks, which indi-
cate the proximity of primitive strata. We found
considerable mountains composed of that anci-
ent gray stone, which the mineralogists of the
school of Fribourg name grauwakke, and grau-
wakkenschiefer. 1 donot know whether this for-
mation, which is not frequent in the south of
Europe, has hitherto been discovered in other

23

parts of Spain. Angular fragments of lydian
stone, scattered along the vallies, seemed to in-
dicate, that the transition schist is the basis of
the strata of grauwakke. Near Corunna even
granitic ridges stretch as far as Cape Ortegal.
These granites, which seem formerly to have
been contiguous to those of Britanny and Corn-
wall, are perhaps the wrecks of a chain of moun-
tains destroyed and sunk in the waves. Large
and beautiful crystals of feldspath characterize
this rock; the common tin ore is sometimes
discovered there, the working of which is a la-
| borious and unprofitable operation for the inha-
bitants of Gallicia. |

When we reached Corunna, we found the port
blockaded by an English man of war and two
frigates, which were stationed to intercept the
communication between the mother-country and
the American colonies; since it was from Corun-
na, and not from Cadiz, that a packet boat (cor-
reo maritimo) sailed every | month for the Havan-
nah, and another every two months for Buenos
Ayres, or the mouth of the river Plata. I shall
in the course of my work gives an exact statement
of the posts on the new continent ; and shall
here only observe, that since the administration
of Count Florida Blanca, the service of the land
post office has been so sis organized, that an
inhabitant of Paraguay, or of the province of

24

Jaen de Bracamoros*, may carry on a regular
correspondence with New Mexico, or the coasts
of California, at a distance equal to that from
Paris to Siam, or from Vienna to the Cape of
Good Hope. Inthe same manner, a letter con-
fided to the post in a small town of Aragon-ar-
rives at Chili, or in the missions of the Oroonoko,
provided the name of the corregimento, or dis-
trict that comprises the Indian village to which
the letter is addressed, be distinctly marked. It
is pleasing to reeall to mind institutions, which
may be considered as among the greatest bene-
fits of modern civilization. The establishment
of maritime and inland posts has placed the
colonies in more intimate intercourse with each
other, and with the mother-country. The circu-
lation of ideas is become more expeditious ;_ the
complaints of the natives reach Europe with
more facility, and the supreme authority has
sometimes succeeded in repressing vexations,
which, from the distance of the place, would
have remained for ever unknown.

The first secretary of state had recommended
us very particularly to the brigadier Don Raphael
Clavijo, who had lately been named director-
general of the maritime posts. This officer, dis-
tinguished for his talent in ship-building, was .
employed in forming new dock-yards at Corun-

* On the banks of the river of Amazons.

25

na. He neglected nothing to render our abode
at this port agreeable, and advised us to embark
on board the sloop Pizarro*, which was to sail
in company with the Alcudia, the packet-boat
of the month of May, which, on account of
the blockade, had been detained three weeks in
the port. The Pizarro was not esteemed a swift
sailer: but she had happily escaped the English
vessels in her long voyage from the river Plata
to Corunna. Mr. Clavijo ordered the necessary
arrangements to be made on board the sloop for
placing our instruments, and facilitating the
means of making chemical experiments on the
air, during our passage. The captain of the
Pizarro received orders to stop at Teneriff, as
long as we should judge necessary, to visit the
port of Orotava, and ascend the peak.

We had yet ten days to wait before we em-
barked, which seemed to usa long delay. Dur-
ing this interval, we employed ourselves in pre-
paring the plants we had collected in the beau-
tiful vallies of Gallicia, which no naturalist had
yet visited: we examined the fuci and the mol-
luscee which the north west winds had cast with —
great profusion at the foot of the steep rock, on
which the light-house of the Tower of Hercules
is built. This edifice, called also the Iron

* According to the Spanish nomenclature, the Pizarro was
a light frigate (fragata lijera).

26

Tower, was repaired in 1788. It is ninety-two
feet high, its walls are four feet and a half thick,
and its construction clearly proves, that it was
built by the Romans. An inscription discovered
near it’s foundations, a copy of which Mr. Laborde
obligingly gave me, informs us, that this pharos
was constructed by Caius Sevius Lupus, archi-
tect of the city of Aqua Flavia (Chaves), and
that it was dedicated to Mars. Why is the Iron
Tower called in the country by the name of
Hercules? Was it built by the Romans on the
ruins of a Greek, or Phcenician edifice? Strabo,
indeed, affirms, that Gallicia, the country of the
Calleci, had been peopled by Greek colonies.
According to an extract from the geography of |
Spain, by Asclepiades the Myrlzean, an ancient
tradition stated, that the companions of Her-
cules had settled in these countries*. 3

I made the necessary observations to assure —
myself of the rate of going of Lewis Berthoud’s
time-keeper, and I had the satisfaction to find,
that it had not changed it’s diurnal retardation,
notwithstanding the shoeks it had met with in
our journey from Madrid to Corunna. This cir-
cumstance was the more important, as much

* Strabo, ed. Cassaub. ‘Lutet. Par.’ 1620, ‘Lib. iii, ‘p. 157.
‘The Phoenicians and ‘Greeks visited the coasts of Gallicia
(Gallzcia) to trade for tin, which they drew from this country
as well as from the Cassiterides. Strabo, Lib. in, p. 147.
Plin. Lib. xxxiv, c. 16.

27

uncertainty existed respecting the true longitude
of Ferrol, the centre of which town is 10’ 20”
east of the Tower of Hercules at Corunna. An
occultation of Aldebaran, and a long series of
eclipses of Jupiter’s satellites, observed by Ad-
miral Mazarredo, and calculated by Mechain,
seemed to prove that, in the maritime atlas of
Tofino, which is in other respects so accurate in
the indication of partial distances, the determin-
ate positions of Corunna and Ferrol were inex-
act by two or three leagues. My time-keeper
confirmed these doubts respecting the opera-
tions of Tofino. I found* the observatory of
‘the Admiralty at Ferrol 0° 42’ 21” west of Paris.
The mean of all the observations made by the
Spanish astronomers, and lately published by
Mr. Espinosa, gives 0° 42’ 2°5”. I have already
observed, that several expeditions having set
sail from this last port, the false position, which
has been laid down, has had a disadvantageous
influence on the longitudes of several towns of
America, determined not by absolute observa-

* Observat. Astron. Introd. p. xxxvi, t.i, p. 24 et 33.
Espinosa, Memorias sobre las observaciones astron, hechas
por los navegantes espanoles, 1809, t.i, p. 23. If we sup-
pose, that my chronometer did not augment it’s diurnal re-
tardation during the passage from Madrid to Corunna, which
would be contrary to direct experiments made at Marseilles,
the longitude of Ferrol will still be 23’ of time more than
that at which it is fixed by Mr. Tofino.

28

tions, but only by the difference of time. Al-
though time-keepers extend the limits of our
geographical knowledge, they often contribute
to propagate the mistake in the longitude of the
point of departure, because they render the po-
sition of the coast in the most distant regions
dependent on this single point.

The ports of Ferrol and Corunna communi-
cate with the same bay, so that a vessel driven
by bad weather towards the coast may anchor
in either, according to the wind. This advan-
tage is invaluable, where the sea is almost always
tempestuous, as between the Capes Ortegal and
Finisterre, which are the promontories Trileu- -
cum and Artabrum * of the ancient geography.
A narrow passage, flanked by perpendicular
rocks of granite, leads to the extensive basin of |
Ferrol. No port in Europe has so extraordinary
an anchorage, from its very inland position.
The narrow and tortuous passage, by which
vessels enter this port, has been opened, either
by the irruption of the waves, or by the reiter-
ated shocks of very violent earthquakes. In
the New World, on the coasts of New Andalusia,
the Laguna del Obispo, (Bishop’s Lake) is formed
exactly like the port of Ferrol. The most cu-
rious geological phenomena are often repeated
at immense distances on the surface of conti-

* Ptolemy cites the port of the Artabri: Geogr. Lib. ii.
cap. 6. (Bertii Theatr. geograph. vet. Amstel., 1613, p. 34.)

ay

nents ; and the naturalists, who have examined
different parts of the globe, are struck with the
extreme resemblance observed in the rents on
coasts, in the sinuosities of the vallies, in the
aspect of the mountains, and in their distribu-
tion by groups. The accidental concurrence of
the same causes must have every where produced
the same effects ; and amidst the variety of na-
ture, an analogy of structure and form is ob-
served in the arrangement of brute matter, as
well as in the internal organization of plants and
of animals.

Crossing from Corunna to Ferrol, in shallow
water, near the White Signal, in the bay, which
according to d’Anville is the Portus Magnus of
the Ancients, we made several experiments by
means ofa valved thermometrical sounding lead,
on the temperature of the ocean, and on the de-
crement of caloric in the successive strata of wa-
ter. The thermometer on the bank, and near the
surface, was from 12°5° to 13°3° centigrades,
while in deep water it constantly marked 15° or
15°3°, the air being at 12°8°. The celebrated
Franklin, and Mr. Jonathan Williams, author of
the work which appeared at Philadelphia under
the title of Thermometrical Navigation, were
the first to invite the attention of naturalists to
the phenomena of the temperature of the ocean
over shoals, and in that zone of tepid and flow-
ing waters, which runs from the Gulf of Mexico

30

to the Banks of Newfoundland, and the northern
coasts of Europe. The observation, that the
proximity of a sand-bank is indicated by a rapid
descent of the temperature of the sea at it’s sur-
face, is not only interesting to the naturalist, but
may become also very important for the safety
of navigators. The use of the thermometer ought
certainly not to lead us to neglect the use of the
lead ; but the experiments, which I shall mention
in the course of this narrative, sufficiently prove,
that variations of temperature, sensible to the
most imperfect instruments, indicate danger long
before the vessel reaches the shoals. In such
cases, the frigidity of the water may engage the
pilot to heave the lead in places, where he
thought himself in the most perfect safety. We
shall examine in another place the natural
causes of these complicated phenomena; and
shall only here observe, that the waters which
cover the shoals owe in a great measure the di-
minution of their temperature to their mixture
with the lower strata of water, which rise tow-
ards the surface on the edge of the banks.

A heavy sea from the North-west hindered us
from continuing our experiments on the tempe-
rature of the ocean in the bay of Ferrol. The
great height of the waves was the effect of an
impetuous wind at sea, and forced the English
vessels to retire from the coast. Desirous. to
avail ourselves of this opportunity of sailing, we

ol

instantly embarked our instruments, books, and
baggage; but the west wind, which blew still
more impetuously, did not permit us to weigh
anchor, and during this delay we wrote to our
friends in France and Germany. The moment
of leaving Europe for the first time is attended
with a solemn feeling. We in vain summon to
our minds the frequency of the communication
between the two worlds; we in vain reflect on
the great facility, with which, from the improved
state of navigation, we traverse the Atlantic,
which compared to the great ocean is but a
larger arm of the sea; the sentiment we feel
when we first undertake so distant a voyage is
not the less accompanied by a deep emotion, un-
like any other impression we have hitherto felt.
Separated from the objects of our dearest affec-
tions, entering in some sort on a new state of
existence, we are forced to turn back on the fa-
mily of our thoughts, and we find them in a
situation which they have never known before.
Among the ietters which I wrote at the time of
our embarking, one had a considerable influence
on the direction of our travels, and on our suc-
ceeding operations. When I left Paris with the
intention of visiting the coasts of Spain, the ex-
pedition for discoveries in the Southern Ocean
seemed to be adjourned for several years. I had
agreed with Captain Baudin, that if, contrary to
his expectation, his voyage took place at an ear-

| 32

lier period, and the news should reach me in —

time, I would endeavour.to return from Algiers
to a port in France, or Spain, to join the expedi-
tion. I renewed this promise on leaving Europe,
and wrote to Mr. Baudin, that if the government
persisted in sending him by Cape Horn, I would
endeavour to meet him, either at Monte Video,
Chili, or Lima, or wherever he should touch in
the Spanish Colonies. In consequence of this
engagement, I changed the plan of my journey,
on reading in the American papers, in 1801, that

the French expedition had sailed from the port of _

Havre, to make the tour of the globe from east
to west. I hired a small vessel ftom Batabano,
in the Island of Cuba, to Portobello, and thence
crossed the isthmus to the coasts of the southern
ocean ; this mistake of a journalist led Mr. Bon-
pland and myself to travel eight hundred leagues
through a country we had no intention to visit.
It was only at Quito, that a letter from Mr. De-
lambre, perpetual secretary of the first class of
the institute, informed us that Captain Baudin
went by the Cape of Good Hope, without touch-
ing on the eastern or western coasts of America.

I cannot recall without regret an expedition,
which is connected with several events of my
life, and the history of which has lately been
sketched by a * man of science, no less distin-

* Mr. Perron, lost to the sciences at thirty-five years of
age, after a long and painful illness, See an interesting me-

33

guished for the number of his discoveries, than
by the noble courage which he displayed in cir-
cumstances of extreme difficulty and danger.

When I went into Spain I could not carry with |
me the complete collection of my physical, geo.
desical, and astronomical instruments. I had left
the duplicates at Marseilles, with the intention
of ordering them to be sent to Tunis or Algiers,
when I should find an opportunity of passing
over to the coasts of Barbary. In peaceable times
travellers ought by no means to carry with them
the’ complete collection of their instruments :
they should on the contrary cause them to be sent
successively, in order to replace such as suffer
most by use and carriage. This precaution is
particularly necessary, when they are obliged to
determine a great number of points by means
merely chronometrical. But in times of maritime
warfare, it is highly prudent never to lose sight
either of instruments, manuscripts, or collec-
tions. Sad experience, as I have observed in the
introduction to this work, has confirmed the
justness of this observation. Our abode at Ma-
drid and Corunna had been too short, to trans- -
port from Marseilles the wii SSN was appara-
tus I had left.

It was in vain that I eauesell it’s s being sent

moir on the life of this traveller, by Mr. Deleuze, in his An-
nales da Museum, t. 17.

VOL. TI. D

\
2

34

to the Havannah, after our return from the
Orconoko: neither the apparatus nor the achro-
matic telescopes, nor the timekeeper by Arnold,
which I had sent for to London, reached Ame-
rica. The following is the list of the instru-
ments I had collected for my journey from the
year 1797, and which, excepting a small num-
‘ber easy to replace, served me till 1804.

LIST OF THE PHYSICAL AND: ASTRONOMICAL IN-
STRU MENTS.

A timekeeper by Lewis Berthoud, No. 27. This
timekeeper had belonged to the celebrated
Borda. I have published the detail of it’s
rate of going, in the introduction to my col-
lection of astronomical observations ;

A demi-chronometer by Seyffert, serving for as-
certaiming the longitude at short distances ;
A three-foot achromatic telescope by Dollond, in-
tended for the observation of Jupiter’s satel-

lites;

A telescape by Garockd, of less dimensions, with
‘an capparatus to fix the instrament to the
‘trunk of a tree, in forests; |

A lunette d epreuoe, with a micrometer ‘engraved
on glass, by Mr. Kohler, astronomer at Dres-
den. This apparatus, placed'on the plane of
the artificial horizon, serves to level bases, to
measure the progress of an eclipse of the sun
or the moon, and determine the value of very

35

‘smallangles under which very remote moun-
tains appear ;

A sextant by Ramsden, oft ten inches radius, with
a silver limb, and telescopes which magnify
from twelve to sixteen times ;

A snuff box sextant by Troughton, of two inches
radius, with a nonius divided into minutes,
telescopes which magnify four times, and an
artificial horizon of crystal. This small instru-

“ment is very useful for travellers when forced
‘in a boat to lay down the sinuosities of a ri-

-’¥er, or take angles on horseback without dis-
‘mounting ;

A reflecting and repeating circle by Le Noir, of
‘twelve inches diameter, with a mirror of plati.
na*;

A theodolite be y Hurter, the azimuth circle of
which ‘was eight inches in diameter ;

An artificial horizon by Caroeché, of plane glass,
six inches in diameter, with an air-bubble le-
vel, the divisions of which are equivalent to
two sexagesimal records ;

A quadrant by Bird, with a radius of a foot, fur-
nished with a double division of the limb into
ninety and ninety-six degrees, the microme-
ter screw indicating two sexagesimal seconds ;
* I have compared in another place the advantages and

disadvantages, in long journeys, ofthe reflecting instruments

and astronomical repeating circles. (Astron. Observ. Introd.

t.1, p. 17.) : ‘

p 2

36

‘the perpendicularity of the plane capable of
being determined by means of:a plummet and
a large air-bubble level ; :

A graphometer by Ramsden, placed:on a-eane,
with a magnetic needle, and a wire meridian
‘to take magnetical.azimuths; |

A dipping needle of twelve inches, constructed
on the principles of Borda and Le Noir. This
‘instrument, of the most perfect execution, was
‘ceded to me, at the time of my departure, by |
the French board of longitude. The figure of
‘this instrument will be found in the narrative
of the voyage of d’Entrecasteaux *, the astro-
‘nomical part of which was composed by a
Jearned navigator, Mr. de Rossel. An azimuth
circle serves to find the plane of the magnetic

meridian, either by correspondent dips, or by
seeking the position in which the needle is
‘vertical, or observing the minimum of the
‘dippings. The instrument is verified by ob-
serving on the east and west side, and chang-
ing the poles ;

A‘variation compass by Le Now, constructed on
the principles of Lambert, and furnished with
‘a wire meridian. The nonius was divided at
every two minutes ;

A needle twelve inches long, furnished with
‘sight-canes, and suspended to an untwisted
thread according to the method of Coulomb.

* Vol, ii. p. 14.

37

This apparatus, like the magnetic telescope of

\ Prony, served me to determine the small ho-
rary variations of the magnetic variation, and
the intensity of the forces which change with
the latitudes. The oscillations of the great
magnetic dipping needle of Mr. Le Noir give
also a very exact measure of this last pheno-
menon.

A magnetometer of Saussure*, constructed by Mr.
Paul at Geneva, with a limb that corresponds
to an arch of three feet radius ;.

An invariable pendulum, constructed by Mr.
Megnie, at Madrid;

Two barometers by Ramsden ; :

Two barometrical apparatuses +, with the aid of
which we find the mean height of the barome-
ter, by successively plunging into a vessel se-
veral glass tubes, filled with mercury, closed
at one end by a steel screw, and placed in a
metal case ;

Several thermometers by Paul, Ramsden, Megnie,
and Fortin ;

Two hygrometers of Saussure and Deluc, of hair
and whalebone ;

Two electrometers of Bennet and Saussure, of

* This magnetometer, which I found inaccurate, the theo-
dolite, and reflecting circle, are the only instruments which
I could not embark with me at Corunna.

+ I have described this apparatus in the Journal de Phy-
sique, t. xlvii, p. 468, and in my Observ. Astron. t. i, p. 366:

38

gold leaf and elder pith, furnished with con-
ductors four feet long, to collect, according to
the method prescribed by Mr. Volta, the elec-
tricity of the atmosphere, by means of an ig-
nited substance which yields smoke ;

A cyanometer by Paul. To give me the means
of comparing with some certainty the: blue
colour of the sky, as it is seen on the summit
of the Alps and the Cordilleras, Mr. Pictet
had this cyanometer coloured conformably to |

the division of that which Mr. de Saussure

-. made use of at the top of Mount Blanc, and
during his memorable abode at the Col du
Geant ; : OY

An eudiometer of Fontana, for nitrous gas ; with-
out strictly knowing how many parts of this

gas are necessary to saturate a portion of oxy-
gen, we may still precisely determine the quan-
tity of atmospheric azote, and consequently
the purity of the air, by employing, beside the
nitrous gas, the oxygenated muriated acid, or
a solution of sulphat of iron. Volta’s eudio-
meter, though the most exact of any, is em-
barrassing for travellers, who traverse damp
countries, on account of the small electric dis-
charge, which the inflammation of oxygen and
hydrogen gasses requires. The most portable
eudiometrical apparatus, the most speedy and
most eligible in every. respect, is that pub- |

39

lished by Mr. Gay-Lussac in the memoirs of
the society of Arcueil* ;

A phosphoric eudiometer by Reboul. By the

nice researches of Mr. Thenard, on charcoal
mixed with phosphorus, it is proved, that the

slow action of this acidifiable basis-- yields
results less exact than strong combustion ;

An apparatus by Paul, proper to determine with
the greatest precision the degree at which wa-
ter boils at different heights, above the level of

-.the ocean. The thermometer with a double
nonius had been constructed from the appa-
ratus, which Mr. de Saussure employed in his

excursions ; ;

A. thermometrical lead by Dumotier, consisting
of a cylindric vase, furnished with two conical
valyes, and enclosing a thermometer ;

Two areometers of Nicholson and Dollond ;

A compound microscope of Hofmann, described
in the history of the Cryptogamize by Mr. Hed- |
wig ; a standard metre by Le Noir ; a land sur-
weyor's chain ; an assay balance; arain gauge ;

_ tubes of absorption to indicate small quanti-
ties of carbonic acid and oxygen, by means of
lime-water, or a solution of sulphuret of pot-
ash; some Haztiy’s electroscopical apparatuses ;

" Vol. 2, p. 235. Sec also the memoirs in the composition
of the air which I published conjointly with Mr. Gay-Lussac

_in the Journal de Physique, vol. lix, p, 129, and my Zoolo-

gical Observations, vol. i, p. 256.

+ Bulletin of the Philomathic Society, 1812, No. 37, p. 93.

AO

vases to measure the quantity of the evapor‘a-
tion of liquids in the open air; a mercurial
artificial horizon; small Leyden phials, to be
charged by rubbing; galvanic apparatus ; re-
agents to try some experiments on the chemi-
cal composition of mineral waters, and a great
number of small tools necessary for travellers
to repair such instruments as might be de-
ranged from the frequent falls of the beasts of
burden. |

We spent two days at Corunna, after our in-
struments were embarked. A thick fog, which
covered the horizon, at length indicated the
change of weather we so anxiously desired. On
the 4th of June, in the evening, the wind turned
to the north east, a point, which, on the coast. of
Gallicia, is considered very constant during the
summer. The Pizarro prepared to sail on the
oth, though we had intelligence but a few hours
before, that an English squadron had been hail-
ed from the watch tower of Sisarga, appearing
to stand towards the mouth of the Tagus. Those
who saw our ship weigh anchor, asserted that
we should be captured in three days, and that,
forced to follow the fate of the vessel, we should
be carried to Lisbon. This prognostic gave. us
the more uneasiness, as we had known some
Mexicans at Madrid, who, in order to return to
Vera-Cruz, had embarked three times at Cadiz,

Al

and who, having been each time taken at the
entrance of the port, were obliged to return to
Spain through Portugal.

The Pizarro set sail at two in the afternoon.
As the long and narrow passage by which a ship
sails from the port of Corunna opens towards the
north, and the wind was contrary, we made
eight short tacks, three of which were useless. A
fresh tack was made, but very slowly, and we
were for some moments in danger at the foot of
the fort St. Amarro; the current having driven
us very near the rock, on which the sea breaks
with considerable violence. We remained with
our eyes fixed on the castle of St. Antony, where
the unfortunate Malaspina* was then a captive
in a state prison. On the point of leaving Eu-
rope to visit the countries which this illustrious
traveller had visited with so much advantage, I
could have wished to have fixed my thoughts
on some object less affecting.

At half past six we passed the Tower of Her-
cules, which is the lighthouse of Corunna, as we
have already mentioned, and where, from the re-
motest times, a coal fire is kept up for the direc-
tion of vessels. The light of this fire is no way
proportionate to the beautiful construction of so
vast an edifice ; being so weak, that the ships can-
not perceive it till they are in danger of striking

* Essai Politique sur Je Mexique, t. i, p. 338. Observ.
Astron, t. i, p. 34.

42

on the shore. ‘Towards the close of day, the
wind increased, and the sea ran high. We di-
_ rected our course to the north-west, in order to
avoid the English frigates, which we supposed
were cruizing off those coasts. About :nine we
spied the light of a fishing hut, at Sisarga, which
was the last object we beheld in the west of
Europe. As we advanced, this feeble light
mingled itself with the stars, which rose on the
horizon; and our eyes remained involuntarily
fixed on this object. ‘Such impressions are not
easily effaced from the memory of those who
have undertaken long voyages, at an age when
the emotions of the heart are in full vigour.
How many remembrances are awakened in ‘the
imagination by a luminous point, which, in the
midst of an obscure night, appearing at intervals
above the swelling waves, points out the coast
of our native home ! |

We were obliged to run under our courses, at
the rate of ten knots, though the vessel was not
constructed for making such way. At six in the
morning the ship rolled so much, that the fore-
top gallant mast was carried away, but without
any disagreeable consequence. As we were
thirteen days in our passage from Corunna to
the Canary Islands, it was long enough to ex-
pose us to the danger of meeting English ves-
sels, on stations so much frequented as the
coasts of Portugal. No sail however appeared

Ag

in sight the first three days, which gave encou-
ragement to the crew, who were no way pre-
pared for fighting. ;
On the 7th we were in the latitude of Cape
-Finisterre. The group of granitic rocks, which
forms part of this promontory, like that of To-
viafies and Mont de Corcubion, bears the name
of the Sierra de Torifjona. Cape Finisterre is
lower than the neighbouring lands : but the To-
rifona is visible at sea at 17 leagues distance,
which proves that the elevation of its highest
summit is not less than 300 toises (582 metres).
The Spanish navigators pretend, that on these
coasts the magnetic variation differs extremely
from that observed at sea. Mr. Bory*, it is
true, in the voyage of the sloop Amaranth, found,
in 1751, that the variation of the needle, deter-
mined at the Cape, was four degrees less than
could have been conjectured from the observa-
tions made at the same period, along the coasts.
In the same manner as the granite of Gallicia
contains tin disseminated in its mass, that of
Cape Finistérre probably contains micaceous
iron. In the mountains of the Upper Palatinate,
there are indeed granitic rocks, in which crys-
tals of micaceous iron take the place of common
mica. ,
‘The 8th at sunset, we descried from the mast-
“* Mémoires de PAcadémie des Sciences, 1768, p. 280.
Fleurieu, Voyage de I’ Isis, t. i, p. 225.

44

head an English convoy, which sailed along the
coast, steering towards the south east. In order
to avoid it, we altered our course during the
night. From this moment no light was permit-
ted in the great cabin, to prevent our being seen
at.a distance. This precaution, used on board
all merchant-vessels, and prescribed in the regu-
Jations of the packet-boats of the royal navy,
was extremely irksome to us during the passages
we made in the course of the five following
years. We were constantly obliged to make
use of dark lanterns to examine the temperature
of the water, or read the divisions on the limb
of the astronomical instruments. Jn the torrid —
zone, where twilight lasts but a few minutes,
our operations ceased almost at six in the even-
ing. This state of things was so much the more
displeasing to me, as from the nature of my
constitution I never was subject to sea sickness,
and feel an extreme ardour for study during the
whole time I am at sea.

A voyage from the coast of Spain to the Ca-
nary Islands, and thence to South America, is
scarcely attended with any event which deserves
attention, especially when undertaken in sum-
mer. The navigation is often less dangerous
than crossing one of the great lakes of Switzer-
land ; I shall therefore confine myself in this nar-
rative to the general results of the magnetic and
meteorological experiments, which I made in this |

45

part of the ocean : and offer some observations,
which may prove interesting to navigators.
Whatever relates to the variations of the tem-
perature of the air, and that of the sea, the hy-
grometrical state of the atmosphere, the blue
colour of the sky, the inclination and intensity
of the magnetic focus, will be found collected
in my journal at the end of the third chapter,
where it will be seen, from the detail and num-
ber of experiments, that we endeavoured to make
the best use possible of the instruments with
which we were furnished. It were to be wished,
that the same observations could be repeated in
the African and Asiatic seas, to indicate exactly
the constitution of the atmosphere which covers
the great basin of the waters.

-. The 9th of June, latitude 39° 50’, and longi-
tude 16° 10° west of the meridian of the observ-
atory of Paris, we began to feel the effects of
the great current, which from the Azores directs
itself towards the Straits of Gibraltar, and the
Canary Islands. Comparing the place of our
ship deduced from Berthoud’s time-keeper with
the pilot’s reckoning, I was able to discover the
smallest variations in the direction and velocity
fo the currents. From 37° to 30° of latitude,
the vessel was sometimes carried in twenty-four
hours, from eighteen to twenty-six miles to the
east. The direction of the current was at first
Eby 8, but nearer the Straits it became due

~

46

east. Captain Mackintosh, and one of the most
distinguished navigators of our time, Sir Erasmus
Gower, have noticed the modifications of this
movement of the waters at different seasons of ©
the year. Several pilots who frequent the Ca-
nary Islands have found themselves on the
coasts of Lancerotte, when they expected to
make good their landing on the Isle of Teneriffe.
Mr. de Bougainville*, in his passage from Cape
Finisterre to the Canary Islands, found himself
in sight of the Isle of Ferro, 4° more to the
east than his reckoning indicated.

The current which is felt between the Azores,
the southern coasts of Portugal, and the Canary
Islands, is commonly attributed to that tendeney
towards the east, which the Straits of Gibraltar
impress on the waters of the Atlantic Ocean.
Mr. de Fleurieu, in notes added to the voyage
of Captain Marchant+-, observes even, that the
Mediterranean, losing, by evaporation, more
water ‘than the rivers can supply, causes a
movement in the neighbouring ocean, and that

_ the influence of the Straits is felt at the distance —

of six hundred leagues. Without derogating
from the sentiments of esteem which I owe to
this celebrated navigator, from whose works J
have derived much instruction, I may be per-
mitted to consider this important object in a far.
more general point of view. )

* Voyage round the World, vol. i. p. 10.

+ Vol. ii. p. 9 and 229.

47

_ When we cast our eyes over the Atlantic, or
that deep valley which divides the western coasts
of Europe and Africa from the eastern coasts of
the new continent, we distinguish a contrary
direction in the motion of the waters. Between
the tropics, especially from the coasts of Senegal
to the Caribbean Sea, the general current, that -
which was earliest known to mariners, flows
constantly from east to west. This is called the
Equinoctial current. Its mean rapidity, corres-
ponding to different latitudes, is nearly the same
in the Atlantic and in the Southern Ocean, and
may be estimated at nine or ten miles in twenty-
four hours, consequently from 0°59 to 0°65 of a
foot every second *! In those latitudes the wa-
ters run towards the west, with a velocity equal
to a fourth of the rapidity of the greater part of
the large rivers of Europe. The movement of
the ocean, in a direction contrary to that of the
rotation ofthe globe, is probably connected with
this last phenomenon, only as far as the rotation
changes the polar winds, which, in the low re-
gions of the atmosphere, bring back the cold air
of the high latitudes towards the equator, into

* In comparing the observations which I had occasion to
make in the two hemispheres, with those waich are laid down
in the voyages of Cook, Lia Péyrouse, d’Entrescasteaux, Van-.
couver, Macartney, Krusenstern and Marchand, I found that

. the swiftness of the general current of the tropics, varies
from 5 to 18 miles in twenty-four hours, or 0°3 to 1°2 feet

_ each second.

48

trade winds*. To this general impulsion, which
these trade winds give the surface of the seas,
we must attribute the equinoctial current, the
force and rapidity of which are not sensibly mo-
dified by the local variations of the atmosphere.

In the channel which the Atlantic has dug
between Guiana and Guinea, on the meridian
of 20 or 23 degrees, from the Sth or 9th to the
2d or 3d degrees of northern latitude, where the
trade winds are often interrupted by the winds
which blow from the south, and south-south-
west, the equinoctial current is more inconstant
in it’s direction. ‘Towards the coasts of Africa,
the vessels are drawn towards the south-east ;
whilst towards the Bay of All-saints and Cape
St. Augustin, the coasts of which are dreaded by
navigators who are sailing towards the mouth of
the Plata, the general motion of the waters is
masked by a particular current, the effects of
which extend from Cape St. Roche to the Isle of
Trinidad; and which runs north-west with a
mean velocity of a foot ora foot and a half
every second.

The equinoctial current is felt, though feebly,
even beyond the Tropic of Cancer, in the 26th

* Halley, on the cause of the general trade winds, in the
Philosoph. Trans. for the year 1'735, p. &8. Dalton, Meteorolog.
Exp. and Essays 1798, p. 89. Laplace, Explan, of the System
"of the World, p. 227. The limits of the trade winds. were’
for the first time, determined by Dampierre, in 1666.

49

and 28th degrees of latitude. In the vast basin
of the Atlantic, at six or seven hundred leagues
from the coasts of Africa, the vessels from Eu-
rope bound to the West Indies, find their sail-
ing accelerated before they reach the torrid
zone. More to the north, under 28 and 35
degrees, between the parallels of Teneriff and
Ceuta, in 46 and 48 degrees of longitude, no
constant motion is observed ; there, a zone of
140 leagues in breadth separates the equinoctial
current, the tendency of which is towards the
west, from that great mass of water which runs
towards the east, and is distinguished for it’s ex-
traordinary high temperature. ‘To this mass of
waters, known by the name of the Gulf-stream*,
the attention of naturalists was directed in 1776
by the curious observations of Franklin, and Sir
Charles Blagden. It’s direction having lately
become an important object of investigation
among the English and American navigators,
we must go farther back, to take a more general
view of this phenomenon.

The equinoctial current drives the waters of
the Atlantic towards the coasts inhabited by the
Mosquito Indians, and towards those of Hon-
duras. The New Continent, stretching -from
south to north, forms a sort of dyke to this cur-

* Sir Francis Drake had already observed this extraordi-
nary movement of the waters, but he was unacquainted with
their elevated temperature,

VOL. I. E

50

rent. The waters are carried at first to the —
north-west, and passing into the Gulf of Mexico
through the strait which is formed by False -
Cape and Cape St. Antonio, follow the bendings
‘of the Mexican coast, from Vera Cruz to the
mouth of the Rio del Norte, and thence to the
mouths of the Missisippi, and the shoals to the
west of the southern extremity of Florida.
Having made this vast circuit to the west, the
north, the east, and the south, the current takes
anew direction towards the north, and throws
itself with impetuosity into the Gulf of Florida.
I there observed, in the month of May, 1804,
im the 26th and 27th degrees of latitude, a cele-
rity of eighty miles in twenty-four hours, or five
fect every second, though at this period the
north wind blew with great violence. At the
end of the Gulf of Florida, in the parallel of
Cape Cannaveral, .the Gulf-stream, or current
of Florida, runs to the north-east. It’s rapidity
resembles that of a torrent, and is sometimes
five miles an hour. The pilot may judge, with
some certainty, of the error of his reckoning, and
of the proximity of his approach towards New
York, Philadelphia, or Charlestown *, when he

* The current of Florida flows at greater distances from the
coasts of the United States, as it advances towards the north,
it’s position being exactly marked in the new maritime eharts,
_ the navigator finds the longitude of the vessel to halfa degree,
when he is on the brink of the current, where the eddy

a]

réaches the edge of the stream ; for the elevated
temperature of the waters ; their strong saltness,
indigo-blue colour, and the shoals of sea-weed
which cover the surface, as well as the heat of
the surrounding atmosphere, sensible even in
winter, all indicate the Gulf-stream. Its ra-
pidity diminishes towards the north, at the same
time that it’s breadth increases, and the waters
cool. Between Cayo Biscaino and the bank of
Bahama*, the breadth is only 15 leagues, whilst
in the latitude of 28 degrees and a half, it is 17,
and in the parallel of Charlestown, opposite
Cape Henlopen, from 40 to 50 leagues. The
rapidity of the current is from three to five miles
an hour, where the stream is the narrowest, and
is only one mile as it advances. towards the
north. The waters of the Mexican Gulf, forcibly
drawn to the north-east, preserve their warm
temperature to such a point, that at 40 and 4]
degrees of latitude I found them at 22°5° (18°
R.), when, out of the current, the heat of the
ocean at it’s surface was scarcely 17°5° (14° R.).
In the parallel of New York and Oporto, the

begins, if he obtain a good observation for the latitude. This
method is practised by a great number of captains of mer-
chant ships who cross from 2h aiDe to North America.

* Journal of Andrew Ellicott, Commissioner of the United
States, for determining the boundary on the Ohio and Missisippi,
1803, p. 260. Hydraulic and Nautical.Observations on the At-
Jantic Ocean, by Gov. Pownall. (Lond. 1787.)

EZ

o2

temperature of the Gulf-stream is consequently
equal to that jof the seas of the tropics in the
ISth degree of latitude ; as for instance, in the
parallel of Porto Rico, and the islands of Cape
Yerd. 7

Te the east of the port of Boston, and on the
meridian of Halifax, under 41° 25’ of latitude,
and 67° of longitude, the current is near 80
leagues broad. From this point it turns sud-
denly to the east, so that it’s westerm edge, as it
bends, becomes the western limit of the running
waters, skirting the extremity of the great bank
of Newfoundland, which Mr. Volney ingeniously
calls the bar of the mouth of this enormous sea
river*. The cold waters of this bank, which
according to my experiments are at the temper-.
ature of 8°7° or 10° (7° or 8° R.) present a. strik-
ing contrast with the waters of the torrid zone,
driven to the north by the Gulf-stream, the tem-
perature of which is from 21° to 22°5° (7° to 18°
R.). In these latitudes, the caloric is distributed
in a singular manner throughout the ocean ;
the waters of the bank are 9°4° colder than the
neighbouring sea ; and this sea is 3° colder than

the current. These zones can have no equili-

brium of temperature, having a source of heat,

* Tableau du climat et du sol des Etats-Unis, T. i, p. 230,
Romme, Tableau des Vents, des Marées et des Courants, T.
i, p- 228.

93

or a cause of refrigeration, which is peculiar to
each, and the influence of which is permanent*«

From the bank of Newfoundland, or from the
52d degree of longitude to the Azores, the Gulf-
stream continues its course towards the east, and
the east-south-east. The waters still preserve a
part of the impulsion they have received near a
thousand leagues distance, in the straits of Flo-
rida, between the Isle of Cuba, and the shoals
of Tortoise Island. This distanceis double the
length of the course of the river of the Amazons,
from Jaen or the Straits of Manseriche to Grand
Para. On the meridianof the Isles of Corvo and
Flores, the most western of the group of the
Azores, the breadth of the current is 160 leagues.
When vessels, on their return from South Ame-
rica to Europe, endeavour to make these two.
islands to rectify their longitude, they constantly
perceive the motion of the waters to the south-
east. At the 33d degree of latitude the equi-
noctial current of the tropics is in the near vici-
nity of the Gulf-stream. In this part of the

* Tn treating of the temperature of the ocean, we should
carefully distinguish four very different phenomena ;—1st, the
temperature of the water at it’s surface corresponding to dif-
ferent latitudes, the ocean being considered as in repose; 2dly,
the decrement of caloric in the successive strata of the water ;
3dly, the effect of the deep shoals on the temperature of the
ocean; 4thly, the temperature of the currents, which cause
the waters of one zone to pass with acquired velocity across
the motionless waters of another zone.

04

ocean, we may in a single day pass from waters
that flow towards the west, into those which run
to the south-east or east-south-east.

From the Azores, the current of Florida turns
- towards the straits of Gibraltar, the Isle of Ma-
deira, and the group of theCanary Islands. The
opening of the Pillars of Hercules has no doubt
accelerated the motion of the waters towards the
east. We may in this point of view assert, that.
the strait, by which the Mediterranean commu-
nicates with the Atlantic, produces it’s effects at
a great distance; but it is probable also, that,
without the existence of this strait, the vessels
which sail to Teneriff would be driven to the
south-east by a cause, which we must seek on
the coasts of the New World. Every motion is
the cause of another motion in the vast basin of
the seas as well as in the aerial ocean. Pursuing
the currents to their most distant sources, and
reflecting on their variable celerity, sometimes
decreasing as between the Gulf of Florida and
the bank of Newfoundland ; at other times aug-
menting, as in the neighbourhood of the Straits
of Gibraltar, and near the Canary. Islands, we
cannot doubt but the same cause which drives
the waters to make the circuitous sweep of the
Gulf of Mexico, agitates them also near the Isle
of Madeira. ae oe

It is to the south of this island, that we can
follow the current, in it’s direction to the S. E.

D9

and S. 8. E. towards the coast of Africa, between
Cape Cantin and Cape Bojador. In these lati--
tudes a vessel becalmed is carried on the coast,
at the time it is thought at a great distance, if
the reckoning be not corrected. Were the mo-
tion of the waters caused by the opening at the
Straits of Gibraltar, why, on the south of these
Straits, should it not foilow an opposite direction?
On the contrary, in the 25th and 26th degrees
of latitude, the current flows at first directly to
the south, and then to the south-west. Cape
Blanc, which, after Cape Verd, is the most salient
promontory, seems to have an influence on this
direction, and it is in this parallel that the wa-
ters, of which we have followed the course from
the coasts of Honduras to those of Africa, mix
with the great current of the tropics to begin
their tour from east to west. We have already
observed, that, several hundred leagues to the
west of the Canary Islands, the motion which is.
peculiar to the equinoctial waters is felt in the
temperate zone from the 28th and 29th degrees
of northern latitude; but on the meridian of the
Island of Ferro, the vessels reach the south as
far as the tropic of Cancer, before they find
themselves, by their reckoning, to the east of
their true position.

I hope to have given some value to the chart*

* This chart which I began to sketch in October, 1804,
beside the temperature of the sea, furnishes observations on the

6

Qe

of the Northern Atlantic Ocean, which I have
published, bytracing in it with particular care the: -
direction of this retrograde current, that like a
river, the bed of which is gradually enlarged,
traverses the vast extent of the sea. I flatter my-
self that the navigators, who have studied the
charts of Jonathan Williams, of Governor Pow-
nall, of Heather, and of Strickland *, wili find —
several objects in mine worthy of their attention.
Independent of the observations I have made
during six voyages, namely, from Spain toCuma-
na, from Cumana to the Havannah, from the Isle
of Cuba to Carthagena in America, from Vera
Cruz to the Havannah, from this port to Phila-
delphia, and from: Philadelphia to the coasts of
France, I have collected in this map all that my
laborious and active exertions could discover in
the journals of such authors, as have been able
to make use of astronomical means to determine
the effect of the currents. I have indicated also
the latitudes, in which the motion of the waters
is not constantly perceived ; for in the same man-
ner as the northern limit of the current of the tro-

dip of the magnetic needle, the lines without variation, the in-
tensity of the magnetic forces, the stripes of floating sea weeds,
and other phenomena which interest physical geography.

N.B. This chart, not yet engraved, will be published in

the succeeding volumes. :

-* Amer. Trans, vol. ii, p. 328; vol. ii, p. 82 and 194 ;
vol. v, p. 90; and an interesting essay on the currents, by
Mr, Delamétherie. Journ. de Phys. 1808, t. 67, p. 91.

57

pics and that of the trade winds vary according
to the seasons, the Gulf-stream also changes it’s
place and direction. These changes become very
perceptible from the 38th degree of latitude as
far as the great bank of Newfoundland, and are
observed even between the 48th degree of longi-
tude west of Paris, and the meridian of the
Azores. The variable winds of the temperate
zone, and the melting of the ice of the northern
pole, whence in the months of July and August
a great quantity offresh water flows towards the
south, may be considered as the principal causes,
which modify in these high latitudes, the force
and direction of the Gulf-stream.

We have just seen that between the parallels
of 11 and 43 degrees, the waters of the Atlantic
are drawn on by the currents in a continual
whirlpool. Supposing that a molecule of water
returns to the same place from which it departed,
we can estimate, from our present know ledge o
the swiftness of currents, that this circuit of 3800
leagues is not terminated in less than two years
and ten months. A boat, which may be sup-
posed to receive no impulsion from the winds,
would require thirteen months from the Canary
islands to reach the coast of Caraccas, ten months
to make the tour of the Gulf of Mexico and
reach Tortoise Shoals opposite the port of the
~ Havannah, while forty or fifty daysmight be suf-
ficient to carry it from the Straits of Florida tothe

08

bank of Newfoundland. It would be difficultto
fix the rapidity of the retrograde current from
this bank to the coasts of Africa: estimating the
mean velocity of the waters at seven or eight
miles in twenty-four hours, we find ten or eleven
months for this last distance. Such are the ef-
fects of this slow but regular motion, which agi-
tates the waters of theocean. Those of the river
of the Amazons take nearly forty-five days to
flow from Tomependa to Grand Para.

_A short time before my arrival at Teneriff, the
sea had left in the road of St. Croix a trunk of a
cedrela odorata covered with the bark. This
American tree vegetates exclusively under the
tropics, or in theneighbouring regions. It had no

doubt been torn up on the coast of the continent, .

or of that of Honduras. The nature of the wood,
and the lichens which covered it’s bark, were
evident proofs, that this trunk did not belong to
these submarine forests, which ancient revolu-
tions of the globe have deposited in lands trans-
ported from the polar regions. If the cedrela,
instead of having been thrown on the strand of
Teneriff, had been carried farther south, it would
probably have made the whole tour of the At-

lantic, and returned to it’s native soil with the.

general current of the tropics. This conjecture
is supported by a fact of more ancient date, re-
corded in the general history of the Canaries by
the Abbé Viera. In 1770,:a small vessel laden

ee ONL OL

my!)

with corn, and bound from the Island of Lance-
rotte, to Santa Cruz, in Teneriff, was driven to
sea, while none of the crew were on board. The
motion of the waters from east to west, carried
it to America, where it went on shore at La
Guayra near Caraccas *.

Whilst the art of navigation was yet in it’s in-
fancy, the Gulf-stream furnished the genius of
Christopher Columbus with certain indications of
the existence of western regions. Two corpses,
the features of which indicated a race of un-
known men, were thrown on the coasts of the
Azores, towards the end of the 15th century.
Nearly at the same period, the brother-in-law of
Columbus, Peter Correa, governor of Porto San-
to, found on the strand of this island pieces of
bamboo of an extraordinary size, brought thither
by the western currents}. These corpses and the
bamboos attracted the attention of the Genoese
navigator, who conjectured, that both came from
a continent situate towards the west; we know
at present, that in the torrid zone the trade
winds and the current of the tropics are in oppo-
sition to every motion of the waves in the direc-
tion of the earth’s rotation. The productions of
the new world cannot reach the old, but by the
very high latitudes, and in following the direc-

* Viera Hist. gen. de las Islas Canarias, t. ii, p. 167-
t Munorz, Hist. del nuevo mundo, Lib. ii,§.14. Fernan
Colon, vida del Almirante,cap.9. | Herera Decad. 1, cap. ii

60

tion of the current of Florida. The fruits of se-
veral trees of the Antilles are often thrown on
the coasts of the Isles of Ferro andGomera. Be-
fore the discovery of America, the Canarians
considered these fruits as coming from the en-
chanted isle of St. Borondon, which according
to the reveries of the pilots, and certain legends,
was placed towards the west in an unknown
part of the ocean, buried, as was supposed, in
eternal fogs. 7

My chief view in tracing a sketch of the cur-
rents of the Atlantic is to prove, that the motion
of the waters towards the south-east, from Cape
St. Vincent to the Canary Islands, is the effect
of the general motion, which the surface of the
Ocean feels at it’s western extremity. We shall
give but a very succinct account of the arm of
the Gulf-stream, which in the 45th and 50th de-
grees of latitude, near the bank of Bonnet-Fla-
mand, runs from the south-west to the north-
east towards the coasts of Europe. This partial
current becomes very strong when the winds
have continued to blow a long time from the
west : and, like that which flows along the isles —
of Ferro and Gomera, deposits every year on the
western coasts of Ireland and Norway the fruit.
of trees, which belong to the torrid zone ef Ame-
rica. On the shores of the Hebrides, we collect
seeds of mimosa scandens, of dolichos urens, of
guilandina bonduc, and several other plants of

«66h
Jamaica, the Isle of Cuba, and of the neighbour-
ing continent*. The current carries thither also
barrels of French wine, well preserved, the re-
mains of the cargoes of vessels wrecked in the
West Indian Seast. To these examples of the
distant migration of the vegetable world, others
no.less striking may beadded. The wreck of an
English vessel, the Tilbury, burnt near Jamaica,
was found on the coasts of Scotland. On these
same coasts various kinds of tortoises are some-
times found, that inhabit the waters of the An-
tilles. When the western winds are of long du-
ration, a current is formed in the high latitudes,
which runs directly towards the east-south-east,
from the coasts of Greenland and Labrador, as
far as the north of Scotland. Wallace relates,
that twice, in 1682 and 1684, American savages
of the race of the Esquimaux, driven out to sea
in their leathern canoes, during a storm, and left
to the guidance of the currents, reached the
Orcadest. This last example is so much the
more worthy of attention, as it proves at the

* Pennant, Voyage to the Hebrides, 1772, p. 232. Gun-
ner’s Acta Nidrosiensia, t. ii, p.310. Sloane, in the Philos.
Trans. No. 222, p. 398. Linn. Amen. Acad. vol. 1. p. 477.

+ Necker, View of Nature in the Hebrides, in the Bibl,
Brit. vol. xln, p. 90.

+ James Wallace, (of Kirkwall) Account of the Islands of
Orkney, 1700, p. 60. Fischer, in Pallas, Neue Nordische
Beiterge, B. iii, p. 320. Greenlanders have been seen in the
islands of Eda and Westrain.

6

same time how, at a period when the art of na-

vigation was yet in it’s infancy, the motion of

the waters of the ocean would contribute to dis-
seminate the different races of men over the face
of the globe.

The small portion of knowledge, which we hi-
therto possess with respect to the absolute po-
sition and breadth of the Gulf-stream, as well as
it’s prolongation towards the coasts of Europe
and Africa, has been accidentally observed by a
small number of enlightened men, who have
crossed the Atlantic in different directions. As
the knowledge of the currents is of the highest
importance to shorten navigations, it would be
no less useful to the pilot than the naturalist,
that vessels, furnished with excellent chronome-
ters, should cruise in the Gulf of Mexico, and in

the Northern Ocean between the 30th and 54th

degrees of latitude, in order to determine at
what distance the Gulf-stream is found in dif-
ferent seasons, and under the influence of differ-
ent winds, to the south of the mouth of the
Missisippi, and to the east of Capes Hatteras
and Cod. The same navigators might have in-
structions to examine whether the great current
of Florida constantly skirts the southern bank
of Newfoundiand; and on what parallel, be-
tween 32 and 40 degrees of west longitude, the
waters, which run from east to west are nearest
those which follow an opposite direction.

is

63

The solution of this last problem becomes so
much the more important, as the latitudes which
we have just indicated are traversed by the
greater part of the vessels, which return to Eu-
rope from the West India islands, or the Cape
of Good Hope. Beside the direction and swift-
ness of the currents, this expedition would serve
to discover the temperature of the sea at it’s
surface, the lines without variation, the dip of
the needle, and the intensity of the magnetic
forces. Observations of this kind become ex-
tremely valuable, when the position of the place
where they were made has been determined by
astronomicai means. In the seas most frequent-
ed by the Europeans, far out of sight of land, an
able navigator may still devote his time to im-
portant labours. The discovery of a group of
uninhabited islands is less interesting than the
knowledge of those laws, which link together a
considerable number of insulated facts. ,

In reflecting on the causes of the currents, we
find, that they are mucli more numerous than is
generally believed; for the waters of the sea
may be put in motion by an external impulse,
by a difference in heat and saltness, by the peri-
odical melting of the polar ice, or by the inequa-
lity of the evaporation, which takes place in
different latitudes. Sometimes several of these
causes concur to the same effect, and sometimes
they produce effects that are contrary. Winds

64

that are light, but which, like the trade winds,
are continually acting on the whole of a zone,
cause a real movement of transition, which we
do not observe in the heaviest tempests, because
these last are circumscribed within a small
space. When, ina great mass of water, the par-
ticles placed at the surface acquire a different
specific gravity, a superficial current is formed,
which takes it’s direction towards the point
where the water is coldest, or that which is most
saturated with muriat of soda, sulphat of lime,
and with muriat or sulphat of magnesia. In
the seas of the tropics we find, that at. great
depths the thermometer marks 7 or 8 centesimal
degrees. Such is the result of the numerous
experiments of Commodore Ellis and of Mr.
Peron. The temperature of the air in those la-
titudes being never below 19. or 20 degrees, it is
not at the surface that the waters can have ac-
quired a degree of cold so near the point of con-
gelation, and of the maximum of the density of
water. The existence of this cold strata in the
low latitudes is an evident proof of the existence
of an inferior current, which runs from the poles
towards the equator : it also proves, that the sa-
line substances, which alter the specific gravity
of the water, are distributed in the ocean, so as
not to annihilate the effect produced by the dif-
ferences of temperature *,

* In fact, if the mean saltness of the sea was 0:005 greater

65

Considering the velocity of the molecules,
which, on account of the rotatory motion of the
globe, vary with the parallels, we may be tempt-
ed to admit that every current, in the direction

under the equator than in the temperate zone, as several na-
turalists pretend, a current at the bottom, from the equator
towards the pole, would be the result : for 0°005 produce a
difference of density of 0°0017, while, according to the tables
of Hallstrom, a refrigeration of 16 centesimal degrees, be-
tween the 20th and 4th of temperature, causes only a change
of 000015 in the specific gravity. After attentive examina-
tion of the results of the experiments of Black, reduced by
Mr. Kirwan to the temperature of 16°, I find on the average
the density of the water of the sea, :

from 0° to 14° latitude at 1:0272

from 15° to 25° 1:0282
from 30° to 44° — 00278
from 54° to 60° 1°:0271

The proportion of salt corresponding to these four zones
are, according to Bishop Watson, 0:0374 ; 0°0394 ; 0°0386 ;
and 0:0372. Those numbers sufficiently prove, that the expe-
riments hitherto published do not in any way justify the renew-
ed opinion, that the sea is salter under the equator than under
the 30th and 44th degrees of latitude. It is not therefore a
greater quantity of saline substance held in solution, which
opposes itself to this inferior current, by which the equinoc-
tial ocean receives particles of water, which during the win-
ter of the temperate zones have sunk towards the bottom of
the sea, from the 30th to the 44th degree of southern and
northern latitude. Baumé has analysed the sea-water collect-
-ed by Mr. Pages in different latitudes, and found in this wa-
ter 0-005 less salt at 1° 16’ of latitude than between the 25th
and 40th degrees. (Kzrwan’s Geol, Essays, p. 350. Pages
Voyage round the Word, vol. i, p. 6 and 275.) |

VOL. I. F

66

from south to north, tends at the same time to=
ward the east, while the waters, which run from
the pole toward the equator, have a tendency to
- deviate toward the west. We may also be led
to think, that these tendencies diminish to a cer-
tain point the speed of the tropical current, in
the same manner as they change the direction of
the polar current, which in July and August, is
regularly perceived during the melting of the
ice, on the parallel of the bank of Newfoundland,
and farther north. Very old nautical observa-
tions, which I have had occasion to confirm by —
comparing the longitude given by the chronome-
ter with that which the pilots obtained by their
_ reckoning, are contrary to these theoretical ideas.
In both hemispheres, the polar currents, when
they are perceived, decline a little to the east ;
and we think that the cause of this phenomenon
should be sought in the constancy of the westerly
winds which prevail in the high latitudes. Be-
sides, the particles of water. do not move with
the same rapidity as the particles of air ; and the
currents of the ocean, which we consider as the
most rapid, have only a swiftness of eight or nine
feet a second: it is consequently very proba-
ble, that the water, in passing through different
parallels, gradually acquires a velocity corre-
spondent to those parallels, and that the rotation
of the Earth does not change the direction of the
currents. _ ae

67

The variable pressures, which the surface of
the sea undergoes by the changes in the weight
of the air, are another cause of motion which
deserves particular attention. It is well known,
that the barometric variations do not in general
take place at the same moment on two distant
points, which are on the same level. If in one
of these points the barometer stands a few lines
lower than in the other, the water will rise where
it finds the least pressure of the air, and this lo-
cal intumescence will continue, till, from the
effect of the wind, the equilibrium of the air is
restored. Mr. Vaucher thinks that the tides in
the Lake of Geneva, known by the name of the
seiches, arise from the same cause. Under the
torrid zone, the horary variations of the barome-
ter may produce small oscillations at the surface
of the seas, the meridian of 4", which corresponds
to the minimum of the pressure of the air, being
situate between the meridian of 21" and 11" up-
on which the height of the mercury is the great-
est; but these oscillations, if even they were
perceptible, will be accompanied by no change
of place *.

When this last movement is produced by the
inequality of the specific weight of the particles,
a double current is formed, the upper of which
has a contrary direction to the lower. Thus in
the greatest part of the straits, as in the seas of

* Mouvement de translation,

2

63

the tropics, which receive the cold waters of the _~
‘northern regions, the whole mass of water is agi-
tateel to a very great depth. We are ignorant
if it be the same, when the movement of pro-
gression, which must not. be confounded with
the oscillation of the waves, is the effect of an
external impulse. Mr. de Fleurieu, in his nar-
rative of the voyage of the Isis *, cites several
facts which render it probablethat thesea is much
less still at the bottom than naturalists gene-
raily admit. Without entering here into a dis-
cussion which we shall treat hereafter, we shall.
only observe, that if the external impulse is con-
stant in it’s action, like that of the trade winds,
the friction of the particles of water on each
other must necessarily propagate the motion of
the surface of the ocean even to the inferior
strata ; and in fact this propagation in the Gulf-
stream has long been admitted by navigators,
who think they discover the effects in the great
depth of the sea wherever it is traversed by the
current of Florida, even amidst the sand-banks
which surround the northern coasts of the Unit-
ed States. This immense river of. hot waters,
after a course of fifty days, from the 24th to the
45th degree of latitude, or 450 leagues, does not
lose, amidst the rigors of winter in the tempe-
rate zone, more than 3 or 4 degrees of the tem-
_ * Voyage made by order of the king, in 1768 and 1769,
to try the marine time-pieces. Vol. i, p. 513,

?

69

- perature it had under the’ tropics. Tbe great-
ness of the mass, and the small conductibility of
water for heat, prevent a more speedy refrigera-
tion. If therefore the Gulf-stream has dug a
channel at the bottom of the Atlantic ocean, and
_if it’s waters are in motion to considerable depths,
they must also in their inferior strata keep up a
lower temperature than that which is observed
in the same parallel, in a part of the sea which
has neither currents nor deep shoals. These
questions can be cleared up only by direct expe-
riments, made by thermometrical soundings.
Sir Erasmus Gower remarks, that, in the pas-
sage from England to the Canary Islands, the
current, which draws the vessels towards the
south-east, begins at the 39th degree of latitude.
During our navigation from Corunna to the
coasts of South America, the effect of this motion
of the waters was perceived farther to the north.
From the 37th to the 30th degree, the deviation
was very unequal; the daily average effect was
12 miles, that is, our sloop drove towards the
east 75 miles in six days. In cutting the parallel
of the Strait of Gibraltar, at a distance of 140
leagues, we had occasion to observe, that in
those latitudes, the maximum of the rapidity
does not correspond with the mouth of the Strait,
but with a more northerly point, which lies in
the prolongation of a line passing through the
Strait and Cape St. Vincent. This line is parallel

70

to the direction which the waters follow from the
Azores to Cape Cantin. We should moreover
observe, (and this fact is not uninteresting to
those who examine the nature of fluids) that in_
this part of the retrograde current, on a breadth
of 120 or 140 leagues, the whole mass of water
has not the same rapidity, nor does it follow
precisely the same direction. When the sea is
perfectly calm, there appears at the surface nar-
row stripes, like small rivulets, in which the wa-
ters run with a murmur very sensible to the ear
of an experienced pilot. The 13th of June, in
34° 36’ of northern latitude, we found ourselves
in the midst of a great number of these beds of
currents. We took their direction with the com-
pass; some ran north-east, others east-north-
east, though the general movement of the ocean,
indicated by comparing the reckoning with the
chronometrical longitude, continued to be south-
east. It is very common to see a mass of motion-
less waters crossed by threads of water, which
run in different directions, and we may daily
observe the phenomenon on the surface of
lakes ; but it is much less frequent to find partial
movements, impressed by local causes on small
portions of waters in the midst of a sea-river,
which occupies an immense space, and which —
moves, though slowly, in a constant direction. In
the conflict of currents, as in the oscillation of
the waves, our imagination is struck by those

71

movements which seem to penetrate each other,
and by which the ocean is continually agitated.

We passed Cape St. Vincent, which is of ba-
saltic formation, at more than eighty leagues dis-
tance. It is not distinctly seen at a greater dis-
tance than 15 leagues, but the granitic mountain
called the Foya de Monchique, situate near the
Cape, is perceptible, as the pilots pretend, at the
distance of 26 leagues *. If their assertion be
exact, the Foya is 700 toises (1363 metres) and
consequently 116 toises (225 metres) higher than
Vesuvius. It seems extraordinary that the Portu-
guese government should neglect to maintain a_
fire on this point, which must be made by every
vessel coming from the Cape of Good Hope or.
Cape Horn, and is an object for which they look
with the greatest eagerness. Between Ferrol and
Cadiz there is but one single light-house, that of
Cape la Rocque, to direct the mariners on coasts
where the approach is sodangerous. The fires on
the Tower of Hercules and Cape Spichel are so
feeble, and so little visible ata distance, that they
scarcely deserve to be cited. Besides, the con-
vent of the Capuchins, which rises above Cape
St. Vincent, would be one of the fittest places
to build a light-house, with a rotatory light like
that of Cadiz, or the mouth of the Garonne.

* Elementos de Navigacion de Don Dionisio Macarte, p.
47. Borda, Voy. de la Flore, vol. i, p.39, pl. 2. Link and

_ Hoffmansegg. Voy. en Portugal, vol. ii, p. 128; vol. iii, p.
323.

72

_ From Corunna to the.36th degree of latitude
we had scarcely seen any organic being, except-
ing sea-swallows, and a few dolphins. We looked
in vain for sea weeds (fucus) and molluscas,
when on the 11th of June we were struck with
a curious sight, which afterwards was frequently
renewed in the southern ocean. We entered on

a zone where the whole sea was covered with a
prodigious quantity of medusas. The vessel was
almost becalmed, but the molluscas were borne
towards the south-east, with a rapidity four times
that of the-current. Their passage lasted near
three quarters of an hour. We then perceived
but a few scattered individuals, following the —
crowd at a distance as if they were’ tired with
their journey. Do these animals come from the
bottom of the sea, which is perhaps in these lati-
tudes some thousand fathoms deep? or do they
make distant voyages in shoals? We know that
the molluscas haunt banks; and if the eight
rocks, near the surface, which Captain Vobennie
asserts having seen in 1732, to the north of Por-
to Santo, really exist, we may suppose that this
innumerable quantity of medusas had been
thence detached; for we were but 28 leagues
from this reef. We found, beside the medusa
aurita of Baster, and the medusa pelagica of
Bose with eight tentacula (pelagia denticulata,
Peron), a third species which resembles the me-
dusa hysocella, and which Vandelli found at the

73

mouth of the Tagus. It is known by it’s brown-
ish-yellow colour, and by it’s tentaculz, which
are longer than the body. Several of these sea-
nettles were four inches in diameter: their re-
flection was almost metallic: their changeable
colours of violet and purple formed an agreeable
contrast with the azure tint of the ocean.

In the midst of these medusas Mr. Bonpland
observed bundles of dagysa notata, a mollusca
of a singular construction, which Sir Joseph
Banks first discovered. These are small gelati-
nous bags, transparent, cylindrical, sometimes
polygonal, which are thirteen lines long and two
or three in diameter. These bags are open at
both ends. In one of these openings, we observ-
ed a hyaline bladder, marked with a yellow spot.
The cylinders are longitudinally placed on each
other, like the cells of a bee-hive, and form chap-
lets from six to eight inches in length. I tried
the galvanic electricity on these molluscas, but
it produced no contraction. It appears that the
genus dagysa, formed at the time of Cook’s first
voyage, belongs to the salpas (biphores of Bru-
guiére) to which Mr. Cuvier joins the thalia of
Brown, and the tethis vagina of Tilesius. The
salpas journey also by groups, joining in chap-
lets, as we have observed of the dagysa *.

* Account of Voyages undertaken by order of his Britan-

nie Majesty, 1789, vol. iii, p. 261. Ann. du Museum, vol.
xiv, p. 360. ,

74

The morning of the 13th of June, in 34° 33’ la-
titude, we saw large masses of this last mollusca
in it’s passage, the sea being perfectly calm. We
observed during the night, that, of three species.
of medusas which we collected, none yielded any
light but at the moment of a very slight shock.
This property does not belong exclusively to the
medusa noctiluca, which Forskeel has described
in his Fauna Atgyptiaca, and which Gmelin has
applied to the medusa pelagica of Loefling, not-
withstanding it’s red tentacula, and the brownish
tuberosities of it’s body. If we place a very irri-
table medusa on a pewter plate, and strike
against the plate with any sort of metal, the
small vibrations of the plate are sufficient to
make this animal emit light. Sometimes in gal-
vanising the medusa, the phosphorescence ap-
pears at the moment that the chain closes, though
the exciters are not in immediate contact with
the organs of the animal. The fingers with
which we touch it remain luminous for two or
three minutes, as is observed in breaking the
shell of the pholades. If we rub wood with the
body of a medusa, and the part rubbed ceases
shining, the phosphorescence returns if we pass a
dry hand over the wood. When the light is ex-
tinguished a second time, it can no longer be re-
produced, though the place rubbed be still hu-
mid and viscous. In what manner ought we to
consider the effect of the friction, or that of the

79

shock? ‘Fhis is a question of difficult solution,
Is it a slight augmentation of temperature which
favours the phosphorescence? or does the light re-
turn, because the surface is renewed, by putting
the animal parts proper to disengage the phos-
phoric hydrogen in contact with the oxygen of
the atmospheric air? I have proved by experi-
ments published in 1797, that the shining of
wood is extinguished in hydrogen gas, and in
pure azotic gas, and that it’s light reappears
whenever we mix with it the smallest bubble of
oxygen gas. These facts, to which we shall here-
after add several others, lead to the discovery of
the causes of the phosphorescence of the sea,
and of that peculiar influence, which the shock
of the waves exercises on the production of
light.

When we were between the Isle of Madeira
and the coasts of Africa, we had slight breezes
and dead calms, very favourable for the magnetic
observations, which occupied me during this pas-
sage. We were never wearied of admiring the
beauty of the nights ; nothing can be compared
to the transparency and serenity of an African
sky. We were struck with the innumerable
quantity of falling stars, which appeared at
every instant. The farther progress we made
toward the south, the more frequent was this
phenomenon, especially near the Canaries. I
have observed during my excursions, that these

16

igneous meteors are in general more common
and luminous in some regions of the globe than
in others; I have never beheld them so multi-
plied as in the vicinity of the volcanoes of the
province of Quito, and in the part of the Pacific
Ocean which bathes the volcanic coasts of Gua-
timala. The influence, which place, climate,
and seasons appear to have on the falling
stars, distinguishes this class of meteors from
those which give birth to stones that fall from
the sky (aerolites), and which probably exist be-
yond the boundaries of our atmosphere. Accord-
ing to the corresponding observations of Messrs.
Benzenberg and Brandes *, many of the falling -
stars seen in Europe were only thirty thousand
toises high. One was even measured which did
not exceed fourteen thousand toises, or five
leagues. These measures, which can give no
result but by approximation, deserve well to
be repeated. In warm climates, especially un-
der the tropics, the falling stars leave a tail be-
hind them, which remains luminous i2 or 15
seconds: at other times they seem to burst into
sparks, and they are generally lower than those
in the north of Europe. We perceive them only
in a serene and azure sky; they have perhaps
never been seen below a cloud. Falling stars
often follow the same direction for several hours,

* Gilbert. Annalen de Physik, th. xu, p. 368. |

id |

“i

which direction is then that of the wind *. In
the Bay of Naples M. Gay-Lussac and myself
observed luminous phenomena, very analogous
to those which fixed my attention during a long
. abode at Mexico and Quito. ‘These meteors are
perhaps modified by the nature of the soil and
the air, like certain effects of the looming -+ and
of the terrestrial refraction peculiar to the coasts
of Calabria and Sicily.

During our navigation we saw neither the
Desert Islands nor Madeira; I should have ©
wished to have had the means of verifying the
longitude of those islands, and of taking the
angles of altitude of the volcanic mountains,
which rise to the north of Funchal. M. Borda
says, that these mountains are seen at 20 leagues
distance, which would give a height of only 414
toises (806 metres); but we know by recent
measures, that the most elevated point 4 of Ma-

* Such is the result of numerous observations by Mr.
Arago, who, at the period of the prolongation of the meridian
in Spain, was enabled to observe the direction of the meteors,
during whole nights, on the Tosal d’Encanade, a mountain in
the kingdom of Valencia. |

t Mirage. | |

t Voy. de la Flore, vol. i, p.65. The Salvage is visible at
eight leagues; the little Desert Islands are seen at 12 leagues
distance. Borda, vol. i, p. 67 et 70.

§ Smith’s Tour of the Continent, vol. i, p. 200. Irish
Trans. vol. viii, p. 124. According to Heberden, the Peak

‘Ruivo of Madeira is 595 toises above the plane which sur-
rounds its basis. Cook’s first Voyage, vol. i, p. 272.

78

deira is 5162 English feet, or 807 toises. The
small Desert Islands and the Salvage, on which
are gathered the archil and the mesembryan-
themum crystallinum, are only 200 toises in per-
pendicular height. I think it useful to fix the
attention of navigators on these measures, be-
cause, according to a method of which this nar-
rative offers several examples, and which Borda,
Lord Mulgrave, Mr. de Rossel, and Don Cosmo
Churruca have successfully employed in their
expeditions, we may, by angles of height taken
with good reflecting instruments, discover with
sufficient exactness the distance, at which a
vessel finds itself from a cape, or an island with
mountains.

When we were forty leagues east of the island
of Madeira, a common swallow camie and perched
on the topsail-yard. It was so fatigued, that it
suffered itself to be easily taken. What could
engage a bird, in that season, and in calm wea-
ther, to fly so far? In the expedition of d’Entre-
casteaux, a common swallow was seen at 60
leagues distance from Cape Blanc; but this was
towards the end of October, and Mr. Labillar-
diére thought it had newly arrived from Europe.
We crossed these latitudes in June, at a period
when the seas had not for a long time been agi-
tated by tempests. I dwell on this last circum-
stance, because small birds, and even butterflies,
are sometimes forced out to sea by the impetu-

a9

osity of the winds, as we observed in the south-
ern ocean, when we were on the western coasts
of Mexico. |

The Pizarro had orders to touch at the Isle
of Lancerote (Zanzarote,) one of the seven great
Canary Islands, to inquire whether the English
blockaded the road of St. Croix of Teneriff. We
had been uncertain, since the 15th of June, what
course to follow. ‘Till then the pilots, to whom
the use of marine watches was not very familiar,
had shown little confidence in the longitude
which I obtained regularly twice a-day, by the
difference of time, in taking horary angles morn-
ing and evening. They hesitated at steering to
the south-east, in apprehension of running on
Cape Nun, or at least of leaving the island of
Lancerote to the west. At length on the 16th
of June, at nine in the morning, when we were
already in 29° 26’ of latitude, the Captain
changed his course, and sailed toward the east.
The exactness of Lewis Berthoud’s timekeeper
was soon recognized: at two in the afternoon
we had sight of land, which appeared like a
small cloud at the edge of the horizon. At five,
the sun being lower, the Isle of Lancerote pre-
sented itself so distinctly, that I was able to take
the angle of altitude of a conic mountain, which
towered majestically over the other summits,
and which we thought was the great volcano
which had committed so many ravages in the
night of the first of September, 1730.

30

The current drew us toward the coast more -
rapidly than we wished." As we advanced, we —
discovered at first the island of Fortaventure
(Forteventura) famous for the great number of
camels * which it feeds ; and a short time after
we saw the small island of Lobos in the chan-
-nel which separates Fortaventura from Lance-
rote. We spent part of the night on the deck.
The moon illumined the volcanic summits of
Lancerote, the flanks of which, covered with
ashes, reflected a silver light. Antares threw
out it’s resplendent rays near the lunar disk,
which was but a few degrees above the horizon.
The night was beautifully serene and cool.
‘Though we were but a little distance from the
west of Africa, and on the limit of the torrid
zone, the centigrade thermometer rose no high-
er than 18°. The phosphorescence of the ocean
seemed to augment the mass of light diffused
through the air. I was able to read for the first
time the nonius of a sextant, by Troughton, of
two inches, the division of which was very mi-

* These camels, which serve for labor, and sometimes for
food when salted, did not exist till the Béthencourts made the
conquest of the Canaries. In the sixteenth century, asses
were so abundant in the Isle of Fortayentura, that they be-
came wild and were hunted. Several thousands were killed
to save the harvest. The horses of Fortaventura are of sin-
gular beauty, and of the Barbary race. Noticias de la his-
toria general de las islas Canarias, par Don Jose de Viera,
t. li, p. 436. |

roll |

nute, without using a taper for the limb. Se-
veral of our fellow travellers were Canarians,
who, like all other inhabitants of islands, vaunted
with enthusiasm the beauty of their country.
After midnight, great black clouds rising behind
the voleano shrouded at intervals the moon and
the beautiful constellation of the Scorpion. We
beheld lights carried to and fro on shore, which
were probably those of fishermen preparing for
their labours. We had been employed, during
our passage, in reading the ancient voyages of
the Spaniards, and these moving lights recalled
to our fancy those which Pedro Gutierrez, page
of Queen Isabella, saw in the Isle of Guanahani,
on that memorable night of the discovery of the
New World. 7
On the 17th, i in the morning, the horizon was
foggy, and the sky slightly covered with vapours.
The outlines of the mountain of Lanzerota ap-
peared stronger; the humidity, increasing the
transparency of the air, seemed at the same time
to have brought the objects nearer our. view.
This phenomenon is well known to those, who
have made hygrometrical observations in places.
whence the chain of the high Alps or the Andes °
is seen. We passed through the channel which
divides the isle of Alegranza from Montana
Clara, taking soundings the whole way. We
examined the Archipelago of small islands si-
tuate to the north of Lanzerota, which are so
VOL. I. G

$2

ill laid down in the chart of Mr. Fleurieu, though
it is otherwise very exact, and in that which ap-
peared in the voyage of the Flora frigate. The
chart of the Atlantic Ocean, published in 1786 _
by order of M. de Castries, is equally erroneous
in this point. The currents being extremely ra-
pid in these latitudes, it is important for the safe-_
ty of navigators to observe here, that the position —
of the five small islands, Alegranza, Clara, Gra-
ciosa, Roca del. Este, and Infierno, are no where
laid down with exactness, but in the chart of
the Canaries by Mr. de Berda, and in the Atlas
of Tofino, founded for this part on the observa-
tions of Don Jose Varela, which are nearly con-
formable to those of the Boussole frigate.

In the midst of this Archipelago, which is sel-
dom traversed by vessels bound for Teneriffe, we
were singularly struck with the configuration of
the coasts. We thought ourselves transported
to the Euganean mountains in the Vicentin, or
the banks of the Rhine near Bonn *. The form
of organized beings varies according to the cli-
mate, and it is that extreme variety, which ren-
ders the study of the geography of plants and
animals so attractive ; but the rocks, more an-
cient perhaps than the causes which have pro-
duced the difference of the climates on the globe,
are the same in both hemispheres +. The por- |

* Stebengebirge, described by Mr. Nose.

+t Monum, Amer. p. 122, hs

33

phyries containing vitreous feldspath and horn-
blende *, the phonolite +, the greenstone, the
amygdaloids, and the basalt have forms almost
as invariable as simple crystallized substances.
In the Canary islands, and in the mountains of
Auvergne, in the Mittelgebirge in Bohemia, in
Mexico, and on the banks of the Ganges, the
formation of trapp is indicated by a symmetrical
disposition of the mountains, by truncated cones,
sometimes insulated, sometimes grouped *, and
by elevated plains, both extremities of which are
crowned by a conieal rising.

The whole western part of Lanzerota, of which
we had a near view, bears the appearance of a
country recently overturned by volcanic erup-
tions. Every thing is black, parched, and strip-
ped of vegetable mould. We distinguished, with
-- our glasses, stratified basalt in thin and steeply
sloping strata. Several hills resembled. Monte
Novo, near Naples, or those hillocks of scoria
and ashes, which the opening earth threw up in
a single night at the foot of the volcano of Jo-
rullo, in Mexico. In fact, the Abbé Viera§
relates, that in 1730 more than half the island
changed it’s appearance. The great volcano,
which we have just mentioned, and which the

* Amphibole of Haiiy.
+ Porphyrschiefer of Werner.
t Montigemelli, Zwillinsberge.
§ Viera, t. i. p. 404.

G 2

84

inhabitants call the volcano of Temanfaya,
spread desolation over a most fertile and highly
cultivated region; nine villages were entirely
destroyed by the lavas. This catastrophe had
been preceded by a tremendous earthquake, and
for several years shocks equally violent were
felt. This last phenomenon is so much the more
singular, as it seldom happens at the end of an
eruption, when the elastic vapours have found
vent by the crater, after the ejection of the
melted matter. The summit of the great vol-
cano is a rounded hill, but not entirely conic.
From the angles of altitude which I took at dif-
ferent distances, it’s absolute elevation did not -
appear to exceed three hundred toises. The
neighbouring hills, and those of Alegranza and
Isla Clara, were scarcely above one hundred or
one hundred and twenty toises. We may be
surprised at not finding these summits at a
greater elevation, which seen at sea wear so
majestic a form ; but nothing is more uncertain
than our judgment on the greatness of angles,
which are subtended by objects close to the ho-
rizon. From illusions of this sort it arose, that
before the measures * of Messrs. de Churruca
and Galleano, at Cape Pilar, navigators con-
sidered the mountains of the Straits of Magel-
lan, and those of Terra del Fuego, as béing ex-
tremely elevated.

* Churruca, Apendice a la Relacion del Viaje al Magel-
lanes, 1793, p. '76.

85

The island of Lanzerota bore formerly the
name of Titeroigotra. On the arrival of the
Spaniards, it’s inhabitants were distinguished
from the other Canarians by marks of greater
civilization. Their houses were built with free
stone, while the Guanches of Teneriffe, like real
troglodytes, dwelt in caverns. At Lanzerota, a
very singular custom * prevailed at that time, of
which we find no example except among the
people of Thibet. A woman had several hus-
bands, who alternately enjoyed the prerogatives
due to the head of a family. A husband was
considered as such only during a lunar revolu-
tion, and whilst his rights were exercised by
others, he remained classed among the house-
hold domestics. It must be regretted, that the
missionaries who accompanied Jean de Béthen-
court, and who sketched the history of the con-
quest of the Canaries, have given us no ampler
details on the manners of a people who had such
singular customs. In the fifteenth century, the
island of Lanzerota contained two small distinct
states, divided by a wall; a kind of monuments
which outlive national enmities, and which we
find in Scotland, in China, and Peru.

* Viera, t. i, p. 150, 171, 191. Du Halde, Descrip. of
China, t. iv, p. 461. In Thibet, polyandry is nevertheless
much less common than is thought, and is blamed by the
clergy. Hackman ‘in Pallas, Neue Nordische Beitrege,
B. 3, p. 282.

86

We were forced by the winds’to pass between
the islands of Alegranza and Montana: Clara ;
and as none on board the sloop had sailed through ~
this passage, we were obliged to be continually |
sounding. We found from twenty-five to thirty-
two fathom. The lead brought up an organic
substance of so singular a construction, that we
were for a long time doubtful whether it was a-
zoophite or a kind of seaweed. The drawing I
made on the spot is engraved in the second vo-
lume of our E.quinoctial Plants *. The stem, of
a brownish color and three inches long, has cir-
cular leaves that have lobes, and are indented at
the edge. The colour of these leaves is a tender
green, and they are membranous and streaked
like those of the adiantums and the’ ginkgo bi-
loba. Their surface is covered with stiff and
whitish hairs ; before their opening they are con-
cave and envelloped one in the other. We ob-
served no mark of spontaneous motion, no sign
of irritability, not even on the application of gal-
vanic electricity. The stem‘is not woody, but
almost of a horny substance, like the stem of the
gorgons. Azote and phosphorus having been
abundantly found in several cryptogamous
plants, an appeal to chemistry would be useless,
to determine whether this organized substance
belonged to the animal or vegetable kingdom.

|

* Equinox. Plants. t. ii, p. 8, pl. 69.

87

It’s great analogy to several sea plants, with adi-
antum leaves, especially with the genus caulerpa
of Mr. Lamoureux, of which the fucus prolifer of
Forskal is one of the numerous species, engaged
us to rank it provisionally among the sea-wracks,
and give it the name of fucus vitifolius. The
bristles which cover this plant are found in se-
veral other fuci*. The leaf, examined with a
microscope at the instant we drew it up from
the water, did not present, it is true, those con-
globute glands, or those opake points, which the
parts of fructification in the genera of ulva and
fucus contain; but how often do we find sea-
weeds in such a state, that we cannot yet dis-
tinguish any trace of seeds in their transparent
parenchyma. ,

I should not have entered into these details,
which belong to descriptive natural history, had
not the vine-leaved fucus presented a physiolo-
gical phenomenon of the greatest interest. Fixed
to a piece of madrepora, this seaweed vegetates
at the bottom of the ocean, at the depth of 192
feet, notwithstanding which, it’s leaves were as
green as those of our grasses. According to the
experiments of Bouguer +, light is weakened

* Fucus lycopodioides, and f. hirsutus.

+ Traité d’optique, p. 256, 264,346. The fucus vitifolius,
at the depth of 32 fathoms, can have received a light only 203
times stronger than that of the moon, and consequently equal

to half the light of a candle at a foot’s distance. But after
my direct experiments, the lepidium sativum scarcely takes

88

after a passage of 180 feet, in the ratio of 1 to

1477°5. The sea-weed of L’Alegranza conse-
quently presents a new example of plants, which
vegetate in a great obscurity without being
whitened. Several germs, still enveloped in the
‘bulbs of the lily tribes, the embryo of the mal-
vaceze, of the rhamnoides, of the pistacea, the
viscum, and the citrus, the branches of some
subterraneous plants ; in short, vegetables trans-
ported into mines, where the ambient. air con-
tains hydrogen, or a great quantity of azote,
become green without light. From these facts,
we are inclined to admit, that it is not only un-
der the influence of the solar rays that this car-
buret of hydrogen is formed in the organs of
plants, the presence of which makes the paren-
chyma appear of a lighter or darker green, ac-

cording as the carbon predominates in the mix-

ture *. :

Mr. Turner, who has so well made known the
family of the seaweeds, and many other celebrat-
ed botanists, think that the greater part of the
fuci which we gather on the surface of the ocean,

and which from the 23d to the 35th degree of

a tint of green by the vivid light of two lamps of Argand.
See also Lambert, Photometria, p. 223. re

_ * These ideas are in part explained in my memoir on the
phenomenon of etiolation (Journal de Physique, t. 40, p. 154)
and in my Aphorisms on the chemical physiology of Vegetables,
(Flora Freibergensis, p. 179)... See also Trans. of the Irish
Academy, vol. 8, p.:960. | eye

emeeph serie Sitgs

89

latitude, and 32d of longitude, appear to the ma-
riner like a vast inundated meadow, grow pri-
mitively at the bottom of the ocean, and float
only in their ripened state, when they are torn —
off by the motion of the waves. If this opinion
be founded, we must agree, that the family of
seaweeds offers formidable difficulties to natural-
ists, who persist in thinking, that absence of light.
must always produce a whiteness; for how can
we admit, that so many species of ulvaceze, and
dictyoteze, with stems and green leaves, which
float on the ocean, have vegetated on rocks al-
most at the surface of the water ? |

From some notions which the captain of the
Pizarro had collected in an old Portugueze itine-
rary, he thought himself opposite a small fort,

_ situate at the north of Teguisa, the capital of the

island of Lanzerota.. Mistaking a rock of basalt
for a castle, he saluted it by hoisting the Spanish
flag, and sent a boat with an officer to inquire of
the commander if the English vessels were cruiz-
ing in the roads. We were not a little surprised
to learn, that the land, which we had considered
as a prolongation of the coasts of Lanzerota, was
the small island of Graciosa, and that for seve-
ral leagues there was not an inhabited place.
We took advantage of the boat to survey the
land, which enclosed a large bay. No language
can express the emotion, which a naturalist feels,
when he touches for the first time a land that is

90

not European. The attention is fixed on-so great
a number of objects, that he can scarcely define
the impression he receives. At every step he
thinks he discovers some new production; and
in this tumultuous state of mind he does not re-
collect those which are most common in our
botanical gardens, and collections of natural his-
tory. At two hundred yards from the coast,
we Saw a man fishing with a line. We steered
towards him, but he took fright, and hid him-
self behind a rock. The sailors brought him
back with difficulty. The sight of the sloop,
the fire of the cannon in so solitary a place,
though sometimes visited by Barbary corsairs,
and the landing of the crew, had frightened this.
poor man. He informed us, that the small
island of Graciosa, on which we had just land-
ed, was separated from Lanzerota by a narrow
channel called El Rio. He offered to conduct
us to the port of Los Colorados, to get inform-
ation respecting the blockade of Teneriffe, but as
he assured us at the same time, that he had not
seen any vessel for some weeks on the seas, the
captain resolved to pursue his course to Santa
Cruz. :

The small part of the island of Graciosa, which
we traversed, resembles those -promontories of
lava, which we see near Naples, between Portici
and Torre del Greco. The rocks are naked, with
no marks of vegetation, and scarcely any of ve-

91

getable soil. A few crustaceous lichen variola-
rie, leprariz, and urceolariz * were scattered
about upon the basalts. The lavas which are
not covered with volcanic ashes remain for
ages without any appearance of vegetation. On
the African soil excessive heat, and lengthened
drought, retard the growth of cryptogamous
plants. :

- The basalts of Graciosa are not in columns, but
divided into strata 10 or 15 inches thick. These
strata are inclined under an angle of 80 degrees
to the north-west. The compact basalt alternates
with the strata of porous basalt and marl. The
rock does not contain hornblende, but great crys-
tals of foliated olivine, which have a triple cli-
vage +. This substance is decomposed with great
difficulty. Mr. Haiy considers it as a variety of
the pyroxene. The porous basalt, which passes
into mandelstein, has oblong cavities from two to
eight lines diameter, lined with chalcedony, en-
closing fragments of compact basalt. I did not
remark that these cavities had the same direction,

* We found the lecidea astrovirens, urceolaria ocelleta, u.
diamarta, (to which Mr. Achariur assimilates the lichen koe-
nigri of my Flora of Friberg) parmelia parietina, p. tenella,
(lichen hispidus Willd.) p. atra, lecidia fusco-atra, and many
other species, which were hitherto thought to belong exclu-
sively to the north of Europe. (Achar. Mcthodus Lichenum,
CNG a ae

+ Blettriger olivin.

92

or that the porous rock lay on compact strata, as
happens in the currents of lava of Aitna and
Vesuvius. The marl *, which alternates more
than a hundred times with the basalts, is yellow-
ish, friable by decomposition, very coherent in the
inside, and often divided into irregular prisms,
analogous to the basaltic prisms. The sun dis-
colours their surface, as it whitens several schists,
by reviving a hydrocarburetted principle, which

appears to be combined with the earth. The marl

of Graciosa contains a great quantity of chalk,
and strongly effervesces with nitric acid, even on

points where it is found in contact with the ba-—

salt. This fact is so much more remarkable, as

this substance does not fill the fissures of the.

rock, but it’s strata are parallel to those of the
basalt ; whence we may conclude, that both fos-
sils are of the same formation, and have a com-
mon origin. The phenomenon of a basaltic rock
containing masses of indurated marl split into
‘small columns, is also found in the Mittelgebirge,
in Bohemia. Visiting those countries in 1792,
in company with Mr. Freiesleben +, we even re-
cognized in the mar! of the Stiefelberg the imprint
of a plant nearly resembling the cerastium, or the
alsine. Are these strata, contained in the trap-
pean mountains, owing to muddy irruptions? or
must we consider them as sediments of water,

* Mergel. By:
+ Bergmennisches Journal, 1792, p. 215.

Se eee

93

which alternate with volcanic depositions ? This
last hypothesis seems so much the less admissi-
ble, since, from the researches of Sir James Hall
on the influence of pressure in fusions, the exist-
ence of carbonic acid in substances contained in
basalt offers nothing surprising. Several lavas
of Vesvvius present similar phenomena. In
Lombardy, between Vicenza and Abano, where
the calcareous stone of the Jura * contains great
masses of basalt, I have seen this latter enter
into effervescence with the acids wherever it
touches the calcareous rock. ©

We had not time to reach the summit of a hill,
that was very remarkable in having it’s base
formed of banks of clay under strata of basalt,
like a mountain in Saxony +, which is become
celebrated on account of the disputes of volca-
nean and neptunean geologists. These basalts
were covered with a mammeeform substance,
which I vainly sought on the Peak cf Teneriffe,
and which is known by the name of volcanic
glass, glass of Muller or Hyalite; it is the tran-
sition from the opal to the caleedony. We struck
off with difficulty some fine specimens, leaving
masses that were eight or ten inches square un-
touched. I never saw in Europe such fine hy-
-alites as I found in the island of Graciosa, and

* Jura-kalstein.
+ Scheibenbergen huegel.

/

94

on the rock of porphyry called ef Pejol de los
Bannos, on the bank of the lake of Mexico.
Two kinds of sand cover the shore; one is
black and basaltic, the other white and quart-
zose. Ina place exposed to the rays of the sun,
the first raised the thermometer to 51: 2° (41° R.)
and the second to 40° (32° R.)- The temperature
of the air in the shade was 27:7° or 7:5° higher
than that of the air over the sea. The quartzose
sand contains fragments of feldspath. It is thrown
back by the water, and forms, in some sort, on
the surface of the rocks, small islets where the
seaweed vegetates.. Fragments of granite have
been observed at Teneriffe; the island of Gomora, —
from the details furnished me by Mr. Brousson-
net, contains. a nucleus of micaceous schist *;
the quartz disseminated in the sand, which we
found on the shore of Graciosa, is a different
substance from the lavas, an:! the trappean por-
phyries which are so intimately connected with
the volcanic productions. From these facts it
seems evident, that in the Canary Islands, as
well as on the Andes of Quito, in Auvergne,
Greece, and the greater part of the globe, the
subterraneous fires have pierced through the.
rocks of primitive formation. In treating here-
after ofthe great number of warm springs, which

* Glimmerschiefer:

95

we have seen issuing from granite, gneiss, and
micaceous schist, we shall have occasion to re-
turn to this subject, which is one of the most im-
portant of the physical history of the globe.

We reembarked at sunset, and hoisted sail,
but the breeze was too feeble to permit us to con-
- tinue our course to Teneriffe. The sea was calm ;
a reddish vapor covered the horizon, and seemed
to magnify every object. In this solitude, amidst,
so many uninhabited islets, we enjoyed for a long
time the view of an austere and savage nature.
The black mountains of Graciosa appeared like
perpendicular walls of five or six hundred feet.
Their shadows, thrown over the surface of the
ocean, gave a gloomy aspect to the scenery.
Rocks of basalt, emerged from the bosom of the
water, wore the resemblance of the ruins of some
vast edifice; their existence carried our thoughts
back to the remote period when submarine vol-
canoes gave birth to new islands, or rent the
continents asunder. Every thing which sur-
rounded us seemed to indicate destruction and
sterility ; but the back ground of the picture,
the coasts of Lanzerota, presented a more smil-
ing aspect. In anarrow pass, between two hills,
crowned with scattered tufts of trees, the marks
of cultivation were visible. The last rays of the
sun gilded the corn ready for the sickle. The
desert even is animated wherever we can disco-
ver a trace of the industry of man.

96

We endeavoured to get out of this bay by the
pass which separates Alegranza from Montana
Clara, and through which we had easily entered,
to land at the northern point of Graciosa. The
wind having fallen, the currents drove us very
near a rock, on which the sea broke with vio- —
lence, and which is noted in the old charts under ©
the name of Hell, or Infierno. As we examined
this rock at the distance of two cables length;
we found that it was a mass of lava three or four
fathoms high, full of cavities, and covered with
scorize resembling coke. We may presume that
this rock *, which modern charts call the West

Rock (Roca del Oeste), was raised by volcanic —
fire ; and it might heretofore have been much
higher ; for the new island of the Azores, which
rose from the sea, at successive periods, in 1638
and 1719, had reached 354 feet -~ when it totally
disappeared in 1723, to the depth of 480 feet.
This opinion on the origin of the basaltic mass

« Borda, Voyage de la Flore, vol. i, p. 386. Bory St.
Vincent, Essai sur les Isles Fortunées, p. 20. I must here |
observe, that this rock is already noted on the celebrated ve-
netian chart of Andrea Bianco, but that the name of Inferno
is given, as in the most ancient chart of Picigano, made in
1867, to Teneriffe, without doubt because the Guanches con-
sidered the peak as the entrance into Hell. In the same la-
titudes an island made it’s reappearance.in 1811.

-t In 1720, this island was visible at seven or eight leagues
distance. Mem. de l’Académie, 1722, p..12. Fleurieu, pee
age de I'Isis, vol. 1, p. 565, |

97

of the Infierno is confirmed by a phenomenon,
which was observed towards the middle of the
last century in these same latitudes. At the
time of the irruption of the volcano of Teman-
faya, two pyramidal hills of lithoid lava rose
from the bottom of the ocean, and united them-
selves by degress to the island of Lanzerota.

As we were prevented by the fall of the wind,
and by the currents, from repassing the chaunel
of Alegranza, we resolved on tacking during the
night between the isle Clara and the West Rock.
This resolution had nearly proved fatal. A’ calm
is very dangerous near this last rock, towards
which the current drives with considerable force.
We began to feel the effects of this current at
midnight. The proximity of the stony masses,
which rise perpendicularly above the water, de-
prived us of the little wind which blew: the
sloop no longer obeyed the helm, and we dreaded
striking every instant. It is difficult to conceive |
how a mass of basalt, insulated in the vast ex-
panse of the ocean, can cause so considerable a
motion in the waters. ‘These phenomena, well
‘worthy the attention of naturalists, are neverthe-
less well known to mariners ; they are extremely
to be dreaded in the Pacific Ocean, particularly
in the small Archipelago of the islands of Galli-
pagos. ‘The difference of temperature which ex-
ists between the fluid and the mass of rocks can-
“not explain the direction which these currents

VOL. I. H

95

take; and how can we admit, that the water is
engulfed at the base of these rocks, which often
are not of volcanic origin; and that this conti-
nual engulfing determines the particles of water
to fill up the vacuum that takes place *? _
The wind having freshened a little towards the
morning onthe 18th, we succeeded in passing the
channel. We drew very near the Infierno the
second time, and remarked the large crevices,
through which the gazeous fluids probably issued,
when this basaltic mass was raised. We lost
sight of the smail islands of Alegranza, Montana
Clara, and Graciosa, which appear to have never
been inhabited by the Guanches. They are now
visited only to gather archil; this production is
however less sought after, since so many other
lichens of the north of Europe yield other mate-
rials proper for dyeing. Montana Clara is noted
for it’s beautiful Canary birds. The note of these
birds varies with their flocks, like that of our
chaffinches, which often differs in two neighbour-
ing districts. Montana Clara yields pasture for
goats, which proves that the interior of this islet
is less arid than it’s coasts. The name of Ale-

* We are surprised to read in a highly useful work, which
is in the hand of every seaman, in the ninth edition of Hamil- —

‘ton Moore’s Practical Navigator, p. 200, that it is by the

effect of the attraction of the masses, or of universal gravita-
tion, that a vessel leaves the coasts with difficulty, and that the
boat of a frigate is attracted by the frigate itself.

99

granza is synonimous with the Joyous*, which
was given it by the first conquerors of the Ca-
nary Islands, two Norman barons, Jean de Bé-
thencourt, and Gadifer de Salle. This was the
first point on which they landed. After remain-
ing several days at Graciosa, a small part of
which we examined, they conceived. the project
of taking possession of the neighbouring isle of
-Lanzerota, where they were welcomed by
Guadarfia, sovereign of the Guanches, with the
same hospitality that Cortez found in the palace
of Montezuma. The shepherd king, who had
no other riches than his goats, became the vic
tim of coward treachery, like the sultan of
Mexico. sacle seta
We sailed along-the coasts of Lanzerota, of the
island of Losbos, and of Fortaventura.. These-
cond of these islands seems to have anciently
formed part of the two others. This geological
hypothesis was started in the seventeenth cen.
turyby a Franciscan, Juan Galindo. This writer
even supposed that, the king, Juba, had named six
Canary Islands only, because, in his time, three
among them were contiguous. Without admit-
ting the small probability of this hypothesis,
learned geographers have seemed to recognize,
in the Archipelago of the Canaries, the two isles

* La Joyeuse,

2

ES re

100

Junoniz, Nivaria, Ombrios, Canaria, and the
Capraria of the ancients *.

The haziness of the horizon prevented us, dur-
ing the whole of our passage from Lanzerota to
Teneriffe from discovering thesummit of the peak
of Teyde. If the height of this volcano is 1905
toises, as the last trigonometrical measure of
Borda indicates, it’s summit ought to be visible
at a distance of 43 leagues, supposing the eye on
a level with the ocean, and a refraction equal to
0-079. of distance. It has been doubted -- whe-
ther the peak has ever been seen from the chan-
nel, which separates Lanzerota from Fortaven-
tura, and which is distant from the volcano,
according to the chart of Varela, 2° 29’, or near-
ly 50 leagues. This phenomenon appears never-
theless to have been verified by several officers
of the Spanish royal marine. Ihad in my hand,
on board the Pizarro, a journal, in which it was
noted, that the peak of Teneriffe had been seen
at 135 miles distance, near the southern cape of
Lanzerota, called Pichiguera. It’s summit was
discovered under an angle considerable enough
to lead the observer, Don Manuel Baruti, to
think that the volcano might have been visible

* Gosselin, Rech. sur la Géog. des Anciens, t. i, p. 146,
166, 163. | |

+ Voyage de la Flore, t. i, p. 380. My chronometer gave
me, on the coast north-west of Lanzerota, 15° 52’ 10’/ west
~ of the meridian of Paris, |

101

at nine miles farther. It was in September, to’

wards the evening, and in very damp weather.
Reckoning fifteen feet for the elevation of the
eye, I find, that to render an account of this

_ phenomenon, we must suppose arefraction equal

to 0:158. of the arch, which is not very extraor-
dinary for the temperate zone. According to the
observations of General Roy, the refractions vary
in England from one twentieth to one third ; and
if it be true, that they reach these extreme limits
on the coast of Africa, which I much doubt, the
peak, in certain circumstances, may be seen on
the deck of a vessel as far off as 61 leagues.
Navigators who have much frequented these
latitudes, and who can reflect on the physical
causes of the phenomena, are surprised that. the
peaks of Teyde and of the Azores* are sometimes.
visible at a very great distance, though at other

_ * The height of this peak, according to Fleurieu, is. 1100
toises ; to Ferrer, 1238 toises ; and to Tofino, 1260 toises :
but thege measures are only approximative estimations, The
captain of the Pizarro, Don Manuel Cagigal, proved to me, by
his journal, that he observed the peak of the Azores at the
distance of 37 leagues, when he was sure of his latitude

_ within two minutes. The volcano was seen at S. 4° E., so that
‘the error in longitude must have an almost imperceptible in.

fluence in the estimation of the distance. Nevertheless, the
angle which the peak of the Azores subtended was so great,
that Mr. Cagigal thinks this volcano must be visible at more
than 40 or 42 leagues. The distance of 37 leagues supposes _
an elevation of 1431 toises. ;

102

times they are not seen when the distance is much
less, and the sky appears serene and the horizon
free from fogs. These circumstances are so much
the more worthy the attention of naturalists, as
several vessels returning’ to Europe. wait impa-
tiently for a sight of these mountains, to rectify
their longitude, and think themselves much far-
ther off than they really are, when in fine weather
these peaks are not perceptible at distances where
the angles subtended ought to be very consider-
able. The constitution of the atmosphere has a
great influence on the visibility of distant ob-
jects. It may be admitted in general, that the
Peak of Teneriffe is seldom seen at a great dis-
tance, in the warm and dry months of July and
August, and that on the contrary it is seen
at very extraordinary distances in the months of
January and February, when the sky is slightly
covered, and immediately after a heavy rain, or

a few hours before it falls. It appears, that the
transparency of the air is prodigiously increased,
as we have already observed, when a certain
quantity of water is uniformly diffused through
the atmosphere. Independent of these observa-
tions, it is not astonishing, that the peak of
Teyde should be seldomer visible at a very re-
mote distance, than the summits of the Andes,

_which were so long under my observations. This
peak, inferior in height to those parts of the chain
of Mount Atlas, at the foot of which is the city of

103

Morocco, is not, like those points * covered with
perpetual snows. The Piton, or Sugar Loaf,
which terminates the peak, no doubt reflects a
great quantity of light, on account of the whitish
colour of the pumice stone thrown up by the
crater; but the ‘height of this little truncated
cone does net form a twenty-secondth part of
the total elevation. The flanks of the volcano
are covered either with blocks of black and sco-
rified lava, or with a luxuriant vegetation, the
masses of which reflect so much the less light, as
the leaves of the trees are separated from each
other by shadows of more considerable extent
than that of the part which is enlightened.
Hence it results, that setting aside the Piton,
the peak of Teyde is in the class of those moun-
‘tains, which, according tothe expression of Bou-
guer, are seen at considerable distances only in a
negative manner, because they intercept the light
which is transmitted to us from the extreme li-
mits of the atmosphere; and that we perceive their
existence only on account of the difference of
intensity, which subsists between the aerial light
which surroundsthem,and that which is reflected
by the particles of air placed between the moun-
tains and the eye of the observer -. As we with-

* According to Haest, and Jackson, Account of the Em-
pire of Morocco, p. 43. |
+ Traité d’Optique, p. 365. It follows from the experi-
ments of the same author, in order that this difference may

104

draw from the isle of Teneriffe, the Piton or Su~
gar Loaf is seen fora long time ina positive man-
ner, because it reflects a whitish light, and clear-
ly detaches itself from the sky; but as this cone
is only 80 toises high, by 40 in breadth at it’s sum-
mit, it has recently been a question*, whether

from the diminutiveness of it’s mass it can be vi-'

sible at distances which exceed 40 leagues ; and
if it be not rather probable, that navigators dis-
tinguish the peak as a small cloud above the ho-
rizon, only when the base of the Piton begins to
be visible on it. If we admit, that the mean
breadth of the Sugar Loaf is 100 toises, we find
that the little cone, at 40 leagues distance, still
subtends, in the horizontal direction, an angle of
more than three minutes. This angle is consi-
derable enough to render an object visible ; and
if the height of the Piton greatly exceeded it’s

basis, the angle in the horizontal direction might. —

be still smaller, and the object still continue to,
make an impression on our organs; for microme-
trical observations have proved, that the limitof
vision is but a minute only, when the dimensions
of the objects are the same in every direction.
We distinguish at a distance, by the eye only,
trunks of trees insulated in a vast plain, though

become perceptible to our organs, and the mountain «letach
itself distinctly from the sky, that one of these lights should
be a sixtieth part stronger than the other. ‘Ff

* Marchand, t. 2, p. 10.

105

the subtended angle be under twenty-five se-
-conds.

As the visibility of an object, which “letaghas
itself in a brown color, depends on the quantities
of light which the eye meets with on two lines,
‘one of which ends at the mountain, and the other
reaches on to the surface of the aerial ocean, it
follows that the farther we remove from an object,
the smaller the difference becomes between the
light of the surrounding atmosphere, and that of
the strata of air placed before the mountain. It
is on this account, that, when less elevated sum-
mits begin to appear above the horizon, they: pre-
sent themselves at first under a darker tint, than
those we discover at very great distances. In
the same manner, the visibility of the mountains,
which are seen only in a negative manner, does
not depend solely on the state of the lower re-
gions of the air, to which our meteorological ob-
_ servations are limited, but also on it’s transpa-
rency and. physical constitution in the most ele- |
vated parts ; for the image detaches itself better
in proportion as the aerial light, which comes
from the limits of the atmosphere, has been ori-
ginally more intense, or rather has undergone less
loss in it’s passage. This consideration explains
to a Certain point, why, under a perfectly serene
sky, the state of the thermometer and the hy-
grometer, being precisely the same in the air
which is nearest the Earth, the peak is sometimes

&
e

106

visible, and at other times invisible, to navigators
at equal distances. Itis even probable, that the
chance of perceiving this volcano would not be -
greater, if the ashy cone, at the summit of which
is the mouth of the crater, were equal, as in Ve-
suvius, to a quarter of the total height. These
ashes, which are pumice stone crumbled. into
dust, do not reflect as much light as the snow of
the Andes; are the cause why the mountain,
seen from afar, without detaching itself in a
bright, detaches itself more feebly in a brown co-
lor ; and contribute, if we may use the expres-
sion, to equalize the portions of aerial light, the
variable difference of which renders the object
more or less distinctly visible. Calcareous moun-
tains, stripped of vegetable earth, summits co-
vered with granitic sand, the high savannahs of
the Cordilleras*, which are of a golden yellow,
are undoubtedly distinguished at small distances
better than objects which are seen in a négative
manner; but the theory indicates a certain limit,
beyond which these last detach themselves more
distinetly from the azure vault of the sky.
- The colossal summits of Quito and Peru, tow-
ering above the limit of the perpetual snows,
concentrevll the advantages, which render them
visible under very small angles. We have stat-
* Tos Pajonales, from paja, straw. It is the name of the

region of the gramina, which encircles the zone of the peren-
nial snows. Géogr. vég. p. 70.

107

ed, that the circular summit of the peak of Te-
_neriffe is only a hundred toises in diameter. Ac-
cording to the measures I made at Riobamba, in
1803, the dome of the Chimborazo, 153 toises
below it’s summit, consequently in a point which
is 1300 toises higher than the peak, is still 673
toises (1312 metres) in breadth. The zone of
perennial snows also forms a fourth of the height
of the mountain ; and the base of this zone, seen
on the coast of the Southern Ocean, fills an ex-
tent of 3437 toises (6700 metres). But though
Chimborazo is two thirds higher than the peak,
we do not see it, on account of the curve of the
globe, at more than 38 miles and a third farther*.
The radiant brilliancy of it’s snows, when at the
port of Guayaquil, at the end of the rainy sea-
son, it is discovered at the horizon, may lead us
to suppose, that it must be seen at a very great
distance in the South Sea. Pilots highly worthy
of credit have assured me, that they have seen it
from the rock of Muerto, to the south-west of the
isle of Puna, at a distance of 47 leagues-+-.. When-

* Without attending to the refraction, the Peak of Tene-
riffe (1904 toises) is visible at 1° 57’ 22”, Mount Blanc
(2440 toises) at 2° 13’ 0”, and Chimborazo (3350 toises) at
2° 35’ 30”. The mean refraction, supposed to be 0°08, aug-
ments this distance, as to Chimborazo, only fourteen miles.

+ According to the charts of the Deposito hydrografico of
Madrid. Admitting 1° 13’ 32” for the difference of’ the
meridians of Guayaquil and Quito, such as I found it (Observ.

108

ever it has heen seen at a greater distance, the
observers, uncertain of their longitude, have not.
been in a situation to furnish precise data.

*The aerial light, projected on the mountains,
increases the visibility of those which are seen
positively ; it’s energy diminishes, on the contra-
ry, the visibility of the objects, which, like the
peak of Teneriffe and that of the Azores, detach
themselves in a brown tint. Bouguer, building
on theoretical considerations, found that accord-
ing to the constitution of our atmosphere, the
mountains seen negatively cannot be. perceived.
at distances which exceed 35 leagues*. It is
important here to observe, that these caleula-
tions are contrary to experience. The peak of
Teneriffe has been often seen at 36, 38, and even
at 40 leagues. Moreover, in the vicinity of
the Sandwich, Islands, the summit of Mowna.

Ast. t. il, p. 298, 357, and 433) the Muerto is a little less.
distant than Chimborazo.

* If, according to the theory of Bouguer, (Traité d Optique
p. 360) the intensity of the aérial colour, which is reflected
by the whole of the atmosphere towards the horizon in a de-
terminate direction, is equal to 2% q.; the intensity, after a _
passage of 30 leagues, would be #% q. This quantity dif-
fers from the other a little more than one sixtieth, whilst after
a passage of 45 leagues, the intensity of the aérial colour is
already #* q., which differs too little from 22 q. for the”
difference to be perceived by our organs. From these data
we find by interpolation, that the visibility should have ceas-

ed at 35 leagues distance.

109

Roa*, at a season when it was without snows,
was seen on the skirt of the horizon, at the dis-
tance of 53 leagues. This is the most striking
example we have hitherto known of the visibility
of a mountain; and what is the more reimark-
able, it is an object seen negatively which fur-
nishes the example.

I thought it proper to bring together these
considerations at the end of this chapter, because
in treating so closely on one of the most import-
ant problems of optics, that of the diminution

* The height of Mowna Roa, according to Marchand, is
more than 2598 toises ; according to King, it is 2577 toises ;
but these measures, notwithstanding their accidental concord-
ance, are not founded on very exact measurements, It is a
very extraordinary phenomenon, to see a summit placed in
the 19th degree of latitude, and which is probably 2500 toises
high, entirely stripped of it’s snows. The very flattened form
of Mowna Roa, the Mesa of the old Spanish charts, it’s insula-
ted situation in the midst of the ocean, and the frequency of
certain winds, which, modified by the ascending current,
blow obliquely, may be the principal causes. It is difficult
to believe, that captain Marchand was much deceived in the
estimation of the distance at which he saw, on the 10th of Oc-
tober 1791, the summit of Mowna Roa. He had left the
island of Owhyhee only the 7th in the evening ; and from the
movement of the waters, and the lunar observations of the
19th, it is probable that the distance was even greater than
53 leagues. Besides, an experienced navigator, Mr. Fleu-
rieu, relates, that at a distance of 35 or 36 leagues the peak
of Teneriffe is visible, even in weather that is not perfectly

clear. Voy, de Marchand, vol. i, p.408 and 427 ; vol. ii, p: 10
and 78.

~“

110

of light in it’s passage across the strata of the
atmosphere, they may be at the same time of
some practical utility. The volcanoes of 'Tene-
riffe, and of the Azores, the Sierra Nevada of St.
Martha, the peak of Orizaba, the Silla of Carac-
cas, Mowna Roa, and Mount St. Elias, insulat-
ed in the vast extent of the seas, or placed on
the coasts of continents, serve as sea marks to
direct the pilot, who is deprived of the means
fitted to determine the position of the vessel by
the observation of the stars ; every thing, which
has a relation to the visibility of these natural
sea marks, is interesting to the safety of naviga-
tion,

CHAPTER I.

Stay at Teneriffe.—Journey from Santa Cruz
to Orotava.— -Excursion to the top of the Peak
of Teyde.

From the time of our departure from Graciosa,
the horizon continued so hazy, that notwithstand-
ing the considerable height of the mountains of
Canary”, we did not discover this island till the
evening of the 18th of June. Jt is the granary
of the archipelago of the Fortunate islands, and
what is very remarkable in a region situate be-
yond the limits of the tropics, we were assured,
that in some districts, there are two wheat har-
vests in the year; one in February, and the
other in June}. Canary has never been visited
bya learned mineralogist ; yet this island is so
much the more worthy of observation, as the
physiognomy of it’s mountains, disposed in pa-
rallel chains, appeared to me to differ entirely
from that of the summits of Lanzerota and Te-

* Isla de la Gran Canaria.
t+ Ledra, Voyage & Teneriffe, t. 1, p. 37.

| i

neriffe. Nothing is more interesting for the
geologist, than to observe the relations, on the
same point of the globe, between volcanic coun-
tries, and those which are primitive or second-
ary. When the Canary islands shall have been
some day examined in all the parts, which com-
' pose the system of these mountains, we shall
find, that we have been too precipitate in consi-
dering the whole group as raised by the action
of submarine fires.

The 19th, in the morning, we discovered the
point of Naga*, but the Peak of Teneriffe was
still invisible: the land, obscured by a thick fog,
presented forms that were vague and confused.
As we approached the road of Santa Cruz, we
observed that these vapours, driven by the winds,
drew nearer. The sea was strongly agitated, as
it most commonly is in those latitudes. We an-
chored after several soundings, for the mist was
so thick, that we could scarcely distinguish ob- |
jects at a few cables’ distance ; but at the mo-
ment we began to salute the place, the fog was
instantly dispelled. The peak of Teyde appeared
in a break above the clouds, and the first rays of
the sun, which had not yet risen on us, illumin-

ated the summit of the volcano. We hastened |

toward the bow of the vessel, to enjoy the mag-
nificent spectacle, when at the same instant we

* Punta de Naga, Anaga, or Nago.

113

saw four English ships of the royal navy lying
to, very near the poop. We had passed without
being perceived ; and the same mist which had
hidden the peak from our view, had saved us
from the danger of being carried back to Eu-
rope. It would have been very painful to natu-
ralists, to have seen the coast of Teneriffe, with-
out having been able to tread a soil torn up by
volcanoes.

We immediately got up our anchor, and the
Pizarro stood in as close as possible to the fort,
to be under it’s protection. It was on this shore,
that, in the landing attempted by the English
two years before our arrival *, admiral Nelson
had his arm carried off by a cannon ball. The
governor general of the Canaries- sent an order
to the captain of the sloop, to put on shore the
dispatches from the court for the governors of
the colonies, the money on board, and the public
correspondence. The English vessels left the
road, having given chace the evening before to
the packet boat the Alcudia, which had left Co-
runna a few days before us. She was obliged
to touch at the port of Palmas, in the isle of Ca-
nary, and several passengers, who were going in
a boat to Santa Cruz, had been made prisoners.

The situation of this town is very similar to
that of La Guayra, the most frequented port of

* In the month of July, 1797.
+ Don Andrea de Perlasca, . é

VOL. : . i I

114

/

the province of Caraccas. .The heat is excessive
in both places, and from the same causes ; but
the aspect of Santa Cruz is more gloomy. On
a narrow and sandy beach, houses of dazzling
whiteness; with flat roofs, and windows without
glass, are stuck against a wall of black perpen-
dicular rocks, stripped of vegetation. A fine
mole, built of freestone, and the public walk
planted with poplars, are the only objects, which
break the sameness of the landscape. The view
of the peak, such as it presents itself above Santa
Cruz, is much less picturesque than that we
enjoy from the port of Orotava. There, a highly

cultured and smiling plain offers a pleasing con-

trast with the wild aspect of the volcano. From
the groups of palm trees and bananas, which
line the coast to the region of the arbutus, the
laurel, and the pine, the volcanic rock is crowned
with luxuriant vegetation. We easily conceive
how theinhabitants, even of the beautiful climates

of Greece and Italy, fancied that they recognised

one of the Fortunate Isles in the western part
of Teneriffe. The eastern side, that of Santa
Cruz, on the contrary, is every where struck
with the marks of sterility. The summit of the

peak is not more arid than the promontory of |

basaltic lavas, which stretches towards the point
of Naga, and on which succulent plants, spring-
‘ing up in the clefts of the rocks, scarcely indi-
cate a preparation of soil. At the port of Oro-

!

ee

115

tava, the top of the Piton subtends an angle in
height of more than eleven degrees and a half:
whilst at the mole of Santa Cruz* this angle
scarcely exceeds 4° 36’. |
Notwithstanding this difference, and though
in the latter place the volcano rises above the
horizon scarcely as much as Vesuvius seen from
the mole of Naples, the aspect of the peak is still
very majestic, when those who anchor in the
road discover it for the first time. The Piton
alone was visible to us ; it’s cone projected itself
on a sky of the purest blue, whilst dark thick
clouds enveloped the rest of the mountain to the
height of 1800 toises. ‘The pumice stone, illu-
mined by the first rays of the sun, reflected a
reddish light, like that which paints the summits
of the higher Alps. This light by degrees be-
comes a dazzling whiteness ; and, deceived like
the greater part of travellers, we thought that
the peak was still covered with snows, and that
we should with difficulty reach the edge of the
crater. |
We have remarked, in the Cordilleras of the
Andes, that the conical mountains, such as Co-
topaxi and Tungurahua, are oftener seen free
from clouds, than those mountains, the tops of
which are broken into bristly points, like Anti-
sana and Pichincha; but the peak of Teneriffe,
* The oblique distance from the top of the volcano to Orota-

va and to Santa Cruz are nearly 8600 toises and 22500 toises.

1 2

116

notwithstanding it’s pyramidical form, is a great
part of the year enveloped in vapours, and is
sometimes, during several weeks, invisible from
the road of Santa Cruz. It’s position to the west
of an immense continent, and it’s insulated situ-
ation in the midst of the seas, are no doubt the
causes of this phenomenon. Navigators are _
well apprised, that the smallest islets, those
which are without mountains, collect and har-
bour the clouds. The decrement of heat is also
different above the plains of Africa, and above
the surface of the ocean* ; and the strata of air,
brought by the trade winds, cool in proportion
as they advance towards the west. If the air
has been.extremely dry above the burning sands.
of the desert; it is very quickly saturated when —
it has entered into contact with the surface of
the sea, or with the air that lies on this surface.
It is easy to conceive, therefore, why the vapours
become visible inthe atmospherical strata, which,
at a distance from the continent, have no longer
the same temperature as when they began to be
saturated with water. The considerable mass
of a mountain, which rises in the midst of the
Atlantic, is also an obstacle to the clouds, which
are driven out to sea by the winds.

We waited long and impatiently the permis-
sion of the governor of the place to land. I em-
ployed this time in making the necessary ob-

* Obs. Ast. t. i, p. 126.

117

servations for determining the longitude of the
mole of Santa Cruz, and the dip of the needle.
Berthoud’s chronometer gave, for the first 18°
33° 10”. This differs three or four minutes from
the result of former observations by Fleurieu,
Pingré, Borda, Vancouver, and La Peyrouse.
Mr. Quenot nevertheless obtained 18° 33’ 36”,
and the unfortunate Captain Bligh 18° 34’ 20”.
The precision of my result was confirmed three
years after, on the voyage of the chevalier Kru-
senstern, who found Santa Cruz 16° 12’ 45” west
of Greenwich, and consequently 18° 33’ 0” west
of Paris. The data prove, that the longitudes
Captain Cook assigned to Teneriffe and the —
Cape of Good Hope are much too far west*.
The same navigator had found the magnetic dip,
in 1799, 61° 52’. Mr. Bonpland and myself ob-
served it at 62° 24’,a result conformable to that
which was obtained in 1791 by Mr. de Rossel in
the voyage of D’Entrecasteaux-~. The variation
of the needle differs several degrees, according
to the place where the observation is made, at
the Mole, or at several points to the north, along
the shore. We must not be surprised at these
variations in a place surrounded by volcanic
rocks. I remarked with Mr. Gay-Lussac, that

_* Galeano. Viage ad Magellanes, p.8. Krusenstern, Reise
um die Welt, th. i.s. 78: and my Obs. Astron. t.i, p. xxXvii,
27, and.33.

+ Voyage & la Recherche de la Peyrouse, t. ii, p. 291.

11s

on the declivity of Vesuvius, and in the inside
f it’s crater, the intensity of the magnetic forces
is modified by the proximity of the lavas*.

After having undergone the fatigue of answer-
ing the numberless questions about political
events put by persons who came to visit us on
board, we landed. The boat was immediately
sent back to the ship, lest the surf, which in this
road is very dangerous, ‘should drive it against
the mole. The first object that met our view
was a tall woman, of a very tawny complexion,
and badly clothed, who was called the capitana.
She was followed. by several others, whose dress
was not more becoming. They all earnestly
requested permission to go on board the Pi-
zarro, which was of course refused. In this
port, so much frequented by Europeans, licen-
tiousness bears the semblance of order. The
capitana is a chief chosen by her companions,
over whom she exercises great authorty. She
prevents whatever may be injurious to the ser-
vice of the vessels; she engages the sailors to.
return on board at their stated hours. — It is to
her that the officers apply, when they fear that
any of their crew conceal themselves with the
intention of deserting.

On entering the streets of Santa Cruz, we felt
a suffocating heat, though the thermometer was
not above 25 degrees. Those who have fora

* Mémoires de la Société d’Arcueil, t.i, p. 9.

119

long time breathed the air of the sea suffer every
time they land; not because this air contains
more oxygen than the air on shore, as has been
_ erroneously stated, but because it is less charged
with those gazeous combinations*, which the
animal and vegetable substances, and the mud
resulting from their decomposition, pour into
the atmosphere. Miasms that escape chemical
analysis have a powerful effect on our organs,
especially when these have not undergone for a
long while the same kind of irritation.

_ Santa Cruz, the Annaza of the Guanches, is a
~ neat town, with a population of 8000 souls. I
was not struck with the excessive number of
monks and secular ecclesiastics, which travel-
lers have thought themselves under the necessity
of finding im every country under the Spanish
government; nor shall I stop ‘to enter into the
description of the churches; the library of the
Dominicans, which contains scarcely a few hun-
dred volumes; the mole, where the inhabitants
assemble to inhale the freshness of the evening
breeze; or the famed monument of marble of
Carara, thirty feet high, dedicated to our Lady
of the Candelaria, in memory of her miraculous
appearance, in 1392, at Chimisay, near Guimar.
The port of Santa Cruz may be considered as a.
great caravansary, on the road to America and
the Indies. Every traveller, who writes the nar-

* Nouv. Espag. t. 11, p. 787.

rative of his adventures, begins by a description.
of Madeira and Teneriffe ; and if in the natural
history of these islands there yet remains as it
were, an immense field untrod, we must admit,
that the topography of the little towns of Fun-
chal, Santa Cruz, Laguna, and Orotava, leaves
Mariel any thing untold*. 7

The recommendation of the court of Madrid
procured us in the Canaries, as in all the other —
Spanish possessions, the most satisfactory recep-
tion. The captain general gave us immediate
permission to examine the island. Col. Armiaga,
~who commanded a regiment of infantry, received
us into his house with a kind hospitality. We
could not cease admiring the banana, the papaw
tree, the poinciana pulcherrima, and other plants,
which we had hitherto seen only in hot houses,
cultivated in his garden in the open air. The
climate of the Canaries however is not warm
enough to ripen the real platano arton, with tri-
angular fruit from seven to eight inches long,
and which, requiring a temperature of 24 cen-
tesimal degrees, does not flourish, even in the
Valley of Caraccas. The bananas of Teneriffe

* Borda, Voy. de la Flore, t. i, p. 86. Vieyra, Noticias
historicas, t. ii, p. 134. Bory de St. Vincent, Essai sur les
Isles Fortunées, p. 230. Ledru, Voyage aux Isles de Téné-
riffe et de Porto Rico, t. i, p. 37. Milbert, Voy. pitt. &
VIsle de France, t.i, p. 9. Lord Macartney’s Voyage, vol. i,
p. 74.

121

are those named by the Spanish planters cam-
buris or guineos, and dominicos. The camburt,
. which suffers the least from the cold, is even
cultivated with success at Malaga*; but the
fruit which we see occasionally at Cadiz comes
from the Canary islands by vessels, which make
the passage in three or four days. In general, |
‘the musa, known by every people under the tor-
rid zone, though hitherto never found in a wild
state, has as great a variety of fruit as our apple.
and pear trees. These varieties +, which are
confounded by the greater part of botanists,
though they require a very different climate,
are become permanent by long cultivation.

We went to herbalize in the evening towards
the fort of Passo Alto, along the basaltic rocks
that close the promontory of Naga. We were
very little satisfied with our harvest, for the
drought and dust had almost destroyed vegeta-
tion. The cacalia kleinia, the euphorbia cana-
riensis, and several other succulent plants, which
draw their nourishment from the air rather than
the soil on which they grow, reminded us by
their appearance, that this group of islands be-
longs to Africa, and even to the most arid part
of that continent. 3

Though the captain of the ship had orders to
stop long enough at Teneriffe, to give us time

* The mean temperature of this town is only 18°.
+ Nouv. Esp. t. ii, p. 362.

122

to scale the summit of the peak, if the snows
did not prevent our ascent, we received notice,
on account of the blockade of the English ships,
not to hope a longer delay than that of four or
five days. We consequently hastened our de-
parture for the port of Orotava, which is situate ©
on the western declivity of the volcano, where we
were sure of finding guides. I could find no
one at Santa Cruz, who had mounted the peak,
and I was not surprised at this. The most cu-
rious. objects. become less interesting, in propor-
tion as they are placed nearer to us; and I .
have known inhabitants of Schaff haussen, in
Switzerland, who had never seen the fall of the
Rhine but at. a distance. :

The 20th of June, before sunrise, we began
our excursion by ascending to the Villa de La-
guna, elevated 350 toises* above the port of San-
ta Cruz. We could not verify this estimation of
the height, the surf not having permitted us to
return on board during the night, to take our ba-
rometers ana dipping needle. . As we foresaw,
that. our expedition to the Peak would be very
precipitate, we consoled ourselves easily with the
idea of not exposing instruments, which were to
serve us in countries less known by Europeans.
The road by which we ascended to Laguna is on
the right of a torrent, or baranco, which in the

* This estimation is but an approximation, See the note
at the end of the third chapter.

123

rainy season forms fine cascades ; it is narrow
and tortuous. I have been assured since my
return, that Mr. de Perlasca has laid out a new
road, which will admit carriages. Near the town
we met some white camels, which seemed to be
very slightly laden. The chief employment of
these animals is to transport merchandise from
the customhouse to the warehouses of the mer-
chants. They are generally laden with twochests
of Havanna sugar, which together weigh 900
pounds ; but this load may be augmented to thir-
teen hundred weight, or 52 arrobas of Castile.
Camels are not plenty at Teneriffe; while they
exist by thousands in the two isles of Lanzerota
and Fortaventura ; the climate and vegetation
of these islands, placed nearer Africa, are more
analogous to those of that continent. It is very
extraordinary, that this useful animal, which
breeds in South America, should be almost bar-
ren at Teneriffe. - In the fertile district of Adexe
only, where the plantations of the sugar cane are
most considerable*, camels have sometimes been
known to breed. These beasts of burden, as °
well as horses, were brought into the Canary
islands in the fifteenth century by the Norman
conquerors. The Guanches were unacquainted
with them; and this fact seems to be very well
accounted for by the difficulty of transporting

* They do not at present produce yearly above 300 quin-
tals of moist sugar.

124

an animal of such bulk in frail canoes, without
recurring to the necessity of considering the
Guanches as a remnant of the people of the At-
lantis, or a different race from that of the west-
ern Africans. : | |
The hill, on which the town of San Christobal
de la Laguna is built, belongs to the system of
basaltic mountains, which, independent of the
system of less ancient volcanic rocks, forma
broad girdle around the peak of Teneriffe. The
basalt on which we walked was of a darkish
brown, compact, half decomposed, and exhaled,
when breathed on, a clayey smell. We disco-
-vered hornblende, olivine *, and translucid py-
roxenes -+ with a perfectly lamellar fracture, of
-atender olive green, and often crystallized in
prisms of six planes. ‘The first of these substan-
ces is extremely rare at Teneriffe ; and I never
found it in the lavas of Vesuvius ; those of Etna
alone contain it in abundance.. Notwithstand-
ing the great number of blocks, which we stop-
ped to break, to the great regret of our guides,
we could discover neither nepheline, nor leucitex,
nor feldspath. This, which is so common in the
basaltic lavas of the island of Ischia, does not
begin to appear at Teneriffe, till we approach the
voleano. The rock of Laguna is not columnar,

i
* Peridot granuliforme. Hauy.

+ Augit. Werner.
} Amphigéene. Hauy.

125

but divided into ledges of small thickness, and
inclined to the east under an angle of 30 or 40
degrees. It has no where the appearance of a
current of lava flowing from the sides of the
peak. If the present volcano has given birth to
these basalts, we must’ suppose, that, like the
substances which compose the Somma, at the
back of Vesuvius, they are the effect of a sub-
marine effusion, in which the liquid mass has
formed real strata. A few bushy cuphorbiums,
the cacalia kleinia, and Indian figs (cactus),
which are become wild in the Canary islands, as
well as in the south of Europe and the whole
continent of Africa, are the only plants we see
on these arid rocks. The feet of our mules were
slipping every moment on beds of stone, which
were very steep. We nevertheless recognized
the remains of an ancient pavement. In these
colonies we discover at every step some traces
of that activity, which the Spanish nation dis-
played in the 16th century.

As we approached Laguna, we felt the tem-
perature of the atmosphere gradually decrease.
This sensation is so much the more agreeable, as
the air of Santa Cruz is very suffocating. As our
organs are more affected by disagreeable impres-
sions, the change of temperature becomes still
more sensible when we return from Laguna to
the port : we seem then to be drawing near the
mouth of a furnace. The same impression is felt,

126

when, on the coast of Caraccas, we descend from
the mountain of Avila to the port of La Guayra.
According to the law of the decrement of heat, ©
three hundred toises in height produce in this
latitude only three or four degrees difference in.
temperature. The heat which overpowers the
traveller on his entrance into Santa Cruz, or La
Guayra, ought consequently to be attributed to
the reverberation from the rocks, against which
these towns are built. :

~The perpetual coolness, which is found at La-
guna, is the reason why in the Canaries it is con-
sidered as a delightful abode. Situate in a small
plain, surrounded by gardens, protected by a hill
which is crowned by a wood of laurels, myrtle,
and arbutus, the capital of Teneriffe.is very
beautifully placed... We should be mistaken, if,
according to the account. of some travellers, we
believed it seated on the border of a lake. The
rain sometimes forms a sheet of water. of some
extent ; and the geologist, who beholds in every
thing the past rather than the present state of na-
ture, can haveno doubt, but that the whole plain
is a great basin dried up. Laguna, fallen from it’s
opulence, since the lateral eruptions of the volca-
no have destroyed the port of Garachico,and San-
ta Cruz has become the centre of the commerce
of this island, contains only 9000 inhabitants,
of whom nearly 400 are monks, divided among
six convents. _Some ‘travellers have asserted,

127

that half the population wore the ccclesiastic
dress. ‘The town is surrounded with a great
number of windmills, which indicate the cuiti-
vation of wheat in these high countries. I shall
observe on this occasion, that different kinds of
grain were known to the Guanches. They called
wheat at Teneriffe tano, at Lanzerota triffa ;
barley, in the grand Canary, bore the name of
aramotanoque, and at Lanzerota that of tamosen.
The flower of roasted barley (gofio) and goat’s
milk constituted the principal food of this nation,
on the origin of which so many systematic fables
have been built. These aliments are sufficient
proofs, that the race of the Guanches belonged
to the nations of the old continent, perhaps to
those of Caucasus, and not like the rest of the
Atlantides*, to the inhabitants ofthe New World;
these, before the arrival of the Europeans, were
“unacquainted with corn, and milk, and cheese.
A great number of chapels, which the Spani-
ards call ermitas, encircle the town of Laguna.
Shaded by trees of perpetual verdure, and placed
on small eminences, these chapels add to the
picturesque effect of the landscape. The interior

_ * Without entering here into any discussion respecting the

existence of the Atlantis, I shall cite the opinion of Diodorus °
Siculus, according to whom the Atlantides were ignorant of

the use of corn, because they were separated from the rest of

mankind before these gramina were cultivated. Diod. Sicul.

t. ili, p. 130, Wessel.

128

side of the town is not equal to it’s external ap-
pearance. The houses are solidly built, but very’ -
antique, and the streets seem deserted. A bo-
tanist ought not to complain of the antiquity of
the edifices. The roofs and walls are covered -
with Canary house-leek, and those elegant tri-
chomanes, mentioned by every traveller. These
plants are nourished by the frequent fogs. ©

Mr. Anderson, the naturalist in the third voy-
age of Captain Cook, advises the European phy-
sicians to send their sick tu Teneriffe, undoubt-
edly not from those motives, which induce some
practitioners to prefer the mineral waters that are
at the greatest distance, but on account of the
mildness of the temperature and equal climate of
the Canaries. The ground on these islands rises
in an amphitheatre, and presents simultaneous-
ly, as in Peru and Mexico, the temperature of
every climate, from the heats of Africa to the
cold of the higher Alps. Santa Cruz, the port
of Orotava, the town of the same name, andthat °
of Laguna, are four places, the mean tempera-
tures of which form a descending series. In the
south of Europe, the change of the seasons is ©
still too perceptible, to offer the same advan- -
tages. ‘Teneriffe on the contrary, situate as it
were on the threshold of the tropics, though but
afew days’ sail from Spain, shares in the beau-
ties, which nature has lavished on the equinoc-
tial regions. Vegetation here displays some of

129

it’s fairest and most majestic forms in the banana
and the palm-tree. He who is awake to the
charms of nature finds in this delicious island re-
medies still more potent than the climate. No
abode appeared to me more fitted to dissipate
melancholy, and restore peace to the perturbed
mind, than that of Teneriffe, or Madeira. These
advantages are the effect not of the beauty of
the site and the purity of the air alone ; the mo-
ral feeling is no longer harrowed up by the view
of slavery, the appearance of which is so revolt-
ing inthe West Indies, and in every other place,
whither European planters have conveyed what
_ they call their civilization, and their industry.
In winter the climate of Laguna is extremely
foggy, and the inhabitants often complain of the
cold. A fall of snow however has never been
seen, which may seem to indicate, that the mean
temperature of this town must be above 18°7°
(15° R.) that is to say, exceeding that of Naples.
I do not lay this down as a rigorous conclusion ;
for in winter, the refrigeration of the clouds does
not depend so much on the mean temperature
of the whole year, as on the instantaneous dimi-
nution of heat, to which a district is exposed by
it’s local situation. ‘The mean temperature of
the capital of Mexico, for instance, is only 168°
(13°5° R.), nevertheless, in the space of a hundred
years, snow has fallen only once, while in the
south of Europe, and in Africa, it snows in

VOL. I. K

130

places where the mean temperature is above 19 |
degrees. ,
The vicinity of the sea renders the climate of
Laguna more temperate in winter, than it would
otherwise be on account of it’s elevation above
the level of the ocean. I was even astonished to
Jearn, that Mr. Broussonet had planted in the
midst of this town, in the garden of the Marquis
‘de Nava, the bread-fruit tree (artocarpus incisa),
and cinnamon tree (laurus cinnamomum). These
valuable productions of the South Sea and the
East Indies are naturalized there as well a8 at
‘Orotava. Does not this attempt prove, that the
bread-fruit might flourish in Calabria, Sicily, and
‘Grenada? The culture of the coffee tree has
not equally succeeded at Laguna, though it’s
fruit ripens at Teguesta, as well-as between the
port of Orotava and the village of St. Juan dela
Rambla. It is probable, that some local circum-
stancés, perhaps the nature of the soil, and the
winds that prevail in the flowering season, ‘are
the cause of this phenomenon. In other regions,
in the neighbourhood of Naples for instance,
the coffee-tree produces abundantly, though the
mean temperature scarcely rises above 18 ‘céen-
tigrade ‘degrees.

_No person has ascertaitied, in the island ‘of
Teneriffe, the lowest height‘at which. snow falls
every year. This fact, easy of exectition by ‘ba-
rométrical measurements, ‘has ‘hitherto been ‘ge-

131

| nerally neglected under every zone; it is never-
theless highly interesting both to agriculture in
the colonies and meteorology, and full as im-
portant as the measure of. the limit of the per-
petual snows. My observations furnished me
with the data, which I shall record in the fol
lowing table.

Lowest height Inferior limit | Difference of the
at which the of the perpe- two preceding © Mean
Northern snow falls. tual snows. columns. =| ‘Temperature.

9 latitude. (| -me/ (ew —F~
toises. | metres. | toises. | metres. | toises. { metres. | Cente Reau.

———— ee ee ed

0° | 2040 | 3976 | 2460 | 4794 | 420] 818} 270] 21:60}

ves wee | See eee | weeeereme | cee | oes | pee | weoesemecees | eres

20 1550 | 3020 | 2360 | 4598 810 | 1578 | 24:5 | 19°6

qwesemmoecmanmen | eee |] semen | | ee | ere | ee | ee

0° 0 1540 | 3001 | 1540 | 3001 | 17 | 13°6

_ This table presents only the ordinary state of
nature, that is to say, the phenomena as they
are annually observed. Exceptions founded on
particular local circumstances, exist. Thus it
sometimes snows, though seldom, at Naples, at
‘Lisbon, and even at Malaga, consequently as
low as the 37th degree of latitude: and, as we
have just observed, snow has been seen to fall at
Mexico, the elevation of which is 1173 toises
above the level of the Ocean. This phenomenon,
which had not been seen for several centuries,
took place on the day that the Jesuits were ex-
pelled, and was attributed by the people to this
act of severity. A more striking exception was
found in the climate of Valladolid, the capital of
‘K 2

13%

the province of Mechoacan. According to my
measures, this height of the town, situate in
19° 42° of latitude, is only a thousand toises:
and yet, a few years before our arrival in New
Spain, the streets were covered with snow for
some hours. ‘ |

- Snow has been seen to fall also at Teneriffe,
in a place lying above Esperanza de la Laguna,
very near the town of this name, in the gardens.
of which the artocarpus flourishes. This extra-
ordinary fact was confirmed to Mr. Broussonet
by very aged persons. The erica arborea, the
myrica faya, and the arbutus callicarpa*, did
not suffer from this snow; but it destroyed all
‘the swine in the open air. This observation is
interesting to vegetable physiology. In hot
countries, the plants are so vigorous, that cold
is less injurious to them, provided it be of short
duration. I have seen the banana cultivated in
the island of Cuba, in places where the thermo-
meter descends to seven centesimal degrees, and
sometimes very near the freezing point. In Italy
and Spain the orangeand date trees do not perish,
though the cold during the night is two degrees
below the freezing point. In general it is re-
marked by cultivators, that the trees which grow
in a fertile soil are less delicate, and consequent-

* This fine arbutus, imported by Mr. Broussonet, is very
different from the arbutus laurifolia, with which it has been
confounded, and which belongs to North America.

133
ly less affected by great changes in the tempera-
ture, than those which grow in land that affords
- but little nutriment *.

In order to pass from the town of Laguna to
the port of Orotava and the western coast of
Teneriffe, we cross at first a hilly region covered
with black and argillaceous earth, in which are
found some small crystals of pyroxene. The
waters most probably detach these crystals from
the neighbouring rocks, as at Frascati near
Rome. Unhappily, strata of ferruginous earth
conceal the soil from the researches of the geo-
logist. It is only in some ravines, that we find
columnar basalts, somewhat curved, and above
them very recent brecciz, resembling volcanic
tufa. These brecciz contain fragments of the
same basalts which they cover; and it is as-
serted, that marine petrifactions are observed
in them. The same phenomenon occurs in the
Vicentin, near Montechio Maggiore.

The valley of Tacoronte is the entrance into
this charming country, of which travellers of
every nation have spoken with rapturous enthu-

* The mulberries, cultivated in the meagre and sandy soils
of countries bordering on the Baltic Sea, are examples of
this feebleness of organization. The late frosts do more in-
jury to them, than to the mulberries of Piedmont. In Italy
a cold of 5° below the freezing point does not destroy robust
orange trees, According to Mr. Galesio, these trees, less
tender than the lemon and bergamot orange trees, freeze only
at ten.centesimal degrees below the freezing point.

134

siasm. | Under the torrid zone I found sites,

where nature is more majestic, and richer in the
; display of organic forms; but after having tra-
versed the banks of the Oroonoko, the Cordille-
ras of Peru, and the most beautiful vallies of
Mexico, I own, that J have never beheld a pros-
pect more varied, more attractive, more harmo-
nious in the distribution of the masses of verdure
and of rocks.

- The seacoastis lined with date and cocoa trees.
Groups of musa, as the country rises, form a
pleasing contrast with the dragon-tree, the trunks
of which have been justly compared to the tor-
tuous form of the serpent. The declivities are
over towering poles. Orange trees loaded ‘with
flowers, myrtles, and cypress trees, entwine the
chapels reared to devotion on the isolated hills.

The divisions of property are marked by hedges .

formed of the agave and the cactus. An innu-
merable quantity of cryptogamous plants, among
which ferns are the most predominant, cover
the walls, moistened by small springs of limpid
water. In winter, when the volcano is buried
under ice and snow, this district enjoys perpetu-
al spring. In summer, as the day-declines, the
breezes from the sea come loaded with delicious
coolness. The population of this coast is very
considerable’; and it appears to be still greater

than it is, because the houses and gardens are

135

more distant from each other, which adds to the
picturesque beauty of the situation. Unhappily
the real welfare of the inhabitants does not cor-
respond with the exertions of their industry, or
with the advantages which nature has lavished
on this spot. The farmers are not proprietors ;
the fruits of their labour belong to the nobles,
and those feudal institutions, which, for so long
atime, spread misery throughout Europe, still
weigh heavily on the happiness of the people of
the Canary islands.

From Tegueste and Tacoronte to the village of
St. Juan de la Rambla, which is celebrated for
it’s excellent malmsey, the rising hills are culti-
yated like a garden. I might compare them to
the environs of Capua and Valentia, if the west-
ern part of Teneriffe was not infinitely more
beautiful on account of the proximity of the
peak, which presents on every side a varied land-
scape. The view of this mountain is interesting
not merely from it’s gigantic mass: it fills the
mind, by carrying it back to the mysterious
source of its volcanic agency. For thousands
of years, no flames or light have been perceived
on the summit of the Piton, nevertheless enor-
mous lateral eruptions, the last of which took
place in 1798, are proofs of the activity of a fire
still far from being extinguished. There is also
something, that leaves a melancholy impression
on the mind on seeing a crater in the centre of

136
a fertile and well cultivated country. The his-
tory of the globe instructs us, that volcanoes de-
stroy what they have been a long series of ages
in creating. Islands, which the action of sub-
marine fires has raised above the waters, are
decked by degrees in rich and smiling verdure ;
but these new abodes are often laid waste by the
renewed action of the same power, which caused
them to emerge from the bottom of the ocean.
Perhaps those islets, which are now but heaps of
scoriz and volcanic ashes, were once as fertile
‘as the hills of Tacoronte and Sauzal. Happy
the country, where man has no distrust of the
soil on which he lives ! |
Pursuing our course to the port of Orotava,
we passed the smiling hamlets of Matanza and
Vittoria. These names are mingled together in
all the Spanish colonies, and form a disagreeable
contrast with the feelings of peace and tranquil-
lity, which those countries inspire. Matanza
signifies butchery, or carnage; and the word —
alone recalls the price, at which victory has
been purchased. In the New World, it gene- —
rally indicates the defeat of the natives ; at Te-
neriffe, the village of Matanza was built in a
place* where the Spaniards were conquered by
those same Guanches, who soon after were sold
as Slaves in the markets of Europe.
Before we reached Oiotava, we visited a bo-

* The ancient Acantejo.

137

tanic garden at a small distance from the port.
We there found Mr. Le Gros, the French vice-
consul, who had often scaled the summit of the
peak, and who served us as an excellent guide.
He was accompanying Captain Baudin in a voy-
age to the West Indies, which has largely con-
tributed to enrich the garden of plants at Paris.
A dreadful tempest, of which Mr. Le Dru has
given an account in the narrative of his voyage
to Porto Rico, forced the vessel to put into Te-
neriffe; where Mr. Le Gros was led by the
‘beauty of the spot to settle. It was he who
gave the learned of Europe the first accurate
ideas of the great lateral eruptions of the peak,
which has been very improperly called the ex-
plosion of the volcano of Chahorra *.
The establishment of a botanical garden at
Teneriffe is a very happy idea, on account of the
double influence, which it may have on the pro-
gress of botany, and on the introduction of use-
ful plants into Europe. For the first idea we
have of it we are indebted to the Marquis de
Nava -~, whose name deserves to be recorded
with that of Mr. Poivre, and who, habitually en-
gaged in doing good, has made a noble use of his
fortune. He undertook, at an enormous ex-
pense, to level the hill of Durasno, which now
rises aS an amphitheatre, and which was begun

* The 8th of June, 1798.
+ Marquis de Villanueva del Prado.

138.

to be planted in 1795. The marquis thought,
that the Canary islands, from the mildness of
their climate and geographical position, afforded
the most suitable place for naturalising the pro-
ductions of the two Indies, and serving as a re-
pository to habituate the plants gradually to the
colder temperature of the south of Europe, In -
fact, the plants of Asia, Africa, and South Ame-
rica, may easily be brought to Orotava; and in
order to introduce the bark-tree * into Sicily,
Portugal, or Grenada, it should be first planted
at Durasno, or at Laguna, and the shoots of this"
_ tree may afterwards be transported into Europe -
from the Canaries. In happier times, when ma-
ritime wars shall no longer interrupt communi-
cation, the garden of ‘Teneriffe may become ex-
tremely useful with respect to the great number
of planis, which are sent from the Indies to Eu-
rope; for ere they reach our coasts, they often
perish, on account of the length of the passage,
during which they inhale anair impregnated with ©
salt water. These plants would meet at Orotaya

* T speak of the species of bark-tree (cinchona), which at
Peru, aud in the kingdom of New Grenada, flourish on the
‘pack of the Cordilleras, at the height of between 1000 and
1500 toises, in places where the thermometer is between nine
and ten degrees during the day, and from three to four during
the night. The oranged bark-tree (cinchona lancifolia) is
much less tender than the red bark-tree (c. oblongifolia). See
the Memoir on the Forests of the bark-tree, which I published
in 1807, in the Magasin dar Naturkunde, B, i. p. 118.

139
with the care and climate necessary to their pre-
servation. The keeping of the botanic garden
having become every year more expensive, the
Marquis de Nava has ceded it to the govern-
ment. We found in it a well-informed gardener,
who had been brought up under Mr. Aiton, di-
rector of the royal garden at Kew. The earth
is raised in terraces, and watered by a natural
Spring. It has a view of the island of Palma,
which appears like a castle in the midst of the
ocean. We found this establishment but little
stocked with plants, vacant places of genera
were filled up with thickets, the names of which
seemed to have been taken by chance, as they
were found in the systema vegetabilium of Lin-
neus. This distribution of plants, after the
classes of the sexual system, which is unhappily
the case in several gardens in Europe, is very
hostile to their cultivation. At Durasno, the
protei, the psidium, the jambos, the chirimoya
‘of Peru *, sensitive plants, and heliconias, flou-
rish in the open air. We gathered the ripened
‘seeds of several beautiful species of glycine from
New Holland, which the governor of Cumana,
Mr. suai SMES ety HIE and nadem

7G ERY

We arrived very late at the port of Orotava i,

7 Annona cherimolia, Lamarck.
t Puerto de la Cruz. The only fine port of the Canary
islands is that of St. Sebastien, in the isle of Gomera.

140

if we may give the name of port to a road, in
which the vessels are obliged to put to sea when-
ever the winds blow violently from the north-
west. It is impossible to speak of Orotava,
without recalling to the remembrance of the
scientific world the name of Mr. Cologan, whose
house at all times was open to travellers of every
nation. Several members of this respectable
family have been educated at London and at
Paris. Don Bernardo Cologan unites the most
ardent zeal for the good of his country to various
parts of solid instruction. We are agreeably
surprised to find, in a group of islands near the
‘coasts of Africa, that urbanity, that taste for
knowledge, that love of the arts, which is
thought to belong exclusively to a small part of
Europe. ee
We could have wished to have sojourned for
some time in Mr. Cologan’s house, and visited
with him the charming scenery of St. Juan de la
Rambla and of Rialexo de Abaxo*. But ona
voyage such as that we had undertaken, the pre-
sent is but little enjoyed. Continually haunted
by the fear of not executing the designs of the
morrow, we live in perpetual uneasiness. Per-
sons who are passionately fond of nature and
the arts, feel the same sensations, when they
travel through Switzerland and Italy. Enabled

* The last of these two villages is placed at the foot of the
‘lofty mountain of Tyzayga. | |

141

to see but a small portion of the objects which
allure them, they are disturbed in their enjoy-
ments by the restraints they impose on them-
selves at every step.

On the morning of the 21st of June, we were
already on the road for the summit of the vol-
cano. Mr. Le Gros, whose attentions were un-
wearied, Mr. Lalande, secretary of the French
Consulate at Santa Cruz, and the English gar-
dener at Durasno, shared in the fatigues of this
excursion. The day was not very fine, and the
summit of the peak, which is generally visible
at Orotava from sunrise till ten o’clock, was co-
vered with thick clouds. There is only one path
to the volcano, by the alla de Orotava, the Plain
of Spartium, and the Malpais ; it is this which
was taken by father Feuillée, Borda, La Billar-
diere, Barrow, and all late travellers, who have
made but a short stay at Teneriffe. In an ex-
cursion to the peak, as well as in those which
are commonly made in the valley of Chamouni
and to the top of Etna, where we are forced to
follow the guide, we see almost nothing but what
has been already seen and described by former
travellers. |
_ We were agreeably surprised by the contrast
between the vegetation of this part of Teneriffe,
and that of the environs of Santa Cruz. Under
the influence of a cool and humid climate, the
ground was covered with beautiful verdure ;

142

while on the road from Santa Cruz to Laguna

the plants exhibited nothing but pods emptied
of their seeds. Near the port of Santa Cruz, the
strength of the vegetation is an obstacle to peo-
logical researches. We went on foot over two
small hills, which rise in the form of bells. Ob-
servations made at Vesuvius, and in Auvergne,
lead us to think, that these paps owe their ori-
gin to lateral eruptions of the great volcano.
The hill called Montannita dela Villa seems in-

deed to have already emitted lavas; and accord- ©

ing to the tradition of the Guanches this erup-
tion took place in 1430. Colonel Franqui as-
sured Borda, that the place is still to be seen

whence the melted matter issued ; and that the.

ashes, which covered the ground adjacent, were
not yet productive*. Wherever.the rock ap-
pears, we discovered basaltic amygdaloid ++ co-

* This fact is taken from a manuscript now. at Paris, at the
depét.of the Charts of the Marine. It bears the title of Ré-

,sumé des Operations de la Campagne de la Boussole (in 1776)

pour determiner les Positions géographiques des Cotes d’ Espagne
& de Portugal sur ’ Ocean, d’une Partie des Cotes occidentales
del’ Afrique, & des Iles Canaries, par le Chevalier de Borda.
This is the manuscript of which Mr, Fleuriev speaks in the
notes, which he has added to the Voyage of Marchand, vol.
li, p. 11, and which M. de Borda had communicated.to me
previous to my departure. As I have extracted some impor-
tant observations from it, which have never been published,
I shall cite it in this work under the title of Manuscript du
Dept. Bin.
+ Basaltartiger mandelstein. Werner.

2 rem on sem

143

vered with hardened clay *, which contains ra-
pilli, or fragments of pumice stone. ‘This last °
formation resembles the tufas of Pausilippo, and
the strata of Puzzolana, which I found in the
valley of Quito, at the foot of the volcano of Pi-
chincha. The amygdaloid has very long pores.
like the superior strata of the lavas of Vesuvius,
arising probably from the action of an elastic
fluid forcing it’s way through the matter in fu-
sion.. Notwithstanding these analogies, I must
here repeat, that in all the low region of the
peak of Teneriffe, on the side of Orotava, I have
met with no flow of lavas, no current, the limits
of which were strongly marked. Torrents and
inundations change the surface of the globe, and
when a great number of currents of lava meet

and spread over a plain, as I have seen at Ve-
3 suvius, in the Atrio Der Cavalli, they seem to be
confounded together, and wear the appearance
of real strata. |

The villa de Orotava has a pleasant aspect at
‘distance, from the great abundance of waters
which run ‘through the principal streets. The
spring of Agua mansa, collected in two large re-
servoirs, turns several mills, and is afterward
‘discharged among the vineyards of the adjacent
hills. The climate is still more refreshing at the
villa than at the port of La Cruz, from the in-

* \Bimstein-conglomerat. W.

144

fluence of the breeze, which blows. strong after

ten inthe morning. The water, which has been

dissolved in the air at a higher temperature, fre-
quently precipitates itself, and renders the cli-
mate very foggy. The villa is nearly 160 toises
(312 metres) above the surface of the ocean,
consequently 200 toises less than the ground on
which Laguna is built ; it is observed also, that
‘the same kind of plants flower a month later in
this latter place.

Orotava, the ancient Taoro of the Guanches, |

is placed on a very steep declivity ; the streets
seem deserted ; the houses, solidly built, but ofa
gloomy appearance, belong almost all to the no-
bility, who are accused of being extremely haugh-
ty, and who give themselves the pompous title of
the doze casas (the twelve houses). We passed

along a lofty aqueduct, lined with a great num-

ber of fine ferns; and visited several gardens,
in which the fruit trees of the north of Europe
are mingled with orange trees, pomegranate, and
date trees. We were assured, that these last
were as little productive here as on the coasts of
Cumana. Although we were acquainted, from
the narratives of so many travellers, with the
dragon-tree of the garden of Mr. Franqui, we

were not the less struck with it’s enormous mag- |
nitude. We were told, that the trunk of this

tree, which is mentioned in several very ancient
documents as marking the boundaries of a field,

145

was as gigantic in the fifteenth century, as it is
at the present moment. It’s height appeared to
us to be about 50 or 60 feet; it’s circumference
near the roots is 45 feet. We could not measure
higher, but Sir George Staunton found, that, 10
feet from the ground, the diameter of the trunk
is still 12 English feet; which corresponds per-
fectly with the assertion of Borda, who found it’s
mean circumference 33 feet 8 inches, French
measure. The trunk is divided into a great num-
ber of branches, which rise in the form of a can-
delabrum, and are terminated by tufts of leaves,
likethe yucca which adorns the valley of Mexico.
It is this division, which gives it a very different
~ appearance from that of the palm-tree*.

Among organised beings, this tree is undoubt-
edly, together with the adansonia or baobab of
Senegal, one of the oldest inhabitants of our
globe. ‘The baobabs are of still greater dimen-
sions than the dragon-tree of Orotava. There
are some, which near the root measure 34 feet
in diameter, though their total height is only
from 50 to 60 feet +. But we should observe,

* [have given, in the Picturesque Atlas which accompa-
nies this narrative, (Pl. 58 of the folio Atlas,) the figure of
- the dragon-tree of Franqui, froma sketch made in 1776 by
M. D’Ozonne, at the time of the expedition of Messrs. de
Borda and Varela.

+ Adanson is surprised, that the baobabs have not been
cited by other travellers. I find, in the collection of Gry-
uzeus, that Aloysio Cadamosto speaks of the great age of

VOL. I. L

146

that the adansonia, like the ochroma, and all
the plants of the family of bombax, grow much
more rapidly * than the dracoena, the vegeta-
tion of which is very slow. That in Mr. Fran-
‘quis garden bears still every year both flowers
and fruit. It’s aspect feelingly recalls to mind
“¢ that eternal youth -- of nature,” which is an
inexhaustible source of motion and of life.

The draceena, which is seen only in cultivated

those monstrous trees, which he saw in 1504, and of which
he says very truly, ‘‘ eminentia altitudinis non quadrat magni-
tudini.” Cadam. Navig. chap. 42: At Senegal, and near
Praya, in the islands of Cape Verd, Messrs. Adanson and
Staunton remarked adansonize, the trunks of which were
from 56 to 60 feet in circumference. Voy. au Sénégal, t. i,
p. 54. The baobab 34 feet in diameter was seen by Mr.
Golberry, in the valley of the two Gagnacks. Fragmens
‘d’un Voy. en Afrique, t. ii, p. 92.

* It is the same with the plane-tree (platanus occidentalis)
which Mr. Michaux measured at Marietta, on the banks of
the Ohio, and which, at twenty feet from the ground, was
15°7 feet in diameter (Voy. a l’Quest des Monts Alleghany,
1804, p. 98). The taxus, chesnut, oak, plane-tree, cupressus
disticha, bombax, mimosa, cesalpinia, hymenea, and draccena,
appear to me to be the plants, which, in different climates,
offer specimens of the most extraordinary growth, An oak, .
discovered together with some Gallic helmets in 1809, in the
turf pits of the department of the Somme, near the village of
Yseux, seven leagues from Abbeville, was about the same
size as the dragon-tree of Orotava. According to a memoir
by Mr. Traullée, the trunk of this oak was 14 feet in dia-
meter.

+ Aristot. de Longit. Vite, cap. vi, (ed Casaub. p. 442.)

147

spots in the Canary islands, at Madeira, and Por-
to Santo, offers a curious phenomenon with res-
pect to the migration of plants. It has never
been found in a wild state on the continent of
Africa*: the East Indies is it’s real country. By
what means has this tree been transplanted to
Teneriffe, where it is no way common ? does it’s
existence prove, that, atsome very distant epocha,
the Guanches had connections with other nations
originally from Asia ?

On leaving Orotava, a narrow and stony path-
way led us across a beautiful forest of chesnut
trees, ef monte de Castannos, to a site which is
covered with brambles, some species of laurels,

* Mr. Schousboe, in his Flora of Morocco (Danske Videns-
kabens-Selskabs Skrivter, B. v, p. 4) does not even mention it
among the cultivated plants, while he speaks of the cactus,
the agave, and the yucca. The form of the dragon-tree is
exhibited in several species of the genus draccena, at the Cape
of Good Hope, in China, and in New Zealand ; but in the
New World it is replaced by the form of the yucca ; for the
draccena borealis of Aiton is a convailaria, of which it has
all the appearance. The astringent juice, known in com-
merce by the name of dragon’s blood, is, according to the
inquiries we made on the spot, the produce of several Ame-
rican plants, which do not belong to the same genus, and of
which some are liannest. At Laguna, toothpicks steeped in
the juice of the dragon-tree are made in the nunneries, and
are much extolled as highly useful for the preservation of the

gums.
t+ A general term used for climbing plants in the French

West India islands. Ep.
Liz

- 148

and arborescent -heaths. The trunks of the last
grow to an extraordinary size; and the flowers
with which they are loaded form an agreeable
contrast, during a great part of the year, with
the hypericum canariense, which is very abun-
dant at this height. We stopped to take in our
provision of water under a solitary fir-tree. This
station is known in the country by the name
of Pino del Dornajito; it’s height, according to
the barometrical measurement of Mr. de Borda*
is 522 toises; and it commands a magnificent
prospect of the sea, and the whole of the nor-
thern part of the island. Near Pino del Dor.
najito, a little on the right of the pathway, is a
copious spring of water, into which we plunged
the thermometer, which fell to 15°4°. - At a hun-
dred toises distance from this spring is another
equally limpid. If we admit, that these waters
indicate nearly the mean heat of the place whence
they issue, we find the absolute elevation of the

* Manuscrit du Dépét, ime cahier, p. 15. I calculated the
heights, which I mention in the text, according to the for-
mula of Mr. Laplace, and the coefficient of Mr. Ramend.
In the manuscript, we find “ 516 toises, according to the .
tables of De Luc.” We must not confound the Pino del
Dornajito with the station of the Pino de /a Merienda, cited
by Eden and father Feuillée ; and elevated 800 toises above
the level of the ocean. This last station is between the Cara-
vela and the Portillo. See the note on the whole of these
measures, at the end of the Journal de Route.

149 .

station 520 toises, supposing * the mean tempe-
rature of the coast to be 21°, and allowing one
degree for the decrement of caloric correspond-
ing under this zone to 93 toises. We should
not be surprised, if this spring remained a little
below the heat of the air, since it is probably _
formed in some more elevated part of the peak,
and communicates perhaps even with the small
subterranean glaciers, of which we shall speak
hereafter. The accordance which we have just
observed between the barometrical and thermo-
metrical measures is so much the more striking
because in general, as I have elsewhere explain-
ed f, in mountainous countries, with steep de-

* As a proof that these objections are founded on accurate
observations, [ will here observe, that: the mean temperature
of the low regions of the isle of Madeira, which is a little to
the north of Teneriffe, is 20°4°; and that my observations,
made under the torrid zone, allow for the decrement ofcaloric
98 toises to each centesimal degree; while the results taken
by Mr, Ramond, under the temperate zone, in latitude 45°,
give 84 toises, From these extremes it follows, that the
height of the Dornajito is either 548 toises, or 4'70 toises.
Mr. de Borda found in 1776 the temperature of the air near
the spring 5° colder than at the port of Orotava, which seems
to prove, that the decrement of 93 toises, which I have sup-
posed, is not tooslow. Phil. Trans. vol. xlvii, p. 358. Ra-_
mond, Mem. sur la Formula barom. p. 189.

t Astron. Obs., vol. i, p. 132. Thus in the Blue Mountains
of Jamaica Mr. Hunter found springs constantly colder than
they ought to have been, according to the height at which they
issued.

150

clivities, the sprmgs indicate too great a decre-
ment of caloric, because they unite small cur-
rents of water, which filter at different heights,
and their temperature is consequently the mean
between the temperature of these currents. The
spring of Dornajito has considerable reputation
in the country ; and was the only one known, at
the time of my excursion, on the road which
leads to the summit of the volcano. The form-
ation of springs demands a certain regularity in
the direction and inclination of the strata. On
a volcanic soil, porous and splintered rocks. ab-
sorb the rain waters, and lead them to consider-
able depths. Hence arises that aridity observed
in the greater part of the Canary islands, not-
withstanding the considerable height of their
mountains, and the mass of clouds which navi-
gators behold incessantly piled over this archi-
pelago. :
From Pino del Dornajito to the crater of the
volcano we continued to ascend without crossing
a single valley ; for the same ravines (barancos)
do not merit this name. ‘To the eyes of the
geologist the whole of the isle of Teneriffe is but
one mountain, the almost elliptical base of which
is prolonged to the north-east, and in which we
distinguish several systems of volcanic rocks
formed at different epochas. The Chahorra, or —
Montana Colorada, and the Urca, considered in
the country as insulated volcanoes, are only lit-

15]

tle hills abutting on the peak, and marking it’s
pyramidal form. The great volcano, the lateral
eruptions of which have given birth to vast pro-
montories, is not however precisely in the centre
of the island, and this peculiarity of structure
appears less surprisifigy, if we recollect, asa learn-
ed minéralogist has observed*, that it is not
perhaps the small crater of the Piton, which has
acted thé principal part in the revolutions under-
gone by the isle of Teneriffe.

Above the region of arborescent heaths, called
- Monte Verde, is the region of the ferns. No
where, under the temperate zone, have I seen
such an abundance of the pteris, blechnum, and
asplenium; yet none of these plants have the
stateliness of the arborescent ferns, which at the
height of five or six hundred toises form the
principal ornament of equinoctial America.
The root of the pteris aquilina serves the in-
habitants of Palma and Gomera for food; they
grind it to powder, arid mix with it a small
quantity of barley-méal. This composition,
when boiled, is called gofio; the use of so
homely an aliment is a proof of the extreme pe-
nury of the lower order of people in the Canary
islands.

Monte Verde is intersected by several small
and very arid ravines (cannadas), and the region
of ferns is sticceeded by a wood of juniper trees

* Mr. Cordier.

152

and firs, which has suffered greatly from the vio-
lence of the hurricanes. In this place; men-
tioned by some travellers under the name of
Caravela, Mr. Eden * asserts that he saw little
flames, which, according to the doctrine of the
naturalists of his time, he attributes to sulphu-
rous exhalations that take fire of themselves.
We continued to ascend, till we came to the
rock of La Gayta and to Portillo ; traversing this
narrow passage between two basaltic hills, we
entered the great plain of Spartium-+. , At the
time of the voyage of La Peyrouse, Mr. Man-
neron had taken the levels of the peak, from the
port of Orotava to this elevated plain near 1400
toises above the level of the sea; but the want
of water, and the misconduct of the guides, had
prevented him from taking the levels to the top
of the volcano. The results of this operation,
which was two thirds finished, unfortunately
were not sent to Europe, and this work is still
to be recommenced from the seacoast. fs
We spent two hours and a half in crossing the _
Llano del Retama, which appears like an im-
mense sea of land. Notwithstanding the ele-
vation of this site, the centigrade thermometer

« This visit took place in 1715. Phil. Trans. vol. xxix,
p. 317%. Carabela is the name of a vessel with latin sails.
The pines of the peak formerly were used as masts of vessels,
and the royal navy cut it’s wood (cortes de madera) on the.

Monte Verde. !
+ Los Llanos del Retama.

1538

rose-in the shade, toward sunset, to 13°8°, or
3°7° higher than toward noon at Monte Verde.
This augmentation of heat could be attributed
only to the reverberation from the ground, and-
the extent of the plain. We. suffered much
from the suffocating dust of the pumice stone,
in which we were continually enveloped. In
the midst of this plain are tufts of the retama,
which is the spartium nubigenum of Aiton.
This charming shrub, which Mr. de Martiniere*
wished to introduce into Languedoc, where fire-
wood is very scarce, grows to the height of nine
feet ; it is loaded with odoriferous flowers, with
which the goat hunters, that we met in our road,
had decorated their hats, The goats of the peak,
which are of a deep brown, are reckoned de-
licious food ; they browse on the spartium, and
have run wild in the deserts from time imme.
morial. They have even been transported to
Madeira, where they are preferred to the goats
of Europe.

As far as the rock of Gayta, or the entrance
of the extensive Llano del Retama, the peak of
Teneriffe is covered with beautiful vegetation :
nothing bears the mark of recent devastation.
We might have imagined ourselves scaling the
side of some volcano, the fire of which had been
extinguished as remotely as that of Monte Cavo,

* One of the botanists who perished in the expedition of
La Peyrouse.

154

near Rome; but scarcely had we reached the
plain covered with pumice stone, when the
landscape changed it’s aspect, and at every step
we met with large blocks of obsidian thrown out
by the volcano. Every thing here speaks per-
fect solitude. A few goats and rabbits only
bound across the plain. The barren region of
the peak is nine square leagues; and as the
lower regions viewed from this point shrink in
the prospect, the island appears an immense
heap of torrefied matter, hemmed round by a —
scanty border of vegetation.

From the region of the spartium nubigenum
we passed through narrow defiles, and small ra-
vines hollowed very anciently by the torrents,
first to a more élevated plain (el Monton de Tri-
go), then to the place where we intended to pass
the night. This station, which is more than
1530 toises above the coast, bears the name of
the English Halt (Estancia de los Ingleses*}, no
doubt because English travellers were those, who
formerly visited the peak most frequently. Two

*This denomination was already in use at the beginning
of the last century. Mr. Eden, who corrupts all Spanish
words, as do the greater part of travellers in our own times,
calls it the Stancha : itis the Station des Rochers of Mr. Borda,
as is proved by’ the barometrical heights there’ obyerved.
These -heights were in 1803, according to Mr. Cordier, 19
inches 9°5 lines; and in 1776, according to Messrs. Borda
and Varela, 19 inches 9°8 lines; the bafonieter at Orotava
keeping within nearly a line at the same height.

155

inclined rocks form a kind of cavern, that affords
a shelter from the winds. This point, already
higher than the summit of Canigou, can be
reached on the backs of mules ; and here ends
the expedition of numbers of travellers, who on
leaving Orotava had hoped to have ascended to
the brink of the crater. Though in the midst of
summer, and under the bright sky of Africa, we
suffered from the cold during the night. The
thermometer descended as low as to five degrees.
Our guides made a large fire with the dry
branches of retama. Having neither tents nor
cloaks, we lay down on a heap of burnt rocks,
and were singularly incommoded: by the flame
and smoke, which the wind drove toward us.
We had attempted to form a kind of sereen with
cloths tied together, but our enclosure took fire,
which we did not perceive, till the greater part
had been consumed by the flames. We had
never passed a night on a point so elevated, and
did not then conjecture, that on the ridge of the
-Cordilleras we should one day inhabit towns
higher than the summit of the volcano we were
. to scale on the morrow. As the temperature di-
minished, the peak became covered with thick
clouds. The approach of night interrupts the
play of the ascending current, which, during the
day, rises from the plains toward the high re-
gions of the atmosphere ; and the air, in cooling,
loses it’s capacity of suspending water. A strong

156

northerly. wind chased the clouds ; the moon at
intervals, shooting across the vapors, exposed it’s
disk on a firmament of the darkest blue; and
the view of the volcanothrew a majestic charac-
ter over the nocturnal scenery. Sometimes the
peak was entirely hidden from our eyes by the
fog, at. others, it broke upon us in terrific near-—
ness; and, like an enormous pyramid, threw
it’s shadow over the clouds rolling beneath our
feet. |
Towards three in the morning, by the som-
brous light of a few fir torches, -we began our
expedition for the summit of the Piton. We
scaled the summit on the north-east, where the
declivities are extremely steep ; and we came,
after two hours toil, to a small plain, which, on
account of its isolated situation, bears the name
of Alta Vista. It is the station also of the ne-
veros, those natives, whose occupation it is to
collect ice and snow, which they sell in the neigh-
bouring towns. Their mules, better practised
in climbing mountains than those hired by tra-
vellers, reach Alta Vista, and the neveros are
obliged to transport the snow to this place on
their backs. Above this point the Malpays be-
gins, a term by which is designated here, as well
as in Mexico, Peru, and every other country sub-
ject to volcanoes, a ground destitute of vegeta-
_-ble mould, and covered with fragments of lavas.
We turned towards the right to examine the

157 :
Cavern of Ice, which is at 1728 toises, conse-
_ quently below the limit of the perennial snows
under this zone. It is probable, that the cold
which reigns in this cavern is owing to the same
causes, which perpetuate the ice in the crevices
of Mount Jura, and the Apennines, and on which.
the opinions of naturalists are still much divid-
ed*, This natural ice-house of the Peak has ne-
vertheless none of those perpendicular openings,
which give emission to the warm air, while the
cold air remains undisturbed at the bottom. It
seems that the ice is preserved in it on account
of it’s mass, and because it’s melting is retarded
by the cold, which is the consequence of quick
evaporation. This small subterraneous glacier
is Situate in a region, the mean temperature of
which is probably not under three degrees ; and
it is not, like the true glaciers of the Alps, fed
by the snow waters that flow from the summits
of the mountains. During winter, the cavern is
filled with ice and snow; and as the rays of the

_ * Saussure, Voyage dans les Alpes, § 1406—1414, Pre-
vost, du Calorique rayonnant, p. 409—422. In the greater
part of the cellars of ice, for instance that of St. George, be-
tween Niort and Rolle, a thin layer of limpid ice forms itself
in summer on the walls of the calcareous rock. Mr. Pictet
observed, that at this epocha the thermometer does not des-
cend, in the air of the cellar, below two or three degrees, so
that we must attribute the congelation to a local and very
rapid evaporation,

158

sun do not penetrate beyond the mouth, the heats
of summer are not sufficient to empty the reser-
voir. The existence of a natural ice house de-
pends, consequently, rather on the quantity of
snow which enters it in winter, and the small in-
fluence of the warm winds that blow in summer;
than on the absolute elevation of the cavity, and
the mean temperature of the layer of air in which
it is situate. The air contained in the bowels of
a mountain is not easily displaced, as is proved
by Monte-Testaceo, at Rome, the temperature of
which is so different from that of the surrounding
atmosphere. We shall see in the course of this
work, that on Chimborazo enormous heaps of
ice are found covered with sand, and, in the
same manner, as at the Peak, far below the in-
ferior limit of the perpetual snows.

It was near the Cellar of Ice (Cueva del Hielo),
that, in the voyage of La Peyrouse, Messrs. La-
manon and Mongés made their experiments on’
the temperature of boiling water. These natu-
ralists found it 88°7°, the barometer being at
nineteen inches one line. In the kingdom of
New Grenada, at the chapel of Guadaloupe, near
Santa-Fe de Bogota, I have seen water boil at
_89-9°, under a pressure of 19 inches 1°9 lines.
At Tambores, in the province of Popayan, Mr.
Caldas found the heat of boiling water 89°5°, the
barometer being at 18 inches 11:6 lines. These
results might lead us to suspect, that, in the ex-

159

periment of Mr. Lamanon, the water had not
reached the maximum of it’s temperature*.

The dawn appeared when we left the cavern
of ice. We observed, during the twilight, a
phenomenon which is not unusual on high
mountains, but which the position of the vol-
cano, that we were scaling, rendered very strik-
ing. A layer of white and fleecy clouds con-
cealed from us the sight of the ocean, and the
lower region of the island. This layer did not
appear above 800 toises high; the clouds were
so uniformly spread, and kept so perfect a level,
that they wore the appearance of a vast plain
covered with snow. The colossal pyramid of
the peak, the volcanic summits of Lanzerota, of
Fortaventura, and the isle of Palma, were like
rocks amidst this vast sea of vapors, and their
black tints were in fine contrast with the white-
ness of the clouds.

While we were climbing over the broken lavas
of the Malpays, we perceived a very curious op-
tical phenomenon, which lasted eight minutes.
We thought we saw on the east side small rockets
thrown into the air. Luminous points, about
seven or eight degrees above the horizon, ap-
peared first to move in a vertical direstion ; but
their motion was gradually changed into a real
horizontal oscillation. Our fellow travellers, our

* A calculation, made according to the tables of Mr. Dal- .
ton, gives 89°4° for La Cueva, and 89'5° for Guadaloupe.

160

guides even, were astonished at this phenome-
non, without our having made any remark on
ittothem. We thoughtat first sight; that these
luminous points, which floated in the air, indi-
cated some new eruption of the great volcano of
Lanzerota. We recollected, that Bouguer and
La Condamine, in scaling the volcano of Pichin-
_ cha, were witnesses of the eruption of Cotopaxi ;
but the illusion soon ceased, and we found, that
the luminous points were the images of several
stars magnified by the vapors. These images
remained motionless at intervals, they then
seemed to rise perpendicularly, descended side-
ways, and returned to the point whence they
had departed. This motion lasted one or two
seconds. Though we had no exact means of mea- _
suring the greatness of the lateral shifting, we did _
~ not less distinctly observe the path of theluminous
point. It did not appear double from an effect
of looming (mirage), and left no trace of light
behind. Bringing, with the telescope of a small
sextant by Troughton, the stars into contact
with the lofty summit of a mountain in Lanzero-
ta, I observed, that the oscillation was constantly
directed toward the same point, that is to say,
toward the part of the horizon where the disk
of the sun was to appear; and that, making al
lowance for the motion of the star in it’s decli-
nation, the image returned always to the same
place. These appearances of lateral refraction

161

ceased long before daylight had rendered the
stars quite invisible. I have faithfully related
what we saw during the twilight, without under-
taking to explain this extraordinary phenome-
non, of which I published an account in Baron
Zach’s Astronomical Journal, twelve years ago.
The motion of the vesicular vapours, caused by
the rising of the sun ; the mingling of several
layers of air, the temperature and density of
which were very different, no doubt contributed
to produce an apparent movement of the stars
in the horizontal direction. We see something
similar in the strong undulations of the solar
disk, when it cuts the horizon; but these un-
dulations seldom exceed twenty seconds, while
the lateral motion of the stars, observed at the
Peak, at more than 1800 toises, was easily dis-
tinguished by the sight alone, and seemed to
exceed all that we have thought it possible to
consider hitherto as the effect of the refraction
of the light of the stars. On the top of the
Andes, at Antisana, I was present at sunrise,
and passed the whole night at 2100 toises, with-
out noting any appearance resembling this phe-
nomenon.

T was anxious to make an exact observation
of the instant of sunrising at an elevation so con-
siderable as that we had reached on the Peak of
‘Teneriffe. No traveller, furnished with instru-
ments, had as yet taken such an observation. I

VOL. I, M

162

had a telescope, and a chronometer, of which I
knew the great exactness. Jn the part where the
sun was to appear, the horizon was free from va-
pors. We perceived the upper limb at 4n 48’ 55”
apparent time, and what is very remarkable, the
first luminous point of the disk was found im-
mediately in contact with the limit of the hori-
zon ; consequently we saw the true horizon, that
is to say, a part of the sea fartherthan43 leagues.
It is proved. by calculation, that, under the same
parallel in the plain, the rising would have be-
gun at 55 1’ 50:4”, or 11’ 51:3” later than
at. the height of the Peak. The difference ob-
served was 12’ 55”, which arose no doubt from
the uncertainty of the refraction for a zenith
distance, of which observations are wanting*,
We were surprised at the extreme slowness,
with which the lower limb. of the sun seemed to

*- In this calculation we have supposed, that for an appa-
rent zenith distance of 91° 54’, there are 57’ 7” of refraction.
The rising sun appears sooner at the Peak of Teneriffe than
in the plain by the time that it takes to pass through an arc
of 1° 54’, The greatness of the arc is augmented only 41/ ©
for the summit of Chimborazo. The: ancients had such ex-
aggerated ideas of the acceleration of the rising of the sun.on
the top of high mountains, that they admitted, that this lu-
minary was visible on Mount Athos three hours sooner than
on the coast of the Egean sea (Strabo edit. Almeloven, lib. vii,
p. 510) : yet Mount- Athos, according to Mr. Delambre, is
only. 713 toises high. (Choiseul Gouffier, Voy. pitt. de la Grece,
t. ii, p. 140.) r

163

detach itself from the horizon. This limb was
not visible till 4» 56’ 56”. The disk of the sun,
much flattened, was well defined ; during the
ascent, there was neither double image nor
lengthening of the lower part. ‘The duration *
of the sun’s rising being triple that which we
might have expected in this latitude, we must
suppose, that a fog bank, very uniformly ex-
tended, concealed the true horizon, and followed
the sun in it’s ascent. Notwithstanding the li-
bration of the stars which we had observed
toward the east, we could not attribute the
slowness of the rising to an extraordinary re-
fraction of the rays occasioned by the horizon of
the sea ; for it is precisely at the rising of the
sun, as Le Gentil daily observed at Pondicherry,
and as I have several times remarked at Cu-
mana, that the horizon sinks, on account of

f The apparent duration was 8' 1” instead of 2’ 41”,
Though my journals contain near eighty observations of the
rising and setting of the sun, made either during the voy-
age, or on the coasts, I have never perceived any sensible
retardation. |

+ A celebrated astronomer, Baron Zach, (Mon. Corres:
1800, p. 396) has compared this phenomenon of an apparent
libration of the. stars to that described in the Georgics (lib. 2,
v. 365). But this passage relates only to the falling stars,
which the ancients, as well as our mariners, considered asa
prognostic of wind. The Latin poet appears to have imitated
the verses of Aratus, (Dizosem. v. 926, edit. Buhle, 1, p. 206.
Lucret. ii, v. 143.)

M 2

164

the elevation of temperature in the stratum of
the air * which lies immediately over the sur-
face of the ocean.

The road, which we were obliged to find across
the Malpays, was extremely fatiguing. The as-
cent is steep, and the blocks of lava rolled from
beneath our feet. I can compare this part of
the road only to the Moraine of the Alps, or
that mass of pebbly stones, which we find at the
lower extremity of the glaciers ; at the Peak, the
lava, broken into sharp pieces, leaves hollows,
in which we risked falling up to our waists. Un-
fortunately the laziness of our guides contribut-
ed to render this ascent more painful. Unlike
those of the valley of Chamouni, or the nimble
footed Guanches, who could, it is asserted, seize
the rabbit or wild goat in it’s course, our Cana-
rian guides were models of the phlegmatic : they
wished to persuade us the preceding evening,
not to go beyond the station of the rocks: every
ten minutes they sat down to repose themselves,
and when unobserved threw away the specimens
of obsidian and pumicestone, which we had care-
fully collected. We discovered at length, that
none of them had ever yet visited the summit
of the volcano

After three hours march, we reached, at the
extremity of the Malpays, a small plain, called

* Biot, Rech. sur les Réfractions extraordinaires, p. 218, 223,
and 228. |

165

la Rambleta, from the centre of which the Piton,
or Sugar-loaf, takes it’s rise. On the side to-
ward Orotava the mountain: resembles those
pyramids with steps, that are found at Fayoum
and in Mexico: for the elevated plains of Reta-
ma and Rambleta form two stages, the first of
which is four times higher than the second. If
we suppose the total height of the Peak to be
1904 toises, the Rambleta is 1820 toises above
the level of the sea. Here are found those spir-
acles, which are ealled by the natives the Nos-
trils of the Peak *. Watery and heated vapors
issue at intervals from several crevices in the
ground, and the thermometer rose to 43°2°:
Mr. Labillardiere had found the temperature
of these vapors, eight years before us, 53°7°;
a difference which does not perhaps prove so
much a diminution of activity in the volcano,
as a local change in the heating of it’s internal
surface. The vapors have no smell, and seem
to,be pure water. A short time before the great
eruption of Mount Vesuvius, in 1805, Mr. Gay-
Lussac and myself had observed, that water,
under the form of vapor, in the interior of the
crater, did not redden paper dipped in sirup
of violets. I cannot, however, admit the bold
hypothesis of several naturalists, according to
which the Nostrils of the Peak are to be consi-

* Narices del Pico.

166

‘dered as the mouths of an immense apparatus
of distillation, the lower part of which is placed
below the level of the ocean. Since the time
that volcanoes have been carefully studied, and
that the love of the marvellous has been less
observed in works on geology, very well founded
doubts have been raised respecting these direct
and constant communications between the wa-
ters of the sea, and the focus of the volcanic
fire *. We may find a very.simple explanation
of a phenomenon, that has in it nothing very
surprising. The Peak is covered with snow dur-
ing part of the year; we ourselves found it still
so in the plain of Rambleta. Messrs. O'Donnel
and Armstrong discovered in 1806 a very abun-
-dant spring in the Malpays, a hundred toises
above the cavern of ice, which is perhaps fed
partly by this spring, Every thing, consequent-
ly, leads us to presume, that the Peak of Tene- -
riffe, like the volcanoes of the Andes, and those

* This question has been examined with much sagacity by
Mr. Breislak, in his Introduzzione alla Geologia, t. ii, p. 302,
823, 347. Cotopaxi and Popocatepetl, which I have seen
ejecting smoke and ashes, in 1804, are farther from the . :
South Sea and the Gulf of the Antilles, than Grenoble is
from the Mediterranean, and Orleans from the Atlantic. We ~
must not consider the fact as merely accidental, that we have
not yet discovered an active volcano more than 40 leagues
distant from the ocean ; but I consider the hypothesis, that
the waters of the sea are absorbed, distilled, and decomposed
by volcanoes, as very doubtful.

167

of the island of Manilla, contains within itself
great cavities, which are filled with atmosphe-
rical water, owing merely to filtration. The
aqueous vapours, which are exhaled by the nos-
trils and crevices of the crater, are only those
same waters heated by the interior surfaces down
which they flow.

We had yet to scale the steepest part of the
mountain, the Piton, which forms the summit.
The slope of this small cone, covered with volca-
nic ashes, and fragments of pumice stone, is so
steep, that it would have been almost impossible
to reach the top, had we not ascended by an old
current of lava, the wrecks of which have resist-
ed the ravages of time. These wrecks form a
wall of scorious rocks, which stretches itself into
the midst of the loose ashes. We ascended the
Piton by grasping these half decomposed sccrie,
the sharp edges of which remained often in our
hands. We employed nearly half an hour to
scale a hill, the perpendicular height of which is
scarcely ninety toises. Vesuvius *, three times

* According to the barometrical measurements, which Mr.
Leopold von Buch, Mr. Gay-Lussac, and myself, took in
1805, the height of Vesuvius is diminished on the south-west
side since the year 1794, where a part of the cone fell in, two
days after the ashes had been ejected. Saussure found’Vesu-
vius, in 1773, 609 toises high, at a time when the brinks of
the whole of the crater were nearly of the same height. © Sir
George Shuckburgh méasured, in 1776 a hill placed in the
midst of the crater; it was 615 toises in height. This hill

168

lower than the Peak of Teneriffe, is terminated
by a cone of ashes almost three times higher, but
with a more accessible and easy slope. Of all.
the volcanoes which I have visited, that of Jo-
rullo,in Mexico, is the only one, that is more
difficult to climb than the Peak, because the
whole mountain is covered with loose ashes.
When the Sugar loaf (el Piton) is covered
with snow, as it is in the beginning of winter,
the steepness of it’s declivity may be very dan-
gerous to the traveller. Mr. Le Gros showed us
the place, where Captain Baudin had _ nearly
perished, at the time of his voyage to the Isle of
Trinidad. This officer had the courage to un-
dertake, in company with the naturalists Adve-
nier, Mauger, and Riedlé, an excursion to the
top of the volcano toward the end of December,

scarcely existed at the time of Saussure’s journey, and disap-
peared in the eruption of 1779. It was the eruption of 1794,
which caused the great inequality of the two brinks of the
crater ; this unevenness was 71 toises in 1805. Mr. Poli
found Vesuvius, a short time before, 606 toises in height.
Sir G, Shuckburgh reckoned the highest point of the Somma,
called del Vitello, 584 toises. This observation is not very
accordant with the height, which Mr. Gay-Lussac assigns 10
the highest brink of the crater ; for, in 1805, this part of the
brink seemed to have the same elevation as the Punta del Vi-
tello. . 1 know not where Shuckburgh placed his instrument
at the foot of the cone of ashes ; for he states this point at
only 316 toises of absolute height. The following is a table
of the measures made in very calm weather, with a portable
cistern barometer by Ramsden.

169

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170

1797. Having reached half the height of the
cone, he had a fall, and rolled down as far as the
small plain of Rambleta; happily a heap of
lava, covered with snow, hindered him from
rolling farther with accelerated velocity. Ihave
been told, that in Switzerland, a traveller was
suffocated by rolling down the declivity of the
Col de Balme, over the compact turf of the Alps.

When we gained the summit of the Piton, we
were surprised to find scarcely room enough to
seat ourselves conveniently. We were stopped
by a smail circular wall of porphyritic lava, with
base of pitchstone, which concealed from us the
view of the crater *. The west wind blew with
such violence that we could scarcely stand. It
was eight in the morning, and we-were frozen
with the cold, though the thermometer kept a
little above the freezing point. For a long time

Mr. de la Juméligre asserts, in a paper printed in the Mo-
niteur, that he found, by geometrical measurement, the height
of Vesuvius 597 toises. It were to be wished, that he had
published the detail of his operations. Our measurements
give 606 toises (1181 metres) for the. most elevated brink of
the crater ; 535 toises (1042 metres) for the lower brink ;
370 toises (721 metres) for the foot of the cone of ashes ; and
302 toises (588 metres) for the hermitage of San Salvador.
Such was the state of Vesuvius a short time before the
eruption in the year 1805, in which the lava made a breach
in the brink of the crater on the side of Torre del Greco,

* Da Caldera, or the caldron of the Peak, a dettomination
which recals to mind the Oules of the Pyrenees. Ramond,
Voy. au Mont-Perdu, p. 235.

171

we had been accustomed to a very high temper-
ature, and the dry wind increased the feeling of
cold, because it carried off every moment the
small atmosphere of warm and humid air, which
was formed around us from the effect of cuta-
taneous perspiration.

The brink of the crater of the Peak bears no
resemblance to those of the greater part of the
other volcanoes which I have visited: for in-
stance, the craters of Vesuvius, Jorullo, and Pi-
chincha, In these the Piton preserves it’s conic
figure to the very summit; the whole of their
declivity is inclined the same number of degrees,
and uniformly covered with a layer of pumice
stone very minutely divided ; when we reach the
top of these volcanoes nothing obstructs the
view of the bottom of the crater. The Peak of
Teneriffe, and Cotopaxi, on the contrary, are of
very different construction. At their summit a
circular wall surrounds the crater; which wall,
at a distance, has the appearance of a small cy-
linder placed on a truncated cone. On Coto-
paxi* this peculiar construction is visible to the
naked eye at more than 2000 toises distance ;
and no person has ever reached the crater of
this volcano. On the Peak of Teneriffe, the wall,
which surrounds the crater like a parapet, is so
high, that it would be impossible to reach the
Caldera, if on the eastern side there was not a

* Picturesque Atlas, folio, pl. 10.

172

breach, which seems to have been the effect of
a flowing of very old lava. We descended
through this breach toward the bottom of the
funnel, the figure of which is elliptic. It’s great-
er axis has a direction from north-west to south-
east, nearly N. 35° W. The greatest breadth of
the mouth appeared to us to be 300 feet, the
smallest 200 feet. These numbers agree very
nearly with the measures of Messrs. Verguin,
Varela, and Borda *, for these travellers assign
40 and 30 toises to the two axes }.

It is easy to conceive, that the size of a cra-
ter does not depend solely on the height and
mass of the mountain, of which it forms the
principal air vent. ‘This opening is indeed sel-
dom in direct ratio with the intensity of the vol-
canic fire, or with the activity of the volcano.
At Vesuvius, which is but a hill compared with
the Peak of Teneriffe, the diameter of the crater
is five times greater. When we reflect, that very
lofty volcanoes throw out less matter by their
summits, than by lateral openings, we should be
led to think, that the lower the volcanoes are,
their force and activity being the same, the more

* Voy. de la Flore, t.i, p.94. Manusc. du Dépit de la
Marine, cah. 7, p. 15. Voy. de Marchand, t. ii, p. 11.

+ Mr. Cordier, who visited the top of the Peak four years
after me, estimates the greater axis at 66 toises (Journ. de
Phys. t. Ivii. p. 62). Lamanon thinks it 50 toises. But
Mr. O’Donnel gives the crater a circumference of 236 toises
(550 varas).

173

considerable ought to be their craters. In fact,
there are immense volcanoes in the Andes, which
have but very small openings; and we might
establish it as a geological principle, that the
most colossal mountains have craters of little
extent at the summits, if the Cordilleras did not
offer many instances * to the contrary. I shall
have occasion, in the progress of this work, to
cite a number of facts, which will throw some
_ light on what may be called the external struc-
ture of volcanoes. This structure is as varied
as the volcanic phenomena themselves: and in
order to raise ourselves to geological conceptions
worthy of the greatness of nature, we must set
aside the idea, that all volcanoes are formed
after the model of Vesuvius, Stromboli, and
Etna. |

The external edges of the Caldera are almost
perpendicular. Their appearance is somewhat
like the Somma, seen from the Atrio del Cavallo.
We descended to the bottom of the crater on a
train of broken lava, from the eastern breach of
the enclosure. The heat was perceptible only
in a few crevices, which gave vent to aqueous-
vapours with a peculiar buzzing noise. Some
of these funnels or crevices are on the outside of
the enclosure, on the external brink of the para-

* The great volcanoes of Cotopaxi and. Rucupichincha
have craters, the diameter of which, according to my measure-
ments, exceed 400 and '700 toises.

174

pet that surrounds the crater. We plunged the
thermometer into them, and saw it rise rapidly
to 68 and 75 degrees. It no doubt indicated
a higher temperature, but we could not observe
the instrument till we had drawn it up, lest we
should burn our hands. M. Cordier found se-
veral crevices, the heat of which was that of
boiling water. It might be thought, that these
vapours, which are emitted in gusts, contain
muriatic or sulphurous acid; but when con-
densed, they have no particular taste ; and ex-
periments, which several naturalists * have made
with reagents, prove, that the chimneys of the
Peak exhale only pure water. This phenome-
non, analogous to what I observed in the crater
of Jorullo, deserves the more attention, as mu-
riatic acid abounds in the greater part of vol-
canoes, and as Mr. Vauquelin has discovered it
even in the porphyritic lavas of Sarcouy in Au-

verene. | |

¥ sketched on the spot a view - of the interior
edge of the crater, as it presented itself in the
descent by the eastern break. Nothing is more
striking than the manner, in which these strata
of lavas are piled on one another, exhibiting the
smuosities of the calcareous rock of the higher
Alps. These enormous ledges, sometimes hori-
zontal, at others inclined and undulating, remind

* Voyage de La Perouse, t. iti, p. 2. |
+ Picturesque Atlas, folio, Pl. 54.

175

us of the ancient fluidity of the whole mass, and
the combination of several deranging causes,
which determined the direction of each flow.
The top of the cireular wall exhibits those gro-
tesque ramifications which we find in coak.
The northern edge is more elevated ; towards
the south-east, the enclosure is considerably
sunk, and an enormous mass of scorious lava
seems glued to the extremity of the brink. On
the west the rock is perforated; and a large
opening gives a view of the horizon of the sea.
The force of the elastic vapours formed perhaps
this natural aperture, at the moment of some in-
undation of lava thrown out from the crater.
The inside of this funnel indicates a volcano,
which for thousands of years has vomited no fire
but by it’s sides. This assertion is not founded
on the absence of great openings, which might
be expected in the bottom of the Caldera. Those
naturalists, who have studied nature on the spot,
know, that several volcanoes, in. the intervals of
an eruption, appear filled up, and almost extin-
guished ; but that in these same mountains, the
crater of the volcano exhibits layers of scorie,
rough, sonorous, and shining ; with hillocks and
intumescences, caused by the action of the elas-
tic vapours, cones. of broken scorice, and ashes,
which cover the funnels. None of these: pheno-
mena. characterise the crater of the Peak of Te-
neriffe; it’s bottom has not remained in the state

176

which follows the end of an eruption. From
the lapse of time, and the action of the vapors.
the inside walls are detached, and have covered
the basin with great blocks of lithoid lavas.

- We reached the bottom of the Caldera with-
out danger. Ina volcano, the activity of which.
is principally directed towards the summit, such
as Vesuvius, the depth of the crater varies be-
fore and after each eruption ; but at the Peak of
Teneriffe, the depth appears to have remained
the same for a long time. Eden, in 1715, esti-
mated it at 115 feet; Cordier, in 1803, at 110
feet. Judging by mere inspection, I should have
thought the funnel of still less depth. It’s pre-
sent state is that of a solfatara; and it is rather
an object of curious investigation, than of tre-
mendous aspect. The majesty of the site con-
sists in it’s elevation above the level of the ocean,
in the profound solitude of these lofty regions,
and the immense space over which the eye ranges
from the summit of the mountain.

The wall of compact lava which forms the
enclosure of the Caldera, is snow white at it’s
surface. The same colour prevails in the inside
of the solfatara of Puzzuoli. When we break
these lavas, which might be taken at some dis-
tance for calcareous stone, we find in them a
blackish brown nucleus. Porphyry with basis
of pitch stone is whitened externally by the slow
action of the vapors of sulphurous acid gas.

177

These vapors rise in abundance; and, what is
remarkable enough, through crevices which
seem to have no communication with the aper-
tures that emit aqueous vapors. We may be
convinced of the presence of the sulphurous acid,
by examining the fine crystals of sulphur, which
are every where found in the crevices of the lava.
This acid, combined with the water with which
the soil is impregnated, is transformed into sul-
phuric acid by contact with the oxygen of the
atmosphere. In general, the humidity in the
crater of the Peak is more to be feared than the
heat ; and they who seat themselves for a while
on the ground find their clothes corroded. The
porphyritic lavas are affected by the action of
the sulphuric acid: the alumin, magnesia, soda,
and metallic oxids, gradually disappear ; and
often nothing remains but the silex, which unites
in mammillary plates, like opal. These siliceous
concretions *, which Mr. Cordier first made
known, are similar to those found in the Isle of
Ischia, in the extinguished volcanoes of Santa
Fiora, and in the Solfatara of Puzzuoli +. It is
not easy to form an idea of the origin of these

* Opalartiger kieselsinster. The siliceous gurh of the vol-
canoes of the Isle of France contains, according to Klaproth,
0°72 silex, and 0°21 water; and thus comes near to opal,
which Karsten considers as a hydrated silex. M2ner Tabellen,
1800, p. 70. ii

+ Breislak, Introduzzione alla Geologia, t. ii, p. 238. —

VOL. I. N

178

incrustations. The aqueous vapors, discharged
through great spiracles, do not contain alkali in
solution, like the waters of the Geyser, in Ice-
land *. Perhaps the soda contained in the lavas
of the Peak acts an important part in the form-
ation in these depositions of silex. There may
exist in the crater small crevices, the vapors of
which are not of the same nature as those on
which travellers, employed at the same moment
in a great number of objects, have made expe-
riments.

Seated on the northern brink of the crater, I
dug a hole of some inches depth; the thermo-
meter placed in this hole rose rapidly to 42°.
Hence we may conclude what must be the heat,
that reigns in this solfatara at the depth of thirty
or forty fathoms. The sulphur reduced into va-
pour is condensed into fine crystals, which how-
ever are not equal in size to those Mr. Dolomieu
brought from Sicily +. They are semidiaphanous
octaedrons, with very brilliant surfaces, and of a
conchoidal fracture. These masses, which will
one day perhaps be objects of commerce, are
constantly bedewed with sulphurous acid. I
had the imprudence to wrap up a few, in order
to preserve them, but I soon discovered, that the
acid had consumed not only the paper which

* Black. in Philos. Transact. 1794, p. 24. )

+ These crystals were four or five inches in length. Drée,
Cat. d’un Musée minéral, p. 21.

179

contained them, but a part also of my miner-
alogical journal. The heat of the vapors, which
issue from the crevices of the Caldera, is not suf-
ficiently great, to combine the sulphur, while in
a state of minute division, with the oxygen of |
the atmospheric air; and after the experiment
which I have just cited on the temperature of
the soil, we may presume, that the sulphurous
acid is formed at a certain depth *, in cavities to:
which the external air has free access.

The vapors of heated water, which act on the
fragments of lava scattered about on the Cal-
dera, reduce certain parts of it to a state of paste.
On examining, after I had reached America,
those earthy and friable masses, I found crystals
of sulphat of alumin. Messrs. Davy and Gay-
Lussac + have already made the ingenious re-
mark, that two bodies highly inflammable, the
metals of soda and potash, have probably an im-
portant part in the action of a volcano ; now the

* An observer, in general very exact, Mr. Breislack, asserts
(Geologia, t. ii, p. 232), that the muriatic acid always pre-
dominates in the vapours of Vesuvius. This assertion is con-
trary to what Mr. Gay-Lussac and myself observed, before
the great eruption of 1805, and while the lava was issuing
from the crater. The smell of the sulphurous acid, so easy
to distinguish, was perceptible at a great distance ; and when
the volcano threw out scoriz, the smell was mingled with
that of petroleum. |
_ + Davy, on the Decomposition of fixed Alkalies, Phil.
Trans, 1808, P. 1, p. 44.

nN 2

180

potash necessary to the formation of alum is
found not only in feldspar, mica, pumice stone,
and augit, but also in obsidians *. This last
substance is very common at Teneriffe, where it
forms the basis of the tephrinic lava-++. These
analogies between the Peak of Teneriffe and the
Solfatara of Puzzuoli, would no doubt appear
more numerous, if the former were more ac-
cessible, and had beea frequently visited -by na- -
turalists.

~ An expedition to the summit of the volcano
of Teneriffe, is interesting, not solely on account
of the great number of phenomena which are the
objects of scientific research ; it has still greater
attractions from the picturesque beauties, which
it lays open to those who are feelingly alive to
the majesty of nature. It is a difficult task, to
describe those sensations,’ which act with so
much the more force as they have something un-
defined, produced by the immensity of the space
as well as by the greatness, the novelty, and the
multitude of the objects, amidst which we find
ourselves transported. When a traveller at-
tempts to furnish descriptions of the loftiest
summits of the globe, the cataracts of the great _
rivers, the tortuous vallies of the Andes, he is

* Collet Descotils, in the Ann, de Chimie, t. liii, p. 260.
See Klaproth, Beitrage, B. 5, p. 159, 162, and 166.

+t Laméthiere, Minéralogie, t. ii, p. 538; and Journal de
Physique, 1806, p. 192. 2

18]

exposed to the danger of fatiguing his readers by
the monotonous expression of his admiration.
It appears to me more conformable to the plan,
‘which I have proposed to myself in this narra-
tive, to indicate the peculiar character that dis-
tinguishes each zone; we exhibit with more clear-
ness the physiognomy of the landscape, in pro-
portion as we endeavour to sketch it’s individual
_ features, to compare them with each other, and
discover by this kind of analysis the sources of
those enjoyments, which are offered us by the
great picture of nature.

Travellers have learnt by experience, that

views from the summits of very lofty mountains

are neither so beautiful, picturesque, nor varied,
as those from heights which do not exceed that
of Vesuvius, Rigi, and the Puy-de-Dome. Co-
lossal mountains, such as Chimborazo, Antisana,
or Mount Rose, compose so large a mass, that
the plains covered with rich vegetation are seen
only in the immensity of distance, where a blue
and vapory tint is uniformly spread over the
landscape. The Peak of Teneriffe, from it’s
slender form and local position, unites the ad-
vantages of less lofty summits to those which
arise from very great heights. We not only dis-
cover from it’s top a vast expanse of sea, but we
see also the forests of Teneriffe, and the inha-
bited parts of the coasts, in a proximity fitted to
produce the most beautiful contrasts of form and

=

182

colour. We might say, that the volcano crushes
with it’s mass the little isle which serves as it’s
basis, and shoots up from the bosom of the wa-
ters to a height three times loftier than the re-
gion where the clouds float in the summer. If
it’s crater, half extinguished for ages past, shot
forth flakes of fire like that of Stromboli in the
fEolian islands, the Peak of Teneriffe, resembling
a lighthouse, would furnish a direction to the
mariner in a circuit of more than 260 leagues.
When seated on the external edge of the cra-
ter, we turned our eyes towards the north-west,
where the coasts are decked with villages and
hamlets. At our feet, masses of vapour,’ con-
stantly driven by the winds, afforded us the
most variable spectacle. A uniform stratum of
clouds, the same as we have just described, and
which separated us from the lower regions of the
island, had been pierced in several places by the
effect of the small currents of air, which the earth,
- heated by the sun, began to send towards us.
The port of Orotava, it’s vessels at anchor, the
gardens and the vineyards which encircle the
town, exhibited themselves through an opening
which seemed to enlarge every instant. From
the summit of these solitary regions our eyes
hovered over an inhabited world; we enjoyed
the striking contrast between the bare sides of
the Peak, it’s steep declivities covered with sco-
rie, it’s elevated plains destitute of vegetation,

183

and the smiling aspect of the cultured country
beneath ; we beheld the plants divided by zones:
as the temperature of the atmosphere diminished
with the height of the site. Below the Piton,
lichens begin to cover the scorious lava with lus-
tered surface ; a violet *, akin to the viola de-
cumbens, rises on the slope of the volcano at
1740 toises of height; it takes the lead not only
of the other herbaceous plants, but even of the
gramina, which, in the Alps and on the ridge of
the Cordilleras, form close neighbourhood with
the plants of the family of cryptogamia. Tufts
of retama, loaded with flowers, make gay the val-
lies hollowed out by the torrents, and which are
encumbered with the effects of the lateral erup-
tions ; below the spartium, or retama, lies the
region of ferns, bordered by the tract of the arbo-
rescent heaths. Forests of laurel, rhamnus, and
arbutus, divide the ericas from the rising grounds
planted with vines and fruit trees. A rich car-
pet of verdure extends from the plain of spar-
tium, and the zone of the alpine plants even to
the group of the date trees and the musa, at the
feet of which the ocean appears to roll. I here
pass slightly over the principal features of this
botanical chart, as I shall enter hereafter into
some farther details respecting the geography of
the plants of the Isle of Teneriffe.

* Viola cheiranthifolia. See our equinoctial plants, vol. i,
p. 111, Pi. 32.

134

The seeming proximity, in which, from the
summit of the Peak, we behold the hamlets, the
vineyards, the gardens on the coast, is increased
by the prodigious transparency of the atmo-
sphere. Notwithstanding the great distance, we
distinguished not only the houses, the sails of the
vessels, and the trunks of trees, our eyes dwelt
on the rich vegetation of the plains, enamelled
with the most vivid colouring. These pheno--
mena are owing not only to the height of the
site, but to the peculiar modifications of the air
in warm climates. Under every zone, an object
placed on a level with the sea, and viewed in a
horizontal direction, appears less luminous, than
when seen from the top of a mountain, where
vapors arrive across strata of air of decreasing
density. Differences equally striking are pro-
duced by the infiuence of climates; the surface
of a lake or large river is less resplendent, when
we see it at an equal distance, from the top of
the higher Alps of Switzerland, than when we
view it from the summit of the Cordilleras of
Peru or Mexico. In proportion as the air is pure
and serene, the solution of the vapors becomes
more perfect, and, the light loses less in it’s pas-
sage. When from the coast of the South Sea we
reach the elevated plain of Quito, or that of An-
tisana, we are struck for some days at the near-
ness at which we think we see objects which are
seven or eight leagues distant. The Peak of

185

Teyde has not the advantage of being situate in
the equinoctial region ; but the dryness of the
columns of air which rise perpetually above the
neighbouring plains of Africa, and which the
eastern winds bring with rapidity, gives the at-
mosphere of the Canary Islands a transparency,
which surpasses not only that of the air of Na-
ples and Sicily, but perhaps also the purity of
the sky of Quito and Peru. This transparency
may be regarded as one of the chief causes of
the beauty of the landscape under the torrid
zone; it is this which heightens the splendor of
the vegetable coloring, and contributes to the
magical effect of their harmonies and their con-
trasts. If a mass of light, which circulates about
objects, fatigues the external senses during a
part of the day, the inhabitant of the southern
climates has his compensations in moral enjoy-
ments. A lucid clearness in the conceptions, a
serenity of mind, correspond with the transpa-
rency of the surrounding atmosphere. We feel
these impressions without overstepping the li-
mits of Europe. I appeal to travellers who have
visited countries rendered famous by prodigies
of the imagination and the arts, the favoured
climates of Italy and Greece.

We prolonged in vain our stay on the summit
of the Peak, to wait the moment when we might
enjoy the view of the whole of the Archipelago of

186

the Fortunate Islands *. We discovered Palma,
Gomera, and the Great Canary, at our feet. The ©
mountains of Lanzerota, free from vapors at sun-
rise, were soon enveloped in thick clouds. Ona
supposition only of an ordinary refraétion, the
eye takes in, in calm weather, from the summit
of the volcano, a surface of the globe of 5700
square leagues, equal to a fourth of the surface
of Spain. The question has often been agitated,
if it were possible to perceive the coast of Africa
from the top of this colossal pyramid ; but the
nearest parts of this coast are still farther from
Teneriffe than 2° 49’, or 56 leagues. The visual
ray of the horizon from the Peak, being 1° 57’
Cape Bojador can be seen only on the supposi-
tion of it’s height being 200 toises above the
level of the ocean. We are absolutely ignorant
of the height of the Black Mountains near Cape
Bojador, as well as that of the Peak, called by
navigators Pennon grande, farther to the south
of this promontory. If the summit of the vol- |
cano of Teneriffe was more accessible, we should
observe without doubt, with certain winds, the
effects of an extraordinary refraction. In’ look-

* Of all the small islands of the Canaries, the Rock of the
East is the only one, which cannot be seen, even in fine wea-
ther, from the top of the Peak. It’s'distance is 3° 5’, while —
that of the Salvage is only 20 1%. The Isle of Madeira, dis-
tant 4° 29’, would be visible, if its mountains were more than
3000 toises high.

187

ing over what the Spanish and Portuguese au-
thors relate respecting the existence of the fabu-
lous isle of San Borondon, or Antilia, we find,
that it is particularly the humid wind of the
west-south-west, which produces in these lati-
tudes the phenomena of the mirage. We shall
not however admit with Mr. Vieyra, ‘“ that the
play of the terrestrial refractions *, may render
visible to the inhabitants of the Canaries the is-
lands of Cape Verd, and even the Apalachian
Mountains of America.”

The cold, which we felt on the top of the Peak,
was very considerable for the season. The centi-
grade thermometer -~, at a distance from the
ground, and from the apertures that emitted the
hot vapors, descended in the shade to 2°7°. The
wind was west, and consequently opposite to

_ * « Ta refraction da para todo.” Noticias historicas, t. 1,
p. 105. We have already stated, that the American fruits,
frequently thrown by the sea on the coasts of the isles of Ferro
and Gomera, were formerly attributed to the plants of the
island of San Borondon. ‘This land, said by the people to be
governed by an archbishop and six bishops, and which Father
Feijoo believed to be the image of the isle of Ferro, reflected
on a fog bank, was ceded in the 16th century, by the king of
Portugal, to Lewis Perdigon, at the time the latter was pre-
paring to make the conquest of it.

+t Messrs. O’Donnel and Armstrong observed the 2d of
August, 1806, at eight in the morning, on the top of the
Peak, the thermometer in the shade at 13°8°, and in the sun
at 20°5°. Difference or power of the sun 6°7 centesimal de-
grees,

188

that which brings to Teneriffe, during a great
part of the year, the warm air, that rises above -
the burning desert of Africa. As the tempera-
ture of the atmosphere, observed at the port of
Orotava by Mr. Savagi, was 22°8°, the decre-
ment of caloric was one degree every 94 toises.
This result perfectly corresponds with those ob-
tained by Lamanon and Saussure* onthe summits
of the Peak and Etna, though in very different
seasons. The tall slender form of these moun-
tains facilitates the means of comparing the tem-
perature of two strata of the atmosphere, which
are nearly in the same perpendicular plane ; and
under this point of view the observations made
in an excursion to the volcano of Teneriffe, re-
semble those of an ascent in a balloon. We
must nevertheless remark, that the ocean, on
account of it’s transparency and evaporation, re-
flects less caloric than the plains inte the upper
regions of the air; ,the summits also which are
surrounded by the sea are colder in the summer,
than the mountains which rise from a conti-
nent; but this circumstance has very little in-_
fluence on the decrement of the atmospherical
heat, the temperature of the low regions being
equally diminished by the proximity of the
ocean. |

i The observations of Lamanon give 99 toises for each de-
gree of the centigrade thermometer, though the temperature

of the Piton differed 9° from that which we observed. At
Etna the decrement observed by Saussure was 91 toises.

189

It is not the same with respect to the influence
exercised by the direction of the wind, and the
rapidity of the ascending current ; the latter
sometimes increases in an astonishing manner
the temperature of the loftiest mountains. I
have seen the thermometer rise, on the slope of
the volcano of Antisana, in the kingdom of Quito,
to 19°, when we were 2837 toises high. Mr.
Labillardiére * has seen it remain, on the edge
of the crater of the Peak of Teneriffe, at 18°7°,
though he had used every possible precaution to
avoid the effect of accidental causes. The tem-
perature of the road of Santa Cruz being then at

28°, the difference between the air of the coast
and on the summit of the Peak was 93°, instead
of 20°, which corresponds to a decrement of ca-
loric of 94 toises to each degree. I find in the
Journal of the Expedition of d’Entrecasteaux,
that at this period the wind at Santa Cruz was
south-south-east. This same wind blew perhaps
more impetuously in the higher regions of the
atmosphere, and forced back, in an oblique di-
rection, the hot air of the neighbouring conti-
nent toward the summit of the Piton. Besides,
the visit of Mr. Labillardiére took place on the.
17th of October 1791 ; and, in the Alps of Swit-
zerland, we have observed, that the difference
of temperature between the mountains and the

* Voyage ala Recherche de La Pérouse, vol, i, p. 23:
vol. ii, p. 65. :

190

plains is considerably less in autumn, than in
summer. All these variations * of the rapidity,
with which caloric decreases, have their influ-
ence on the measures taken by the barometer,
only in as much as the decrement is not uniform
in the intermediate strata, and as it differs from
the arithmetical or harmonic progression, which
is presumed in the formulz employed.

We could not withdraw our eyes, on the sum-
mit of the Peak, from beholding the color of the
azure vault of the sky. It’s intensity at the ze-
nith appeared to correspond to 41° of the cyan-
ometer. We know by Saussure’s experiment,
that this intensity increases with the rarity of
the air, and that the same instrument indicated

* TI shall here bring into one point of view the whole of the
thermometrical observations made at the Peak of Teneriffe,
and which are proper to determine the number of toises, that
correspond to a lowering of a centigrade degree :

1° Borda (month of September.) .
To the Pino de Dornajito, 104 toises (morning) ;
To the Station of the Rocks, 107 toises (evening) ;
To the natural icehouse, 105 toises (morning) ; 3
To the foot of the Piton, 151 toises (morning) ;
To the top of the Peak, 137 toises apt) 5

2° Lamanon (month of August),
To the top, 99 toises (morning) ;

3° Cordier (month of April),
To the Station of the Rocks, 122 toises oveame ;
To the top, 115 toises (morning) ;

4° Our Voyage (month of June),

To the top, 94 toises.

ol

at the same period 20° at the priory of Chamou-
ni, and 40° at the top of Mont-Blanc. This last
mountain is 540 toises higher than the volcano
of Teneriffe ; and if, notwithstanding this differ-
ence, the sky is seen there of a less deep blue,
we must attribute this phenomenon to the dry-
ness of the African air, and the proximity of the
torrid zone. |

We collected air on the brink of the crater,
which we meant to analyse on our voyage to
America, The phial remained so well corked,
that, on opening it len days after, the water
rushed in with impetuosity. Several experi-
ments, made by means of nitrous gas in the
narrow tube of Fontana’s eudiometer, seemed to
prove, that the air of the crater contained 0:09
less oxygen than the air of the sea; but I have
little confidence in this result obtained by means
which we now consider as very inexact. The
crater of the Peak has so little depth; and the
air is renewed with so much facility, it is scarce-
ly probable, that the quantity of azot is greater
there than on the coasts. We knew also, from
the experiments of Messrs. Gay-Lussac and
Theodore de Saussure, that in the highest as
well as in the lowest regions of the atmosphere,
the air equally contains 0°21 of oxygen *.

* During the stay Messrs. Gay-Lussac and myself made
at the hospice of Mount Cenis, in March, 1805, we collected
air in the midst of a strongly electrified cloud. This air,

199
We saw on the summit of the Peak no trace
of psora, lecidea, or other cryptogamous plants :
no insect fluttered in the air. We found how-
ever'a few hymenopteras adhering to masses of
sulphur moistened with sulphurous acid, and lining
the mouths of the funnels. These are bees,
which appear to have been attracted by the flow-
ers of the spartium nubigenum, and which ob-
lique currents of air had carried up to these
high regions, like the butterflies found by Mr.
Ramond at the top of Mont Perdu. The but-
terflies perished from cold, while the bees on the
Peak were scorched on imprudently approach-
ing the crevices where they came in search of
warmth.
Notwithstanding the heat we felt in our feet —
on the edge of the crater, the cone of ashes re-
mains covered with snow during several months
4 the winter. It is probable, that under the
cap of snow considerable hollows are found, like
those we find under the glaciers of Switzerland,
the temperature of which is constantly less ele-
vated than that of the soil on which they re-
pose *. The cold and violent wind, which blew —
analysed in Volta’s eudiometer, contained no hydrogen, and
it’s purity did not differ 0-002 of oxygen from the air of -
Paris, which we had carried with us in phials hermetically
sealed. On air collected at 3405 toises height, see Annal.
de Chimie, t. li, p. 92.
* See the excellent work of Mr. Stapfer, Voy. ie it 8s
de l’Oberland, p. 61.

193

from the time of sunrise, engaged us to seek
shelter at the foot of the Piton. Our hands and
faces were frozen, while our boots were burnt
by the soil on which we walked. We descend-
ed in the space of a few minutes the Sugar
Loaf which we had scaled with so much toil ;
and this rapidity was in part involuntary, for we
often rolled down on the ashes. It was with
regret that we quitted this solitary place, this
domain where Nature towers in all her majesty ;
we svothed ourselves with the hope of once again
visiting the Canary islands ; but this, like many
other plans which we then formed, has never
been executed.

We traversed the Malpays but slowly; the
foot finds no sure foundation on loose blocks of
lava. Nearer the Station of the Rocks, the des-
cent becomes extremely painful; the compact
short-swarded turf is so slippery, that we were
obliged to incline our bodies continually back-
ward, in order to prevent our falling. In the
sandy plain of Retama, the thermometer rose to
22°5°; and this heat seemed to us suffocating in
comparison with the sensation of cold, which we
had suffered from the air on the summit of the
voleano. We were absolutely without water ;
our guides, not satisfied with drinking clandes-
tinely the little provision of malmsey, for which
we were indebted to Mr. Cologan’s careful kind-

ness, had broken our water vessels. Happily
VOL. I. oO

194

the bottle which contained the air of the crater
escaped unhurt.

We at length enjoyed the refreshing breeze in
the beautiful region of the arborescent erica and
fern; we were enveloped in a thick bed of
clouds stationary at six hundred toises above the
plain. In crossing this, we remarked a pheno-
menon which was afterwards familiar'to us on
the declivities of the Cordilleras. Small cur-
rents of air chased trains of clouds with unequal
velocity, and in opposite directions; and bore
the appearance of streamlets of water in rapid
motion and in all directions, amidst a great
mass of stagnant waters. The causes of this
partial motion of the clouds are probably very
various ; we may suppose it to arise from some
impulsion at a great distance; from the slight
inequalities of the soil, which reflects in a great-
er or less degree the radiant heat; from a dif-
ference of temperature kept up by some chemical
action; or perhaps from a strong electric charge
of the vesicular vapors.

As we approached the town of Orotava, we
met, great flocks of canaries*, These birds,
well known in Europe, were in general uniform-
ly green ; some had a yellow tint on their backs :

* Fringilla canaria. La Caille relates, in the narrative of
his voyage to the Cape, that on Salvage island these canaries
are so abundant, you cannot walk there in a certain ‘season

without breaking their eggs.

195

their note was the same as that of the tame ca-
nary. It is nevertheless remarked, that those
which have been taken in the isle of the Great
Canary, and in the islet of Monte Clara, near
Lanzerota, have a stronger, and at the same time
the most harmonious song. Underjevery zone,
among birds of the same species, each flock has
it’s peculiar note. The yellow canaries area
variety which has taken birth in Europe; and
those we saw in cages at Orotava and Santa
Cruz had been bought at Cadiz, and in other
ports of Spain. But of all the birds of the Ca-
nary islands, that which has the most heartsooth-
ing song is unknown in Europe; this is the
capirote, which no effort has been able to tame,
so sacred to his soul is liberty. I have stood in
admiration of his soft and melodious warbling,
in a garden at Orotava; but I have never seen
him sufficiently near, to know to what family he
belongs. As to the parrots, which were suppos-
ed to have been seen at the period of Captain
Cook’s abode at Teneriffe, they never existed
but in the narrative of a few travellers, who have
copied from each other. Neither parrots nor
monkeys inhabit the islands of the Canaries ;
and though in the New Continent the former
migrate as far as North Carolina, I doubt whe-
ther in the Old they have ever been met with be-
yond the 28th degree of north latitude. sii

Toward the close of day we reached the port

o 2 |

196

of Orotava, where we heard the unexpected news,
that the Pizarro would not set sail till the 24th
or 25th. If we could have calculated on this
delay, we should either have lengthened our
stay* on the Peak, or made an excursion to the
volcano of Chahorra. We passed the following
day in visiting the environs of Orotava, and en-
joying the agreeable company we found at Mr.
Cologan’s. We perceived, that the abode at
Teneriffe was interesting not only to those whose
business is the study of nature; we found at —
Orotava several persons, who have a taste for
literature and music, and who have transplanted
into these distant climates the amenity of Euro-
pean society. In these respects, the Canary is-
lands have no great resemblance to the other
Spanish colonies, excepting the Havannah.

We were present, the eve of St. John, at a

* Asa grcat number of travellers, who land at Santa Cruz,
do not undertake the excursion to the Peak, because they are
ignorant of the time which it takes, it may be useful to lay .
down the following data: In making use of mules as far as the
Station of the English, it takes twenty-one hours from Oro- -
tava to arrive at the summit of the Peak, and return to the
port ; namely, from Orotava to the Pino del Dornajito three
hours; from the Pino to the Station of the Rocks six
hours ; and from this station {o the Caldera three hours and
a half. 1 reckon nine hours’for the descent. In this valua-
tion I count only the time employed in walking, and no way
that which is necessary to examine the productions of the
Peak, or to take repose. Half a day is sufficient to go from
Santa Cruz to Orotava. ;

197

pastoral féte in the garden of Mr. Little. This
gentleman, who had rendered great service to
the Canarians during the last famine, has culti-
‘vated a hill covered with volcanic substances.
He has formed in: this delicious site an English
garden, whence there is a magnificent view of |
the Peak, of the villages along the coast, and the
isle of Palma, which limits the vast extent of
the ocean. I cannot compare this prospect
with any, except those of the bays of Genoa and
Naples ; but Orotava is greatly superior to both
in the magnitude of the masses, and in the rich-
ness of vegetation. In the beginning of the
evening, the slope of the volcano exhibited on a
sudden a most extraordinary spectacle. The
shepherds, in conformity to a custom, no doubt
imtroduced by the Spaniards, though it dates
from the highest antiquity, had lighted the fires
of St. John. These scattered masses of fire,
these columns of smoke driven by the wind,
formed a fine contrast with the deep verdure of
the forests, which covered the sides of the Peak.
Shouts of joy heard from afar were the only
sounds, that broke the silence of nature in these
solitary abodes. ;

Mr. Cologan’s family has a country house
nearer the coast than that I have just mention-
ed. The name given by the proprietor is appro-
priate to the sentiment, which this rural spot in-
spires. The house of La Paz was also connect-

168

ed with the circumstance that rendered it pecu-
larly interesting to us. Mr. de Borda, whose
death we deplored, was it’s inmate during his
last visit to the Canary islands. It was in a small
neighbouring plain, that this’ gentleman mea-
sured the base, by which he determined the
height of the Peak. In this geometrical opera-
tion, the great dracoena of Orotava served as a
mark. If any well-informed traveller should
some future day undertake a new measurement
of the volcano with more exactness, and by
means of astronomical repeating circles, he
ought to measure the base, not near Orotava,
but near Silos, at a place called Bante. Accord-
ing to Mr. Broussonet, there is no plain near the
Peak of greater extent. In herbalizing near La
Paz, we found a great quantity of lichen roccella
on the basaltic rocks bathed by the waters of the
sea. Thearchil of the Canaries is a very ancient
branch of commerce; this lichen is however
found in less abundance in the isle of Teneriffe,
than in the desert islands of Salvage, La Gra-
ciosa, and L’ Alegranza, or even in Canary and
Hierro. |

We left the port of Orotava on the 24th of
June in the morning: we dined, as we passed
through Laguna, with the French consul. He
had the kindness to take charge of the geologi-
cal collections* we had made, and which we

* Mr. Hergen has described them in the Annales de Ciencias
naturales, which he published jointly with Abbé Cavanilles.

199

destined for the king of Spain’s cabinet of natu-
ral history. As we left the town, and turned
our eyes toward the road of Santa Cruz, we were
alarmed at seeing our vessel, the Pizzaro, under
way. On reaching the port, we learnt, that she
was plying under an easy sail, to wait for us.
The English vessels, that were stationed off the
island of Teneriffe, had disappeared : and we had
not a moment to lose to go on board. Weem-
barked alone, for our fellow-travellers were Ca:
narians, and at the end of their journey. We
regretted in this number Don Francisco Salcedo,
son of the late Spanish governor of Louisiana,
whom we met with again at the Isle of Cuba,
on our return from the Oroonoko.

Not to interrupt the narrative of the exeur-
sion to the top of the Peak, I have said nothing
of the geological observations I made on the
structure of this colossal mountain, and on the
nature of the volcanic rocks of which it is com-
posed. Before we quit the Archipelago of the
Canaries, I shall delay a moment, and bring
into one point of view what relates to the physi-
cal picture of these countries.

The mineralogists who think, that the end of
the geology of voleanees is the classification of
lavas, the examination of the crystals they con-
tain, and their description according to their ex-
ternal characters, are generally very well satis-
fied, when they come back from the mouth of a
burning volcano. They return loaded with nu-

200

merous collections, which are the principal ob-
jects of their researches. This is not. the feeling
of those, who, without confounding descriptive
mineralogy* with geognosy, endeavour to raise
themselves to ideas generally interesting, and
seek, in the study of nature, for answers to the
following questions :

_Is the conical mountain of a volcano exitineles
formed of liquified matter, heaped together by
successive eruptions ; or does it contain in it’s
centre a nucleus of primitive rocks covered with
lavas, which are these. same rocks altered by
fire? What are the affinities, which unite the
productions of modern volcanoes with tlie ba-
salts, the phonolites, and. those: porphyries with
basis of feldspar, which are without quartz, and
which cover the Cordilleras of Peru and Mexico,

well as the small groups of the Monts d’Or,
of Cantal, and of Mézen in France ? Has the cen-
tral nucleus of volcanoes been heated in it’s pri-
mitive position, and raised up, in a softened state,
by the force of the elastic vapours, before these
fluids communicated, by means of a crater, with
the external air? What is the substance, which,
for thousands of years, keeps up this combustion,
which is sometimes so slow, and at other times
so active? Does this unknown cause.act at.an
immense depth ; or does this chemical action
take place in secondary rocks lying on granite?

The farther we are from finding a solution of

_* Oryctognosy.

201

these problems in the numerous works hitherto
published on Etna and Vesuvius, the greater is
the desire of the traveller, to see with his own
eyes. He hopes to be more fortunate than those
‘who have preceded him; he wishes to form a
precise idea of the geological relations, the vol-
ano and the neighbouring mountains bear to
- each other; but how often is he disappointed,
when, on the limits of the primitive soil, enor-
mous banks of tufa and puzzolana render every
observation on the position and stratification im-
possible! We reach the inside of the crater with
Jess difficulty than we at first expected ; we ex-
amine the cone from it’s summit to it’s basis;
-we are struck with the difference in the produce
-of each eruption, and with the analogy which
-still exists between the lavas of the same vol-
-cano :. but, notwithstanding the care with which
we interrogate nature, and the number of par-
tial observations which are presented at every
step, we return from the summit of a burning
-volcano less satisfied, than when we were pre-
paring to go thither. It is after we have studied
them on the spot, that the volcanic phenomena
appear still more isolated, more variable, more
-obscure,. than we figure them when consulting
_the narratives of travellers.

These reflections occurred to me on returning
from the summit of the Peak of Teneriffe, the
first unextinct volcano I had yet visited. They

202

returned anew, whenever in South America, or
in Mexico, I had occasion to examine volcanic
mountains. If we reflect on the little progress,
which the labours of mineralogists, and the dis-
coveries in chemistry, have made toward the
knowledge of the physical geology of mountains,
we cannot help being affected with a painful
sentiment ; and this is felt still more strongly by
those, who, questioning nature under different
climates, are more occupied by the problems
they have not been able to solve, than with the -
small number of results they have obtained. |
The Peak of Ayadyrma, or of Echeyde*, is a
conic and isolated mountain, placed in an islet
_of very small circumference. The learned, who
do not take into consideration the whole surface
of the Globe, believe, that these three circum-
stances are common to the greater part of vol-
canoes. They cite, in support of their opinion,
Etna, the Peak of the Azores, the Solfatara of
Guadaloupe, the Trois-Salazes of the Isle of
Bourbon, and that archipelago of volcanoes con-
tained in the Indian Sea and the Great Ocean.
In Kurope and in Asia, as far as the interior of
the latter continent is known, no burning vol-
cano is situate in a chain of mountains ; all being
at a greater or less distance from these chains.

* The word Echeyde, which signifies Hel/ in the language
of the Guanches, has been corrupted by the Europeans into
Teyde.

203

In the New World, on the contrary, and this fact
deserves the greatest attention, the volcanoes the |
most stupendous for their masses form a part of
the Cordilleras themselves. The mountains of
mica-slate and gneiss in Peru and New Grenada
immediately touch the volcanic porphyries of the
provinces of Quito and Pasto. To the south
and north of these countries, in Chili and in the
kingdom of Guatimala, the active volcanoes are
grouped inrows. They are the continuation, as
we may say, of the chains of primitive rocks ;
and if the volcanic fire has broken forth in some
plain far from the Cordilleras, as in mount San-
gay and Jorullo*, we must consider this pheno-
menon as an exception to the law, which nature
seems to have imposed onthese regions. I here
ought to state again these geological facts, be-
cause this pretended isolated situation of every
volcano has been opposed to the idea, that the
Peak of Teneriffe, and the other volcanic sum-
mits of the Canary Islands, are the remains of a
submerged chain of mountains. The observa-
tions, which have been made on the grouping of
the volcanoes in America, prove, that the ancient
state of things represented in the conjectural map
of the Atlantic by Mr. Bory de St. Vincentt, is no

* Two volcanoes of the provinces of Quixos and Mechoacan,
one in the southern, and the other in the northern hemis-
phere, —

¢ The question, whether the traditions of the ancients re-

204

way in contradiction to the acknowledged laws
of nature; and that nothing opposes our admit-
ting, that the summits of Porto Santo, Madeira,
and the Fortunate, Islands, may heretofore have
formed, either a distinct range of primitive
mountains, or the western extremity of the chain
of Atlas. ie
The Peak of Teyde forms a pyramidal mass
like Etna, Tungurahua, and Popocatepetl. This
physiognomic character is very far from being
common to all volcanoes. We have seen some
in the southern hemisphere, which, instead of
having the form of a cone or a bell, are length-
ened in one direction, having the ridge some-
times smooth, and.at others rough with small
pointed .rocks.. This structure is peculiar to
Antisana and Pichincha, two burning mountains
of the province of Quito ; and the absence of the
conic form ought never to be considered as a
reason excluding a volcanic origin. I shall de-.
velope in the progress of this work some of the
analogies, which I think I have perceived be-

pecting the Atlantis are founded on historical facts, is en-
tirely different from this, whether the Archipelago of the Ca-
naries and the adjacent islands are the wrecks of a chain of
‘mountains, rent and sunk in the sea in one of the great con-
vulsions of our Globe. Ido not pretend to form any opinion.
in favour of the existence of the Atlantis; but [ endeavour
to prove, that the Canaries have no more been created by vol-
canoes, than the whole body of the smaller Antilles has been
‘formed by madrepores.

205

tween the physiognomy of volcanoes and the
antiquity of their rocks. It is here sufficient to
observe in general, that the summits, which are
still subject to eruptions of the greatest vio-
lence, and at the nearest periods to each other,
are slender peaks of a conic form : that the moun-
tains with lengthened summits, and rugged with
small stony masses, are very old volcanoes, and
near being extinguished ; and that rounded tops
in the form of domes, or-bells, indicate those pro-
blematic porphyries, which are supposed to have
been heated in their primitive place, penetrated
by vapors, and forced up in a softened state,
without having ever flowed as real lithoidal lavas.
To the first * of these distinctions belong Coto-
paxi, the Peak of Teneriffe, and that of Orizava
in Mexico. The second-+ is common to Car-
gueirazo and Pichincha, in the province of
Quito; to the volcano of Puracey, near Popa-
yan ; and perhaps also to Hecla, in Iceland.
The third t and last is found in the majestic
figure of Chimborazo, and, if it be permitted to
place by the side of this colossus a hill of Europe,
in the Great Sarcouy in Auvergne.

In order to form a more exact idea of the ex-
ternal structure of volcanoes, it is important to
compare their perpendicular height with their

* Picturesque Atlas, folio, PI. 10.
+ Ibid, Pl. 61.
t Ibid, Pl. 16.

206

circumference. This however cannot be done
with any exactness, unless the mountains are~
isolated, and placed on a plain which is nearly
on a level with the sea. In calculating the cir-
cumference of the Peak of Teneriffe in a curve
passing through the port of Orotava, Garachico,
Adexe, and Guimar, and setting aside the pro-
longations of it’s basis toward the forest of La-
guna, and the north-east cape of the island, we
find that this extent is ~ore than 54000 toises.
The height of the Peak is consequently one twen-
ty-eighth of the circumference of it’s basis. Mr.
Von Buch found a thirty-third for Vesuvius ;

and which perhaps is less certain, a thirty-fourth —
for Etna*. Ifthe slope of these three volcanoes
were uniform from the summit to it’s basis, the
Peak of Teyde would have an inclination of 12°
29’, Vesuvius 12° 41’, and Etna 10° 13’; a result
which must astonish those, who do not reflect
on what constitutes an average slope. Ina very

* Gilbert, Annalen der Physik, B. 5, p. 455. Vesuvius
is 133,000 palmas, or eighteen nautical. miles in circumfer-
ence. The horizontal distance from Resina to the crater is
3700 toises. Italian mineralogists have estimated the cir-
cumference of Etna at 840,000 palmas, or 119 miles. With
these data, the ratio of the height to the circumference would
be only ‘a seventy-seeond; but I find on tracing a curve
through Catania, Palermo, Bronte, and Piemonte, only 62
miles in circumference according to the best maps. This in-
~ creases the ratio to a fifty-fourth. Does the basis fall on the
outside of the curve that I assume ? Me

207

long ascent, slopes of three or four degrees alter-
nate with others which are inclined from 25 to
30 degrees; and the latter only strike our imagi-
nation, because we think all the slopes of moun-
tains more steep than they really are. I may
cite in support of this consideration the example
of the ascent from the port of Vera Cruz to the
elevated plain of Mexico. It is on the eastern
slope of the Cordilleras that a road has been
traced, which for ages has not been frequented
except on foot, or on the back of mules. From
Encero to the small Indian village of Las Vigas,
there are 7500 toises of horizontal distance ; and
Encero being, according to my barometric mea-
surement, 746 toises lower than Las Vigas, the
result, for the mean slope, is only an angle of
5° 40’. ,

- I have drawn on the same plate, the profiles
of the Peak of Teneriffe, Cotopaxi, and Vesuvius.
I could have wished to have substituted Etna
for this last mountain, because it’s form is more
analogous to that of the two volcanoes of Ame-
rica and Africa; but I chose to trace only the
outlines of mountains that I had visited and
measured myself; and with respect to Etna I
should have wanted data for the intermediary
heights. I ought also to observe, that, in the
three profiles, the scales of distances and of
heights have the same proportions. The dis-
tances have been determined after the charts of

208

Zanoni, Borda, and La Condamine. The reader
versed in the practice of levelling will not be
astonished at the very gentle slope, which these
profiles seem to indicate. In nature, an in-
clined plane of an angle of 35° appears to be
50°: we scarcely dare go down a hill of 22° slope
in a carriage; and the parts of the volcanic cones,
that are inclined 40° or 42°, are almost inacces-
sible, though the foot may form steps by plung-
ing it in the ashes. I have recorded in a note*

* In places where there were at the same time: slopes
covered with tufted grass and loose sands I took the following
measures :

5°, slope already of a very marked inclination. In France the
high roads must not exceed 4° 46’ by law ;

15°, slope extremely steep, and which we cannot descend ina
carriage ;

37°, slope almost inaccessible on foot, if the bottom be a nak-
ed rock, or a turf too thick to form steps. The body falls
backwards when the tibia makes a smaller angle than 538°,
with the sole of the foot;

42°, the steepest slope that can be climbed on fgot in a ground
that is sandy, or covered with volcanic ashes.

When the slope is.44°, it is almost impossible to scale it,
though the ground: permits the forming of steps by thrusting
in the foot. The cones cf volcanoes have a medium slope
from 33° to 40°. The steepest parts of these cones, either-of
Vesuvius, the Peak of Teneriffe, the volcano of Pichincha, .
_ or Jorullo, are from 40° to 42°. A slope of 55° is quite
‘inaccessible. If seen from above it would be estimated at
18°.

209

the experiments I made on the difficulties arising
from the declivities in mountainous countries.

Isolated volcanoes, in the most distant. re-
gions, are very analogous in their structure.
At great elevations all have considerable plains,
in the middle of which arises a cone perfectly
circular. Thus at Cotopaxi the plains of Suni-
guaicu extend beyond the farm of Pansache.
The stony summit of Antisana, covered with
eternal snow, forms an islet in the midst of an
immense plain, the surface of which is twelve
leagues square, while it’s height exceeds that of
the Peak of Teneriffe two hundred toises. At
Vesuvius, at three hundred and seventy toises
high, the cone detaches itself from the plain of
Atrio del Cavallo. The Peak of Teneriffe pre-
sents two of these elevated plains, the uppermost
of which, at the foot of the Piton, is as high as
Etna, and of very little extent ; while the lower-
most, covered with tufts of retama (spartium
nubigenum), reaches as far as the Estancia de
los Ingleses. ‘This rises above the level of the
sea, almost as high as the city of Quito, and the
summit of Mount Lebanon. Bilin.

The greater the quantity of matter that has
issued from the crater of a mountain, the more
elevated is it’s cone of ashes in proportion to the
perpendicular height of the volcano itself. No-
thing is more striking under this point of view,
than the difference of structure between Vesu-

VOL. I, P

210

vius, the Peak of Teneriffe, and Pichincha. |
have chosen this last voicano in preference, be-
cause it’s summit * enters scarcely within the
limit of the perpetual snows. The cone of Co-
topaxi, the form of which is the most elegant and
most regular hitherto known, is 540 toises in
height ; but it is impossible to decide, whether
the whole of this mass is covered with ashes.

Height of the] Proportion of
Names of the -volcanoes.| Total height | cone covered |the cone to the

in toises. with ashes. | total height.

Vesuvius yee 606 200 if 98

Peak, of Teneriffe enue. 4 f ice
” Pichincha oe ey as on ope

2490 240 oe

This table seems to indicate, what we shall
have an opportunity of proving more amply
hereafter, that the Peak of Teneriffe belongs to
that group of great volcanoes, which, like Etna
and Antisana, have had more copious eruptions
from their sides than from the summit. Thus
ihe crater at the extremity of the Piton, which

* T have measured the summit of Pichincha, that is the
small mountain covered with ashes above the Llano del Vul-
can, to the north of Alto de Chuquira. This mount has not”
however the regular form of a cone. As to Vesuvius, I have
indicated the mean height of the Sugar-Loaf, on account of
_the great difference between the two edges of the crater.

211

is called the Caldera, is extremely small; and
this diminutiveness had already struck Mr. de
Borda, and other travellers, who took little in-
terest in geological investigations.

As to the nature of the rocks which compose
the soil of Teneriffe, we must first distinguish
between productions of the present volcano, and
the range of basaltic mountains, which surround
the Peak, and which do not rise more than five
or six hundred toises above the level of the
Ocean. Here, as well as in Italy, Mexico, and
the Cordilleras of Quito, the rocks of trapp-for-
mation * are at a distance from the currents of
recent lavas; every thing shows, that these
two classes of substances, though they owe their
origin to similar phenomena, date from very
different periods. It is important to geology,
not to confound the currents of modern lavas,
the heaps of basalt, greenstone, and phonolite, |
which are dispersed over the primitive and
secondary formations, with those porphyroid —
masses with basis of compact feldspar-+-, which

* The trapp-formation includes the basalts, . greenstone
(grunstein), the trappean Bempay nes the Sie or por-
phyrschiefer, &c. ‘

+ These petrosiliceous masses contain vitreous and often
_ calcined crystals of feldspar, of hornblende, of pyroxene, a
little of olivine, but scarcely any quartz. To this very am-
biguous formation belong the trappean porphyries of Chim.
borazo and of Riobamba in America, of the Euganean moun-
tains in Italy, and of the Siebengebirge in Germany ; as well

BZ

212

perhaps have never been perfectly liquified, but
which do not less belong to the domain of vol-
canoes. |

In the isle of Teneriffe strata of tufa, puzzo-
lana, and clay, separate the range of basaltic
hills from the currents of recent lithoid lavas,
and from the eruptions of the present volcano.
In the same manner as the eruptions of Epomeo
in the isle of Ischia, and those of Jorullo in
Mexico, have taken place in countries covered
with trappean porphyry, ancient basalt, and
volcanic ashes, so the Peak of Teyde has raised
— itself amidst the wrecks of submarine volcanoes.
Notwithstanding the difference of composition in
the recent lavas of the Peak, there is a certain
regularity of position, which must strike the
naturalist the least skilled in geognosy. The
great elevated plain of Retama separates the
black, basaltic, and earthlike lava, from the vi-
treous and feldsparry lava, the basis of which is
obsidian, pitchstone, and phonolite. This phe-
nomenon is so much the more remarkable, as in
Bohemia, and other parts of Europe, the por-
phyrschefer with base of phonolite * covers
also the convex summits of the basaltic moun-
tains. |

as the domites of the Great-Sarcuy, of Puy-de-Dome, of the
Little-Cleirsou, and of one part of the Puy Chopine in Au-
_ vergne,
* Klingstein. Werner,

213

We have already observed, that from the le-
vel of the sea to Portillo, and as far as the en-
trance on the elevated plain of the Retama,
that is two thirds of the total height of the vol-

cano, the ground is so covered with plants, that
it is difficult to make geological observations.
The currents of lava, which we discover on the
slope of Monte Verde, between the beautiful
spring of Dornajito and Caravela, are black
masses, altered by decomposition, sometimes
porous, and with very oblong pores. The basis
of these lower lavas is rather wacke than basalt ;
when it is spongy, it resembles the amygda-
loids * of Frankfort on the Main. It’s fracture
is generally irregular; wherever it is conchoidal,
we may presume, that the cooling was more
rapid, and the mass was exposed to a less pow-
erful pressure. These currents of lava are not
divided into regular prisms, but into very thin
layers, not very regular in their inclination ;
they contain much olivine, small grains of mag-
- netic iron, and augits, the color of which often
varies from a deep leek green to an olive green,
and which might be mistaken for crystallized
olivine, though no transition from one to the
other of these substances exists . Hornblende;

* Wakkenartiger mandelstein of Steinkaute.
+ Steffens, Handbuch der Oryktognosie, T.i, s. 364. The
crystals which Mr. Friesleben and mysclf have made known
under the denomination of foliated olivine (blettriger olivin)

214

or amphibole, isin general very rare at ‘Teneriffe,
not only in the modern lithoid lavas, but also
+n the ancient basalts, as has been observed by
Mr. Cordier, who resided longer at the Canaries |
than any other mineralogist. Nepheline, leucite,
idocrase, and mejonite have not yet been seen at
the Peak ot Teneriffe; for a reddish gray lava,
which we found on the slope of Monte Verde,
and which contains small microscopic crystals,
appears to me to be an intimate mixture of
basalt and analcime *. In the same manner the
lava of la Scala, with which the city of Naples
is paved, offers an intimate mixture of basalt,
nepheline, and leucite. With respect to this
last substance, which has hitherto been observed
only at Vesuvius, and in the environs of Rome,
it exists perhaps at the Peak of Teneriffe, in the
old currents of lava that are covered by more
recent ejections. Vesuvius during a long series
of years ~~ has also thrown out lavas without
leucites: andif it be true, as Mr. Von Buch has

belong, according to Mr. Karsten, to the pyroxene, augit.
Journal des Mines de Frieberg, 1791, p. 215.

* This substance, which Mr. Dolomieu discovered in the —
amygdaloids of Catania in Sicily, and which accompanies |
the stilbites of Fassa in Tyrol, forms, with the chabasie of
Hatiy, the genus cubicit of Werner. Mr. Cordier found at
Teneriffe zeolite in an amygdaloid which covers the basalts
of La Punta di Naga. . |

t+ For instance in 1760, 1794, and 1805.

215

rendered very probable *, that these crystals are
formed only in the currents which flow either
from the crater itself, or very near it’s brink, we
must not be surprised, if we do not find them in
the lavas of the Peak, which are almost all owing
to lateral eruptions, and which consequently
have been exposed to an enormous pressure in
the interior of the volcano.

In the plain of Retama, the basaltic lavas dis-
appear under heaps of ashes, and pumice stone
reduced to powder. Thence to the summit,
from 1500 to 1900 toises in height, the volcano
exhibits only vitreous lava with basis of pitch-
stone ~~ and obsidian. These lavas, destitute
of hornblende and mica, are of a blackish brown,
often varying to the deepest olive green. ‘They
contain large crystals of feldspar, which are not
fissured, and seldom vitreous. The. analogy of
those decidedly volcanic masses with the resinit
porphyries ¥ of the valley of Tribisch in Saxony
is very remarkable; but the latter, which
belong to a very extended and metalliferous
formation of porphyry §, often contain quartz,

* Leopold Von Buch, Geognostische Beob. t. 2, 8s, 221. Gil-
bert’s Ann. t.6,s.53. The existeuce of leucites (amphigénes)
at Arendahl in Norway, in Scotland, ia the Pyrenees, in
‘Transylvania, in Mexico, does not rest on very accurate
observations.

+ Petrosilex résinite. Haiiy.

} Pechstein-porphyr. Werner.

§& We can now distinguish four formations (hauptnieder-

216

which is wanting in the modern lavas. Wher
the basis of the lavas of the Malpays changes

lagen) of porphyry. The jirstis primitive, and found in sub-
ordinate strata in the gneiss, and the micaeslate (Isaac at
Freyberg). The second alternates with syenit : it is older
than grauwakke, and belongs most probably already to the
transition mountains (uebergangs gebirge). It contains beds of
pitchstone and obsidian, and even granular limestone, of which
we see instances near Meissen in Saxony: it is extremely
rich in metals, and is found in Mexico at (Guanaxuato,

Regla, &c.), in Norway, in Sweden, and at Schemnitz in -

Efungary. ‘The porphyry cf Norway covers, near Skeen,
grauwakke and mandelstein ; it encloses crystals of quartz:
Near Holmestrandt, a bed of basalt, which abounds in augit,
is interposed among the transition porphyry. The rock of
Schemnitz (the sazum metalliferum of Ferber and Born) ,which
lies on the thonschiefer, is destitute of quartz, and contains
hornblende and common feldspar. It is this second formation
of porphyry which appears to have been the centre of the
oldest volcanic revolutions, The third formation belongs to
. the ancient sandstone (todtesliegende), which seems as a basis
to the alpine limestone (alpen-kalkstein or zechstein) : it
contains mandelstein (amygdaloides) mixed with agate (at

Oberstein, in the Palatinate), and sometimes covers (in Thu- -
ringia) strata of coal. The fourth formation of porphyries is’

trappean, destitute of quartz, and, especially in America,
often mixed with olivin and augit; it accompanies basalts,
greenstone, and phonolites (Chimborazo, the province de los
Pastos, Drachenfels near Bonn, Puy-de-Déme). The classi-
fication of the porphyries is accompanied with great difficul-
culties. Granite, gneiss, mica slate or micaceous schist, thons-
chiefer, and chloritschiefer, forms a series, in which each rock
is connected with that which precedes it. The porphyries, on
_the contrary, are found, as it were, isolated in the geognosti-
calsystem; they offer transitions into each other, but not

*

217 - ,

from pitchstone to obsidian, the color is paler,
-and mixed with gray; in this case, the feldspar
passes by imperceptible gradations from the
common to the vitreous. Sometimes both va-
rieties meet in the same fragment, as we ob-
served also in the trappean porphyries of the
valley of Mexico. The feldsparry lavas of the
Peak, of a much less black color than those of
Arso, in the isle of Ischia, whiten at the edge '
of the crater from the effect of the acid vapors ;
but their inside is no way deprived of color like
that of the feldsparry lavas of the solfatara at
Naples, which perfectly resemble the trappean

into the substances on which they repose. (Buch, Geognost.
Beob. t.i,s. 56.) As in the course of this-work volcanic and
nonvolcanic porphyries may often occur, it appears to me in-
dispensible, to exhibit the general table of the formation
traced by the illustrious chief of the Freyberg school, from
his own observation, those of Von Buch, Esmark, and Fries-
leben, and mine. The great divisions, which are suscepti-
ble of much improvement, are independent of any hypothesis
on the origin of porphyries, as they relate only to position,
superposition, and relative age. The four formations just
described, may be distinguished by the names of primitive
porphyries (urporphyre ), of transition porphyries (uedergangs-
porphyre), secondary porphyries (lezporphyre), and trappean
porphyries (trapporphyre). If we confound the second
and fourth of these formations under the common name of
porphyry-lavas, we throw geognosy back into the obscurity
from which it is scarce freed : we might as well class gneiss,
mica-slate, and thonschiefer, under the general name of
laminar and schistose rocks.

218

porphyries at the foot of Chimborazo. In the
middle of the Malpays, at the height of the ca-
vern of ice, we found among the vitreous lavas
with the pitchstone and obsidian basis, blocks of
real greenish-gray, or mountain green phonolite,
with a smooth fracture, and divided into thin
laminze, sonorous and keen edged. These masses
were the same as the porphyrschiefer of the
mountain of Bilin in Bohemia; we recognized
in them small long crystals of vitreous feldspar.
This regular disposition of lithoid basaltic lava
and feldsparry vitreous lava is analogous to the
phenomena of all trappean mountains; it re-
minds us of those phonolites lying in very an-
cient basalts, those intimate mixtures of augit

and feldspar which cover the hills of wakke or

porous amygdaloids: but why are the porphy-
ritic or feldsparry lavas of the Peak found only
on the summit of the mountain? Should we
conclude from this position, that they are of a
more recent formation than the lithoid basaltic

java, which contains olivine and augit? I can-—

not admit this last hypothesis ; for lateral erup-
tions may have covered the feldsparry nucieus,
at a period when the crater had ceased it’s ac-
tivity. At Vesuvius also, we perceive small
crystals of vitreous feldspar only in the very an-
cient lavas of the Somma. These lavas, setting
aside the leucite, very nearly resemble the pho-
nolitic productions of the Peak of Teneriffe. In

beet tage

219

general the farther we go back from the period
of modern eruptions, the more appearance the
currents, increasing both in size and extent, ac-
quire of real rocks, in the regularity of their po-
sition, in their division into parallel strata, or in
their independence of the present form of the
ground.

The Peak of Teneriffe is, next to Lipari, the
volcano that has produced most obsidian. This
abundance is so much the more striking, as in
other regions of the Earth, in Iceland, in Hun-
gary, in Mexico, and in the kingdom of Quito,
we meet with obsidian only at great distances
from burning volcanoes. Sometimes they are
scattered over the fields in angular pieces, for
instance, near Popayan, in South America ; at
other times they form isolated rocks, as at
Quinche, near Quito ; in other places, and this
position is very remarkable, they are dissemin-
ated in perlstein, as at Cinapecuaro, in the pro-
vince of Mechoacan*, and at Cabo de Gates,
in Spain. At the Peak of Teneriffe, the obsi-
dian is not found toward the basis of the vol-
cano, which is covered with modern lava: it is
_ frequent only toward the summit, especially from
the plain of Retama, where very fine specimens
may be collected. This peculiar position, and
the circumstance that the obsidian of the Peak
has been ejected by a crater, which for ages

* 'To the west of the city of Mexico.

220

past has thrown out no flames, are favourable

to the opinion, that voleanicvitrifications, where-

ever they are found, are to be considered as of

very ancient formation. :
Obsidian, jade, and touchstone *, are three

minerals, which nations ignorant of the use of

brass or iron, in all ages, employed to make
keen-edged weapons. In the most distant parts
of the Globe, necessity fixed their choice on the

same substance. We see wandering hordes have

dragged with them, in their distant excursions,
stones, the natural position of which the mine-
ralogist has not yet been able to discover. Hat-
chets of jade, covered with Azteck hieroglyphics,
which I brought from Mexico, resemble both in
their form and nature those made use of ;by the
Gauls, and those we find among the islanders
of the Pacific Ocean. The Mexicans dug obsi-
dian in mines, which took up a vast extent of
ground ; and of it made knives, sword-blades,

and razors. In like manner the Guanches, who.
called obsidian by the name of tabona, fixed:

splinters of this mineral to the ends. of their

lances. ‘They carried on a considerable trade _

in it with the neighbouring islands ; and from
the consumption thus occasioned, and the quan-
tity of obsidian which must have been broken
in the fabrication, we may presume, that this mi-
neral is become. scarce from the lapse of ages.

* Lydischerstein.

agit

221

We are surprised to see an Atlantic nation sub-
stituting, like the Americans, vitrified lava for
iron. In both countries, this variety of lava
was employed as an object of ornament: the in-
habitants of Quito made beautiful looking glasses
with an obsidian divided into parallel laminz.
There are three varieties of obsidian at the
Peak. Some form enormous blocks, several
toises long, and often of a spheroidal figure.
We might suppose, that they had been thrown
out in a softened state, and had undergone a
rotary motion. They contain a quantity of vi-
treous feldspar, of a snow white color, and the
most brilliant pearly lustre. These obsidians
are nevertheless but little transparent on the
edges, almost opake, of a brownish black, and
of an imperfect conchoidal fracture. They pass
into pitchstone ; and we may consider them as
porphyries with a basis of obsidian. The second
variety is found in fragments much fess consi-
derable. It is in general of a greenish black,
sometimes of murky gray, very seldom of a per-
fect black, like the obsidian of Hecla and Mexico.
_ It’s fracture is perfectly conchoidal, and it is ex-
tremely transparent on the edges. I have found
in it neither hornblende nor pyroxene, but some
small white points, which seem to be feldspar.
All the obsidians of the Peak are free from those
gray masses of pearl or lavender blue, striped,
and in separate pieces of the form of wedges,

222

contained in the obsidian of Quito, Mexico, and
Lipari, and which resemble the fibrous plates of
the crystallites of our glass houses, on which Sir
James Hall, Dr. Thomson, and Mr. Fleuriau de
Bellevue, have published some very curious ob-
servations *.

The third variety of obsidian of the Peak is the
most remarkable of the whole, from it’s connec-
tion with pumice stones. It is, like the former,
of a greenish black, sometimes of a murky gray,
but it’s very thin plates alternate with layers of
pumice stone. Dr. Thomson's fine collection
at Naples contained similar examples of lithoid
lava of Vesuvius, divided into very distinct plates,
only a line thick. The fibres of the pumice stone
of the Peak are very seldom parallel to each
other, and perpendicular to the strata of obsi-
dian; they are most commonly irregular, as-
bestoidal, like fibrous glass-gall ; and instead of
being disseminated in the obsidian, like crystal-
lites, they are found simply adhering to one of
the external surfaces of this substance. During
my stay at Madrid, Mr. Hergen showed. me se-

* Bibl. Britann. t. xv, p. 340; t. xxvii, p. 147. Edin.
Trans., vol. v, Pl. 1, No.3. Journ. de Phys. an.12, floréal,
et an 13, prairial. The name of crystallites has been given to
the crystallized thin plates included in glass cooling slowly.
Dr. Thomson and others indicate by the word verre glastenisé,
glass which by slow cooling is wholly unvitrified, and has as-
sumed the appearance of a fossile substance, or-real glass

stone.

223

veral specimens in the mineralogical collection of
Don Jose Clavijo; and for a long time the Spa-
nish mineralogists considered them as undoubt-
ed proofs, that pumice stone owes it’s origin to
obsidian, in some degree deprived of color, and
swelled by volcanic fire. I was formerly of this
opinion, which must be confined to one variety
only of pumice. I even thought, with many
other geologists, that obsidian, so far from being
vitrified lava, belonged to rocks that were not
voleanic ; and that the fire, forcing it’s way
through the basalts, the green stone rocks, the
phonolites, and the porphyries with basis of
pitchstone and obsidian, the lavas and pumice
stone were no other than these same rocks al-
tered by the action of.the volcanoes. The de-
privation of color and extraordinary swelling,
which the greater part of the obsidians undergo
in a forge fire, their transition into pechstein, and
their position in regions very distant from burn-
ing volcanoes, appear * to be phenomena very
difficult to reconcile, when we consider. the ob-
sidjans as volcanic glass. A more profound —
study of nature, new journeys,and observations
made on the productions of burning volcanoes,
have led me to renouncethose ideas.

It appears to me at present extremely pro-
bable, that obsidians, and porphyries with basis
of obsidian; are vitrified masses, the cooling of

* Ann. du Mus. d’ Hist. nat, t. i, p. 398.

224

which has been too rapid to change them into
lithoid lava. I consider even, the perlstein of .
Mr. Esmarck as an unvitrified obsidian: for
among the minerals in the king’s cabinet at
Berlin there are volcanic glasses from Lipari, in
which we see striated crystallites, of a pearl gray
color, and ofan earthy appearance, form gradual
approaches to a granular lithoid lava, like the
_ perlstein of Cinapecuaro, in Mexico. The ob-
long bubbies observed in the. obsidians of each
of the continents are incontestible proofs of their
ancient state of igneous fluidity ; and Dr. Thom-
son possesses specimens from Lipari, which are
very instructive in this point of view, because
fragments of red porphyry, or porphyry lavas,
which do not entirely fill up the cavities of the
obsidian, are found enveloped in them. We
might say, that these fragments had not time to
enter into complete solution in the liquified mass;
they contain vitreous feldspar, and augit, and are
the same as the celebrated columnar porphyries
of the island of Panaria which, without having
made part ofa current of lavas, seem raised up
in the form of hillocks, like so many porphyries
in Auvergne, in the Euganean mountains, and
in the Cordilleras of the Andes. |
The objections against the volcanic origin of
obsidians, drawn from their speedy loss of color,
and their swelling by a slow fire, are deprived
of their force by the ingenious experiments of Sir

225

James Hall. These experiments prove, that a
stone, which is fusible only at thirty-eight de-
grees of Wedgwood’s pyrometer, yields a glass,
that softens at fourteen degrees; and that. this
glass, melted again and unvitrified (glasténisé ),
48 fusible again only at thirty-five degrees of the
same pyrometer. I applied the blowpipe to some
black pumice stones from the volcano of the
Isle of Bourbon, which, on the slightest contact |
of the flame, whitened and melted into an
enamel. |

But whether obsidians be primitive rocks,
which have undergone the action of volcanic fire,
or lavas repeatedly melted within the crater, the
origin of the pumice stones which they envelope
at the Peak of Teneriffe is not less problematic.
This subject is the more worthy of being inves-
tigated, since it is generally interesting to the
geology of volcanoes; and since an excellent
mineralogist *, after having visited Italy and the
adjacent islands with great attention, affirms,
that it is highly improbable, that pumice stone
owes it’s origin to the swelling of obsidian.

On recurring to the observations, which I have
had the means of making in Europe, in the Ca-
nary islands, and in America, I conclude, that
the term pumice stone does not denote a simple |
fossil, like the word calcedony, opal, or pyroxene,

* M. Fleuriau de Bellevue, Journ, de Phy. t. lx, p. 451
et 461. ;
VOL. I. Q

226

but that it indicates only a certain state, a Ca-
pillary or fibrous form, ander which several sub-
stances thrown out by volcanoes are seen. ‘The
nature of these substances is as different as the
thickness, the tenacity, the flexibility, the paral-
lelism, or the direction of their fibres. We may
consequently doubt, whether pumice ought to
hold any place in & system of oryctognosy 5 or
whether, ike compound rocks, they do not ra-
ther belong to the domain of geognosy. I have
seen black pumice stones, in which augit and
hornblende are easily recognised; they are less
light, of a spongy texture, and rather cellular
than fibrous. We might be tempted to think,
that these substances owe their origin to basal-
tic lavas. I have observed them in the volcano
of Pichincha, as well as in the tufa of Pausilippo,
near Naples. Other pumice stones, and these
the most common, are of a grayish white, or of
a blueish gray, with numerous parallel fibres, and
containing vitreous feldspar and mica. The
greater part of the pumice stones of the Asclian
islands, and those I collected at the foot of the
volcano of Sotara, near Popayan, belong to this
class. They seem to have been originally gra-
nitic rocks, as Dolomiew first recognised in his
voyage to the islands of Lipari *. Assembled
in enormous blocks, they sometimes form whole

* Dolomieu, Voy. aux Iles de Lipuri, p. 67, Id. Mém. sur les
Iles Ponces, p. 89.

227

mountains far from any active volcano. It is
thus that we find obsidians between Llactacunga
and Hambato, in the kingdom of Quito, cover-
ing the space of a league square; and in Hun-
gary, where they were accurately examined by
Mr. Esmarck. This singular position made the
Danish mineralogist think, that they belonged to
the secondary or floetz formation ; and that the
volcanic fire had traversed the strata of pumice,
as well as the obsidians and the basalts, which
he equally considers as not of volcanic origin.
‘A third variety of pumice is that with fragile
fibres, somewhat thick, transparent on the edges,
and of an almost vitreous lustre, which exhibits
the transition from the granitic pumice stone to
the capillary glass.. This variety, which is ad-
herent to the green and grayish obsidian of the
Peak of Teneriffe, seems to have been produced
by the action of the fire on matters already vi-
trified. .

From the whole of these considerations it re-
sults, that it is as erroneous to consider the whole
of the pumice stones as tumefied obsidians, as
to look for their origin exclusively in granites
rendered fusile and fibrous by the action of fire,
or of acid vapors. It is possible, that the ob-
sidians themselves were only liquified granites *;

* We meet sometimes, though very rarely, with mica in
the obsidians: and Dolomieu thinks he bas found not only

feldspar and mica, but also quartz, in the granitic pumice.
or

228

but we must distinguish, with Spallanzani, be-
tween the pumices which draw their origin direct-
ly from primitive rocks, and those which, being
only altered volcanic productions, vary like them
in their composition *. A certain state, into which
several heterogeneous substances pass, or the
result of a particular mode of action, are insuf-
ficient to establish a species in the classification
of simple minerals. |
The experiments of Mr. Da Camara, and those

I made in 1802, come in support of the opinion,
that the pumice stones adherent to the obsidians
of the Peak of Teueriffe do not unite to them |
accidentally, but are produced by the expansion
of an elastic fluid, which is disengaged from the
compact vitreous matter. This idea had fora
long time occupied the mind of a person highly
distinguished for his talents and reputation at
- Quito, who, unacquainted with the labors of the
mineralogists of Europe, had devoted himself to
researches on the volcanoes of his country. Don
Juan de Larea, one of those lately sacrificed
to the fury of faction, had been struck with the

Voy. aux Iles Ponces, p. 122; Voy, aux Les de Lipari, p.
83.

* The word lava is still more vague than that of pumice
stone. ‘ It is as little philosophical to require an exterior
description of lava, as a mineral species, as it is to ask the
general characters of the mass, that fills the veins of ore.”
Leop. Von Buch, Geognost. Beob. vol. ii, p. 178.

229

phenomena exhibited by obsidians exposed to: a
white heat. He had thought, that, wherever
volcanoes act in the centre of a country covered
with porphyry with base of obsidian, the elastic
fluids.must cause a swelling of the liquified mass,
and act an important part in the earthquakes
preceding eruptions. Without adopting an opi-
nion, which seems somewhat bold, I made,. in
concert with Mr. Larea, a series of experiments
on the tumefaction of the volcanic vitreous sub-
stances at Teneriffe, and on those which are
found at Quinché, in the kingdom of Quito. To
judge of the augmentation of their bulk, we
measured pieces exposed to a forge fire of. mo-
derate heat by the water they displaced: from a
eylindric glass, enveloping the spongy mass with
a thin coating of wax. According to our expe-
riments, the obsidians swelled very unequally :
those of the Peak and the black varieties of Co-
topaxi and of Quinché increased near five times
their bulk. The swelling on the contrary was
very little perceptible in the obsidians of the
Andes, the color of which is a brown approach-
ing to red. When the reddish variety is mingled,
in thin. plates, with the black and blackish gray
obsidians, the striated mass resembles porcelain
jasper *; and the opake parts resist the action
of the fire for a length of time, while those which

Porzellan-jaspis of Werner ; thermantide porcellanite of
Haiiy. 7 ;

230

are less rich in oxid of iron, lose their color and :
tumefy. What is this substance, the disengaging
of which reduces the obsidian to the state of
white pumice, sometimes fibrous, and at other
times spongy, with oblong cells? It is easy to
perceive, that it easily loses a coloring principle;
and that the deprivation of color is not merely
apparent, that is to say, it is not owing to the
extreme tenuity to which the lamine and fibres
of the volcanic glass are reduced. Can we ad-
mit, that this coloring principle* is a hydruret
of carbon, analogous to that which perhaps exists
in the flint so easy to whiten by fire? Some ex-
periments, which I made at Berlin in 1806 jointly
with Messrs. Rose and Karsten, on the obsidians
of Teneriffe, Quito, Mexico, and Hungary, in
porcelain retorts, did not yield any results that
were satisfactory.

Nature probably employs very different means
to produce the spongy and vitreous pumices of
Teneriffe, the pumices with parallel fibres of the
A®£olian islands and of Llactacunga-+, and the
capillary vitrifications of the Isles of Bourbon,

* It is remarkable, that this principle is not always equally
volatile. Mr, Gay-Lussac saw lately obsidians of Faroé not
whiten at a degree of heat, which totally deprived of color
obsidians of Mexico, though from exterior appearance it would
have been difficult to distinguish these substances from one
another. |

+ Between Quito and Riobamba. .

231

which sometimes resemble a spider's web*.
We may admit, that these differences consist
principally in the degree of heat of the volcanic
fire, in the pressure under which this fire acts,
and in the nature of the rocks altered by it.
Above all, the pressure, which the obsidians ya-
dergo in their fusion, explains why these sub-
stances, except some varieties which I collected
near Popayan, are never found whitened. Those
of the pumice stones that have the appearance
of being formed at great depths, are fibrous, of
silky lustre, which abound more in mica than in
feldspar, and in which, on the Andes, blocks of
eight or ten toises in length have the fibres ex-
actly parallel with each other, and perpendicular
to the direction of the strata. Several volcanoes
too do not throw out any pumice stone; and
those that do, eject them only by their crater,
after the flowing of the lavas. Several mineral .
ogists think, that primitive granular rocks may
be changed progressively, and in their place,
either by the fire, or by a penetration of hot and
acid vapors, into porphyroidal masses, of a foli-
ate or fibrous texture. This opinion seems
supported by the existence of the fissured and
fibrous feldspars, which we found im the trap-
pean porphyries of Quito. These crystals re-

* Bory de'St. Vincent, Voy..aux fles d’ Afrique, t. ui, p.
00.

232

semble rhomboidal fragments of pumice stone,
disseminated in a domite deprived of color.

- The color of the pumice stones of the Peak
leads to another important observation. The sea
of white ashes, which encircles the Piton, and co-
vers the vast plain of Retama, is a certain proof
ofthe ancient activity of the crater: for in all
volcanoes, even when there are lateral eruptions,
the ashes and the rapilli issue jointly with the
vapours only from the opening at the summit of
the mountain. Now, at Teneriffe, the black ra-
pill extend from the foot of the Peak to the sea-
shore; while the white ashes, which are only
pumice ground to powder, and among which I
have discovered, with a lens, fragments of vitre-
ous feldspar and pyroxene, exclusively occupy
the region next to the Peak. This particular
distribution seems to confirm the observations
made a long time ago at Vesuvius, that the white
ashes are thrown out the last, and indicate the
end of the eruption. In proportion’ as the elasti-
city of the vapors diminishes, the matter is:
thrown toa less distance ; and the black rapilli.
which issue the first, when the lava has ceased
running, must necessarily reach farther than the
_ white rapilli. The last appear to have under-
gone the action of a more intense fire.) .

I have now examined the exterior structure of
the Peak, and the composition of it’s volcanic
productions, from the region of the coast to the

233

top of the Piton. I have endeavoured to render
these researches interesting, by comparing. the
phenomena of the volcano of Teneriffe with those
that are observed in other regions, the soil of
which is equally undermined by subterranean
fires. This mode of viewing Nature in the uni-
versality of her relations is no doubt prejudicial
to the rapidity suitable to an itinerary; but I
thought, that, in a narrative, the principal end
of which is the progress of physical knowledge,
every other consideration ought to be subservi-
ent to those of instruction and utility. It is by
isolating facts, that travellers on every other ac-
count respectable, have given birth to so many
false ideas of the pretended contrasts, which Na-
ture offers in Africa, in New Holland, and on the
ridge of the Cordilleras. The great geological
phenomena are subject to the same laws, as well
as the forms of plants and animals. The ties
which unite these phenomena, the relations
which exist between such varied forms of organ-
ized beings, are discovered .only when we have
acquired the habit of viewing the Globe as a
great whole ; and when we consider in the same
point of view the composition of rocks, the
forces which alter them, and the productions of
the soil, in the most distant regions. |
After having treated of the volcanic substances
of the isle of Teneriffe, we have to solve a ques-
tion intimately connected with the preceding in-

234

vestigation, which in these latter times has
much engaged the attention of mineralogists.
Does the Archipelago of the Canary islands con-
tain any rocks of primitive or secondary forma-
tion ; or is there any production observed, that
has not been modified by fire? This interesting
problem has been examined by the naturalists
with Lord Macartney, and by those who accom-
panied Captain Baudin in his voyage to the
Austral lands. The opinions of these distin-
guished scientific men are in direct opposition
to each other ; and a contradiction of this na-
ture is so much the more striking, as there is no
question here of one of those geological reveries,
which we are accustomed to call systems, but of
a positive fact, easy to verify. |
Doctor Gillan, according to the narrative of Sir
George Staunton *, imagined, that he observed,
between Laguna and the port of Orotava, in very
deep ravines, beds of primitive rocks. ‘This as-
sertion, though repeated by a number of travel-
lers, who copy each other, is not the less inaccu-
rate. What Dr. Gillan calls somewhat vaguely,
mountains of hard ferruginous clay, are nothing
but an alluvion, which we find at the foot of
every volcano. Strata of clay accompany ba-
salts, as tufas the modern lavas. Neither Mr.
Cordier nor myself observed in any part of ‘Te-
neriffe a primitive rock, either in it’s natural place,
* Voy. de Lord Macartney, t, i. p. 1.

235

or thrown out by the mouth of the Peak ; and
the absence of these rocks characterizes almost
every island of small extent, that has an unextin-
guished volcano. We know nothing positive of
the mountains of the Azores ; but it is certain,
that the island of Reunion *, as well as that of

Teneriffe, exhibits only a heap of lavas and ba-
~ galts. No volcanic rock rears it’s head, either on
the Gros Morne, or on the volcano of Bour-
bon, or on the colossal pyramid of Cimandef,
which is perhaps more elevated than the Peak
of the Canary islands.

It is nevertheless asserted {, that lavas includ-
ing fragments of granite have been found on the
elevated plain of Retama. Mr. Broussonet in-
formed me, a short time before his death, that,
on a hill above Guimar, fragments of mica-slate,
containing beautiful plates of specular iron, had
been found. I can affirm nothing respecting the
accuracy of this observation, which it would be
so much the more important to verify, as Mr.

* The Isle of Bourbon.

+ Blocks of granite, thrown out probably by the ancien,
voleano of the Gros Morne, are found near the source of
Trois-Riviéres ; and this fact is so much the more worthy at-
tention, as the neighbouring islands, known under the name of
Sechelles, are formed of granitic rocks.——-Bory de St. Vincent,
Voy. aux Iles d’ Afrique, t, i, p. 338; t.11, p. 35; t. mi, p.
146 et 246.

t Bory de St. Vincent, Essai sur les Hes Fortunées, p.
278.

236 —

Poli, of Naples, is in possession of a fragment
of rock thrown out by Vesuvius *, which I found »
to bea real mica-slate.. Every thing that tends
to enlighten us with respect to. the site. of the
volcanic fire, and the position of rocks subject
to it’s action, is highly interesting to geology.

It is possible, that, at the Peak of Teneriffe, .
the fragments of primitive rocks thrown out by
the mouth of the volcano were less rare than
they appear to be, and are heaped together in
some ravine, which may not yet have been vi-
sited by travellers. In fact, at Vesuvius, these
same fragments are met with only in one single
place, at the Fossa-Grande, where they are hid-
den under a thick layer of ashes. If this ravine
had not long ago caught the attention of natu-
ralists, when masses of granular limestone, and

* Tn the valuable collection of Dr. Thomson, who resided —
at Naples till 1805; is a fragment of lava enclosing a real
granite, which is composed of reddish feldspar with a pearly
lustre like adularia, quartz, mica, hornblende, and, what is
very remarkable, lazulite. But in general the masses of
known primitive rocks, I mean those which perfectly resem-
ble our granites, our gneiss, and our mica-slates, are very rare
in lavas ; the substances we commonly denote by the name of
granite thrown out by Vesuvius are mixtures of nepheline,
mica, and pyroxene. We are ignorant whether these mix-
“tures constitute rocks sui generis placed under granite, and
consequently of more ancient date ; or simply form either in-
termediate strata or veins, in the interior of the primitive
mountains, the tops of which appear at .the surface of the
Globe. |

237

other primitive rocks, were laid bare by the
rains, we might have thought them as rare at
Vesuvius, as they are, at least in appearance, at
the Peak of Teneriffe.

With respect to the fragments of granite,
gneiss, and mica-slate, which we find on the
shores of Santa Cruz and Orotava, they do, not
come from the opposite coasts of Africa, which |
are calcareous, but were probably brought in
ships as ballast. They no more belong to the
soil where they lie, than the feldsparry lavas of
Etna, which we observe in the pavements of
Hamburgh and other towns of the north. The
naturalist is exposed to a thousand errors, if he
loses sight of the changes, which the intercourse
between nations produces on the surface of the
Globe. We might be led to say, that man, ex-
patriating himself, is desirous that every thing
should change country with him. Not only
plants, insects, and different species of small
quadrupeds, follow him across the ocean ; his
active industry covers the shores with rocks,
that he has torn from the soil in distant climes.

If it be certain, that no enlightened observer
has hitherto found at Teneriffe primitive strata,
or even those trappean and ambiguous porphy-
ries, which constitute the basis of Etna *, and of

* The Chevalier Gioeni, who, like several mineralogists of
Germany and France, distinguishes the basalts from the mo-
dern lavas, considers Etna as a mountain of porphyry, sur-

238
several volcanoes of the Andes, we must not con-
clude from this isolated fact, that the whole of the
Archipelago of the Canaries is the production of
submarine fires. The island of Gomera contains ©
mountains of granite and mica-slate *, and it is
undoubtedly in these very ancient rocks, that
we must here seek, as well as on all other parts
of the Globe +-, the centre of the volcanie action.

mounted by columnar basalts, which serve, in their turn, as

a basis to the feldsparry lavas. The last alone appear to be
owing to the present volcano. The basalts and the porphy-

ries belong to a system of older mountains, which cover a

great part of Sicily. The porphyries of Etna are volcanic

without doubt ; bat every rock which owes it’s composition

and it’s form to the action of fire and vapors, has not made

part of a current of lavas. These observations appeared to

me so much the more necessary, as some very distinguished —
mineralogists have recently affirmed, that the Peak of Tene-

riffe and Vesuvius are mountains of porphyry of Neptunian

origin, and undermined by subterranean fires. The lava of
Ja Scala has been described without hesitation as a particular

rock, under the name of graustein, though it issued from the ©
crater at a well known epocha, in 1631: some have eyen
gone farther; they have supposed, that Somma exhibits the
untouched nucleus of Vesuvius, though it’s ‘stratified mass,
traversed by veins filled with more recent Java, is identical
with the rock constituting the actual crater, which has evi-
dently been ina state of fusion. Somma exhibits the same
leucites as abound in the greater part of the lavas of Vesuvius,
and their crystals are included in a phonolite resembling that
of the top of the Peak of Teneriffe.

* Note manuserite de M. Broussonet.
+ Dolomieu, in the Journ. de Phys, 1798, p.-414.

239

Hornblende, sometimes pure and forming in-
termediate strata, at other times mixed with
granite, as in the basanites or basalt of the an-
cients, may, by itself, furnish all the iron con-
tained in the black and stony lavas. This quan-
tity amounts in the basalt of the modern mine-
ralogists only to 0°20, while in hornblende it
exceeds 0°30.

Were these granites and these mica-slates of.
Gomera anciently united to the chain of Atlas,
as the primitive mountains of Corsica appear to —
_be the central nucleus of Bochetta and the Apen-
nines? This question can never be solved, till
mineralogists shall have visited the islands that
surround the Peak, and the mountains of Mo-
rocco covered with eternal snows. Whatever at
some future day may be the result of these in-
vestigations, we could not admit with Mr. Pe-
ron *, “ that in none of the Canary Islands do
we meet with true granites ; and that, the whole
of the Archipelago being exclusively volcanic,
the partisans of the Atlantis must suppose, what
is equally destitute of probability, either a con-
tinent perfectly volcanic, or that only the vol-
eanic parts of that continent were spared in the
catastrophe, by which it was swallowed up.”

From the information of several well instruct-
ed persons, to whom I addressed myself, I
found, that there are calcareous formations in

* Voyage de Déconvertes aux ‘Terres Australes, t. i, p. 24.

240
the Great Canary, Fortaventura, and Lanze- 5
rota*. I was not able to determine the nature
of this secondary rock; but it appears certain,
that the island of Teneriffe is altogether desti-
tute of it; and that among it’s alluvial lands it
exhibits only clayey calcareous tufa, but which
alternates with volcanic breccias, and which,
according to Mr. Vieyra-{, contains near the
village of La Rambla, at Calderas, and near
Candelaria, plants, imprints of fishes, buccinites,
and other fossil marine productions. Mr. -Cor-
dier has brought away some of. this tufa, miele
resembles that in the environs of Naples and
Rome, and contains fragments of reeds. At
the Salvages, which La Pérouse took ata dis-
tance for a mass of scorize, even fibrous gypsum
is found.

I had seen, while herbalizing between the port
of Orotava and the garden of La Paz, heaps of
grayish calcareous stones, of an imperfect con-
choidal fracture, and analogous to that. of
Mount Jura and the Apennines. I was inform-

* At Lanzerota calcareous stone is burned to lime with a
fire made of the alhulaga, a new species of thorny and arbo-
rescent sonchus. |

+ Noticias historicas, t. i, p. 35. The Isle of France,
which rises in the form of a pyramid, and in the disposition
of it’s volcanic hills has many points of resemblance with Te-
neriffe, has a Neptunian plain in the quartier des. Pample-
mousses. The calcareous stone there is filled with il
pores. Bory de St. Vincent, t. i, p. 207.

241

ed, that these stones were extracted from a
quarry near Rambla; and that there were simi-
lar quarries near Realejo, and the mountain of
Roxas, above Adexa. This information, pro-
bably not very accurate, led me into an error.
As the coasts of Portugal consist of basalts co-
vering calcareous rocks containing shells, I
thought, that a trappean formation, like that of
the Vicentin in Lombardy, and of Harutsch in
Africa, might have extended from the banks of
the Tagus and Cape St. Vincent as far as the
Canary Islands; and that the basalts of the
Peak might perhaps conceal a secondary calca-
reous stone. I mentioned these ideas in a letter,
which was not intended to be made public ; and
they have exposed me to the severe reprehension
of a naturalist, according to whom every volca-
nic island is only an accumulation of lavas and
scoriz, and who admits no fact contrary to his
own theory of volcanoes*. 5 ag

Though Teneriffe belongs toa group of islands

* Examination of certain geological opinions of Mr. de
Humboldt, by Mr. G. A. De Luc (Journ. de Phys. t. 50, P.
1, p. 114). This memoir, in which we recognise an excellent
observer, is the continuation of another against Mr, Kirwan,
who thinks, that the lavas of Vesuvius repose on the cal- -
careous beds of the Apennines. Ibid. vol. xlix. p. 23.
According to the Theories of Volcanoes, given by Mr. De Luc,
it is impossible, that a real lava should contain fragments
of vegetable substances. Our collections, however, contain
pieces of trunks of palm-trees, enclosed and penetrated by the

VOL. I. R

of considerable extent, the-Peak exhibits: neyer-
theless all, the characters of. a mountain placed:
on a solitary islet. As at St: Helena, the lead’
finds no bottom * at a little distance from the
ports of Santa Cruz, Orotava,. and, Garachico.
The ocean, as well as the continents, has it?s:
mountains and it’s.plains;, and, if we exceptithe
Andes, the volcanic eones are: formed: reer
where in the regions. of the Globes

As the Peak rises. amid.a system of basalts.
and old lava, and as the whole part;which. is vi-
sible aboye the surface of the waters. exhibits.
burnt substances, it has been suppesed, that this:
immense pyramid is the. effect of a progressive’
aecumulation of lavas; or that: it contains in it’s.
centre a.nucleus of primitive rocks; Both. of:
these suppositions: appear,to;, me improbable. |
think that there as little. existed, mountains of:
granite, gneiss, or primitive caleareous; stone;.
where we at present see the..tops of the Peak,
of Vesuvius, and of Etna, as in:the: plains:where
almost in our own time has been formed the vol-
cano of Jorullo, which is more than a third of
the height of Vesuvius, On examining the
circumstances which. accompanied the forma-
tion of the new. island in the: Archipelago'of: the»

very liquid lava of the Isle of Bourbon;.. See the, interesting:
memoir of Mr, de Fleuriau, l. c. vol. ita 441.

* Voy. de Isis, vol. 1, p,.2875, Voy.. de: aceliendl tely,
p. 542.

243

Azores*; on’ carefully reading the minute and
ingenuous narrative, which the Jesuit Bourguig-
non gave of the slow appearance of the islet of
the little’ Kameni, near Santorino ; we find, that’
thesé extraordinary eruptions are generally pre-
ceded by a swelling of the softened crust of the
Globe.’ Rocks appear above the waters’ before’
the flames force their way, and lava’ can issue
from the crater; we niust distinguish between
the nucleus raised up, and the mags of lavas and.
score, which successively i increase it’s dimen-

~ gions.

It is true, in all the revolutions of this’ kind,
which have taken place since the tinie that their
history Has been written, the perpendicular
height’ of the ‘stony nucleus appears never to

* em island. See the letter of Captain Tillard to ytd
Joseph Banks, Philos. Trans. for 1812, p. 152. At Sabrina.
island, near St. Michael's, the crater opened at the foot of a
solid rock, of almost a cubical forni. This rock, terminated
by a small elevated plain perfectly even, is more than two
hundred. toises in breadth. It’s formation was anterior to that
of the crater, into which, a few days. after it’s opening, the sea.
made an irruption. At Kameni, the smoke was not even
visible till twenty-six days after the appearance of the raised
rocks, Phil. Trans. vol. &xvi, ‘p. 69 and 2003; vol. xxvii, p.
353. All these phenomena, on which Mr. Hawkins collect-
ed very valuable observations during his abode at Santorino,
are unfavorable to ihe idea commonly entertained of the ovi-
gin of volcanic mountains, which ascribes them to a progres-
sive accumulation of liquified matter, and the diffusion of Ta-
vas issuing from a central mouth. '

Ri 2

244

have exceeded one hundred and fifty or two
hundred toises ; even taking into the account
the depth of the sea, the bottom of which had
been lifted up: but when we are considering:
the great effects of nature, and the intensity of
it’s forces, it 1s not the bulk of the masses, that
ought to stop the geologist in his speculations.
Every thing indicates, that the physical changes
of which tradition has preserved the remem-
brance, exhibit but a feeble image of those gi-
gantic catastrophes, which have given mountains
their present form, changed the positions of the
rocky strata, and buried seashells on the summit
of the higher Alps. It was undoubtedly in those
remote times, which preceded the existence of
the human race, that the raised crust of the
Globe produced those domes of trappean por-
phyry, those hills of isolated basalt on vast ele-
vated plains, those solid nuclei which are clothed
in the modern lavas of the Peak, of Etna, and
of Cotapaxi. The volcanic revolutions have
succeeded each other after long intervals, and at
very different periods ; of this we see the ves-
tiges in the transition mountains, in the second-
ary strata, and in those of alluvion. Volcanoes
of earlier date than the sandstone and calcareous
rocks have been for ages extinguished ; those
which are yet in activity are in general sur-
rounded only with breccias and modern tufas ;
but nothing hinders us from admitting, that the

245

archipelago of the Canaries may exhibit some
real rocks of secondary formation, if we recol-
lect, that subterraneous fires have been there re-
kindled, in the midst of a system of basalts and
very ancient lavas.

I should wander too long from the principal
object of my researches, were I to pursue a sub-
ject, in which mere conjecture supplies the place
of geological fact. From those dark times, when
the elements, subjected to the same laws, had
not yet attained their present equilibrium, I come
back to a period less tumultuous, nearer our own
age, and on which tradition and history may
throw some light. We seek in vain in the Pe-
riplus of Hanno or of Scylax the first notions
written on the, eruptions of the Peak of Teneriffe.
Those navigators sailed timidly along the coast,
anchoring every evening in some bay, and had
-no knowledge of a volcano distant fifty-six
leagues from the coast of Africa. Hanno never-
theless relates, that he saw torrents of light.
which seemed to fall on the sea; that every night
the coast was covered with fires; and that the
great mountain, called the Cur of the Gods, had
appeared to throw up sheets of flame, which
rose even to the clouds. But this mountain,
_ placed to the north of the island of the Gorilli*,

* It was in this island that the Carthaginian admiral saw,
for the first time, a large species of apes of human form, the
Gorilli. He describes them like women, their body covered

246

formed the western extremity of the chain of
_Atlas ; and it is also very uncertain, whether the
flames seen by Hanno were the effect: of some
volcanic eruption, or whether they should be at-
tributed to the custom, common to so many
nations, of setting fire to the forests and dry
grass of the savannahs. In our own days simi-
lar doubts were entertained by the naturalists,
who, in the voyage of dEntrecasteaux, | saw the
island of Amsterdam covered with a_ thick
smoke. Qn the coast of the Caraccas, trains of
reddish fire, fed by the burning grass, exhibited
to me, for several nights, the delusive aspect of
a current of lava, descending from the moun- ~
tains, and dividing itself into several branches.,
Though the journals of Hanno and Scylax, in
the state in which they have reached us, contain
no passage, which we can reasonably apply to
the Canary islands, it is however very probable,
that. the Carthaginians, and even the Pheeni-

entirely with hair, and very mischievous, because they de-
fended themselves with their teeth and nails. He boasts of
having flayed’ three of them to preserve their skins. Mr.
Gosselin places the-isle of the Gorilli at the mouth of the
river Nun; but, according to this account, the lake, near
which rete saw a multitude of elephants feeding, should
be in the Jatitude of thirty-five and a half, almost at the
northern extremity of Africa. | Recherches 3 sur la i Geographic
des Anciens, t. i, p. 74 et 98.

* Voy. de Labillardiere, tL, ps 112, Voy de a Entrecas-
teaux, t.1,p. 45.

247

cians, had some knowledge* of the Peak of Te-
neriffe. In the time of Plato and Aristotle,
vague-notions of it had reached the Greeks, who
considered the whole ‘of ‘the coast of Africa, be-
yond the Pillars of Hercules, as thrown into dis-
order by the fire of volcanoes}. The Place of
the Blessed, which was sought first in the north,
beyond the Riphean mountains, among the Hy-
perboreans {, and then to the south of Cyre-
naica,. was situate in regions that were consi-
dered as toward the west, where the world

* Sec a treatise by Mr. Ideler, inserted in my Views of
_. ‘Nature, t. 1, p. 141; and Gosselin, Recherches, t. i, p, 135—
159. One of the most distinguished writers of Germany,
Mr. Heeren, thinks, that the Fortunate Islands of Diodorus
Siculus were Madeira and Porto Santo. Afrika, t. i, p. 124.
Malte-Brun, Histoire de la Géographie, p. 76, 90, et 194.

+ Arist. Mirab. Auscult. (ed. Casaud.) p.'704. Solinus says
of Atlas, verter semper nivalis lucet nocturnisignibus ; but this
Atlas, which, like the mountain Meru of the Hindoos, ex-
hibits a mixture of true ideas and mythological fictions, was
not situate in one of the islands of the Hesperides, as the
Abbe Vieyra admits, and after him several travellers, who
have described the Peak of Teneriffe (ieyra, t.i, p, 225;
Bory de St. Vincent, p. 395). The following passages leave
no doubt on this head. Herod. iv, 184; Strabo, xvii (ed.
Falconer, t. li, p. 1167) ; Mela, ui, 10; Pliny,v,1; Solinus,
i, 24; andeyen Diod. Sic. iii. (ed. Wess. t. i, p. 221).

t Mannert. Geogr. der Griechen, t. iv, 8.5%. The idea of
the happiness, of the great civilization, and of the riches of the °
inhabitants of the north, was common to the Greeks, to the
people of India, and to the Mexicans.

248

known to the ancients terminated. The namie
of Fortunate. Islands had long been as vague a —
signification, as that of Dorado among the first
. conquerors of America. Happiness was thought
to reside at the end of the Earth, as we seek.
for the most exquisite enjoyments of the mind
in an ideal world beyond the limits of reality.
We must not be surprised, that, previous to
the time of Aristotle, we find no accurate notion
respecting the Canary islands, and the volca-
noes they contain, among the Greek geogra-
phers. The only nation, whose navigations ex-
‘tended toward the west and the north, the Car-
thaginians, were interested in throwing a veil
of mystery over those distant regions. While
the senate of Carthage was averse to any partial
emigration, it pointed out these islands as-a
place of refuge in times of trouble ‘and public
misfortune; they were to the Carthaginians, what
the free soil of America is become to Europeans
amidst their religious and civil dissensions.
_ The Canaries were not better known to the
Romans. till eighty-four years before the reign
‘of Octavian. A private individual was desirous
of executing the project, which wise foresight
had dictated to the senate of Carthage. — Serto-
rius, conquered by Sylla, wearied with the tu-
mult of arms, looks out for a safe and peaceable
retreat. He chooses the Fortunate Islands, of
which a delightful picture had been drawn for

249

him on the coasts of Betica. He carefully com-
bines the notions he can acquire from travellers ;
but in the little that has been transmitted to us
of these notions, and in the more minute des-
criptions of Sebosus and Juba, there is no
mention of volcanoes or volcanic eruptions.
Scarcely can we recognise the isle of Teneriffe,
and the snows with which the summit of the
Peak is covered in winter, in the name of Niva-
ria, given to one of the Fortunate Islands.
Hence we might conclude, that the volcano at
that time threw out no flames; if it were per-
mitted to interpret the silence of a few authors,
‘whom we know only by short fragments, or dry
nomenclatures. The naturalist vainly seeks in
history for documents of the first eruptions of
the Peak, he no where finds any but in the lan-
guage of the Guanches, in which the word
Echeyde* denotes at the same time Hell and
the volcano of Teneriffe.

Of all the written testimonies, the oldest I
have found of the activity of this volcano dates
from the beginning of the sixteenth century. It

* The same mountain bore the name of 4ya-dyrma, in
which Horn (de Originib. Americ. p. 155 and 185) imagines
he finds the ancient denomination of Atlas ; which, according
to Strabo, Pliny, and Solinus, was Dyris. This etymology
is very doubtful; but in not giving more importance to the
vowels, than they have among the people of the East, we find
Dyris almost complete in the word Daran, by which the Ara-
bian geographers denote the castern part of Mount Atlas.

250

is contained in the narrative of the voyage * of
Aloysio Cadamusto, who landed at the Canaries
in 1505. This traveller was witness of no erup-
tions, but he positively affirms, that, like Etna,
this mountain burns without interruption, and
that the fire has been seen by Christians retain-
ed in slavery by the Guanches of Teneriffe. The
Peak therefore was not at that time im the state
of repose, in which we find it at present; for it
is certain, that. no navigator or inhabitant of
‘Teneriffe, has seen issue from the mouth of the
Peak, I will not say flames, but-even any smoke
that was visible at a distance. Perhaps it is to
be wished, that the funnel of the Caldera may
open anew ; the lateral eruptions would thus be
rendered less violent, and the whole group of
islands would have Tess to fear from the effects
of earthquakes +}.

* Nec silendum puto de imsula Teneriffe, que et. eximie
colitur, & inter orbis insulas est eminentior. Nam czlosereno
eminus conspicitur; adeo ut qui absunt ab ea ad leucas' his-
panas sexaginta vel septuaginta non difficulter eam intaean-
tur. Quod cernatur a longe id efficit acuminatus lapis ada-
mantinus, instar pyramidis, in medio. Qui metiti sunt lapi-
dem aiunt altitudine lucarum quindecim mensuram excedere
ab imoiadsummum verticem. Is lapis jugiter flagrat, instar
ZEtne montis; id affirmant nostri Christiani, qui. capti ali-
quando hee animadvertére. - Aloysit Cadamusti A a 28
Terras Incognitas, c. 8.

, At Teneriffe the shocks have hitherto been very inconsi-
erable, and limited to a small extent of ground. The same
thing has been observed at the Isle of Bourbon, and almost

251

I have heard the question discussed at Oro-
tava, whether it can be admitted, that in the
lapse of ages the Peak will begin again to act.
In a matter so doubtful, analogy alone can serve
as a guide. Now according to the report of
Braccini, the interior of the crater of Vesuvius
was covered with shrubs in 1611. Every thing
then indicated the greatest tranquility; and
nevertheless twenty years after, the saine gulf,
which seemed transformed into a shadowy vale,
threw out sheets of fire, and an enormous quan-
tity of ashes. Vesuvius resumed in 1631 the
same activity it had in 1500. In the same man-
ner itis possible, that the crater of the Peak may
change it’s appearance at some future period. It
is a‘solfatara like the tranquil solfatara of Puz-
zuoli; but it is placed on the summit of a vol-
cano yet in activity.

The eruptions of the Peak have been very rare
for two centuries past, and these long intervals
appear to characterize volcanoes highly elevated.
The smallest of the whole, Stromboli, is almost
always burning. At Vesuvius, the eruptions are
already rarer, though still more frequent than
those of | Kitna and the Peak of Teneriffe. The

every ¥ where at the foot of burning volcanoes. At Naples,
earthquakes precede the eruptions of Vesuvius, they cease
when the lava begins to flow, and are in general very feeble
in comparison of those felt'on thé ’slope of the calcareous
Apennines. |

252

colossal summits of the Andes, Cotopaxi, and |
Tungurahua, scarcely have an eruption once in
a century. We might say, that in active vol-
canoes the frequency of the eruptions is in the
inverse ratio of the height and the mass. The
Peak also had seemed extinguished during nine-
ty-two years, when, in 1798, it made it’s last
eruption by a lateral opening formed in the
mountain of Chahorra. In this interval Vesu-
vius had sixteen eruptions.

I have observed in another place*, that the
whole of the mountainous part of the kingdom
of Quito may be considered as an immense vol-
cano, occupying more than seven hundred square
Jeagues of surface, and throwing out flames by
different cones, known under the particular de-
nominations of Cotopaxi, Tungurahua, and Pi-
chincha. In like manner, the whole group of
the Canary islands is placed, as it were, on the
same submarine volcano. The fire makes it’s
way sometimes by one and sometimes by another
of these islands. ‘Teneriffe alone contains in it’s
centre an immense pyramid terminated by a
crater, and throwing out from one century to
another, lava by it’s flanks. In the other islands,
the different eruptions have taken place in va-
rious parts; and we no where find those isolated
mountains, to which the volcanic effects are re-
strained. The basaltic crust, formed by ancient

* Géograph. Végét. p. 130.

253

volcanoes, seems every where undermined ; and
the currents of lava, seen at Lanzerota and
Palma, remind us by every geological affinity of
the eruption, which took place in 1301 at the
isle of Ischia, amid the tufas of Epomeo.

_ The following is a statement of the volcanic.
phenomena, of which the historians of the Canary
islands have preserved the remembrance since
the middle of the sixteenth century.

Year 1558.

At the period when the island of Teneriffe was
ravaged for the first time by the plague brought
from the Levant, a volcano burst open, on the
15th of April, in the isle of Palma, near a spring
in the Partido de los Llanos. A mountain rose
from the earth ; and formed a crater at the top,
which threw out a current of lava a hundred
toises in breadth, and more than two thousand
five hundred in length. The lava flowed into
the sea, and raising the temperature of the
water, destroyed the fish* at great distances
around.

Year 1646.
The 13th of November, a volcanic mouth

* This same phenomenon took place in 1811, near the
Azores, when the volcano of Sabrina opened at the bottom of
the ocean, The calcined skeleton of a shark was found in the
inundated and extinguished crater.

254

opened in the island of Palma, near Tigalatey

Two others: were formed on’ the seashore. The —

lavas which issued from these crevices dried’ up’
the celebrated spring of Furcaliente, or Fuente’
Santa; the mineral waters of which attracted’
the visits of the” diseased, who flocked thither
even from Europe, According to a popular tra~
dition, the’ eruption ceased’ in a very extraor-
dinary manner. The image of our Lady of the
Snows of Santa Cruz, was carried to the mouth
of the new volcano, and immediately there fell
such an immense quantity of snow, that the fire
was extinguished. In the Andes of Quito, the
Indians think they have observed, that an abun-
dance of snow water filtrating into volcanoes in=
creases their. activity.
WER LO (ag |
Third eruption in the isle of Palma. The
mountain de: Las ‘Cabras' threw out scoriz and.
ashes through® a‘ niultitude of: small shen
which were formed in succession: 2

Year 1704.

On the 31st of December, the Peak of Tene-—

riffé' formed a ‘latéral eruption in’thé®plain De

@

los Infantes, above Icore, in the district of Gui-

mars ‘Tremendous earthquakes preceded this
ertiption. On the 5th of January 1705, a second:
opening took place in the ravine of Almerchiga,’

255

a league from: Icore; The lavas. were so abun-
dant,, that: the whole valley. of Fasnia, or Areza,
was filled up. This second: mouth. ceased it's
eruption on the 13th of January. A: third was:
formed the 2d of February, in the Canada de
Arafo. The lavas: divided into three currents,.
and threatened the village of Guimar ; but:they
were stopped in the valley of Melosar by a chain
of rocks, which formed an insuperable obstacle
to their passage. During these eruptions, the
town of Orotava, separated from the new mouths
by a very narrow dyke, felt strong shocks.

Year 1706:

On the fifth of May another lateral eruption
of.the Peak of Teneriffe took place. The mouth
opened on the south of the port of Garachico.
which was then the finest and most frequented.
harbour in the island. This opulent. and po-
pulous city was built on the edge of a forest of
- laurels, in a very picturesque situation. Two
currents of lava destroyed it in a few hours, not
a single edifice being left standing. The port,
which had already suffered in 1645. by the ac-
cumulation of sand and mud caused by a great
inundation, was so filled ‘up, that the lavas form-
ed a:promontory:in: the: midst-of it. In the envi-
rons iof..Gartachico, the: surface of: the: ground:
changed .it’s* appearance. Hills arosev in the:
plain ; the.springs became dry ; and the rocks,

256

shaken by frequent earthquakes, remained
naked, without vegetation, and without mould.
The fishermen only retained their affection for
their native spot. Intrepid, like the inhabitants
of the Torre del Greco, they rebuilt a small
village on the masses of scorize, and on the vitri-
fied rock.

Year 1730.

On the Ist of September a dreadful apni
broke up the ascent of the Isle of Lanzerota. A
new volcano opened at Temanfaya. The lavas
which flowed, and the earthquakes which ac-
companied the eruption, destroyed aconsiderable
number of villages; among which were the
three old Guanche townships of Tingafa, Macin-
tafe, and Guatisca. The shocks lasted till 1736 ;
and the greater part of the inhabitants of Lan-
zerota fled to the island of Fortaventura. During
this eruption, which has been noticed in the
preceding chapter, a column of thick smoke was
seen to issue from the sea. Pyramidal rocks
rose above the surface of the waters ; and these
new rocks gradually extending, became a part
of the island itself. :

Year 1798.

- On the 9th of June, there was a lateral erup-
tion of the Peak of Teneriffe, by the flanks of the
mountain of Chahorra, or Venge *, in a place

* The slope of the mountain of Venge, on which the erup-

257

entirely uncultivated, to the south of Icod, near
the village of Guia, the ancient Isora. This
mountain, backed by the Peak, was at all times
considered asan extinguished volcano. Though
formed of solid matter, it is with respect to the
Peak, what Monte Rosso, which appeared in
1661, and the Boche nuove of 1794, are to Ve-
suvius and Etna. The eruption of Chahorra
lasted three months and six days. The lavas
and scorie were thrown out by four mouths,
placed in the same line. When the lava had
gained three or four toises in height, it advanced
three feet every hour. This eruption took place

but a year before my arrival at Teneriffe, and
had left a durable impression among the in-
habitants. I saw at the house of Mr. Legros,
at Durasno, a drawing of the mouths of the Cha-
horra, which he had taken on the spot. Don
Bernardo Cologan had visited these mouths
eight days after they were opened, and he had
described the principal phenomena of this erup-
tion in a memoir, of which he gave mea copy to |
insert in the narrative of my travels. Thirteen
years having elapsed since that period, and Mr.
Bory de St. Vincent having preceded me in the
publication of this memoir, I refer the reader for
it to his a SpreSting Lissay on the Fortunate

_tion took place, is called Chazajanne. See Nicolas de Segun-
do de Franqui, in Cavanilles y Hergen, Annales de Historia
natural, t.i, p. 298. |

VOL. I. 8

205

Islands *. I shall only mefition some circum-
stances respecting the height, to which very con-
siderable fragments of rocks were projected by
the mouths of the Chahorra. Mr. Cologan +
reckoned from twelve to fifteen seconds during
the fall of these stones, that is to say, beginning to
count from the moment they had reached the
maximum of their height. This curiotis experi-
ment proves, that. the mouth projected rocks ©
upwards of three thousand feet.

The whole of the eruptions recorded “ this
chronological statement belong solely to the ©
three islands of Palma, Teneriffe, and Lanze-

* Bory de St. Vincent, p. 286.
+ « Three of these stones,? says Mr. Bory de St. Vincent,
“ took from twelve to fifteen seconds torise till they were
out of sight and fall back to the ground.” If such was the
observation of Mr. Cologan, the result of the calculation
would differ from that I have given; but the observer expressly
says, in the matiuseript in my possession: ‘¢ De noche se
observocon relox en mano y a muy corta distancia de la
tercera bocca del volcan de Chahorra, el tiempo que desde su
mas alto punto de elevacion hasta perderlas de vista en su
caida, gastaban las piedras mas faciles de distinguir y de tres
conque sé hizo la iene s dos cayeron en cliez segundas.
cada tha y la otra’ en quinze.” Mr. Cologan observes, that
the duration of the fall was even something more than
fifteen seconds, because he could not keep the stones in sight
till they touched the ground. ‘This kind of observation is
susceptible of great precision, as I was convinced from
similar experiments, which I made duriug the eruption of
Vesuvius in 1805,
{

259

rota*. It is probable, that, previous to the
sixteenth century, the other islands experienced
_ also the effects of the volcanic fire. Some vague
accounts were given me of an extinguished vol-
cano in the centre of the isle of Ferro, and of
another in the Great Canary, near Arguineguin,
But it would be curious to know wheiher traces
of subterranean fire are found in the calcareous
formations of Fortaventura, or in the granites
and mica-slates of Gomera. 3

The merely lateral action of the Peak of Te-
neriffe isa geological phenomenon, so much the
more remarkable, as it contributes to make
mountains, which are backed by the principal
volcano, appear isolated. It is true, that in
Etna and Vesuvius, the great flowings of the
lavas do not proceed from the crater itself, and
that the abundance ofmelited matter is generally
in the inverse ratio of the height, at which the
opening that ejects the lava, takes place. But
at Vesuvius and Etna a lateral eruption con-
stantly finishes by flashes of flame and by ashes,
which issue from the crater, that is, from the
summit of the mountain. At the Peak, this
phenomenon has not taken place for ages : and
yet recently, in the eruption of 1798, the crater
remained quite inactive. It’s bottom did not
sink in, while at Vesuvius, as Mr. von Buch

“* Vieyra, Noticias, t. ii. p. 404; +. iii, p. 151, 288, 352,
396, and 516, ,
s 2

260

ingeniously observes, the greater or less depth of
the crater is an infallible Bicene of the prox-
imity of a new eruption.

I might terminate these geological sketches
by discussing the nature of the combustible,
which feeds, for so many thousands of years,
the fire of the Peak of Teneriffe ; I might examine
whether it be sodium or potassium, the metallic
basis of some earth, carburet of hydrogen, or
pure sulphur combined with iron, that burns in
the volcano; but wishing to limit myself to what
may be the object of direct observation, I will
not take upon me to solve a problem, for which
we have not yet sufficient data. We are igno=
rant, whether we should conclude from the

enormous quantity of sulphur contained in the

crater of the Peak, that it is this substance
which keeps up the heat of the volcano; or
whether the fire, fed by a combustible of an

unknown nature, effects merely the sublimation |

ofthe sulphur. What we learn from observa-
tion is, that in craters which are still burning
sulphur is very rare; while all the ancient vol-
canoes finish by remaining true sulphur pits.
We might presume, that in the former the sul-
phur is combined with oxygen, while in the lat-
ter it is merely sublimed; for nothing hitherto
authorises us to admit, that it is formed in the
interior of volcanoes, like ammonia and the

neutral salts. When we were yet unacquainted *

261

with sulphur, but as disseminated in the muria-
tiferous gypsum, and in the alpine limestone,
we were almost obliged to suppose, that in every
part of the Globe the volcanic fire acted on rocks
of floetz or secondary formation; but recent
observations have proved, that sulphur exists
in great abundance in those primitive rocks,
which so many phenomena indicate as the
centre of the volcanic action. Near Alausi, on
the summit of the Andes of Quito, I found an
immense quantity in a bed of quartz, which
formed a layer of mica-slate * ; and this fact is
so much the more important, us it is in strict
conformity with the observation of those frag-
ments of ancient rocks which are thrown out
untouched by the volcanoes.

* In geognosy we must distinguish seven formations of
sulphur, which are of a very different relative antiquity. The
first belongs to the mica-slate (Cordilleras of Quito) ; the se-
‘cond, to the transition gypsum (Bex in Switzerland) ; the
third tothe trappean porphyries (Antisana in America, Mont
Serrat in the archipelago of the smaller Antilles, Mont d’Or
in France); the fourth, to the Alpine limestone (Sicily) ;
the fifth, to the muriatiferous gypsum, placed between the
sand-stone and the alpine limestone (Thuringia); the sixth,
to the gypsum which is more recent than chalk (Montmartre,
near Paris); and the seventh, to clayey alluvions (Venejuelo,
Lower Oroonoko, Mexico), It is scarcelynecessary to observe,
that, in this nomenclature, those small masses of sulphur,
which are not contained in strata, but in the veins that
traverse rocks of different formations, are left out of the
question,

262

We have just considered the isle of Teneriffe
under mere geological points of view; we have
seen the Peak towering amid fractured strata of
basalt and mandelstein; let us examine how
these melted matters _ have been gradually
adorned with vegetable clothing, what is: the
distribution of plants on the steep declivity of -
the volcano, and what is the aspect or physi
ognomy of vegetation in the Canary islands.

In the northern part of the temperate zone,
the cryptogamous plants are the first; that cover
the stony crust of the Globe. The lichens ana
mosses, that display their foliage beneath the
snows, are succeeded by gramina, and other pla
nerogamous plants. This order of vegetation is
different on the borders of the torrid zone, and
in the countries between the tropics. We there
find, it is true, whatever some travellers may
have asserted, not only on the mountains, but
also in humid and shady places, almost ona
level with the ocean, funaria, dicranum, and
bryum ; and these genera, among their numer-
ous species, exhibit several, which are common
to Lapland, the Peak of Teneriffe, and the Blue
Mountains of Jamaica*. Nevertheless, in gene-

* This extraordinary fact, of which we shall speak here-
after, was first observed by Mr. Swarz. It was confirmed
by the careful examination, which Mr, Willdenow made of
our herbals, especially of the collection of cryptogamous
plants, which we gathered on the tops of the Andes, ina re=

203

ral, it is not by mosses and lichens that vegeta-
tion in the countries near the tropics begins,
In the Canary islands, as well as in Guinea, and
on the rocky coasts of Peru, the first. vegetables,
that prepare the mould for others, are the suc-
culent plants; the leaves of which, provided
with an infinite number of orifices * and cuta-
neous vessels, deprive the ambient air of the
water it holds insolution. Fixed in the crevices
of volcanic rocks, they form, as it were, the first
layer of vegetable earth, with which the currents
of lithoid lava are clothed. Wherever these lavas
are scorified, and where they have a shining
surface, as in the basaltic mounds to the north
of Lanzerota, the unfolding of vegetation is ex-
tremely slow, and many ages may roll away be-
fore shrubs can take root. Itis only when lavas
are covered with tufa and ashes, the volcanic
islands lose that appearance of nudity which
marks their origin, and deck themselves with a
rich and brilliant vegetation.

In it’s present state, the island of Teneriffe, the
Chinerfe-+ of the Guanches, exhibits five zones of
plants }, which we may distinguish by the names

gion of the world where organised beings totally differ from
those of the rest of the old continent.

* The bark pores of Mr. Decandolle, discovered by Glei-
chen, and figured by Hedwig. |

+ Of Chinerfe the Europeans have formed, by corruption,
Tchinerifte and Teneriffe.

t Ihave partly sketched this picture of the vegetation of

264

of region of vines, region of laurels, region of
pines, region of the ratama, and region ofgrasses.'
These zones are arranged in‘stages, one above
the other, and occupy, on the steep declivity of
the Peak, a perpendicular height of 1750 toises ;
while fifteen degrees farther north, on the Py-
renees, the snows already descend to thirteen or
fourteen hundred toises of absolute elevation.
If the plants of Teneriffe do not reach the sum-
mit of the volcano, it is not because the perpetual:
snows *, and the cold of the surrounding atmo-

the Canaries from the manuscript notes of Mr, Broussonet.-
When I published my first “, Essay on the Geography of the.
Equinoctial Plants of the New World,” I begged this distin-
guished naturalist, who had long resided at Mogadore, in thé
empire of Morocco, and at Santa Cruz, in Teneriffe, to com-_
municate to me his ideas relative to the geographical distribu-
tion of plants in those countries. He yielded to my entreaty
with that complaisance and urbanity, which he constantly ex-
ercised in his communications with learned foreigners.

* Though the Peak of Teneriffe is covered with snow dur-
ing the winter months only, it is nevertheless possible, that the
volcano reaches the limit of the perpetual snows correspond-
ing to it’s latitude, and that the total absence of the snows in
summer is owing to the isolated situation of the mountain in
the midst of the seas, to the frequency of the ascending hot
winds, or the elevated temperature of the ashes of the Piton
but we are unable to solve these doubts, in the present state
of our knowledge. From the parallel of the mountain of
Mexico to that of the Pyrenees and the Alps, between the
20th and the 45th degrees, the curve of the perpetual snows
has not been determined by any direct measure ; and as an

265
sphere, lay down limits which they cannot pass ;
it is the scorified lava of the Malpays, the pow-

infinite number of these curves may be traced through the
small number of points which are known to us under the lati-
tudes of 0°, 20°, 45°, 62°, and 71° north, calculation is a very
imperfect substitute for observation, Without advancing any
thing’ very positive, we may say, that it is probable in 28°
17’ the limit of the snows is above 1900 toises. From the
equator, where the snows begin at 2460 toises, that is near
the height of Mont Blanc, te the twentieth of latitude, con-
sequently to the limits of the torrid zone, the snows descend
only a hundred toises; now ought we to admit, that eight
degrees farther, and in a climate which still bears almost the
character of a climate of the tropics, this line already lowers
four hundred toises? Supposing even a lowering in arith-
metical progression from the twentieth to the forty-fifth de-
gree of latitude, a supposition which is contrary to known
facts (Rec. d’Obs. astron., vol. i, p. 134), the perpetual snows
would not begin under the parallel of the Peak but at the
height of 2050 toises above the level of the Ocean, conse-
quently 550 toises higher than on the Pyrenees and in Swit.
zerland. This result is supported also by other consider.
alions. The mean temperature of the stratum of air, with
which the snows are in contact during the summer, is, on the
Alps, a few degrees below the point of congelation, and under
the equator, a few degrees above it (J. c.p. 187). Admitting
that, at 28 degrees and a half, this temperature is 0, we find
according to the law of the decrement of heat, reckoning 98
toises to each centesimal degree, that the snowsjought to exist
‘at the height of 2058 toises above a plain, the mean temper-
ature of which is21 degrees, and consequently equal to that
of the coasts of Teneriffe. This number is almost identical
with that deduced from the hypothesis of a diminution in
arithmetical progression. One of the high tops of the Sierra

266

dered and barren pumice stone of the Piton,
which impede the migration of the plants toward
the brink of the crater.

7 Nevada of Grenada, the Pico de Veleta, the absolute height
of which is 1781 toises, is perpetually covered with snows ;
but the inferior limits of these snows not having been. mea-

sured, this mountain, in the latitude of 37° 10', gives us no’

information respecting the problem we wish to solve. With
respect to the position of the volcano of Teneriffe, in the cen-
tre of an island of little extent, it does not appear, that this
circumstance can cause a rising of the curve of the perpetual
snows. If in islands the winters are less rigorous, the sum-
mers are less scorching ; and it is not so much on the mean
temperature of the whole year, as on that of the summer
months, that the height of the snows depends. On Etna the
snows begin at 1500 toises, and even a little below ; which is
extraordinary enough for a summit placed in 37 degrees and
a half of latitude.

Towards the polar circle, where the heats of summer are

tempered by the fogs that rise continually above the Ocean,
the difference between the islands on the coasts and the in-
terior of the country becomes extremely perceptible. In
Iceland, for example, on the Osterjoeckull, in the sixty-fifth
degree of latitude, the perpetual snows descend to four hun-
dred and eighty two toises ; while in Norway, in the sixty-
seventh, far from the coasts, in situations where the winters
are much more rigorous, and where consequently the mean
temperature of the year is less than in Iceland, the snows de-
scend only to six hundred toises of height (Leopold von Buch,
in the dan. of Gilb. 1812, t. ii, p..387 and 43). From these
considerations it appears probable enough, that Bouguer and

Saussure were deceived, when they admitted, that the Peak

of Teneriffe reaches the constant inferior limit of the snows
(Figure de la terre, p. 48, and Voy, dans les Alpes, t. iv, p. 103).

267

The first zone, that of the vines, extends from
the seashore to two or three hundred toises of |
height; it is that which is most inhabited, and
the only part carefully cultivated. In these low
regions, at the port of Orotava, and wherever
the winds have free access, the centigrade ther-
mometer stands in winter, in the months of Ja-
nuary and February, at noon, between fifteen
and seventeen degrees ; and the strongest heats
of the summer do not exceed twenty-five or
twenty-six degrees: they are consequently five
or six degrees below the extremes, which the
thermometer annually reaches at Paris, Berlin,
and Petersburgh. These results are taken from
the observations made by Mr. Savaggi from
1795 to 1799.. The mean temperature of the
coasts of Teneriffe appears at least to rise to
twenty-one degrees (16°3° Reaumur), and their
climate holds the medium between the climate
of Naples, and that of the torrid zone. At the
island of Madeira, the mean temperatures of |
the months of January and August are, accord-
ing to Heberden, from 17°7° to 23°8°; while at
Rome they rise to 5°6° and 26°2°. But notwith-

We find this term for latitude 28°1'7/ at least at 1950 toises
high, even in calculating it by interpolation between Etna and
the volcanoes of Mexico. This matter will be made entirely
clear, when we shall have measured the western part of Atlas,
which near Morocco, in thirty degrees and a half of latitude,
is covered with perpetual snows.

268

standing the extreme analogy observable be-
tween the climates of Madeira and Teneriffe,
the plants of the first of these islands are gene-
rally less delicate te cultivate in Europe, than
the plants of Teneriffe. The cheiranthus longi-
folius of Orotava, for instance, freezes at Mont-
pellier, according to the observation of Mr. De-
candolle ; while the cheiranthus mutabilis of
Madeira passes the winter there in the open
ground. The heats of summer are of less con-
tinuance at Madeira, than at Teneriffe. —
The’region of the vines exhibits, among it’s
vegetable productions, eight kinds of arborescent
euphorbia; mesembrianthema, which are mul-
tiplied from the Cape of Good Hope to the Pe-
loponnesus ;. the cacalia kleinia, .the draceena,
and other plants, which in their naked and tor-
tuous trunks, in their succulent leaves, and their
tint of blueish green, exhibit features distinguish-
ing the vegetation of Africa. It is in this zone,
that the date tree, the plantain, the sugar cane,
the India fig, the arum colocasia, the root’ of
which furnishes the lower class with a nutritive —
fecula, the olive tree, the fruit trees of Europe,
the vine, and corn are cultivated. The wheat —
is reaped from’the end of March to the. begin-
ning of May: and the culture of the breadfruit —
tree of Otaheite, that of the cinnamon tree of the
Moluceas, the coffee tree of Arabia, and. the
cocoa tree of America, have been tried: with

269 ’

success. -On several points of the coast, the
country assumes the character of a tropical land-
scape ; and we recognize, that the region of the
palms extends beyond the limits of the torrid
zone. The chamerops and the date tree flourish
in the fertile plains of Murviedro, on the coasts
of Genoa, and in Provence, near Antibes, be-
tween the thirty-ninth and forty-fourth degrees
of latitude: a few trees of the latter species,
planted within the walls of the city of Rome,
resist even a cold of 2°5° below the freezing
point. But if the south of Europe does not yet
but feebly share in the gifts lavished by Nature
on the zone of palms, the isle of Teneriffe, placed
under the parallel of Egypt, southern Persia, and
Florida, is already decorated with the greater
part of the vegetable forms, that increase the
majesty of the landscape in regions near the
equator. : |

On reviewing the different tribes of indigenous
plants, we regret the not having found trees with
small pinnated leaves, and arborescent gramina.
No species of the numerous family of the sensi-
tive plants has pushed it’s migrations as far as
the archipelago of the Canary islands, while on
both continents they have been discovered as far
as the thirty-eighth and fortieth degrees of lati-
tude. In America the schranckia uncinata of
Willdenow * advances even to the forests of

* Mimosa-horridula, Michaux,

270

Virginia; in Africa the gum-dropping acacia ve-
getates on the hills of Mogadore: in Asia, to the
west of the Caspian Sea, Mr. von Biberstein saw
the plains of Shirvan covered with the acacia
stephaniana. If we more carefully examine the
plants of the island of Lanzerota and Fortaven-
tura, which are nearest the coasts of Morocco,
we shall perhaps find a few mimosas among so
many other plants of the African Flora.

The second zone, that of the laurels, contains
the woody part of Teneriffe ; this is the region
of the springs that rise up amidst. a turf always
verdant, and never parched with drought. Lofty
forests crown the hills, that lead to the volcano,
and in them find four species of laurel *, an oak
nearly resembling the quercus Turneri-f of the
mountains of Thibet, the visnea mocanera, the
myrica faya of the Azores, a native olive (olea
excelsa), which is the largest tree of this zone, —
two species of sideroxylon, the leaves of which
are extremely beautiful, the arbutus callicarpa,
and other evergreen trees of the family of myrtles.
Bindweeds, and an ivy very different from that
of Europe (hedera canariensis) entwinethe trunks
of the laurels ; at their feet vegetate a number-

* Laurus indica, |. foetens, |.- nobilis, and |. ‘Til. With
these trees are mingled the ardisia excelsa, rhamnus glandu-
‘losus, erica arborea, and é. texo.

+ Quercus canariensis, Broussonet. (Willd. Enum. Plant.
Hort. Berol, 1809, p. 975.)

271

less quantity of ferns *, of which three species +-
alone descend as low as the region of the vines.
The soil, covered with mosses and a tender grass,
is enriched with the flowers of the golden cam-
panula, the chrysanthemum pinnatifidum, the
Canary mint, and several bushy species of hy-
pericum*. Plantations of wild and grafted ches-
nut trees form a large border around the region
of the springs, which is the greenest and most
agreeable of the whole.

The third zone begins at nine hundred toises
of absolute height, where the last group of ar-
butus, of myrica faya, and that beautiful heath
known to the natives under the name of texo,
appears. This zone, four hundred toises in
breadth, is entirely filled by a vast forest of pines,
among which mingles the juniperus cedro of
Broussonet. The leaves- of these pines are
very long, stiff, and sprout sometimes by pairs,
but oftener by threes in onesheath. As we had
no opportunity of examining the fructification,
we cannot say whether this species, which has
the appearance of the Scotch fir, is really differ-
ent from the eighteen species of pines, with which

* W oodwardia radicans, asplenium palmatum, a. canarien-
sis, a. latifolium, notholena subcordata, trichomanes cana-
riensis, t. speciosum, and davallia canariensis.

+ Two acrostichums and the ophyoglossum lusitanicum.

} Hypericum canariense, h, floribundum, and hk, glandu-
losum,

272

we are already acquainted on the old continent. |
A celebrated botanist, who by his excursions has
rendered great services to the botanical geo-

graphy of Europe, Mr. Decandolle, thinks, that |
the pine of Teneriffe is equally distinct from the
pinus atlantica of the neighbouring mountains
of Mogadore, and from the pine of Aleppo *,
which belongs to the basin of the Mediterranean,
and does not appear to have passed the Pillars
of Hercules. We have met with these last pines
on the slope of the Peak, near twelve hundred
toises above the level of the ocean. In the Cor-
dilleras of New Spain, under the torrid zone,
the Mexican pines reach as high as two thou-
sand toises. Notwithstanding the similarity of
structure, that exists: between the different spe-
cies of the same genus of plants, each of them
requires a certain degree of temperature and
rarity in the ambient air, to attain it’s due
growth. If in the temperate climates, and
wherever snow falls, the constant heat of the

soil is somewhat above the mean heat of the at-

_* Pinus halepensis. Mr. Decandolle observes, that this
species, which is not found in Portugal, but grows on the
Mediterranean side of France, Spain, and Italy, in Asia
Minor, and in Barbary, would ‘be better named pinus medi-
terranea, It composes the principal part of the forests of pines
in the south-east of France, where Gouan and Gerard have
confounded it with the pinus sylvestris. It comprehends'the 2
pinus halepensis, Mill., Lamb., and Desfont., and the pinus
maritima, Lamb. ,

273

mosphere, it is probable, that at the height of
Portillo, the roots of the pines draw their nourish-
ment from a soil, in which, at a certain depth,

the thermometer rises at most to nine or ten.
degrees.

The fourth and fifth zones, the regions of the
retama and the gramina, occupy heights equal
to the most inaccessible summits of the Pyrenees.
It is the sterile part of the island, where heaps
of pumice stone, obsidian, and broken lava, form
impediments to vegetation. We have already
spoken of those flowery tufts of alpine broom
(spartium nubigenum), that form oases amidst a
vast sea of ashes. T'wo herbaceous plants, the
scrofularia glabrata, and the viola cheiranthi-
folia, advance even to the Malpays. Just above
a turf scorched by the heat of an African sun,
an arid soil is overspread by the cladonia pas-.
chalis, to which the herdsmen often set fire, that
rolls to considerable distances. Toward the
summit of the Peak, the urceolarea, and other
plants of the family of the lichens, labour at the
decomposition of the scorified matter. By this
unceasing action of organic forces the empire of
Flora extends itself over islands ravaged by
volcanoes. |

In traversing the aera zones of the vege-
tation of Teneriffe, we see that the whole island
may be considered as a forest of laurels, arbutus,
and pines, of which the border has scarcely been

VOL. I. if

_ 274

cleared, and which contains in it’s centre a naked
and rocky soil, unfit either for pasturage or cul-
tivation. Mr. Broussonet observes, that the ar-
chipelago of the Canaries may be divided into
two groups of islands. The first contains Lan-
zerota and Fortaventura, the second Tenerifie,
Canary, Gomera, Ferro, and Palma. The ap-
pearance of the vegetation essentially differs in
these two groups. The eastern islands, Lanze-
rota and Fortaventura, consist of ‘extensive
plains and mountains of little elevation ; they
have very few springs, and bear the appearance,
still more than the other islands, of having been
separated from the continent. The winds blow |
in the same direction, and at the same periods :
the euphorbia mauritanica, the atropa frutescens,
and the arborescent sonchus, vegetate there in
the loose sands, and serve, as in Africa, for food ©
to camels. The western group of the Canaries
presents a more elevated soil, more woody, and
watered by a greater number of springs.
Though the whole archipelago contains seve-
ral plants found in Portugal *, in Spain, at the
* Mr. Willdenow and myself found, among the plants of
the Peak of Teneriffe, the beautiful satyriam diphyllum, (or-
chis cordata, Willd.), which Mr. Link discovered in Portu-
gal. The Canaries have, in common with the Flora of the
Azores, not the dicksonia culcita, the only arborescent heath
found at the thirty-ninth degree of latitude, but the asplenium
palmatum, and the myrica faya. This tree is met with in
Portugal, in a wild state. Count Hoffmannsegg has seen

275

Azores, and in the north-west of Africa, a great
‘number of species, and even of genera, are pe-
culiar to Teneriffe, to Porto Santo, and Madei-
ra. Such are the mocanera, the plocama, the
bosea, the canarina, the drusa, and the pittos-
porum. A form which may be called northern,
that of the cruciform plants *, is already much
rarer in the Canaries, than inSpain and in Greece.
Still farther to the south, in the equinoctial
regions of both continents, where the mean tem-
perature of the air rises above twenty-two de-
gress, the cruciform plants are scarcely ever to
be seen.

A question highly interesting to the history of
the progressive display of organization on the
Globe has been very warmly discussed in our
own times, that of ascertaining whether the po-
lymorphous plants are more common in the

very old trunks of it; but it was doubtful whether it was indi-
genous, or imported into this part of our continent. In re-
flecting on the migrations of plants, and on the geological
possibility, that lands sunk in the ocean may have heretofore
united Portugal, the Azores, the Canaries, and the chain of
Atlas, we conceive, that the existence of the myrica faya in
western Europe is a phenomenon at least as striking as that
of the pine of Aleppo would be at the Azores.

* Among the small number of cruciform species contained
in the Flora of Teneriffe, we shall here mention cheiranthus
longifolius, l’Herit.; ch. fructescens, Vent.; ch. scoparius,
Brouss. ; erysimum bicorne, Aiton ; crambe strigosa, and c,
levigata, Brouss.

rt 2

276
volcanic islands. The vegetation of Teneriffe is
unfavourable to the hypothesis, that nature in
new countries appears less subjected to constant
forms. Mr. Broussonet, who resided so long at
the Canaries, asserts, that the variable plants
are not more common there than in the south of
Europe. Ought it not to be presumed, that the
polymorphous species, which are so abundant in
the Isle of Bourbon, are owing rather to the na- —
ture of the soil, and to the climate, than to the
newness of the vegetation ?

I have now given a physical sketch of the
island of Teneriffe ; I have endeavoured to lay
down precise notions respecting the geological
constitution of the Canaries, the geography of
plants peculiar to this archipelago, and > their
grouping at different heights above the level of
the ocean. Though I flatter myself with hav-
ing thrown some light on objects, which have
been so often discussed by other travellers, I
think nevertheless, that the natural history of
this archipelago still offers a vast field to inquiry.
The commanders in scientific expeditions, of
which England, France, Spain, Denmark, and
‘Russia have furntshed such brilliant examples,
have in general been too hasty in quitting the
Canaries. They have imagined, that these
islands have been sufficiently described, because
they are so nearly bordering on Europe ; they
have forgotten, that, in a geological point of view, |

277

the interior of New Holland is not more un-
known, than the rocks of Lanzerota and Gomera,
of Porto Santo and Terceira. We every year
see a great number of naturalists traverse with-
out any determined end the most frequented
parts of Europe. Let us hope, that some among
them, influenced by a love of science, and ca-
pable of pursuing a plan of several years, will de-
vote themselves to the examination of the archi-
pelago of the Azores, Madeira, the Canaries,
Cape Verd Islands, and the north-west coast of
Africa. By comparing observations made under
the same point of view, in the Atlantic islands,
and on the neighbouring continent, we shall at-
tain exact information with respect to geology,
and the geography of animals and plants.
Before we take leave of the old world to pass
into the new, I must speak of a subject which in-
spires a still greater interest, because it belongs
to the history of man, and to those fatal revo.
lutions, which have swept off whole tribes from
the face of the earth. We inquire at the isle of
Cuba, at St. Domingo, and in Jamaica, where is
the abode of the primitive inhabitants of those
countries? We ask at Teneriffe what is become
of the Guanches, whose mummies alone, buried
in caverns, have escaped destruction ? In the
fifteenth century, almost all the mercantile na-
tions, especially the Spaniards and the Portu-
guese, sought for slaves at the Canary islands,

278,

as we seek them at present on the coast of Gui- .
nea*, ‘The Christian religion, which in it’s origin
was so highly favourable to the liberty of man-
kind, served as a pretext to the cupidity of Eu-
ropeans. Every individual, made prisoner be-
fore he received the rite of baptism, was a slave.
At this period, no attempt had yet been made to
prove, that the blacks were an intermediary
race between men and animals. The swarthy
Guanche and the African negro were simulta-
neously sold in the market of Seville, without a
question whether slavery ought to weigh only
on men with a black skin and frizzled hair.
The archipelago of the Canaries was divided
into several small states hostile to each other.
Oftentimes the same island was subject to two
independent princes, as happens in the islands
of the South Sea, and wherever society is not
highly advanced. The trading nations, influ-
enced. by that hideous policy which they still
exercise on the coast of Africa, kept up intestine
warfare. One Guanche then became the pro-
perty of another, who sold him to the Euro-
peans ; several, who preferred death to slavery,
killed themselves and their children. It is in
this manner that the population of the Canaries

* The Spanish historians speak of expeditions made by the
Huguenots of Ja Rochelle toicarry off Guanche slaves. I
have some doubt respecting these expeditions, which would
have taken place posterior to the year 1530.

279

had considerably suffered by the slave trade, by
the depredations of pirates, and especially by a
long period of carnage, when Alonzo de Lugo
completed their conquest. What remained of
the Guanches perished mostly in 1494, in the
terrible pestilence called the modorra, which was
attributed to the quantity of dead bodies left ex-
posed to the air by the Spaniards after the battle
of la Laguna. When a semibarbarous nation,
robbed of it’s property, is compelled to live in
the same country with a polished people, it seeks
a retreat on the mountains and in the forests,
This is the only refuge left to the choice of an
islander. The nation of the Guanches was there-
- fore extinct at the beginning of the seventeenth
century ; a few old men only were found at Can-
delaria and Guimar.

It is however consoling to find, that the whites
have not always disdained to intermarry with
the natives; but the Canarians of the present
day, whom the Spaniards denote by the familiar
title of Islennos, have very powerful motives for
denying this mixture. In a long series of gene-
rations time effaces the characteristic marks of
a race; and as the dependants of the Anda-
lusians settled at Teneriffe are themselves of a
dark complexion, we may conceive, that the in-
termarriages cannot have produced a perceptible
change in the color of the skins of the whites.
It is very certain, that no native of pure race

250 ©

exists in the whole island ; and some traveilers,
who may be otherwise relied on, are mistaken, |
when they assert, that their guides to the Peak
were some of those slender and nimble footed
Guanches. It is true, that a few Canarian fa-
milies boast of their relationship to the last shep-
herd king of Guimar; but these pretensions do
not rest on very solid foundations ; and are re-
newed from time to time, when some Canarian,
of a more dusky hue than his countrymen, is
prompted to solicit a commission in the service
of the king of Spain. }

A short time after the discovery of America,
when Spain was at the highest degree of it’s
splendor, the gentle character of the Guanches
was the fashionable topic, as we chaunt in our
times the Arcadian innocence of the inhabitants
of Otaheite. In both these pictures, the color-
ing is more gaudy than appropriate. When
nations, wearied with mental enjoyments, be-
hold nothing in the refinement of manners but
. the germe of depravity, they are flattered with
the idea, that in some distant region, in the first
dawn of civilization, infant societies enjoy pure
and perpetual felicity. To this sentiment Ta-
citus owed a part of his success, when he sketch-
ed for the Romans, subjects of the Czesars, the
picture of the manners of the inhabitants of
Germany. The same sentiment gives an inef-
fable charm to the narrative of those travellers,

281-

who, at the close of the last century, visited the
islands of the Pacific Ocean.

The inhabitants of those islands, too much
vaunted, though heretofore anthropophagi, re-
semble, under more than one point of view, the
Guanches of Teneriffe. We see both nations
groaning under the yoke of feudal government.
Among the Guanches this institution, which fa-
cilitates and renders a state of warfare perpe-
tual, was sanctioned by religion. The priests
declared to the people, “ The great Spirit, Acha-
man, created first the nobles, the achimenceys,
to whom he distributed all the goats, that exist
on the face of the Earth. After the nobles,
Achaman created the plebelans, achicaxnas.
This younger race had the boldness -to petition
also for goats ; but the supreme being answered,
that this race was destined to serve the nobles,
and that they had need of no property.” ‘This
tradition was made, no doubt, to please the rich
vassals of the shepherd kings. Thus the faycan,
or high priest, exercised the right of conferring
nobility ; and the law of the Guanches expressed,
that every achimencey, who degraded himself
by milking a goat with his own hands, lost his
title to nobility. This law does not remind us
of the simplicity of the Homeric age. We are
astonished to see the useful labours of agricul-
ture, and of a pastoral life, exposed to contempt
at the very dawn of civilization.

282

_ The Guanches, famed for their tall stature,
were the Patagonians of the old world; and
historians exaggerated the muscular force of the
Guanches, as, previous to the voyage of Bou-
gainville and Cordoba, a colossal form was con-
ferred on the tribe, that inhabited the southern
extremity of America, I never saw Guanche
mummies but in the cabinets of Europe ; at the
period of my journey, they were very scarce; a
considerable number, however, might be found,
if miners were employed to open the sepulchral
caverns, which are cut in the rock on the eastern
slope of the Peak, between Arico and Guimar. -
These mummies are in a state of desiccation so
singular, that whole bodies, with their integu-
ments, frequently do not weigh above six or
seven pounds ; or a third less than the skeleton
of an individual of the same size, recently strip-
ped of the muscular flesh. The conformation of
- the seull has some slight resemblance to that of
the white race of the ancient Egyptians ; and
the incisive teeth of the Guanches are blunted,
_ like those in the mummies found on the banks
of the Nile. But this form of the teeth is owing
to art alone; and on examining more carefully
the physiognomy of the ancient Canarians, able
anatomists* have recognised in the cheek bones,
and the lower jaw, perceptible differences from

* Blumenbach, Decas quinta Collect. sue Craniorum diversa-
rum Gentium illustr. 1808, p. 7.

283

the Egyptian mummies. On opening those of
the Guanches, remains of aromatic plants are
discovered, among which the chenopodium am-
brosioides is constantly perceived : the corpses
are often decorated with small laces, to which
are hung little discs of baked earth, that appear
to have served as numerical signs, and resemble
the guippoes of the Peruvians, the Mexicans, and
the Chinese. |

As the population of islands is in general less
exposed to the effect of migrations than that of
continents, we may presume, that, in the time of
the Carthaginians and the Greeks, the Archipe-
lago of the Canaries was inhabited by the same
race of men, as were found by the Norman and
Spanish conquerors. The only monument that
can throw some light on the origin of the Gu-
anches is their language; but unhappily there
are not above a hundred and fifty words remain-
ing, several of which express the same object,
according to the dialect of the different island-
ers. Independent of these words, which have
been carefully noted, there are still some valu-
able fragments existing in the names of a great
number of hamlets, hills, and valleys. The
Guanches, like the Biscayans, the Hindoos, the
Peruvians, and all the primitive nations, had
named the places after the quality of the soil
they cultivated, the shape of ‘the rocks, the ca-

284

verns that gave them shelter, and the nature of
the tree that overshadowed the springs. )

It has been long imagined, that the language
of the Guanches had no analogy with the living
tongues ; but since the travels of Hornemann,
and the ingenious researches of Marsden and
Venturi, have drawn the attention of the learned
to the Berbers, who like the Sarmatic tribes,
occupy an immense extent of country in the
north of Africa, we find, that several Guanche
words have common roots with words of the
Chilha and Gebali dialects *. We shall cite for
instance the words:

Heaven, in Guanche—Tigo ; an Berberic, Tigot.

Milk SM nds seh BAO): : ; Acho.
Barley. . Temasen . : Tomzeen.
Basket. . Carianas. : Carian.
Water . . > \Aenum , : Anan.

I doubt whether this analogy is a proof of a
common origin; but it is an indication of the
ancient connexion between the Guanches and
Berbers, a tribe of mountaineers, in which the
Numidians, the Getuli, and the Garamanti are
confounded, and who extend themselves from
the eastern extremity of Atlas by Harutsch and
Fezzan, as far as the oasis of Siwah and Augela. —
The natives of the Canary Islands called them- ,
selves Guanches from guan,.man; as the Ton-

* Adelung und Vater, Mithridates, t. iii, p. 60. -

285

guese call themselves bye and donki, which have
the same signification as guan. Besides, the
nations who speak the Berberic language are
not all of the same race; and the description,
which Scylax gives in his Periplus of the inha-
bitanis of Cerne, a shepherd people of a tall
stature and long hair, reminds us of the features
which characterise the Canary Guanches.

The greater attention we give to the study of
languages in a philosophical point of view, the
more we must observe, that no one of them is
entirely distinct; the language of the Guanches *
would appear still less so, had we any data re-
specting it’s mechanism and grammatical con-
struction ; two elements more important than
the form of words, and the identity of sounds.
It is the same with certains idioms, as with those
organized beings, that seem to shrink from all
classification in the series of natural families.

* According to the researches of Mr. Vater, the Guanche
language offers the following analogies with the languages of
nations very remote from each other: dog among the Ame-
rican Hurons, aguienon ; among the Guanches, aguyan ; man,
among the Peruvians, cart ; among the Guanches, coran ;
king, among the African Mandingoes, monso; among the
Guanches, monsey. The name of the island of Gomera is
found in that of Gomer, which designates a tribe of Berbers
(Vater, Untersuch. ueber Amerika, p. 170). The Guanche
words Alcorac, God, and almogaron, temple, seem to be of
-Arabic origin ; at least in the latter tongue almoharram sig-
nifies sacred. |

286

Their isolated state is only so in appearance ;
for it ceases, when, on embracing a greater —
number of objects, we come to discover the
intermediate links. The learned, who find
Egyptians wherever there are mummies, hiero-
glyphics, or pyramids, will imagine, perhaps,
that the race of Typhon was united to the Gu-
anches by the Berbers, real Atlantics, to whom
belong the Tibboes and the Tuarycks of the
Desert *; but it is sufficient here to observe,
that this hypothesis is supported by no analogy+
between the Berberic and Coptic languages,
which are justly considered as a remnant of the
ancient Egyptian.

The people who succeeded the Guanches de-
scended from ‘the Spaniards, and in a less de-
gree from the ‘Normans. Though these two
races have been exposed during ‘three centuries
past to the same climate, the latter is distin-
guished by a whiter skin. The descendants of
the Normans inhabit the valley of Teganana, -
between Punta de Naga and Punta de Hidalgo.
The names of Grandville and Dampierre are still
pretty common in this district. The Canarians
are amoral, sober, and religious people; of a
less industrious character at home, than in
foreign countries. A roving and enterprising

|

* Voyage de Hornemann du Cairo. Mourzouk, t. 1, by 406.
+ Mithridates, t. ii, p. 77.

287

disposition leads these islanders, like the Bis-
cayans and Catalonians, to the Philippines, to
the Marian islands, to America, and wherever
there are Spanish settlements, from Chili and la
Plata to New-Mexico. To them we are in a
great measure indebted for the progress of agri-
culture in those colonies. The whole Archipe-
lago. does not contain 160,000 inhabitants, and
the Islennos are perhaps more numerous in the
new continent, than in their own country. The
following table indicates whatever relates to the
statistics of this country.

288

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The enumerations of 1678, 1745, and 1768,
have been published by Vieyra. The estima-
tion. of 1790: is by Mr. Ledru. The total po-
pulation, according to Lord» Macartney, was
196,500 ; of which there were 100,000 at Tene- |
riffe, 40,000 at Canary, and 30,000 at Palma.
The surfaces have been calculated for the first
time, and .very accurately, by Mr. Oltmanns*,
from the chart of Borda and Varela. The
vintage of Teneriffe yields from 20 to 24,000
pipes, 5000 of which are malmsey.. The annual
exportation of wine is from 8 to 9000. pipes.
The amotnt of the harvest in the whole of the
Archipélago in wheat is 45,000 fanegas, of a
hundred pounds each. In ordinary years this
crop is sufficient for the consumption of the in-
habitants, who otherwise live on maize, potatoes,
and French beans, frisoles. The cultivation of
the sugar-cane and cotton is of little importance ;
the ‘principal objects of commerce are wine,
brandy, archil, andsoda. The gross amount of
the revenue, including the tax on tobacco, is
240,000 piastres,

* Extent of the surface of the Canaries more accurately
expressed in geographic leagues of 15 to a degree: Tene-
riffe, 412; Fortaventura, 352; Canary, 332; Palma, 151 ;
Lanzerota, 143 ; or, including the small neighbouring islands,
153 ; Gomera, 8; and Ferro, 32: total 1531. It is asto-
nishing, that Mr. Hassel, in his excellent work on the statis-
tics of Europe, gives the Canaries a population of 420,000 in-
habitants, and an extent of 358 square German miles, (Stat.

Umriss. Heft. 1. 17.)
VOL. I. U

290

I shall not enter into any discussions of poli-
tical economy relative to the importance of the
Canary islands to the trading nations of Europe.
Having long employed myself in statistical re-
searches on the Spanish colonies, and being on
terms ofintimacy with persons who had held places
of importance at Teneriffe, I had an-opportunity,
during my abode in Caraccas and at the Havan-
nah, of collecting considerable information re-
specting the commerce of Santa Cruz.and Oro-
tava. But several distinguished persons having
since visited the Canaries, they have obtained
the same means of information as myself; and
I do not hesitate to strike out from my narra-
tive, what has been explained, with greater pre-
cision, in works that have preceded mine. J shall
here confine myself to a few considerations,
which will terminate the sketch I havejust ——
of the Archipelago of the Canaries. |

These islands have undergone the same fave as
‘Egypt, the Crimea, and many other ‘countries,
respecting which travellers, who:are anxious to
elevate and surprise by contrasts, have been ex-
travagant both in their praise and their blame.
Some, landing at Orotava, describe Teneriffe as
the garden of the Hesperides, and celebrate the
amenity of the climate, the fruitfulness of the soil,
and therichness of the cultivation ; others, forced
to sojourn at Santa Cruz, behold nothing in these
Fortunate Islands but a country, naked, barren,

29)

and inhabited by a stupid and miserable race. It
appeared to me, that in this archipelago, as in all
mountainous and volcanic countries, Nature has
been very unequal in the distribution of her gifts.
The Canaries are generally deficient in water ;
but wherever there are springs, artificial irriga-
tions, or plentiful rains, the soil is highly fertile.
The lower class of the people is laborious ; but
it’s industry is more active in distant colonies,
than at Teneriffe, where it meets with obstacles,
which a wise administration might progressively
remove. Emigration would be diminished, if
the uncultivated demesne lands were distributed
among private persons, those which are annexed
to the majorats of the great families were sold,
and feudal rights were gradually abolished.

The present population of the Canaries un-
doubtedly appears inconsiderable, when com-
pared with that of several countries of Europe.
The island of Malta, the industrious inhabitants
of which cultivate a rock almost destitute of
mould, is seven times less than Teneriffe, and
yet has twice the population : but writers, who
are fond of painting in vivid colors the depopu-
lation of the Spanish colonies, and who attribute
the cause to the ecclesiastical hierarchy, forget
that in every place, since the reign of Philip V,
the number of inhabitants has obtained, in a
greater or less degree, a rapid increase. The
_ relative population is already greater in the Ca-
u 2

292:

naries, than in both Castiles, in. Estramadura,
and in Scotland. The whole archipelago exhi-
bits a mountainous country, the extent of which
is a seventh less than the surface of the island of
Corsica : it supplies, however, the same number
of inhabitants. | i :

_ Though the islands of Lanzerota and Fortaven-
tura,. which are the least populous, export corn,
while Teneriffe does not produce two thirds ‘of
it’s consumption, we must not conclude, that im
this last island the number of inhabitants can-
-not increase for want of subsistence. The Ca=
nary islands are still remote from feeling: the
evils, that arise from too considerable a popula- |
tion, and of which Mr. Malthus has unfolded
the causes with so much precision and know-
ledge. The misery of the people has consider-
ably diminished, since the cultivation of pota-
toes* has been introduced, and since they have
begun to sow more maize, than wheat and
barley.

The inhabitants of the Canaries exhibit trarts
characteristic of a people, who are at the same
time mountaineers and islanders. In order to
estimate them truly, it is not enough to behold |
them in their own country, where powerful ob-
stacles prevent the display of industry ; we must.
study them in the plains of the province of Ca-

* Tessier and Desautoy, on the Agriculture of the Cana-
ries. Mem. de [ Inst, t. i, p. 250 et 279.

293

raccas, on the ridge of the Andes, in the burning
plains of the Philippine islands, and wherever
isolated in uninhabited countries they have had
occasion to display that energy and activity
which are the true riches of a planter.

The Canarians are fond of considering their
country as forming part of European Spain, and
they have added some portion to the riches of
Castilian literature. The names of Clavijo, au-
thor of the Pensador Madritense, of Vieyra,
Yriarte, and Betancourt, are honourably distin-
guished in the scientific and in the literary
world. The Canarians are endowed with that
liveliness of imagination, which characterizes the
inhabitants of Andalusia and Grenada ; and we
may be led to hope, that, at some future period,
the Fortunate Islands, like every other climate
of the Globe, either where man reposes on the
lavish bounties of Nature, or shrinks from the
severity of her frown, will inspire the muse of
some native poet.

END OF VOL. I.

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TABLES.

1 toise = 6 feet 4736 saehbs

1 foot (pié du roi) =i 1 789
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Table of Degrees of the Centigrade Thermometer, from the
point of boiling water to that of freezing mercury, reduced

to Fahrenheit’s scale. |

Centigr.| Fahren. Pent Fahren. Centigr.| Fahren.
100 | 212 - 78. 172°4 06 132°8
99 | 2102 77~«|:«<1L70'6 56 | 1381

98 | 208°4 76 | 1683 54 129°2

97 | 2066 15 167 53 127°4
96 | 204°8 74 165°2 52 125°6
95 | 203 13 163°4 51 123'6
94 | 201°2 72 1616 50 122

93 199°4 VI 159'8 49 120°2
92 | 1976 70 158 48 118-4
91 195°8 69 156-2 47 116-6
90 | 194 68 154°4 46 114-8

89 1932 67 152'6 45 113
88 190°4 66 150°8 44 111°2

87 188°6 65 149 43 109-4
86 | 186°8 64 147-2 A2 1076
85 185 63 145°4 AL 105'8

84 183°2 62 143°6 40 104
83 181°4 61 141°8 39 102°2

82 179°6 60 140 38 100°4
81 1778 59 138°2 37 93°6
80 176 08 136°4 36 96°8

go |v A9ee 1.57.71) 1346 35 95

Centigr.| Fahren. Centigr.; Fahrer.

9 482 16 32
g 46°4 17 1-4
7 |. 446 18 | —0°4
6 42°8 19 2:2
5 4l 20 4
4 39-2 21 58
3 374 22 16
2 55'6 23 9°4
1 33°38 24 11°2
0 32 25 | 13
—1 30:2 26 14:8
2 28°4 27 166
3 26:6 28 18°4
4 24°38 29 20°2
5 23 30 22
6 21:2 31 23°8
7 19°4 32 25°6
8 176 33 27-4
9 15°38 34 29:2
10 14 35 31
11 12°2 36 32'8
12 10°4 37 34:6
13 3°6 38 36°4
14 6'8 39 38:2
15 5 AO 40

JOURNEY

TO THE

EQUINOCTIAL REGIONS

OF

THE NEW CONTINENT.

CHAPTER III.

Passage from Teneriffe to the coasts of South
‘America.—The Island of Tobago.—- Arrival

at Cumana.

WE left the road of Santa Cruz the evening of
the 25th of June, and directed our course to-
ward South America, The wind blew strong
from the north-east, and the waves were short,
_ and broken from the opposition of the currents.
We soon lost sight of the Canary islands, the
lofty mountains of which were covered with a
reddish vapour. The Peak alone appeared from
time to time in the breaks, as the wind, which
must have blown strong in the upper regions of

2

the air, dispersed at intervals the clouds that en-
veloped the Piton. We felt for the first time
how strong are the impressions left on the mind
from the aspect of those countries placed on the
limits of the torrid zone, and in which nature
appears at once so rich, so various, and so ma-
_jestic. Our stay at Teneriffe had been very
short, and yet we withdrew from the island as
if it had been for a long time our home.

Our passage from Santa Cruz to Cumana, the
most eastern part of the New Continent, was
very fine. We cut the tropic of Cancer the 27th,
and though the Pizarro was not a very good
sailer, we ran in twenty days the space of nine
hundred leagues, which separates the coasts of
Africa from those of the New Continent. We
passed fifty leagues west of Cape Bajador, Cape
Blanco, and the islands of Cape Verd. .A few
land birds, which had been driven to sea by the
impetuosity of the wind, followed us for several
days. If we had not exactly known, by our
time keepers, our longitude, we should have
been tempted to think, that we were very 1 near
the coast of Africa.

Our course was such as is taken by all vessels
destined. for the Antilles since the first voyage of
Columbus. The latitude diminished rapidly, al-
most without gaining in longitude, from the pa-
rallel of Madeira to the tropic. When we reach
the zone, where the trade winds are constant, we

3

cross the ocean from east to west, on a calm and
pacific sea, which Spanish sailors call the Ladies
Gulf, el Golfo de las Damas. We found, as all
do who frequent those latitudes, that, in propor-
tion as we advance toward the west, the trade
winds, which were at first east-north-east, fix to
the east.

Those winds, the most generally adopted theory
of which is explained in a celebrated treatise
of Halley*, are a phenomenon much more com-
plicated’ than the greater number of naturalists
admit. Inthe Atlantic Ocean, the longitude as
well as the declination of the sun, influences the
direction and limits of the trade winds. On the
side of the New Continent, in both hemispheres,

_ * The existence of an upper current of air, which blows
constantly from the equator to the poles, and of a lower cur-
rent, which blows from the poles to the equator, had already
_ been admitted, as Mr. Arago has shown, by Hooke. The
ideas of the celebrated English naturalist are developed in a
discourse on Earthquakes published in 1686, “ I think
(adds he,) that several phenomena, which are presented by
the atmosphere and the ocean, especially the winds, may be
explained by the polar currents.” (Hooke’s Posthumous
Works, p. 364.) This curious passage is not cited by Hal-
ley (Phil. Trans. vol. xxxix, p. 58). On the other hand,
Hooke, speaking directly of the trade winds (Post. Works,
p- 88 and 363), adopts the erroneous theory of Galileo, who
admits a difference of velocity between the movement wi the
Earth and that of the air. | )

+ Mém. de lAcad. 1760. p. 18. D*Alembert, sur les
Causes gén. des Vents, p. 5, | !

4

these limits pass the tropics eight or nine de-
grees ; while in the vicinity of Africa the vari-
able winds reign far beyond the parallel of 28 or
27 degrees. It is to be regretted, on account.
of the progress of meteorology and navigation,
that the changes, which the currents of the equi-
noctial atmosphere in the Pacific Ocean under-
go, are much less known, than the variation of
these same currents in a sea that is narrower,
and influenced by the proximity. of the coasts of
Guinea and Brazil. Navigators have known for
ages past, that in the Atlantic Ocean the equator
does not coincide with the line which separates
the trade winds of the north-east from the ge-
neral winds of the south-east. This line, as
Halley* has very well observed, is at the third
or fourth degree of north latitude; and if it’s
position be the effect of a longer abode of the Sun
in the northern hemisphere, it tends to prove,
that the temperatures of the two hemispheres}
are in the ratio of eleven to nine. We shall see
farther on in this work, when we treat of the
part of the atmosphere which extends over the

* Phil. Trans. vol. xvi, p. 154. Ulloa, Conversaciones, p.
108.

+ Prevost, on the limits of the trade vinds. Journ. de
Phys. t. xxxvill, p. 369. Supposing with Apinus, that the
southern hemisphere is only one fourteenth colder than the
northern, the calculation gives, for the northern limit of the |
E. 8. E. trade winds, the parallel of 1° 28’.

4

5)

L]

South Sea, that to the west of America the trade
winds of the south-east reach to a less distance
beyond the equator, than they do in the Atlantic
Ocean. In fact the difference, with which the
strata of air flow back from the two poles to-
ward the equator, cannot be the same in every
degree of longitude, that is to say, on points of
the Globe, where the continents have very differ-
ent breadths, and where they stretch away more
or less toward the poles.

It is known, that in the passage from Santa
Cruz to Cumana, as in that from Acapulco to
the Philippine islands, the sailors are scarcely
ever under the necessity of touching the sails.
We pass those latitudes, as if we were descend-.
ing a river, and we might deem it no hazardous
undertaking, if we made the voyage in an open
beat. Farther west, on the coast of St. Mar-
tha, and in the Gulf of Mexico, the trade wind
blows impetuously, and renders the sea very
stormy*, :

The wind fell gradually the farther we re-
moved from the African coasts: it was some-
times smooth water for several hours; and these
short calms were regularly interrupted by elec-
trical phenomena. Black thick clouds with

* The Spanish sailors call the rough trade winds at Car-
thagena in the West Indies los brisotes de Santa Martha ; and
in the Gulf of Mexico, /as brizas pardas. These latter winds
are accompanied with a gray and cloudy sky. :

6

é

strong outlines rose on the east, and it seemed
as if a squall would have forced us to hand our
topsails ; but the breeze freshened anew, there
fella few large drops of rain, and the;storm was.
dispersed without our hearing any thunder. It
was curious to observe, during this time, the
effect of several black,. isolated, and very low —
clouds, which passed the zenith. We felt the
force of the wind augment or diminish progres-
sively, according as small bodies of. vesicular
vapour approached or receded, while the elec-
trometers, furnished with a long metallic: rod
and lighted match, showed no change of electric
tension in the lower strata of the air. It is by
means of these squalls, which alternate with
dead calms, that the passage from the.Canary
islands to the Antilles or southern coasts of Ame-
rica is made in the months of June and July.
In the torrid zone, the meteorological pheno-
‘mena follow each other in a very uniform man-
ner; and the year 1803 will be for a long time
memorable in the annals of navigation, because
several vessels. coming from Cadiz to the Carac-
cas were forced to lie to in the fourteenth degree
of latitude, and the forty-eighth degree of longi-
tude, on account of a,very violent wind, which
blew for several days from the north-north-west.
What an extraordinary interruption must we
suppose in the play of the. aerial. currents, te ex-
plain a cross wind,. which without doubt must

7

have deranged at the same time the regularity of
the horary oscillations of the barometer !

Some Spanish navigators have lately propos-
ed going to the West Indies and the coasts of
Terra Firma, by a different course from that
which had been taken by Christopher Columbus.
They advise, instead of steering directly to the
south in search of the trade winds, to change
both latitude and longitude, in a diagonal line
from Cape St. Vincent to America. This method,
which shortens the way, cutting the tropic nearly
twenty degrees west of the point where it is.
commonly cut by the pilots, has several times
been successfully followed by Admiral Gravina.
This. experienced seaman, who perished glori-
ously at the battle of Trafalgar, arrived in 1802
at St. Domingo, by the oblique passage, several
days before the French fleet, though orders of
the court of Madrid would have forced him to
enter Ferrol with his squadron, and stop there
some time.

This new system of navigation shortens the
passage from Cadiz to Cumana a_ twentieth;
but as the tropic is attained only at the longitude
of forty degrees, the chance of meeting with con-
trary winds, which blow sometimes from the
south, and at other times from the south-west,
is more unfavorable. In the old system, the
disadvantage of making a longer passage 1s com-
pensated by the certainty of finding the trade

§

winds in a shorter space of time, and keeping
them the greater part of the passage. At the
_ time of my abode in the Spanish colonies, I
witnessed the arrival of several merchant ships,
which the fear of privateers had determined to
choose the oblique course, and that had a very
short passage ; it is only after repeated trials,
that we can decide with certainty on an object,
at least as important as the choice of the meri-
dian, at which the equator should be cut in the
navigation from Europe to Buenos Ayres or Cape
-Horn. ;
Nothing equals the beauty and mildness of
the climate of the equinoctial region on ‘the
ocean. While the trade wind blew strongly,
the thermometer kept at 23 or 24 degrees in
the day, and at 22 or 22°5 degrees during the
night. ‘To feel the full charm of these happy
climates bordering on the equator, the passage
from Acapulco or the coasts of Chili to Europe
should be undertaken in a very rough season.
What a contrast between the tempestuous seas
of the northern latitudes, and the regions where
the calm of nature is never disturbed! If the
return. from Mexico or South America to the
coasts of Spain were as expeditious and as agree-
able as the passage from the old to the new con-
tinent, the number of Europeans settled in the
colonies would be much less considerable than
it is at present. The sea which surrounds the

9

Azores and the Bermuda islands, and -whicl:
is traversed in returning to Europe by the high
latitudes, is called by the Spaniards by the sin-
gular name of Golfo de las Yeguas (the Mares’
Gulf). Colonists who are not accustomed to
the sea, and who have led solitary lives in the
forests of Guiana, the savannahs of the Caraccas,
or the Cordilleras of Peru, dread the neighbour-
hood of the Bermudas more than the inhabitants
of Lima fear at present the passage round Cape
Horn,. They exaggerate the danger of a navi-
gation which is perilous only in the winter.
They defer from one year to another the execu-
tion of aproject which appears hazardous, and
death very often surprises them in the midst of
the preparations which they make for their re-
turn.

To the north of the Cape Verd islands we
met with great masses of floating sea-weeds.
They were the tropic grape, fucus natans, which
grows on submarine rocks, only from the equa-
tor to the fortieth degree of north and south la-
titude. ‘These weeds seem to indicate the exist-
ence of currents in this place, as well as to the
southwest of the banks of Newfoundlaud. We
must not confound the latitudes abounding in
scattered weeds with these banks of marine
plants, which Columbus compares to extensive
meadows, the view of which struck with terror
the crew of the Santa Maria in the forty-second

10

degree of longitude. I am assured from the
comparison of a great. number of journals, that
in the basin of the Atlantic Northern Ocean,
there exist two banks of weeds very different
from each other. The most extensive is a little
west of the meridian of Fayal, one of the Azores, —
between the twenty-fifth and thirty-sixth degrees
of latitude*. The temperature of the Ocean in
those latitudes is from sixteen to twenty degrees ;
and the north winds, which sometimes reign
there very tempestuously, drive floating isles of
sea-weed down into the low latitudes as far
as the parallels of twenty-four and even twenty
degrees. The vessels which return to Europe,
either from Montevideo or the Cape of Good
Hope, cross these banks of fucus, which the
Spanish pilots consider as at an equal distance
from the Antilles and Canaries; and they
serve the less instructed mariner to rectify his
longitude. The second bank of fucus is but

* It appears that Phoenician vessels came “ in thirty days
sail, with an easterly wind,” to the weedy sea, which the Por-
tugueze and Spaniards call mar de zargasso. 1 have shown
in another place, that the passage of Aristotle, De Mirabil.
ed. Duval, p. 1157, can scarcely be applied to the coasts of
Africa, like an analogous passage of the Periplus of Scylax. |
Tableaux de la Nature, t.i, p. 98. Supposing that this sea,
full of weeds, which impeded the course of the Phcenician ves-
sels, was the mar de zargasso, we need not admit, that the an-
cients traversed the Atlantic beyond thirty degrees: of west
longitude from the meridian of Paris.

ll

little known ; it occupies a much smaller space
in the twenty-second and twenty-sixth degrees
of latitude, eighty leagues west of the meridian
of the Bahama islands. It is found on the
passage from the Caiques to the Bermudas.
Though a species of sea-weeds * has been seen
with stems eight hundred feet. long, the growth
of these marine cryptogamia being extremely
rapid, it is not less certain, that, in the latitudes
we have just described, the fuci, far from being
fixed to the bottom, float in separate masses on
the surface of the water.. In this state, the ve-
getation can scarcely continue a longer time
than it would do in the branch of a tree torn
from it’s trunk; and in order to explain how
moving masses are found for ages in the same
position, we must admit, that they owe their
origin to submarine rocks, which, placed at
forty or sixty fathoms depth, continually supply
what has been carried away by the equinoctial
currents. This current bears the tropic grape
into the high latitudes, toward the coast of Nor-
way and France; and it is not the Gulf Stream,
as some mariners think, which accumulates the
fucus to the south of the Azores -{. It were to
be wished, that navigators heaved the lead more
frequently in these latitudes covered with weeds :

* The baudreux of the Falkland islands ; fucus giganteus,
Forster ; laminaria pyrifera, Lamour.
+ Barrow, Voyage to Cochinchina, vol. i, p. 93.
x

12

for it is asserted, that Dutch pilots have found a
series of shoals from the banks of Newfoundland
as far as the coasts of Scotland, by using lines
composed of silk thread *.

The causes that unroot these weeds at ceithis)
where it is generally thought the sea is slightly
agitated, are not sufficiently known. We learn
. only, from the luminous observations of Mr. La-
-mouroux, that if the fucus adhere to the rocks
with the greatest firmness before the display of
it’s fructification, it separaies with great facility
after this per iod, or during the season which
suspends it’s vegetation like that of the terres-
trial plants. The fish and the molluscas that
gnaw the stems of the seaweeds no doubt con-
tribute also to detach them from their roots.

From the twenty-second degree of latitude, we
found the surface of the sea covered with flying
fish -+- which threw themselves up into the air
twelve, fifteen, or eighteen feet, and fell down on
the deck. I do not hesitate to speak of an ob-
ject, of which voyagers discourse as frequently
as of dolphins, sharks, seasickness, and the phos-
phorescence of the ocean. None of these objects —
can fail of affording interesting observations to
naturalists, provided they make them their par-

* Fleurieu. Voy. of the Isis, vol. i, p. 524. (lLabillar-
diere, Voy. vol. i, p. 331.) |

+ Exocoetus volitans.

13

ticular study. Nature is an inexhaustible source
of investigation, and in proportion as the domain
of science is extended, she presents herself to
those, who know how to interrogate her, under
forms which they have never yet examined. |

I have named the flying fish in order to fix the
attention of naturalists on the enormous size of
their natatory bladder, which, in an animal of
6:4 inches, is 3:6 inches long, 0°9 of an inch
broad, and contains three cubic inches and a
half of air. As this bladder takes up more than
half the size of the fish, it is probable that it
contributes to it’s lightness. We may assert,
that this reservoir of air is more fitted for flying
than swimming; for the experiments * made by
Mr. Provenzal and myself, have proved, that,
even in the species which are provided with this
organ, it is not indispensably necessary for the
movements of ascension toward the surface of
the water. In a young flying fish 5°8 inches
long, each of the pectoral fins, which serve as
wings, presented a surface to the air of 3°7
Square inches. We observed, that the nine
branches of nerves, which go to the twelve rays
of these fins, are almost three times the size of
the nerves that belong to the ventral fins. When
the former of these nerves are excited by gal-

* Researches on the respiration of fishes, and their air-
bladder, in the Mémoires de la Société d’Arcueil, vol. ii,
p. 339.

Deaf

14

vanic electricity, the rays which support the
membrane of the pectoral fin extend with five
times the force with which the other fins move
when galvanized by the same metals. By these
means the fish is capable of throwing itself ho-
_rizontally twenty feet distance, before retouch-
ing the water with the extremity of it’s fins.
This motion has been aptly compared to that of
a flat stone, which, thrown horizontally, bounds
one or two feet above the water. Notwithstand-
ing the extreme rapidity of this motion, it is cer-
tain, that the animal beats the air during the
leap, that is, it alternately extends and closes it’s
pectoral fins. The same motion * has been ob-
served in the flying scorpzena of the rivers of Ja-
pan, which contains also a large air-bladder,
with which the great part of the scorpzene, that
have not the faculty of flying, are unprovided +.
The flying fish, like almost all animals which
have gills, enjoy the privilege { of equal respira-
tion for a long time both in water and in air,
by the same organs ; that is by extracting the
oxygen from the atmosphere as well as from
the water in which it is dissolved. They pass
a great part of their life in the air, but
this life is at best but an unhappy one. If

* Lacepéde, Histoire naturelle des Poissons, vol. iii, p. 290.

+ Sporeus, s. scrofa, s dactyloptera. Delaroche, Ann.
du Mus. t. 14, p. 189.

t Mém. d’Arcueil, t. ii, p. 397.

15

they escape from the sea to avoid the voracity
of the dolphin, they meet in the air men-of-war
birds, albatrosses, and other birds, which seize
them in their flight. Thus, on the banks
of the Oroonoko, herds of river cavies*, that
rush from the water to escape the crocodile,
become the prey of the jaguar, which waits their
arrival.

I doubt, however, if the flying fish spring out
of the water merely to escape the pursuit of
their enemies. Like swallows, they move by
thousands in a right line, and in a direction
constantly opposite to that of the waves. In our
own climates, on the brink ofa river, the limpid
waters of which are illumined by the rays of the
sun, we often see solitary fish, with no motive of
fear, bound above the surface, as if they felt
pleasure in breathing the air. Why should: not
these gambols be more frequent with the flying-
fish, which from the strength of their pectoral
fins, and the smallness of their specific gravity+,
can so easily support themselves in the air? I
Invite naturalists to examine whether other fly-
ing fish, for instance the exoccetus exiliens, the
trigla volitans, and the t. hirundo, have as ca-
pacious an air-bladder as the flying fish of the
tropics. This last follows the heated waters of

* Cavia capybara, L. Thick-nosed tapir, Pennant.
+ Cuvier, in the Ann. du Mas, t. 14, p. 165; and Dela-
roche, ibid. p. 262 (note).

16

the Gulf Stream when they flow toward the
north. The ship boys amuse themselves with
cutting off a part of the pectoral fins, and assert,
that these wings grow again ; which seems to me
not unlikely, from facts observed in other fami-
lies of fishes.

At the time I left Paris, experiments made at
Jamaica, by Dr. Brodbelt *, on the air contain-
_ed in the natatory bladder of the sword-fish +,
had made some naturalists think, that under the
tropics, in the sea fish, this organ was filled
with pure oxygen gas. Full of this idea, I was
surprised at finding in the air-bladder of the fly-
ing fish only 0:04 of oxygen to 0:94 of azot and
0:2 of carbonic acid. The proportion of this last
gas, measured by the absorption of lime water in
graduated tubes t, appeared more constant than
that of the oxygen, of which some individuals
yielded almost double the quantity. From the
curious phenomena observed by Mr. Biot, Con-
figliachi, and Delaroche §, we might suppose,
that the sword-fish dissected by Dr. Brodbelt
had inhabited the lower strata of the ocean,

* Duncan’s Ann. of Medicine, 1796, p. 398. - Nicholson's
Journ. of Nat. Phil., 4to. ed., vol. i, p- 264.

+ Xiphias gladius, Lin.

‘~ Anthracometers, curved tubes with a large ball. See
my Essays on the atmosphere, plate 1 (German).

§ Mém. d’Arcueil, vol. i, p. 257. Ann. du Mus. t. 14,
p. 184—217, and 2456—289. Configliachi sull’ Analisi dell

7

where some fish * have as much as 0°92 of py
gen in their air-bladder.

The Ist of July, in 17° 42’ latitude and
34° 21’ longitude, we met with the wreck of a
vessel, of which we distinguished the mast co-
vered with floating sea-weed. This shipwreck
could not have taken place in a zone where
the sea is constantly calm. The wreck came
perhaps from the stormy seas of the north, and
might be driven back to the point where the
vessel had perished, carried on by that extraor-
dinary whirl which the waters of the Atlantic
undergo in the northern hemisphere.

On the 3d and 4th, we crossed that part of the
ocean, where the charts indicate the bank -f of
the Maal-stroom; toward night we altered our
course to avoid this danger, the existence of
which is as doubtful as that of the isles Fon-

Aria contenuta nella Vesica natatoria, Pavia, 1809. Having
employed eight months in experiments on the respiration of
fishes, Mr, Provenzal and myself observed, that the fishes
absorbed not only oxygen, but also azot, and that the quanti-
ty of this azot absorbed differs in individuals of the same spe-
cies. The oxygen inhaled was very far from being equalled
by the carbonic acid, which the fish exhale from the whole
surface of their body ; and these facts tend to prove, that the
proportion of oxygen and azot vary in the air-vessel, accord-
ing as the vital action of the gills and the skin is modified by
the greater or less pressure, which the fish undergoes at dif-
ferent depths.
* ‘Trigla cucullus.
+ Borda, Voyage de la Flore, vol. ii, p. 314.

18
Seco and St. Anne*. It would have been per-
haps as prudent to have continued our course.
The old charts are filled with rocks, some of
which really efist, but the greater part are ow-
ing to those optical illusions, which are more
frequent at sea than in inland countries.’ The
position ofthe real dangers is generally indicated
by chance; they have been seen by pilots who
were several degrees out in their longitude, and —
we might be certain of meeting neither with
rocks nor breakers, if we directed our course to-
ward the points where they are laid down on the
maps. As we approached this pretended Maal-
stroom, we observed no other motion in the

* Jeffery’s and Van-Keulen’s charts indicate four islands,
which are only imaginary dangers: the islands Garca and
St. Anne, to the west of the Azores ; the Green island (la-
titude 44° 52’, longitude 28° 30’) and the isle of Fonseco (la-
titude 13° 15’, longitude 57° 10’). How is it possible to be.
lieve in the existence of four islands in latitudes crossed by
thousands of vessels, when of so many small rocks and shoals»
announced by credulous pilots for a century past, there are
scarcely above two or three that are real? As to the general
question, what is the degree of probability we may admit, that
an islet visible at the distance of a league may be discovered
between America and Europe, we might submit this to a ri-
gorous calculation, if we knew the number of ships that have
annually crossed the Atlantic these three centuries past, and
if regard be had to the unequal distribution of those vessels
in different latitudes. If the Maal-stroom were, as Van
Keulen admits, in 16° of latitude and 39° 30’ of longitude,
we should have crossed it the 4th of June.

19°

waters than the effect of a current which bore
to the north-west, and which hindered us from
diminishing our latitude as much as we wished.
The force of this current augments as we ap-
proach the new continent; it is modified by the
configuration of the coasts of Brazil and Guiana,
_ and not by the waters of the Oroonoko and the
Amazons, as some naturalists pretend.

From the time we entered the torrid zone, we
were never wearied with admiring, every night,
the beauty of the southern sky, which, as we ad-
vanced toward the south, opened new constella-
tions to our view. We feel an indescribable
sensation, when, on approaching the equator,
and particularly on passing from one hemisphere
to the other, we see those stars, which we have
contemplated from our infancy, progressively
sink, and finally disappear. Nothing awakens
in the traveller a livelier remembrance of the
immense distance by which he is separated from
his country, than the aspect of an unknown
firmament. The grouping of the stars of the
first magnitude, some scattered nebule, rival-
ling in splendor the milky way, and tracks of
space remarkable for their extreme blackness,
give a particular physiognomy to the southern
sky. This sight fills with admiration even those,
who, uninstructed in the branches of accurate
science, feel the same emotion of delight in the
contemplation of the heavenly vault, as in the

20

view of a beautiful landscape, or a majestic site. —
A traveller has no need of being a botanist, to |
recognize the torrid zone on the mere aspect of
it’s vegetation ; and without having acquired any
notions of astronomy, without any acquaintance
with the celestial charts of Flamstead and de la
Caille, he feels he is not in Eorope; when he sees
the immense constellation of the Ship, or the
. phosphorescent clouds of Magellan, arise on the
horizon. The heaven, and the earth, every
thing in the equinoctial regioHs, assumes an
exotic character. oe

The lower regions of the air were loaded with
vapors for some days. Wesaw distinctly for the
first time the Cross of the South only in the
night of the 4th and Sth of July, in the sixteenth
degree of latitude ; it was strongly inclined, and
‘appeared from time to time between the clouds,
the centre of which, furrowed by uncondensed
lightnings, reflected a silver light. Ifa traveller
may be permitted to speak of his personal emo-
tions, I shall add, that in this night I saw one of
the reveries of my earliest youth accomplished.

When we begin to fix our eyes on geographical
maps, and read the narratives of navigators, we
feel for certain countries and climates a sort of -
predilection, for which we know not how to ac-
count at a more advanced pericd of life. ‘These
impressions, however, exercise a considerable |
influence over our determinations; and froma

21

sort of instinct we endeavour to connect our-
_ selves with objects, on which the mind has long
been fixed as by a secret charm. Ata period

when I studied the heavens, not with the inten-
tion of devoting myself to astronomy, but only
to acquire a knowledge of the stars, I was agi-
tated by a fear unknown to those who love a
sedentary. life. It seemed painful to me to re-
nounce the hope of beholding those beautiful
constellations, which border the southern pole.
Impatient to rove in the equinoctial regions, I
could not raise my eyes toward the starry vault
without thinking of the Cross of the South, and
without recalling the sublime passage of Dante,
which the most celebrated commentators have
applied to this constellation ; |

To mi volsi a man destra e posi mente
All altro polo e vidi quattro stelle
Non viste mai fuor ch’ alla prima gente.

Goder parca lo ciel di lor fiammelle ;
O settentrional vedovo sito
Poi che privato se’ di mirar quelle !

The pieasure we felt on discovering the south-
ern Cross was warmly shared by such of the
erew as had lived in the colonies. In the soli-
tude of the seas, we hail a star as a friend, from
whom we have long been separated. Among
the Portugueze and the Spaniards peculiar mo-
tives seem to increase this feeling; a religious

22
sentiment attaches them to a constellation, the
form of which recalls the sign of the faith plant-
ed by their ancestors in the deserts of the new
world.

The two great stars which mark the summit
and the foot of the Cross having nearly the same
right ascension, it follows hence, that the con-
stellation is almost perpendicular at the moment
when it passes the meridian. This circumstance
is known to every nation, that lives beyond the
tropics, or in the southern hemisphere. It has
been observed at what hour of the night, in dif-
ferent seasons, the Cross of the South is erect, or
inclined. It is a time-piece that advances very
regularly near four minutes a day, and no other
group of stars exhibits, to the naked eye, an ob-
servation of time so easily made. How often
have we heard our guides exclaim in the savan-
nahs of the Venezuela, or in the desert extending
from Lima to Truxillo, ‘‘ Midnight is past, the
Cross begins to bend!” How often those words
reminded us of that affecting scene, where Paul
and Virginia, seated near the source of the river
of Lataniers, conversed together: for the last
time, and where the old man, at the sight of the
southern Cross, warns them that it is time to
separate. :

The last days of our passage were not so hap-.
_-py, as the mildness of the climate, and the calm-
ness of the ocean, had led us to hope. The dan--

23

gers of the sea did not disturb our enjoyments,
but the germe of a malignant fever discovered
itself as we drew near the antilles. Between
decks the ship was excessively hot, and very
much encumbered. From the time we passed
the tropic, the thermometer was at thirty-four
or thirty-six degrees. ‘T'wo sailors, several pas-
sengers, and, what is remarkable enough, two
negroes from the coast of Guinea, and a mulatto
child, were attacked with a disorder which ap-
peared epidemic. The symptoms were not
equally alarming in them all; nevertheless, se-
veral persons, and especially the most robust,
fell into a delirium after the second day, and felt
a total prostration of their strength. The indif-
ference which prevails on board packet boats,
for every thing that does not regard the working
of the ship, and the quickness of the passage,
prevented the captain from employing the ordi-
mary means of diminishing the danger which
threatened us. No fumigation was made. A
Gallician surgeon, ignorant and phlegmatic, or-
dered bleedings, because he attributed the fever
to what he called heat and corruption of the
blood. There was not an ounce of bark on
board; we had forgot to take any with us, be-
cause, being more occupied with our instruments
than our health, we thought too carelessly, that
this salutary production of Peru could not fail to
be found on board a Spanish vessel.

\

24

The 8th of July, a sailor, who was near expir-
ing, recovered his health from a circumstance
that is worthy of being mentioned. His ham-
mock was so hung, that there was not ten inches
between his face and the deck. It was impos-
sible to administer the sacraments in this situa-
tion; for, agreeably to the custom aboard Spa-
nish vessels, the viaticum ought to be carried by
the light of tapers, and followed by the whole
crew. The patient was removed into an airy

place, near the hatchway, where a small square

birth had been formed with sail cloth. Here
he was to remain till he died, which was an
event expected every moment; but passing from

an air extremely heated, stagnant, and filled

with miasms, into fresher and purer air, which

was renewed every instant, he gradually revived —

from his lethargic state. His recovery dated
from the day when he quitted the middle deck ;
and as often in medicine the same facts are cited
in support of systems diametrically opposite ;
this recovery confirmed our doctor in his ideas
of the inflammation of the blood, and the neces-
sity of bleeding, evacuating, and all the asthenic
remedies. We soon felt the fatal effects of this
treatment ; and wished more than ever to reach
the coasts of America. :

For several days the pilot’s reckoning differed
1° 12’ in longitude from that of my time-keeper.
This differencewas owing less to the general cur-

25

rent, which I have called the current of rotation,
than to that particular movement, which draw-
ing the waters toward the north-west, from the
coast of Brazil to the Antilles, shortens the pas-
sage from Cayenne to Guadaloupe*. The 12th
of July, I thought I might foretell our seeing
land the next day before sunrise. We found
ourselves then, according to my observations, in
latitude 10° 46’, and west longitude 60° 54’.
A few series of lunar distances confirmed the
chronometrical result ; but we were surer of the
position of the vessel, than of that of the land to
which we directed our course, and which was so
differently placed in the French, Spanish, and
English charts. The longitudes, deduced from
the accurate observations of Messrs. Churruca,
Fidalgo, and Noguera, were not published at
this period.

The pilots trusted more to the log than the
time-keeper ; they smiled at the prediction of
speedily making the land, and thought them-
selves two or three days sail from the coast. It
was therefore with great pleasure, that on the
13th, toward six in the morning, I learnt that

* In the Atlantic Ocean there is a space, where the water
is constantly milky, though the seaisvery deep. his curious
phenomenon exists in the parallel of the island of Dominica,
very near the 57th degree of longitude. May there not be

_ in this place some sunk volcanic islet, more easterly still than
‘ Barbadoes ? |

26

very high land was seen from the mast-head,
though not clearly, as it was surrounded with a
thick fog.. The wind blew hard, and the sea
was very rough. Large drops of rain fell! at in-
tervals, and every appearance menaced tempes-
tuous weather. The captain of the Pizarro in-
tended to pass through the channel, which. se-
parates the isle of Tobago from that of Trinidad;
and knowing that our sloop was very slow in
tacking, he was afraid of falling to leeward. to-
ward the south, and approaching the Bocca-del-
Drago. We were in fact surer of our longitude
than of our latitude, having had no observation
at noon since the ilth. Double altitudes which
I took in the morning, after Douwes’s method,
placed usin 11° 6’ 50”, consequently 15’ north
of our reckoning. ‘The impetuosity, with which
the great river Oroonoko throws it’s waters into
the ocean, may undoubtedly, in these latitudes,
increase the strength of the currents.; but what
has been stated respecting the change of color
and the saltness of the water, at sixty leagues
from the mouth of the Oroonoko, is a fable in-
vented by the coasting pilots. The influence of
the most considerable rivers of America, such as
the Amazons, the Plata, the Oroonoko, the Mis-
sissipi, and the Magdalena, is restricted, in this
respect, within much narrower limits than is
generally thought. ? i

Although the result of the double altitudes of

27

the sun proved clearly, that the high land in the
horizon was not Trinidad, but Tobago, the cap-
tain continued to steer N. N. W., in search of this
latter island, which, even in Borda’s chart, is
placed 5’ too far south. We can scarcely, be-
lieve, that on coasts frequented by every trading
nation, such enormous errors in latitude should
be thus perpetuated for ages. Having discussed
this matter in another place *, it is sufficient here
to observe, that even in the last chart of the
West Indies, published by Mr. Arrowsmith, in
1803, consequently a long time after the la-
bours of Churruca, the latitudes of the different
capes of Tobago and Trinidad, are still from six.
to eleven minutes erroneous. 3
An observation of the meridian altitude of the
Sun fully confirmed the latitude obtained by
Douwes’s method. No more doubt remained
respecting the position of the vessel, with respect
to the island, and we resolved to double Cape
North in Tobago, to pass between this island and
Grenada, and steer toward a port in Margaretta.
In these latitudes we ran at every moment the
risk of being taken by privateers ; but happily
for us the.sea was very rough, and a small Eng-
lish cutter passed without hailing us. As to
Mr. Bonpland and myself, we were less afraid
of this, since, as we were so near the continent
_ * Obs. Ast. p. 35 to 89, and Introduction, p. 38. (Chart

of the Atlantic Ocean, Sixth edition.)
Y

28

of America, we were sure of not being carried
back to Europe. | i

The island of Tobago presents itself under a
very picturesque aspect. It is a heap of rocks
carefully cultivated. The dazzling whiteness of
the stone forms an agreeable contrast with the
verdure of some scattered tufts of trees. Cy-
lindric and very lofty opuntia crown the top of
the mountains, and give a peculiar physiognomy
to this tropical landscape. Their sight alone is
sufficient to remind the navigator, that ‘he has -
arrived at an American coast; for cactuses are
exclusively peculiar to the New World, as heaths
to the Old*. The north-west part of the island
of Tobago is the least mountainous ; according
to the angles of height, taken with the sextant,
the most lofty points of the coast do not appear
to exceed 140 or 150 toises. At South-west
Cape, the land descends ‘toward ‘Sandy Point,
the latitude of which I ‘found to be 10° 20’ 13”,
and the longitude 62° 47’ 30”. We perceived
‘several rocks on a level with the water, on which
the sea broke violently, and we distinguished ‘a
great regularity in the inclination and direction
of the strata, which dip to the south-west at an
angle of 60°. ‘It were to be wished, that the
‘tour of the West Indies, from the coast ef Paria
to Cape Florida, were made by a:good mineral-

* Essay on the Physiognomy of Plants. See my Views
of Nature, vol. i, p. 47.

29

ogist, who would examine this ancient chain of
mountains broken by the action of currents,
earthquakes, and volcanoes.

After having doubled the north cape of To-
bago, and the small island of St. Giles, we were
alarmed with the news of an enemy's squadron
seen from the mast-head ; the passengers were
in the utmost consternation, for several had laid
out their small fortunes in goods, which they
counted on selling in the Spanish colonies. The
squadron seemed motionless, and we soon dis-
covered, that what we had taken for ships was
a multitude of separate rocks *.

We crossed the shoal which joins Tobago to
the island of Grenada. The color of the sea had
no visible change: but the centigrade thermo-
meter, plunged into the water at some inches
depth, rose only to 23°; while farther at sea
eastward on the same parallel, and equally near
the surface, it kept at 25°6°.. Notwithstanding
the currents, the cooling of the water indicated
the existence of the shoal, which is noted but in
a small number of charts. The wind slacked
after sunset, and the clouds disappeared as the
moon reached the zenith. The number of fall-
ing stars was very considerable both this and the
following nights ; they appeared less frequent
toward the north than the south over Terra

* Perhaps the rocks called the Hermanas (the Sisters).
y 2

30

Firma, which we began to coast. This position
seems to prove the infiuence of local causes on
meteors, the nature of which is not yet ee
ciently known to us. :

The 14th at sunrise, we were in sight of the
Bocca-del-Drago. We distinguished the island
Chacachacarreo, the most westerly of thése
islands which are placed between Cape Paria
and the north-west cape of Trinidad. When we
were five leagues distant from the coast, we felt,
near Punta de la Baca, the effect of a particular
current, which drew the ship toward the south.
The motion of the waters which flow through the
Bocca-del-Drago, and the action of the tides,
occasion an eddy. We hove the lead, and
found from thirty-six to forty-three fathoms on
a bottom of very fine green clay. According to
the rules established by Dampier *, we ought
not to have expected so little depth near a coast
formed by very high and perpendicular moun-
tains. We continued to heave the lead till we
reached Cabo de tres Puntas, and we every where
found shallow water, apparently indicating the
prolongation of the ancient coast. In these la-
titudes the temperature of the sea was twenty-
three or twenty-four degrees, consequently from _
1:5 to two degrees less than in the open.ocean,
‘beyond the edges of the bank, ROS

Cape Three Points, the name given to it by

* Voyage round the World, vol. ii, p. 476.

OL

Columbus himself *, is, according to my obser-
vations, in 65° 4’ 5” longitude. It seemed to us
so much the more elevated, as the clouds con-
cealed from us the view of it’s indented top. The
physiognomy of the mountains of Paria, their
color, and, especially their generally rounded
forms, made us suspect, that the coast was gra-
nitic ; but we afterwards recognized how delu-
sive, even for those who have passed their lives
in scaling mountains, are opinions respecting

' _ the nature of rocks seen at a distance.

A dead calm, which lasted several hours, per-
mitted us to determine with exactness the inten-
sity of the magnetic forces opposite the Cabo de
tres Puntas. This intensity was greater than in
the open sea, to the east of the island of Tobago,
in the ratio of 237 to 229. During the calm
the current drew us on rapidly to the west. It’s
velocity was three miles an hour, and increased
as we approached the meridian of Testigos, a
heap of rocks which rise up amidst the waters.
At the setting of the Moon, the sky was covered
with clouds, the wind freshened anew, and the
rain descended in one of those torrents, which
are peculiar to the torrid zone, and to which we
were often exposed during our inland excur-
sions. , |

The malady which had broke out on board
_the Pizarro had made rapid progress, from the
* Month of August, 1598.

32

time we came on. the coasts: the thermometer
_kept regularly during the night between twenty-
two and twenty-three degrees, and during the
day from twenty-four to twenty-seven. The
congestions toward the head, excessive dryness
of the skin, extreme weakness, all the symptoms
grew more alarming; but having almost reach-
ed the end of.our voyage, we flattered ourselves,
that all who were sick would be restored to
health, as soon as we could land them at the isle
of St. Margaretta, or the port of Cumana, dis-
tinguished for their great salubrity. |
This hope was not altogether realized. The
youngest of the passengers attacked with the
malignant fever was happily the first and only
victim. He was an Asturian, nineteen years of
age, the only son of a poor widow. Several cir-
cumstances rendered the death of this young
man affecting. His features bore the marks of
sensibility, and a great mildness of disposition ;
he had embarked against his inclination, and
his mother, whom he had hoped to assist by the
produce of his labors, had sacrificed her own
tenderness to the idea of securing the fortune of
her son, by sending him to the colonies to a rich
relation, who resided at the isle of Cuba. The
unfortunate young man expired the third day of
his illness, having fallen from the beginning into
a lethargic state interrupted by fits of delirium.
The yellow fever, or black vomiting, at Vera

33

Cruz, scarcely carries off the sick with so alarm-
ing a rapidity. Another Asturian, still younger,
did not leave one moment the bed of his dying
friend, and, what is very remarkable, did not
contract the disorder. He was to follow his
countryman to St. Jago de Cuba, by whom he
was to be introduced to the house of this rela-
tion, on whom all their hopes depended. No-
thing could be more affecting than the sorrow
of him who had survived his friend, and who
bewailed with bitterness the fatal counsels,
which had thrown him on a foreign climate,
where he found himself abandoned, and without
support.

We were assembled on the deck, absorbed in
melancholy reflections. It was no longer
doubtful, that the fever which raged on board
had assumed in these last days a fatal aspect.
Our eyes were fixed on a hilly and desert coast,
on which the Moon, from time to time, shed it’s
light athwart the clouds. The sea, gently agi-
tated, shone with a feeble phosphoric glittering.
Nothing was heard but the monotonous. cry of
a few large sea-birds, flying toward the shore.
A profound calm reigned over these solitary
abodes, but. this calm of nature was in discord-
ance with the painful feelings by which we were
oppressed. About eight the dead man’s knell
- was slowly tolled ; at this lugubrious sound, the
sailors ceased their labor, and threw themselves

34
*

on their knees to offer a momentary prayer ; an
affecting ceremony, which, while ‘it brought to
our remembrance those times, when the primitive
Christians considered themselves as members
of the same family, seemed to blend mankind
into one common feeling from the sentiment of
a common evil. The corpse of the Asturian was ©
brought upon deck during the night, and the
priest entreated, that it might not be committed
to the waves till after sunrise, in order to pay it
the last rites, according to the usage of the Rom-
ish church. There was not an individual on
board, who did not sympathise with the fate of
this young man, whom we had beheld, but a
few days before, full of cheerfulness and health.

The event I have just related proved the dan-
ger of this malignant fever*, the victims of which,
we apprehended, mightbe very numerous, ifa con-
tinuance of calms should lengthen the passage
from Cumana to the Havannah. On board a ship »
of war, oratransport, the death ofa few individuals
commonly makes no more impression, than the
sight of a funeral procession in a populous city :
not so on board.a packet, the crew of which are
few in number, and where the persons who have
the same end in view form habits of intimacy with
each other. The passenger's of the Pizarro, who
had not yet felt the symptoms of the disease,
resolved to leave the vessel at the first place

* Typhus, Sauvages ; Febris nervosa, Frank.

35
we

where she touched, and wait the arrival of ano-
ther packet, to pursue their course to the island
of Cuba and to Mexico. They considered the
between decks of the ship as pestiferous ; and
though it was by no means clear to me, that the
fever was contagious from contact *, I thought
it most prudent to land at Cumana. I wished
not to visit New Spain till I had made some
abode on the coasts of Venezuela and Paria; a
small number of the productions of which had
been examined by the unfortunate Loefling. We
were anxious to behold in their native site the ©
beautiful plants, which Bose and Bredemeyer
had collected during their journey to the conti-
nent, and which adorn the green-houses of Scho-
enbrunn and Vienna. It would have been pain-
ful to have touched at Cumana, or at Guayra,
without visiting the interior of a country so
little frequented by naturalists.

The resolution we took during the night of the
14th and 15th of July had a happy influence on
the directionof our travels. Instead of a few
_ weeks, we remained a whole year in this part of
the continent ; had not the fever raged on board
the Pizarro, we should never have reached the

_ * The sailor of whom Ihave just spoken, and who escaped
death by the change of air, was but slightly indisposed when
he came on board at Corunna; it was no doubt from some
peculiar disposition of his organs, that he was first attacked
with the malignant fever, when we entered the torrid zone.

36

Oroonoko, the Cassiquiare, and even the limits
of the Portuguese possessions on the Rio Negro.
We were also indebted perhaps to this direction
given to our travels for the state of health we
enjoyed during so long an abode in the equinoc-
tial regions.

It is well known, that Europeans, during the
first months after their-arrival under the scorch-
ing sky of the tropics, are exposed. to the great-
est dangers. They consider themselves as sea-
soned, when they have passed the rainy season
in the West India islands, at Vera Cruz, or at
Carthagena. This opinion is very general,
although there are examples of persons, who,
having escaped a first attack of the yellow fever,
have perished victims of the same disease in. one
of the following years. The facility of being sea-
soned seems to be in the inverse ratio of the
difference that exists between the mean tempera-
ture of the torrid zone, and that of the country
in which the traveller, or planter, who changes
his climate, is born; because the irritability of
the organs, and their vital action, are powerfully.
modified. by the influence of the atmospheric.
heat. A Prussian, a Polander, or a Swede, is
more exposed on their arrival at the islands or
on the continent, than a Spaniard, an Italian,
or even an inhabitant of the South of France *.
With respect to the people of the north, the —

2 * New Spain, vol. ii, p. 754.

37

difference of .the mean ,temperature is from
nineteen to twenty-one degrees, while to the
people of southern countries it is only from nine
to ten. We were fortunate enough to pass the
time, when a European recently landed runs
the greatest danger, in the extremely hot, but
very dry climate of Cumana, a city celebrated for
it’s salubrity. Had we continued our voyage. to
Vera Cruz, we should perhaps have shared in the
unhappy fate of several passengers of the packet
boat, the Alcudia, which arrived at the Havannah
with the Pizarro, at a period when the black
vomiting made such cruel ravages in the island
of Cuba, and on the eastern coasts of Mexico.
The 15th, in the morning, when nearly abreast
of the hill of St. Joseph, we were surrounded by
a great quantity of floating sea weed. It’s stems
had those extraordinary appendages in the form
of little cups and feathers, which Don Hippolyto
Ruiz remarked on his return from the expedi-
tion to Chili, and which he described in a sepa-
rate memoir as the sexual organs of the fucus
natans. <A fortunate accident allowed us the
means of verifying a fact, which had been but
once observed by naturalists. The bundles of
- fucus collected by Mr. Bonpland were completely
identical with the specimens given us by the
learned authors of the Flora of Peru. On ex-
amining both with the microscope, we found,
that these pretended parts of fructification, these

35

stamina and pistils, belong to a new genus of thé
family of the ceratophytz. The small cups,
which Mr. Ruiz took for pistils, proceed from
horny and flattened stems, which are so inti-
mately united to the substance of the fucus, that
we might be tempted to take them for mere fasci-
culated fibres; but these horny stems may be
separated by a very thin blade, without hurting
the parenchyma, They are unarticulated, and
at first of a dark brown; but they become in
time, by drying, white and friable; in this state
they effervesce with acids, as the calcareous sub- —
stance of the sertularia, the extremities of which
very much resemble the cups of the fucus of
Mr. Ruiz. We found again, in the South Sea,
on our voyage from Guayaquil to Acapulco, these
Same appendages to the tropic grape, and the
most attentive examination left us no doubt, that
a zoophyte is attached to the fucus, as ivy en-
twines the trunks of trees. The organs describ-
ed under the name of female flowers are more
than two lines along, and their size alone should
have removed the suspicion, that these parts
were real pistils.

The coast of Paria stretches to the west, form-
ing a wall of rocks of no great height, with
rounded tops and a waving outline. We were
long without perceiving the bold coasts of the
island of Margaretta, where we were to stop in
order to obtain information respecting the Eng-

39

lish cruizers, and the danger of touching at
Guayra. We had learnt by altitudes of the sun,
taken under very favorable circumstances, how
incorrect at this period were the most esteemed
marine charts. On the fifteenth in the morning,
when the time keeper placed us in 66° 1’ 15”
longitude, we were not yet in the meridian of
Margaretta island; though according to the re-
duced chart of the Atlantic ocean * we ought to
have passed the very lofty western cape of this
island, which is laid down in longitude 66°.
The inaccuracy with which the coasts were de-
lineated previous to the works of Messrs. Fi-
dalgo, Noguera, and Tiscar +, and I may ven-

* Constructed at the Depédt de la Marine in 1786, and
corrected in 1792. :

+ Carta general del oceano Atlantico construida en el Depo-
sito hydrographico de Madrid en el anno 1800, et corregida en
1804. Caria esferiea de las Islas Antillas con parte de la costa
del continente de America, trabajada por don Cosme Churruca y
Don Joacquin Francisco Fidalgo, 1802. These two charts have
served as bases to all those that have appeared in these latter
times in different parts of Europe, which, copied one from
another, differ only in numberless calcographical errors. —
Most of the original observations of the Spanish astronomers
are mentioned in Mr. Espinosa’s valuable work, entitled, Me-—
morias sobre las Observaciones astronomicas hechas por los Nave-
gantes Espannoles en distintos Lugares del Globo (2 vols. 4to,
Madrid, 1809). I have compared, step by step, the results
of these observations with those on which Mr. Oltmann and
myself are agreed (Astron. Obs. vol.i; Introd. p. 33—49).
This comparison will be useful to those, who may hereafter

40

ture to add, before the astronomical observa-
tions I made at Cumana, might have become
dangerous to navigators, were not the sea uni-
formly calm in those regions. The errors in la-
titude were still greater than those in longitude,
since the coasts of New Andalusia stretch to the
westward of Cape Three Points fifteen or twenty
‘miles more to the north, than appears in the
charts published before the year 1800.

Toward eleven in the morning, we: perceived
avery low islet, covered with a few sandy downs;
and on which we discovered with our glasses no
trace of habitation or culture. Cylindrical cac-
tuses rose here and there in the form of cande-
labra. The soil, almost destitute of vegetation,
seemed to have a waving motion, in consequence
of the extraordinary refraction, which the rays
of the sun undergo in traversing the strata of
air in contact with plains strongly heated. Un-
der every zone, deserts and sandy shores appear
like an agitated sea, from the effect of looming.

The appearance of so flat a country scarcely
corresponded with the ideas we had formed of —

the island of Margaretta. While we were busy
in laying down our bearings on the charts, and

publish charts of America; the new determinations deserv-
ing so much the more confidence, as the positions have been. :
verified by very different astronomical methods, and by ob-
_ servers who did not communicate their results to each \aehiar,
till long after they had terminated their labours,

41

unable to make them corresvond, a few small
fishing boats were descried from the mast-head.
The captain of the Pizarro fired a gun for them ;
but this signal was useless on a coast where the
weak apprehended that they meet with the strong
only to be insulted. The boats hastened away
toward the west, and. we found ourselves in the
same perplexity as we had been with respect. to
the small island of Graciosa, on our arrival at
the Canaries. No person on board had landed
on this spot, or could give us any information
respecting it. Though the sea was very calm,
the proximity of an islet, which rose scarcely a
few feet above the surface of the water, seemed
to prescribe measures of prudence. We ceased
to stand toward the land; and as the lead gave
but three or four fathoms, we speedily let go an _
anchor. |

The coasts, seen at a distance, are like clouds,
in which each observer meets the form of the ob-
jects that occupy his imagination. Our bearings
and our chronometer being at variance with the
charts which we had to consult, we were lost in
vain conjectures. Some took mounds of sand for
Indian huts, and pointed out the place, where,
according to them, the fort of Pampatar was si-
tuate ; others saw herds of goats, which are so
common in the dry valley of St. John ; or des-
cried the lofty mountains of Macanao, which
seemed to them partly hidden ‘by the clouds.

42

The captain resolved to send a pilot on shore,
and the men were preparing to hoist out the
long-boat, the cutter having been. damaged by
the surge in the road of Santa Cruz; but the
- coast being still far off, the return of the boat
might have become difficult, if the breeze had
freshened toward evening. !

At the moment we were preparing to go on.
shore, we perceived two canoes sailing along the
coast. Again we fired a gun as a signal for
these; and though we had hoisted Spanish co-
lours, they drew near with distrust. These
canoes, like all those made use of by the na-
tives, were constructed of the single trunk of a
tree; and in each were eighteen Guayqueria In-
dians, naked to the waist, of very tall stature.
They had the appearance of great muscular
strength, and the color of their skin was some-
thing between a brown and a copper color.
Seen at a distance, motionless in their attitudes,
and projected on the horizon, they might have
been taken for statues of bronze. We were so
much the more struck with this aspect, as it did
not correspond with the ideas we had formed
from the accounts of travellers of the character-
istic features and extreme weakness of the na-
tives. We afterward learnt without passing the
limits of the province of Cumana, the great con- -
trast that exists between the physiognomy of the
Guayquerias and that of the Chaymas ‘and the

®

43

Caribs. Notwithstanding the intimate ties,
which appear to unite the whole of the American
nations as belonging to the same race, several
iribes do not the less differ from each other in

the height of their stature, their complexion more
or less tawny, and their looks, which in some
express tranquillity and milidness, in others a si-

nister mixture of melancholy and ferocity.

‘When we were near enough to hail them in

' Spanish, the Indians threw aside their mistrust,

and came straight on board. They informed us,
that the low islet near which we were at anchor
was that of Coche, which had never been inha-
bited ; and that the Spanish vessels coming from
Europe were accustomed to sail farther north,
between this island and that of Margaretta, to
take a coasting pilot at the port of Pampatar.
Our inexperience had led us into the channel to
the south of Coche; and as at this period the Eng-.
lish cruisers frequented this passage, the Indians
had taken us for an enemy’s ship. .The southern
passage is in fact highly advantageous for vessels
going to Cumana and Barcelona: it has less
water than the northern passage, which is much
narrower: but there is no risk of touching the
ground, if vessels keep very close to the island
of Lobos and the Moros del Tunal. The chan-
nel between Coche and Margaretta is narrowed
by the shoals off the north-west cape of Coche,

and by the bank that surrounds la Punta de

Z

44

Mangles. We shall examine in another place,
under a geological point of view, this bank of
sand, which surrounds the rocks of-Testigos and
Margaretta; and shall show, that the latter
island was formerly united, by means of Coche
and Lobos, to the Peninsula of Chacopapa.

The Guayquerias belong to that tribe of civil-
ized Indians, who inhabit the coasts of Marga-
retta, and the suburbs of the city of Cumana.
Next to the Caribs of Spanish Guyana, it is the
finest race of men in Terra Firma. They enjoy
several privileges, because from the earliest
times of the conquest they remained faithful
friends to the Castilians. The king of Spain
names them in his public acts, “ his dear, noble,
and loyal Guayquerias.” The Indians of the ~
two canoes we had met had left the port of Cu-
mana during the night. They were going in
search of timber to the cedar * forests, which
extend from Cape San Jose farther than the
mouth of Rio Carupano. They gave us some
fresh cocoa nuts, and very beautifully colored
fish of the cheetodon genus. What riches to
our eyes were contained in the canoes of these
poor Indians! Broad spreading leaves of vijao +
covered bunches of plantains. The scaly cuirass

* Cedrela odorata, Lin.
t Bandouliéres.
$ Heliconia bihai.

45

of an armadillo*, the fruit of the calabash tree,
crescentia cujete, used as a cup by the natives,
the productions most common in the cabinets of
Europe, had a peculiar charm for us, because
they reminded us, that, having reached the tor-
rid zone, we had attained the end toward which
our wishes had been so long directed.

The master of one of the canoes offered to
remain on board the Pizarro as coasting pilot+-.
He was a Guayqueria of an excellent disposi-
tion, sagacious in his observations, and led by
an unceasing curiosity to notice the productions
of the sea, as well as the plants of the country.
By a fortunate chance, the first Indian we met
on our arrival was the man, whose acquaintance
became the most useful to us in the course of
our researches. I feel a pleasure in recording
in this itinerary the name of Carlos del Pino,
who, during the space of sixteen months, attend-
ed us in our course along the coasts, and into
the inland country.

- The captain of the corvette weighed anchor
toward the evening. Before we left the shoal or
placer of Coche, I ascertained the longitude of
the east cape of the island, which I found to be
66° 11’ 53”. As we steered toward the west, we
soon came in sight of the little island of Cubagua,
now entirely deserted, but formerly celebrated

* Dasypus, cachicamo.

+ Practico.
Z

46.

for it’s fishery of pearls. There the Spaniards,
immediately after the voyages of Columbus and
Ojeda, founded, under the name of New Cadiz,
a town, of which there now remains no vestige.
At the beginning of the sixteenth century, the
pearls of Cubagua were known at Seville, at To-
ledo, and at the great fairs of Augsburg and
Bruges. New Cadiz having no water, that of
the Rio Manzanares was conveyed thither from
the neighbouring coast, though for some reason,
I know not what, it was thought to be the cause
of diseases of the eyes*. The writers of that
period all speak of the riches of the first plant-
ers, and the luxury they displayed ; at present,
- downs of shifting sand cover this uninhabited
land, and the name of Cubagua is scarcely found
in our charts. |

Having reached these latitudes, we saw the
high mountains of Cape Macanao, on the west-
ern side of the isle of Margaretta, which rose
majestically on the horizon. IPf we might judge
from the angles of altitude of the tops, taken at
eighteen miles distance, they appeared to be
about 5 or 600 toises high. According to Ber-
thoud’s time-keeper, the longitude of Cape Ma-
: canao is 66° 47’ 5”. I speak of the rocks at the
extremity of this cape, and not that strip of very
low land, which stretches toward the west, and

* Herrera, Descrip. de las Indias occidentales (Madrid,
1730), vol. i, p. 12,. nae

47

loses itself in a shoal. The position of Macanao,
and that which I have assigned to the east
point of the island of Coche, differ only four
seconds in time from the results obtained by
Mr. Fidalgo.

There being little wind, the captain preferred
standing off and on till day break. He was
afraid to enter the port of Cumana during the
night ; and this prudence seemed necessary, on
account of an unfortunate accident, which had
lately taken place on this coast. A packet that
-had anchored during the night, without lighting
her poop-lanterns, was taken for an enemy's
ship, and was fired on from the batteries of Cu-
mana. The captain of the packet had his leg
shot off, and died a few days after at that port.

We passed a part of the night on deck. The
Guayqueria pilot conversed with us on the ani-
mals and plants of his country. We learnt with
great satisfaction, that a few leagues from the
coast was a mountainous region inhabited by
the Spaniards, in which the cold was very much
felt; and that in the plains there were two spe-
cies of crocodiles, very different from each
other*, boas, electric eels, and several kinds of
tigers. Though the words bava, cachicamo, and
temblador, were entirely unknown to us, we ea-
sily guessed, from his simple description of their

* Crocodilus acutus, and c. bava.
+ Gymnotus eleetricus, temblador.

48

manners and forms, the species which the cre-
oles meant by these denominations. . Forgetting
that these animals are dispersed over a vast ex-
tent of country, we hoped to find them in the
forests of Cumana. Nothing so much excites
the curiosity of a naturalist, as the recital of the
wonders of a country where he is on the —
of landing.

On the 16th of July, 1799, at the point of nee
we saw a verdant coast, of picturesque aspect.
The mountains of New Andalusia, half veiled by
mists, bounded the horizon to the south. The
city of Cumana and it’s castle appeared. between
groups of cocoa trees. We anchored in the
port about nine in the morning, forty-one days
after our departure from Corunna. The sick
dragged themselves on deck to enjoy the sight
of a land, which was about to put an end to their »
sufferings. :

I was unwilling to interrupt the narrative of
our voyage by the detail of the physical observa-
tions I made during the passage from the coasts
of Spain to Teneriffe, and thence to Cumana.
Observations of this kind are not. really interest-
ing, except when we can dispose their results in
such a manner as to lead to general ideas. ‘The
form of a personal narrative, and the nature of
it’s composition, are not well fitted for the full
explanation of phenomena, which vary with the
seasons, and the position of places. In order to

49

study the laws of these phenomena, we must
exhibit them in groups, and not separately, as
they weve successively observed. We are under
great obligations to navigators, who have accu-
mulated an immense number of facts; but must
regret, that hitherto naturalists have made so
little use of their journals, which, when examin-
ed anew, may yield unexpected results. I shall
insert at the end of this chapter the experiments,
which I made on the temperature of the atmos-
phere and the ocean, with the hygrometrical
state of the air, the intensity of the blue color of
the sky, and the magnetic phenomena. —

TEMPERATURE OF THE AIR.

In the vast basin of the Northern Atlantic

Ocean, between the coasts of Europe, Africa,
and the New Continent, the temperature of the
atmosphere offered us a very slow increment,
as we passed from the 43d to the 10th degree of
latitude. ‘From’ Corunna to the Canary islands,
the centigrade thermometer, observed at noon
and'in the shade, ascended gradually from ten
to eighteen degrees* ; from Santa Cruz in Te-
nerifte to Cumana, the same instrument rose
from eighteen to twenty-five degrees}. In the

* From the 6th to the 19th of June. See the particular
observations in the journal at the end of this chapter.
Tt From the 25th of June to the 15th of July.

50.

first part of the voyage, a difference of a degree.
of temperature corresponded to 1° 48’ of lati-
tude; in the second part, we must traverse 2°
30’ of latitude to sée the thermometer rise one
‘degree. The maximum of the heat, which the
air gradually attains two hours after the passage
of the sun over the meridian, did not exceed,
during this voyage, 26° 6’ (213° Reaumur) ; ne-
vertheless we were in the month of July, and
ten degrees to the south of the tropic of Cancer.
The evaporation of the water, augmented by the
_ motion of the air and of the waves, and the pro-
perty which transparent liquids have* of absorb-
ing very little light at their surface, contribute
equally to moderate the heat in the part of the
atmosphere that surrounds the equinoctial seas.
It is well known, that as long as the breeze blows
under the torrid zone, navigators are never ex-.
posed to violent heats.

_If we compare} the numerous observations.
made in the South Sea and the Atlantic Ocean.
during the voyages of Cook, Dixon, d’Entrecas-.
teaux, and Krusenstern, we find, that, between
the tropics, the mean temperature of the air at

* The rays of light penetrate the water to considerable
depths ; and the first strata, by freely transmitting them, are
not heated like the earth and rocks.

+ See an excellent memoir by Messrs. Horner and Langs-
dorf in the memoirs of the Academy of Petersburgh, vol. i,
p. 467.

51

sea is from twenty-six to twenty-seven degrees.
We must exclude from this statement the ob-
servations made during a dead calm, because
the body of the vessel is then extraordinarily
heated, and it is almost impossible to make a
just estimation of the temperature of the atmos-
phere. When we look into the journals of so
many celebrated navigators, we are surprised to
see, that never, in either hemisphere, have they |
observed the thermometer under the torrid zone,
in the open sea, above 34° (27:2° R). In thou-
sands of observations made at the time of the
passage of the Sun across the meridian, we
scarcely find a few days when the heat has risen
to thirty-one or thirty-two degrees (24°8° or
25°6° R.); while on the continents of Africa and’
Asia, under the same parallels, the temperature
often exceeds thirty-five or thirty-six degrees.
In general, between ten degrees of north and
ten of south latitude, the mean heat of the at-
mosphere that rests on the ocean appears to me, |
in the low regions, from one to two degrees
lower than the mean temperature of the.air that
surrounds the land situate between the two tro-
pics. It is useless in this place to observe how
much this circumstance modifies the climate of
the whole Globe, on account of the unequal dis-
tribution of the continents at the north and south
of the equator, as well as to the east and west of
the meridian of Teneriffe. }

o2

The extreme slowness, with which the tem-
perature increases during the passage from Spain
to the New Continent, is highly advantageous to
the health of Europeans, who go to settle in the
colonies. At Vera Cruz and at Carthagena, the
creoles who descend from the high savannahs of
Bogota, and the central elevated plain of New
Spain, are more exposed on the coasts to the
attack of the yellow fever, or vomito, than the in-
habitants of the north, who arrive by sea*. In
travelling from Perote to Vera Cruz, the Mexi-.
cans descend in sixteen hours from the region
of pines and oaks, from a mountainous country
where the thermometer very often sinks at noon
to four or five degrees, to a burning plain co-
vered with cocoa trees, with mimosa cornigera,
and other plants that vegetate only under the
influence of a strong heat. These mountaineers:
feel a difference of temperature of eighteen de-
grees; and this difference produces the most
fatal effects on the organs, by exciting their irri-
tability. The European, on the contrary, crosses
the Atlantic Ocean in thirty-five or forty days;
he prepares himself gradually for the sweltering
heats of Vera:Cruz, which, without being the
direct cause of the yellow fever, do not the less.
contribute to the rapidity of it’s progress.

A very sensible decrement of heat is observed |

* Nouv. Esp. t, i, p. 772.

O83

on the Globe, whether we go from the equator
to the poles, ascend from the surface of the earth
into the highest regions of the air, or dive into
the depth of the ocean. It is so much the more
interesting to compare the rapidity of this three-
fold decrement, as this phenomenon has a great
influence on the climatic distributions of vege-
table and animal productions. The mean tem-
perature of the lower strata of the air, which
corresponds to the sixty-fifth, forty-eighth, and
twentieth, degrees of north latitude, are, accord-
ing to the most recent observations, 0°5°, 10°7°,
and 25°; whence it results, that a centigrade
degree corresponds nearly to a change of lati-
tude of 1° 45, Now the decrement of caloric
is one degree every ninety toises, when we raise
ourselves perpendicularly into the atmospherer.
It therefore follows, that under the tropics, where
the lowering of the temperature is very regular
on mountains of considerable height, 500 toises
of vertical elevation correspond to a change of
latitude of 9° 45’. This result, conformable

* In England and in Scotland it is reckoned, that a degree
of Fahrenheit’s thermometer corresponds to one degree of
latitude. Phil. Trans. 1775, vol. Ixxv, page 459. Thomson,
Hist. of the Royal Soc. 1812, p. 508,

+ Mr. d’Aubuisson finds only eighty-three toises to a degree
. for Europe in summer at eight in the morning, consequently
at the period he thinks the most favourable. Journal de Phys,
t. Ixxi, p. 38. For the torrid zone, see Observ. Astron. t. i,
p. 129.

54

enough to those which other naturalists have
adopted before me*, is very important to the
geography of plants ; for though in the northern
countries the distribution of vegetables on the
mountains and in the plains depends, like the
height of the perpetual snows, more on the
mean temperature of the months of summerf

* Every hundred metres of height lower the temperature
about half a degree of the common division of our thermome-
ters: and if we take for the limit of refrigeration, that which
excludes the presence of vegetation, the perpetual ice, with
which the summits of mountains are loaded, will represent the
perpetual ice with which the pole is covered ; and every hun-
~ dred metres of vertical height will correspond to a degree of
the distance from the mountain to the pole. Ramond, on.
the Vegetation of Mountains (Annales du Museum, t. iv, p-.

396). |
+ Decandolle, Flore frangaise, t. i, p. 1, p. 9. Leopold von
Buch, Reise nach Lapland, t. ii, p..276. Wahlenberg, Flora
Laponica, 1810, p. 28. In the temperate zone it often hap-
pens, that the mean heat of a place, a, is less than: that of a
place b, while the mean heat of the summer months is much.
greater at a than at 6. It is for this reason, that a distinction
is properly made between a continental climate and an insular
climate ; in the first, very warm summers succeed very rigor-
ous winters ; in the second, the contrast of the winters is less ;.
the summers are less warm, and the winters less cold,.on ac-
count of the small changes in the temperature of the neigh-
bouring ocean, by which the air is cooled in summer and
warmed in winter. The perpetual snows descend more in
Iceland than on the same parallel in the interior of Norway,
and we often see, in the islands and on the coasts of western
Europe, the laurel and the arbutus flourish, where the vine

oo

than on that of the whole year, the latter does
not less determine in southern countries the
limits, which the species have not been able to
pass in their distant migrations. The observa-
tion made by Tournefort on the summit of Ara-

and the peach tree do not ripen. In the equinoctial region,
on the contrary, where the difference of the season is as it
were nothing, the geographical distribution of plants is regu-
lated almost only according to the mean temperature of the
whole year, which depends itself on the elevation of the soil
above the level of the ocean. In proportion as we advance
toward the north, the temperature of the months varies more
and more, and the strength and richness of vegetation no
longer give the measure of the mean temperature of the whole
year. In Lapland, for instance, there are beautiful forests
on the continent, at Enontekies, while on the island of Mage-
roe we scarce find a few shrubs sprinkled over the rocks ;
nevertheless the mean annual temperature of Enontekies is
- three degrees colder than that of Mageroe. The former is.
—2°86°, and the latter + 0:07°. (Wahlenberg, in Gilbert's
Annals, 1812, p. 271.) The more vigorous vegetation of
Enontekies is the effect of a warmer summer, the mean tem-
perature of the months of July being there 15°3° ; while at
the isle of Mageroe it is only, according to Mr. von Buch,
8°2°. These two places offer striking instances of the differ-
ence between a continental climate and an insular climate ; or,
as Mr. Wahlenberg says, between a climate of Siberia, and
a climate of Iceland. In general, the problem of the clima-
tic distribution of plants is much more complicated in the
northern countries than under the tropics. Inthe former this
distribution depends at the same time both on the mean tem-
perature of the summer months, and on the temperature of
the soil, which differs from the mean heat of the year.

56

rat has been repeated by a great. number of
travellers. When we descend froma high
chain of mountains, and advance toward the
poles, we find at first in plains of little height,
and finally in the regions near the coasts, the
same arborescent plants*, which in the low la-
titudes cover only the heights near the perennial
SNOWS. |

In estimating the rapidity with which the
mean temperature of the atmosphere diminishes
in proportion as we proceed from the equator
to the poles, or from the surface of the-earth to
the high regions of the aerial ocean, I have con-
sidered the decrement of heat as following an
arithmetrical progression. This supposition is
not perfectly accurate with respect to the air+ ;

* In the study of the geographical relations of plants, we
must distinguish between those vegetables, the organization —
of which resists great changes of temperature and barometric
pressure, and those plants which appear to belong only to
certain zones at certain heights. This difference is still more
sensible in the temperate zone than under the tropics, where
the herbaceous plants are less frequent, and where the trees
are stripped of their leaves only by the effect of the dryness
of the air. We see some vegetables push their migrations
from the northern coasts of Africa over the Pyrenees as far
as the downs near Bordeaux, and the basin of the Loire; for
instance, the merendera, the late-flowering hyacinth, and the
hoop-petticoat narcissus, narcissus bulbocodium. Annales du
Mns., t. iv, p. 401.

+ The mean temperatures augment from the equator to the
poles, nearly as the square of the sine of the latitude, (Journ.

o7

and is still less so for the winter, the successive
strata of which seem to diminish in temperature
according to different laws at different degrees
of latitude. In the interesting experiments
made by Forster, Bladh, Wales, Ellis, and
Peron, on the rapidity of the decrement of heat
in the ocean, this decrement has been found so
unequal, that a degree of the centigrade ther-
mometer answers sometimes to twelve, at other
times to twenty-four toises, and even more. We
may in general admit, that the temperature
decreases six times as quick in the sea as in
the aerial ocean, and that it is on account of
this distribution of caloric in the two elements,
that plants and animals analogous to those of
the polar regions find under the torrid zone, on
the slope of mountains, and in the depths of the
ocean, the climate which is suitable to their or-
ganization. | |

The same causes, to which we ought to attri-
_ bute the moderate heats we feel in sailing be-
tween the tropics, produce also a singular equa-
lity in the temperature of the day and the night.
This equality is still greater on sea than in the
interior of the continents. In the province of

de Phys., t. Ixii, p. 447; and the decrement of heat, in a
vertical plane, follows most frequently, according to Oriani
and Lindenau, the law of harmonical progression. Tables
barom. p.45. Mon. Cor. Juin. 1805. Ephem, Med. 1788.
p. 138. :

08

Cumana, in the centre of vast plains, of small
height above the level of the ocean, the thermo-
meter is generally toward sunrise four or five
degrees lower than at two in the afternoon. In
the. Atlantic ocean, on the contrary, between
eleven and seventeen degrees of latitude, the
- greatest variations of heat rarely exceed 15 or
two degrees ; and I have often observed, that
from ten in the morning to five in the evening
the thermometer did not vary 0°8 of a degree:
In looking over fourteen hundred thermometri-
cal observations made hourly during the voyage
of Mr. Krusenstern, in the equatorial region of
the South Sea, we see, that the temperature of
the air changed from day to night only one or .
1:3 centesimal degree*. it :

I have often endeavoured to. measure. the
power of the Sun by two thermometers of mer-
cury perfectly equal+, one of which remained
exposed to the Sun, while the other was placed
in the shade. The difference resulting from the
absorption of the rays in the ball of the instru-

* J constantly observed the thermometer on the deck, to -
windward, and in the shade. Perhaps the thermometer and
barometer of Mr, Krusenstern were in a more sheltered
place, for instance in the great cabin.

t+ This instrument had a ball of three lines diameter, w hich
- was not blackened. The scales were contained in tubes of
glass very distant from the ball. Travellers prefer at present,
and with reason, Mr. Leslie’s photometers. Nicholson’s
Journal, 4to edition, vol. ili, p. 467. 2

o9

ment never exceeded 3:7°. Sometimes it did
not even rise higher than one or two degrees ;.
but the heat in the body of the vessel, and the
humid wind which blows by fits, render experi-
ments of this kind very difficult. I have repeat-
ed them with more success on the ridge of the
Cordilleras, and in the plains, by hourly: com-
paring, in perfectly calm weather, the power of
the Sun with it’s height, the blue color of. the
sky, and the hygrometrical state of the air.
We shall examine in another place, whether the
variable differences observed between the ther-
mometer in the Sun, and the thermometer in
the shade, depend only on the greater or less
extinction of light in it's passage ne a the
atmosphere.

TEMPERATURE OF THE SEA.

In my observations on the temperature of |
the waters of the sea, I had in view four objects
very distinct from each other; the decrement
of heat in the successive strata of the air; the
indication of shoals by the thermometer ; the
temperature of the seas at their surface; and,
finally, the temperature of the currents, which,
flowing from the equator * to the poles, and
from the poles to the equator, form warm or cold
streams‘ amid the motionless waters of the
\ * The Gulf-stream.
+ T lie current of Chili, which, as I have elsewhere proved,

draws the waters of the high latitudes toward the equator.

QA

6U

ocean. I shail treat here only of the heat of the
sea at it’s surface, the phenomenon of most im-
portance to the physical history of the Globe,
because the superior stratum of the ocean is the
only one, that has an immediate influence on the
state of our atmosphere.

The following table is extracted from the nu-
merous experiments contained in our journal
from the 9th of June to the 15th of July.

Temperat. of the
North latitude. | West longitude. | Atlantic Ocean
at it’s surface.

18’ 15°0°

55 16°3
ree hase

54 | 18°6

40 | 193
13 20-0
Ss «. | Bee
14 22-4
40 23°7
43 24-7
54 | | OB

From iaeretenn to the mouth of the Tagus,
the water of the sea varied but little in it’s tem-
perature; but from the thirty-ninth degree of
latitude to the tenth, the increment was very sen-
sible, and very constant, though not always uni-
form. From the parallel of Cape Montego to
that of Salvage, the progress of the thermometer

61

was almost as rapid as from 20° 8’ to 10° 46! ;
but it slackened extremely on the limits of the
torrid zone, from 29° 18’ to 20° 8’. This in-
‘equality is no doubt caused by the currents,
that mingle the waters of different latitudes,
and which, according as we approach the Ca-
nary islands or the coasts of Guyana, set either
to the south-east or the north-north-west. Mr.
de Churruca, who crossed the equator in his
voyage to the straits of Magellan, in the twenty-
fifth degree of west longitude *, found the maxi-
mum of the temperature of the Atlantic Ocean
at it’s surface in six degrees north latitude. In
those parts, in latitudes equally distant from
the equator, the water of the sea was coider to
the south than the north. We shall soon see,
that this phenomenon varies with the seasons,
and that it depends in a great measure on the
impetuosity, with which the waters run toward
the north and north-west, across the channel
formed between Brazil and the coasts of Africa.
If the motion of these waters did not modify the
temperature of the ocean, the increment of heat
under the torrid zone would be enormous, be-.
cause the surface of the water reflects infinitely
fewer of those rays which approach the perpen-
dicular, than of those which fall in a more ob-
lique direction.

I have observed in the Atlantic Ocean, as we

*. In the month of October, 1788.
2a 2

62

as in the South Sea, that, when we change both
latitude and longitude at the same time, the
waters often do not change one degree of tem-
perature, in an extent of several thousand square
leagues; and that in the space comprised be-
tween the twenty-seventh degree north and
the twenty-seventh south, this temperature of
the seas is almost entirely independant of the
variations of the atmosphere *. A very long
calm, a momentary change in thé duration of
the currents, a tempest mingling the inferior —
strata of the water with the upper, may for
some time produce a difference of two or even
three degrees; but as soon as these accidental
causes cease to act, the temperature of the ocean
resumes it’s former stability. I shall have ~
occasion to return to this phenomenon, one of
the most invariable that nature offers.

I have constructed a chart of the temperature
of the seas, as well from my own observations,
made from the forty-fourth degree of north to
the twelfth degree of south latitude, and from
the forty-third to the hundred and fifth of west

* To show what little influence the air has on the tempera-
ture of the immense basin of the seas, I have added, in the
_ journals, the indication of the heat of the atmosphere to that

of the heat of the ocean. The latter ‘may be changed by
_very remote causes, such as the more or less rapid melting of
the polar ice, or winds blowing in other latitudes, and produc-

ing currents.

\

63

longitude, as from a great number of materials,
which I have with some difficulty collected. As
a considerable body of water cools with extreme
slowness, it is sufficient to plunge the thermo-
meter into a bucket of water just taken from the
surface of the ocean. ‘Though this experiment
is very simple, it has been hitherto singularly
neglected. In the greater part of the narrations
of voyages, the temperature of the ocean is but
casually mentioned ; for instance, on occasion
of the researches made on the cold that prevails
at great depths, or on the stream of warm. water
that traverses the Atlantic. I have not been
able to make use of the excellent work of Mr.
Kirwan on climates, because this celebrated na-
turalist has not sufficiently distinguished, in his
tables of the temperature of the different lati-
tudes, between what is the result of direct expe-
riments, and what of theory; but the second
voyage to the straits of Magellan *, under the
command of Churruca and Galeano, the relation
of Abbé Chappe’s Voyage to California, the work
published at Philadelphia under the title of
Thermometrical Navigation +, and particularly
the interesting experiments made in 1800 by
Mr. Perrins, on board the Skelton, in the course

* Don Cosme de Churruca, Apendice de] Viage al Magel-
lanes, 1783, p. 98.
+ Thermometrical Navigation, 1799, p. 37.

64

of a voyage from London to Bombay, have fur-
nished me with numerous materials for my work.

Employed at Lima in researches on the tem- —
perature of the sea, I had engaged an officer of
the royal navy, Mr. Quevedo, to observe day by
day, during his passage from Peru to Spain,
round Cape Horn, the heights of two thermome-
ters, one of which should be exposed to the air,
and the other plunged into the upper stratum of
the ocean. The observations made by Mr.
Quevedo in 1802 *, on board the frigate Santa
Rufina, which will be given in this work, em-
brace both temperatures, from the sixth degree
of south to the thirty-sixth of north latitude ; and
are so much the more valuable, as this very well
informed navigator knew perfectly his longitude
by means of a chronometer by Brockbanks, and
of the distances of the moon from the sun.
His meteorological instruments, constructed by
Nairne, had been compared, before his depar-
ture, with those I made use of on the Cordil-
leras.

From the equator to the twenty-fifth and
twenty-eighth degrees of north latitude, the tem-
perature is remarkably constant, notwithstand-
ing the difference of the meridians ; it is more
variable in the high latitudes, where the melting
of the polar ice, the currents caused by this melt-
ing, and the extreme obliquity of the solar rays |

. * Nicholson’s Journal, 1804, p. 131.

65
in winter, diminish the heat of the ocean. The
following table, which contains experiments
_ taken without discrimination from several nau-
tical journals, confirms these assertions. The
fractions of degrees, by which the results are
expressed, arise from the reduction of the scales
of the thermometer of Reaumur or Fahrenheit
to the centigrade division.

66

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67

It is very remarkable, that, notwithstanding’
the immensity of the ocean, and the rapidity of
the currents, there is a great uniformity every
where in the maximum of heat in the equinoc-
tial seas. Mr. Churruca found this maximum,
in 1788, in the Atlantic Ocean, at 28°7°; Mr.
Perrins, in 1804, at 28°2°; Mr. Rodman *, in
his voyage from Philadelphia to Batavia, at 28:8";
and Mr. Quevedo, at 28°6°. In the South Seal
observed it the same year at 293°; consequently,
the differences scarcely exceed 1° of the centi-
grade thermometer, or +, of the total heat. We
must recollect, that, under the temperate zone,
to the north of the parallel of 45°, the mean
temperatures of different years vary more than
2°, ora fifth of the quantity of caloric that a de-
terminate part of the Globe ++ receives.

* Coxe, Philadelphian Medical Museum, vol. i, p. 88.

t+ Geneva from 1796 to 1809; 7:87° : 834°; 8°; 7°47;
838°; 849°; 849°; 827°; 85°; 712°; 8°73°; 7°78°;
6'68° , and '7°54° of Reaumur’s thermometer: Paris, at the
Observatory, from 1803 to 1810; 11°95°; 10°75°; 10°36°;
10°55°; 10°50°; 10°65°; 11°10°; and 9°79° of the centi-
grade thermometer. In proportion as we approach the tro-
pics, the variations of the annual temperature diminish.
Rome (lat. 41° 53’). from 1789 to 1792 ; 13°6° ; 12°5°; 13°4°;
~ and 12°9°, Reaum. (Buch. ia Gilbert’s Annalen der Physik, t.
24, p. 238). Philadelphia, (lat. 39° 56’) from 1797 to 1803.
12°70; 11°6e; 11°80; 11°7°; 12°79; and 12°8° of the centi-
grade thermometer. From these very accurate observations
it results, that the extremes at Geneva have been 2°5° ; at
Paris 2'2° ; at Rome, 1°3°; and at Philadelphia, 1°1. of the

68

The maximum of the temperature of the seas,

which is from 23 to 29 degrees, proves more than’

any other consideration, that the ocean is in
general warmer than the atmosphere with which
it is immediately in contact, and of which the
mean temperature, near the equator, is from 26
to 27 degrees. An equilibrium between the two

- elements cannot be established ; not only on ac- |

count of the winds, which carry the air near the

poles toward the equator, but also in consequence.

of the absorption of caloric, the effect of evapo-
ration. It is so much the more extraordinary
to see the mean temperature rise, in a part of the
equatorial ocean, beyond 29° (23°2° R.); as even
on the continents, amidst the most arid sands,
we scarcely know a place, where the mean heat
of the year reaches to 31°.

It remains to be examined, whether in the low
latitudes, in the same parallels, we find, in dif-
ferent seasons, nearly the same temperatures.

The following table will facilitate this kind of

research.

centesimal division. The variations observed: in the tempera-~

ture of the sea at it’s surface seemed to extend, under the

temperate zone, between the 35th and 45th degrees of lati-
tude, to threedegrees above and below it’s:mean temperature ;
and I was. wrong in saying, in a general manner, in the in-
troduction to’ Thomson’s Chemistry (French translation, t. i,
p. 100), that the ocean every ‘where directly indicates the
mean temperatures of the air, corresponding to the different
latitudes,

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me.

A great mass of water follows with extreme
slowness the changes of temperature observed in
the atmosphere, and the maximum of the mean |
temperatures of each month does not occur at
the same time in the ocean and in the air. The
increment of the heat of the seas necessarily
undergoes a delay ; and as the temperature of
the air begins to diminish, before that of the
water has reached it’s maximum, it follows, that
the extent of the thermometrical variations is
smaller at the surface of the sea than in the at-
mosphere. We are still very far from knowing
the laws of these phenomena, which have a great
influence in the economy of nature.

Mr. Kirwan admits, that between the eigh-
teenth degree of north and the eighteenth of
south latitude, the mean temperatures of the
months differ only five centesimal degrees, and
this estimation is somewhat too low; for we
know by observations, carefully calculated, that
at Pondicherry, at Manilla, and in several other
places between the tropics, the mean heats of
the months of January and August differ eight
or ten degrees. Now the variations of the air
are at least a third less in the basin of the seas
than on the continent; and the ocean under-
goes a part only of the changes of tempera-
ture of the atmosphere that surrounds it.
Hence it results, that, if the equinoctial oceans
did not communicate with the seas of the tem-

72

perate zones, the local influence of the seasons:
would be almost nothing in it.

Mr. Peron *, who has very successfully repeat-
ed the experiments made by Ellis, Forster, and
Irvine,-on the cold that prevails at the bottom of
_ the ocean, affirms, “ that every where the open’
sea is colder at noon, and warmer at night, than
the surrounding air.” This assertion has need
of much restriction; I am ignorant whether it
be exact in the forty-fourth and forty-ninth de-
grees of south latitude, where this laborious na-
turalist appears to have made the greatest num-
ber of his thermometrical observations; ut
between the tropics, where the air in the open
sea is scarcely two or three degrees colder at
midnight than two hours after the culmination
of the Sun, I have never found the least change
in the temperature of the ocean, either day or
night. This difference is sensible only ina dead
calm, during which ‘the surface of the water
absorbs a greater mass of rays; but we have
already observed, ‘that the thermometrieal expe-
riments made in this state of the ocean relate to
a local phenomenon only, and ought to be en-
tirely excluded in discussing.a problem of ge-
-neral physics. |
‘The observations contained in the preceding

* Annales du Museum, t. v. p. 123—148. ~Journ. de
Phys. t. lix, p. 361. Gilbert, Annalen der Physik, t. XIX. p.
427, , ay HL

73

tables have all been collected under the same
parallels, but in very different longitudes and
seasons. At the time of the voyage to the Ma-
gellanick regions, and to Batavia, the maximum
of the temperature was found much more to the
north than it had been perceived in all the
other voyages; which has had a sensible in-
finence on the heat of the sea to the north of the
tropic of Cancer. The maximum, according to
Churruca and-Rodman, was in October, in six
degrees north; according to Mr. Quevedo, in
March, in 20° 2’ south; and according to Dr.
Perrins, in April, in 0° 15’ north. I observed it
in March, at the east of the Galipago islands, in
2° 27° of north latitude. It is probable, that
changes in the currents cause these extraordi-
nary anomalies ; and that the great circle, which
passes through the points where the water of the
sea is the warmest, cuts the equator at an angle
which is variable according as the declination of
the Sun is north or south. These phenomena,
connected perhaps with those of the limit of the
trade winds, and the maximum of the saltness of
the sea, deserved to be carefully examined ; but
we should not be surprised at a failure of-accu-
rate observations. on the temperature of the
equatorial seas, if we recollect, that we are still
ignorant of the thermometrical variations in the
neighbouring seas of Europe *.

* Since my return in 1804, I have in vain exhorted those

74

From the thirtieth degree of north latitude,
the results which I attained agree very well with
the observations of Perrins and Quevedo. It is
not probably to the local influence of the sea-
sons, as we have just proved, but to the motion
of the waters, and to remote causes, that we
must attribute the extent of the variations of
temperature observed between the tropics in the .
voyage from London to Bombay. ‘These varia-
tions have risen to five degrees, while in’ the
South Sea I found them only 2°7°. ‘Quevedo, in
traversing from south to north a space of six
hundred and forty leagues, saw the heat of the
Atlantic ocean from the tropic of Capricorn to
the ninth degree of north latitude, change only

naturalists, who inhabit the coasts of the ocean, in Spain, in
France, and in England, to ascertain, for each month in the
year, the mean temperature of the sea at it’s surface, com-
pared with the mean temperature of the air on the neighbour-
ing coasts. What has been published on this subject is founded
~ either on theoretical considerations, or on a smal! number of
experiments, which have not been made in the open sea, but |
in harbours, and sheltered roads. What is the maximum of ~
‘cold which the ocean attains in the forty-fifth degree of
latitude, taking the mean average of several days? to what

month does this maximum correspond? It is asserted,

that, near Marseilles, the sea is never colder than 6°5°, or

warmer than 25°; though the extremes of the temperature

of the air are often —4° and + 35° (Mém. de la Soc. Royal

de Med. 1778, p. 70). Can it be admitted, that, m the open.
sea, the heat of the Atlantic rises to 20° in latitude 450, _

79

1:7°; and as far as the twenty-third of north la-
titude, the greatest variation of the sea extended
no farther than 3°7°.

_- This great regularity in the distribution of the
heat of the ocean is manifested also in a very
sensible manner, when we compare, in the two
hemispheres, zones equally distant from the
equator.

bo
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79

Yn discussing these observations made at dif-
ferent seasons, we should compare the months,
which in both hemispheres are almost equally
distant from the solstices. It is necessary also
to pay attention to the slowness, with which, in
the temperate zone, the sea receives and loses
the heat communicated to it by the air. The
anomalies that take place proceed perhaps in
part from the variations, which the mean atmos-
_ pherical temperatures of the months undergo on
the same spot, but in different years.

The preceding table shows, that the ideas
which are generally formed of the low temper-
ature of the southern hemisphere are not pre-
_ fectly accurate. Near the poles, and in very
high latitudes, the cold of the seas is undoubt-
edly less to the north than the south of the
equator; but this difference is not sensible be-
tween the tropics; it is even very little per-
ceptible as far as the 35th and 40th degrees of
latitude.

Mr. Kirwan obtained an analogous result for
the air that rests on the ocean, by taking the
averages of a great number of observations made
during the winter and summer in each hemi-
sphere, and recorded in the journals of navi-
gators*. From the equator to the thirty-fourth

* See a very interesting paper by him in the Transactions
of the Irish Academy, vol, viii, p. 422.

50

degree of south latitude, Hie Winters are more
temperate than under the same parallels in the.
northern hemisphere; and even in fifty one
degrees south, at the Falkland Islands, the
month of July is much less cold than the mqnen
of January at London.

SI
TABLE.

Cem pit esor of the temperature of the air in both
hemispheres*.

Mean temp. of the Months.

: Correspondent fom =~
pneu Months. | Southern { Northern

| hemisphere. | hemisphere.

Es tis December OE WD bt Seana ake aa se
~slddieoe UDG ys ent et ae al aOe
18 Octobers oe OH ghee 26°5
bi Agouals if ra) e 975 ihe:

0 January Sif chee Mes
eo Sly |S | CORR

September. jo...
hiviarehe 007 6" 208

sat mneember oo ad ean
eeigdane << 8
A PEDCUALY: (7. i's ots Si occcs
; August. . .| 168

| July. e hures aye
8 January . .| 15°2
| June etal vie
45) December. .| 7

1 CLL Nea ga Nig Ne a ied
January . . 6°2

A Td EGG LEIS Bal Se!

* The observations employed in constructing this table

$2

Lhe

These investigations are highly interesting to
the physical history of our planet. Does the
quantity of free caloric remain the same during
thousands of years ? have the mean temperatures
corresponding to different parallels augmented,
or diminished, since the last revolution that al-
tered the surface of the Globe? We cannot an-
swer these questions in the present state of our
knowledge ; we are ignorant of every thing that
relates to a general change of the climates, as we
know not whether the barometric pressure of
the atmosphere, the quantity of oxygen, the in-
tensity of the magnetic powers, and a great
number of other phenomena, have undergone
any change since the time of Noah, of Xisuthris,
or Menou. As a local variation in the temper-
ature of the ocean at it’s surface might be the
effect of a progressive change in the direction of
the currents, which bring hotter or colder water,
according as they come from lower or higher
latitudes ; so, in a very limited extent of sea, a
similar refrigeration might be produced by the
conflict of oblique and submarine currents, which
mix the waters of the bottom with those at the
surface; but. we can draw no general conclu-
sions from changes that have taken place on a

were all made at sea, except those, from which the mean tem-
peratare for the latitude of 34° was deduced. For these we
are indebted to Mr. Sparmann, during his stay at the Cape of
~“Good Hope.

/

83

few points of the Globe, whether at the surface
of the sea, or on the continent*. It is only by
the comparison of a great number of observa-
tions, made in different parallels of latitude,
and at different degrees of longitude, that we
shall be able to solve the important problem of
the increase or diminution of the heat of the
Karth.

Asa preparation for this work, we must care-
fully determine, at a given period, the maximum
of the temperature of the waters of the sea under
the tropics, and in the pare"'el of the warmest
waters. We have proved, that this maximum is
at present, in places the most remote from each
other, from 28° to 29° of the centigrade thermo-
meter. Very distant posterity will one day de-
cide, whether, as Mr. Leslie} has endeavoured
to prove by ingenious hypotheses, two thousand
four hundred years are sufficient to augment the
mean temperature of the atmosphere a single
degree. However slow this increment may be,

* The currents of the aerial ocean act like the currents of
the sea. In Europe, for instance, the mean temperature of
a place may augment, because very remote causes make a
change in the equilibrium between the winds of the south-
west and those of the north-east. We may even conceive a
partial change in the mean barometric height of a place, with-.
out this phenomenon indicating any general revolution in the
constitution of the atmosphere.

+ An experimental Inquiry into the Nature and Propaga-
tion of Heat, 1804, p. 181, and 536.

-

84.

we must admit, that an hypothesis, according to
which organic life seems gradually to augment’
on the Globe, occupies more agreeably our ima-
gination, than the old system of the cooling of
our planet, and the accumulation of the polar
ice. Some parts of physics and geology are
merely conjectural ; and it might be said, that
science would lose much of it’s attraction, if we
endeavoured to confine this conjectual part
within too narrow limits. :

HYGROMETR:, AL STATE OF THE AIR.
”l

Notwithstanding the doubts which have been
raised in these latter times respecting the accu-
racy, with which hair or whalebone hygrometers
indicate the quantity of vapours mingled in the
atmospheric air, it must be admitted, that, even
in the present state of our knowledge, these in-
struments are highly interesting to a naturalist,
who can transport them from the temperate to
the torrid zone, from the northern to the south-
ern hemisphere, from the low regions of the air.
that rest on the sea to the snowy tops of the
Cordilleras. 1 would rather, says Mr. de Saus-
sure*, that the most imperfect instrument were
made use of, a hempen string with a stone sus-
pended to it, than entirely neglect researches,

* Essai sur rHygrométrie, § 308.

ort)

for which so little has been done in distant voy-
ages*, Without entering into the question,
whether inaccurate experiments are more inju-
rious to the progress of the sciences than the
total ignorance of a certain number of facts, I
may affirm, that several hygrometers, constructed
by Mr. Paul at Geneva, and reduced from time
to time to the point of extreme humidity-+, have

* Mr. Peron thinks, “ that it was in the voyage of Captain
Baudin, that hygrometers for the first time crossed the ocean.”
But before this voyage, and even a long time before my own,
hygrometrical observations had been made in the voyage of
_Lapérouse, and at Bengal by the son of Mr. Deluc.

+ I made this correction every time that I had any doubt
of the indication of the hygrometer. I employed immersion
in rain water, as Mr. Deluc recommends for whalebone. It
is known, that this method of verification, even with hair, can
cause but a slight error of 1° or 1:5° (Essai, § 32, p. 37);
while the best hygrometers often differ from each other two
degrees, I have never been able to reduce the hair or whale-
bone to the degree of extreme siccity, for want of a portable
apparatus, which [ regret not having made before my de-
parture. I advise travellers to provide themselves with a nar-
row jar, containing caustic potash, quicklime, or muriat of
lime, and closed with a screw by a plate on which the hygro-
meter may be fixed. This small apparatus would be of easy
conveyance, if care were taken to keep it always in a per-
pendicular position. As under the tropics Saussure’s hygro-
meter generally keeps above 85°, a frequent verification of the
single point of extreme humidity is most commonly sufficient
to give confidence to the observer. Besides, in order to know
on which side the error lies, we should recollect, that old hy-
grometers, if not corrected, have a tendency to indicate too
great dryness.

=

56

furnished me with observations which accorded.
very well with each other. I have always pre-
ferred the old instrument with a single hair to
that of Richer, in which several hairs act at the
same time on the index, and with unequal ten-
sions. I can affirm also, that every thing Mr.
de Saussure has advanced, in his Essay on Hy-
grometry, of the long duration of his portable
hygrometers, is extremely exact*. I have pre-
served some without any alteration during three
years travels in the forests and mountains of
South America. Before my departure they were:
compared by. Mr. Pictet with the hygrometers
of the observatory at Geneva; and I have al-
most always found them at 99° or 100°5°, when
I have been able to expose them to a very thick
fog. | |

As the fiftieth degree of the whalebone hygro-
meter corresponds to the eighty-sixth degree of
the hair hygrometer, | made use of the first at

‘sea and in the plains, while the second was ge-

nerally reserved for the dry air of the Cordilleras.
The hair below the sixty-fifth degree of Saus-
sure’s instrument indicates, by great variations,
the smallest changes of dryness; and has be-
sides the advantage of putting itself more rapidly
into a state of equilibrium with the ambient air.
Deluc’s hygrometer acts, on the contrary, with

* Lbid. § 67,

-

87

extreme slowness ; and on the summit of moun-
tains, as I have frequently experienced to my:
great regret, we are often uncertain whether we
have not ceased our observations before the in-
strument has ceased it’s movement. On the
other hand, this hygrometer, furnished with a
spring, has the advantages of being strong,
marking with great exactness in very moist air
the least increment of the quantity of vapor in
solution, and acting in all positions ; while Saus-
sure’s hygrometer must be suspended, and is
often deranged by the wind, which raises the
counterpoise of the index. I have thought it

* might prove useful to travellers, to mention in |

this place the results of an experience of several
years. Soy
During the whole of the passage, the apparen
humidity of the atmosphere, that indicated by
the hygrometer not corrected by the temper-
ature, augmented sensibly, notwithstanding the
progressive increment of the heat. In the month
of July, in the thirteenth and fourteenth degrees
of latitude, Saussure’s hygrometer marked at sea
from eighty-eight to ninety-two degrees*, in per-

* The hair bygrometer being much better known than that
of whalebone, in order to preserve a uniform rate, the hygro-
metrical results have been given according to Saussure’s instru-
ment, even when the observations were made with that of
Deluc. It is only in the meteorological journal, that the hy-
grometer employed for each series of experiments is men-

88,

fectly serene weather, the thermometer being at
twenty-four degrees. On the banks of the lake
of Geneva*, the mean humidity of the same
month is only eighty degrees, the average heat
being nineteen degrees. Now, on reducing these
hygrometrical observations to a uniform tem-
perature, we find, that the real humidity, m the
equinoctial basin of the Atlantic Ocean, is to the
humidity of the months of summer, at Geneva,
in the ratio of twelve to seven. This enormous
humidity of the atmosphere explains in a great
measure the strength of vegetation, which we
admire on the coasts of South America, heed
no rain falls for several years. '

As the quantity of vapors changes, not with
the elasticity of the air, but with the tempera-
ture, we may compare, either the absolute quan-
tities of vapour contained in the atmosphere in
two places, or the proportion of their quantities
to those necessary to the complete saturation of
the air in different climates. We know by very
accurate experiments the capacities of saturation
of the air at different degrees of the thermome-
ter; but the relations which exist between the
progressive lengthening of a hygroscopical body,
tioned. The numbers always mark the apparent humidity, if
the contrary be not expressly stated.

* Under the temperate zone, on the continent, the extremes
were commonly in summer sixty-seven and eighty-eight de.
grees, the temperature of the air being from twenty-six to
eighteen centesimal degrees,

89

and the quantities of vapor contained in a given -
space, have not been appreciated with the same
degree of certainty. These considerations have
induced me to publish the indications of the
hair and whalebone hygrometers just as they
were observed, marking the degree shown by
the thermometers connected with these two in-
struments. To facilitate to a certain point the
comparison of the observations made in different
latitudes, I shall here insert a table, which was
calculated by Mr. d’Aubuisson, when he made
his valuable researches on the coefficients of
the baromeiric formulas. The whole of the re-
sults prove that as we advance toward the equa-
tor, the air approaches the point of saturation.
We have chosen the periods, when the tempera-
ture of the sea was nearly equal to that of the
air. Of eight columns, which compose this
table, the first contains the time of the observa-
tion: the second the latitude of the place; the
third the state of the thermometer ; the fourth
the state of the hygrometer ; the fifth the weight
of vapor contained in a cubic metre of air, sup-
posing it saturated ; the sixth the weight of va-
por contained in a cubic metre of air, at the de-
gree of the hygrometer observed; the seventh
the thickness of the sheet of water which should
be evaporated in an hour's time, if the surround-
ing air was perfectly dry; the eighth the same

90

thickness, admitting in the air the quantity of
vapor indicated by the hygrometer*.

~ * The following is the basis of Mr. d’Aubuisson’s calcula-
tion :
t = the height of the centigrade thermometer.
p — the height of de Saussure’s hygrometer.
diet av :
6 =( the quantities indicated in the columns of the fol-

c =(_ lowing table, and designated by the same letters.
d= |

-@ = Elastic force of the vapour in a space re Is Sa-
turated.

According to the observations of Saussure, it is found, that
the elastic force, in a space in which the hygrometer marks
p degrees is ¢ (0'015 ~« — 0.47), while » > 50°. Let 0°015
pm VAT = mM.

Mr. La Place gives, from the experiments of Dalton,

C= 0005193 x (10) t. 0'02707:2 _ BB
(Mec. cél. t. iv. p. 273.) Hence it is concluded :
é millim.
pean oe ihe a aN bs a xm; ¢=.042; and d= ¢
1 + t. 0:00375’

(1 —m). 1

91

VI

Z1-0 WEG OP OL = GL
e1-0 Ove: 2VG,-ole| = — — =-OF
SL-0 G23 | 61 91/ ° Ae p
0Z-0 G16 ne SSL Sl Sa 0S
91-0 0006 © 81 -66.;—- ~ © 91
F1-0 0-06 | 98 OF, - ° Cl ©
S1-0 SVU} OL 66 6627940 6 a
‘uo (p |. aie te ‘eas uado
Aqyear ur IIe 9} aq} Ut ‘UOTJVAIISGO 34}
a= v--- aovd 343 Jo JO spottog
“QUI S.dnOY Ue UL *It8 oY} UL apnyyey

poyerodeaa 1938m Jo AyWUeNG | ‘poureyuoo Jodea jo AyUeNG

“UD2IQ OYUDAP ay fo UISDG aY) UL apHUL SUOLZDALASGC) qooLsgaWOUShET ay} fo sqnsay

WTAVL

92

It follows from these researches, that, -if the
quantity of vapor, which the air commonly con-
tains in our middle latitudes, amounts to about
three quarters of the quantity necessary for it’s
saturation, in the torrid zone this quantity is
raised to nine-tenths. The exact ratio is from
0-78 to 0°88. It is this great humidity of the
air, under the tropics, which is the cause that
the evaporation: is less than we should have sup-
posed it to be from the elevation of the tem-
verature.

I was often surprised, during this passage, and
at a later period in the vast basin of the Pacific
Ocean, at not seeing the hygrometer make nearer
approaches to the point of extreme humidity.
This instrument has been sometimes, far from
the coasts, at eighty-three degrees; and gene-
rally in the equinoctial zone, it kept between
ninety and ninety-two degrees. According to
the meteorological tables, published by Messrs.
Langsdorff and Horner, we see, that in Kru-
senstern’s voyage, as well as in that of La Pe-
rouse, the apparent humidity * was found to be

* Mém. de Acad. de Pétersbourg, t. i, p. 454. I have
corrected the indications of Deluc’s hygrometer, which was
used by the Russian navigators. In their instrument the
76th degree corresponded to the point of extreme humidity.
Lamanon’s hygrometers were well verified, since they indi-
cated 100 or 101 degrees in a thick fog. Voyage de La
Pérouse, t. iv, p. 261. |

93

from eighty-eight to ninety-two degrees, The
extremes were eighty-three and ninety-seven de-
grees, which is conformable to my observations.
It is true, that, from the curious researches of
Mr. Gay-Lussac, the hygrometer can never in-
dicate beyond ninety degrees in air in contact
with a saturated solution of muriat of soda; but
the water of the sea is every where so distant
from the point of saturation, that the salt which
it contains would scarcely change a single de-
gree the point of the greatest humidity, that the
lower strata of the air in the basin of the seas.
might attain. This point would be indicated by
the hygrometer, if the tranquillity of the atmos-
phere were not troubled by currents:

The wind, in displacing the particles of the
air, does not make the hair rise to dry, as it
causes the descent of a thermometer exposed to
the sun by carrying off the strata of air strongly
heated. Numerous experiments * of Mr. de
Saussure prove, that the air acts in the same
manner on hygroscopic substances, whether it
be in motion or at rest; consequently the in-
fluence of horizontal or descending winds _be-
comes sensible to the hygrometer inasmuch only
as these winds bring strata of air less loaded
with vapors. If oblique currents are establish-
ed, either by a sudden acceleration in the decre-

* Essai sur ? Hygrométrie, § 150—156,
2c2

94

iment of caloric, cr by the conflict of several
winds, or by electric phenomena, the upper
strata of the atmosphere are mingled with the
lower strata. These movements, joined to the
horizontal winds that traverse great continents
before they reach the basis of the seas, perpetu-
ally tend to remove the hygrometer from the
extreme point of saturation. Perhaps also the
polar currents, which, from the effects of the ro-
tation of the Globe, seem to produce the appear-
ance of trade winds, have too much velocity to
suffer the air they bring, to load itself under each
parallel with the whole quantity of vapor cor-
respondent to it’s temperature.

Naturalists, who have long marked the pro-
gress of the hygrometer in the open air, have
seldom seen these instruments at a hundred de-
grees, except in a thick fog. In the heaviest rain,
even in the midst of the clouds, the hair hygro-
meter often keeps at ninety and ninety-five de-
grees *. In this case the air placed between

* Mr. de Saussure observed it once at 84°7° during a very
heavy shower. Essai, § 326, p. 321. On the other hand,
Mr. Deluc found, that his hygrometers, which, plunged into
water, marked 100, kept at 83°3° when they were placed
under a glass jar filled with atmospheric air, and of which
the sides were constantly moistened. On seeing’in my jour-
nal, that Deluc’s hygrometer kept oftenest between sixty and
sixty-three degrees, it should be remembered, that in this
instrument the point of saturation in the air is not a hundred,
but about eighty-four or eighty-five degrees. Idées sur la

95

the drops of water, or the vesicular vapor, is far
from being saturated; and I doubt whether the
atmosphere, preserving a perfect transparency,
ever attains the maximum of humidity, which
we obtain under our glass jars. Mr. de Saus-
sure, after having explained the long series of
his manometrical and hygrometrical experi-
ments, made at different degrees of temperature,
admits, that the last degrees of his instrument
are perhaps only degrees of supersaturation, and
that the quantity of vapor that a certain volume
of free air can contain, is probably less than
might be admitted from the experiments made
in our laboratories *. |

The naturalists, who accompanied the Che-.
_ valier Krusenstern in his voyageround the world,
assert, that Deluc’s hygrometer enabled the
mariners to foresee stormy weather, during the
passage from Washington Islands to Sanga-
sacky ; and in all other parts of the torrid zone,
where thechanges of the atmosphere have scarce-
ly any influence on the barometer. Mr. Peron,

Metéorologie, 1786, t. i, p. 72; t. ii, p. 473. Urenna,
Anales de Historia natural, 1803, p. 229.

* In determining the point of extreme humidity, it is sup-
posed, that the air in the jar is not yet saturated, when the |
vapors begin to be precipitated in an almost imperceptible
manner. (Saussure, Essai, § 107 and 123.) Mr. Gay-Las- |
sac has shown, that the hygroscopical property of the glass
becomes a source of errors difficult to avoid.

96

on the other hand, says, that he has seen the
barometer constantly fall at sea, when the ‘hai
hygrometer advanced toward extreme humidity.
I have had no eel ae - pte a a
these assertions. |

AZURE COLOR OF THE SKY, AND COLOR OF THE
SBA AT ITS SURFACE. —

The cyanometr ee indications contained i in
this work are, I believe, the first that, have been
attempted. on the sea, and in the equinoctial re-
gions. The instrument I made use of had been
compared with that of Mr. de Saussure. I had
the satisfaction, in 1795, to consult this illus-
trious naturalist on my travelling projects ; and
he had engaged me to make, at a distance from
Europe, a series of observations similar to those
he had collected on the chain of the higher
Alps *.

I shall not here enter into the theory an the
cyanometer, and the necessary precautions to
avoid errors. Though this imperfect instrument
is yet but little known, naturalists are not, less
acquainted with the i ingenious principle, on which
the determination of ‘the extreme points of the
scale ¢ are'founded. In order to assure myself

* Mr. Leslie has expressed the same desire in his work
‘on the propagation of heat, p. 442. ee
+ Mémoires de Turin, t. iv, p. 409. Journal de Ppyeines,

97

by direct proof, whether the cyanometrical ob-
servations are comparable with each other, I
have often placed the instrument in the hands
of persons, who had not been accustomed to this
kind of measurement, and I have observed, that
their judgment on the shades of blue toward the
horizon and at the zenith never differed more
than two degrees.

The chamois hunters and Swiss herdsmen
have at all times been struck with the intense
color of the heavenly vault on the summit of the
Alps. In the year 1765 Mr. Deluc fixed the
attention of naturalists on the phenomenon, the
causes of which he developed with equal preci-
sion and simplicity. “ In the lower part of the
atmosphere,” says he *, “ the color of the air is
always paler and weakened by the vapors, which
at the same time cause a greater dispersion of
the light. The air of the plains becomes deeper,
when it is more pure; but it never approaches
the vivid and deep tint, which is remarked onthe

t. xxxvill, p. 499. | Voyages dans les Alpes, § 2086. Essai
surla Géographie des Plantes, 1807, p. 102. Bouguer ap-
pears to have already had the idea of a'{,milar instrument,
but of more general use. In speaking of the light reflected
by the particles of the air, he says, “ We should employ, as
a term of comparison, painted tablets of different colors.”
Traité d’Optique, p. 865.

* Researches on the Modifications of the Atmosphere,
5 931.

98

mountains.” Itseemedto me, that in the chain
of the Andes these appearances make less ims
pression on the mind of the natives, because
those among them, who scale the summits of the
Cordilleras to gather snow, do not come from the
region of the low lands, but from elevated plains,
which are themselves twelve or fifteen hundred
toises above the level of the sea.

I found on examining the cyanometrical ob-
servationsrecorded in my journal, that, from the
coasts of Spain and Africa to those of South-
America, the azure color of the heavenly vault
progressively augmented from thirteen to twenty_
three degrees. From the 8th to the 12th of
July, in twelve and a half and fourteen degrees
of latitude, the sky was of an extraordinary
paleness, without any concrete or vesicular vapor
being visible. The cyanometer indicated at the
zenith, between noon and two in the afternoon*,
only sixteen or seventeen degrees; though the

* The observations were always made at the zenith itself,
or near the zenith, but at times when the Sun was distant
from that part of the sky, of which the intensity of the blue
color was measure?, At ten or twelve degrees distance
around the sun, te tint has a local paleness ; as on the con-
trary it has a local intensity, when the blue of the sky is seen,
either between two clouds, or above a mountain covered with
snow, or between the sails of a ship, or the tops of trees. It
is scarcely necessary to remark, that this intensity is only ap-
parent, and that it is the effect of a contrast of two colors of
different shades. |

99

preceding days it had been at twenty-two de-
grees. I found in general the tint of the sky
deeper under the torrid zone, than in the high
latitudes ; but I have also proved, that, in the
same parallel, this tint is paler at sea than on
land. |

- As the color of the firmament depends on the
accumulation and on the nature of the opake
vapors suspended in the air, we should not be
astonished, if during great droughts, in the
steppes of Venezuela and of Meta, we see the
sky of a deeper blue than in the basin of the
ocean. A very hot air, almost saturated with
humidity, rises perpetually from the seas toward
the high regions of the atmosphere, where a colder
temperature prevails. This ascending current
causes there a precipitation, or rather a conden-
sation of vapor. Part assembles in clouds, under
the form of vesicular vapor, at times when we see
no clouds appear in the dryer air that reposes on
the land; another part remains scattered, and
suspended in the atmosphere, the tint of which
it renders paler. When, from the summit of the
Andes, we turn our eye toward the great South
Sea, we often perceive a haziness uniformly
spread to fifteen or eighteen hundred toises in
height, and covering, as with a thin veil, the
surface of the ocean. This appearance takes
place in a season when the atmosphere, beheld
from the coast and at sea, appears pure and

~ 100

perfectly transparent ; and the existence of the

opake vapor is announced to navigators only by.
the little intensity of the azure color of the sky.

We shall hereafter have occasion to return to

these phenomena, which modify the extinction
of light; and which, like the fogs popularly
called dry, remain so confined to the highregions
of the atmosphere, that our hygrometers undergo
no sensible change.

I have often repeated, in the equinoctial. part
of the Atlantic Ocean, the experiments of Mr. de |
Saussure on the decrement of the intensity of
color observed from the zenith to. the horizon.
On the 14th of July, in latitude 16° 19’, the sky
being of the purest blue,’ the thermometer keep-
ing at twenty-two degrees, and the hygrometer
at Sighty-cight degrees, I found, toward noon,

at 1°-of height, 3°-of the: Aiptek

10 6

BOs. 1 10

30 16°5

40 18

60 7) aa
between 70 & 90 | 93:5.

The 30th of June, in latitude 18° 58’, the ther-
mometer being at 21°2°, and the hygrometer at
§1:5°, the cyanometric decrement had been
somewhat less regular : }, aga?

at 1° of height, 2:5° of the cyanometer
10 4

101

at 20° of height, 85° of the cyanometer

30 12
45 15°5
50 18°3
60 21
between 70 & 90 22-4

This decrement has a great analogy with that .
which was observed at Geneva on the 11th of
April, 1790, and to which Mr. Prevost * endea-
voured to apply calculation. We know, that
both follow nearly an arithmetical progression,
but that at sea there are great irregularities
before twenty degrees of height. This zone
near the horizon exhibits tints extremely pale,
on account of the vapor that lies on the surface
of the water, and through which the blue rays
are transmitted to us. It is for the same reason, |
that near the coasts, at an equal distance from
the zenith, the vault of the sky appears of a
deeper color on the land side than on that to-
ward the sea.

‘The quantity of vapor, with modifies the
shades of the atmosphere by reflecting white
light, is changing from morning to evening ; and
the cyanometer, observed at the zenith, or near
this point, indicates with sufficient precision the
variations that correspond to the different hours
of the day.

Journal de Physique, t. lvii, p. 372.

102
Latitude. 640’clock. 100’clock,- Noon. 20o'clock. 5% o'clock.
16%53" ok 219 Bara? eae 18°
16 19 , 19 29 935.) 23 —-20°5
13 51 15 16 bys 17 158

I was unwilling to omit the last observation,
that of the 8th of July, though the sky, by a sin-
gular anomaly, appeared that day as pale as we
see it on the continent in the temperate zone.
The Sun being at equal distances from the meri-
dian, the tints are deeper in the evening than in
the morning, without, doubt because the maxi-
mum of temperature falls between the hours. of
oneand two. I have not remarked, like Mr. de »
Saussure, that the cyanometer was regularly less
elevated at noon*, than some time before the
passage of the, Sun across the meridian; but I
have not been able to devote myself. with the
same assiduity to this kind of investigation.

_ We must not confound the cyanometrical
measures with the experiments, which Bouguer
attempted, by means of his lucimeter, on the in-
tensity of the light diffused or reflected by the
air. This intensity contributes without doubt
to modify the more or less azure tint of the
heavenly vault ; but the two phenomena do not
depend directly on the same causes, and there

* Cyanometrical observations at Geneva:

6 o’clock. 10 o’clock. Noon. 2 o’clock. 6 o'clock.
47 22°6° 22°5° 20°6° 17°

103

are a great number of circumstances, in which
the intensity of the aerial light is very small
while the cyanometer indicates deeper tints.
Mr. Leslie * has observed, for instance, by his
photometer, that the light diffused is weaker,
when the sky is of a very deep and pure blue,
than when it is slightly covered by transparent
vapor. So, on the mountains where the inten-
sity of the direct light is the greatest +, the
aerial light is very weak, because the rays are
reflected by air of less density. A very deep tint
corresponds there to the feebleness of the dif-
fused light; and the aspect of the sky on the
mountains would resemble that offered by the
heavenly vault on the plains, when it is illumin-
ed by the feeble light of the Moon, if the state
of the aqueous vapor did not produce a sensible
difference in the quantity of white rays reflected
toward the lower regions of the Earth. In these
regions, the vapors are condensed after sunset,
and the descending currents disturb that equi-
librium of temperature, which has been estab-
lished during the day. On the ridge of the Cor-
dilieras, the azure of the sky is less mingled with
white, because the air there is always extremely
dry. The rarer atmosphere of the mountains,
illumined by the vivid light of the Sun, reflects

* On the Propagation of Heat, p. 441.
+ Laplace, Mécan. Céleste, t.iv,p. 282. Expos, du Syst.
du Monde, p. 96. |

7

104

almost as few blue rays as the dense atmosphere
of the plains enlightened by the feeble light of
the Moon. From these considerations it follows,
that we ought not to say, with Mr. de Saussure
and other naturalists, who have recently treated
on this subject, that the intensity of the blue is
greater on the summit of the Alps than in the
_ plains ; the color of the sky is “— deeper, less
mixed with white. :

If we direct the cyanometer toward the parts
of the sky very near the Sun, the instrument in-
dicates, near the zenith, as faint tints as those
which are observed near the horizon. The causes
of this paleness are very different. Near the Sun
too intense a light fatigues our organs; and the
eye, dazzled by the quantity of white rays it re-
ceives at once, becomes almost insensible to the
impression of the blue rays. At the horizon, on
the contrary, it is not the intensity of the aerial
light, that renders the azure tint of the sky pale ;
before sunset this phenomenon is produced by
the white light, reflected by the vapors condens-
ed near the surface of the Earth. |

Bouguer has made the curious observation,
that, when the Sun is fifteen or sixteen degrees
high, there are, on a line parallel to the horizon,
two parts of the sky, from 110 to 120 degrees
distant from the luminary, where the intensity
is at it’s minimum ; while we observe the maxt-
mum in a point diametrically opposite to the

105

sun*, We think, that -this circumstance has
but little influence on-the accuracy of the cya-
nometrical measures made in the torrid zone;
for the greater the elevation the Sun has above
the horizon, the more uniformity there is in the
distribution of the aerial light +. It even ap-
pears, that a part of the sky may reflect a greater
or less quantity of light, without any indication
of a deeper or fainter tint by the cyanometer.

I shall not enlarge any farther on the analogy,
that exists between the results obtained by the
cyanometer of Saussure and the lucimetér of
Bouguer. This subject is one of the most deli-
cate investigations in optics ; and the tint of the
sky deserves so much more the attention of na-
turalists, as the ingenious experiments of Mr.
Arago have recently proved, that the aerial light
is composed of rays not all of the same nature,
since it contains some that are insusceptible of
polarization. '
_. If the cyanometer indicate, I will not say the
quantity, but the accumulation and the nature
of the opake vapors contained in the air, the na-
vigator is in possession of a more simple manner
of judging of the state of the low regions of the
atmosphere. He attentively observes the color
and figure of the solar disk at it’s rising and

3 Bouguer, Traité d’Optique, p. 71 and 367.
+ Ibid, p. 74.

106

setting. This disk, beheld across the strata of
air that lie immediately upon the ocean, an-
nounces the duration of fine weather, and the
slackness or strength of the wind. It is a
kind of diaphanometer*, the indications of which
have been interpreted with greater or less cer-
tainty for ages. Under the torrid zone, where
the meteorological phenomena follow each other
with great regularity, and where the horizontal
refractions are more uniform, the prognostics are
surer than in the northern regions. A great pale-
ness of the setting Sun, a wan color, an extra-
ordinary disfiguration of it’s disk, are almost un-
equivocal signs of a tempest ; and we can scarce-
ly conceive, how the state of the low strata of
the atmosphere, which this natural diaphano-
meter shows us, can be so intimately connected
with meteorological changes, that take place
eight or ten hours after the setting of the Sun.
Mariners have carried the physiognomical
knowledge of the sky to a much higher state of
perfection, than the inhabitants of the fields.
Viewing only the ocean, and the sky which
seems to repose upon it’s surface, their attention
is continually fixed on the slightest modifica-
tions of the atmosphere. Among the great num-
ber of meteorological rules, which pilots trans-

* See the description of the apparatus, to which Saussure
has given this name in the Mémoires de Turin, vol. iv.
p. 429. ;

107

mit to each other as a kind of inheritance, there
are several that evince great sagacity ; and, in
general, prognostics are less uncertain in the
basin of the seas, especially in the equinoctial
parts of the ocean, than on the continent, where
the configuration of the ground, mountains, and
_ plains, interrupts the regularity of the meteoro-
logical phenomena. The influence of the luna-
tions on the duration of tempests ; the action
exercised by the Moon at it’s rising, during se-
veral successive days, on the dissolution of the
clouds ; the intimate connection that exists be-
tween the descent of marine barometers and the
changes of weather; and other similar facts ;
are scarcely observed in inland countries com-
prised in the variable zone, while their reality
cannot be denied by those, who have long been
in the habit of sailing between the tropics..

I attempted to apply the cyanometer to mea-
sure the color of the sea. Though this color is
commonly green, we have no need of a chloro-
meter to estimate the intensity of it’s tint. In
this experiment there is no question but of the
strength of the color, of the lighter or deeper
shade, and not of the individual nature or qua-
lity of the tint. In fine calm weather the color
of the ocean has been equal to the thirty-third,
the thirty-eighth, sometimes even the forty-fourth
degree of the cyanometer ; though the vault of
the sky was very pale, and scarcely reached the

2 D

108

fourteenth or fifteenth degree. It would be

useless*to repeat these experiments when the at- .

- mosphere is loaded with clouds, or in the shadow
of a vessel. When, instead of directing the cya-
nometer toward a great extent of open sea, we
fix our eyes on a small part of it’s surface through
a narrow aperture, the water appears of a beau-
tiful ultramarine color. Toward evening, on the
contrary, when the edges of the waves, illumined
by the Sun, are of an emerald green, their sur-
face, on the shady side, has a purple reflection.
_ Nothing is more striking than the rapid
changes, which the ocean undergoes beneath a
serene sky, where no variations whatever are to
be perceived in the atmosphere. I do not here
speak of the whitish and milky tint, that marks
the waters of shoals, and in soundings, which is
owing only to the sand suspended in the liquid,
since it is perceived in places, where the bottom,
in twenty or thirty fathoms. water, is no way vi-
sible ; I speak of those extraordinary changes,
by which, in the midst of the vast basin of the
equinoctial ocean, the water passes from an in-
digo blue to the deepest green, and from this to
a slate gray, without any apparent influence
from the azure of the sky, or the color of the
clouds. | |
The blue tint of the ocean is almost independ-
ent of the reflection of the sky. In general the
sea between the tropics is of a more intense and

-

109

purer azure than in high latitudes ;. and this dif-
ference is remarked even in the Gulf-stream.
The ocean often remains blue, when, in fine wea-
ther, more than four-fifths of the sky are covered
with light and floating clouds. They who do
not admit Newton’s theory of colors consider the
blue of the sky as the black of space seen through
a medium, the transparency of which is disturb-
‘ed by vapors *: this explanation they might ex-
tend to the blue tint of the Ocean. |
Whatever relates to the color of the water is
extremely problematic. The green tint of the
snow waters, that flow from the glaciers of the |
‘Alps, and which contain very litile air in solu-
tion, might induce us to believe, that this color
is appropriate to water in it’s greatest purity.
We address ourselves in vain to chemistry to ex-
plain this phenomenon, or that of the blue color
of the Rhone near Geneva: there is hitherto no
proof, that waters exist which contain a greater
or less degree of hydrogen ; and the refrigera-
tion of the seas in tempests is much too weak,
to permit us to attribute the reflection of differ-
ent colored rays to the mere change of density.
It is no way probable, that the green color of the
water is owing to the mixture of yellow rays
irom the bottom, and blue rays reflected by the

* Antonio de Dominis, la Hire, and Mr. von Goethe
(Mém. de I’ Acad., t. ix, p. 615. Farbenlehre. t. i, p. 59.)
2pd2

110

water *; for the open sea is often green, where
it is more than eight hundred fathoms deep.
Perhaps, at certain hours of the day, the red
or yellow light of the Sun contributes to the
colouring it green -. The waves, like moveable
and inclined mirrors, progressively reflect the
shades and tints of the atmosphere from the
zenith to the horizon. The motion of the sur-
face of the water modifies the quantity of light,
that penetrates toward the inferior strata; and —
it may be conceived, that those rapid changes
of transmission, which act as it were like changes
of opakeness, may, when they are united to other
causes unknown to us, change the tint of the
ocean, : | '

DIP OF THE MAGNETIC NEEDLE. INTENSITY OF
i THE MAGNETIC FORCES. |

The variations of terrestrial magnetism belong
to a kind of phenomena, on which I have em-
ployed myself with singular predilection, during
the course of my travels, and in the subsequent
years. The objects to which I directed my re-_
searches were, first, the dip of the magnetic
needle ; secondly, the variation, or angle which

* Décade Egyptienne, vol. i, p. 101.

+ The beautiful greenish blue color of ice, when we see it
in a great mass, is a phenomenon well worthy of investiga-
_ tion, and known by every naturalist, who has visited the gla-

ciers of the Alps. | KOVR ae

Vil
the magnetic meridian makes with the meridian
of the place; thirdly, the horary variations of
the variation ; fourthly, the intensity of the
magnetic forces, measured by the duration of
the oscillation of a horizontal or vertical needle *-
The extent of the surface of the Globe, in which
I have been enabled to determine the magnetic
phenomena with the same instruments, and
- employing similar methods, was one hundred
and fifteen degrees in longitude, and is com-
prised between fifty-two degrees north and
twelve degrees south latitude. This vast re-
gion isso much the more interesting, as it is
traversed by the magnetic equator ; so that the
point where the dip is nought, having been de-
termined by land, and by astronomical means,
we may, with respect to the two Americas, con-
vert, with precision, the terrestrial latitudes into

* When we measure the intensity by the oscillations of a
needle in a horizontal plane, we must correct the results by
the dip observed in the same place. This correction is un-
necessary, when we employ a dipping needle, which oscillates
in the plane of the magnetic meridian, The number also of
these oscillations, compared with the number of those which
the same needle makes in a plane perpendicular to the mag-
netic meridian, determines the dip of the place. This method
of finding the dip by an instrument without a divided limb
affords more precision near the magnetic equator, than in the
northern regions : it served to verify the exactness of a part
of my observations, published before my return to Europe by
Mr. de La Lande. (Journal de Phys., vol. xlix, p. 429.)

ig. -

magnetic latitudes. This conversion, indisperis-
able for the study of the complicated laws of
magnetism, is, on the contrary, very problema-
tic, when we compare observations of the mag-
netic dip made in meridians very remote from —
each other ; and when we consider the magnetic
equator as a great circle, without inflection, and
without irregularity of curve.

Notwithstanding the considerable degree of —
perfection, which Mitchell and Nairne had at-
tained in the construction of dipping needles,
these instruments, before the year 1791, had not
reached that degree of exactness, which they
have now attained. If La Caille, Dalrymple,
Cook, Bayly, and Lord Mulgrave have succeed-
ed. in obtaining excellent results, it is because
these able observers made numerous compara-
tive experiments, and took the average of a
great number. The compasses employed in La
Perouse’s expedition were those made use of by
Captain Cook in his last voyage round the
world. We must suppose, that these instru-
ments were out of order, or of difficult use: for
the dips observed on board the Astralabe often
differ five, six, or eight degrees from those ob-
tained the same day on board the Boussole.
This uncertainty had induced the celebrated
Borda to apply himself, conjointly with Mr. Le
Noir, to the improvement of the dipping needle.
This navigator, to whom astronomy is indebted

113

for the use of repeating cireles, has also furnish-
ed travellers with the means of making accurate
observations on the magnetic dip. Borda’s
compass was successfully employed. in the voy-
age of Viceadmiral d’Entrecasteaux, in that of
Captain Baudin, and in the excursions of Mr.
Nouet in Egypt. If-we add the results obtained
in these different voyages to those I have col-
lected during seven years in the two divisions of
America, in Spain, France, Italy, Switzerland,
and Germany, we shall have a great mass of
observations, comparable * with each other,

* The observations of the dipping needle made by de Ros-
sel, Freycinet, Nouet, Gay-Lussac, and myself, are so much
the more adapted to be compared with each other, as they
embrace but a very short portion of time. Le Monnier (Lovs
du Magnétisme, p. 57) and Lord Mulgrave (Voyage to the
North Pole, p. 68) still admitted the invariability of the mag-
netic dip : but Messrs. Gilpin and Cavendish proved, in 1806, ’
by direct experiments, that the dip of the needle is subject,
like the variation, to annual oscillations, though extremely
slow. The cities of London and Paris are hitherto the only
places, where the extent of these oscillations is known. The
dip at London, in 1715, was 72° 30' and in 1805, 70° 21/
(Phil. Trans., vol. Ixvi, pl. 1, p. 401). We cannot admit;
with P. Cotte (Journ. de Physique, t. lxvi, p. 277), that,
before the year 1808, the dip of the magnetic needle was
not known with precision at Paris. I had determined it
with a great deal of care, conjointly with Mr. de Borda, in
1798, before my departure for Spain. It was then 690 51’.
Mr. Gay-Lussac found itin 1806, 69° 12’, On the 7th of
October, 1810, the dip at Paris was 68° 50/; and-on the 10th

114

and worthy of exer cising the Bapecly of geome- :
tricians. '
_ Though our passage from Corunna to Cumana
lasted thirty-seven days, I could collect, during
this space of time, only twelve good observations
of the magnetic dip. I had caused an addition
to be made to Borda’s compass, by an able artist
of Madrid, Mr. Megnié, of a suspension with a
double movable ring, like that known under the
name of Cardan’s suspension. By these means
the instrument might be tied bya very long cord
to a part of the poop, which appeared nearly free
from iron, and where small portions of this metal
were very equally distributed. I ascertained the
advantages of this position by determining the
dip during a dead calm, on the deck, and in se-
veral parts of the vessel below. During the
course of those observations, I found the direc-
tion of the magnetic meridian in seeking the

of November, 1812, 680 42’. The first of these two experi-
ments was made by Mr. Arago and myself; the second by
Mr. Arago alone, The particular observations did not differ
three or four minutes. The poles of the needle were changed
several times ; and all imaginable precautions were employed,
in the use of Borda’s compass, to avoid errors. From these
observations it results, that from 1775 to 1805 the dip dimi-
nished at London 4’1” yearly: at Paris the annual dimi-
nution, from 1798 to 1812, was 4’ 54”, I should think it
hazardous to go back to anterior times, when the instruments
were too imperfect, and when observers employed too little
nicety in their magnetic experiments. )

115

minimum of the dips. Most commonly I had
to judge of the magnitude of the angle by tak-
ing, among a great number of very small oscil-
_ lations, the mean of the elongations toward the
north and the south. I constantly employed
two different needles; their centring was veri-
fied by comparing the indications of the two ex-
tremities of the same needle, and inverting it,
or successively directing the divided face of the
limb east and west. I think I may be certain,
that observations made when under sail may at-
tain an average exactness of twelve minutes of
the centesimal division *. |

* The angles given by Borda’s dipping compass are ex-
pressed in centesimal degrees and decimal parts. The veri- |
fications of the instrument, which can be made on land, and
which I have constantly employed with Mr. Gay-Lussac,
during the course of the observations published in the Me-
moirs of the Society of Arcueil, are reducible to the following :
1st, giving a horizontal position to the azimuth circle, by
means of a bubble level, and a thread level; 2ndly, finding
the direction of the magnetic meridian, either a) by corre-
spondent dips, or 6) by adding, on the azimuth circle, one
hundred degrees to the point which corresponds to the per-
pendicular position of the needle ; or finally c) by the minimum
of the dips; 3dly, correcting the eccentricity of the needle,
by observing the superior and inferior points ; 4thly, examin-
ing whether the magnetic axis of the needle coincides with
it’s physical axis, by observations to the east and the west ;
Sthly, correcting the want of equilibrium in the needle by
changing the poles. The slight differences, which will be no-
ticed between the results published in this narrative, and

116

those that were inserted, during my journey, in several pub-
lic papers (Journ. de Phys. t. iv, p. 433; Mag. Encyclop. an.
8, p. 376; Zach. Monatl. Corresp. t. i, p. 402), arise from my —
having sometimes neglected taking the average between the
observations made to the east and the west, and because the
latitudes and longitudes observed had not always been reduced
by estimation to the same time, when the magnetic dip had’
been determined.

117

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118

Part of these observations served as a basis to
the theories and calculations of Messrs. Loewen-
oern, Biot, and Kraft * ; they give the direction
of the equator, or of the magnetic parallels, with
so much the more precision, as I took the same
pains in examining the dip, as in ascertaining
the geographical position of the vessel. The
most accurate observations on the variation of
the needle, on it’s dip, and on the intensity of
the magnetic forces, would be of little value, if-
the traveller were not provided with the instru-
ments necessary to ascertain astronomically the
latitude and longitude of the place where the
different phenomena of terrestrial magnetism
were observed.

I shall not speak of the attempt I made during
the passage, to determine the curves of the mag-
netic variation. The results obtained at sea by
the best azimuth compasses are so uncertain,
that, according to the testimony of the most ex-
perienced navigators +, errors of two or three
degrees often occur. Even supposing them
only one degree, this uncertainty, angmented by

_ * Danske Vid. Selskabs Scrivter, 1802, p. 295. Journ.
de Phys. t. lix, p. 287. Mém. de Pétersbourg, 1809, t. i,
p. 248. See also Mollweide’s Attempt to generalize the The-
ories of Euler and Mayer, in Gilbert’s Annalen, t, xxix, p. 1
and 251. :

+ Voy. de Vancouver, t. i, p.40 and 99. De Rossel, in
the Voy. de d’Entrecasteaux, t. ii, p. 172. Cooke’s second
Voyage, vol. i, p. 24.

119

the slow changes of the variation tn different
meridians, would still throw much doubt over
the real position of the curves, which are at-
tempted to be traced on variation charts *.

On comparing the observations made during
several voyages, it appears, that we had cut the
curve of no variation in latitude 13° north, and
longitude 53° and 65° west: this curve is now
prolonged toward Cape Hatteras, and toward a
point in Canada, in 33° 27’ north iatitude, and
70° 44’ west longitude. Before the first voyage
of Christopher Columbus, in 1460, the variation
was nought near the island of Corvo, but the
progress of the curve of no variation toward the
west is not the same in all it’s parts, and it is
sometimes retarded by the local influence of the
continents and islands, which form so many par-
ticular systems of magnetic forces. Thus it
seemed stopped for some time by the southern
extremity of New Holland; and at Jamaica and
Barbadoes the variation has not undergone any

* The uncertainty of the observations of the magnetic
needle made at sea does not arise solely from the rolling and
pitching of the vessel, or the imperfection of the azimuth
compasses ; it isin a great measure caused by the masses of
iron spread through the vessel, and acting unequally, accord-
ing to the direction in which it is steered. Loewenoern, in
the Nye Samling of Danske Vid. Selsk. Skr. t. iii, p. 117, and
t. v, p. 299. Zach. Mon. Cor. 1800, p.529. Flinders, in the
Phil. Trans, 1805, p. 187.

120

perceptible hnitees for « one hundred and. forty
years past *.

The intensity of the magnetic forces is another
‘very important, phenomenon, to which natural-
ists have hitherto very little attended. Graliam
and Musschenbroeck had attempted to measure
the diurnal variations of this force by the velo-
city of the horizontal oscillations of a magnetic
bar +; but it appears, that Borda was the first,
who had the idea of making the same dipping
needle oscillate in different places of the Globe.
The attempts of this learned navigator did not
afford, as he has often assured me, any precise
result, on account of the friction, which the an-
cient needles underwent on their axis. At this
period men were often satisfied with making the
needle of the variation compass oscillate : and
in the manuscript account of Borda’s Voyage to
the Canaries it is expressly stated, in speaking —
of the modifications of the intensity of the mag-
netic forces measured by the velocity of the os-
cillations, that, at the summit of the Peak, he
had counted ten oscillations of the card in 97” of
time; while at Santa Cruz their duration had
been 94”, at Cadiz 103”, and at Brest 113”. Mr.

* Thomson’s Hist. of the Royal Soc., p. 461. Phil. Trans.
vol. 50, p. 330 and 349. (The Oriental ee 1801,
p- 650.)

+ Phil. Trans. vol. xxxiii, p. 332. Thomson’s Hist. of the
Royal Soc., p. 461. Diss. de Magnete, Exp. 102 and 107

“a 121 | r

Le Monnier, in his work on the Laws of Magnet-

ism*, observes how desirable it would be,to know
| the relation between the oscillations of the same
needle at Peru, and in the north of Europe ; but
a note added to his magnetic planispheret shows,
that he had not a very accurate idea of the causes,
which modify the intensity of the total force.
According to Cavendish ¢, this intensity must be
the same over the whole surface of the Globe;
and the opinion of this great natural philosopher
must have had a very considerable influence on
those, who had not had an opportunity of inter-
rogating nature by direct experiments.

In this state of uncertainty, the Academy of
Sciences at Paris very earnestly exhorted Mr.
La Pérouse to make, during the course of his
voyage round the world, experiments on the in-
tensity of the magnetic forces. “ It is known,”
say the commissioners 4, in the instructions com-
municated to the naturalists engaged in the ex-
pedition, ‘‘ that at Brest, Cadiz, Teneriffe, Goree
on the coast of Africa, and Guadaloupe, the in-
tensity is sensibly the same. It would be inter-
esting to repeat these experiments, reckoning’
the magnetic force by the duration of the oscil-
—Jations of a good dipping needle, at sea, in very

* Introduction, p. 25.

+ Mém, de Paris, 1786, p. 43.

t Phil. Trans., 1778, p. 390.

§ Voyage de La Pérouse, t. i, p. 160.

122

calm weather. It would be above all important
to know the magnetic force, where the dip is the
smallest.” The imperfection of the compasses
- put on board Mr. La Pérouse’s vessels no doubt
prevented the astronomers in this expedition
from paying attention to investigations of this
kind, and the wishes of the academy of sciences
were fulfilled only in the voyage of d’Entrecas-
teaux, and in that of which this work gives the
narrative. Among the great number of valuable
observations for which we are indebted to Mr.
Rossel, there are five on the oscillations of the
magnetic needle * made at Brest, at Teneriffe,
at Van Diemen’s Land, at Amboyna, and at
Java. For my part, I have determined, jointly
with Messrs. Gay-Lussac and Bonpland, from
5° of magnetic latitude south, to 60° magnetic
latitude north, the intensity of the forces in a
hundred and eighty places belonging to two sys-
tems of particular attractions-+. In the space

* These observations were published only in 1808 (Voy.
de d’Entrecasteaux, t. ii, p. 287, 291, 321, 480, and 644) ;
but they were made eight years before my journey to the
Oroonoko. I was acquainted with them as early as the year
1805, immediately after having communicated to the first
class of the Institute the general results of the progressive
decrement of the magnetic forces from Paris to the magnetic ,
equator. See the memoir, which I published at that time,
conjointly with Mr. Biot, in the sixtieth vol. of the Journ. de
Physique. |

+ On account of the infiexions of the magnetic equator, we

. 123
of three years; I- have been enabled to procure
the oscillation of the same needles, or needles
compared with each other, at Lima, under the
magnetic equator, at Mexico, at Naples, and at
Berlin, which afforded me the means of deter-
mining the relation that exists between the mag-
netic charges of the Globe in different climates.
From, these extensive operations, an account of
which will be separately published, it follows,
that, supposing the intensity of the forces under
the equator — 1, this intensity is, at’ Naples,
1:2745; at Paris, 1:°3482; and at. Berlin,
1:3703. ee |

We see already, that from the thirty-eighth to
the thirteenth degree of terrestrial latitude, in
the part of the northern Atlantic Ocean to which
the preceding table refers, the number of the
oscillations diminishes from 242 to 234, while the
dip varies from 75°76° to 50°67° of the centesi-
mal division. I endeavoured to make these ob-
servations in calm weather, and when the vessel
oscillated in a plane perpendicular to the plane
of the limb of the compass. The oscillations of
the needle are scarcely disturbed by those of the
vessel, the latter having, in a uniform wind, all

may consider the points. of the Globe that differ little in mag-_
netic longitude as belonging to one system of forces, The
longitudes are computed from the point of intersection be-
tween the terrestrial and magnetic equators.

2

124

the regularity of an isochronous pendulum. In
general the rate, which the magnetic variations
and the dip follow in different longitudes, ap-
pears more regular in the basin of the sea, than
on continents where the inequalities of the sur-
face, and the nature of the rocks of which the
surrounding mountains are composed, “cause
frequent anomalies. As to the duration of the
oscillations, it sometimes undergoes irregulari-
ties, even in the middle of the seas*; no doubt
because the stratum of water is. too thin, to pre-
vent the needle from being affected by the un-
equal distribution of the magnetic forces in the
interior of the Globe. ‘The mathematical theory
of the tides, it is true, makes it probable, that
the r mean merit io the. ocean Js at. bss ai
voyage ai Mr. Gag Rusa’, that in rising perpen-
dicularly from the surface of the Earth 3600
toises, no sensible change is perceived in the in-
tensity of the magnetism. We cannot therefore
admit, that the sea is much deeper in those lati-
tudes, where, under the same magnetic parallel,
we see the number of oscillations diminish. —

I did not regret my not having embarked the

* See, in the Journal, my observations made’ in 34° 30° |
and 14° 15/ of north latitude. |

+ From the small height of the tides, in open seas, and the
ratio of the density of the sea to that of the land. le Place,
in the Mém., «le Paris, 1776, p. 218.)

125

apparatus, which Saussure calls a magnetome-
ter*, and which Mr. Paul constructed for me at
Geneva. I am inclined to think, that the varia-
tions of intensity, believed to have been seen inthe
same place, by means of this complicated instru.
ment, were the effect of involuntary illusion. Mr,
de Saussure thought, that the magnetic force
diminished both on the mountains and during the
great heats of summer, while Mr. Blondeau-+-
believed, that he had found by an instrument of
his own invention, that a high temperature of the
atmosphere increased the intensity of the mag-
netism. Neither of these assertions has been
confirmed by accurate experiments. There is
no doubt, that periodical variations in the in-
tensity of the magnetic forces exist in the same
place ; as have already been discovered in the
variation, and even to a certain point in the
dipt of the magnetic needle ; but these varia-

* Voyage dans les Alpes, § 458 and 2103. I find the first
notion of a magnetometrical apparatus in Hooke’s posthu-
mous works. ‘This natural philosopher, a man of extraordi-
nary sagacity, thought, in 1680, of measuring, by means of
a steelyard (statera), the force with which a magnet attracts
iron at different distances. Posth. Works, p.23. See also
Brook Taylor’s experiments, made in 1715, Phil. Trans. vol.
XXxi, p. 204.

+ On the apparatus, which Mr. Blondeau called magneto-
meter, before Saussure, see Mém., de Académie de la Marine
de Brest, t. i, p. 421.

+ Horary and diurnal variations of the dip have not yet

2p 2

126

bho

tions-of intensity appear to be infinitely feeble,
since they cannot be peveeived, if we employ,
instead of the magnetometer with a perpendi-
cular rod terminated by a bail of iron, the deli-
cate apparatus of Coulumb, that is, the oscilla-.
tions of a small needle contained in a glass case,.
and suspended by an untwisted silk thread*.

been observed; but.a slow change takes place inthe space of
several years. | |
* At the hospice of Mount Cenis, aud at Rome, Mr. Gay-
Lussac and myself have observed the oscillations of the same’
needle by day and by night, in very different atmospherical:
temperatures. The result of these experiments was, that, if
there exists a horary variation in the intensity of the magnetic
forces, it does not alter the duration of the oscillations a
twelve hundredth, At Milan, the same needle made, on the
15th of April, 1805, in the interior of the city, near the
cathedral, sixty oscillations in 4’56'8"; and on the 7th of
October, in a meadow without the walls, in 4/ 56:4”. At
Rome the duration of the oscillations was the same to a few.
tenths of a second, at the Villa Borghese, at Monte-Pincio,
and on the road to Tivoli.. Experiments of this sort are sus-
ceptible of so great an exactness, that in different experiments
made on the top of Mount Cenis, two hundred and fifty oscil-
‘lations lasted 1229°3’, 1229°2”, 1229”, and 1229°5". At
Rome we successively found, with a chronometer of Breguet,.
1169°2”, 1169°2”, 1169”, and 1169°5”. Ihave thought it.
right to note in this place these results, in order to prove, that
the experiments made on the intensity of the magnetic forces,
and recorded in this work, are not subject, in a small extent
of ground, to that great number of local and horary influences,
which affect the observations on the variation of the magnetic:
needle. Heolsiiidelin |

127

Besides, the two instruments are not founded
precisely on the same principle ; for the artificial
magnet having a quantity of fluid, which is as it
were independent of that of the Earth, it may be
conceived, that the magnetometer, conveyed to
different climates, cannot give the same results
._ as the oscillatory apparatus.

eet eee

In speaking of the physical observations made
during the passage from Ferrol to Cumana,
I have not mentioned my experiments on the
purity of the air, and it’s electric charge*. The
former were made by means of the nitreus gas
in the narrow tubes of Fontana’s eudiometer,
and seemed to indicate a greater portion of oxy-
gen in the strata of the atmosphere lying on the
sea, than in those which surround continents.
We know at present, that, if eudiometrical vari-
ations exist, they must be less than two thou-
sandths; and that the results I obtained: in
1799 do not merit confidence, on account of the
too imperfect means then employed in the ana-
lysis of the atmosphere.

_ * T took the greater interest in this kind of experiments,

because, a short time before my departure from Germany, I
had devoted myself to a very extensive inquiry into atmo-
spherical electricity at the foot of the high mountains of Salz-
burgh. The results of my labours are related in the Journal!
de Physique,-an 7.

128

With respect to the electrometrical experi-
ments, it was impossible for us, either on board
the Pizarro, or any other vessel in which we
afterward sailed, to perceive at sea the least
sign of tension, on making use of Bennet’s and
Saussure’s excellent electrometers. Mr. Bon-
pland has often taken the pains to carry these in-—
struments, furnished with long metallic stems
and a lighted match, on the masts and yards
farthest from the hull of the vessel. These trials
were repeated in the South Sea, on board a
Spanish frigate with very high masts ; but the
gold leaf, the dryest straws, or little balls of elder
pith, which are electroscopical substances, never
indicated the slightest divergence. Is it the
surface of the ocean, that deprives the lower
strata of the atmosphere of it’s electricity ? or do
the hull of the vessel, the sails, and masts, act as
powerful conductors? If this action take place,
why did not our electrometers indicate electri-
city in open boats, while, on the coasts of Peru,
we have seen signs of a strong tension, when a
damp wind blew from the sear

It is the duty of a natural philosopher candid-
ly to relate the circumstances in which certain
experiments did not succeed. As two thirds of
our atmosphere lie on the basin of the seas, .
meteorology would gain considerably, if we Knew
the electric state of this part of the aerial ocean.
We may be tempted to repeat the experiments I

129

have just described with the microeiectrometers
' of Weiss, Gersdorf, and Maréchaux*. These in-.
struments discover electricity near a wall, in the -
shade of a tree, every where almost, when Ben-
net's and Saussure’s electrometers indicate none.
They are preferable to electric points fastened:to
flying kites, or small balloons, because the elec-
tricity marked by these last, is most frequently the
mere result of the ascending motion, as has been
proved by the fine experiments of Mr. Erman-.
-Lhave‘had no better success than the majo-
rity of travellers. in ascertaining the degree of
saltness of the:sea {, which varies with the lati-
tude. From: the small number of accurate ob-
servations I obtained ‘by means of an areometer
by Dollond, differing little from that of Nichol-
son, it follows, that the specific gravity of the
sea water augments pretty regularly from the
coasts of Gallicia te Teneriffe, while it diminishes

* Gilbert, Annalen, BK. xv, p. 98.
+ Ibid. p. 389 and 503.

7 Mr. Proust, struck with the traces of mercury which he-
had met with in all the muriats of soda of Spain (Nicho/son’s
Journ. of Nat. Phil., 4to ed., vol. iii, p. 376), requested me,
at my departure from Madrid, to suspend, daring the pas-
sage, a thin plate of gold or silver, to the poop of the vessel,
to see if it would offer any traces of amaleama. [I followed
the advice of this celebrated chemist, though I had little con-
fidence in the success of this experiment ; but the thread,
to which the plate was tied, broke a few days alter I had put
my apparatus into the water.

130

anew from latitude 22° 52’ to 18° 45’. In these
regions, in the twenty-fourth and thirtieth de- |
grees of longitude, a large stripe of the ocean is
less salt than the rest. |

The muriat of soda amounts to 0:028 from the.
parallel of: 18°. 8’ to that of 12° 34’, between the
thirtieth and fifty-fourth degrees of longitude.
It seemed to me, that, in the part of the Atlantic
comprised between the coasts of Portugal and »
Cumana, the water is a little salter to the south
of the tropic of Cancer, than under the tempe-
rate zone; and I should be induced to general-
ize this fact, if the experiments made’ during
Cook’s last voyage did not peremptorily prove;
that. this difference does not exist in every me-
ridian._ Horizontal. currents, which cross the
ocean at it’s surface; and oblique currents
which mingle the strata of water, placed at dif-
ferent depths ; modify the saltness of the’seas ;
and supposing even, that the absolute quantity —
of the muriats dissolved in the ocean has not
been augmented by the action of submarine
volcanoes, but has remained the same for thou-
sands of years, it is not the less probable, that
the distribution of this salt in different parts
of the Globe, undergoes, from time to time, con-.
siderable changes. | ;

13]

JOURNAL
OF A

VOYAGE FROM THE COASTS OF SPAIN

TO THOSE OF

SOUTH AMERICA,

OR FROM

CORUNNA TO CUMANA.

[The longitude was found by a time-keeper of
Lewis Berthoud, No.27. The temperature of
the ocean indicated is that of the surface of the
water. The cyanometrical observations were

_ made at the zenith. The thermometer exposed
to the air was placed to the windward, and in
the shade. When an observation of the Sun
at the meridian could not be obtained, Douwe's
method of double altitudes was employed. The
latitudes and longitudes are given for noon. |

me of! North | West
latitude. one: PHYSICAL CBSERVATIONS.
month. ‘

1799
June 5 |43° 28/110° 45/| Departure from the port of Corunna.

Temperature of the ocean, 15°4° cen-
tesimal : air 10°2°.

Hygrometer, whalebone, 44°, or 80°4°
of Saussure’s hair hygrometer.

132

Days of North
the lat.

month.

West

long. _ PHYSICAL OBSERVATIONS.

June 5 |48° 287/10, 45\Cyanometer, 18,. Floating clouds ;
wind N.E. fresh ; rough sea.

Dip of the magnetic needle observed
at the port of Ferrol, 76°6°, centi-
grade division.

Intensity of the magnetic forces, in
Gallicia, expressed by 243 oscilla-

tions in ten minutes of time.

44 0113 '7| Temperature of the sea, 16°, Tem-
perature of the air, 9°; brisk gale ;
the sea rough and very stormy.

terre, at forty-two leagues distance
from this cape. Gentle sonnet N.E.
air, 18°7,

abt 14°,

of the air, 12° é.
| Hygrometer,45°6°. Deluc (82° Saus-
sure).

}39 10} 16 18} Temperature of the sea, 15°; temp.
of the air, 14, 5’; northerly wind,

feeble ; serene sky.

Thermometer exposed to the. sun,
16° 9’ ;, Sun’s force, 2° 4’; in the
parallel of Peniche.

Cyanometer, 15° (the blue of the ocean
‘measured with the same instru-
‘ment 35°). Hygrometer the whole

day, 81°—-83° Saussure, |

133

Days of North

the ua

( y PHYSICAL OBSERVATIONS.
month. long

16, 18’| Dip of the magnetic needle (latitude
38° 52’ and longitude 16° 227)

757167) |
Magnetic intensity, 242 oscillations ;

June 9|39 10,

good observation.
The current, which sets E. by S.
and S.E., begins to be felt.

10 137 26/16 32)| Light north-west wind, fine weather,
almost in the parallel of Cape St.
Vincent, and between this cape
and the Azores at eighty leagues
to the west of the cape.

Temperature of the ocean, 15:2, ;
temp. of the air, 15° ; thermome-
ter exposed to the Sun, 18°7°:
Sun’s force, 3°77.

Hygrometer at noon, 47° Deluc (83'5°
Saussure). At three in the after-
noon, 50, Deluc. (85'2° Sauss.)

Dip of the magnetic needle, 75'35° ;
oscillations 242.

Cyanometer, 14,; blue color of the
sea, nearly calm, 44°.

M1 | 36.4 | 17 5 | Temperature of the sea, 15°'2° ; temp.
of the air, 18°6° ; weather a little
cloudy. Atsevenin the evening,

, temp. of the sea, still 15°2°;
temp. of the air,17°4 ; sea some-

what ruffled.
_Hygrometer, at seven in the evening,
51° Deluc (84°4° Saussure).

134

Days of North

| West
the lat. long ‘PHYSICAL’ OBSERVATIONS
month. :
eeesmeessney be

June 12} 35° 8/ 117° 15/! Calm, hazy weather ; a little rain at
nine in the morning; at fifty
leagues distance from the coasts of ©
Africa, to the west of Cape:Blanco;.

Temperature of the sea, 16°2° ; temp.
of the air, 20°6°. At eight in the
evening, the sea. 16°2°; the air
15°%. iia deed

Hygrometer, 4'7°8° Deluc (84° Saus--
sure).

13 | 34 30|16 55} Variable weather, calm, rainy. From
eleven in the morning clear sky,.
without clouds; in the night,
breeze from the west.

Temperature of the sea, 16°30-(at a
depth of fifteen metres, 15°7°) ;
temperature of the air, 19°% 3
thermometer exposed to the Sun,
20°3° ; Sun’s force, 0°5° ; temper-
ature of the air at eleven at night,
13°79. | |

Hygrometer, 54°5° Deluc (875° Saus--
sure). |

Cyanometer, 16°’; blue color of the
sea 34°. The sky has a reddish
blue tint, almost violet, a singular
phenomenon, which I have also
sometimes observed in the Pacific

Ocean, especially in the southern
hemisphere, and without the sea

being green.

135

Days ot North | West

the

F, i - FHYSICAL OBSERVATIONS.
month. lat 5; long ;

June 13/34° 30/16° 55) Dip of the magnetic needle, 73-0°,
ner at | found in a dead calm.
Magnetic intensity, 234 oscillations.

14 |32 16117 4|To the east of the isle of Madeira,

| at forty-five leagues distance ;

strong breeze from the west; sea
very, rough.

Temperature of the sea, notwith-
standing the height of the waves,
17°7°; temperature of the air,
16°8°,

Dip of the magnetic needle, 71°90°,
somewhat doubtful (latitude 31°
46’, longitude, 1'7° 4/).

_| Magnetic intensity, 237,very doubtful.

15 130 36 16 54 Fine weather,seaalmost entirely calm.
Temperature of the water, 18°7°;
temperature of the air, 20°6°,
Progressive variations of the hygro-
| meter and. thermometer observed
carefully in the shade, and four
metres above the surface of the
ocean :

Saussure’s Centigrade
Hours. hygrom. —__ therm.

1} At214 883° 21°2° calm.
| 224 85°79 20:0 little wind.

234 85°83 20°0 idem.

Of 85'3 21°4 calm.

2i 84:2 23°7 idem.

34 84:3 22°5 idem.

64 852 20:0 idem.

73 862 19°8 idem.

136

Days of | i
the North

June 15|30° 8616° 54 Sun’s force, 3°1°; thermometer in the

_ shade,20°6°; thermometer exposed
to the Sun, 23°7°. |

Between Cape Aguer and the Sal-
vage islands, twenty-three leagues
east of the latter. Pilot’s reckon-
ing, compared with the longitudes
given by the marine time-keeper,
indicates a current setting toward

the south-east.

ee,

16 4

Fine weather ; westerly wind, very
feeble ; near the western coasts of
the island of Lanzerota.

. Temperature of the ocean, 19°3°; air,
18:0°. :

Cyanometer, 22° {colour of the sea, _
40°),

Sun's force, 36° ; thermometer ex-
posed to the Sun, 22°5°. ©

Variations of the hygrometer and
thermometer, the air being very
little agitated.

Saussure’s Centigrade

16 129 18

Hours. hygrom. therm.
213 85°8° | 19°5°
224 85°0 18°7
234 84.8 18°97

03 83'8 20°0
14 834 21°2
2h 83'°3 21°8
34 $3°5 22°5
Ad 83°5 212
54 83°8 21:2

6} 85:0 19°3.

137

Days of]
és North | West

t ¥ :
g ‘ PHYSICAL OBSERVATIONS,
month. |. si long " en

June 17/29° 21416° 6’| Clear weather, calm at intervals :
the coasts of the small island of
Graciosa, and in the archipelago
of islets that lie to the north of it.
Temperature of the Ocean, in the
channel, between the islands of
Alegranza and Santa Clara, where
the sea is only sixty-two metres
deep, 17°8°, consequently 1°5°
colder than in the open sea, in the
same parallel. Temperature of
the air, 20°.
18 }239 5117 10}Temperature of the sea, far beyond
soundings, 18°7° ; temperature of

the air, 18°3°: gentle breeze ; clear
weather. Sun’s force, 1°6°; ther-
mometer exposed to the Sun, 19°9°.

19 | 28 28}18 33| Arrival in the road of Santa Cruz in
the island of Teneriffe.

Dip of the magnetic needle, 69°35°.
Magnetic intensity, 236 oscillations.
Abode at the island of Teneriffe, from

the 19th to the 25th of June.

end

25 |26 51)19 13 | Temperature of the sea, 20°; air,
18°8° ; strong breeze at N. E.

26 |25 15/20 17 Temperature of the ocean, 20° ; tem-
| perature of the air, 21-2°.

Dip of the magnetic needle, 67°60° ;

very good observation (lat, 24° 53’,

and long. 20° 58’).

'l North | West

month lat. long. —,

June 26)25° 15/ 20° 17‘ Intensity, 289 oscillations, computed
a in calm weather, to the south-west

of Cape Bojador, at 62 leagues

distance.

27 | 22 52] 22 13] Sea, 20°; air, 20°1°; fresh breeze

from the N. E., the Sun’s force
appearing only 2°. In the night,

temperature of the air, 19°3°.

28 +21 36) 25 23) Air, 22°; brisk wind from the N.E.
90 leagues north of Cape Verd.
Dip of the magnetic needle, 64:65° :

very good observation (lat. 21° 29’, .
and long. 25° 42’).
Oscillations 237.

29 {20 8}28 51)|Temperature of the sea, 21:20, air

: 20°. From-ten in the morning to
five in the evening, the thermome- .
ter did not vary 0°8°, while the
breeze blew very strong.

Dip of the magnetic needle, 63°52°.
Oscillations 236 (at 60 leagues
N.N. W. of the island of Santa

- Antonio) ; latitude 19° 54’, longi-
tude, 28° 45’.

30 {18 53 {30 41 Temperature of the sea, 21°8° ; tem-

perature of the air, 21° 9% , fine
weather. |

Cyanometer, 22°4°.

Hygrometer, 44° Dae (81°5° Saus-
sure).

139

Days of North “West

fhe sat. | long.

PHYSICAL OBSERVATIONS,
month. |

July 1 |17° 57/133° 14/| Sea, 22°4°; air24°8°. Wind N.E.,
moderate ; cloudy weather. Dur-
ing the night thick fog, which
lowered the thermometer at one in
the morning to 21°3°.

2 17 26|35 8| Sea, 21:6°; air, 23°: dull weather :
a few squalls. Few variations in

the meteorological instruments.

Centig. Deluc’s
Hours. therm. hygrom.

1 aftern. 22°7° 51° (86° Saus.}
2 229 51:2):

ge so. gal ayia
7) 22°9 53°2 crane wind
9 evening 22°2 55°2 ee ble, 3 fee
10 22°2 57 J (89°Saus.)

3 116 41136 31] Temperature of the sea, 22°5°. Va-
riations of the instruments :
Deluc’s
hrs. ther. hygrom.
17 22°79 56-80 (88°70 Saus.) dull.
18 226 57:0 Sunrising, very softrain
20 226 56:2 dull.
eae very soft rain, scatter-
1 22:8 59:0} eddrops, which do not
2 23:1 52:5 4 touch the hygrometer,
0 and scarcely any way
BS ABA ge 688 affect the hygroscopical
6 21:2 60:2 J state of the air.

‘ll 22:7 57:0 blue, stars beautiful.

4 |16 19/39 19] Sea, 22°5°; air, 22°.

Cyanometer, 23°5°. Sky very clear.
At night, wind N.E. very fresh,
followed by sain and electric

rain,
QF

140

North West S25. 4° Aig
lat. long. PHYSICAL OBSERVATIONS.

re

(Ee

July 4 16° 19/39° 19/ Thermometer, the whole day, between
| | 29° and 23°6° ; hygrometer be-
tween 87° and 89:6", Saussure’s
division.

pep

5115 18] 42 pen Sea, 23°0° ; air, 22°20,
_| Variations of the meteorological in-

struments :

Centigrade | Deluc’s
| Hours. therm. hygrom.
| At 23 21°9° 61:2°
| 0 232 61°5
| 2. eae 60-0

3 234 61°2
| 6 23°1 63°0
| 12 23'3 63°4

| Dull and cloudy weather.

6 114 57) 44 40 | Temperature of the ocean, 23°7°;
temp. of the air, 228°. |

Deluc’s
Hrs. Therm. hygrom.

15- «22°6° ye
E218 22°7 66°5
20g ARS. ASO iatband
22. , 23°1 66°4 > cloudy
1) 23°5 65:0 | weather.
ge 2 286 | Lena
900 085 Tego FT
| Saussure’s hygrometer would have
| remained between 92°8° and
| 944°,

7 |14 20147 381 In the midst of the ocean between
| Africa and South America, easter-

14}

si ce North | West
mouth? } © 1a: long. PHYSICAL OBSERVATIONS.

ly wind very brisk, sky slightly
dull ; sea very fine.

Deluc’s
Hrs. Therm. hygrom.

14 23°7° 64°5° (92°4° Sauss.)

18. 226 62°0

20 233 61
0 244 585
4 242 56:0 (88°3° Sauss.)
8 2383 572 ene

11 23° «61:0

| Cyanometer, at 0" 30‘, the sky being
without vapours, 32°5°.

Dip of the magnetic needle, 56°30° ;
oscillations, 239 ; good observa-
tion (latitude 14° 15’ and long.
48° 3’), |

8 113 51| 49 43 | Temperature of the ocean, 24°7° ;

temp. of the air, 23°6°.

Cyanometer only 17°, and yet the sky
perfectly blue, without clouds or
visible vapours : blue color of the

ocean, 330.

Fine breeze, sea beautiful, at 200
leagues distance from French
Guyana to the N.N.E.

Deluc’s
Hrs. ‘Therm. hygrom.
20 23°5° 58°

2 20 937
4 23°0 56:2 (88°3° Sauss.)
7 228 590

42 «223 62-2 (91°4° Sauss.)
2Fr2

142,

Days of] ,
5 Now

PHYSICAL OBSERVATIONS. |

July 9 | 13° 2'|52° 581 Sea rough. Pretty strong breeze.
Dip of the magnetic needle, 50°67° ;
good.

| Oscillations, 234; a little doubtful.

10 | 12 34] 54 19] Fine breeze, very clear sky.
! | Cyanometer, only 16°; color of the
sea, 35°. »

| Temperature of the air from 17° to |
10" between 24°6 and 23°80.

Hygrometer, during this time, be-
tween 885° and 90° Saussure.

41 111 17/57 47]

Fine weather, light wind.

Centig. Deluc’s
Hours. therm. hygrom. —
18 24°2° 60°
20 24°8 ~ 69
21 25°2 58'3
23 25:0 | 59
0 25°2 98°5
2 26°6 aa
8 23'0 60
11 23-7 58

| Hygrometer of Saussure constantly
between 89° and 90°7°; on the >
meridian of Surinam, at 80 leagues

distance from the Oroonoko and
from Barbadoes ; during the night
a little rain and a beautiful lunar’
rainbow.

Days of
a °"| North | West | :
month lat. long PHYSICAL OBSERVATIONS.

A smart breeze, particularly during
the night ; wind east, pretty

strong ; sea rough ; very fine sky,
not free from vapors. |

Temperature of the ocean, 25°8°;
temp. of the air, 25°3°.

Cyanometer, 14°49.

Saussure’s hygrometer, the whole day,
from 89°5° to 90°.

Dip of the magnetic needle, 46°95° ;
oscillations, 229 (good observa-
tion).

July 12}10. 40/1600 54/

Cloudy, with squalls; very strong
east wind; very high sea ; a little
rain: distance one league east-
south-east of the north cape of the
island of Tobago.

Temperature of the ocean, 25°8° ;
temp. of the air, 25°1°. |

Hygromeier, from 90° to 918° (Saus-

_ sure’s division).

13 |} 11 16/62 45

Ss | See

14 | 11 1 |64 51] Temperature of the ocean, 25°6° ;
} but on the shoal, which extends
from the island of Tobago to that
of Grenada, 23°1°; temp. of the
air, 25°;
Saussure’s hygrometer,91°5° to 92°7°.
Dip of the magnetic needle, 47°5° ;
oscillations, 237 ; good observa-
tion. The mountainous coast of
Paria seen at 4 leagues distance :
slight breeze; fine and serene
weather.

the

July 18)10° 51 466° 12/

cE

para of Mei

144

PHYSICAL OBSERVATIONS,

Wind north-east, feeble ; fair i, sea

very fine.

Temperature. of the ocean, on the

shoal near Punta Araya, 23°49 ;
open sea, 25°20; and at five miles
distance N.N. E. of the port of
Cumana the temperature of the
surface of the ocean was only
22-2°, though we had no bottom
at sixty fathoms depth. Is this
cold owing to the current, that
comes trom the shoals of the island
of Margaretta? In very narrow
seas, for instance in the Baltic,
the temperature of the water
changés also very suddenly. In
the port of Cumana, the water of
the sea kept in 1799 and 1800
constantly between 25 and 26 de-
grees, the temperature at low wa-
ter being often 0°8° hehe than |
at high water.

‘emperature of the air, 28° 7.

Hygrometer, 86° Saussure.

16 |10 28166 30 aaa at the port of Chula,

145

DETERMINATION. OF THE. HEIGHTS OF SEVERAL
“ POINTS IN THE. ISLAND OF TENERIFFE.

1 shall, in this dissertation, discuss the trigonometrical
and barometrical measurements, made within the last cen-
tury, by--various. travellers, who have visited the island of
Teneriffe ; and at the same time give an historical sketch of
the attempts, which have been made to ascertain the height
of the Peak of Teyde, and of the most remarkable points on
the road leading to the top of this volcano. It is highly in-
teresting, not to the science of geology alone, to know with —
precision the absolute height of this mountain ; this know-
ledge is ‘also’ necessary:to perfect the charts of the Canary

Islands; because Messrs. de.Borda and Varela, at the time of
the voyage of the frigate la Boussole, made use of the verti-
cal angles of the Peak and the azimuths, to ascertain the re-
lative distances of Teneriffe, Gomera, and Palma.

- Although as early as the year 1648, the experiments of
Pascal and Perrier had proved, that the barometer might be
successfully applied to measures of height, it is however only
4 since the beginning of the 18th century that we have accu-
rate ideas of the elevation of a few mountains. Riccoli still
gave ten Italian miles, and Nichols fifteen leagues of height
to the Peak of Teyde*. Eden did not attempt to measure
the height, though he reached the summit of the volcano in
1715. His voyage + however, the earliest that was publish-
ed, fixed the attention of the geographers and natural phi-
sophers of Europe ; and the first attempt at measuring the
height of the Peak was made by P, Feuillée { in 1724. This

* Zach, Journ. Astron., 1800, t. i, p. 396. Vieyra, No-
ticias Historicas, t. i, p. 234.

¢ Phil. Trans., vol. xxvii, p. 317.

t Manuscript Journal of Pére Feuillée.

146

traveller found by trigonometrical measurement the absolute

height to be 2213 toises. La Caille, speaking of this mea-

surement in the Memoirs of the Academy *, expressed his

doubts of the accuracy of the result. These doubts have

been revived by Bouguer ; who, in fixing the limits of the

perpetual snows under different jones, has examined with

his usual sagacity P. Feuillée’s operations ; and he concludes,

that the height of the Peak does not exceed 2062 toises +.

~ There exists also another measurement of this mountain,

made during the voyage of P. Feuillée, by M. Verguin.

This measurement, merely barometrical, has been hitherto

neglected ; because, having been calculated according to the

method of Cassini, it had given the excessive height of 2624

toisest.' This error, which exceeds two-fifths of the total

height of the volcano, will be reduced to one-twentieth, if.
the method of Laplace, and the coefficient of Ramond, be ap-

plied to the observations of Mr, Verguin; and if we suppose,

what is probable enough in a Jatitude so southerly, that the

pressure of the air did not very sensibly change in the space

of three days. On the 31st of July, 1724, P. Feuillée’s

barometer, at the port of Orotava, stood at 27 inches 9°7 —
lines. On the 3d of August the same instrument was found

* Mem. de l’Académie, 1746, p. 143. Voy. de la Flore,
t.i, p. 114. |

+ Fig. de la Terre, p. 48. Deluc, Rech. sur les Mod. de
l’Atmosphtre, § 280 and 763. Notwithstanding the examina-
tion of Bouguer, and the well known measurement of Borda,
we still find, in several physical works, the height of the
Peak estimated at 2097, 2180, and 2270 toises. See the
. third edition of Marsden’s valuable History of Sumatra,
published in 1811, p. 14; and Breislack’s Geology, t. i,
p- 6, in which the table of heights swarms with typogra-

phical errors. ;
{ Mem, de l’Académie, 1738, p. 45.

147

on Monte Verde at 23 inches, 0 lines, and at the top of
the Peak at 17 inches, 5 lines. P. Feuillée mentions nei-
ther the temperature of the air at the two stations, nor the
correspondent observations made at the same hours on the
coast. ‘Travellers themselves, at that time, constructed their
barometers on the spot; and. meteorological instruments |
were utterly unknown at Orotava and at Santa Cruz. The
observation on the top of the volcano having been made ina
season when the variation of the barometer, on the coasts of
Teneriffe, seldom exceed in the space of three days one or
two lines, we may, in calculating the height of the Peak,
take for our basis the height of the mercury observed on the
31st of July. Supposing twenty-two centesimal degrees for
the temperature of the coast several hours before the Sun
passed the meridian, and five degrees for the temperature
of the air at the top of the volcano, which is conformable to
_ the law of decrement of heat in those regions; I find, by
Mr. Laplace’s method, two thousand and twenty-five toises,
or one hundred and twenty toises more than is given by the
trigonometric measurement of Mr. de Borda. Whatever
alteration we make in the estimation of the temperature, and |
of the barometrical height at Orotava, it will still be found,
and this fact is very remarkable, that the barometric mea-_
surement of Mr. Verguin is much more accurate than the
geometric measurement of P. Feuillée. The error of the
latter, in which the level of the ground employed for the
measurement of the base was neglected, is almost three times
as great as the error of the barometric measurement, which
we have just stated. |
The observations, which P. Feuillée made at the town of
Laguna, indicate nearly the absolute height of this place,
so well known for it’s great coolness. Taking the barome-
trical average of two months, during which the extreme de-
viations amounted only to four or five lines, we find at La-
guna 25 inches, 11 lines, and at the port of Orotava 27
inches, 10 lines. Now, supposing the temperatures of these

148

two stations at fifteen and twenty degrees of Reaumur’s ther-
mometer, I obtain by Laplace’s method, three hundred and
thirteen toises for the town’ of Laguna. ‘This height would
be augmented only sixty-six toises, or one-fifth, if 28° inches
3 lines were taken for the mean height of the column of mer-
cury at the port of Orotava ; though it is well known, that
P. Feuillée’s barometer, by no means ‘well freed from air,
was constantly six or eight lines, or even more, too low*.
Mr. Lichtenstein, who has made an interesting journey into
the interior of Africa, reckons the absolute height of La-
guna two or three thousand = above the’ — of iis
coasts +. | " hal itn oa
Andanson, in his voyage to Senegal {, states, ‘* ‘that'the
elevation of the Peak of Teyde (in 1749) was found to be
- more than two thousand toisés.” It is probable that this re-
sult was founded on a base measured by the log, and om an
operation made under sail by Mr. Daprés de Mannevilette,
commander of the vessel of which Andanson was on board.
Dr. Heberden §, in the narrative of his excursion to the
top of the Peak in 1'%52, says he found the’ absolute eléva-
tion of the voleano to- be 15396 English feet, or 2408 toises,
** This result,” adds he, “has been confirmed by two other
operations, which I have successively executed : it is also
entirely conformable to the results of two trigonometrical
operations made long before by Mr. John Cross, English
Consul at Santa Cruz in Teneriffe.” Here are five measure-

* Feuillée’s barometer at the top of the Peak, 17 inches
5 lines. Borda’s barometer at the same point, 18 inches
- O lines. Lamanon’s barometer, 18 inches 4 lines.
+ Allgem. Geog. Ephemer. 1806, p. 51.
t Vol. i, p. 8.
§ Phil. Trans. vol. xlvii, p. 353, Cook’s second Voyage
_ round the World, vol. ii, p. 282. Barrow, Voyage 4 la
-Cochin Chine, t. 1, p 69.

149

ments, which it is stated, agree perfectly well with each other, —
and in which there is an error of more than five hundred
toises, or a fourth part of the total height of the Peak. Dr
Heberden lived seven years at Orotava; we must regret,
that he enters into no detail on the nature of the instruments
employed by him and Mr. Cross, or the values of the angles,
- or the length and levelling of the base, on which the triangles
répose. The whole of these operations, which we have just
mentioned, deserve no more credit than those of Don Manuel
Hernandez * ; who asserts, that he found in 1742, by geo-
metrical measurement, the height of the volcano to be 2658
toises, and consequently 200 toises higher than Mount Blanc.
We are indebted to Borda for the knowledge of the real
elevation of the volcano of Teneriffe. This excellent geo-
métrician obtained an exact result after having fallen into an
error, which he attributes to the negligence of one of his
coadjutors. He took three measurements of the Peak ; two
geometrical, and one barometrical. The first geometrical
measurement +, executed in 1771, gave only 1742 toises ;
and as long as it was considered as accurate, Borda and
Pingré found, by operations made under sail, the height of
the Peak 1701 toises t+. Happily, Borda visited the Canary
Islands a second time, in 1776, conjointly with Mr. de Chas-
tenet de Puységur ; and he then executed “a more accurate
trigonometrical measurement, of which he published the re-
sult only in his Supplement to the Voyage of the Flora §.
We there find ‘‘ that the principal cause of the error com-
mitted in 1771 had been a mistake in the indication of an

* Borda, Voyage de la Flore, t.i, p. 88.

+ Ibid, t. i, p. 89.

t ** All the parts of our work reciprocally confirmed each
other, and concurred in the same determination.” Ibid. t.i, —
p. 120. Journ. de Phys, 1776, p. 66; and 1779, p. 129.

§ Vol. i, p. 378.

130

angie, minuted in the register as being thirty-three minutes,
while it was in reality found to be fifty-three minutes.”

The result of the trigonometrical measurement made in
1776 is 1905 toises ; it is this which is now most generally
adopted, and on which is in great part founded the position
cf the Canary Islands, in Varela and de Borda’s charts.
I trust, that I shall render a service to naturalists, philoso-
phers, and navigators, in here recording the detail of the
‘operations made during the voyage of the frigate la Boussole,
and taken from the valuable manuscript which I mentioned
in the preceding chapter *. It were to be wished, that Mr.
de Borda’s Journal was published entire. The results it
contains are found in the Carte particulizre des Isles Cana-
ries, d’apres les Observations de la Bousole et de l’ Espiégle, 1776.
This chart, the best of all that have hitherto appeared,
forms a part of the collection published by the Depét of the
Marine, at Paris.

«« The measurement of the Peak of Teneriffe,’’ says Mr. de
Borda, ‘‘ was not an object of mere curiosity, but was essen-
tially connected with our nautical labors. It was necessary
for us to know the exact height of this volcano, in order to
avail ourselves of the observations of apparent height which .
we had made.at several points of the island of Teneriffe, Go- |
mera +, and Canary, and which were to serve for ascertain-
ing the longitudes and latitudes of those points.

* Vol.i, p. 142. The manuscript of the Depdt is 190
pages in 4to; it was copied from the original, by Mr. de
Fleurieu. I am indebted for the communication of it to the
kindness of Vice-admiral Rosily.

+ At the port of Gomera, for instance, Mr. de Borda
found the angle of altitude of the Peak 4°17’. An azimuth
placed the mountain east 24° 17’ north. Supposing it’s ele-
vation above the level of the ocean 1904 toises, we find the
port of Gomera distant from the Peak 0° 27’ 18”.

151

*€ The ground in the neighbourhood of the port of Oro-«
tava being unequal, and intersected with vales, it was not
possible for us to find a base extensive enough to determine
the distance of the Peak by a single triangle, and we em-
ployed three. We measured near La Paz, a country house
of Mr. Cologan, our first basis *, a b, of 229°5 toises; by
means of this we calculated a second, ac, of 614 toises ;
and afterward a third, c d, of 1526 toises. ‘The point c was
the summit of the hill, called by the natives the Montanne
del Puerto, which commands the town of Orotava. The sta-
tion d is the western extremity of a gallery of the house of Co-
lonel Franqui, at the villa del Oretava, near the dragon-tree |
so celebrated for it’s size and age. It appears that the base
of P, Feuillée had been measured ona plain sufficiently large,
but not horizontal, at the foot of the hill of La Paz, near
Mr. Cologan’s country house. Our base a b was measured
successively by two different parties : the first found it 1377
feet 6 inches, the second 1377 feet, 3 inches, 6 lines. Both
made use of three rods of fifteen feet each, carefully measured
by a three foot rule, which Mr. Varela had compared at ~
Cadiz with the Peruvian toise of Mr. Goden. The following
were the angles taken with a quadrant of a foot radius, made
by Ramsden.

Triangle abc Triangle ac d. Triangle c P d.
bac = 85° 53/55" |dac = 85° 58! 40!/le d P = 94° 0! 40"
abco=%73 855 |dca=%70 20 55 \dc P= 76 34 0
bca=20 5715 jadc=—23 49 8

180 0O 35 179 59 43

“We measured the three angles of the triangles a bc and
acd. As in the triangle c P d this kind of verification could

* See Plate 1.

152

not be employed, I measured with the greatest exactness the
two angles cd P, and dc P, by means of a reflecting circle ;
and 1 found only from 8 to 10 seconds of difference. Hence
it follows, that the angle at the Peak, d Pc is 9° 25' 20".
We find also a ¢ = 3686'2 feet; a d = 8647'3 feet; cd = =
9159°5 feet; cP = 55814'6 feet ; joand. a, Pe 54420: 9 feet.

The vertical angles give the following heights of the Peak,

or of the different stations from one another. Altitude of the
Peak seen from point d, = 10423-2 feet ; the same seen from
the point c, = 11116 feet ; that of the point d above the point
a, = '738'6 feet; the same above the point c = 687°6 feet ;
and that of the point c above the pointa = 47°3 feet.

From these data, the evhelghs of the Peak above the point d
Feet..

being - - - - - 0423-2
if we add the height of the point d abovethe pointa '733°6
‘we have a first height of the Peak above the pointa 11156°6
In the same manner, that of the Peak above the

point c being - - - -. 11116°0
If we add that of the point cabove the pointa 473
we have a second height of the Peak above the

point a Ey ape - - - 11163°2

“ Taking the mean of these two results, we find 11160 feet ;
and on deducting for the effect of the refraction 13-7 feet,
we have 11146°3 feet. It now remains to determine the
height of the point a above the level of the Ocean. The:
' depression of the horizon of the sea, at a, was 17? 97", and
at d, 32/25”. According to these depressions, the point a
is raised above the level of the Ocean 283°6 feet; and on
adding this quantity to the height of ‘the Peak * above the

$< ee

* Mr. de Borda had found, on his first calculation, 1904
toises, assuming nineteen feet for the effect of the refraction.
He has not indicated the apparent altitudes ; but we may
deduce them from the values of d P andc P. Atc the Peak

point a, we have 11430 feet absolute height, or 1905
toises.’

The third measurement made by Mr. de Borda was a
barometrical one. We have extracted the following details
also from the Manuscript of the Depot, and find them
nearly agreeing with the results published by Mr. Cavanilles
in 1799, from the Manuscript of Don Jose Varela in the
Anales de Ciencias naturales *. ‘ Mr. de Borda left Santa
Cruz the 27th of September 1776. He was accompanied by
forty persons, among whom were eleven officers of the
French and Spanish navy. They were provided with va-
riation compasses and dipping needles, a time-keeper, se-
veral thermometers, and two excellent barometers, which
had been compared, ‘at the port of Orotava, with the baro-
meter of Mr. Pasley, a Scotch merchantt. On their return
from the Peak, these instruments were verified anew; the
difference remained absolutely the same, and by the inter-
polation of a great number of observations made hourly by
Mr. Pasley, the following differences were found :

must have subtended a vertical angle of 11° 29/18”. A-slight
error appears in the altitudes of d above c, and of ¢ above a.
At the port of Orotava, at the house of Mr. Cologan, the
apparent altitude of the volcano was found tobe 11° 29/35”.
An azimuth gave for the position South 29° 44‘ west,
whence results a distance of 0° 9/ 45”,

*'T. i, :p. 295. I know not from what aiisuaderstanding
it isjasserted, in this same work (t.i, p. 85), that 1 had
found the height of the Peak 1917 toises.

+ (Mr. Pasley declared, that he had not observed, for seve-
ral years, Reaumur’s thermometer at the port of Orotava,
above 22°7°, or below 12°5°.

154

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155

* From eight in the evening of the 30th of September, to
half after ten in the morning, of the first of October, the ba-
rometer had varied only 0°2ofaline. According to the barome-
tric method of Deluc *, we find the following heights, adding
11 toises for the elevation of Mr. Pasley’s house above the
level of the sea: Pino del Dornajito, 516 toises ; Station of
the Rocks, 1518 toises , Cavern of Ice, 1757 toises ; foot of
the Piton, 1847 toises ; Summit of the Peak, 1929 toises.”

I have recalculated Mr. de Borda’s observations, con-
jointly with Mr. Matthieu, after the method of Mr. Laplace ;
_and, supposing the temperature of mercury equal to that of
the air, and reducing the station to the level of the sea, we
obtained for the Pino del Dornajito 533 toises ; for the
Estancia de los Ingleses, 1555 toises; for the Cavern of
Ice, 1799 toises ; for the Foot of the Piton, 1892 toises ;
for the Top of the Voleano, 1976 toises. This last result
differs from that of the trigonometrical measurement twice
as much as the height obtained by the formula of Deluc.
We shall discuss farther on the causes of error that may
have affected the particular operations.

It commonly happens, when the application of small cor-
rections to barometrical and thermometrical heights is in
question, that travellers, who have made observations to-
gether, do not fix on the same numbers, as means of good
observations.

- Messrs. Varela and Arguedas give, in their memoir on the
measurement of the Peak, the following barometrical heights :

inch. lin.
1. Pino del Donajito - 25 0°86 Th. 17° R.
- Level of the Sea - 28 4:00 (19

* Compare Fleurieu in Marchand’s Voyage, t. ii, p. 11,
Forster (Observat. during a Voy. round the World, vol. i,
p. 22) allows the Peak 12340 english feet, or 1931 toises,
from Borda’s barometrical measurement.

2G

(156 |

u Beagle 2h, — inch. lin. -
2. Estacion de los Ingleses = eh OBL: Dia,
Level ofthe, Seas ~j.5+. 45-0 y/B6 nai bed sehen
3. Cueva de la Nieva — - - 18 893 liz
Level of the Sea 4 «+= 1898? eat Aimee!
4. Foot of the Sugar Loaf - 18 8°89 9
Level of the Sea “ - 28 351 192
5. Top of the Peak b 14 hoxdeoiema gated ph
Level of the Sea - - 28 372 197

Mr. Varela finds, I know not ‘after ie formula, 534
toises for the first station, 1531 toises for the second station,
1780 toises for the third station, 1864 toises for the fourth
station, and 1940 for the fifth station. The small differences
which may be observed between the barometrical heights in-
dicated by the Spanish navigators, and those laid down by
Mr. de Borda, arise in a great measure from the one being
reduced to the level of the sea, while the others refer to the .
height of the ground where stands Mr. Pasley’s house.

At the time of La Pérouse’s Voyage in 1785, Mr. La-
‘manon carried a barometer to the top of the Peak of Tene-
riffe. The observation of this naturalist*, calculated by
Mr. Von Zach, gives, by Mr. Deluc’s method, 1856 toises .
by that of Sir G. Shuckburgh, 1893 toises, and by that of
Roy, 1889, toises. The result of the same barometric ob-
servation, according, to Mr. ‘Laplace’ s formula, is 1902
toises. !

* See vol. i, p. 188. Zach. Journ. Astron., 1800, p.
396. Weare surprised to see, that, at a time when the
useful labours of Deluc, Shuckburgh, and Tremblay, on the
baronietric formulas, had long been known, the editor of La

1
.

157

Mr. Johnstone, measuring a base by means of the log,
found the height of the Peak to be 2023 toises*. Mr. de
Churruca in a voyage to the Straits of Magellan, made in
1788, attempted also to determine the height of the volcano,
by a geometrical operation while under sail +. He found it
2193 toises, ‘* congratulating himself on having attained a
greater exactness than could reasonably have been expected
(toda esperanza racional), since the barometrical heights calcu-

lated by Bezout { gave the same number of toises.” It is

the same with the measurement of mountains, as with the
determinations of latitudes and longitudes. The observers
are Satisfied with their operations, when they find them agree
with some old results, to which they give the preference

above all others.

Mr. Cordier measured the Peak on the 16th me niet
1803, _ employing Mossy’s barometer, which he had boiled
the preceding evening, and in very fine and settled weather,
which lasted a month. ‘ The instruments were placed to
the windward of the Peak, and the barometric height was
brought to the temperature of the ambient air. The corres-

pondent barometer, of English construction, differed only

+4 of a line, ancient French © measure, from that of Mossy
employed by the traveller. Though the persons appointed
to make the observations at Orotava, Messrs. Little and
Legros, did not employ the nonius, they estimated never-
theless the heights of ‘the mercury with great exactness to_

fourths or. fifths of a line §.” “Mr. Cordier took account

Piedad s voyage (t. li, p. 8) s sHiould have expressed so many
doubts of the results obtained by the barometer.
* Lord Macartney’s Voyage, t. 1. p. 158.
¢ Viage al Magellanes, Apendice, p. 10.
. — Cours de Mathematiques, vol. iv, p. 416 (edit. de 1775).
§ These particulars and barometrical heights, which were

not printed in the Journal de Physique, t. lvii, p. 60, have

2a2

158

of the small changes of level in the cistern ; and being well
accustomed to barometric measurements, employed every ne-
cessary precaution, to obtain an accurate result. The fol-
lowing is the table of his observations.

TABLE.
2 Reaum.
Stations. Hours. Barometer. | ‘Therm.
inch. lines,
_| Estancia de los Ingleses _ 43 19. 9°5 | 4:90
Port of Orotava — | 28 46 1150
| Summit of the Peak the morning| 18 4:0 | 67
Port of Orotava 28 56 |19°9

The corresponding barometer was placed at the height of
seven toises above the level of the sea. Mr. Cordier found
by Deluc’s formula the Station of the Rocks to be 1529
toises, and the top of the volcano 1901 toises. Mr. Laplace’s
formula gave me for the first of these points 1550 toises ; and
1920 toises* for the second. |

been communicated to me by Mr. Cordier. This traveller,
who has visited Egypt, Spain, and the Canary Islands, is
preparing an interesting work on extinct volcanoes. ;

* In the manuscript voyage of Mr. O’Donnel!, for the
communication of which I am indebted to the kindness of
Mr. Leudé de Segrai, is the following note: ‘‘ The barome-
tric measurements which we made of the height of the vol-
cano nearly coincide (con corta differencia) with those of
Mr. Cordier, paying attention to the difference between the
French and Spanish toises, absolute height of the ravines at
the foot of the Peak 1278 Spanish toises ; Estancia de los

/

159

\

Let us now resume the barometrical and geometrical mea-
surements of the Peak made for a century past.

1. Geometrical measurements.

a) made on land.
toises

P. Feuillée, in 1724 . ; 2213
the same result modified by Bouguer 2062
Heberden and Cross, five operations, in 1752 : 2408
Hernandez, in 1'742 4 ‘ : : 2658
Borda and Pingré, in 1771 : : 1742
Borda, nl776—«w : ‘ pide 1905
b) made under sail. .
Mannevilette, in 1749 ; ‘ : : 2000
Borda and Pingré, in 1771 : ’ : 1701
Churruca, in 1788 : : ‘ : 2193
Johnstone, : A , F i 2023
2. Barometric measurements calculated after the formul@
of La Place.
tolses
Feuillée and Verguin, in 1724. : . 2025
Borda, in 1776. ; , ; 1976
Lamanon, in 1785 : i 4 f 1902
Cordier, in 1803 : j 1920

These measures, taken at different periods, vary from 1700
to 2600 toises ; and, what is remarkable enough, the results
obtained by geometrical operations differ more from each

Ingleses, 1731 toises ; summit of the Peak, 3287 toises.” I
cannot guess what Mr. O’Donnell calls Spanish toises ; for
supposing him to mean the vara castellana, 2°28 of which
make a French toise, the volcano would be much less ele-
vated than Mr. de Borda found it, even in the first of his
three measurements.

160

other, than those which were found by the barometer. It
has nevertheless been extremely wrong to cite this want of
harmony as a proof of the uncertainty of all measurements
of mountains. Angles, the value of which is determined by
imperfect graphometers ; bases that have not been levelled,
or the length of which has been determined ope the log ;
triangles. that give an excessively acute angle at the summit
of the mountain ; heights of the barometer without any notice
taken of the temperature of the air and of the mercury ; F
unquestionably are not means calculated to lead to accurate
results. Of fourteen trigonometrical and barometrical ope-
rations above indicated, the four following only ¢ can be con-
sidered as true measurements.

toises.
Borda by trigonometry. : on & 1905
Borda by means of the barometer bes > 1976
Lamanon, the same ' ; ; ‘ 1902 ,
Cordier, the same aad Gee : oa 1920

The average of these four oheesatganiat the whale of the
particulars of which are known to us, makes the absolute
height of the Volcano 1926 toises ; but we must here discuss
the question, whether, in taking the mean, we ought to ex-
clude Borda’s barometric measurement, as erring: too much i in
excess ; or whether we ought not prefer the result of the tri-
eeteincuica to that of the barometric measurements of a peak
almost continually swept by ascending or descending winds.

The trigonometrical Operation, made ‘in ‘1776, is ‘more
complicated than those generally are, by which we determine
the elevation of a single point. Travellers are in the prac-
tice of employing either a base directed toward the summit
of a mountain, and two vertical angles taken a the extremi-
former, two Sai of ‘position taken i in an oblique plane, and
_asingle vertical angle. In both’ casés a direct measure is
taken of a side of the triangle, the summit of which is at the
top of the mountain. The measurement of the Peak exe-

161

cuted by Mr. de Borda was a trigonometrical operation pre-
cisely similar to those, by which, in the measurement of a
meridian, the heights of signals, or of mountains near those
signals, above the level of the sea, is determined. It cannot.
be denied, that the simplicity of a method, and the small
number of the elements entering into the calculation of the
altitude, offer peculiar advantages ; but it would be unjust
to condemn more complicated operations, if we could be as-
sured, that the observers had taken the greatest care in the
resolution of each triangle. | |
Mr. de Borda could not directly measure the great base of
1526 toises, at the extremities of which he determined the
oblique angles of position, and the vertical angles that sub-
tend the height of the volcano. The length of this base was
found by the resolution of two small triangles ; and this de-
termination deserves so much the more confidence, as all the
angles were directly measured, as the result obtained by
a small quadrant of Ramsden was verified by a reflect-
ing circle, as the errors of each angle do not appear to
have exceeded eight or ten seconds, and as the first base of
213 toises was measured twice, without finding more than
two inches and a half difference. Ido not believe, that this
part of Mr. de Borda’s measurement can have been deficient
in accuracy ; ; andit must be hoped, that the same precision
was attained in the vertical angles, three of which were in-
dispensable for the measure of the Peak ; namely the sum-
mit of the Piton seen at d, the signal d seen at a, and the
depression of the horizon of the sea. It might have been
wished, that the observer had determined these angles by
means of his reflecting circle, employing as an artificial ho-
rizon a plane glass, or mercury* ; for the error of the line
of collimation and the eer position of the instrument

ii I have shown i in another place, that, on the seashore, -

>

we can measure with great exactness the depression of the
horizon with a reflecting instrument, by taking alternately

162
are very difficult to determine with exactness in a moveable
quadrant of a foot radius. According to the manuscript
kept in the Depdt de la Marine, this verification of the verti-
cal angles did not take place; and the accordance of the two
altitudes of the Piton above the points d and e is a proof ra-
ther of the constancy of the error of collimation, than of the
precision of the absolute value of the angles. In order to
have obtained two comparative results, Mr. de Borda should
have taken seven zenith distances ; that of the summit seen
at c and at d, that of the signal d seen at a and at e, that of
the signal c seen at a, and the depressions of the horizon of
the sea measured at d andat a. It is well known, that these
zenith distances are more difficult to obtain with exactness
than the oblique angles of position, especially when we can-
not make use of an astronomical circle of repetition. Far-
ther, in similar circumstances, a method is so much the more
disadvantageous, as the vertical angles are more numerous.
To solve the question, what is the number of toises by which
the height of the Peak may have been found too great, or too”
little, I have supposed an error in the measure of the base,
in that of the vertical angle subtended by the mountain, and
jn the terrestrial refractions. Ifthe volcano be 1925 toises
of absolute height, instead of 1905 toises, the angle of P at
c would be, according to Mr. Oltmann’s calculation and
mine, 10° 36’ 34'', instead of 11°29’ 18”, found by Mr.
de Borda ; the bases c d and a 4, would be 9258 and 1392
feet, instead of 9159 and 1278. But how can it be sup-
posed, that he was deceived 7’ 16” in determining the error
of collimation of the quadrant, and fourteen feet in the double
measurement of a base of 229°5 toises? We are ignorant
at how much Mr. de Borda estimated the effect of the terres-

‘

the height of the Sun above the horizon of the sea, and in an

artificial horizon, and reducing these heights to the same
instant, |

163

trial refraction ; but it is probable, that this supposition did

not much differ from one-tenth of the arc. The distance of
the volcano is nine miles, and a variation of refraction of
22" would change the total height of the mountain but one
toise,

As bases adapted to the measurement of mountains are not

generally to be found on a coast, and at the level of the

Ocean, travellers are forced to recur, either to barometrical

measurements, or to the depression of the horizon. In Mr.

de Borda's operation, these reductions have been pretty con-

siderable, d being elevated 169 toises, and c 55 toises above

the surface of the sea. But when the subject of discussion is

the comparing barometrical and geometrical measurements,

which differ but a small number of toises, we must examine,

what is the limit of the mistakes that may be committed, and
whether the measure be too great or too little. The varia-
tions of the terrestrial refraction elevate or depress the horizon
of the sea two or three minutes, to an observer placed on the
coast three or four toises high. At this distance the trajec-

tories may be more or less concave or convex, according to
the temperature of the land and of the sea, and the unequal
decrement of density in the successive strata of the air. In

proportion as the observer increases his height above the

coast, the mistakes owing to the irregular variation of the
refractions diminish considerably ; and it is easy to show,
that at the time of Mr. de Borda’s operation they did not
exceed three or four toises*. As the sea at this period was

colder than the air, the stations c and d may have been found

* The numerous observations of depression made by Mr.
Méchain at Montjouy, near Barcelona, differ from each other
but 72 toises, the total height of the mountain being 105
toises: Delambre, Base du Systeme métrique, t. ii, p. 759
and 760.

164

lower than they really are* ; and we may suppose, what is
confirmed by barometrical measurement, that the trigonome-
trical result obtained in 1776 is rather too small than too
oreat, © : t Oa Dagon. SS

On resuming what has just been laid down from examin-
ing insuccession'the different elements, that enter into the
calculation of the absolute elevation of the Peak of Teneriffe 3
it follows, that the trigonometrical’ measurement made by
Mr. de Boria is probably exact at least to a three hundred and
sixteenth of the total height; unless we suppose accidental -
mistakes, owing to the negligence of the observers. )

I have no doubt but the same degree of exactness may be
obtained in very favorable circumstances from repeated mea-
surements made by the barometer ; but it is difficult to judge,
amidst ‘a few isolated observations, whether oblique winds,
or an unequal distribution of heat in the successive strata of
the air, have not altered the results. Of three baroinetric
measurements made -by Messrs. de Borda, Lamanon and
Cordier, and calculated after the formula of Laplace, and the

* Biot, on extraordinary refractions, in the Mem. de l'In-
stitut, 1809, p. 157, 177, and 180. Mr. de Borda, like the
greater part of those geometrieians who have measured the
depression of the horizon, has neglected to indicate the tem-
perature of the ocean: but we know that. at this period the
air was at 25 degrees, and from the observations already
- made, page 66—80, we may admit, that the heat of the wa-
ter of the sea was from 20 to 21 degrees. Now, heights of.
thirty toises, calculated on the supposition of a mean refrac-
tion of 0°08, and of a uniform decrement in arithmetical
progression, appear diminished three toises when there are
four degrees of difference between the temperature of the air
and the water. -This number is deduced from the numerous
observations made by Messrs. Biot and Mathieu at Dunkirk;

.

165

coefficient of Ramond, ‘there is only the second which does
not give a greater height than the zeometrical, operations:

If Deluc’ s or Tremblay’s formula be substituted for that’ of
Laplace, the heights, instead of being too great, will be too
little. Supposing the Peak to be really 1905 toises high,
Laplace’s formula, applied to Messrs, Lamanon and Cordier’s
observations, would be erroneous only 5 toises, or a three
hundred and forty sixth; an extremely small quantity, and
which would be the half or the third only of that, to which
excellent observers may be often exposed **._

The first coefficient + of the barometric formula of Mr. de
‘Laplace, published in 1798, was founded on the comparison
of the barometrical and geometrical meas urement of the vol-
cano of Teneriffe, made by Mr. de Borda, The illustrious au-
thor of La Mécanique céleste having after ward found, that this
coefficient did not give exact heights, substituted another,
furnished by the excellent observations of Mr. Ramond. On
examining the manuscript narrative of Borda’s voyage, we can-
not guess at the source of an error, which: seems considerably
to surpass that of the barometric measurement of Mount
Blanc by Saussure. The corresponderit barometer was ob-

* Mr. d’Aubuisson concluded, after having discussed a
great number of observations calculafted after the formula of
Laplace, and compared with exact. geodesical measures,
© that in avoiding the manifest causies of inexactness, such
as the morning hours, the considerable changes of weather
from one day to another, storms, and the influence of local-
ities, we may consider a hundredth: as the limit of the mis-
takes.’ He adds, that ‘‘ most commonly, by fortunate
compensations, the error will be only some pai nenmac aie
Journal de Physique, t. Ixxi, p. 35.

+ The coefficient, 17972 metres. Exposition du Systéme
du Monde, ed. 1, p. 82, Ramond, Mém, sur la Formule
barométrique, p. 2.

166

served at Orotava every quarter of an hour; its greatest
variations, \n twenty-four hours, were a few tenths of a line.
The scales were carefully verified ; and an account was taken
of the accumulation of the mercury in the cistern*. The
‘thermometer was observed in the shade; the slightest cir-
cumstances are found indicated in Messrs. de Borda and
Varela’s journals. They are the only travellers, who have
carried two barometers to the top of the Peak. Both instru-
ments agreed within three or four tenths of a line with each
other, and the average of both was constantly taken. If we
were not acquainted with the real height of the Peak toa
- considerable degree of exactness, we might presume, that
the barometric measurement taken in 1776 could not be a
hundredth erroneous, while it is probably beyond a fiftieth. It
is sufficient to compare the indications of Borda’s barometer
and thermometer with the indications of these same instru-
ments in Lamanon and Cordier’s voyages, to discover, that
in the morning of the 1st of October, 1776, on the summit
of the Piton, the pressure of the air underwent an extra-
ordinary and very problematic modification. The following
are the elements of this comparison.

* Jt was 0°9 of a line on the brink of the crater.

PRL ‘(O ; Oc6L ‘DO co

Ecol “YT | ZO6l “T 6-61 9-C BZ

C.45 | 0-8 83 03 | 63 8% "yeoq ayy Jo
GOL ‘Gd. | 9L6U “A L.9 0-7 SI 06 €-PF 8st ¢-8 G0 8ST FULT
ect ‘0 | SPST °D |] CT 9.¥ 83 - - - C.6 6-3 83 "SaSo]du] SOT op
PEt “A | SSSt “A | 6-H ¢.6 61 = = . o8 L-6 61 Broue sy
> "SasiOT, "SASIOT, "IOYL oes ‘IOUL Ba ‘mo eons
= TEED
‘InUINeIy :
38 4-O} 1E inimaoy ‘CO8L | "CSLL “OLLI :
Surpuodsaa g sovydery woes SORv IE “eplog
-109 SasI0} | 03 Gurp.0o "So0RI gq

ee RE BE ES ae ee ee ee
jO AOqUINU | -op qUsI9F]
£ J1IOTeO Jo

‘J9OWIOUIY.T, SANUINVIY pue JdjauOIeEg
quatweli09qq 7 |

3 168

We are struck at seeing in this table, that Mr. de Borda
found his barometer, at the summit of the Peak, four lines
lower than other observers; ,and this, without any indica-
tions of the thermometer tending to explain why there was
so enormous a difference in the atmospherical pressure*. It
might be supposed, that the instruments were deranged dur-
ing the night, which the travellers passed at the Station of
the Rocks; but we find it expressly noted in Messrs. de
Borda and Varela’s journals, that, the day, after the excur-
sion, the difference between Mr. Pasley’s barometer at Oro-
tava, and those which had been made use of for the measure-
ment of the Piton, remained the same to nearly two tenths
of a line. The voicano_ of Teneriffe, like all other very
slender peaks, is undoubtedly. but little adapted to disclose
the error of a barometric coefficient. Oblique winds sweep
along the rapid declivity of the mountain ; and it is to be
presumed, that, at the time when Mr. de Borda measured it,
a very violent ascending wind, or some other unknown de-
ranging cause, occasioned the barometer to fall. The wea-
ther had been rainy the preceding evening ; the decrement
of caloric was very slow and probably of very little uniform-
ity ; circumstances under which any formula would be at
default ; but notwithstanding these considerations, without
the testimony of an observer so exact as Mr. de Borda, we
_ should scarcely believe that the barometric pressure could
change four lines at a height of more than 1900 toises, and at
the limits of the torrid zone. A single barometric measure-

-

*| The error of a degree in the indication of the temperature
of the air would alter the height of the Peak only 3°8 toises
nearly. A considerable number of good observations, made
at the top of St. Bernard, prove, that the whole of the cal-
culated elevations are too great or too little, every time that
. the temperatures are above or below the mean temperature
of the two stations. Journ. de Phys. t. Ixxi, p.10.

169

ment is like a longitude determined by the mere difference of
time: both, executed with good instruments, and under fa-
vorable circumstances, are susceptible of great exactness ;
but when the meteorological variations, or the rate of the
chronometer, are not regular and uniform, it is impossible to

‘fix the limit of the errors, as we may do with success in dis-
cussing a geometrical operation, or the result of a series of
lunar distances. .

After having excluded the barometric measurement of
Borda, two others remain, which inspire great: confidence,
but of which one appears to be somewhat too little, and the
other too great. We have already remarked, that their mean
result does not differ 0°003 from the geometrical measure-
ment ; and we shall not give a preference to the barometric
observations of Lamanon over-those of Mr. Cordier, because
we think we have proved, that the result even of the trigo-
nometrical measurement may well be a few toises too
small, and Mr. Cordier made his excursion in very fine and
settled weather. This gentleman thinks, that his measure- ~
ment must have given a result near the truth, on account of
the numberless precautions which ‘he took'to avoid errors *.
The observation was made in the morning’; and it is known,
that at this time of the day Laplace’s formula’ makes’ the

‘heights too little, because his coefficient was deduced from
observations made at noon ; but on the other hand, Mr. Ra-
‘mond has rendered it probable, that the coefficient appro-
priate for our northern countries must’ undergo’ a‘ slight
diminution to adapt it to the measurement of the heights
comprised between the tropics, or near the limits of the torrid
zone ¢. A compensation therefore took place :, and; this
compensation was not disturbed by the effects: of the diurnal
variation ofthe barometer. I insist on this latter, cireum-

* Ramond, p. 5 and 26.
+ Ibid, p. 97.

170

stance, because distinguished natural philosophers have re-
cently asserted, that the barometer must sink on high moun-
tains, while at nine in the morning it reaches its maximum in
the plains. This assertion* is founded only on. theoretical
views, and on a local phenomenon observed by Saussure in
the Alps. The observations made by Mr. Bonpland and
myself on the horary variations of the barometer, from the
coasts to two thousand toises height, prove on the contrary,
that, under the tropics, the mercury reaches it’s maximum
and it’s minimum exactly at the same hours in the low regions
and on the summits of the Andes. rae
The real height of the Peak of Teneriffe differs little pro-
bably from the mean between the three geometrical and ba-
rometrical measurements of Borda, Lamanon, and Cordier.

1905 toises |
" 1902
1920

eee

| 1909

_ The exact determination of this point is of importance to
the science of physics, on account of the application of the
new barometric formulas ; to navigation, on account of the
angles of altitude, which experienced seamen sometimes take,
when they pass in sight of the Peak ; and to geography, on
account of the use which Messrs. Borda and Varela have made
of the same angles, in the construction of the chart of the
archipelago of the Canaries. oi

POP: PPA LP ISP EI’ PLE

In the second chapter of this work, vol. i, p. 186, we
have entered into the question, whether the coast of Africa
could be seen from the summit of the Peak of Teneriffe.
This problem has been discussed by Mr. Delambre, to whom
we are indebted for so great a number of valuable observa-

* Journ. de Phys. t. Ixxi, p. 15.

1/1

tions on horizontal refractions. The following are the foun-
dations of the calculations, of which we have given only the
result, in that chapter. Let m (fig. 2) be the Peak of Te-
neriffe, and N the coast, the distance of which from the foot
of the Peak is the are P T Q = 2° 49’ 0", As refraction
makes objects appear higher than they really are, it will be
possible to see from the top of the Peak the point N, al-
though it is concealed by the curve of the Earth. This point
will be really visible if it be elevated enough to send forth a
ray, which, in describing the curve N T M across the strata
of the atmosphere, only skims the Earth in T: From the
summit of the Peak we should perceive then at once the
points T and N, and an observer placed in T would see the
points M and N in his horizon N’ T M’. If we designate
by h = 1904 toises, the height of the Peak, according to the
geometrical measurement of Borda ; by R = 3271225 toises,
the radius of the Earth; and finally by c the coefficient of
the terrestrial refraction, the mean value of which was found
to be 0:08 by Mr. Delambre ; we shall have the distance
P T, at which the observer ought to be in order to see the
summit M, at M’ in the horizon, by the formula,

: 1 vah
(i-<c). jor
which gives P T = 2° 7’26”. Such is the greatest distance
at which we can perceive the Peak from the level of the sea.
If we deduct P T from P T Q —2° 49/0", there will remain
QT = 4' 34!'; and with this distance we shall easily find
the height N Q = h’, which the coast must have to appear
at N/ at the horizon. In fact, if in the preceding formula
we substitute QT for the are P T, and h‘ for the height h,
we shall have

tang. PT =

tang. QT = ORE Ny Acetel
(L—c) 4

whence we deduce
R (l— cc) * tane. *Q T
i= — ee = 202°2 tolses.

2H

172

Thus by means of the refraction, and notwithstanding the
curve of the Earth, which at the distance PQ would conceal
a mountain of 370 toises, we might sometimes see a mountain
situate on the coast only 202 toises high; but as the refrac-
tions aré uncertain, and may even be negative, it would be
imprudent to affirm any thing for such great distances, for
which we have no observation. :
Results of the determinations of height.

Town of Laguna... - - - - - 360

-- Orotava - - * - - 163
Pino del Dornajito - - - - 533
Estancia de los Ingleses - - - - 1552
Cavern of Ice - - - Pa ics pe
Foot of the Piton - - - = - 1825
Summit of the Peak of Teneriffe - - 1909

PP LPL LPP PDI IDI ID LI

I have given in the third chapter * the result of the ob-
servations of longitude which I made at.Santa Cruz. The
following are the data taken from, Mr. de. Borda’s manu-
script, and which will serve to complete what has been laid
down in the Collection of my astronomical observations (t. i,
p. xxxvii and 28). Don Joseph Varela observed, the 30th of
August, at the port of Gomera, the immersion of Jupiter's |
third satellite, at 15" 40’ 8”, Tofino saw, at Cadiz, this
same immersion, at 16" 23' 28”, Difference of the meridians
43' 20"; the port of la Gomera, being situate, according to
the operations of Borda 0" 3! 28” to the east of Santa Cruz,
_werfind for this latter place 0" 39’ 52”. The 12th of Oc-
tober, Varela observed the immersion of the third satellite at

© Voli, p. 117,

Santa Cruz at 125 42’ 11”. Tofino made the same observa-
tion at Cadiz at 135 22' 26”. Difference of the meridians
0" 40! 15”. The same day the immersion of the third satellite
was observed at Santa Cruz at 15” 52'51”"; at Cadiz at
16" 32' 54”, Difference, 05 40! 3”. The mean of these
three observations of satellites, which had not yet been pub-
lished, makes Santa Cruz 18° 36/ 45” west of Paris, in reck-
oning with Mr. de Borda for Cadiz 8° 36/0”, conformably
to the observation of the annular eclipse of the Sun in 1764,
calculated by Du Séjour. But the real longitude of the old
observatory of Cadiz being, according to a great number of
occultations of stars* calculated by Messrs. Triesnecker and
Oltmanns, 8° 87! 37”; we have thence by the satellites 18°
38/ 22” for the longitude of Santa Cruz. Varela and Tofino
made use of two telescopes two feet and a half long, by Dol-
lond, with which these two observers had often obtained at
Cadiz exactly the same results. Two observations of the
first and second satellites, made by P. Feuillée, in 1724, at
Laguna and Orotava,and compared with the observations of
Maraldi at Paris, give 18° 36! 36” and 18° 29! 11” for Santa
Cruz in Teneriffe; supposing, with Borda, Laguna to be
2' 50’', and Orotava 16/ 5” west of the Mole of Santa Cruz
(Mém. de lAcad., 1746, p. 123). These data, combined
with the chronometrical results, concur in proving what I
have enlarged on elsewhere, that the longitude of the Mole
is probably not less than 18° 33’, or greater than 18° 36' or
18° 38‘. Mr. de Borda, speaking in his journal of Captain
-Cook, whom he had the pleasure to meet at the Canaries,
adds, ‘I cannot conceive why this celebrated navigator,
who was acquainted with the determinations of the travellers
who preceded him, persists in stating, that the port of Santa
Cruz is in 18° 51’0”” (Third Voyage, vol.i, p. 19). Be-

* Rec. d'Obs. Astron., t. i, p. 25. Espinosa, Memorias

de los Navigantes, t. i, p. 45.
ae ie

174

fore the expedition of the Boussole and the Espiégle, the
latitude of the Peak of Teneriffe was generally thought to be
28° 12! 54” (Maskelyne, Brit. Mariner’s Guide, p. 17).
Cook found the Peak, by observations made under sail,
12’ 11” more to the South, and 29’ 30” more to the west,
than the Mole of Santa Cruz. The geometrical operations:
of Borda give with more exactness 11/87” difference in lati-
tude, and 93/ 4/1 difference in longitude. At the Mole, the
Peak has been determined by azimuths West 28° 55/ South ;
the angle of apparent height being 4° 37/. Distance 22740
toises, supposing the elevation of the volcano to be 1904
toises. Latitude of the Peak 28° 16’ 53”. Longitude 18°
59’ 54”. I give here all that relates to this celebrated |
mountain, in order to induce nagivators to verify results,
which are so important to nautical geography.

PPP IPI IF? I FPP” I BD iP

Mr. de Borda is the only traveller, who has compared in
an accurate manner the dip of the needle at Santa Cruz, and
at the top of the Peak of Teneriffe. He found ‘the latter
1° 15/ greater (Manuscrit du Dépét, Cah. 4). This in-
crease of the dip observed on the summit of a high mountain
is conformable to what'1 have several times remarked in the
chain of the Andes. It probably depends on some system
of local attractions ; but in order to form aright judgment of
this phenomenon, we should know with precision the dip of
the magnetic needle at the foot of the volcano, for instance
at the town of Orotava. The variation in 1776 was 15° 44"
at Gomera, 15° 50’ at the Mole of Santa Cruz, and 19° 40%
toward the north west, at the brink of the crater.

BOOK It.

CHAPTER IV.

First abode at Cumana. — Banks of the
Manzanares.

We anchored opposite the mouth of the river
Manzanares on the 16th of July, at break of day;
but we could not land till very late in the morn-
ing, because we were obliged to wait the visit of
the officers of the port. Our eyes were fixed on
the groups of cocoa-trees that border the river,
and the trunks of which, more than sixty feet
high, towered over the landscape. The plain was
covered with tufts of cassias, capers, and those ar-
borescent mimosas, which, like the pine of Italy,
extend their branches in the form of an umbrella.
The pinnated leaves of the palms were conspi-
cuous on the azure of a sky, the clearness of
which was unsullied by any trace of vapors..
The Sun was ascending rapidly toward the
zenith. A dazzling light was spread through
the air, along the whitish hills strewed with
cylindric cactuses, and over a sea ever calm,

176

the shores of which were peopled with alcatras*,
egrets, ‘and flamingoes. The splendor of the
.. day, the vivid color of the vegetable world,
the forms of the plants, the varied plumage of
the birds, every thing announced the grand
aspect of nature in the equinoctial regions.
The city of Cumana, the capital of New An-
dalusia, is a mile distant from the embarcadere,
or the battery of the Bocca, where we landed,
after having passed the bar of the Manzanares. —
We had to cross a vast plain-+, which divides
the suburb of the Guayquerias from the seacoast.
The excessive heat of the atmosphere was aug-
mented by the reverberation of the soil, partly
stripped of vegetation. The centigrade thermo-
meter, plunged into the white sand, rose. to
37°7°. In the small pools of salt water it kept
~ at 30°5°, while the heat of the ocean, at it’s sur-
face, is generally in the port of Cumanat from

* Brown pelican of the size of a swan. Buffon, pl. eulum
No. 957, Pelicanus fuscus, Lin. (Oviedo, lib. xiv, c. 6.)

+ El Salado. ,

{ On comparmg a great number of experiments made in
1799 and 1800, at different seasons, [ find, that in the port
of Cumana, to the north of Cerro Colorado, the sea during
the ebb, is 0:8° warmer than during the flow, whatever be the
hour of the tide. ll shall here give the observations of the
20th of October, which may ‘almost serve as a type, and
which were made on a point of ‘the coast, where the sea at
150 toises distance was 30 or 40 fathoms deep, At ten in
the morning, ebb 26-1°; air near the coast 27°4°; air near

hes

147

25°2° to 263°. The first plant that we gathered
on the continent of America was the avicennia
tomentosa*, which in this place scarcely reaches
two feet: high. This shrub, the sesuvium, the
yellow gomphrena, and the cactus, cover the
lands impregnated with muriat of soda; they
belong to that small number of plants, which
live in society like the heath of Europe, and
which in. the torrid zone are found. only on
the seashore, and on the elevated plains of the
Andes. ‘The avicennia of Cumana is distin-
guished by another peculiarity not less remark-
able: it furnishes an instance of a plant com-
mon to the shores of South America and the
coasts of Malabar.

The Indian pilot led us across his garden,
which rather resembled a copse than a piece. of
cultivated ground. He showed us, as a proof
of the fertility of this climate, a silk-cotton tree
(bombax heptaphyllum), the trunk of which, in
it’s fourth year, had reached nearly two feet and

the city 30°2°; water of the Manzanares 25°2°: at four in
the afternoon, flow 25°3° ; air near the coasts 26°2°; air at
Cumana 28°1° ; water of the Manzanares 25°7°.

* Mangle prieto.

+ On the extreme rarity of the social plants between the
tropics, see my Essay .on the Geog. of Plants, p.19; anda
paper by Mr. Brown on the Proteaceae (Trans, of the Lin. Soc.
vol. x, P. i, p. 23), in which this great botanist has extended
and confirmed, by numerous facts my ideas on the associa-
tions of plants of the same species,

178

a half in diameter. We have observed, on the
banks of the Oroonoko and the river Magdalena,
that the bombax, the carolinea, the ochroma,
and other trees of the family of the malvacez,
are of extremely rapid growth. I nevertheless
think, that there was some exaggeration in the
report of the Indian respecting the age of his
bombax ; for under the temperate zone, in the :
hot and damp lands of North America, between
the Missisippi and the Alleghany mountains,
the trees do not exceed a foot in diameter * in
ten years; and vegetation is in general but a
fifth more speedy than in Europe, even taking
as an example the platanus occidentalis, the
tulip tree, and the cupressus disticha, which
reach from nine to fifteen feet in diameter. On |
the strand of Cumana, in the garden of the
Guayqueria pilot, we saw for the first time a
guama + loaded with flowers, and remarkable

* Five feet above the ground. These measures were taken
by an excellent observer, Mr. Michaux.

+ Inga spuria, which we must not confound with the com-
mon inga, inga vera, Willd. (mimosa inga, Lin.). The white
stamina, to the number of sixty or seventy, are attached to
a greenish corolla, have a silky lustre, and are terminated by
a yellow anther. The flower of the guama is eighteen lines
long. The common height of this fine tree, which prefers a
moist soil, is from eight to ten toises. I shall observe on this
occasion, that we have distinguished in this work by italics
the names of the new plants, which Mr. Bonpland and myself
have collected.

Wie

for the extreme length and silvery splendour of
it’s numerous stamina. We crossed the suburb
of the Indians, the streets of which are very re-
gular, and formed of small houses, quite new,
and of a pleasing appearance. ‘This part of the
town had just been rebuilt, on account of the
earthquakes, which had laid Cumana in ruins
eighteen months before our arrival. Scarcely
had we passed, on a wooden bridge, the Man-
zanares, which contains a few bavas, or croco-:
diles of the smaller species, when we every
where perceived the traces of this horrible ca-
tastrophe ; new edifices were rising on the ruins
of the old.

We were conducted by the captain of the Pi-
zarro to the governor of the province, Don
Vincente Emparan, to present to him the pass-
ports which had been given us by the first se-
eretary of state. He received us with that
frankness, and that noble simplicity, which has
at all times characterized the Biscayan nation.
Before he was named governor of Portobello
and Cumana, he had distinguished himself as
captain of a vessel in the royal navy. His name
recalls to mind one of the most extraordinary
and distressing events recorded in the history of
maritime wars. At the time of the last rupture
_ between Spain and England, two brothers of
Mr. d’Emparan fought during a whole night be-

180

fore the port of Cadiz, taking each other’s ships
for anenemy’s. The battle was so terrible, that
both vessels were sunk nearly at the same time.
A very small part of the crew was saved, and
the two brothers had the misfortune to recog-
nize each other a little before they expired.

The governor of Cumana expressed his great
satisfaction at the resolution we had taken to
remain for some time in New Andalusia, the
name of which province at this period was very
little known in Europe, and which in it’s moun-
tains, and on the banks of it’s numerous rivers,
contains a great number of objects worthy of
fixing the attention of naturalists. Mr. de Em-
paran showed us cottons dyed with native plants,
and fine furniture which was made exclusively
with the wood of the country: he interested
himself much in every thing that related to na-
tural philosophy; and asked, to our great asto-
nishment, if we thought, that under the beau-
tiful sky of the tropics, the atmosphere contain-
ed less azot (azotico) than in Spain; or if the
rapidity, with which iron oxidates. in those cli-
mates, was only the effect of a greater humidity
indicated by the hair hygrometer. :The name
of his native country pronounced: on a distant
shore would not have been more agreeable to
the ear of a traveller, than those words of azot,
oxyd of iron, and hygrometer, were to ours.
We knew, that, notwithstanding the orders

18]

of thé court, and the recommendations of a
_ powerful minister, our abode in the Spanish
climates would expose us to numberless incon-
veniences, if we did not succeed in inspiring
‘some personal interest in those who govern those
vast countries. Mr. de Emparan loved the
sciences too well, to deem it strange that we
should come from so great a distance to collect
plants, and determine the position of a few
places by astronomical methods. He suspected
no other motives for our voyage than those men-
_ tioned in our passports ; and the public marks
of consideration, which he gave us during a long
abode in his government, contributed greatly to
- procure us a favourable welcome in every part
of South America.

We disembarked our instruments toward the
evening, and we had the pleasure to find, that

~ - none had been damaged. We hired a spacious

house, the situation of which was favourable for
astronomical observations. We enjoyed an
agreeable coolness, when the breeze arose ; the
windows were without glasses, and even wanted
those paper panes, which are often the substi-
tutes of glass at Cumana. The whole of the
' passengers aboard the Pizarro left the vessel,
but the recovery of those who had been attacked |
by the fever, was very slow. We saw some,
who a month after, notwithstanding the care

bestowed on them by their countrymen, were

182

still extremely weak and reduced. Hospitality,
in the Spanish colonies, is such, that, a Euro-
pean who arrives, without recommendation, or
pecuniary means, is almost sure of finding assist-
ance, if he lands in any port on account of sick-
ness. The Catalans, the Gallicians, and the Bis-
cayans, have the most frequent intercourse with
America. They there form as it were three dis-
tinct corporations, which exercise a remarkable
influence over the morals, the industry, and
commerce of the colonies. ‘The poorest inhabit-
ant of Siges or Vigo is sure of being received
into the house of a Catalan or Gallician pul-
pero *, whether he arrives at Chili, or at the
Philippine Islands. I have seen the most affect-
ing instances of these attentions rendered to un-
known persons, during whole years, and always
without a murmur. It has been said, that hos-
pitality was easy to be exercised in a happy -
climate, where food is in plenty, where the na-
tive plants yield salutary remedies, and where
the sick man, reposing in his hammock, finds
under a shed all the shelter of which he stands
in need. But should we consider as of little
value the embarrassment caused in a family by
the arrival of a stranger, whose character is un-

known? can we be permitted to forget those

marks of tender compassion, those endearing
attentions of the female part of the household,

* A retail dealer. —

183

that untired patience, which never relaxes dur-
ing a long and painful recovery? It has been
remarked, that, with the exception of a few
very populous towns, hospitality has not yet
perceptibly diminished. since the first establish-
ment of the Spanish colonists in the new world.
It is distressing to think, that this change will
take place, when population and colonial indus-
try shall have made more rapid progress; and
that this state of society, which we are agreed
to call an advanced state of civilization, will
by degrees have banished “ the Old Castilian
frankness.”

Among the sick who landed at Cumana was
a negro, who fell into a state of insanity a few
days after our arrival ; he died in this deplorable
condition, though his master, almost seventy
years old, who had left Europe to settle at Sans
Blas, at the entrance of the gulf of California,
had attended him with the greatest care. I
relate this fact as a proof of it’s sometimes hap-
pening that men born under the torrid zone,
after having dwelt in temperate climates, feel
the pernicious effects of the heat of the tropics.
The negro was a young man, eighteen years of
age, very robust, and born on the coast of
Guinea: an abode of some years on the high
plain of Castile, and given his organization that
kind of irritability, which renders the miasms

184

of the torrid zone so dangerous to the inhabit-
ants of the countries of the north. : |

The soil, on which Cumana is built, forms
part of an extent of ground, that is very remark-
able in a geological point of view. As since my
return to Europe, other travellers have preced-
ed me in the description of certain parts of the
coasts, which they have visited after me, I shall
here confine myself to observations on subjects,
that have formed no part of their studies. The
chain of the calcareous Alps of Bergantin and
Tatara-ual stretches east and west from the —
summit of Impossible to the port of Mochima .-
and to Campanario. The sea, in times far re-.
mote, appears to have divided this ‘chain of the
rocky coasts of Araya and Maniquarez. The
vast gulf of Cariaco is owing to an irruption of
the sea; and no doubt can be entertained, but
that at this period the waters covered, on the
_ southern bank, the whole of the ground impres-
nated with muriat of soda, through which flows
the Manzanares. It requires but a slight in-
spection of the topographical plan of the city of
Cumana, to render this fact as incontestable as
the ancient abode of the sea on the basins of
Paris, Oxford, and Rome. The slow retreat of
the waters has turned into dry ground this ex-
tensive plain, in which rises a group of small
hills, composed of gypsum and calcareous brec-
cia of very recent formation. |

185

The city of Cumana is backed by this group,
which was formerly an island of the gulf of
Cariaco. That part of the plain, which is north
of the city, is called Plaga Chica, and extends
eastward as far as Punta Delgada; where a
narrow valley, covered with yellow gomphrena,
still marks the point of the ancient outlet of the
waters. This valley, the entrance of which is
defended by no exterior works, is the point,
where the place is most exposed to a military
attack. An enemy might pass in perfect safety
between the sandy point of Barigon * and the
mouth of the Manzanares; where the sea, near
the entrance of the gulf of Cariaco, is forty or
fifty fathoms deep, and farther to the south-east,
even as much as eighty-seven fathoms. A land-
ing might be effected near Punta Delgada; and
Fort St. Antonio and the city of Cumana turn-
ed, without any apprehension from the western
batteries formed at Plaga Chica-}-, at the mouth
of the river, and at Cerro Colorado.

The hill of calcareous breccia, which we have
just regarded as an island in the ancient gulf, is
covered with a thick forest. of columnar cactus
and opuntia. Some, thirty or forty feet high,
covered with lichens, and divided into several
branches in the form of candelabras, wear a

* Punta Arenas del Barigon, to the south of the castle of
Araya. :
t To the west of Los Serritos.

186

singular appearance. Near Maniquarez, at
Punta Araya, we measured a cactus, the trunk
of which was four feet nine inches in circumfe-
rence *. A European acquainted only with the
opuntia in our hot-houses is surprised to see the
wood of this plant become so hard from age,
that it resists for centuries both air and mois-
ture, and that the Indians of Cumana employ
it in preference for oars and door posts. Cu-
mana, Coro, the island of Margaretta, and_
Curassoa, are the places of South America that
abound most in plants of the family of the no-
pals. There only a botanist after a long resi-
dence could compose a monography of the
genus cactus, the species of which vary not
only in their flowers and fruits, but in the form
of their articulated stem, the number of costz,
and the disposition of the thorns. We shall see
hereafter how these plants, which characterize
a warm and extraordinarily dry climate, like
that of Egypt and California, gradually disap-
pear in proportion as we remove from the coasts,
and penetrate into the inland country...

The groups of cactus and opuntia produce
the same effect in the arid lands of equinoxial
America, as the junceze and the hydrocharides
in the marshes of our northern climes. A place”

* Tuna macho. We distinguish in the wood of the cactus ©
the medullary prolongations, as Mr, Desfontaines has already
observed (Journ. de Physique, t. xlviii, p. 153).

187

where the larger species of the strong cactus
are collected in groups is considered as almost
_ impenetrable. These places, called tunales, are
impervious not only to the native, who goes
naked to the waist, they are formidable even to
those who go fully clothed. In our solitary
rambles, we sometimes endeavoured to penetrate
into the tunal that crowns the summit of the
castle hill, a part of which is crossed by a path-
way, where we might study, amidst thousands,
the organization of this singular plant. Some-
times the night suddenly overtook us, for there
is scarcely any twilight in this climate; and
we then found ourselves in a situation so much
the more disagreeable, as the cascabel or rattle-
snake*, the coral, and other vipers, armed with
poisonous fangs, frequent, at the time of laying, —
these scorched and arid haunts, to deposit their
eggs in the sand.

The castle of St. Antonio is built at the east-
ern extremity of the hill, but not on the most
elevated point, being commanded on the east
by an unfortified summit. The tunal is con-
sidered both here and every where in the Spa-
nish colonies as a very important means of mi-
litary defence; and when earthen works are
raised, the engineers are eager to propagate the

* Crotalus cumanensis, &c. Leeflingii, two new species.
See my Recueil d’Observ. Zoologiques, t. 1, p. 8.
21

188

thorny opuntia, and promote it’s growth, as they ©
are careful to keep crocodiles in the ditches of
fortified places. Under a climate where orga-
nized nature is so powerful and active, man
summons as auxiliaries in his defence the car-
nivorous reptile, and the plant with it's armor of
formidable thorns.

The castle of St. Antonio, on which the ol
nish flag is hoisted on festivals, is only thirty
toises above the level of the waters in the gulf
‘of Cariaco*. Placed on a naked and calcareous
hill, it commands the town, and forms a very
picturesque object to vessels entering the port. ,
It forms a bright object against the dark cur-
tains of those mountains, which raise their sum-
mits to the region of the clouds, and of which
the vaporous and bluish tint blends itself with
the azure of the sky. On descending from Fort
St. Antonio. toward the south-west, we find on
the slope of the same rock the ruins of the old
castle of St. Mary. This site is delightful to
those, who wish to enjoy, toward sunset, the
freshness of the breeze, and the view of the gulf.

* This elevation is concluded from the zenith distance of
the staff on which signals are hoisted. I found in the great
square of Cumana this angle, not cerrected for refraction,
83° 210”. According to the topographical plan of Cumana,
Jaid down in 1793 by Mr. Fidalgo, the horizontal distance of
the Gran Plaza from the Castillo de San Antonio is 220
toises.

189

The lofty summits of the island of Margaretta*
present themselves above the rocky coast of the
isthmus of Araya: toward the west, the small
islands of Caraccas, Picuita, and Boracha, recall
to mind the catastrophes, that have overwhelm-
ed the coasts of Terra Firma. These islets
bear the resemblance of fortifications, and from
the effect of the mirage, while the inferior strata
of the air, the ocean, and the soil, are unequally
heated by the Sun, their points appear raised
like the extremity of the great promontories of
the coast. It is pleasing, during the day, to
follow these inconstant phenomena ; we see,
as the night approaches, these stony masses,
that had been suspended in the air, settle them-
selves on their bases; and the luminary, the
presence of which vivifies organic nature, seems
by the variable inflection of it’s rays, to impress:
motion on the stable rock, and give an undulat-
ing movement to plains covered with arid
sands.

The city of Cumana, properly speaking, oc-
cupies the ground that lies between the castle
of St. Antonio, and the small rivers of Manza-
nares and Santa Catalina. The Delta, formed

* The promontory of Macanao.

+ The real cause of the mirage, or the extraordinary re-
fraction which the rays undergo, when strata of air of dif.
ferent densities are placed on each other, had already been
suspected by Hooke. See his Posthumous Works, p. 472.

212

190

by the bifurcation of the first of these rivers, is. -
a fertile plain covered with mammees, sapotas
(achras ), plantains, and other plants cultivated
in the gardens or sharas of the Indians. . The
town has no remarkable edifice, and the fre-
quency of earthquakes forbids such embellish-
ments, It is true, that strong shocks occur less
frequently in a given time at Cumana, than at
Quito, where we nevertheless find sumptuous
and very lofty churches. But the earthquakes
of Quito are violent only in appearance; and,
from the particular nature of the motion and of
the ground, no edifice there is overthrown. At
Cumana, as well as at Lima, and in several cities.
placed far from the mouths of burning volca-
noes, it happens, hat the series of slight shocks —
is interrupted after a long course of years by

great catastrophes, that resemble the effects of

the explosion of a mine. We shall have. occa-
sion to return several times to this phenomenon,
for the explanation of which so many vain
theories have been imagined, and which have
been thought to be classed, by attributing them
to perpendicular and horizontal movements, to
the shock, and to oscillation*.

* This classification dates from the time of Posidonius.
{t is the succussio and inclinatio of Seneca (Nat. Quest. 6; ¢.
21): but the ancients had already judiciously remarked,
that the nature of these shocks is too variable, to permit any

i9i

The suburbs of Cumana are almost as popu-
lous as the ancient town. We reckon three,
-that of the Serritos, on the road to the Plaga
Chica, where we meet with some fine tamarind
trees; that of St. Francis, toward the south-east ;
and the great suburb of the Guayquerias, or
Guayguerias. The name of this tribe of Indians
was quite unknown before the conquest. The
natives who bear this name formerly belonged
to the nation of the Guaraounoes, of which we
find no remains but in the swampy lands of the
branches of the Oroonoko. Old men have assur-
ed me, that the language of their ancestors was
a dialect of the Guaraouno ; but that for a cen-
tury past no native of that tribe at Cumana, or
in the island of Margaretta, has spoken any other
language than the Castilian.

The denomination of Guayquerias, like those
of Peru and Peruvian, owes it’s origin to a mere
mistake. The companions of Christopher Co-
lumbus, coasting along the island of Margaretta,
where still on the northern coasts resides the
noblest’ portion of the Guayqueria nation*, met
a, few natives, who were harpooning fish by

subjection to those imaginary laws. (Plato, apud Plut. de
Placit. Philos., lib. iii, c. 15, ed. Reiske, t. ix, p. 551.)

* The Guayquerias of la Banda del Norte consider them-
selves as the most noble race, because they think, that they
are less mixed with the Chayma Indian, and other copper-

\

192

throwing a pole tied to a cord, and terminated
by an extremely sharp point. They asked them
in the Hayti language their name; and the In-
dians, thinking that the question of the stran-
gers related to their harpoons, formed of the
hard and heavy wood of the macana palm
tree, answered guaike, guaike, which signifies
pointed pole. A striking difference: at present
exists between the Guayquerias, a civilized tribe
of skilful fishermen, and those savage Guara-
ounoes of the Oroonoko, who suspend their ha-
bitations on the trunks of the mauritia palm tree,
moriche.

The population of Cumana has been singu-
larly exaggerated in latter times. In 1800,
several colonists, little versed in questions of
political economy, carried this population to
twenty thousand souls ; while the king’s officers
employed in the government of the country
thought, that the city with it’s suburbs did not

coloured races. They are distinguished from the Guayque-
rias of the continent by their manner of. pronouncing the
Spanish, which they speak almost without separating their
teeth. They show with pride to Europeans the point of the —
Galera, so called on account of the vessel of Columbus,
which anchored there, and the port of Manzanillo, where
they first swore to the Whites, in 1498, that friendship,
which they have never betrayed, and which has given them,
in the Court style, the title of jieles, loyal, (See above,
p. 44.)

" 195

contain twelve thousand. Mr. Depons, in his
valuable work on the province of Caraccas, gives
Cumana, in 1802, near twenty-eight thousand
inhabitants ; others have carried this number,
for the year 1810, to thirty thousand. When
we consider the slowness, with which the po-
pulation increases in Terra Firma, I do not
speak of the country, but in the towns, we must
doubt whether Cumana be already a third more
populous than Vera Cruz, the principal port of
the vast kingdom of New Spain. It is even
easy to prove, that in 1802 the population
scarcely exceeded eighteen or nineteen thousand
souls. I was favoured with a sight of the dif-
ferent memoirs, which the government had pro-
cured to be drawn up on the statistics of the
country, at the time when the question was agi-
tated, whether the revenue of the farm of tobac-
co could be replaced by a personal tax; and I
flatter myself, that my estimation rests on solid
foundations. |

An enumeration made in 1792 gives Cumana
but 10740 inhabitants, reckoning the suburbs
and scattered houses a league around. Don
Manuel Navarete, an officer of the treasury,
asserts, that the error of this enumeration cannot
be a third, or even a fourth of the whole number.
On comparing the annual registers of baptisms,
we observe but a feeble increase from 1790 to
1800. The women, it is true, are extremely

194

fruitful, especially the natives; but though the
small-pox be yet unknown in this country, the
mortality of infants is prodigious, on account
of the extreme carelessness in which they live,
and the pernicious custom of eating green and
indigestible fruits.. ‘The number of births* ge-
nerally amounts from five hundred and twenty
to six hundred, which indicates at most a popu-
lation of sixteen thousand eight hundred souls.
We may be assured, that all the Indian children
are baptised, and inscribed on the registers of
the parishes ; and supposing, that the popula-
tion in 1800 had been twenty-six thousand souls,
there would have been but one single birth to
forty-three individuals ; while the ratio of births
to the whole population is in France as twenty-
eight to a hundred, and in the equinoctial regi-
ons of Mexico as seventeen to a hundred.

It is to be presumed, that the Indian suburb

* The following are the results which I drew from the
registers communicated to me by the parish priests of Cu-'
mana. Births in the year 1798, in the district of the Curas
rectores, 237; in the district of the Curas castrenses, 57; in
the suburb of the Guayquerias, or parish of Alta Gracia,
209.: in the suburb of the Serritoes, or parish of Socorro, 19.
Total 522. We see, by these parish registers, the great fe-
cundity of the Indian marriages: for though the suburb of
the Guayquerias contains a number of individuals of other .
tribes, we are struck with the quantity of children born on
this left bank of the Manzanares, Their number amounts to
two fifths of the whole births.

195

by degrees will extend as far as the Embarca-
dere, the plain, which is not yet covered with
houses or huts, being more than 340 toises in
length*. The heats are somewhat less oppres-
sive on the side toward the seashore, than in the
old town, where the reverberation of the cal-
careous soil, and the proximity of the mountain
of St. Antonio, raise the temperature to an ex-
traordinary degree. In the suburb ofthe Guay-
; querias, the sea breezes have free access; the
soil is clayey, and, as it is thought, less exposed
. from this reason to the violent shocks of earth-
quakes, than the houses at the foot of the rocks
and hills on the right bank of the Manzanares.

The shore near the mouth of the small river
Santa Catalina is bordered with mangrove
trees}, but these mangroves are not sufficiently

* I have deduced this distance from the vertical angles and
the azimuths of several edifices, of which I carefully mea-
sured the height. On the side of the river, in 1800, the
distance from the first hut of the suburbs of the Guayquerias
_ in the Casa blanca (of Don Pasqual Goda) was 538 toises,
and from this first hut to the bridge of the Manzanares 210
toises. These data will one day be interesting, when the
progress of industry and prosperity at Cumana, from the be-
ginning of the nineteenth century, becomes a subject of in-
quiry.

+ Rhizophora mangle. Mr. Bonpland found on the Plaga
Chica the allionia incarnata, in the same place where the

unfortunate Loefling had discovered this new genus of nycta-
gines.

7

196

spread to diminish the salubrity of the'air of Cu-
mana, ‘The soil of the plain is in part destitute
of vegetation, in part covered with tufts of sesu-
vium portulacastrum, gomphrena flava, ¢. myr-
tifolia, talinum cuspidatum, ¢. cumanense, and
portulaca lanuginosa. Among these herbaceous
plants we find at intervals the avicennia tomen-
fosa, the scoparia dulcis, a frutescent mimosa
with very irritable leaves*, and particularly
cassias, the number of which is so great in South
America, that we collected, in our travels, more
than thirty new species.

On leaving the Indian suburb, and ascending
the river toward the south, we found a grove of
cactus, a delightful spot, shaded by tamarinds,
brasillettoes, bombax, and other plants, remark-
able for their leaves and flowers. The soil here
is rich in pasturage, where dairy houses, built
with reeds, are separated from each other by
clumps of trees. The milk remains fresh, when
kept, not in the calebashes+- of very thick lig-
neous fibres, but in porous earthen vessels from
Maniquarez. A prejudice prevalent in the

* The Spaniards designate by the name of dormideras
(sleeping plants) the small number of mimosas with irritable
jeaves. We have increased this number with three species,
which were unknown to botanists, namely, the mimosa humi-
lis of Cumana, the m. pellita of the savannahs of Calabozo,
and the m. dormiens of the banks of the Apura.

t The fruit of the crescentia cujete.

197

countries of the north had long led me to believe,
that cows, under the torrid zone, did not yield
rich milk ; but my abode at Cumana, and espe-
cially an excursion through the vast plains of
Calabozo, covered with grasses, and herbaceous
sensitive plants, convinced me, that the rumi-
nating animals of Europe become perfectly ha-
bituated to the most scorching climates, provid-
ed they find water and good nourishment. The
milk is excellent in the provinces of New Anda-
lusia, Barcelona, and Venezuela; and the but-
ter is better in the plains of the equinoctial zone,
than on the ridge of the Andes, where the Alpine
plants, enjoying in no season a sufficiently high
temperature, are less aromatic than on the Py-
renees, the mountains of Estremadura, and those
of Greece. As the inhabitants of Cumana prefer
_ the coolness of the sea breeze to the appearance
of vegetation, they are accustomed to no other
walk than that of the open shore. The Spa-
niards, who are accused in general of no predi-
lection for trees, or the warbling of birds, have
transported their prejudices and their habits into.
the colonies. In Terra Firma, Mexico, and
Peru, it is rare to see a native plant a tree,
merely with the view of procuring himself shade ;
and if we except the environs of the great ca-
pitals, walks bordered with trees are almost un-
known in these countries. The arid plain of
Cumana exhibits after violent showers an extra-

198

ordinary phenomenon. ‘The earth, drenched
with rain, and heated again by the rays of the
‘sun, emits that musky odour, which under the
torrid zone is common to animals of very dif-
ferent classes, to the jaguar, the small species of
tiger cat, the thick-nosed tapir*, the galinazo
vulture-}, the crocodile, vipers, and rattlesnakes.
The gaseous emanations, which are the vehicles
of this aroma (odour), seem to be evolved in pro-
portion only as the mould, containing the spoils:
of an innumerable quantity of reptiles, worms,
and insects, begins to be impregnated with wa-
ter. Ihave seen Indian children, of the tribe of
the Chaymas, draw out from the earth and eat
millepedes or scolopendras { eighteen inches -
long, and seven lines broad. _ Whenever the soil
is turned up, we are struck with the mass of or-
ganic,substances, which by turns are developed, |
transformed, and decom posed. Nature in these
climates appears more active, more fr uitful, we
might even say more prodigal of life.

On this shore, and near the dairies of which
we have just spoken, we enjoy, especially at sun-

* Cavia capybara, Lin. ; chiguire.

+ Vultur aura, Lin., zamuro, or galinazo. The Brasilian

vulture of Buffon. I cannot reconcile myself to the adoption

of names, which designate as belonging to a single country
a saga common to a whole continent.

{ Scolopendras are very common behind the vagtte of St.

aaiplio, en the summit of the hill.

199

rise, a very beautiful prospect over an elevated
group* ofcalcareous mountains. As this group
subtends an angle of three degrees only at the
house where we dwelt, it long served me to com-
pare the variations of the terrestrial refraction
with the meteorological phenomena. Storms
are formed in the centre of this Cordillera; and
we see from afar thick clouds resolve themselves
into abundant rains, while during seven or eight
months not a drop of water falls at Cumana.
The Brigantine, which is the highest part of this
chain, raises itself in a very picturesque manner

* If the Brigantine (Cerro del Bergantin) be actually 24
miles, or 22800 toises distant from Cumana, as is indicated
on the chart of Mr. Fidalgo, published by the Hydrographi-
~ cal Depot at Madrid, in 1805, the angles of altitude which I
took at'the Plaga Grande make this mountain 1255 toises high.
But this very chart, less accurate with regard to places dis-
tant from the coasts than to the coasts themselves, assigns
the town of Cumanacoa a latitude of 10° 5’, while, according
to my direct observations, it is 10° 1611”. (Obs. Astron. 1.
i, p. 96.) If this too southern position has an influence on
that of the Brigantine, we must admit, that this mountain is
much lower. It presents itself at the Plaga Grande under a
vertical angle (corrected for the refraction and curve of the
Earth) of 3° 6’ 12”. Other angles, taken on a base of 196
toises, which was measured on ground where the water had
_ rested along time, would induce me to think, that the height
and distance of the Brigantine are not much above 800 toises,
‘and 12 or 16 miles; but we can have no confidence in so
short a basis, and an operation, the immediate object of which
was not the measure of the Brigantine.

200

behind Brito and Tataraqual. It took it’s name
from the form of a very deep valley on the north-
ern declivity, which resembles the inside of a
ship. The summit of this mountain is almost
bare of vegetation, and flattened like that of
Mowna-Roa, in the Sandwich Islands. Itisa
perpendicular wall, or, to use ‘a more expressive
term of the Spanish navigators, a table, mesa.
This peculiar physiognomy, and the symmetrical
arrangement of a few cones, which surround the
Brigantine, made me at first think, that this
group, which is wholly calcareous, contained
rocks of basaltic or trappean formation.

The governor of Cumana had sent, in 1797, a
band of determined men to explore this entirely
desert country, and to open a direct road to
New Barcelona, by the summit of the Mesa.
It was reasonably expected, that this way would
be shorter, and less dangerous to the health of
travellers, than that which was pursued by the
couriers along the coasts; but every attempt to
cross the chain of the mountains of the Brigan-
tine was fruitless. In this part of America, as
in New Holland * to the west of Sidney Town,
it is not so much the height of the Cordilleras,

* The blue mountains of New Holland, and those of Car-
marthen and Lansdown, are not visible, in clear weather be-
yond fifty miles. Peron. Voyage aux Terres Australes, p.
389. Supposing the angle of altitude half a degree, the ab-
solute height of these mountains would be about 620 toises.

201

as the form of the rocks, that presents obstacles
difficult to surmount.

The longitudinal valley, formed by the lofty
mountains of the interior and the southern de-
clivity of the Cerro de San Antonio, is traversed
by the Rio Manzanares. This plain, which is
the only thoroughly wooded part in the environs
of Cumana, is called the Plain des Charas*, on
account of the numerous plantations, which the
inhabitants have begun for some years past
along the river. A narrow path leads from the
hill of San Francisco across the forest to the
hospice of the Capuchins, a very agreeable coun-
try house, which the Arragonese monks have
built as a retreat for old infirm missionaries, who
can no longer fulfil the duties of their minis-
try. As we advance toward the west, the trees
of the forest become more vigorous, and we
meet with a few monkeys+, which, however, are
very rare in the environs of Cumana. At the
foot of the capparis, the bauhinia, and the zygo-
phyllum with flowers of a gold yellow, extend
a carpet of bromeliat, akin to the b. karatas,
which from the odour and coolness of it’s foliage
attracts the rattlesnake.

The waters of the Manzanares are very limpid,

* Chacra, by corruption chara, a hut or cottage surrounded
by a garden. The word :pure has the same signification.

+ The common machi, or weeping monkey.

t Chihuchihue, of the family of the ananas,

3

202

and happily it has no resemblance whatever to
the Manzanares of Madrid, which appears the
narrower from the contrast of the sumptuous
bridge by which it is crossed. It takes. it’s
source, like all the rivers of New Andalusia,
‘ina part of the savannahs (llanos) known’ by
the names of the plateaux of Jonoro, Amana,
and Guanipa*, which receives, near the Indian
village of San Fernando, the waters of the Rio
Juanillo. Ithas been several times proposed to
the government, but always without success, to
construct a dyke at the first Jpure, in order to
form ar tificial 1 irrigations in the plain of Charas;
because, notwithstanding it’s apparent sterility,
the soil is extremely productive, wherever humi-
dity is joined to the heat of the climate. The
cultivators, who are but in narrow circumstances
at Cumana, were gradually to refund the money.
advanced for the construction of the sluices.
Meanwhile Persian wheels, pumps worked by 7
mules, and other hydraulic but imperfect ma-
chines, have been erected, to serve till this pro-
ject is carried into execution.

The banks of the Manzanares are very plea-
sant, and shadowed by mimosas, erythrinas cei-
bas, and other trees of gigantic growth. A ri-

* These three eminences bear the names of Mesas, tables.
An immense plain has an almost imperceptible rise from
both sides to. the middle, without any appearance) of moun-
tains or hills.

208

ver, the temperature of which, in the season of
the floods, descends as low as twenty-two de-
grees, when the air isat thirty and thirty-three
degrees, is an inestimable benefit, in a country
where the: heats are excessive during the whole
year, and where it is so agreeable to bathe several
times inthe day. The children pass, as it were,
a part of their lives in the water: the whole of
the inhabitants, even the women of the most
opulent families, know how to swim; and ina
country where man is so near the state of nature,
one of the first questions asked at first meeting
in the morning is, whether the water is cooler
than the preceding evening. ‘The mode of bath-
ing is various enough. We every evening vi-
sited a very respectable society, in the suburb of
the Guayquerias. In a fine moonlight night,
chairs’ were placed in the water: the men and
women were lightly clothed, as in some baths of
the north of Europe ; and the family and strau-
gers, assembled in the river, passed some hours
in smoking segars, and in talking, according to
_ the custom of the country, of the extreme dry-
ness of the season, of the abundant rains in the
neighbouring districts, and particularly of the
luxuries, of which the ladies of Cumana accuse
those of the Caraccas and the Havannah. The
company were under no apprehensions from the
bavas, or small crocodiles, which are now ex-
tremely scarce, and which approach men with-
, 2K

204

out attacking them. These animals: are three
or four feet long. We never met with them in
the Manzanares, but with a great number of
dolphins *, which sometimes ascend the river.in '
the night, and frighten the bathers by spouting
water. DG

The Port. of Cumana is a road capable of. re+
ceiving all the navies of Kurope. The whole of
the Gulf of Cariaco, which is thirty-five miles:
long, and sixty-eight miles broad; affords! excel-
lent: anchorage. The great ocean: is: not more
calm. and pacific on the coasts of Peru, than the
sea of the Antilles from Portocabello, and espe-
cially from Cape Codera, to the Point. of Paria.
The hurricanes of the West Indies are never felt.
in these regions, the vessels of) which, are ‘with-
out decks. The only danger in:the portof Cu:
mana ig a shoal, that of Morro Roxo:-f, which:
is nine hundred teises broad from: east to: west;

-* Toninas.,

+ There are from one to three fathoms water on this shoal, .
while just beyond’ it’s edges there are eighteen, thirty, and
even thirty-eight. The remains of an old battery, situate
to the north-north-east' of the castle of St.. Antonio, and very
neax it; serve as a mark to avoid the bank: of Morro, Roxo.
Before this battery shuts in, with a very high mountain of the
peninsula of Araya, which bears from the castle of St. Anto-
nio, north 65° 30! east, at six leagues distance, the ship must
be put about. If this be neglected, the danger of striking is
so much the greater, as the heights of Bordones keep the
wind from a vessel steering for the port,

205

and so steep, that you are upon it almost before
you have any warning of it. |

I have been somewhat diffuse in my descrip-
tion of the site of Cumana, because it appeared
to me important to make known a place, which
for ages has been the focus of the most tre-
mendous earthquakes. Before I speak of these
extraordinary phenomena, it will be useful to
collect the scattered traits of the-physical posi-
tion of which I have just given the sketch.

The city, placed at the foot of a hill destitute
of verdure, is commanded by‘ a castle. No:
steeple or dome attracts from afar the eye of the
traveller, but only a few trunks of tamarind,
cocoa, and date trees, which rise above the
houses, the roofs of which are flat. Thesur-
rounding plains, especially those on the coasts,
wear a melancholy, dusty, and arid appearance,
while a fresh and luxuriant vegetation points
out from afar the windings of the river, which
separates the city from the suburbs, the popula-
tion of European and mixed race from the na-
tives with a coppery tint. The hill of fort St.
Antonio, solitary, white, and bare, reflects a
great mass of light, and of radiant heat: it is
composed of breccia, the strata of which contain
pelagian petrifactions. In the distance, toward
the south, a vast and gloomy curtain of moun-
tains stretches along. These are the high cal-
careous Alps of New Andalusia, surmounted by

2x2

206

sandstone, and. other more recent formations.
Majestic forests cover this Cordillera of the inte-
rior, and are joined by a woody vale to the open,
clayey lands, and salt marshes of the environs of
Cumana._ A few birds of considerable size con-
tribute to give a particular physiognomy tothese
countries. On the seashore, and in the gulf, we
find flocks of fishing herons, and alcatras of a
very unwieldy form, which swim, like the swan,
raising their wings. Nearer the habitation of
men, thousands of galinazo vultures, the true
jackals of the winged tribe, are ever busy in —
uncovering the carcases of animals *. A gulf,
which contains hot and submarine springs, di-
vides the secondary from the primary and schis-
tose rocks of the peninsula of Araya. | Each of
these coasts is bathed by a tranquil sea, of an
azure tint, and always gently agitated by the
same wind. A bright and clear sky, with a few
light clouds at sunset, reposes on the ocean, on
the peninsula destitute of trees, and on the
plains of Cumana, while we see the storms. accu-
mulate and descend in fertile showers among
the inland mountains. Thus on these coasts, as
well as at the foot of the Andes, the earth and
the skies offer the extremes of clear weather and
- fogs, of drought and torrents of rain, of absolute
nudity and never ceasing verdure. In the New

* Buffon, Hist. Nat. des Oiseaux, t, i, p. 114.

207

Continent, the low regions on the seacoasts dif-
fer as widely from the inland mountainous dis-
tricts, as the plains of Lower Egypt from the
high lands of Abyssinia.

The analogies which we. have just indicated,
between the seacoasts of Andalusia and those of
Peru, extend themselves also to the frequency of
‘earthquakes, and the limits which nature seems
to have prescribed to these phenomena. We
have ourselves felt very violent shocks at Cuma-
na; and, at the moment while the edifices re-
cently overthrown were rebuilding, we were
informed on the spot of the most minute circum-
stances, that accompanied the great catastrophe
of the 14th of December, 1797. These obser-
vations will be perhaps the more interesting, as
earthquakes have hitherto been considered
rather in the fatal effects which they have had
on the population and welfare of society, than
under a physical and geological point of view.

It is a very generally received opinion on the
coasts. of Cumana, and in the island of Marga-
retta, that the gulf of Cariaco owes it’s existence
to arent of the continent attended by an irrup-
tion of the ocean. The remembrance of h is
great revolution was preserved among the In-
dians to the end of the fifteenth century : and it
is related, that, at the time of the third voyage
of Christopher Columbus, the natives mentioned
it asa very recent event. In 1530, the inhabi- °

- 208

tants were alarmed by new shocks on the coasts
of Paria and Cumana. ‘ihe lands were inun-
dated by the sea, and the small fort, built.by
James Castellon at New Toledo *, was entirely
destroyed. At the same time an enormous
opening was formed inthe mountains.of Cariaco,
on the shores.of the gulf that bears this name,
when a great body of salt water, mixed with)as-
phaltum, issued from the micaceous schist -f.
Earthquakes were very frequenttoward the end
of the sixteenth century ; and, according to the
traditions preserved at Cumana, the sea .often
inundated the shores, rising from fifteen ‘to
twenty fathoms. The inhabitants fled to the
Cerro of San Antonio, and tothe ‘hill where now
stands the small convent of St. Francis. It is
even thought, that these frequent inundations
induced the inhabitants to build that quarter.of
the town, which is backed by the: mountain, and
stands on a part of it’s declivity.

As no record exists at Cumana, and it’s ar-

* This was the first name given to the city of Cumana
(Girolamo Benzoni, Hist. del Mondo nuovo, p. 3, 31, and
33). James Castellon arrived at St. Domingo in 1521, after
the appearance of the celebrated Bartholomew de las Casas
in these countries, On attentively reading)the narratives of
Benzoni and Caulin, we find that the fort of Castellon.was
built near the mouth of the Manzanares (alla ripa del fiume de
Cumana) : and not, as some modern travellers have asserted,
on the mountain where now stands the castle of St. Antonio.

+ Herera, Description de las Indias, p. 14.

209

chives, on account of the continual devastations
of the termites, or white ants, contain no docu-
ment, that goes back farther than a hundred and
fifty years, we are unacquainted with the precise
dates of the ancient earthquakes. We only
know, that, in times nearer our own, the year
1776 was at the same time the most fatal to the
colonists, and the most remarkable for the na-
tural history of the country. A drought, like
those which are felt at times in the islands of
Cape Verd, had reigned during fifteen months,
when, on the 2Ist of October, 1766, the city of
Cumana was entirely destroyed. The remem-
brance of this day is every year renewed by a
religious festival, attended witha solemn pro-
cession. The whole of the houses were over-
turned in the space of a few minutes, and the
shocks were hourly repeated during fourteen
months. In several parts of the province the
earth opened, and threw out sulphureous waters.
These irruptions were very frequent in a plain
extending toward Casanay, two leagues to the
east of the town of Cariaco, and known by the
name of the hollow ground, tierra hueca, be-
cause it appears entirely undermined by thermal
springs. During the years 1766 and 1767, the
inhabitants of Cumana encamped in the streets ;
and they ‘began to rebuild their houses, when
the earthquakes took place only once a-month,
What was felt at’ Quito, immediately after the

210

great catastrophe of the 4th, of February, 1797,
took place on these coasts. While the ground
was in a state of continual. oscillation, the at-
mosphere seemed to dissolve itself into water.
The rivers were swollen by these. sudden. tor-
rents of rain, the year was extremely fertile, and
the Indians, whose. frail huts easily resist the
Strongest shocks, celebrated from ideas of an
old superstition, with feasting and. dances, the
‘destruction of the world, and the approaching
epocha of it’s regeneration. ;
‘Tradition states, that in the earthquake of
1766, as well as in another very remarkable one
in. 1794, the shocks were mere horizontal oscil-
lations; it-was only on the disastrous day of the
14th of December, 1797, that for the first time,
at Cumana, the motion was felt. by the raising up
of the ground. More than -four-fifths of the city
were then entirely destroyed; and the shock |
attended by a very loud subterraneous noise, re-
sembled, as at Riobamba, the explosion of a mine
atagreat depth. Happily the most violent shock
was preceded: by a slight undulating motion, so
that the greater part of the inhabitants could
escape into the streets, and a small number only
perished of those who had assembled in the
churches. It isa generally received. opinion at
Cumana, that the most. destructive earthquakes
are announced by very feeble oscillations, and
by a hollow sound, which does not escape the

211

observation of persons habituated to this kind of
phenomenon. — In this fatal moment, the cries of
misericordia, tembla, tembla*, are every where
heard; and it is very rarely, that a false alarm
is given by a native. ‘Those who are most fear-
ful attentively observe the motions of dogs, goats,
and swine. The last of these animals, endowed
with delicate olfactory nerves, and accustomed
to turn up the earth, give warning of approach-
ing danger by their restlessness and their cries.
We shall not decide, whether, placed nearer the
surface of the ground, they are the first that
hear.the subterraneous noise; or whether their .
organs receive the impression of some gazeous
emanation which issues from the earth. We
cannot deny the possibility of this latter cause.
During my abode at Peru, a fact was observed
in the inland country, which has an analogy
with this kind of phenomenon, and which is not
unfrequent. At the end of violent earthquakes,
the herbs that cover the savannahs of Tucuman
acquired noxious properties ; an epidemic dis-
order took place among the cattle, and a great
number among them appeared stupified or suf-
focated by the deleterious vapours exhaled from
the ground. |

At Cumana, half an hour before the catas-
trophe of the 14th of December, 1797, a strong

* Mercy! the earth trembles.

212

smell of sulphur was perceived near the hill jof
the convent of St. Francis; and on the same
spot a subterraneous noise, which seemed to
proceed from the south-east to the north-west,
was heard the loudest. At the same time flames

appeared on the banks of the Manzanares, near —
the hospice of the Capuchins, and in the gulf of
Cariaco, near Mariguitar. This last phenome-
non, so extraordinary in a country not volcanic,
is pretty frequent:in the Alpine calcareous moun-
-tains near Cumanacoa, in the valley of Bordones,
in the island of Margaretta, and amidst the
Llanos* or savannahs of New Andalusia. In
these savannahs flakes of fire rise to a consi-
derable height ; they are seen for hours together
in the dryest:places ; and it:is asserted, that, on
examining the ground which furnishes the in-
flammable matter, no crevice is -to ‘be found.
This fire, which resembles the sources of hydro-
gen, or Salse, of Modena -, or what is called the
Will o the wisp of-our marshes, does not ‘barn
the grass; because, no doubt the:column of gas,
which developes itself, is mixed:with azot, and
carbonic acid, and does not burn at it’s basis.
The people, although less superstitious here than
in Spain, call these reddish flames by the singu-

* In the Mesa of Cari, to, the north of Aguasay, and .in
the Mesa of Guanipa, far from the Morichales, which are ake
humid spots where the mauritia palm-tree grows.

+ Brieslak, Geologia, t. 11, p. 284.

213

lar name of the soul of the tyrant Aguirre ;
imagining that the spectre of Lopez Aguirre,
harassed by remorse, wanders over these coun-
tries sullied by his crimes *.

The great earthquake of 1797 produced some
changes in the configuration of the shoal of
Morro Roxo, toward the mouth of the Rio Bor-
dones. ‘Similar swellings were observed at the
time of the total ruin of Cumana, in 1766. At
this period, the Punta Delgado, on the southern
coast of the gulf of Cariaco, was perceptibly
enlarged ; -and in the Rio Guarapiche, near the
viliage of Maturin,'ashoal was formed, no doubt
by the action of the elastic fluids, which dis-
placed and raised up the bed of the river.

We shall not continue to describe with mi-
nuteness the local changes produced by the dif-
ferent earthquakes of Cumana. In order to follow
a plan conformable to the end we proposed in
this work, we ‘shall endeavour to generalize our

* When at Cumana, or in the island of Margaretta, the
people pronounce the words e/ tyranno (the tyrant), it is al-
ways to denote the infamous Lopez d’Aguirre ; who, after
having ‘taken part, in 1560, in the revolt of Ferdinando de
Gozman against Pedro de Ursua, governor of the Omeguas
and Dorado, gave himself the title of ¢razdor, or trattor.
He descended the river of the Amazons with his band, and
reached by a communication of the rivers of Guyana, of
which we shall hereafter speak, the island of Margaretta.
The port of Paraguache still bears, in this island, the nameof
the Tyrant’s Port.

214

%

ideas, and comprehend in one point of view every
thing that relates to these phenomena, so terri-
fic, and so difficult to explain. If it be the duty
of those natural philosophers, who visit the
_ Alps of Switzerland, or the coasts of Lapland,
to extend our knowledge respecting the glaciers
and the aurora borealis, it may be expected, that
a traveller, who has traversed Spanish America,
should have chiefly fixed his attention on volca-
noes and earthquakes. Each part of the Globe
is an object of particular study ; and when we
cannot hope to penetrate the causes of natural
phenomena, we ought at least. to endeavour to
discover their laws, and distinguish, by compa-
rison of numerous facts, what is constant and
uniform from what is variable and accidental. ©
The great earthquakes, which interrupt the
long series of slight shocks, appear to have no
regular periods at Cumana. They have taken
place at intervals of fourscore, a hundred, and
sometimes less than thirty years; while on the
coasts of Peru, for instance at Lima, a certain:
regularity is observed in the periods of the total
ruin of the city. The belief of the inhabitants
in the existence of this uniformity has a happy
influence on public tranquillity, and the encou-
ragement of industry. It is generally admitted,
that it requires a sufficiently long space of time
for the same causes to act with the same energy;
but this reasoning is just only in as much as the

215 :
shocks are considered as a local phenomenon ;
and as a particular focus, under each point. of
the Globe exposed to those great catastrophes, is
admitted. Wherever new edifices are raised on
the ruins of the old, we hear from those who
refuse to build, that the destruction of Lisbon
on the first of November, 1755, was soon fol-
lowed by a second, and not less fata], on the
3lst of March, 1761.

It is a very old * and commonly received opi-
nion at Cumana, Acapulco, and Lima, that a
perceptible connection exists between earth-
quakes, and the state of the atmosphere that
precedes these phenomena. On the coasts of
New Andalusia, the inhabitants are alarmed,
when, in excessively hot weather, and after
long droughts, the breeze suddenly ceases to
blow, and the sky, clear, and without clouds at
the zenith, exhibits near the horizon, at six or
eight degrees elevation, the appearance of a red-
dish vapor. These prognostics are however very
uncertain ; and when the whole of the meteoro-
logical variations, at the times when the Globe
has been the most agitated, are called to mind,
it is found, that violent shocks take place equally —
in dry and in wet weather; when the coolest
winds blow, or during a dead and suffocating
calm. From the great number of earthquakes,

* Arist. Meteor., Lib. ii, (ed. Duval., t. i, p.798). Se-
neca, Nat. Quest., lib. vi, c. 12.

216

which I have witnessed to the north and south
of the equator; on the continent, and’ in the
basin of the seas; onthe coasts, and at: 2500
toises height ; it appears to me, that the oscil-
lations are generally’ very independent’ of the
previous state of the atmosphere. This opinion
is embraced by a number’ of enlightened: per-
sons, who inhabit the Spanish colonies; and
whose experience extends, if not over a greater
space of the Globe, at least to a greater number
of years, than mine. On the contrary, in parts
of Europe where earthquakes are rare compared
to America, natural philosophers are inclined to
admit an intimate connection between the un-
dulations of the ground, and certain meteors,
which accidentally’ take place at the same
epocha. In’ Italy; forimstance, the siroceo and
earthquakes are suspected to have some con-
nection ; and at London, the frequeney' of fall-
ing stars, and those southern’ lights* which’

* Philos. Transact., vol. xlvi, p. 642} 663; and 743. The |
appearance: of. these meteors led two distinguished men: of
science; nearly at the. same.time, to adopt theories diame-
trically opposite to each other. Hales, struck with his expe~
riments on the decomposition of nitrous gas when it comes
into contact with atmospheric air, invented a chemical theory,
according to which, the earthquake was the effect “ofa
prompt’ condensation of sulphurows: and nitrows exhalations.”
Ib. p. 678. Stukeley, familiar with Franklin’s ideas of the
distribution of electricity in the strata of the atmosphere, con-

Q1V7

have since been often observed by Mr. Dalton;
were considered as the forerunners of those
shocks, which were felt from 1748 to 1756.

On the days when the earthis shaken by violent
shocks, the regularity of the horary variations of
the barometer is not disturbed under the’ tropics.
I have: verified this observation at Cumana, at
Lima, and at. Riobamba ; and it is so much the
more worthy of fixing the attention of natural
philosophers, as at St. Domingo, at the. town
of Cape Francois, it is asserted, that a water
barometer * was observed:to sink two mches and
a half immediately before: the earthquake. of
1770. Inthe same manner it is related, that,
at the destruction of Oran, a druggist fled with
his family, because, observing accidentally, a few
minutes: before: the’ earthquake, the height of the:

sidered the oscillatory motion of the:surface. ofthe Globe as
the effect of an eleetric shock propagated from the air to the
earth. Ib. p. 642. Each of these theories admitted the
existence of a large black cloud separating strata of air un-
equally charged with electricity,, or with:nitrous vapours ; aid
this cloud was seen at London at: the moment; of the: first
shocks. I mention these reveries, to show to what errors we
expose ourselves in geology and physics, when, instead of
taking into view the whole of the phenomena that occur, we
suffer our attention to be arrested by accidental circumstances.

* Currejolles, in the Journal de Phys., tom. liv. p. 106,
This depression answers only to two lines of mercury. The
barometer remained motionless at Pignerol, in April, 1808.
(Ibid. t. Ixvii, p. 292.)

218 —

mercury in his barometer, he perceived, that the
column sunk in an extraordinary imanner. I
know not. whether we can give credit to this as-
sertion; but as it is nearly impossible to ex-
amine the variations of the weight of the atmo-
sphere during the shocks, we must be satisfied in
observing the barometer’ before or after these
phenomena have taken place. In the temper-
ate zone, the aurora borealis does not always
modify the variation of the needle, and the in-
tensity of the magnetic forces *. Perhaps also
earthquakes do not act constantly in the same
manner on the air that surrounds us.

We can scarcely doubt, that the earth, when
opened .and agitated by shocks, spreads occa-
sionally gazeous emanations through the atmo-
sphere; in places remote from the mouths of vol-
canoes not extinct. At Cumana, as we have
already observed, flames and vapors mixed with
sulphurous acid spring up from the most arid
soil. In other parts of the same. province, the
earth ejects water and petroleum. At Riobamba
a muddy and inflammable mass, which is called
moya, issues from crevices that close again, and

-* [had an opportunity of observing, conjointly with Mr.
Oltmanns at Berlin, on the night of the 20th of December,
1806, a change of magnetic intensity. The point of con-
vergence of the rays of the aurora borealis was determined —
astronomically by the azimuth of a star. (Gilbert’s Annalen,
1811, p. 274.) if |

219

accumulates into elevated hills. -At seven
leagues from Lisbon, near Colares, during the
terrible earthquake of the first of November,
1755, flames and a column of thick smoke were
seen to issue from the flanks of the rocks of
_ Alvidras, and, according to some witnesses, from
the bosom of the sea*. This smoke lasted se-
veral days, and it was the more abundant in.
proportion as the subterraneous noise, which ac-
companied the shocks, was louder. 3
Elastic fluids thrown into the atmospheré
may act locally on the barometer, not by their
mass, which is very small, compared to the mass
of the atmosphere; but because, at the moment
of the great explosions, an ascending current is
probably formed, which diminishes the pressure
of the air. I am inclined to think, that in the
greater part of earthquakes nothing escapes
from the agitated earth ; and that, where ga-
zeous emanations and vapours take place, they
oftener accompany, or follow, than precede the
shocks. This last circumstance explains a fact,
which seems indubitable, I mean that mysterious
influence, in equinoctial America, of earthquakes
on the climate, and on the order of the dry and
rainy seasons. If the earth generally act on the
air only at the moment of the shocks, we can
conceive why it is so rare, that a sensible me

> © Plo) Trans., t.-xlix,.p. 414.
oy,

aaal

ul

226

teorological change becomes the presage of these
great revolutions of nature. ,

The hypothesis according to which, in the
earthquakes of Cumana, elastic fluids tend. to
escape from the surface of the soil, seems con-
firmed by the observation of the dreadful noise,
which is heard during the shocks at the borders
of the wells in the plain of Charas.. Water and
sand are sometimes thrown out twenty feet high.
Similar phenomena have not escaped the ob-
servation of the ancients, who inhabited parts of
Greece and Asia Minor abounding with caverns,
crevices, and subterraneous rivers. Nature, in
it’s uniform progress, every where suggests the
same ideas of the causes of earthquakes, and
the means by which man, forgetting the measure
of his strength, pretends to diminish the effect of
the subterraneous explosions. What a great
Roman naturalist has said of the utility of wells
and caverns * is repeated in the New World

* In puteis est remedium, quale et crebri specus przebent :
conceptum enim spiritum exhalant : quod in certis notatur
oppidis, qua minus quatiuntur, crebris ad eluviem cuniculis
eavata. Plin. Lib. ii, c. 82. (ed. Par. 1725, t. i, p. 112.)
Even at present, in the capital of St. Domingo, wells are
considered as diminishing the violence of the shocks, I
shall observe on this occasion, that the theory of earthquakes,
given by Seneca (Nat. Quest., Lib. vi, c. 4—31), contains
the germe of every thing that has been said in our times on
the action of the elastic vapors confined in the interior of the
Globe. (Compare Michell, in the Phil. Trans., t. li, p. 566—

221

by the most ignorant Indians of Quito, when
they show travellers the guaicos, or crevices of
Pichincha.

The subterraneous noise, so frequent during
earthquakes, is generally not in the ratio of the
strength of the shocks. At Cumana it constantly

precedes them, while at Quito, and for a short
time past at Caraccas, and in the West India
Islands, a noise like the discharge of a battery
was heard, a long time after the shocks had
ceased. A third kind of phenomenon, the most
remarkable of the whole, is the rolling of those
subterraneous thunders, which last several
months, without being accompanied by the
least oscillating motion of the ground *.

In every country subject to earthquakes, the
point where, probably by a particular disposition
of the stony strata, the effects are the most sen-
sible, is considered as the cause and the focus
of the shocks. Thus at Cumana the hill of the
castle of St. Antonio, and particularly the emi-
nence on which the convent of St. Francis is

634; and Dr. Young in Rees’s New Cyclopedia, Vol. xii,
P. 2, art. EARTHQUAKE.

_* The snbterraneous thunders (bramidus y truecnos subter-
raneos) of Guanaxuato will be described in the course of this
work. (Nouv. Esp., t, p. 47.) The phenomenon of a noise
without shocks had already been observed by the ancients.
(Aristot. Meteor, lb. ii, ed. Duval, p. 802. Plin. lib. il,
80.)

22

222

placed, are believed to contain an enormous
quaatity of sulphur, and other inflammable mat-
ter. We forget, that the rapidity with which
the undulations are propagated to great dis-
tances, even across the basin of the ocean, proves,
that the centre of action is very remote from the
surface of the Globe. From this.same cause no
doubt earthquakes are not restrained to certain
species of rocks, as some naturalists pretend,
but all are fitted to propagate the movement.
In order to keep within the limits of my own ex-
perience, I shall here cite the granites of Lima
and Acapulco; the gneiss of Caraccas; the mica-
slate of the peninsula of Araya ; the primitive
thonschiefer of Tepecuacuilco, in Mexico; the
secondary limestones of the Apennines, Spain,
and New Andalusia; and finally the trappean
porphyries of the provinces of Quito, and Popa-
yan *, In these different places the ground is
frequently agitated by the most violent shocks;
but sometimes, in the same rock, the superior |
strata form invincible obstacles to the propaga-
tion of the motion. Thus, in the mines of Sax-
ony +, we have seen workmen hasten up af-

stall might have added to the list of secondary rocks the
gypsum of the newest formation, for instance that of Mont-
martre placed on a marine calcareous rock, which is posterior
to the chalk. See the Mém. de l’Académie, t. i, p. 341, on
the earthquake felt at Paris, and in it’s environs, in 1681.

+ At Marienburgh in the Erzgebuerge.

223

-frighted by oscillations, which were not felt at
the surface of the ground.

If, in regions the most remote from each other,
| primitive, secondary, and volcanic rocks, share
equally in the convulsive movements of the
Globe; we cannot but admire also, that, in
ground of little extent, certain classes of rocks
oppose themselves to the propagation of the
shocks. At Cumana, for instance, before the
great catastrophe of 1797, the earthquakes were
felt only along the southern and calcareous coast
“of the gulf of Cariaco, as far as the town of
this name; while in the peninsula of Araya, and
at the village of Maniquarez, the ground did
not partake of the same agitation. The inhabi-
tants of this northern coast, which is composed
of mica-slate, built their huts on a motionless
earth; a gulf three or four thousand toises in
breadth separated them from a plain covered
with ruins, and overturned by earthquakes.
This security, founded on the experience cf se-
veral ages, has vanished ; and since the 14th of
December, 1797, new communications appear
to have been opened in the interior of the Globe.
At present the peninsula of Araya is not merely
subject to the agitations of the soil of Cumana,
the promontory of mica-slate is become in it’s
turn a particular centre of the movements. The
earth is sometimes strongly shaken at the village
of Maniquarez, when on the coast of Cumana

224

the inhabitants enjoy the most perfect tranquil-
lity. The gulf of Cariaco nevertheless is only
sixty or eighty fathoms deep.

It has'been thought from observations made
both on the continent and in the islands, that
the western and southern.coasts are most expos-
ed to shocks *. This observation is connected |
with the ideas which geologists have long form-
ed of the position of the high chains. of moun-
tains, and the direction of their steépest declivi-
ties : the existence of the Cordillera of Caraccas,
and the frequency of the oscillations on the east-
ern and northern coast of Terra Firma, in the
gulf of Paria, at Carupano, at Cariaco, and at
Cumana, are proofs of om uncertainty of this
opinion. 7

In New Andalusia, as well as in Chili and
Peru, the shocks follow the course of the shore ;
and extend but little iniand. This circumstance,
as we shall soon find, indicates an intimate con-
nection between the causes that produce earth-
quakes and volcanic eruptions. If the earth
was most agitated on the coasts, because they
are the lowest part of the land, why should not
the oscillations be equally strong and frequent
on those vast savannahs or meadows +, which

* Courrejolles, in the Journ. de Phys. t. liv, p. 104.

+ The Lianos of Cumana, of New ae of Calabozo,
of Apura, and of Meta.

225

are scarcely eight or ten toises above the level of
the ocean? 7

The earthquakes of Cumana * are connected
with those of the West India islands ; and it has
even been suspected, that they have some con-
nection with the volcanic phenomena of the
Cordilleras of the Andes. On the 4th of No-
vember, 1797, the soil of the province of Quito
underwent such a destructive commotion, that,
notwithstanding the extreme feebleness of the
population of that country, near 40000. natives
perished, buried under the ruins of their houses,
swallowed up in the crevices, or drowned in
lakes that were suddenly formed. At the same
period, the inhabitants of the eastern Antilles
were alarmed by shocks, which continued during
eight months, when the voleano of Guadaloupe
threw. out. pumice stones, ashes, and gusts of
sulphureous vapors. This eruption of the 27th
of September, during which very long-continued
subterraneous noises were heard -, was followed

* See my Geological Table of South America, Journ. de
Physique, t. lili, p. 58.

Tt Report made to the generals Victor Hugues and Lebas,
by Amie, Peyre, Hapel, Fontelliau, and Codé, appointed to
examine the situation of the volcano of Basse-Terre, and the
effects that had taken place in the night, from the seventh to
the eighth of Vendemiaire, in the year6: p. 46. This nar-
rative of a journey to the top of the volcano, contains several _
curious observations ; it was printed at Guadaloupe in 1798-

226

#

on the 14th of December by the great earth.
quake of Cumana. Another volcano of the
West India islands, that of St. Vincents*, has _
lately given a fresh instance of these extraordi-—
nary connections. This volcano had not emitted —
flames since 1718, when they burst forth anew,
in 1812. The total ruin of the city of Caraccas
‘+ preceded this explosion thirty-five days, and
violent oscillations of the ground were felt, both
in the islands, and on the coasts of Terra Firma.
~ Tt has long been remarked, that the effects of
great earthquakes extend much farther than the
phenomena arising from burning volcanoes. In
studying the physical revolutions of Italy, care-
fully examining the series of the eruptions of Ve-
suvius and Etna, we can scarcely recognize, not-
withstanding the proximity of these mountains,
any traces of a simultaneous action. It is on the
contrary doubtless, that at the period of the

last and preceding destruction of Lisbon x, the

* Letter from Mr. Hamilton to Sir Joseph Banks, 1813.
The eruption began on the 30th of April, 1812; it was pre-
ceded by repeated earthquakes, during eleven months. (Phil.
Trans. for 1785, p. 16.) 3

+ The 26th of March, 1812.

{ The 1st of November 1755, and 31st of March 1761.
During the first of these three earthquakes, the ocean inun-
dated, in Europe, the coasts of Sweden, England, and Spain;
in America, the islands of Antigua, Barbadoes, and Marti-
nico. “At Barbadoes, where the tides rise only from 24 to 28

227

sea was violently agitated even as far as the
New World, for instance, at the island of Barba-

inches, the water rose twenty feet in Carlisle Bay. It be-

came at the same time “ as black as ink ;” because, without

doubt, it was mixed with the petroleum, or asphaltum,

which abounds at the bottom of the sea, as well on the coasts

of the gulf of Cariaco, as near the island of Trinidad. In

the West Indies, and in several lakes of Switzerland, this

extraordinary motion of the waters was observed six hours

after the first shock that was felt at Lisbon. (Phil. Trans.,

vol. xlix, p. 403, 410, 544, 688 ; ibid., vol. lii, p. 424.) At:
Cadiz a mountain of water sixty feet high was seen eight

miles distant at sea; this mass threw itself impetuously on

the coasts, and beat down a great number of edifices ; like

the wave fourscore and four feet high, which, on the 9th of
June, 1586, at the time of the great earthquake at Lima, co-

vered the port of Callao. (Acosta, Hist. natural de las Indias,

ed. de 1591, p. 123.) In North America, on Lake Ontario,
strong agitations of the water were observed, from the month

of October 1755. These phenomena are proofs of subterra-

neous communications at enormous distances. On compar-

ing the epochas of the great catastrophes of Lima and Gua-

timala, which generally succeed each other at long intervals,

it has sometimes been thought, that the effect of an action -
slowly propagating itself along the Cordilleras, sometimes
from north to south, at other times from south to north, may
be perceived. (Cosme Bueno, Descripcion del Peru, ed. de
Lima, p. 67.) The following are four of these remarkable
epochas.

-MExIco. sak PERU,
(Lat. 13° 327 north.) (Lat. 12° 2/ south.)
30th of Nov. 1577. 17th of June, 1578.
4th of March, 1679. 17th of June, 1678.
12th of Feb. 1689. 10th of Oct. 1688.

27th of Sept. 1717. Sth of Feb. 1716.

228

does, more than tweive hundred leagues distant
from the coast of Portugal.

Several facts tend to prove, that the causes
which produce earthquakes have a near connec-
tion with those that act in volcanic eruptions *.
We learnt at Pasto, that the column of black
and thick smoke, which, in 1797, issued for seve-
ral months from the volcano near this shore,
disappeared at the very hour, when, sixty leagues
to the south, the towns of Riobamba, Hambato,
and Tacunga, were overturned by an enormous
shock. When, in the interior of a burning crater,
we are seated near those hillocks formed by
ejections of scorize and ashes, we feel the motion

When the shocks are not simultaneous, or do not t fallen at
short intervals, great doubts may be entertained with respect
to the pretended commfnication of the movement.

* The connection of these causes, already known to the
ancients, excited fresh attention at the period of the discovery
of America. (Acosta, p. 121.) This discovery not only
offered new productions to the curiosity of men, it gave also
extent to their ideas on physical geography, on the varieties
of the human species, and the migrations of nations, It is
impossible to read the first narratives of the Spanish travel-
lers, especially those of the Jesuit Acosta, without perceiving
with surprise the influence which the aspect of a great conti-
nent, the study of extraordinary appearances of nature, and
an intercourse with men of different races, have exerted on
the progress of knowledge in Europe. The germe of a great
number of physical truths is found in the works: of the six-
teenth.century ; and this germe would have fructified, had it
not been crushed by fanaticism aud superstition,

229

of the ground several seconds before each partial
eruption takes place. We observed this pheno-
menon at Vesuvius in 1805, while the mountain
threw out scorize at a white heat ; we were wit-
nesses of it in 1802, on the brink of the immense
crater of Pichincha, from which nevertheless at
that time clouds of sulphureous acid vapours
only issued.

Every thing in earthquakes seems to indicate
the action of elastic fluids seeking an outlet to
spread themselves in the atmosphere. Often, on
the coasts of the South Sea, the action is almost
instantaneously communicated from Chili to the
gulf of Guayaquil, a distance of six hundred
leagues; and, what is very remarkable, the
shocks appear to be so much the stronger, as
the country is more distant from burning volca-
noes. The granitic mountains of Calabria, co-
vered with very recent. breccia, the calcareous
chain of the Apennines, the country of Pignerol,
the coasts of Portugal and Greece, those of Peru
and Terra Firma, afford striking proofs of this —
assertion *. The Globe, it may be said, is agi-
tated with greater force, in proportion as the
surface has a smaller number of funnels com-
municating with the caverns of the interior. At
Naples and at Messina, at the foot of Cotopaxi
and of Tunguragua, earthquakes are dreaded

* Fleuriau de Bellevue, Journ. de Phys., t. Ixii, p. 261.

230

only when vapours and flames do not issue from
the crater. In the kingdom of Quito, the great
catastrophe of Riobamba, which we have before
mentioned, has led several well-informed persons
to think, that this unfortunate country would
be less often desolate, if the subterraneous fire
should break the porphyritic dome of Chimbo-
razo; and if this colossal mountain should be-
come a burning volcano, At all times analogous
facts have led to the same hypothesis. The
Greeks, who, like ourselves, attributed the oscil-
lations of the ground to the tension of elastic
fluids, cited in favour of their opinion the total —
cessation of the shocks at the island of Eubeea,
_by the opening of a crevice in the Lelantine
plain *. |

We have endeavoured to collect at the end of
this chapter the general phenomena of earth-
quakes under different climates. We have
shown, that subterraneous vapours are sub-
Jected to laws. as uniform as the mixture of ga-
zeous fluids, which constitutes our atmosphere.
We have abstained from all discussion of the
nature of the chemical agents, which are the
causes of the great derangements that the sur-
face of the earth undergoes from time to time.

* The shocks ceased only when a crevice, which ejected a
-€¢ yiver of fiery mud,” opened in the plain of Lelantum, near
Chalcis. Strabo, lib. 1, ed. Oxon., 1807, t. i, p. 85. (See
also the translation by M. du Theil. t. i, p. 137, note 4.)

231

It is sufficient here to observe, that these causes
are concealed at immense depths ; and that we
must seek them in the rocks which we call pri-
mitive, perhaps even below the earthy and oxided
crust of the Globe, in the abysses that contain
the metalloidal bases of silex, lime, soda, and
potash. |

The phenomena of volcanoes, and those of
earthquakes, have been considered of late as the
effects of voltaic electricity, developed by a par-
ticular disposition of heterogeneous strata. It
cannot be denied, that often, when violent shocks
- succeed each other in the space of a few hours,
the electricity of the air * sensibly increases at
the instant the ground is most agitated ; but in
order to explain this phenomenon, it is unneces-
sary to recur to an hypothesis, which is in direct
contradiction to every thing that has hitherto
been observed respecting the structure of our
planet, and the disposition of it’s strata.

* See the electroscopical experiments made in Piedmont,
in the valleys of Pelis and Clusson, in 1808. Journal de.
Phys., t. 67, p. 292.

232

CHAPTER V.

Peninsula of Araya.—Salt-Marshes.--Ruins of
the Castle of San Giacomo. ,

Tue first weeks of our abode at Cumana were
employed in verifying our instruments, in herba-
lizing in the neighbouring fields, and in exa-
mining the traces of the earthquake of the 14th
of December, 1797. -Overpowered at once by
a great number. of, objects, we were somewhat
embarrassed to lay down a regular plan of study
and observation., If every thing around us was
fitted to inspire us with the most lively interest,
our physical and astronomical instruments,ia
their turns excited strongly the curiosity of the
inhabitants. We were distracted by frequent
visits; and in order not to dissatisfy persons,
who appeared so happy to see the spots of the
Moon through Dollond’s telescope, the absorp-
tion of two gazes in a eudiometrical tube, or the
effects of galvanism on the motions of a frog, we
were obliged to answer questions often obscure,
and repeat for whole hours the same experi-
ments. : one

These scenes were renewed for the space of

233

five years, every time that we took up our abode
in a place where it was understood, that we
were in possession of microscopes, telescopes,
and electrical apparatus. They were in general
so much the more fatiguing, as the person who
visited us had confused notions of astronomy
and physics ; two sciences, which in the Spanish
colonies are designated under the singular name
of the new philosophy, nueva filosophia. The
half-scientific looked on us with a sort of dis-
dain, when they learnt that we had not brought
in our collection of books the Spectacle de la
Nature by Abbé Pluche, the Cours de Physique
of Sigaud la Fond, or the Dictionary of Valmont
de Bomare. These three works, and the Traité
@’ Economie politique of Baron Bielfeld, are the
foreign works most known and esteemed in Spa-
nish America, from Caraccas and Chili to Guati-
mala and the north of Mexico. No one is
thought learned, who cannot quote their trans-
lations ; and it is only in the great capitals, at
Lima, at Santa Fe de Bogota, and at Mexico,
that the names of Haller, Cavendish, and La-
voisier, begin to take the place of those, that
have enjoyed popular celebrity for these fifty
years past.

The curiosity excited respecting the pheno-
mena of the heavens, and various objects of the
natural sciences, takes a very different character
among anciently civilized nations, and among

L5%

those who have made but little progress in the
unfolding of their intellectual faculties. Each
of them exhibits in the highest classes of society
frequent examples of persons unacquainted with
science ; but in the colonies, and among new
people, curiosity, far from being idle or transient,
arises from an ardent desire of instruction, and :
discovers itself with an ingenuousness and sim-
plicity, which in Europe are the characteristics
only of youth. | :
I could not begin a regular course “of astro-
nomical observations before the 28th of July,
though it was highly important for me to know
the longitude given by Berthoud’s time-keeper ;
but it happened, that in a country, where the sky
is constantly clear and serene, no stars appeared
for several nights. Every day, two hours after
the Sun had passed. the meridian, a storm ga-
thered ; and I had great difficulty in obtaining
correspondent altitudes of the Sun, though I
took three or four sets at different intervals.
The chronometrical longitude of Cumana dif.
fered only four seconds in time from that. which
I deduced from the celestial phenomena; yet
our voyage had lasted more than forty days, and
during the excursion to the top of the Peak of
Teneriffe, the watch bad been expaneth to great
variations of temperature *. ;

* Astron. Observ. vol. i, p. xXiv.

235

From the whole of the observations * which I
made in 1799 and 180u it follows, that the
latitude of the great square at Cumana is
10° 27’ 52”, and it’s longitude 66° 30’ 2”. This
longitude is founded on the difference of time,
on lunar distances, on the eclipse of the Sun on
the 28th of October, 1799, and on ten immer-
sions of Jupiter’s satellites, compared with ob-
servations made in Europe. It differs very little
from that which Mr. Fidalgo had obtained before
me, but only by mere chronometrical means.
The oldest chart which we have of the Conti-
nent, that of Don Diego Ribeiro, geographer to
the emperor Charles the Fifth, places Cumana
in latitude 9° 30’ +; which differs fifty-eight
minutes from the real latitude, and half a de-
gree from that marked by Jefferies in his Ame-
rican Pilot, published in 1794. During three
centuries the whole of the coast of Terra Firma
has been laid down too far to the south:. this
has been owing to the current near the island of
Trinidad, which sets toward the north, and
mariners are led by their dead-reckoning, to
think themselves farther south than they really
are.

* Astron. Obs,, vol. i, p. 42 to 92.

+ According to Herera, latitude 9° 50’ (Descripcion de
Jas Indias Occid. p. 9). According to the Carte de l’Océan
Atlantique, publiée au Depét de la Marine en 1792, latitude
9° 52’. The chart of Ribeiro is of the year 1529.

2M

236

On the 17th of August a halo, or luminous
circle, round the Moon, fixed the attention of |
the inhabitants, who considered it as the presage
of some violent earthquake: for, according to
the physical notions of the people, all extraor-
dinary phenomena are immediately connected
with each other. Coloured circles around the
Moon are much more rare-in the countries: of
the north, than in Provence, Italy,. and Spain. |
They are seen particularly, and this fact is. sin-
gular enough, when the sky is. clear, and .the
weather seems .to be most fair and settled.
Under the torrid zone beautiful prismatic colours |
appear almost every night, even at the time of
the greatest droughts: often in the space ofa —
few minutes they disappear several. times, be-
cause, without doubt, the superior. currents
change the state of the floating vapours, by
which the light is refracted. I sometimes even
observed, between the fifteenth degree of. lati-
tude and the equator, small haloes around the
planet Venus; the purple, orange, and’ violet,
were distinctly perceived ; but I never saw any
colours around Sirius, Canopus, or Acherner..

While the halo was visible at Cumana, the

hygrometer noted great humidity ; nevertheless
the vapors appeared so perfectly in: solution, or
rather so elastic and_ uniformly disseminated,
that they did not alter. the transparency. of the
atmosphere. ‘The moon arose after a storm of

237

vain, behind the castle of St. Antonio. As soon
as she appeared on the horizon, we distinguish-
ed two circles; one large and whitish, forty-
four degrees in diameter ; the other a small cir-
cle of 1° 43’, displaying all the colors of the
rainbow. The space between the two circles
was of the deepest: azure. At four degrees
height, they disappeared, while the meteorolo- ,
gical instruments indicated not the slighest
change in the lower regions of the air. This
phenomenon had nothing extraordinary, except
the great brilliancy of the colors, added’ to the
circumstance; that, according to’ the measures
taken with Ramsden’s sextant, the lunar disk
was not ‘exactly in the centre of the haloes.
Without this actual measurement, we might _
have thought, that the excentricity was the effect
of the. projection of the circles on the apparent
coneavity of the sky*.. The form of the haloes,

* The 17th of August, 1799: thermometer, 25° 3’;
Deluc’s hygrometer, 68°. The altitude of the Moon being,
11° 8’, the horizontal diameter of the little corona was 10 50’,
and it’s vertical diameter 1° 43’. The distance from the
centre of the’ Moon to the upper edge of the small halo was
forty-one minutes, and to the lower edge fifty-nine minutes.
The whole space between the lunar disk and the extremity of
the small halo shone with prismatic colors. The horizontal
diameter of the large white halo was 42° 3’. When the
Moon had attained the altitude of 37° 34/ above the horizon,
the diameter of the greater halo was 44° 10/, and the breadth

of the milky band 3° 35’. The Moou no longer showed any

2m 2

235

and the colors of the atmosphere of the tropics
enlightened by the Moon, are worthy of new:
researches on the part of natural philosophers.
At Mexico, in extremely fine weather, I have
seen large bands *, having all the colors of the
rainbow, spread along the vault of the sky, and
converging toward the lunar disk; a curious:
meteor, which reminds us of that described by
Mr. Cotes -+ in 1716. :

If the situation of our house at. Cumana was
highly favourable for the observation of the
stars and meteorological: phenomena, it obliged
us to be sometimes the witnesses of afflicting

excentricity, and the small halo had only 1° 27’ diameter.
These measures were taken without a telescope, and by
bringing with the sextant the edge of the Moon into contact
with the very well defined extremities of both haloes. It —
seemed to me difficult to admit my being deceived nineteen
minutes with respect to the excentricity of.the Moon: the
refraction would have rather diminished than have augment-
ed the extent of the halo toward the lower edge. . We must
not confound this phenomenon, which belongs to the last
strata of the atmosphere, and which is observed in a clear
sky without any visible vapors, with those colored circles
which are projected on the white clouds driven by the wind,
before the lunar disk, and which have only seven or eight
hundred toises of absolute height. (See Gibbes. Walker
Jordan, in Nicholson’s Journ., 4to. ed., vol. iv, p. 141; and
Newton’s Optics, 1'722, p. 476.)
* The night of the 8th of May, 1813. 3

t+ Smith’s Optics, French translation, 1767, t. i, p. 173,

§ 109, and p. 121, § 169. |

939

scenes in the day. A part of the great square
_ is surrounded with arcades, above which is one
of those long wooden galleries, which are com-
mon in warm countries. This was the place
where slaves, brought from the coast of Africa,
were sold. Of all the European governments
Denmark was the first, and for a long time the
-only power, that abolished the trade ; notwith-
standing which, the first negroes we saw expos-
ed for sale had been landed from a Danish
slave-ship. What are the duties of humanity,
national honour, or the laws of his country, to
‘a man stimulated by the speculations of sordid
interest ? | 3

The slaves exposed to sale were young men
from fifteen to twenty years of age. Every morn-
ing cocoa-nut oil was distributed among them,
with which they rubbed their bodies, to give
their skin a black polish. The persons who
came to purchase examined the teeth of these
slaves, to judge of their age and health ; forcing
open their mouths as we do those of horses in
a market. This degrading custom dates from
Africa, as is proved by the faithful picture, which,
in one of his dramatic pieces*, Cervantes, re-
leased from his long captivity among the Moors,
has drawn of the sale of the Christian slaves at

* El Trato de Argel. Jorn, II, (Viage al Parnassa, 1784,
p. 316),

240

Algiers. _ It is distressing to think, that even at
this day there exist European colonists in :the
West Indies, who mark. their slaves with a hot
iron, to know them again if they escape. This
is the treatment. bestowed on those, “ who-save
other men the trouble of sowing, ii and
reaping, in order.to live*.”’. ‘
The greater the impression sea the . first
sale of negroes. made on.us, the: more we con-
gratulated ourselves on living-among a people,
and on a continent, where this sight is rare, and
where the number of slaves is. in general. very
inconsiderable. The number in.1800 did not
exceed six thousand in the two provinces of Cu-
mana and Barcelona, when at the same period —
. the whole population was estimated at one hun-
dred and ten thousand inhabitants. The trade
in African slaves, which the Spanish laws have
never favoured, is almost nothing on: coasts,
where the trade in American slaves .was carried
on in the sixteenth century with a desolating

* La Bruyére, Caractéres, Chap, XI. (ed. 1765, p. 303).
I wish to cite at length a passage, in which the love of the
human species is drawn with force, ,or rather with: noble
severity. ‘‘ We find (under the torrid zone) certain wild ani-
mals, male and female, scattered through the country, black, ?
livid, and all over scorched by thé Sun, bent to the earth
which they dig and turn up with invincible perseverance.
They have something like an articulate voice ; and, when
they stand up on their feet they exhibit a asses face, and in
fact these creatures are men.’

241

activity. Macarapan, anciently called Amara-
capana, Cumana, Araya, and particularly New
Cadiz, built on the islet of Cubagua, might then
be considered as commercial establishments to
facilitate the trade. Girolamo Benzoni of Milan,
who at the age of twenty-two years, had gone
over to Terra Firma, took part in some expedi-
tions made in 1542 to the coasts of Bordones,
Cariaco, and Paria, to carry off the unfortunate
natives. He relates with simplicity, and often.
with a sensibility not common in the historians
of that time, the examples of cruelty, of which
he was a witness. He saw the slaves dragged
to New Cadiz, to be marked on the forehead
and on the arms, and to pay the guint to the
officers of the crown. From this port the In-
dians were sent to the island of Hayti*, or St.

* « Noi pigliammo dugento e quaranta schiavi fra maschi
e femine, piccoli e grandi. Cosa veramente molto compas-
sionevole da vedera la condutta di quelle meschine creature,
nude, stanche, stropiate. Le infelici madri con due e tre _
figliuoli su le spalle e in collo, colme di pianto e di dolores
afflitte, legati tutti da corde e di catene di ferro al collo, alle
braccia, e alle mani. Si conducono a Cubagua e tutti si
marchiano in faccia e su le braccia con ferro infocato, seg-
nato dun C; poi gli capitani ne fanno parte a soldati, che
gli vendono, e se gli giuocano I’uno con altro, Se paga il
quinto delle perle, del oro e dei schiavi a gli ufficiali del Re.”
Benzoni, Hist: del Mondo Nuovo, 1565, p. 4,'7, and 9. It
was thus that the Phoenicians and Carthaginians formerly
sought for slaves in Europe. Heyne, Opuscula, ¢. si, p. 63.

~ 242

Domingo, after having often changed masters,
not by way of sale, but because the soldiers
played for them at dice.

The first excursion we made was directed to-
ward the peninsula of Araya, and those coun-
tries formerly too much celebrated for the slave-
trade and pearl-fishery. We embarked on the
Rio Manzanares, near the Indian suburb, on the
19th of August, about two in the morning. The
principal object of this excursion was to see the
ruins of the castle of Araya, to examine the salt-
works, and make a few geological observations
on the mountains, that form the narrow penin-
sula of Maniquarez. The night was delight- |
fully cool; swarms of phosphorescent insects *
glittered in the air, and over a soil covered with
sesuvium, and groves of mimosa, that bordered
the river. We know how common the glow-
worm + is in Italy, and in all the south of Eu-
rope; but the picturesque effect it produces
cannot be compared to those innumerable; scat-
tered, and moving lights, that embellish the
nights of the torrid zone, and seem to repeat on
the earth, along the vast extent of the savan-
nahs, the spectacle of the starry vault of the
sky. :
When, on descending the river, we drew near

* Elater noctilucus.
+ Lampyris italica, 1, noctiluca.

243

some plantations, or charas, we saw bonfires
kindled by the negroes ; a light and undulating
smoke rose to the tops of the palm trees, and
gave areddish color to the disk of the Moon.
It was on a Sunday night, and the slaves were
dancing to the noisy and monotonous music of
the guitar. The people of Africa, of negro race,
have an inexhaustible store of activity and gay-
ety in their character. After having passed
through the painful labours of the week, the
slaves, on days of festival, prefer the sounds of
music, and the dance, to listless sleep. Let us
not blame this mixture of carelessness and levity,
which softens the bitterness of a life full of pains
and sorrows !

The bark in which we passed the Gulf of Ca-
rlaco was very spacious. Large skins of the
jaguar, or American tiger, were spread for our
repose during the night. We had scarcely been
two months under the torrid zone, and our or-
gans were already become so sensible to the
smallest variation of temperature, that the cold
prevented us from sleeping ; while to our sur-
prise we saw that the centigrade thermometer
was as high as 21°8°. This observation, well
known to those who have lived a long time in
the Indies, is worthy the attention of physiolo-
gists. Bouguer relates, that, when he reached
the summit of Montagne Pelée, in the island of
Martinico, he and his companion shook with

_ 244

cold, thougl the heat was above 21°5 degrees *
In reading the interesting narrative of Captain
Bligh, who, in consequence of a mutiny on
board the Bounty, was forced to make a voyage
of twelve hundred leagues in an open boat, we
see, that this navigator, in the tenth and twelfth
degrees of south latitude, suffered much more
from cold than from hunger +. During our abode
at Guayaquil, in the month of January, 1803, we .
observed, that the natives covered themselves,
and complained of the cold, when the ther-
mometer sunk to 23°8°, while the heat appear-
ed suffocating at 30°5°. Six or seven degrees

* Figure dela Terre, p.liv. The height of this summit is
'736.toises, according to Dupuget ; and 666 toises, according
to Mr. Le Blond. This. elevation ‘consequently is not con-
siderable enough, to cause a feeling of cold, as at Chimbo-,
razo and Pichincha, by the smaller quantity of oxygen in-
haled by the lungs from a dilated air. If the barometer, (at
16:20 temperature) keeps at the top of the Montagne Pelée
at 24 inches 2 lines (Le Blend, Voy. aux Antilles et dans
l’ Amérique Méridionale, t. 1, p. 87), the absolute height of
this point is 660 toises, according to the rule of Mr. Laplace;
supposing at the level of the sea the height of the mercury
28 inches 1 line, and the thermometer at twenty-five degrees.

+ Bligh’s Voyage to the South Sea, translated by Soulés,
p- 265 and 316. ‘The crew in the boat were often wet by
the waves ; but we know, that in this latitude, the tempe-
rature of the sea water cannot be below twenty-three degrees,
and that the cold produced by evaporation is inconsiderable
during the night, when the temperature of the air seldom
exceeds twenty-five degrees.

245

were sufficient to cause the opposite sensa-

tions of cold and heat, because on these coasts
of the South Sea the habitual temperature of
the atmosphere is twenty-eight degrees. The
humidity, which modifies the conducting power
of the air for heat, contributes greatly to these
impressions. Inthe port of Guayaquil, as every
where else in the low regions of the torrid zone,
the weather grows cool. only from storms of rain:
and I have observed, that, when the thermome-

ter sinks to 23°8°, De Luc’s hygrometer keeps
- up to fifty and fifty-two.degrees *; it is, on the
contrary, at thirty-seven degrees -¢ in a tempera-
ture of 30°5°. At Cumana, in very heavy show-
_ ers, we hear in the streets; que hielo! estoy
emparamado ¢ ; though the thermometer exposed

* 85°80 and 864° of Saussure’s hygrometer.
, + '73° Saussure.

{ “* What an icy cold! I shiver as if I was on the top of the
mountains.” The provincial word emparamarse can be trans-
lated only by a very long periphrasis. Paramo, in Peruvian
puna, is a denomination found on all the maps of Spanish
America. In the colonies it signifies neither a desert nor a
heath, but a mountainous place covered with stunted trees,
exposed to the winds, and in which a damp cold perpetually
reigns. Under the torrid zone, the paramoes are generally
from one thousand six hundred to two thousand toises high.
Snow often falls on them, but it remains only a few hours ;
for we must not confound, as geographers often do, the
words paramo and »una with that of nevado, in Peruvian
ritticapa, a mountain which enters into the limits of the per-

246

to the rain sinks only to 21°5°.. From the who ©
of these observations it follows, that between
the tropics, in plains where the temperature of
_the air is in the day time almost invariably
above twenty-seven degrees, warmer clothing
during the night is requisite, whenever in a
damp air the thermometer sinks four or five
degrees. —

We landed, about eight in the morning, at
the point of Araya, near the new salt-works. A
solitary house stands in a plain destitute of
vegetation, near a battery of three guns, which
is the only defence of this coast, since the des-
truction of the fort of St. James’s. The inspec-
tor of the salt-works passes his life in a ham-
mock, whence he issues his orders to the work-
men; a boat belonging to the king (la lancha
del re) brings him every week his provision
from Cumana. It is surprising that a salt-
work, which formerly excited the jealousy of

petual snows. These notions are highly interesting to geo-
logy, and the geography of plants; because, in countries
where no height has been measured, we may form an exact
idea of the least height to which the Cordilleras rise, in look-
ing into the map for the words paramo and nevado. As the
paramoes are almost continually enveloped in a cold and
thick fog, the people say, at Santa Fe, and at Mexico, cae un
paramito, when a thick small rain falls, and the temperature
of the air sinks considerably. From paramo has been made
emparamarse, to be as cold as if we were on the ridge of the

Andes.

247

the English, Dutch, and other maritime pow-
ers, has not given rise toa village, or even a
farm; a few huts only of poor Indian fisher-
men are found at the extremity of the point of
Araya.

We see at the same time, from this spot, the
islet of Cubagua, the lofty hills of Margaretta,
the ruins of the castle of St. Jago, the Cerro de
la Vela, and the calcareous chain of the Ber-
gantin, which bounds the horizon toward the
south. I availed myself of this view, to take
the angles between these different points, from
a basis of four hundred. toises, which I measur-
ed between the battery and the hill called the
Penna. As the Cerro de la Vela, Bergantin, and
the castle of St. Antonio at Cumana, are equally
visible from the Punta Arenas, situate to the
west of thevillage of Maniquarez, the same objects
were employed for an approximate determina-
tion of the respective positions of several points,
which are laid down in the mineralogical chart
of the peninsula of Araya. It follows from these
data, that the mere of the old salt-works is nearly
in 10°33’. The difference of longitude between
Cumana and the new salt-works is, according to
Mr. Fidalgo, 5’ 34”. I found the same difference
by the time-keeper*. The horary angles were ex-
act to three or four seconds nearly ; but I have

* Astron. Observ. vol. i, p. 6, No. 17.

248

no confidence in the chronometrical result, be-
cause the difference of time amounted only to a
few seconds, and the gain of the watch on mean
time at Cumana could not be verified immediate-
ly after my return, but only four days later.
The abundance of salt * contained in the’ pe-
ninsula of Araya was already known to Alonzo
Ninno-+, when; following the steps‘ of Columbas,
Ojeda, and Amerigo Vespucci, hé visited these
countries in 1499. Though of all the people’ on
the Globe the natives of America are those who
consume the least salt, because they scarcely
eat any thing: but vegetables, it nevertheless ap-
pears, that the Guayquerias already dug into the
clayey and muriatiferous soil of Punta Arenas.
Even the brine-pits;"which are now called new,
and which are sitwate’ at‘ the extremity of Cape
Araya, had been worked at very early periods.
The Spaniards’ settled’ at first at Cubagia, and
soon after on the coasts of Cumana? worked from
the beginning of the sixteenth | century thé’ salt
marshes, which stretch away ‘in’the' form’ of a
mere to the north of Cerro déA Vela. As at
that period the peninsula of Araya had-no settled
population, the Dutch availed themselves of the —
natural riches of a soil, which appeared a pro-
perty common to all nations. ‘In‘our days, each

* Muriat of soda.
+ Caulin, Hist. chorografica, p12.

249

colony has it’s own salt-works and navigation is
so much improved, that the merchants of Cadiz
ean send at small expence salt from Spain and
Portugal, to the southern hemisphere, a distance
of 1900 leagues, to cure meat at Monte Video
and Buenos Ayres. These advantages were un-
known at the time of the conquest ; colonial in-
dustry had then made so little progress, that the
salt of Araya was carried at great expence to
the West India islands, Carthagena, and Porto-
bello*. In 1605, the court of Madrid sent arm-
ed ships to Punta Araya, with orders to station
themselves there, and expel the Dutch by force
of arms. The Dutch, however, centinued to
carry on a contraband trade in salt till, in 1622,
a fort was built near the salt-works, that after-
ward became celebrated under the name of the
Castillo de Santiago, or of the Real. Fuerza de
Araya. The great salt-marshes are laid down
on the oldest Spanish maps, sometimes as a bay,
and at other times as a mere. Laet, who wrote
his Orbis Novus in 1633, and who had some ex-
cellent notions respecting these coasts, expressly
states, that the mere was separated from the sea
by an isthmus above the level of high water. In
1726, an extraordinary event destroyed the salt-
works of Araya, and rendered the fort, the con-

* MSS. of the archives of Cumana. (Jnformes hechos sobre

la Salina nueva.)

250

struction of which had cost more than a million
of piastres, useless. An impetuous hurricane
took place, which was a very rare phenomenon
in these regions, where the sea is in general as
calm as the water in our large rivers. | The
waves overflowed the land to a great extent ;
and by the effect of this irruption of the ocean
the salt-lake was converted into a gulf several
niles in length.. Since this period, artificial
reservoirs, or pits, (vasets) have been formed,
to the north of the range of hills which sepa-
rates the castle from the north coast of the pe-
ninsula.

The consumption of salt amounted in 1799
and 1800, in the two provinces of Cumana * and
Barcelona, to nine or ten thousand fanegas, each

* At the period.of my voyage the government of Cumana
comprehended the two provinces of New Andalusia and New
Barcelona. The words province and govierno, or government,
of Cumana, are consequently not synonimous. A Catalan,
Juan de Urpin, who had been by turns a canon, doctor of
laws, counsellor at law in St. Domingo, and private soldier
in the castle of Araya, founded, in 1636, the city of New
Barcelona, and attempted to give the name of New Catalonia
(Nueva Cathalunna) to the province, of which this newly
constructed city became the capital. This attempt was fruit-
less; and it is from the capital that the whole province took
it’s name. Since my departure from America, it has been
raised to the rank of a Govierno. In New Andalusia, the In-
dian name of Cumana has prevailed over those of Nueva To-
ledo and Nueva Cordoba, which we find on the maps of the
seventecath century. | |

251

sixteen arrobas, or four hundred weighty This
consumption is very considerable, and gives, if
we deduct from the total population fifty thou-
sand Indians, who eat very little salt, sixty
pounds for each person. In France, according
to Mr. Necker, twelve or fourteen pounds only
are reckoned; and this difference must be attri-
- buted to the quantity of salt employed in curing
meat. Salt beef, called tasajo, is the most im-
portant article of export from Barcelona. Of
nine or ten thousand fanegas furnished by the
two provinces united, three thousand only are
produced by the salt works of Araya ; the rest
is extracted from the sea-water at the Morro
of Barcelona, at Pozuelos, at Piritu, and in the
Golfo Triste. In Mexico, the salt-lake of Pen-
non Blanco alone furnishes yearly more than
two hundred and fifty thousand fanegas of un-
purified salt *, .

The province of Caraccas possesses fine salt-
works at Los Roques ; that which formerly ex-
isted at the small island of Tortuga, where the
soil is strongly impregnated with muriat of soda,

was destroyed by order of the Spanish govern-

ment. A canal was made, by which the sea has
free access to the salt-marshes. Foreign na-
tions, who have colonies in the West Indies, fre-
quented this uninhabited island; and the court

* New Spain, vol. ii, p. 562 and 595.
2 N

252

of Madrid, from views of suspicious policy, was
apprehensive, that the salt-works of Tortuga
would have given rise to settlements, by means
of which an illicit trade would have been carried
on with Terra Firma. aby |

The royal administration of the salt-works of
Araya dates only from the year 1792. Before .
that period they were in the hands of Indian
fishermen, who manufactured salt at their plea-
sure, and sold it, paying the government the
moderate sum of three hundred piastres. The
price of the fanega was then four reals* ; but the
salt was extremely impure, gray, mixed with
earthy particles, and surcharged with muriat and
sulphat of magnesia. As the manufacture or
labor of the salt-makers was also carried en in
the most irregular manner, salt was often want-
ed for curing meat and fish ; a circumstance that
has a powerful influence in these countries on
the progress of industry, as the lower class of
people and the slaves live on fish, and a small
portion of ¢asajo. Since the province of Cuma- |
na has become dependant on the intendancy of
Caraceas, the sale of salt is under the excise ;
and the fanega, which the Guayquerias sold at

* In this narrative, as well asin the Political Essay on
New Spain, all the prices are reckoned in piastres, and. silver
reals (reales de plata). Eight of these reals are equivalent
to a piastre, or one hundred and five sous, French money [4s.
43d. English]. Nouv. Esp. vol. ii, p. 519, 616, and 866.

253

half a piastre, costs a piastre and a half*. This
augmentation of price is slightly compensated
by a greater purity of the salt, and by the faci-
lity with which the fishermen and farmers can
procure it in abundance during the whole
year. The salt-works of Araya yielded the trea-
sury in 1799 a clear income of eight thousand
piastres.

From these statistical accounts it results, that
the manufacture of salt is of no great import-
ance, considered as a branch of industry. It is
more worthy our attention on account of the na-
ture of the soil, which contains the salt-marshes. |
In order to have a clear idea of the geological
connection of this muriatiferous soil with the
rocks of more ancient formation, we shall take a
general view of the neighbouring mountains of
Cumana, and those of the peninsula of Araya,
and the island of Margaretta.

Three great parallel chains extend themselves
from eastto west. The two most northerly chains
are primitive, and contain the mica-slates of
Macanao, and the valley of San Juan, of Mani-
~ quarez, and of Chuparipari. These we shall
distinguish by the names of Cordillera of the
island of Margaretta, and Cordillera of Araya.

* The fanega is sold to those Indians and fishermen who
do not pay the duties (derechos reales), at Punta Araya for
six, at Cumana for eight reals. The prices to the other tribes
are, at Araya ten, at Cumana twelve reals,

2n2

254

The third chain, the most southerly of the whole,
the Cordillera of Bergantin and of Cocollar, con-
tains rocks only of secondary formation; and,
what is remarkable enough, though analogous
to the geological constitution of the Alps to the
west of St, Gothard, the primitive chain is much
less elevated than that which was composed of
secondary rocks *. The sea has separated the
two northern Cordilleras, those of the island of
Margaretta, and the peninsula of Araya ; and
the small isiands of Coche and of Cubagua, are
remnants of the land that was submerged. Far-
ther to the south, the vast gulf of Cariaco
stretches away, like a longitudinal valley form-
ed by the irruption of the ocean, between the
two links of Araya and Cocollar, between the
mica-slates and the Alpine limestones. We
shall soon see, that the direction of the strata,
very regular in the first. of these rocks, is not
quite parallel to the general direction ofthe gulf.
In the high Alps of Europe, the great longitudi-

* In New Andalusia, the Cordillera of Cocollar no where
contains primitive rocks. If these rocks form the nucleus of
this link, and rise above the level of the neighbouring plains,
_ which is scarcely probable, we must suppose, that they are all
covered with lime-stone and sand-stone. In the Swiss Alps,
on the contrary, the link which is designated under the too
vague denomination of lateral and calcareous link, contains
primitive rocks, which, according to the valuable observations
of Escher and Leopold von Buch, are often visible to the
height of eight hundred or a thousand toises.

255

nal valley of the Rhone also sometimes cuts * at
an oblique angle the calcareous banks 1 in which
it has been excavated.

The two parallel links of Araya and Conelibr
were connected, to the east of the town of Cari-
aco, between the lakes of Campoma, and Puta-
quao, by a kind of transverse dyke, which bears
the name of Cerro de Meapire; and which in
distant times, by resisting the impulse of the
waves, has hindered the waters of the gulf of
Cariaco from uniting with those of the gulf of
Paria. Thus, in Switzerland the central chain,
that which passes by the Col de Ferrex, Simplon,
St. Gothard, and Spluegen, is connected on the
north and the south to two lateral chains, by the
mountains of Furca and Maloya. It is pleasing
- to recall to mind those striking analogies, which
are exhibited in both continents by the external
structure of the Globe.

The primitive chain of Araya ends tie uptly in
the meridian of the village of Maniquarez. We
shall presently show, that thirty-four leagues to’
_ the west it’s continuation is found in the gneiss of
the Silla of Caraccas, and in the granite of Las
Trincheras : we here confine ourselves to what.
immediately relates to the environs of Cumana.
‘The western slope of the peninsula of Araya, as
well as the plains in the midst of which the cas-

* Near Sitten (Alpina, t. iv, p. 295. Bernoulli, Geogn.
Uebersicht der Schweiz, p, 35—41).

256

tle of St. Antony rises, is covered with very re-
cent formations of sandstone and clay mixed with
gypsum. Perhaps these same formations for-
merly filled the longitudinal valleys, now occu-
pied by the ocean; and perhaps they favoured
the irruption of the waters, by making less re-
sistance than the mica-slates and Alpine lime-
stone. Near Maniquarez a breccia or sand-
stone with calcareous cement, which might ea-
sily be confounded with a real limestone, is
placed immediately on the mica-slate ; while on
the opposite side, near Punta Delgada, this sand-
stone covers a compact, bluish gray lime-stone,
almost destitute of petrifactions, and traversed
by small veins of calcareous spar. This last —
rock is analogous to the lime-stone of the high
Alps *. :

The very recent sand-stone formation of the
peninsula of Araya contains, first, near Punta
Arenas, a stratified sand-stone, composed of very
fine grains, united by a calcareous cement in
small quantity ; secondly, at the Cerro de la
Vela, a schistose sand-stone-+, without mica,
and passing into slate-clay f, which accompa-
nies coal ; thirdly, on the western side, between
Punta Gorda and the ruins of the castle of St.
Jago, a breccia composed of an innumerable

* Alpenkalkstein.

+ Sandsteinschiefer.
t Selhtieferthon.

257

quantity of petrified sea-shells, united by a cal-
careous cement, in which are mingled grains: of
quartz ; fourthly, near the point of Barigon,
whence the stone employed for building at Cu-
mana is drawn, banks of yellowish white shelly
lime-stone, in which are found some scattered
grains of quartz ; fifthly, at Pennas Negras, at
the top of the Cerro de la Vela, a bluish gray
compact lime-stone, very tender, almost without
petrifactions, and covering the schistose sand-
stone. However extraordinary this mixture of
sand-stone and compact lime-stone * may ap-
pear. we cannot doubt, that these strata belong
to one and the same formation. The very recent
secondary rocks every where present analogous
phenomena ; the molasse of the Pays de Vaud
contains a fetid shelly lime-stone, and the cerite
lime-stone of the banks of the Seine is sometimes
mixed with sand-stone Tf.

“The strata of caleareous breccia, which can
be best examined in going along the rocky coast
from Punta Gorda to the castle of Araya, are
composed of an infinite number of sea shells,
from four to six inches in diameter, and in part
well preserved. We find they contain not am-
monites, but ampullaires, solens, and terebra-
tule: The greater part. of these shells are

* Dichter kalkstein.
+ Cuvier and Brongniart, Geogr. min. des Environs de
Paris, 1811, p. 18, 25, and 135.

258

mixed; the oysters and pectinites are some-
times arranged in families. The whole are
easily detached, and their interior is filled with
fossil madrepores and cellapores (cellulaires).
ormerly, on examining the banks of sand-
stone, which at the northern extremity of Punta
Araya are frequently bathed by the sea, I had
thought, that some univalve shells, resembling —
the genus helix, and mixed with sea bivalve
shells, belonged to the fluviatile species *: This
mixture is in fact found - in the lime-stone of
very recent formation, that covers the chalk in |
the basin of Paris; but in order to verify a fact
s0 important, we should have under our eyes
the fossile shells of Araya +, and examine them
anew with that scrupulous exactness, which has
deen recently followed in this kind of investiga-.
tion by Messrs. Lamarck, Cuvier, and Brong-
niart.

We have just mentioned the mica-slates of
Maniquarez and of Chuparipari; the formation
of the Alpine lime-stone of Punta Delgada, and
of Cocollar ; and that of sand-stone, of calca-

* Reuss, Lehrbuch der Geognosie, t. il, p. 441.

+ According to the interesting observation of Mr. Beudan.
(See Cuvier and Brongniart, l. c. p. 89.) |

$ Specimens of sand-stone, or shelly breccia of Araya, a are —
found among the geological series, which I sent in 1800 to
the collection of the king of Spain at Madrid. There are
none of them in the collections which we have deposited at

Berlin, and at Paris.

259

reous breccia, and very recent compact lime-
stone, which is found united at the western
extremity of Punta Araya, as well as at the
castle of St. Antonio at Cumana. We have now
to speak of a fourth formation, which probably
reposes * on the calcareous sandstone of Araya,
I mean the muriatiferous clay.

This clay, hardened, impregnated with petro-
Jeum, and mixed with lamellar and lenticular
. gypsum, is analogous to the salzthon, which in
Europe accompanies the sal gem of Berchtesga-
den, and in South America + that of Zipaquira.
It is generally of a smoke gray color, earthy,

* IT would wish mineralogical travellers, to examine
‘more particularly the Cerro de la Vela. The lime-stone of
the Pennas Negras reposes on a slate-clay, mixed with
quartzose sand; but there is no proof of the muriatiferous
clay of the salt works being of a more ancient formation than
this slate-clay, or of it’s alternating with banks of sand-stone.
No well having been dug in these countries, we can have no
information respecting the superposition of the strata. The
banks’ of calcareous sand-stone, which are found at the
mouth of the salt lake, and near the fishermen’s huts on the
coast opposite Cape Macano, appeared to me to lie beneath
the muriatiferous clay. |

+ Near Santa Fe de Bogota, this formation of muriatiferous
clay, long neglected in the systems of geognosy, characterizes
the gem salt more than the ancient secondary gypsum (aelte-
rer Flozgyps) which reposes on the zechstein, or Alpine cal-
careous stone, as [ have shown in 1798, in my work on the
Moffettes of the Mines. (Ueber die unterirdischen Gasarten,
p. 143.)

260

and friable ; but it encloses more solid masses of
a blackish brown, of a schistose, and’ sometimes
conchoidal fracture. These fragments, from
six to eight inches long, have an angular form.

When they are very small, they give the clay a
porphyroidal appearance. We find disseminat-
ed in it, as we have already observed, either i in
nests, or in small veins, selenité, and sometimes,

though seldom, fibrous gypsum. Iti is remark-
able enough, that this stratum of clay, as well
as the banks of pure gem salt and the salzthon
in Europe, scarcely ever contain shells, while
the rocks adjacent offer them in great abun-
dance.

Although the muriat of soda is not found
visible to the eye in the clay of Araya, we can-
not doubt of it’s existence. It discovers itself
in large crystals, if we sprinkle the mass with
rain water, and expose it to theSun. The mere
to the east of the castle of San Jago exhibits all
the phenomena, which have been observed in the
salt lakes of Siberia, described by Lepechin,
Gmelin, and Pallas. This mere receives how-
ever only the rain waters, which filter through
the banks of clay, and unite at the lowest point
of the peninsula. While the mere setved as a
salt-work to the Spaniards and the Dutch, it did
not communicate with the sea; at present this
communication has been interrupted anew, by
placing faggots at the place where the waters of

261

the ocean had made an irruption in 1726. After
great droughts, crystallized and very pure muriat
of soda, in masses of three or four cubic feet, are
still drawn from time to time from the bottom
of the mere. The salt waters of the lake, ex-
posed to the heat of the Sun, evaporate at their
surface; crusts of salt, formed in a saturated
solution, fall to the bottom: and by the attrac-
tion between crystals of a similar nature and
form, the crystallized masses daily augment. It
is generally observed, that the water is brackish
wherever meres are formed in clayey ground.
It is true, that for the new salt work, near the
battery of Araya, the seawater is received into
pits, as in the salt marshes of the south of
France ; but in the island of Margaretta, near
Pampatar, salt is manufactured by employing
only fresh water, with which the muriatiferous
clay has been lixivated. |

We must not confound the salt disseminated
in these clayey soils with that contained in the
sands of the seashore, which are advantageously
worked on the coasts of Normandy *. These
phenomena, considered in a geognostical point
of view, have scarcely any thing in common.
Ihave seen muriatiferous clay at the level of the
ocean at Punta Araya, and at two thousand
toises height in the Cordilleras of New Grenada.

* In the bay of Avranches, and in many other parts of
Europe. Chaptal, Chimie appliquée aux Arts, t. iv, p. 161.

262

If in the former of these spots it lies on a very
recent shelly breccia, it forms on the contrary
in Austria, near Ischel, a considerable stratum *
in the Alpme lime-stone, which, though equally
posterior to the existence of organized beings
on the Globe, is nevertheless of high antiquity,
as is proved by the great number of rocks with
which it is covered. We shall not call in ques-
tion, that gem salt, either pure -+ or mixed with
muriatiferous clay {, may have been deposited
by an ancient sea; but every thing evinces, that
it was formed during an order of things, that
bears no resemblance to that in which the sea
at present, by a slower operation, deposits a few
particles of muriat of soda on the sands of our
shores. In the same manner as sulphur and
coal belong to periods of formation very remote
from each other, the gem salt is also found
sometimes in ¢ransition gypsum 4, sometimes in
the Alpine lime-stone ||, sometimes in a muria-
tiferous clay lying on a very recent sand-stone{,

* Buch. Geognost. Beobachtungen, t. i, p. 133.

+ Those of Wieliczka and of Peru.

t That of Hallein, Ischl, and Zipaquira.

§ Uebergangsgyps, in the transition slate of White Alley
[VAllé Blanche], and between the granwacke and black tran-
sition lime-stone near Bex, below the Dent de Chamossaire,
according to Mr, von Buch,

| At Hall in the Tyrol.

@{| At Punta Araya.

263

and lastly, sometimes in a gypsum * posterior to
the chalk.

* Gypsum of the third formation among the secondary
gypsums. The first formation contains the gypsum, in which
are found the brine-springs of.Thuringia, and which is placed
either in the Alpine lime-stone or zechstein, to which it essen-
tially belongs (Freiesleben, Geognost. Arbeiten, t. 11, p. 121.)
or between the zgechstein and the lime-stone of the Jura, or
between the zechstein and the new sand-stone. It is the
ancient gypsum of secondary formation of Werner's school
(aelterer floezgyps), which we almost preferably call muriati-
ferous gypsum. The second formation is composed of fibrous
gypsum, placed either in the molasse, or new sand-stone, or
between this and the upper lime-stone. It abounds in com-
mon Clay, which differs essentially from the salzthon or muri-

‘atiferous clay. The third formation of gypsum is more recent
than chalk. ‘To this belong the bony gypsum of Paris; and,
as appears from the researches of Mr. Steffens (Geogn.
Aufsatsze, 1810, p. 142), the gypsum of Segeberg, in Hol-
stein, in which gem salt is sometimes disseminated in very
small nests (Jenaische Litteratur-zeitung, 1813, p. 100). The
gypsum of Paris, lying between a cerite lime-stone, which
covers chalk, and a sand-stone without shells, is distinguished
by fossile bones of quadrupedes, while the Segeberg and Lune-
bourg gypsums, the position of which is more uncertain, are
characterized by the boracits which they contain. Two
other formations, far anterior to the three we have just men-
tioned, are the transition gypsum (uebergangsgyps) of Aigle,
_ and the primitive gypsum (urgyps) of the valley of Canaria,
near Airolo, Iflatter myself, that I may render some service
to the small number of geologists, who prefer the knowledge
of positive facts to speculation on the origin of things, in
furnishing them with materials, from which they may gene-
ralize their ideas on the formation of the rocks in both hemi-

264

The new salt works of Araya have five reser-
voirs, or pits, the largest of which have a regular
form, and two thousand three hundred square
toises surface. Their mean depth is eight
inches. Use is made both of the rain waters,
which, by filtration collect at the lowest part of
the plain, and of the water of the sea, which
enters by canals, or marfelliéres, when the flood
tide is favoured by the winds. The situation of |
these salt works is less advantageous, than that
of the mere. The waters which fall into the
latter pass over steeper slopes, washing a greater
extent of ground. The natives make use of
hand pumps to convey the seawater from one
principal reservoir into the pits. It would ne-
vertheless be easy enough to employ the wind
as the moving power, since the breeze always
blows strong on these coasts. The earth already
washed is never carried away here, as is the cus-
tom from time to time in the island of Marga-
retta; nor have wells been dug in the muriati-
ferous clay, to find strata richer in muriat of
soda. ‘The saltmen generally complain of want
of rain; and in the new salt works it appears to
me difficult to determine, what is the hag

aplivesss The relative srbigulty of the formations is the prin:
cipal object of a science, which is to render us acquainted
with the construction of the Globe ; that is to say, the nature
and superposition of the stony strata, which constitute the
exterior crust of our planet.

265

of salt, that is owing solely to the waters of the
sea. The natives estimate it at a sixth of the
total produce. The evaporation is extremely
strong, and favoured by the constant, motion of
the air; so that the salt is collected in eighteen
or twenty days after the pits are filled. We
found * the temperature of the salt water in the
pits 32°5°, while the air in the shade was 27:2°,
and the sand on the coast at six inches depth,
42°5°. We were surprised to see, that the ther-
mometer plunged into the sea rose only to 23°1°.
This low temperature -+ is owing perhaps to the
shoals, which surround the peninsula of Araya,
and the island of Margaretta, and on the edges
of which the lower strata of water mix with the
waters of the surface.

Though the muriat of soda is manufactured
with less care in the peninsula of Araya than at
the salt works of Europe, it is nevertheless purer,
and contains less of earthy muriats and sulphats.
We are ignorant whether this purity may be
attributed to the part of the salt which is fur-
nished by the sea; for though it is extremely
probable, that the quantity of the salt dissolved
in the waters of the ocean is nearly the same f

* The 19th of August, 1799, at three in the nies

+ See above, page 144.

{ With the exception of the Mit mien seas, pe the
regions where the polar ices are formed. See above,.p. 129,
180; and vol, i, p.64. This equality in the saltness of the

266

under every zone, it is not less uncertain, whe-
ther the proportion between the muriat of soda,
the muriat and sulphat of magnesia, and the
sulphat and carbonat of lime be er inva-
riable *.

After having examined the salt _— and
terminated our geodesical operations, we de-
parted at the decline of day tosleep at an Indian
hut, at some miles distance, near the ruins of
the castle of Araya. We were preceded by our
instruments and provision; for fatigued by the
excessive heat of the air, and the reverberation
of the soil, we felt no appetite in those climates,
except in the morning, or in the cool of the
evening. Directing our course toward the
south, we traversed first the plain covered with
muriatiferous clay, and stripped of vegetation ;
‘then two chains of hills of sandstone, between

\

seawater (from 0°024 to 0°028) reminds us of the still greater
uniformity, with which the oxygen is diffused throughout the
aérial ocean. In both of these elements, the currents establish
and preserve the equilibrium between the parts dissolved or
mingled with each other. (Bayly and Cook, + Original Observ.,
p. 345.)
* Lavoisier found, that in the waters of the sea, near
Dieppe, the quantity of muriat of soda is to that of the other
salts as 2°36 isto 1. According to Messrs. Bouillon-Lagrange
and Vogel, this proportion is as 2°60 to 1. See the judi-~
cious observations of Dr. Thomson, in his Chemistry, t. vi,
p. 346—457 (Henry, Phil. Trans., 1810, p. 97 and 122;
and Annales de Chémie, t. Ixxxvii, p 193—-208.) ised

4

267

which is the mere or laguna. Night overtook us
while we were in a narrow path, bordered on one
side by the sea, and on the other by a range of
perpendicular rocks. The tide was rising ra-
pidly, and narrowed the road at every step. We
a length arrived at the foot of the old castle of
Araya, where we enjoyed a prospect that had
in it something lugubrious and romantic. Here
however, neither the coolness of a deep and
gloomy forest, nor the grandeur of the vegetable
forms, heightens the beauty of these ruins ; which,
standing single on a bare and arid mountain,
crowned with agave, with columnar cactus, and
thorny mimosas, resemble less the works of man,
than those masses of rock that were ruptured at
the first revolutions of the Globe.

We were desirous of stopping to admire this
majestic spectacle, and observe the setting of
Venus, the disk of which appeared at intervals
between the yawning crannies of the castle ; but
the muleteer, our guide, was parched with thirst,

-- and pressed us earnestly to return. He had long

perceived, that we had lost our way ; and as he
hoped to work on our fears, he continually warn-
ed us of the danger from tigers and rattlesnakes.
Venomous reptiles were in fact very common near
the castle of Araya ; aud two jaguars had been
lately killed at the entrance of the village of Ma-
niquarez. If we might judge from their skins,
which had been preserved, their size was not less
2.0

268

than that of the Indian tiger. We vainly repre-
sented to our guide, that those animals did not
attack men, on coasts where the goats furnished
them with abundant food; we were obliged to
yield, and return. After having proceeded three
quarters of an hour along a shore covered by the
tide, we were ‘joined by the negro, who carried
our provision. Uneasy’ at‘ not seeing us‘arrive,
he-was come to meet us, and led us across a
wood of nopals to'a hut inhabited. by‘an‘Indian -
family... We: were-received with that: cordial
hospitality, which is’met with in this country
among people of everytribe. The hut in which
we'slung oui ‘hammocks was very clean; and
there we found fish, plantains, and ‘what: in the
torrid zone is preferable to the most a
food; excellent water. (#9) SAGTONN
The next! day at sunrise, we pe that the.
hut -in'which we had passed the night formed
part of a'group of small dwellings on the'borders
of ‘the salt lake; the remains ofa considerable
village which had formerly:stood near the castle.
The ruins of a church’ appeared ‘buried in the
sand, and covered with brushwood. When in
1765,:to save the expence of the garrison,’ the
castle -of Araya’was totally dismantled, the: In-
dians and: Mulattoes,; who :were settled im the
neighbourhood, emigrated ‘by degrees to: reside
at: Maniquarez, at Cariaco; and in the suburb of
the Guayquerias at Cumana.: A’small number,

269

bound from affection to their native soil, re-
mained in this wild and barren spot. These poor
people live by catching fish, which is extremely
abundant on the coast and the neighbouring
shoals. They appear satisfied with their condi-
tion, and think it strange when they are asked
why they have no gardens or culinary vegeta-
bles. Our gardens, they reply, are beyond the
gulf; when we carry our fish to Cumana, we
bring back plantains, cocoa nuts, and cassava.
This system of economy, grateful to idleness, is
followed at Maniquarez, and throughout the
whole peninsula of Araya. The chief wealth of
the inhabitants consists in goats, which are of a
very large and very fine breed, and rove in the
fields like those at the Peak of Teneriffe: they
are become entirely wild, and are marked like
the mules, because it would be difficult to recog-
nize them from their physiognomy, their color,
or the disposition of their spots. The wild goats
are of a brownish yellow, and are not varied in
their color like domestic animals. If in hunt-
ing a colonist kills a goat, which he does not
consider as his own property, he carries it im-
mediately to the neighbour, towhom it belongs.
During two days we heard it every where spoken
of as an example of strange perverseness, that
an inhabitant of Maniquarez had lost a goat, on
_ which it was probable that a neighbouring family
had regaled themselves. These traits, which are
202

270

proofs of a great purity of morals in the lower
class, are often exhibited in New Mexico, in
Canada, and in the countries situate to the west
of the Alleghanies,

Among the Mulattoes, whose huts surround
_ the salt-lake, we found a shoemaker of Castilian
descent. He received us with the air of gravity
and selfsufficiency, which in those climates cha-
racterize almost all who are conscious of possess~
ing some peculiar talent. He was employed in
stretching the string of his bow, and’ sharpening
his arrows to kill birds. His trade of a shoe-
maker could not be very lucrative in a country,
where the greater part of the inhabitants go bare-
foot ; and he only complained, that, on account
of the dearness of European gunpowder, a man
of his quality was reduced to employ the same
weapons asthe Indians. He was the sage of the
plain, he understood the formation of the salt by
the influence of the Sun and the full Moon, the
symptoms of earthquakes, the marks by which
mines of gold and silver are discovered, and the
medicinal plants, which he divided, like all the
other colonists from Chili to California, into hot
and cold*. Having collected the traditions of
the country, he gave us some curious accounts
of the pearls of Cubagua, objects of luxury,
which he treated with the utmost contempt.

* Exciting or debilitating, sthenic. or asthenic of Brown’s
system. |

o71

To show us how familiar to him were the sacred
writings, he took a pride in quoting to us Job,
who preferred wisdom to all the pearls of the
Indies. His philosophy was circumscribed to
the narrow circle of the wants of life. A very ;
strong ass, able to carry a heavy load of plan-
tains to the embarcadere, was the object of all
-his wishes. ;
After a long discourse on the emptiness of
human grandeur, he drew from a leathern pouch
a few very small and opake pearls, which he
forced us to accept, enjoining us at the same
time to note on our tablets, that a poor shoe-
maker of Araya, but a white man, and of noble
Castilian race, had been enabled to give us what
on the other side of the sea * was sought for as
a very precious thing. I acquit myself rather
late of the promise I made this honest man ; and
Iam happy to add, that his disinterestedness did
not permit him to accept of the slightest retri-
bution. The Pearl Coast presents, it is true,
the same aspect of misery as the countries of
gold and diamonds, Choco and Brasil; but mi-
sery is not there attended with that immoderate
desire of gain, which is excited by mineral
riches.
The pearl aronde (avicula margaritifera, Cu-

* Por alla, or, del otro lado del charco (properly, “ beyond
the great mere”), a figurative expression, by which the people
in the Spanish colonies denote Europe.

272

vier) abounds on the shoals, which extend from |
Cape Paria to that of Vela*. The island of
Margaretta, Cubagua, Coche, Punta Araya, and
the mouth of the Rio la Hacha, were celebrated
in the sixteenth century, as the Persian Gulf, and
the island Taprobane were among the ancients}.
It is not just to say, as several historians have
asserted, that the natives of America were unac-
quainted with the luxury of pearls. The first
Spaniards who landed in Terra Firma found the
savages decked with necklaces and bracelets ;
and among the civilized people of Mexico and
Peru pearls of a beautiful form were extremely
sought after. I have published a dissertation
on the statue of a Mexican priestess in basalt ¥,
whose head-dress, resembling the calantica of
the heads of Isis, is ornamented with pearls.
Las Casas and Benzoni have described, but not. _
without some exaggeration, the cruelties which

* Costa de las Perlas, Herera, Dec. 1, lib. vii, c. 9. Go-
mara, Hist c. 78. Petri Bembi Cardin. Hist. Venetz hb.
xii (1555), p. 83. Cancellieri, Diss. sopra Christ. Columbo
(1809), p. 101.

+ Strabo, lib. xv (pag. Oxon. 1017), Plin., lib. ix, c. 35,
lib. xii, c, 18. Solin. Polyhist. c. 66 (ed. 1518, p. 316 and
324), and above all Athen. Deipnosoph. lib. iii, c. 45 (ed.
Schweighzuser, 1801, t. i, p. 360—367), and Animadvers.
in Athen. t. ii, p. 126. |

}. Picturesque Atlas, pl. 1, and 2. pas A vol, xiii of this
edition, p. 43.] |

273

were exercised on the unhappy Indian slaves and
negroes employed in the pearl fishery. At. the
beginning of the conquest, the island of Coche
alone furnished the value of fifteen hundred
marks of pearls a month. |

The guint, which the king’s officers drew from
the produce of pearls, amounted to fifteen thou-
sand ducats; which, according to the value’ of
the metals in. those times, and the extensiveness
of the contraband trade, might. be considered as
a jvery considerable sum. It appears, that till
1530; the value ofthe pearls sent :to Europe
amounted yearly on an average tomore than
eight hundred thousand piastres. In order’ to
judge of the importance of this branch: of com-
merce to Seville, Toledo, Antwerp; and Genoa,
we should recollect, that at the same period the
whole of the mines of America * did noi furnish
two millions of piastres; and that the ‘fleet of
Ovando seemed to be of immense wealth, because
it contained nearly two thousand six hundred
marks of silver. Pearls were so much the more
sought after, as the luxury of Asia had been in-

* T have endeavoured to prove in another place (Nouv.
Esp. t. ii, p. 652), by a history at large of the ancient mines
of Mexico and Peru, the accuracy of the ideas spread
throughout Europe on the exhausted state of the metallifer-
ous mines of America, on their deceasing richness, and on
the quantity of metals which Spain received during the reigns
of Charles the fifth and Philip the ©, gecand.

O74

troduced into Europe by two ways diametrically
opposite; that of Constantinople, where the Pa-
leologi wore garments. covered with strings of
pearls; and that of Grenada, the residence of
the Moorish kings, who displayed at their court
all the luxury of the East. The pearls of the
East Indies were preferred to those of the West ;
but the number of the latter which circulated in
commerce was not less considerable in the times
which immediately followed the discovery of
America. In Italy as well as in Spain, the islet
of Cubagua became the object of numerous mer-
cantile speculations.

Benzoni * relates the adventure of one Lewis
‘Lampagnano, to whom Charles the Fifth grant-
‘ed the privilege of proceeding with five carvels
to the coasts of Cumana, to fish for pearls. The |
colonists sent him back with this bold anwer:
‘That the Emperor, too liberal of what was not
his own, had not the right to dispose of the oys-
ters, which live at the bottom of the sea.”

The pearl fishery diminished rapidly toward
the end of the sixteenth century ; and, according
to Laet, it had long ceased in 1683-4. The in-

* La Hist. del Mondo Nuovo, p.34. Lewis Lampag-
nano, a relation of the assassin of the Duke of Milan, Ga-
leazzo Maria Sforza, could not pay the merchants of Seville,
who had advanced the money for his voyage; he remained
. five years at Cubagua, and died in a fit of insanity.
t+ “ Insularum Cubague et Coches quondam magna fuit

275

‘dustry of the Venetians, who imitated fine pearls
with great exactness, and the frequent use of
- cut diamonds *,.rendered the fisheries of Cuba-
gua less lucrative. At the same time the oys-
ters which yielded the pearls became scarcer,
not, as it is believed from a popular tradition,
‘because these animals, frightened by the noise
of the oars, conveyed themselves elsewhere ;
but because their propagation had been prevent-
ed from the imprudent destruction of the shells
by thousands, The pearla ronde is of a much
more delicate constitution than the greater part
of the other acephalous molluscz. At the isle
of Ceylon, where, in the bay of Condeatchy, the
fishery employs six hundred divers, and where
the annual produce is more than half a million
of piastres, it has vainly been attempted to trans-
plant the animals to other parts of the coast.
The government permits fishing there only dur-
ing a single month ; while at Cubagua the bank
of shells was fished at all seasons. To form an
idea of the destruction of the species caused by

' dignitas, quum unionum captura floreret: nunc, illa deficiente,
obscura admodum fama.” Let. Nov. Orbis, p. 669. This
accurate compiler, speaking of Punta Araya, adds, this coun-
try is so forgotten, “ ut vix ulla alia Americe meridionalis
pars hodie obscurior sit.”

* The cutting of diamonds was invented by Lewis de Ber-
quen, in 1456, but it became common only in the following
century, |

276

the divers, we must remember, that a boat some-
times collects, in two or, three weeks,. more than
thirty-five thousand oysters. , The animal. lives
_but nine. or ten years : and it is only, in it’s fourth
year that the pearls begin to show themselves.
In ten thousand shells there.is often not a single
pear! of value*. Tradition states, that on the bank
of. Margaretta the, fishermen opened the. shells
one by one :.in the island. of Ceylon, the animals
are thrown into heaps, to rot in the air; and to
Separate the pearls, which are not attached. to
the shell, the animal pulp, is washed, as the mi-—
ners do the sands that. contain. rain of gold,
tin, or, diamonds. .

_ At. present Spanish America fasodeliaas no other
penile for trade than those of the gulf of Pana-
ma, and the mouth of the Rio dela Hacha. On
the shoals that surround Cubagua, Coche, and
the island. of Margaretta, the fishery is. as.much
neglected as on the coasts of California-}-.. It is
believed at Cumana, that, the pearl-aronde has
greatly multiplied after two centuries of. reas

* Cordiner, Description of Ceylon, vol. ii, p. 187, ~
+ Nouv. Esp. t, i, p. 313: and t. i, p..465.. Tam as- -
tonished at never having heard in the course of my travels of
pearls found in the fresh water shells of South, America,
though several species of the unio genus abount| in the rivers
of Pern, | ip
t In 1812, some new attempts were made at Margaretia |
for Me fishing of pearls.

277

and it is asked, why the pearls found at present
in shells which are entangled* in the fishermen’s
nets are so small, and have so little brillianey,
while on the arrival of the Spaniards they were
so extremely beautiful among the Indians, who
doubtless had not given themselves the trouble of
diving to collect them. The problem is so much
the more difficult to solve, as we are ignorant
whether earthquakes have altered the nature of
the bottom of the sea, or whether the changes of
the submarine currents may have had an influ-
ence either on the temperatue of the water, or
on the abundance of certain molluscze on which
the aronde feeds. :

On the 20th in the morning, our host’s son,
a young and very robust Indian, conducted us
over Barigon and Caney to the village of Ma-
niquarez, which was four hours walk. From
the effect of the reverberation of the sands, the
thermometer kept up to 31° 3’.. ‘The cylindric
cactus, which bordered the road, gave the land-
scapean appearance of verdure, without yield-
ing either coolness or shade. Before our guide
had travelled a league, he sat himself down at
every instant, and wished to repose under the
shade of a fine tamarind tree near Casas de
la Vela, to wait the approach of the night. I

* The inhabitants of Araya sometimes sei] these small
pearls to the retail dealers of Cumana. The ordinary price
is a piastre a dozen.

278
dwell on this characteristic trait, which we ob-
served every time that we travelled with In-
dians, and has given rise to very false ideas of
the physical constitutions of the different races
of men. The copper-colored native, more ac-
customed to the burning heat of the climate,
than the European traveller, complains more,
because he is stimulated by no interest. Money
~ is without attraction for him ; and if he permits
himself to be tempted by gain for a moment, he
repents of his resolution as soon as he is on the
road. The same Indian, who complains, when
in herbalizing we load him with a box filled
with plants, rows his canoe fourteen or fifteen
hours together, against the swiftest current, be-
cause he wishes to return to his family. In
order to form a true judgment of the muscular
_ force of the people, we should observe them in
circumstances, where their actions are determin-
ed by a will equally energetic. bi
_ We examined the ruins of San Jago, the
construction of which is remarkable for it’s ex-
treme solidity. The walls of free-stone are five -
feet thick : they have been blown up by mines :
but we still found masses of seven or eight hun-

_ * On the map accompanying Robertson’s History of Ame-
rica we find the name of this castle confounded with that of
‘Nueva Cordoba. We have already observed, that this latter
denomination was formerly synonimous with Cumana. (Her= _
rera, p. 14.) , tk

279

dred feet square, which have scarcely a crack
inthem. Our guide showed us a cistern (el al-
jibe) thirty feet deep, which, though much da-
maged, furnishes water to the inhabitants of the
peninsula of Araya. This cistern was finished
in 1681, by the governor Don .Juan de Padilla
Guardiola, the same who built at Cumana the
small fort of Santa Maria*. As the basin is
covered with an arched vault, the water, which
is of an excellent quality keeps very cool, and
has no conferva, which, while it decomposes the
carburet of hydrogen, harbours worms and small
insects. It had been believed for ages, that the
peninsula of Araya was entirely destitute of
springs of fresh water; but in 1797, after many
useless researches, the inhabitants of Maniquarez
succeeded in discovering some.

In crossing the arid hills of Cape Cirial, we
perceived a strong smell of petroleum. The wind
blew from the side where the springs of this sub-
stance are found, and which were mentioned by |
the first historians of these countries +. Near
the village of Maniquarez, the mica-slate ¢ comes
out from below the secondary rock, forming a
chain of mountains from one hundred and fifty

* Castillo de Santa Maria, or Fuerte de N. S. de la Ca-
beza. See above, page 188. (Caulin, p. 284.)
+ Oviedo, Lib. 19, cap. 1. ‘* Resinous, aromatic, and
_ medicinal liquor.”
{ Piedra pelada of the Creoles.

280
to one hundred and éidiny toises in height.
The direction of the primitive rock near Cape
Sotto is from north east to south west ; it’s strata
incline fifty degrees to the north west *. The
mica-slate is silvery white, of lamellar and un-
dulated texture, and contains garnets. Strata
of quartz, the thickness of which varies from
three to four toises, traverse the mica-slate, as
we may observe in several ravines hollowed out
by the waters. We detached with difficulty a —
fragment of cyanite+ from a block of splintered
and milky quartz, which was Isolated .on the
shore. This was the only time we found this
substance in South America f.

The potteries of Maniquarez, celebrated from
time immemorial, form a branch of industry,
which is exclusively in the hands of the Indian
women. The fabrication is still carried on ac-
cording to the method used before the conquest.
It indicates both the infancy of the art, and that
stability of manners, which is the characteristic
of all the natives of America. Three centuries
have been insufficient, to introduce the potter’s-
wheel on a coast, which is not above thirty or

* Hours three and four of the Freiberg compass. Very
near the village of Maniquarez, the strata vary to hours ele-
ven and twelve, inelining often to the: south west.

+ Disthéne, Haiiy. |

_-} In New Spain, the cyanite has been discovered ‘only in
the province of Guatimala, at Estancia Grande. Del Rio;
Tablas min., 1804, p. 27. Pike OTA |

;

281

forty days sail from Spain. The natives have
some confused notions with respect to the exist-
ence of this machine, and they would make use
of it if they had a model. The quarries whence
they draw the clay are half a league to the east
of Maniquarez. This clay is produced by the
‘natural decomposition of a mica-slate reddened
by oxid of iron. The Indian women prefer the
part most abounding in mica; and with great
address fashion vessels two or three feet in
diameter, giving them a very regular curve. As
they are not acquainted with the use of ovens,
they place twigs of desmanthus, cassia, and thé
-arborescent capparis, around the pots, and bake
them in’the open air. To the east of the quarry
that furnishes the clay is the ravine of la Mina.
It'is asserted that, a short time after the con-
quest, some Venetians extracted gold from the
mica-slate. It appears, that this metal was not
collected in veins of quartz, but was found dis-
seminated in the rock, as it is Somietiriies : in gra-
nite and gneiss.

‘At Maniquarez we met with some creoles,
who had ‘been hunting at Ctibagua. Deer of
the small breed ate so comifion in this uninha-
bited islet, that a single person may kill three or
four inaday. I know not by what accident
these animals have got thither, for Laet and
other chroniclers of these countries, speaking of
the foundation of New Cadiz, mention only the

282

great abundance of rabbits. The venado of |
Cubagua belongs to one of. those numerous
species of small American deer, which zoolo-
gists have long confounded under the vague
name of cervus mexicanus. It does not appear
to be the same as the hind of the savannahs ‘of
Cayenne, or the guazuti of Paraguay *, which
live also in herds. It’s color is a brownish red
on the back, and white under the belly ; and it
is spotted like the axis. In the plains of Cari,
we were shown, as a thing very rare in these
burning climates, a variety quite white. It was
a female of the size of the roebuck of Europe,
and of a very elegant shape. White varieties are
found in the New Continent even among the
tigers. Mr. d’Azara has seen a jaguar, the skin
of which was wholly white, except the shade
only, as it might be termed, of a few circular
spots.

Of all the productions on the coasts of peng
that which the people consider as the most ex-
traordinary, we may even say the most marvel-
lous, is the stone of the eyes, piedra de los ojos.
This calcareous substance is the subject of every
- conversation ; according to the natural philoso-

4

* Pennant’s Quadrupeds, p. 119,n. 52. Azara, Essay on
the Quadrupeds of Paraguay, vol. i, p. 77. Cuvier on the
fossile ruminating Animals, in the Ann. du Musée, t. xii,
p. 365. hie

283

phy of the natives, it is both a stone and anani-
mal. It is found in the sand, where it is mo-
tionless ; but placed singly on a polished sur-
face, for instance on a pewter or earthen plate,
it moves when excited by lemon juice. Placed
in the eye, the pretended animal turns on itself,
and expels every other foreign substance, that
has been accidentally introduced. At the new
salt works, and at the village of Maniquarez,
the stones of the eyes * were offered us by hun-
dreds, and the natives were earnest to show us
the experiment of the lemon juice. They wished
‘to put sand into our eyes, in order that we might
ourselves try the efficacy of the remedy. It was
easy to see, that these stones are thin and po-
rous opercula, which have formed part of small
univalve shells. Their diameter varies from one
to four lines. One of their two surfaces is plane,
and the other convex. These calcareous oper-
cula effervesce with lemon juice, and put them-
selves in motion in proportion as the carbonic
acid is disengaged. By the effect of a similar
reaction, loaves placed in an oven move some-
times in a horizontal plane ; a phenomenon that
has given occasion, in Europe, to the popular’
prejudice of enchanted ovens. The piedras de
los ojos, introduced into the eye, act like smail

_* They are found «in the greatest abundance near the
battery at the point of Cape Araya.

2p

284

pearls, and different round grains employed by
the American savages to increase the flowing of
tears. ,. These explanations, were little to the
taste of the inhabitants of Araya. . Nature has
the appparance of greatness to: man in proportion
as she is, veiled in mystery, and the) philosophy
of the people. rejects. every thing that. bears a
character of simplicity. ., +19 Hoon
Proceeding along the sigan coast, sisi east
of Maniquarez, we find running out into, the sea .
very near each other, three strips of. land, which
bear the, names of Punta|de Soto, Punta de. la
Brea, and, Punta Guaratarito,..In these.parts the
bottom of the. sea,is evidently formed of a mica-
slate: and it is. from this. rock, that, near Cape
dela Brea *, but at eighty feet distance from the
shore, a spring ofnaphtha rises, the smell of which
spreads itself. into the: interior.of the peninsula.
You must. wade into, the sea up to the waist, to
examine, this. interesting phenomenon; The
waters are covered with zostera; and in the
midst of a very extensive;bank of weeds (d’her-
bes), we distinguish a free and circular spot of
three feet diameter, on, which swim.a few-scat-
tered masses of ulva lactuca. Here the springs
are found. The bottom. of the gulf is covered

—*® Tar Cape. The ont reservoir of a it (chapu-
pote) is that of the island of Trinidad, which has been des-
cribed by Span, Hatchet Anderson, aud Dauxion Lavaysse,
(Voy. aux Isles de Trinidad et de Tobago, t. i, p. 24\to 30.)

285

with sand; and the petroleum, which, from it’s
transparency, and it’s yellow color, resembles the
real naphtha, rises in jets, accompanied by air
bubbles. On. treading down the bottom with
the foot, we perceive, that these little springs
change their place. The naphtha covers the sur-
face of the sea to more than a thousand feet,
distance. If we suppose the dip of the strata
to be regular, the mica-slate must be but a few
toises below the sand. | ?

We have already observed, that. the muriati-
_ferous|clay of Araya contains solid and friable
petroleum. This geological connection between
the muriat of soda and the bitumens is evident
wherever there are mines of gem salt or salt
springs : but a very’ remarkable fact is the ex-
istence of a fountain of naphtha in a primitive
formation. All those hitherto known belong to
secondary mountains *; and this situation of
them seemed to favour the idea, that all mi-
neral bitumens were owing to the destruction
of vegetables and animals +, or to the burning
of coal. In the peninsula of Araya, the naph-
tha flows from the primitive rock itself; and
this phenomenon acquires new importance,
when we recollect, that the same primitive rocks

* Pietra mala; Fanano; Mont-Zibio ; Amiano, where
are the springs that furnish the naphtha employed i in lighting
the city of Genoa ; Bakou, &c.

+ Hatchet, in the Trans, of the Lin. Society, 1798, p. 129.

2 p2

286

contain the subterraneous fires, that on the brink
of burning craters the smell of petroleum is per-
ceived from time to time, and that the greater
part of the hot springs of America rise from
‘gneiss and micaceous schist. |

After having examined the environs of Mani-.
quarez, we embarked at night in a fishing beat
‘for Cumana. Nothing is a better proof of the
calmness of the sea of these regions, than the
extreme smallness and wretched state of these
boats, which carry a very high sail. That we
chose as the least damaged was'so leaky, that the
pHot’s son was constantly employed in baling out
the water with a tutuma, or shell of the cres-
-centia cujete (calebash). It often happens in the
gulf of Cariaco, and especially to the north of the
peninsula of Araya, that the canoes loaded with
cocoas are overset in sailing too near the wind,
and against the waves. ‘These accidents are to
be dreaded only by passengers little accustom-
ed to swimming ; for if the canoe be managed
by an Indian fisherman and his son, the father
sets right the boat and empties it of. water,
while the son swims about collecting the cocoa
nuts. In less than a quarter of an hour, the
canoe is again under sail, without a single com-
plaint on the part of the Indian, who meets the
accident with calm unshaken indifference.

The inhabitants of Araya, whom we visited a
second time on returning from the Oroonoko, did

iy

287 |

not forget, that their peninsula was one of the -
points first peopled by the Spaniards. They love
to talk of the pearl fishery ; of the ruins of the
castle of St. Jago, which they hope to see some
day rebuilt ; and of every thing that recalls to
mind the ancient splendour of those countries.
In China and Japan those inventions are con-
sidered as recent, which have not been known
above two thousand years ; in the European
colonies an event appears extremely old, if it
dates back three centuries, or about the penne
of the discovery of America.

This absence of memorials, which charac-
terizes new nations, both in the United States,
and in the Spanish and Portugueze possessions,
is well worthy of attention. The void has not
only something painful to the traveller, who
finds himself deprived of the most delightful en-
joyments of the imagination ; it has also an in-
fluence on the greater or less powerful ties, that
bind the colonist to the soil on which he dwells,
to the form of the rocks surrounding his hut,
and to the trees which have shaded his cradle.

Among the ancients, the Pheenicians and the
Greeks, for instance, traditions and national re-,
membrances passed from the mother country,
to the colonies ; where, perpetuated from genera-
tion to generation, they never ceased to have a
favorable influence on the opinions, the man-
ners, and the policy of the colonists. The cli-

288

mates of these first establishments beyond the
seas differed but little from those of the mother .
country. The Greeks of Asia Minor and Sicily
were not strangers to the inhabitants of Argos,
Athens, and Corinth, from whom they boasted
their descent. .A great analogy of manners con-
tributed to cement the union, which was found-
ed on religious and political interests. The co-
lonists frequently offered the first fruits ‘of their
harvests in the temples of the metropolis::“and
when by somé sinister accident: the Sacred fire
was extinguished on the altars of Hestia, mes-
sengers were sent from the farther part of Ionia,
to rekindle the flame at the Prytancion of
Greece *. Every where, in Cyrene, as well as
on the banks of the Meotis, the’ inhabitants
carefully preserved the traditions of the mother
country. Other remembrances, equally fitted
to affect the imagination, were attached to the
colonies themselves.’ They had their’ sacred
groves, their tutelary divinities, their local my-
thology, and, what gave life and durability to
the fictions of the first ages, they had poets, who
extended their glory as far as the wh diet
itself.
These advantages, and many others, are want-

ing in modern colonies. The ies Hla are

* Clavier, Hist. des premiers Temps de la Gree, t. ii, p. 67.
t. i, p. 188.) )

259

settled in a zone, where the climate, the produc-
tions, the aspect of the sky, and the scenery of
the landscape, differ altogether from those of Eu-
rope. The colonist vainly bestows on moun-
tains, rivers, and vallies, those names, which call |
to his remembrance the sites of the mother
country ; these names soon lose their attraction,
and have no meaning with the generations that
succeed. Under the influence of an exotic na-
ture, habits are generated, that are adapted to
new wants ; national remembrances are insen-
sibly effaced ; and those that remain, like phan-
toms of the imagination, have neither ‘a local
habitation, nor a name.” The glory of Don Pe-
lagio, and of the Cid Campeador, has penetrated
even to the mountains and forests of America ;
the people sometimes pronounce these illustrious
names; but they form no other notions of their
existence, than that of heroes belonging to some
vague period of fabulous times.

This foreign firmament, this contrast a cli-
mate, this physical conformation of the country,
have a more decided effect on the state of soci-
ety in: the colonies, than the absolute distance of
the mother country. Such is the improved state
of modern navigation, that the mouths of the
Oroonoko and of the Rio de la Plata seem more
contiguous to Spain, than in former times Pha-
sis and Tartessus did to the coasts of Greece
and Phoenicia. We even observe, that, in re-

290.

gions equally remote, the manners and traditions -
of Europe are more habitually preserved in the
temperate zone, and on the ridges of the equa-
torial mountains, than in the plains of the tor-
rid zone. Similarity of situation contributes in
a certain degree to maintain more intimate con-
nections between the colonists and the metropo-
lis. This influence of physical causes on the
state of infant societies is particularly manifest-
ed, when it concerns portions of people of the
same race, who have been recently separated from
eachother. In traversing the regions of the New
World, we imagine that we find more traditions,
a greater freshness in the remembrances of the
mother country, wherever the climate permits
the cultivation of corn. In this point of view,
Pennsylvania, New Mexico, and Chili, resem-
ble those elevated plains of Quito and New.
Spain, which are covered with oaks and with
firs. , | 0 DUNS Say
Among the ancients, history, religious opin-
ions, and the physical state of a country, were:
linked together by indissoluble ties. The colo-
nist must have renounced the faith transmitted
to him by his ancestors, could he have forgotten
the aspect of the sites, and the ancient revolu-
tions of the mother country. With modern na-
tions, religion no longer wears, if I may use the
expression, a local tint. Christianity, in fur-
nishing new ideas, and opening a wider range —

4

291

to the exercise of the intellectual faculties ; in
declaring that all nations of men that dwell on
the face of the Earth are made of one blood,
and members of the same family; has weaken-
ed every exclusive sentiment, and has spread
through both Worlds the ancient traditions of
' the East with those that are peculiarly it’s own.
Nations of different origin, and discordant idi-
oms, have received from this common institution
common remembrances ; and the establishment
of the missions, after having laid the founda-
tions of civilization in a great part of the New
Continent, has given to cosmogonic and religious
ideas a marked preeminence over remembrances
that were merely national.

But this is notall ; the American colonies are
almost all founded in countries, where the gene-
rations that are extinct have left scarcely any
trace of their existence. At the mouth of the
Rio Gila, on the banks of the Missouri, in the
plains that extend to the east of the Andes, tra-
ditions date no farther back than a century. At
Peru, Guatimala, and Mexico, ruins of edifices,
historical paintings, and monuments of sculp-
ture, attest, it is true, the ancient civilization of
the natives ; but in a whole province we find
very few families, who have just ideas relative
to the history of the Incas, and of the Mexican
princes. The native has preserved his language:
his dress, and his national character ; but the

292

disappearance of the quippus, and of, symbolic
paintings, the introduction of christianity, and,
other circumstances, which I have elsewhere
developed, have gradually extinguished histori-
cal and religious traditions. On the other hand,
the colonist of European race disdains whatever
relates to the conquered people. | Placed be-
tween the remembrances of the mother country,
and those of the country where he first drew his
breath, he considers. both with equal indiffer-
ence; and ina climate where the equality of
seasons renders the succession of years almost
imperceptible, he abandons himself to the enjoy-
ments of the present moment, and scarcely casts
back a look on the times that are past.

What a difference also between the monoto-_

nous history of modern colonies, and the varied
picture exhibited by the legislation, the manners,
and the political-revolutions of the colonies of

the ancients! “Their intellectual culture, modi- |

fied by the different forms of their government,
often excited the envy of the mother countzies ;
and by this happy rivalship arts and letters at-
tained the highest degree of splendor in Ionia,
in Grecia Magna, and in Sicily. In our days,
on the contrary, the colonies have neither. his-
tory, nor national literature. Those of the New
World have never had powerful neighbours, and
there the state of society has undergone only
imperceptible changes.. Without political exist-

293

for anda have tli but a passive part in
the great agitations of the World. The history
of modern colonies affords but two memorable
events: their foundation, and their separation
from the mother country. The first of ‘these
events is rich in remembrances, which essentially
belong to the countries occupied by the colonists ;
but, far from recalling to mind the peaceful pro-
gress of industry, or the improvement of colonial
legislation, acts of violence and ‘injustice only
protrude themselves on the scene. What charm
can those extraordinary times present, when,
under the reign of Charles the Fifth, the Casti-
lians displayed more courage than virtue? and
when chivalrous honour, like the glory of arms,
was sullied by fanaticism and the thirst of
riches? The colonists, of mild character, are
freed by their situation from national prejudices,
appreciate at their just value the exploits of the
conquest. The men who figured at that period
were Europeans ; they were the soldiers of the
mother country; they appear as strangers to the
inhabitants of the colonies, for three ages have
been sufficient to dissolve the ties of blood.
Among the conquistadores, no doubt, some up-
right and generous men may be found; but,
mingled in the mass, aney have been unable to
escape the gener al proscription.

I believe, that I have indicated the principal

294

causes, which in modern colonies have dispelled
national remembrances, without nobly filling
their place by others relative to the country
newly inhabited. This circumstance, we cannot.
‘sufficiently repeat, exercises a great influence
over the situation of the colonists. In the
stormy times of a political regeneration, they
find themselves isolated, like a. people who, re-
nouncing the study of it’s annals, ‘should cease

to derive lessons of wisdom from the misfor- )

tunes of preceding ages.

La GS END OF VOL. II.

W. Pore, Printer, 67, Chancery Lane, London.

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