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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..9c32f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #67183 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67183) diff --git a/old/67183-0.txt b/old/67183-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index f48e7ac..0000000 --- a/old/67183-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,8293 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of Aspects of Nature (Vol. 1 of 2), by -Alexander von Humboldt - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: Aspects of Nature (Vol. 1 of 2) - in Different Lands and Different Climates; with Scientific - Elucidations - -Author: Alexander von Humboldt - -Translator: Elizabeth Sabine - -Release Date: January 16, 2022 [eBook #67183] - -Language: English - -Produced by: Henry Flower and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team - at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images - generously made available by The Internet Archive) - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ASPECTS OF NATURE (VOL. 1 OF -2) *** - - - - - -ASPECTS OF NATURE. - - - - -Wilson and Ogilvy, Skinner Street, Snowhill, London. - - - - - ASPECTS OF NATURE, - IN - DIFFERENT LANDS AND DIFFERENT CLIMATES; - - WITH - Scientific Elucidations. - - BY - ALEXANDER VON HUMBOLDT. - - TRANSLATED BY MRS. SABINE. - - IN TWO VOLUMES. - - VOL. I. - - - LONDON: - - PRINTED FOR - LONGMAN, BROWN, GREEN, AND LONGMANS, - PATERNOSTER ROW; AND - JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET. - 1849. - - - - -AUTHOR’S PREFACE - -TO THE - -FIRST EDITION. - - -It is not without diffidence that I present to the public a series of -papers which took their origin in the presence of natural scenes of -grandeur or of beauty,--on the Ocean, in the forests of the Orinoco, -in the Steppes of Venezuela, and in the mountain wildernesses of Peru -and Mexico. Detached fragments were written down on the spot and at the -moment, and were afterwards moulded into a whole. The view of Nature -on an enlarged scale, the display of the concurrent action of various -forces or powers, and the renewal of the enjoyment which the immediate -prospect of tropical scenery affords to sensitive minds, are the -objects which I have proposed to myself. According to the design of my -work, whilst each of the treatises of which it consists should form a -whole complete in itself, one common tendency should pervade them all. -Such an artistic and literary treatment of subjects of natural history -is liable to difficulties of composition, notwithstanding the aid which -it derives from the power and flexibility of our noble language. The -unbounded riches of Nature occasion an accumulation of separate images; -and accumulation disturbs the repose and the unity of impression -which should belong to the picture. Moreover, when addressing the -feelings and imagination, a firm hand is needed to guard the style from -degenerating into an undesirable species of poetic prose. But I need -not here describe more fully dangers which I fear the following pages -will shew I have not always succeeded in avoiding. - -Nevertheless, notwithstanding faults which I can more easily perceive -than amend, I venture to hope that these descriptions of the varied -Aspects which Nature assumes in distant lands, may impart to the reader -a portion of that enjoyment which is derived from their immediate -contemplation by a mind susceptible of such impressions. As this -enjoyment is enhanced by insight into the more hidden connection of -the different powers and forces of nature, I have subjoined to each -treatise scientific elucidations and additions. - -Throughout the entire work I have sought to indicate the unfailing -influence of external nature on the feelings, the moral dispositions, -and the destinies of man. To minds oppressed with the cares or the -sorrows of life, the soothing influence of the contemplation of nature -is peculiarly precious; and to such these pages are more especially -dedicated. May they, “escaping from the stormy waves of life,” follow -me in spirit with willing steps to the recesses of the primeval -forests, over the boundless surface of the Steppe, and to the higher -ridges of the Andes. To them is addressed the poet’s voice, in the -sentence of the Chorus-- - - “Auf den Bergen ist Freiheit! Der Hauch der Grüfte - Steigt nicht hinauf in die reinen Lüfte; - Die Welt ist vollkommen überall, - Wo der Mensch nicht hinkommt mit seiner Qual.” - - - - -AUTHOR’S PREFACE - -TO THE - -SECOND AND THIRD EDITIONS. - - -The twofold aim of the present work (a carefully prepared and executed -attempt to enhance the enjoyment of Nature by animated description, and -at the same time to increase in proportion to the state of knowledge at -the time the reader’s insight into the harmonious and concurrent action -of different powers and forces of Nature) was pointed out by me nearly -half a century ago in the Preface to the First Edition. In so doing, I -alluded to the various obstacles which oppose a successful treatment of -the subject in the manner designed. The combination of a literary and -of a purely scientific object,--the endeavour at once to interest and -occupy the imagination, and to enrich the mind with new ideas by the -augmentation of knowledge,--renders the due arrangement of the separate -parts, and the desired unity of composition, difficult of attainment. -Yet, notwithstanding these disadvantages, the public have long -regarded my imperfectly executed undertaking with friendly partiality. - -The second edition of the “Ansichten der Natur” was prepared by me -in Paris in 1826; and at the same time two fresh treatises were -added,--one an Essay on the Structure and mode of Action of Volcanoes -in different regions of the earth; and the other on the “Vital -Power,” bearing the title “Lebenskraft, oder der rhodische Genius.” -During my long stay at Jena, Schiller, in the recollection of his -youthful medical studies, loved to converse with me on physiological -subjects; and the considerations in which I was then engaged on the -muscular and nervous fibres when excited by contact with chemically -different substances, often gave a more specific and graver turn to our -discourse. The “Rhodian Genius” was written at this time: it appeared -first in Schiller’s “Horen,” a periodical journal; and it was his -partiality for this little work which encouraged me to allow it to be -reprinted. My brother, in a letter forming part of a collection which -has recently been given to the public (Wilhelm von Humboldt’s Briefe -an eine Freundin, Th. ii. S. 39), touches tenderly on the subject of -the memoir in question, but adds at the same time a very just remark: -“The development of a physiological idea is the object of the entire -treatise; men were fonder at that time than they would now be of such -semi-poetic clothing of severe scientific truths.” - -In my eightieth year, I am still enabled to enjoy the satisfaction of -completing a third edition of my work, remoulding it entirely afresh to -meet the requirements of the present time. Almost all the scientific -Elucidations or Annotations have been either enlarged or replaced by -new and more comprehensive ones. I have hoped that these volumes might -tend to inspire and cherish a love for the study of Nature, by bringing -together in a small space the results of careful observation on the -most varied subjects; by showing the importance of exact numerical -data, and the use to be made of them by well-considered arrangement and -comparison; and by opposing the dogmatic half-knowledge and arrogant -scepticism which have long too much prevailed in what are called the -higher circles of society. - -The expedition made by Ehrenberg, Gustav Rose, and myself, by the -command of the Emperor of Russia, in 1829, to Northern Asia (in the -Ural and Altai mountains, and on the shores of the Caspian Sea), falls -between the period of publication of the second and third editions. -This expedition has contributed materially to the enlargement of -my views in all that regards the form of the surface of the earth, -the direction of mountain-chains, the connection of steppes and -deserts with each other, and the geographical distribution of plants -in relation to ascertained conditions of temperature. The long -subsisting want of any accurate knowledge on the subject of the great -snow-covered mountain-chains which are situated between the Altai -and the Himalaya (_i. e._ the Thian-schan and the Kuen-lün), and the -ill-judged neglect of Chinese authorities, have thrown great obscurity -around the geography of Central Asia, and have allowed imagination -to be substituted for the results of observation in works which have -obtained extensive circulation. In the course of the last few months -the hypsometrical comparison of the culminating summits of the two -continents has almost unexpectedly received important corrections and -additions, of which I hasten to avail myself. (Vol. i. pp. 57-58, and -92-93.) The determinations of the heights of two mountains in the -eastern chain of the Andes of Bolivia, the Sorata and the Illimani, -have been freed from the errors which had placed those mountains above -the Chimborazo, but without as yet altogether restoring to the latter -with certainty its ancient pre-eminence among the snowy summits of -the New World. In the Himalaya the recently executed trigonometrical -measurement of the Kinchinjinga (28178 English feet) places it next -in altitude to the Dhawalagiri, a new and more exact trigonometrical -measurement of which has also been recently made. - -For the sake of uniformity with the two previous editions of the -“Ansichten der Natur,” I have given the degrees of temperature in the -present work (unless where expressly stated otherwise) in degrees of -Reaumur’s scale. The linear measures are the old French, in which the -toise equals six Parisian feet. The miles are geographical, fifteen -to a degree of the equator. The longitudes are reckoned from the -Observatory at Paris as a first meridian. - - BERLIN, 1849. - - - - -NOTE BY THE TRANSLATOR. - - -In the translation the temperatures are given in degrees of Fahrenheit, -retaining at the same time the original figures in Reaumur’s scale. -In the same manner the measures are given in English feet, generally -retaining at the same time the original statements in Parisian or -French feet or toises, a desirable precaution where accuracy is -important. The miles are given in geographical miles, 60 to a degree, -but in this case the original figures have usually been omitted, the -conversion being so simple as to render the introduction of error very -improbable. In a very few instances “English miles” appear without -any farther epithet or explanation; these have been taken by the -author from English sources, and may probably signify statute miles. -The longitudes from Greenwich are substituted for those from Paris, -retaining in addition the original statement in particular cases. - - - - -CONTENTS. - - - PAGE - - AUTHOR’S PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION vii - - AUTHOR’S PREFACE TO THE SECOND AND THIRD EDITIONS xi - - NOTE BY THE TRANSLATOR xvii - - STEPPES AND DESERTS 1 - Annotations and Additions 27 - - CATARACTS OF THE ORINOCO 207 - Annotations and Additions 233 - - NOCTURNAL LIFE OF ANIMALS IN THE PRIMEVAL FOREST 257 - Annotations and Additions 273 - - HYPSOMETRIC ADDENDA 277 - - - ⁂ For General Summary of the CONTENTS of the First Volume, - _see_ page 289. - - - - - ASPECTS OF NATURE - - IN - - DIFFERENT LANDS AND DIFFERENT CLIMATES. - - - - -STEPPES AND DESERTS. - - -A widely extended and apparently interminable plain stretches from -the southern base of the lofty granitic crest, which, in the youth of -our planet, when the Caribbean gulf was formed, braved the invasion -of the waters. On quitting the mountain valleys of Caraccas, and the -island-studded lake of Tacarigua[1] whose surface reflects the stems -of plantains and bananas, and on leaving behind him meads adorned with -the bright and tender green of the Tahitian sugar cane or the darker -verdure of the Cacao groves, the traveller, looking southward, sees -unroll before him Steppes receding until they vanish in the far horizon. - -Fresh from the richest luxuriance of organic life, he treads at once -the desolate margin of a treeless desert. Neither hill nor cliff rises, -like an island in the ocean, to break the uniformity of the boundless -plain; only here and there broken strata of limestone, several hundred -square miles in extent, appear sensibly higher than the adjoining -parts. “Banks”[2] is the name given to them by the natives; as if -language instinctively recalled the more ancient condition of the -globe, when those elevations were shoals, and the Steppes themselves -were the bottom of a great Mediterranean sea. - -Even at the present time nocturnal illusion still recalls these images -of the past. When the rapidly rising and descending constellations -illumine the margin of the plain, or when their trembling image is -repeated in the lower stratum of undulating vapour, we seem to see -before us a shoreless ocean.[3] Like the ocean, the Steppe fills the -mind with the feeling of infinity; and thought, escaping from the -visible impressions of space, rises to contemplations of a higher -order. Yet the aspect of the clear transparent mirror of the ocean, -with its light, curling, gently foaming, sportive waves, cheers the -heart like that of a friend; but the Steppe lies stretched before us -dead and rigid, like the stony crust[4] of a desolated planet. - -In every zone nature presents the phenomena of these great plains: in -each they have a peculiar physiognomy, determined by diversity of soil, -by climate, and by elevation above the level of the sea. - -In northern Europe, the Heaths, which, covered with a single race of -plants repelling all others, extend from the point of Jutland to the -mouth of the Scheldt, may be regarded as true Steppes,--but Steppes of -small extent and hilly surface, if compared with the Llanos and Pampas -of South America, or even with the Prairies of the Missouri[5] and the -Barrens of the Coppermine river, where range countless herds of the -shaggy buffalo and musk ox. - -A grander and severer aspect characterises the plains of the interior -of Africa. Like the wide expanse of the Pacific Ocean, it is only in -recent times that attempts have been made to explore them thoroughly. -They are parts of a sea of sand, which, stretching eastward, separates -fruitful regions from each other, or encloses them like islands; as -where the Desert, near the basaltic mountains of Harudsh,[6] surrounds -the Oasis of Siwah rich in date trees, and in which the ruins of the -temple of Ammon mark the venerable site of an ancient civilisation. -Neither dew nor rain bathe these desolate plains, or develope on their -glowing surface the germs of vegetable life; for heated columns of air, -every where ascending, dissolve the vapours, and disperse each swiftly -vanishing cloud. - -Where the Desert approaches the Atlantic Ocean, as between the Wadi Nun -and Cape Blanco, the moist sea air pours in to supply the void left by -these upward currents. The mariner, steering towards the mouth of the -Gambia through a sea covered with weed, when suddenly deserted by the -east trade wind of the tropics,[7] infers the vicinity of the widely -extended heat-radiating desert. Herds of antelopes and swift-footed -ostriches roam through these vast regions; but, with the exception of -the watered Oases or islands in the sea of sand, some groups of which -have recently been discovered, and whose verdant shores are frequented -by nomade Tibbos and Tuaricks,[8] the African Desert must be regarded -as uninhabitable by man. The more civilised nations who dwell on its -borders only venture to enter it periodically. By trading routes, which -have remained unaltered for thousands of years, caravans traverse the -long distance from Tafilet to Timbuctoo, and from Moorzouk to Bornou; -adventurous undertakings, the possibility of which depends upon the -existence of the camel, the “ship of the desert,”[9] as it is called in -the traditionary language of the eastern world. - -These African plains occupy an extent nearly three times as great -as that of the neighbouring Mediterranean sea. They are situated -partly within, and partly in the vicinity of the tropics; and on this -situation their peculiar character depends. In the eastern part of the -old continent, the same geognostic phenomenon occurs in the temperate -zone. On the plateaux of central Asia, between the gold mountains -or the Altai and the Kuen-lun,[10] from the Chinese wall to beyond -the Celestial mountains, and towards the sea of Aral, there extend, -through a length of many thousand miles, the most vast, if not the most -elevated, Steppes on the surface of the globe. I have myself had the -opportunity, fully thirty years after my South American journey, of -visiting a portion of them; namely, the Calmuck Kirghis Steppes between -the Don, the Volga, the Caspian, and the Chinese lake Dsaisang, being -an extent of almost 2800 geographical miles. - -These Asiatic Steppes, which are sometimes hilly and sometimes -interrupted by pine forests, possess (dispersed over them in groups) -a far more varied vegetation than that of the Llanos and Pampas of -Caraccas and Buenos Ayres. The finest part of these plains, which is -inhabited by Asiatic pastoral tribes, is adorned with low bushes of -luxuriant white-blossomed Rosaceæ, and with Fritillarias, Tulips, and -Cypripedias. - -As the torrid zone is characterised on the whole by a disposition in -all vegetation to become arborescent, so some of the Asiatic Steppes -in the temperate zone are characterised by the great height attained -by flowering herbaceous plants, Saussureas and other Synantheræ, and -Papilionaceæ especially a host of species of Astragalus. In traversing -pathless portions of these Steppes, the traveller, seated in the -low Tartar carriages, sees the thickly crowded plants bend beneath -the wheels, but without rising up cannot look around him to see the -direction in which he is moving. Some of the Asiatic Steppes are grassy -plains; others are covered with succulent, evergreen, articulated soda -plants: many glisten from a distance with flakes of exuded salt which -cover the clayey soil, not unlike in appearance to fresh fallen snow. - -These Mongolian and Tartarian Steppes, interrupted frequently by -mountainous features, divide the very ancient civilisation of Thibet -and Hindostan from the rude nations of Northern Asia. They have -in various ways exercised an important influence on the changeful -destinies of man. They have compressed the population towards the -south, and have tended, more than the Himalaya, or than the snowy -mountains of Srinagur and Ghorka, to impede the intercourse of nations, -and to place permanent limits to the extension of milder manners, and -of artistic and intellectual cultivation in northern Asia. - -But, in the history of the past, it is not alone as an opposing barrier -that we must regard the plains of Central Asia: more than once they -have proved the source from whence devastation has spread over distant -lands. The pastoral nations of these Steppes,--Moguls, Getæ, Alani, -and Usuni,--have shaken the world. As in the course of past ages, -early intellectual culture has come like the cheering light of the sun -from the East, so, at a later period, from the same direction barbaric -rudeness has threatened to overspread and involve Europe in darkness. A -brown pastoral race,[11] of Tukiuish or Turkish descent, the Hiongnu, -dwelling in tents of skins, inhabited the elevated Steppe of Gobi. -Long terrible to the Chinese power, a part of this tribe was driven -back into Central Asia. The shock or impulse thus given passed from -nation to nation, until it reached the ancient land of the Finns, near -the Ural mountains. From thence, Huns, Avari, Ghazarés, and various -admixtures of Asiatic races, broke forth. Armies of Huns appeared -successively on the Volga, in Pannonia, on the Marne, and on the Po, -desolating those fair and fertile fields which, since the time of -Antenor, civilised man had adorned with monument after monument. Thus -went forth from the Mongolian deserts a deadly blast, which withered on -Cisalpine ground the tender long-cherished flower of art. - -From the salt Steppes of Asia, from the European Heaths smiling in -summer with their purple blossoms rich in honey, and from the arid -Deserts of Africa devoid of all vegetation, let us now return to those -South American plains of which I have already began to trace the -picture, albeit in rude outlines. - -The interest which this picture can offer to the beholder is, however, -exclusively that of pure nature. Here no Oasis recalls the memory of -earlier inhabitants; no carved stone,[12] no ruined building, no fruit -tree once the care of the cultivator but now wild, speaks of the art -or industry of former generations. As if estranged from the destinies -of mankind, and riveting attention solely to the present moment, this -corner of the earth appears as a wild theatre for the free development -of animal and vegetable life. - -The Steppe extends from the Caraccas coast chain to the forests of -Guiana, and from the snowy mountains of Merida (on the slope of which -the Natron Lake Urao is an object of superstitious veneration to the -natives,) to the great delta formed by the Orinoco at its mouth. To the -south-west a branch is prolonged, like an arm of the sea,[13] beyond -the banks of the Meta and Vichada to the unvisited sources of the -Guaviare, and to the lonely mountain to which the excited fancy of the -Spanish soldiery gave the name of Paramo de la Suma Paz--the seat of -perfect peace. - -This Steppe occupies a space of 16,000 (256,000 English) square miles. -It has often been erroneously described as running uninterruptedly, -and with an equal breadth, to the straits of Magellan, forgetting -the forest-covered plain of the Amazons which intervenes between the -grassy Steppes of the Apure and those of the river Plate. The Andes -of Cochabamba, and the Brazilian group of mountains, send forth, -between the province of Chiquitos and the isthmus of Villabella, some -detached spurs, which advance, as it were, to meet each other.[14] A -narrow plain connects the forest lands of the Amazons with the Pampas -of Buenos Ayres. The latter far surpass the Llanos of Venezuela in -area; and their extent is so great that while their northern margin is -bordered by palm trees, their southern extremity is almost continually -covered with ice. - -The Tuyu, which resembles the Cassowary (the Struthio rhea), is -peculiar to these Pampas, which are also the haunt of troops of -dogs[15] descended from those introduced by the colonists, but which -have become completely wild, dwelling together in subterranean hollows, -and often attacking with blood-thirsty rage the human race whom their -progenitors served and defended. - -Like the greater portion of the desert of Sahara,[16] the northernmost -of the South American plains, the Llanos, are in the torrid zone: -during one half of the year they are desolate, like the Lybian sandy -waste; during the other, they appear as a grassy plain, resembling many -of the Steppes of Central Asia.[17] - -It is a highly interesting though difficult task of general geography -to compare the natural conditions of distant regions, and to represent -by a few traits the results of this comparison. The causes which -lessen both heat and dryness in the New World[18] are manifold, and -in some respects as yet only partially understood. Amongst these -may be classed the narrowness and deep indentation of the American -land in the northern part of the torrid zone, where consequently the -atmosphere, resting on a liquid base, does not present so heated -an ascending current;--the extension of the continent towards the -poles;--the expanse of ocean over which the trade-winds sweep freely, -acquiring thereby a cooler temperature;--the flatness of the eastern -coasts;--currents of cold sea-water from the antarctic regions, -which, coming from the south-west to the north-east, first strike the -coast of Chili in the parallel of 35° south latitude, and advance -along the coast of Peru as far north as Cape Pariña, and then turn -suddenly to the west;--the numerous lofty mountain chains rich in -springs, and whose snow-clad summits, rising high above all the strata -of clouds, cause descending currents of cold air to roll down their -declivities;--the abundance of rivers of enormous breadth, which, -after many windings, seek the most distant coast;--Steppes which from -not being sandy are less susceptible of acquiring a high degree of -heat,--impenetrable forests occupying the alluvial plains situated -immediately beneath the equator, protecting with their shade the soil -beneath from the direct influence of the sunbeams, and exhaling in the -interior of the country at a great distance from the mountains and -from the ocean vast quantities of moisture, partly imbibed and partly -elaborated:--all these circumstances afford to the flat part of America -a climate which by its humidity and coolness contrasts wonderfully -with that of Africa. It is to the same causes that we are to attribute -the luxuriant vegetation, the magnificent forests, and that abundant -leafiness by which the new continent is peculiarly characterised. - -If, therefore, one side of our planet has a moister atmosphere than -the other, the consideration of the present condition of things is -amply sufficient to explain the problem presented by this inequality. -The physical inquirer needs not to clothe the explanation of these -phenomena in a mantle of geological myths. He needs not to assume that -on our planet the harmonious reconciliation of the destructive conflict -of the elements took place at different epochs in the eastern and the -western hemispheres; or that America emerged later than the other parts -of the globe from the chaotic watery covering,[19] as an island of -swamps and marshes tenanted by alligators and serpents. - -There is, indeed, a striking similarity between South America and the -southern peninsula of the old continent in the form of the outline -and in the direction of the coasts; but the nature of the soil, and -the relative position of the neighbouring masses of land, produce in -Africa that extraordinary aridity which over an immense area checks the -development of organic life. Four-fifths of South America are situated -on the southern side of the equator; or in a hemisphere which from the -greater proportion of sea and from other causes is cooler and moister -than our northern half of the globe,[20] to which the larger part of -Africa belongs. The breadth of the South American Steppe, measured from -east to west, is only a third of that of the African Desert. The Llanos -receive the influence of the tropical sea wind, while the African -Deserts, being situated in the same zone of latitude as Arabia and the -south of Persia, are in contact with strata of air which have blown -over warm heat-radiating continents. The venerable and only lately -appreciated father of history, Herodotus, in the true spirit of an -enlarged view of nature, described the Deserts of northern Africa, of -Yemen, of Kerman and Mekran (the Gedrosia of the Greeks), and even as -far as Moultan, as forming a single connected sea of sand.[21] - -In addition to the action of these hot winds, there is (so far as we -know) an absence or comparative paucity in Africa of large rivers, -of widely extended forests producing coolness and exhaling moisture, -and of lofty mountains. Of mountains covered with perpetual snow, we -know only the western part of the Atlas,[22] whose narrow range, seen -in profile from the Atlantic, appeared to the ancient navigators when -sailing along the coast as a single detached lofty sky-supporting -mount. The eastern prolongation of the chain extends nearly to Dakul, -where Carthage, once mistress of the seas, now lies in mouldering -ruins. As forming a long extended coast-chain, or Gætulian rampart, the -effect of the Atlas range is to intercept the cool north breezes, and -the vapours which ascend from the Mediterranean. - -The Mountains of the Moon, Djebel-al-Komr,[23] (fabulously represented -as forming part of a mountainous parallel extending from the high -plateaux of Habesh, an African Quito, to the sources of the Senegal), -were supposed to rise above the limit of perpetual snow. The Cordillera -of Lupata, which extends along the eastern coast of Mozambique and -Monomotapa, as the Andes along the western coast of Peru, is believed -to be covered with perpetual snow in the gold districts of Machinga and -Mocanga. But all these mountains, with the abundant waters to which -they give rise, are far remote from the immense Desert which stretches -from the southern declivity of the Atlas to the Niger. - -Possibly, however, all the causes of heat and dryness which have been -enumerated may have been insufficient to transform such considerable -parts of the African plains into a dreadful desert, without the -concurrence of some revolution of nature,--such, for instance, as -an irruption of the ocean, whereby these flat regions may have been -despoiled of their coating of vegetable soil, as well as of the plants -which it nourished. Profound obscurity veils the period of such an -event, and the force which determined the irruption. Perhaps it may -have been caused by the great “rotatory current”[24] which sends the -warmer water of the Mexican gulf over the banks of Newfoundland and to -the shores of the old continent, and causes West India cocoa-nuts and -other tropical fruits to reach the coasts of Ireland and Norway. There -is still at least at the present time, an arm of this current directed -from the Azores to the south-east, which sometimes produces disasters -by carrying ships upon the west coast of Africa, which it strikes at a -part lined by sand-hills. Other sea coasts (I particularly recall that -of Peru between Amotape and Coquimbo) shew that in these hot regions of -the earth, where rain never falls and where neither Lecideas nor other -Lichens[25] germinate, centuries and perhaps thousands of years may -elapse before the moveable sand can afford to the roots of plants a -secure holding place. - -These considerations are sufficient to explain why, with an external -similarity of form, Africa and South America present so marked a -difference of character both in respect to climate and to vegetation. -But although the South American Steppe is covered with a thin coating -of mould or fertile earth, and although it is periodically bathed by -rains, and becomes covered at such seasons with luxuriantly sprouting -herbage, yet it never could attract the surrounding nations or tribes -to forsake the beautiful mountain valleys of Caraccas, the margin of -the sea, or the wooded banks of the Orinoco, for the treeless and -springless wilderness; and thus, previous to the arrival of European -and African settlers, the Steppe was almost entirely devoid of human -inhabitants. - -The Llanos are, indeed, well suited to the rearing of cattle, but the -care of animals yielding milk[26] was almost unknown to the original -inhabitants of the New Continent. Hardly any of the American tribes -have ever availed themselves of the advantages which nature offered -them in this respect. The American race (which, with the exception -of the Esquimaux, is one and the same from 65° North to 55° South -latitude), has not passed from the state of hunters to that of -cultivators of the soil through the intermediate stage of a pastoral -life. Two kinds of native cattle (the Buffalo and the Musk Ox) feed -in the northern prairies of western Canada and the plains of arctic -America, in Quivira, and around the colossal ruins of the Aztec -fortress which rises in the wilderness, like an American Palmyra, -on the solitary banks of the Gila. The long-horned Rocky Mountain -Sheep abounds on the arid limestone rocks of California. The Vicunas, -Huanacos, Alpacas, and Lamas, belong to South America; but the two -first named of all these useful animals, _i. e._, the Buffalo and the -Musk Ox, have retained their natural freedom for two thousand years, -and the use of milk and cheese, like the possession and cultivation of -farinaceous grasses,[27] has remained a distinguishing characteristic -of the nations of the old world. - -If some of the latter have crossed from northern Asia to the west -coast of America, and if, keeping by preference to the cooler mountain -regions,[28] they have followed the lofty ridge of the Andes towards -the south, their migration must have taken place by ways in which -they could not be accompanied by their flocks and herds, or bring -with them the cultivation of corn. When the long shaken empire of the -Hiongnu fell, may we conjecture that the movement of this powerful -tribe may also have occasioned in the north-east of China and in Corea -a shock and an impulse which may have caused civilized Asiatics to -pass over into the new continent? If such a migration had consisted -of inhabitants of the Steppes in which agriculture was not pursued, -this hazardous hypothesis (which has hitherto been but little favoured -by the comparison of languages) would at least explain the striking -absence of the Cereals in America. Possibly one of those Asiatic -priestly colonies whom mystic dreams sometimes impelled to embark in -long voyages, (of which the history of the peopling of Japan[29] in -the time of Thsinchi-huang-ti offers a memorable example), may have -been driven by storms to the coasts of New California. - -If, then, pastoral life, that beneficent middle stage which attaches -nomadic hunting hordes to desirable pastures and prepares them, as it -were, for agriculture, has remained unknown to the aboriginal nations -of America, this circumstance sufficiently explains the absence of -human inhabitants in the South American Steppes. This absence has -allowed the freest scope for the abundant development of the most -varied forms of animal life; a development limited only by their mutual -pressure, and similar to that of vegetable life in the forests of the -Orinoco, where the Hymenæa and the gigantic laurel are never exposed to -the destructive hand of man, but only to the pressure of the luxuriant -climbers which twine around their massive trunks. Agoutis, small -spotted antelopes, cuirassed armadilloes, which, like rats, startle the -hare in its subterranean holes, herds of lazy chiguires, beautifully -striped viverræ which poison the air with their odour, the large -maneless lion, spotted jaguars (often called tigers) strong enough to -drag away a young bull after killing him;--these and many other forms -of animal life[30] wander through the treeless plain. - -Thus almost exclusively inhabited by these wild animals, the Steppe -would offer little attraction or means of subsistence to those -nomadic native hordes, who, like the Asiatics of Hindostan, prefer -vegetable nutriment, if it were not for the occasional presence of -single individuals of the fan palm, the Mauritia. The benefits of this -life-supporting tree are widely celebrated; it alone, from the mouth -of the Orinoco to north of the Sierra de Imataca, feeds the unsubdued -nation of the Guaranis.[31] When this people were more numerous and -lived in closer contiguity, not only did they support their huts on -the cut trunks of palm trees as pillars on which rested a scaffolding -forming the floor, but they also, it is said, twined from the -leaf-stalks of the Mauritia cords and mats, which, skilfully interwoven -and suspended from stem to stem, enabled them in the rainy season, -when the Delta is overflowed, to live in the trees like the apes. The -floor of these raised cottages is partly covered with a coating of -damp clay, on which the women make fires for household purposes,--the -flames appearing at night from the river to be suspended high in air. -The Guaranis still owe the preservation of their physical, and perhaps -also their moral, independence, to the half-submerged, marshy soil over -which they move with a light and rapid step, and to their elevated -dwellings in the trees,--a habitation never likely to be chosen from -motives of religious enthusiasm by an American Stylites.[32] But the -Mauritia affords to the Guaranis not merely a secure dwelling-place, -but also various kinds of food. Before the flower of the male palm -tree breaks through its tender sheath, and only at that period of -vegetable metamorphosis, the pith of the stem of the tree contains a -meal resembling sago, which, like the farina of the jatropha root, is -dried in thin bread-like slices. The fermented juice of the tree forms -the sweet intoxicating palm wine of the Guaranis. The scaly fruits, -which resemble in their appearance reddish fir cones, afford, like -the plaintain and almost all tropical fruits, a different kind of -nutriment, according as they are eaten after their saccharine substance -is fully developed, or in their earlier or more farinaceous state. Thus -in the lowest stage of man’s intellectual development, we find the -existence of an entire people bound up with that of a single tree; like -the insect which lives exclusively on a single part of a particular -flower. - -Since the discovery of the New Continent, the Llanos have become -habitable to men. In order to facilitate communication between the -Orinoco country and the coasts, towns have been built here and there -on the banks of the streams which flow through the Steppes.[33] The -rearing of cattle has began over all parts of these vast regions. Huts, -formed of reeds tied together with thongs and covered with skins, are -placed at distances of a day’s journey from each other; numberless -herds of oxen, horses, and mules, estimated at the peaceful epoch of -my journey at a million and a half, roam over the Steppe. The immense -multiplication of these animals, originally brought by man from the Old -Continent, is the more remarkable from the number of dangers with which -they have to contend. - -When, under the vertical rays of the never-clouded sun, the carbonized -turfy covering falls into dust, the indurated soil cracks asunder as -if from the shock of an earthquake. If at such times two opposing -currents of air, whose conflict produces a rotatory motion, come in -contact with the soil, the plain assumes a strange and singular aspect. -Like conical-shaped clouds[34] the points of which descend to the -earth, the sand rises through the rarified air in the electrically -charged centre of the whirling current; resembling the loud waterspout -dreaded by the experienced mariner. The lowering sky sheds a dim, -almost straw-coloured light on the desolate plain. The horizon draws -suddenly nearer; the Steppe seems to contract, and with it the heart of -the wanderer. The hot dusty particles which fill the air increase its -suffocating heat,[35] and the east wind, blowing over the long-heated -soil, brings with it no refreshment, but rather a still more burning -glow. The pools which the yellow fading branches of the fan palm -had protected from evaporation now gradually disappear. As in the -icy north the animals become torpid with cold, so here, under the -influence of the parching drought, the crocodile and the boa become -motionless and fall asleep, deeply buried in the dry mud. Every where -the death-threatening drought prevails, and yet, by the play of the -refracted rays of light producing the phenomenon of the mirage, the -thirsty traveller is every where pursued by the illusive image of a -cool rippling watery mirror.[36] The distant palm bush apparently -raised by the influence of the contact of unequally heated and -therefore unequally dense strata of air, hovers above the ground, from -which it is separated by a narrow intervening margin. Half concealed by -the dark clouds of dust, restless with the pain of thirst and hunger, -the horses and cattle roam around, the cattle lowing dismally, and the -horses stretching out their long necks and snuffing the wind, if haply -a moister current may betray the neighbourhood of a not wholly dried -up pool. More sagacious and cunning, the mule seeks a different mode -of alleviating his thirst. The ribbed and spherical melon-cactus[37] -conceals under its prickly envelope a watery pith. The mule first -strikes the prickles aside with his fore feet, and then ventures warily -to approach his lips to the plant and drink the cool juice. But resort -to this vegetable fountain is not always without danger, and one sees -many animals that have been lamed by the prickles of the cactus. - -When the burning heat of the day is followed by the coolness of the -night, which in these latitudes is always of the same length, even then -the horses and cattle cannot enjoy repose. Enormous bats suck their -blood like vampires during their sleep, or attach themselves to their -backs, causing festering wounds, in which musquitoes, hippobosces, -and a host of stinging insects, niche themselves. Thus the animals -lead a painful life during the season when, under the fierce glow -of the sun, the soil is deprived of its moisture. At length, after -the long drought, the welcome season of the rain arrives; and then -how suddenly is the scene changed![38] The deep blue of the hitherto -perpetually cloudless sky becomes lighter; at night the dark space in -the constellation of the Southern Cross is hardly distinguishable; the -soft phosphorescent light of the Magellanic clouds fades away; even -the stars in Aquila and Ophiucus in the zenith shine with a trembling -and less planetary light. A single cloud appears in the south, like a -distant mountain, rising perpendicularly from the horizon. Gradually -the increasing vapours spread like mist over the sky, and now the -distant thunder ushers in the life-restoring rain. Hardly has the -surface of the earth received the refreshing moisture, before the -previously barren Steppe begins to exhale sweet odours, and to clothe -itself with Kyllingias, the many panicules of the Paspalum, and a -variety of grasses. The herbaceous mimosas, with renewed sensibility -to the influence of light, unfold their drooping slumbering leaves to -greet the rising sun; and the early song of birds, and the opening -blossoms of the water plants, join to salute the morning. The horses -and cattle now graze in full enjoyment of life. The tall springing -grass hides the beautifully spotted jaguar, who lurking in safe -concealment, and measuring carefully the distance of a single bound, -springs, cat-like, as the Asiatic tiger, on his passing prey. - -Sometimes, (so the Aborigines relate), on the margin of the swamps the -moistened clay is seen to blister and rise slowly in a kind of mound; -then with a violent noise, like the outbreak of a small mud volcano, -the heaped-up earth is cast high into the air. The beholder acquainted -with the meaning of this spectacle flies, for he knows there will issue -forth a gigantic water-snake or a scaly crocodile, awakened from a -torpid state[39] by the first fall of rain. - -The rivers which bound the plain to the south, the Arauca, Apure, and -Payara, become gradually swollen; and now nature constrains the same -animals, who in the first half of the year panted with thirst on the -dry and dusty soil, to adopt an amphibious life. A portion of the -Steppe now presents the aspect of a vast inland sea.[40] The brood -mares retire with their foals to the higher banks, which stand like -islands above the surface of the lake. Every day the space remaining -dry becomes smaller. The animals, crowded together, swim about for -hours in search of other pasture, and feed sparingly on the tops -of the flowering grasses rising above the seething surface of the -dark-coloured water. Many foals are drowned, and many are surprised by -the crocodiles, killed by a stroke of their powerful notched tails, -and devoured. It is not a rare thing to see the marks of the pointed -teeth of these monsters on the legs of the horses and cattle who have -narrowly escaped from their blood-thirsty jaws. Such a sight reminds -the thoughtful observer involuntarily of the capability of conforming -to the most varied circumstances, with which the all-providing Author -of Nature has endowed certain animals and plants. - -The ox and the horse, like the farinaceous cerealia, have followed man -over the whole surface of the globe, from India to Northern Siberia, -from the Ganges to the River Plate, from the African sea shore to the -mountain plateau of Antisana,[41] which is higher than the summit -of the Peak of Teneriffe. The ox wearied from the plough reposes, -sheltered from the noontide sun in one country by the quivering shadow -of the northern birch, and in another by the date palm. The same -species which, in the east of Europe, has to encounter the attacks of -bears and wolves, is exposed in other regions to the assaults of tigers -and crocodiles. - -But the crocodile and jaguar are not the only assailants of the South -American horses; they have also a dangerous enemy among fishes. The -marshy waters of Bera and Rastro[42] are filled with numberless -electric eels, which can at pleasure send a powerful discharge from -any part of their slimy yellow spotted bodies. These gymnoti are -from five to six feet in length, and are powerful enough to kill the -largest animals when they discharge their nervous organs at once in a -favourable direction. - -The route from Uritucu through the Steppe was formerly obliged to be -changed, because the gymnoti had increased to such numbers in a small -stream that in crossing it many horses were drowned every year, either -from the effects of the shocks they received, or from fright. All other -fishes fly the vicinity of these formidable eels. Even the fisherman -angling from the high bank fears lest the damp line should convey the -shock to him from a distance. Thus, in these regions, electric fire -breaks forth from the bosom of the waters. - -The capture of the gymnoti affords a picturesque spectacle. Mules and -horses are driven into a marsh which is closely surrounded by Indians, -until the unwonted noise and disturbance induce the pugnacious fish -to begin an attack. One sees them swimming about like serpents, and -trying cunningly to glide under the bellies of the horses. Many of -these are stunned by the force of the invisible blows; others, with -manes standing on end, foaming and with wild terror sparkling in their -eyes, try to fly from the raging tempest. But the Indians, armed with -long poles of bamboo, drive them back into the middle of the pool. -Gradually the fury of the unequal strife begins to slacken. Like clouds -which have discharged their electricity, the wearied fish begin to -disperse; long repose and abundant food are required to replace the -galvanic force which they have expended. Their shocks become gradually -weaker and weaker. Terrified by the noise of the trampling horses, they -timidly approach the bank, where they are wounded by harpoons, and -cautiously drawn on shore by non-conducting pieces of dry wood. - -Such is the extraordinary battle between horses and fish. That which -forms the invisible but living weapon of this electric eel;--that -which, awakened by the contact of moist dissimilar particles,[43] -circulates through all the organs of plants and animals;--that which, -flashing from the thunder cloud, illumines the wide skyey canopy;--that -which draws iron to iron and directs the silent recurring march of -the guiding needle;--all, like the several hues of the divided ray -of light, flow from one source; and all blend again together in one -perpetually, every where diffused, force or power. - -I might here close the hazardous attempt to trace a picture of nature -such as she shows herself in the Steppes. But as on the ocean fancy -not unwillingly dwells awhile on the image of its distant shores, so, -before the wide plain disappears from our view, let us cast a rapid -glance at the regions by which the Steppes are bounded. - -The Northern Desert of Africa divides two races of men who belong -originally to the same part of the globe, and whose unreconciled -discord appears as ancient as the mythus of Osiris and Typhon.[44] -North of the Atlas there dwell nations with long and straight hair, of -sallow complexion and Caucasian features. On the south of the Senegal, -towards Soudan, live hordes of negroes in many different stages of -civilization. In Central Asia, the Mongolian Steppe divides Siberian -barbarism from the ancient civilisation of the peninsula of India. - -The South American Steppes form the boundary of a partial European -cultivation.[45] To the north, between the mountains of Venezuela -and the Caribbean sea, we find commercial cities, neat villages, and -carefully cultivated fields. Even the love of art and scientific -culture, together with the noble desire of civil freedom, have long -been awakened there. Towards the south the Steppe terminates in a -savage wilderness. Forests, the growth of thousands of years, fill with -their impenetrable fastnesses the humid regions between the Orinoco and -the Amazons. Massive leaden-coloured granite rocks[46] narrow the bed -of the foaming rivers. Mountains and forests resound with the thunder -of the falling waters, with the roar of the tiger-like jaguar, and with -the melancholy rain-announcing howlings of the bearded apes.[47] - -Where a sand-bank is left dry by the shallow current, the unwieldly -crocodiles lie, with open jaws, as motionless as pieces of rock and -often covered with birds.[48] The boa serpent, his body marked like -a chess-board, coiled up, his tail wound round the branch of a tree, -lies lurking on the bank secure of his prey; he marks the young bull -or some feebler inhabitant of the forest as it fords the stream, and -swiftly uncoiling seizes the victim, and covering it with mucus forces -it laboriously down his swelling throat.[49] - -In the midst of this grand and savage nature live many tribes of men, -isolated from each other by the extraordinary diversity of their -languages: some are nomadic, wholly unacquainted with agriculture, -and using ants, gums, and earth as food[50]; these, as the Otomacs -and Jarures, seem a kind of outcasts from humanity: others, like the -Maquiritares and Macos, are settled, more intelligent and of milder -manners, and live on fruits which they have themselves reared. - -Large spaces between the Cassiquiare and the Atabapo are only inhabited -by the tapir and the social apes, and are wholly destitute of human -beings. Figures graven on the rocks[51] shew that even these deserts -were once the seat of some degree of intellectual cultivation. They -bear witness to the changeful destinies of man, as do the unequally -developed flexible languages; which latter belong to the oldest and -most imperishable class of historic memorials. - -But as in the Steppe tigers and crocodiles fight with horses and -cattle, so in the forests on its borders, in the wildernesses of -Guiana, man is ever armed against man. Some tribes drink with unnatural -thirst the blood of their enemies; others apparently weaponless and yet -prepared for murder[52] kill with a poisoned thumb-nail. The weaker -hordes, when they have to pass along the sandy margin of the rivers, -carefully efface with their hands the traces of their timid footsteps. -Thus man in the lowest stage of almost animal rudeness, as well as -amidst the apparent brilliancy of our higher cultivation, prepares for -himself and his fellow men increased toil and danger. The traveller -wandering over the wide globe by sea and land, as well as the historic -inquirer searching the records of past ages, finds every where the -uniform and saddening spectacle of man at variance with man. - -He, therefore, who, amidst the unreconciled discord of nations, seeks -for intellectual calm, gladly turns to contemplate the silent life of -vegetation, and the hidden activities of forces and powers operating -in the sanctuaries of nature; or, obedient to the inborn impulse which -for thousands of years has glowed in the human breast, gazes upwards -in meditative contemplation on those celestial orbs, which are ever -pursuing in undisturbed harmony their ancient and unchanging course. - - -ANNOTATIONS AND ADDITIONS. - -[1] p. 1.--“_The Lake of Tacarigua._” - -In proceeding through the interior of South America from the Caraccas -or Venezuela shore towards the boundary of Brazil, from the 10th -degree of North latitude to the Equator, the traveller crosses first -an elevated mountain-chain running in an east and west direction, next -vast treeless Steppes or Plains (los Llanos), which stretch from the -foot of the above-named mountains (the coast chain of Caraccas) to the -left bank of the Orinoco, and lastly the range which occasions the -Cataracts of Atures and Maypure. This latter range of mountains, to -which I have given the name of the Sierra Parime, runs in an easterly -direction from the Cataracts to Dutch and French Guiana. It is a mass -of mountains divided into many parallel ridges, and is the site of -the fabled Dorado. It is bordered on the south by the forest plain, -through which the river of the Amazons and the Rio Negro have formed -the channels in which their waters flow. Those who desire a fuller -acquaintance with the geography of these regions will do well to -consult and compare the great map of La Cruz-Olmedilla, bearing date -1775, (from which almost all the more recent maps of South America have -been formed,) and the map of Columbia constructed by me from my own -astronomical determinations of geographical positions, and published in -1825. - -The coast chain of Venezuela, geographically considered, is a part of -the chain of the Andes of Peru. The chain of the Andes divides itself, -at the great mountain junction at the sources of the Magdalena, south -of Popayan, (between 1° 55′ and 2° 20′ latitude), into three chains, -the easternmost of which terminates in the snow-covered mountains of -Merida. These mountains sink down towards the Paramo de las Rosas into -the hilly land of Quibor and Tocuyo, which connects the coast chain of -Venezuela with the Cordilleras of Cundinamarca. The coast chain forms -an unbroken rampart from Porto Cabello to the promontory of Paria. Its -mean height hardly equals 750 toises or 4795 English feet; yet single -summits, like the Silla de Caracas (also called Cerro de Avila), decked -with the purple-flowering Befaria the American Rose of the Alps, rise -1350 toises or 8630 English feet above the level of the sea. The coast -of Terra Firma bears traces of devastation. We recognise everywhere the -action of the great current which, sweeping from east to west, formed -by disruption the West Indian Islands, and hollowed out the Caribbean -gulf. The projecting tongues of land of Araja and Chuparipari, and -especially the coast of Cumana and New Barcelona, offer a remarkable -spectacle to the geologist. The precipitous Islands of Boracha, -Caracas, and Chimanas, rise like towers from the sea, and bear witness -to the terrible pressure of the waters against the mountain chain when -it was broken by their irruption. Perhaps, like the Mediterranean, the -Antillean gulf was once an inland sea, which became suddenly connected -with the ocean. The islands of Cuba, Hayti, and Jamaica, still contain -the remnants of the lofty mountains of mica slate which bounded this -sea to the north. It is remarkable that where these three islands -approach each other most nearly the highest summits are found; and -we may conjecture that the highest part of this Antillean chain was -situated between Cape Tiburon and Point Morant. The Copper Mountains -(Montañas de Cobre) near Santiago de Cuba have not yet been measured, -but their elevation is probably greater than that of the Blue Mountains -of Jamaica, (1138 toises, 7277 English feet,) which somewhat exceeds -the height of the St. Gothard Pass. My conjectures on the valley-form -of the Atlantic Ocean, and on the ancient connection of the continents, -were given more in detail in a memoir written in Cumana, entitled -Fragment d’un Tableau Géologique de l’Amerique Meridionale (Journal -de Physique, Messidor, An. IX.) It is worthy of remark, that Columbus -himself, in his Official Reports, called attention to the connection -between the direction of the equatorial current and the form of the -coast line of the larger Antilles. (Examen critique de l’hist. de la -Géographie, p. 104-108.) - -The northern and most cultivated part of the province of Caraccas is -a country of mountains. The coast chain is divided like the Swiss -Alps into several subordinate chains enclosing longitudinal valleys. -The most celebrated of these is the pleasant valley of Aragua, which -produces a great quantity of indigo, sugar, cotton, and, what is most -remarkable, European wheat. The southern margin of this valley adjoins -the beautiful lake of Valencia, whose old Indian name is Tacarigua. The -contrast between its opposite shores gives it a striking resemblance -to the Lake of Geneva. It is true that the bare mountains of Guigue -and Guiripa have less grandeur of character than the Savoy Alps; but, -on the other hand, the opposite bank of the Tacarigua lake, which is -thickly clothed with plantains, mimosas, and triplaris, far surpasses -in picturesque beauty the vineyards of the Pays de Vaud. The lake -is about thirty geographical miles in length, and is full of small -islands, which, as the loss of water by evaporation exceeds the influx, -are increasing in size. Within some years sand-banks have even become -real islands, and have received the significant name of the “Newly -Appeared,” Las Aparecidas. On the island of Cura the remarkable species -of Solanum is cultivated which has edible fruit, and which Wildenow has -described in the Hortus Berolinensis (1816, Tab. xxvii.) The height -of the Lake of Tacarigua above the sea is almost 1400 French feet, -(according to my measurement exactly 230 toises, or 1470 English feet,) -less than the mean height of the valley of Caraccas. The lake has -several kinds of fish (see my Observations de Zoologie et d’Anatomie -comparée, T. ii p. 179-181), and is one of the most pleasing natural -scenes which I know in any part of the globe. In bathing, Bonpland and -myself were often alarmed by the appearance of the Bava, an undescribed -crocodile-like lizard, three or four feet in length, of repulsive -aspect, but harmless to men. We found in the lake a Typha (Cats-tail), -identical with the European Typha angustifolia; a singular fact, and -important in reference to the geography of plants. - -Two varieties of sugar-cane are cultivated near the lake, in the -valleys of Aragua: the common sugar-cane of the West Indies, Caña -criolla; and the cane recently introduced from the Pacific, Caña de -Otaheiti. The verdure of the Tahitian cane is of a much lighter and -more agreeable tint, and a field of it can readily be distinguished -at a great distance from a field of the common cane. The sugar-cane -of Tahiti was first described by Cook and George Forster, who appear, -however, from the excellent memoir of the latter upon the edible plants -of the islands of the Pacific, to have been but little acquainted with -its valuable qualities. Bougainville brought it to the Isle of France, -from whence it was conveyed to Cayenne, and since 1792 it has been -taken to Martinique, Hayti, and several of the smaller West Indian -Islands. It was carried with the bread-fruit tree to Jamaica by the -brave but unfortunate Captain Bligh, and was introduced from the Island -of Trinidad to the neighbouring coast of Caraccas, where it became a -more important acquisition than the bread-fruit, which is never likely -to supersede a plant so valuable and affording so large an amount of -sustenance as the plantain. The Tahitian sugar-cane is much richer in -juice than the common cane, said to be originally a native of the east -of Asia. On an equal surface of ground it yields a third more sugar -than the caña criolla, which has a thinner stalk and smaller joints. -As, moreover, the West India islands begin to suffer great want of -fuel, (in Cuba the wood of the orange tree is used for sugar boiling,) -the thicker and more woody stalk of the Tahitian cane is an important -advantage. If the introduction of this plant had not taken place almost -at the same time as the commencement of the bloody negro war in St. -Domingo, the prices of sugar in Europe would have risen still higher -than they did, in consequence of the ruinous effects of those troubles -on agriculture and trade. It was an important question, whether the -cane of the Pacific, when removed from its native soil, would gradually -degenerate and become the same as the common cane. Experience hitherto -has decided against any such degeneration. In Cuba a caballeria (nearly -33 English acres) planted with Tahitian sugar-cane produces 870 hundred -weight of sugar. It is singular that this important production of the -islands of the Pacific is only cultivated in those parts of the Spanish -colonies which are farthest from the Pacific. The Peruvian coast is -only twenty-five days’ sail from Tahiti, and yet, at the period of -my travels in Peru and Chili, the Tahitian cane was unknown there. -The inhabitants of Easter Island, who suffer much from deficiency of -fresh water, drink the juice of the sugar-cane, and (a very remarkable -physiological fact) also sea water. In the Society, Friendly, and -Sandwich Islands, the light green, thick-stalked sugar-cane is always -the one cultivated. - -Besides the Caña de Otaheiti and the Caña Criolla, a reddish African -variety, called Caña de Guinea, is cultivated in the West Indies: its -juice is less in quantity than that of the common Asiatic cane, but is -said to be better suited for making rum. - -In the province of Caraccas the dark shade of the cacao plantations -contrasts beautifully with the light green of the Tahitian sugar cane. -Few tropical trees have such thick foliage as the Theobroma cacao. It -loves hot and humid valleys: great fertility of soil and insalubrity of -atmosphere are inseparable from each other in South America as well as -in Asia; and it has even been remarked that as increasing cultivation -lessens the extent of the forests, and renders the soil and climate -less humid, the cacao plantations become less flourishing. For these -reasons these plantations are diminishing in number and extent in -the province of Caraccas, and increasing rapidly in the more eastern -provinces of New Barcelona and Cumana, and particularly in the moist -woody district between Cariaco and the Golfo Triste. - -[2] p. 2.--“_‘Banks’ is the name given by the natives to this -phenomenon._” - -The Llanos of Caraccas are occupied by a great and widely extended -formation of conglomerate of an early period. In descending from the -vallies of Aragua, and crossing over the most southern ridge of the -coast chain of Guigue and Villa de Cura towards Parapara, one finds -successively, gneiss and mica slate;--a probably silurian formation of -clay slate and black limestone;--serpentine and greenstone in detached -spheroidal masses;--and, lastly, close to the margin of the great -plain, small hills of augitic amygdaloid and porphyritic slate. These -hills between Parapara and Ortiz appear to me like volcanic eruptions -on the ancient sea-shore of the Llanos. Farther to the north are the -celebrated grotesque-shaped cavernous rocks of Morros de San Juan; -they form a kind of rampart, have a crystalline grain like upheaved -dolomite, and are rather to be regarded as parts of the shore of the -ancient gulf than as islands. I term the Llanos a gulf, for when we -consider their small elevation above the present sea level, their form -open as it were to the equatorial current sweeping from east to west, -and the lowness of the eastern coast between the mouth of the Orinoco -and the Essequibo, we can scarcely doubt that the sea once overflowed -the whole basin between the coast chain of Caraccas and the Sierra de -la Parime, and beat against the mountains of Merida and Pamplona; (as -it is supposed to have overflowed the plains of Lombardy, and beat -against the Cottian and Pennine Alps). The strike or inclination of -the American Llanos is also directed from west to east. Their height -at Calabozo, 400 geographical miles from the sea, is barely 30 toises -(192 English feet); being 15 toises (96 English feet) less than that -of Pavia, and 45 toises (288 English feet) less than that of Milan, in -the plains of Lombardy between the Alps and Apennines. The form of the -surface of this part of the globe reminds one of Claudian’s expression, -“curvata tumore parvo planities.” The horizontality of the Llanos is -so perfect that in many portions of them no part of an area of more -than 480 square miles appears to be a foot higher than the rest. If, in -addition to this, we imagine to ourselves the absence of all bushes, -and even in the Mesa de Pavones the absence of any isolated palm-trees, -it will afford some idea of the singular aspect of this sea-like desert -plain. As far as the eye can reach, it can hardly rest on a single -object a few inches high. If it were not that the state of the lowest -strata of the atmosphere, and the consequent changes of refraction, -render the horizon continually indeterminate and undulating, altitudes -of the sun might be taken with the sextant from the margin of the plain -as well as from the horizon at sea. This great horizontality of the -former sea bottom makes the “banks” more striking. They are broken -strata which rise abruptly from two to three feet above the surrounding -rock, and extend uniformly over a length of from 40 to 48 English -geographical miles. The small streams of the Steppes take their rise on -these banks. - -In passing through the Llanos of Barcelona, on our return from the Rio -Negro, we found frequent traces of earthquakes. Instead of the banks -standing _higher_ than the surrounding rock, we found here solitary -strata of gypsum from 3 to 4 toises (19 to 25 English feet) _lower_. -Farther to the west, near the junction of the Caura with the Orinoco, -and to the east of the mission of S. Pedro de Alcantara, an extensive -tract of dense forest sank down in an earthquake in 1790, and a lake -was formed of more than 300 toises (1918 English feet) diameter. The -tall trees (Desmanthus, Hymenæas, and Malpighias) long retained their -foliage and verdure under the water. - -[3] p. 2.--“_We seem to see before us a shoreless ocean._” - -The prospect of the distant Steppe is still more striking, when the -spectator has been long accustomed in the dense forests both to -a very restricted field of view, and to the aspect of a rich and -highly luxuriant vegetation. Ineffaceable is the impression which I -received on our return from the Upper Orinoco, when, from the Hato del -Capuchino, on a mountain opposite to the mouth of the Rio Apure, we -first saw again the distant Steppe. The sun had just set; the Steppe -appeared to rise like a hemisphere; and the light of the rising stars -was refracted in the lowest stratum of air. The excessive heating of -the plain by the vertical rays of the sun causes the variations of -refraction,--occasioned by the effects of radiation, of the ascending -current, and of the contact of strata of air of unequal density,--to -continue through the entire night. - -[4] p. 2.--“_The naked stony crust._” - -Immense tracts of flat bare rock form peculiar and characteristic -features in the Deserts both of Africa and Asia. In the Schamo, which -separates Mongolia and the mountain chains of Ulangom and Malakha-Oola -from the north-west part of China, these banks of rock are called -Tsy. They are also found in the forest-covered plains of the Orinoco, -surrounded by the most luxuriant vegetation (Relation Hist. t. ii. p. -279). In the middle of these flat tabular masses of granite and syenite -of some thousand feet diameter, denuded of all vegetation save a few -scantily distributed lichens, we find small islands of soil, covered -with low and always flowering plants which give them the appearance -of little gardens. The monks of the Upper Orinoco regard these bare -and perfectly level surfaces of rock, when they are of considerable -extent, as peculiarly apt to cause fevers and other illnesses. Several -missionary villages have been deserted or removed elsewhere in -consequence of this opinion, which is very widely diffused. Supposing -the opinion correct, is such an influence of these flat rocks or laxas -to be attributed to a chemical action on the atmosphere, or merely to -the effect of increased radiation? - -[5] p. 2.--“_The Llanos and Pampas of South America, and the Prairies -of the Missouri._” - -The physical and geognostical views entertained respecting the -western part of North America have been rectified in many respects -by the adventurous journey of Major Long, the excellent writings of -his companion Edwin James, and more especially by the comprehensive -observations of Captain Frémont. These, and all other recent accounts, -now place in a clear light what, in my work on New Spain, I could -only put forward as conjecture, on the subject of the mountain ridges -and plains to the north. In the description of nature as well as in -historical inquiries, facts long remain isolated, until by laborious -investigation they are brought into connection with each other. - -The east coast of the United States of North America runs from -south-west to north-east, in the same direction as that followed in -the southern hemisphere by the Brazilian coast from the river Plate to -Olinda. In the two hemispheres two ranges of mountains exist at a short -distance from the eastern coast; they are more nearly parallel to each -other than they are to the more westerly chain, called in South America -the Cordilleras of Peru and Chili, and in North America the Rocky -Mountains. The Brazilian system of mountains forms an isolated group, -of which the highest summits (the Itacolumi and Itambe) do not rise -above the height of 900 toises (5755 English feet). The most easterly -ridges, which are nearest to the Atlantic, follow a uniform direction -from SSW. to NNE.; more to the west the group becomes broader, but -diminishes considerably in height. The Parecis hills approach the -rivers Itenes and Guaporé, and the mountains of Aguapehi (to the south -of Villabella) approach the lofty Andes of Cochabamba and Santa Cruz de -la Sierra. - -There is no immediate connection between the eastern and western -chains,--the Brazilian mountains, and the Cordilleras of Peru,--for -the low province of Chiquitos, which is a longitudinal valley running -from north to south, and opening into the plains both of the Amazons -and of the river Plate, separates Brazil on the east from the Alto -Peru on the west. Here, as in Poland and Russia, an often almost -imperceptible rise of ground (called, in Slavonian, Uwaly) forms the -separating water-line between the Pilcomayo and the Madeira, between -the Aguapehi and the Guaporé, and between the Paraguay and the Rio -Topayos. The swell of the ground runs to the south-east from Chayanta -and Pomabamba (lat. 19°-20°), traverses the province of Chiquitos, -which, since the expulsion of the Jesuits, has again become almost a -terra incognita, and forms, to the north-east, where there are only -detached mountains, the “divortia aquarum” at the sources of the Baures -and near Villabella, lat. 15°-17°. - -This line of separation of the waters is important in relation to -facilities of intercourse, and to the increase of cultivation and -civilisation: more to the north (2°-3° N. lat.), a similar line divides -the basin of the Orinoco from that of the Amazons and the Rio Negro. -These risings or swellings in the plains (called, by Frontin, terræ -tumores) might be regarded as undeveloped systems of mountains, which -would have connected two apparently isolated groups (the Sierra Parime -and the Brazilian mountains) with the Andes of Timana and Cochabamba. -These relations, which have been hitherto but little attended to, are -the ground of the division which I have made of South America into -three basins; viz. those of the lower Orinoco, of the Amazons, and -of the Rio de la Plata. The first and last of these are steppes or -prairies; the middle basin, that of the Amazons, between the Sierra -Parime and the Brazilian group of mountains, is a forest-covered plain -or _Hylæa_. - -If we wish to trace, in equally few lines, a sketch of the natural -features of North America, let us cast our eyes first on the mountain -chain which, running from south-east to north-west, at first low and -narrow, and increasing both in breadth and height from Panama to -Veragua, Guatimala, and Mexico (where it was the seat of a civilisation -which preceded the arrival of Europeans), arrests the general -equatorial current of the waters of the ocean, and opposes a barrier to -the more rapid commercial intercourse of Europe and Western Africa with -the eastern parts of Asia. North of the 17th degree of latitude and the -celebrated isthmus of Tehuantepec, the mountains, quitting the coast -of the Pacific, and following a more direct northerly course, become -an inland Cordillera. In North Mexico, the “Crane Mountains” (Sierra -de las Grullas) form part of the Rocky Mountain chain. Here rise, to -the west, the Columbia and the Rio Colorado of California; and, to the -east, the Rio Roxo de Natchitoches, the Candian, the Arkansas, and the -Platte or shallow river, a name which has latterly been ignorantly -transformed into that of a silver-promising river Plate. Between the -sources of these rivers (from N. lat. 37° 20′ to 40° 13′) rise three -lofty summits (formed of a granite containing much hornblende and -little mica), called Spanish Peak, James’s or Pike’s Peak, and Big Horn -or Long’s Peak. (See my Essai Politique sur la Nouvelle Espagne, 2me -édit. t. i. pp. 82 and 109.) The elevation of these peaks exceeds that -of any of the summits of the Andes of North Mexico, which, indeed, from -the 18th and 19th parallels of latitude, or from the group of Orizaba -and Popocatepetl (respectively 2717 toises or 17374 English feet, and -2771 toises or 17720 English feet,) to Santa Fé and Taos, never reach -the limits of perpetual snow. James Peak, in lat. 38° 40′, is supposed -to be 1798 toises, or 11497 English feet; but of this elevation only -1335 toises (8537 English feet) has been measured trigonometrically, -the remaining 463 toises, or 2960 English feet, being dependent, in the -absence of barometrical observations, on uncertain estimations of the -declivity of streams. As a trigonometrical measurement can hardly ever -be undertaken from the level of the sea, measurements of inaccessible -heights must generally be partly trigonometrical, and partly -barometrical. Estimations of the fall of rivers, of their rapidity and -of the length of their course, are so deceptive, that the plain at the -foot of the Rocky Mountains, nearest to the summits above spoken of, -was estimated, previous to the important expedition of Capt. Frémont, -sometimes at 8000, and sometimes at 3000 feet. (Long’s Expedition, vol. -ii. pp. 36, 362, 382, App. p. xxxvii.) It was from a similar deficiency -of barometrical measurements that the true elevation of the Himalaya -continued so long uncertain: but now the resources which belong to -the cultivation of science have increased in India to such a degree, -that Captain Gerard, when on the Tarhigang, near the Sutlej, north of -Shipke, at an elevation of 19411 English feet, after breaking three -barometers, had still four equally correct ones remaining. (Critical -Researches on Philology and Geography, 1824, p. 144.) - -Frémont, in the expedition which he made in the years 1842-1844 by -order of the Government of the United States, found the highest summit -of the whole chain of the Rocky Mountains to the north north-west of -Spanish, James’s, Long’s, and Laramie Peaks. This snowy summit, of -which he measured the elevation barometrically, belongs to the group of -the Wind River mountains. It bears on the large map, edited by Colonel -Abert, Chief of the Topographical Office at Washington, the name of -Frémont’s Peak, and is situated in 43° 10′ lat. and 110° 13′ W. long. -from Greenwich, almost 5-1/2° north of Spanish Peak. Its height, by -direct measurement, is 12730 French, or 13568 English feet. This would -make Frémont’s Peak 324 toises (or 2072 English feet) higher than the -elevation assigned by Long to James’s Peak, which, according to its -position, appears to be identical with Pike’s Peak in the map above -referred to. The Wind River mountains form the divortia aquarum, or -division between the waters flowing towards either ocean. Captain -Frémont (in his Official Report of the Exploring Expedition to the -Rocky Mountains in the year 1842, and to Oregon and North California -in the years 1843-44, p. 70,) says, “We saw, on one side, countless -mountain lakes, and the sources of the Rio Colorado which carries its -waters through the gulf of California to the Pacific; and, on the other -side, the deep valley of the Wind river, where are situated the sources -of the Yellowstone river, one of the principal branches of the Missouri -which unites with the Mississippi at St. Louis. To the north-west, -rise, covered with perpetual snow, the summits called the Trois Tetons, -where the true source of the Missouri itself is situated, not far from -that of the head water of the Oregon or Columbia, or the source of that -branch of it called Snake River or Lewis Fork.” To the astonishment -of the adventurous travellers, they found the top of Frémont’s Peak -visited by bees: perhaps, like the butterflies seen by me, also among -perpetual snow but in much more elevated regions in the Andes of Peru, -they had been carried thither involuntarily by ascending currents of -air. I have seen in the Pacific, at a great distance from the coast, -large winged lepidopterous insects fall on the deck of the ship, -having, no doubt, been carried far out to sea by land winds. - -Frémont’s map and geographical investigations comprehend the extensive -region from the junction of the Kanzas river with the Missouri, to -the falls of the Columbia and to the missions of Santa Barbara and -Pueblo de los Angeles in New California; or a space of 28 degrees of -longitude, and from the 34th to the 45th parallel of latitude. Four -hundred points have been determined hypsometrically by barometric -observations, and, for the most part, geographically by astronomical -observations; so that a district which, with the windings of the route, -amounts to 3600 geographical miles, from the mouth of the Kanzas to -Fort Vancouver and the shores of the Pacific (almost 720 miles more -than the distance from Madrid to Tobolsk), has been represented in -profile, shewing the relative heights above the level of the sea. As -I was, I believe, the first person who undertook to represent, in -geognostic profile, the form of entire countries,--such as the Iberian -peninsula, the highlands of Mexico, and the cordilleras of South -America, (the semi-perspective projections of a Siberian traveller, -the Abbé Chappe, were founded on mere and generally ill-judged -estimations of the fall of rivers),--it has given me peculiar pleasure -to see the graphical method of representing the form of the earth -in a vertical direction, or the elevation of the solid portions of -our planet above its watery covering, applied on so grand a scale as -has been done in Frémont’s map. In the middle latitudes of 37° to -43° the Rocky Mountains present, besides the higher snowy summits -comparable with the Peak of Teneriffe in elevation, lofty plains of -an extent hardly met with elsewhere on the surface of the earth, and -almost twice as extensive in an east and west direction as that of -the Mexican plateaux. From the group of mountains, which commences a -little to the west of Fort Laramie to beyond the Wahsatch mountains, -there is an uninterrupted swelling of the ground from 5300 to 7400 -English feet above the level of the sea. A similar elevation may even -be said to occupy the whole space from 34° to 45° between the Rocky -Mountains proper and the Californian snowy coast chain. This space, a -kind of broad longitudinal valley like that of the lake of Titiaca, -has been called, by Joseph Walker, a traveller well acquainted with -these western regions, and by Captain Frémont, “The Great Basin.” It -is a terra incognita of at least 128000 square miles in extent, arid, -almost entirely without human inhabitants, and full of salt lakes, the -largest of which is 4200 English feet above the level of the sea, and -is connected with the narrow lake of Utah. (Frémont, Report of the -Exploring Expedition, pp. 154 and 273-276.) The last-mentioned lake -receives the abundant waters of the “Rock River;” Timpan Ogo, in the -Utah language. Father Escalante, in journeying, in 1776, from Santa Fé -del Nuevo Mexico to Monterey in New California, discovered Frémont’s -“Great Salt Lake,” and, confounding lake and river, gave it the name -of Laguna de Timpanogo. As such I inserted it in my map of Mexico; -and this has given rise to much uncritical discussion on the assumed -non-existence of a great inland salt lake in North America,--a question -previously raised by the well-informed American geographer, Tanner. -(Humboldt, Atlas Mexicain, planche 2; Essai Politique sur la Nouvelle -Espagne, T. i. p. 231, T. ii. pp. 243, 313, and 420; Frémont, Upper -California, 1848, p. 9; and, also, Duflot de Mofras, Exploration de -l’Oregon, 1844, T. ii. p. 40.) Gallatin says expressly, in the Memoir -on the Aboriginal Races in the Archæologia Americana, vol. ii. p. 140, -“General Ashley and Mr. J. S. Smith have found the lake Timpanogo in -the same latitude and longitude nearly as had been assigned to it in -Humboldt’s Atlas of Mexico.” - -I have dwelt on the remarkable swelling of the ground in the region of -the Rocky Mountains, because, doubtless, by its elevation and extent, -it exercises an influence hitherto but little considered, on the -climate of the whole continent of North America, to the south and east. -In the extensive continuous plateau, Frémont saw the waters covered -with ice every night in the month of August. Nor is the elevation of -this region less important as respects the social state and progress -of the great United States of North America. Although the elevation -of the line of the separation of the waters nearly equals that of -the passes of the Simplon (6170 French, or 6576 English feet), of -the St. Gothard (6440 French, or 6865 English feet), and of the St. -Bernard (7476 French, or 7969 English feet), yet the ascent is so -gradual, as to offer no obstacle to the use of wheel carriages of all -kinds in the communication between the basins of the Missouri and the -Oregon; in other words, between the states on the Atlantic Sea Board -opposite Europe, and the new settlements on the Oregon and Columbia -opposite China. The itinerary distance from Boston to Astoria on the -Pacific at the mouth of the Columbia, is, according to the difference -of longitude, 2200 geographical miles, or about one-sixth less than -the distance of Lisbon from the Ural near Katharinenburg. From the -gentleness of the ascent of the high plateau which leads from the -Missouri to California and to the basin of the Oregon,--(from the River -and Fort Laramie, on the northern branch of the Platte River, to Fort -Hall on the Lewis Fork of the Columbia, all the camping places of which -the height was measured were from upwards of five to seven thousand, -and at Old Park even 9760 French, or 10,403 English feet);--it has -not been easy to determine the situation of the culminating point, or -“divortia aquarum.” It is south of the Wind River mountains, nearly -midway between the Mississipi and the coast of the Pacific, at an -elevation of 7027 French, or 7490 English feet; therefore only 450 -French, or 480 English, feet lower than the Pass of the great St. -Bernard. The immigrants call this point “the South Pass.” (Frémont’s -Report, pp. 3, 60, 70, 100, 129). It is situated in a pleasant -district, in which the mica slate and gneiss rock are found covered -with many species of Artemisia, particularly Artemisia tridentata -(Nuttall), asters, and cactuses. Astronomical determinations give -the latitude 42° 24′, and the longitude 109° 24′ W. from Greenwich. -Adolph Erman has already called attention to the circumstance that the -direction of the great chain of the Aldan mountains in the east of -Asia, which divides the streams flowing into the Lena from those which -flow towards the Pacific, if prolonged on the surface of the globe -in the direction of a great circle, passes through several summits -of the Rocky Mountains, between the parallels of 40° and 55°. “Thus -an American and an Asiatic chain of mountains appear to belong to -one great fissure, following the direction of a great circle, or the -shortest course from point to point.” (Compare Erman’s Reise um die -Erde, Abth. I. Bd. iii. S. 8, Abth. II. Bd. i. S. 386, with his Archiv -für wissenschaftliche Kunde von Russland, Bd. vi. S. 671). - -The Rocky Mountains which sink down towards the Mackenzie River which -is covered a large portion of the year with ice, and the highlands from -which single snow-clad summits rise, are altogether distinct from the -more westerly and higher mountains of the coast, or the chain of the -Californian Maritime Alps, the Sierra Nevada de California. However -ill selected the now generally used name of the Rocky Mountains, to -designate the most northerly continuation of the Mexican Central Chain, -it does not appear to me desirable to change it, as has been often -proposed, for that of the Oregon Chain. Although these mountains do -indeed contain the sources of Lewis’s, Clark’s, and North Fork, the -three chief branches which form the mighty Oregon, or Columbia River, -yet this river also breaks through the Californian chain of snow-clad -Maritime Alps. The name of Oregon District is also employed politically -and officially for the smaller territory west of the Coast Chain, -where Fort Vancouver and the Walahmutti settlements are situated, and -therefore it is the more desirable not to give the name of Oregon -either to the Central or the Coast Chain. This name is connected with a -most singular mistake of an eminent geographer, M. Malte Brun: reading -on an old Spanish map, “And it is not yet known, (y aun se ignora) -where the source of this river” (the river now called the Columbia) -“is situated,” he thought he recognised in the word ignora the name of -Oregon. (See my Essai politique sur la Nouvelle Espagne, T. ii. p. 314). - -The rocks which, where the Columbia breaks through the Chain, form the -Cataracts, mark the continuation of the Sierra Nevada de California -from the 44th to the 47th degree of latitude. (Frémont, Geographical -Memoir upon Upper California, 1848, p. 6.) This northern continuation -comprises the three colossal summits of Mount Jefferson, Mount Hood, -and Mount St. Helen’s, which rise more than 14540 French or 15500 -English feet above the level of the sea. The height of this Coast -Chain, or Range, far exceeds, therefore, that of the Rocky Mountains. -“During a journey of eight months’ duration which was made along the -Maritime Alps,” says Captain Frémont, in his Report, p. 274, “we had -snowy peaks always in view; we had surmounted the Rocky Mountains by -the South Pass at an elevation of 7027 (7490 E.) feet, but we found the -passes of the Maritime Alps, which are divided into several parallel -ranges, more than 2000 feet higher;” therefore, only about 1170 feet -(1247 E.) below the summit of Etna. It is extremely remarkable, -and reminds us of the difference between the eastern and western -cordilleras of Chili, that it is only the chain of mountains nearest -to the sea (the Californian range), which has still active volcanoes. -The conical mountains of Regnier and St. Helen’s are seen to emit smoke -almost constantly, and on the 23rd of November 1843, Mount St. Helen’s -sent forth a quantity of ashes which covered the banks of the Columbia -for forty miles like snow. To the volcanic Coast Range also belong, (in -Russian America in the high north), Mount St. Elias, 1980 toises high, -according to La Perouse, and 2792 toises, according to Malaspina (12660 -and 17850 E. feet), and Mount Fair Weather, (Cerro de Buen Tempo) 2304 -toises, or 14732 E. feet high. Both these mountains are supposed to -be still active volcanoes. Frémont’s expedition, (which was important -alike for its botanical and geological results), collected volcanic -products, such as scoriaceous basalt, trachyte, and even obsidian, in -the Rocky Mountains, and found an extinct volcanic crater a little to -the east of Fort Hall, (lat. 43° 2′, long. 112° 28′ W.); but there are -no signs of volcanoes still active, that is to say, emitting at times -lava or ashes. We are not to confound with such activity the still -imperfectly explained phenomenon of “smoking hills;” “côtes brûlées,” -or “terrains ardens,” as they are called by the English settlers, -and by natives speaking French. An accurate observer, M. Nicollet, -says, “ranges of low conical hills are covered with a thick black -smoke almost periodically, and often for two or three years together. -No flames are seen.” This phenomenon shews itself principally in -the district of the Upper Missouri, and still nearer to the eastern -declivity of the Rocky Mountains, where a river bears the native name -of Mankizitah-Watpa, or the “river of the smoking earth.” Scoriaceous -pseudo-volcanic products, such as a kind of porcelain jasper, are found -in the vicinity of the “smoking hills.” Since the expedition of Lewis -and Clark an opinion has become prevalent that the Missouri deposits -real pumice on its banks. Fine cellular whitish masses have been -confounded with pumice. Professor Ducatel was disposed to ascribe this -appearance, which was principally observed in the chalk formation, to a -“decomposition of water by sulphuric pyrites, and to a reaction on beds -of lignite.” (Compare Frémont’s Report, p. 164, 184, 187, 193, and 299, -with Nicollet’s Illustration of the Hydrographical Basin of the Upper -Mississipi River, 1843, p. 39-41.) - -If, in concluding these few general considerations on the physical -geography of North America, we once more turn our attention to the -spaces which separate the two diverging coast chains from the central -chain, we find, in striking contrast, on the one hand, the arid -uninhabited plateau of above five or six thousand feet elevation, which -in the west intervenes between the central chain and the Californian -Maritime Alps which skirt the Pacific; and on the eastern side of -the Rocky Mountains, between them and the Alleghanies, (the highest -summits of which, Mount Washington and Mount Marcy, are, according to -Lyell, 6240 and 5066 French, or 6652 and 5400 English feet above the -level of the sea,) the vast, well-watered, and fertile low plain or -basin of the Mississipi, the greater part of which is from 400 to 600 -French feet above the level of the sea, or about twice the elevation of -the plains of Lombardy. The hypsometric conformation of this eastern -region, _i. e._ the altitude of its several parts above the sea, has -been elucidated by the valuable labours of the highly-talented French -astronomer, Nicollet, of whom science has been deprived by a too early -death. His large and excellent map of the Upper Mississipi, constructed -in the years 1836-1840, is based on 240 astronomically determined -latitudes, and 170 barometric measurements of elevation. The plain -which contains the basin of the Mississipi is one with the Northern -Canadian plain, so that one low region extends from the Gulf of Mexico -to the Arctic Sea. (Compare my Rélation Historique T. iii. p. 234, and -Nicollet’s Report to the Senate of the United States, 1843, p. 7 and -57.) Where the plain is undulating, and where, between 47° and 48° of -latitude, low hills (côteaux des prairies, and côteaux des bois, in -the still un-English nomenclature of the natives) occur in connected -ranges, these ranges and gentle swellings of the ground divide the -waters which flow towards Hudson’s Bay from those which seek the Gulf -of Mexico. Such a dividing line is formed north of Lake Superior -by the Missabay Heights, and more to the west by the “Hauteurs des -Terres,” in which were first discovered, in 1832, the true sources of -the Mississipi, one of the largest rivers in the world. The highest of -these ranges of hills hardly attains an elevation of 1400 to 1500 (1492 -to 1599 English) feet. From St. Louis, a little to the south of the -junction of the Missouri and the Mississipi, to the mouth of the latter -river at Old French Balize, it has only a fall of 357 (380 English) -feet in an itinerary distance of more than 1280 geographical miles. The -surface of Lake Superior is 580 (618 English) feet above the level of -the sea, and its depth near Magdalen Island is 742 (791 English) feet; -its bottom, therefore, is 162 (173 English) feet below the surface of -the ocean. (Nicollet, p. 99, 125, and 128.) - -Beltrami, who separated himself from Major Long’s expedition in 1825, -boasted of having discovered the source of the Mississipi in Lake Cass. -The river in the upper part of its course passes through four lakes, -of which Lake Cass is the second. The uppermost is the Istaca Lake (in -lat. 47° 13′ and long. 95° 0′), and was first recognised as the true -source of the Mississipi in the expedition of Schoolcraft and Allen in -1832. This afterwards mighty river is only 17 feet wide and 15 inches -deep when it issues from the singular horse-shoe-shaped Lake of Istaca. -It was not until the scientific expedition of Nicollet, in 1836, that -a clear knowledge of the localities was obtained and rendered definite -by astronomically determined positions. The height of the sources of -the Mississipi, viz. of the remotest affluent received by the Lake of -Istaca from the dividing ridge or “Hauteur de Terre,” is 1575 (1680 -English) feet above the level of the sea. In the immediate vicinity, -and indeed on the southern slope of the same dividing ridge, is Elbow -Lake, in which the smaller Red River of the North, which after many -windings flows into Hudson’s Bay, has its origin. The Carpathian -mountains present similar circumstances in the proximity and relative -positions of the sources of rivers which send their waters respectively -to the Black Sea and to the Baltic. Twenty small lakes, forming narrow -groups to the south and west of Lake Istaca, have received from M. -Nicollet the names of distinguished European astronomers, adversaries -as well as friends. The map thus becomes a kind of geographical -album, reminding one of the botanical album of Ruiz and Pavon’s Flora -Peruviana, in which the names of new genera of plants were adapted to -the Court Calendar, and to the various changes taking place in the -Oficiales de la Secretaria. - -To the east of the Mississipi dense forests still partially prevail; -but to the west of the river there are only Prairies, in which the -buffalo (Bos americanus), and the musk ox (Bos moschatus), feed in -large herds. Both these animals, (the largest of the New World) serve -the wandering Indians, the Apaches Llaneros and the Apaches Lipanos, -for food. The Assiniboins sometimes kill in a few days from seven to -eight hundred bisons in what are called “bison parks,” artificial -enclosures into which the wild herds are driven. (Maximilian, Prinz -zu Wied, Reise in das innere Nord-America, Bd. i. 1839, S. 443.) The -American bison, or buffalo, called by the Mexicans Cibolo, which is -frequently killed merely for the sake of the tongue, a much-prized -dainty, is by no means a mere variety of the Aurochs of the Old -Continent; although some other kinds of animals, as the elk (Cervus -alces) and the reindeer (Cervus tarandus), and even, in the human -race, the short-statured polar man, are common to the northern parts -of both continents, evidencing their former long continued connection. -The Mexicans call the European ox in the Aztec dialect “quaquahue,” -a horned animal, from quaquahuitl, a horn. Some very large horns of -cattle found in the ancient Mexican buildings not far from Cuernavaca, -to the south-west of the city of Mexico, appear to me to have belonged -to the musk ox. The Canadian bison can be tamed to agricultural labour. -It breeds with the European cattle, but it was long uncertain whether -the hybrid was fruitful. Albert Gallatin, who, before he appeared -in Europe as a distinguished diplomatist, had obtained by personal -inspection great knowledge of the uncultivated parts of the United -States, assures us that “the mixed breed was quite common fifty years -ago in some of the north-western counties of Virginia; and the cows, -the issue of that mixture, propagated like all others.” “I do not -remember,” he adds, “the grown bison being tamed, but sometimes young -bison calves were caught by dogs, and were brought up and driven out -with the European cows.” At Monongahela all the cattle were for a -long time of this mixed breed: but complaints were made that they -gave very little milk. The favourite food of the bison or buffalo is -Tripsacum dactyloides (called buffalo grass in North Carolina), and an -undescribed species of clover nearly allied to Trifolium repens, and -designated by Barton as Trifolium bisonicum. - -I have already called attention elsewhere (Cosmos, vol. ii. note 455, -English ed.) to the circumstance that, according to a statement of the -trustworthy Gomara, (Historia General de las Indias, cap. 214) there -was still living in the sixteenth century, in the north-west of Mexico, -in 40° latitude, an Indian tribe, whose principal riches consisted in -herds of tame bisons (bueyes con una giba). But notwithstanding the -possibility of taming the bison, notwithstanding the quantity of milk -it yields, and notwithstanding the herds of lamas in the Cordilleras of -Peru, no pastoral life or pastoral people were found when America was -discovered, and there is no historical evidence of this intermediate -stage in the life of nations ever having existed there. It is worthy -of remark that the American buffalo or bison has exerted an influence -on the progress of geography in trackless mountainous regions. These -animals wander in the winter, in search of a milder climate, in herds -of several thousands to the south of the Arkansas River. In these -migrations their size and unwieldiness make it difficult for them to -pass over high mountains. When, therefore, a well-trodden buffalo path -is met with, it is advisable to follow it, as being sure to conduct -to the most convenient pass across the mountains. The best routes -through the Cumberland Mountains, in the south-west parts of Virginia -and Kentucky, in the Rocky Mountains between the sources of the Yellow -Stone and the Platte, and between the southern branch of the Columbia -and the Rio Colorado of California, were thus marked out beforehand by -buffalo paths. The advance of settlement and cultivation has gradually -driven the buffalo from all the Eastern states: they formerly roamed -on the banks of the Mississipi and of the Ohio far beyond Pittsburg. -(Archæologia Americana, vol. ii., 1836, p. 139.) - -From the granitic cliffs of Diego Ramirez,--in the deeply indented -and intersected Tierra del Fuego, which contains on the east silurian -schists and on the west the same schists altered by the metamorphic -action of subterranean fire, (Darwin’s Journal of Researches into the -Geology and Natural History of the Countries visited in 1832-1836 by -the Ships Adventure and Beagle, p. 266),--to the North Polar Sea, the -Cordilleras extend in length more than 8000 geographical miles. They -are the longest though not the loftiest chain on our planet; being -raised from a cleft running in the direction of a meridian from pole -to pole, and exceeding in linear distance the interval which in the -Old Continent separates the Pillars of Hercules from the Icy Cape of -the Tchuktches in the north-east of Asia. Where the Andes divide into -several parallel chains, it is remarked that the ranges nearest the -sea are usually those which exhibit most volcanic activity; but it -has also been observed repeatedly, that when the phenomena of still -active subterranean fire disappear in one chain, they break out in -another chain running parallel to it. Generally speaking, the volcanic -cones are found in a direction corresponding with that of the axis of -direction of the entire chain; but in the elevated highlands of Mexico -the active volcanoes are placed along a transverse cleft running from -sea to sea in the east and west direction. (Humboldt, Essai Politique, -T. ii. p. 173.) Where, by the elevation of mountain masses in the -ancient corrugation or folding of the crust of the earth, access has -been opened to the molten interior, that interior continues to act, -through the medium of the cleft, upon the upheaved wall-like mass. -That which we now call a mountain chain has not arrived at once at -its present state: rocks, very different in the order of succession -in reference to age, are found superimposed upon each other, and have -penetrated to the surface by early formed channels. The various nature -of the formations is due to the outpouring and elevation of eruptive -rocks, as well as to the slow and complicated process of metamorphic -action taking place in clefts filled with vapours and favourable to the -conduction of heat. - -For a long time past, from 1830 to 1848, the following have been -regarded as the culminating or highest points of the Cordilleras of the -New Continent. - - The Nevado de Sorata, also called Ancohuma or Tusubaya, (S. lat. 15° - 52′) a little to the south of the village of Sorata or Esquibel, in - the eastern Bolivia Range: elevation 3949 toises, or 23692 Parisian, - or 25250 English feet. - - The Nevado de Illimani, west of the Mission of Yrupana (S. lat. 16° - 38′) in the same mountain range as Sorata: elevation 3753 toises, or - 22518 Parisian, or 24000 English feet. - - The Chimborazo (S. lat. 1° 27′) in the province of Quito: elevation - 3350 toises, or 20100 Parisian, or 21423 English feet. - -The Sorata and Illimani were first measured by a distinguished -geologist, Mr. Pentland, in 1827, and also in 1838. Since the -publication, in June 1848, of his great map of the basin of the lake -of Titicaca, we know that the above-mentioned elevations of these two -mountains are respectively 3960 and 2851 English feet, too great. The -map gives to the Sorata 21286, and to the Illimani 21149 English feet. -A more exact calculation of the trigonometrical operations of 1838 has -led Mr. Pentland to these new results. There are, according to him, in -the western Cordillera four peaks of from 21700 to 22350 English feet. -The highest of these, the peak of Sahama, would thus be 926 English -feet higher than the Chimborazo, and but 850 English feet lower than -the Volcano of Acongagua, measured by the expedition of the Beagle -(Fitz Roy’s Narrative, Vol. ii. p. 481.) - -[6] p. 3.--“_The Desert near the basaltic mountains of Harudsh._” - -Near the Egyptian Natron Lakes, (which in the time of Strabo had not -yet been divided into six reservoirs), there is a range of hills which -rises steeply on the northern side, and runs from east to west past -Fezzan, where it finally appears to join the chain of the Atlas. It -divides in north-eastern Africa, as the Atlas does in north-western -Africa, the inhabited maritime Lybia of Herodotus from the land of the -Berbers, or Biledulgerid, abounding in wild animals. From the limits -of Middle Egypt the whole region south of the 30th degree of North -latitude is a sea of sand, in which are dispersed islands, or Oases, -containing springs of water and a flourishing vegetation. The number -of these Oases, of which the ancients only reckoned three, and which -Strabo compared to the spots on a panther’s skin, has been considerably -augmented by the discoveries of modern travellers. The third Oasis of -the ancients, now called Siwah, was the Nomos of Ammon; a residence -of priests, a resting place for caravans, and the site of the temple -of the horned Ammon and the supposed periodically cool fountain of -the Sun. The ruins of Ummibida, (Omm-Beydah), belong incontestibly to -the fortified caravanserai at the temple of Ammon, and therefore to -the most ancient monuments which have come down to us from the early -dawn of civilization. (Caillaud, Voyage à Syouah, p. 14; Ideler in den -Fundgruben des Orients, Bd. iv. S. 399-411). - -The word Oasis is Egyptian, and synonymous with Auasis and Hyasis -(Strabo, lib. ii. p. 130, lib. xvii. p. 813, Cas.; Herod. lib. iii. -cap. 26, p. 207, Wessel). Abulfeda calls the Oases, el-Wah. In the -later times of the Cæsars, malefactors were sent to the Oases; being -banished to these islands in the sea of sand, as the Spaniards and the -English have sent criminals to the Falklands or to New Holland. Escape -by the ocean is almost easier than through the desert. The fertility of -the Oases is subject to diminution by the invasion of sand. - -The small mountain-range of Harudsh is said to consist of basaltic -hills of grotesque form (Ritter’s Afrika, 1822, S. 885, 988, 993, and -1003). It is the Mons Ater of Pliny; and its western extremity or -continuation, called the Soudah mountains, has been explored by my -unfortunate friend, the adventurous traveller Ritchie. This eruption -of basalt in tertiary limestone, rows of hills rising abruptly from -dike-like fissures, appears to be analogous to the outbreak of basalt -in the Vicentine territory. Nature often repeats the same phenomena in -the most distant parts of the earth. In the limestone formations of -the “white Harudsh” (Harudje el-Abiad), which perhaps belong to the -old chalk, Hornemann found an immense number of fossil heads of fish. -Ritchie and Lyon remarked that the basalt of the Soudah mountains, -like that of the Monte Berico, was in many places intimately mixed -with carbonate of lime,--a phenomenon probably connected with eruption -through limestone strata. Lyon’s map even mentions dolomite in the -neighbourhood. Modern mineralogists have found syenite and greenstone -in Egypt, but not basalt. Possibly the material of some of the ancient -Egyptian vases, which are occasionally found of true basalt, may have -been taken from these western mountains. May “Obsidius lapis” also have -been found there? or are basalt and obsidian to be sought for near the -Red Sea? The strip of volcanic or eruptive formations of the Harudsh, -on the margin of the African desert, reminds the geologist of the -augitic vesicular amygdaloid, phonolite, and greenstone porphyry, which -are only found at the northern and western boundaries of the Steppes of -Venezuela and of the plains of the Arkansas, as it were on the hills -of the ancient coast line. (Humboldt, Relation Historique, tom. ii. p. -142; Long’s Expedition to the Rocky Mountains, vol. ii. pp. 91 and 405.) - -[7] p. 3.--“_When suddenly deserted by the east wind of the tropics in -a sea covered with weed._” - -It is a remarkable phenomenon, well known among sailors, that in the -vicinity of the African coast (between the Canaries and the Cape de -Verde Islands, and particularly between Cape Bojador and the mouth of -the Senegal), a west wind often takes the place of the general east -or trade-wind of the tropics. It is the wide expanse of the desert of -Sahara which causes this westerly wind. The air over the heated sandy -plain becomes rarefied and ascends, the air from the sea rushes in to -supply the void so formed, and thus there sometimes arises a west wind, -adverse to ships bound to the American coast, which are made in this -manner to feel the vicinity of the heat-radiating desert without even -seeing the continent to which it belongs. The changes of land and sea -breezes, which blow alternately at certain hours of the day or night on -all coasts, are due to the same causes. - -The accumulation of sea-weed in the neighbourhood of the African -coast has been often spoken of by ancient writers. The locality of -this accumulation is a problem which is intimately connected with -our conjectures respecting the extent of Phœnician navigation. -The Periplus, which has been ascribed to Scylax of Caryanda, and -which, according to the researches of Niebuhr and Letronne, was very -probably compiled in the time of Philip of Macedon, describes beyond -Cerne a quantity of fucus forming a weed-covered sea--a kind of “Mar -de Sargasso;” but the locality indicated appears to me to differ -very much from that assigned in the work entitled “De Mirabilibus -Auscultationibus,” which long bore, unduly, the great name of -Aristotle. (Compare Scyl. Caryand. Peripl. in Hudson, vol. ii. p. 53, -with Aristot. de Mirab. Auscult. in opp. omnia ex. rec. Bekkeri, p. -844, § 136.) The pseudo-Aristotle says, “Phœnician mariners, driven -by the east wind, came in four days’ sail from Gades to a part where -they found the sea covered with reeds and sea-weed (θρύον καὶ φῦκος.) -The sea-weed is uncovered at ebb and covered at flood tide.” Is he -not here speaking of a shallow place between the 34° and 36° of -latitude? Has a shoal disappeared in consequence of volcanic eruption? -Vobonne speaks of rocks north of Madeira. (Compare also Edrisi, Geog. -Nub., 1619, p. 157.) In Scylax it is said, “The sea beyond Cerne is -unnavigable on account of its great shallowness, its muddiness, and -the great quantity of sea grasses. The sea grass lies a span thick, -and is full of points at the top, so that it pricks.” The sea-weed -found between Cerne,--(the Phœnician station for laden vessels, Gaulea, -or, according to Gosselin, the small island of Fedallah, on the -north-western coast of Mauritania),--and Cape de Verde, does not now by -any means form a great sea meadow, or connected tract of fucus, a “mare -herbidum,” such as exists beyond the Azores. In the poetic description -of the coast by Festus Avienus, (Ora Maritima, v. 109, 122, 388, and -408), in the composition of which, as Avienus himself says, (v. 412) -he availed himself of the journals of Phœnician ships, the obstacle -presented by the sea-weed is referred to in a very circumstantial -manner; but its site is placed much farther north, towards Ierne, the -“Sacred Island.” - - Sic nulla late flabra propellunt ratem, - Sic segnis humor æquoris pigri stupet. - Adjicit et illud, plurimum inter gurgites - Exstare fucum, et sæpe virgulti vice - Retinere puppim.... - Hæc inter undas multa cæspitem jacet, - Eamque late gens Hibernorum colit. - -In remarking that the fucus and the mud or mire, (πηλός), the -shallowness of the sea, and the perpetual calms, are always spoken -of by the ancients as characteristics of the western ocean beyond -the Pillars of Hercules, one is disposed, more particularly on -account of the mention of the _calms_, to ascribe something to Punic -artifice,--to the desire of a great trading people to deter others, -by the apprehension of dangers and difficulties, from entering into -competition with them in western navigation and commerce. But even -in the genuine writings of Aristotle (Meteorol. ii. p. 1, 14,) he -maintains this same opinion of the absence of wind in those regions, -and seeks the explanation of what he erroneously supposes to be a -fact of observation, but which is more properly a fabulous mariner’s -tale, in an hypothesis concerning the depth of the sea. In reality, -the stormy sea between Gades and the islands of the Blest or Fortunate -Islands, (between Cadix and the Canaries), is very unlike the sea -farther to the south between the tropics, where the gentle trade winds -blow, and which is called very characteristically by the Spaniards, el -Golfo de las Damas, the Ladies’ Gulf. (Acosta Historia natural y moral -de las Indias, lib. iii. cap. 4.) - -From very careful researches by myself, and from the comparison of the -logs or journals of many English and French vessels, I infer that the -old and indefinite expression, Mar de Sargasso, includes two banks of -fucus, of which the greater and easternmost one, of a lengthened shape, -is situated between the parallels of 19° and 34° N. lat., in a meridian -of 7 degrees to the west of the Island of Corvo, one of the Azores; -while the lesser and westernmost bank, of a roundish form, is situated -between the Bermudas and the Bahamas, (lat. 25°-31°, long. 66°-74°.) -The longer axis of the small bank which is crossed by ships going from -Baxo de Plata (Caye d’Argent, Silver Cay) on the north of St. Domingo, -to the Bermudas, appears to have a N. 60° E. direction. A transverse -band of Fucus natans, running in an East and West direction between -the parallels of 25° and 30°, connects the greater and lesser banks. I -have had the gratification of seeing these inferences approved by my -honoured friend Major Rennell, and adopted by him in his great work on -Currents, where he has further supported and confirmed them by many new -and additional observations. (Compare Humboldt, Relation Historique, -tom. i. p. 202, and Examen critique, tom. iii. p. 68-99, with Rennell’s -Investigation of the Currents of the Atlantic Ocean, 1832, p. 184.) -The two groups of sea-weed, included together with the transverse -connecting band under the old general name of the Sargasso Sea, occupy -altogether a space exceeding six or seven times the area of Germany. - -Thus it is the vegetation of the ocean which offers the most remarkable -example of an assemblage of “social plants” of a single species. On -terra firma, the savannahs or prairies, or grassy plains of America, -the heaths (ericeta), and the forests of the North of Europe and -Asia, consisting of coniferous trees, birches, and willows, offer a -less degree of uniformity than do those thalassophytes. Our heaths -show, in the north, in addition to the prevailing Calluna vulgaris, -Erica tetralix, E. ciliaris, and E. cinerea; and in the south, Erica -arborea, E. scoparia, and E. mediterranea. The uniformity of the -aspect offered by the Fucus natans is greater than that of any other -assemblage or association of plants. Oviedo calls the fucus banks -“meadows,” praderias de yerva. Considering that the island of Flores -was discovered in 1452, by Pedro Velasco, a native of the Spanish port -of Palos, by following the flight of certain birds from the island of -Fayal, it seems almost impossible, seeing the proximity of the great -fucus bank of Corvo and Flores, that a part of these oceanic meadows -should not have been seen before Columbus, by Portuguese ships driven -by storms to the westward. Yet the astonishment of the companions of -Columbus in 1492, when surrounded by sea-weed uninterruptedly from -the 16th of September to the 8th of October, shews that the magnitude -of the phenomenon at least was previously unknown to the sailors. The -anxieties excited by the accumulation of sea-weed, and the murmurs -of his companions in reference thereto, are not indeed mentioned by -Columbus in the extracts from the ship’s journal given by Las Casas. -He merely speaks of the complaints and murmurs respecting the danger -to be feared from the weak but constant East winds. It is only the -son, Fernando Colon, who, in writing his father’s life, endeavoured to -depict the fears of the sailors in a dramatic manner. - -According to my researches, Columbus crossed the great fucus bank in -1492, in lat. 28-1/2°, and in 1493, in lat. 37°, both times in the -long. of from 38° to 41° W. This is deducible with tolerable certainty -from Columbus’s recorded estimation of the ship’s rate, and the -“distance daily sailed over;” derived indeed, not from casting the log, -but from data afforded by the running out of half-hour sand-glasses -(ampolletas). The first certain and definite mention of a log (catena -della poppa) which I have been able to discover, is in the year 1521, -in Pigafetta’s journal of Magellan’s Voyage round the World. (Cosmos, -vol. ii. p. 259, and Note 405, English ed.) The determination of the -ship’s place, while Columbus was engaged in traversing the great -meadows of sea-weed, is the more important, because we learn from -it that for three centuries and a half the situation of this great -accumulation of thalassophytes, whether resulting from the local -character of the bottom of the sea, or from the direction of the Gulf -stream, has remained the same. Such evidences of the permanency of -great natural phenomena arrest the attention of the physical inquirer -with double force, when they present themselves in the ever-moving -oceanic element. Although the limits of the fucus banks oscillate -considerably, in correspondence with the variations of the strength -and direction of the prevailing winds, yet we may still in the middle -of the 19th century take the meridian of 41° W. from Paris (38° 38′ -W. from Greenwich) as the principal axis of the “great bank.” In the -vivid imagination of Columbus, the idea of the position of this bank -was intimately connected with the great physical line of demarcation, -which, according to him, divided the globe into two parts, with the -changes of magnetic variation, and with climatic relations. Columbus, -when uncertain respecting his longitude, (February 1493), directed -himself by the appearance of the first floating streamers of weed (de -la primera yerva) on the eastern margin of the great Corvo bank. The -physical line of demarcation was, by the powerful influence of the -Admiral, converted on the 4th of May, 1493, into a political line, -being made the celebrated “line of demarcation” between the Spanish and -Portuguese rights of possession. (Compare my Examen Critique, tom. iii. -p. 64-99, and Cosmos, English ed. vol. ii. p. 279-280.) - -[8] p. 3.--“_The Nomadic Tibbos and Tuaricks._” - -These two nations inhabit the deserts between Bornou, Fezzan, and -Lower Egypt. They were first made known to us with some exactness by -Hornemann’s and Lyon’s travels. The Tibbos or Tibbous roam through the -eastern, and the Tuaticks (Tueregs) through the western, parts of the -great desert. The first are called by the other tribes, from being in -continual movement, “birds.” The Tuaricks are distinguished into those -of Aghadez and those of Tagazi. They are often engaged as conductors -of caravans, and in trade. Their language is the same as that of the -Berbers; and they belong unquestionably to the number of the primitive -Lybian nations. The Tuaricks present a remarkable physiological -phenomenon. Different tribes among them are, according to the climate, -white, yellowish, and even almost black; but all are without woolly -hair or Negro features. (Exploration scientifique de l’Algérie, T. ii. -p. 343.) - -[9] p. 4.--“_The Ship of the Desert._” - -In oriental poems, the camel is called the land-ship, or the ship -of the Desert (Sefynet-el-badyet); Chardin, Voyages, nouv. éd. par -Langlès, 1811, T. iii. p. 376. - -But the camel is not merely the carrier of the desert, and the link -which, rendering communication between different countries possible, -connects them with each other: he is also, as Carl Ritter has shewn -in his excellent memoir on the sphere of diffusion of these animals, -the principal and essential condition of the nomadic life of nations -in the patriarchal stage of national development, in the hot parts of -our planet where rain is either altogether wanting or very infrequent. -No animal’s life is so closely associated by natural bonds with a -particular stage of the developement of the life of man,--a connection -historically established for several thousand years,--as the life of -the camel among the Bedouin tribes (Asien, Bd. viii. Abth. i. 1847, -S. 610 und 758). “The camel was entirely unknown to the cultivated -Carthaginian nation through all the centuries of their flourishing -existence, until the destruction of their city. The Marusians first -brought it into military use, in the train of armies, in Western Lybia, -in the times of the Cæsars; perhaps in consequence of its employment -in commercial operations in the valley of the Nile by the Ptolemies. -The Guanches, the inhabitants of the Canary Islands and probably -related to the Berber race, were not acquainted with the camel before -the 15th century, when it was introduced by Norman conquerors and -settlers. In the probably very limited communication of the Guanches -with the Coast of Africa, the small size of the boats would prevent the -transport of large animals. The true Berber race, diffused throughout -the interior of Northern Africa, and to which the Tibbos and Tuaricks, -as already mentioned, belong, owes doubtless to the use of the camel -throughout the Lybian desert and its Oases, not only the advantages of -intercommunication, but also the preservation of its national existence -to the present day. On the other hand, the negro races never, of their -own accord, made any use of the camel; it was only in company with -the conquering expeditions and proselyting missions of the Bedouins, -carrying their prophet’s doctrines over the whole of Northern Africa, -that the useful animal of the Nedjid, of the Nabatheans, and of all -the countries inhabited by Aramean races, spread to the westward and -was introduced among the black population. The Goths took camels as -early as the fourth century to the Lower Istros (the Danube), and -the Ghaznevides conveyed them in much larger numbers as far as India -and the banks of the Ganges.” We must distinguish two epochs in the -diffusion of the camel throughout the northern part of the African -continent; one under the Ptolemies, operating through Cyrene on the -whole of the north-west of Africa; and the Mohammedan epoch of the -conquering Arabs. - -It has long been a question, whether those domestic animals which -have been the earliest companions of mankind--oxen, sheep, dogs, and -camels--are still to be met with in a state of original wildness. The -Hiongnu, in Eastern Asia, belong to the nations who earliest tamed and -trained wild camels as domestic animals. The compiler of the great -Chinese work, Si-yu-wen-kien-lo, (Historia Regionum occidentalium, -quæ Si-yu vocantur, visu et auditu cognitarum,) affirms that in the -middle of the 18th century wild camels, as well as wild horses and wild -asses, still wandered in East Turkestan. Hadji Chalfa, in his Turkish -Geography, written in the 17th century, speaks of the frequent chase -of the wild camel in the high plains of Kashgar, Turfan, and Khotan. -Schott translates, from a Chinese author, Ma-dschi, that wild camels -are to be found in the countries to the north of China and west of the -Hoang-ho, in Ho-si or Tangut. Cuvier alone (Règne Animal, T. i. p. -257), doubts the present existence of wild camels in the interior of -Asia. He believes they have merely “become wild;” because Calmucks, and -others having Buddhistic religious affinities with them, set camels -and other animals at liberty, in order “to acquire to themselves merit -for the other world.” According to Greek witnesses of the times of -Artemidorus and Agatharchides of Cnidus, the Ailanitic Gulf of the -Nabatheans was the home of the wild Arabian camel. (Ritter’s Asien, -Bd. viii. s. 670, 672, and 746.) The discovery of fossil camel bones -of the ancient world by Captain Cautley and Doctor Falconer, in -1834, in the sub-Himalaya range of the Sewalik hills, is peculiarly -deserving of notice. These bones were found with other ancient bones -of mastodons, of true elephants, of giraffes, and of a gigantic land -tortoise (Colossochelys), twelve feet in length and six feet in height. -(Humboldt, Cosmos, Engl. ed. vol. i. p. 268.) This camel of the -Ancient World has received the name of Camelus sivalensis, but does -not show any considerable difference from the still living Egyptian -and Bactrian camels with one and two humps. Forty camels have very -recently been introduced into Java, having been brought there from -Teneriffe. (Singapore Journal of the Indian Archipelago, 1847, p. -206.) The first experiment has been made in Samarang. In like manner, -reindeer have only been introduced into Iceland from Norway in the -course of the last century. They were not found there when the island -was settled, notwithstanding the proximity to East Greenland, and the -existence of floating masses of ice. (Sartorius von Waltershausen -physisch-geographische Skizze von Island, 1847, S. 41.) - -[10] p. 4.--“_Between the Altai and the Kuen-lün._” - -The great highland, or, as it is commonly called, the mountain plateau -of Asia, which includes the lesser Bucharia, Songarei, Thibet, -Tangut, and the Mogul country of the Chalcas and Olotes, is situated -between the 36th and 48th degrees of latitude, and the meridians of -81° and 118° E. long. It is an erroneous view to represent this part -of the interior of Asia as a single undivided mountainous gibbosity, -continuous like the elevated plains of Quito and Mexico, and elevated -from seven to nine thousand feet above the level of the sea. That there -is not in this sense any undivided mountain plateau in the interior -of Asia, has already been shewn by me in my “Researches respecting -the Mountains of Northern India.” (Humboldt, Premier Mémoire sur les -Montagnes de l’Inde, in the Annales de Chimie et de Physique, T. iii. -1816, p. 303; Second Mémoire, T. xiv. 1820, p. 5-55.) - -My views concerning the geographical range of plants, and the mean -degree of temperature requisite for certain kinds of cultivation, had -early led me to entertain considerable doubts as to the continuity of -a great Tartarian plateau between the Himalaya and the Altai. Writers -continued to characterise this plateau as it had been described by -Hippocrates (De Ære et Aquis, § xcvi. p. 74), as “the high and naked -plains of Scythia, which, without being crowned with mountains, rise -and extend to beneath the constellation of the Bear.” Klaproth has the -undeniable merit of having been the first to make us acquainted with -the true position, extent, and direction of two great and entirely -distinct chains of mountains--the Kuen-lün and the Thian-schan, in a -part of Asia which is better entitled to the name of “central” than -Kashmeer, Baltistan, and the Sacred Lakes of Thibet, (the Manasa and -the Ravanahrada). The importance of the Celestial Mountains, the -Thian-schan, had indeed been already surmised by Pallas, without -his being aware of their volcanic nature; but this highly-gifted -investigator of nature, hampered by the then prevailing hypothesis -of a dogmatic and fantastic geology, firmly believing in “chains of -mountains radiating from a centre,” saw in the Bogdo Oola (the Mons -Augustus, or culminating point of the Thian-schan) such a “central -node, from whence all the Asiatic mountain chains diverge in rays, and -which dominates over all the rest of the continent!” - -The erroneous idea of a single vast elevated plain occupying the whole -of central Asia, the “Plateau de la Tartarie,” took its rise in France, -in the latter half of the 18th century. It was the result of historical -combinations, and of a not sufficiently attentive study of the writings -of the celebrated Venetian traveller, as well as of the naïve relations -of those diplomatic monks who, in the 13th and 14th centuries, (thanks -to the unity and extent of the Mogul empire at that time) were able to -traverse almost the whole of the interior of the continent, from the -ports of Syria and of the Caspian Sea to the shores of the Pacific on -the east coast of China. If a more exact acquaintance with the language -and ancient literature of India had dated farther back among us than -half a century, the hypothesis of this central plateau, occupying -the wide space between the Himalaya and the south of Siberia, would -no doubt have had adduced in its support an ancient and venerable -authority from that source. The poem of the Mahabharata appears, in the -geographical fragment Bhischmakanda, to describe “Meru” not so much -as a mountain as an enormous elevation of the land, which supplies -with water at once the sources of the Ganges, those of the Bhadrasoma -(Irtysh), and those of the forked Oxus. These physico-geographical -views were intermingled in Europe with ideas of other kinds, and with -mythical reveries relating to the origin of mankind. It was said that -the elevated regions from which the waters first retreated, (geologists -in general were long averse to the theory of elevation), must also -have received the first germs of civilisation. Hebraizing systems of -geology, and views connected with the Deluge and supported by local -traditions, favoured these assumptions. The intimate connection -between time and space, between the beginnings of social order and the -plastic character of the surface of the earth, lent to the supposed -“uninterrupted Plateau of Tartary” a peculiar importance, and an almost -moral interest. Acquisitions of positive knowledge, the late matured -fruit of scientific travels and direct measurements, as well as of -a fundamental study of Asiatic languages and literature especially -those of China, have gradually demonstrated the inaccuracies and -exaggerations of those wild hypotheses. The mountain plains (ὁροπέδια) -of Central Asia are no longer regarded as the cradle of civilization -and the primitive seat of all arts and sciences. The ancient nation of -Bailly’s Atlantis, happily described by d’Alembert as “having taught -us everything but their own name and existence,” has vanished. The -supposed inhabitants of the Oceanic Atlantis had already been treated, -in the time of Posidonius, in a no less derisive manner. (Strabo, lib. -ii. p. 102; and lib. xiii. p. 598, Casaub.) - -A plateau of considerable but very unequal elevation, having the -names of Gobi, Scha-mo (sand desert), Scha-ho (sand river), and -Hanhai, runs in a SSW.-NNE. direction, with little interruption, -from Eastern Thibet towards the mountain knot of Kentei south of -Lake Baikal. This swelling of the ground is probably anterior to -the elevation of the mountain chains by which it is intersected; it -is situated, as already remarked, between 79° and 116° long. from -Paris, (81° and 118° E. from Greenwich). Measured at right angles to -its longitudinal axis, its breadth is, in the south between Ladak, -Gertop, and H’lassa, (the seat of the great Lama,) 720 geographical -miles; between Hami in the Celestial Mountains, and the great bend of -the Hoang-ho near the In-schan chain, hardly 480; and in the north, -between the Khanggai, where the great city of Karakhorum once stood, -and the chain of Khin-gan-Petscha, which runs north and south (in -the part of the Gobi traversed in travelling from Kiachta by Urga -to Pekin) 760 geographical miles. The whole extent of this swelling -ground, which must be carefully distinguished from the far more -elevated mountain range to the east, may be approximately estimated, -taking its inflections into account, at about three times the area of -France. The map of the mountain ranges and volcanoes of Central Asia -(Carte der Bergketten und Vulkane von Central-Asien), constructed -by me in 1839, but not published until 1843, shows in the clearest -manner the hypsometric relations between the mountain ranges and the -Gobi plateau. It was founded on the critical employment of all the -astronomical determinations accessible to me, and on a vast amount of -orographic description, in which Chinese literature is beyond measure -rich, examined at my request by Klaproth and Stanislas Julien. My map -marks the _mean_ direction and the height of the mountain chains, -and represents the leading features of the interior of the continent -of Asia, from 30° to 60° degrees of north latitude, and between -the meridians of Kherson and Pekin. It differs materially from any -previously published map. - -The Chinese have enjoyed a threefold advantage towards the collection -of so great an amount of orographic data in the highlands of Asia, and -more especially in the regions (hitherto so little known in the west), -north and south of the Celestial mountains, between the In-schan, the -mountain lake Khuku-noor, and the banks of the Ili and the Tarim. The -three advantages I allude to are,--the military expeditions towards -the west, (under the dynasties of Han and Thang 122 years before our -era, and again in the ninth century when conquerors advanced as far as -Ferghana and to the borders of the Caspian), together with the more -peaceful conquests of Buddhistic pilgrims;--the religious interest -attaching to certain lofty mountain summits on account of sacrifices -to be periodically offered there;--and the early and general use of -the compass in giving the directions of mountains and of rivers. The -knowledge and use of the “South pointing” of the magnetic needle twelve -centuries before our era, has given to the orographic and hydrographic -descriptions of countries by the Chinese, a great superiority over -the descriptions of the same kind which Greek or Roman writers have -bequeathed to us, and which are besides extremely few. The acute and -sagacious Strabo, was alike imperfectly acquainted with the direction -of the Pyrenees, and with those of the Alps and of the Apennines. -(Compare Strabo, lib. ii. p. 71 and 128; lib. iii, p. 137; lib. iv. p. -199 and 202; lib. v. p. 211, Casaub.) - -To the lowlands belong almost the whole of Northern Asia to the -north-west of the volcanic chain of the Thian-schan;--the Steppes to -the north of the Altai and of the Sayan chain;--the countries which -extend from the mountains of Bolor, or Bulyt-Tagh, (“cloud mountains” -in the Uigurian dialect) which follow a north and south direction, -and from the upper Oxus, (whose sources were found by the Buddhistic -pilgrims Hiuen-thsang and Song-yun in 518 and 629, by Marco Polo in -1277, and by Lieutenant Wood in 1838, in the Pamer Lake, Sir-i-kol, -Lake Victoria), towards the Caspian; and from Tenghir or the Balkhash -Lake through the Kirghis Steppe, towards the sea of Aral and the -southern extremity of the Ural mountains. As compared with high plains -of 6,000 to 10,000 feet above the level of the sea, it may well be -permitted to use the expression of “lowlands” for flats of little more -than 200 to 1200 feet of elevation. The lowest of the last two numbers -corresponds nearly to the altitude of the town of Mannheim, and the -highest to that of Geneva and Tubingen. If the word plateau, so often -misemployed in modern works on geography, is to have its use extended -to elevations which hardly present any sensible difference in climate -and vegetation, the indefiniteness of the expressions “highlands -and lowlands,” which are only relative terms, will deprive physical -geography of the means of expressing the idea of the connection -between elevation and climate, between the profile or relief of the -ground and the decrease of temperature. When I found myself in Chinese -Dzungarei, between the boundary of Siberia and Lake Dsaisang, at an -equal distance from the Icy Sea and from the mouth of the Ganges, I -might well consider myself in Central Asia. The barometer, however, -soon taught me that the plains through which the Upper Irtysh flows, -between Ustkamenogorsk and the Chinese Dzungarian Post, Chonimailachu, -(sheep-bleating,) are scarcely raised 850, or at the most 1170, feet -above the level of the sea. Pansner’s older barometric measurements -(which, however, were not published until after my expedition), are -confirmed by mine. Both refute the hypothesis of Chappe, relative to -the supposed high elevation of the banks of the Irtysh, in Southern -Siberia; an hypothesis based on estimations of river declivities. Even -further to the East, Lake Baikal is only 222 toises, or 1420 English -feet, above the level of the sea. - -In order to connect the idea of the _relation_ of the terms _lowlands_ -and _highlands_ and of the various gradations in the height of elevated -plains or undulating grounds, with actual examples ascertained by -measurement, I have subjoined a table, forming an ascending scale of -such districts in different parts of the Globe. What I have said above -respecting the mean height of those Asiatic plains, which I have termed -lowlands, may be compared with the following numbers:-- - - Toises. English feet. - Plateau of Auvergne 170 1087 - „ of Bavaria 260 1663 - „ of Castille 350 2239 - „ of Mysore 460 2942 - „ of Caraccas 480 3070 - „ of Popayan 900 5756 - „ round Lake Tzana (in Abyssinia) 950 6076 - „ of the Orange River (in South Africa) 1000 6395 - „ of Axum (in Abyssinia) 1100 7034 - „ of Mexico 1170 7483 - „ of Quito 1490 9528 - „ of the Province de los Pastos 1600 10231 - „ round Lake Titiaca 2010 12853 - -No portion of the so-called Desert of Gobi (parts of which contain fine -pastures) has been so thoroughly explored in respect to the differences -of elevation as the zone, of nearly 600 geographical miles in breadth, -between the sources of the Selenga and the great Wall of China. A very -exact series of barometric levellings was executed under the auspices -of the Academy of St. Petersburgh by two distinguished Savans, the -astronomer George Fuss, and the botanist Bunge. In the year 1832 they -accompanied the mission of Greek monks to Pekin, to establish there one -of the magnetic stations recommended by me. The mean height of this -part of Gobi does not amount, as had been too hastily inferred from -the measurement of neighbouring summits by the Jesuits Gerbillon and -Verbiest to from 7500 to 8000 French (8000 to 8500 English) feet, but -only to little more than half that height, or barely 4000 French or -4264 English feet. Between Erghi, Durma, and Scharaburguna, the ground -is only 2400 French, or 2558 English, feet above the level of the sea, -or hardly 300 French (320 English) feet higher than the plateau of -Madrid. Erghi is situated midway, in lat. 45° 31′, long. 111° 26′ E. -from Greenwich. There is here a depression of more than 240 miles in -breadth, in a SW. and NE. direction. An ancient Mogul tradition marks -it as the bottom of a former inland sea. There are found in it reeds -and saline plants, mostly of the same kinds as those on the low shores -of the Caspian. In this central part of the desert there are small salt -lakes, from which salt is carried to China. According to a singular -opinion very prevalent among the Moguls, the ocean will one day return -and establish its empire anew in Gobi. One is reminded of the Chinese -tradition of the _bitter lake_, in the interior of Siberia, mentioned -by me in another work. (Humboldt, Asie Centrale, tom. ii. p. 141; -Klaproth, Asia Polyglotta, p. 232.) The valley or basin of Kashmeer, so -enthusiastically extolled by Bernier, and but too moderately praised -by Victor Jacquemont, has also given occasion to great hypsometric -exaggerations. By a careful barometrical measurement, Jacquemont found -the height of the Wulur Lake in the valley of Kashmeer, not far from -the chief city Sirinagur, 836 toises, or 5346 English feet. Uncertain -determinations by the boiling point of water gave Baron Carl von Hügel -a result of 910, and Lieutenant Cunningham only 790 toises. (Compare -my Asie Centrale, tom. iii. p. 310, with the Journal of the Asiatic -Society of Bengal, vol. x. 1841, p. 114.) Kashmeer,--respecting -which, in Germany particularly, so much interest has been felt, but -the delightfulness of whose climate is considerably impaired by four -months of winter snow in the streets of Sirinagur (Carl von Hügel, -Kaschmir, Bd. ii. S. 196),--is not situated, as is often supposed, -upon the ridge of the Himalaya, but is a true cauldron-shaped valley -(Kesselthal, Caldera,) on the southern declivity of those mountains. -On the south-west, where the rampart-like elevation of the Pir Panjal -separates it from the Punjaub, the snow-covered summits are crowned, -according to Vigne, with formations of basalt and amygdaloid. The -latter formation has received from the natives the characteristic name -of “schischak deyu,” marked by the devil’s small-pox. (Vigne, Travels -in Kashmeer, 1842, vol. i. p. 237-293.) The beauty of its vegetation -has from the earliest times been very differently described, according -as the visitor came from the rich and luxuriant vegetation of India, or -from the northern regions of Turkestan, Samarcand, and Ferghana. - -It is also only very recently that clearer views have been obtained -respecting the elevation of Thibet; the level of the plateau having -long been most uncritically confounded with the summits which rise -from it. Thibet occupies the interval between the two great chains of -the Himalaya and the Kuen-lün, forming the raised ground of the valley -between them. It is divided from east to west, both by the natives -and by Chinese geographers, into three portions. Upper Thibet, with -its capital city H’lassa, probably 1500 toises (9590 English feet) -above the level of the sea;--Middle Thibet, with the town of Leh or -Ladak (1563 toises, or 9995 English feet);--and Little Thibet, or -Baltistan, called the Thibet of Apricots, (Sari Boutan), in which -are situated Iskardo (985 toises, or 6300 English feet), Gilgit, and -south of Iskardo but on the left bank of the Indus, the plateau of -Deotsuh, measured by Vigne, and found to be 1873 toises, or 11,977 -English feet. On examining all the notices that we possess respecting -the three Thibets, (and which will have received in the present year a -rich augmentation by the boundary expedition under the auspices of the -governor-general, Lord Dalhousie), we soon become convinced that the -region between the Himalaya and the Kuen-lün is no unbroken plain or -table land, but that it is intersected by mountain groups, undoubtedly -belonging to wholly distinct systems of elevation. There are, properly -speaking, very few plains; the most considerable are those between -Gertop, Daba, Schang-thung (Shepherd’s Plain) the native country of -the Shawl-goat, and Schipke (1634 toises, 10,450 English feet);--those -round Ladak, which have an elevation of 2100 toises, or 13430 English -feet, and must not be confounded with the depression in which the -town is situated;--and lastly, the plateau of the Sacred Lakes Manasa -and Ravanahrada (probably 2345 toises), which was visited so early -as 1625 by Pater Antonio de Andrada. Other parts are entirely filled -with crowded mountainous elevations, “rising,” as a recent traveller -expresses it, “like the waves of a vast ocean.” Along the rivers, -the Indus, the Sutlej, and the Yaru-dzangbo-tschu which was formerly -regarded as identical with the Brahma-putra, points have been measured -which are only between 1050 and 1400 toises (6714 and 8952 English -feet) above the level of the sea; so also with respect to the Thibetian -villages of Pangi, Kunawur, Kelu, and Murung. (Humboldt, Asie Centrale, -T. iii. p. 281-325.) From many carefully collected measurements of -elevation I think I may conclude that the plateau of Thibet, between -73° and 85° E. long., does not reach a mean height of 1800 toises -(11510 English feet); this is hardly equal to the height of the fertile -plain of Caxamarca in Peru, and is 211 and 337 toises (1350 and 2154 -English feet) less than the height of the plateau of Titicaca, and -the street pavement of the Upper Town of Potosi (2137 toises, 13,665 -English feet). - -That outside of the Thibetian highlands and of the Gobi, the boundaries -of which have been defined above, there are in Asia, between the -parallels of 37° and 48°, considerable depressions and even true -lowlands, where one boundless uninterrupted plateau was formerly -imagined to exist, is shewn by the cultivation of plants which cannot -thrive without a certain degree of heat. An attentive study of the -travels of Marco Polo, in which the cultivation of the vine and the -production of cotton in northern latitudes are spoken of, had long -called the attention of the acute Klaproth to this point. In a Chinese -work, entitled “Information respecting the recently-subdued Barbarians -(Sin-kiang-wai-tan-ki-lio),” it is said, “the country of Aksu, somewhat -to the south of the Celestial Mountains (the Thian-schan), near the -rivers which form the great Tarim-gol, produces grapes, pomegranates, -and numberless other excellent fruits; also cotton (Gossypium -religiosum), which covers the fields like yellow clouds. In the summer -the heat is exceedingly great, and in winter there is here, as at -Turfan, neither severe cold nor heavy snow.” The district round Khotan, -Kashgar, and Yarkand, still pays its tribute in home-grown cotton as it -did in the time of Marco Polo. (Il Milione di Marco Polo, pubbl. dal -Conte Baldelli, T. i. p. 32 and 87.) In the Oasis of Hami (Khamil), -above 200 miles east of Aksu, orange trees, pomegranates, and vines -whose fruit is of a superior quality, grow and flourish. - -The products of cultivation which are thus noticed imply the existence -of only a small degree of elevation, and that over extensive districts. -At so great a distance from any coast, and in those easterly meridians -where the cold of winter is known to exceed that of corresponding -latitudes nearer our own part of the world, a plateau which should be -as high as Madrid or Munich might indeed have very hot summers, but -would hardly have, in 43° and 44° latitude, extremely mild winters with -scarcely any snow. Near the Caspian, 83 English feet below the level -of the Black Sea, at Astrachan in 46° 21′ lat., I saw the cultivation -of the vine greatly favoured by a high degree of summer heat; but the -winter cold is there from -20° to -25° Cent. (-4° to -13° Fahr.) It is -therefore necessary to protect the vines after November, by sinking -them deep in the earth. Plants which live, as we may say, only in the -summer, as the vine, the cotton bush, rice, and melons, may indeed -be cultivated with success between the latitudes of 40° and 44° on -plains of more than 500 toises (3197 English feet) elevation, being -favoured by the powerful radiant heat; but how could the pomegranate -trees of Aksu, and the orange trees of Hami, whose fruit Père Grosier -extolled as distinguished for its goodness, bear the cold of the -long and severe winter which would be the necessary consequence of a -considerable elevation of the land? (Asie Centrale, T. ii. p. 48-52, -and 429.) Carl Zimmerman (in the learned Analysis of his “Karte von -Inner Asien,” 1841, S. 99) has made it appear extremely probable that -the Tarim depression, _i. e._ the desert between the mountain chains -of the Thian-schan and the Kuen-lün, where the Steppe river Tarim-gol -empties itself into the Lake of Lop, which used to be described as an -alpine lake, is hardly 1200 (1279 English) feet above the level of the -sea, or only twice the height of Prague. Sir Alexander Burnes also -assigns to that of Bokhara only an elevation of 1190 English feet. It -is earnestly to be desired, that all doubt respecting the elevation of -the plateaux of middle Asia, south of 45° of latitude, should finally -be set at rest by direct barometric measurements, or by determinations -of the boiling point of water made with more care than is usually given -to them. All our calculations respecting the difference between the -limits of perpetual snow, and the maximum elevation of vine cultivation -in different climates, rest at present on too complex and uncertain -elements. - -In order to rectify in the smallest space that which was said in the -last edition of the present work, relatively to the great mountain -systems which intersect the interior of Asia, I subjoin the following -general review. We begin with the four parallel chains, which follow -with tolerable regularity an east and west direction, and are connected -with each other at a few detached points by transverse elevations. -Differences of direction indicate, as in the Alps of western Europe, a -difference in the epoch of elevation. After the four parallel chains -(the Altai, the Thian-schan, the Kuen-lün, and the Himalaya), we have -to notice chains following the direction of meridians, viz. the Ural, -the Bolor, the Khingan, and the Chinese chains, which, with the great -bend of the Thibetian and Assamo-Bermese Dzangbo-tschu, run north and -south. The Ural divides a part of Europe but little elevated above -the level of the sea from a part of Asia similarly circumstanced. The -latter was called by Herodotus, (ed. Schweighaüser, T. v. p. 204) and -even as early as Pherecydes of Syros, a Scythian or Siberian Europe, -including all the countries to the north of the Caspian and of the -Iaxartes; in this view it would be a continuation of Europe “prolonged -to the north of Asia.” - -1. The great mountain system of the Altai, (the “gold mountains” of -Menander of Byzantium, an historical writer who lived as early as the -7th century, the Altaï-alin of the Moguls, and the Kin-schan of the -Chinese), forms the southern boundary of the great Siberian lowlands; -and running between 50° and 52-1/2° of north latitude, extends from the -rich silver mines of the Snake Mountains, and the confluence of the Uba -and the Irtysh, to the meridian of Lake Baikal. The divisions and names -of the “Great” and the “Little Altai,” taken from an obscure passage of -Abulghasì, are to be altogether avoided. (Asie Centrale, T. i. p. 247.) -The mountain system of the Altai comprehends (_a_) the Altai proper, or -Kolywanski Altai, the whole of which is under the Russian sceptre; it -is west of the transverse opening of the Telezki Lake, which follows -the direction of the meridian; and in ante-historic times probably -formed the eastern shore of the great arm of the sea, by which, in the -direction of the still existing groups of lakes, Aksakal-Barbi and -Sary-Kupa (Asie Centrale, T. ii. p. 138), the Aralo-Caspian basin was -connected with the Icy sea:--(_b_) East of the Telezki chain which -follows the direction of the meridian, the Sayani, Tangnu, and Ulangom -or Malakha chains, all running tolerably parallel with each other -and in an east and west direction. The Tangnu, which sinks down and -terminates in the basin of the Selenga, has from very ancient times -formed a boundary between the Turkish race to the south and the Kirghis -(Hakas, identical with Σάκαι) in the north. (Jacob Grimm, Gesch. der -deutschen Sprache, 1848, Th. i. S. 227.) It is the original seat of the -Samoieds or Soyotes, who wandered as far as the Icy Sea, and who were -long regarded in Europe as a nation belonging exclusively to the coasts -of the Polar Sea. The highest snow-clad summits of the Altai of Kolywan -are the Bielucha and the Katunia-Pillars. The height of the latter is -about that of Etna. The Daurian highland, to which the mountain knot -of Kemtei belongs, and on the eastern side of which is the Jablonoi -Chrebet, divides the depressions of the Baikal and the Amur. - -2. The mountain system of the Thian-schan, or Celestial Mountains, -the Tengri-tagh of the Turks (Tukiu) and of the kindred race of the -Hiongnu, is eight times as long, in an east and west direction, as the -Pyrenees. Beyond,--_i. e._ west of its intersection with the transverse -or north and south chain of the Bolor and Kosuyrt, the Thian-schan -bears the names of Asferah and Aktagh, is rich in metals, and has open -fissures, which emit hot vapours, luminous at night, and which are used -for obtaining sal-ammoniac. (Asie Centrale, T. ii. p. 18-20.) East -of the transverse Bolor and Kosyurt chain, there follow successively -in the Thian-schan,--the Kashgar Pass (Kaschgar-dawan); the Glacier -Pass of Djeparle, which leads to Kutch and Aksu in the Tarim basin; -the volcano of Pe-schan, which sent forth fire and streams of lava -at least as late as the middle of the seventh century; the great -snow-covered massive elevation Bogdo-Oola; the Sol-fatara of Urumsti, -which furnishes sulphur and sal-ammoniac (nao-scha), and is situated -in a coal district; the still active volcano of Turfan (or volcano of -Ho-tscheu or Bischbalik), almost midway between the meridians of Turfan -(Kune-Turpan), and of Pidjan. The volcanic eruptions of the Thian-schan -chain, recorded by Chinese historians, reach as far back as the year -89, A.D., when the Hiongnu of the sources of the Irtysh were pursued -by the Chinese army as far as Kutch and Kharaschar (Klaproth, Tableau -hist. de l’Asie, p. 108). The Chinese General, Teu-hian, surmounted -the Thian-schan, and saw “the Fire Mountains which send out masses of -molten rock that flow for many Li.” - -The great distance from the sea of the volcanoes of the interior of -Asia is a remarkable and solitary phenomenon. Abel Rémusat, in a letter -to Cordier (Annales des Mines, T. v. 1820, p. 137), first directed the -attention of geologists to this fact. The distance, for example, in -the case of the volcano of Pe-schan, to the north, or to the Icy Sea -at the mouth of the Obi, is 1528 geographical miles; to the south, or -to the mouths of the Indus and the Ganges, 1512 geographical miles; -to the west, 1360 geographical miles to the Caspian in the Gulf of -Karaboghaz; and to the east, 1020 geographical miles to the shores of -the sea of Aral. The active volcanoes of the New World were previously -supposed to offer the most remarkable instances of such phenomena -at a great distance from the sea; their distance, however, is only -132 geographical miles in the case of the volcano of Popocatepetl -in Mexico, and only 92, 104, and 156 geographical miles in those -of the South American volcanoes Sangai, Tolima, and de la Fragua, -respectively. I exclude from these statements all extinct volcanoes, -and all trachytic mountains which have no permanent connection with -the interior of the earth. (Asie Centrale, T. ii. p. 16-55, 69-77, -and 341-356.) East of the volcano of Turfan, and of the fertile Oasis -of Hami rich in fine fruit, the chain of the Thian-schan gives place -to the great elevated tract of Gobi which follows a S.W. and N.E. -direction. This interruption of the mountain chain, caused by the -transverse intersection of the Gobi, continues for more than 9-1/2 -degrees of longitude; but beyond it the mountains recommence in the -somewhat more southerly chain of the In-schan, or the Silver Mountains, -running (north of the Pe-tscheli) from west to east almost to the -shores of the Pacific near Pekin, and forming a continuation of the -Thian-schan. As I have viewed the In-schan as an easterly prolongation -(beyond the interruption of the Gobi) of the cleft above which the -Thian-schan stands, so one might possibly view the Caucasus as a -westerly prolongation of the same, beyond the great basin of the Aral -and Caspian Seas or the depression of Turan. The mean parallel of -latitude or axis of elevation of the Thian-schan oscillates between -40-2/3° and 43° N. lat.; that of the Caucasus, according to the map of -the Russian Etat-Major (running rather E.S.E. and W.N.W.), is between -41° and 44° N. lat. (Baron von Meyendorff, in the Bulletin de la -Societé géologique de France, T. ix. 1837-1838, p. 230.) Of the four -parallel chains which traverse Asia from east to west, the Thian-schan -is the only one in which no summits have yet had their elevation above -the sea determined by measurement. - -3. The mountain system of the Kuen-lün (Kurkun or Kulkun), if we -include in it the Hindu-Coosh and its western prolongation in the -Persian Elbourz and Demavend, is, next to the American Cordillera of -the Andes, the longest line of elevation on the surface of our planet. -Where the north-and-south chain of Bolor intersects the Kuen-lün at -right angles, the latter takes the name of the Thsung-ling (Onion -Mountains), which is also given to a part of the Bolor at the eastern -angle of intersection. The Kuen-lün, forming the northern boundary -of Thibet, runs very regularly in an east and west direction, in the -latitude of 36°. In the meridian of H’lassa an interruption takes -place from the great mountain knot which surrounds the alpine lake -of Khuku-noor, the Sing-so-hai, or Starry Sea, so celebrated in the -mythical geography of the Chinese. The somewhat more northerly chains -of Nan-schan and Kilian-schan may almost be regarded as an easterly -prolongation of the Thian-schan. They extend to the Chinese wall near -Liang-tscheu. West of the intersection of the Bolor and Kuen-lün (the -Thsung-ling) I think I have been the first to shew (Asie Centrale, -T. i. p. 23, and 118-159; T. ii. p. 431-434 and 465) that the -corresponding direction of the axes of the Kuen-lün and the Hindu-Coosh -(both being east and west, whereas the Himalaya is south-east and -north-west) makes it reasonable to regard the Hindu-Coosh as a -continuation, not of the Himalaya, but of the Kuen-lün. From the -Taurus in Lycia to Kafiristan, through an extent of 45 degrees of -longitude, this chain follows the parallel of Rhodes, or the diaphragm -of Dicearchus. The grand geognostical view of Eratosthenes (Strabo, -Lib. ii. p. 68; Lib. xi. p. 490 and 511; and Lib. xv. p. 689), which -is farther developed by Marinus of Tyre, and Ptolemy, and according to -which “the continuation of the Taurus in Lycia extends across the whole -of Asia to India, in one and the same direction,” appears to have been -partly founded on statements which reached the Persians and Indians -from the Punjaub. “The Brahmins affirm,” says Cosmas Indicopleustes, -in his Christian Topography, (Mountfauçon, Collectio nova Patrum, T. -ii. p. 137) “that a line drawn from Tzinitza (Thinæ) across Persia -and Romania, exactly cuts the middle of the inhabited earth.” It is -deserving of notice that Eratosthenes had so early remarked that this -longest axis of elevation in the Old Continent, in the parallels of -35-1/2° and 36°, points directly through the basin (or depression) of -the Mediterranean to the Pillars of Hercules. (Compare Asie Centrale, -T. i. p. 23 and 122-138; T. ii. p. 430-434, with Kosmos, Bd. ii. S. -222 and 438, p. 188, and note 292, Engl. ed.) The easternmost part -of the Hindu-Coosh is the Paropanisus of the ancients, the Indian -Caucasus of the companions of Alexander. The now generally used term -of Hindu-Coosh, belongs, as may be seen from the Travels of the Arab -Ibn Batuta (English version, p. 97), to a single mountain pass on -which many Indian slaves often perished from cold. The Kuen-lün, like -the Thian-schan, shews igneous outbreaks or eruptions at many hundred -miles from the sea. Flames, visible at a great distance, issue from -a cavity in the Schin-khieu Mountain. (Asie Centrale, T. ii. p. 427 -and 483, where I have followed the text of Yuen-thong-ki, translated -by my friend Stanislas Julien.) The highest summit measured in the -Hindu-Coosh, north-west of Jellalabad, is 3164 toises above the sea -(20132 English feet); to the west, towards Herat, the chain sinks to -400 toises (2558 English feet), until, north of Teheran, it rises again -to a height of 2295 toises (14675 English feet) in the volcano of -Demavend. - -4. The mountain system of the Himalaya. The normal direction of this -system is east and west when followed from 81° to 97° E. long. from -Greenwich, or through more than fifteen degrees of longitude from the -colossal Dhawalagiri (4390 toises, 28071 English feet) to the breaking -through of the long-problematical Dzangbo-tschu river (the Irawaddy, -according to Dalrymple and Klaproth), and to the chains running north -and south which cover the whole of Western China, and in the provinces -of Sse-tschuan, Hu-kuang, and Kuang-si form the great mountain group -of the sources of the Kiang. The next highest culminating point to the -Dhawalagiri, of this east and west part of the Himalaya, is not, as -has been hitherto supposed, the eastern peak of the Schamalari, but -the Kinchinjinga. This mountain is situated in the meridian of Sikhim, -between Bootan and Nepaul, and between the Schamalari (3750? toises, -23980 English feet) and the Dhawalagiri: its height is 4406 toises, or -26438 Parisian, or 28174 English feet. It was first measured accurately -by trigonometrical operations in the present year, and as the account -of this measurement received by me from India says decidedly, “that a -new determination of the Dhawalagiri leaves to the latter the first -rank among all the snow-capped mountains of the Himalaya,” the height -of the Dhawalagiri must necessarily be greater than that of 4390 -toises, or 26340 Parisian, 28071 English feet, hitherto ascribed to -it. (Letter of the accomplished botanist of Sir James Ross’s Antarctic -Expedition, Dr. Joseph Hooker, written from Dorjiling, July 25, 1848.) -The turning point in the direction of the axis of the Himalaya range -is not far from the Dhawalagiri, in 79° E. long. from Paris (81° 22′ -Greenwich). From thence to the westward the Himalaya no longer runs -east and west, but from SE. to NW., connecting itself, as a great cross -vein, between Mozuffer-abad and Gilgit south of Kafiristan, with a part -of the Hindu-Coosh. Such a bend or change in the direction or strike of -the axis of elevation of the Himalaya (from E-W. to SE-NW.), doubtless -points, as in the western part of our European Alps, to a difference -in the age or epoch of elevation. The course of the Upper Indus, from -the sacred lakes Manasa and Ravana-hrada (at an elevation of 2345 -toises, 14995 English feet) in the vicinity of which the great river -rises, to Iskardo and to the plateau of Deo-tsuh, (at an elevation of -2032 toises, 12993 English feet) measured by Vigne, follows in the -Thibetian highlands the same north-westerly direction as the Himalaya. -Here is the summit of the Djawahir, long since well measured and known -to be 4027 toises (25750 English feet) in elevation, and the valley -of Kashmeer, where at an elevation of only 836 toises, (5346 English -feet), the Wulur Lake freezes every winter, and, from the perpetual -calm, no wave ever curls its surface. - -Having thus described the four great mountain systems of Asia, which -in their normal geognostic character are chains coinciding with -parallels of latitude, I have next to speak of the series of elevations -coinciding nearly with meridians, (or more precisely, having a -SSE.-NNW. direction), which, from Cape Comorin opposite to the Island -of Ceylon to the Icy Sea, alternate between the meridians of 66° and -77° E. long. from Greenwich. To this system, of which the alternations -remind us of _faults in veins_, belong the Ghauts, the Soliman chain, -the Paralasa, the Bolor, and the Ural. The interruptions of the series -of elevations are so arranged that, beside their alternate position in -respect to longitude, each new chain begins in a degree of latitude to -which the preceding chain had not quite reached. The importance which -the Greeks (although probably not before the second century) attached -to these chains induced Agathodemon and Ptolemy (Tab. vii. and viii.) -to represent to themselves the Bolor, under the name of Imaus, as an -axis of elevation extending as far as 62° N. lat. into the low basin of -the Lower Irtisch and the Obi. (Asie Centrale, T. i. p. 138, 154, and -198; T. ii. p. 367.) - -As the perpendicular elevation of mountain summits above the level of -the sea (unimportant as in the eyes of the geologist the circumstance -of the greater or lesser corrugation of the crust of the earth may -be), is still, like all that is difficult of attainment, an object -of popular curiosity, the following historical notice of the gradual -progress of hypsometric knowledge may here find a suitable place. -When I returned to Europe in 1804 after a four years’ absence, not a -single Asiatic snowy summit either in the Himalaya, the Hindu-Coosh, -or the Caucasus, had been measured with any exactness; and I could -not therefore compare my determinations of the height of perpetual -snow in the Cordilleras of Quito, or the mountains of Mexico, with -any corresponding determinations in the East. The important journey -of Turner, Davis, and Saunders, to the highlands of Thibet, does -indeed belong to the year 1783, but Colebrooke justly remarks, that -the elevation given by Turner to the Schamalari (lat. 28° 57′, long. -89° 30′, a little to the north of Tassisudan) rests on foundations -as slight as those of the so-called measurements of the heights seen -from Patna and the Kafiristan by Colonel Crawford and Lieutenant -Macartney. (Compare Turner, in the Asiatic Researches, vol. xii. p. -234, with Elphinstone’s Account of the Kingdom of Caubul, 1815, p. 95, -and Francis Hamilton, Account of Nepal, 1819, p. 92.) The excellent -observations and writings of Webb, Hodgson, Herbert, and the brothers -Gerard, have thrown great and certain light on the elevation of the -colossal summits of the Himalaya; yet, in 1808, the hypsometric -knowledge of this great Indian chain was still so uncertain that Webb -wrote to Colebrooke: “The height of the Himalaya still remains a -problem. I find, indeed, that the summits visible from the high plain -of Rohilcund are 21000 English feet above that plain, but we do not -know the absolute height above the sea.” - -It was not until the beginning of the year 1820 that it began to be -reported in Europe, that not only were there in the Himalaya, summits -much higher than those of the Cordilleras, but also that Webb had seen -in the Pass of Niti, and Moorcroft in the Thibetian plateau of Daba -and the Sacred Lakes, fine pastures and flourishing fields of corn, -at altitudes far exceeding the height of Mont Blanc. These accounts -were received in England with much incredulity, and were met by doubts -respecting the influence of refraction. I have shown the groundlessness -of these doubts in two memoirs (Sur les Montagnes de l’Inde), printed -in the Annales de Chimie et de Physique. The Tyrolese jesuit, P. -Tiefenthaler, who in 1766 penetrated into the provinces of Kemaun -and Nepal, had already divined the importance of the Dhawalagiri. -We read on his map, “Montes Albi, qui Indis Dolaghir, nive obsiti.” -Captain Webb always uses the same name. Until the measurements of the -Djawahir (lat. 30° 22′, long. 79° 58′, altitude 4027 toises, or 25750 -English feet) and of the Dhawalagiri (lat. 28° 40′, long. 83° 21′, -altitude 4390? toises, 28072 English feet) were made known in Europe, -the Chimborazo (3350 toises, or 21421 English feet), according to my -trigonometric measurement, (Recueil d’Observations astronomiques, T. -i. p. 73) was still everywhere regarded as the highest summit on the -surface of the earth. The Himalaya now appeared, according as the -comparison was made with the Djawahir or the Dhawalagiri, 676 toises -(4323 English feet), or 1040 toises (6650 English feet), higher than -the Chimborazo. Pentland’s South American travels, in the years 1827 -and 1838, fixed attention (Annuaire du Bureau des Longitudes, 1830, -p. 320 and 323) on two snowy summits of Upper Peru, east of the -Lake of Titicaca, which were supposed to surpass the height of the -Chimborazo respectively by 598 and 403 toises, (3824 and 2577 English -feet.) I have remarked above, pp. 53-54, that the latest calculation -of the measurements of the Sorata and Illimani shews this view to be -incorrect. The Dhawalagiri (on the declivity of which, in the valley of -the Ghandaki, the Salagrana Ammonites, so celebrated among the Brahmins -as symbols of one of the incarnations of Vishnu, are collected) -therefore still shews a difference between the culminating points of -the Old and the New Continents of more than 6200 Parisian, or 6608 -English feet. - -The question has been raised, whether there may not exist behind the -southernmost more or less perfectly measured chain, other still greater -elevations. Colonel George Lloyd, who in 1840 edited the important -observations of Captain Alexander Gerard and his brother, entertains -an opinion that in the part of the Himalaya which he calls somewhat -vaguely “the Tartaric chain,” (meaning therefore in north Thibet -towards the Kuen-lün, and perhaps in Kailasa of the sacred lakes, or -beyond Leh) there are summits of from 29000 to 30000 English feet,--one -or two thousand feet higher therefore than the Dhawalagiri. (Lloyd -and Gerard, Tour in the Himalaya, 1840, vol. i. p. 143 and 312; Asie -Centrale, T. iii. p. 324.) So long as actual measurements are wanting, -one cannot decide respecting such possibilities; as the indication, -from which the natives of Quito, long before the arrival of Bouguer -and La Condamine, recognised the superior altitude of the Chimborazo -(namely, from the portion of its height above the region of perpetual -snow being greater than in any of the other mountains), might prove -very deceptive in the temperate zone of Thibet, where radiation is -so active in the table-land, and where the lower limit of perpetual -snow does not form a regular line at an equal elevation, as it does in -the tropics. The greatest elevation above the level of the sea ever -attained by human beings on the declivity of the Himalaya, is 3035 -toises, or 18210 Parisian, or 19409 English feet, reached by Captain -Gerard, with seven barometers, on the mountain of Tarhigang, a little -to the north-west of Schipke. (Colebrooke, in the Transactions of the -Geological Society, vol. vi. p. 411.) This happens to be exactly the -same height as that reached by myself on the 23rd of June, 1802, and -thirty years later by my friend Boussingault, on the 16th of December, -1831, on the declivity of the Chimborazo. The unattained summit of the -Tarhigang is, however, 197 toises, or 1260 English feet, higher than -that of the Chimborazo. - -The passes across the Himalaya, leading from Hindostan into Chinese -Tartary, or rather into Western Thibet, more particularly between -the rivers of Buspa and Schipke or Langzing Khampa, are from 2400 -to 2900 toises, or 15346 to 18544 English feet. In the chain of the -Andes I found the pass of Assuay, between Quito and Cuenca on the -Ladera de Cadlud, having a similar elevation, being 2428 toises, or -15526 English feet, high. A great part of the mountain plains of the -interior of Asia would be buried throughout the year in perpetual -snow and ice, if it were not, that by the great radiation of heat -from the Thibetian plateau, by the constant serenity of the sky, by -the rarity of the formation of snow in the dry atmosphere, and by the -powerful solar heat peculiar to the eastern continental climate, the -limit of perpetual snow is wonderfully raised on the northern slope -of the Himalaya,--perhaps to 2600 toises, or 16625 English feet above -the level of the sea. Fields of barley (Hordeum hexastichon) are seen -in Kunawur up to 2300 toises, or 14707 English feet; and another -variety of barley called Ooa, and allied to Hordeum cœleste, even much -higher. Wheat succeeds extremely well in the Thibetian highlands up -to 1880 toises, or 12022 English feet. On the northern declivity of -the Himalaya, Captain Gerard found the upper limit of the higher birch -woods ascend to 2200 toises, 14068 English feet; and small bushes which -serve the inhabitants for fuel to warm their huts, attain, in the -latitude of 30-3/4° and 31° of north latitude, a height of 2650 toises -(16945 English feet), or almost 200 toises (1279 English feet) higher -than the limit of perpetual snow under the equator. From the data -hitherto collected it would follow, that we may take the lower limit of -perpetual snow on the northern side of the Himalaya, on the average, -and in round numbers, at 2600 toises, or about 16600 English feet; -whilst on the southern declivity of the Himalaya the snow-line sinks to -2030 toises, or about 13000 English feet. - -But for this remarkable distribution of temperature in the upper strata -of the atmosphere, the mountain plain of Western Thibet would be -uninhabitable to the millions who dwell there. (Compare my Examination -of the Limit of Perpetual Snow on the two declivities of the Himalaya, -in the Asie Centrale, T. ii. p. 435-437; T. iii. p. 281-326, and in -Kosmos, Engl. ed. vol. i. note 403; S. 483 of the original.) - -A letter which I have just received from India from Dr. Joseph Hooker, -who is engaged in meteorological and geological researches, as well as -those connected with the geography of plants, says: “Mr. Hodgson, who -we regard here as the geographer best acquainted with the hypsometric -relations of the snow ranges, completely recognises the correctness of -your statement in the third part of the Asie Centrale, respecting the -reason of the inequality in the height of the limit of perpetual snow -on the northern and southern declivities of the Himalaya. In the ‘trans -Sutlej region’ in 36° lat. we often saw the snow limit only commence -at an altitude of 20000 English feet, while in the passes south of the -Brahmaputra, between Assam and Burman, in 27° lat., where the most -southern Asiatic snowy mountains are situated, the limit of perpetual -snow sinks to 15000 English feet.” I believe we ought to distinguish -between the extreme and the mean heights, but in both we see manifested -in the clearest manner the formerly contested differences between the -Thibetian and the Indian declivities. - - My statements respecting the mean | Extremes according to Dr. - height of the Snow-line | Joseph Hooker’s letter. - in the Himalaya. | - (Asie Centrale, tom. iii. p. 326.) | - Paris Eng. | Paris Eng. - feet. feet. | feet. feet. - Northern declivity 15600 16626 |Northern declivity 18764 20000 - Southern „ 12180 12981 |Southern „ 14073 15000 - ----- ----- | ----- ----- - Difference 3420 3645 | Difference 4691 5000 - -The local differences vary still more, as may be seen from the list of -extremes given in my Asie Centrale, T. iii. p. 295. Alexander Gerard -saw the snow limit ascend, on the Thibetian declivity of the Himalaya, -to 19200 Parisian feet (20465 English); and on the southern Indian -declivity, Jacquemont once saw it, north of Cursali on the Jumnotri, -even as low as 10800 Parisian (11,510 English) feet. - -[11] p. 6.--“_A brown Pastoral Race, the Hiongnu._” - -The Hiongnu (Hiong-nou), who Deguignes, and with him many historians, -long considered to be the Huns, inhabited that vast region of Tartary -which is bounded on the east by Uo-leang-ho (the present Mantschu -dominion), on the south by the Chinese wall, on the west by the U-siün -territory, and on the north by the country of the Eleuthes. But the -Hiongnu belong to the Turkish, and the Huns to the Finnish or Uralian -race. The _northern_ Huns, a rude pastoral people, unacquainted -with agriculture, were dark brown (sunburnt); the southern Huns or -Haja-telah, (called by the Byzantines Euthalites or Nepthalites, -and dwelling along the eastern shore of the Caspian), had a fairer -complexion. The latter cultivated the ground, and possessed towns. -They are often called the white, or fair Huns, and d’Herbelot even -declares them to be Indo-Scythians. On Punu, the Leader or Tanju of -the Huns, and on the great drought and famine which, about 46 A.D., -caused a part of the nation to migrate northwards, (see Deguignes, -Histoire gén. des Huns, des Turcs, &c., 1756, T. i. pt. i. p. 217; pt. -ii. p. 111, 125, 223, 447.) All the accounts of the Huns taken from -the above-mentioned celebrated work have been subjected to a learned -and strict examination by Klaproth. According to the result of this -research the Hiongnu belong to the widely diffused Turkish races of the -Altai and Tangnu Mountains. The name Hiongnu, even in the third century -before the Christian era, was a general name for the Ti, Thu-kiu or -Turks, in the north and north-west of China. The southern Hiongnu -overcame the Chinese, and in conjunction with them destroyed the empire -of the northern Hiongnu. These latter fled to the west, and this flight -seems to have given the first impulse to the migration of nations in -Middle Asia. The Huns, who were long confounded with the Hiongnu, (as -the Uigures with the Ugures and the Hungarians), belonged, according -to Klaproth, to the Finnish race of the Ural mountains between Europe -and Asia, a race which was variously mingled with Germans, Turks, -and Samoieds. (Klaproth, Asia Polyglotta, p. 183 and 211; Tableaux -Historiques de l’Asie, p. 102 and 109.) The Huns (Οὖννοι) are first -named by Dionysius Perigetes, a writer who was able to obtain more -accurate information respecting the interior of Asia, because, as a -learned man born at Charax on the Arabian Gulf, Augustus had sent him -back to the East to accompany thither his adopted son Caius Agrippa. -Ptolemy, a century later, writes the word (Χοῦνοι) with a strong -aspiration, which, as St. Martin observes, is found again in the -geographical name of Chunigard. - -[12] p. 7.--“_No carved Stone._” - -On the banks of the Orinoco near Caicara where the forest region joins -the plain, we have indeed found representations of the sun, and figures -of animals, cut on the rocks: but in the Llanos themselves no traces -of these rude memorials of earlier inhabitants have been discovered. -It is to be regretted that we have not received any more complete and -certain information respecting a monument which was sent to France to -Count Maurepas, and which, according to Kalm, had been found by M. de -Verandrier in the Prairies of Canada 900 miles west of Montreal, in the -course of an expedition intended to reach the Pacific. (Kalm’s Reise, -Th. iii. S. 416.) This traveller found in the middle of the plain -enormous masses of stone, placed in an upright position by the hand of -man, and on one of them was something which was taken to be a Tartar -inscription. (Archæologia: or Miscellaneous Tracts, published by the -Society of Antiquaries of London, vol. viii., 1787, p. 304.) How is it -that so important a monument has remained unexamined? Can it really -have contained alphabetical writing? or is it not far more probably a -pictorial history, like the supposed Phœnician inscription on the bank -of the Taunton River? I consider it, however, very probable that these -plains were once traversed by civilised nations: pyramidal sepulchral -mounds, and entrenchments of extraordinary length, found in various -places between the Rocky Mountains and the Alleghanies, and on which -Squier and Davis (in the “Ancient Monuments of the Mississipi Valley”) -are now throwing a new light, appear to confirm this supposition. -(Relation Hist., T. iii. p. 155.) Verandrier had been sent on his -expedition by the Chevalier de Beauharnois, the French Governor-general -of Canada, in 1746. Several Jesuits in the city of Quebec assured -Kalm that they had themselves had the supposed inscription in their -hands: it was engraved upon a small tablet which had been let into -a pillar of cut stone, in which position it was found. I have asked -several of my friends in France to search out this monument, in case it -should really be in existence in the collection of Count Maurepas, but -without success. I find older, but equally doubtful, statements as to -the existence of alphabetical inscriptions belonging to the primitive -nations of America, in Pedro de Cieça de Leon, Chronica del Peru, P. -i. cap. 87 (losa con letras en los edificios de Vinaque); in Garcia, -Origen de los Indios, 1607, lib. iii. cap. 5, p. 258; and in Columbus’s -Journal of his first voyage, in Navarrete, Viages de los Espanoles, -T. i. p. 67. M. de Verandrier moreover affirmed, (and earlier -travellers had also thought they had observed the same thing), that -in the prairies of Western Canada, throughout entire days’ journeys, -traces of the ploughshare were discoverable; but the total ignorance -of the primitive nations of America with regard to this agricultural -implement, the want of draft cattle, and the great extent of ground -over which the supposed furrows are found,--all lead me to conjecture -that this singular appearance of a ploughed field has been produced by -some effect of water on the surface of the earth. - -[13] p. 7.--“_Like an arm of the Sea._” - -The great Steppe, which extends from east to west from the mouth of -the Orinoco to the snowy mountains of Merida, turns to the south in -the 8th degree of latitude, filling the space between the eastern -declivity of the high mountains of New Granada, and the Orinoco, the -course of which is, in this part, from south to north. This latter -portion of the Llanos, which is watered by the Meta, the Vichada, the -Zama, and the Guaviare, connects the valley of the Amazons with the -valley of the Lower Orinoco. The word Paramo, which I often employ in -these pages, signifies in Spanish America all those mountainous regions -which are elevated from 1800 to 2200 toises above the level of the -sea (11500 to 14000 English feet in round numbers), and in which an -ungenial, rough, and misty climate prevails. Hail and snow fall daily -for several hours in the upper Paramos, and furnish a beneficial supply -of moisture to the alpine plants; a supply not arising from a large -absolute quantity of aqueous vapour in these high regions, but from the -frequency of showers, (hail and snow being so termed as well as rain), -produced by the rapidly changing currents of air, and the variations of -the electric tension. The arborescent vegetation of these regions is -low and spreading, consisting chiefly of large flowering laurels and -myrtle-leaved alpine shrubs, whose knotty branches are adorned with -fresh and evergreen foliage. Escallonia tubar, Escallonia myrtilloides, -Chuquiragua insignis, Aralias, Weinmannias, Frezieras, Gualtherias, -and Andromeda reticulata, may be regarded as representatives of the -physiognomy of this vegetation. To the south of the town of Santa Fé -de Bogota is the Paramo de la Suma Paz; a lonely mountain group, in -which, according to Indian tradition, vast treasures are buried. The -torrent which flows under the remarkable natural bridge of the rocky -ravine of Icononzo rises in this Paramo. In my Latin memoir entitled -“De distributione geographica Plantarum secundem cœli temperiem et -altitudinem montium, 1817,” I have sought to characterise those -mountain regions: “Altitudine 1700-1900 hexapod. Asperrimæ solitudines, -quæ a colonis hispanis uno nomine Paramos appellantur, tempestatum -vicissitudinibus mire obnoxiæ, ad quas solutæ et emollitæ defluunt -nives; ventorum flatibus ac nimborum grandinisque jactu tumultuosa -regio, quæ æque per diem et per noctes riget, solis nubila et tristi -luce fere nunquam calefacta. Habitantur in hac ipsa altitudine sat -magnæ civitates, ut Micuipampa Peruvianorum, ubi thermometrum centes. -meridie inter 5° et 8°, noctu--0°.4 consistere vidi; Huancavelica, -propter cinnabaris venas celebrata, ubi altitudine 1835 hexap. fere -totum per annum temperies mensis Martii Parisiis.” (Humboldt de -distrib. geogr. Plant, p. 104.) - -[14] p. 8.--“_The Andes and the eastern mountains send forth detached -spurs which advance towards each other._” - -The vast region situated between the eastern coast of South America and -the eastern declivity of the Andes is narrowed by two mountain masses, -which partially divide from each other the three valleys or plains of -the Lower Orinoco, of the Amazons, and of the River Plate. The most -northern mountains, called the group of the Parime, are opposite to -the Andes of Cundinamarca which project far to the east, and assume -in the 66th and 68th degrees of longitude the form of high mountains, -connected by the narrow ridge of Pacaraima with the granite hills of -French Guiana. On the map of Columbia constructed by me from my own -astronomical observations, this connection is clearly marked. The -Caribs, who penetrated from the missions of the Caroni to the plains of -the Rio Branco, and as far as the Brazilian boundary, crossed in the -journey the ridges of Pacaraima and Quimiropaca. The second mountain -mass, which divides the valley of the Amazons from the River Plate, -is the Brazilian group. In the province of Chiquitos (west of the -Parecis range of hills), it approaches the promontory of Santa Cruz de -la Sierra. As neither the group of the Parime which causes the great -cataracts of the Orinoco, nor the Brazilian group of mountains, are -absolutely connected with the Andes, the plains of Venezuela have a -direct connection with those of Patagonia. (See my geognostical view of -South America, in Relat. Hist. T. iii. p. 188-244.) - -[15] p. 8.--“_Troops of dogs._” - -European dogs have become wild in the grassy plains or Pampas of -Buenos Ayres. They live in society, and in hollows in which they hide -their young. If the society becomes too numerous, some families detach -themselves and form new colonies. The European dog, which has become -wild, barks as loud as the original American hairy race. Garcilaso -relates, that before the arrival of the Spaniards the Peruvians had -dogs, “perros gozques.” He calls the native dog, Allco: it is called -at present in the Quichua language, to distinguish him from the -European dog, “Runa-allco,” “Indian dog” (dog of the inhabitants of -the country). The hairy Runa-allco seems to be a mere variety of the -shepherd’s dog. He is small, with long hair, (usually of an ochry -yellow, with white and brown spots,) and with upright sharp-pointed -ears. He barks a great deal, but seldom bites the natives, however -disposed to be mischievous to the whites. When the Inca Pachacutec, in -his religious wars with the Indians of Xauxa and Huanca (the present -valley of Huancaya and Jauja), conquered them, and converted them -forcibly to the worship of the sun, he found them paying divine honours -to dogs. Priests blew on the skulls of dogs, and the worshippers ate -their flesh. (Garcilaso de la Vega, Commentarios Reales, P. i. p. -184.) This veneration of dogs in the valley of Huancaya is probably -the reason why skulls and even entire mummies of dogs have been found -in the Huacas, or Peruvian graves belonging to the earliest epoch. Von -Tschudi, the author of an excellent Fauna Peruviana, has examined these -skulls, and believes them to belong to a peculiar species of dog which -he calls Canis ingæ, and which is different from the European dog. -The Huancas are still called derisively by the inhabitants of other -provinces, “dog-eaters.” Among the natives of the Rocky Mountains, -cooked dog’s flesh is set before strangers as a feast of honour. Near -Fort Laramie, (one of the stations of the Hudson’s Bay Company for the -fur trade with the Sioux Indians), Captain Frémont attended a feast of -this description. (Frémont’s Exploring Expedition, 1845, p. 42.) - -The Peruvian dogs had a singular part to play in eclipses of the moon: -they were beaten until the eclipse was over. The Mexican Techichi, a -variety of the common dog, which latter was called in Anahuac Chichi, -was completely dumb. Techichi signifies literally stone-dog, from the -Aztec, Tetl, a stone. The Techichi was eaten according to the old -Chinese fashion. The Spaniards found this food, before the introduction -of European cattle, so indispensable, that almost the whole race -was gradually extirpated. (Clavigero, Storia antica del Messico, -1780, T. i. p. 73.) Buffon confounds the Techichi with the Koupara -of Guiana. (T. xv. p. 155.) The latter is identical with the Procyon -or Ursus cancrivorus, the Raton crabier, or crab-eating Aquaraguaza -of the Patagonian coast. (Azara sur les quadrupèdes du Paraguay, T. -i. p. 315.) Linnæus, on the other hand, confounds the dumb variety -of dogs with the Mexican Itzcuintepotzotli, a kind of dog still only -imperfectly described, said to be distinguished by a short tail, a -very small head, and a large hump on the back. The name signifies -humped-dog, and is formed from the Aztec, itzcuintli (another word for -dog), and tepotzotli, humped, a humpback. I was particularly struck in -America, and especially in Quito and generally in Peru, with the great -number of black dogs without hair, called by Buffon “chiens turcs” -(Canis ægyptius, Linn.) Even among the Indians this variety is common, -but it is generally despised and ill-treated. All European breeds of -dogs perpetuate themselves very well in South America, and if the dogs -there are not so handsome as those in Europe, the reason is partly -want of care, and partly that the handsomest varieties (such as fine -greyhounds and the Danish spotted breed) have never been introduced -there. - -Herr von Tschudi makes the singular remark, that in the Cordilleras, -at elevations of 13000 feet, tender races of dogs and the European -domestic cat are exposed to a particular kind of mortal disease. -“Innumerable attempts have been made to keep cats as domestic animals -in the town of the Cerro de Pasco, 13228 French (or 14100 English) feet -above the level of the sea, but such attempts have failed, both cats -and dogs dying at the end of a few days in fits, in which the cats -were taken at first with convulsive movements, then tried to climb the -walls, fell back exhausted and motionless, and died. In Yauli I had -several opportunities of observing this chorea-like disease; it seems -to be a consequence of the absence of sufficient atmospheric pressure.” -In the Spanish colonies, the hairless dog was looked upon as of Chinese -origin, and called Perro Chinesco, or Chino. The race was supposed -to have come from Canton or from Manila: according to Klaproth, it -has certainly been extremely common in China since very early times. -Among the animals indigenous to Mexico there was an entirely hairless, -dog-like, but very large wolf, called Xoloitzcuintli (from the Mexican -xolo or xolotl, servant or slave). On American dogs, see Smith Barton’s -Fragments of the Natural History of Pennsylvania, P. i. p. 34. - -The result of Tschudi’s researches on the American indigenous races -of dogs is the following. There are two kinds almost specifically -different: 1. The Canis caraibicus of Lesson, quite without hair, -except a small bunch of white hair on the forehead and at the point of -the tail, of a slate grey colour, and silent; it was found by Columbus -in the Antilles, by Cortes in Mexico, and by Pizarro in Peru, where -it suffers from the cold of the Cordilleras, but is still abundant in -the warmer parts of the country, under the name of perros chinos. 2. -The Canis ingæ, with pointed nose and pointed ears; this kind barks: -it is now employed in the care of cattle, and shews many varieties -of colours, from being crossed with European breeds. The Canis ingæ -follows man to the high regions of the Cordilleras. In ancient Peruvian -graves his skeleton is sometimes found resting at the feet of the human -mummy. We know how often the carvers of monuments in our own middle -ages employed the figure of a dog in this position, as an emblem of -fidelity. (J. J. v. Tschudi, Untersuchungen über die Fauna Peruana, -S. 247-251.) At the very beginning of the Spanish conquests European -dogs became wild in the islands of San Domingo and Cuba. (Garcilaso, -P. i. 1723, p. 326.) In the prairies between the Meta, the Arauca, -and the Apure, voiceless dogs, (perros mudos,) were eaten in the 16th -century. Alonso de Herrara, who, in 1535, undertook an expedition -to the Orinoco, says the natives called them “Majos” or “Auries.” A -well-informed traveller, Giesecke, found the same non-barking variety -of dog in Greenland. The Esquimaux dogs pass their lives entirely -in the open air; at night they scrape holes for themselves in the -snow; they howl like wolves, in accompaniment with a dog that sits in -the middle of the circle and sets them off. In Mexico the dogs were -subjected to an operation to make them fatter and better eating. On -the borders of the province of Durango, and farther to the north on -the slave lake, the natives, formerly at least, conveyed their tents -of buffalo skins on the backs of large dogs when changing their place -of residence with the change of season. All these traits resemble the -customs of the inhabitants of eastern Asia. (Humboldt, Essai polit. T. -ii. p. 448; Relation hist. T. ii. p. 625.) - -[16] p. 8.--“_Like the greater part of the Desert of Sahara, the Llanos -are in the torrid zone._” - -Significant denominations,--particularly such as refer to the form in -relief of the earth’s surface, and which have arisen at a period when -there was only very uncertain information respecting the countries -in question and their hypsometric relations,--have led to various -and long-continued geographical errors. The ancient denomination -of the “Greater and Lesser Atlas” (Ptol. Geogr. lib. iii. cap. 1) -has exercised the prejudicial influence here alluded to. No doubt -the snow-covered western summits of the Atlas in the territory of -Morocco may be regarded as the Great Atlas of Ptolemy; but where is -the limit of the Little Atlas? Is the division into two Atlas chains, -which the conservative tendencies of geographers have preserved for -1700 years, to be still maintained in the territory of Algiers, and -even between Tunis and Tlemse? Are we to seek between the coast and -the interior for parallel chains constituting a greater and a lesser -Atlas? All travellers familiar with geognostical views, who have -visited Algeria since it has been taken possession of by the French, -contest the meaning conveyed by the generally received nomenclature. -Among the parallel chains, that of Jurjura is generally supposed to be -the highest of those which have been measured; but the well-informed -Fournel, (long Ingenieur en chef des Mines de l’Algérie), affirms -that the mountains of Aurès, near Batnah, which were still found -covered with snow at the end of March, are higher. Fournel denies the -existence of a Little and a Great Atlas, as I do that of a Little and -a Great Altai (Asie Centrale, T. i. p. 247-252). There is only one -Atlas, formerly called Dyris by the Mauritanians, and this name is to -be applied to the “foldings,” (“rides”) or succession of crests which -form the division between the waters flowing to the Mediterranean, and -those which flow towards the Sahara lowland. The strike or direction -of the Eastern Mauritanian portion of the Atlas is from east to west; -that of the elevated Atlas of Morocco from north-east to south-west. -The latter rises into summits which, according to Renou, (Exploration -Scientifique de l’Algérie de 1840 à 1842, publiée par ordre du -Gouvernement, Sciences Hist. et Geogr. T. viii. 1846, p. 364 and -373), attain an elevation of 10,700 Fr. (11400 Eng.) feet; exceeding, -therefore, the height of Etna. A singularly formed highland of an -almost square shape, (Sahab el Marga), bounded on the south by higher -elevations, is situated in 33° lat. From thence towards the sea to the -west, about a degree south of Mogador, the Atlas declines in height: -this south-westernmost part bears the name of Idrar-N-Deren. - -The northern Mauritanian boundaries of the widely extended low region -of the Sahara, as well as its southern limits towards the fertile -Soudan, are still but little known. If we take on a mean estimation the -parallels of 16-1/2° and 32-1/2° as the outside limits, we obtain for -the Desert, including its Oases, an area of more than 118500 square -German geographical miles; or between nine and ten times the area of -Germany, and almost three times that of the Mediterranean exclusive of -the Black Sea. From the best and most recent intelligence, for which -we are indebted to the French Colonel Daumas and MM. Fournel, Renou, -and Carette, we learn that the desert of Sahara is composed of several -detached basins, and that the number and the population of the fertile -Oases is very much greater than had been imagined from the awfully -desert character of the route between Insalah and Timbuctoo, and that -from Mourzouk in Fezzan, to Bilma, Tirtuma, and Lake Tschad. It is now -generally affirmed that the sand covers only the smaller portion of the -great lowland. A similar opinion had been previously propounded by the -acutely observant Ehrenberg, my Siberian travelling companion, from -what he had himself seen (Exploration Scientifique de l’Algérie, Hist. -et Geogr. T. ii. p. 332). Of larger wild animals, only gazelles, wild -asses, and ostriches are to be met with. “Le lion du désert,” says M. -Carette, (Explor. de l’Alg. T. ii. p. 126-129; T. vii. p. 94 and 97), -“est un mythe popularisé par les artistes et les poètes. Il n’existe -que dans leur imagination. Cet animal ne sort pas de sa montagne où il -trouve de quoi se loger, s’abreuver et se nourrir. Quand on parle aux -habitans du désert de ces bêtes féroces que les Européens leur donnent -pour compagnons, ils repondent avec un imperturbable sang froid, il -y a donc chez vous des lions qui boivent de l’air et broutent des -feuilles? Chez nous il faut aux lions de l’eau courante et de la chair -vive. Aussi des lions ne paraissent dans le Zahara que là où il y a des -collines boisées et de l’eau. Nous ne craignons que la vipère (lefa) et -d’innombrables essaims de moustiques, ces derniers là où il y a quelque -humidité.” - -Whereas Dr. Oudney, in the course of the long journey from Tripoli to -Lake Tschad, estimated the elevation of the southern Sahara at 1637 -English feet, to which German geographers have even ventured to add -an additional thousand feet, the Ingenieur Fournel has, by careful -barometric measurements based on corresponding observations, made -it tolerably probable that a part of the northern desert is below -the level of the sea. That portion of the desert which is now called -“le Zahara d’Algérie” advances to the chains of hills of Metlili and -el-Gaous, where the northernmost of all the Oases,--that of el-Kantara, -fruitful in dates,--is situated. This low basin, which touches the -parallel of 34° lat., receives the radiant heat of a stratum of chalk, -(full of the shells of Inoceramus), inclined at an angle of 65° towards -the south (Fournel sur les Gisemens de Muriate de Soude en Algérie, p. -6 in the Annales des Mines, 4me Série, T. ix., 1846, p. 546). “Arrivés -a Biscara,” (Biskra), says Fournel, “un horizon indéfini comme celui -de la mer se déroulait devant nous.” Between Biscara and Sidi Ocba -the ground is only 228 (243 Eng.) feet above the level of the sea. -The inclination increases considerably towards the south. In another -work, (Asie Centrale, T. ii. p. 320), where I have brought together -everything relating to the depression of some portions of continents -below the level of the sea, I have already noticed that according to -Le Père the “bitter lakes” on the isthmus of Suez, when they have a -little water,--and, according to General Andréossy, the Natron lakes of -Fayoum,--are also lower than the level of the Mediterranean. - -Among other manuscript notices of M. Fournel, I possess a vertical -geological profile, which gives all the inflexions and inclinations -of the strata, representing a section of the surface the whole way -from Philippeville on the coast to the Desert of Sahara, at a spot -not far from the Oasis of Biscara. The direction of the line on which -the barometric measurements were taken is south 20° west; but the -elevations determined are projected, as in my Mexican profiles, on a -different plane,--a north-south one. Ascending uninterruptedly from -Constantine, at an elevation of 332 toises (2122 Eng. feet), the -culminating point is found between Batnah and Tizur, at an elevation of -only 560 toises (3580 Eng. feet). In the part of the desert situated -between Biscara and Tuggurt, Fournel has had a series of Artesian -wells dug with success (Comptes Rendus de l’Acad. des Sciences, t. xx. -1845, p. 170, 882, and 1305). We learn from the old accounts of Shaw, -that the inhabitants of the country knew of a subterranean supply -of water, and relate fabulous tales of a “sea under the earth (bahr -tôht el-erd).” Fresh waters flowing between clay and marl strata of -the old cretaceous and other sedimentary deposits, under the action -of hydrostatic pressure form gushing fountains when the strata are -pierced (Shaw, Voyages dans plusieurs parties de la Berbérie, t. i. p. -169; Rennell, Africa, Append. p. lxxxv). That fresh water in this part -of the world should often be found near beds of rock salt, need not -surprise geologists acquainted with mines, since Europe offers many -analogous phenomena. - -The riches of the desert in rock-salt, and the fact of rock-salt having -been used in building, have been known since the time of Herodotus. The -salt zone of the Sahara (zone salifère du désert), is the southernmost -of three zones, stretching across Northern Africa from south-west to -north-east, and believed to be connected with the beds or deposits -of rock-salt of Sicily and Palestine, described by Friedrich Hoffman -and by Robinson. (Fournel, sur les Gisements de Muriate de Soude en -Algérie, p. 28-41; Karsten über das Vorkommen des Kochsalzes auf der -Oberfläche der Erde, 1846, S. 497, 648, and 741.) The trade in salt -with Soudan, and the possibility of cultivating dates in the Oases, -formed by depressions caused probably by falls or subsidences of -the earth in the gypsum beds of the tertiary cretaceous or keuper -promotions, have alike contributed to enliven the Desert, at least to -some extent, by human intercourse. The high temperature of the air, -which makes the day’s march so oppressive, renders the coldness of the -nights, (of which Denham complained so often in the African Desert, -and Sir Alexander Burnes in the Asiatic), so much the more striking. -Melloni, (Memoria sull’ abassamento di temperatura durante le notti -placide e serene, 1847, p. 55), ascribes this cold, produced doubtless -by the radiation from the ground, less to the great purity and serenity -of the sky, (irrigiamento calorifico per la grande serenità di cielo -nell’ immensa e deserta pianura dell’ Africa centrale), than to the -profound calm, the nightly absence of all movement in the atmosphere. -(Consult also, respecting African meteorology, Aimé in the Exploration -de l’Algérie, Physique génerale, T. ii., 1846, p. 147.) - -The southern declivity of the Atlas of Morocco sends to the Sahara, in -lat. 32°, a river, the Quad-Dra (Wady-Dra), which for the greater part -of the year is nearly dry, and which Renou (Explor. de l’Alg. Hist. -et Geogr., T. viii. p. 65-78) considers to be a sixth longer than the -Rhine. It flows at first from north to south, until, in lat. 29° N. and -long. 5° W., it turns almost at right angles to its former course, runs -to the west, and, after passing through the great fresh water Lake of -Debaid, enters the sea at Cape Nun, in lat. 28° 46′ N. and long. 11° -08′ W. This region, which was so celebrated formerly in the history -of the Portuguese discoveries of the 15th century, and was afterwards -wrapped in profound geographical obscurity, is now called on the coast -“the country of the Sheikh Beirouk,” (a chief independent of the -Emperor of Morocco.) It was explored in the months of July and August -1840, by Captain Count Bouet-Villaumez of the French Navy, by order of -his government. From the official Reports and Surveys which have been -communicated to me in manuscript, it appears evident that the mouth -of the Quad-Dra is at present very much stopped up with sand, having -an open channel of only about 190 English feet wide. A somewhat more -easterly channel in the same mouth is that of the still very little -known Saguiel el-Hamra, which comes from the south, and is supposed to -have a course of at least 600 geographical miles. One is astonished at -the length of these deep, but commonly dry river beds. They are ancient -furrows, such as I have seen in the Peruvian desert at the foot of the -Cordilleras, between those mountains and the coast of the Pacific. -In Bouet’s manuscript “Relation de l’Expédition de la Malouine,” the -mountains which rise to the north of Cape Nun are estimated at the -great elevation of 2800 metres (9185 English feet). - -Cape Nun is usually supposed to have been discovered in 1433, by the -Knight Gilianez, acting under the command of the celebrated Infante -Henry Duke of Viseo, and founder of the Academy of Sagres, which was -presided over by the pilot and cosmographer Mestre Jacomè of Majorca; -but the Portulano Mediceo, the work of a Genoese Navigator in 1351, -already contains the name of Cavo di Non. The passage round this Cape -was then as much dreaded as that of Cape Horn has since been, although -it is 23′ north of the parallel of Teneriffe, and could be reached in -a few days’ voyage from Cadiz. The Portuguese proverb, “quem passa o -Cabo di Num, ou tornarà ou não,” could not deter the Infante, whose -heraldic French motto, “talent de bien faire,” expressed his noble, -enterprising, and vigorous character. The name of the Cape, in which -a play of words on the negative particle has long been supposed, does -not appear to me to have had a Portuguese origin. Ptolemy placed on the -north-west coast of Africa a river Nuius, in the Latin version Nunii -Ostia. Edrisi speaks of a town, Nul, or Wadi Nun, somewhat more to the -south, and three days’ journey in the interior: Leo Africanus calls it -Belad de Non. Long before the Portuguese squadron of Gilianez, other -European navigators had advanced much beyond, or to the southward of, -this Cape. The Catalan, Don Jayme Ferrer, in 1346, as we learn from -the Atlas Catalan published by Buchon at Paris, had advanced as far as -the Gold River, (Rio do Ouro), in lat. 23° 56′; and Normans, at the -end of the 14th century, as far as Sierra Leone in lat. 8° 30′. The -merit of having been the first to cross the equator on the western -coast of Africa belongs, however, like that of so many other memorable -achievements, to the Portuguese. - -[17] p. 8.--“_As a grassy plain, resembling many of the Steppes of -Central Asia._” - -The Llanos of Caraccas and of the Rio Apure and the Meta, over which -roam large herds of cattle, are, in the strictest sense of the term, -“grassy plains.” Their prevalent vegetation, belonging to the two -families of Cyperaceæ and Gramineæ, consists of various species of -Paspalum, P. leptostachyum and P. lenticulare; of Kyllingia, K. -monocephala (Rottb.), K. odorata; of Panicum, P. granuliferum, P. -micranthum; of Antephora; Aristida; Vilfa; and Anthistiria, A. reflexa, -and A. foliosa. Only here and there are found, interspersed among -the Gramineæ, a few herbaceous dicotyledonous plants, consisting of -two very low-growing species of Mimosa, (Sensitive Plant), Mimosa -intermedia, and Mimosa dormiens, which are great favourites with the -wild horses and cattle. The natives give to this group of plants, which -close their delicate feathery leaves on being touched, the expressive -name of Dormideras--sleepy plants. For many square miles not a tree -is seen; but where solitary trees are found, they are, in moist -places, the Mauritia Palm; in arid districts, a Proteacea, described -by Bonpland and myself, the Rhopala complicata (Chaparro bobo), which -Wildenow regarded as an Embothrium; also the highly useful Palma de -Covija, or de Sombrero; and our Corypha inermis, an umbrella palm -allied to Chamærops, which is used to cover the roofs of huts. How far -more varied is the aspect of the Asiatic plains! Throughout a large -portion of the Kirghis and Calmuck Steppes, which I have traversed -from the Don, the Caspian, and the Orenburg Ural river the Jaik, to -the Obi and the Upper Irtysh near Lake Dsaisang, through a space of 40 -degrees of longitude, I have never seen, as in the Llanos, the Pampas, -and the Prairies, an horizon like that of the ocean, where the vault -of heaven appears to rest on the unbroken plain. At the utmost this -appearance presented itself in one direction, or towards one quarter of -the heavens. The Asiatic Steppes are often crossed by ranges of hills, -or clothed with coniferous woods or forests. Even in the most fruitful -pastures the vegetation is by no means limited to grasses; there is a -great variety of herbaceous plants and shrubs. In spring-time small -snow-white and red-flowering rosaceæ and amygdaleæ (Spiræa, Cratægus, -Prunus spinosa, and Amygdalus nana) present a smiling aspect. I have -already mentioned the tall and luxuriant Synantheræ (Saussurea amara, -S. salsa, Artemisias, and Centaureas), and of leguminous plants, -species of Astragalus, Cytisus, and Caragana. Crown Imperials, -(Fritillaria ruthenica, and F. meleagroides), Cypripedias, and tulips, -rejoice the eye by the bright variety of their colours. - -A contrast to the pleasing vegetation of these Asiatic plains is -presented by the desolate salt Steppes, particularly by the part of the -Barabinski Steppe which is at the foot of the Altai mountains, and by -the Steppes between Barnaul and the Serpent Mountain and the country -on the east of the Caspian. Here Chenopodias, some species of Salsola -and Atriplex, Salicornias and Halimocnemis crassifolia, (each species -growing “socially”), form patches of vegetation on the muddy ground. -See Göbel’s Journey in the Steppes of the South of Russia (Reise in -die Steppe des südlichen Russlands, 1838, Th. ii. S. 244 and 301). Of -the 500 phanerogamous species which Claus and Göbel collected in the -Steppes, the Syrantheræ, the Chenopodeæ, and the Cruciferæ, were more -numerous than the grasses; the latter being only 1/11 of the whole, and -the former 1/7th and 1/9th. In Germany, from the mixture of hill and -plain districts, the Glumaceæ (_i. e._ the Gramineæ, Cyperaceæ, and -Juncaceæ collectively), form 1/7th; the Synantheræ or Compositæ 1/8th; -and the Cruciferæ 1/18th of all our German phanerogamia. In the most -northern parts of the flat Siberian lowlands, the fine map of Admiral -Wrangell shews that the extreme northern limit of tree and shrub -vegetation (Coniferæ and Amentaceæ) is, in the portion towards the -Behring’s Straits side, in 67-1/4° lat.; and more to the west, towards -the banks of the Lena, in 71°, which is the parallel of the north cape -of Lapland. The plains which border the Icy Sea are the domain of -cryptogamous plants. They are called Tundras (Tuntur in Finnish): they -are swampy districts extending farther than the eye can reach, partly -covered with a thick carpet of Sphagnum palustre and other mosses, -and partly with a dry snow-white covering of Cenomyce rangiferina -(Rein-deer moss), Stereocaulon paschale, and other lichens. Admiral -Wrangell, in describing his perilous expedition to the new Siberian -islands so rich in fossil wood, says: “These Tundras accompanied me to -the extreme arctic coast. Their soil has been frozen for thousands of -years. In the dreary uniformity of landscape, the eye of the traveller, -surrounded by rein-deer moss, dwells with pleasure on the smallest -patch of green turf showing itself now and then on a moist spot.” - -[18] p. 8.--“_The causes which lessen both heat and dryness in the New -World._” - -I have tried to bring together in a brief and compendious manner the -various causes which produce greater moisture and a less degree of -heat in America; it will of course be understood that the question -respects the _general_ hygrometric state of the atmosphere, and the -temperature of the New Continent as a _whole_. Single districts, such -as the island of Margarita, the Coasts of Cumana and Coro, are as hot -and as dry as any part of Africa. It must also be remarked that the -maximum of heat at certain hours of a summer’s day has been found, -on a series of years, to be almost equal at very different parts of -the earth’s surface, on the Neva, the Senegal, the Ganges, and the -Orinoco; being approximately between 27° and 32° Reaumur (93° and 104° -Fahrenheit), and generally not higher,--providing the observation -be made in the shade, at a distance from all solid bodies which -could radiate heat to the thermometer, not in an air filled with hot -particles of dust or sand, and not with spirit thermometers, which -absorb the light. It is probably to fine grains of sand floating in -the air, and forming centres of radiant heat, that we must ascribe -the dreadful temperature of 40° to 44°.8 Reaumur (122° to 133° Fah.) -in the shade, to which my unhappy friend Ritchie, who perished there, -and Captain Lyon, were exposed for weeks in the Oasis of Mourzouk. The -most remarkable instance of very high temperature, in an air probably -free from dust, has been recorded by an observer who knew well how to -place and to correct all his instruments with the greatest degree of -accuracy. Rüppell found 37°.6 Reaumur, (110°.6 Fahrenheit,) at Ambukol -in Abyssinia, with a clouded sky, strong south-west wind, and an -approaching thunderstorm. The _mean_ annual temperature of the tropics, -or of the proper climate of palms, is, on land, between 20°.5 and -23°.8 Reaumur (or 78°.2 and 85°.5 Fahrenheit) without any considerable -difference between the observations collected in Senegal, Pondichery, -and Surinam. (Humboldt, Mémoire sur les lignes isothermes, 1817, p. 54. -Asie Centrale, T. iii. Mahlmann, Table iv.) - -The great coolness, I might almost say cold, which prevails for a -considerable part of the year within the tropics on the coast of Peru, -causing the thermometer to sink to 12° Reaumur (59° Fahrenheit), is, as -I have noticed elsewhere, by no means to be ascribed to the vicinity -of the snow-covered Andes, but rather to the fogs (garua) which veil -the solar disk, and to a _cold sea current_ which, commencing in the -antarctic regions and coming from the south-west, strikes the coast of -Chili near Valdivia and Conçeption, and thence streams rapidly along -the coast to the northward, as far as Cape Pariña. On the coast, near -Lima, the temperature of the Pacific is 12°.5 Reaumur (60°.2 Fahr.), -whilst in the same latitude out of the current it is 21° R. (79°.2 -Fahr.) It is singular that so striking a fact should have remained -unnoticed until my visit to the shores of the Pacific, in October 1802. - -The variations of temperature of different regions depend in a great -degree on the character of the bottom of the “aerial ocean,” or on -the nature of the floor or base, whether land or sea, continental -or oceanic, on which the atmosphere rests. Seas, often traversed by -currents of warmer or colder water, (oceanic rivers), have an effect -very different from that of continental masses, whether unbroken or -articulated, or of islands, which latter may be regarded as shallows in -the aerial ocean, and which, notwithstanding their small dimensions, -exert, often to a great distance, a notable influence on the climate -of the sea. In continental masses we must distinguish between sandy -deserts devoid of vegetation, savannahs or grassy plains, and -forest-covered districts. In Upper Egypt and in South America, Nouet -in the former, and myself in the latter, found respectively at noon -the temperature of the ground composed of granitic sand 54°.2 and -48°.4 Reaumur (154° and 141° Fahr.) Many careful observations in Paris -have given, according to Arago, 40° and 42° Reaumur, 122° and 126°.5 -Fahrenheit. (Asie Centrale, T. iii. p. 176.) The Savannahs, which -between the Missouri and the Mississipi are called Prairies, and which -appear in South America as the Llanos of Venezuela and the Pampas of -Buenos Ayres, are covered with small monocotyledonous plants of the -family of Cyperaceæ, and with grasses of which the thin pointed stalks -or ears, and the delicate lanceolate leaves or blades, radiate towards -the unclouded sky, and possess an extraordinary power of “emission.” -Wells and Daniell (Meteor. Essays, 1827, p. 230 and 278) have even seen -in our latitude, where the atmosphere has so much less transparency, -the thermometer sink 6°.5 or 8° of Reaumur (14°.5 or 18° Fahrenheit), -on being placed on the grass. Melloni, in a memoir, “Sull abassamento -di temperatura durante le notti placide e serene,” 1847, p. 47 and 53, -has shewn how in a calm state of the atmosphere, which is a necessary -condition of strong radiation and of the formation of dew, the cooling -of the grassy surface is also promoted by the particles of air which -are already cooled sinking to the ground as being the heaviest. In the -vicinity of the equator, under the clouded sky of the Upper Orinoco, -the Rio Negro, and the Amazons River, the plains are clothed with dense -primeval forests; but to the north and south of this wooded region -there extend from the zone of palms and lofty dicotyledonous trees, -in the northern hemisphere, the Llanos of the Lower Orinoco the Meta -and the Guaviare, and in the southern hemisphere the Pampas of the Rio -de la Plata and of Patagonia. The space thus occupied by Savannahs or -grassy plains in South America is at least nine times as great as the -area of France. - -The wooded region acts in a threefold manner in diminishing the -temperature by cooling shade, by evaporation, and by radiation. -Forests,--which in our temperate zone consist of trees living together -in “society,” _i. e._, many individuals of one, or of a few kinds, of -the families of Coniferæ or Amentaceæ, oaks, beeches, and birches, -but in the tropics, of an immense variety of trees living separately -or “unsocially,”--protect the ground from the direct rays of the sun, -evaporate fluids elaborated by the trees themselves, and cool the -strata of air in immediate contact with them by the radiation of heat -from their appendicular organs or leaves. The latter are far from being -all parallel with each other; they are, on the contrary, variously -inclined to the horizon, and, according to the law developed by Leslie -and Fourier, the influence of this inclination upon the quantity of -heat emitted by radiation is such, that the power of radiation (pouvoir -rayonnant) of a measured surface _a_, having a given oblique direction, -is equal to the “pouvoir rayonnant” which would belong to a surface of -the size of _a_, projected on a horizontal plane. Now in the initial -condition of radiation, of all the leaves which form the summit of a -tree and partly cover each other, those are first cooled which are -directed without any intervening screen towards the unclouded sky. The -cooling result (or the exhaustion of heat by emission) will be the -more considerable the greater the thinness of the leaves. A second -stratum of leaves has its upper surface turned to the under surface of -the first stratum, and will give out more heat by radiation towards -that stratum than it can receive by radiation from it. The result -of this unequal exchange will thus be a loss of temperature for the -second stratum of leaves also. A similar operation will continue from -stratum to stratum until all the leaves of the tree, by greater or -less radiation as modified by their diversity of position, have passed -into a state of stable equilibrium of which the law can be deduced by -mathematical analysis. In this manner, in the long and clear nights of -the equinoctial zone, the forest air contained in the intervals between -the strata of leaves becomes cooled by the process of radiation; and by -reason of the great quantity of its thin appendicular organs or leaves, -a tree, the horizontal section of whose summit would measure for -example 2000 square feet, would act in diminishing the temperature of -the air equivalently to a space of bare or turf-covered ground several -thousand times greater than 2000 square feet (Asie Centrale, T. iii. -p. 195-205). I have sought thus to develop in detail the complicated -effects which make up the total action of extensive forests upon the -atmosphere, because they have been so often touched upon in reference -to the important question concerning the climates of ancient Germany -and Gaul. - -As in the old continent European civilization has had its principal -seats on a western coast, it could not but be early remarked that, -under equal degrees of latitude, the opposite eastern coast of the -United States was several degrees colder in mean annual temperature -than Europe, which is, as it were, a projecting western peninsula to -Asia, as Brittany is to the rest of France. But in this remark it was -forgotten that these differences decrease from the higher to the lower -latitudes in such manner that they almost entirely disappear from 30° -downwards. For the west coast of the new continent, exact thermometric -observations are still almost entirely wanting; but the mildness of -the winters in New California shews that the west coasts of America -and Europe, under the same parallels of latitude, probably differ -little from each other in mean annual temperature. The subjoined table -shows what are the corresponding mean annual temperatures, in the same -geographical latitudes, of the west coast of Europe and the east coast -of the New Continent. - - +---------+------------+----------+------------------------+-----------------------+ - | | | | Reaumur. | Fahrenheit. | - | | | +------------+-----------+-----------+-----------+ - |Similar | East Coast |West Coast|Mean |Differences|Mean |Differences| - |degrees | of |of |temperature |of annual |temperature|of annual | - |of | America. |Europe. |of the year,|temperature|of the |temperature| - |latitude.| | |of winter, |of East |year, of |of East | - | | | |and of |coast of |winter, and|coast of | - | | | |summer. |America |of summer. |America | - | | | | |and West | |and West | - | | | | |coast of | |coast of | - | | | | |Europe. | |Europe. | - +---------+------------+----------+------------+-----------+-----------+-----------+ - | | | | -14°.4 | | -0°.5 | | - |57° 10′ | Nain | | -2°.8 ----- | | 25°.8 ----- | | - | | | | 6°.1 | | 45°.8 | | - | | | | | 9°.2 | | 20°.7 | - | | | | -0°.2 | | -31°.5 | | - |57° 41′ | |Gottenburg| 6°.4 ----- | | 46°.4 ----- | | - | | | | 13°.5 | | 62°.4 | | - +---------+------------+----------+------------------------+-----------------------+ - +---------+------------+----------+------------------------+-----------------------+ - | | | | -4°.0 | | 23°.0 | | - |47° 34′ | St. John’s | | 2°.7 ----- | | 38°.0 ----- | | - | | | | 9°.8 | | 54°.0 | | - | | | | | | | | - | | | | -0°.4 | | 31°.0 | | - |47° 30′ | |Ofen | 8°.2 ----- | 5°.8 | 50°.5 ----- |13°.0 | - | | |(or Buda) | 16°.8 | | 69°.8 | | - | | | | | | | | - | | | | 2°.6 | | 37°.8 | | - |48° 50′ | |Paris | 8°.7 ----- | | 51°.6 ----- | | - | | | | 14°.5 | | 64°.6 | | - +---------+------------+----------+------------------------+-----------------------+ - +---------+------------+----------+------------------------+-----------------------+ - | | | | -3°.5 | | 24°.2 | | - |44° 39′ |Halifax | | 5°.1 ----- | | 43°.5 ----- | | - | | | | 13°.8 | | 63°.0 | | - | | | | | 6°.1 | | 13°.7| - | | | | 4°.8 | | 42°.8 | | - |44° 50′ | |Bordeaux | 11°.2 ----- | | 57°.2 ----- | | - | | | | 17°.4 | | 71°.2 | | - +---------+------------+----------+------------------------+-----------------------+ - +---------+------------+----------+------------------------+-----------------------+ - | | | | 0°.1 | | 32°.2 | | - |40° 43′ |New York | | 9°.1 ----- | | 52°.5 ----- | | - | | | | 18°.2 | | 73°.0 | | - | | | | | | | | - | | | | 0°.1 | | 32°.2 | | - |39° 57′ |Philadelphia| | 9°.0 ----- | | 52°.2 ----- | | - | | | | 18°.1 | | 72°.8 | | - | | | | | | | | - | | | | 1°.8 | | 36°.0 | | - |38° 53′ |Washington | | 10°.2 ----- | 3°.4 | 55°.0 ----- | 8.0 | - | | | | 17°.4 | | 71°.2 | | - | | | | | | | | - | | | | 7°.8 | | 49°.5 | | - |40° 51′ | |Naples | 12°.9 ----- | | 61°.0 ----- | | - | | | | 19°.1 | | 75°.0 | | - | | | | | | | | - | | | | 9°.0 | | 52°.2 | | - |38° 52′ | |Lisbon | 13°.1 ----- | | 61°.5 ----- | | - | | | | 17°.4 | | 71°.2 | | - +---------+------------+----------+------------------------+-----------------------+ - +---------+------------+----------+------------------------+-----------------------+ - | | | | 12°.2 | | 59°.5 | | - |29° 48′ |St. Augustin| | 17°.9 ----- | | 72°.2 ----- | | - | | | | 22°.0 | | 81°.5 | | - | | | | | 0.2 | | 0°.4 | - | | | | 11°.8 | | 58°.5 | | - |30° 2′ | |Cairo | 17°.7 ----- | | 71°.8 ----- | | - | | | | 23°.4 | | 84°.7 | | - +---------+------------+----------+------------------------+-----------------------+ - -In the column of temperatures in the preceding table the first number -represents the temperature of the year; that which stands in place -of a numerator the mean winter temperature; and that which stands in -the place of a denominator the mean summer temperature. Besides the -great difference of mean annual temperature, there is also a striking -difference between the two coasts in respect to the distribution of -that temperature into the different seasons of the year, and it is -this distribution which is most influential both on our feelings and -on the processes of vegetation. Dove remarks generally, that the -summer temperature of America is lower under equal degrees of latitude -than that of Europe: (Temperatur tafeln nebst Bemerkungen über die -Verbreitung der Wärme auf der Oberfläche der Erde, 1848, S. 95.) The -climate of St. Petersburgh, (or to speak more correctly the mean annual -temperature of that city which is in lat. 59° 56′), is found on the -east coast of America in lat. 47-1/2°, or 12-1/2° more to the south; -in like manner we find the climate of Konigsberg, (lat. 54° 43′), at -Halifax, (lat. 44° 39′). The temperature of Toulouse, (lat. 43° 36′) -corresponds to that of Washington (lat. 38° 53′). - -It would be very hazardous to lay down any general statements -respecting the temperature in the territory of the United States of -America, as we must distinguish in that territory three regions:--1, -the Atlantic States east of the Alleghanies; 2, the Western States in -the wide basin between the Alleghanies and the Rocky Mountains, through -which flow the Mississipi, the Ohio, the Arkansas, and the Missouri; -3, the high plains between the Rocky Mountains, and the Maritime Alps -of New California through which the Oregon or Columbia River finds a -passage. Since the highly honourable establishment, by John Calhoun, -of uninterrupted observations of temperature, made on an uniform plan -at 35 military posts, and reduced to daily, monthly, and annual means, -we have arrived at more just climatic views than those which were so -generally received in the time of Jefferson, Barton, and Volney. These -meteorological stations or observatories extend from the point of -Florida and Thompson’s Island, (Key West), lat. 24° 33′, to the Council -Bluffs on the Missouri; and if we reckon amongst them Fort Vancouver, -lat. 45° 37′, they include differences of longitude of 40°. - -It cannot be affirmed that, on the whole, the mean annual temperature -of the second or middle region is higher than that of the first or -Atlantic region. The further advance of certain plants towards the -north, on the west of the Alleghany mountains, depends partly on the -nature of those plants, and partly on the different distribution of -the same annual quantity of heat. The wide valley of the Mississipi -enjoys at its northern and southern extremities the warming influence -of the Canadian Lakes, and of the Mexican Gulf stream. The five -lakes, (Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario), occupy a space -of 92,000 English square miles. The climate is much milder and more -equable in the neighbourhood of the lakes; for example, at Niagara, -(lat. 43° 15′), the mean winter temperature is only half a degree of -Reaumur (1°.2 Fahrenheit) below the freezing point, while at a distance -from the lakes, in lat. 44° 53′, at the confluence of the river St. -Peter’s with the Mississipi, the mean winter temperature of Fort -Snelling is -7°.2 Reaumur, or 15°.9 Fahrenheit (see Samuel Forry’s -excellent Memoir on “the Climate of the United States,” 1842, p. 37, -39, and 102.) At this distance from the Canadian Lakes, (whose surface -is from 500 to 600--530 to 640 English--feet above the level of the -sea, whilst the bottom of the lakes Michigan and Huron is about five -hundred feet below it), recent observations have shewn the climate -of the country to possess a proper continental character, _i. e._, -hotter summers and colder winters. “It is proved,” says Forry, “by -our thermometrical data, that the climate west of the Alleghany Chain -is more excessive than that of the Atlantic side.” At Fort Gibson, on -the Arkansas River which falls into the Mississipi in lat. 35° 47′, -with a mean annual temperature hardly equal to that of Gibraltar, the -thermometer in the shade, and without any reflected heat from the -ground, has been seen, in August 1834, to rise to 37°.7 Reaumur, or -117° Fahrenheit. - -The statement so often repeated, although unsupported by any -thermometric measurements, that since the first European settlements -in New England, Pennsylvania, and Virginia, the eradication of many -forests on both sides of the Alleghanies had rendered the climate more -equable, (_i. e._, milder in winter and cooler in summer), is now -generally doubted or disbelieved. Series of trustworthy thermometric -observations in the United States hardly extend so far back as 78 -years. We see in the Philadelphia observations, that from 1771 to 1824, -the mean annual temperature has hardly increased 1°.2 Reaumur, (or 2°.8 -Fahrenheit),--a difference which is attributed to the increased size of -the town, to its greater population, and to the numerous steam-engines. -The difference may possibly be merely accidental, for I find in the -same period an increase of mean winter cold, amounting to 0°.9 Reaumur, -or 2° Fahrenheit; the three other seasons had become somewhat warmer. -Three-and-thirty years’ observations at Salem in Massachusetts shew -no alteration at all: the annual means oscillate, within a degree -of Fahrenheit, about the mean of the whole number of years; and the -winters of Salem, instead of having become milder, as supposed from the -destruction of the forests in the course of the thirty-three years, -have become colder by 1°.8 Reaumur, or 4° Fahrenheit. (Forry, p. 97, -101, and 107.) - -As the east coast of the United States is comparable in respect to -mean annual temperature in equal latitudes to the Siberian and Chinese -coasts of the old continent, so also the west coasts of Europe and -America have been very properly compared together. I will only take -a few examples from the western region on the shores of the Pacific, -for two of which (Sitka in Russian America, and Fort George, in the -same latitudes respectively as Gottenburg and Geneva) I am indebted -to Admiral Lütke’s voyage of circumnavigation. Iluluk and Danzig are -nearly on the same parallel, and although the mean temperature of -Iluluk, owing to its insular climate and to a cold sea-current, is -somewhat lower than that of Danzig, yet the winter temperature of the -American station is milder than that of the port on the Baltic. - - +-----------+---------+------------------+-------------+-------------+ - | |Latitude.| Longitude. | Reaumur. | Fahrenheit.| - | +---------+------------------+-------------+-------------+ - | | | | 0°.6 | 33°.4| - |Sitka | 57° 3′ | 135° 16′ W. |5°.6 ----- | 44°.5 -----| - | | | | 10°.2 | 55°.0| - | | | | | | - | | | | -0°.2 | 31°.5| - |Gottenburg | 57° 41′ | 11° 59′ E. |6°.4 ----- | 46°.4 -----| - | | | | 13°.5 | 62°.4| - | | | | | | - | | | | 2°.6 | 37°.9| - |Fort George| 46° 18′ | 122° 58′ W. |8°.1 ----- | 50°.3 -----| - | | | | 12°.4 | 60°.0| - | | | | | | - | | | | 0°.7 | 33°.6| - |Geneva | 46° 12′ |(Alt. 1298 E. ft.)|7°.9 ----- | 49°.8 -----| - | | | | 14°.0 | 63°.5| - | | | | | | - | | | | -3°.1 | 25°.0| - |Kherson | 46° 38′ | 32° 39′ E. |9°.4 ----- | 53°.2 -----| - | | | | 17°.3 | 71°.0| - +-----------+---------+------------------+-------------+-------------+ - -Snow is hardly ever seen on the banks of the Oregon or Columbia river, -and ice on the river lasts only a very few days. The lowest temperature -which Mr. Ball once observed there in the winter of 1833 was 6-1/2° of -Reaumur below the freezing point, or 17.4° Fahrenheit (Message from the -President of the United States to Congress, 1844, p. 160; and Forry, -Clim. of the U. States, p. 49, 67, and 73). A cursory glance at the -summer and winter temperatures above given, shews that on and near the -west coast, a true insular climate prevails. The winter cold is less -than in the western parts of the old continent, and the summers are -much cooler. The most striking contrast is presented by comparing the -mouth of the Oregon with Forts Snelling and Howard, and the Council -Bluffs, in the interior of the Mississipi and Missouri basin (Lat. -44°-46°),--where, to speak in the language of Buffon, we find an -_excessive_, or true _continental_ climate,--a winter cold, on single -days, of -28°.4 and -30°.6 Reaumur (-32° and -37° Fahr.), followed by -mean summer temperatures of 16°.8 and 17°.5 Reaumur (69° and 71°.4 -Fahr.) - -[19] p. 10.--“_As if America had emerged later from the chaotic watery -covering._” - -An acute enquirer into nature, Benjamin Smith Barton, said long since -with great truth, (Fragments of the Natural History of Pennsylvania, -P. i. p. 4), “I cannot but deem it a puerile supposition, unsupported -by the evidence of nature, that a great part of America has probably -later emerged from the bosom of the ocean than the other continents.” -The same subject was touched on by myself in a memoir on the primitive -nations of America (Neue Berlinische Monatschrift, Bd. xv. 1806, S. -190). “Writers generally and justly praised have repeated but too -often that America is in every sense of the word a New Continent. Her -luxuriance of vegetation, the abundant waters of her enormous rivers, -the unrepose of her powerful volcanoes, all (say they) proclaim that -the still trembling earth, from the face of which the waters have -not yet dried off, is here nearer to the chaotic primordial state -than in the Old Continent. Such ideas appeared to me, long before I -commenced my travels, alike unphilosophical and contrary to generally -acknowledged physical laws. Fantastic images of terrestrial youth, -and unrepose associated on the one hand,--and on the other, those -of increasing dryness, and inertia in maturer age,--could only have -presented themselves to minds more inclined to draw ingenious or -striking contrasts between the two hemispheres, than to strive to -comprehend, in one general view, the construction of the entire globe. -Are we to regard the south of Italy as more modern than its northern -portions, because the former is almost incessantly disquieted by -earthquakes and volcanic eruptions? Besides, what small phenomena -are the volcanoes and earthquakes of the present day, in comparison -with those revolutions of nature which the geologist must suppose to -have accompanied, in the chaotic state of the earth, the elevation, -solidification, disruptions, and cleavings of the mountain masses? -Diversity of causes must produce diversity in the operations of natural -forces, in countries remote as well as near. Perhaps the volcanoes of -the new continent, (of which I still reckon above 28 in a state of -activity), have only continued to burn longer than others, because -the lofty mountain ridges, on which they have broken forth in rows -or series above long subterranean fissures, are nearer to the sea, -and because this proximity seems, with a few exceptions, to affect -the energy of the subterranean fires in some way not yet sufficiently -explained. Besides, both earthquakes and fire-emitting mountains have -periods of activity alternating with periods of repose. At the present -moment,” (I wrote thus 42 years ago!) “physical disquiet and political -calm reign in the New Continent, while in the Old the desolating strife -of nations disturbs the enjoyment of the repose of nature. Perhaps -a time is coming when, in this singular contrast between physical -and moral forces, the two sides of the Atlantic will change parts. -Volcanoes are quiescent for centuries before they burst forth anew; -and the idea that in the so-called older countries, a certain peace -must prevail in nature, is founded on a mere play of the imagination. -There exists no reason for assuming one entire side of our planet to -be older or newer than the other. Islands are indeed raised from the -bed of the ocean by volcanic action, and gradually heightened by coral -animals, as the Azores and many low flat islands of the Pacific; and -these may indeed be said to be newer than many Plutonic formations of -the European central chain. A small district of the earth, surrounded, -like Bohemia and Kashmeer, (and like many of the vallies in the Moon), -by annular mountains, may, by partial inundations, be long covered -with water; and after the flowing off of this lake or inland sea, -the ground on which vegetation begins gradually to establish itself -might be said, figuratively, to be of recent origin. Islands have -become connected with each other by the elevation of fresh masses of -land; and parts of the previously dry land have been submerged by the -subsidence of the oscillating ground; but submersions so general as -to embrace a hemisphere, can, from hydrostatic laws, only be imagined -as extending at the same time over all parts of the earth. The sea -cannot permanently overflow the boundless plains of the Orinoco and the -Amazons, without also overwhelming the plains adjoining the Baltic. The -sequence and identity of the sedimentary strata, and of the organic -remains of plants and animals belonging to the ancient world enclosed -in those strata, shew that several great depositions have taken place -almost simultaneously over the entire globe.” (For the fossil vegetable -remains in the coal formation in North America and in Europe, compare -Adolph Brongniart, Prodrome d’une Hist. des Végétaux Fossiles, p. 179; -and Charles Lyell’s Travels in North America, vol. ii. p. 20). - -[20] p. 10.--“_The Southern Hemisphere is cooler and moister than our -Northern half of the globe._” - -Chili, Buenos Ayres, and the southern parts of Brazil and Peru, have -all, as a result of the narrowness of the continent of South America -as it tapers towards the south, a true “insular climate;” or a climate -of cool summers and mild winters. As far as the 48th or 50th parallel -of latitude this character of the Southern Hemisphere may be regarded -as an advantage, but farther on towards the Antarctic Pole, South -America gradually becomes an inhospitable wilderness. The difference of -latitude of the southern terminating points of Australia, (including -Van Diemen Island), of Africa, and of America,--gives to each of these -continents a peculiar character. The Straits of Magellan are between -the 53d and 54th degrees of latitude, and yet in December and January, -when the sun is 18 hours above the horizon, the temperature sinks to 4° -Reaumur, or 41° Fahrenheit. Snow falls almost daily, and the highest -atmospheric temperature observed by Churruca (1788) in December, (the -summer of those regions), was not above 9° R., or 52°.2 Fahr. The Cabo -Pilar, whose towering rock, though only 218 toises, or 1394 English -feet high, may be regarded as the southern termination of the chain -of the Andes, is almost in the same latitude as Berlin. (Relacion del -Viage al Estrecho de Magallanes, apendice, 1793, p. 76.) - -While in the Northern Hemisphere all the continents attain a sort of -mean limit towards the Pole, coinciding pretty regularly with the -parallel of 70° the terminating points in the Southern Hemisphere,--of -America, in the deeply indented and intersected Tierra del Fuego,--of -Australia,--and of Africa,--are respectively 34°, 46-1/2°, and 56° -distant from the south pole. The temperature of the very unequal -extents of ocean, which divide these southern points from the icy pole, -contributes very materially to modify their climates. The areas of dry -land in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres are to each other in the -proportion of 3 to 1. But this inferiority in extent of continental -masses in the Southern Hemisphere, as compared with the Northern, -belongs much more to the temperate than to the torrid zone. In the -temperate zones of the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the ratio -is as 13 to 1; in the torrid zones as 5 to 4. The great inequality in -the distribution of the dry land exercises a very sensible influence -on the strength of the ascending aerial current which turns towards -the southern pole, and on the temperature of the Southern Hemisphere. -Some of the noblest forms of tropical vegetation, for example the -tree-ferns, advance south of the equator as far as the parallels of -46°, and of even 53°; whereas north of the equator they are not found -beyond the tropic of Cancer. (Robert Brown, Appendix to Flinders’ -Voyage, p. 575 and 584; Humboldt, de distributione geographica -Plantarum, p. 81-85.) Tree-ferns thrive extremely well at Hobart Town -in Van Diemen Island, (lat. 42° 53′), where the mean annual temperature -is 9° Reaumur, or 52°.2 Fahrenheit, and is therefore 1°.6 Reaumur, or -3°.6 Fahrenheit, less than that of Toulon. Rome is almost a degree of -latitude farther from the equator than Hobart Town, and has an annual -temperature of 12°.3 R., or 59°.8 Fahr.;--a winter temperature of 6°.5 -R., or 46°.4 Fahr.,--and a summer temperature of 24° R., or 86° Fahr.; -these three values being in Hobart Town 8°.9, 4°.5, and 13°.8 R., or -52°.0, 42°.2, and 63°.0 Fahr. In Dusky Bay, New Zealand, tree-ferns -grow in S. lat. 46° 8′, and in the Auckland and Campbell Islands, even -in 53° S. lat. (Jos. Hooker, Flora Antarctica, 1844, p. 107.) - -In the Archipelago of Tierra del Fuego,--where, in the same latitude -as Dublin, the mean winter temperature is 0°.4 Reaumur, (33° Fah.) and -the mean summer temperature only 8° R., or 50° Fahr.,--Captain King -found the “vegetation thriving most luxuriantly in large woody-stemmed -trees of Fuchsia and Veronica”; while this vigour of vegetation, -which, especially on the western coast of America in 38° and 40° of -south latitude, is so picturesquely described by Charles Darwin, -suddenly disappears south of Cape Horn, on the rocks of the Southern -Orkney and Shetland Islands, and of the Sandwich Archipelago. These -Islands, but scantily covered with grass, moss, and lichens, “Terres de -Désolation,” as the French navigators call them, are still far north -of the Antarctic Circle; whereas in the Northern Hemisphere in 70° of -latitude, at the extremity of Scandinavia, fir-trees attain a height -of between 60 and 70 English feet. (Compare Darwin in the “Journal of -Researches,” 1845, p. 244, with King in vol. i. of the Narrative of the -Voyages of the Adventure and Beagle, p. 577.) If we compare Tierra del -Fuego, and particularly Port Famine in the Straits of Magellan in lat. -53° 38′, with Berlin, which is one degree nearer the equator, we find -for - - Berlin 6°.8, -0°.5/13°.9 R., 47°.2, 30°.8/63°.2 Fahr.; and for - - Port Famine 4°.7, 1°.2/8°.0 R., 42°.6, 34°.8/50°.0 Fahr. - -I subjoin in one view the few well-assured temperature data which we at -present possess, for the lands of the temperate zone in the Southern -Hemisphere, and which may be compared with the temperatures of the -Northern Hemisphere, in most parts of which the distribution into -summer heat and winter cold is so different and so much less equable. I -employ the convenient method of notation before used and explained in -pages 129-131. - - +---------------------+---------+------------------------------+ - | | | Mean Annual, Winter, | - | Place. | South | and Summer Temperature. | - | | |---------------+--------------+ - | |Latitude.| Reaumur.| Fahrenheit.| - +---------------------+---------+---------------+--------------+ - |Sidney and Paramatta | | 10°.0 | 54°.5 | - | (New Holland.) | 33°.50′ |14°.5 ----- |64°.5 ----- | - | | | 20°.2 | 77°.5 | - | | | | | - | | | 11°.8 | 58°.5 | - |Cape Town (Africa.) | 33°.55′ |15°.0 ----- |65°.7 ----- | - | | | 18°.3 | 73°.3 | - | | | | | - | | | 9°.1 | 52°.5 | - |Buenos Ayres | 34°.17′ |13°.5 ----- |62°.4 ----- | - | | | 18°.2 | 73°.0 | - | | | | | - | | | 11°.3 | 57°.3 | - |Monte Video | 34°.54′ |15°.5 -----(?)|66°.8 ----- | - | | | 20°.2 | 77°.5 | - | | | | | - |Hobart Town (Van | | 4°.5 | 42°.2 | - | Diemen Island.) | 42°.45′ | 9°.1 ----- |52°.5 ----- | - | | | 13°.8 | 63°.0 | - | | | | | - |Port Famine (Straits | | 1°.2 | 34°.8 | - | of Magellan.) | 53°.38′ | 4°.7 ----- |42°.6 ----- | - | | | 8°.0 | 50°.0 | - +---------------------+---------+---------------+--------------+ - - -[21] p. 11.--“_A connected Sea of Sand._” - -As the Heaths formed of socially growing Ericeæ, which stretch from -the mouth of the Scheldt to that of the Elbe and from the point of -Jutland to the Harz, may be regarded as one connected _tract of -vegetation_,--so the seas of sand may be traced through Africa and -Asia, from Cape Blanco to beyond the Indus, or through an extent of -5600 geographical miles. Herodotus’s Sandy Region interrupted by Oases, -called by the Arabs the Desert of Sahara, traverses almost the whole of -Africa, which it intersects like a dried-up arm of the sea. The valley -of the Nile is the eastern limit of the Lybian Desert. Beyond the -Isthmus of Suez, beyond the porphyritic, syenitic, and basaltic rocks -of Sinai, begins the Desert mountain plateau of Nedjid, which occupies -the whole of the interior of the Arabian Peninsula, and is bounded to -the west and south by the fertile and happier coast lands of Hedjaz -and Hadhramaut. The Euphrates bounds the Arabian and Syrian Deserts -towards the east. Immense seas of sand, (bejaban), cross Persia from -the Caspian to the Indian Sea. Among them are the salt and soda Deserts -of Kerman, Seistan, Beloochistan, and Mekran. The latter is separated -from the Desert of Moultan by the Indus. - -[22] p. 11.--“_The western part of the Atlas._” - -The question respecting the position of the ancient Atlas has been -much discussed in modern times, but the oldest Phœnician legends have -been confounded in this discussion with the later fables of the Greeks -and the Romans. A man who combined deep philological with thorough -mathematical and astronomical knowledge, Professor Ideler, (the -father,) was the first person who explained and dispelled the confusion -of ideas which had previously existed on this subject. I permit myself -to introduce here the remarks that clear-sighted and highly-informed -writer has communicated to me on this important subject. - -“At a very early period of the world the Phœnicians ventured beyond the -Straits of Gibraltar. They built Gades and Tartessus on the Spanish, -and Lixus and several other towns on the Mauritanian coasts of the -Atlantic. They sailed along those coasts northwards to the Cassiterides -where they obtained tin, and to the Prussian coast from whence they -brought amber; and southwards, past Madeira, to the Cape de Verde -Islands. They visited, among other places, the Canaries, and were -struck by the appearance of the lofty Peak of Teneriffe, enhanced by -its rising immediately from the sea. Through the colonies which they -sent to Greece, and especially through that which came under Cadmus -to Bœotia, the notice of this mountain rising high above the region -of clouds, and of the “Fortunate Islands,” adorned with fruits of -every kind, and especially with the golden orange, spread into Greece. -Here the tradition was propagated by the songs of the bards, and thus -reached Homer. He speaks in the Odyssey (i. 52) of an “Atlas who knows -all the depths of the sea, and who supports the great pillars which -divide heaven and earth from each other.” He speaks, too, in the -Iliad, of the Elysian fields, which he describes as a lovely land in -the west. (Il. iv. 561.) Hesiod expresses himself in a similar manner -respecting Atlas, who he makes a neighbour of the nymphs the daughters -of Hesperus. (Theog. V. 517.) He calls the Elysian fields, which he -places at the western limit of the earth, the islands of the Blest. -(Op. et dies, v. 167.) Later poets have added further embellishments to -these myths of Atlas, of the Hesperides, their golden apples, and the -Islands of the Blest, assigned as the dwelling-place of the virtuous -after death; and have combined with them the expeditions of the Tyrian -god of trade, Melicertes (the Grecian Hercules). - -“The Greeks only began at a very late date to rival the Phœnicians and -Carthaginians in navigation. They visited the coasts of the Atlantic -it is true, but never appear to have penetrated far into the ocean. I -doubt whether they ever saw the Canaries and the Peak of Teneriffe. -They believed that Atlas, which their poets and legends described as a -very high mountain placed at the western limit of the earth, must be -sought on the west coast of Africa. It was placed there also by their -later geographers, Strabo, Ptolemy, and others. As there is not any -single mountain distinguished by its elevation in north-western Africa, -the true situation of Mount Atlas has been a subject of perplexity; and -it has been sought, sometimes on the coast, sometimes in the interior, -sometimes near the Mediterranean, and sometimes further towards the -south. It became the custom (in the first century of our era, when the -Roman arms penetrated into the interior of Mauritania and Numidia,) to -give the name of Atlas to the African chain of mountains which runs -from west to east almost parallel with the coast of the Mediterranean. -Pliny and Solinus were, however, very sensible that the descriptions -of Mount Atlas given by the Greek and Roman poets were not applicable -to this long mountain chain; and they therefore thought it necessary -to transfer the Atlas, of which they gave a picturesque description in -accordance with the poetic legends, to the terra incognita of Central -Africa. According to what has been said, the Atlas of Homer and Hesiod -can only be the Peak of Teneriffe; and the Atlas of the Greek and Roman -geographers must be in Northern Africa.” - -I will only add the following remarks to this instructive discussion -by Professor Ideler. According to Pliny and Solinus, Atlas rises from -a sandy plain (e medio arenarum); and elephants (which certainly were -never known in Teneriffe) feed on its declivity. What we now term -Atlas is a long ridge. How came the Romans to recognise in this long -ridge the isolated conical mountain of Herodotus? May not the reason -be found in the optical delusion by which every mountain chain seen in -profile, in the prolongation of its direction, has the appearance of a -narrow cone? I have often seen in this manner, from the sea, the ends -of long chains or ridges, which might be taken for isolated mountains. -According to Höst the Atlas is covered near Morocco with perpetual -snow, which implies an elevation of above 1800 toises, or 11510 English -feet. It is also remarkable that, according to Pliny, the “Barbarians,” -_i. e._ the ancient Mauritanians, called the Atlas “Dyris.” The chain -of the Atlas is still called by the Arabs Daran, a word which has -almost the same consonants as Dyris. Hornius, on the other hand (de -Originibus Americanorum, p. 195), thinks that he recognises the word -Dyris in the Guanche name of the Peak of Teneriffe, Aya-Dyrma. On the -connection between purely mythical ideas and geographical traditions, -and on the way in which the Titan Atlas gave occasion to the image of -a mountain supporting the heavens, beyond the Pillars of Hercules, see -Letronne’s “Essai sur les Idées cosmographiques qui se rattachent au -nom d’Atlas,” in Férussac’s Bulletin universel des Sciences, Mars 1831, -p. 10. - -Considering that our present (it is true, very limited) geological -knowledge of the mountainous parts of North Africa does not make us -acquainted with any trace of volcanic eruptions within historic times, -it is very remarkable to find among the ancients so many indications -of a belief in the existence of this class of phenomena, in the -Western Atlas, and in the neighbouring west coast of the continent. -The streams of fire, so often mentioned in Hanno’s ship-journal, may -indeed have only been strips of burning grass, or signal fires kindled -by the wild inhabitants of the coasts to give to each other notice of -the danger threatened by the appearance of the hostile vessels. The -lofty flame-enlightened summit of the “chariot of the gods” (θεῶν -ὅχημα), may recall obscurely the Peak of Teneriffe; but farther on -Hanno describes a singular conformation of ground. He finds in the -Gulf near the Western Horn, a large island, and in it a salt lake -which again contains a smaller island. South of the bay of the Gorilla -Apes, the same conformation is repeated. Is this a description of -coral productions, of “lagoon islands, (Atolls)” or volcanic “crater -lakes” in the middle of which a cone has been upheaved? The Triton -lake was not in the neighbourhood of the lesser Syrtis, but near the -Atlantic coast. (Asie Cent. T. i. p. 179.) The lake disappeared in -consequence of earthquakes which were accompanied by great outbursts -of fire. Diodorus (Lib. iii. 53, 55) says expressly, πυρὸς ἐκφυσήματα -μεγάλα. But the most wonderful conformation is ascribed to the “hollow -Atlas” in a passage hitherto little noticed, occurring in one of the -philosophic Dialexes of Maximus Tyrius. This Platonic philosopher -lived in Rome, under Commodus. The situation of his Atlas is “on the -continent, where the Western Lybians inhabit a projecting peninsula. -The mountain has in it towards the sea a semicircular deep abyss.” -The precipices are so steep that they cannot be descended; the abyss -below is filled with trees, and “one looks down upon their summits, -and on the fruits which they bear, as if one was looking into a well.” -(Maximus Tyrius, viii., 7, ed. Markland.) The description is so graphic -and so individually marked, that it doubtless conveys the recollections -impressed by a real prospect. - -[23] p. 11.--“_The Mountains of the Moon, Djebel al Komr._” - -The Mountains of the Moon of Ptolemy (Lib. iv. cap. 9,) (σελήνης -ὅρος) form on our older maps an immense uninterrupted mountain zone, -traversing Africa from east to west. The existence of these mountains -appears certain; but their extent, their distance from the Equator, -and their general direction, are all unsolved problems. I have already -alluded in another work, (Cosmos, vol. ii. p. 191, and note 297, -Engl. ed.) to the manner in which a closer acquaintance with Indian -languages, and with the ancient Persian idiom, the Zend, teaches us -that part of the geographical nomenclature of Ptolemy forms an historic -monument of the commercial connection of the west with the most distant -regions of Southern Asia and Eastern Africa. The same direction of -ideas shews itself in a question very recently brought forward. It is -asked, whether the great geographer and astronomer of Pelusium meant -in the name of “Mountains of the Moon,” as in that of the “Island -of Barley” (Jabadiu, Java), merely to give the Greek translation of -a native name;--whether (as is most probable) El Istachri, Edrisi, -Ibn-al-Vardi, and other early Arabian geographers, only transferred -the nomenclature of Ptolemy into their own language;--or whether they -were misled by similarity in the sound of the words and the manner of -writing. In the notes to the translation of Abd-Allatif’s celebrated -description of Egypt, my great instructor, Silvestre de Sacy, (éd. de -1810, p. 7 and 353,) says expressly: “On traduit ordinairement le nom -de ces montagnes que Léon Africain regarde comme les sources du Nil, -par _montagnes de la lune_, et j’ai suivi cet usage. Je ne sais si les -Arabes ont pris originairement cette dénomination de Ptolémée. On peut -croire qu’ils entendent effectivement aujourd’hui le mot قمر dans le -sens de la _lune_ en le prononçant ‘Kamar’; je ne crois pas cependant -que ç’ait été l’opinion des anciens écrivains arabes qui prononcent, -comme le prouve Makrizi, Komr. Aboulféda rejette positivement l’opinion -de ceux qui prononcent kamar, et qui dérivent ce nom de celui de la -lune. Comme le mot komr, considéré comme pluriel de اقمر, signifie un -objet d’une _couleur verdâtre_ ou d’un blanc sale, suivant l’auteur du -Kamous, il paroit que quelques écrivains ont cru que cette montagne -tiroit son nom de sa couleur.” - -The learned Reinaud, in his recent excellent translation of Abulfeda -(T. ii., P. i., p. 81-82), considers it probable that the Ptolemaic -interpretation of the name, by “Mountains of the Moon” (ὅρη σεληναῖα), -was that originally adopted by the Arabian writers. He remarks that in -the Moschtarek of Yakut, and in Ibn-Said, the mountains are written -al-Komr, and that Yakut writes in the same way the name of the island -of Zendj (Zanguebar). The Abyssinian traveller Beke, in his learned -critical memoir on the Nile and its tributaries (Journal of the Royal -Geographical Society of London, vol. xvii. 1847, p. 74-76), seeks to -prove that Ptolemy had merely formed his σελήνης ὅρος from a native -name, for which he was indebted to intelligence received through the -medium of the extensive commercial intercourse which prevailed. He -says, “Ptolemy knew that the Nile rises in the mountainous country -of Moezi; and in the languages which extend over a great portion of -South Africa (for example, in the languages of Congo, Monjou, and -Mozambique), the word Moezi signifies the moon. A great south-western -country was called Mono-Muezi, or Mani-Moezi, _i. e._ the land of the -king of Moezi (of the king of the Moon country), for in the same family -of languages in which Moezi or Muezi signifies the Moon, Mono or Mani -signifies a king. Alvarez, in the Viaggio nella Ethiopia (Ramusio, vol. -i, p. 249,) speaks of the ‘regne di Manicongo,’ the kingdom of the king -of Congo.” Beke’s opponent, Ayrton, seeks the origin of the White Nile -(Bahr el Abiad), not as do Arnaud, Werne, and Beke, near the equator, -or even south of it (and in 29° E. long. from Paris, or 31° 22′ from -Greenwich), but with Antoine d’Abbadie far to the north-east, in the -Godjeb and Gibbe of Eneara (Iniara); therefore in the high mountains -of Habesch, in 7° 20′ N. latitude, and 33° E. long. from Paris, or 35° -22′ from Greenwich. He conjectures that the Arabs, from a similarity -of sound, may have interpreted the native name Gamaro belonging to the -Abyssinian mountains, in the south-west of Gaka in which the Godjeb (or -White Nile?) has its source, to mean Moon Mountains (Djebel al-Kamar); -so that Ptolemy himself, familiar with the intercourse between -Abyssinia and the Indian Ocean, may have taken the Semitic version, -given by early Arab immigrants. (Compare Ayrton in the Journal of the -Royal Geogr. Soc. vol. xviii. 1848, p. 53, 55, and 59-63, with Fred. -Werne’s instructive expedition for the discovery of the sources of the -Nile, Exped. zur Entd. der Nil-Quellen, 1848, S. 534-536.) - -The lively interest which has again been excited in England for the -discovery of the most southern sources of the Nile, induced the -above-named Abyssinian traveller, Charles Beke, at the recent meeting -of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, held at -Swansea, August 1848, to develop more in detail his ideas respecting -the connection between the Mountains of the Moon and the Mountains of -Habesch. He says:--“The Abyssinian elevated plain, generally above 8000 -feet high, extends towards the south to nearly 9° or 10° N. latitude. -The eastern declivity of the highlands has to the inhabitants of the -coast the appearance of a mountain chain. The plateau at its southern -extremity passes into the Mountains of the Moon, which run, not east -and west, but parallel to the coast, or from NNE. to SSW.; extending -from 10° N. to 5° S. latitude. The sources of the White Nile are -situated in the Mono-Moezi country, probably in 2-1/2° S., not far from -where the river Sabaki, on the eastern side of the Mountains of the -Moon, falls into the Indian Ocean near Melindeh, north of Mombaza. Last -autumn (1847) the two Abyssinian missionaries Rebmann and Krapf were -still on the coast of Mombaza. They have established in the vicinity, -among the Wakamba tribe, a missionary station called Rabbay Empie, -which promises to be very useful also for geographical discovery. -Families belonging to the Wakamba tribe have advanced to the west five -or six hundred miles into the interior of the country, as far as the -upper course of the river Lusidji, the great lake Nyassi or Zambeze -(5° S. lat.?), and the sources of the Nile which are not far distant. -An expedition to these sources, which Herr Friedrich Bialloblotzky, -of Hanover, is preparing to undertake, (by the advice of Beke), is to -set out from Mombaza. The Nile coming from the west referred to by the -ancients is probably the Bahr-el-Ghazal, or Keilah, which falls into -the Nile in 9° N. lat., above the mouth of the Godjeb or Sobat.” - -Russegger’s scientific expedition,--which by Mehemet Ali’s desire -was sent to the gold-washings of Fazokl on the Blue (Green) Nile, -Bahr-el-Azrek, in 1837 and 1838,--had made the existence of the -“Mountains of the Moon” appear very doubtful. The Blue Nile, the -Astapus of Ptolemy, issuing from the lake of Coloe (now called lake -Tzana) winds from amongst the colossal Abyssinian mountains; but -towards the south-west an extensive low tract of country appears. The -three exploring expeditions sent by the Egyptian government, (one in -November 1839 from Chartum to the confluence of the Blue and the White -Nile, under the command of Selim Bimbashi; another in the autumn of -1840, which was accompanied by the French engineers Arnaud, Sabatier, -and Thibaud; and a third in August 1841), first unveiled the high -mountains which, between the parallels of 6°-4°, and probably still -farther to the south, run at first from west to east, and afterwards -from north-west to south-east, and approach the left bank of the -Bahr-el-Abiad. The second of Mehemet Ali’s expeditions first saw the -mountain chain, according to Werne’s account, in lat. 11-1/3° where -Gebel Abul and Gebel Kutak rise to 3400 (3623 Eng.) feet. The high land -continued and approached nearer to the river more to the south, between -4-3/4° lat., to the parallel of the island of Tschenker in 4° 4′, where -the expedition of Commander Selim and Feizulla Effendi terminated. The -shallow river makes its way between rocks, and detached mountains rise -again in the country of Bari to 3000 (3197 Eng.) feet. These probably -belong to the Mountains of the Moon as represented in our most recent -maps, although they are not indeed mountains covered with perpetual -snow such as Ptolemy had described (lib. iv. cap. 9). The limit of -perpetual snow in these latitudes would not certainly be found below -an elevation of 14500 (15450 Eng.) feet. Perhaps Ptolemy transferred -to the country of the sources of the White Nile the knowledge which -he may have had of the high mountains of Habesch, which are nearer to -Upper Egypt and to the Red Sea. In Godiam, Kaffa, Miecha, and Sami, -the Abyssinian mountains rise to 10000 and 14000 (10657 and 14920 -Eng.) feet, according to exact measurements; not according to Bruce, -who gives the elevation of Chartum exceedingly wide of the truth, -_i. e._, 4730 (5041 Eng.) feet, instead of 1430 (1524 Eng.) feet! -Rüppell, one of the most accurate observers of the present day, found -Abba Jaret, in 13° 10′ of latitude, only 66 (70 Eng.) feet lower than -Mont Blanc. (Compare Rüppell, Reise in Abyssinien, Bd. i. S. 414, and -Bd. ii. S. 443). Rüppell found, adjoining the Buahat, an elevated -plain 13080 (13939 Eng.) feet above the Red Sea, barely covered with -a small quantity of fresh fallen snow (Humboldt, Asie Centrale, T. -iii. p. 272). The celebrated inscription of Adulis, which Niebuhr -considers to be somewhat later than Juba and than Augustus, also speaks -of Abyssinian snow “that reaches to the knees.” This is, I believe, -the earliest mention in antiquity of snow within the tropics (Asie -Centrale, T. iii. p. 235); as the Paropanisus is 12° of latitude north -of the northern limit of the torrid zone. - -Zimmermann’s map of the countries about the Upper Nile shews the -dividing line which determines the basin of the Great River, and -separates it on the south-east from the domain of the rivers which flow -into the Indian Ocean;--that is to say, from the Doara, which enters -the sea north of Magadoxo; from the Teb, which has its embouchure -on the Amber coast, near Ogda; and from the Goschop, whose abundant -stream is formed by the confluence of the Gibu and the Zebi, and which -he distinguishes from the Godjeb, rendered celebrated since 1839 by -Antoine d’Abbadie, the missionary Krapf, and Beke. These results of -the travels of Beke, Krapf, Isenberg, Russegger, Rüppell, Abbadie, -and Werne, brought together and shewn in the most comprehensive and -convenient manner by Zimmermann, were hailed by me on their appearance -in 1843 with the most lively joy, as expressed in a letter to Carl -Ritter. “If,” I wrote to him, “a life prolonged to an advanced period -brings with it several inconveniences to the individual, and perhaps -some even to those who live with him, there is a compensation in the -delight of being able to compare older states of knowledge with that -which now exists, and to see great advances in knowledge grow and -develope themselves under our eyes in departments where all had long -slumbered in inactivity, with the exception, perhaps, of attempts -by hypercriticism to render previous acquisitions doubtful. This -enjoyment has from time to time fallen to our share, yours and mine, -in our geographical studies, and this particularly in reference to -those very parts of the world which formerly could only be treated of -with timid hesitating uncertainty. The conformation of a continent -depends in its leading traits on several plastic relations which are -usually among the latest to be discovered and unravelled. A new and -excellent work of our friend Carl Zimmermann, on the upper country of -the Nile and the eastern parts of central Africa, has again brought -these considerations very vividly before me. His new map shews in the -clearest manner to the eye, by means of a particular method of shading, -what is still unknown, and what, by the courage and perseverance of -travellers of all nations,--among whom our own countrymen happily -hold an important place,--has been already disclosed to us. It is a -valuable service, and one which opens the way for farther advances and -more comprehensive inferences, when persons, thoroughly acquainted -with the existing, often widely scattered, materials,--men who do not -merely draw and compile, but compare, select, and, wherever it is -possible, check and control the routes of travellers by astronomical -determinations of position,--undertake to represent graphically the -results of the elements of knowledge possessed at the time. Those who -have themselves given to the world so much as you have done, have an -especial right to expect much; since their combinations have largely -augmented the number of connecting points; yet I believe that when -you executed your great work on Africa in 1822 you could hardly have -expected so many accessions as we have now received.” The knowledge -acquired is, indeed, often only that of rivers, their direction, their -branches, and the various synonyms by which they are called in dialects -belonging to different families of languages; but rivers reveal to us -by their course the form of the surface of the earth, and are at once -the nourishers of vegetation, the channels of intercourse between men, -and pregnant with unknown influences on the future. - -The northerly course of the White Nile, and the south-easterly course -of the great Goschop, would indicate that a swelling of the ground -separates the domains or basins of these rivers. We know, indeed, but -imperfectly, how such a swelling or elevation may be connected with the -mountains of Habesch, and in what manner it may be continued southward -beyond the equator. Probably, and this is also the opinion of my friend -Carl Ritter, the Lupata mountains, which, according to the excellent -Wilhelm Peters, extend to 26° S. latitude, are connected with the -elevated parts of the Earth’s surface on the north side of the equator, -(or with the Abyssinian mountains), by the mountains of the Moon. The -word “Lupata,” we learn from the last-named African traveller, is used -in the language of Tette as an adjective, meaning “closed.” The chain -of mountains would thus be called the “closed” or “barred.” “The Lupata -chain, of Portuguese writers,” says Peters, “is about 90 legoas or -leagues from the mouth of the Zambeze, and is only about two thousand -feet high. The direction of this mountain rampart is north and south, -but with occasional bends alternately to the east and to the west. It -is sometimes interrupted by plains. Along the whole of the Zanzibar -coast, the traders into the interior speak of this long but not very -elevated ridge, which extends from 6° to 26° S. latitude, as far as the -Factory of Lourenzo-Marques, on the Rio de Espiritu Santo (in the Bay -da Lagoa, or Delagoa Bay of the English). The farther the Lupata chain -advances towards the south, the nearer it approaches the coast, from -which it is only fifteen legoas distant at Lourenzo-Marques.” - -[24] p. 12.--“_Caused by the great revolving current._” - -In the northern part of the Atlantic, between Europe, North Africa, -and the New Continent, the waters of the ocean are driven round in a -true revolving current, or circle. This general current,--which, from -its cause, might be called a “Rotation Current,”--moves between the -tropics, as is well known, with the trade wind, from east to west. It -accelerates the passage of ships sailing from the Canaries to South -America, and makes it almost impossible to sail “up stream,” or in a -direct line from Cartagena de Indias to Cumana. This set to the west, -attributed to the trade winds, receives, however, in the Caribbean -Sea, the accession of a much stronger movement, originating in a very -remote cause, which was discovered as early as 1560 by Sir Humphrey -Gilbert, (Hakluyt, Voyages, vol. iii. p. 14), and developed with -greater certainty by Rennell in 1832. The Mosambique current, flowing -from north to south between Madagascar and the east coast of Africa, -sets on the Lagullas Bank, turns on the north side of it round the -south point of Africa, and advances with much force up the western -coast of the Continent to a little beyond the equator near the Island -of St. Thomas. It gives at the same time a north-westerly direction to -a part of the water of the South Atlantic, causing it to strike Cape -St. Augustin, and to follow the coast of Guiana to beyond the mouth -of the Orinoco, the Boca del Drago, and the coast of Paria. (Rennell, -Investigation of the Currents of the Atlantic Ocean, 1832, p. 96 and -136.) The New Continent, from the Isthmus of Panama to the northern -part of Mexico, opposes a barrier to the farther continuance of this -movement of the waters, and thus the current is constrained to assume -a northerly course off Veragua, and thence to follow the windings of -the coast of Costa Rica, Mosquito, Campeachy, and Tabasco. The waters -which enter the Mexican Gulf between Cape Catoche of Yucatan and Cape -San Antonio of Cuba, after completing a great rotatory movement or -circuit, by Vera Cruz, Tamiagua, the mouth of the Rio Bravo del Norte, -and that of the Mississipi, force their way northwards through the -Bahama Channel, and re-issue into the open ocean. Here they form the -well-known “Gulf Stream,” a current or river of warm and rapidly moving -water, flowing in an oblique or diagonal direction carrying it farther -and farther from the North American coast. Ships from Europe bound for -this coast, when uncertain in respect to their longitude, are enabled -by this oblique direction of the current to direct their course, as -soon as they reach the Gulf Stream, by observations of latitude only. -The position of this great current was first indicated with accuracy by -Franklin, Williams, and Pownall. - -From the 41st degree of latitude, the river of warm water, which has -been gradually diminishing in rapidity and increasing in breadth, turns -suddenly to the east. It almost touches the southern edge of the great -Newfoundland bank, where I found the greatest amount of difference -between the temperature of the warm water of the Gulf stream, and -that of the waters resting on the banks and subjected thereby to a -cooling process. Before the stream reaches the westernmost of the -Azores it divides into two branches, one of which, at least at certain -seasons, advances towards Ireland and Norway, and the other towards the -Canaries and the West Coast of Africa. This Atlantic rotatory movement, -(described by me in more detail in the first volume of my Voyage to -the Equinoctial Regions), explains the possibility of trunks of South -American and West Indian trees being carried, in spite of the trade -winds, to the coasts of the Canary Islands, and stranded there. I have -made many experiments on the temperature of the Gulf Stream in the -vicinity of the Banks of Newfoundland. The Stream brings the warmer -water of lower latitudes into more northern regions with much rapidity, -and I have thus found its temperature two or three degrees of Reaumur -(5° to 7° Fah.) higher than that of the adjacent unmoved masses of -water, which form as it were the banks of the warm oceanic river. - -The flying fish of the tropics (Exocetus volitans) accompanies the warm -water of the Gulf Stream far into the temperate zone. Floating sea-weed -(Fucus natans), chiefly taken up by the stream in the Gulf of Mexico, -shews when a ship is entering the current, and the arrangement of the -branches of the sea-weed shews the direction of the movement of the -water. The mainmast of the English ship of war, the Tilbury, destroyed -by fire on the coast of San Domingo, was carried by the Gulf Stream -to the north coast of Scotland. Even casks filled with palm oil, the -remains of the cargo of a ship wrecked off Cape Lopez on the coast of -Africa, were carried in the same manner to Scotland[*], after having -twice traversed the whole breadth of the Atlantic; once from east to -west with the equatorial current between 2° and 12° N. lat., and once -from west to east by the aid of the Gulf Stream, between 45° and 55° -N. lat. Rennell, in p. 347 of the “Investigation of Currents,” relates -the voyage of a bottle with papers enclosed, thrown overboard by the -English ship Newcastle on the 20th of January, 1819, in lat. 38° 52′, -and long. 63° 58′, which was picked up on the 2nd of June, 1820, at -the Rosses, (near the Island of Arran), on the west coast of Ireland. -A short time before my arrival at Teneriffe a stem of South American -cedar (Cedrela odorata), well covered with lichens, had been cast -ashore in the harbour of Santa Cruz. - -Effects of the Gulf Stream in stranding on the Islands of Fayal, -Flores, and Corvo in the Azores, bamboos, artificially cut pieces of -wood, trunks of an unknown species of Pine from Mexico and the West -Indian Islands, and corpses of men of unknown race with unusually broad -faces, contributed to the discovery of America, by confirming Columbus -in his belief of the existence to the westward of Asiatic countries and -islands at no impassable distance. The great discoverer even heard from -the lips of settlers near the Cape de la Verga in the Azores, of some, -“who, in sailing westward, had met decked or covered boats, manned by -persons of strange and foreign appearance, and built apparently in -such a manner that they could not founder,--almadias con casa movediza -que nunca se hunden.” There is highly credible and well-confirmed -testimony to the fact, much as it has long been doubted, of natives -of America, (probably Esquimaux from Greenland or Labrador), carried -by currents or driven by storms from the North West, having actually -crossed the Atlantic in their canoes and reached our shores. James -Wallace, in his “Account of the Islands of Orkney, (1700, p. 60),” -relates, that in 1682 a Greenlander was seen in his boat off the South -Point of the Island of Eda by several persons, who did not succeed -in bringing him to shore. In 1684, a Greenland fisherman appeared in -his boat off the Island of Westram. In the church at Barra there was -suspended an Esquimaux boat, driven thither by currents and tempests. -The inhabitants of the Orkneys call Greenlanders so appearing among -them Finns or “Finnmen.” - -In Cardinal Bembo’s History of Venice, I find a narrative to the -effect that in 1508 a French ship captured near the English coast a -small boat, with seven persons of a strange and foreign appearance. -The description suits extremely well with Esquimaux, (homines erant -septem _mediocri statura, colore subobscuro, lato et patente vultu_, -cicatriceque una violacea signato.) No one understood their language. -Their clothing was composed of fish skins sewn together. On their heads -they wore “coronam e culmo pictam, septem quasi auriculis intextam.” -They ate raw flesh, and drank blood as we would wine. Six of the men -died during the passage of the vessel, on board which they had been -taken; but the seventh, a youth, was presented to the king of France, -who was then at Orleans. (Bembo, Historia Venetæ, ed. 1718, lib. vii. -p. 257). - -The appearance of men called _Indians_ on the western coasts of -Germany, under the Othos, and under Frederic Barbarossa, in the 10th -and 12th centuries, and even, as is related by Cornelius Nepos, (ed. -Van Staveren, cur. Bardili, T. ii., 1820, p. 356), Pomponius Mela, -(lib. iii. cap. 5, § 8), and Pliny, (Hist. Nat., T. ii. p. 67), when -Quintus Metellus Celer was Pro-consul in Gaul, may be explained by -similar effects of currents and north-west winds of long continuance. -A king of the Boii, others say of the Suevi, gave the shipwrecked -dark-coloured men to Metellus Celer. Gomara, in his Historia Gen. de -las Indias, (Saragossa, 1553, fol. vii.), refers to this account, and -considers the Indians spoken of in it to have been natives of Labrador. -“Si ya no fuesen de Tierra del Labrador, y los tuviesen, los Romanos -por Indianos engañados en el color.” The appearance of Esquimaux on -the northern coasts of Europe may be believed to have occurred more -often in earlier times, because we know, from the researches of Rask -and Finn Magnusen, that in the 11th and 12th centuries this race -extended in considerable numbers, under the name of the Skrälinges of -Labrador, even as far south as the “good Vinland;” _i. e._, the coast -of Massachusets and Connecticut. (Kosmos, Bd. ii. S. 270; English ed. -p. 234; Examen critique de l’Hist. de la Géographie, T. ii. p. 247-278.) - -As the winter cold of the most northern parts of Scandinavia is -softened by the influence of the Gulf Stream, by which American -tropical fruits (cocoa nuts, and seeds of the Mimosa scandens and the -Anacardium occidentale) are cast upon the shore beyond the 62nd degree -of latitude, so does Iceland also occasionally enjoy the beneficial -influence of the extension of the warm waters of the Gulf Stream far -to the northward. The coasts of Iceland as well as those of the Färoe -Islands, receive a great deal of drift-wood, which, coming formerly -in greater abundance, was cut into beams and planks and used for -building timber. Fruits of tropical plants, collected on the coast -of Iceland, between Raufarhavn and Vapnafiord, testify the movement -of the waters from the southward. (Sartorius von Waltershausen, -physisch-geographische Skizze von Island, 1847, S. 22-35.) - -[25] p. 12.--“_Neither Lecideas nor other Lichens._” - -In northern countries, the earth, if left bare, soon becomes covered -with Bæomyces roseus, Cenomyce rangiferinus, Lecidea muscorum, L. -icmadophila, and similar Cryptogameæ, which prepare the way for the -growth of grasses and herbaceous plants. In the tropics, where mosses -and lichens only abound in shady places, some species of succulent -plants take their place. - -[26] p. 13.--“_The care of animals yielding milk_, ... ... _The ruins -of the Aztec fortress._” - -The two kinds of cattle alluded to, and subsequently spoken of,--the -Bos americanus and Bos moschatus,--are peculiar to the American -continent. But the natives-- - - Queis neque mos, neque cultus erat, nec jungere tauros. - - _Virgil, Æn._ i. 316. - ---drink the fresh blood, not the milk, of these animals. Single -exceptions have indeed been found, but only among tribes who at the -same time cultivated maize. I have before remarked, (p. 54), that -Gomara speaks of a people in the north-west of Mexico who possessed -herds of tame bisons, and derived from these animals clothing, meat, -and drink. The drink may have been the blood, (Prescott, Conquest of -Mexico, vol. iii. p. 416) for, as I have more than once remarked, the -dislike to milk, or at least the absence of its use, appears, before -the arrival of Europeans, to have been, generally speaking, a feature -common to all the natives of the New Continent,--and one which they -possess in common with the inhabitants of China and Cochin China, who -yet were near neighbours to true pastoral nations. The herds of tame -lamas, found in the highlands of Quito, Peru, and Chili, belonged to -a settled population, who cultivated the ground and did not follow a -nomadic life. Pedro de Cieça de Leon, (Chronica del Peru, Sevilla, -1553, cap. 110, p. 264) seems to imply, though certainly as a rare and -exceptional case, that in the Peruvian mountain plateau of Collao lamas -were used for drawing the plough. (Compare Gay, Zoologia de Chile, -Mamiferos, 1847, p. 154.) The usual custom in Peru was to plough with -men only. (See the Inca Garcilaso’s Commentarios reales, P. i. lib. v. -cap. 2, p. 133; and Prescott, Hist. of the Conquest of Peru, 1847, vol. -i. p. 136.) Mr. Barton has made it appear probable that, among some of -the tribes of Western Canada, the buffalo was from early times made an -object of care for the sake of its flesh and skin. (Fragments of the -Nat. Hist. of Pennsylvania, P. i. p. 4.) In Peru and Quito the lama -is now nowhere found in a state of original wildness. I was told by -the natives that the lamas on the western declivity of the Chimborazo -had become wild when the ancient residence of the rulers of Quito -“Lican” was laid in ashes. In the same manner the oxen in the Ceja de -la Montaña, in Middle Peru, have become perfectly wild: they are a -small and daring race, and often attack the Indians. The natives call -them Vacas del Monte, or Vacas cimarronas. (Tschudi, Fauna Peruana, -S. 256.) Cuvier’s opinion, that the lama had descended from the still -wild Guanaco, has been unfortunately still further disseminated by the -meritorious traveller Meyen, (Reise um die Erde, Th. iii. S. 64), but -has been completely refuted by von Tschudi. - -The Lama, the Paco or Alpaca, and the Guanaco, are three originally -distinct species of animals. (Tschudi, S. 228 and 237.) The Guanaco -(Huanacu in the Quichua language) is the largest of the three; and -the Alpaca, measured from the ground to the crown of the head, the -smallest. The lama is next to the guanaco in stature. Herds of lamas, -when they are as numerous as I have seen them in the high plateau -between Quito and Riobamba, are a great ornament to the landscape. The -Moromoro of Chili appears to be a mere variety of the lama. Vicuñas, -Guanacoes, and Alpacas, still live wild at elevations of from 13000 -to 16000 feet above the level of the sea. The two latter species are -sometimes met with tamed, but the guanaco only rarely. The alpaca does -not bear the warmer climate of the lower elevations so well as the -lama. Since the introduction of the more useful horses, mules, and -asses, (the latter acquire great spirit and beauty within the tropics), -the custom of rearing and using the lama and the alpaca as beasts of -burden, in the mountains and among the mines, has much decreased. -But the wool, of such different qualities in respect to fineness, is -still an important article in the industry of the inhabitants of the -mountains. In Chili the wild and the tamed guanaco are distinguished by -separate names; the wild being called Luan, and the tame Chilihueque. -The wide dissemination of the wild guanaco, from the Peruvian -Cordilleras to Tierra del Fuego, sometimes in herds of 500, has been -favoured by the circumstance that these animals can swim with great -ease from island to island, so that the Patagonian fiords offer no -obstacle to their wanderings. (See the pleasing descriptions by Darwin -in his Journal, 1845, p. 66.) - -South of the Gila River, which, together with the Rio Colorado, enters -the Californian Gulf or Mar de Cortes, stand, in the solitude of the -Steppe, the enigmatical ruins of the Aztec Palace, called by the -Spaniards las Casas grandes. When the Aztecs, about the year 1160, came -from the unknown land of Aztlan to Anahuac, they settled themselves -for a time on the banks of the Gila. The Franciscan monks, Garces and -Font, are the latest travellers who have visited the Casas grandes, -and they did so in 1773. They stated the ruins to extend over above -a square German mile (16 English square miles). The whole plain is -strewed with fragments of painted pottery. The principal palace, (if a -house built of unburnt clay can be so designated), is 447 English feet -long and 277 English feet broad. (See a rare work printed in Mexico, -and entitled Cronica seráfica y apostólica del Colegio de Propaganda -Fide de la Santa Cruz de Querétaro por Fr. Juan Domingo Arricivita). - -The Tayé of California, as drawn by Father Venegas, appears to differ -little from the Ovis musimon of the Old Continent. The same animal -is also seen on the “Stony Mountains,” near the sources of the Peace -River. Very different from it, on the other hand, is the small white -and black spotted goat-like creature which feeds near the Missouri and -Arkansas rivers. The synonymy of Antilope furcifer, A. tememazama of -Smith, and Ovis montana, is still very undetermined. - -[27] p. 14.--“_The cultivation of farinaceous grasses._” - -The original habitat of the farinaceous grasses is wrapped in the same -obscurity as that of the domestic animals which have accompanied man -since his earliest migrations. The German word for corn, “Getraide,” -has been ingeniously derived by Jacob Grimm from the old German -gitragidi, getregede. “It is as it were the _tame_ fruit (fruges, -frumentum), which has come into the hands of man; as we speak of -tame animals in opposition to wild ones.” (Jacob Grimm, Gesch. der -deutschen Sprache, 1848, Th. i. S. 62.) It is certainly a very striking -phenomenon, to find on one side of our planet nations to whom flour or -meal from small-eared grasses (Hordeaceæ and Avenaceæ), and the use of -milk, were completely unknown, while the nations of almost all parts -of the other hemisphere cultivate the Cerealia, and rear milk-yielding -animals. The cultivation of different kinds of grasses may be said to -afford a characteristic distinction between the two parts of the world. -In the New Continent, from 52° north to 46° south latitude, we see -only one species cultivated, viz. maize. In the Old Continent, on the -other hand, we find every where, from the earliest times of history, -the fruits of Ceres, wheat, barley, spelt or red wheat, and oats. That -wheat grew wild in the Leontine fields, as well as in several other -places in Sicily, was a belief entertained by ancient nations, and -is mentioned by Diodorus Siculus. (Lib. v. p. 199 and 232, Wessel.) -Ceres was found in the alpine meadow of Enna; and Diodorus fables that -“the inhabitants of the Atlantis were unacquainted with the fruits -of Ceres, because they had separated from the rest of mankind before -those fruits had been shewn to mortals.” Sprengel has collected several -interesting passages which lead him to think it probable that the -greater part of our European kinds of grain were originally wild in -the northern parts of Persia and India, namely, summer wheat in the -country of the Musicanes, a province in Northern India (Strabo, xv. -1017); barley (“antiquissimum frumentum,” as Pliny calls it, and which -is also the only cereal with which the Guanches of the Canaries were -acquainted), according to Moses of Chorene (Geogr, Armen. ed. Whiston, -1736, p. 360), on the Araxes or Kur in Georgia, and according to Marco -Polo in Balascham in Northern India (Ramusio, vol. ii. p. 10); and -spelt or red wheat, near Hamadan. But these passages, as has been -shewn by my keen-sighted friend and teacher Link, in an instructive -critical memoir (Abhandl. de Berl. Akad. 1816, S. 123), still leave -much uncertainty. I also early regarded the existence of originally -wild kinds of grain in Asia as extremely doubtful, and viewed such -as might have been seen there as having _become wild_. (Essai sur la -Géographie des Plantes, 1805, p. 28.) Reinhold Forster, who before -his voyage with Captain Cook, made by order of the Empress Catherine -an expedition into Southern Russia for purposes of natural history, -reported that the two-stalked summer barley (Hordeum distichon), grew -wild near the junction of the Samara and the Volga. At the end of the -month of September, 1829, Ehrenberg and myself, on our journey from -Orenburg and Uralsk to Saratow and the Caspian, also herborised on -the banks of the Samara. We were, indeed, struck with the quantity of -wheat and rye plants growing in what might be called a wild state in -the uncultivated ground, but the plants did not appear to us to differ -from the ordinary cultivated ones. Ehrenberg received from M. Carelin -a kind of rye, Secale fragile, gathered on the Kirgis Steppe, and -which Marschall von Bieberstein regarded for a time as the original or -mother plant of our cultivated rye, Secale cereale. Although Olivier -and Michaux speak of spelt (Triticum spelta) as growing wild at Hamadan -in Persia, Achill Richard does not consider that Michaux’s herbarium -bears out this statement. Greater confidence is due to the most -recent accounts obtained by the unwearied zeal of a highly-informed -traveller, Professor Carl Koch. He found much rye (Secale cereale, -var. β pectinata) in the Pontic Mountains, at elevations of upwards -of five or six thousand feet, in places where within the memory of -the inhabitants no grain of the kind had ever been cultivated. Koch -remarks, that the circumstance is “the more important because with us -this grain never propagates itself spontaneously.” In the Schirwan -parts of the Caucasus, Koch collected a kind of barley which he calls -“Hordeum spontaneum,” and considers to be the originally wild “Hordeum -zeocriton” of Linnæus. (Carl Koch Beiträge zur Flora des Orients, Heft -i. S. 139 and 142.) - -A negro slave of the great Cortes was the first who cultivated wheat in -New Spain. He had found three grains of it amongst the rice which had -been brought from Spain for provision for the army. In the Franciscan -convent at Quito, I saw preserved as a relic the earthen vessel which -had contained the first wheat sowed there by the Franciscan monk Fray -Jodoco Rixi, a native of Ghent in Flanders. The first sowing had been -made in front of the convent, on what is now the Plazuela de San -Francisco, after cutting down the forest which then extended from the -foot of the volcano of Pichincha to the spot in question. The monks, -who I often visited during my stay at Quito, begged me to explain to -them the inscription on the earthen vessel, which they thought must -contain some mystic reference to the wheat. I read the motto, which -was in the old German dialect, and was--“Whoso drinks from me let him -not forget his God.” I too felt with the monks that this old German -drinking vessel was a truly venerable relic. Would that there had been -preserved every where in the New Continent the names, not of those -who made the earth desolate by bloody conquests, but of those who -first intrusted to it these its fruits so early associated with the -civilisation of mankind in the Old Continent! In respect generally to -the names of the kinds of grain, as bearing on the original affinities -of different languages, a high authority has remarked, that “such -indications are much more rare in the case of different kinds of grain, -and on subjects of agriculture, than on those connected with the care -of cattle: herdsmen when dispersed had still much in common, whereas -the subsequent cultivators of the soil had to create new words. But the -fact that in comparison with the Sanscrit, Romans and Greeks appear -nearly on a par with the Germans and Slavonians, argues in favour -of the very early contemporaneous emigration of the two latter. Yet -the Indian “java” (Frumentum hordeum), compared with the Lithuanian -“jawai,” and the Finnish “jywa,” offers a singular exception.” (Jac. -Grimm, Gesch. der deutschen Sprache, Th. i. S. 69.) - -[28] p. 14.--“_Keeping by preference to the cooler mountain regions._” - -Throughout Mexico and Peru the traces of a great degree of civilisation -are confined to the elevated plateaux. We have seen on the Andes the -ruins of palaces and baths at heights between 1600 and 1800 toises -(10230 and 11510 English feet). It can only have been men of a northern -race, who, migrating from the north towards the south, could find -delight in such a climate. - -[29] p. 15.--“_The history of the peopling of Japan._” - -The probability of the western nations of the New Continent having had -communication with the east of Asia long before the arrival of the -Spaniards, was I think shewn by me in a work on the monuments of the -native inhabitants of America (Vues des Cordillères et Monumens des -peuples indigenes de l’Amérique). I inferred this probability from -a comparison of the Mexican and Thibeto-Japanese calendars,--from -the correct orientation of the steps of the pyramidal elevations -towards the different quarters of the heavens,--and from the ancient -myths and traditions of the four ages or four epochs of destruction -of the world, and the dispersion of mankind after a great flood of -waters. The accounts published since my work, in England, France, and -the United States, describing the wonderful bas reliefs, almost in -the Indian style, in the ruins of Guatimala and Yucatan, have given -to these analogies a still higher value. (Compare Antonio del Rio, -Description of the Ruins of an Ancient City discovered near Palenque, -1822, translated from the original manuscript report by Cabrera (del -Rio’s exploration took place in 1787), p. 9, tab. 12-14; with Stephens, -Incidents of Travel in Yucatan, 1843, vol. i. pp. 391 and 429-434; -vol. ii. pp. 21, 54, 56, 317, 323; with the magnificent volume of -Catherwood, “Views of ancient Monuments in Central America, Chiapas, -and Yucatan,” 1844; and lastly, with Prescott’s “Conquest of Mexico,” -vol. iii. App. p. 360.) - -The architectural remains in the peninsula of Yucatan shew, still -more than those of Palenque, a degree of civilisation and art which -excites our astonishment. They are situated between Valladolid, -Merida, and Campeachy, chiefly in the western part of the country. -But the monuments in the island of Cozumel (more properly Cuzamil), -east of Yucatan, were the first which were seen by the Spaniards in -the expedition of Juan de Grijalva, 1518, and that of Cortes in 1519, -and the report of them did much to spread over Europe a high idea of -ancient Mexican civilisation. The most important ruins of the peninsula -of Yucatan, which unfortunately have not yet been thoroughly measured -and drawn by architects, are the Casa del Gobernador of Uxmal, the -Teocallis and vaulted constructions at Kabah, the ruins of Labnah with -domed columns, those of Zayi with columns very nearly of the Doric -order, and those of Chiche with large ornamented pilasters. An old -manuscript written in the Maya language by a Christian Indian, and -which is still in the hands of the Gefe politico of Peto, Don Juan Pio -Perez, gives the different epochs (“Katunes” of 52 years) in which the -Toltecs settled in different parts of the peninsula. From these data -Perez infers that the monuments or buildings of Chiche go back to the -close of the fourth century of our era, while those of Uxmal belong to -the middle of the tenth century. But the accuracy of these conclusions -is subject to much uncertainty. (Stephens, Incidents of Travel in -Yucatan, vol. i. p. 439; and vol. ii. p. 278.) - -I regard the existence of ancient connections between the inhabitants -of western America and eastern Asia as more than probable, but by -what routes, or with what Asiatic nations, the communications took -place, cannot at present be decided. A small number of individuals -of the educated priestly caste might perhaps be sufficient to bring -about great alterations in the civil and social state of western -America. The stories formerly narrated of Chinese expeditions to the -New Continent really apply only to voyages to Fusang or Japan. On -the other hand, Japanese and Sian-Pi from the Corea may have been -driven by storms to the American coast, and landed there. We know as -matter of history that Bonzes and other adventurers sailed over the -eastern Chinese seas in search of some medicine which should entirely -prevent death. Under Tschin-schi-kuang-ti, 209 years before our era, -300 young couples, young men and young women, were sent to Japan, and -instead of returning to China they settled at Nipon (Klaproth, Tableaux -historiques de l’Asie, 1824, p. 79; Nouveau Journal Asiatique, T. x. -1832, p. 335; Humboldt, Examen critique, T. ii. p. 62-67). May not -similar expeditions have been driven by storms or other accidents -to the Aleutian islands, to Alashka, or to New California? As the -western coasts of the American continent trend from NW. to SE., and -the eastern coasts of Asia in the opposite direction, or from NE. to -SW., the distance between the two continents in 45° of latitude, or -in the temperate zone which is most favourable to mental development, -is too considerable to admit of the probability of such an accidental -settlement taking place in that latitude. We must, then, assume the -first landing to have been made in the inhospitable climate of from -55° to 65° and that the civilisation thus introduced, like the general -movement of population in America, has proceeded by successive stations -from north to south (Humboldt, Relat. historique, t. iii p. 155-160). -The remains of ships from Cathay, _i. e._, from Japan or China, were -supposed to have been found on the coasts of the northern Dorado, -(called Quivira and Cibora) at the beginning of the 16th century -(Gomara, Hist. general de las Indias, p. 117). - -Our knowledge of the languages of America is still too limited, -considering their great variety, for us as yet entirely to relinquish -the hope of some day discovering an idiom which may have been spoken, -with certain modifications, at once in the interior of South America -and in that of Asia; or which may at least indicate an ancient -affinity. Such a discovery would certainly be one of the most brilliant -which can be expected in reference to the history of mankind. But -analogies of language only deserve confidence when the enquirer, not -resting in or dwelling on resemblances of sound in the roots, traces -the analogies into the organic structure, the grammatical forms, and -into all which in languages shews itself as the product of the human -intellect and character. - -[30] p. 15.--“_Many other forms of animals._” - -Whole herds of the Cervus mexicanus wander over the Caraccas Steppes: -the young stag is spotted, and resembles in appearance the roe-deer of -Europe. We saw among them many entirely white,--a singular circumstance -in the torrid zone. The Cervus mexicanus is not found at greater -elevations on the mountain-slopes of the Andes under the equator than -from 700 to 800 toises (4476 to 5115 Eng. feet); but a larger, and also -often white, stag,--which I could hardly distinguish from the European -by any specific characters,--is met with up to 2000 toises (12789 -Eng. feet). The Cavia capybara, called in the province of Caraccas -“chiguire,” is an unfortunate animal; being pursued in the water by the -crocodile, and on the plain by the tiger or jaguar. It runs so badly -that we could often catch it with our hands. Its extremities are smoked -for hams, but their taste is very disagreeable from the smell of musk; -and on the Orinoco we willingly ate monkey hams in preference. The -beautifully marked animals which have so disagreeable an odour are the -Viverra mapurito, Viverra zorilla, and Viverra vittata. - -[31] p. 16.--“_The Guaranis, and the fan-palm, Mauritia._” - -The small coast tribe or nation of the Guaranis, (called in British -Guiana the Warraws or Guaranos, and by the Caribs U-ara-u), inhabit -not only the marshy Delta and river network of the Orinoco, and -particularly the banks of the Manamo Grande and the Caño Macareo, but -also extend, with little variation in their modes of life, along the -sea coast between the mouths of the Essequibo and the Boca de Navios -of the Orinoco. (Compare my Relation historique, T. i. p. 492, T. -ii. p. 653 and 703, with Richard Schomburgk’s “Reisen in Britisch -Guiana,” Th. i. 1847, S. 62, 120, 173, and 194). According to the -testimony of the last-named excellent explorer and observer, there -are still 1700 Warraus or Guaranis living in the district of Cumaca, -and along the banks of the Barima river, which empties itself into -the gulf of the Boca de Navios. The manners and customs of the tribes -living in the Delta of the Orinoco were already known to the great -historical writer Cardinal Bembo, the contemporary of Columbus, Amerigo -Vespucci, and Alonzo de Hojeda. He says, “quibusdam in locis propter -paludes incolæ domus in arboribus ædificant” (Historiæ Venetæ, 1551, -p. 88). It is more probable that Bembo is alluding to the Guaranis -at the mouth of the Orinoco, than to the natives near the mouth of -the Gulph of Macaraibo, where Alonzo de Hojeda, in August 1499, when -he was accompanied by Vespucci and Juan de la Cosa, also found a -population having their residence “fondata sopra l’ acqua come Venezia” -(Riccardi’s Text in my Examen crit. t. iv. p. 496). In Vespucci’s -account of his voyage (in which we find the first indication of the -etymology of the term Province of Venezuela, Little Venice, for -Province of Caraccas), he only speaks of houses raised upon foundation -pillars, not of habitations in the trees. - -Sir Walter Raleigh offers a later evidence of high authority; he says -expressly, in his description of Guiana, that on his second voyage in -1595, when in the mouth of the Orinoco, he saw the “_fires_” of the -Tivitives and the Oua-raa-etes (so he calls the Guaranis) “high up -in the trees” (Raleigh, Discov. of Guiana, 1596, p. 90). The fire is -represented in a drawing in the Latin edition: “brevis et admiranda -descriptio regni Guianæ,” (Norib. 1599) tab. 4. Raleigh was also the -first who brought to England the fruit of the Mauritia-palm, which he -very justly compared, on account of its scales, to a fir cone. The -Padre José Gumilla, who twice visited the Guaranis as a missionary, -says, indeed, that this people had their habitation in the palmares -(palm groves) of the morasses; but he only mentions dwellings raised -upon high pillars, and not scaffoldings attached to trees still in a -growing state; (Gumilla, Historia natural, civil, y geografica de las -Naciones situadas en las riveras del Rio Orinoco, nueva imp. 1791, p. -143, 145, and 163). Hillhouse and Sir Robert Schomburgk, (Journal of -the Royal Geographical Society, vol. xii. 1842, p. 175; and Description -of the Murichi or Ita Palm, read at the Meeting of the British -Association held at Cambridge, June 1845; printed in Simond’s Colonial -Magazine), are of opinion that both Bembo and Raleigh, (the former -speaking from the reports of others, the latter as an eye-witness), -were deceived by the high tops of the palm-trees being lit up at night -by the flames of fires beneath, so that those who sailed by thought the -habitations themselves were attached to the trees. “We do not deny that -in order to escape the attacks of the musquitos, the Indian sometimes -suspends his hammock from the tops of trees; on such occasions, -however, no fires are made under the hammock.” (Compare also Sir Robert -Schomburgk’s New Edition of Raleigh’s Discovery of Guiana, 1848, p. 50.) - -According to Martius, the fine Palm Moriche, Mauritia flexuosa, -Quiteve, or Ita palm, (Bernau, Missionary Labours in British Guiana, -1847, p. 34 and 44), belongs, as well as Calamus, to the group of -Lepidocaryeæ or Coryphineæ. Linnæus has described it very imperfectly, -as he erroneously considers it to be leafless. The trunk grows as -high as 26 feet, but it probably requires from 120 to 150 years to -reach this height. The Mauritia extends high up on the declivity of -the Duida, north of the Esmeralda mission, where I have found it in -great beauty. It forms in moist places fine groups of a fresh shining -verdure, which reminds us of that of our Alder groves. The trees -preserve the moisture of the ground by their shade, and hence the -Indians say that the Mauritia draws the water round its roots by a -mysterious attraction. By a somewhat similar theory they advise that -serpents should not be killed; because the destruction of the serpents -and the drying up of the pools or lagunas accompany each other: thus -the untutored child of nature confounds cause and effect. Gumilla terms -the Mauritia flexuosa of the Guaranis the tree of life, arbol de la -vida. It grows in the mountains of Ronaima, east of the sources of the -Orinoco, as high as 4000 (4263 Eng.) feet. On the unvisited banks of -the Rio Atabapo, in the interior of Guiana, we discovered a new species -of Mauritia with prickly stems, our Mauritia aculeata; (Humboldt, -Bonpland and Kunth, Nova Genera et Species Plantarum, t. i. p. 310). - -[32] p. 16.--“_An American Stylites._” - -The founder of the sect of the Stylites, the fanatical pillar-saint -Simeon Sisanites, the son of a Syrian herdsman, is said to have passed -thirty-seven years in religious contemplation on the summits of five -successive pillars, each higher than the preceding. The last pillar was -40 ells high. He died in the year 461. For seven hundred years there -continued to be men who imitated this manner of life, and were called -“sancti columnares” (pillar saints). Even in Germany, in the Diocese of -Treves, it was proposed to erect such aerial cloisters, but the Bishops -opposed the undertaking (Mosheim, Institut. Hist. Eccles. 1755, p. 215.) - -[33] p. 17.--“_Towns on the banks of the streams which flow through the -Steppe._” - -Families who live not by agriculture but by the care of cattle, have -congregated in the middle of the Steppe in small towns, which, in the -cultivated parts of Europe, would hardly be regarded as villages. -Such are Calabozo, in 8° 56′ 14″ N. lat. and 67° 42′ long. according -to my observations, Villa del Pao, lat 8° 38′ 1″, long. 66° 57′, S. -Sebastian, and others. - -[34] p. 17.--“_Conical-shaped clouds._” - -The singular phenomenon of these “sand spouts,”--something analogous -to which may occasionally be seen on a small scale in Europe where -four roads meet,--is particularly characteristic of the Peruvian Sand -Desert between Amotape and Coquimbo. Such a dense cloud of sand or dust -may prove dangerous to the traveller who does not cautiously avoid its -approach. It is also worthy of notice that these partial conflicting -currents of air only arise when the air generally is perfectly calm. -The aerial ocean resembles the sea in this respect, for in the latter -also the small currents which are often heard to ripple audibly, -(filets de courant), are only perceptible in a dead calm (calme plat). - -[35] p. 18.--“_Increases the suffocating heat._” - -I have observed in the Llanos de Apure, at the Guadalupe cattle farm, -the thermometer rise from 27° to 29° Reaumur (92°.7 to 97°.2 Fahr.) -whenever the hot wind began to blow from the Desert, which at such -times was covered either with sand or with short withered turf. In the -middle of the sand-cloud the temperature was for some minutes 35° R. -(111° F.). The dry sand in the village of San Fernando de Apure had a -temperature of 42° R. (126° Fahr.) - -[36] p. 18.--“_The illusive image of a cool rippling watery mirror._” - -The well-known phenomenon of the mirage is called in Sanscrit the -“thirst of the gazelle.” (See my Relation historique, T. i. pp. 296 and -625; T. ii. p. 161.) All objects appear to hover in the air, and are -at the same time seen reflected in the lower stratum of air. At such -times the entire desert assumes the aspect of the wave-covered surface -of a wide spread lake. Palm trees, cattle, and camels, sometimes -appear inverted on the horizon. In the French expedition to Egypt, -the soldiers, parched with thirst, were often brought by this optical -illusion into a state of desperation. This phenomenon has been remarked -in all quarters of the globe. The ancients were acquainted with the -remarkable refraction of the rays of light in the Lybian Desert. I find -mention made in Diod. Sic. lib. iii. p. 184, Rhod. (p. 219, Wessel), -of extraordinary illusive images, an African Fata Morgana, with -most extravagant explanations of the supposed conglomeration of the -particles of air. - -[37] p. 19.--“_The Melon-Cactus._” - -The Cactus melo cactus is often 10 to 12 inches in diameter, and has -usually 14 ribs. The natural group of Cactaceæ, the whole family of -Nopaleæ of Jussieu, belong exclusively to the New Continent. The -cactuses assume a great variety of shapes: ribbed and melon-like (Melo -cacti); articulated or jointed (Opuntiæ); forming upright columns or -pillars (Cerei); serpentine and creeping (Rhipsalides); or provided -with leaves (Pereskiæ). Many extend high up the sides of the mountains. -Near the foot of the Chimborazo, in the elevated sandy plain around -Riobamba, I have found a new kind of Pitahaya, the Cactus sepium, even -at a height of 10,000 (10,660 Eng.) feet. (Humboldt, Bonpland, and -Kunth, Synopsis Plantarum æquinoct. Orbis novi, T. iii. p. 370). - -[38] p. 19.--“_The scene in the Steppe is suddenly changed._” - -I have endeavoured to depict the coming in of the rainy season, and the -signs by which it is announced. The usual deep dark azure of the sky -in the tropics arises from the more complete solution of the vapour -contained in the atmosphere. The cyanometer indicates a paler blue as -soon as the vapours begin to be precipitated. The dark spot or patch in -the constellation of the Southern Cross gradually becomes indistinct -as the transparency of the atmosphere diminishes, and this alteration -announces the near approach of rain. The brightness of the Magellanic -clouds, (Nubecula major and minor), gradually vanishes in a similar -manner. The fixed stars, which before shone like planets with a steady, -tranquil, and not trembling light, now scintillate even in the zenith, -where the vapours are least. (See Arago, in my Relation hist. T. i. p. -623). All these appearances are the results of the increased quantity -of vapour diffused in the atmosphere. - -[39] p. 20.--“_Awakened from a torpid state by the first fall of rain._” - -Extreme dryness produces in plants and animals the same phenomena as -does the withdrawal of the stimulus of heat. Many tropical trees and -plants shed their leaves during the dry season. The crocodiles and -other amphibious animals hide themselves in the mud, where they lie -apparently dead, like animals in a state of hybernation or plunged into -winter sleep by cold. (See my Relation historique, T. ii. pp. 192 and -626.) - -[40] p. 20.--“_The aspect of a vast inland sea._” - -Nowhere are these inundations more extensive than in the network -of rivers formed by the Apure, the Arachuna, Pajara, Arauca, and -Cabuliare. Large vessels sail across the country over the Steppe for 40 -or 50 miles. - -[41] p. 21.--“_To the mountain plateau of Antisana._” - -The great mountain plain or plateau surrounding the volcano of Antisana -is 2107 toises (13473 English feet), above the level of the sea. The -atmospheric pressure at this elevation is so small that the wild -cattle, when hunted with dogs, bleed from the nose and mouth. - -[42] p. 22.--“_Bera and Rastro._” - -I have described the capture of the Gymnoti in detail in another place. -(Observations de Zoologie et d’Anatomie comparée, vol. i. p. 83-87; and -Relation historique, T. ii. p. 173-190). M. Gay Lussac and I found the -experiment without a circuit succeed perfectly with a living Gymnotus, -which was still very vigorous when brought to Paris. The discharge is -solely dependent on the will of the animal. We did not see any spark, -but other physicists have done so on several occasions. - -[43] p. 23.--“_Awakened by the contact of moist dissimilar particles._” - -In all parts of organic bodies dissimilar substances are in contact -with each other: in all, solids are associated with fluids. Thus, -wherever there is organization and life, there is also electric tension -or the play of the voltaic pile, as the experiments of Nobili and -Matteucci, and especially the latest admirable labours of Emil du -Bois, teach us. The last named physicist has succeeded in “manifesting -the presence of the electric muscular current in living and wholly -uninjured animal bodies:” he shews that “the human body, through the -medium of a copper wire, can cause a magnetic needle at a distance -to be deflected at pleasure, first in one and then in the opposite -direction.” (Untersuchungen über thierische Elektricität, von Emil du -Bois-Reymond, 1848, Bd. i. S. xv.) I have witnessed these movements -produced at pleasure, and have had the gratification of seeing -thereby great and unexpected light thrown on phenomena to which I had -laboriously and hopefully devoted several years of my youth. - -[44] p. 23.--“_Osiris and Typhon._” - -On the conflict between two races of men, the Arabian pastoral people -in Lower Egypt, and the agricultural race in Upper Egypt who were in a -more advanced state of civilisation, on the fair-haired Prince Baby or -Typhon, who founded Pelusium, and on the dark-complexioned Dionysos or -Osiris, see Zoëga’s ancient, and now for the most part abandoned views, -in his great work “De Origine et Usu Obeliscorum,” p. 577. - -[45] p. 24.--“_The boundary of a partial European cultivation._” - -In the Capitania general de Caracas, as generally every where on the -eastern shores of America, the cultivation introduced by Europeans, and -their presence and influence, are limited to a narrow strip of country -along the coast. In Mexico, New Granada, and Quito, on the other hand, -European civilisation has penetrated deep into the interior of the -country, and advanced up the ridges of the Cordilleras. There existed -in these last-named regions a considerable degree of settled and -civilised life previous to the arrival of the Spaniards; and they have -followed this civilisation wherever they found it, regardless whether -its seat was near or at a distance from the sea coast. They retained -and enlarged the ancient cities, of which they either mutilated the old -significant Indian names, or gave them new names, as, for example, of -Christian saints. - -[46] p. 24.--“_Massive leaden-coloured granite rocks._” - -In the Orinoco, and more especially at the Cataracts of Maypures -and Atures, all blocks of granite, and even white pieces of quartz, -whenever they are touched by the water of the river, acquire a -greyish-black coating which scarcely penetrates a hundredth of a -line below the surface of the rock. The appearance produced is that -of basalt, or fossils coloured with graphite. The crust appears to -contain manganese and carbon; I say appears, for the phenomenon has -not yet been thoroughly examined. Something similar was remarked by -Rozier on the syenite rocks of the Nile, near Syene and Philæ; by the -unfortunate Captain Tuckey on the rocky banks of the Congo; and by Sir -Robert Schomburgh on the Berbice. (Reisen in Guiana und am Orinoko, S. -212.) On the Orinoco these leaden-coloured rocks are considered to give -out pernicious exhalations when wet; and their proximity is believed -to produce fevers. (Rel. hist. T. ii. p. 299-304.) In the Rio Negro, -and generally in the South American rivers which have “black waters,” -“aguas negras,” or waters of a coffee-brown or yellow tint, no such -effects take place. No black colour is imparted to the granite rocks -by the waters; that is to say, they do not act upon the stone so as to -form from its constituent particles a black or leaden-coloured crust. - -[47] p. 24.--“_The rain-announcing howlings of the bearded apes._” - -The melancholy howlings of the small apes, Simia seniculus, Simia -beelzebub, &c., are heard some hours before the rain commences: it is -as if the tempest were heard raging at a distance. The intensity of the -noise produced by such small animals can only be explained by their -number; seventy or eighty being often lodged in a single tree. On the -organs of voice of these animals, see my anatomical treatise in the -first chapter of my Recueil d’Observations de Zoologie, vol. i. p. 18. - -[48] p. 24.--“_Often covered with birds._” - -The crocodiles lie so motionless that I have seen flamingos -(Phœnicopterus) resting on their heads; the body at the same time being -covered with aquatic birds, like the trunk of a tree. - -[49] p. 24.--“_Down his swelling throat._” - -The saliva with which the boa covers his prey hastens the process of -decomposition; the muscular flesh thus becomes softened into such a -gelatinous state, that he can force entire limbs of larger, and bodies -of smaller, animals down his throat without division. The Creoles call -this gigantic serpent from these circumstances, “Tragavenado,” which -means “Stag swallower:” they tell fabulous stories of snakes being -seen with the antlers of a stag (which it was impossible to swallow) -sticking in their throats. I have several times seen the boa swimming -in the Orinoco, and in the smaller forest streams, the Tuamini, the -Temi and the Atabapo. It holds its head above the water like a dog. -Its skin is finely spotted. It is said to attain a length of 48 feet; -but the largest skins which have as yet been brought to Europe and -carefully measured do not exceed 21 to 23 feet. The South American boa -(which is a Python) differs from the East Indian. On the Ethiopian boa, -see Diodor. lib. iii. p. 204, ed. Wesseling. - -[50] p. 25.--“_Using ants, gums, and earth as food._” - -It was a very prevalent report on the coasts of Cumana, New Barcelona, -and Caraccas, visited by the Franciscan monks of Guiana on their return -from the missions, that there were men on the banks of the Orinoco -who ate earth. When, in returning from the Rio Negro, we descended -the Orinoco in thirty-six days, we passed the day of the 6th of June, -1800, in the Mission inhabited by the earth-eating Otomacs. This little -village is called La Concepcion de Uruana, and is very picturesquely -situated at the foot of a granite rock. I found its geographical -position to be 7° 8′ 3″ N. lat., and 67° 18′ W. long. from Greenwich. -The earth which the Otomacs eat is a soft unctuous clay; a true -potter’s clay, of a yellowish-grey colour due to a little oxide of -iron. They seek for it in particular spots on the banks of the Orinoco -and the Meta, and select it with care. They distinguish the taste of -one kind of earth from that of another, and do not consider all clays -as equally agreeable to eat. They knead the earth into balls of about -five or six inches diameter, which they burn or roast by a weak fire -until the outside assumes a reddish tint. The balls are remoistened -when about to be eaten. These Indians are generally wild uncultivated -beings, and altogether averse to any kind of tillage. It is a proverb -even among the most distant of the nations living on the Orinoco, when -speaking of anything very unclean, to say that it is “so dirty, that -the Otomacs eat it.” - -As long as the waters of the Orinoco and the Meta are low these Indians -live on fish and river tortoises. They kill the fish with arrows when -at the surface of the water, a pursuit in which we have often admired -their great dexterity. During the periodical swelling of the rivers the -taking of fish ceases, for it is as difficult to fish in deep river -water as in the deep sea. It is in this interval, which is of two or -three months’ duration, that the Otomacs swallow great quantities of -earth. We have found considerable stores of it in their huts, the clay -balls being piled together in pyramidal heaps. The very intelligent -monk, Fray Ramon Bueno, a native of Madrid (who lived twelve years -among these Indians), assured us that one of them would eat from three -quarters of a pound to a pound and a quarter in a day. According to -the accounts which the Otomacs themselves give, this earth forms their -principal subsistence during the rainy season, though they eat at the -same time occasionally, when they can obtain it, a lizard, a small -fish, or a fern root. They have such a predilection for the clay, that -even in the dry season, when they can obtain plenty of fish, they -eat a little earth after their meals every day as a kind of dainty. -These men have a dark copper-brown complexion, and unpleasing Tartar -features. They are fat, but not large-bellied. The Franciscan monk who -lived among them as a missionary, assured us that he could perceive no -alteration in their health during the earth-eating season. - -The simple facts are therefore as follows:--The Indians eat large -quantities of earth without injury to their health; and they themselves -regard the earth so eaten as an alimentary substance, _i. e._ they -feel themselves satisfied by eating it, and that for a considerable -time; and they attribute this to the earth or clay, and not to the -other scanty articles of subsistence which they now and then obtain in -addition. If you inquire from an Otomac about his winter provision, (in -tropical South America the rainy season is usually called winter), he -points to the heap of clay balls stored in his hut. But these simple -facts by no means determine the questions, whether the clay be really -an alimentary substance? whether earths be capable of assimilation? or -whether they merely serve to appease hunger by distending the stomach? -I cannot pretend to decide these questions. (Rel. hist. T. ii. p. -618-620.) It is curious that the usually credulous and uncritical -Father Gumilla positively denies the earth-eating as such. (Historia -del Rio Orinoco, nueva impr. 1791, T. i. p. 179.) He affirms that the -balls of clay had maize-meal and crocodile-fat mixed with them. But the -missionary, Fray Ramon Bueno, and our friend and travelling companion, -the lay brother Fray Juan Gonzalez, who was lost at sea off the Coast -of Africa with part of our collections, both assured us that the -Otomacs never mix crocodile fat with the clay; and of the meal said to -be mixed with it we heard absolutely nothing during our stay in Uruana. -The earth which we brought back with us, and which Vauquelin analysed, -is thoroughly pure and unmixed. May Gumilla, by a confusion of things -wholly distinct, have been alluding to the preparation of bread from -the long pod of a kind of Inga, which is previously buried in the earth -in order to hasten the commencement of the first stage of decay? That -the health of the Otomacs should not suffer from eating so much earth -appears to me particularly remarkable. Have they become accustomed to -it in the course of several generations? - -In all tropical countries, human beings shew an extraordinary and -almost irresistible desire to swallow earth; and not alkaline earths, -which they might be supposed to crave to neutralize acid, but unctuous -and strong-smelling clays. It is often necessary to confine children -to prevent them from running out to eat earth immediately after a fall -of rain. I have observed with astonishment the Indian women in the -village of Banco on the Magdalena River, whilst engaged in shaping -earthen vessels on the potter’s wheel, put great lumps of clay into -their mouths. The same thing was remarked at an earlier period by Gili. -(Saggio di Storia Americana, T. ii. p. 311.) Wolves also eat earth, and -especially clay, in winter. It would be important to examine carefully -the excrements of animals and men that eat earth. With the exception of -the Otomacs, individuals of all other races who indulge for any length -of time the strange desire of earth-eating have their health injured by -it. At the mission of San Borja, we saw the child of an Indian woman, -who, his mother said, would hardly eat anything but earth. He was, -however, wasted nearly to a skeleton. - -Why is it that in the temperate and cold zones this morbid craving for -eating earth is so much more rare, and is almost entirely confined, -when it is met with, to children and pregnant women; while in the -tropics it would appear to be indigenous in all quarters of the globe? -In Guinea the negroes eat a yellowish earth, which they call Caouac. -When brought as slaves to the West Indies, they try to obtain a similar -earth, and affirm that in their own country the habit never did them -any harm. In the American Islands they were made ill by it, and it was -forbidden in consequence; but a kind of earth (un tuf rouge jaunâtre) -was, in 1751, sold secretly in the market in Martinique. “Les negres -de Guinée disent que dans leur pays ils mangent habituellement une -certaine terre, dont le goût leur plait, sans en être incommodés. -Ceux qui sont dans l’abus de manger du Caouac en sont si friands -qu’il n’y a pas de châtiment qui puisse les empêcher de dévorer de la -terre.” (Thibault de Chanvalon, Voyage à la Martinique, p. 85.) In -the Island of Java, between Sarabaya and Samarang, Labillardière saw -small square reddish-coloured cakes exposed for sale in the villages. -The natives called them tana ampo (tanah, in Malay and Javanese, -signifies earth). On examination and enquiry he found that the cakes -consisted of reddish clay, and that they were eaten. (Voyage à la -Récherche de la Pérouse, T. ii. p. 322.) The edible clay of Samarang -has recently been sent to Berlin by Mohnike, in 1847, in the shape of -rolled tubes, like cinnamon, and has been examined by Ehrenberg. It -is a fresh-water formation deposited on limestone, and consisting of -microscopic Polygastrica, Gaillonella, Naviculas, and Phytolitharia. -(Bericht über die Verhandl. der Akad. d. Wiss. zu Berlin, aus dem J. -1848, S. 222-225.) The inhabitants of New Caledonia, to appease their -hunger, eat pieces as big as the fist of friable steatite, which -Vauquelin found to contain in addition no inconsiderable quantity -of copper. (Voyage à la Récherche de la Pérouse, T. ii. p. 205.) In -Popayan, and several parts of Peru, calcareous earth is sold in the -streets as an eatable for the Indians; it is used with Coca (the -leaves of the Erythroxylon peruvianum.) Thus we find the practice -of eating earth diffused throughout the torrid zone, among indolent -races inhabiting the finest and most fertile parts of the globe. But -accounts have also come from the North, through Berzelius and Retzius, -according to which, hundreds of cartloads of earth containing Infusoria -are said to be annually consumed by the country people, in the most -remote parts of Sweden, as breadmeal, and even more from fancy (like -the smoking of tobacco) than from necessity! In Finland this kind of -earth is occasionally mixed with the bread. It consists of empty shells -of animalculæ, so small and soft that they do not crunch perceptibly -between the teeth; it fills the stomach, but gives no real nourishment. -In periods of war, chronicles and documents preserved in archives often -give intimation of earths containing infusoria having been eaten; -speaking of them under the vague and general name of “mountain meal.” -It was thus during the Thirty Years’ War in Pomerania (at Camin); in -the Lausitz (at Muskau); and in the territory of Dessau (at Klieken); -and subsequently in 1719 and 1733 at the fortress of Wittenberg. (See -Ehrenberg über das unsichtbar wirkende organische Leben, 1842, S. 41.) - -[51] p. 25.--“_Figures graven on the rock._” - -In the interior of South America, between the 2d and 4th degrees of -North latitude, a forest-covered plain is enclosed by four rivers, -the Orinoco, the Atabapo, the Rio Negro, and the Cassiquiare. In this -district are found rocks of granite and of syenite, covered, like -those of Caicara and Uruana, with colossal symbolical figures of -crocodiles and tigers, and drawings of household utensils, and of the -sun and moon. At the present time this remote corner of the earth is -entirely without human inhabitants, throughout an extent of more than -8000 square geographical miles. The tribes nearest to its boundaries -are wandering naked savages, in the lowest stage of human existence, -and far removed from any thoughts of carving hieroglyphics on rocks. -One may trace in South America an entire zone, extending through -more than eight degrees of longitude, of rocks so ornamented; viz. -from the Rupuniri, Essequibo, and the mountains of Pacaraima, to the -banks of the Orinoco and of the Yupura. These carvings may belong to -very different epochs, for Sir Robert Schomburgk even found on the -Rio Negro representations of a Spanish galiot (Reisen in Guiana und -am Orinoko, übersetzt von Otto Schomburgk, 1841, S. 500), which must -have been of a later date than the beginning of the 16th century; -and this in a wilderness where the natives were probably as rude -then as at the present time. But it must not be forgotten that, as I -have elsewhere noticed, nations of very different descent, when in a -similar uncivilized state, having the same disposition to simplify and -generalise outlines, and being impelled by inherent mental dispositions -to form rhythmical repetitions and series, may be led to produce -similar signs and symbols. (Compare Relation hist. T. ii. p. 589, and -Martius über die Physionomie des Pflanzenreichs in Brasilien, 1824, S. -14.) - -At the Meeting of the Society of Antiquaries of London, on the 17th of -November, 1836, there was read a memoir by Sir Robert Schomburgk “On -the Religious Traditions of the Macusi Indians, who inhabit the Upper -Mahu and a part of the Pacaraima Mountains;” a nation, consequently, -who for a century (since the journey of the adventurous Hortsmann,) -have not changed their residence. Sir Robert Schomburgk says: “The -Macusis believe that the sole survivor of a general deluge repeopled -the earth by changing stones into human beings.” This myth (the fruit -of the lively imagination of these nations, and which reminds us -of Deucalion and Pyrrha), shews itself in a somewhat altered form -among the Tamanaks of the Orinoco. When asked how mankind survived -the great flood, the “age of waters” of the Mexicans, they reply -without any hesitation, that ‘one man and one woman took refuge on -the high mountain of Tamanacu, on the banks of the Asiveru, and that -they then threw over their heads and behind their backs the fruits -of the Mauritia-palm, from the kernels of which sprang men and women -who repeopled the earth.’ Some miles from Encaramada, there rises, -in the middle of the savannah, the rock Tepu-Mereme, or the painted -rock. It shews several figures of animals and symbolical outlines -which resemble much those observed by us at some distance above -Encaramada, near Caycara, in 7° 5′ to 7° 40′ lat. and 66° 28′ to 67° -23′ W. long. from Greenwich. Rocks thus marked are found between the -Cassiquiare and the Atabapo (in 2° 5′ to 3° 20′ lat.), and what is -particularly remarkable, 560 geographical miles farther to the East in -the solitudes of the Parime. This last fact is placed beyond a doubt -by the journal of Nicholas Hortsmann, of which I have seen a copy in -the handwriting of the celebrated D’Anville. That simple and modest -traveller wrote down every day, on the spot, what had appeared to -him most worthy of notice, and he deserves perhaps the more credence -because, being full of dissatisfaction at having failed to discover -the objects of his researches, the Lake of Dorado, with lumps of gold -and a diamond mine, he looked with a certain degree of contempt on -whatever fell in his way. He found, on the 16th of April, 1749, on the -banks of the Rupunuri, at the spot where the river winding between the -Macarana mountains forms several small cascades, and before arriving -in the district immediately round Lake Amucu, “rocks covered with -figures,”--or as he says in Portuguese, “de varias letras.” We were -shown at the rock of Culimacari, on the banks of the Cassiquiare, -signs which were called characters, arranged in lines,--but they were -only ill-shaped figures of heavenly bodies, boa-serpents, and the -utensils employed in preparing manioc-meal. I have never found among -these painted rocks (piedras pintadas) any symmetrical arrangement or -any regular even-spaced characters. I am therefore disposed to think -that the word “letras” in Hortsmann’s journal must not be taken in the -strictest sense. - -Schomburgk was not so fortunate as to rediscover the rock seen by -Hortsmann, but he has seen and described others on the banks of the -Essequibo, near the cascade of Warraputa. “This cascade,” he says, -“is celebrated not only for its height but also for the quantity of -figures cut on the rock, which have great resemblance to those which -I have seen in the Island of St. John, one of the Virgin Islands, and -which I consider to be, without doubt, the work of the Caribs, by whom -that part of the Antilles was formerly inhabited. I made the utmost -efforts to detach portions of the rock which contained the inscription, -and which I desired to take with me; but the stone was too hard, and -fever had taken away my strength. Neither promises nor threats could -prevail on the Indians to give a single blow with a hammer to these -rocks,--the venerable monuments of the superior mental cultivation of -their predecessors. They regard them as the work of the Great Spirit, -and the different tribes who we met with, though living at a great -distance, were nevertheless acquainted with them. Terror was painted on -the faces of my Indian companions, who appeared to expect every moment -that the fire of heaven would fall on my head. I saw clearly that my -endeavours would be fruitless, and I contented myself with bringing -away a complete drawing of these memorials.” The last determination was -certainly the best, and the editor of the English Journal, to my great -satisfaction, adds a note to the effect that it is to be wished that -no one else may be more successful than Mr. Schomburgk, and that no -future traveller from civilized countries may do anything towards the -destruction of these monuments of the unprotected Indians. - -The symbolical signs seen by Robert Schomburgk in the Valley of the -Essequibo, near the rapids of Waraputa, (Richard Schomburgk, Reisen in -Britisch-Guiana, Th. i. S. 320), were remarked by him to bear a great -resemblance to genuine Carib ones in one of the small Virgin Islands -(St. John’s); but notwithstanding the wide extent of the invasions -of the Caribs, and the ancient power of this fine race, I cannot -believe that all the rock engravings,--which, as I have said, form -an immense belt traversing a great part of South America from west -to east,--are to be regarded as their work. I am inclined rather to -view these remains as traces of an ancient civilisation,--belonging, -perhaps, to an epoch when the tribes whom we now distinguish by various -appellations were still unknown. Even the veneration everywhere -testified by the Indians of the present day for these rude sculptures -of their predecessors, shews that they have no idea of the execution -of similar works. There is another circumstance which should be -mentioned: between Encaramada and Caycara, on the banks of the Orinoco, -a number of these hieroglyphical figures are sculptured on the face -of precipices at a height which could now be reached only by means of -extraordinarily high scaffolding. If one asks the natives how these -figures can have been cut, they answer, laughing, as if it were a fact -of which none but a white man could be ignorant, that “in the days of -the great waters their fathers went in canoes at that height.” Thus a -geological fancy is made to afford an answer to the problem presented -by a civilisation which has long passed away. - -Let me be permitted to introduce here a remark which I borrow from -a letter addressed to me by the distinguished traveller, Sir Robert -Schomburgk. “The hieroglyphical figures are more widely extended than -you had perhaps supposed. During my expedition, which had for its -object the examination of the Corentyn River, I not only observed some -colossal figures on the rock of Timeri (4-1/2° N. lat. and 57-1/2° W. -long.), but I also discovered similar ones near the great cataracts -of the Corentyn, in 4° 21′ 30″ N. lat. and 57° 55′ 30″ W. long. These -figures are executed with much greater care than any which I discovered -in Guiana. Their size is about ten feet, and they appear to represent -human figures. The head-dress is extremely remarkable; it encompasses -the head, spreading out considerably in breadth, and is not unlike the -halos represented in paintings as surrounding the heads of Saints and -Sacred Persons. I have left my drawings of these figures in the colony, -but I hope some day to be able to lay them all before the public. I -saw ruder figures on the Cuyuwini, a river which empties itself into -the Essequibo in latitude 2° 16′ N., entering it from the north-west; -and I have since seen similar figures on the Essequibo itself in 1° -40′ N. lat. These figures extend, therefore, as ascertained by actual -observation, from 7° 10′ to 1° 40′ N. lat., and from 57° 30′ to 66° 30′ -W. long. Thus the zone of pictured rocks extends, so far as it has been -at present examined, over a space of 192000 square geographical miles, -comprising the basins of the Corentyn, the Essequibo, and the Orinoco; -a circumstance from which we may form some inferences respecting the -former amount of population in this part of the continent.” - -Other remarkable remains of a degree of civilisation which no longer -exists, are the granite vases with graceful labyrinthine ornaments, and -the earthen masks resembling Roman ones, which have been discovered on -the Mosquito coast, among wild Indians. (Archæologia Britan. vol. v. -1779, p. 318-324; and vol. vi. 1782, p. 107.) I have had them engraved -in the “Picturesque Atlas” which accompanies the historical portion -of my Travels to the Equinoctial Regions. Antiquaries are astonished -at the similarity of these ornaments (resembling a well-known Grecian -form), to those of the Palace of Mitla, near Oaxaca, in Mexico. In -looking at Peruvian carvings, I have never remarked any figures of the -large-nosed race of men, so frequently represented in the bas-reliefs -of Palenque in Guatimala, and in the Aztec paintings. Klaproth -remembered having seen individuals with similar large noses among the -Chalcas, a northern Mogul tribe. It is well known that many tribes of -the North American red or copper-coloured Indians have fine aquiline -noses; and that this is an essential physiognomic distinction between -them and the present inhabitants of Mexico, New Granada, Quito, and -Peru. Are the large-eyed, comparatively fair-complexioned people, -spoken of by Marchand as having been seen in 54° and 58° lat. on the -north-west coast of America, descended from an Alano-Gothic race, the -Usüni of the interior of Asia? - -[52] p. 25.--“_Apparently weaponless, and yet prepared for murder._” - -The Otomacs often poison the thumb-nail with Curare. A mere scratch -of the nail is deadly if the curare mixes with the blood. We obtained -specimens of the climbing plant, from the juice of which the curare is -prepared, at Esmeralda on the Upper Orinoco, but unfortunately we did -not find it in blossom. Judging by its physiognomy it appears to be -related to Strychnos (Rel. hist. T. ii. p. 547-556). Since the notice -in the work referred to of the curare or ourari (previously mentioned -by Raleigh, both as a plant and as a poison), the brothers Robert -and Richard Schomburgk have done much towards making us accurately -acquainted with the nature and preparation of this substance, of -which I was the first to bring a considerable quantity to Europe. -Richard Schomburgk found the plant in blossom in Guiana on the banks -of the Pomeroon and the Sururu in the territory of the Caribs, who -are not, however, acquainted with the manner of preparing the poison. -His instructive work (Reisen in Britisch-Guiana, Th. i. S. 441-461), -contains the chemical analysis of the juice of the Strychnos toxifera, -which, notwithstanding its name and its organic structure, does not -contain, according to Boussingault, any trace of strychnine. Virchou -and Münter’s interesting physiological experiments make it probable -that the curare or ourari poison does not kill by mere external -absorption, but only when absorbed by living animal substance of -which the continuity has been severed (_i. e._ which has been wounded -slightly); that it does not belong to the class of tetanic poisons; -and that its particular effect is to take away the power of voluntary -muscular movement, whilst the involuntary functions of the heart and -intestines still continue. Compare, also, the older chemical analysis -of Boussingault, in the Annales de Chimie et de Physique, T. xxxix. -1828, p. 24-37. - -[*] [The circumstance referred to was even more remarkable. Casks of -palm oil, part of the cargo of the ship wrecked near Cape Lopez, were -conveyed by the current to Finmarken, and stranded near the North Cape. -Vide Editor’s note in the English translation of “Cosmos,” vol. i. p. -xcvii.]--_Tr._ - - - - -THE - -CATARACTS OF THE ORINOCO. - - -In the preceding section, which was made the subject of an academical -lecture, I sought to depict those boundless plains which, according -to the varying modification of their natural characters induced by -climatic relations, appear to us sometimes as Deserts devoid of -vegetation, and sometimes as Steppes, or widely-extended grassy plains -or Prairies. In so doing I contrasted the Llanos of the southern part -of the New Continent with the dreadful seas of sand which form the -African Deserts; and these again with the Steppes of Central Asia, the -habitation of world-assailing pastoral nations, who at a former period, -when pressed hitherward from the East, spread barbarism and devastation -over the earth. - -If on that occasion, (in 1806,) I ventured to combine widely -distributed portions of the earth’s surface in a single picture of -nature, and to entertain a public assembly with images whose colouring -was in unison with the mournful disposition of our minds at that epoch, -I will now, limiting myself to a narrower circle of phenomena, sketch -the more cheerful picture of river scenery composed of foaming rapids -and rich luxuriant vegetation. I propose to describe in particular -two scenes of nature in the wildernesses of Guiana,--the celebrated -Cataracts of the Orinoco, Atures and Maypures,--which, previous to my -visit, few Europeans had ever seen. - -The impression left on our minds by the aspect of nature is frequently -determined, less even by the peculiar character of the strictly -terrestrial portion of the scene, than by the light thrown on mountain -or plain, either by a sky of azure purity, or by one veiled by lowering -clouds; and in the same manner descriptions of nature act upon us -more powerfully or more feebly, according as they are more or less in -harmony with the requirements of our feelings. For it is the inward -mirror of the sensitive mind which reflects the true and living -image of the natural world. All that determines the character of a -landscape,--the outline of the mountains, which, in the far-vanishing -distance, bound the horizon,--the dark shade of the pine forests,--the -sylvan torrent rushing between overhanging cliffs to its fall,--all are -in antecedent mysterious communion with the inner feelings and life of -man. - -On this communion rests the nobler portion of the enjoyment which -nature affords. Nowhere does she penetrate us more deeply with the -feeling of her grandeur, nowhere does she speak to us with a more -powerful voice, than in the tropical world, under the “Indian sky,” -as, in the early middle ages, the climate of the torrid zone was -called. If, therefore, I venture again to occupy this Assembly with a -description of those regions, I do so in the hope that the peculiar -charm which belongs to them will not be unfelt. The remembrance of -a distant richly endowed land,--the aspect of a free and vigorous -vegetation,--refreshes and strengthens the mind; in the same manner -as our spirits, when oppressed with the actual present, love to escape -awhile, and to delight themselves with the earlier youthful age of -mankind, and with the manifestations of its simple grandeur. - -Favouring winds and currents bear the voyager westward across the -peaceful Ocean arm,[53] which fills the wide valley between the New -Continent and western Africa. Before the American shore rises from the -liquid plain, he hears the tumult of contending, mutually opposing, -and inter-crossing waves. The mariner unacquainted with the region -would surmise the vicinity of shoals, or a wonderful outbreak of fresh -springs in the middle of the ocean,[54] like those in the neighbourhood -of Cuba. On approaching nearer to the granitic coast of Guiana, he -becomes sensible that he has entered the wide embouchure of a mighty -river, which issues forth like a shoreless lake and covers the ocean -around with fresh water. The green, and on the shallows the milk-white, -tint of the fresh water contrasts with the indigo-blue colour of the -sea, and marks with sharp outlines the limits of the river waves. - -The name Orinoco, given to the river by its first discoverers, and -which probably originated in some confusion of language, is unknown -in the interior of the country. Nations in a rude state designate by -proper geographical names only such objects as can be confounded with -each other. The Orinoco, the Amazons, and the Magdalena rivers, are -called simply “The River,” or “The Great River,” or “The Great Water;” -whilst those who dwell on their banks distinguish even the smallest -streams by particular names. - -The current produced by the Orinoco, between the mainland and the -Island of Trinidad with its asphaltic lake, is so strong, that ships -with all sail set, and with a favourable breeze, can with difficulty -make way against it. This deserted and dreaded part of the sea is -called the Bay of Sadness (Golfo Triste); the entrance forms the -Dragon’s Mouth (Boca del Drago). Here detached cliffs rise like towers -above the foaming floods, and seem still to indicate the ancient site -of a rocky bulwark[55], which, before it was broken by the force of the -current, united the island of Trinidad with the coast of Paria. - -The aspect of this region first convinced the great discoverer of the -New World of the existence of an American continent. Familiar with -nature, he inferred that so immense a body of fresh water could only be -collected in a long course, and “that the land which supplied it must -be a continent, not an island.” As, according to Arrian, the companions -of Alexander, after crossing the snow-covered Paropanisus,[56] on -reaching the Indus imagined, from the presence of crocodiles, that -they recognised in that river a branch of the Nile; so Columbus, -unaware of the similarity of physiognomy which characterises the -various productions of the climate of Palms, readily supposed this -new continent to be the eastern coast of the far-projecting continent -of Asia. The mild coolness of the evening air, the ethereal purity of -the starry firmament, the balsamic fragrance of the flowers wafted -to him by the land breeze,--all led him (as Herrara tells us in the -Decades)[57], to deem that he had approached the garden of Eden, the -sacred dwelling-place of the first parents of the human race. The -Orinoco appeared to him to be one of the four rivers descending from -Paradise, to divide and water the earth newly decked with vegetation. -This poetic passage from the journal of Columbus’s voyage, or rather -from a letter written from Hayti, in October 1498, to Ferdinand and -Isabella, has a peculiar psychological interest. It teaches us anew -that the creative imagination of the poet exists in the Discoverer as -in every form of human greatness. - -In considering the quantity of water which the Orinoco bears to the -Atlantic, the question arises--Which of the great South American -Rivers,--the Orinoco, the Amazons, or the River Plate,--is the largest? -The question, however, thus put is not a determinate one, the idea of -size in this case not being altogether definite. The River Plate has -the widest embouchure, being 92 geographical miles across; but, like -the British rivers, its length is comparatively small. Even at Buenos -Ayres its depth is already so inconsiderable as to impede navigation. -The Amazons is the longest of all rivers: its course from its origin -in the Lake of Lauricocha to its mouth is 2880 geographical miles. But -its breadth in the province of Jaen de Bracamoros, near the cataract of -Rentama, as measured by me at the foot of the picturesque mountain of -Patachuma, hardly equals that of the Rhine at Mayence. - -The Orinoco is narrower at its mouth than either the River Plate or -the Amazons; and its length, according to positions astronomically -determined by me, only amounts to 1120 geographical miles. But, on the -other hand, far in the interior of Guiana, 560 miles from its mouth, -I still found its breadth, when full, 16200 Parisian (17265 Eng.) -feet. The periodical swelling of the river annually raises its level -at this part of its course from 30 to 36 feet above its lowest level. -Sufficient materials for an accurate comparison of the enormous rivers -which intersect the continent of South America are still wanting. For -such a comparison it would be needful to know in each case the profile -of the river-bed, and the velocity of the water, which differs very -greatly in different parts of the same stream. - -If, in the Delta enclosed by its variously divided and still unexplored -arms,--in the regularity of its periodical rise and fall--and in -the number and size of its crocodiles,--the Orinoco shews points of -resemblance to the Nile, there is this further analogy between the -two rivers, that after long rushing rapidly through many windings -between wood-fringed shores formed by granitic and syenitic rocks and -mountains, during the remainder of their course they slowly roll their -waters to the sea, between treeless banks, over an almost horizontal -bed. An arm of the Nile (the Green Nile, Bahr-el-Azrek) flows from the -celebrated mountain-lake near Gondar, in the Abyssinian Gojam Alps, to -Syene and Elephantis, through the mountains of Shangalla and Sennaar. -In a similar manner the Orinoco rises on the southern declivity of the -mountain chain which, in the 4th and 5th parallel of North latitude, -extends westward from French Guiana towards the Andes of New Granada. -The sources of the Orinoco[58] have never been visited by any European, -or even by any natives who have been in communication with Europeans. - -In ascending the Upper Orinoco in the summer of 1800, we passed the -Mission of Esmeralda, and reached the mouths of the Sodomoni and the -Guapo. Here rises high above the clouds the massive summit of the -Yeonnamari or Duida, a grand and picturesque mountain which presents -to the spectator one of the finest scenes of nature which the tropical -world has to offer. Its altitude, according to my trigonometrical -measurement, is 8278 (8823 Eng.) feet above the level of the sea. The -southern slope of the mountain presents a treeless grassy surface, and -the humid evening air is filled far and wide with the fragrance of the -ripe ananas. The stalks of the pine apples, swelling with rich juice, -rise between the lowly herbs of the meadow, and the golden fruit is -seen shining at a distance from under its leafy crown of bluish-green. -Where mountain springs or rivulets break forth from the turfy covering, -the scene is further adorned by groups of tall fan-palms, whose foliage -never feels the influence of a cool breeze. - -On the east of the Duida mountain a dense thicket of wild Cacao groves -begins, and amidst these are found trees of the celebrated Bertholletia -excelsa, the most vigorous of the productions of the tropical world[59]. -Here the Indians collect the materials for their blow-pipes, colossal -grass-stalks having joints above 18 feet long from knot to knot.[60] -Some Franciscan monks have penetrated as far as the mouth of the -Chiguire, where the river is already so narrow that the natives have -thrown across it, near the waterfall of the Guaharibes, a suspension -bridge formed of the twining stems of climbing plants. The Guaicas, a -race of comparatively light complexion but of small stature, armed with -poisoned arrows, forbid any farther advance towards the east. - -All, therefore, that has been put forward respecting the lake origin of -the Orinoco is fabulous[61]. We seek in vain in nature for the Laguna of -El Dorado, which is still marked in Arrowsmith’s maps as an inland sea -80 geographical miles in length. Has the little reedy lake of Amucu, -from which the Pirara (a branch of the Mahu) flows, given rise to this -fable? But the swamp in which the lake of Amucu is situated is four -degrees of longitude to the east of the district in which the sources -of the Orinoco must be sought. - -It was an ancient custom of dogmatising geographers to make all the -larger rivers of the world originate in considerable lakes. To the -lake forming the supposed origin of the Orinoco was transferred the -site of the island of Pumacena, a rock of micaceous slate, the glitter -of which, in the 16th century, played, in the fable of El Dorado, a -memorable, and to deceived humanity often a fatal part. It is the -belief of the natives, that the Magellanic clouds of the southern -hemisphere, and even the fine nebulæ in the constellation of the -ship Argo, are a reflection of the metallic brilliancy of the silver -mountains of the Parime. - -The Orinoco is one of those rivers which, after many windings, seem to -return back towards the region in which they took their rise. After -following a westerly and then a northerly course, it runs again to the -east, so that its mouth is almost in the same meridian as its source. -From the Chiguire and the Gehette as far as the Guaviare the Orinoco -flows to the west, as if it would carry its waters to the Pacific. -It is in this part of its course that it sends out towards the south -a remarkable arm, the Cassiquiare, but little known in Europe, which -unites with the Rio Negro, (called by the natives the Guainia), and -offers perhaps the only example of a bifurcation forming in the very -interior of a continent a natural connection between two great rivers -and their basins. - -The nature of the ground, and the junction of the Guaviare and Atabapo -with the Orinoco, cause the latter to turn suddenly towards the north. -In the absence of correct geographical knowledge, the Guaviare flowing -in from the west was long regarded as the true origin of the Orinoco. -The doubts raised by an eminent geographer, M. Buache, since 1797, as -to the probability of a connection with the Amazons, have I hope been -entirely refuted by my expedition. In an uninterrupted navigation of -920 geographical miles I passed through the singular network of rivers, -from the Rio Negro, by the Cassiquiare, into the Orinoco; traversing in -this manner the interior of the Continent, from the Brazilian boundary -to the coast of Caraccas. - -In the upper portion of the basin of the Orinoco and its tributaries, -between the 3rd and 4th degrees of north latitude, nature has several -times repeated the enigmatical phenomenon of the so-called “black -waters.” The Atabapo, whose banks are adorned with Carolinias -and arborescent Melastomas, and the Temi, Tuamini, and Guainia, -are all rivers of a coffee-brown colour. In the shade of the palm -groves this colour seems almost to pass into ink-black. When placed -in transparent vessels, the water appears of a golden yellow. The -image of the Southern Constellations is reflected with wonderful -clearness in these black streams. Where their waters flow gently, -they afford to the observer, when taking astronomical observations -with reflecting instruments, a most excellent artificial horizon. A -cooler atmosphere, less torment from stinging mosquitoes, greater -salubrity, and the absence of crocodiles (fish, however, are also -wanting), mark the region of these black rivers. They probably owe -their peculiar colour to a solution of carburetted hydrogen, to the -luxuriance of the tropical vegetation, and to the quantity of plants -and herbs on the ground over which they flow. On the western declivity -of the Chimborazo, towards the coast of the Pacific, I remarked that -the flooded waters of the Rio de Guayaquil gradually assumed a golden -yellow or almost coffee-brown colour, when covering the meadows for -some weeks. - -In the vicinity of the mouths of the Guaviare and Atabapo grows the -Piriguao,[62] one of the noblest of palm trees, whose smooth and -polished trunk, between 60 and 70 feet high, is adorned with a delicate -flag-like foliage curled at the margins. I know no palm which bears -such large and beautifully coloured fruits. They resemble peaches, -and are tinged with yellow mingled with a roseate crimson. Seventy or -eighty of them form enormous pendulous bunches, of which each tree -annually ripens three. This fine tree might be called the peach palm. -The fleshy fruits are from the luxuriance of vegetation most often -devoid of seeds, and offer to the natives a nutritious farinaceous food -which, like plantains and potatoes, can be prepared in a variety of -ways. - -Hitherto, or as far as the mouth of the Guaviare, the Orinoco flows -along the southern declivity of the Sierra de Parime; and from its -southern bank the vast forest-covered plain of the Amazons River -stretches far beyond the equator, even to the 15th degree of south -latitude. When the Orinoco turns suddenly to the north near San -Fernando de Atabapo, it breaks through a part of the mountain chain -along the base of which it had previously flowed; and this is the site -of the great waterfalls of Atures and Maypures. The river bed is here -everywhere hemmed in by colossal masses of rock, and divided as it were -into separate reservoirs by natural dikes. - -In front of the entrance of the Meta there stands in the middle of a -mighty whirlpool an isolated cliff, to which the natives have given -the very appropriate name of the “rock of patience;” because when the -waters are low it sometimes costs those who are ascending the river two -days to pass it. Here the Orinoco, eating deep into the land, forms -picturesque rocky bays. Opposite to the Indian mission of Carichana -the traveller is surprised by the singular prospect which presents -itself to his view. His eye is involuntarily riveted on an abrupt -granitic rock, el Mogote de Cocuyza, a cube with vertically precipitous -sides, above 200 feet high and bearing on its upper surface a forest -of trees of rich and varied foliage. Resembling a Cyclopean monument -in its simple grandeur, this mass of rock rises high above the tops of -the surrounding palms, its sharp outlines appearing in strong relief -against the deep azure of the sky, and its summit uplifting high in air -a forest above the forest. - -In descending the Orinoco from this point, still within the range -of the Carichana mission, we arrive at the part of the river where -the stream has forced for itself a way through the narrow pass of -Baraguan. Here we recognise everywhere traces of chaotic devastation. -To the north, (towards Uruana and Encaramada), masses of granite of -extraordinarily notched and serrated outline and grotesque aspect shine -with dazzling whiteness high above the thickets from amidst which they -rise. - -It is in this region, after receiving the Apure, that the Orinoco -leaves the granitic chain of mountains and flows eastward to the -Atlantic, dividing the impenetrable forests of Guiana from the grassy -plains on which the vault of heaven seems everywhere to rest as on -the horizon of the ocean. Thus the elevated cluster of the Parime -mountains, which occupies the entire space between the sources of the -Jao and the Caura, is surrounded on three sides, to the South, to the -West, and to the North, by the Orinoco. Below Carichana the course of -the river is uninterrupted by rocks or rapids to its mouth, excepting -at the whirlpool of the Boca del Infierno (Hell’s mouth) near Muitaco, -where, however, the rocks which occasion the rapid do not extend across -the entire bed of the river as at Atures and Maypures. In these lower -parts of the river in the vicinity of the sea, the only danger feared -by the boatmen is that of encountering the great natural rafts, -consisting of trees torn from the banks by the swelling of the river, -against which canoes are often wrecked during the night. These rafts, -covered like meadows with flowering water plants, remind the spectator -of the floating gardens of the Mexican lakes. - -After this rapid review of the course of the Orinoco, and of its -general relations to the surrounding country, I pass to the description -of the Falls of Maypures and Atures. - -Between the sources of the rivers Sipapo and Ventuari a granite ridge -projects from the elevated mountain group of Cunavami, and advances far -to the west towards the mountains of Uniama. Four streams, which may be -said to mark the limits of the cataracts of Maypures, descend from this -ridge; two, the Sipapo and the Sanariapo, on the eastern side of the -Orinoco; and two, the Cameji and the Toparo, on its western side. Near -the Missionary village of Maypures the mountains retire and form a wide -bay open to the south-west. - -The foaming stream flows at the present time at the foot of the eastern -mountain declivity, and far to the west we recognise the ancient bank -now forsaken by the water. A grass-covered plain, only about thirty -feet above the present highest level of the river, extends between the -two chains of hills. The Jesuits have built upon it a small church -formed of the trunks of palm trees. - -The geological aspect of the district, the shapes of the rocks of Keri -and Oco, which have so much the character of islands, the water-worn -hollows in the first named of these rocks, situated at exactly the same -height as the cavities in the opposite island of Uivitari, all testify -that the Orinoco once filled the whole of this now dry gulf or bay. -Probably the waters formed a wide lake as long as the northern dike -was able to withstand their pressure. When it gave way, the prairie -now inhabited by the Guareke Indians must have been the first part -which appeared above the waters; which may subsequently, perhaps, have -long continued to surround the rocks of Keri and Oco, which rising -like mountain fortresses from the ancient bed of the river, present a -picturesque aspect. As the waters gradually diminished they withdrew -altogether to the foot of the eastern hills, where the river now flows. - -This conjecture is confirmed by several circumstances. The Orinoco, -like the Nile near Philæ and Syene, has the property of imparting a -black colour to the reddish white masses of granite which it has bathed -for thousands of years. As far as the waters reach, one may remark on -the rocky shore the leaden-coloured coating described in page 189: its -presence, and the hollows before mentioned, mark the ancient height of -the waters of the Orinoco. - -In the rock of Keri, in the islands of the Cataracts, in the gneiss -hills of Cumadaminari above the island of Tomo, and lastly at the mouth -of the Jao, we trace these black-coloured hollows at elevations of -150 to 180 (160 to 192 English) feet above the present height of the -river. Their existence teaches us a fact of which we may also observe -indications in the river beds of Europe; viz. that the streams whose -magnitude now excites our astonishment are only the feeble remains of -the immense masses of water belonging to an earlier age of the world. - -These simple remarks and inferences have not escaped even the rude -natives of Guiana. The Indians everywhere called our attention to the -traces of the former height of the waters. There is in a grassy plain -near Uruana an isolated granite rock, on which, according to the report -of trustworthy witnesses, there are at a height of more than eighty -feet drawings of the sun and moon, and of many animals, particularly -crocodiles and boas, engraven or arranged almost in rows or lines. -Without artificial aid it would now be impossible to ascend this -perpendicular precipice, which deserves to be carefully examined by -future travellers. The hieroglyphical rock engravings on the mountains -of Uruana and Encaramada are equally remarkable in respect to situation. - -If one asks the natives how these figures can have been cut in the -rocks, they answer that it was done when the waters were so high that -their fathers’ boats were only a little lower than the drawings. Those -rude memorials of human art would in such case have belonged to the -same age as a state of the waters implying a distribution of land and -water very different from that which now prevails, and belonging to an -earlier condition of the earth’s surface; which must not, however, be -confounded with that in which the earlier vegetation which adorned our -planet, the gigantic bodies of extinct land animals, and the oceanic -creatures of a more chaotic state, became entombed in the indurating -crust of globe. - -At the northernmost extremity of the cataracts, attention is excited by -what are called the natural drawings or pictures of the Sun and Moon. -The rock Keri, to which I have several times referred, has received -its name from a white spot which is conspicuous from a great distance, -and in which the Indians have thought they recognised a remarkable -similarity to the disk of the full moon. I was not myself able to climb -the steep precipice, but the white mark in question is probably a -large knot of quartz formed by a cluster of veins in the greyish-black -granite. - -Opposite to the Keri rock, on the twin mountain of the island of -Uivitari, which has a basaltic appearance, the Indians shew with -mysterious admiration a similar disk which they venerate as the image -of the Sun, Camosi. Perhaps the geographical position of the two rocks -may have contributed to these denominations, as the Keri (or Moon Rock) -is turned to the West, and the Camosi to the East. Some etymologists -have thought they recognised in the American word Camosi a similarity -to Camosh, the name of the Sun in one of the Phœnician dialects, and to -Apollo Chomeus, or Beelphegor and Ammon. - -Unlike the grander falls of Niagara (which are 140 French or 150 -English feet high) the “Cataracts of Maypures” are not formed by the -single precipitous descent of a vast mass of waters, nor are they -“narrows” or passes through which the river rushes with accelerated -velocity, as in the Pongo of Manseriche in the River of the Amazons. -The Cataracts of Maypures consist of a countless number of little -cascades succeeding each other like steps. The “Raudal” (the name given -by the Spaniards to this species of cataract) is formed by numerous -islands and rocks which so restrict the bed of the river, that out of -a breadth of 8000 (8526 E.) feet there often only remains an open -channel of twenty feet in width. The eastern side is now much more -inaccessible and dangerous than the western. - -At the confluence of the Cameji with the Orinoco, goods are unladen in -order that the empty canoe, or, as it is here called, the Piragua, may -be conveyed by Indians well acquainted with the Raudal to the mouth -of the Toparo, where the danger is considered to be past. Where the -separate rocks or steps (each of which is designated by a particular -name) are not much above two or three feet high, the natives, if -descending the stream, venture, remaining themselves in the canoe, to -let it go down the falls: if they are ascending the stream they leave -the boat, swim forward, and when after many unsuccessful attempts they -have succeeded in casting a rope round the points of rock which rise -above the broken water, they draw up their vessel, which is often -either overset or entirely filled with water in the course of these -laborious proceedings. - -Sometimes, and it is the only case which gives the natives any -uneasiness, the canoe is dashed in pieces against the rocks; the men -have then to disengage themselves with bleeding bodies from the wreck -and from the whirling force of the torrent, and to gain the shore by -swimming. Where the rocky steps are very high and extend across the -entire bed of the river, the light boat is brought to land and drawn -along the bank by means of branches of trees placed under it as rollers. - -The most celebrated and difficult steps, those of Purimarimi and -Manimi, are between nine and ten feet high. I found with astonishment -by barometric measurements, (geodesical levelling being out of -the question from the inaccessibility of the locality, its highly -insalubrious atmosphere, and the swarms of mosquitoes which fill the -air), that the whole fall of the Raudal from the mouth of the Cameji to -that of the Toparo hardly amounts to 28 or 30 feet (30 or 32 English). -I say, “I found with astonishment;” for this shews that the dreadful -noise and wild dashing and foaming of the river are the results of the -narrowing of its bed by countless rocks and islands, and of the counter -currents produced by the form and situation of the masses of rock. The -best ocular demonstration of the small height of the whole fall is -obtained by descending from the village of Maypures to the bed of the -river by the rock of Manimi. - -From this point a wonderful prospect is enjoyed. A foaming surface of -four miles in length presents itself at once to the eye: iron-black -masses of rock resembling ruins and battlemented towers rise frowning -from the waters. Rocks and islands are adorned with the luxuriant -vegetation of the tropical forest; a perpetual mist hovers over the -waters, and the summits of the lofty palms pierce through the cloud -of spray and vapour. When the rays of the glowing evening sun are -refracted in these humid exhalations a magic optical effect begins. -Coloured bows shine, vanish, and reappear; and the ethereal image is -swayed to and fro by the breath of the sportive breeze. During the -long rainy season the streaming waters bring down islands of vegetable -mould, and thus the naked rocks are studded with bright flower-beds -adorned with Melastomas and Droseras, and with small silver-leaved -mimosas and ferns. These spots recall to the recollection of the -European those blocks of granite decked with flowers which rise -solitary amidst the glaciers of Savoy, and are called by the dwellers -in the Alps “Jardins,” or “Courtils.” - -In the blue distance the eye rests on the mountain chain of Cunavami, a -long extended ridge which terminates abruptly in a truncated cone. We -saw the latter, (Calitamini is its Indian name), glowing at sunset as -if in roseate flames. This appearance returns daily: no one has ever -been near the mountain to detect the precise cause of this brightness, -which may perhaps proceed from a reflecting surface produced by the -decomposition of tale or mica slate. - -During the five days which we passed in the neighbourhood of the -cataracts, it was striking to hear the thunder of the rushing torrents -sound three times louder by night than by day. In all European -waterfalls the same phenomenon is remarked. What can be its cause in a -wilderness where there is nothing to interrupt the repose of nature? -Perhaps the currents of heated ascending air by causing irregular -density in the elastic medium impede the propagation of sound during -the day, by the disturbance they may occasion in the waves of sound; -whereas during the nocturnal cooling of the earth’s surface the upward -currents cease. - -The Indians called our attention to ancient tracks of wheels. They -speak with admiration of the horned animals, (oxen), which in the times -of the Jesuit missions used to draw the canoes on wheeled supports, -along the left bank of the Orinoco, from the mouth of the Cameji -to that of the Toparo. The lading was not then removed from the -boats, nor were the latter worn and injured as they now are by being -constantly stranded upon the rocks and dragged over their rough surface. - -The topographical plan of the district sketched by me shews the -facilities which the nature of the ground offers for the opening of a -canal from the Cameji to the Toparo, which would form a navigable side -arm to the river, the dangerous portion of which would be thus avoided. -I proposed its execution to the Governor-General of Venezuela. - -The Raudal of Atures closely resembles that of Maypures; like it, it is -a cluster of islands between which the river forces its way for ten or -twelve thousand yards; a forest of palms rising from the midst of the -foaming waters. The most celebrated “Steps” of this Raudal are situated -between the islands of Avaguri and Javariveni, between Suripamana and -Uirapuri. - -When M. Bonpland and I returned from the banks of the Rio Negro, we -ventured to pass the latter or lower half of the Raudal of Atures with -the loaded canoe, often leaving it for the rocky dikes which connect -one island with another. Sometimes the waters rush over these dikes, -and sometimes they fall with a hollow thundering sound into cavities, -and flowing for a time through subterranean channels, leave large -pieces of the bed of the river dry. Here the golden Pipra rupicola -makes its nest; it is one of the most beautiful of tropical birds, with -a double moveable crest of feathers, and is as pugnacious as the East -Indian domestic cock. - -In the Raudal of Canucari the rocky dike or weir consists of piled-up -granite spheres. We crept into the interior of a grotto the damp walls -of which were covered with confervæ and shining Byssus, and where the -river rushed high above our heads with deafening noise. - -We had accidentally more time than we desired for the enjoyment of -this grand scene of nature. The Indians had left us in the middle of -the cataract, proposing to take the canoe round a long narrow island -below which we were to re-embark. We waited an hour and a half under -a heavy tempestuous rain; night was coming on, and we sought in vain -for shelter between the masses of granite. The little monkeys, which -we had carried with us for months in wicker cages, by their mournful -cries attracted crocodiles whose size and leaden-grey colour shewed -their great age. I should not here notice an occurrence so usual in -the Orinoco, if the Indians had not assured us that no crocodiles were -ever seen in the cataracts; and in dependence on this assurance we had -even ventured repeatedly to bathe in this part of the river. Meanwhile -our anxiety lest we might be forced to pass the long tropical night in -the middle of the Raudal, wet through and deafened by the thundering -noise of the falling waters, increased every moment; until at last the -Indians reappeared with our canoe. From the low state of the waters -they had found the steps by which they had intended to let themselves -down inaccessible, and had been forced to seek among the labyrinth of -channels for a more practicable passage. - -Near the southern entrance of the Raudal of Atures, on the right bank -of the river, is the cave of Ataruipe, which is widely celebrated among -the Indians. The grand and melancholy character of the scenery around -fits it for the burying-place of a deceased nation. We climbed with -difficulty, and not without danger of falling to a great depth below, a -steep and perfectly bare granite precipice. It would be hardly possible -to keep one’s footing on the smooth surface, if it were not for large -crystals of feldspar, which, resisting “weathering,” project as much as -an inch from the face of the rock. - -On reaching the summit the traveller beholds a wide, diversified, and -striking prospect. From the foaming river-bed rise wood-crowned hills, -while beyond the western shore of the Orinoco the eye rests on the -boundless grassy plain of the Meta, uninterrupted save where at one -part of the horizon the Mountain of Uniama rises like a threatening -cloud. Such is the distance; the nearer prospect is desolate, and -closely hemmed in by high and barren rocks. All is motionless save -where the vulture or the hoarse goat-sucker hover solitarily in -mid-air, or, as they wing their flight through the deep-sunk ravine, -their silent shadows are seen gliding along the face of the bare rocky -precipice until they vanish from the eye. - -This precipitous valley is bounded by mountains on whose rounded -summits are enormous detached granite spheres of more than 40 to 50 -feet diameter: they appear to touch the base on which they rest only in -a single point, as if the slightest movement, such as that of a faint -earthquake shock, must cause them to roll down. - -The farther part of the valley is densely wooded, and it is in this -shady portion that the cave of Ataruipe is situated. It is not properly -speaking a cave, but rather a vaulted roof formed by a far over-hanging -cliff, the cavity having apparently been formed by the waters when at -their ancient level. This place is the vault or cemetery of an extinct -nation.[63] We counted about 600 well-preserved skeletons placed in as -many baskets woven from the stalks of palm leaves. These baskets, which -the Indians call “mapires,” are shaped like square sacks, differing in -size according to the age of the deceased. Even new-born children had -each its own mapire. The skeletons are so perfect that not a bone or a -joint is wanting. - -The bones had been prepared in three different ways; some bleached, -some coloured red with onoto, the pigment of the Bixa Orellana; and -some like mummies closely enveloped in sweet-smelling resin and -plantain leaves. - -The Indians assured us that the custom had been to bury the fresh -corpses for some months in damp earth, which gradually consumed the -flesh; they were then dug up, and any remaining flesh scraped away with -sharp stones. This the Indians said was still the practice of several -tribes in Guiana. Besides the mapires or baskets we found urns of half -burnt clay which appeared to contain the bones of entire families. -The larger of these urns were about three feet high and nearly six -feet long, of a pleasing oval form and greenish colour, having handles -shaped like snakes and crocodiles, and meandering or labyrinthine -ornaments round the upper margin. These ornaments are quite similar -to those which cover the walls of the Mexican Palace at Mitla. They -are found in all countries and climates, and in the most different -stages of human cultivation,--among the Greeks and Romans, as well as -on the shields of the natives of Tahiti and other islands of the South -Sea,--wherever the eye is gratified by the rhythmical recurrence of -regular forms. These similarities, as I have elsewhere remarked in more -detail, are rather to be ascribed to psychological causes, or to such -as belong inherently to our mental constitution, than to be viewed as -evidences of kindred descent or ancient intercourse between different -nations. - -Our interpreters could give us no certain information as to the age of -these vessels; that of the skeletons appeared for the most part not -to exceed a century. It is reported among the Guareca Indians, that -the brave Atures, being pressed upon by cannibal Caribs, withdrew to -the rocks of the Cataracts; a melancholy refuge and dwelling-place, -in which the distressed tribe finally perished, and with them their -language. In the most inaccessible parts of the Raudal there are -cavities and recesses which have served like the cave of Ataruipe as -burying-places. It is even probable that the last family of the Atures -may not have been long deceased, for (a singular fact,) there is still -in Maypures an old parrot of whom the natives affirm that he is not -understood because he speaks the Ature language. - -We left the cave at nightfall, after having collected, to the great -displeasure of our Indian guides, several skulls and the entire -skeleton of a man. One of these skulls has been figured by Blumenbach -in his excellent craniological work, but the skeleton (together -with a large part of our natural history collections, especially the -entomological) was lost in a shipwreck on the coast of Africa, in which -our friend and former travelling companion, the young Franciscan monk -Juan Gonzalez, perished. - -As if with a presentiment of this painful loss, we turned our steps -in a thoughtful and melancholy mood from this burying-place of a race -deceased. It was one of those clear and cool nights so frequent in the -tropics. The moon, encircled with coloured rings, stood high in the -zenith illuminating the margin of the mist which lay with well-defined -cloud-like outlines on the surface of the foaming river. Countless -insects poured their red phosphoric light on the herb-covered ground, -which glowed with living fire as if the starry canopy of heaven had -sunk down upon the turf. Climbing Bignonias, fragrant Vanillas, and -yellow-flowering Banisterias, adorned the entrance of the cave; and the -summits of the palms rustled above the graves. - -Thus perish the generations of men! Thus do the name and the traces of -nations fade and disappear! Yet when each blossom of man’s intellect -withers,--when in the storms of time the memorials of his art moulder -and decay,--an ever new life springs forth from the bosom of the earth; -maternal Nature unfolds unceasingly her germs, her flowers, and her -fruits; regardless though man with his passions and his crimes treads -under foot her ripening harvest. - - -ANNOTATIONS AND ADDITIONS. - -[53] p. 209.--“_Across the peaceful ocean arm, which fills the wide -valley between the American shore and Western Africa._” - -The Atlantic Ocean, from the 23d degree of South to the 70th degree of -North latitude, has the form of an excavated longitudinal valley, in -which the salient and re-entering angles are opposite to each other. -I first developed this idea in my “Essai d’un Tableau géologique de -l’Amérique méridionale,” printed in the Journal de Physique, T. liii. -p. 61. (Geognostische Skizze von Südamerika, in Gilbert’s Annalen der -Physik, Bd. xvi. 1804, S. 394-449.) From the Canaries, and especially -from the 21st degree of North latitude and the 23d degree of West -longitude, to the North-East coast of South America, the surface of -the sea is usually so calm, and the waves so gentle, that an open boat -might navigate in safety. - -[54] p. 209.--“_A wonderful outbreak of fresh springs in the middle of -the ocean._” - -On the southern coast of the island of Cuba, south-west of the Port of -Batabano in the gulf of Xagua, a few miles from the coast, springs of -fresh water gush from the bed of the ocean probably under the influence -of hydrostatic pressure, and rise through the midst of the salt water. -They issue forth with such force that boats are cautious in approaching -this locality, which has an ill repute on account of the high cross sea -thus caused. Trading vessels sailing along the coast and not disposed -to land, sometimes visit these springs to take in a supply of fresh -water, which is thus obtained in the open sea. The greater the depth -from which the water is taken, the fresher it is found to be. The -“river cow,” Trichecus manati, which does not remain habitually in -salt water, is often killed here. This remarkable phenomenon of fresh -springs issuing from the sea has been most carefully examined by a -friend of mine, Don Francisco Lemaur, who made a trigonometrical survey -of the Bay of Xagua. I have been farther to the South in the group -of islands called the Jardines del Rey, (the King’s Gardens), making -astronomical observations for latitude and longitude; but I have never -been at Xagua itself. - -[55] p. 210.--“_The ancient site of a rocky bulwark._” - -Columbus, whose unwearied spirit of observation exerted itself in -every direction, propounds in his letters to the Spanish monarchs a -geognostical hypothesis respecting the forms of the larger Antilles. -Having his mind deeply impressed with the strength of the East and -West Equinoctial current, he ascribes to it the breaking up of the -group of the smaller West Indian islands, and the singularly lengthened -configuration of the southern coasts of Porto Rico, Haiti, Cuba, and -Jamaica, which all follow almost exactly the direction of parallels -of latitude. On his third voyage (from the end of May 1498 to the end -of November 1500), in which, from the Boca del Drago to the Island -of Margarita, and afterwards from that island to Haiti, he felt -the whole force of the Equinoctial current, “that movement of the -waters which is in accordance or conformity with the movement of the -heavens--movimiento de los cielos,” he says expressly that the Island -of Trinidad had been torn from the mainland by the violence of the -current. He alludes to a chart which he sends to the monarchs,--a -“pintura de la tierra” by himself, which is often referred to in the -celebrated lawsuit against Don Diego Colon respecting the rights of -the Admiral. “Es la carta de marear y figura que hizo el Almirante -señalando los rumbos y vientos por los quales vino á Paria, que dicen -parte del Asia”, (Navarrete Viages y Descubrimientos que hiciéron por -mar los Españoles, T. i. p. 253 and 260; T. iii. p. 539 and 587.) - -[56] p. 210.--“_Over the snow-covered Paropanisus._” - -Diodorus’s descriptions of the Paropanisus (Diodor. Sicul. lib. xvii. -p. 553, Rhodom.) might almost pass for a description of the Andes of -Peru. The Army passed through inhabited places where snow fell daily! - -[57] p. 211.--“_Herrara in the Decades._” - -Historia general de las Indias occidentales, Dec. i. lib iii. cap. 12 -(ed. 1601, p. 106); Juan Bautista Muñoz, Historia del Nuevo Mundo, lib. -vi. c. 31, p. 301; Humboldt, Examen Crit. T. iii p. 111. - -[58] p. 213.--“_The Sources of the Orinoco have never been visited by -any European._” - -Thus I wrote respecting these sources in the year 1807, in the first -edition of the “Ansichten der Natur,” and I have to repeat the same -statement after an interval of 41 years. The travels of the brothers -Robert and Richard Schomburgk, so important for all departments -of natural knowledge and geography, have afforded us thorough -investigations of other and more interesting facts; but the problem of -the situation of the sources of the Orinoco has been only approximately -solved by Sir Robert Schomburgk. It was from the West that M. Bonpland -and myself advanced as far as Esmeralda, or the confluence of the -Orinoco and the Guapo; and I was able to describe with certainty, by -the aid of well-assured information, the upper course of the Orinoco to -above the mouth of the Gehette, and to the small Waterfall (Raudal) de -los Guaharibos. It was from the East that Robert Schomburgk, advancing -from the mountains of the Majonkong Indians, (the altitude of the -inhabited portions of which he estimated by the boiling point of water -at 3300 F., or 3517 E. feet), came to the Orinoco by the Padamo River, -which the Majonkongs and Guinaus (Guaynas?) call Paramu (Reisen in -Guiana, 1841, S. 448). In my Atlas I had estimated the position of the -confluence of the Padamo with the Orinoco at N. lat. 3° 12′, and W. -long. 65° 46′: Robert Schomburgk found it by direct observation, lat. -2° 53′, long. 65° 48′. The leading object of this traveller’s arduous -journey was not the pursuit of natural history, but the solution of the -prize question proposed by the Royal Geographical Society of London -in November 1834,--viz. the connection of the coast of British Guiana -with the easternmost point which I had reached on the Upper Orinoco. -After many difficulties and much suffering, the desired object was -completely attained. Robert Schomburgk arrived with his instruments -on the 22d of February, 1839, at Esmeralda. His determinations of the -latitude and longitude of the place agreed more closely with mine than -I had expected would be the case (S. xviii. and 471). Here let us -allow the observer to speak for himself:--“I want words to describe -the feelings which overpowered me as I sprang to shore. My aim was -attained; my observations, began on the coast of Guiana, were brought -into connection with those of Humboldt at Esmeralda: I frankly own, -that in the course of this enterprise, at a time when almost all my -physical powers had well nigh deserted me, and when I was surrounded -by dangers and difficulties of no common nature, it was only by the -recognition which I hoped for from him, that I had been encouraged to -press onward with unalterable determination towards the goal which -I had now reached. The emaciated figures of my Indians and faithful -guides told more plainly than any words could do, what difficulties we -had had to surmount, and had surmounted.” After expressions so kind -towards myself, I must be permitted to subjoin the following passage, -extracted from my Preface to the German Edition of Robert Schomburgk’s -Account of his Travels, published in 1841. - -“Immediately after my return from Mexico, I notified the direction and -the routes which should be followed to explore the unknown portion of -the South American Continent between the sources of the Orinoco, the -mountain chain of Pacaraima, and the sea-shore near Essequibo. These -wishes, which I expressed so strongly in my Rélation Historique, have -at last, after the lapse of almost half a century, been for the greater -part fulfilled. Besides the joy of having lived to see so important -an extension of our geographical knowledge, I have had that of seeing -it attained by means of a courageous and well-conducted enterprise, -requiring the most devoted perseverance, executed by a young man with -whom I feel united by the double bond of similarity of pursuits and -efforts, and of our common country. Motives such as these have alone -been sufficient to overcome the distaste which I entertain, perhaps -without reason, to introductory prefaces by another hand than that of -the author of the work. But in this case I could not consent to forego -the opportunity of expressing, thus publicly, my heartfelt esteem -for the accomplished traveller who, in pursuit of an object deriving -all its interest from the mind,--namely, in the self-imposed task of -penetrating from East to West, from the Valley of the Essequibo to -Esmeralda,--succeeded, after five years of efforts and of sufferings -(which I can in part appreciate from my own experience), in reaching -the goal which he had proposed to himself. Courage for the momentary -execution of a hazardous action is more easily met with, and implies -less of inward strength, than does the resolution to endure patiently -long-continued physical sufferings, incurred in the pursuit of some -deeply-felt mental interest, and still to determine to go forward, -undismayed by the certainty of having to retrace the same painful -route, and to support the same privations in returning with enfeebled -powers. Serenity of mind, almost the first requisite for an undertaking -in inhospitable regions, passionate love for some class of scientific -labour, (be it in natural history, astronomy, hypsometrics, magnetism, -or aught else,) and a pure feeling for the enjoyment which nature in -her freedom is ready to impart, are elements which, when they meet -together in an individual, ensure the attainment of valuable results -from a great and important journey.” - -In discussing the question respecting the sources of the Orinoco, -I will begin with the conjectures which I had myself formed on the -subject. The dangerous route travelled in 1739 by the surgeon Nicolas -Hortsmann, of Hildesheim; in 1775 by the Spaniard Don Antonio Santos, -and his friend Nicolas Rodriguez; in 1793 by the Lieutenant-Colonel -of the 1st Regiment of the Line of Para, Don Francisco Jose Rodriguez -Barata; and (according to manuscript papers, for which I am indebted -to the former Portuguese Ambassador in Paris, Chevalier de Brito) by -several English and Dutch settlers, who in 1811 went from Surinam to -Para by the Portage of the Rupunuri and by the Rio Branco;--divides the -terra incognita of the Parime into two unequal portions, and serves -to limit the situation of a very important point in the geography of -those regions--viz. the sources of the Orinoco, which it is no longer -possible to remove to an uncertain distance to the East, without -interfering thereby with what we know of the course of the Rio Branco, -which flows from north to south through the basin of the Upper Orinoco; -while that river itself, in this part of its course, pursues for the -most part an East and West direction. From political reasons, the -Brazilians, since the beginning of the present century, have testified -a lively interest in the extensive plains east of the Rio Branco. -See the memoir which I drew up at the request of the Portuguese -court in 1817, “sur la fixation des limites des Guyanes Française et -Portuguaise” (Schoell, Archives historiques et politiques, ou Recueil -de Pièces officielles, Memoires, &c. T. i. 1818, p. 48-58). Viewing -the position of Santa Rosa on the Uraricapara, the course of which -appears to have been determined with tolerable accuracy by Portuguese -engineers, the sources of the Orinoco cannot be looked for east of -the meridian of 65-1/2° from Paris, (63°.8′ W. long. from Greenwich). -This being the eastern limit beyond which they cannot be placed, and -considering the state of the river at the Raudal de los Guaharibos -(above Caño Chiguire, in the country of the surprisingly fair-skinned -Guaycas Indians, and 52′ East of the great Cerro Duida), it appears to -me probable that the upper part of the Orinoco does not really extend, -at the utmost, beyond the meridian of 66-1/2° from Paris (64°.08′ W. -from Greenwich.) This point is according to my combinations 4°.12′ West -of the little lake of Amucu, which was reached by Sir Robert Schomburgk. - -I next subjoin the conjectures of that gentleman, having given the -earlier ones formed by myself. According to his view, the course of the -upper Orinoco to the east of Esmeralda is dedicated from South-east to -North-west; my estimations of latitude for the mouths of the Padamo and -the Gehette appearing to be respectively 19 and 36′ too small. Robert -Schomburgk supposes the sources of the Orinoco to be in lat. 2°.30′ -(S. 460); and the fine “Map of Guayana, to illustrate the route of R. -H. Schomburgk,” which accompanies the splendid English work entitled -“Views in the Interior of Guiana,” places the sources of the Orinoco -in 67°.18′ (W. from Paris), _i. e._ 1°.6′ west of Esmeralda, and only -48′ of longitude nearer to the Atlantic than I had thought admissible. -From astronomical combinations Schomburgk has placed the mountain of -Maravaca, which is upwards of nine thousand feet high, in lat. 3°.41′ -and long. 65°.38′. Near the mouth of the Padamo or Paramú the Orinoco -was scarcely three hundred yards wide; and more to the west, where -it spreads to a breadth of from four to six hundred yards, it was so -shallow and so full of sand-banks that the Expedition were obliged -to dig channels, the river bed being only fifteen inches deep. Fresh -water Dolphins were still to be seen everywhere in large numbers; a -phenomenon which the zoologists of the 18th century would not have been -prepared to expect in the Orinoco and the Ganges. - -[59] p. 213.--“_The most vigorous of the productions of the tropical -world._” - -The Bertholletia excelsa (Juvia), of the family of Myrtaceæ (and placed -in Richard Schomburgk’s proposed division of Lecythideæ), was first -described by Bonpland and myself in the “Plantes équinoxiales,” T. i. -1808, p. 122, tab. 36. This gigantic and magnificent tree offers, in -the perfect formation of its cocoa-like, round, thick, woody fruit -enclosing the three-cornered and also woody seed-vessels, the most -remarkable example of high organic development. The Bertholletia grows -in the forests of the Upper Orinoco between the Padamo and the Ocamu, -near the mountain of Mapaya, and also between the rivers Amaguaca and -Gehette. (Rélation historique, T. ii. p. 474, 496, 558-562.) - -[60] p. 213.--“_Grass stalks having joints above eighteen feet long from -knot to knot._” - -Robert Schomburgk, when visiting the small mountainous country of the -Majonkongs, on his way to Esmeralda, was so fortunate as to determine -the species of Arundinaria which furnishes the material for the -blowpipes or tubes through which the Indians discharge their arrows. -He says of this plant: “It grows in large tufts like the Bambusa; -the first joint rises without a knot to a height of from 16 to 17 -feet before it begins to put forth leaves. The entire height of the -Arundinaria, as it grows at the foot of the great mountain of Maravaca, -is from 30 to 40 feet, with a thickness of scarcely half an inch -diameter. The top is always inclined. This kind of grass is peculiar to -the sandstone mountains between the Ventuari, the Paramu (Padamo), and -the Mavaca. The Indian name is Curata, and hence, from the excellence -of these far-famed blow tubes of great length, the Majonkongs and -Guinaus of these districts have been given the names of the Curata -nation.” (Reisen in Guiana und am Orinoco, S. 451.) - -[61] p. 214.--“_Fabulous lake--origin of the Orinoco._” - -The lakes of these regions (some of which have had their real size -much exaggerated by theoretical geographers, while the existence of -others is purely imaginary), may be divided into two groups. The first -of these groups comprises the lakes, whether real or imaginary, placed -between Esmeralda (the easternmost mission on the upper Orinoco), and -the Rio Branco; and the second those assumed to exist in the district -between the Rio Branco and French, Dutch, and British Guiana. This -general view, of which travellers should never lose sight, shews that -the question of whether there is yet a Lake Parime east of the Rio -Branco, other than the Lake Amucu, seen by Hortsmann, Santos, Colonel -Barata, and Schomburgk, has nothing whatever to do with the problem -of the sources of the Orinoco. As the name of my friend the former -Director of the Hydrographic Office at Madrid, Don Felipe Bauza, is -deservedly of great weight in geography, the impartiality which ought -to preside over every scientific investigation makes me feel it a duty -to recall that this learned man was inclined to the view, that there -must be lakes west of the Rio Branco and not far from the sources of -the Orinoco. He wrote to me from London, a short time before his death: -“I wish you were here, that I might converse with you on the subject of -the geography of the upper Orinoco, which has occupied you so much. I -have been so fortunate as to rescue from entire destruction the papers -of the General of Marine, Don José Solano, father of the Solano who -perished in so melancholy a manner at Cadiz. These documents relate -to the boundary division between the Spaniards and the Portuguese, -with which the elder Solano had been charged, in conjunction with Chef -d’Escadron Yturriaga and Don Vicente Doz, since 1754. In all these -plans and sketches I see a Laguna Parime, represented sometimes as the -source of the Orinoco, and sometimes quite detached from that river. -Are we, then, to admit the existence of another lake north-east of -Esmeralda?” - -Löffling, the celebrated pupil of Linnæus, came to Cumana as the -botanist of the boundary expedition above alluded to. After traversing -the missions on the Piritu and the Caroni he died on the 22d of -February, 1756, at the mission of Santa Eulalia de Murucuri, a little -to the south of the confluence of the Orinoco and the Caroni. The -documents of which Bauza speaks are the same as those on which the -great map of De la Cruz Olmedilla is based. They constitute the type -of all the maps which appeared in England, France, and Germany up to -the close of the last century; and they also served for the two maps -drawn in 1756 by Peter Caulin, the historian of Solano’s expedition, -and by an unskilful compiler, M. de Surville, Keeper of the Archives -of the Secretary of State’s office at Madrid. The discordance between -these maps shews the little dependence which can be placed on the -surveys of the expedition; besides which, Caulin’s acute remarks lead -us to perceive the circumstances which gave occasion to the fiction -of the Lake Parime; and Surville’s map, which accompanies his work, -not only restores this lake under the name of the White Sea and of the -Mar Dorado, but also adds another lake, from which, partly through -lateral outlets, the Orinoco, the Siapa, and the Ocamo issue. I was -able to satisfy myself on the spot of the fact, well known in the -missions, that Don José Solano went indeed beyond the cataracts of -Atures and Maypures, but not beyond the confluence of the Guaviare and -the Orinoco, in lat. 4°.3′ and long. 68°.09′; that the instruments -of the Boundary Expedition were not carried either to the Isthmus -of the Pimichin and the Rio Negro, or to the Cassiquiare; and that -even on the Upper Orinoco they were not taken above the mouth of the -Atabapo. This extensive country, in which previous to my journey no -exact observations had been attempted, had been traversed since the -time of Solano only by a few soldiers sent in search of discoveries; -and Don Apolinario de la Fuente (whose journals I obtained from the -archives of the province of Quiros), had collected, without critical -discrimination, from the lying tales told by Indians, whatever could -flatter the credulity of the governor Centurion. No member of the -Expedition had seen any lake, and Don Apolinario had not advanced -farther than the Cerro Yumariquin and the Gehette. - -Having now established throughout the extensive district, to which -it is desired to direct the inquiring zeal of travellers, a dividing -line bounding the basin of the Rio Branco, it still remains to remark, -that for a century past no advance has taken place in our geographical -knowledge of the country west of this valley between 61-1/2° and -65-1/2° W. longitude. The attempts repeatedly made by the Government -of Spanish Guiana, since the expeditions of Iturria and Solano, to -reach and to pass the Pacaraima mountains, have only produced very -inconsiderable results. When the Spaniards, in travelling to the -missions of the Catalonian Capuchin monks of Barceloneta at the -confluence of the Caroni and the Rio Paragua, ascended the latter -river, in going southward, to its junction with the Paraguamusi, they -founded at the site of the latter junction the mission of Guirion, -which at first received the pompous name of Ciudad de Guirion. I -place it in about 4-1/2° of North latitude. From thence the governor -Centurion, stimulated by the exaggerated accounts given by two -Indian chiefs, Paranacare and Arimuicapi, of the powerful nation of -the Ipurucotos, to search for el Dorado, prosecuted what were then -called spiritual conquests still farther, and founded beyond the -Pacaraima mountains the two villages of Santa Rosa and San Bautista de -Caudacacla; the former on the higher eastern bank of the Uraricapara, -a tributary of the Uraricuera which in the narrative of Rodriguez I -find called Rio Curaricara; and the latter six or seven German (24 -or 28 English) geographical miles farther to the east south-east. -The astronomer of the Portuguese Boundary Commission, Don Antonio -Pires de Sylva Pontes Leme, captain of a frigate, and the captain -of engineers, Don Ricardo Franco d’Almeida de Serra, who between -1787 and 1804 surveyed with the greatest care the whole course of -the Rio Branco and its upper branches, call the westernmost part of -the Uraricapara “the Valley of Inundation.” They place the Spanish -mission of Santa Rosa in 3°.46′ N. lat., and point out the route which -leads from thence northward across the chain of mountains to the -Caño Anocapra, an affluent of the Paraguamusi, by means of which one -passes from the basin of the Rio Branco to that of the Caroni. Two -maps of these Portuguese officers, which contain the whole details -of the trigonometrical survey of the windings of the Rio Branco, the -Uraricuera, the Tacutu, and the Mahu, have been kindly communicated -to Colonel Lapie and myself by the Count of Linhares. These valuable -unpublished documents, of which I have made use, are in the hands of -the learned geographer who began a considerable time ago to have them -engraved at his own expense. The Portuguese sometimes give the name -of Rio Parime to the whole of the Rio Branco, and sometimes confine -that denomination to one branch or tributary, the Uraricuera, below -the Caño Mayari and above the old mission of San Antonio. As the -words Paragua and Parime signify water, great water, lake, or sea, -it is not surprising to find them so often repeated among nations at -a distance from each other, the Omaguas on the Upper Marañon, the -Western Guaranis, and the Caribs. In all parts of the world, as I -have already remarked, the largest rivers are called by those who -dwell on their banks “the River,” without any distinct and peculiar -appellation. Paragua, the name of a branch of the Caroni, is also the -name given by the natives to the Upper Orinoco. The name Orinucu is -Tamanaki; and Diego de Ordaz first heard it pronounced in 1531, when -he ascended the river to the mouth of the Meta. Besides the “Valley of -Inundation,” above spoken of, we find other large lakes or expanses of -water between the Rio Xumuru and the Parime. One of these belongs to -the Tacutu river, and the other to the Uraricuera. Even at the foot -of the Pacaraima mountains the rivers are subject to great periodical -overflows; and the Lake of Amucu, which will be spoken of more in the -sequel, imparts a similar character to the country at the commencement -of the plains. The Spanish missions of Santa Rosa and San Bautista -de Caudacacla or Cayacaya, founded in the years 1770 and 1773 by the -Governor Don Manuel Centurion, were destroyed before the close of -the century, and since that period no fresh attempt has been made to -penetrate from the basin of the Caroni to the southern declivity of the -Pacaraima mountains. - -The territory east of the valley of the Rio Branco has of late years -been the subject of some successful examination. Mr. Hillhouse -navigated the Massaruni as far as the bay of Caranang, from whence, -he says, a path would have conducted the traveller in two days to the -sources of the Massaruni, and in three days to streams flowing into the -Rio Branco. In regard to the windings of the great river Massaruni, -described by Mr. Hillhouse, that gentleman remarks, in a letter written -to me from Demerara (January 1, 1831), that “the Massaruni beginning -from its source flows first to the West, then to the North for one -degree of latitude, afterwards almost 200 English miles to the East, -and finally North and N.N.E. to its junction with the Essequibo.” -As Mr. Hillhouse was unable to reach the southern declivity of the -Pacarima chain, he was not acquainted with the Amucu Lake: he says -himself, in his printed account, that “from the information he had -gained from the Accaouais, who constantly traverse all the country -between the shore and the Amazons river, he had become satisfied that -there is no lake at all in these districts.” This statement occasioned -me some surprise, as it was in direct contradiction to the views which -I had formed respecting the Lake of Amucu, from which the Caño Pirara -flows according to the narratives of Hortsmann, Santos, and Rodriquez, -whose accounts inspired me with the more confidence because they -agree entirely with the recent Portuguese manuscript maps. Finally, -after five years of expectation, Sir Robert Schomburgk’s journey has -dispelled all doubts. - -“It is difficult to believe,” says Mr. Hillhouse, in his interesting -memoir on the Massaruni, “that the report of a great inland water is -entirely without foundation. It seems to me possible that the following -circumstances may have given occasion to the belief in the existence of -the fabulous lake of the Parime. At some distance from the fallen rocks -of Teboco the waters of the Massaruni appear to the eye as motionless -as the tranquil surface of a lake. If at a more or less remote epoch -the horizontal stratum of granite at Teboco had been perfectly compact -and unbroken, the waters must have stood at least fifty feet above -their present level, and there would thus have been formed an immense -lake, ten or twelve English miles broad and 1500 to 2000 English miles -long.” (Nouvelles Annales des Voyages, 1836, Sept. p. 316.) It is not -solely the vast extent of this supposed inundation which prevents me -from accepting this explanation. I have seen plains (the Llanos), -where during the rainy season the overflowing of the affluents of the -Orinoco annually cover with water a space of 400 German geographical -square miles (equal to 6400 English geographical square miles). At such -times the labyrinth of branches between the Apure, the Arauca, the -Capanaparo, and the Sinaruco (see Maps 17 and 18 of my Geographical -and Physical Atlas), can no longer be traced, for the separate courses -are obliterated, and all appears one vast lake. But the fable of the -Dorado of the Parime, and of the White Sea or Lake of the Parime, -belongs historically, as I endeavoured to shew in another work thirty -years ago, to an entirely different part of Guiana, namely, to the -country south of the Pacaraima mountains; and originated in the shining -appearance of the micaceous rocks of the Ucucuamo, the name of the Rio -Parime (Rio Branco), the overflowings of the tributaries of that river, -and especially the existence of the Lake of Amucu, which is in the -vicinity of the Rio Rupunuwini or Rupunuri, and is connected through -the Pirara with the Rio Parime. - -I have seen with pleasure that the travels of Sir Robert Schomburgk -have fully confirmed these early views. The part of his map which gives -the course of the Essequibo and the Rupunuri is entirely new and of -great geographical importance. It places the Pacaraima chain in 3° 52′ -to 4° North latitude (I had given it 4° to 4° 10′), and makes it reach -the confluence of the Essequibo and the Rupunuri, in 3° 57′ N. lat. -and 60° 23′ W. long. from Paris (58° 01′ from Greenwich). I had placed -this spot half a degree too far to the north. Sir Robert Schomburgk -calls the last named river Rupununi, according to the pronunciation -of the Macusis; he gives as synonymes of Rupuniri, Rupunuwini and -Opununy, the Carib tribes in these districts having much difficulty in -articulating the sound of the letter _r_. The situation of Lake Amucu -and its relations to the Mahu (Maou) and Tacutu (Tacoto) are quite -in accordance with my map of Columbia in 1825. We agree equally well -respecting the latitude of the lake, which I gave 3° 35′, and which he -finds to be 3° 33′; but the Caño Pirara, (Pirarara) which connects the -Lake of Amucu with the Rio Branco, flows from it to the north, instead -of to the west as I had supposed. The Sibarana of my map, of which -Hortsmann places the source near a fine mine of rock-crystal, a little -to the north of the Cerro Ucucuamo, is the Siparuni of Schomburgk’s -map. His Waa-Ekuru is the Tavaricuru of the Portuguese geographer -Pontes Leme; it is the tributary of the Rupunuri, which approaches -nearest to the Lake of Amucu. - -The following remarks from the narrative of Robert Schomburgk throw -some light on the subject before us. “The Lake of Amucu,” says this -traveller, “is incontestably the nucleus of the Lake of Parime and the -supposed White Sea. When we visited it in December and January its -length scarcely amounted to a mile, and its surface was half covered -with reeds.” (This remark is found as early as in D’Anville’s map, in -1748.) “The Pirara issues from the lake west north-west of the Indian -village of Pirara, and falls into the Maou or Mahu. The last named -river, from such information as I was able to gather, rises on the -north side of the Pacaraima mountains, the easternmost part of which -only attains a height of 1500 French (in round numbers 1600 English) -feet. The sources of the Mahu are on a plateau, from whence it descends -in a fine waterfall called Corona. We were about to visit this fall -when on the third day of our excursion to the mountains the sickness -of one of my companions obliged us to return to the station near Lake -Amucu. The Mahu has “black” or coffee-brown water, and its current -is more rapid than that of the Rupunuri. In the mountains through -which it makes its way it is about 60 yards broad, and its environs -are remarkably picturesque. This valley, as well as the banks of the -Buroburo which flows into the Siparuni, are inhabited by the Macusis. -In April the whole of the savannahs are overflowed, and present the -peculiar phenomenon of the waters belonging to different river basins -being intermixed and united. The enormous extent of this temporary -inundation may not improbably have given occasion to the story of the -Lake of Parime. During the rainy season there is formed in the interior -of the country a water communication between the Essequibo, the Rio -Branco, and Gran Para. Some groups of trees, which rise like oases on -the sand hills of the savannahs, assume at the time of the inundation -the character of islands scattered over the extensive lake; they are, -no doubt, the Ipomucena Islands of Don Antonio Santos.” - -In D’Anville’s manuscripts, which his heirs have kindly permitted me -to examine, I find that the surgeon Hortsmann, of Hildesheim, who -described these countries with great care, saw a second Alpine lake, -which he places two days’ journey above the confluence of the Mahu -with the Rio Parime (Tacutu?). It is a lake of black water on the top -of a mountain. He distinguishes it clearly from the Lake of Amucu, -which he describes as “covered with reeds.” The narratives of Hortsmann -and Santos are as far as the Portuguese manuscript maps of the Bureau -de la Marine at Rio Janeiro from indicating or admitting a constant -connection between the Rupunuri and the Lake of Amucu. In D’Anville’s -maps the rivers are better drawn in the first edition of his South -America, published in 1748, than in the more widely circulated edition -of 1760. Schomburgk’s travels have completely established this general -independence of the basins of the Rupunuri and the Essequibo; but he -remarks that during the rainy season the Rio Waa-Ekuru, a tributary -of the Rupunuri, is in connection with the Caño Pirara. Such is the -state of these river basins, which are, as it were, still imperfectly -developed, and are almost entirely without separating ridges. - -The Rupunuri and the village of Anai (lat. 3° 56′, long. 58° 34′), are -at present recognised as the political boundary between the British and -the Brazilian territories in these uncultivated regions. Sir Robert -Schomburgk makes his chronologically determined longitude of the Lake -of Amucu depend on the mean of several lunar distances (East and West) -measured by him during his stay at Anai, where he was detained some -time by severe illness. His longitudes for these points of the Parime -are in general a degree more easterly than the longitudes of my map of -Columbia. I am far from throwing any doubt on the observations of lunar -distances taken at Anai, and would only remark that their calculation -is important if it is desired to carry the comparison from the Lake of -Amucu to Esmeralda, which I found in long. 68° 23′ 19″ W. from Paris -(66° 21′ 19″ Gr.) - -We see, then, the great Mar de la Parima,--which was so difficult to -displace from our maps that, after my return from America, it was still -set down as having a length of 160 English geographical miles,--reduced -by the result of modern researches to the little Lake of Amucu, of -two or three miles circumference. The illusions cherished for nearly -two centuries (several hundred lives were lost in the last Spanish -expedition for the discovery of el Dorado, in 1775), have thus finally -terminated, leaving some results of geographical knowledge as their -fruit. In 1512, thousands of soldiers perished in the expedition -undertaken by Ponce de Leon for the discovery of the “Fountain of -Youth,” supposed to exist in one of the Bahama Islands called Bimini, -and which is not to be found on our maps. This Expedition led to the -conquest of Florida, and to the knowledge of the great current of the -Gulf Stream, which issues forth through the Bahama channel. The thirst -for treasures, and the desire of renovated youth, stimulated with -nearly equal force the passions and cupidity of the nations of Europe. - -[62] p. 216.--“_The Piriguao, one of the noblest of palm trees._” - -Compare Humboldt, Bonpland, and Kunth, Nova Genera Plant. æquinoct. T. -i. p. 315. - -[63] p. 229.--“_The vault or cemetery of an extinct nation._” - -During the period of my stay in the forests of the Orinoco, these -caves of bones were examined by order of the Court. The Missionary of -the Cataracts had been unjustly accused of having discovered in the -caves treasures which had been hidden there by the Jesuits previous to -their flight. - - - - -THE NOCTURNAL LIFE OF ANIMALS - -IN THE - -PRIMEVAL FOREST. - - -If the vivid appreciation and sentiment of nature which differ so -greatly in nations of different descent, and if the natural character -and aspect of the countries which those nations now inhabit, or -which have been the scene of their earlier wanderings or abode, have -rendered different languages more or less rich in well defined and -characteristic expressions denoting the forms of mountains, the state -of vegetation, the appearance of the atmosphere, and the contour and -grouping of the clouds, it is also true that long use, and perhaps -their arbitrary employment by literary men, have diverted many such -words from their original meaning. Terms have been gradually regarded -as synonymous which ought to have been preserved distinct; and thus -languages have lost part of the vigour and the grace, as well as the -fidelity, which they might otherwise have been capable of imparting to -descriptions of natural scenery and of the characteristic physiognomy -of a landscape. With the view of shewing how much an intimate -acquaintance and contact with nature, and the wants and necessities -of a laborious nomade life, may increase the riches of a language, -I would recall the numerous characteristic appellations which may be -used in Arabic[64] and in Persian to distinguish plains, steppes, and -deserts, according as they are quite bare, covered with sand, broken -by tabular masses of rock, or interspersed with patches of pasturage, -or with long tracts occupied by social plants. Scarcely less striking -is it to observe in the old Castilian idiom[65] the many expressions -afforded for describing the physiognomy of mountain-masses, and more -particularly for designating those features which, recurring in every -zone of the earth’s surface, announce from afar to the attentive -beholder the nature of the rock. As the declivities of the Andes, of -Peru, Chili, and Mexico, and the mountainous parts of the Canaries, -the Antilles and the Philippines, are all inhabited by men of Spanish -descent, and as these are the parts of the earth where, (with the -exception, perhaps, of the Himalaya and the Thibetian Highlands), the -manner of life of the inhabitants is most affected by and dependent -on the form of the earth’s surface, so all the expressions which the -language of the mother country afforded for denoting the forms of -mountains in trachytic, basaltic, and porphyritic districts, as well as -in those where schists, limestones, and sandstone are the prevailing -rocks, have been happily preserved in daily use. Under such influences -even newly formed words become part of the common treasure. Speech is -enriched and animated by everything that tends to and promotes truth -to nature, whether in rendering the impressions received through the -senses from the contemplation of the external world, or in expressing -thoughts, emotions, or sentiments which have their sources in the inner -depths of our being. - -In descriptions of natural objects or scenery, both in the manner of -viewing the phenomena, and in the choice of the expressions employed -to describe them, this truth to nature must ever be kept in view as -the guiding aim: its attainment will be at once most easily and most -effectually secured by simplicity in the narration of what we have -ourselves beheld or experienced, and by limiting and individualising -the locality with which the narrative is connected. Generalisation of -physical views, and the statement of general results, belong rather -to the “study of the Cosmos,” which, indeed, must ever continue to be -to us a science of Induction; but the animated description of organic -forms (plants and animals) in their local and picturesque relations -to the varied surface of the earth (as a small fragment of the whole -terrestrial life) affords materials towards the study of the Cosmos, -and also tends to advance it by the stimulus or impulse imparted to the -mind when artistic treatment is applied to phenomena of nature on a -great scale. - -Among such phenomena must certainly be classed the vast forest -region which, in the tropical portion of South America, fills the -great connected basins of the Orinoco and the Amazons. If the name -of primeval forest, or “Urwald,” which has of late years been so -prodigally bestowed, is to be given to any forests on the face of the -earth, none can claim it perhaps so strictly as the region of which -we are speaking. The term “Urwald,” primitive or primeval forest, as -well as Urseit and Urvolk,--primitive age, primitive nation,--are words -of rather indefinite meaning, and, for the most part, only relative -import. If this name is to be given to every wild forest full of a -thick growth of trees on which Man has never laid a destroying hand, -then the phenomenon is one which belongs to many parts of the temperate -and cold zones. But if the character of the “Urwald” is that of a -forest so truly impenetrable, that it is impossible to clear with an -axe any passage between trees of eight or twelve feet diameter for more -than a few paces, then such forests belong exclusively to the tropical -regions. Nor is it by any means, as is often supposed in Europe, only -the interlacing “lianes” or climbers which make it impossible to -penetrate the forest; the “lianes” often form only a very small portion -of the underwood. The chief obstacle is presented by an undergrowth of -plants filling up every interval in a zone where all vegetation has a -tendency to become ligneous. An impatient desire for the fulfilment of -a long cherished wish may sometimes have led travellers who have only -just landed in a tropical country, or perhaps island, to imagine that -although still in the immediate vicinity of the sea-shore they had -entered the precincts of a primeval forest, or “Urwald,” such as I have -described as impenetrable. In this they deceived themselves; it is not -every tropical forest which is entitled to an appellation which I have -scarcely ever used in the narrative of my travels; although I believe -that of all investigators of nature now living, Bonpland, Martius, -Poppig, Robert and Richard Schomburgk, and myself, are those who have -spent the longest period of time in primeval forests in the interior of -a great continent. - -Rich as is the Spanish language, (as I have already remarked), in -appellations of distinct and definite meaning in the description of -nature, yet the same word “Monte” is employed for mountain and forest, -for cerro, (montaña) and for selva. In an inquiry into the true breadth -and greatest easterly extension of the chain of the Andes, I have -shewed how this two-fold signification of the word “monte” led to the -introduction, in a fine and extensively circulated English map of South -America, of high mountain ranges, where, in reality, only plains exist. -When the Spanish map of La Cruz Olmedilla, which has served as the -foundation of so many other maps, shewed “Montes de Cacao,”[66] “cacao -woods,” Cordilleras were made to rise although the cacao seeks only the -lowest and hottest localities. - -If we comprehend in one general view the wooded region which includes -the whole of the interior of South America, from the grassy steppes -of Venezuela (los Llanos de Caracas) to the Pampas of Buenos Ayres, -or from 8° North to 19° South latitude, we shall perceive that this -connected forest of the tropical zone has an extent unequalled in any -other portion of the earth’s surface. Its area is about twelve times -that of Germany. Traversed in all directions by systems of rivers, in -which the minor and tributary streams sometimes exceed our Rhine or -our Danube in the abundance of their waters, it owes the wonderful -luxuriance of the growth of its trees to the combined influence of -great moisture and high temperature. In the temperate zone, and -especially in Europe and Northern Asia, forests may be named from -particular genera or species, which, growing together as social plants, -(plantæ sociales) form separate and distinct woods. In the northern -forests of Oaks, Pines, and Birches, and in the eastern forests of -Limes or Linden trees, usually only one species of Amentaceæ, Coniferæ, -or Tiliaceæ, prevails or is predominant; sometimes a single species -of Needle-trees is intermingled with the foliage of trees of other -classes. Tropical forests, on the other hand, decked with thousands -of flowers, are strangers to such uniformity of association; the -exceeding variety of their flora renders it vain to ask of what trees -the primeval forest consists. A countless number of families are here -crowded together, and even in small spaces individuals of the same -species are rarely associated. Each day, and at each change of place, -new forms present themselves to the traveller, who, however, often -finds that he cannot reach the blossoms of trees whose leaves and -ramifications had previously arrested his attention. - -The rivers, with their countless lateral arms, afford the only routes -by which the country can be traversed. Between the Orinoco, the -Cassiquiare, and the Rio Negro, astronomical observations, and where -these were wanting, determinations by compass of the direction of the -rivers, respectively shewed us that two lonely mission villages might -be only a few miles apart, and yet that the monks when they wished -to visit each other could only do so by spending a day and a half in -following the windings of small streams, in canoes hollowed out of -the trunks of trees. A striking evidence of the impenetrability of -particular parts of the forest is afforded by a trait related by an -Indian of the habits of the large American tiger, or panther-like -jaguar. While in the Llanos of Varinas and the Meta, and in the Pampas -of Buenos Ayres, the introduction of European cattle, horses, and mules -has enabled the beasts of prey to find an abundant subsistence,--so -that since the first discovery of America their numbers have increased -exceedingly in those extended and treeless grassy steppes,--their -congeners in the dense forests around the sources of the Orinoco lead a -very different and far less easy life. In a bivouac near the junction -of the Cassiquiare with the Orinoco we had had the misfortune of losing -a large dog, to which we were much attached, as the most faithful and -affectionate companion of our wanderings. Being still uncertain whether -he had been actually killed by the tigers, a faint hope of recovering -him induced us, in returning from the mission of Esmeralda through the -swarms of musquitoes by which it is infested, to spend another night at -the spot where we had so long sought him in vain. We heard the cries -of the jaguar, probably the very individual which we suspected of the -deed, extremely near to us; and as the clouded sky made astronomical -observations impossible, we passed part of the night in making our -interpreter (lenguaraz) repeat to us the accounts given by our native -boat’s crew of the tigers of the country. - -The “black jaguar” was, they said, not unfrequently found there; it is -the largest and most bloodthirsty variety, with black spots scarcely -distinguishable on its deep dark-brown skin. It lives at the foot of -the mountains of Maraguaca and Unturan. One of the Indians of the -Durimund tribe then related to us that jaguars are often led, by their -love of wandering and by their rapacity, to lose themselves in such -impenetrable parts of the forest that they can no longer hunt along -the ground, and live instead in the trees, where they are the terror -of the families of monkeys and of the prehensile-tailed viverra, the -Cercoleptes. I borrow these notices from journals written at the time -in German, and which were not entirely exhausted in the Narrative of -my Travels, which I published in the French language. They contain a -detailed description of the nocturnal life, or perhaps I might rather -say the nocturnal voices, of the wild animals in the forests of the -torrid zone; which appears to me particularly suited to form part of a -work bearing the title of the present volumes. That which is written -down on the spot, either in the immediate presence of the phenomena, -or soon after the reception of the impressions which they produce, may -at least lay claim to more life and freshness than can be expected in -recollections. - -Descending from West to East the Rio Apure, the overflowings of whose -waters and the inundations produced by them were noticed in the chapter -on Steppes and Deserts, we arrived at its junction with the Orinoco. It -was the season of low water, and the average breadth of the Apure was -only a little more than twelve hundred English feet, yet I found the -Orinoco at the confluence of the two rivers, not far from the granite -rock of Curiquima, where I was able to measure a base line, still -upwards of 11430 French (12180 English) feet wide. Yet this point, _i. -e._ the Rock of Curiquima, is four hundred geographical miles in a -straight line from the sea and from the Delta of the Orinoco. Part of -the plains watered by the Apure and the Pagara are inhabited by tribes -of the Yaruros and Achaguas, who, as they persist in maintaining their -independence, are called savages in the mission villages established by -the monks: their manners, however, are scarcely more rude than those of -the Indians of the villages,--who, although baptized and living “under -the bell” (baxo la compana), are still almost entirely untaught and -uninstructed. - -On leaving the Island del Diamante, in which Zambos who speak Spanish -cultivate sugar-canes, we entered on scenes of nature characterized -by wildness and grandeur. The air was filled with countless flocks -of flamingoes (Phœnicopterus) and other water birds, which appeared -against the blue sky like a dark cloud with continually varying -outlines. The river had here narrowed to between 900 and 1000 feet, and -flowing in a perfectly straight line formed a kind of canal enclosed -on either side by dense wood. The margin of the forest presents at -this part a singular appearance. In front of the almost impenetrable -wall of giant trunks of Cæsalpinia, Cedrela, and Desmanthus, there -rises from the sandy river beach, with the greatest regularity, a low -hedge of Sauso, only four feet high, consisting of a small shrub, -Hermesia castaneifolia, which forms a new genus[67] of the family of -Euphorbiaceæ. Some slender thorny palms, called by the Spaniards Piritu -and Coroso (perhaps species of Martinezia and Bactris), stand next; -and the whole resembles a close, well-pruned garden hedge, having only -occasional openings at considerable distances from each other, which -have doubtless been made by the larger four-footed beasts of the forest -to gain easy access to the river. One sees, more especially in the -early morning and at sunset, the American tiger or jaguar, the tapir, -and the peccary, lead their young through these openings to the river -to drink. When startled by the passing canoe, they do not attempt to -regain the forest by breaking forcibly through the hedge which has -been described, but one has the pleasure of seeing these wild animals -stalk leisurely along between the river and the hedge for four or -five hundred paces, until they have reached the nearest opening, when -they disappear through it. In the course of an almost uninterrupted -river navigation of 1520 geographical miles on the Orinoco to near its -sources, on the Cassiquiare, and on the Rio Negro,--and during which -we were confined for seventy-four days to a small canoe,--we enjoyed -the repetition of the same spectacle at several different points, -and I may add, always with new delight. There came down together, to -drink, to bathe, or to fish, groups consisting of the most different -classes of animals, the larger mammalia, being associated with many -coloured herons, palamedeas, and proudly-stepping curassow and cashew -birds (Crax Alector and C. Pauxi). “Es como en el Paraiso;” it is here -as in Paradise, said, with a pious air, our steersman, an old Indian -who had been brought up in the house of an ecclesiastic. The peace of -the golden age was, however, far from prevailing among the animals of -this American paradise, which carefully watched and avoided each other. -The Capybara, a Cavy three or four feet long, (a magnified repetition -of the Brazilian Cavy, Cavia aguti), is devoured in the river by the -crocodiles, and on shore by the tiger. It runs so indifferently that we -were several times able to catch individuals from among the numerous -herds which presented themselves. - -Below the mission of Santa Barbara de Arichuna we passed the night -as usual, under the open sky, on a sandy flat on the bank of the -Rio Apure closely bordered by the impenetrable forest. It was not -without difficulty that we succeeded in finding dry wood to kindle the -fire with which it is always customary in that country to surround -a bivouac, in order to guard against the attacks of the jaguar. The -night was humid, mild, and moonlight. Several crocodiles approached -the shore; I think I have observed these animals to be attracted by -fire, like our cray-fish and many other inhabitants of the water. The -oars of our boat were placed upright and carefully driven into the -ground, to form poles from which our hammocks could be suspended. Deep -stillness prevailed; only from time to time we heard the blowing of the -fresh-water dolphins[68] which are peculiar to the Orinoco net-work of -rivers (and, according to Colebrooke, to the Ganges as far as Benares), -which followed each other in long lines. - -Soon after 11 o’clock such a disturbance began to be heard in the -adjoining forest, that for the remainder of the night all sleep was -impossible. The wild cries of animals appeared to rage throughout the -forest. Among the many voices which resounded together, the Indians -could only recognise those which, after short pauses in the general -uproar, were first heard singly. There was the monotonous howling of -the aluates (the howling monkeys); the plaintive, soft, and almost -flute-like tones of the small sapajous; the snorting grumblings of the -striped nocturnal monkey[69] (the Nyctipithicus trivirgatus, which I was -the first to describe); the interrupted cries of the great tiger, the -cuguar or maneless American lion, the peccary, the sloth, and a host of -parrots, of parraquas, and other pheasant-like birds. When the tigers -came near the edge of the forest, our dog, which had before barked -incessantly, came howling to seek refuge under our hammocks. Sometimes -the cry of the tiger was heard to proceed from amidst the high branches -of a tree, and was in such case always accompanied by the plaintive -piping of the monkeys, who were seeking to escape from the unwonted -pursuit. - -If one asks the Indians why this incessant noise and disturbance arises -on particular nights, they answer, with a smile, that “the animals -are rejoicing in the bright moonlight, and keeping the feast of the -full moon.” To me it appeared that the scene had probably originated -in some accidental combat, and that hence the disturbance had spread -to other animals, and thus the noise had increased more and more. The -jaguar pursues the peccaries and tapirs, and these, pressing against -each other in their flight, break through the interwoven tree-like -shrubs which impede their escape; the apes on the tops of the trees, -being frightened by the crash, join their cries to those of the larger -animals; this arouses the tribes of birds, who build their nests in -communities, and thus the whole animal world becomes in a state of -commotion. Longer experience taught us that it is by no means always -the celebration of the brightness of the moon which disturbs the repose -of the woods: we witnessed the same occurrence repeatedly, and found -that the voices were loudest during violent falls of rain, or when, -with loud peals of thunder, the flashing lightning illuminated the deep -recesses of the forest. The good-natured Franciscan monk, who, although -he had been suffering for several months from fever, accompanied us -through the Cataracts of Atures and Maypures to San Carlos on the Rio -Negro, and to the Brazilian boundary, used to say, when fearful on the -closing in of night that there might be a thunder-storm, “May Heaven -grant a quiet night both to us and to the wild beasts of the forest!” - -Scenes, such as those I have just described, were wonderfully -contrasted with the stillness which prevails within the tropics during -the noontide hours of a day of more than usual heat. I borrow from the -same journal the recollections of a day at the Narrows of Baraguan. At -this part of its course the Orinoco forces for itself a passage through -the western portion of the Parime Mountains. What is called at this -remarkable pass a “Narrow” (Angostura del Baraguan), is still a bed or -water-basin of 890 toises (5690 English feet) in breadth. On the naked -rocks which formed the shores we saw only, besides an old withered -stem of Aubletia (Apeiba tiburba), and a new Apocinea (Allamanda -salicifolia), a few silvery croton shrubs. A thermometer observed in -the shade, but brought within a few inches of the towering mass of -granite rock, rose to above 40° Reaumur (122° Fah.) All distant objects -had wave-like undulating outlines, the effect of mirage; not a breath -of air stirred the fine dust-like sand. The sun was in the zenith, and -the flood of light which he poured down upon the river, and which, -from a slight rippling movement of the waters, flashed sparkling back, -rendered still more sensible the red haze which veiled the distance. -All the naked rocks and boulders around were covered with a countless -number of large thick-scaled iguanas, gecko-lizards, and variously -spotted salamanders. Motionless, with uplifted heads and open mouths, -they appeared to inhale the burning air with ecstacy. At such times -the larger animals seek shelter in the recesses of the forest, and -the birds hide themselves under the thick foliage of the trees, or in -the clefts of the rocks; but if, in this apparent entire stillness of -nature, one listens for the faintest tones which an attentive ear can -seize, there is perceived an all-pervading rustling sound, a humming -and fluttering of insects close to the ground, and in the lower strata -of the atmosphere. Every thing announces a world of organic activity -and life. In every bush, in the cracked bark of the trees, in the earth -undermined by hymenopterous insects, life stirs audibly. It is, as it -were, one of the many voices of Nature, heard only by the sensitive and -reverent ear of her true votaries. - - -ANNOTATIONS AND ADDITIONS. - -[64] p. 260.--“_Characteristic names in Arabic and Persian._” - -More than twenty different terms might be cited as used by Arabs in -speaking of steppes, (tanufah), to denote deserts without water, -entirely bare, covered with siliceous sand, or interspersed with -spots affording some pasture: (sahara, kafr, mikfar, tih, and mehme.) -Sahl, is a low plain; dakkah, a desolate elevated plain. In Persian, -“beyaban” signifies the arid sandy desert,--as do the Mogul “gobi,” -and the Chinese “han-hai,” and “scha-mo.” “Yaila” is a steppe covered -rather with grasses or herbage than with herbaceous plants; so are also -the Mogul “küdah,” and the Turkish “tala,” or “tschol,” and the Chinese -“huang.” “Deshti-reft” is an elevated plain devoid of vegetation. -(Humboldt, Relation hist. T. ii. p. 158.) - -[65] p. 260.--“_In the old Castilian idiom._” - -Pico, picacho, mogote, cucurucho, espigon, loma tendida, mesa, -panecillo, farallon, tablon, peña, peñon, peñasco, peñoleria, roca -partida, laxa, cerro, sierra, serrania, cordillera, monte, montaña, -montañuela, cadena de montes, los altos, malpais, reventazon, bufa, &c. - -[66] p. 263.--“_Where the map had exhibited Montes de Cacao._” - -On the range of hills which had been converted into the lofty Andes de -Cuchao, see my Rel. hist. T. iii. p. 238. - -[67] p. 268.--“_Hermesia._” - -The genus Hermesia, the Sauso, has been described by Bonpland, and -figured in our Plantes equinoxiales, T. i. p. 162, tab. xlvi. - -[68] p. 269.--“_The fresh-water dolphin._” - -These are not sea-dolphins, ascending the rivers for a great distance, -as is done by some species of Pleuronectes (flat fish, which always -have both eyes on one side of the body); for example, the Limande -(Pleuronectes Limanda), which comes up the Loire to Orleans. Some -sea forms of fish, as dolphins and skates, are repeated in the great -rivers of both continents. The fresh-water dolphin of the Apure and the -Orinoco differs specifically from the Delphinus gangeticus, as well as -from all sea-dolphins. See my Rel. hist. T. ii. pp. 223, 239, 406-413. - -[69] p. 270.--“_The striped nocturnal monkey._” - -This is the Douroucouli, or Cusi-cusi of the Cassiquiare, described -by me as Simia trivirgata in my Recueil d’Observations de Zoologie -et d’Anatomie comparée, T. i. p. 306-311, tab. xxviii., the plate -being taken from a drawing made by myself from the living animal. We -subsequently saw this nocturnal monkey living in the menagerie of the -Jardin des Plantes at Paris. (See the work above cited, T. ii. p. 340.) -Spix also found this remarkable little animal on the Amazons river, and -called it Nyctipithecus vociferans. - - - Potsdam, June 1849. - - - - -HYPSOMETRIC ADDENDA. - - -I am indebted to Mr. Pentland (whose scientific labours have thrown so -much light on the geology and geography of Bolivia) for the following -determinations, which he communicated to me in a letter written from -Paris, in October 1848, after the publication of his great map:-- - - Nevado of Sorata, or Long. from Height in - Ancohuma. S. lat. Greenwich. English Feet. - South Peak 15° 51′ 33″ 68° 33′ 55″ 21286 - North Peak 15° 49′ 18″ 68° 33′ 52″ 21043 - - Illimani. - South Peak 16° 38′ 52″ 67° 49′ 18″ 21145 - Middle Peak 16° 38′ 26″ 67° 49′ 17″ 21094 - North Peak 16° 37′ 50″ 67° 49′ 39″ 21060 - -The heights (with the exception of the unimportant difference of a few -feet in the South Peak of Illimani) are the same as those given in -the map of the Lake of Titicaca. A sketch of the last-named mountain -(Illimani), as it shews itself in all its majesty from La Paz, has been -given by Mr. Pentland in the Journal of the Royal Geographical Society, -Vol. V. (1835), p. 77. This was five years after the publication of the -first measurements in the Annuaire du Bureau des Longitudes for 1830, -p. 323, which results I myself hastened to make known in Germany. -(Hertha, Zeitschrift für Erd und Völkerkunde, von Berghaus, Bd. xiii. -1829, S. 3-29.) The Nevado de Sorata is to the east of the village -Sorata, or Esquibel: it is called in the Ymarra language, according to -Pentland, Ancomani, Itampu, and Illhampu. We recognise in “Illimani,” -the Ymarra word “illi,” snow. - -If, however, in the _eastern_ chain of Bolivia the Sorata was long -assumed 3718 French, or 3952 English feet, and the Illimani 2675 -French, or 2851 English, feet too high, there are in the _western_ -chain of the same country, according to Pentland’s map of Titicaca -(1848), four peaks to the east of Arica and between lat. 18° 7′ and 18° -25′, all of which are higher than Chimborazo, which is 21422 English or -20100 French feet. These four peaks are-- - - Pomarape 21700 English feet, or 20360 French feet. - Gualateiri 21960 „ „ 20604 „ „ - Parinacota 22030 „ „ 20670 „ „ - Sahama 22350 „ „ 20971 „ „ - -Berghaus has applied to the eastern and western chains of the Andes of -Bolivia the investigation published by me in the Annales des Sciences -Naturelles, T. iv. 1825, p. 225-253, of the proportion (very different -in different mountain chains), which the general height of the ridge, -the crest, or kamm (the mean height of the passes), bears to the -highest summits or culminating points. He finds, following Pentland’s -map, the mean height of the passes in the eastern chain 12672 French, -or 13502 English feet; and in the western chain 13602 French, or 14896 -English feet. The culminating points are 19972 and 20971 French, 21286 -and 22350 English feet; consequently the ratio of the height of the -ridge to that of the culminating point is, in the eastern chain, as 1 : -1.57, and in the western chain as 1 : 1.54. (Berghaus, Zeitschrift für -Erdkunde, Band. ix. S. 322-326). This ratio, which is, as it were, the -measure of the subterranean elevating force, is very similar to that -which exists in the Pyrenees, but very different from the Alps, where -the mean height of the passes is less as compared with Mont Blanc. The -ratios are, in the Pyrenees, = 1 : 1.43, and in the Alps, = 1 : 2.09. - -But, according to Fitz Roy and Darwin, the height of the Sahama is -still surpassed by 796 French, or 850 English feet, by that of the -volcano of Aconcagua, on the north east of Valparaiso, in Chili, in S. -lat. 32° 39′. The officers of the Adventure and Beagle, in Fitz Roy’s -Expedition, found, in August 1835, the summit of Acongagua between -23000 and 23400 English feet. If we take it at 23200 (equal to 21767 -Paris feet), this volcano would be 1667 French, or 1777 English, feet -higher than the Chimborazo. (Fitz Roy, Voyages of the Adventure and -Beagle, 1839, Vol. ii. p. 481; Darwin, Journal of Researches, 1845, -pp. 223 and 291.) According to more recent calculations, the height -of Acongagua is given as 22431 French, or 23907 English feet. (Mary -Somerville, Physical Geogr. 1849, Vol. ii. p. 425.) - -Our knowledge of the systems of mountains which, north of the parallels -of 30° and 31° N. lat., are called the Rocky Mountains and the -Sierra Nevada of California, has received most important additions, -geologically, botanically, hypsometrically, and geographically by -astronomical determinations of position, from the excellent works -of Charles Frémont (Geographical Memoir upon Upper California, an -illustration of his Map of Oregon and California, 1848); of Dr. -Wislizenus (Memoir of a Tour to Northern Mexico, connected with Col. -Doniphan’s Expedition, 1848); and of Lieutenants Abert and Peck -(Expedition on the Upper Arkansas, 1845; and Examination of New Mexico -in 1846 and 1847.) There prevails throughout these different North -American works a true scientific spirit, which is deserving of the -greatest commendation. The remarkable elevated plain, which rises to -an uninterrupted height of four or five thousand French (4260 and 5330 -English) feet, between the Rocky Mountains and the Sierra Nevada of -California, of which I have spoken in p. 44, and which is called the -Great Basin, forms an inland closed river basin, and has hot springs -and salt lakes. None of its rivers,--Bear River, Carson River, and -Humboldt River,--find their way to the sea. The Lake, which I was led -by combinations and inferences to represent, in the great Map of Mexico -drawn by me in 1804, under the name of Lake Timpanogos, is the great -Salt Lake of Frémont’s Map: it is sixty geographical miles long from -north to south, and ten broad; and it communicates with the fresh water -lake of Utah, which is situated at a higher level, and receives the -Timpanogos or Timpanaozu River, which enters it from the eastward, in -lat. 40° 13′. The circumstance of the Timpanogos Lake of my map not -having been placed by me sufficiently far to the north and west, is to -be attributed to the entire want, at that time, of any astronomical -determinations of the position of Santa Fé, in New Mexico. The error -amounts, for the western margin of the lake, to almost 50 minutes -of arc; a difference of absolute longitude which will appear less -surprising, if it is remembered that my itinerary map of Guanaxuato -could only be based for 15 degrees of latitude on compass surveys, or -compass directions, for which I was indebted to Don Pedro de Rivera. -(Humboldt, Essai polit. sur la Nouvelle Espagne, T. i. pp. 127-136.) -These directions being differently combined by my early deceased -fellow-labourer, Herr Friesen, and myself, gave him as the result of -his combinations 107° 58′ from Paris as the longitude of Santa Fé, and -to me as the result of mine, 107° 13′. According to actual astronomical -determinations since obtained, the true longitude appears to be 108° -22′ W. of Paris, or 106° 00′ W. of Greenwich. The relative position -of the beds of fossil salt--found in “thick strata of red clay,” on -the south east of the island-studded Great Salt Lake (my Laguna de -Timpanogos), and not far from the present Fort Mormon and the Utah -Lake--was given with perfect correctness in my large map of Mexico. I -may refer on this point to the latest evidence of the traveller who -made the first well-assured determinations of geographical position -in that district:--“The mineral or rock salt, of which a specimen is -placed in Congress Library, was found in the place marked by Humboldt -in his map of New Spain (northern half), as derived from the journal -of the missionary Father Escalante, who attempted (1777) to penetrate -the unknown country from Santa Fé of New Mexico to Monterey of the -Pacific Ocean. South-east of the Lake Timpanogos is the chain of the -Wha-satch Mountains; and in this, at the place where Humboldt has -written _Montagnes de sel gemme_, this mineral is found.” (Frémont, -Geogr. Mem. of Upper California, 1848, pp. 8 and 67; compare Humboldt, -Essai politique, T. ii. p. 261.) - -A great historical interest attaches to this part of the highland, and -more particularly to the country round the Lake of Timpanogos, which -is perhaps the same with the Lake of Teguayo, the ancestral seat of -the Aztecs. In their migration from Aztlan to Tula, and to the Valley -of Tenochtitlan (Mexico), this people made three halting places or -stations, at which the ruins of the Casas grandes are still to be seen. -The first sojourn of the Aztecs was at the Lake of Teguayo, the second -on the Rio Gila, and the third not far from the Presidio de Llanos. -Lieutenant Abert found on the banks of the Gila the same immense number -of fragments of pottery ornamented with painting, and scattered over -a considerable tract of ground, which had astonished the missionaries -Francisco Garces and Pedro Fonte in that locality. These remains of -the products of human skill are supposed to indicate the existence of -a former higher civilisation in these now solitary regions. Remains -of buildings in the singular style of architecture of the Aztecs, and -of their houses of seven stories, are also found far to the eastward -of the Rio Grande del Norte; for example, in Taos. (Compare Abert’s -Examination of New Mexico, in the Documents of Congress, No. 41, pp. -489 and 581-605, with my Essai pol. T. ii. pp. 241-244.) The Sierra -Nevada of California is parallel to the Coast of the Pacific; but -between the latitudes of 34° and 41°, between San Buenaventura and -the Bay of Trinidad, there runs, on the West of the Sierra Nevada, -another (smaller) coast chain, of which Monte del Diablo, 3448 French, -3674 English feet high, is the culminating point. In the narrow -valley, between this coast chain and the great Sierra Nevada, flow -from the south the Rio de San Joaquin, and from the north the Rio del -Sacramento, on the banks of which, in rich alluvial soil, are the rich -gold-washings now so much resorted to. - -I have already referred, p. 43, to a hypsometric levelling, and to -barometric measurements made from the junction of the Kanzas River with -the Missouri to the Pacific, or throughout the immense extent of 28 -degrees of longitude. Dr. Wislizenus has now successfully continued the -levelling began by me from the city of Mexico, in the Equinoctial Zone, -to the North as far as Santa Fé del Nuevo Mexico, in lat. 35° 38′. It -will be seen, perhaps, with surprise, that the elevated plain which -forms the broad crest of the Mexican Andes is far from sinking down, -as had long been supposed, to an inconsiderable height. I give here -for the first time, according to the measurements which we at present -possess, the elevations of several points, forming a line of levelling -from the city of Mexico to Santa Fé, which latter town is less than -four German (sixteen English) geographical miles from the Rio del Norte. - - French Feet. Eng. Feet. Observer. - Mexico 7008 7490 Ht. - Tula 6318 6733 Ht. - San Juan del Rio 6090 6490 Ht. - Queretaro 5970 6363 Ht. - Celaya 5646 6017 Ht. - Salamanca 5406 5761 Ht. - Guanaxuato 6414 6836 Ht. - Silao 5546 5910 Br. - Villa de Leon 5755 6133 Br. - Lagos 5983 6376 Br. - Aguas Calientes 5875 6261 Br. - San Luis Potosi 5714 6090 Br. - Zacatecas 7544 8040 Br. - Fresnillo 6797 7244 Br. - Durango 6426 6848 (Oteiza) - Parras 4678 4985 Ws. - Saltillo 4917 5240 Ws. - El Bolson de Mapimi {3600 to 3837 to} Ws. - { 4200 4476 } - Chihuahua 4352 4638 Ws. - Cosiquiariachi 5886 6273 Ws. - Passo del Norte, on the} - Rio Grande del Norte } 3557 3812 Ws. - Santa Fé del Nuevo Mexico 6612 7047 Ws. - -The letters Ws., Br., and Ht., are placed to distinguish the barometric -measurements of Dr. Wislizenus, Oberbergrath Burkart, and my own. -Wislizenus has appended to his valuable memoir three vertical sections -of the surface of the ground: one from Santa Fé to Chihuahua by Passo -del Norte; one from Chihuahua to Reynosa by Parras; and one from Fort -Independence (a little to the east of the Confluence of the Missouri -and the Kanzas River) to Santa Fé. The calculation is founded on daily -corresponding observations of the barometer, made by Engelmann at St. -Louis, and by Lilly at New Orleans. If we consider that the difference -of latitude between Santa Fé and Mexico is 16° and that thus (apart -from deviations from a straight line) the distance in the north and -south direction is above 960 geographical miles, we are led to inquire -whether there be in any other part of the whole globe a similar -conformation of the Earth, equal in extent and elevation (between 5000 -and 7000 French, or 5330 and 7460 English feet above the level of the -sea) to the highland of which I have just given the levelling, and yet -over which four-wheeled waggons can travel as they do from Mexico to -Santa Fé. It is formed by the broad, undulating, flattened crest of the -chain of the Mexican Andes, and is not the swelling of a valley between -two mountain chains, as is the case in some other remarkable elevations -of plain or undulating surface--in the Northern Hemisphere, in the -“Great Basin” between the Rocky Mountains and the Sierra Nevada of -California,--in the Southern Hemisphere, in the high plain of the lake -of Titicaca, between the eastern and western chains of the Andes of -Bolivia,--and in Asia, in the highlands of Thibet, between the Himalaya -and the Kuen-lün. - - - - - GENERAL SUMMARY - - OF THE - - CONTENTS OF THE FIRST VOLUME. - - - _Preface to the First Edition_--p. vii. to p. ix. - - _Preface to the Second and Third Editions_--p. xi. to p. xv. - - _Note by the Translator_--p. xvii. - - _Steppes and Deserts_--p. 1 to p. 26. - - Coast chain and mountain valleys of Caraccas. Lake of Tacarigua. - Contrast in respect to the luxuriance of vegetation between - those districts and the treeless plains. The steppe regarded as - the bottom of a Mediterranean Sea; broken strata a little higher - than the rest of the plain called “banks.” General phenomena of - extensive plains; the Heaths of Europe, the Pampas and Llanos of - South America, the African Deserts, and the Steppes of Northern - Asia. Different characters of the vegetable covering of the - surface. Animal life. Pastoral nations, and their invasive - migrations 1-6 - - Description of the South American plains and prairies--their - extent and climate; the latter dependent on the outline of - the coasts, and on the hypsometric conformation of the New - Continent. Comparison with the plains and deserts of Africa 7-13 - - Original absence of pastoral life in America. Food furnished by - the Mauritia palm; the Guaranis’ huts raised on trees 13-17 - - Since the discovery of America the Llanos have become more - habitable. Extraordinary increase in the number of wild cattle, - horses, asses, and mules. Description of the season of extreme - dryness, and of the rainy season. Appearance of the surface - of the ground and of the sky. Life of the animals--their - sufferings, their conflicts; power of adaptation with which - certain animals and plants are endowed. Jaguars, crocodiles, and - electric fishes. Unequal conflict between Gymnoti and horses - 17-23 - - Retrospective glance at the countries surrounding the Steppes - and Deserts. Forest wildernesses of the Orinoco and the Amazons. - Indian tribes separated by the wonderful diversity of their - languages and differences of their habits; their hardships, and - frequent variance between the different tribes. Figures graven - on the rocks show that these solitudes were once the seat of a - degree of civilisation which has now disappeared 23-26 - - - _Scientific Elucidations and Additions_--p. 27 to p. 204. - - The island-studded lake of Tacarigua; its relations to the - neighbouring mountain chains. Geological description. Progress - of cultivation and of European civilisation. Varieties of - the sugar-cane. Cacao plantations. Great fertility of soil - associated within the tropics with insalubrity of atmosphere - 27-33 - - “Banks” or broken strata. General horizontality of the surface. - Subsidences of the surface 33-35 - - Resemblance of the distant steppe to the ocean. Naked stony - crust. Tabular masses of syenite; whether prejudicial to health - 36-37 - - General views respecting the mountain systems of North and South - America, embracing the most recent information. Chains running - in a south-west and north-east direction in Brazil and in the - Atlantic portion of the United States of North America. The low - province of Chiquitos; small swellings of the ground constitute - the division between the waters of the Guaporé and Aguapehi in - 15° and 17° S. lat., and between the river basins of the Orinoco - and the Rio Negro in 2° and 3° N. lat. 37-39 - - Continuation of the chain of the Andes north of the isthmus of - Panama (through the Aztec country, where Popocatepetl, 16626 - French, or 17720 English feet high, has very recently been again - ascended by Captain Stone) in the Sierra de las Grullas and the - Rocky Mountains. Excellent scientific investigations of Captain - Frémont. The longest barometric levelling ever made, showing a - profile or vertical section of the earth’s surface through a - space of 28° of longitude. Culminating point of the route from - the coast of the Atlantic to the Pacific. “South Pass,” south of - the Wind River Mountains. Swelling of the ground in the Great - Basin. Long contested existence of the Timpanogos Lake. Coast - Chain, Maritime Alps, or Sierra Nevada of California. Volcanic - eruptions. Falls of the Columbia 39-50 - - General considerations on the contrasts shown by the spaces - included between the central chain (the Rocky Mountains) and - the diverging chains on the east and west (the Alleghanies and - the Sierra Nevada of California); hypsometric characters of the - low eastern space, which is only from 400 to 600 French, or - 426 to 639 English feet above the level of the sea, and of the - arid uninhabited plain 5000 or 6000 (5330 to 6400 English) feet - above the same level, called the Great Basin. Sources of the - Mississipi in the Lake of Istaca according to Nicollet’s highly - meritorious researches. Buffalo country; Gomara’s assertion of - buffaloes having been formerly tamed in the northern part of - Mexico 50-55 - - Retrospective view of the chain of the Andes from the Rocks - of Diego Ramirez to Behring’s Strait. Long circulated errors - respecting the heights of mountains in the eastern chain of - the Andes of Bolivia, especially the Sorata and the Illimani. - Four summits of the western chain of Bolivia, which, according - to Pentland’s latest determinations, are higher than the - Chimborazo, but are not equal in height to the still active - volcano of Acongagua measured by Fitz-Roy 55-58 - - The African mountains of Harudsch-el-Abiad. Oases 58-60 - - West winds on the coast of the Sahara. Accumulation of sea-weed; - position of the great bank of Fucus from the time of Scylax of - Caryanda to that of Columbus, and to the present day 60-67 - - Tibbos and Tuaricks. The camel and its distribution 67-71 - - Mountain systems of the interior of Asia between Northern - Siberia and India. Erroneous belief in the existence of a single - great elevated plain called “Plateau de la Tartarie” 71-75 - - Chinese literature a rich source of orographic knowledge. Series - of elevations of different highlands. Desert of Gobi. Probable - mean height of Thibet 75-85 - - Review of the mountain systems of the interior of Asia. Chains - running in the direction of the meridian; the Ural, which - separates the low part of Europe from the low part of Asia, or - divides into two portions the Scythian Europe of Pherecydes of - Syros and of Herodotus; Bolor; Khingan and the Chinese chains, - which, near the great bend in the direction of the Thibetian and - Assamo-Burmese river Dzangbo-tschu, run north and south. The - elevations which, between 66° and 77° E. long. from Greenwich, - follow the direction of meridians from Cape Comorin to the - Icy Sea, alternate like veins or dikes in which there are - faults or displacements; thus the Ghauts, the Soliman Chain, - the Paralasa, the Bolor, and the Ural, succeed each other from - south to north: the Bolor gave occasion among the ancients - to the idea of the Imaus, which Agathodæmon supposed to be - prolonged to the north into the low basin of the lower Irtysch. - Parallel chains running east and west; the Altai; Thian-schan, - with its active volcanoes at a distance of 1528 geographical - miles from the Icy Sea at the mouth of the Obi, and of 1512 - geographical miles from the Indian Sea at the mouth of the - Ganges; the Kuen-lün, recognised by Eratosthenes, Marinus of - Tyre, Ptolemy, and Cosmas Indicopleustes, as the longest axis - of elevation in the Old World, runs between 35-1/2° and 36° - of latitude in the direction of the diaphragm of Dicearchus. - Himalaya. The Kuen-lün, considered as an axis of elevation, may - be traced from the wall of China near Lung-tscheu through the - somewhat more northerly chains of Nan-schan and Kilian-schan, - through the mountain knot near the Lake called the “Starry Sea,” - through the Hindu-Coosh (the Parapanisus and Indian Caucasus - of the ancients), and through the chain of Demawend and the - Persian Elbourz, to Taurus in Lycia. Near the intersection of - the Kuen-lün and the Bolor the correspondence of the direction - of the axes of elevation (east and west in the Kuen-lün and the - Hindu-Coosh, whereas that of the Himalaya is south-east and - north-west) shows that the Hindu-Coosh is a continuation of the - Kuen-lün, and not of the Himalaya. The point where the direction - of the Himalaya changes to south-east and north-west from having - been east and west, is about the 79th degree of east longitude - from Paris (81° 22′ Greenwich). Next to the Dhawalagiri, it is - not, as has been hitherto supposed, the Jawahir which is the - highest summit of the Himalaya; that rank belonging, according - to the most recent intelligence received from Dr. Joseph - Hooker, to a mountain situated between Boutan and Nepaul in the - meridian of Sikkim, the Kinchinjinga: the western summit of this - mountain, which has been measured by Colonel Waugh, director - of the trigonometrical survey of India, is 28178 feet, and its - eastern summit 27826 feet high, according to the Journal of the - Asiatic Society of Bengal, Nov. 1848:--The mountain which is now - supposed to be higher than the Dhawalagiri is figured on the - frontispiece of the magnificent work of Joseph Hooker entitled - “The Rhododendrons of Sikkim-Himalaya, 1849.”--Determination of - the lower limits of the snow-line on the northern and southern - declivities of the Himalaya; its height being on an average - 3400 to 4600 French, or 3620 to 4900 English feet higher on the - northern face. New data on the subject from Hodgson. Without - this remarkable distribution of temperature in the upper strata - of the atmosphere, the mountain plains of Western Thibet would - be uninhabitable to the millions of human beings who now dwell - there 85-101 - - The Hiong-nu, regarded by Deguignes and Johannes Müller - as a tribe of Huns, appear rather to have been one of the - widely scattered tribes of the Turks of the Altai and Tang-nu - mountains. The Huns, whose name was known to Dionysius - Perigetes, and who are noticed by Ptolemy as Chuns (whence the - later appellation of Chunigard given to a country!), are a - Finnish race of the Ural mountains 101-102 - - Figures of the sun and of animals, and other signs carved on - rocks in the Sierra Parime, as well as in North America, have - often been supposed to be writing 102-104 - - Description of the cold mountain elevations between 11000 and - 13000 (or 11720 and 13850 English) feet, which are distinguished - by the appellation of Paramos; character of their vegetation - 104-106 - - Notices of the two groups of mountains (Pacaraima Mountains, - and the Sierra de Chiquitos) which separate the three plains of - the Lower Orinoco, the Amazons, and the Rio de la Plata 106-107 - - On the dogs of South America; both the aboriginal race and the - descendants of European dogs which have become wild. Sufferings - of cats when taken to elevations exceeding 13000 (13850 Eng.) - feet 107-112 - - The low tract of the Sahara, and its relations to the Atlas - Mountains, according to the latest information given by Daumas, - Carette, and Renou. The barometric measurements of Fournel make - it appear very probable that part of the North African desert - is lower than the level of the sea. Oasis of Biscara; abundance - of fossil salt in zones or bands running from south-west to - north-east. Causes of the nocturnal cold in the desert according - to Melloni 112-118 - - Notices of the River Wady Dra (1/6th longer than the Rhine, - and dry a large portion of the year), and of the country of - Sheikh Beirouk, a chief independent of the Emperor of Morocco, - from manuscript communications of the Naval Captain Count - Bouet-Villaumez. The mountains north of Cape Noun (a name used - by Edresi, in which, since the 15th century, an allusion to the - negative particle has been erroneously sought) attain 8600 (9166 - English) feet of elevation 118-120 - - The vegetation of the tropical American Llanos consisting of - grasses, compared with the vegetation of the North Asiatic - Steppes consisting of herbaceous plants. In the last-named - Steppes, and especially the more fertile among them, a - pleasing effect is produced in spring by small snow-white - and red-flowering Rosaceæ, Amygdaleæ, species of Astragalus, - Crown Imperials, Cypripedias, and Tulips. Contrast with the - desolate salt Steppes full of Chenopodiaceæ, species of Salsola - and Atriplex. Considerations on the relative numbers of the - prevailing families of plants. The plains adjoining the Icy Sea, - north of the limit determined by Admiral Wrangel as that of the - growth of Coniferæ and Amentaceæ, are the domain of cryptogamous - plants. Aspect and physiognomy of the Tundras, where the soil, - which is perpetually frozen, is covered either with a thick - coating of Sphagnum and other mosses, or with the snow-white - Cenomyce and Stereocaulon paschale 120-123 - - Principal causes of the very different distribution of - temperature in the European and American Continents. Direction - and curvature of the isothermal lines, or lines of equal - temperature, for the entire year, for the winter, and for the - summer 123-136 - - Are there any grounds for believing that America emerged later - than the Old Continent from the chaotic watery covering? 136-139 - - Thermic comparison of the Northern and Southern Hemispheres in - high latitudes 139-143 - - Apparent connection of the African sea of sand with those - of Persia, Kerman, Beloochistan, and the interior of Asia. - On the western part of Mount Atlas, and the connection of - purely mythical ideas with geographical traditions. Indistinct - allusions to igneous eruptions. Triton Lake. Crater-like forms - of a locality south of Hanno’s “Bay of the Gorilla Apes.” - Singular description of the “hollow Atlas” from the Dialexes of - Marinus Tyrius 143-149 - - Notices respecting the Mountains of the Moon (Djebel al-Komr) - in the interior of Africa by Reinaud, Beke, and Ayrton. Werne’s - instructive notice of the second expedition undertaken by the - orders of Mehemet Ali. The Abyssinian mountains, which rise, - according to Rüppell, almost to the height of Mont Blanc. The - most ancient notice of snow between the tropics contained in - the Inscription of Adulis, which is somewhat more modern than - Juba. High mountains which, between 6° and 4° of north latitude, - and still more to the south, approach the Bahr el-Abiad. A - considerable swelling of the ground divides the White Nile from - the basin of the Goschop. Line of separation between the waters - which flow to the Mediterranean and those which flow to the - Indian Ocean according to Carl Zimmermann’s map. Lupata Chain - according to the instructive researches of Wilhelm Peters 149-158 - - Oceanic currents. In the northern part of the Atlantic Ocean the - waters are impelled in a true revolving current. That the first - impulse which causes the Gulf Stream is to be sought at the - southern extremity of Africa, was already known to Sir Humphry - Gilbert in 1560. Influence of the Gulf Stream on the climate of - Scandinavia. How it contributed to the discovery of America. - Instances of Esquimaux who, aided by the returning eastward - flowing portion of the warm Gulf Stream, and by north-west - winds, arrived on the coasts of Europe. Such a case related - by Cornelius Nepos and Pomponius Mela (of Indians given by a - king of the Boii to Quintus Metellus Celer, Proconsul of Gaul); - others in the time of the Othos and of Frederic Barbarossa, of - Columbus and of Cardinal Bembo. Again, in the years 1682 and - 1684 natives of Greenland appeared in the Orkneys 159-165 - - Operation of lichens and other Cryptogamia in the cold and - temperate zones in preparing the way for the more rapid - establishment of larger phænogamous plants. Within the tropics - lichens are often replaced in this respect by succulent plants. - Milk-yielding animals of the New Continent; the Lama, the - Alpaca, the Guanaco 165-169 - - Cultivation of farinaceous grasses 169-173 - - On the earliest population of America 173-174 - - The coast nation of the Guaranis (Warraus), and the Mauritia - palm of the coasts, according to the accounts given by Bembo in - the Historiæ Venetæ, and those of Raleigh, Hillhouse, and Robert - and Richard Schomburgk 174-182 - - Phenomena which long-continued drought produces in the Steppe; - sand-spouts, hot winds (Mirage); awakening of crocodiles and - tortoises from long summer sleep 182-190 - - Otomacs. General considerations on the practice of earth-eating - among particular nations or tribes. Clays and earths containing - Infusoria 190-196 - - Figures graven on rocks throughout a zone running from east - to west, and extending from the Rupunuri, Essequibo, and the - Pacaraima Mountains, to Caycara and the wildernesses of the - Cassiquiare. Earliest notice (April 1749) of these traces of - former civilization in the manuscript account of the travels - of the surgeon Nicolas Hortsmann of Hildesheim, found among - D’Anville’s papers 196-203 - - The vegetable poison Curare or Ourari 203-204 - - - _Cataracts of the Orinoco_--p. 207 to p. 231. - - The Orinoco; general view of its course. Ideas excited in - Columbus on seeing its embouchure. Its unknown sources are east - of the Mountain of Duida and the groves of Bertholletia. Causes - of the principal bends of the river 207-219 - - The falls or rapids; Raudal of Maypures enclosed by four - streams. Former state of the district. Island-like form of the - rocks Keri and Oco. Grandeur of the view obtained on descending - the hill of Manimi, where a foaming river-surface of four - miles in extent presents itself at once to the eye. Iron-black - masses of rock rise like castles from the bed of the river; - the summits of the lofty palm trees pierce through the cloud of - spray and vapour 219-226 - - Raudal of Atures; numerous islands; rocky dikes connecting one - island with another, and the resort of pugnacious golden Pipras. - Parts of the bed of the river at the cataracts are dry, from - the waters having found a passage by subterranean channels. We - visited the rocks at the closing in of night and during storm - and heavy rain. Unsuspected proximity of crocodiles 226-227 - - Celebrated cave of Ataruipe, the sepulchral vault of an extinct - nation 227-231 - - - _Scientific Elucidations and Additions_--p. 233 to p. 255. - - The river-cow (Trichecus manati) lives in the sea at the place - where, in the Gulf of Xagua, on the south coast of the Island of - Cuba, springs of fresh water break forth 233-234 - - Geographical discussion on the sources of the Orinoco 236-241 - - The Bertholletia, a Lecythidea, a remarkable example of highly - developed organization. Stem of an Arundinarea sixteen to - seventeen feet long from knot to knot 241-243 - - On the myth or fable of the Lake of Parime 243-254 - - - _The Nocturnal Life of Animals in the Primeval Forest_--p. 259 - to p. 272. - - Difference between languages in respect to their richness in - well-defined expressions for characterising natural phenomena, - such as the state of vegetation, the forms of plants, the - outlines and grouping of clouds, the appearance of the surface - of the ground, and the forms of rocks and mountains. Loss - which languages suffer by the disuse of such words, or by - their signification becoming impaired. The misinterpretation - of a Spanish word, “Monte,” has caused the undue extension or - introduction of mountains in maps. Primeval Forest; frequent - abuse of the term. Absence of the uniformity which is produced - by the association of the same kinds of trees, characteristic - of tropical forests. Causes of the impenetrability of forests - between the tropics; the twining plants, Lianes, often form only - a small portion of the Underwood 259-266 - - Appearance of the Rio Apure in the lower part of its course. - Margin of the forest fenced like a garden by a low hedge of - Sauso (Hermesia). The wild animals of the forest lead their - young to the river through small openings in this hedge. Flocks - of large water-hogs or Cavies (Capybara). Fresh-water dolphins - 266-269 - - Wild cries of animals resound throughout the forest. Cause of - the nocturnal uproar 269-271 - - Contrast with the stillness which reigns during the noon-tide - hours on days of more than usual heat in the torrid zone. - Description of the narrows of the Orinoco at Baraguan. Humming - and fluttering of insects. Life stirs audibly in every bush, in - the clefts of the bark of trees, and in the earth undermined and - furrowed by Hymenopterous insects 271-272 - - - _Scientific Elucidations and Additions_--p. 273 to p. 275. - - Characteristic terms in Arabic and Persian descriptive of the - surface of the ground (Steppes, grassy plains, deserts, &c.) - Richness of the old Castilian idiom in words expressive of the - form of mountains. Fresh-water skates and dolphins. In the great - rivers of both continents some organic sea-forms are repeated. - American nocturnal monkeys, the three-striped Douroucouli of the - Cassiquiare. 273-275 - - - _Hypsometric Addenda_--p. 277 to p. 285. - - Pentland’s measurements in the eastern mountain chain of - Bolivia. Height of the volcano of Aconcagua according to Fitzroy - and Darwin. Western mountain chain of Bolivia 277-279 - - Mountain systems of North America. Rocky Mountains and the Snowy - Chain (Sierra Nevada) of California. Laguna de Timpanogos 279-283 - - Hypsometrical profile of the Highland of Mexico from the city of - Mexico to Santa Fé 283-285 - - -END OF VOL. I. - - -Wilson and Ogilvy, Printers, 57, Skinner Street, Snowhill, London. - - - - -Transcriber's Note - - -Duplicate chapter headings have been removed. - - -The following apparent errors have been corrected: - -p. 47 "parallels of 40° and 55°" changed to "parallels of 40° and 55°." - -p. 49 "Mount St. Elias (1980 toises" changed to "Mount St. Elias, 1980 -toises" - -p. 49 "43° 2′, long. 112° 28" changed to "43° 2′, long. 112° 28′" - -p. 50 "Scoriacous" changed to "Scoriaceous" - -p. 52 "miles The surface of" changed to "miles. The surface of" - -p. 53 "the tongue a much-prized" changed to "the tongue, a much-prized" - -p. 60 "greenstone porpyhry" changed to "greenstone porphyry" - -p. 62 "θρύον καὶφῦκος" changed to "θρύον καὶ φῦκος" - -p. 62 "shoal dissappeared" changed to "shoal disappeared" - -p. 65 "E. meditterranea" changed to "E. mediterranea" - -p. 68 "Bedouin tribes”" changed to "Bedouin tribes" - -p. 71 "p. 4.)--" changed to "p. 4.--" - -p. 76 "Appennines. (Compare" changed to "Apennines. (Compare" - -p. 91 "view of Erastosthenes" changed to "view of Eratosthenes" - -p. 91 "issue from a avcity" changed to "issue from a cavity" - -p. 97 "than the Dawalagiri" changed to "than the Dhawalagiri" - -p. 113 "and “this name" changed to "and this name" - -p. 116 "oises (3580 Eng. feet)" changed to "toises (3580 Eng. feet)" - -p. 128 "leaves also A similar" changed to "leaves also. A similar" - -p. 132 "in lat 44° 53′" changed to "in lat. 44° 53′" - -p. 137 "repose. “At the present moment" changed to "repose. At the -present moment" - -p. 139 "true “insular climate;" changed to "true “insular climate;”" - -p. 141 "lat 42° 53′" changed to "lat. 42° 53′" - -p. 141 "42°.2, and 63°." changed to "42°.2, and 63°.0" - -p. 142 "Berlin 6°8" changed to "Berlin 6°.8" - -p. 148 "πυρὸς ὲκφυτηματα μεγάλα" changed to "πυρὸς ἐκφυσήματα μεγάλα" - -p. 149 "semicircular deep abyss." changed to "semicircular deep abyss.”" - -p. 151 "σεληνης ὅρος" changed to "σελήνης ὅρος" - -p. 152 "S. 534-536." changed to "S. 534-536.)" - -p. 154 "second of Mehemed" changed to "second of Mehemet" - -p. 156 "Isenberg, Russeger" changed to "Isenberg, Russegger" - -p. 162 "with the equitorial" changed to "with the equatorial" - -p. 173 "Beitrage zur Flora des" changed to "Beiträge zur Flora des" - -p. 178 "so disagreable an odour" changed to "so disagreeable an odour" - -p. 187 "Electricetät" changed to "Elektricität" - -p. 192 "as a misssionary" changed to "as a missionary" - -p. 199 "of Nicholas Hortsman" changed to "of Nicholas Hortsmann" - -p. 225 "These spots recal" changed to "These spots recall" - -p. 235 "(ed. 1601, p. 106]" changed to "(ed. 1601, p. 106)" - -p. 239 "uncertain disance" changed to "uncertain distance" - -p. 240 "4°.12" changed to "4°.12′" - -p. 241 "65°.38′ Near" changed to "65°.38′. Near" - -p. 248 "Pacaraima monntains" changed to "Pacaraima mountains" - -p. 262 "believe that of al’" changed to "believe that of all" - -p. 262 "Bonpland, Martius" changed to "Bonpland, Martius," - -p. 281 "107° 58" changed to "107° 58′" - -p. 285 "undulating suface" changed to "undulating surface" - -p. 295 "(1-6th" changed to "(1/6th" - - -Inconsistent or archaic spelling and punctuation have otherwise been -kept as printed. - - -The following possible errors have been kept as printed: - -p. 79 two distinguished Savans - -p. 182 mountains of Ronaima - -p. 221 of globe - - -*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ASPECTS OF NATURE (VOL. 1 OF -2) *** - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the -United States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online -at <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you -are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the -country where you are located before using this eBook. -</div> - -<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: Aspects of Nature (Vol. 1 of 2)</p> -<p style='display:block; margin-left:2em; text-indent:0; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:1em;'>in Different Lands and Different Climates; with Scientific Elucidations</p> -<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: Alexander von Humboldt</p> -<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Translator: Elizabeth Sabine</p> -<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: January 16, 2022 [eBook #67183]</p> -<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</p> - <p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em; text-align:left'>Produced by: Henry Flower and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive)</p> -<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ASPECTS OF NATURE (VOL. 1 OF 2) ***</div> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_iii">[iii]</span></p> - -<h1>ASPECTS OF NATURE.</h1> - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_iv">[iv]</span></p> - - -<p class="break p4 center small">Wilson and Ogilvy, Skinner Street, Snowhill, London.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_v">[v]</span></p> -<div class="chapter titlepage"> - - - -<p class="p4"> - - -<span class="x-large">ASPECTS OF NATURE,</span><br /> - -<span class="small">IN</span><br /> - -DIFFERENT LANDS AND DIFFERENT CLIMATES;<br /> - -<span class="small">WITH</span><br /> - -Scientific Elucidations.</p> - -<p class="p2"> -<span class="small">BY</span><br /> - -<span class="large">ALEXANDER VON HUMBOLDT.</span><br /> - -TRANSLATED BY MRS. SABINE.<br /> - -<span class="smaller">IN TWO VOLUMES.</span></p> -<p> -VOL. I.</p> - -<p class="p2"> -LONDON:<br /> -<br /> -<span class="small">PRINTED FOR</span><br /> -LONGMAN, BROWN, GREEN, AND LONGMANS,<br /> -<span class="small">PATERNOSTER ROW; AND</span><br /> -JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET.<br /> -1849. -</p> - -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_vi">[vi]</span></p> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_vii">[vii]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="AUTHORS_PREFACE">AUTHOR’S PREFACE<br /> -<span class="small">TO THE</span><br /> -FIRST EDITION.</h2> -</div> - -<p>It is not without diffidence that I present to the public a -series of papers which took their origin in the presence of -natural scenes of grandeur or of beauty,—on the Ocean, in -the forests of the Orinoco, in the Steppes of Venezuela, -and in the mountain wildernesses of Peru and Mexico. -Detached fragments were written down on the spot and at -the moment, and were afterwards moulded into a whole. -The view of Nature on an enlarged scale, the display of the -concurrent action of various forces or powers, and the -renewal of the enjoyment which the immediate prospect of -tropical scenery affords to sensitive minds, are the objects -which I have proposed to myself. According to the design -of my work, whilst each of the treatises of which it consists -should form a whole complete in itself, one common -tendency should pervade them all. Such an artistic and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_viii">[viii]</span> -literary treatment of subjects of natural history is liable to -difficulties of composition, notwithstanding the aid which it -derives from the power and flexibility of our noble language. -The unbounded riches of Nature occasion an accumulation -of separate images; and accumulation disturbs the repose -and the unity of impression which should belong to the -picture. Moreover, when addressing the feelings and -imagination, a firm hand is needed to guard the style from -degenerating into an undesirable species of poetic prose. -But I need not here describe more fully dangers which -I fear the following pages will shew I have not always -succeeded in avoiding.</p> - -<p>Nevertheless, notwithstanding faults which I can more -easily perceive than amend, I venture to hope that these -descriptions of the varied Aspects which Nature assumes in -distant lands, may impart to the reader a portion of that -enjoyment which is derived from their immediate contemplation -by a mind susceptible of such impressions. As this -enjoyment is enhanced by insight into the more hidden -connection of the different powers and forces of nature, -I have subjoined to each treatise scientific elucidations and -additions.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_ix">[ix]</span></p> - -<p>Throughout the entire work I have sought to indicate -the unfailing influence of external nature on the feelings, -the moral dispositions, and the destinies of man. To minds -oppressed with the cares or the sorrows of life, the soothing -influence of the contemplation of nature is peculiarly -precious; and to such these pages are more especially -dedicated. May they, “escaping from the stormy waves -of life,” follow me in spirit with willing steps to the recesses -of the primeval forests, over the boundless surface of the -Steppe, and to the higher ridges of the Andes. To them -is addressed the poet’s voice, in the sentence of the -Chorus—</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Auf den Bergen ist Freiheit! Der Hauch der Grüfte</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Steigt nicht hinauf in die reinen Lüfte;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Die Welt ist vollkommen überall,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Wo der Mensch nicht hinkommt mit seiner Qual.”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_xi">[xi]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="AUTHORS_PREFACE_2_3">AUTHOR’S PREFACE<br /> - - -<span class="small">TO THE</span><br /> - -SECOND AND THIRD EDITIONS.</h2> -</div> - -<p>The twofold aim of the present work (a carefully prepared -and executed attempt to enhance the enjoyment of Nature by -animated description, and at the same time to increase in -proportion to the state of knowledge at the time the reader’s -insight into the harmonious and concurrent action of different -powers and forces of Nature) was pointed out by me nearly -half a century ago in the Preface to the First Edition. In -so doing, I alluded to the various obstacles which oppose a -successful treatment of the subject in the manner designed. -The combination of a literary and of a purely scientific -object,—the endeavour at once to interest and occupy the -imagination, and to enrich the mind with new ideas by the -augmentation of knowledge,—renders the due arrangement -of the separate parts, and the desired unity of composition, -difficult of attainment. Yet, notwithstanding these dis<span class="pagenum" id="Page_xii">[xii]</span>advantages, -the public have long regarded my imperfectly -executed undertaking with friendly partiality.</p> - -<p>The second edition of the “Ansichten der Natur” was -prepared by me in Paris in 1826; and at the same time two -fresh treatises were added,—one an Essay on the Structure -and mode of Action of Volcanoes in different regions of the -earth; and the other on the “Vital Power,” bearing the -title “Lebenskraft, oder der rhodische Genius.” During -my long stay at Jena, Schiller, in the recollection of his -youthful medical studies, loved to converse with me on -physiological subjects; and the considerations in which I -was then engaged on the muscular and nervous fibres when -excited by contact with chemically different substances, often -gave a more specific and graver turn to our discourse. The -“Rhodian Genius” was written at this time: it appeared -first in Schiller’s “Horen,” a periodical journal; and it was -his partiality for this little work which encouraged me to -allow it to be reprinted. My brother, in a letter forming -part of a collection which has recently been given to the -public (Wilhelm von Humboldt’s Briefe an eine Freundin, -Th. ii. S. 39), touches tenderly on the subject of the memoir -in question, but adds at the same time a very just remark:<span class="pagenum" id="Page_xiii">[xiii]</span> -“The development of a physiological idea is the object of -the entire treatise; men were fonder at that time than they -would now be of such semi-poetic clothing of severe scientific -truths.”</p> - -<p>In my eightieth year, I am still enabled to enjoy the -satisfaction of completing a third edition of my work, remoulding -it entirely afresh to meet the requirements of the -present time. Almost all the scientific Elucidations or -Annotations have been either enlarged or replaced by new -and more comprehensive ones. I have hoped that these -volumes might tend to inspire and cherish a love for the -study of Nature, by bringing together in a small space the -results of careful observation on the most varied subjects; -by showing the importance of exact numerical data, and the -use to be made of them by well-considered arrangement and -comparison; and by opposing the dogmatic half-knowledge -and arrogant scepticism which have long too much prevailed -in what are called the higher circles of society.</p> - -<p>The expedition made by Ehrenberg, Gustav Rose, and -myself, by the command of the Emperor of Russia, in 1829, -to Northern Asia (in the Ural and Altai mountains, and on<span class="pagenum" id="Page_xiv">[xiv]</span> -the shores of the Caspian Sea), falls between the period of -publication of the second and third editions. This expedition -has contributed materially to the enlargement of my -views in all that regards the form of the surface of the earth, -the direction of mountain-chains, the connection of steppes -and deserts with each other, and the geographical distribution -of plants in relation to ascertained conditions of temperature. -The long subsisting want of any accurate knowledge -on the subject of the great snow-covered mountain-chains -which are situated between the Altai and the Himalaya (<i>i. e.</i> -the Thian-schan and the Kuen-lün), and the ill-judged -neglect of Chinese authorities, have thrown great obscurity -around the geography of Central Asia, and have allowed -imagination to be substituted for the results of observation -in works which have obtained extensive circulation. In the -course of the last few months the hypsometrical comparison -of the culminating summits of the two continents has almost -unexpectedly received important corrections and additions, of -which I hasten to avail myself. (Vol. i. pp. <a href="#Page_57">57</a>–<a href="#Page_58">58</a>, and <a href="#Page_92">92</a>–<a href="#Page_93">93</a>.) -The determinations of the heights of two mountains in the -eastern chain of the Andes of Bolivia, the Sorata and the -Illimani, have been freed from the errors which had placed -those mountains above the Chimborazo, but without as yet<span class="pagenum" id="Page_xv">[xv]</span> -altogether restoring to the latter with certainty its ancient -pre-eminence among the snowy summits of the New World. -In the Himalaya the recently executed trigonometrical -measurement of the Kinchinjinga (28178 English feet) places -it next in altitude to the Dhawalagiri, a new and more exact -trigonometrical measurement of which has also been recently -made.</p> - -<p>For the sake of uniformity with the two previous editions -of the “Ansichten der Natur,” I have given the degrees of -temperature in the present work (unless where expressly -stated otherwise) in degrees of Reaumur’s scale. The linear -measures are the old French, in which the toise equals six -Parisian feet. The miles are geographical, fifteen to a degree -of the equator. The longitudes are reckoned from the -Observatory at Paris as a first meridian.</p> - - - -<p class="sig"><span class="smcap">Berlin</span>, 1849.</p> - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_xvii">[xvii]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="NOTE_BY_THE_TRANSLATOR">NOTE BY THE TRANSLATOR.</h2> -</div> - - -<p>In the translation the temperatures are given in degrees of -Fahrenheit, retaining at the same time the original figures in -Reaumur’s scale. In the same manner the measures are -given in English feet, generally retaining at the same time -the original statements in Parisian or French feet or toises, a -desirable precaution where accuracy is important. The miles -are given in geographical miles, 60 to a degree, but in this -case the original figures have usually been omitted, the conversion -being so simple as to render the introduction of error -very improbable. In a very few instances “English miles” -appear without any farther epithet or explanation; these -have been taken by the author from English sources, and -may probably signify statute miles. The longitudes from -Greenwich are substituted for those from Paris, retaining in -addition the original statement in particular cases.</p> - - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_xix">[xix]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CONTENTS">CONTENTS.</h2> -</div> - - - -<table class="autotable toc" summary=""> -<tr> -<td></td> -<td class="tdr"><span class="small">PAGE</span></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Author’s Preface to the First Edition</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_vii">vii</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Author’s Preface to the Second and Third Editions</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_xi">xi</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Note by the Translator</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_xvii">xvii</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Steppes and Deserts</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_1">1</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="annotations">Annotations and Additions</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_27">27</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Cataracts of the Orinoco</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_207">207</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="annotations">Annotations and Additions</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_233">233</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Nocturnal Life of Animals in the Primeval Forest</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_259">257</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="annotations">Annotations and Additions</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_273">273</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Hypsometric Addenda</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_277">277</a></td> -</tr> -</table> - -<p class="p2 center"> -⁂ For General Summary of the <span class="smcap">Contents</span> of the First Volume, -<i>see</i> page <a href="#Page_289">289</a>.<br /> -</p> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_1">[1]</span></p> - - - -<p class="p4 center"> -<span class="large">ASPECTS OF NATURE</span><br /> - -IN<br /> - -<span class="larger">DIFFERENT LANDS AND DIFFERENT CLIMATES.</span><br /> -</p> - - - - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="STEPPES_AND_DESERTS">STEPPES AND DESERTS.</h2> -</div> - - -<p>A widely extended and apparently interminable plain stretches -from the southern base of the lofty granitic crest, which, in -the youth of our planet, when the Caribbean gulf was formed, -braved the invasion of the waters. On quitting the mountain -valleys of Caraccas, and the island-studded lake of -Tacarigua<a id="FNanchor_1" href="#Footnote_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a> whose surface reflects the stems of plantains -and bananas, and on leaving behind him meads adorned -with the bright and tender green of the Tahitian sugar cane -or the darker verdure of the Cacao groves, the traveller, -looking southward, sees unroll before him Steppes receding -until they vanish in the far horizon.</p> - -<p>Fresh from the richest luxuriance of organic life, he treads -at once the desolate margin of a treeless desert. Neither -hill nor cliff rises, like an island in the ocean, to break the -uniformity of the boundless plain; only here and there<span class="pagenum" id="Page_2">[2]</span> -broken strata of limestone, several hundred square miles in -extent, appear sensibly higher than the adjoining parts. -“Banks”<a id="FNanchor_2" href="#Footnote_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a> is the name given to them by the natives; as -if language instinctively recalled the more ancient condition -of the globe, when those elevations were shoals, and the -Steppes themselves were the bottom of a great Mediterranean -sea.</p> - -<p>Even at the present time nocturnal illusion still recalls -these images of the past. When the rapidly rising and -descending constellations illumine the margin of the plain, -or when their trembling image is repeated in the lower -stratum of undulating vapour, we seem to see before us a -shoreless ocean.<a id="FNanchor_3" href="#Footnote_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a> Like the ocean, the Steppe fills the -mind with the feeling of infinity; and thought, escaping -from the visible impressions of space, rises to contemplations -of a higher order. Yet the aspect of the clear transparent -mirror of the ocean, with its light, curling, gently foaming, -sportive waves, cheers the heart like that of a friend; but -the Steppe lies stretched before us dead and rigid, like the -stony crust<a id="FNanchor_4" href="#Footnote_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a> of a desolated planet.</p> - -<p>In every zone nature presents the phenomena of these -great plains: in each they have a peculiar physiognomy, -determined by diversity of soil, by climate, and by elevation -above the level of the sea.</p> - -<p>In northern Europe, the Heaths, which, covered with a -single race of plants repelling all others, extend from the -point of Jutland to the mouth of the Scheldt, may be regarded -as true Steppes,—but Steppes of small extent and -hilly surface, if compared with the Llanos and Pampas of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_3">[3]</span> -South America, or even with the Prairies of the Missouri<a id="FNanchor_5" href="#Footnote_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a> -and the Barrens of the Coppermine river, where range -countless herds of the shaggy buffalo and musk ox.</p> - -<p>A grander and severer aspect characterises the plains of -the interior of Africa. Like the wide expanse of the Pacific -Ocean, it is only in recent times that attempts have been -made to explore them thoroughly. They are parts of a sea -of sand, which, stretching eastward, separates fruitful regions -from each other, or encloses them like islands; as where the -Desert, near the basaltic mountains of Harudsh,<a id="FNanchor_6" href="#Footnote_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a> surrounds -the Oasis of Siwah rich in date trees, and in which the ruins -of the temple of Ammon mark the venerable site of an -ancient civilisation. Neither dew nor rain bathe these -desolate plains, or develope on their glowing surface the -germs of vegetable life; for heated columns of air, every -where ascending, dissolve the vapours, and disperse each -swiftly vanishing cloud.</p> - -<p>Where the Desert approaches the Atlantic Ocean, as between -the Wadi Nun and Cape Blanco, the moist sea air -pours in to supply the void left by these upward currents. -The mariner, steering towards the mouth of the Gambia -through a sea covered with weed, when suddenly deserted -by the east trade wind of the tropics,<a id="FNanchor_7" href="#Footnote_7" class="fnanchor">[7]</a> infers the vicinity -of the widely extended heat-radiating desert. Herds of antelopes -and swift-footed ostriches roam through these vast -regions; but, with the exception of the watered Oases or -islands in the sea of sand, some groups of which have -recently been discovered, and whose verdant shores are -frequented by nomade Tibbos and Tuaricks,<a id="FNanchor_8" href="#Footnote_8" class="fnanchor">[8]</a> the African<span class="pagenum" id="Page_4">[4]</span> -Desert must be regarded as uninhabitable by man. The -more civilised nations who dwell on its borders only venture -to enter it periodically. By trading routes, which have -remained unaltered for thousands of years, caravans traverse -the long distance from Tafilet to Timbuctoo, and from -Moorzouk to Bornou; adventurous undertakings, the possibility -of which depends upon the existence of the camel, -the “ship of the desert,”<a id="FNanchor_9" href="#Footnote_9" class="fnanchor">[9]</a> as it is called in the traditionary -language of the eastern world.</p> - -<p>These African plains occupy an extent nearly three times -as great as that of the neighbouring Mediterranean sea. -They are situated partly within, and partly in the vicinity -of the tropics; and on this situation their peculiar character -depends. In the eastern part of the old continent, the same -geognostic phenomenon occurs in the temperate zone. On -the plateaux of central Asia, between the gold mountains or -the Altai and the Kuen-lun,<a id="FNanchor_10" href="#Footnote_10" class="fnanchor">[10]</a> from the Chinese wall to -beyond the Celestial mountains, and towards the sea of Aral, -there extend, through a length of many thousand miles, the -most vast, if not the most elevated, Steppes on the surface -of the globe. I have myself had the opportunity, fully -thirty years after my South American journey, of visiting a -portion of them; namely, the Calmuck Kirghis Steppes between -the Don, the Volga, the Caspian, and the Chinese -lake Dsaisang, being an extent of almost 2800 geographical -miles.</p> - -<p>These Asiatic Steppes, which are sometimes hilly and -sometimes interrupted by pine forests, possess (dispersed -over them in groups) a far more varied vegetation than that<span class="pagenum" id="Page_5">[5]</span> -of the Llanos and Pampas of Caraccas and Buenos Ayres. -The finest part of these plains, which is inhabited by Asiatic -pastoral tribes, is adorned with low bushes of luxuriant -white-blossomed Rosaceæ, and with Fritillarias, Tulips, and -Cypripedias.</p> - -<p>As the torrid zone is characterised on the whole by a disposition -in all vegetation to become arborescent, so some of -the Asiatic Steppes in the temperate zone are characterised -by the great height attained by flowering herbaceous -plants, Saussureas and other Synantheræ, and Papilionaceæ -especially a host of species of Astragalus. In traversing -pathless portions of these Steppes, the traveller, seated in -the low Tartar carriages, sees the thickly crowded plants -bend beneath the wheels, but without rising up cannot look -around him to see the direction in which he is moving. -Some of the Asiatic Steppes are grassy plains; others are -covered with succulent, evergreen, articulated soda plants: -many glisten from a distance with flakes of exuded salt which -cover the clayey soil, not unlike in appearance to fresh fallen -snow.</p> - -<p>These Mongolian and Tartarian Steppes, interrupted frequently -by mountainous features, divide the very ancient -civilisation of Thibet and Hindostan from the rude nations -of Northern Asia. They have in various ways exercised an -important influence on the changeful destinies of man. -They have compressed the population towards the south, -and have tended, more than the Himalaya, or than the snowy -mountains of Srinagur and Ghorka, to impede the intercourse -of nations, and to place permanent limits to the extension<span class="pagenum" id="Page_6">[6]</span> -of milder manners, and of artistic and intellectual cultivation -in northern Asia.</p> - -<p>But, in the history of the past, it is not alone as an -opposing barrier that we must regard the plains of Central -Asia: more than once they have proved the source from -whence devastation has spread over distant lands. The -pastoral nations of these Steppes,—Moguls, Getæ, Alani, -and Usuni,—have shaken the world. As in the course of -past ages, early intellectual culture has come like the -cheering light of the sun from the East, so, at a later period, -from the same direction barbaric rudeness has threatened -to overspread and involve Europe in darkness. A brown -pastoral race,<a id="FNanchor_11" href="#Footnote_11" class="fnanchor">[11]</a> of Tukiuish or Turkish descent, the Hiongnu, -dwelling in tents of skins, inhabited the elevated Steppe of -Gobi. Long terrible to the Chinese power, a part of this -tribe was driven back into Central Asia. The shock or impulse -thus given passed from nation to nation, until it -reached the ancient land of the Finns, near the Ural mountains. -From thence, Huns, Avari, Ghazarés, and various -admixtures of Asiatic races, broke forth. Armies of Huns -appeared successively on the Volga, in Pannonia, on the -Marne, and on the Po, desolating those fair and fertile -fields which, since the time of Antenor, civilised man had -adorned with monument after monument. Thus went -forth from the Mongolian deserts a deadly blast, which -withered on Cisalpine ground the tender long-cherished -flower of art.</p> - -<p>From the salt Steppes of Asia, from the European Heaths -smiling in summer with their purple blossoms rich in honey,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_7">[7]</span> -and from the arid Deserts of Africa devoid of all vegetation, -let us now return to those South American plains of which -I have already began to trace the picture, albeit in rude -outlines.</p> - -<p>The interest which this picture can offer to the beholder -is, however, exclusively that of pure nature. Here no -Oasis recalls the memory of earlier inhabitants; no carved -stone,<a id="FNanchor_12" href="#Footnote_12" class="fnanchor">[12]</a> no ruined building, no fruit tree once the care of -the cultivator but now wild, speaks of the art or industry of -former generations. As if estranged from the destinies of -mankind, and riveting attention solely to the present moment, -this corner of the earth appears as a wild theatre for -the free development of animal and vegetable life.</p> - -<p>The Steppe extends from the Caraccas coast chain to the -forests of Guiana, and from the snowy mountains of Merida -(on the slope of which the Natron Lake Urao is an object of -superstitious veneration to the natives,) to the great delta -formed by the Orinoco at its mouth. To the south-west -a branch is prolonged, like an arm of the sea,<a id="FNanchor_13" href="#Footnote_13" class="fnanchor">[13]</a> beyond -the banks of the Meta and Vichada to the unvisited -sources of the Guaviare, and to the lonely mountain to -which the excited fancy of the Spanish soldiery gave the -name of Paramo de la Suma Paz—the seat of perfect peace.</p> - -<p>This Steppe occupies a space of 16,000 (256,000 English) -square miles. It has often been erroneously described as -running uninterruptedly, and with an equal breadth, to the -straits of Magellan, forgetting the forest-covered plain of -the Amazons which intervenes between the grassy Steppes -of the Apure and those of the river Plate. The Andes of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_8">[8]</span> -Cochabamba, and the Brazilian group of mountains, send -forth, between the province of Chiquitos and the isthmus -of Villabella, some detached spurs, which advance, as it -were, to meet each other.<a id="FNanchor_14" href="#Footnote_14" class="fnanchor">[14]</a> A narrow plain connects -the forest lands of the Amazons with the Pampas of Buenos -Ayres. The latter far surpass the Llanos of Venezuela in -area; and their extent is so great that while their northern -margin is bordered by palm trees, their southern extremity -is almost continually covered with ice.</p> - -<p>The Tuyu, which resembles the Cassowary (the Struthio -rhea), is peculiar to these Pampas, which are also the haunt -of troops of dogs<a id="FNanchor_15" href="#Footnote_15" class="fnanchor">[15]</a> descended from those introduced by the -colonists, but which have become completely wild, dwelling -together in subterranean hollows, and often attacking with -blood-thirsty rage the human race whom their progenitors -served and defended.</p> - -<p>Like the greater portion of the desert of Sahara,<a id="FNanchor_16" href="#Footnote_16" class="fnanchor">[16]</a> the -northernmost of the South American plains, the Llanos, are -in the torrid zone: during one half of the year they are -desolate, like the Lybian sandy waste; during the other, -they appear as a grassy plain, resembling many of the Steppes -of Central Asia.<a id="FNanchor_17" href="#Footnote_17" class="fnanchor">[17]</a></p> - -<p>It is a highly interesting though difficult task of general -geography to compare the natural conditions of distant -regions, and to represent by a few traits the results of this -comparison. The causes which lessen both heat and dryness -in the New World<a id="FNanchor_18" href="#Footnote_18" class="fnanchor">[18]</a> are manifold, and in some -respects as yet only partially understood. Amongst these -may be classed the narrowness and deep indentation of the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_9">[9]</span> -American land in the northern part of the torrid zone, where -consequently the atmosphere, resting on a liquid base, does -not present so heated an ascending current;—the extension -of the continent towards the poles;—the expanse of ocean -over which the trade-winds sweep freely, acquiring thereby -a cooler temperature;—the flatness of the eastern coasts;—currents -of cold sea-water from the antarctic regions, which, -coming from the south-west to the north-east, first strike -the coast of Chili in the parallel of 35° south latitude, and -advance along the coast of Peru as far north as Cape Pariña, -and then turn suddenly to the west;—the numerous lofty -mountain chains rich in springs, and whose snow-clad summits, -rising high above all the strata of clouds, cause -descending currents of cold air to roll down their declivities;—the -abundance of rivers of enormous breadth, which, after -many windings, seek the most distant coast;—Steppes which -from not being sandy are less susceptible of acquiring a high -degree of heat,—impenetrable forests occupying the alluvial -plains situated immediately beneath the equator, protecting -with their shade the soil beneath from the direct influence -of the sunbeams, and exhaling in the interior of the country -at a great distance from the mountains and from the ocean -vast quantities of moisture, partly imbibed and partly -elaborated:—all these circumstances afford to the flat part -of America a climate which by its humidity and coolness -contrasts wonderfully with that of Africa. It is to the same -causes that we are to attribute the luxuriant vegetation, the -magnificent forests, and that abundant leafiness by which -the new continent is peculiarly characterised.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_10">[10]</span></p> - -<p>If, therefore, one side of our planet has a moister atmosphere -than the other, the consideration of the present -condition of things is amply sufficient to explain the problem -presented by this inequality. The physical inquirer needs -not to clothe the explanation of these phenomena in a -mantle of geological myths. He needs not to assume that -on our planet the harmonious reconciliation of the destructive -conflict of the elements took place at different epochs in the -eastern and the western hemispheres; or that America emerged -later than the other parts of the globe from the chaotic -watery covering,<a id="FNanchor_19" href="#Footnote_19" class="fnanchor">[19]</a> as an island of swamps and marshes -tenanted by alligators and serpents.</p> - -<p>There is, indeed, a striking similarity between South -America and the southern peninsula of the old continent in -the form of the outline and in the direction of the coasts; -but the nature of the soil, and the relative position of the -neighbouring masses of land, produce in Africa that extraordinary -aridity which over an immense area checks the -development of organic life. Four-fifths of South America -are situated on the southern side of the equator; or -in a hemisphere which from the greater proportion of sea -and from other causes is cooler and moister than our -northern half of the globe,<a id="FNanchor_20" href="#Footnote_20" class="fnanchor">[20]</a> to which the larger part of -Africa belongs. The breadth of the South American Steppe, -measured from east to west, is only a third of that of the -African Desert. The Llanos receive the influence of the -tropical sea wind, while the African Deserts, being situated -in the same zone of latitude as Arabia and the south of -Persia, are in contact with strata of air which have blown<span class="pagenum" id="Page_11">[11]</span> -over warm heat-radiating continents. The venerable and -only lately appreciated father of history, Herodotus, in -the true spirit of an enlarged view of nature, described -the Deserts of northern Africa, of Yemen, of Kerman and -Mekran (the Gedrosia of the Greeks), and even as far as -Moultan, as forming a single connected sea of sand.<a id="FNanchor_21" href="#Footnote_21" class="fnanchor">[21]</a></p> - -<p>In addition to the action of these hot winds, there is (so -far as we know) an absence or comparative paucity in Africa -of large rivers, of widely extended forests producing coolness -and exhaling moisture, and of lofty mountains. Of mountains -covered with perpetual snow, we know only the -western part of the Atlas,<a id="FNanchor_22" href="#Footnote_22" class="fnanchor">[22]</a> whose narrow range, seen -in profile from the Atlantic, appeared to the ancient -navigators when sailing along the coast as a single -detached lofty sky-supporting mount. The eastern prolongation -of the chain extends nearly to Dakul, where -Carthage, once mistress of the seas, now lies in mouldering -ruins. As forming a long extended coast-chain, or Gætulian -rampart, the effect of the Atlas range is to intercept the cool -north breezes, and the vapours which ascend from the -Mediterranean.</p> - -<p>The Mountains of the Moon, Djebel-al-Komr,<a id="FNanchor_23" href="#Footnote_23" class="fnanchor">[23]</a> -(fabulously represented as forming part of a mountainous -parallel extending from the high plateaux of Habesh, an -African Quito, to the sources of the Senegal), were supposed -to rise above the limit of perpetual snow. The Cordillera -of Lupata, which extends along the eastern coast of -Mozambique and Monomotapa, as the Andes along the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_12">[12]</span> -western coast of Peru, is believed to be covered with perpetual -snow in the gold districts of Machinga and Mocanga. -But all these mountains, with the abundant waters to which -they give rise, are far remote from the immense Desert which -stretches from the southern declivity of the Atlas to the -Niger.</p> - -<p>Possibly, however, all the causes of heat and dryness -which have been enumerated may have been insufficient to -transform such considerable parts of the African plains into -a dreadful desert, without the concurrence of some revolution -of nature,—such, for instance, as an irruption of the ocean, -whereby these flat regions may have been despoiled of their -coating of vegetable soil, as well as of the plants which it -nourished. Profound obscurity veils the period of such an -event, and the force which determined the irruption. Perhaps -it may have been caused by the great “rotatory current”<a id="FNanchor_24" href="#Footnote_24" class="fnanchor">[24]</a> -which sends the warmer water of the Mexican gulf over -the banks of Newfoundland and to the shores of the old -continent, and causes West India cocoa-nuts and other -tropical fruits to reach the coasts of Ireland and Norway. -There is still at least at the present time, an arm of this -current directed from the Azores to the south-east, which -sometimes produces disasters by carrying ships upon the -west coast of Africa, which it strikes at a part lined by -sand-hills. Other sea coasts (I particularly recall that of -Peru between Amotape and Coquimbo) shew that in these -hot regions of the earth, where rain never falls and where -neither Lecideas nor other Lichens<a id="FNanchor_25" href="#Footnote_25" class="fnanchor">[25]</a> germinate, centuries<span class="pagenum" id="Page_13">[13]</span> -and perhaps thousands of years may elapse before the -moveable sand can afford to the roots of plants a secure -holding place.</p> - -<p>These considerations are sufficient to explain why, with -an external similarity of form, Africa and South America -present so marked a difference of character both in respect -to climate and to vegetation. But although the South -American Steppe is covered with a thin coating of mould or -fertile earth, and although it is periodically bathed by rains, -and becomes covered at such seasons with luxuriantly -sprouting herbage, yet it never could attract the surrounding -nations or tribes to forsake the beautiful mountain -valleys of Caraccas, the margin of the sea, or the wooded -banks of the Orinoco, for the treeless and springless wilderness; -and thus, previous to the arrival of European and -African settlers, the Steppe was almost entirely devoid of -human inhabitants.</p> - -<p>The Llanos are, indeed, well suited to the rearing of cattle, -but the care of animals yielding milk<a id="FNanchor_26" href="#Footnote_26" class="fnanchor">[26]</a> was almost unknown -to the original inhabitants of the New Continent. -Hardly any of the American tribes have ever availed themselves -of the advantages which nature offered them in this -respect. The American race (which, with the exception of -the Esquimaux, is one and the same from 65° North to 55° -South latitude), has not passed from the state of hunters to -that of cultivators of the soil through the intermediate stage -of a pastoral life. Two kinds of native cattle (the Buffalo -and the Musk Ox) feed in the northern prairies of western -Canada and the plains of arctic America, in Quivira, and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_14">[14]</span> -around the colossal ruins of the Aztec fortress which rises -in the wilderness, like an American Palmyra, on the solitary -banks of the Gila. The long-horned Rocky Mountain Sheep -abounds on the arid limestone rocks of California. The Vicunas, -Huanacos, Alpacas, and Lamas, belong to South America; -but the two first named of all these useful animals, <i>i. e.</i>, the -Buffalo and the Musk Ox, have retained their natural -freedom for two thousand years, and the use of milk and -cheese, like the possession and cultivation of farinaceous -grasses,<a id="FNanchor_27" href="#Footnote_27" class="fnanchor">[27]</a> has remained a distinguishing characteristic of -the nations of the old world.</p> - -<p>If some of the latter have crossed from northern Asia to -the west coast of America, and if, keeping by preference to -the cooler mountain regions,<a id="FNanchor_28" href="#Footnote_28" class="fnanchor">[28]</a> they have followed the lofty -ridge of the Andes towards the south, their migration must -have taken place by ways in which they could not be accompanied -by their flocks and herds, or bring with them the -cultivation of corn. When the long shaken empire of the -Hiongnu fell, may we conjecture that the movement of this -powerful tribe may also have occasioned in the north-east of -China and in Corea a shock and an impulse which may have -caused civilized Asiatics to pass over into the new continent? -If such a migration had consisted of inhabitants of the -Steppes in which agriculture was not pursued, this hazardous -hypothesis (which has hitherto been but little favoured by -the comparison of languages) would at least explain the -striking absence of the Cereals in America. Possibly one -of those Asiatic priestly colonies whom mystic dreams -sometimes impelled to embark in long voyages, (of which<span class="pagenum" id="Page_15">[15]</span> -the history of the peopling of Japan<a id="FNanchor_29" href="#Footnote_29" class="fnanchor">[29]</a> in the time of -Thsinchi-huang-ti offers a memorable example), may have -been driven by storms to the coasts of New California.</p> - -<p>If, then, pastoral life, that beneficent middle stage which -attaches nomadic hunting hordes to desirable pastures and -prepares them, as it were, for agriculture, has remained unknown -to the aboriginal nations of America, this circumstance -sufficiently explains the absence of human inhabitants -in the South American Steppes. This absence has allowed -the freest scope for the abundant development of the most -varied forms of animal life; a development limited only by -their mutual pressure, and similar to that of vegetable life in -the forests of the Orinoco, where the Hymenæa and the -gigantic laurel are never exposed to the destructive hand of -man, but only to the pressure of the luxuriant climbers -which twine around their massive trunks. Agoutis, small -spotted antelopes, cuirassed armadilloes, which, like rats, -startle the hare in its subterranean holes, herds of lazy -chiguires, beautifully striped viverræ which poison the air -with their odour, the large maneless lion, spotted jaguars -(often called tigers) strong enough to drag away a young -bull after killing him;—these and many other forms of -animal life<a id="FNanchor_30" href="#Footnote_30" class="fnanchor">[30]</a> wander through the treeless plain.</p> - -<p>Thus almost exclusively inhabited by these wild animals, -the Steppe would offer little attraction or means of subsistence -to those nomadic native hordes, who, like the -Asiatics of Hindostan, prefer vegetable nutriment, if it were -not for the occasional presence of single individuals of the -fan palm, the Mauritia. The benefits of this life-supporting<span class="pagenum" id="Page_16">[16]</span> -tree are widely celebrated; it alone, from the mouth of the -Orinoco to north of the Sierra de Imataca, feeds the unsubdued -nation of the Guaranis.<a id="FNanchor_31" href="#Footnote_31" class="fnanchor">[31]</a> When this people -were more numerous and lived in closer contiguity, not only -did they support their huts on the cut trunks of palm trees -as pillars on which rested a scaffolding forming the floor, -but they also, it is said, twined from the leaf-stalks of the -Mauritia cords and mats, which, skilfully interwoven and -suspended from stem to stem, enabled them in the rainy -season, when the Delta is overflowed, to live in the trees -like the apes. The floor of these raised cottages is partly -covered with a coating of damp clay, on which the women -make fires for household purposes,—the flames appearing at -night from the river to be suspended high in air. The -Guaranis still owe the preservation of their physical, and -perhaps also their moral, independence, to the half-submerged, -marshy soil over which they move with a light and rapid -step, and to their elevated dwellings in the trees,—a habitation -never likely to be chosen from motives of religious -enthusiasm by an American Stylites.<a id="FNanchor_32" href="#Footnote_32" class="fnanchor">[32]</a> But the Mauritia -affords to the Guaranis not merely a secure dwelling-place, -but also various kinds of food. Before the flower of the -male palm tree breaks through its tender sheath, and only -at that period of vegetable metamorphosis, the pith of the -stem of the tree contains a meal resembling sago, which, -like the farina of the jatropha root, is dried in thin bread-like -slices. The fermented juice of the tree forms the sweet -intoxicating palm wine of the Guaranis. The scaly fruits, -which resemble in their appearance reddish fir cones, afford,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_17">[17]</span> -like the plaintain and almost all tropical fruits, a different -kind of nutriment, according as they are eaten after -their saccharine substance is fully developed, or in their -earlier or more farinaceous state. Thus in the lowest stage -of man’s intellectual development, we find the existence of -an entire people bound up with that of a single tree; like -the insect which lives exclusively on a single part of a -particular flower.</p> - -<p>Since the discovery of the New Continent, the Llanos -have become habitable to men. In order to facilitate communication -between the Orinoco country and the coasts, -towns have been built here and there on the banks of the -streams which flow through the Steppes.<a id="FNanchor_33" href="#Footnote_33" class="fnanchor">[33]</a> The rearing -of cattle has began over all parts of these vast regions. -Huts, formed of reeds tied together with thongs and covered -with skins, are placed at distances of a day’s journey from -each other; numberless herds of oxen, horses, and mules, -estimated at the peaceful epoch of my journey at a million -and a half, roam over the Steppe. The immense multiplication -of these animals, originally brought by man from the -Old Continent, is the more remarkable from the number of -dangers with which they have to contend.</p> - -<p>When, under the vertical rays of the never-clouded sun, -the carbonized turfy covering falls into dust, the indurated -soil cracks asunder as if from the shock of an earthquake. -If at such times two opposing currents of air, whose conflict -produces a rotatory motion, come in contact with the soil, -the plain assumes a strange and singular aspect. Like -conical-shaped clouds<a id="FNanchor_34" href="#Footnote_34" class="fnanchor">[34]</a> the points of which descend<span class="pagenum" id="Page_18">[18]</span> -to the earth, the sand rises through the rarified air -in the electrically charged centre of the whirling current; -resembling the loud waterspout dreaded by the experienced -mariner. The lowering sky sheds a dim, almost straw-coloured -light on the desolate plain. The horizon draws -suddenly nearer; the Steppe seems to contract, and with it -the heart of the wanderer. The hot dusty particles which -fill the air increase its suffocating heat,<a id="FNanchor_35" href="#Footnote_35" class="fnanchor">[35]</a> and the east -wind, blowing over the long-heated soil, brings with it no -refreshment, but rather a still more burning glow. The -pools which the yellow fading branches of the fan palm had -protected from evaporation now gradually disappear. As in -the icy north the animals become torpid with cold, so here, -under the influence of the parching drought, the crocodile -and the boa become motionless and fall asleep, deeply buried -in the dry mud. Every where the death-threatening drought -prevails, and yet, by the play of the refracted rays of light -producing the phenomenon of the mirage, the thirsty traveller -is every where pursued by the illusive image of a cool -rippling watery mirror.<a id="FNanchor_36" href="#Footnote_36" class="fnanchor">[36]</a> The distant palm bush apparently -raised by the influence of the contact of unequally -heated and therefore unequally dense strata of air, -hovers above the ground, from which it is separated by a -narrow intervening margin. Half concealed by the dark -clouds of dust, restless with the pain of thirst and hunger, -the horses and cattle roam around, the cattle lowing dismally, -and the horses stretching out their long necks and -snuffing the wind, if haply a moister current may betray the -neighbourhood of a not wholly dried up pool. More saga<span class="pagenum" id="Page_19">[19]</span>cious -and cunning, the mule seeks a different mode of -alleviating his thirst. The ribbed and spherical melon-cactus<a id="FNanchor_37" href="#Footnote_37" class="fnanchor">[37]</a> -conceals under its prickly envelope a watery pith. -The mule first strikes the prickles aside with his fore feet, -and then ventures warily to approach his lips to the plant -and drink the cool juice. But resort to this vegetable -fountain is not always without danger, and one sees many -animals that have been lamed by the prickles of the cactus.</p> - -<p>When the burning heat of the day is followed by the -coolness of the night, which in these latitudes is always of -the same length, even then the horses and cattle cannot -enjoy repose. Enormous bats suck their blood like vampires -during their sleep, or attach themselves to their backs, -causing festering wounds, in which musquitoes, hippobosces, -and a host of stinging insects, niche themselves. Thus the -animals lead a painful life during the season when, under -the fierce glow of the sun, the soil is deprived of its -moisture. At length, after the long drought, the welcome -season of the rain arrives; and then how suddenly is the -scene changed!<a id="FNanchor_38" href="#Footnote_38" class="fnanchor">[38]</a> The deep blue of the hitherto perpetually -cloudless sky becomes lighter; at night the dark -space in the constellation of the Southern Cross is hardly -distinguishable; the soft phosphorescent light of the Magellanic -clouds fades away; even the stars in Aquila and -Ophiucus in the zenith shine with a trembling and less -planetary light. A single cloud appears in the south, like -a distant mountain, rising perpendicularly from the horizon. -Gradually the increasing vapours spread like mist over the -sky, and now the distant thunder ushers in the life-restoring<span class="pagenum" id="Page_20">[20]</span> -rain. Hardly has the surface of the earth received the -refreshing moisture, before the previously barren Steppe -begins to exhale sweet odours, and to clothe itself with -Kyllingias, the many panicules of the Paspalum, and a variety -of grasses. The herbaceous mimosas, with renewed sensibility -to the influence of light, unfold their drooping slumbering -leaves to greet the rising sun; and the early song of -birds, and the opening blossoms of the water plants, join to -salute the morning. The horses and cattle now graze in -full enjoyment of life. The tall springing grass hides the -beautifully spotted jaguar, who lurking in safe concealment, -and measuring carefully the distance of a single bound, -springs, cat-like, as the Asiatic tiger, on his passing prey.</p> - -<p>Sometimes, (so the Aborigines relate), on the margin of -the swamps the moistened clay is seen to blister and rise -slowly in a kind of mound; then with a violent noise, like -the outbreak of a small mud volcano, the heaped-up earth is -cast high into the air. The beholder acquainted with the -meaning of this spectacle flies, for he knows there will issue -forth a gigantic water-snake or a scaly crocodile, awakened -from a torpid state<a id="FNanchor_39" href="#Footnote_39" class="fnanchor">[39]</a> by the first fall of rain.</p> - -<p>The rivers which bound the plain to the south, the -Arauca, Apure, and Payara, become gradually swollen; and -now nature constrains the same animals, who in the first -half of the year panted with thirst on the dry and dusty -soil, to adopt an amphibious life. A portion of the Steppe -now presents the aspect of a vast inland sea.<a id="FNanchor_40" href="#Footnote_40" class="fnanchor">[40]</a> The -brood mares retire with their foals to the higher banks, -which stand like islands above the surface of the lake.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_21">[21]</span> -Every day the space remaining dry becomes smaller. The -animals, crowded together, swim about for hours in search -of other pasture, and feed sparingly on the tops of the -flowering grasses rising above the seething surface of the -dark-coloured water. Many foals are drowned, and many -are surprised by the crocodiles, killed by a stroke of their -powerful notched tails, and devoured. It is not a rare -thing to see the marks of the pointed teeth of these monsters -on the legs of the horses and cattle who have narrowly -escaped from their blood-thirsty jaws. Such a sight reminds -the thoughtful observer involuntarily of the capability of -conforming to the most varied circumstances, with which the -all-providing Author of Nature has endowed certain animals -and plants.</p> - -<p>The ox and the horse, like the farinaceous cerealia, have -followed man over the whole surface of the globe, from -India to Northern Siberia, from the Ganges to the River -Plate, from the African sea shore to the mountain plateau -of Antisana,<a id="FNanchor_41" href="#Footnote_41" class="fnanchor">[41]</a> which is higher than the summit of the -Peak of Teneriffe. The ox wearied from the plough reposes, -sheltered from the noontide sun in one country by the -quivering shadow of the northern birch, and in another by -the date palm. The same species which, in the east of -Europe, has to encounter the attacks of bears and wolves, -is exposed in other regions to the assaults of tigers and -crocodiles.</p> - -<p>But the crocodile and jaguar are not the only assailants -of the South American horses; they have also a dangerous -enemy among fishes. The marshy waters of Bera and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_22">[22]</span> -Rastro<a id="FNanchor_42" href="#Footnote_42" class="fnanchor">[42]</a> are filled with numberless electric eels, which can -at pleasure send a powerful discharge from any part of their -slimy yellow spotted bodies. These gymnoti are from five to -six feet in length, and are powerful enough to kill the -largest animals when they discharge their nervous organs at -once in a favourable direction.</p> - -<p>The route from Uritucu through the Steppe was formerly -obliged to be changed, because the gymnoti had increased to -such numbers in a small stream that in crossing it many -horses were drowned every year, either from the effects of -the shocks they received, or from fright. All other fishes -fly the vicinity of these formidable eels. Even the fisherman -angling from the high bank fears lest the damp line should -convey the shock to him from a distance. Thus, in these -regions, electric fire breaks forth from the bosom of the -waters.</p> - -<p>The capture of the gymnoti affords a picturesque spectacle. -Mules and horses are driven into a marsh which is closely -surrounded by Indians, until the unwonted noise and -disturbance induce the pugnacious fish to begin an attack. -One sees them swimming about like serpents, and trying -cunningly to glide under the bellies of the horses. Many -of these are stunned by the force of the invisible blows; -others, with manes standing on end, foaming and with wild -terror sparkling in their eyes, try to fly from the raging -tempest. But the Indians, armed with long poles of -bamboo, drive them back into the middle of the pool. -Gradually the fury of the unequal strife begins to slacken. -Like clouds which have discharged their electricity, the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_23">[23]</span> -wearied fish begin to disperse; long repose and abundant -food are required to replace the galvanic force which they -have expended. Their shocks become gradually weaker and -weaker. Terrified by the noise of the trampling horses, they -timidly approach the bank, where they are wounded by -harpoons, and cautiously drawn on shore by non-conducting -pieces of dry wood.</p> - -<p>Such is the extraordinary battle between horses and fish. -That which forms the invisible but living weapon of this -electric eel;—that which, awakened by the contact of moist -dissimilar particles,<a id="FNanchor_43" href="#Footnote_43" class="fnanchor">[43]</a> circulates through all the organs of -plants and animals;—that which, flashing from the thunder -cloud, illumines the wide skyey canopy;—that which draws -iron to iron and directs the silent recurring march of the -guiding needle;—all, like the several hues of the divided -ray of light, flow from one source; and all blend again -together in one perpetually, every where diffused, force or -power.</p> - -<p>I might here close the hazardous attempt to trace a -picture of nature such as she shows herself in the Steppes. -But as on the ocean fancy not unwillingly dwells awhile on -the image of its distant shores, so, before the wide plain -disappears from our view, let us cast a rapid glance at -the regions by which the Steppes are bounded.</p> - -<p>The Northern Desert of Africa divides two races of men -who belong originally to the same part of the globe, and -whose unreconciled discord appears as ancient as the mythus -of Osiris and Typhon.<a id="FNanchor_44" href="#Footnote_44" class="fnanchor">[44]</a> North of the Atlas there dwell -nations with long and straight hair, of sallow complexion and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_24">[24]</span> -Caucasian features. On the south of the Senegal, towards -Soudan, live hordes of negroes in many different stages of -civilization. In Central Asia, the Mongolian Steppe divides -Siberian barbarism from the ancient civilisation of the -peninsula of India.</p> - -<p>The South American Steppes form the boundary of a -partial European cultivation.<a id="FNanchor_45" href="#Footnote_45" class="fnanchor">[45]</a> To the north, between -the mountains of Venezuela and the Caribbean sea, we find -commercial cities, neat villages, and carefully cultivated -fields. Even the love of art and scientific culture, together -with the noble desire of civil freedom, have long been -awakened there. Towards the south the Steppe terminates -in a savage wilderness. Forests, the growth of thousands -of years, fill with their impenetrable fastnesses the humid -regions between the Orinoco and the Amazons. Massive -leaden-coloured granite rocks<a id="FNanchor_46" href="#Footnote_46" class="fnanchor">[46]</a> narrow the bed of the -foaming rivers. Mountains and forests resound with the -thunder of the falling waters, with the roar of the tiger-like -jaguar, and with the melancholy rain-announcing howlings -of the bearded apes.<a id="FNanchor_47" href="#Footnote_47" class="fnanchor">[47]</a></p> - -<p>Where a sand-bank is left dry by the shallow current, the -unwieldly crocodiles lie, with open jaws, as motionless as -pieces of rock and often covered with birds.<a id="FNanchor_48" href="#Footnote_48" class="fnanchor">[48]</a> The -boa serpent, his body marked like a chess-board, coiled up, -his tail wound round the branch of a tree, lies lurking on -the bank secure of his prey; he marks the young bull or -some feebler inhabitant of the forest as it fords the stream, -and swiftly uncoiling seizes the victim, and covering it with -mucus forces it laboriously down his swelling throat.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_25">[25]</span><a id="FNanchor_49" href="#Footnote_49" class="fnanchor">[49]</a></p> - -<p>In the midst of this grand and savage nature live many -tribes of men, isolated from each other by the extraordinary -diversity of their languages: some are nomadic, wholly -unacquainted with agriculture, and using ants, gums, and -earth as food<a id="FNanchor_50" href="#Footnote_50" class="fnanchor">[50]</a>; these, as the Otomacs and Jarures, seem -a kind of outcasts from humanity: others, like the Maquiritares -and Macos, are settled, more intelligent and of -milder manners, and live on fruits which they have themselves -reared.</p> - -<p>Large spaces between the Cassiquiare and the Atabapo -are only inhabited by the tapir and the social apes, and are -wholly destitute of human beings. Figures graven on the -rocks<a id="FNanchor_51" href="#Footnote_51" class="fnanchor">[51]</a> shew that even these deserts were once the seat -of some degree of intellectual cultivation. They bear -witness to the changeful destinies of man, as do the unequally -developed flexible languages; which latter belong to -the oldest and most imperishable class of historic memorials.</p> - -<p>But as in the Steppe tigers and crocodiles fight with horses -and cattle, so in the forests on its borders, in the wildernesses -of Guiana, man is ever armed against man. Some -tribes drink with unnatural thirst the blood of their enemies; -others apparently weaponless and yet prepared for murder<a id="FNanchor_52" href="#Footnote_52" class="fnanchor">[52]</a> -kill with a poisoned thumb-nail. The weaker hordes, when -they have to pass along the sandy margin of the rivers, -carefully efface with their hands the traces of their timid -footsteps. Thus man in the lowest stage of almost animal -rudeness, as well as amidst the apparent brilliancy of our -higher cultivation, prepares for himself and his fellow<span class="pagenum" id="Page_26">[26]</span> -men increased toil and danger. The traveller wandering -over the wide globe by sea and land, as well as the historic -inquirer searching the records of past ages, finds every -where the uniform and saddening spectacle of man at -variance with man.</p> - -<p>He, therefore, who, amidst the unreconciled discord of -nations, seeks for intellectual calm, gladly turns to contemplate -the silent life of vegetation, and the hidden activities -of forces and powers operating in the sanctuaries of -nature; or, obedient to the inborn impulse which for -thousands of years has glowed in the human breast, gazes -upwards in meditative contemplation on those celestial orbs, -which are ever pursuing in undisturbed harmony their -ancient and unchanging course.</p> - - - -<div class="chapter"> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_27">[27]</span></p> -<h3 class="nobreak" id="ANNOTATIONS_AND_ADDITIONS">ANNOTATIONS AND ADDITIONS.</h3> -</div> - - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_1" href="#FNanchor_1" class="label">[1]</a> p. 1.—“<i>The Lake of Tacarigua.</i>”</p> - -<p>In proceeding through the interior of South America -from the Caraccas or Venezuela shore towards the boundary -of Brazil, from the 10th degree of North latitude to the -Equator, the traveller crosses first an elevated mountain-chain -running in an east and west direction, next vast -treeless Steppes or Plains (los Llanos), which stretch from -the foot of the above-named mountains (the coast chain of -Caraccas) to the left bank of the Orinoco, and lastly the -range which occasions the Cataracts of Atures and Maypure. -This latter range of mountains, to which I have given the -name of the Sierra Parime, runs in an easterly direction -from the Cataracts to Dutch and French Guiana. It is a -mass of mountains divided into many parallel ridges, and is -the site of the fabled Dorado. It is bordered on the south -by the forest plain, through which the river of the Amazons -and the Rio Negro have formed the channels in which -their waters flow. Those who desire a fuller acquaintance -with the geography of these regions will do well to consult -and compare the great map of La Cruz-Olmedilla, bearing -date 1775, (from which almost all the more recent maps of -South America have been formed,) and the map of Columbia<span class="pagenum" id="Page_28">[28]</span> -constructed by me from my own astronomical determinations -of geographical positions, and published in 1825.</p> - -<p>The coast chain of Venezuela, geographically considered, -is a part of the chain of the Andes of Peru. The chain of -the Andes divides itself, at the great mountain junction at -the sources of the Magdalena, south of Popayan, (between -1° 55′ and 2° 20′ latitude), into three chains, the easternmost -of which terminates in the snow-covered mountains of -Merida. These mountains sink down towards the Paramo -de las Rosas into the hilly land of Quibor and Tocuyo, which -connects the coast chain of Venezuela with the Cordilleras -of Cundinamarca. The coast chain forms an unbroken -rampart from Porto Cabello to the promontory of Paria. Its -mean height hardly equals 750 toises or 4795 English feet; -yet single summits, like the Silla de Caracas (also called -Cerro de Avila), decked with the purple-flowering Befaria -the American Rose of the Alps, rise 1350 toises or 8630 -English feet above the level of the sea. The coast of Terra -Firma bears traces of devastation. We recognise everywhere -the action of the great current which, sweeping from east to -west, formed by disruption the West Indian Islands, and -hollowed out the Caribbean gulf. The projecting tongues of -land of Araja and Chuparipari, and especially the coast of Cumana -and New Barcelona, offer a remarkable spectacle to the -geologist. The precipitous Islands of Boracha, Caracas, -and Chimanas, rise like towers from the sea, and bear witness -to the terrible pressure of the waters against the mountain -chain when it was broken by their irruption. Perhaps, like -the Mediterranean, the Antillean gulf was once an inland<span class="pagenum" id="Page_29">[29]</span> -sea, which became suddenly connected with the ocean. The -islands of Cuba, Hayti, and Jamaica, still contain the remnants -of the lofty mountains of mica slate which bounded -this sea to the north. It is remarkable that where -these three islands approach each other most nearly the -highest summits are found; and we may conjecture that -the highest part of this Antillean chain was situated -between Cape Tiburon and Point Morant. The Copper -Mountains (Montañas de Cobre) near Santiago de Cuba -have not yet been measured, but their elevation is probably -greater than that of the Blue Mountains of Jamaica, (1138 -toises, 7277 English feet,) which somewhat exceeds the -height of the St. Gothard Pass. My conjectures on the -valley-form of the Atlantic Ocean, and on the ancient -connection of the continents, were given more in detail -in a memoir written in Cumana, entitled Fragment d’un -Tableau Géologique de l’Amerique Meridionale (Journal de -Physique, Messidor, An. IX.) It is worthy of remark, that -Columbus himself, in his Official Reports, called attention -to the connection between the direction of the equatorial -current and the form of the coast line of the larger -Antilles. (Examen critique de l’hist. de la Géographie, -p. 104–108.)</p> - -<p>The northern and most cultivated part of the province of -Caraccas is a country of mountains. The coast chain is -divided like the Swiss Alps into several subordinate chains -enclosing longitudinal valleys. The most celebrated of these -is the pleasant valley of Aragua, which produces a great -quantity of indigo, sugar, cotton, and, what is most remarkable,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_30">[30]</span> -European wheat. The southern margin of this -valley adjoins the beautiful lake of Valencia, whose old -Indian name is Tacarigua. The contrast between its opposite -shores gives it a striking resemblance to the Lake of -Geneva. It is true that the bare mountains of Guigue and -Guiripa have less grandeur of character than the Savoy -Alps; but, on the other hand, the opposite bank of the -Tacarigua lake, which is thickly clothed with plantains, -mimosas, and triplaris, far surpasses in picturesque beauty -the vineyards of the Pays de Vaud. The lake is about -thirty geographical miles in length, and is full of small -islands, which, as the loss of water by evaporation exceeds -the influx, are increasing in size. Within some years sand-banks -have even become real islands, and have received -the significant name of the “Newly Appeared,” Las Aparecidas. -On the island of Cura the remarkable species of -Solanum is cultivated which has edible fruit, and which -Wildenow has described in the Hortus Berolinensis (1816, -Tab. xxvii.) The height of the Lake of Tacarigua above -the sea is almost 1400 French feet, (according to my -measurement exactly 230 toises, or 1470 English feet,) less -than the mean height of the valley of Caraccas. The lake -has several kinds of fish (see my Observations de Zoologie -et d’Anatomie comparée, T. ii p. 179–181), and is one of -the most pleasing natural scenes which I know in any -part of the globe. In bathing, Bonpland and myself were -often alarmed by the appearance of the Bava, an undescribed -crocodile-like lizard, three or four feet in length, of repulsive -aspect, but harmless to men. We found in the lake a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_31">[31]</span> -Typha (Cats-tail), identical with the European Typha angustifolia; -a singular fact, and important in reference to the -geography of plants.</p> - -<p>Two varieties of sugar-cane are cultivated near the lake, -in the valleys of Aragua: the common sugar-cane of the -West Indies, Caña criolla; and the cane recently introduced -from the Pacific, Caña de Otaheiti. The verdure of the -Tahitian cane is of a much lighter and more agreeable tint, -and a field of it can readily be distinguished at a great distance -from a field of the common cane. The sugar-cane of -Tahiti was first described by Cook and George Forster, who -appear, however, from the excellent memoir of the latter -upon the edible plants of the islands of the Pacific, to have -been but little acquainted with its valuable qualities. Bougainville -brought it to the Isle of France, from whence it -was conveyed to Cayenne, and since 1792 it has been taken -to Martinique, Hayti, and several of the smaller West Indian -Islands. It was carried with the bread-fruit tree to Jamaica -by the brave but unfortunate Captain Bligh, and was introduced -from the Island of Trinidad to the neighbouring coast -of Caraccas, where it became a more important acquisition -than the bread-fruit, which is never likely to supersede a -plant so valuable and affording so large an amount of -sustenance as the plantain. The Tahitian sugar-cane is much -richer in juice than the common cane, said to be originally -a native of the east of Asia. On an equal surface of ground -it yields a third more sugar than the caña criolla, which has -a thinner stalk and smaller joints. As, moreover, the West -India islands begin to suffer great want of fuel, (in Cuba<span class="pagenum" id="Page_32">[32]</span> -the wood of the orange tree is used for sugar boiling,) the -thicker and more woody stalk of the Tahitian cane is an -important advantage. If the introduction of this plant had -not taken place almost at the same time as the commencement -of the bloody negro war in St. Domingo, the prices of -sugar in Europe would have risen still higher than they did, -in consequence of the ruinous effects of those troubles on -agriculture and trade. It was an important question, -whether the cane of the Pacific, when removed from its -native soil, would gradually degenerate and become the -same as the common cane. Experience hitherto has decided -against any such degeneration. In Cuba a caballeria -(nearly 33 English acres) planted with Tahitian sugar-cane -produces 870 hundred weight of sugar. It is singular that -this important production of the islands of the Pacific is only -cultivated in those parts of the Spanish colonies which are -farthest from the Pacific. The Peruvian coast is only -twenty-five days’ sail from Tahiti, and yet, at the period of -my travels in Peru and Chili, the Tahitian cane was unknown -there. The inhabitants of Easter Island, who suffer much -from deficiency of fresh water, drink the juice of the sugar-cane, -and (a very remarkable physiological fact) also sea water. -In the Society, Friendly, and Sandwich Islands, the light -green, thick-stalked sugar-cane is always the one cultivated.</p> - -<p>Besides the Caña de Otaheiti and the Caña Criolla, a -reddish African variety, called Caña de Guinea, is cultivated -in the West Indies: its juice is less in quantity than that -of the common Asiatic cane, but is said to be better suited -for making rum.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_33">[33]</span>In the province of Caraccas the dark shade of the cacao -plantations contrasts beautifully with the light green of the -Tahitian sugar cane. Few tropical trees have such thick -foliage as the Theobroma cacao. It loves hot and humid -valleys: great fertility of soil and insalubrity of atmosphere -are inseparable from each other in South America as well as -in Asia; and it has even been remarked that as increasing -cultivation lessens the extent of the forests, and renders the -soil and climate less humid, the cacao plantations become -less flourishing. For these reasons these plantations are -diminishing in number and extent in the province of -Caraccas, and increasing rapidly in the more eastern provinces -of New Barcelona and Cumana, and particularly in -the moist woody district between Cariaco and the Golfo -Triste.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_2" href="#FNanchor_2" class="label">[2]</a> p. 2.—“<i>‘Banks’ is the name given by the natives -to this phenomenon.</i>”</p> - -<p>The Llanos of Caraccas are occupied by a great and -widely extended formation of conglomerate of an early -period. In descending from the vallies of Aragua, and -crossing over the most southern ridge of the coast chain -of Guigue and Villa de Cura towards Parapara, one finds -successively, gneiss and mica slate;—a probably silurian -formation of clay slate and black limestone;—serpentine and -greenstone in detached spheroidal masses;—and, lastly, close -to the margin of the great plain, small hills of augitic -amygdaloid and porphyritic slate. These hills between -Parapara and Ortiz appear to me like volcanic eruptions on<span class="pagenum" id="Page_34">[34]</span> -the ancient sea-shore of the Llanos. Farther to the north -are the celebrated grotesque-shaped cavernous rocks of -Morros de San Juan; they form a kind of rampart, have -a crystalline grain like upheaved dolomite, and are rather to -be regarded as parts of the shore of the ancient gulf than as -islands. I term the Llanos a gulf, for when we consider -their small elevation above the present sea level, their form -open as it were to the equatorial current sweeping from east -to west, and the lowness of the eastern coast between the -mouth of the Orinoco and the Essequibo, we can scarcely doubt -that the sea once overflowed the whole basin between the -coast chain of Caraccas and the Sierra de la Parime, and -beat against the mountains of Merida and Pamplona; (as it is -supposed to have overflowed the plains of Lombardy, and beat -against the Cottian and Pennine Alps). The strike or -inclination of the American Llanos is also directed from -west to east. Their height at Calabozo, 400 geographical -miles from the sea, is barely 30 toises (192 English feet); -being 15 toises (96 English feet) less than that of Pavia, -and 45 toises (288 English feet) less than that of Milan, in -the plains of Lombardy between the Alps and Apennines. -The form of the surface of this part of the globe reminds -one of Claudian’s expression, “curvata tumore parvo planities.” -The horizontality of the Llanos is so perfect that in -many portions of them no part of an area of more than 480 -square miles appears to be a foot higher than the rest. If, -in addition to this, we imagine to ourselves the absence of -all bushes, and even in the Mesa de Pavones the absence of -any isolated palm-trees, it will afford some idea of the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_35">[35]</span> -singular aspect of this sea-like desert plain. As far as the -eye can reach, it can hardly rest on a single object a few -inches high. If it were not that the state of the lowest -strata of the atmosphere, and the consequent changes of -refraction, render the horizon continually indeterminate and -undulating, altitudes of the sun might be taken with the -sextant from the margin of the plain as well as from the -horizon at sea. This great horizontality of the former sea -bottom makes the “banks” more striking. They are -broken strata which rise abruptly from two to three feet above -the surrounding rock, and extend uniformly over a length -of from 40 to 48 English geographical miles. The small -streams of the Steppes take their rise on these banks.</p> - -<p>In passing through the Llanos of Barcelona, on our return -from the Rio Negro, we found frequent traces of earthquakes. -Instead of the banks standing <i>higher</i> than the -surrounding rock, we found here solitary strata of gypsum -from 3 to 4 toises (19 to 25 English feet) <i>lower</i>. Farther -to the west, near the junction of the Caura with the Orinoco, -and to the east of the mission of S. Pedro de Alcantara, an -extensive tract of dense forest sank down in an earthquake -in 1790, and a lake was formed of more than 300 toises -(1918 English feet) diameter. The tall trees (Desmanthus, -Hymenæas, and Malpighias) long retained their foliage and -verdure under the water.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_3" href="#FNanchor_3" class="label">[3]</a> p. 2.—“<i>We seem to see before us a shoreless ocean.</i>”</p> - -<p>The prospect of the distant Steppe is still more striking, -when the spectator has been long accustomed in the dense<span class="pagenum" id="Page_36">[36]</span> -forests both to a very restricted field of view, and to the -aspect of a rich and highly luxuriant vegetation. Ineffaceable -is the impression which I received on our return -from the Upper Orinoco, when, from the Hato del Capuchino, -on a mountain opposite to the mouth of the Rio Apure, we -first saw again the distant Steppe. The sun had just set; -the Steppe appeared to rise like a hemisphere; and the light -of the rising stars was refracted in the lowest stratum of air. -The excessive heating of the plain by the vertical rays of -the sun causes the variations of refraction,—occasioned by -the effects of radiation, of the ascending current, and of the -contact of strata of air of unequal density,—to continue -through the entire night.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_4" href="#FNanchor_4" class="label">[4]</a> p. 2.—“<i>The naked stony crust.</i>”</p> - -<p>Immense tracts of flat bare rock form peculiar and -characteristic features in the Deserts both of Africa and -Asia. In the Schamo, which separates Mongolia and the -mountain chains of Ulangom and Malakha-Oola from the -north-west part of China, these banks of rock are called -Tsy. They are also found in the forest-covered plains of -the Orinoco, surrounded by the most luxuriant vegetation -(Relation Hist. t. ii. p. 279). In the middle of these flat -tabular masses of granite and syenite of some thousand feet -diameter, denuded of all vegetation save a few scantily distributed -lichens, we find small islands of soil, covered with -low and always flowering plants which give them the appearance -of little gardens. The monks of the Upper Orinoco -regard these bare and perfectly level surfaces of rock, when<span class="pagenum" id="Page_37">[37]</span> -they are of considerable extent, as peculiarly apt to cause -fevers and other illnesses. Several missionary villages have -been deserted or removed elsewhere in consequence of this -opinion, which is very widely diffused. Supposing the -opinion correct, is such an influence of these flat rocks or -laxas to be attributed to a chemical action on the atmosphere, -or merely to the effect of increased radiation?</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_5" href="#FNanchor_5" class="label">[5]</a> p. 2.—“<i>The Llanos and Pampas of South America, -and the Prairies of the Missouri.</i>”</p> - -<p>The physical and geognostical views entertained respecting -the western part of North America have been rectified -in many respects by the adventurous journey of Major -Long, the excellent writings of his companion Edwin James, -and more especially by the comprehensive observations of -Captain Frémont. These, and all other recent accounts, -now place in a clear light what, in my work on New Spain, -I could only put forward as conjecture, on the subject of -the mountain ridges and plains to the north. In the -description of nature as well as in historical inquiries, -facts long remain isolated, until by laborious investigation -they are brought into connection with each other.</p> - -<p>The east coast of the United States of North America -runs from south-west to north-east, in the same direction as -that followed in the southern hemisphere by the Brazilian -coast from the river Plate to Olinda. In the two hemispheres -two ranges of mountains exist at a short distance -from the eastern coast; they are more nearly parallel to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_38">[38]</span> -each other than they are to the more westerly chain, called -in South America the Cordilleras of Peru and Chili, and -in North America the Rocky Mountains. The Brazilian -system of mountains forms an isolated group, of which the -highest summits (the Itacolumi and Itambe) do not rise -above the height of 900 toises (5755 English feet). The -most easterly ridges, which are nearest to the Atlantic, follow -a uniform direction from SSW. to NNE.; more to the -west the group becomes broader, but diminishes considerably -in height. The Parecis hills approach the rivers Itenes -and Guaporé, and the mountains of Aguapehi (to the -south of Villabella) approach the lofty Andes of Cochabamba -and Santa Cruz de la Sierra.</p> - -<p>There is no immediate connection between the eastern and -western chains,—the Brazilian mountains, and the Cordilleras -of Peru,—for the low province of Chiquitos, which is a -longitudinal valley running from north to south, and opening -into the plains both of the Amazons and of the river -Plate, separates Brazil on the east from the Alto Peru on -the west. Here, as in Poland and Russia, an often almost -imperceptible rise of ground (called, in Slavonian, Uwaly) -forms the separating water-line between the Pilcomayo and -the Madeira, between the Aguapehi and the Guaporé, and -between the Paraguay and the Rio Topayos. The swell of -the ground runs to the south-east from Chayanta and Pomabamba -(lat. 19°-20°), traverses the province of Chiquitos, -which, since the expulsion of the Jesuits, has again become -almost a terra incognita, and forms, to the north-east, -where there are only detached mountains, the “divortia<span class="pagenum" id="Page_39">[39]</span> -aquarum” at the sources of the Baures and near Villabella, -lat. 15°-17°.</p> - -<p>This line of separation of the waters is important in relation -to facilities of intercourse, and to the increase of cultivation -and civilisation: more to the north (2°-3° N. lat.), a similar -line divides the basin of the Orinoco from that of the Amazons -and the Rio Negro. These risings or swellings in the -plains (called, by Frontin, terræ tumores) might be regarded -as undeveloped systems of mountains, which would have connected -two apparently isolated groups (the Sierra Parime -and the Brazilian mountains) with the Andes of Timana and -Cochabamba. These relations, which have been hitherto but -little attended to, are the ground of the division which I -have made of South America into three basins; viz. those -of the lower Orinoco, of the Amazons, and of the Rio de -la Plata. The first and last of these are steppes or prairies; -the middle basin, that of the Amazons, between the Sierra -Parime and the Brazilian group of mountains, is a forest-covered -plain or <i>Hylæa</i>.</p> - -<p>If we wish to trace, in equally few lines, a sketch of the -natural features of North America, let us cast our eyes first -on the mountain chain which, running from south-east to -north-west, at first low and narrow, and increasing both in -breadth and height from Panama to Veragua, Guatimala, -and Mexico (where it was the seat of a civilisation which -preceded the arrival of Europeans), arrests the general equatorial -current of the waters of the ocean, and opposes a -barrier to the more rapid commercial intercourse of Europe -and Western Africa with the eastern parts of Asia. North<span class="pagenum" id="Page_40">[40]</span> -of the 17th degree of latitude and the celebrated isthmus -of Tehuantepec, the mountains, quitting the coast of the -Pacific, and following a more direct northerly course, become -an inland Cordillera. In North Mexico, the “Crane -Mountains” (Sierra de las Grullas) form part of the Rocky -Mountain chain. Here rise, to the west, the Columbia and -the Rio Colorado of California; and, to the east, the Rio Roxo -de Natchitoches, the Candian, the Arkansas, and the Platte -or shallow river, a name which has latterly been ignorantly -transformed into that of a silver-promising river Plate. -Between the sources of these rivers (from N. lat. 37° 20′ to -40° 13′) rise three lofty summits (formed of a granite containing -much hornblende and little mica), called Spanish -Peak, James’s or Pike’s Peak, and Big Horn or Long’s -Peak. (See my Essai Politique sur la Nouvelle Espagne, -2me édit. t. i. pp. 82 and 109.) The elevation of these -peaks exceeds that of any of the summits of the Andes of -North Mexico, which, indeed, from the 18th and 19th -parallels of latitude, or from the group of Orizaba and Popocatepetl -(respectively 2717 toises or 17374 English feet, -and 2771 toises or 17720 English feet,) to Santa Fé and -Taos, never reach the limits of perpetual snow. James -Peak, in lat. 38° 40′, is supposed to be 1798 toises, or -11497 English feet; but of this elevation only 1335 toises -(8537 English feet) has been measured trigonometrically, -the remaining 463 toises, or 2960 English feet, being dependent, -in the absence of barometrical observations, on -uncertain estimations of the declivity of streams. As a -trigonometrical measurement can hardly ever be undertaken<span class="pagenum" id="Page_41">[41]</span> -from the level of the sea, measurements of inaccessible -heights must generally be partly trigonometrical, and partly -barometrical. Estimations of the fall of rivers, of their -rapidity and of the length of their course, are so deceptive, -that the plain at the foot of the Rocky Mountains, nearest to -the summits above spoken of, was estimated, previous to the -important expedition of Capt. Frémont, sometimes at 8000, -and sometimes at 3000 feet. (Long’s Expedition, vol. ii. -pp. 36, 362, 382, App. p. xxxvii.) It was from a similar -deficiency of barometrical measurements that the true elevation -of the Himalaya continued so long uncertain: but now -the resources which belong to the cultivation of science -have increased in India to such a degree, that Captain -Gerard, when on the Tarhigang, near the Sutlej, north of -Shipke, at an elevation of 19411 English feet, after breaking -three barometers, had still four equally correct ones remaining. -(Critical Researches on Philology and Geography, -1824, p. 144.)</p> - -<p>Frémont, in the expedition which he made in the years -1842–1844 by order of the Government of the United -States, found the highest summit of the whole chain of the -Rocky Mountains to the north north-west of Spanish, James’s, -Long’s, and Laramie Peaks. This snowy summit, of which -he measured the elevation barometrically, belongs to the -group of the Wind River mountains. It bears on the large -map, edited by Colonel Abert, Chief of the Topographical -Office at Washington, the name of Frémont’s Peak, and is -situated in 43° 10′ lat. and 110° 13′ W. long. from -Greenwich, almost 5½° north of Spanish Peak. Its height,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_42">[42]</span> -by direct measurement, is 12730 French, or 13568 English -feet. This would make Frémont’s Peak 324 toises (or -2072 English feet) higher than the elevation assigned by -Long to James’s Peak, which, according to its position, -appears to be identical with Pike’s Peak in the map above -referred to. The Wind River mountains form the divortia -aquarum, or division between the waters flowing towards -either ocean. Captain Frémont (in his Official Report of -the Exploring Expedition to the Rocky Mountains in the -year 1842, and to Oregon and North California in the years -1843–44, p. 70,) says, “We saw, on one side, countless -mountain lakes, and the sources of the Rio Colorado which -carries its waters through the gulf of California to the -Pacific; and, on the other side, the deep valley of the Wind -river, where are situated the sources of the Yellowstone -river, one of the principal branches of the Missouri which -unites with the Mississippi at St. Louis. To the north-west, -rise, covered with perpetual snow, the summits called -the Trois Tetons, where the true source of the Missouri -itself is situated, not far from that of the head water of the -Oregon or Columbia, or the source of that branch of it -called Snake River or Lewis Fork.” To the astonishment of -the adventurous travellers, they found the top of Frémont’s -Peak visited by bees: perhaps, like the butterflies seen by -me, also among perpetual snow but in much more elevated -regions in the Andes of Peru, they had been carried thither -involuntarily by ascending currents of air. I have seen -in the Pacific, at a great distance from the coast, large -winged lepidopterous insects fall on the deck of the ship,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_43">[43]</span> -having, no doubt, been carried far out to sea by land -winds.</p> - -<p>Frémont’s map and geographical investigations comprehend -the extensive region from the junction of the Kanzas river -with the Missouri, to the falls of the Columbia and to the -missions of Santa Barbara and Pueblo de los Angeles in -New California; or a space of 28 degrees of longitude, -and from the 34th to the 45th parallel of latitude. Four -hundred points have been determined hypsometrically by -barometric observations, and, for the most part, geographically -by astronomical observations; so that a district which, -with the windings of the route, amounts to 3600 geographical -miles, from the mouth of the Kanzas to Fort Vancouver -and the shores of the Pacific (almost 720 miles more than -the distance from Madrid to Tobolsk), has been represented -in profile, shewing the relative heights above the level of -the sea. As I was, I believe, the first person who undertook -to represent, in geognostic profile, the form of entire -countries,—such as the Iberian peninsula, the highlands of -Mexico, and the cordilleras of South America, (the semi-perspective -projections of a Siberian traveller, the Abbé -Chappe, were founded on mere and generally ill-judged -estimations of the fall of rivers),—it has given me peculiar -pleasure to see the graphical method of representing the -form of the earth in a vertical direction, or the elevation of -the solid portions of our planet above its watery covering, -applied on so grand a scale as has been done in Frémont’s -map. In the middle latitudes of 37° to 43° the Rocky -Mountains present, besides the higher snowy summits<span class="pagenum" id="Page_44">[44]</span> -comparable with the Peak of Teneriffe in elevation, lofty -plains of an extent hardly met with elsewhere on the surface -of the earth, and almost twice as extensive in an east -and west direction as that of the Mexican plateaux. From -the group of mountains, which commences a little to the -west of Fort Laramie to beyond the Wahsatch mountains, -there is an uninterrupted swelling of the ground from -5300 to 7400 English feet above the level of the -sea. A similar elevation may even be said to occupy -the whole space from 34° to 45° between the Rocky -Mountains proper and the Californian snowy coast chain. -This space, a kind of broad longitudinal valley like that of -the lake of Titiaca, has been called, by Joseph Walker, -a traveller well acquainted with these western regions, and -by Captain Frémont, “The Great Basin.” It is a terra -incognita of at least 128000 square miles in extent, arid, -almost entirely without human inhabitants, and full of -salt lakes, the largest of which is 4200 English feet -above the level of the sea, and is connected with the -narrow lake of Utah. (Frémont, Report of the Exploring -Expedition, pp. 154 and 273–276.) The last-mentioned -lake receives the abundant waters of the “Rock River;” -Timpan Ogo, in the Utah language. Father Escalante, in -journeying, in 1776, from Santa Fé del Nuevo Mexico to -Monterey in New California, discovered Frémont’s “Great -Salt Lake,” and, confounding lake and river, gave it the -name of Laguna de Timpanogo. As such I inserted it in -my map of Mexico; and this has given rise to much uncritical -discussion on the assumed non-existence of a great<span class="pagenum" id="Page_45">[45]</span> -inland salt lake in North America,—a question previously -raised by the well-informed American geographer, Tanner. -(Humboldt, Atlas Mexicain, planche 2; Essai Politique sur -la Nouvelle Espagne, T. i. p. 231, T. ii. pp. 243, 313, and -420; Frémont, Upper California, 1848, p. 9; and, also, -Duflot de Mofras, Exploration de l’Oregon, 1844, T. ii. -p. 40.) Gallatin says expressly, in the Memoir on the -Aboriginal Races in the Archæologia Americana, vol. ii. -p. 140, “General Ashley and Mr. J. S. Smith have found -the lake Timpanogo in the same latitude and longitude -nearly as had been assigned to it in Humboldt’s Atlas of -Mexico.”</p> - -<p>I have dwelt on the remarkable swelling of the ground -in the region of the Rocky Mountains, because, doubtless, -by its elevation and extent, it exercises an influence hitherto -but little considered, on the climate of the whole continent -of North America, to the south and east. In the extensive -continuous plateau, Frémont saw the waters covered -with ice every night in the month of August. Nor is -the elevation of this region less important as respects the -social state and progress of the great United States of -North America. Although the elevation of the line of the -separation of the waters nearly equals that of the passes of -the Simplon (6170 French, or 6576 English feet), of the -St. Gothard (6440 French, or 6865 English feet), and of -the St. Bernard (7476 French, or 7969 English feet), yet -the ascent is so gradual, as to offer no obstacle to the use -of wheel carriages of all kinds in the communication between -the basins of the Missouri and the Oregon; in other words,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_46">[46]</span> -between the states on the Atlantic Sea Board opposite -Europe, and the new settlements on the Oregon and -Columbia opposite China. The itinerary distance from -Boston to Astoria on the Pacific at the mouth of the -Columbia, is, according to the difference of longitude, -2200 geographical miles, or about one-sixth less than the -distance of Lisbon from the Ural near Katharinenburg. -From the gentleness of the ascent of the high plateau which -leads from the Missouri to California and to the basin of -the Oregon,—(from the River and Fort Laramie, on the -northern branch of the Platte River, to Fort Hall on the -Lewis Fork of the Columbia, all the camping places of -which the height was measured were from upwards of -five to seven thousand, and at Old Park even 9760 -French, or 10,403 English feet);—it has not been easy -to determine the situation of the culminating point, or -“divortia aquarum.” It is south of the Wind River -mountains, nearly midway between the Mississipi and the -coast of the Pacific, at an elevation of 7027 French, or -7490 English feet; therefore only 450 French, or 480 -English, feet lower than the Pass of the great St. Bernard. -The immigrants call this point “the South Pass.” (Frémont’s -Report, pp. 3, 60, 70, 100, 129). It is situated in -a pleasant district, in which the mica slate and gneiss rock -are found covered with many species of Artemisia, particularly -Artemisia tridentata (Nuttall), asters, and cactuses. -Astronomical determinations give the latitude 42° 24′, and -the longitude 109° 24′ W. from Greenwich. Adolph Erman -has already called attention to the circumstance that the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_47">[47]</span> -direction of the great chain of the Aldan mountains in the -east of Asia, which divides the streams flowing into the -Lena from those which flow towards the Pacific, if prolonged -on the surface of the globe in the direction of a great -circle, passes through several summits of the Rocky Mountains, -between the parallels of 40° and 55°. “Thus an -American and an Asiatic chain of mountains appear to -belong to one great fissure, following the direction of a -great circle, or the shortest course from point to point.” -(Compare Erman’s Reise um die Erde, Abth. I. Bd. iii. S. -8, Abth. II. Bd. i. S. 386, with his Archiv für wissenschaftliche -Kunde von Russland, Bd. vi. S. 671).</p> - -<p>The Rocky Mountains which sink down towards the -Mackenzie River which is covered a large portion of the year -with ice, and the highlands from which single snow-clad -summits rise, are altogether distinct from the more westerly -and higher mountains of the coast, or the chain of the -Californian Maritime Alps, the Sierra Nevada de California. -However ill selected the now generally used name of the -Rocky Mountains, to designate the most northerly continuation -of the Mexican Central Chain, it does not appear to -me desirable to change it, as has been often proposed, for -that of the Oregon Chain. Although these mountains do -indeed contain the sources of Lewis’s, Clark’s, and North -Fork, the three chief branches which form the mighty -Oregon, or Columbia River, yet this river also breaks -through the Californian chain of snow-clad Maritime -Alps. The name of Oregon District is also employed -politically and officially for the smaller territory west of the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_48">[48]</span> -Coast Chain, where Fort Vancouver and the Walahmutti -settlements are situated, and therefore it is the more -desirable not to give the name of Oregon either to the -Central or the Coast Chain. This name is connected with -a most singular mistake of an eminent geographer, M. -Malte Brun: reading on an old Spanish map, “And it is -not yet known, (y aun se ignora) where the source of this -river” (the river now called the Columbia) “is situated,” -he thought he recognised in the word ignora the name of -Oregon. (See my Essai politique sur la Nouvelle Espagne, -T. ii. p. 314).</p> - -<p>The rocks which, where the Columbia breaks through -the Chain, form the Cataracts, mark the continuation of the -Sierra Nevada de California from the 44th to the 47th -degree of latitude. (Frémont, Geographical Memoir upon -Upper California, 1848, p. 6.) This northern continuation -comprises the three colossal summits of Mount Jefferson, -Mount Hood, and Mount St. Helen’s, which rise more than -14540 French or 15500 English feet above the level of -the sea. The height of this Coast Chain, or Range, far -exceeds, therefore, that of the Rocky Mountains. “During -a journey of eight months’ duration which was made along -the Maritime Alps,” says Captain Frémont, in his Report, -p. 274, “we had snowy peaks always in view; we had -surmounted the Rocky Mountains by the South Pass at an -elevation of 7027 (7490 E.) feet, but we found the passes -of the Maritime Alps, which are divided into several parallel -ranges, more than 2000 feet higher;” therefore, only about -1170 feet (1247 E.) below the summit of Etna. It is extremely<span class="pagenum" id="Page_49">[49]</span> -remarkable, and reminds us of the difference between the -eastern and western cordilleras of Chili, that it is only the -chain of mountains nearest to the sea (the Californian -range), which has still active volcanoes. The conical mountains -of Regnier and St. Helen’s are seen to emit smoke -almost constantly, and on the 23rd of November 1843, -Mount St. Helen’s sent forth a quantity of ashes which -covered the banks of the Columbia for forty miles like snow. -To the volcanic Coast Range also belong, (in Russian -America in the high north), Mount St. Elias, 1980 toises -high, according to La Perouse, and 2792 toises, according -to Malaspina (12660 and 17850 E. feet), and Mount Fair -Weather, (Cerro de Buen Tempo) 2304 toises, or 14732 -E. feet high. Both these mountains are supposed to be -still active volcanoes. Frémont’s expedition, (which was -important alike for its botanical and geological results), -collected volcanic products, such as scoriaceous basalt, -trachyte, and even obsidian, in the Rocky Mountains, and -found an extinct volcanic crater a little to the east of -Fort Hall, (lat. 43° 2′, long. 112° 28′ W.); but there -are no signs of volcanoes still active, that is to say, -emitting at times lava or ashes. We are not to confound -with such activity the still imperfectly explained phenomenon -of “smoking hills;” “côtes brûlées,” or “terrains ardens,” -as they are called by the English settlers, and by natives -speaking French. An accurate observer, M. Nicollet, says, -“ranges of low conical hills are covered with a thick black -smoke almost periodically, and often for two or three -years together. No flames are seen.” This phenomenon<span class="pagenum" id="Page_50">[50]</span> -shews itself principally in the district of the Upper Missouri, -and still nearer to the eastern declivity of the Rocky Mountains, -where a river bears the native name of Mankizitah-Watpa, -or the “river of the smoking earth.” Scoriaceous -pseudo-volcanic products, such as a kind of porcelain jasper, -are found in the vicinity of the “smoking hills.” Since -the expedition of Lewis and Clark an opinion has become -prevalent that the Missouri deposits real pumice on its -banks. Fine cellular whitish masses have been confounded -with pumice. Professor Ducatel was disposed to ascribe -this appearance, which was principally observed in the chalk -formation, to a “decomposition of water by sulphuric -pyrites, and to a reaction on beds of lignite.” (Compare -Frémont’s Report, p. 164, 184, 187, 193, and 299, with -Nicollet’s Illustration of the Hydrographical Basin of the -Upper Mississipi River, 1843, p. 39–41.)</p> - -<p>If, in concluding these few general considerations on the -physical geography of North America, we once more turn -our attention to the spaces which separate the two diverging -coast chains from the central chain, we find, in striking -contrast, on the one hand, the arid uninhabited plateau -of above five or six thousand feet elevation, which in -the west intervenes between the central chain and the -Californian Maritime Alps which skirt the Pacific; and on -the eastern side of the Rocky Mountains, between them and -the Alleghanies, (the highest summits of which, Mount -Washington and Mount Marcy, are, according to Lyell, -6240 and 5066 French, or 6652 and 5400 English feet -above the level of the sea,) the vast, well-watered, and fertile<span class="pagenum" id="Page_51">[51]</span> -low plain or basin of the Mississipi, the greater part of which -is from 400 to 600 French feet above the level of the sea, -or about twice the elevation of the plains of Lombardy. -The hypsometric conformation of this eastern region, <i>i. e.</i> the -altitude of its several parts above the sea, has been elucidated -by the valuable labours of the highly-talented French astronomer, -Nicollet, of whom science has been deprived by a -too early death. His large and excellent map of the Upper -Mississipi, constructed in the years 1836–1840, is based on -240 astronomically determined latitudes, and 170 barometric -measurements of elevation. The plain which contains the -basin of the Mississipi is one with the Northern Canadian -plain, so that one low region extends from the Gulf of -Mexico to the Arctic Sea. (Compare my Rélation Historique -T. iii. p. 234, and Nicollet’s Report to the Senate of -the United States, 1843, p. 7 and 57.) Where the plain is -undulating, and where, between 47° and 48° of latitude, low -hills (côteaux des prairies, and côteaux des bois, in the still -un-English nomenclature of the natives) occur in connected -ranges, these ranges and gentle swellings of the ground -divide the waters which flow towards Hudson’s Bay from -those which seek the Gulf of Mexico. Such a dividing line -is formed north of Lake Superior by the Missabay Heights, -and more to the west by the “Hauteurs des Terres,” in -which were first discovered, in 1832, the true sources of the -Mississipi, one of the largest rivers in the world. The -highest of these ranges of hills hardly attains an elevation -of 1400 to 1500 (1492 to 1599 English) feet. From -St. Louis, a little to the south of the junction of the Missouri<span class="pagenum" id="Page_52">[52]</span> -and the Mississipi, to the mouth of the latter river at -Old French Balize, it has only a fall of 357 (380 English) -feet in an itinerary distance of more than 1280 geographical -miles. The surface of Lake Superior is 580 (618 English) -feet above the level of the sea, and its depth near Magdalen -Island is 742 (791 English) feet; its bottom, therefore, -is 162 (173 English) feet below the surface of the ocean. -(Nicollet, p. 99, 125, and 128.)</p> - -<p>Beltrami, who separated himself from Major Long’s expedition -in 1825, boasted of having discovered the source of -the Mississipi in Lake Cass. The river in the upper part of -its course passes through four lakes, of which Lake Cass is -the second. The uppermost is the Istaca Lake (in lat. 47° -13′ and long. 95° 0′), and was first recognised as the true -source of the Mississipi in the expedition of Schoolcraft and -Allen in 1832. This afterwards mighty river is only 17 -feet wide and 15 inches deep when it issues from the -singular horse-shoe-shaped Lake of Istaca. It was not until the -scientific expedition of Nicollet, in 1836, that a clear knowledge -of the localities was obtained and rendered definite by -astronomically determined positions. The height of the -sources of the Mississipi, viz. of the remotest affluent -received by the Lake of Istaca from the dividing ridge or -“Hauteur de Terre,” is 1575 (1680 English) feet above the -level of the sea. In the immediate vicinity, and indeed on -the southern slope of the same dividing ridge, is Elbow Lake, -in which the smaller Red River of the North, which after -many windings flows into Hudson’s Bay, has its origin. The -Carpathian mountains present similar circumstances in the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_53">[53]</span> -proximity and relative positions of the sources of rivers -which send their waters respectively to the Black Sea and to -the Baltic. Twenty small lakes, forming narrow groups to -the south and west of Lake Istaca, have received from M. -Nicollet the names of distinguished European astronomers, -adversaries as well as friends. The map thus becomes a -kind of geographical album, reminding one of the botanical -album of Ruiz and Pavon’s Flora Peruviana, in which the -names of new genera of plants were adapted to the Court -Calendar, and to the various changes taking place in the -Oficiales de la Secretaria.</p> - -<p>To the east of the Mississipi dense forests still partially -prevail; but to the west of the river there are only Prairies, -in which the buffalo (Bos americanus), and the musk ox -(Bos moschatus), feed in large herds. Both these animals, -(the largest of the New World) serve the wandering -Indians, the Apaches Llaneros and the Apaches Lipanos, for -food. The Assiniboins sometimes kill in a few days from -seven to eight hundred bisons in what are called “bison -parks,” artificial enclosures into which the wild herds are -driven. (Maximilian, Prinz zu Wied, Reise in das innere -Nord-America, Bd. i. 1839, S. 443.) The American bison, -or buffalo, called by the Mexicans Cibolo, which is frequently -killed merely for the sake of the tongue, a much-prized dainty, -is by no means a mere variety of the Aurochs of the Old -Continent; although some other kinds of animals, as the -elk (Cervus alces) and the reindeer (Cervus tarandus), and -even, in the human race, the short-statured polar man, are -common to the northern parts of both continents, evidencing<span class="pagenum" id="Page_54">[54]</span> -their former long continued connection. The Mexicans -call the European ox in the Aztec dialect “quaquahue,” a -horned animal, from quaquahuitl, a horn. Some very large -horns of cattle found in the ancient Mexican buildings not -far from Cuernavaca, to the south-west of the city of Mexico, -appear to me to have belonged to the musk ox. The Canadian -bison can be tamed to agricultural labour. It breeds -with the European cattle, but it was long uncertain whether -the hybrid was fruitful. Albert Gallatin, who, before he -appeared in Europe as a distinguished diplomatist, had -obtained by personal inspection great knowledge of the uncultivated -parts of the United States, assures us that “the -mixed breed was quite common fifty years ago in some of -the north-western counties of Virginia; and the cows, the -issue of that mixture, propagated like all others.” “I do -not remember,” he adds, “the grown bison being tamed, -but sometimes young bison calves were caught by dogs, and -were brought up and driven out with the European cows.” -At Monongahela all the cattle were for a long time of this -mixed breed: but complaints were made that they gave very -little milk. The favourite food of the bison or buffalo is -Tripsacum dactyloides (called buffalo grass in North Carolina), -and an undescribed species of clover nearly allied to -Trifolium repens, and designated by Barton as Trifolium -bisonicum.</p> - -<p>I have already called attention elsewhere (Cosmos, vol. ii. -note 455, English ed.) to the circumstance that, according -to a statement of the trustworthy Gomara, (Historia General -de las Indias, cap. 214) there was still living in the sixteenth<span class="pagenum" id="Page_55">[55]</span> -century, in the north-west of Mexico, in 40° latitude, -an Indian tribe, whose principal riches consisted in herds of -tame bisons (bueyes con una giba). But notwithstanding -the possibility of taming the bison, notwithstanding the -quantity of milk it yields, and notwithstanding the herds of -lamas in the Cordilleras of Peru, no pastoral life or pastoral -people were found when America was discovered, and there -is no historical evidence of this intermediate stage in the life -of nations ever having existed there. It is worthy of remark -that the American buffalo or bison has exerted an influence -on the progress of geography in trackless mountainous -regions. These animals wander in the winter, in search of -a milder climate, in herds of several thousands to the -south of the Arkansas River. In these migrations their -size and unwieldiness make it difficult for them to pass -over high mountains. When, therefore, a well-trodden -buffalo path is met with, it is advisable to follow it, as being -sure to conduct to the most convenient pass across the -mountains. The best routes through the Cumberland -Mountains, in the south-west parts of Virginia and Kentucky, -in the Rocky Mountains between the sources of the -Yellow Stone and the Platte, and between the southern -branch of the Columbia and the Rio Colorado of California, -were thus marked out beforehand by buffalo paths. The -advance of settlement and cultivation has gradually driven -the buffalo from all the Eastern states: they formerly -roamed on the banks of the Mississipi and of the Ohio far -beyond Pittsburg. (Archæologia Americana, vol. ii., 1836, -p. 139.)</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_56">[56]</span>From the granitic cliffs of Diego Ramirez,—in the deeply -indented and intersected Tierra del Fuego, which contains -on the east silurian schists and on the west the same schists -altered by the metamorphic action of subterranean fire, -(Darwin’s Journal of Researches into the Geology and -Natural History of the Countries visited in 1832–1836 by -the Ships Adventure and Beagle, p. 266),—to the North -Polar Sea, the Cordilleras extend in length more than 8000 -geographical miles. They are the longest though not the -loftiest chain on our planet; being raised from a cleft running -in the direction of a meridian from pole to pole, and exceeding -in linear distance the interval which in the Old Continent -separates the Pillars of Hercules from the Icy Cape of -the Tchuktches in the north-east of Asia. Where the Andes -divide into several parallel chains, it is remarked that the -ranges nearest the sea are usually those which exhibit most -volcanic activity; but it has also been observed repeatedly, -that when the phenomena of still active subterranean fire -disappear in one chain, they break out in another chain -running parallel to it. Generally speaking, the volcanic -cones are found in a direction corresponding with that of -the axis of direction of the entire chain; but in the elevated -highlands of Mexico the active volcanoes are placed along a -transverse cleft running from sea to sea in the east and west -direction. (Humboldt, Essai Politique, T. ii. p. 173.) -Where, by the elevation of mountain masses in the -ancient corrugation or folding of the crust of the earth, -access has been opened to the molten interior, that interior -continues to act, through the medium of the cleft,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_57">[57]</span> -upon the upheaved wall-like mass. That which we now call -a mountain chain has not arrived at once at its present -state: rocks, very different in the order of succession in -reference to age, are found superimposed upon each other, -and have penetrated to the surface by early formed channels. -The various nature of the formations is due to the outpouring -and elevation of eruptive rocks, as well as to the slow -and complicated process of metamorphic action taking place -in clefts filled with vapours and favourable to the conduction -of heat.</p> - -<p>For a long time past, from 1830 to 1848, the following -have been regarded as the culminating or highest points of -the Cordilleras of the New Continent.</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>The Nevado de Sorata, also called Ancohuma or -Tusubaya, (S. lat. 15° 52′) a little to the south of the -village of Sorata or Esquibel, in the eastern Bolivia -Range: elevation 3949 toises, or 23692 Parisian, or -25250 English feet.</p> - -<p>The Nevado de Illimani, west of the Mission of -Yrupana (S. lat. 16° 38′) in the same mountain range -as Sorata: elevation 3753 toises, or 22518 Parisian, or -24000 English feet.</p> - -<p>The Chimborazo (S. lat. 1° 27′) in the province of -Quito: elevation 3350 toises, or 20100 Parisian, or -21423 English feet.</p> -</div> - -<p>The Sorata and Illimani were first measured by a distinguished -geologist, Mr. Pentland, in 1827, and also in -1838. Since the publication, in June 1848, of his great -map of the basin of the lake of Titicaca, we know that the -above-mentioned elevations of these two mountains are<span class="pagenum" id="Page_58">[58]</span> -respectively 3960 and 2851 English feet, too great. -The map gives to the Sorata 21286, and to the Illimani -21149 English feet. A more exact calculation of the trigonometrical -operations of 1838 has led Mr. Pentland to -these new results. There are, according to him, in the -western Cordillera four peaks of from 21700 to 22350 -English feet. The highest of these, the peak of Sahama, -would thus be 926 English feet higher than the Chimborazo, -and but 850 English feet lower than the Volcano -of Acongagua, measured by the expedition of the Beagle -(Fitz Roy’s Narrative, Vol. ii. p. 481.)</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_6" href="#FNanchor_6" class="label">[6]</a> p. 3.—“<i>The Desert near the basaltic mountains -of Harudsh.</i>”</p> - -<p>Near the Egyptian Natron Lakes, (which in the time of -Strabo had not yet been divided into six reservoirs), there -is a range of hills which rises steeply on the northern side, -and runs from east to west past Fezzan, where it finally -appears to join the chain of the Atlas. It divides in -north-eastern Africa, as the Atlas does in north-western -Africa, the inhabited maritime Lybia of Herodotus from -the land of the Berbers, or Biledulgerid, abounding in wild -animals. From the limits of Middle Egypt the whole region -south of the 30th degree of North latitude is a sea of sand, -in which are dispersed islands, or Oases, containing springs -of water and a flourishing vegetation. The number of these -Oases, of which the ancients only reckoned three, and which -Strabo compared to the spots on a panther’s skin, has -been considerably augmented by the discoveries of modern -travellers. The third Oasis of the ancients, now called<span class="pagenum" id="Page_59">[59]</span> -Siwah, was the Nomos of Ammon; a residence of priests, -a resting place for caravans, and the site of the temple -of the horned Ammon and the supposed periodically cool -fountain of the Sun. The ruins of Ummibida, (Omm-Beydah), -belong incontestibly to the fortified caravanserai -at the temple of Ammon, and therefore to the most ancient -monuments which have come down to us from the early -dawn of civilization. (Caillaud, Voyage à Syouah, p. 14; -Ideler in den Fundgruben des Orients, Bd. iv. S. 399–411).</p> - -<p>The word Oasis is Egyptian, and synonymous with -Auasis and Hyasis (Strabo, lib. ii. p. 130, lib. xvii. -p. 813, Cas.; Herod. lib. iii. cap. 26, p. 207, Wessel). -Abulfeda calls the Oases, el-Wah. In the later times of -the Cæsars, malefactors were sent to the Oases; being -banished to these islands in the sea of sand, as the Spaniards -and the English have sent criminals to the Falklands or -to New Holland. Escape by the ocean is almost easier -than through the desert. The fertility of the Oases is -subject to diminution by the invasion of sand.</p> - -<p>The small mountain-range of Harudsh is said to consist -of basaltic hills of grotesque form (Ritter’s Afrika, 1822, -S. 885, 988, 993, and 1003). It is the Mons Ater of -Pliny; and its western extremity or continuation, called -the Soudah mountains, has been explored by my unfortunate -friend, the adventurous traveller Ritchie. This eruption -of basalt in tertiary limestone, rows of hills rising abruptly -from dike-like fissures, appears to be analogous to the -outbreak of basalt in the Vicentine territory. Nature -often repeats the same phenomena in the most distant<span class="pagenum" id="Page_60">[60]</span> -parts of the earth. In the limestone formations of the -“white Harudsh” (Harudje el-Abiad), which perhaps -belong to the old chalk, Hornemann found an immense -number of fossil heads of fish. Ritchie and Lyon remarked -that the basalt of the Soudah mountains, like that of the -Monte Berico, was in many places intimately mixed with -carbonate of lime,—a phenomenon probably connected with -eruption through limestone strata. Lyon’s map even mentions -dolomite in the neighbourhood. Modern mineralogists have -found syenite and greenstone in Egypt, but not basalt. -Possibly the material of some of the ancient Egyptian vases, -which are occasionally found of true basalt, may have been -taken from these western mountains. May “Obsidius lapis” -also have been found there? or are basalt and obsidian to be -sought for near the Red Sea? The strip of volcanic or -eruptive formations of the Harudsh, on the margin of the -African desert, reminds the geologist of the augitic vesicular -amygdaloid, phonolite, and greenstone porphyry, which are -only found at the northern and western boundaries of the -Steppes of Venezuela and of the plains of the Arkansas, -as it were on the hills of the ancient coast line. (Humboldt, -Relation Historique, tom. ii. p. 142; Long’s Expedition to -the Rocky Mountains, vol. ii. pp. 91 and 405.)</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_7" href="#FNanchor_7" class="label">[7]</a> p. 3.—“<i>When suddenly deserted by the east wind -of the tropics in a sea covered with weed.</i>”</p> - -<p>It is a remarkable phenomenon, well known among -sailors, that in the vicinity of the African coast (between -the Canaries and the Cape de Verde Islands, and particularly -between Cape Bojador and the mouth of the Senegal),<span class="pagenum" id="Page_61">[61]</span> -a west wind often takes the place of the general east or -trade-wind of the tropics. It is the wide expanse of the -desert of Sahara which causes this westerly wind. The air -over the heated sandy plain becomes rarefied and ascends, -the air from the sea rushes in to supply the void so formed, -and thus there sometimes arises a west wind, adverse to -ships bound to the American coast, which are made in this -manner to feel the vicinity of the heat-radiating desert -without even seeing the continent to which it belongs. -The changes of land and sea breezes, which blow alternately -at certain hours of the day or night on all coasts, are due -to the same causes.</p> - -<p>The accumulation of sea-weed in the neighbourhood of -the African coast has been often spoken of by ancient -writers. The locality of this accumulation is a problem -which is intimately connected with our conjectures respecting -the extent of Phœnician navigation. The Periplus, which -has been ascribed to Scylax of Caryanda, and which, -according to the researches of Niebuhr and Letronne, was -very probably compiled in the time of Philip of Macedon, -describes beyond Cerne a quantity of fucus forming a weed-covered -sea—a kind of “Mar de Sargasso;” but the locality -indicated appears to me to differ very much from that -assigned in the work entitled “De Mirabilibus Auscultationibus,” -which long bore, unduly, the great name of Aristotle. -(Compare Scyl. Caryand. Peripl. in Hudson, vol. ii. p. 53, -with Aristot. de Mirab. Auscult. in opp. omnia ex. rec. -Bekkeri, p. 844, § 136.) The pseudo-Aristotle says, -“Phœnician mariners, driven by the east wind, came in four -days’ sail from Gades to a part where they found the sea<span class="pagenum" id="Page_62">[62]</span> -covered with reeds and sea-weed (<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc">θρύον καὶ φῦκος</span>.) The -sea-weed is uncovered at ebb and covered at flood tide.” -Is he not here speaking of a shallow place between the -34° and 36° of latitude? Has a shoal disappeared in -consequence of volcanic eruption? Vobonne speaks of -rocks north of Madeira. (Compare also Edrisi, Geog. -Nub., 1619, p. 157.) In Scylax it is said, “The sea beyond -Cerne is unnavigable on account of its great shallowness, -its muddiness, and the great quantity of sea grasses. The -sea grass lies a span thick, and is full of points at the top, -so that it pricks.” The sea-weed found between Cerne,—(the -Phœnician station for laden vessels, Gaulea, or, according -to Gosselin, the small island of Fedallah, on the north-western -coast of Mauritania),—and Cape de Verde, does -not now by any means form a great sea meadow, or connected -tract of fucus, a “mare herbidum,” such as exists -beyond the Azores. In the poetic description of the coast -by Festus Avienus, (Ora Maritima, v. 109, 122, 388, and -408), in the composition of which, as Avienus himself says, -(v. 412) he availed himself of the journals of Phœnician -ships, the obstacle presented by the sea-weed is referred to -in a very circumstantial manner; but its site is placed much -farther north, towards Ierne, the “Sacred Island.”</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Sic nulla late flabra propellunt ratem,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Sic segnis humor æquoris pigri stupet.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Adjicit et illud, plurimum inter gurgites</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Exstare fucum, et sæpe virgulti vice</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Retinere puppim....</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Hæc inter undas multa cæspitem jacet,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Eamque late gens Hibernorum colit.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_63">[63]</span>In remarking that the fucus and the mud or mire, -(<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc">πηλός</span>), the shallowness of the sea, and the perpetual calms, -are always spoken of by the ancients as characteristics of -the western ocean beyond the Pillars of Hercules, one is -disposed, more particularly on account of the mention of -the <i>calms</i>, to ascribe something to Punic artifice,—to the -desire of a great trading people to deter others, by the -apprehension of dangers and difficulties, from entering into -competition with them in western navigation and commerce. -But even in the genuine writings of Aristotle (Meteorol. ii. -p. 1, 14,) he maintains this same opinion of the absence of -wind in those regions, and seeks the explanation of what -he erroneously supposes to be a fact of observation, but -which is more properly a fabulous mariner’s tale, in an -hypothesis concerning the depth of the sea. In reality, -the stormy sea between Gades and the islands of the Blest or -Fortunate Islands, (between Cadix and the Canaries), is very -unlike the sea farther to the south between the tropics, -where the gentle trade winds blow, and which is called -very characteristically by the Spaniards, el Golfo de las -Damas, the Ladies’ Gulf. (Acosta Historia natural y moral -de las Indias, lib. iii. cap. 4.)</p> - -<p>From very careful researches by myself, and from the -comparison of the logs or journals of many English and -French vessels, I infer that the old and indefinite expression, -Mar de Sargasso, includes two banks of fucus, of which -the greater and easternmost one, of a lengthened shape, is -situated between the parallels of 19° and 34° N. lat., in a -meridian of 7 degrees to the west of the Island of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_64">[64]</span> -Corvo, one of the Azores; while the lesser and westernmost -bank, of a roundish form, is situated between the -Bermudas and the Bahamas, (lat. 25°-31°, long. 66°-74°.) -The longer axis of the small bank which is crossed by -ships going from Baxo de Plata (Caye d’Argent, Silver -Cay) on the north of St. Domingo, to the Bermudas, -appears to have a N. 60° E. direction. A transverse band -of Fucus natans, running in an East and West direction -between the parallels of 25° and 30°, connects the greater and -lesser banks. I have had the gratification of seeing these inferences -approved by my honoured friend Major Rennell, and -adopted by him in his great work on Currents, where he has -further supported and confirmed them by many new and additional -observations. (Compare Humboldt, Relation Historique, -tom. i. p. 202, and Examen critique, tom. iii. p. 68–99, -with Rennell’s Investigation of the Currents of the Atlantic -Ocean, 1832, p. 184.) The two groups of sea-weed, -included together with the transverse connecting band -under the old general name of the Sargasso Sea, occupy -altogether a space exceeding six or seven times the area of -Germany.</p> - -<p>Thus it is the vegetation of the ocean which offers the -most remarkable example of an assemblage of “social -plants” of a single species. On terra firma, the savannahs -or prairies, or grassy plains of America, the heaths (ericeta), -and the forests of the North of Europe and Asia, consisting -of coniferous trees, birches, and willows, offer a less degree -of uniformity than do those thalassophytes. Our heaths -show, in the north, in addition to the prevailing Calluna<span class="pagenum" id="Page_65">[65]</span> -vulgaris, Erica tetralix, E. ciliaris, and E. cinerea; and -in the south, Erica arborea, E. scoparia, and E. mediterranea. -The uniformity of the aspect offered by the Fucus -natans is greater than that of any other assemblage or -association of plants. Oviedo calls the fucus banks -“meadows,” praderias de yerva. Considering that the -island of Flores was discovered in 1452, by Pedro Velasco, -a native of the Spanish port of Palos, by following the -flight of certain birds from the island of Fayal, it seems -almost impossible, seeing the proximity of the great fucus -bank of Corvo and Flores, that a part of these oceanic -meadows should not have been seen before Columbus, by -Portuguese ships driven by storms to the westward. Yet -the astonishment of the companions of Columbus in 1492, -when surrounded by sea-weed uninterruptedly from the 16th -of September to the 8th of October, shews that the magnitude -of the phenomenon at least was previously unknown -to the sailors. The anxieties excited by the accumulation -of sea-weed, and the murmurs of his companions in reference -thereto, are not indeed mentioned by Columbus in the -extracts from the ship’s journal given by Las Casas. He -merely speaks of the complaints and murmurs respecting -the danger to be feared from the weak but constant East -winds. It is only the son, Fernando Colon, who, in -writing his father’s life, endeavoured to depict the fears -of the sailors in a dramatic manner.</p> - -<p>According to my researches, Columbus crossed the great -fucus bank in 1492, in lat. 28½°, and in 1493, in lat. 37°, -both times in the long. of from 38° to 41° W. This is<span class="pagenum" id="Page_66">[66]</span> -deducible with tolerable certainty from Columbus’s recorded -estimation of the ship’s rate, and the “distance daily -sailed over;” derived indeed, not from casting the log, but -from data afforded by the running out of half-hour sand-glasses -(ampolletas). The first certain and definite mention -of a log (catena della poppa) which I have been able to -discover, is in the year 1521, in Pigafetta’s journal of Magellan’s -Voyage round the World. (Cosmos, vol. ii. p. -259, and Note 405, English ed.) The determination of the -ship’s place, while Columbus was engaged in traversing the -great meadows of sea-weed, is the more important, because we -learn from it that for three centuries and a half the situation -of this great accumulation of thalassophytes, whether resulting -from the local character of the bottom of the sea, or -from the direction of the Gulf stream, has remained the -same. Such evidences of the permanency of great natural -phenomena arrest the attention of the physical inquirer -with double force, when they present themselves in the ever-moving -oceanic element. Although the limits of the fucus -banks oscillate considerably, in correspondence with the -variations of the strength and direction of the prevailing -winds, yet we may still in the middle of the 19th century -take the meridian of 41° W. from Paris (38° 38′ W. from -Greenwich) as the principal axis of the “great bank.” In -the vivid imagination of Columbus, the idea of the position -of this bank was intimately connected with the -great physical line of demarcation, which, according to him, -divided the globe into two parts, with the changes of -magnetic variation, and with climatic relations. Columbus,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_67">[67]</span> -when uncertain respecting his longitude, (February 1493), directed -himself by the appearance of the first floating streamers -of weed (de la primera yerva) on the eastern margin of the -great Corvo bank. The physical line of demarcation was, -by the powerful influence of the Admiral, converted on the -4th of May, 1493, into a political line, being made the -celebrated “line of demarcation” between the Spanish and -Portuguese rights of possession. (Compare my Examen -Critique, tom. iii. p. 64–99, and Cosmos, English ed. vol. ii. -p. 279–280.)</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_8" href="#FNanchor_8" class="label">[8]</a> p. 3.—“<i>The Nomadic Tibbos and Tuaricks.</i>”</p> - -<p>These two nations inhabit the deserts between Bornou, -Fezzan, and Lower Egypt. They were first made known to -us with some exactness by Hornemann’s and Lyon’s travels. -The Tibbos or Tibbous roam through the eastern, and the -Tuaticks (Tueregs) through the western, parts of the great -desert. The first are called by the other tribes, from being -in continual movement, “birds.” The Tuaricks are distinguished -into those of Aghadez and those of Tagazi. They -are often engaged as conductors of caravans, and in trade. -Their language is the same as that of the Berbers; and they -belong unquestionably to the number of the primitive -Lybian nations. The Tuaricks present a remarkable physiological -phenomenon. Different tribes among them are, -according to the climate, white, yellowish, and even almost -black; but all are without woolly hair or Negro features. -(Exploration scientifique de l’Algérie, T. ii. p. 343.)</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_68">[68]</span><a id="Footnote_9" href="#FNanchor_9" class="label">[9]</a> p. 4.—“<i>The Ship of the Desert.</i>”</p> - -<p>In oriental poems, the camel is called the land-ship, or -the ship of the Desert (Sefynet-el-badyet); Chardin, Voyages, -nouv. éd. par Langlès, 1811, T. iii. p. 376.</p> - -<p>But the camel is not merely the carrier of the desert, and -the link which, rendering communication between different -countries possible, connects them with each other: he is -also, as Carl Ritter has shewn in his excellent memoir on -the sphere of diffusion of these animals, the principal and -essential condition of the nomadic life of nations in the -patriarchal stage of national development, in the hot parts -of our planet where rain is either altogether wanting or very -infrequent. No animal’s life is so closely associated by -natural bonds with a particular stage of the developement of -the life of man,—a connection historically established for -several thousand years,—as the life of the camel among the -Bedouin tribes (Asien, Bd. viii. Abth. i. 1847, S. 610 und -758). “The camel was entirely unknown to the cultivated -Carthaginian nation through all the centuries of their -flourishing existence, until the destruction of their city. -The Marusians first brought it into military use, in -the train of armies, in Western Lybia, in the times -of the Cæsars; perhaps in consequence of its employment -in commercial operations in the valley of the Nile -by the Ptolemies. The Guanches, the inhabitants of the -Canary Islands and probably related to the Berber race, -were not acquainted with the camel before the 15th century,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_69">[69]</span> -when it was introduced by Norman conquerors and settlers. -In the probably very limited communication of the Guanches -with the Coast of Africa, the small size of the boats would -prevent the transport of large animals. The true Berber -race, diffused throughout the interior of Northern Africa, -and to which the Tibbos and Tuaricks, as already mentioned, -belong, owes doubtless to the use of the camel -throughout the Lybian desert and its Oases, not only the -advantages of intercommunication, but also the preservation -of its national existence to the present day. On the other -hand, the negro races never, of their own accord, made any -use of the camel; it was only in company with the conquering -expeditions and proselyting missions of the Bedouins, -carrying their prophet’s doctrines over the whole of Northern -Africa, that the useful animal of the Nedjid, of the Nabatheans, -and of all the countries inhabited by Aramean races, spread -to the westward and was introduced among the black population. -The Goths took camels as early as the fourth -century to the Lower Istros (the Danube), and the Ghaznevides -conveyed them in much larger numbers as far as India -and the banks of the Ganges.” We must distinguish two -epochs in the diffusion of the camel throughout the northern -part of the African continent; one under the Ptolemies, -operating through Cyrene on the whole of the north-west of -Africa; and the Mohammedan epoch of the conquering -Arabs.</p> - -<p>It has long been a question, whether those domestic -animals which have been the earliest companions of mankind—oxen, -sheep, dogs, and camels—are still to be met with in a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_70">[70]</span> -state of original wildness. The Hiongnu, in Eastern -Asia, belong to the nations who earliest tamed and trained -wild camels as domestic animals. The compiler of the -great Chinese work, Si-yu-wen-kien-lo, (Historia Regionum -occidentalium, quæ Si-yu vocantur, visu et auditu cognitarum,) -affirms that in the middle of the 18th century wild -camels, as well as wild horses and wild asses, still wandered -in East Turkestan. Hadji Chalfa, in his Turkish Geography, -written in the 17th century, speaks of the frequent -chase of the wild camel in the high plains of Kashgar, -Turfan, and Khotan. Schott translates, from a Chinese -author, Ma-dschi, that wild camels are to be found in the -countries to the north of China and west of the Hoang-ho, -in Ho-si or Tangut. Cuvier alone (Règne Animal, T. i. p. -257), doubts the present existence of wild camels in the -interior of Asia. He believes they have merely “become -wild;” because Calmucks, and others having Buddhistic religious -affinities with them, set camels and other animals at -liberty, in order “to acquire to themselves merit for the other -world.” According to Greek witnesses of the times of -Artemidorus and Agatharchides of Cnidus, the Ailanitic -Gulf of the Nabatheans was the home of the wild Arabian -camel. (Ritter’s Asien, Bd. viii. s. 670, 672, and 746.) -The discovery of fossil camel bones of the ancient world by -Captain Cautley and Doctor Falconer, in 1834, in the sub-Himalaya -range of the Sewalik hills, is peculiarly deserving -of notice. These bones were found with other ancient bones -of mastodons, of true elephants, of giraffes, and of a -gigantic land tortoise (Colossochelys), twelve feet in length<span class="pagenum" id="Page_71">[71]</span> -and six feet in height. (Humboldt, Cosmos, Engl. ed. vol. -i. p. 268.) This camel of the Ancient World has received -the name of Camelus sivalensis, but does not show any considerable -difference from the still living Egyptian and -Bactrian camels with one and two humps. Forty camels have -very recently been introduced into Java, having been brought -there from Teneriffe. (Singapore Journal of the Indian -Archipelago, 1847, p. 206.) The first experiment has been -made in Samarang. In like manner, reindeer have only -been introduced into Iceland from Norway in the course -of the last century. They were not found there when the -island was settled, notwithstanding the proximity to East -Greenland, and the existence of floating masses of ice. (Sartorius -von Waltershausen physisch-geographische Skizze von -Island, 1847, S. 41.)</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_10" href="#FNanchor_10" class="label">[10]</a> p. 4.—“<i>Between the Altai and the Kuen-lün.</i>”</p> - -<p>The great highland, or, as it is commonly called, the mountain -plateau of Asia, which includes the lesser Bucharia, Songarei, -Thibet, Tangut, and the Mogul country of the Chalcas and -Olotes, is situated between the 36th and 48th degrees of -latitude, and the meridians of 81° and 118° E. long. It is -an erroneous view to represent this part of the interior of Asia -as a single undivided mountainous gibbosity, continuous like -the elevated plains of Quito and Mexico, and elevated from -seven to nine thousand feet above the level of the sea. That -there is not in this sense any undivided mountain plateau in -the interior of Asia, has already been shewn by me in my -“Researches respecting the Mountains of Northern India.”<span class="pagenum" id="Page_72">[72]</span> -(Humboldt, Premier Mémoire sur les Montagnes de l’Inde, -in the Annales de Chimie et de Physique, T. iii. 1816, p. -303; Second Mémoire, T. xiv. 1820, p. 5–55.)</p> - -<p>My views concerning the geographical range of plants, -and the mean degree of temperature requisite for certain -kinds of cultivation, had early led me to entertain considerable -doubts as to the continuity of a great Tartarian plateau -between the Himalaya and the Altai. Writers continued to -characterise this plateau as it had been described by Hippocrates -(De Ære et Aquis, § xcvi. p. 74), as “the high and -naked plains of Scythia, which, without being crowned with -mountains, rise and extend to beneath the constellation -of the Bear.” Klaproth has the undeniable merit of -having been the first to make us acquainted with the true -position, extent, and direction of two great and entirely distinct -chains of mountains—the Kuen-lün and the Thian-schan, -in a part of Asia which is better entitled to the name -of “central” than Kashmeer, Baltistan, and the Sacred -Lakes of Thibet, (the Manasa and the Ravanahrada). The -importance of the Celestial Mountains, the Thian-schan, -had indeed been already surmised by Pallas, without his -being aware of their volcanic nature; but this highly-gifted -investigator of nature, hampered by the then prevailing -hypothesis of a dogmatic and fantastic geology, firmly -believing in “chains of mountains radiating from a centre,” -saw in the Bogdo Oola (the Mons Augustus, or culminating -point of the Thian-schan) such a “central node, from -whence all the Asiatic mountain chains diverge in rays, and -which dominates over all the rest of the continent!”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_73">[73]</span>The erroneous idea of a single vast elevated plain occupying -the whole of central Asia, the “Plateau de la Tartarie,” -took its rise in France, in the latter half of the 18th century. -It was the result of historical combinations, and of a -not sufficiently attentive study of the writings of the celebrated -Venetian traveller, as well as of the naïve relations of -those diplomatic monks who, in the 13th and 14th centuries, -(thanks to the unity and extent of the Mogul empire at that -time) were able to traverse almost the whole of the interior -of the continent, from the ports of Syria and of the Caspian -Sea to the shores of the Pacific on the east coast of China. -If a more exact acquaintance with the language and ancient -literature of India had dated farther back among us than -half a century, the hypothesis of this central plateau, occupying -the wide space between the Himalaya and the south of -Siberia, would no doubt have had adduced in its support an -ancient and venerable authority from that source. The -poem of the Mahabharata appears, in the geographical -fragment Bhischmakanda, to describe “Meru” not so much -as a mountain as an enormous elevation of the land, which -supplies with water at once the sources of the Ganges, those -of the Bhadrasoma (Irtysh), and those of the forked Oxus. -These physico-geographical views were intermingled in -Europe with ideas of other kinds, and with mythical reveries -relating to the origin of mankind. It was said that the elevated -regions from which the waters first retreated, (geologists -in general were long averse to the theory of elevation), must -also have received the first germs of civilisation. Hebraizing -systems of geology, and views connected with the Deluge<span class="pagenum" id="Page_74">[74]</span> -and supported by local traditions, favoured these assumptions. -The intimate connection between time and space, between -the beginnings of social order and the plastic character of -the surface of the earth, lent to the supposed “uninterrupted -Plateau of Tartary” a peculiar importance, and an almost -moral interest. Acquisitions of positive knowledge, the -late matured fruit of scientific travels and direct measurements, -as well as of a fundamental study of Asiatic languages -and literature especially those of China, have gradually -demonstrated the inaccuracies and exaggerations of those -wild hypotheses. The mountain plains (<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc">ὁροπέδια</span>) of Central -Asia are no longer regarded as the cradle of civilization and -the primitive seat of all arts and sciences. The ancient -nation of Bailly’s Atlantis, happily described by d’Alembert -as “having taught us everything but their own name and -existence,” has vanished. The supposed inhabitants of the -Oceanic Atlantis had already been treated, in the time of -Posidonius, in a no less derisive manner. (Strabo, lib. ii. -p. 102; and lib. xiii. p. 598, Casaub.)</p> - -<p>A plateau of considerable but very unequal elevation, -having the names of Gobi, Scha-mo (sand desert), Scha-ho -(sand river), and Hanhai, runs in a SSW.-NNE. direction, -with little interruption, from Eastern Thibet towards -the mountain knot of Kentei south of Lake Baikal. -This swelling of the ground is probably anterior to the -elevation of the mountain chains by which it is intersected; -it is situated, as already remarked, between 79° and 116° -long. from Paris, (81° and 118° E. from Greenwich). -Measured at right angles to its longitudinal axis, its breadth<span class="pagenum" id="Page_75">[75]</span> -is, in the south between Ladak, Gertop, and H’lassa, (the -seat of the great Lama,) 720 geographical miles; between -Hami in the Celestial Mountains, and the great bend of the -Hoang-ho near the In-schan chain, hardly 480; and in -the north, between the Khanggai, where the great city of -Karakhorum once stood, and the chain of Khin-gan-Petscha, -which runs north and south (in the part of the Gobi traversed -in travelling from Kiachta by Urga to Pekin) 760 -geographical miles. The whole extent of this swelling -ground, which must be carefully distinguished from the far -more elevated mountain range to the east, may be approximately -estimated, taking its inflections into account, at -about three times the area of France. The map of the -mountain ranges and volcanoes of Central Asia (Carte der -Bergketten und Vulkane von Central-Asien), constructed -by me in 1839, but not published until 1843, shows in the -clearest manner the hypsometric relations between the -mountain ranges and the Gobi plateau. It was founded on -the critical employment of all the astronomical determinations -accessible to me, and on a vast amount of orographic -description, in which Chinese literature is beyond measure -rich, examined at my request by Klaproth and Stanislas -Julien. My map marks the <i>mean</i> direction and the height -of the mountain chains, and represents the leading features -of the interior of the continent of Asia, from 30° to 60° -degrees of north latitude, and between the meridians of -Kherson and Pekin. It differs materially from any previously -published map.</p> - -<p>The Chinese have enjoyed a threefold advantage towards<span class="pagenum" id="Page_76">[76]</span> -the collection of so great an amount of orographic data in the -highlands of Asia, and more especially in the regions (hitherto -so little known in the west), north and south of the Celestial -mountains, between the In-schan, the mountain lake -Khuku-noor, and the banks of the Ili and the Tarim. -The three advantages I allude to are,—the military expeditions -towards the west, (under the dynasties of Han and -Thang 122 years before our era, and again in the ninth -century when conquerors advanced as far as Ferghana and to -the borders of the Caspian), together with the more peaceful -conquests of Buddhistic pilgrims;—the religious interest -attaching to certain lofty mountain summits on account of -sacrifices to be periodically offered there;—and the early -and general use of the compass in giving the directions of -mountains and of rivers. The knowledge and use of -the “South pointing” of the magnetic needle twelve centuries -before our era, has given to the orographic and -hydrographic descriptions of countries by the Chinese, a -great superiority over the descriptions of the same kind -which Greek or Roman writers have bequeathed to us, -and which are besides extremely few. The acute and -sagacious Strabo, was alike imperfectly acquainted with the -direction of the Pyrenees, and with those of the Alps and of the -Apennines. (Compare Strabo, lib. ii. p. 71 and 128; lib. -iii, p. 137; lib. iv. p. 199 and 202; lib. v. p. 211, Casaub.)</p> - -<p>To the lowlands belong almost the whole of Northern Asia -to the north-west of the volcanic chain of the Thian-schan;—the -Steppes to the north of the Altai and of the Sayan -chain;—the countries which extend from the mountains of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_77">[77]</span> -Bolor, or Bulyt-Tagh, (“cloud mountains” in the Uigurian -dialect) which follow a north and south direction, and -from the upper Oxus, (whose sources were found by the -Buddhistic pilgrims Hiuen-thsang and Song-yun in 518 -and 629, by Marco Polo in 1277, and by Lieutenant -Wood in 1838, in the Pamer Lake, Sir-i-kol, Lake -Victoria), towards the Caspian; and from Tenghir or the -Balkhash Lake through the Kirghis Steppe, towards the -sea of Aral and the southern extremity of the Ural mountains. -As compared with high plains of 6,000 to 10,000 -feet above the level of the sea, it may well be permitted to -use the expression of “lowlands” for flats of little more -than 200 to 1200 feet of elevation. The lowest of the -last two numbers corresponds nearly to the altitude of -the town of Mannheim, and the highest to that of Geneva -and Tubingen. If the word plateau, so often misemployed -in modern works on geography, is to have its use extended -to elevations which hardly present any sensible difference in -climate and vegetation, the indefiniteness of the expressions -“highlands and lowlands,” which are only relative -terms, will deprive physical geography of the means of -expressing the idea of the connection between elevation -and climate, between the profile or relief of the ground -and the decrease of temperature. When I found myself -in Chinese Dzungarei, between the boundary of Siberia -and Lake Dsaisang, at an equal distance from the Icy Sea -and from the mouth of the Ganges, I might well consider -myself in Central Asia. The barometer, however, soon -taught me that the plains through which the Upper -Irtysh flows, between Ustkamenogorsk and the Chinese<span class="pagenum" id="Page_78">[78]</span> -Dzungarian Post, Chonimailachu, (sheep-bleating,) are -scarcely raised 850, or at the most 1170, feet above the level -of the sea. Pansner’s older barometric measurements -(which, however, were not published until after my expedition), -are confirmed by mine. Both refute the hypothesis -of Chappe, relative to the supposed high elevation of the banks -of the Irtysh, in Southern Siberia; an hypothesis based on -estimations of river declivities. Even further to the East, -Lake Baikal is only 222 toises, or 1420 English feet, above -the level of the sea.</p> - -<p>In order to connect the idea of the <i>relation</i> of -the terms <i>lowlands</i> and <i>highlands</i> and of the various -gradations in the height of elevated plains or undulating -grounds, with actual examples ascertained by measurement, -I have subjoined a table, forming an ascending scale of such -districts in different parts of the Globe. What I have -said above respecting the mean height of those Asiatic -plains, which I have termed lowlands, may be compared -with the following numbers:—</p> - -<table class="autotable" summary=""> -<tr> -<th colspan="2"></th> -<th>Toises.</th> -<th>English feet.</th> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Plateau</td> -<td class="tdl">of Auvergne</td> -<td class="tdr">170</td> -<td class="tdr">1087</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdc">„</td> -<td class="tdl">of Bavaria</td> -<td class="tdr">260</td> -<td class="tdr">1663</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdc">„</td> -<td class="tdl">of Castille</td> -<td class="tdr">350</td> -<td class="tdr">2239</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdc">„</td> -<td class="tdl">of Mysore</td> -<td class="tdr">460</td> -<td class="tdr">2942</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdc">„</td> -<td class="tdl">of Caraccas</td> -<td class="tdr">480</td> -<td class="tdr">3070</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdc">„</td> -<td class="tdl">of Popayan</td> -<td class="tdr">900</td> -<td class="tdr">5756</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdc">„</td> -<td class="tdl">round Lake Tzana (in Abyssinia)</td> -<td class="tdr">950</td> -<td class="tdr">6076</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdc">„</td> -<td class="tdl">of the Orange River (in South Africa)</td> -<td class="tdr">1000</td> -<td class="tdr">6395</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdc">„</td> -<td class="tdl">of Axum (in Abyssinia)</td> -<td class="tdr">1100</td> -<td class="tdr">7034</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdc">„</td> -<td class="tdl">of Mexico</td> -<td class="tdr">1170</td> -<td class="tdr">7483</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdc">„</td> -<td class="tdl">of Quito</td> -<td class="tdr">1490</td> -<td class="tdr">9528</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdc">„</td> -<td class="tdl">of the Province de los Pastos</td> -<td class="tdr">1600</td> -<td class="tdr">10231</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdc">„</td> -<td class="tdl">round Lake Titiaca</td> -<td class="tdr">2010</td> -<td class="tdr">12853</td> -</tr> -</table> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_79">[79]</span>No portion of the so-called Desert of Gobi (parts of -which contain fine pastures) has been so thoroughly -explored in respect to the differences of elevation as the -zone, of nearly 600 geographical miles in breadth, between -the sources of the Selenga and the great Wall of China. -A very exact series of barometric levellings was executed -under the auspices of the Academy of St. Petersburgh by -two distinguished Savans, the astronomer George Fuss, and -the botanist Bunge. In the year 1832 they accompanied -the mission of Greek monks to Pekin, to establish there -one of the magnetic stations recommended by me. The -mean height of this part of Gobi does not amount, as had -been too hastily inferred from the measurement of neighbouring -summits by the Jesuits Gerbillon and Verbiest -to from 7500 to 8000 French (8000 to 8500 English) -feet, but only to little more than half that height, or -barely 4000 French or 4264 English feet. Between Erghi, -Durma, and Scharaburguna, the ground is only 2400 French, -or 2558 English, feet above the level of the sea, or hardly -300 French (320 English) feet higher than the plateau of -Madrid. Erghi is situated midway, in lat. 45° 31′, long. -111° 26′ E. from Greenwich. There is here a depression -of more than 240 miles in breadth, in a SW. and NE. -direction. An ancient Mogul tradition marks it as the -bottom of a former inland sea. There are found in it -reeds and saline plants, mostly of the same kinds as those -on the low shores of the Caspian. In this central part of -the desert there are small salt lakes, from which salt is -carried to China. According to a singular opinion very<span class="pagenum" id="Page_80">[80]</span> -prevalent among the Moguls, the ocean will one day return -and establish its empire anew in Gobi. One is reminded -of the Chinese tradition of the <i>bitter lake</i>, in the interior -of Siberia, mentioned by me in another work. (Humboldt, -Asie Centrale, tom. ii. p. 141; Klaproth, Asia -Polyglotta, p. 232.) The valley or basin of Kashmeer, -so enthusiastically extolled by Bernier, and but too moderately -praised by Victor Jacquemont, has also given occasion -to great hypsometric exaggerations. By a careful -barometrical measurement, Jacquemont found the height -of the Wulur Lake in the valley of Kashmeer, not far -from the chief city Sirinagur, 836 toises, or 5346 English -feet. Uncertain determinations by the boiling point -of water gave Baron Carl von Hügel a result of 910, and -Lieutenant Cunningham only 790 toises. (Compare my Asie -Centrale, tom. iii. p. 310, with the Journal of the Asiatic -Society of Bengal, vol. x. 1841, p. 114.) Kashmeer,—respecting -which, in Germany particularly, so much interest has been -felt, but the delightfulness of whose climate is considerably -impaired by four months of winter snow in the streets of -Sirinagur (Carl von Hügel, Kaschmir, Bd. ii. S. 196),—is not -situated, as is often supposed, upon the ridge of the Himalaya, -but is a true cauldron-shaped valley (Kesselthal, Caldera,) on -the southern declivity of those mountains. On the south-west, -where the rampart-like elevation of the Pir Panjal -separates it from the Punjaub, the snow-covered summits -are crowned, according to Vigne, with formations of -basalt and amygdaloid. The latter formation has received -from the natives the characteristic name of “schischak<span class="pagenum" id="Page_81">[81]</span> -deyu,” marked by the devil’s small-pox. (Vigne, Travels -in Kashmeer, 1842, vol. i. p. 237–293.) The beauty of -its vegetation has from the earliest times been very differently -described, according as the visitor came from the rich and -luxuriant vegetation of India, or from the northern regions -of Turkestan, Samarcand, and Ferghana.</p> - -<p>It is also only very recently that clearer views have been -obtained respecting the elevation of Thibet; the level of the -plateau having long been most uncritically confounded with -the summits which rise from it. Thibet occupies the -interval between the two great chains of the Himalaya and -the Kuen-lün, forming the raised ground of the valley -between them. It is divided from east to west, both by -the natives and by Chinese geographers, into three portions. -Upper Thibet, with its capital city H’lassa, probably 1500 -toises (9590 English feet) above the level of the sea;—Middle -Thibet, with the town of Leh or Ladak (1563 toises, -or 9995 English feet);—and Little Thibet, or Baltistan, -called the Thibet of Apricots, (Sari Boutan), in which are -situated Iskardo (985 toises, or 6300 English feet), Gilgit, -and south of Iskardo but on the left bank of the Indus, -the plateau of Deotsuh, measured by Vigne, and found to -be 1873 toises, or 11,977 English feet. On examining all -the notices that we possess respecting the three Thibets, (and -which will have received in the present year a rich augmentation -by the boundary expedition under the auspices of -the governor-general, Lord Dalhousie), we soon become convinced -that the region between the Himalaya and the Kuen-lün -is no unbroken plain or table land, but that it is intersected<span class="pagenum" id="Page_82">[82]</span> -by mountain groups, undoubtedly belonging to wholly -distinct systems of elevation. There are, properly speaking, -very few plains; the most considerable are those between -Gertop, Daba, Schang-thung (Shepherd’s Plain) the native -country of the Shawl-goat, and Schipke (1634 toises, 10,450 -English feet);—those round Ladak, which have an elevation -of 2100 toises, or 13430 English feet, and must not be -confounded with the depression in which the town is -situated;—and lastly, the plateau of the Sacred Lakes -Manasa and Ravanahrada (probably 2345 toises), which -was visited so early as 1625 by Pater Antonio de Andrada. -Other parts are entirely filled with crowded mountainous -elevations, “rising,” as a recent traveller expresses it, “like -the waves of a vast ocean.” Along the rivers, the Indus, the -Sutlej, and the Yaru-dzangbo-tschu which was formerly -regarded as identical with the Brahma-putra, points have -been measured which are only between 1050 and 1400 -toises (6714 and 8952 English feet) above the level of the -sea; so also with respect to the Thibetian villages of Pangi, -Kunawur, Kelu, and Murung. (Humboldt, Asie Centrale, -T. iii. p. 281–325.) From many carefully collected measurements -of elevation I think I may conclude that the plateau -of Thibet, between 73° and 85° E. long., does not reach a -mean height of 1800 toises (11510 English feet); this is -hardly equal to the height of the fertile plain of Caxamarca -in Peru, and is 211 and 337 toises (1350 and 2154 English -feet) less than the height of the plateau of Titicaca, and the -street pavement of the Upper Town of Potosi (2137 toises, -13,665 English feet).</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_83">[83]</span>That outside of the Thibetian highlands and of the Gobi, -the boundaries of which have been defined above, there are -in Asia, between the parallels of 37° and 48°, considerable -depressions and even true lowlands, where one boundless -uninterrupted plateau was formerly imagined to exist, -is shewn by the cultivation of plants which cannot thrive -without a certain degree of heat. An attentive study of the -travels of Marco Polo, in which the cultivation of the vine -and the production of cotton in northern latitudes are -spoken of, had long called the attention of the acute Klaproth -to this point. In a Chinese work, entitled “Information -respecting the recently-subdued Barbarians (Sin-kiang-wai-tan-ki-lio),” -it is said, “the country of Aksu, somewhat to -the south of the Celestial Mountains (the Thian-schan), near -the rivers which form the great Tarim-gol, produces grapes, -pomegranates, and numberless other excellent fruits; also -cotton (Gossypium religiosum), which covers the fields like -yellow clouds. In the summer the heat is exceedingly great, -and in winter there is here, as at Turfan, neither severe cold -nor heavy snow.” The district round Khotan, Kashgar, -and Yarkand, still pays its tribute in home-grown cotton as -it did in the time of Marco Polo. (Il Milione di Marco -Polo, pubbl. dal Conte Baldelli, T. i. p. 32 and 87.) In -the Oasis of Hami (Khamil), above 200 miles east of Aksu, -orange trees, pomegranates, and vines whose fruit is of a -superior quality, grow and flourish.</p> - -<p>The products of cultivation which are thus noticed -imply the existence of only a small degree of elevation, and -that over extensive districts. At so great a distance from<span class="pagenum" id="Page_84">[84]</span> -any coast, and in those easterly meridians where the cold of -winter is known to exceed that of corresponding latitudes -nearer our own part of the world, a plateau which should be -as high as Madrid or Munich might indeed have very hot -summers, but would hardly have, in 43° and 44° latitude, -extremely mild winters with scarcely any snow. Near the -Caspian, 83 English feet below the level of the Black Sea, -at Astrachan in 46° 21′ lat., I saw the cultivation of the -vine greatly favoured by a high degree of summer heat; but -the winter cold is there from -20° to -25° Cent. (-4° to --13° Fahr.) It is therefore necessary to protect the vines -after November, by sinking them deep in the earth. Plants -which live, as we may say, only in the summer, as the vine, -the cotton bush, rice, and melons, may indeed be cultivated -with success between the latitudes of 40° and 44° on plains -of more than 500 toises (3197 English feet) elevation, being -favoured by the powerful radiant heat; but how could the -pomegranate trees of Aksu, and the orange trees of Hami, -whose fruit Père Grosier extolled as distinguished for its goodness, -bear the cold of the long and severe winter which would -be the necessary consequence of a considerable elevation of the -land? (Asie Centrale, T. ii. p. 48–52, and 429.) Carl Zimmerman -(in the learned Analysis of his “Karte von Inner -Asien,” 1841, S. 99) has made it appear extremely probable -that the Tarim depression, <i>i. e.</i> the desert between the mountain -chains of the Thian-schan and the Kuen-lün, where the -Steppe river Tarim-gol empties itself into the Lake of Lop, -which used to be described as an alpine lake, is hardly 1200 -(1279 English) feet above the level of the sea, or only twice<span class="pagenum" id="Page_85">[85]</span> -the height of Prague. Sir Alexander Burnes also assigns -to that of Bokhara only an elevation of 1190 English -feet. It is earnestly to be desired, that all doubt respecting -the elevation of the plateaux of middle Asia, south of 45° -of latitude, should finally be set at rest by direct barometric -measurements, or by determinations of the boiling point of -water made with more care than is usually given to them. -All our calculations respecting the difference between the -limits of perpetual snow, and the maximum elevation of vine -cultivation in different climates, rest at present on too -complex and uncertain elements.</p> - -<p>In order to rectify in the smallest space that which was -said in the last edition of the present work, relatively to the -great mountain systems which intersect the interior of -Asia, I subjoin the following general review. We begin -with the four parallel chains, which follow with tolerable -regularity an east and west direction, and are connected -with each other at a few detached points by transverse -elevations. Differences of direction indicate, as in the -Alps of western Europe, a difference in the epoch of elevation. -After the four parallel chains (the Altai, the Thian-schan, -the Kuen-lün, and the Himalaya), we have to -notice chains following the direction of meridians, viz. -the Ural, the Bolor, the Khingan, and the Chinese chains, -which, with the great bend of the Thibetian and Assamo-Bermese -Dzangbo-tschu, run north and south. The -Ural divides a part of Europe but little elevated above -the level of the sea from a part of Asia similarly circumstanced. -The latter was called by Herodotus, (ed. Schweighaüser,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_86">[86]</span> -T. v. p. 204) and even as early as Pherecydes of -Syros, a Scythian or Siberian Europe, including all the -countries to the north of the Caspian and of the Iaxartes; -in this view it would be a continuation of Europe “prolonged -to the north of Asia.”</p> - -<p>1. The great mountain system of the Altai, (the “gold -mountains” of Menander of Byzantium, an historical -writer who lived as early as the 7th century, the Altaï-alin -of the Moguls, and the Kin-schan of the Chinese), forms -the southern boundary of the great Siberian lowlands; and -running between 50° and 52½° of north latitude, extends -from the rich silver mines of the Snake Mountains, and the confluence -of the Uba and the Irtysh, to the meridian of Lake -Baikal. The divisions and names of the “Great” and the -“Little Altai,” taken from an obscure passage of Abulghasì, -are to be altogether avoided. (Asie Centrale, T. i. p. 247.) -The mountain system of the Altai comprehends (<i>a</i>) the Altai -proper, or Kolywanski Altai, the whole of which is under -the Russian sceptre; it is west of the transverse opening of -the Telezki Lake, which follows the direction of the meridian; -and in ante-historic times probably formed the eastern shore -of the great arm of the sea, by which, in the direction of the -still existing groups of lakes, Aksakal-Barbi and Sary-Kupa -(Asie Centrale, T. ii. p. 138), the Aralo-Caspian basin was -connected with the Icy sea:—(<i>b</i>) East of the Telezki chain -which follows the direction of the meridian, the Sayani, -Tangnu, and Ulangom or Malakha chains, all running -tolerably parallel with each other and in an east and west -direction. The Tangnu, which sinks down and terminates<span class="pagenum" id="Page_87">[87]</span> -in the basin of the Selenga, has from very ancient times -formed a boundary between the Turkish race to the south -and the Kirghis (Hakas, identical with <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc">Σάκαι</span>) in the north. -(Jacob Grimm, Gesch. der deutschen Sprache, 1848, Th. i. -S. 227.) It is the original seat of the Samoieds or Soyotes, -who wandered as far as the Icy Sea, and who were long -regarded in Europe as a nation belonging exclusively to the -coasts of the Polar Sea. The highest snow-clad summits of -the Altai of Kolywan are the Bielucha and the Katunia-Pillars. -The height of the latter is about that of Etna. -The Daurian highland, to which the mountain knot of -Kemtei belongs, and on the eastern side of which is the -Jablonoi Chrebet, divides the depressions of the Baikal -and the Amur.</p> - -<p>2. The mountain system of the Thian-schan, or Celestial -Mountains, the Tengri-tagh of the Turks (Tukiu) and of -the kindred race of the Hiongnu, is eight times as long, in -an east and west direction, as the Pyrenees. Beyond,—<i>i. e.</i> -west of its intersection with the transverse or north and -south chain of the Bolor and Kosuyrt, the Thian-schan bears -the names of Asferah and Aktagh, is rich in metals, and has -open fissures, which emit hot vapours, luminous at night, -and which are used for obtaining sal-ammoniac. (Asie -Centrale, T. ii. p. 18–20.) East of the transverse Bolor and -Kosyurt chain, there follow successively in the Thian-schan,—the -Kashgar Pass (Kaschgar-dawan); the Glacier Pass of -Djeparle, which leads to Kutch and Aksu in the Tarim basin; -the volcano of Pe-schan, which sent forth fire and streams of -lava at least as late as the middle of the seventh century; the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_88">[88]</span> -great snow-covered massive elevation Bogdo-Oola; the Sol-fatara -of Urumsti, which furnishes sulphur and sal-ammoniac -(nao-scha), and is situated in a coal district; the still active -volcano of Turfan (or volcano of Ho-tscheu or Bischbalik), -almost midway between the meridians of Turfan (Kune-Turpan), -and of Pidjan. The volcanic eruptions of the -Thian-schan chain, recorded by Chinese historians, reach -as far back as the year 89, <span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span>, when the Hiongnu -of the sources of the Irtysh were pursued by the Chinese -army as far as Kutch and Kharaschar (Klaproth, Tableau -hist. de l’Asie, p. 108). The Chinese General, Teu-hian, -surmounted the Thian-schan, and saw “the Fire Mountains -which send out masses of molten rock that flow for -many Li.”</p> - -<p>The great distance from the sea of the volcanoes of the -interior of Asia is a remarkable and solitary phenomenon. -Abel Rémusat, in a letter to Cordier (Annales des Mines, T. -v. 1820, p. 137), first directed the attention of geologists to -this fact. The distance, for example, in the case of the volcano -of Pe-schan, to the north, or to the Icy Sea at the mouth of the -Obi, is 1528 geographical miles; to the south, or to the -mouths of the Indus and the Ganges, 1512 geographical -miles; to the west, 1360 geographical miles to the Caspian -in the Gulf of Karaboghaz; and to the east, 1020 geographical -miles to the shores of the sea of Aral. The active -volcanoes of the New World were previously supposed to -offer the most remarkable instances of such phenomena at a -great distance from the sea; their distance, however, is only -132 geographical miles in the case of the volcano of Popocatepetl<span class="pagenum" id="Page_89">[89]</span> -in Mexico, and only 92, 104, and 156 geographical -miles in those of the South American volcanoes Sangai, -Tolima, and de la Fragua, respectively. I exclude from -these statements all extinct volcanoes, and all trachytic mountains -which have no permanent connection with the interior of -the earth. (Asie Centrale, T. ii. p. 16–55, 69–77, and 341–356.) -East of the volcano of Turfan, and of the fertile -Oasis of Hami rich in fine fruit, the chain of the Thian-schan -gives place to the great elevated tract of Gobi which -follows a S.W. and N.E. direction. This interruption of -the mountain chain, caused by the transverse intersection of -the Gobi, continues for more than 9½ degrees of longitude; -but beyond it the mountains recommence in the somewhat -more southerly chain of the In-schan, or the Silver Mountains, -running (north of the Pe-tscheli) from west to east -almost to the shores of the Pacific near Pekin, and forming -a continuation of the Thian-schan. As I have viewed the -In-schan as an easterly prolongation (beyond the interruption -of the Gobi) of the cleft above which the Thian-schan stands, so -one might possibly view the Caucasus as a westerly prolongation -of the same, beyond the great basin of the Aral and Caspian -Seas or the depression of Turan. The mean parallel of latitude -or axis of elevation of the Thian-schan oscillates between -40⅔° and 43° N. lat.; that of the Caucasus, according to -the map of the Russian Etat-Major (running rather E.S.E. -and W.N.W.), is between 41° and 44° N. lat. (Baron von -Meyendorff, in the Bulletin de la Societé géologique de -France, T. ix. 1837–1838, p. 230.) Of the four parallel -chains which traverse Asia from east to west, the Thian-schan<span class="pagenum" id="Page_90">[90]</span> -is the only one in which no summits have yet had -their elevation above the sea determined by measurement.</p> - -<p>3. The mountain system of the Kuen-lün (Kurkun or -Kulkun), if we include in it the Hindu-Coosh and its western -prolongation in the Persian Elbourz and Demavend, is, next -to the American Cordillera of the Andes, the longest line of -elevation on the surface of our planet. Where the north-and-south -chain of Bolor intersects the Kuen-lün at right -angles, the latter takes the name of the Thsung-ling (Onion -Mountains), which is also given to a part of the Bolor at the -eastern angle of intersection. The Kuen-lün, forming the -northern boundary of Thibet, runs very regularly in an east -and west direction, in the latitude of 36°. In the meridian -of H’lassa an interruption takes place from the great mountain -knot which surrounds the alpine lake of Khuku-noor, -the Sing-so-hai, or Starry Sea, so celebrated in the mythical -geography of the Chinese. The somewhat more northerly -chains of Nan-schan and Kilian-schan may almost be regarded -as an easterly prolongation of the Thian-schan. -They extend to the Chinese wall near Liang-tscheu. West -of the intersection of the Bolor and Kuen-lün (the Thsung-ling) -I think I have been the first to shew (Asie Centrale, -T. i. p. 23, and 118–159; T. ii. p. 431–434 and 465) that -the corresponding direction of the axes of the Kuen-lün and -the Hindu-Coosh (both being east and west, whereas the -Himalaya is south-east and north-west) makes it reasonable -to regard the Hindu-Coosh as a continuation, not of the -Himalaya, but of the Kuen-lün. From the Taurus in Lycia -to Kafiristan, through an extent of 45 degrees of longitude,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_91">[91]</span> -this chain follows the parallel of Rhodes, or the diaphragm -of Dicearchus. The grand geognostical view of Eratosthenes -(Strabo, Lib. ii. p. 68; Lib. xi. p. 490 and 511; -and Lib. xv. p. 689), which is farther developed by Marinus -of Tyre, and Ptolemy, and according to which “the continuation -of the Taurus in Lycia extends across the whole -of Asia to India, in one and the same direction,” appears to -have been partly founded on statements which reached the -Persians and Indians from the Punjaub. “The Brahmins -affirm,” says Cosmas Indicopleustes, in his Christian Topography, -(Mountfauçon, Collectio nova Patrum, T. ii. p. 137) -“that a line drawn from Tzinitza (Thinæ) across Persia and -Romania, exactly cuts the middle of the inhabited earth.” It -is deserving of notice that Eratosthenes had so early remarked -that this longest axis of elevation in the Old Continent, in -the parallels of 35½° and 36°, points directly through the -basin (or depression) of the Mediterranean to the Pillars of -Hercules. (Compare Asie Centrale, T. i. p. 23 and 122–138; -T. ii. p. 430–434, with Kosmos, Bd. ii. S. 222 and -438, p. 188, and note 292, Engl. ed.) The easternmost part of -the Hindu-Coosh is the Paropanisus of the ancients, the -Indian Caucasus of the companions of Alexander. The now -generally used term of Hindu-Coosh, belongs, as may be seen -from the Travels of the Arab Ibn Batuta (English version, -p. 97), to a single mountain pass on which many Indian -slaves often perished from cold. The Kuen-lün, like the -Thian-schan, shews igneous outbreaks or eruptions at many -hundred miles from the sea. Flames, visible at a great -distance, issue from a cavity in the Schin-khieu Mountain.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_92">[92]</span> -(Asie Centrale, T. ii. p. 427 and 483, where I have followed -the text of Yuen-thong-ki, translated by my friend Stanislas -Julien.) The highest summit measured in the Hindu-Coosh, -north-west of Jellalabad, is 3164 toises above the -sea (20132 English feet); to the west, towards Herat, the -chain sinks to 400 toises (2558 English feet), until, north -of Teheran, it rises again to a height of 2295 toises (14675 -English feet) in the volcano of Demavend.</p> - -<p>4. The mountain system of the Himalaya. The normal -direction of this system is east and west when followed from -81° to 97° E. long. from Greenwich, or through more than -fifteen degrees of longitude from the colossal Dhawalagiri -(4390 toises, 28071 English feet) to the breaking through -of the long-problematical Dzangbo-tschu river (the Irawaddy, -according to Dalrymple and Klaproth), and to the chains -running north and south which cover the whole of Western -China, and in the provinces of Sse-tschuan, Hu-kuang, and -Kuang-si form the great mountain group of the sources of -the Kiang. The next highest culminating point to the -Dhawalagiri, of this east and west part of the Himalaya, is -not, as has been hitherto supposed, the eastern peak of the -Schamalari, but the Kinchinjinga. This mountain is -situated in the meridian of Sikhim, between Bootan and -Nepaul, and between the Schamalari (3750? toises, 23980 -English feet) and the Dhawalagiri: its height is 4406 toises, -or 26438 Parisian, or 28174 English feet. It was first -measured accurately by trigonometrical operations in the present -year, and as the account of this measurement received -by me from India says decidedly, “that a new determination<span class="pagenum" id="Page_93">[93]</span> -of the Dhawalagiri leaves to the latter the first rank among -all the snow-capped mountains of the Himalaya,” the -height of the Dhawalagiri must necessarily be greater than -that of 4390 toises, or 26340 Parisian, 28071 English feet, -hitherto ascribed to it. (Letter of the accomplished botanist -of Sir James Ross’s Antarctic Expedition, Dr. Joseph -Hooker, written from Dorjiling, July 25, 1848.) The -turning point in the direction of the axis of the Himalaya -range is not far from the Dhawalagiri, in 79° E. long. from -Paris (81° 22′ Greenwich). From thence to the westward -the Himalaya no longer runs east and west, but from SE. -to NW., connecting itself, as a great cross vein, between -Mozuffer-abad and Gilgit south of Kafiristan, with a -part of the Hindu-Coosh. Such a bend or change in the -direction or strike of the axis of elevation of the Himalaya -(from E-W. to SE-NW.), doubtless points, as in the -western part of our European Alps, to a difference in the -age or epoch of elevation. The course of the Upper Indus, -from the sacred lakes Manasa and Ravana-hrada (at an -elevation of 2345 toises, 14995 English feet) in the vicinity -of which the great river rises, to Iskardo and to the -plateau of Deo-tsuh, (at an elevation of 2032 toises, 12993 -English feet) measured by Vigne, follows in the Thibetian -highlands the same north-westerly direction as the Himalaya. -Here is the summit of the Djawahir, long since well -measured and known to be 4027 toises (25750 English -feet) in elevation, and the valley of Kashmeer, where at an -elevation of only 836 toises, (5346 English feet), the Wulur -Lake freezes every winter, and, from the perpetual calm, no -wave ever curls its surface.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_94">[94]</span>Having thus described the four great mountain systems -of Asia, which in their normal geognostic character are -chains coinciding with parallels of latitude, I have next to -speak of the series of elevations coinciding nearly with meridians, -(or more precisely, having a SSE.-NNW. direction), -which, from Cape Comorin opposite to the Island of Ceylon -to the Icy Sea, alternate between the meridians of 66° and -77° E. long. from Greenwich. To this system, of which -the alternations remind us of <i>faults in veins</i>, belong the -Ghauts, the Soliman chain, the Paralasa, the Bolor, and the -Ural. The interruptions of the series of elevations are so -arranged that, beside their alternate position in respect to -longitude, each new chain begins in a degree of latitude to -which the preceding chain had not quite reached. The importance -which the Greeks (although probably not before -the second century) attached to these chains induced Agathodemon -and Ptolemy (Tab. vii. and viii.) to represent to -themselves the Bolor, under the name of Imaus, as an axis -of elevation extending as far as 62° N. lat. into the low -basin of the Lower Irtisch and the Obi. (Asie Centrale, -T. i. p. 138, 154, and 198; T. ii. p. 367.)</p> - -<p>As the perpendicular elevation of mountain summits -above the level of the sea (unimportant as in the eyes of the -geologist the circumstance of the greater or lesser corrugation -of the crust of the earth may be), is still, like all that is -difficult of attainment, an object of popular curiosity, the -following historical notice of the gradual progress of hypsometric -knowledge may here find a suitable place. When I -returned to Europe in 1804 after a four years’ absence, not -a single Asiatic snowy summit either in the Himalaya, the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_95">[95]</span> -Hindu-Coosh, or the Caucasus, had been measured with any -exactness; and I could not therefore compare my determinations -of the height of perpetual snow in the Cordilleras of -Quito, or the mountains of Mexico, with any corresponding -determinations in the East. The important journey of -Turner, Davis, and Saunders, to the highlands of Thibet, -does indeed belong to the year 1783, but Colebrooke justly -remarks, that the elevation given by Turner to the Schamalari -(lat. 28° 57′, long. 89° 30′, a little to the north of Tassisudan) -rests on foundations as slight as those of the so-called -measurements of the heights seen from Patna and the -Kafiristan by Colonel Crawford and Lieutenant Macartney. -(Compare Turner, in the Asiatic Researches, vol. xii. p. 234, -with Elphinstone’s Account of the Kingdom of Caubul, -1815, p. 95, and Francis Hamilton, Account of Nepal, -1819, p. 92.) The excellent observations and writings of -Webb, Hodgson, Herbert, and the brothers Gerard, have -thrown great and certain light on the elevation of the colossal -summits of the Himalaya; yet, in 1808, the hypsometric -knowledge of this great Indian chain was still so -uncertain that Webb wrote to Colebrooke: “The height of -the Himalaya still remains a problem. I find, indeed, that -the summits visible from the high plain of Rohilcund are -21000 English feet above that plain, but we do not know -the absolute height above the sea.”</p> - -<p>It was not until the beginning of the year 1820 that it -began to be reported in Europe, that not only were there in -the Himalaya, summits much higher than those of the -Cordilleras, but also that Webb had seen in the Pass of Niti,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_96">[96]</span> -and Moorcroft in the Thibetian plateau of Daba and the -Sacred Lakes, fine pastures and flourishing fields of corn, at -altitudes far exceeding the height of Mont Blanc. These -accounts were received in England with much incredulity, -and were met by doubts respecting the influence of refraction. -I have shown the groundlessness of these doubts in -two memoirs (Sur les Montagnes de l’Inde), printed in the -Annales de Chimie et de Physique. The Tyrolese jesuit, P. -Tiefenthaler, who in 1766 penetrated into the provinces of -Kemaun and Nepal, had already divined the importance of -the Dhawalagiri. We read on his map, “Montes Albi, -qui Indis Dolaghir, nive obsiti.” Captain Webb always uses -the same name. Until the measurements of the Djawahir -(lat. 30° 22′, long. 79° 58′, altitude 4027 toises, or 25750 -English feet) and of the Dhawalagiri (lat. 28° 40′, long. 83° -21′, altitude 4390? toises, 28072 English feet) were made -known in Europe, the Chimborazo (3350 toises, or 21421 -English feet), according to my trigonometric measurement, -(Recueil d’Observations astronomiques, T. i. p. 73) was still -everywhere regarded as the highest summit on the surface of -the earth. The Himalaya now appeared, according as the -comparison was made with the Djawahir or the Dhawalagiri, -676 toises (4323 English feet), or 1040 toises (6650 -English feet), higher than the Chimborazo. Pentland’s -South American travels, in the years 1827 and 1838, fixed -attention (Annuaire du Bureau des Longitudes, 1830, -p. 320 and 323) on two snowy summits of Upper Peru, -east of the Lake of Titicaca, which were supposed to surpass -the height of the Chimborazo respectively by 598 and 403<span class="pagenum" id="Page_97">[97]</span> -toises, (3824 and 2577 English feet.) I have remarked -above, pp. <a href="#Page_53">53</a>–<a href="#Page_54">54</a>, that the latest calculation of the measurements -of the Sorata and Illimani shews this view to be incorrect. -The Dhawalagiri (on the declivity of which, in the -valley of the Ghandaki, the Salagrana Ammonites, so celebrated -among the Brahmins as symbols of one of the incarnations -of Vishnu, are collected) therefore still shews a -difference between the culminating points of the Old and -the New Continents of more than 6200 Parisian, or 6608 -English feet.</p> - -<p>The question has been raised, whether there may not -exist behind the southernmost more or less perfectly measured -chain, other still greater elevations. Colonel George -Lloyd, who in 1840 edited the important observations -of Captain Alexander Gerard and his brother, entertains an -opinion that in the part of the Himalaya which he calls -somewhat vaguely “the Tartaric chain,” (meaning therefore -in north Thibet towards the Kuen-lün, and perhaps in Kailasa -of the sacred lakes, or beyond Leh) there are summits of -from 29000 to 30000 English feet,—one or two thousand -feet higher therefore than the Dhawalagiri. (Lloyd and -Gerard, Tour in the Himalaya, 1840, vol. i. p. 143 and 312; -Asie Centrale, T. iii. p. 324.) So long as actual measurements -are wanting, one cannot decide respecting such possibilities; -as the indication, from which the natives of Quito, long -before the arrival of Bouguer and La Condamine, recognised -the superior altitude of the Chimborazo (namely, from the -portion of its height above the region of perpetual snow -being greater than in any of the other mountains), might<span class="pagenum" id="Page_98">[98]</span> -prove very deceptive in the temperate zone of Thibet, where -radiation is so active in the table-land, and where the lower -limit of perpetual snow does not form a regular line at an -equal elevation, as it does in the tropics. The greatest -elevation above the level of the sea ever attained by human -beings on the declivity of the Himalaya, is 3035 toises, or -18210 Parisian, or 19409 English feet, reached by Captain -Gerard, with seven barometers, on the mountain of Tarhigang, -a little to the north-west of Schipke. (Colebrooke, in -the Transactions of the Geological Society, vol. vi. p. 411.) -This happens to be exactly the same height as that reached -by myself on the 23rd of June, 1802, and thirty years later -by my friend Boussingault, on the 16th of December, 1831, -on the declivity of the Chimborazo. The unattained summit -of the Tarhigang is, however, 197 toises, or 1260 English -feet, higher than that of the Chimborazo.</p> - -<p>The passes across the Himalaya, leading from Hindostan -into Chinese Tartary, or rather into Western Thibet, more -particularly between the rivers of Buspa and Schipke or -Langzing Khampa, are from 2400 to 2900 toises, or 15346 -to 18544 English feet. In the chain of the Andes I found -the pass of Assuay, between Quito and Cuenca on the -Ladera de Cadlud, having a similar elevation, being 2428 -toises, or 15526 English feet, high. A great part of the -mountain plains of the interior of Asia would be buried -throughout the year in perpetual snow and ice, if it were -not, that by the great radiation of heat from the Thibetian -plateau, by the constant serenity of the sky, by the rarity of -the formation of snow in the dry atmosphere, and by the powerful<span class="pagenum" id="Page_99">[99]</span> -solar heat peculiar to the eastern continental climate, the -limit of perpetual snow is wonderfully raised on the northern -slope of the Himalaya,—perhaps to 2600 toises, or 16625 -English feet above the level of the sea. Fields of barley -(Hordeum hexastichon) are seen in Kunawur up to 2300 -toises, or 14707 English feet; and another variety of barley -called Ooa, and allied to Hordeum cœleste, even much higher. -Wheat succeeds extremely well in the Thibetian highlands -up to 1880 toises, or 12022 English feet. On the northern -declivity of the Himalaya, Captain Gerard found the upper -limit of the higher birch woods ascend to 2200 toises, 14068 -English feet; and small bushes which serve the inhabitants -for fuel to warm their huts, attain, in the latitude of -30¾° and 31° of north latitude, a height of 2650 toises -(16945 English feet), or almost 200 toises (1279 English -feet) higher than the limit of perpetual snow under the -equator. From the data hitherto collected it would follow, -that we may take the lower limit of perpetual snow on the -northern side of the Himalaya, on the average, and in round -numbers, at 2600 toises, or about 16600 English feet; -whilst on the southern declivity of the Himalaya the snow-line -sinks to 2030 toises, or about 13000 English feet.</p> - -<p>But for this remarkable distribution of temperature in the -upper strata of the atmosphere, the mountain plain of -Western Thibet would be uninhabitable to the millions who -dwell there. (Compare my Examination of the Limit of -Perpetual Snow on the two declivities of the Himalaya, in -the Asie Centrale, T. ii. p. 435–437; T. iii. p. 281–326,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_100">[100]</span> -and in Kosmos, Engl. ed. vol. i. note 403; S. 483 of the -original.)</p> - -<p>A letter which I have just received from India from Dr. -Joseph Hooker, who is engaged in meteorological and -geological researches, as well as those connected with the -geography of plants, says: “Mr. Hodgson, who we regard -here as the geographer best acquainted with the hypsometric -relations of the snow ranges, completely recognises the -correctness of your statement in the third part of the -Asie Centrale, respecting the reason of the inequality in the -height of the limit of perpetual snow on the northern and -southern declivities of the Himalaya. In the ‘trans Sutlej -region’ in 36° lat. we often saw the snow limit only commence -at an altitude of 20000 English feet, while in the -passes south of the Brahmaputra, between Assam and Burman, -in 27° lat., where the most southern Asiatic snowy -mountains are situated, the limit of perpetual snow sinks -to 15000 English feet.” I believe we ought to distinguish -between the extreme and the mean heights, but in both we -see manifested in the clearest manner the formerly contested -differences between the Thibetian and the Indian declivities.</p> - -<table class="autotable" summary=""> -<tr> -<th colspan="3">My statements respecting the mean height of the Snow-line in the Himalaya. (Asie Centrale, tom. iii. p. 326.)</th> -<th colspan="3">Extremes according to Dr. Joseph Hooker’s letter.</th> -</tr> -<tr> -<th></th> -<th>Paris feet. </th> -<th> Eng. feet.</th> -<th></th> -<th> Paris feet. </th> -<th> Eng. feet.</th> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Northern declivity </td> -<td class="tdc">15600 </td> -<td class="tdc">16626</td> -<td class="tdl">Northern declivity </td> -<td class="tdc">18764 </td> -<td class="tdc">20000</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Southern „ </td> -<td class="tdc">12180 </td> -<td class="tdc">12981</td> -<td class="tdl">Southern „ </td> -<td class="tdc">14073 </td> -<td class="tdc">15000</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdc">Difference </td> -<td class="tdc total">3420 </td> -<td class="tdc total">3645</td> -<td class="tdc">Difference </td> -<td class="tdc total">4691 </td> -<td class="tdc total">5000</td> -</tr> -</table> - -<p>The local differences vary still more, as may be seen from<span class="pagenum" id="Page_101">[101]</span> -the list of extremes given in my Asie Centrale, T. iii. p. -295. Alexander Gerard saw the snow limit ascend, on the -Thibetian declivity of the Himalaya, to 19200 Parisian feet -(20465 English); and on the southern Indian declivity, -Jacquemont once saw it, north of Cursali on the Jumnotri, -even as low as 10800 Parisian (11,510 English) feet.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_11" href="#FNanchor_11" class="label">[11]</a> p. 6.—“<i>A brown Pastoral Race, the Hiongnu.</i>”</p> - -<p>The Hiongnu (Hiong-nou), who Deguignes, and with -him many historians, long considered to be the Huns, -inhabited that vast region of Tartary which is bounded on -the east by Uo-leang-ho (the present Mantschu dominion), -on the south by the Chinese wall, on the west by the -U-siün territory, and on the north by the country of the -Eleuthes. But the Hiongnu belong to the Turkish, and -the Huns to the Finnish or Uralian race. The <i>northern</i> -Huns, a rude pastoral people, unacquainted with agriculture, -were dark brown (sunburnt); the southern Huns or Haja-telah, -(called by the Byzantines Euthalites or Nepthalites, -and dwelling along the eastern shore of the Caspian), had a -fairer complexion. The latter cultivated the ground, and -possessed towns. They are often called the white, or fair -Huns, and d’Herbelot even declares them to be Indo-Scythians. -On Punu, the Leader or Tanju of the Huns, -and on the great drought and famine which, about 46 <span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span>, -caused a part of the nation to migrate northwards, (see -Deguignes, Histoire gén. des Huns, des Turcs, &c., 1756, -T. i. pt. i. p. 217; pt. ii. p. 111, 125, 223, 447.) All the -accounts of the Huns taken from the above-mentioned<span class="pagenum" id="Page_102">[102]</span> -celebrated work have been subjected to a learned and strict -examination by Klaproth. According to the result of this -research the Hiongnu belong to the widely diffused Turkish -races of the Altai and Tangnu Mountains. The name -Hiongnu, even in the third century before the Christian era, -was a general name for the Ti, Thu-kiu or Turks, in the -north and north-west of China. The southern Hiongnu overcame -the Chinese, and in conjunction with them destroyed -the empire of the northern Hiongnu. These latter fled to -the west, and this flight seems to have given the first -impulse to the migration of nations in Middle Asia. The -Huns, who were long confounded with the Hiongnu, (as the -Uigures with the Ugures and the Hungarians), belonged, according -to Klaproth, to the Finnish race of the Ural mountains -between Europe and Asia, a race which was variously -mingled with Germans, Turks, and Samoieds. (Klaproth, Asia -Polyglotta, p. 183 and 211; Tableaux Historiques de l’Asie, -p. 102 and 109.) The Huns (<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc">Οὖννοι</span>) are first named by Dionysius -Perigetes, a writer who was able to obtain more accurate -information respecting the interior of Asia, because, as a -learned man born at Charax on the Arabian Gulf, Augustus -had sent him back to the East to accompany thither his -adopted son Caius Agrippa. Ptolemy, a century later, -writes the word (<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc">Χοῦνοι</span>) with a strong aspiration, which, as -St. Martin observes, is found again in the geographical -name of Chunigard.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_12" href="#FNanchor_12" class="label">[12]</a> p. 7.—“<i>No carved Stone.</i>”</p> - -<p>On the banks of the Orinoco near Caicara where the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_103">[103]</span> -forest region joins the plain, we have indeed found representations -of the sun, and figures of animals, cut on -the rocks: but in the Llanos themselves no traces of these -rude memorials of earlier inhabitants have been discovered. -It is to be regretted that we have not received any more -complete and certain information respecting a monument -which was sent to France to Count Maurepas, and which, -according to Kalm, had been found by M. de Verandrier in -the Prairies of Canada 900 miles west of Montreal, in the -course of an expedition intended to reach the Pacific. -(Kalm’s Reise, Th. iii. S. 416.) This traveller found in the -middle of the plain enormous masses of stone, placed in an -upright position by the hand of man, and on one of them -was something which was taken to be a Tartar inscription. -(Archæologia: or Miscellaneous Tracts, published by the -Society of Antiquaries of London, vol. viii., 1787, p. 304.) -How is it that so important a monument has remained -unexamined? Can it really have contained alphabetical -writing? or is it not far more probably a pictorial history, -like the supposed Phœnician inscription on the bank of the -Taunton River? I consider it, however, very probable -that these plains were once traversed by civilised nations: -pyramidal sepulchral mounds, and entrenchments of extraordinary -length, found in various places between the Rocky -Mountains and the Alleghanies, and on which Squier and -Davis (in the “Ancient Monuments of the Mississipi -Valley”) are now throwing a new light, appear to confirm this -supposition. (Relation Hist., T. iii. p. 155.) Verandrier had -been sent on his expedition by the Chevalier de Beauharnois,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_104">[104]</span> -the French Governor-general of Canada, in 1746. Several -Jesuits in the city of Quebec assured Kalm that they had -themselves had the supposed inscription in their hands: it -was engraved upon a small tablet which had been let into a -pillar of cut stone, in which position it was found. I have -asked several of my friends in France to search out this -monument, in case it should really be in existence in the -collection of Count Maurepas, but without success. I -find older, but equally doubtful, statements as to the -existence of alphabetical inscriptions belonging to the primitive -nations of America, in Pedro de Cieça de Leon, -Chronica del Peru, P. i. cap. 87 (losa con letras en los -edificios de Vinaque); in Garcia, Origen de los Indios, -1607, lib. iii. cap. 5, p. 258; and in Columbus’s Journal -of his first voyage, in Navarrete, Viages de los Espanoles, -T. i. p. 67. M. de Verandrier moreover affirmed, (and -earlier travellers had also thought they had observed -the same thing), that in the prairies of Western Canada, -throughout entire days’ journeys, traces of the ploughshare -were discoverable; but the total ignorance of the primitive -nations of America with regard to this agricultural implement, -the want of draft cattle, and the great extent of -ground over which the supposed furrows are found,—all -lead me to conjecture that this singular appearance of a -ploughed field has been produced by some effect of water -on the surface of the earth.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_13" href="#FNanchor_13" class="label">[13]</a> p. 7.—“<i>Like an arm of the Sea.</i>”</p> - -<p>The great Steppe, which extends from east to west from<span class="pagenum" id="Page_105">[105]</span> -the mouth of the Orinoco to the snowy mountains of -Merida, turns to the south in the 8th degree of latitude, -filling the space between the eastern declivity of the high -mountains of New Granada, and the Orinoco, the course -of which is, in this part, from south to north. This latter -portion of the Llanos, which is watered by the Meta, the -Vichada, the Zama, and the Guaviare, connects the valley -of the Amazons with the valley of the Lower Orinoco. -The word Paramo, which I often employ in these pages, -signifies in Spanish America all those mountainous regions -which are elevated from 1800 to 2200 toises above the -level of the sea (11500 to 14000 English feet in round numbers), -and in which an ungenial, rough, and misty climate -prevails. Hail and snow fall daily for several hours in the -upper Paramos, and furnish a beneficial supply of moisture -to the alpine plants; a supply not arising from a large -absolute quantity of aqueous vapour in these high regions, -but from the frequency of showers, (hail and snow being so -termed as well as rain), produced by the rapidly changing -currents of air, and the variations of the electric tension. -The arborescent vegetation of these regions is low and -spreading, consisting chiefly of large flowering laurels and -myrtle-leaved alpine shrubs, whose knotty branches are -adorned with fresh and evergreen foliage. Escallonia tubar, -Escallonia myrtilloides, Chuquiragua insignis, Aralias, Weinmannias, -Frezieras, Gualtherias, and Andromeda reticulata, -may be regarded as representatives of the physiognomy of -this vegetation. To the south of the town of Santa Fé de -Bogota is the Paramo de la Suma Paz; a lonely mountain<span class="pagenum" id="Page_106">[106]</span> -group, in which, according to Indian tradition, vast -treasures are buried. The torrent which flows under -the remarkable natural bridge of the rocky ravine of -Icononzo rises in this Paramo. In my Latin memoir -entitled “De distributione geographica Plantarum secundem -cœli temperiem et altitudinem montium, 1817,” -I have sought to characterise those mountain regions: -“Altitudine 1700–1900 hexapod. Asperrimæ solitudines, -quæ a colonis hispanis uno nomine Paramos appellantur, -tempestatum vicissitudinibus mire obnoxiæ, ad quas -solutæ et emollitæ defluunt nives; ventorum flatibus ac -nimborum grandinisque jactu tumultuosa regio, quæ æque -per diem et per noctes riget, solis nubila et tristi luce fere -nunquam calefacta. Habitantur in hac ipsa altitudine sat -magnæ civitates, ut Micuipampa Peruvianorum, ubi thermometrum -centes. meridie inter 5° et 8°, noctu—0°.4 consistere -vidi; Huancavelica, propter cinnabaris venas celebrata, -ubi altitudine 1835 hexap. fere totum per annum temperies -mensis Martii Parisiis.” (Humboldt de distrib. geogr. -Plant, p. 104.)</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_14" href="#FNanchor_14" class="label">[14]</a> p. 8.—“<i>The Andes and the eastern mountains -send forth detached spurs which advance towards -each other.</i>”</p> - -<p>The vast region situated between the eastern coast of -South America and the eastern declivity of the Andes is -narrowed by two mountain masses, which partially divide -from each other the three valleys or plains of the Lower -Orinoco, of the Amazons, and of the River Plate. The<span class="pagenum" id="Page_107">[107]</span> -most northern mountains, called the group of the Parime, -are opposite to the Andes of Cundinamarca which project -far to the east, and assume in the 66th and 68th degrees of -longitude the form of high mountains, connected by the -narrow ridge of Pacaraima with the granite hills of French -Guiana. On the map of Columbia constructed by me from -my own astronomical observations, this connection is clearly -marked. The Caribs, who penetrated from the missions of -the Caroni to the plains of the Rio Branco, and as far as the -Brazilian boundary, crossed in the journey the ridges of -Pacaraima and Quimiropaca. The second mountain mass, -which divides the valley of the Amazons from the River -Plate, is the Brazilian group. In the province of Chiquitos -(west of the Parecis range of hills), it approaches the promontory -of Santa Cruz de la Sierra. As neither the -group of the Parime which causes the great cataracts -of the Orinoco, nor the Brazilian group of mountains, are -absolutely connected with the Andes, the plains of Venezuela -have a direct connection with those of Patagonia. -(See my geognostical view of South America, in Relat. -Hist. T. iii. p. 188–244.)</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_15" href="#FNanchor_15" class="label">[15]</a> p. 8.—“<i>Troops of dogs.</i>”</p> - -<p>European dogs have become wild in the grassy plains or -Pampas of Buenos Ayres. They live in society, and in -hollows in which they hide their young. If the society -becomes too numerous, some families detach themselves and -form new colonies. The European dog, which has become -wild, barks as loud as the original American hairy race.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_108">[108]</span> -Garcilaso relates, that before the arrival of the Spaniards the -Peruvians had dogs, “perros gozques.” He calls the -native dog, Allco: it is called at present in the Quichua -language, to distinguish him from the European dog, -“Runa-allco,” “Indian dog” (dog of the inhabitants of -the country). The hairy Runa-allco seems to be a mere -variety of the shepherd’s dog. He is small, with long hair, -(usually of an ochry yellow, with white and brown spots,) -and with upright sharp-pointed ears. He barks a great -deal, but seldom bites the natives, however disposed to -be mischievous to the whites. When the Inca Pachacutec, -in his religious wars with the Indians of Xauxa and -Huanca (the present valley of Huancaya and Jauja), conquered -them, and converted them forcibly to the worship of -the sun, he found them paying divine honours to dogs. -Priests blew on the skulls of dogs, and the worshippers -ate their flesh. (Garcilaso de la Vega, Commentarios -Reales, P. i. p. 184.) This veneration of dogs in the -valley of Huancaya is probably the reason why skulls and -even entire mummies of dogs have been found in the -Huacas, or Peruvian graves belonging to the earliest epoch. -Von Tschudi, the author of an excellent Fauna Peruviana, -has examined these skulls, and believes them to belong to a -peculiar species of dog which he calls Canis ingæ, and which -is different from the European dog. The Huancas are still -called derisively by the inhabitants of other provinces, “dog-eaters.” -Among the natives of the Rocky Mountains, -cooked dog’s flesh is set before strangers as a feast of honour. -Near Fort Laramie, (one of the stations of the Hudson’s<span class="pagenum" id="Page_109">[109]</span> -Bay Company for the fur trade with the Sioux Indians), -Captain Frémont attended a feast of this description. (Frémont’s -Exploring Expedition, 1845, p. 42.)</p> - -<p>The Peruvian dogs had a singular part to play in eclipses -of the moon: they were beaten until the eclipse was over. -The Mexican Techichi, a variety of the common dog, which -latter was called in Anahuac Chichi, was completely dumb. -Techichi signifies literally stone-dog, from the Aztec, Tetl, a -stone. The Techichi was eaten according to the old Chinese -fashion. The Spaniards found this food, before the introduction -of European cattle, so indispensable, that almost the -whole race was gradually extirpated. (Clavigero, Storia antica -del Messico, 1780, T. i. p. 73.) Buffon confounds the -Techichi with the Koupara of Guiana. (T. xv. p. 155.) -The latter is identical with the Procyon or Ursus cancrivorus, -the Raton crabier, or crab-eating Aquaraguaza -of the Patagonian coast. (Azara sur les quadrupèdes -du Paraguay, T. i. p. 315.) Linnæus, on the other hand, -confounds the dumb variety of dogs with the Mexican -Itzcuintepotzotli, a kind of dog still only imperfectly described, -said to be distinguished by a short tail, a very -small head, and a large hump on the back. The name -signifies humped-dog, and is formed from the Aztec, -itzcuintli (another word for dog), and tepotzotli, humped, a -humpback. I was particularly struck in America, and -especially in Quito and generally in Peru, with the great -number of black dogs without hair, called by Buffon -“chiens turcs” (Canis ægyptius, Linn.) Even among the -Indians this variety is common, but it is generally despised<span class="pagenum" id="Page_110">[110]</span> -and ill-treated. All European breeds of dogs perpetuate -themselves very well in South America, and if the dogs there -are not so handsome as those in Europe, the reason is partly -want of care, and partly that the handsomest varieties (such -as fine greyhounds and the Danish spotted breed) have never -been introduced there.</p> - -<p>Herr von Tschudi makes the singular remark, that -in the Cordilleras, at elevations of 13000 feet, tender -races of dogs and the European domestic cat are exposed -to a particular kind of mortal disease. “Innumerable -attempts have been made to keep cats as domestic animals -in the town of the Cerro de Pasco, 13228 French (or -14100 English) feet above the level of the sea, but such -attempts have failed, both cats and dogs dying at the end of -a few days in fits, in which the cats were taken at first with -convulsive movements, then tried to climb the walls, fell -back exhausted and motionless, and died. In Yauli I had -several opportunities of observing this chorea-like disease; -it seems to be a consequence of the absence of sufficient -atmospheric pressure.” In the Spanish colonies, the hairless -dog was looked upon as of Chinese origin, and called -Perro Chinesco, or Chino. The race was supposed to have -come from Canton or from Manila: according to Klaproth, -it has certainly been extremely common in China since very -early times. Among the animals indigenous to Mexico -there was an entirely hairless, dog-like, but very large wolf, -called Xoloitzcuintli (from the Mexican xolo or xolotl, -servant or slave). On American dogs, see Smith Barton’s -Fragments of the Natural History of Pennsylvania, P. i. p. 34.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_111">[111]</span>The result of Tschudi’s researches on the American indigenous -races of dogs is the following. There are two kinds -almost specifically different: 1. The Canis caraibicus of -Lesson, quite without hair, except a small bunch of white -hair on the forehead and at the point of the tail, of a slate -grey colour, and silent; it was found by Columbus in the -Antilles, by Cortes in Mexico, and by Pizarro in Peru, -where it suffers from the cold of the Cordilleras, but is still -abundant in the warmer parts of the country, under the -name of perros chinos. 2. The Canis ingæ, with pointed -nose and pointed ears; this kind barks: it is now employed -in the care of cattle, and shews many varieties of colours, -from being crossed with European breeds. The Canis -ingæ follows man to the high regions of the Cordilleras. -In ancient Peruvian graves his skeleton is sometimes found -resting at the feet of the human mummy. We know how -often the carvers of monuments in our own middle ages -employed the figure of a dog in this position, as an emblem -of fidelity. (J. J. v. Tschudi, Untersuchungen über die -Fauna Peruana, S. 247–251.) At the very beginning of -the Spanish conquests European dogs became wild in the -islands of San Domingo and Cuba. (Garcilaso, P. i. 1723, -p. 326.) In the prairies between the Meta, the Arauca, and -the Apure, voiceless dogs, (perros mudos,) were eaten in the -16th century. Alonso de Herrara, who, in 1535, undertook -an expedition to the Orinoco, says the natives called them -“Majos” or “Auries.” A well-informed traveller, -Giesecke, found the same non-barking variety of dog in -Greenland. The Esquimaux dogs pass their lives entirely<span class="pagenum" id="Page_112">[112]</span> -in the open air; at night they scrape holes for themselves -in the snow; they howl like wolves, in accompaniment with -a dog that sits in the middle of the circle and sets them off. -In Mexico the dogs were subjected to an operation to make -them fatter and better eating. On the borders of the -province of Durango, and farther to the north on the slave -lake, the natives, formerly at least, conveyed their tents of -buffalo skins on the backs of large dogs when changing -their place of residence with the change of season. All -these traits resemble the customs of the inhabitants of -eastern Asia. (Humboldt, Essai polit. T. ii. p. 448; Relation -hist. T. ii. p. 625.)</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_16" href="#FNanchor_16" class="label">[16]</a> p. 8.—“<i>Like the greater part of the Desert of -Sahara, the Llanos are in the torrid zone.</i>”</p> - -<p>Significant denominations,—particularly such as refer to -the form in relief of the earth’s surface, and which have -arisen at a period when there was only very uncertain -information respecting the countries in question and their -hypsometric relations,—have led to various and long-continued -geographical errors. The ancient denomination -of the “Greater and Lesser Atlas” (Ptol. Geogr. lib. iii. -cap. 1) has exercised the prejudicial influence here alluded to. -No doubt the snow-covered western summits of the Atlas -in the territory of Morocco may be regarded as the Great -Atlas of Ptolemy; but where is the limit of the Little Atlas? -Is the division into two Atlas chains, which the conservative -tendencies of geographers have preserved for 1700 years, -to be still maintained in the territory of Algiers, and even -between Tunis and Tlemse? Are we to seek between the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_113">[113]</span> -coast and the interior for parallel chains constituting a -greater and a lesser Atlas? All travellers familiar with -geognostical views, who have visited Algeria since it has -been taken possession of by the French, contest the meaning -conveyed by the generally received nomenclature. Among -the parallel chains, that of Jurjura is generally supposed -to be the highest of those which have been measured; -but the well-informed Fournel, (long Ingenieur en chef des -Mines de l’Algérie), affirms that the mountains of Aurès, -near Batnah, which were still found covered with snow at -the end of March, are higher. Fournel denies the -existence of a Little and a Great Atlas, as I do that of a -Little and a Great Altai (Asie Centrale, T. i. p. 247–252). -There is only one Atlas, formerly called Dyris by the Mauritanians, -and this name is to be applied to the “foldings,” -(“rides”) or succession of crests which form the division -between the waters flowing to the Mediterranean, and those -which flow towards the Sahara lowland. The strike or -direction of the Eastern Mauritanian portion of the Atlas -is from east to west; that of the elevated Atlas of Morocco -from north-east to south-west. The latter rises into summits -which, according to Renou, (Exploration Scientifique de -l’Algérie de 1840 à 1842, publiée par ordre du Gouvernement, -Sciences Hist. et Geogr. T. viii. 1846, p. 364 and 373), -attain an elevation of 10,700 Fr. (11400 Eng.) feet; -exceeding, therefore, the height of Etna. A singularly -formed highland of an almost square shape, (Sahab el -Marga), bounded on the south by higher elevations, is -situated in 33° lat. From thence towards the sea to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_114">[114]</span> -the west, about a degree south of Mogador, the Atlas -declines in height: this south-westernmost part bears the -name of Idrar-N-Deren.</p> - -<p>The northern Mauritanian boundaries of the widely -extended low region of the Sahara, as well as its southern -limits towards the fertile Soudan, are still but little known. -If we take on a mean estimation the parallels of 16½° and -32½° as the outside limits, we obtain for the Desert, -including its Oases, an area of more than 118500 square -German geographical miles; or between nine and ten times -the area of Germany, and almost three times that of the -Mediterranean exclusive of the Black Sea. From the -best and most recent intelligence, for which we are indebted -to the French Colonel Daumas and MM. Fournel, Renou, -and Carette, we learn that the desert of Sahara is composed -of several detached basins, and that the number and the -population of the fertile Oases is very much greater than had -been imagined from the awfully desert character of the -route between Insalah and Timbuctoo, and that from -Mourzouk in Fezzan, to Bilma, Tirtuma, and Lake -Tschad. It is now generally affirmed that the sand covers -only the smaller portion of the great lowland. A similar -opinion had been previously propounded by the acutely -observant Ehrenberg, my Siberian travelling companion, -from what he had himself seen (Exploration Scientifique de -l’Algérie, Hist. et Geogr. T. ii. p. 332). Of larger wild -animals, only gazelles, wild asses, and ostriches are to be -met with. “Le lion du désert,” says M. Carette, (Explor. -de l’Alg. T. ii. p. 126–129; T. vii. p. 94 and 97), “est -un mythe popularisé par les artistes et les poètes. Il<span class="pagenum" id="Page_115">[115]</span> -n’existe que dans leur imagination. Cet animal ne sort -pas de sa montagne où il trouve de quoi se loger, s’abreuver -et se nourrir. Quand on parle aux habitans du désert de -ces bêtes féroces que les Européens leur donnent pour -compagnons, ils repondent avec un imperturbable sang -froid, il y a donc chez vous des lions qui boivent de l’air -et broutent des feuilles? Chez nous il faut aux lions de -l’eau courante et de la chair vive. Aussi des lions ne -paraissent dans le Zahara que là où il y a des collines -boisées et de l’eau. Nous ne craignons que la vipère -(lefa) et d’innombrables essaims de moustiques, ces derniers -là où il y a quelque humidité.”</p> - -<p>Whereas Dr. Oudney, in the course of the long journey -from Tripoli to Lake Tschad, estimated the elevation of the -southern Sahara at 1637 English feet, to which German -geographers have even ventured to add an additional -thousand feet, the Ingenieur Fournel has, by careful -barometric measurements based on corresponding observations, -made it tolerably probable that a part of the northern -desert is below the level of the sea. That portion of the -desert which is now called “le Zahara d’Algérie” advances -to the chains of hills of Metlili and el-Gaous, where the -northernmost of all the Oases,—that of el-Kantara, fruitful -in dates,—is situated. This low basin, which touches the -parallel of 34° lat., receives the radiant heat of a stratum -of chalk, (full of the shells of Inoceramus), inclined at an -angle of 65° towards the south (Fournel sur les Gisemens -de Muriate de Soude en Algérie, p. 6 in the Annales des -Mines, 4me Série, T. ix., 1846, p. 546). “Arrivés a -Biscara,” (Biskra), says Fournel, “un horizon indéfini<span class="pagenum" id="Page_116">[116]</span> -comme celui de la mer se déroulait devant nous.” Between -Biscara and Sidi Ocba the ground is only 228 (243 Eng.) -feet above the level of the sea. The inclination increases -considerably towards the south. In another work, (Asie -Centrale, T. ii. p. 320), where I have brought together -everything relating to the depression of some portions of -continents below the level of the sea, I have already noticed -that according to Le Père the “bitter lakes” on the -isthmus of Suez, when they have a little water,—and, -according to General Andréossy, the Natron lakes of -Fayoum,—are also lower than the level of the Mediterranean.</p> - -<p>Among other manuscript notices of M. Fournel, I -possess a vertical geological profile, which gives all the -inflexions and inclinations of the strata, representing a -section of the surface the whole way from Philippeville on -the coast to the Desert of Sahara, at a spot not far from -the Oasis of Biscara. The direction of the line on which -the barometric measurements were taken is south 20° west; -but the elevations determined are projected, as in my Mexican -profiles, on a different plane,—a north-south one. Ascending -uninterruptedly from Constantine, at an elevation of -332 toises (2122 Eng. feet), the culminating point is found -between Batnah and Tizur, at an elevation of only 560 -toises (3580 Eng. feet). In the part of the desert situated -between Biscara and Tuggurt, Fournel has had a series of -Artesian wells dug with success (Comptes Rendus de l’Acad. -des Sciences, t. xx. 1845, p. 170, 882, and 1305). We -learn from the old accounts of Shaw, that the inhabitants of -the country knew of a subterranean supply of water, and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_117">[117]</span> -relate fabulous tales of a “sea under the earth (bahr tôht -el-erd).” Fresh waters flowing between clay and marl strata -of the old cretaceous and other sedimentary deposits, under -the action of hydrostatic pressure form gushing fountains -when the strata are pierced (Shaw, Voyages dans plusieurs -parties de la Berbérie, t. i. p. 169; Rennell, Africa, Append. -p. lxxxv). That fresh water in this part of the world -should often be found near beds of rock salt, need not -surprise geologists acquainted with mines, since Europe -offers many analogous phenomena.</p> - -<p>The riches of the desert in rock-salt, and the fact of -rock-salt having been used in building, have been known -since the time of Herodotus. The salt zone of the Sahara -(zone salifère du désert), is the southernmost of three zones, -stretching across Northern Africa from south-west to north-east, -and believed to be connected with the beds or deposits -of rock-salt of Sicily and Palestine, described by Friedrich -Hoffman and by Robinson. (Fournel, sur les Gisements de -Muriate de Soude en Algérie, p. 28–41; Karsten über das -Vorkommen des Kochsalzes auf der Oberfläche der Erde, -1846, S. 497, 648, and 741.) The trade in salt with -Soudan, and the possibility of cultivating dates in the Oases, -formed by depressions caused probably by falls or subsidences -of the earth in the gypsum beds of the tertiary -cretaceous or keuper promotions, have alike contributed -to enliven the Desert, at least to some extent, by human -intercourse. The high temperature of the air, which -makes the day’s march so oppressive, renders the coldness -of the nights, (of which Denham complained so often in -the African Desert, and Sir Alexander Burnes in the Asiatic),<span class="pagenum" id="Page_118">[118]</span> -so much the more striking. Melloni, (Memoria sull’ abassamento -di temperatura durante le notti placide e serene, -1847, p. 55), ascribes this cold, produced doubtless by the -radiation from the ground, less to the great purity and -serenity of the sky, (irrigiamento calorifico per la grande -serenità di cielo nell’ immensa e deserta pianura dell’ Africa -centrale), than to the profound calm, the nightly absence -of all movement in the atmosphere. (Consult also, respecting -African meteorology, Aimé in the Exploration de -l’Algérie, Physique génerale, T. ii., 1846, p. 147.)</p> - -<p>The southern declivity of the Atlas of Morocco sends to -the Sahara, in lat. 32°, a river, the Quad-Dra (Wady-Dra), -which for the greater part of the year is nearly dry, and -which Renou (Explor. de l’Alg. Hist. et Geogr., T. viii. -p. 65–78) considers to be a sixth longer than the Rhine. It -flows at first from north to south, until, in lat. 29° N. and -long. 5° W., it turns almost at right angles to its former -course, runs to the west, and, after passing through -the great fresh water Lake of Debaid, enters the sea at -Cape Nun, in lat. 28° 46′ N. and long. 11° 08′ W. This -region, which was so celebrated formerly in the history of -the Portuguese discoveries of the 15th century, and was -afterwards wrapped in profound geographical obscurity, is -now called on the coast “the country of the Sheikh Beirouk,” -(a chief independent of the Emperor of Morocco.) -It was explored in the months of July and August 1840, -by Captain Count Bouet-Villaumez of the French Navy, -by order of his government. From the official Reports -and Surveys which have been communicated to me in -manuscript, it appears evident that the mouth of the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_119">[119]</span> -Quad-Dra is at present very much stopped up with sand, -having an open channel of only about 190 English feet wide. -A somewhat more easterly channel in the same mouth is -that of the still very little known Saguiel el-Hamra, which -comes from the south, and is supposed to have a course of -at least 600 geographical miles. One is astonished at the -length of these deep, but commonly dry river beds. They -are ancient furrows, such as I have seen in the Peruvian -desert at the foot of the Cordilleras, between those mountains -and the coast of the Pacific. In Bouet’s manuscript -“Relation de l’Expédition de la Malouine,” the mountains -which rise to the north of Cape Nun are estimated -at the great elevation of 2800 metres (9185 English feet).</p> - -<p>Cape Nun is usually supposed to have been discovered -in 1433, by the Knight Gilianez, acting under the command -of the celebrated Infante Henry Duke of Viseo, and founder -of the Academy of Sagres, which was presided over by -the pilot and cosmographer Mestre Jacomè of Majorca; -but the Portulano Mediceo, the work of a Genoese Navigator -in 1351, already contains the name of Cavo di Non. -The passage round this Cape was then as much dreaded as -that of Cape Horn has since been, although it is 23′ north -of the parallel of Teneriffe, and could be reached in a few -days’ voyage from Cadiz. The Portuguese proverb, “quem -passa o Cabo di Num, ou tornarà ou não,” could not deter -the Infante, whose heraldic French motto, “talent de bien -faire,” expressed his noble, enterprising, and vigorous character. -The name of the Cape, in which a play of words -on the negative particle has long been supposed, does not -appear to me to have had a Portuguese origin. Ptolemy<span class="pagenum" id="Page_120">[120]</span> -placed on the north-west coast of Africa a river Nuius, in -the Latin version Nunii Ostia. Edrisi speaks of a town, -Nul, or Wadi Nun, somewhat more to the south, and three -days’ journey in the interior: Leo Africanus calls it Belad -de Non. Long before the Portuguese squadron of Gilianez, -other European navigators had advanced much beyond, -or to the southward of, this Cape. The Catalan, Don Jayme -Ferrer, in 1346, as we learn from the Atlas Catalan published -by Buchon at Paris, had advanced as far as the Gold -River, (Rio do Ouro), in lat. 23° 56′; and Normans, at the -end of the 14th century, as far as Sierra Leone in lat. -8° 30′. The merit of having been the first to cross the -equator on the western coast of Africa belongs, however, -like that of so many other memorable achievements, to the -Portuguese.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_17" href="#FNanchor_17" class="label">[17]</a> p. 8.—“<i>As a grassy plain, resembling many -of the Steppes of Central Asia.</i>”</p> - -<p>The Llanos of Caraccas and of the Rio Apure and the -Meta, over which roam large herds of cattle, are, in the -strictest sense of the term, “grassy plains.” Their prevalent -vegetation, belonging to the two families of Cyperaceæ -and Gramineæ, consists of various species of Paspalum, -P. leptostachyum and P. lenticulare; of Kyllingia, K. -monocephala (Rottb.), K. odorata; of Panicum, P. granuliferum, -P. micranthum; of Antephora; Aristida; Vilfa; -and Anthistiria, A. reflexa, and A. foliosa. Only here and -there are found, interspersed among the Gramineæ, a few -herbaceous dicotyledonous plants, consisting of two very -low-growing species of Mimosa, (Sensitive Plant), Mimosa<span class="pagenum" id="Page_121">[121]</span> -intermedia, and Mimosa dormiens, which are great favourites -with the wild horses and cattle. The natives give to this -group of plants, which close their delicate feathery leaves -on being touched, the expressive name of Dormideras—sleepy -plants. For many square miles not a tree is seen; -but where solitary trees are found, they are, in moist -places, the Mauritia Palm; in arid districts, a Proteacea, -described by Bonpland and myself, the Rhopala complicata -(Chaparro bobo), which Wildenow regarded as an Embothrium; -also the highly useful Palma de Covija, or de -Sombrero; and our Corypha inermis, an umbrella palm allied -to Chamærops, which is used to cover the roofs of huts. -How far more varied is the aspect of the Asiatic plains! -Throughout a large portion of the Kirghis and Calmuck -Steppes, which I have traversed from the Don, the Caspian, -and the Orenburg Ural river the Jaik, to the Obi and -the Upper Irtysh near Lake Dsaisang, through a space of -40 degrees of longitude, I have never seen, as in the -Llanos, the Pampas, and the Prairies, an horizon like that -of the ocean, where the vault of heaven appears to rest on -the unbroken plain. At the utmost this appearance presented -itself in one direction, or towards one quarter of the -heavens. The Asiatic Steppes are often crossed by ranges -of hills, or clothed with coniferous woods or forests. Even -in the most fruitful pastures the vegetation is by no means -limited to grasses; there is a great variety of herbaceous -plants and shrubs. In spring-time small snow-white and -red-flowering rosaceæ and amygdaleæ (Spiræa, Cratægus, -Prunus spinosa, and Amygdalus nana) present a smiling -aspect. I have already mentioned the tall and luxuriant<span class="pagenum" id="Page_122">[122]</span> -Synantheræ (Saussurea amara, S. salsa, Artemisias, and -Centaureas), and of leguminous plants, species of Astragalus, -Cytisus, and Caragana. Crown Imperials, (Fritillaria -ruthenica, and F. meleagroides), Cypripedias, and tulips, -rejoice the eye by the bright variety of their colours.</p> - -<p>A contrast to the pleasing vegetation of these Asiatic plains -is presented by the desolate salt Steppes, particularly by the -part of the Barabinski Steppe which is at the foot of the -Altai mountains, and by the Steppes between Barnaul and the -Serpent Mountain and the country on the east of the Caspian. -Here Chenopodias, some species of Salsola and Atriplex, Salicornias -and Halimocnemis crassifolia, (each species growing -“socially”), form patches of vegetation on the muddy ground. -See Göbel’s Journey in the Steppes of the South of Russia -(Reise in die Steppe des südlichen Russlands, 1838, Th. ii. -S. 244 and 301). Of the 500 phanerogamous species -which Claus and Göbel collected in the Steppes, the Syrantheræ, -the Chenopodeæ, and the Cruciferæ, were more -numerous than the grasses; the latter being only <sup>1</sup>⁄<sub>11</sub> of the -whole, and the former <sup>1</sup>⁄<sub>7</sub>th and <sup>1</sup>⁄<sub>9</sub>th. In Germany, from the -mixture of hill and plain districts, the Glumaceæ (<i>i. e.</i> the -Gramineæ, Cyperaceæ, and Juncaceæ collectively), form -<sup>1</sup>⁄<sub>7</sub>th; the Synantheræ or Compositæ <sup>1</sup>⁄<sub>8</sub>th; and the Cruciferæ -<sup>1</sup>⁄<sub>18</sub>th of all our German phanerogamia. In the most northern -parts of the flat Siberian lowlands, the fine map of -Admiral Wrangell shews that the extreme northern limit of -tree and shrub vegetation (Coniferæ and Amentaceæ) is, in -the portion towards the Behring’s Straits side, in 67¼° lat.; -and more to the west, towards the banks of the Lena, in -71°, which is the parallel of the north cape of Lapland.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_123">[123]</span> -The plains which border the Icy Sea are the domain of -cryptogamous plants. They are called Tundras (Tuntur in -Finnish): they are swampy districts extending farther than -the eye can reach, partly covered with a thick carpet of -Sphagnum palustre and other mosses, and partly with a dry -snow-white covering of Cenomyce rangiferina (Rein-deer -moss), Stereocaulon paschale, and other lichens. Admiral -Wrangell, in describing his perilous expedition to the new -Siberian islands so rich in fossil wood, says: “These Tundras -accompanied me to the extreme arctic coast. Their -soil has been frozen for thousands of years. In the dreary -uniformity of landscape, the eye of the traveller, surrounded -by rein-deer moss, dwells with pleasure on the smallest patch -of green turf showing itself now and then on a moist -spot.”</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_18" href="#FNanchor_18" class="label">[18]</a> p. 8.—“<i>The causes which lessen both heat and -dryness in the New World.</i>”</p> - -<p>I have tried to bring together in a brief and compendious -manner the various causes which produce greater moisture -and a less degree of heat in America; it will of course be -understood that the question respects the <i>general</i> hygrometric -state of the atmosphere, and the temperature of the New -Continent as a <i>whole</i>. Single districts, such as the island of -Margarita, the Coasts of Cumana and Coro, are as hot and as -dry as any part of Africa. It must also be remarked that -the maximum of heat at certain hours of a summer’s day has -been found, on a series of years, to be almost equal at very -different parts of the earth’s surface, on the Neva, the Senegal, -the Ganges, and the Orinoco; being approximately between<span class="pagenum" id="Page_124">[124]</span> -27° and 32° Reaumur (93° and 104° Fahrenheit), and generally -not higher,—providing the observation be made in the shade, -at a distance from all solid bodies which could radiate heat -to the thermometer, not in an air filled with hot particles -of dust or sand, and not with spirit thermometers, which -absorb the light. It is probably to fine grains of sand -floating in the air, and forming centres of radiant heat, that -we must ascribe the dreadful temperature of 40° to 44°.8 -Reaumur (122° to 133° Fah.) in the shade, to which my -unhappy friend Ritchie, who perished there, and Captain -Lyon, were exposed for weeks in the Oasis of Mourzouk. -The most remarkable instance of very high temperature, -in an air probably free from dust, has been recorded by an -observer who knew well how to place and to correct all his -instruments with the greatest degree of accuracy. Rüppell -found 37°.6 Reaumur, (110°.6 Fahrenheit,) at Ambukol in -Abyssinia, with a clouded sky, strong south-west wind, and -an approaching thunderstorm. The <i>mean</i> annual temperature -of the tropics, or of the proper climate of palms, is, on -land, between 20°.5 and 23°.8 Reaumur (or 78°.2 and -85°.5 Fahrenheit) without any considerable difference -between the observations collected in Senegal, Pondichery, -and Surinam. (Humboldt, Mémoire sur les lignes -isothermes, 1817, p. 54. Asie Centrale, T. iii. Mahlmann, -Table iv.)</p> - -<p>The great coolness, I might almost say cold, which prevails -for a considerable part of the year within the tropics on the -coast of Peru, causing the thermometer to sink to 12° -Reaumur (59° Fahrenheit), is, as I have noticed elsewhere, -by no means to be ascribed to the vicinity of the snow-covered<span class="pagenum" id="Page_125">[125]</span> -Andes, but rather to the fogs (garua) which veil -the solar disk, and to a <i>cold sea current</i> which, commencing -in the antarctic regions and coming from the south-west, -strikes the coast of Chili near Valdivia and Conçeption, and -thence streams rapidly along the coast to the northward, as -far as Cape Pariña. On the coast, near Lima, the temperature -of the Pacific is 12°.5 Reaumur (60°.2 Fahr.), whilst -in the same latitude out of the current it is 21° R. (79°.2 -Fahr.) It is singular that so striking a fact should have -remained unnoticed until my visit to the shores of the -Pacific, in October 1802.</p> - -<p>The variations of temperature of different regions depend -in a great degree on the character of the bottom of the -“aerial ocean,” or on the nature of the floor or base, -whether land or sea, continental or oceanic, on which the -atmosphere rests. Seas, often traversed by currents of -warmer or colder water, (oceanic rivers), have an effect very -different from that of continental masses, whether unbroken -or articulated, or of islands, which latter may be regarded -as shallows in the aerial ocean, and which, notwithstanding -their small dimensions, exert, often to a great distance, a -notable influence on the climate of the sea. In continental -masses we must distinguish between sandy deserts devoid of -vegetation, savannahs or grassy plains, and forest-covered -districts. In Upper Egypt and in South America, Nouet -in the former, and myself in the latter, found respectively -at noon the temperature of the ground composed of granitic -sand 54°.2 and 48°.4 Reaumur (154° and 141° Fahr.) Many -careful observations in Paris have given, according to Arago, -40° and 42° Reaumur, 122° and 126°.5 Fahrenheit. (Asie<span class="pagenum" id="Page_126">[126]</span> -Centrale, T. iii. p. 176.) The Savannahs, which between -the Missouri and the Mississipi are called Prairies, and -which appear in South America as the Llanos of Venezuela -and the Pampas of Buenos Ayres, are covered with small -monocotyledonous plants of the family of Cyperaceæ, and -with grasses of which the thin pointed stalks or ears, and -the delicate lanceolate leaves or blades, radiate towards the -unclouded sky, and possess an extraordinary power of “emission.” -Wells and Daniell (Meteor. Essays, 1827, p. 230 -and 278) have even seen in our latitude, where the atmosphere -has so much less transparency, the thermometer sink -6°.5 or 8° of Reaumur (14°.5 or 18° Fahrenheit), on -being placed on the grass. Melloni, in a memoir, “Sull -abassamento di temperatura durante le notti placide e -serene,” 1847, p. 47 and 53, has shewn how in a calm -state of the atmosphere, which is a necessary condition of -strong radiation and of the formation of dew, the cooling of -the grassy surface is also promoted by the particles of air -which are already cooled sinking to the ground as being the -heaviest. In the vicinity of the equator, under the clouded -sky of the Upper Orinoco, the Rio Negro, and the Amazons -River, the plains are clothed with dense primeval forests; but -to the north and south of this wooded region there extend -from the zone of palms and lofty dicotyledonous trees, in -the northern hemisphere, the Llanos of the Lower Orinoco -the Meta and the Guaviare, and in the southern hemisphere -the Pampas of the Rio de la Plata and of Patagonia. The -space thus occupied by Savannahs or grassy plains in South -America is at least nine times as great as the area of France.</p> - -<p>The wooded region acts in a threefold manner in diminishing<span class="pagenum" id="Page_127">[127]</span> -the temperature by cooling shade, by evaporation, and -by radiation. Forests,—which in our temperate zone -consist of trees living together in “society,” <i>i. e.</i>, many -individuals of one, or of a few kinds, of the families of -Coniferæ or Amentaceæ, oaks, beeches, and birches, but in -the tropics, of an immense variety of trees living separately -or “unsocially,”—protect the ground from the direct rays -of the sun, evaporate fluids elaborated by the trees themselves, -and cool the strata of air in immediate contact with them by -the radiation of heat from their appendicular organs or -leaves. The latter are far from being all parallel with each -other; they are, on the contrary, variously inclined to the -horizon, and, according to the law developed by Leslie and -Fourier, the influence of this inclination upon the quantity -of heat emitted by radiation is such, that the power of -radiation (pouvoir rayonnant) of a measured surface <i>a</i>, -having a given oblique direction, is equal to the “pouvoir -rayonnant” which would belong to a surface of the size -of <i>a</i>, projected on a horizontal plane. Now in the initial -condition of radiation, of all the leaves which form the -summit of a tree and partly cover each other, those are -first cooled which are directed without any intervening -screen towards the unclouded sky. The cooling result -(or the exhaustion of heat by emission) will be the more -considerable the greater the thinness of the leaves. A -second stratum of leaves has its upper surface turned to the -under surface of the first stratum, and will give out more -heat by radiation towards that stratum than it can receive -by radiation from it. The result of this unequal exchange -will thus be a loss of temperature for the second stratum<span class="pagenum" id="Page_128">[128]</span> -of leaves also. A similar operation will continue from -stratum to stratum until all the leaves of the tree, by -greater or less radiation as modified by their diversity of -position, have passed into a state of stable equilibrium of -which the law can be deduced by mathematical analysis. -In this manner, in the long and clear nights of the equinoctial -zone, the forest air contained in the intervals between -the strata of leaves becomes cooled by the process of -radiation; and by reason of the great quantity of its thin -appendicular organs or leaves, a tree, the horizontal section -of whose summit would measure for example 2000 square -feet, would act in diminishing the temperature of the air -equivalently to a space of bare or turf-covered ground -several thousand times greater than 2000 square feet (Asie -Centrale, T. iii. p. 195–205). I have sought thus to -develop in detail the complicated effects which make up the -total action of extensive forests upon the atmosphere, because -they have been so often touched upon in reference to the -important question concerning the climates of ancient -Germany and Gaul.</p> - -<p>As in the old continent European civilization has had -its principal seats on a western coast, it could not but be -early remarked that, under equal degrees of latitude, the -opposite eastern coast of the United States was several -degrees colder in mean annual temperature than Europe, -which is, as it were, a projecting western peninsula to Asia, -as Brittany is to the rest of France. But in this remark -it was forgotten that these differences decrease from the -higher to the lower latitudes in such manner that they -almost entirely disappear from 30° downwards. For the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_129">[129]</span> -west coast of the new continent, exact thermometric observations -are still almost entirely wanting; but the mildness -of the winters in New California shews that the west coasts -of America and Europe, under the same parallels of latitude, -probably differ little from each other in mean annual temperature. -The subjoined table shows what are the corresponding -mean annual temperatures, in the same geographical -latitudes, of the west coast of Europe and the east coast of -the New Continent.</p> - -<table class="autotable" summary="" border="1"> -<tr> -<th rowspan="2">Similar degrees of latitude. </th> -<th rowspan="2">East Coast of America. </th> -<th rowspan="2">West Coast of Europe. </th> -<th colspan="3">Reaumur. </th> -<th colspan="3">Fahrenheit.</th> -</tr> -<tr> -<th colspan="2">Mean temperature of the year, of winter, and of summer. </th> -<th>Differences of annual temperature of East coast of America and West coast of Europe. </th> -<th colspan="2">Mean temperature of the year, of winter, and of summer. </th> -<th>Differences of annual temperature of East coast of America and West coast of Europe.</th> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr" rowspan="3">57° 10′</td> -<td class="tdl" rowspan="3">Nain</td> -<td rowspan="3"></td> -<td class="tdr" rowspan="3">-2°.8 </td> -<td class="tdr">-14°.4</td> -<td class="tdr" rowspan="6">9°.2</td> -<td rowspan="3">25°.8 </td> -<td class="tdr">-0°.5</td> -<td class="tdr" rowspan="6">20°.7</td> -</tr> -<tr> - -<td class="tdc">——</td> - -<td class="tdc">——</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">6°.1</td> -<td class="tdr">45°.8</td> - -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr" rowspan="3">57° 41′</td> -<td rowspan="3"></td> -<td class="tdl" rowspan="3">Gottenburg</td> -<td class="tdr" rowspan="3">6°.4 </td> -<td class="tdr">-0°.2</td> -<td class="tdr" rowspan="3">46°.4 </td> -<td class="tdr">-31°.5</td> -</tr><tr> -<td class="tdc">——</td> -<td class="tdc">——</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">13°.5</td> - -<td class="tdr">62°.4</td></tr> -<tr><td colspan="9"> </td></tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr" rowspan="3">47° 34′</td> -<td class="tdl" rowspan="3">St. John’s</td> -<td rowspan="3"></td> -<td class="tdr" rowspan="3">2°.7 </td> -<td class="tdr">-4°.0</td> -<td class="tdr" rowspan="9">5°.8</td> -<td class="tdr" rowspan="3">38°.0</td> -<td class="tdr">23°.0</td> -<td class="tdr" rowspan="9">13°.0</td></tr> - -<tr> - - -<td class="tdc">——</td> - - -<td class="tdc">——</td> - -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="tdr">9°.8</td> - -<td class="tdr">54°.0</td> - -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="tdr" rowspan="3">47° 30′</td> -<td rowspan="3"></td> -<td class="tdl" rowspan="3">Ofen (or Buda)</td> -<td class="tdr" rowspan="3">8°.2 </td> -<td class="tdr">-0°.4</td> -<td class="tdr" rowspan="3">50°.5 </td> -<td class="tdr">31°.0</td></tr> - -<tr> - -<td class="tdc">——</td> - -<td class="tdc">——</td> -</tr> -<tr> - -<td class="tdr">16°.8</td> - -<td class="tdr">69°.8</td> - -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="tdr" rowspan="3">48° 50′</td> -<td rowspan="3"></td> -<td class="tdl" rowspan="3">Paris</td> -<td class="tdr" rowspan="3">8°.7 </td> -<td class="tdr">2°.6</td> -<td class="tdr" rowspan="3">51°.6 </td> -<td class="tdr">37°.8</td></tr> - -<tr> - -<td class="tdc">——</td> - - -<td class="tdc">——</td> -</tr> -<tr> - -<td class="tdr">14°.5</td> -<td class="tdr">64°.6</td> - -</tr><tr><td colspan="9"> </td></tr> - -<tr> -<td class="tdr" rowspan="3">44° 39′</td> -<td class="tdl" rowspan="3">Halifax</td> -<td rowspan="3"></td> -<td class="tdr" rowspan="3">5°.1 </td> -<td class="tdr">-3°.5</td> -<td class="tdr" rowspan="6">6°.1</td> -<td class="tdr" rowspan="3">43°.5 </td> -<td class="tdr">24°.2</td> -<td class="tdr" rowspan="6">13°.7</td></tr> - -<tr> - -<td class="tdc">——</td> - - -<td class="tdc">——</td> - -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">13°.8</td> - -<td class="tdr">63°.0</td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="tdr" rowspan="3">44° 50′</td> -<td rowspan="3"></td> -<td class="tdl" rowspan="3">Bordeaux</td> -<td class="tdr" rowspan="3">11°.2 </td> -<td class="tdr">4°.8</td> -<td class="tdr" rowspan="3">57°.2 </td> -<td class="tdr">42°.8</td> -</tr> -<tr> - - -<td class="tdc">——</td> - - -<td class="tdc">——</td> - -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">17°.4</td> -<td class="tdr">71°.2</td> -</tr> -<tr><td colspan="9"> </td></tr> - -<tr> -<td class="tdr" rowspan="3">40° 43′</td> -<td class="tdl" rowspan="3">New York</td> -<td rowspan="3"></td> -<td class="tdr" rowspan="3">9°.1 </td> -<td class="tdr">0°.1</td> -<td class="tdr" rowspan="15">3°.4</td> -<td class="tdr" rowspan="3">52°.5 </td> -<td class="tdr">32°.2</td> -<td class="tdr" rowspan="15">8.0</td> -</tr> -<tr> - - -<td class="tdc">——</td> - -<td class="tdc">——</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">18°.2</td> -<td class="tdr">73°.0</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr" rowspan="3">39° 57′</td> -<td class="tdl" rowspan="3">Philadelphia</td> -<td rowspan="3"></td> -<td class="tdr" rowspan="3">9°.0 </td> -<td class="tdr">0°.1</td> -<td class="tdr" rowspan="3">52°.2 </td> -<td class="tdr">32°.2</td> -</tr> -<tr> - -<td class="tdc">——</td> - -<td class="tdc">——</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">18°.1</td> -<td class="tdr">72°.8</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr" rowspan="3">38° 53′</td> -<td class="tdl" rowspan="3">Washington</td> -<td rowspan="3"></td> -<td class="tdr" rowspan="3">10°.2 </td> -<td class="tdr">1°.8</td> -<td class="tdr" rowspan="3">55°.0 </td> -<td class="tdr">36°.0</td> -</tr> -<tr> - -<td class="tdc">——</td> - -<td class="tdc">——</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">17°.4</td> -<td class="tdr">71°.2</td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="tdr" rowspan="3">40° 51′</td> -<td rowspan="3"></td> -<td class="tdl" rowspan="3">Naples</td> -<td class="tdr" rowspan="3">12°.9 </td> -<td class="tdr">7°.8</td> -<td class="tdr" rowspan="3">61°.0 </td> -<td class="tdr">49°.5</td> -</tr><tr> - -<td class="tdc">——</td> - -<td class="tdc">——</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">19°.1</td> -<td class="tdr">75°.0</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr" rowspan="3">38° 52′</td> -<td rowspan="3"></td> -<td class="tdl" rowspan="3">Lisbon</td> -<td class="tdr" rowspan="3">13°.1 </td> -<td class="tdr">9°.0</td> -<td class="tdr" rowspan="3">61°.5 </td> -<td class="tdr">52°.2</td> -</tr> -<tr> - -<td class="tdc">——</td> - -<td class="tdc">——</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">17°.4</td> -<td class="tdr">71°.2</td> -</tr> -<tr><td colspan="9"> </td></tr> - -<tr> -<td class="tdr" rowspan="3">29° 48′</td> -<td class="tdl" rowspan="3">St. Augustin</td> -<td rowspan="3"></td> -<td class="tdr" rowspan="3">17°.9 </td> -<td class="tdr">12°.2</td> -<td class="tdr" rowspan="6">0.2</td> -<td class="tdr" rowspan="3">72°.2 </td> -<td class="tdr">59°.5</td> -<td class="tdr" rowspan="6">0°.4</td> -</tr><tr> - -<td class="tdc">——</td> - -<td class="tdc">——</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">22°.0</td> -<td class="tdr">81°.5</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr" rowspan="3">30° 2′</td> -<td rowspan="3"></td> -<td class="tdl" rowspan="3">Cairo</td> -<td class="tdr" rowspan="3">17°.7 </td> -<td class="tdr">11°.8</td> -<td class="tdr" rowspan="3">71°.8 </td> -<td class="tdr">58°.5</td> -</tr> -<tr> - -<td class="tdc">——</td> - -<td class="tdc">——</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">23°.4</td> -<td class="tdr">84°.7</td> -</tr> -</table> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_131">[131]</span>In the column of temperatures in the preceding table the -first number represents the temperature of the year; that -which stands in place of a numerator the mean winter -temperature; and that which stands in the place of a denominator -the mean summer temperature. Besides the great -difference of mean annual temperature, there is also a -striking difference between the two coasts in respect to the -distribution of that temperature into the different seasons of -the year, and it is this distribution which is most influential -both on our feelings and on the processes of vegetation. Dove -remarks generally, that the summer temperature of America -is lower under equal degrees of latitude than that of Europe: -(Temperatur tafeln nebst Bemerkungen über die Verbreitung -der Wärme auf der Oberfläche der Erde, 1848, S. 95.) -The climate of St. Petersburgh, (or to speak more correctly -the mean annual temperature of that city which is in lat. -59° 56′), is found on the east coast of America in lat. 47½°, -or 12½° more to the south; in like manner we find the -climate of Konigsberg, (lat. 54° 43′), at Halifax, (lat. -44° 39′). The temperature of Toulouse, (lat. 43° 36′) -corresponds to that of Washington (lat. 38° 53′).</p> - -<p>It would be very hazardous to lay down any general -statements respecting the temperature in the territory of -the United States of America, as we must distinguish in -that territory three regions:—1, the Atlantic States east of -the Alleghanies; 2, the Western States in the wide basin -between the Alleghanies and the Rocky Mountains, through -which flow the Mississipi, the Ohio, the Arkansas, and the -Missouri; 3, the high plains between the Rocky Mountains,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_132">[132]</span> -and the Maritime Alps of New California through which -the Oregon or Columbia River finds a passage. Since the -highly honourable establishment, by John Calhoun, of uninterrupted -observations of temperature, made on an uniform -plan at 35 military posts, and reduced to daily, monthly, -and annual means, we have arrived at more just climatic -views than those which were so generally received in the -time of Jefferson, Barton, and Volney. These meteorological -stations or observatories extend from the point of -Florida and Thompson’s Island, (Key West), lat. 24° 33′, -to the Council Bluffs on the Missouri; and if we reckon -amongst them Fort Vancouver, lat. 45° 37′, they include -differences of longitude of 40°.</p> - -<p>It cannot be affirmed that, on the whole, the mean annual -temperature of the second or middle region is higher than -that of the first or Atlantic region. The further advance of -certain plants towards the north, on the west of the Alleghany -mountains, depends partly on the nature of those -plants, and partly on the different distribution of the same -annual quantity of heat. The wide valley of the Mississipi -enjoys at its northern and southern extremities the warming -influence of the Canadian Lakes, and of the Mexican Gulf -stream. The five lakes, (Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, -and Ontario), occupy a space of 92,000 English square miles. -The climate is much milder and more equable in the neighbourhood -of the lakes; for example, at Niagara, (lat. -43° 15′), the mean winter temperature is only half a degree -of Reaumur (1°.2 Fahrenheit) below the freezing point, -while at a distance from the lakes, in lat. 44° 53′, at the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_133">[133]</span> -confluence of the river St. Peter’s with the Mississipi, the -mean winter temperature of Fort Snelling is -7°.2 Reaumur, -or 15°.9 Fahrenheit (see Samuel Forry’s excellent Memoir -on “the Climate of the United States,” 1842, p. 37, 39, -and 102.) At this distance from the Canadian Lakes, -(whose surface is from 500 to 600—530 to 640 English—feet -above the level of the sea, whilst the bottom of the -lakes Michigan and Huron is about five hundred feet below -it), recent observations have shewn the climate of the -country to possess a proper continental character, <i>i. e.</i>, -hotter summers and colder winters. “It is proved,” says -Forry, “by our thermometrical data, that the climate west -of the Alleghany Chain is more excessive than that of the -Atlantic side.” At Fort Gibson, on the Arkansas River -which falls into the Mississipi in lat. 35° 47′, with a mean -annual temperature hardly equal to that of Gibraltar, the -thermometer in the shade, and without any reflected heat -from the ground, has been seen, in August 1834, to rise -to 37°.7 Reaumur, or 117° Fahrenheit.</p> - -<p>The statement so often repeated, although unsupported -by any thermometric measurements, that since the first -European settlements in New England, Pennsylvania, and -Virginia, the eradication of many forests on both sides -of the Alleghanies had rendered the climate more equable, -(<i>i. e.</i>, milder in winter and cooler in summer), is now generally -doubted or disbelieved. Series of trustworthy thermometric -observations in the United States hardly extend so far -back as 78 years. We see in the Philadelphia observations,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_134">[134]</span> -that from 1771 to 1824, the mean annual temperature has -hardly increased 1°.2 Reaumur, (or 2°.8 Fahrenheit),—a -difference which is attributed to the increased size of the -town, to its greater population, and to the numerous steam-engines. -The difference may possibly be merely accidental, -for I find in the same period an increase of mean winter -cold, amounting to 0°.9 Reaumur, or 2° Fahrenheit; the -three other seasons had become somewhat warmer. Three-and-thirty -years’ observations at Salem in Massachusetts -shew no alteration at all: the annual means oscillate, -within a degree of Fahrenheit, about the mean of the -whole number of years; and the winters of Salem, instead -of having become milder, as supposed from the destruction -of the forests in the course of the thirty-three years, have -become colder by 1°.8 Reaumur, or 4° Fahrenheit. (Forry, -p. 97, 101, and 107.)</p> - -<p>As the east coast of the United States is comparable in -respect to mean annual temperature in equal latitudes to -the Siberian and Chinese coasts of the old continent, so -also the west coasts of Europe and America have been very -properly compared together. I will only take a few -examples from the western region on the shores of the -Pacific, for two of which (Sitka in Russian America, and -Fort George, in the same latitudes respectively as Gottenburg -and Geneva) I am indebted to Admiral Lütke’s -voyage of circumnavigation. Iluluk and Danzig are nearly -on the same parallel, and although the mean temperature of -Iluluk, owing to its insular climate and to a cold sea-current,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_135">[135]</span> -is somewhat lower than that of Danzig, yet the -winter temperature of the American station is milder than -that of the port on the Baltic.</p> - -<table border="1" class="autotable tdr" summary=""> -<tr> -<th></th> -<th>Latitude.</th> -<th> Longitude.</th> -<th colspan="2"> Reaumur.</th> -<th colspan="2"> Fahrenheit.</th> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl" rowspan="3">Sitka</td> -<td rowspan="3"> 57° 3′</td> -<td rowspan="3"> 135° 16′ W.</td> -<td rowspan="3"> 5°.6</td> -<td>0°.6</td> -<td rowspan="3"> 44°.5</td> -<td> 33°.4</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdc">——</td> -<td class="tdc">——</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>10°.2</td> -<td> 55°.0</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl" rowspan="3">Gottenburg</td> -<td rowspan="3"> 57° 41′</td> -<td rowspan="3"> 11° 59′ E.</td> -<td rowspan="3"> 6°.4</td> -<td>-0°.2</td> -<td rowspan="3"> 46°.4</td> -<td> 31°.5</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdc">——</td> -<td class="tdc">——</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>13°.5</td> -<td> 62°.4</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl" rowspan="3">Fort George</td> -<td rowspan="3"> 46° 18′</td> -<td rowspan="3"> 122° 58′ W.</td> -<td rowspan="3"> 8°.1</td> -<td>2°.6</td> -<td rowspan="3"> 50°.3</td> -<td> 37°.9</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdc">——</td> -<td class="tdc">——</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">12°.4</td> -<td class="tdl"> 60°.0</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl" rowspan="3">Geneva</td> -<td rowspan="3"> 46° 12′</td> -<td rowspan="3">(Alt. 1298 E. ft.)</td> -<td rowspan="3"> 7°.9</td> -<td>0°.7</td> -<td rowspan="3"> 49°.8</td> -<td> 33°.6</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdc">——</td> -<td class="tdc">——</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>14°.0</td> -<td> 63°.5</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl" rowspan="3">Kherson</td> -<td rowspan="3"> 46° 38′</td> -<td rowspan="3"> 32° 39′ E.</td> -<td rowspan="3"> 9°.4</td> -<td>-3°.1</td> -<td rowspan="3"> 53°.2</td> -<td> 25°.0</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdc">——</td> -<td class="tdc">——</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>17°.3</td> -<td> 71°.0</td> -</tr> -</table> - -<p>Snow is hardly ever seen on the banks of the Oregon or -Columbia river, and ice on the river lasts only a very few -days. The lowest temperature which Mr. Ball once observed -there in the winter of 1833 was 6½° of Reaumur below -the freezing point, or 17.4° Fahrenheit (Message from the -President of the United States to Congress, 1844, p. 160; -and Forry, Clim. of the U. States, p. 49, 67, and 73). -A cursory glance at the summer and winter temperatures -above given, shews that on and near the west coast, a true -insular climate prevails. The winter cold is less than in -the western parts of the old continent, and the summers -are much cooler. The most striking contrast is presented<span class="pagenum" id="Page_136">[136]</span> -by comparing the mouth of the Oregon with Forts Snelling -and Howard, and the Council Bluffs, in the interior of -the Mississipi and Missouri basin (Lat. 44°-46°),—where, -to speak in the language of Buffon, we find an -<i>excessive</i>, or true <i>continental</i> climate,—a winter cold, -on single days, of -28°.4 and -30°.6 Reaumur (-32° -and -37° Fahr.), followed by mean summer temperatures -of 16°.8 and 17°.5 Reaumur (69° and 71°.4 Fahr.)</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_19" href="#FNanchor_19" class="label">[19]</a> p. 10.—“<i>As if America had emerged later from -the chaotic watery covering.</i>”</p> - -<p>An acute enquirer into nature, Benjamin Smith Barton, -said long since with great truth, (Fragments of the Natural -History of Pennsylvania, P. i. p. 4), “I cannot but deem -it a puerile supposition, unsupported by the evidence of -nature, that a great part of America has probably later -emerged from the bosom of the ocean than the other -continents.” The same subject was touched on by myself -in a memoir on the primitive nations of America (Neue -Berlinische Monatschrift, Bd. xv. 1806, S. 190). “Writers -generally and justly praised have repeated but too often -that America is in every sense of the word a New Continent. -Her luxuriance of vegetation, the abundant waters of her -enormous rivers, the unrepose of her powerful volcanoes, -all (say they) proclaim that the still trembling earth, from -the face of which the waters have not yet dried off, is here -nearer to the chaotic primordial state than in the Old -Continent. Such ideas appeared to me, long before I -commenced my travels, alike unphilosophical and contrary<span class="pagenum" id="Page_137">[137]</span> -to generally acknowledged physical laws. Fantastic -images of terrestrial youth, and unrepose associated on the -one hand,—and on the other, those of increasing dryness, -and inertia in maturer age,—could only have presented -themselves to minds more inclined to draw ingenious or -striking contrasts between the two hemispheres, than to -strive to comprehend, in one general view, the construction -of the entire globe. Are we to regard the south of Italy -as more modern than its northern portions, because the -former is almost incessantly disquieted by earthquakes and -volcanic eruptions? Besides, what small phenomena are -the volcanoes and earthquakes of the present day, in comparison -with those revolutions of nature which the geologist -must suppose to have accompanied, in the chaotic state -of the earth, the elevation, solidification, disruptions, and -cleavings of the mountain masses? Diversity of causes -must produce diversity in the operations of natural forces, -in countries remote as well as near. Perhaps the volcanoes -of the new continent, (of which I still reckon above 28 in -a state of activity), have only continued to burn longer -than others, because the lofty mountain ridges, on which -they have broken forth in rows or series above long subterranean -fissures, are nearer to the sea, and because this -proximity seems, with a few exceptions, to affect the energy -of the subterranean fires in some way not yet sufficiently explained. -Besides, both earthquakes and fire-emitting mountains -have periods of activity alternating with periods of -repose. At the present moment,” (I wrote thus 42 years -ago!) “physical disquiet and political calm reign in the New<span class="pagenum" id="Page_138">[138]</span> -Continent, while in the Old the desolating strife of nations -disturbs the enjoyment of the repose of nature. Perhaps a -time is coming when, in this singular contrast between -physical and moral forces, the two sides of the Atlantic -will change parts. Volcanoes are quiescent for centuries -before they burst forth anew; and the idea that in the -so-called older countries, a certain peace must prevail in -nature, is founded on a mere play of the imagination. -There exists no reason for assuming one entire side of -our planet to be older or newer than the other. Islands -are indeed raised from the bed of the ocean by volcanic -action, and gradually heightened by coral animals, as the -Azores and many low flat islands of the Pacific; and these -may indeed be said to be newer than many Plutonic -formations of the European central chain. A small district -of the earth, surrounded, like Bohemia and Kashmeer, (and -like many of the vallies in the Moon), by annular mountains, -may, by partial inundations, be long covered with water; and -after the flowing off of this lake or inland sea, the ground -on which vegetation begins gradually to establish itself -might be said, figuratively, to be of recent origin. Islands -have become connected with each other by the elevation -of fresh masses of land; and parts of the previously dry -land have been submerged by the subsidence of the -oscillating ground; but submersions so general as to -embrace a hemisphere, can, from hydrostatic laws, only be -imagined as extending at the same time over all parts of the -earth. The sea cannot permanently overflow the boundless -plains of the Orinoco and the Amazons, without also overwhelming<span class="pagenum" id="Page_139">[139]</span> -the plains adjoining the Baltic. The sequence -and identity of the sedimentary strata, and of the organic -remains of plants and animals belonging to the ancient -world enclosed in those strata, shew that several great -depositions have taken place almost simultaneously over -the entire globe.” (For the fossil vegetable remains in the -coal formation in North America and in Europe, compare -Adolph Brongniart, Prodrome d’une Hist. des Végétaux -Fossiles, p. 179; and Charles Lyell’s Travels in North -America, vol. ii. p. 20).</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_20" href="#FNanchor_20" class="label">[20]</a> p. 10.—“<i>The Southern Hemisphere is cooler and -moister than our Northern half of the globe.</i>”</p> - -<p>Chili, Buenos Ayres, and the southern parts of Brazil and -Peru, have all, as a result of the narrowness of the continent -of South America as it tapers towards the south, a -true “insular climate;” or a climate of cool summers and -mild winters. As far as the 48th or 50th parallel of -latitude this character of the Southern Hemisphere may -be regarded as an advantage, but farther on towards the -Antarctic Pole, South America gradually becomes an inhospitable -wilderness. The difference of latitude of the -southern terminating points of Australia, (including Van -Diemen Island), of Africa, and of America,—gives -to each of these continents a peculiar character. The -Straits of Magellan are between the 53d and 54th degrees -of latitude, and yet in December and January, when the -sun is 18 hours above the horizon, the temperature sinks<span class="pagenum" id="Page_140">[140]</span> -to 4° Reaumur, or 41° Fahrenheit. Snow falls almost -daily, and the highest atmospheric temperature observed -by Churruca (1788) in December, (the summer of those -regions), was not above 9° R., or 52°.2 Fahr. The Cabo -Pilar, whose towering rock, though only 218 toises, or -1394 English feet high, may be regarded as the southern -termination of the chain of the Andes, is almost in the -same latitude as Berlin. (Relacion del Viage al Estrecho -de Magallanes, apendice, 1793, p. 76.)</p> - -<p>While in the Northern Hemisphere all the continents -attain a sort of mean limit towards the Pole, coinciding -pretty regularly with the parallel of 70° the terminating -points in the Southern Hemisphere,—of America, in the -deeply indented and intersected Tierra del Fuego,—of -Australia,—and of Africa,—are respectively 34°, 46½°, -and 56° distant from the south pole. The temperature -of the very unequal extents of ocean, which divide these -southern points from the icy pole, contributes very materially -to modify their climates. The areas of dry land in -the Northern and Southern Hemispheres are to each other -in the proportion of 3 to 1. But this inferiority in extent -of continental masses in the Southern Hemisphere, as -compared with the Northern, belongs much more to the -temperate than to the torrid zone. In the temperate zones -of the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the ratio -is as 13 to 1; in the torrid zones as 5 to 4. The great -inequality in the distribution of the dry land exercises a very -sensible influence on the strength of the ascending aerial<span class="pagenum" id="Page_141">[141]</span> -current which turns towards the southern pole, and on -the temperature of the Southern Hemisphere. Some of -the noblest forms of tropical vegetation, for example the -tree-ferns, advance south of the equator as far as the parallels -of 46°, and of even 53°; whereas north of the equator they -are not found beyond the tropic of Cancer. (Robert Brown, -Appendix to Flinders’ Voyage, p. 575 and 584; Humboldt, -de distributione geographica Plantarum, p. 81–85.) -Tree-ferns thrive extremely well at Hobart Town in Van -Diemen Island, (lat. 42° 53′), where the mean annual temperature -is 9° Reaumur, or 52°.2 Fahrenheit, and is therefore -1°.6 Reaumur, or 3°.6 Fahrenheit, less than that of -Toulon. Rome is almost a degree of latitude farther from -the equator than Hobart Town, and has an annual temperature -of 12°.3 R., or 59°.8 Fahr.;—a winter temperature -of 6°.5 R., or 46°.4 Fahr.,—and a summer temperature -of 24° R., or 86° Fahr.; these three values being in Hobart -Town 8°.9, 4°.5, and 13°.8 R., or 52°.0, 42°.2, and 63°.0 -Fahr. In Dusky Bay, New Zealand, tree-ferns grow in -S. lat. 46° 8′, and in the Auckland and Campbell Islands, -even in 53° S. lat. (Jos. Hooker, Flora Antarctica, 1844, -p. 107.)</p> - -<p>In the Archipelago of Tierra del Fuego,—where, in the -same latitude as Dublin, the mean winter temperature is -0°.4 Reaumur, (33° Fah.) and the mean summer temperature -only 8° R., or 50° Fahr.,—Captain King found the -“vegetation thriving most luxuriantly in large woody-stemmed -trees of Fuchsia and Veronica”; while this vigour of vegetation, -which, especially on the western coast of America<span class="pagenum" id="Page_142">[142]</span> -in 38° and 40° of south latitude, is so picturesquely -described by Charles Darwin, suddenly disappears south -of Cape Horn, on the rocks of the Southern Orkney and -Shetland Islands, and of the Sandwich Archipelago. These -Islands, but scantily covered with grass, moss, and lichens, -“Terres de Désolation,” as the French navigators call them, -are still far north of the Antarctic Circle; whereas in the -Northern Hemisphere in 70° of latitude, at the extremity of -Scandinavia, fir-trees attain a height of between 60 and 70 -English feet. (Compare Darwin in the “Journal of Researches,” -1845, p. 244, with King in vol. i. of the Narrative -of the Voyages of the Adventure and Beagle, p. 577.) -If we compare Tierra del Fuego, and particularly Port -Famine in the Straits of Magellan in lat. 53° 38′, with -Berlin, which is one degree nearer the equator, we find for</p> - -<table class="autotable tdr" summary=""> -<tr> -<td class="tdl" rowspan="2">Berlin</td> -<td rowspan="2">6°.8, </td><td> --0°.5</td><td class="tdl" rowspan="2"> -R., </td><td rowspan="2"> -47°.2, </td><td> -30°.8</td><td class="tdl" rowspan="2"> -Fahr.; </td><td class="tdl" rowspan="2"> -and for</td> -</tr> -<tr><td class="btop">13°.9 </td> -<td class="btop">63°.2 </td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl" rowspan="2">Port Famine</td> -<td rowspan="2">4°.7, </td><td> -1°.2</td><td class="tdl" rowspan="2"> -R., </td><td rowspan="2"> -42°.6, </td><td> -34°.8</td><td class="tdl" rowspan="2"> -Fahr.</td> -</tr> - -<tr><td class="btop">8°.0 </td> -<td class="btop">50°.0 </td> - -</tr> -</table> - -<p>I subjoin in one view the few well-assured temperature -data which we at present possess, for the lands of the -temperate zone in the Southern Hemisphere, and which -may be compared with the temperatures of the Northern -Hemisphere, in most parts of which the distribution into -summer heat and winter cold is so different and so much -less equable. I employ the convenient method of notation -before used and explained in pages <a href="#Page_129">129</a>–<a href="#Page_131">131</a>.</p> - -<table border="1" class="autotable tdr" summary=""> -<tr> -<th rowspan="2">Place. </th> -<th rowspan="2">South Latitude. </th> -<th colspan="4">Mean Annual, Winter, and Summer Temperature.</th> -</tr> -<tr> -<th colspan="2">Reaumur.</th> -<th colspan="2"> Fahrenheit.</th> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl" rowspan="3">Sidney and Paramatta (New Holland.)</td> - -<td rowspan="3">33°.50′</td> -<td rowspan="3"> 14°.5</td> -<td> 10°.0</td> -<td rowspan="3"> 64°.5</td> -<td> 54°.5</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdc">——</td> -<td class="tdc">——</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>20°.2</td> -<td> 77°.5</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl" rowspan="3">Cape Town (Africa.)</td> -<td rowspan="3"> 33°.55′</td> -<td rowspan="3"> 15°.0</td> -<td>11°.8</td> -<td rowspan="3"> 65°.7</td> -<td> 58°.5</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdc">——</td> -<td class="tdc">——</td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td>18°.3</td> -<td> 73°.3</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl" rowspan="3">Buenos Ayres</td> -<td rowspan="3"> 34°.17′</td> -<td rowspan="3"> 13°.5</td> -<td>9°.1</td> -<td rowspan="3"> 62°.4</td> -<td> 52°.5</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdc">——</td> -<td class="tdc">——</td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td>18°.2</td> -<td> 73°.0</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl" rowspan="3">Monte Video</td> -<td rowspan="3"> 34°.54′</td> -<td rowspan="3"> 15°.5</td> -<td>11°.3</td> -<td rowspan="3"> 66°.8</td> -<td> 57°.3</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdc">——?</td> -<td class="tdc">——</td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td>20°.2</td> -<td> 77°.5</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl" rowspan="3">Hobart Town (Van Diemen Island.)</td> - - -<td rowspan="3">42°.45′</td> -<td rowspan="3"> 9°.1</td> -<td> 4°.5</td> -<td rowspan="3"> 52°.5</td> -<td> 42°.2</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdc">——</td> -<td class="tdc">——</td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td>13°.8</td> -<td> 63°.0</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl" rowspan="3">Port Famine (Straits of Magellan.)</td> - -<td rowspan="3">53°.38′</td> -<td rowspan="3"> 4°.7</td> -<td> 1°.2</td> -<td rowspan="3"> 42°.6</td> -<td> 34°.8</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdc">——</td> -<td class="tdc">——</td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td>8°.0</td> -<td> 50°.0</td> -</tr> -</table> - - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_143">[143]</span><a id="Footnote_21" href="#FNanchor_21" class="label">[21]</a> p. 11.—“<i>A connected Sea of Sand.</i>”</p> - -<p>As the Heaths formed of socially growing Ericeæ, which -stretch from the mouth of the Scheldt to that of the Elbe -and from the point of Jutland to the Harz, may be regarded -as one connected <i>tract of vegetation</i>,—so the seas of sand -may be traced through Africa and Asia, from Cape Blanco -to beyond the Indus, or through an extent of 5600 geographical -miles. Herodotus’s Sandy Region interrupted -by Oases, called by the Arabs the Desert of Sahara, -traverses almost the whole of Africa, which it intersects<span class="pagenum" id="Page_144">[144]</span> -like a dried-up arm of the sea. The valley of the Nile is -the eastern limit of the Lybian Desert. Beyond the Isthmus -of Suez, beyond the porphyritic, syenitic, and basaltic -rocks of Sinai, begins the Desert mountain plateau of -Nedjid, which occupies the whole of the interior of the -Arabian Peninsula, and is bounded to the west and south -by the fertile and happier coast lands of Hedjaz and -Hadhramaut. The Euphrates bounds the Arabian and -Syrian Deserts towards the east. Immense seas of sand, -(bejaban), cross Persia from the Caspian to the Indian Sea. -Among them are the salt and soda Deserts of Kerman, -Seistan, Beloochistan, and Mekran. The latter is separated -from the Desert of Moultan by the Indus.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_22" href="#FNanchor_22" class="label">[22]</a> p. 11.—“<i>The western part of the Atlas.</i>”</p> - -<p>The question respecting the position of the ancient Atlas -has been much discussed in modern times, but the oldest -Phœnician legends have been confounded in this discussion -with the later fables of the Greeks and the Romans. A -man who combined deep philological with thorough mathematical -and astronomical knowledge, Professor Ideler, (the -father,) was the first person who explained and dispelled the -confusion of ideas which had previously existed on this -subject. I permit myself to introduce here the remarks -that clear-sighted and highly-informed writer has communicated -to me on this important subject.</p> - -<p>“At a very early period of the world the Phœnicians ventured -beyond the Straits of Gibraltar. They built Gades -and Tartessus on the Spanish, and Lixus and several other<span class="pagenum" id="Page_145">[145]</span> -towns on the Mauritanian coasts of the Atlantic. They -sailed along those coasts northwards to the Cassiterides where -they obtained tin, and to the Prussian coast from whence -they brought amber; and southwards, past Madeira, to the -Cape de Verde Islands. They visited, among other places, -the Canaries, and were struck by the appearance of the lofty -Peak of Teneriffe, enhanced by its rising immediately from -the sea. Through the colonies which they sent to Greece, -and especially through that which came under Cadmus to -Bœotia, the notice of this mountain rising high above the -region of clouds, and of the “Fortunate Islands,” adorned -with fruits of every kind, and especially with the golden -orange, spread into Greece. Here the tradition was propagated -by the songs of the bards, and thus reached Homer. -He speaks in the Odyssey (i. 52) of an “Atlas who knows -all the depths of the sea, and who supports the great pillars -which divide heaven and earth from each other.” He -speaks, too, in the Iliad, of the Elysian fields, which he -describes as a lovely land in the west. (Il. iv. 561.) Hesiod -expresses himself in a similar manner respecting Atlas, -who he makes a neighbour of the nymphs the daughters of -Hesperus. (Theog. V. 517.) He calls the Elysian fields, -which he places at the western limit of the earth, the islands -of the Blest. (Op. et dies, v. 167.) Later poets have -added further embellishments to these myths of Atlas, -of the Hesperides, their golden apples, and the Islands of -the Blest, assigned as the dwelling-place of the virtuous -after death; and have combined with them the expeditions of -the Tyrian god of trade, Melicertes (the Grecian Hercules).</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_146">[146]</span>“The Greeks only began at a very late date to rival the -Phœnicians and Carthaginians in navigation. They visited -the coasts of the Atlantic it is true, but never appear to have -penetrated far into the ocean. I doubt whether they ever -saw the Canaries and the Peak of Teneriffe. They believed -that Atlas, which their poets and legends described as a -very high mountain placed at the western limit of the earth, -must be sought on the west coast of Africa. It was placed -there also by their later geographers, Strabo, Ptolemy, and -others. As there is not any single mountain distinguished -by its elevation in north-western Africa, the true situation -of Mount Atlas has been a subject of perplexity; and it has -been sought, sometimes on the coast, sometimes in the interior, -sometimes near the Mediterranean, and sometimes -further towards the south. It became the custom (in the -first century of our era, when the Roman arms penetrated -into the interior of Mauritania and Numidia,) to give the -name of Atlas to the African chain of mountains which -runs from west to east almost parallel with the coast of the -Mediterranean. Pliny and Solinus were, however, very -sensible that the descriptions of Mount Atlas given by the -Greek and Roman poets were not applicable to this long -mountain chain; and they therefore thought it necessary to -transfer the Atlas, of which they gave a picturesque description -in accordance with the poetic legends, to the terra -incognita of Central Africa. According to what has been -said, the Atlas of Homer and Hesiod can only be the Peak -of Teneriffe; and the Atlas of the Greek and Roman -geographers must be in Northern Africa.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_147">[147]</span>I will only add the following remarks to this instructive -discussion by Professor Ideler. According to Pliny and -Solinus, Atlas rises from a sandy plain (e medio arenarum); -and elephants (which certainly were never known in Teneriffe) -feed on its declivity. What we now term Atlas is a -long ridge. How came the Romans to recognise in this -long ridge the isolated conical mountain of Herodotus? -May not the reason be found in the optical delusion by -which every mountain chain seen in profile, in the prolongation -of its direction, has the appearance of a narrow cone? -I have often seen in this manner, from the sea, the ends of -long chains or ridges, which might be taken for isolated -mountains. According to Höst the Atlas is covered near -Morocco with perpetual snow, which implies an elevation of -above 1800 toises, or 11510 English feet. It is also -remarkable that, according to Pliny, the “Barbarians,” <i>i. e.</i> -the ancient Mauritanians, called the Atlas “Dyris.” The -chain of the Atlas is still called by the Arabs Daran, a word -which has almost the same consonants as Dyris. Hornius, -on the other hand (de Originibus Americanorum, p. 195), -thinks that he recognises the word Dyris in the Guanche -name of the Peak of Teneriffe, Aya-Dyrma. On the connection -between purely mythical ideas and geographical -traditions, and on the way in which the Titan Atlas gave -occasion to the image of a mountain supporting the heavens, -beyond the Pillars of Hercules, see Letronne’s “Essai sur -les Idées cosmographiques qui se rattachent au nom d’Atlas,” -in Férussac’s Bulletin universel des Sciences, Mars 1831, -p. 10.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_148">[148]</span>Considering that our present (it is true, very limited) -geological knowledge of the mountainous parts of North -Africa does not make us acquainted with any trace of volcanic -eruptions within historic times, it is very remarkable -to find among the ancients so many indications of a -belief in the existence of this class of phenomena, in the -Western Atlas, and in the neighbouring west coast of the -continent. The streams of fire, so often mentioned in -Hanno’s ship-journal, may indeed have only been strips of -burning grass, or signal fires kindled by the wild inhabitants -of the coasts to give to each other notice of the danger -threatened by the appearance of the hostile vessels. The -lofty flame-enlightened summit of the “chariot of the gods” -(<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc">θεῶν ὅχημα</span>), may recall obscurely the Peak of Teneriffe; -but farther on Hanno describes a singular conformation of -ground. He finds in the Gulf near the Western Horn, a -large island, and in it a salt lake which again contains a -smaller island. South of the bay of the Gorilla Apes, the -same conformation is repeated. Is this a description of -coral productions, of “lagoon islands, (Atolls)” or volcanic -“crater lakes” in the middle of which a cone has been -upheaved? The Triton lake was not in the neighbourhood -of the lesser Syrtis, but near the Atlantic coast. (Asie -Cent. T. i. p. 179.) The lake disappeared in consequence -of earthquakes which were accompanied by great outbursts -of fire. Diodorus (Lib. iii. 53, 55) says expressly, -<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc">πυρὸς ἐκφυσήματα μεγάλα</span>. But the most wonderful conformation -is ascribed to the “hollow Atlas” in a passage -hitherto little noticed, occurring in one of the philosophic<span class="pagenum" id="Page_149">[149]</span> -Dialexes of Maximus Tyrius. This Platonic philosopher -lived in Rome, under Commodus. The situation of his -Atlas is “on the continent, where the Western Lybians -inhabit a projecting peninsula. The mountain has in it -towards the sea a semicircular deep abyss.” The precipices -are so steep that they cannot be descended; the abyss below -is filled with trees, and “one looks down upon their summits, -and on the fruits which they bear, as if one was looking into -a well.” (Maximus Tyrius, viii., 7, ed. Markland.) The -description is so graphic and so individually marked, that it -doubtless conveys the recollections impressed by a real -prospect.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_23" href="#FNanchor_23" class="label">[23]</a> p. 11.—“<i>The Mountains of the Moon, Djebel al -Komr.</i>”</p> - -<p>The Mountains of the Moon of Ptolemy (Lib. iv. cap. 9,) -(<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc">σελήνης ὅρος</span>) form on our older maps an immense uninterrupted -mountain zone, traversing Africa from east to -west. The existence of these mountains appears certain; -but their extent, their distance from the Equator, and their -general direction, are all unsolved problems. I have already -alluded in another work, (Cosmos, vol. ii. p. 191, and note -297, Engl. ed.) to the manner in which a closer acquaintance -with Indian languages, and with the ancient Persian idiom, -the Zend, teaches us that part of the geographical nomenclature -of Ptolemy forms an historic monument of the -commercial connection of the west with the most distant -regions of Southern Asia and Eastern Africa. The same -direction of ideas shews itself in a question very recently<span class="pagenum" id="Page_150">[150]</span> -brought forward. It is asked, whether the great geographer -and astronomer of Pelusium meant in the name of “Mountains -of the Moon,” as in that of the “Island of Barley” -(Jabadiu, Java), merely to give the Greek translation of a -native name;—whether (as is most probable) El Istachri, -Edrisi, Ibn-al-Vardi, and other early Arabian geographers, -only transferred the nomenclature of Ptolemy into their own -language;—or whether they were misled by similarity in the -sound of the words and the manner of writing. In the notes -to the translation of Abd-Allatif’s celebrated description of -Egypt, my great instructor, Silvestre de Sacy, (éd. de 1810, -p. 7 and 353,) says expressly: “On traduit ordinairement -le nom de ces montagnes que Léon Africain regarde comme -les sources du Nil, par <i>montagnes de la lune</i>, et j’ai suivi -cet usage. Je ne sais si les Arabes ont pris originairement -cette dénomination de Ptolémée. On peut croire qu’ils -entendent effectivement aujourd’hui le mot <span lang="ar" xml:lang="ar">قمر</span> dans le -sens de la <i>lune</i> en le prononçant ‘Kamar’; je ne crois pas -cependant que ç’ait été l’opinion des anciens écrivains arabes -qui prononcent, comme le prouve Makrizi, Komr. Aboulféda -rejette positivement l’opinion de ceux qui prononcent kamar, -et qui dérivent ce nom de celui de la lune. Comme le -mot komr, considéré comme pluriel de <span lang="ar" xml:lang="ar">اقمر</span>, signifie -un objet d’une <i>couleur verdâtre</i> ou d’un blanc sale, suivant -l’auteur du Kamous, il paroit que quelques écrivains ont -cru que cette montagne tiroit son nom de sa couleur.”</p> - -<p>The learned Reinaud, in his recent excellent translation of -Abulfeda (T. ii., P. i., p. 81–82), considers it probable that -the Ptolemaic interpretation of the name, by “Mountains<span class="pagenum" id="Page_151">[151]</span> -of the Moon” (<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc">ὅρη σεληναῖα</span>), was that originally adopted by -the Arabian writers. He remarks that in the Moschtarek -of Yakut, and in Ibn-Said, the mountains are written al-Komr, -and that Yakut writes in the same way the name of -the island of Zendj (Zanguebar). The Abyssinian traveller -Beke, in his learned critical memoir on the Nile and its -tributaries (Journal of the Royal Geographical Society of -London, vol. xvii. 1847, p. 74–76), seeks to prove that -Ptolemy had merely formed his <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc">σελήνης ὅρος</span> from a -native name, for which he was indebted to intelligence -received through the medium of the extensive commercial -intercourse which prevailed. He says, “Ptolemy knew -that the Nile rises in the mountainous country of Moezi; -and in the languages which extend over a great portion of -South Africa (for example, in the languages of Congo, -Monjou, and Mozambique), the word Moezi signifies the -moon. A great south-western country was called Mono-Muezi, -or Mani-Moezi, <i>i. e.</i> the land of the king of Moezi -(of the king of the Moon country), for in the same family -of languages in which Moezi or Muezi signifies the Moon, -Mono or Mani signifies a king. Alvarez, in the Viaggio -nella Ethiopia (Ramusio, vol. i, p. 249,) speaks of the -‘regne di Manicongo,’ the kingdom of the king of Congo.” -Beke’s opponent, Ayrton, seeks the origin of the White Nile -(Bahr el Abiad), not as do Arnaud, Werne, and Beke, -near the equator, or even south of it (and in 29° E. long. -from Paris, or 31° 22′ from Greenwich), but with Antoine -d’Abbadie far to the north-east, in the Godjeb and Gibbe -of Eneara (Iniara); therefore in the high mountains of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_152">[152]</span> -Habesch, in 7° 20′ N. latitude, and 33° E. long. from -Paris, or 35° 22′ from Greenwich. He conjectures that -the Arabs, from a similarity of sound, may have interpreted -the native name Gamaro belonging to the Abyssinian -mountains, in the south-west of Gaka in which the Godjeb -(or White Nile?) has its source, to mean Moon Mountains -(Djebel al-Kamar); so that Ptolemy himself, familiar with -the intercourse between Abyssinia and the Indian Ocean, -may have taken the Semitic version, given by early Arab -immigrants. (Compare Ayrton in the Journal of the Royal -Geogr. Soc. vol. xviii. 1848, p. 53, 55, and 59–63, with -Fred. Werne’s instructive expedition for the discovery of -the sources of the Nile, Exped. zur Entd. der Nil-Quellen, -1848, S. 534–536.)</p> - -<p>The lively interest which has again been excited in -England for the discovery of the most southern sources of -the Nile, induced the above-named Abyssinian traveller, -Charles Beke, at the recent meeting of the British Association -for the Advancement of Science, held at Swansea, -August 1848, to develop more in detail his ideas respecting -the connection between the Mountains of the Moon -and the Mountains of Habesch. He says:—“The -Abyssinian elevated plain, generally above 8000 feet high, -extends towards the south to nearly 9° or 10° N. latitude. -The eastern declivity of the highlands has to the -inhabitants of the coast the appearance of a mountain -chain. The plateau at its southern extremity passes into -the Mountains of the Moon, which run, not east and west, -but parallel to the coast, or from NNE. to SSW.; extending<span class="pagenum" id="Page_153">[153]</span> -from 10° N. to 5° S. latitude. The sources of the White Nile -are situated in the Mono-Moezi country, probably in 2½° S., -not far from where the river Sabaki, on the eastern side -of the Mountains of the Moon, falls into the Indian Ocean -near Melindeh, north of Mombaza. Last autumn (1847) -the two Abyssinian missionaries Rebmann and Krapf were -still on the coast of Mombaza. They have established in -the vicinity, among the Wakamba tribe, a missionary station -called Rabbay Empie, which promises to be very useful -also for geographical discovery. Families belonging to the -Wakamba tribe have advanced to the west five or six -hundred miles into the interior of the country, as far as -the upper course of the river Lusidji, the great lake Nyassi -or Zambeze (5° S. lat.?), and the sources of the Nile -which are not far distant. An expedition to these sources, -which Herr Friedrich Bialloblotzky, of Hanover, is preparing -to undertake, (by the advice of Beke), is to set out -from Mombaza. The Nile coming from the west referred -to by the ancients is probably the Bahr-el-Ghazal, or Keilah, -which falls into the Nile in 9° N. lat., above the mouth -of the Godjeb or Sobat.”</p> - -<p>Russegger’s scientific expedition,—which by Mehemet -Ali’s desire was sent to the gold-washings of Fazokl on -the Blue (Green) Nile, Bahr-el-Azrek, in 1837 and -1838,—had made the existence of the “Mountains of the -Moon” appear very doubtful. The Blue Nile, the Astapus -of Ptolemy, issuing from the lake of Coloe (now called -lake Tzana) winds from amongst the colossal Abyssinian -mountains; but towards the south-west an extensive low<span class="pagenum" id="Page_154">[154]</span> -tract of country appears. The three exploring expeditions -sent by the Egyptian government, (one in November 1839 -from Chartum to the confluence of the Blue and the White -Nile, under the command of Selim Bimbashi; another in -the autumn of 1840, which was accompanied by the French -engineers Arnaud, Sabatier, and Thibaud; and a third in -August 1841), first unveiled the high mountains which, -between the parallels of 6°-4°, and probably still farther -to the south, run at first from west to east, and afterwards -from north-west to south-east, and approach the -left bank of the Bahr-el-Abiad. The second of Mehemet -Ali’s expeditions first saw the mountain chain, according -to Werne’s account, in lat. 11⅓° where Gebel Abul and -Gebel Kutak rise to 3400 (3623 Eng.) feet. The high -land continued and approached nearer to the river more -to the south, between 4¾° lat., to the parallel of the -island of Tschenker in 4° 4′, where the expedition of -Commander Selim and Feizulla Effendi terminated. The -shallow river makes its way between rocks, and detached -mountains rise again in the country of Bari to 3000 (3197 -Eng.) feet. These probably belong to the Mountains of -the Moon as represented in our most recent maps, although -they are not indeed mountains covered with perpetual snow -such as Ptolemy had described (lib. iv. cap. 9). The -limit of perpetual snow in these latitudes would not certainly -be found below an elevation of 14500 (15450 Eng.) feet. -Perhaps Ptolemy transferred to the country of the sources -of the White Nile the knowledge which he may have had -of the high mountains of Habesch, which are nearer to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_155">[155]</span> -Upper Egypt and to the Red Sea. In Godiam, Kaffa, -Miecha, and Sami, the Abyssinian mountains rise to 10000 -and 14000 (10657 and 14920 Eng.) feet, according to -exact measurements; not according to Bruce, who gives -the elevation of Chartum exceedingly wide of the truth, -<i>i. e.</i>, 4730 (5041 Eng.) feet, instead of 1430 (1524 Eng.) -feet! Rüppell, one of the most accurate observers of the -present day, found Abba Jaret, in 13° 10′ of latitude, -only 66 (70 Eng.) feet lower than Mont Blanc. (Compare -Rüppell, Reise in Abyssinien, Bd. i. S. 414, and Bd. ii. -S. 443). Rüppell found, adjoining the Buahat, an elevated -plain 13080 (13939 Eng.) feet above the Red Sea, barely -covered with a small quantity of fresh fallen snow (Humboldt, -Asie Centrale, T. iii. p. 272). The celebrated inscription -of Adulis, which Niebuhr considers to be somewhat -later than Juba and than Augustus, also speaks of -Abyssinian snow “that reaches to the knees.” This is, I -believe, the earliest mention in antiquity of snow within the -tropics (Asie Centrale, T. iii. p. 235); as the Paropanisus -is 12° of latitude north of the northern limit of the torrid -zone.</p> - -<p>Zimmermann’s map of the countries about the Upper -Nile shews the dividing line which determines the basin of -the Great River, and separates it on the south-east from the -domain of the rivers which flow into the Indian Ocean;—that -is to say, from the Doara, which enters the sea north -of Magadoxo; from the Teb, which has its embouchure -on the Amber coast, near Ogda; and from the Goschop, -whose abundant stream is formed by the confluence of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_156">[156]</span> -the Gibu and the Zebi, and which he distinguishes from -the Godjeb, rendered celebrated since 1839 by Antoine -d’Abbadie, the missionary Krapf, and Beke. These -results of the travels of Beke, Krapf, Isenberg, Russegger, -Rüppell, Abbadie, and Werne, brought together and shewn -in the most comprehensive and convenient manner by -Zimmermann, were hailed by me on their appearance in -1843 with the most lively joy, as expressed in a letter to -Carl Ritter. “If,” I wrote to him, “a life prolonged to -an advanced period brings with it several inconveniences -to the individual, and perhaps some even to those who live -with him, there is a compensation in the delight of being -able to compare older states of knowledge with that which -now exists, and to see great advances in knowledge grow -and develope themselves under our eyes in departments -where all had long slumbered in inactivity, with the -exception, perhaps, of attempts by hypercriticism to render -previous acquisitions doubtful. This enjoyment has from -time to time fallen to our share, yours and mine, in our -geographical studies, and this particularly in reference to -those very parts of the world which formerly could only be -treated of with timid hesitating uncertainty. The conformation -of a continent depends in its leading traits on -several plastic relations which are usually among the latest -to be discovered and unravelled. A new and excellent -work of our friend Carl Zimmermann, on the upper country -of the Nile and the eastern parts of central Africa, has -again brought these considerations very vividly before me. -His new map shews in the clearest manner to the eye, by<span class="pagenum" id="Page_157">[157]</span> -means of a particular method of shading, what is still -unknown, and what, by the courage and perseverance of -travellers of all nations,—among whom our own countrymen -happily hold an important place,—has been already -disclosed to us. It is a valuable service, and one which -opens the way for farther advances and more comprehensive -inferences, when persons, thoroughly acquainted with the -existing, often widely scattered, materials,—men who do not -merely draw and compile, but compare, select, and, wherever -it is possible, check and control the routes of travellers -by astronomical determinations of position,—undertake to -represent graphically the results of the elements of knowledge -possessed at the time. Those who have themselves given -to the world so much as you have done, have an especial -right to expect much; since their combinations have largely -augmented the number of connecting points; yet I believe -that when you executed your great work on Africa in 1822 -you could hardly have expected so many accessions as we -have now received.” The knowledge acquired is, indeed, -often only that of rivers, their direction, their branches, -and the various synonyms by which they are called in -dialects belonging to different families of languages; but -rivers reveal to us by their course the form of the surface -of the earth, and are at once the nourishers of vegetation, -the channels of intercourse between men, and pregnant with -unknown influences on the future.</p> - -<p>The northerly course of the White Nile, and the south-easterly -course of the great Goschop, would indicate that a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_158">[158]</span> -swelling of the ground separates the domains or basins of -these rivers. We know, indeed, but imperfectly, how such a -swelling or elevation may be connected with the mountains of -Habesch, and in what manner it may be continued southward -beyond the equator. Probably, and this is also the opinion -of my friend Carl Ritter, the Lupata mountains, which, -according to the excellent Wilhelm Peters, extend to -26° S. latitude, are connected with the elevated parts of -the Earth’s surface on the north side of the equator, (or -with the Abyssinian mountains), by the mountains of the -Moon. The word “Lupata,” we learn from the last-named -African traveller, is used in the language of Tette as an -adjective, meaning “closed.” The chain of mountains would -thus be called the “closed” or “barred.” “The Lupata chain, -of Portuguese writers,” says Peters, “is about 90 legoas or -leagues from the mouth of the Zambeze, and is only about -two thousand feet high. The direction of this mountain -rampart is north and south, but with occasional bends -alternately to the east and to the west. It is sometimes -interrupted by plains. Along the whole of the Zanzibar -coast, the traders into the interior speak of this long but -not very elevated ridge, which extends from 6° to 26° S. -latitude, as far as the Factory of Lourenzo-Marques, on -the Rio de Espiritu Santo (in the Bay da Lagoa, or Delagoa -Bay of the English). The farther the Lupata chain -advances towards the south, the nearer it approaches the -coast, from which it is only fifteen legoas distant at Lourenzo-Marques.”</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_159">[159]</span><a id="Footnote_24" href="#FNanchor_24" class="label">[24]</a> p. 12.—“<i>Caused by the great revolving current.</i>”</p> - -<p>In the northern part of the Atlantic, between Europe, -North Africa, and the New Continent, the waters of the -ocean are driven round in a true revolving current, or circle. -This general current,—which, from its cause, might be -called a “Rotation Current,”—moves between the tropics, -as is well known, with the trade wind, from east to west. It -accelerates the passage of ships sailing from the Canaries -to South America, and makes it almost impossible to sail -“up stream,” or in a direct line from Cartagena de Indias -to Cumana. This set to the west, attributed to the trade -winds, receives, however, in the Caribbean Sea, the accession -of a much stronger movement, originating in a very remote -cause, which was discovered as early as 1560 by Sir Humphrey -Gilbert, (Hakluyt, Voyages, vol. iii. p. 14), and -developed with greater certainty by Rennell in 1832. The -Mosambique current, flowing from north to south between -Madagascar and the east coast of Africa, sets on the Lagullas -Bank, turns on the north side of it round the south -point of Africa, and advances with much force up the -western coast of the Continent to a little beyond the equator -near the Island of St. Thomas. It gives at the same time -a north-westerly direction to a part of the water of the -South Atlantic, causing it to strike Cape St. Augustin, and -to follow the coast of Guiana to beyond the mouth of the -Orinoco, the Boca del Drago, and the coast of Paria. -(Rennell, Investigation of the Currents of the Atlantic -Ocean, 1832, p. 96 and 136.) The New Continent, from<span class="pagenum" id="Page_160">[160]</span> -the Isthmus of Panama to the northern part of Mexico, -opposes a barrier to the farther continuance of this movement -of the waters, and thus the current is constrained to -assume a northerly course off Veragua, and thence to follow -the windings of the coast of Costa Rica, Mosquito, Campeachy, -and Tabasco. The waters which enter the Mexican -Gulf between Cape Catoche of Yucatan and Cape San -Antonio of Cuba, after completing a great rotatory movement -or circuit, by Vera Cruz, Tamiagua, the mouth of -the Rio Bravo del Norte, and that of the Mississipi, -force their way northwards through the Bahama Channel, -and re-issue into the open ocean. Here they form the well-known -“Gulf Stream,” a current or river of warm and rapidly -moving water, flowing in an oblique or diagonal direction -carrying it farther and farther from the North American -coast. Ships from Europe bound for this coast, when -uncertain in respect to their longitude, are enabled by -this oblique direction of the current to direct their course, -as soon as they reach the Gulf Stream, by observations of -latitude only. The position of this great current was first -indicated with accuracy by Franklin, Williams, and Pownall.</p> - -<p>From the 41st degree of latitude, the river of warm -water, which has been gradually diminishing in rapidity -and increasing in breadth, turns suddenly to the east. It -almost touches the southern edge of the great Newfoundland -bank, where I found the greatest amount of difference -between the temperature of the warm water of the Gulf -stream, and that of the waters resting on the banks and -subjected thereby to a cooling process. Before the stream<span class="pagenum" id="Page_161">[161]</span> -reaches the westernmost of the Azores it divides into two -branches, one of which, at least at certain seasons, advances -towards Ireland and Norway, and the other towards the -Canaries and the West Coast of Africa. This Atlantic -rotatory movement, (described by me in more detail in the -first volume of my Voyage to the Equinoctial Regions), -explains the possibility of trunks of South American and -West Indian trees being carried, in spite of the trade winds, -to the coasts of the Canary Islands, and stranded there. I -have made many experiments on the temperature of the Gulf -Stream in the vicinity of the Banks of Newfoundland. The -Stream brings the warmer water of lower latitudes into more -northern regions with much rapidity, and I have thus found -its temperature two or three degrees of Reaumur (5° to 7° -Fah.) higher than that of the adjacent unmoved masses of -water, which form as it were the banks of the warm -oceanic river.</p> - -<p>The flying fish of the tropics (Exocetus volitans) accompanies -the warm water of the Gulf Stream far into the -temperate zone. Floating sea-weed (Fucus natans), chiefly -taken up by the stream in the Gulf of Mexico, shews when -a ship is entering the current, and the arrangement of the -branches of the sea-weed shews the direction of the movement -of the water. The mainmast of the English ship of -war, the Tilbury, destroyed by fire on the coast of San -Domingo, was carried by the Gulf Stream to the north coast -of Scotland. Even casks filled with palm oil, the remains -of the cargo of a ship wrecked off Cape Lopez on the coast<span class="pagenum" id="Page_162">[162]</span> -of Africa, were carried in the same manner to Scotland<a id="FNanchor_A" href="#Footnote_A" class="fnanchor">[*]</a>, -after having twice traversed the whole breadth of the -Atlantic; once from east to west with the equatorial -current between 2° and 12° N. lat., and once from west to -east by the aid of the Gulf Stream, between 45° and 55° -N. lat. Rennell, in p. 347 of the “Investigation of -Currents,” relates the voyage of a bottle with papers enclosed, -thrown overboard by the English ship Newcastle -on the 20th of January, 1819, in lat. 38° 52′, and long. -63° 58′, which was picked up on the 2nd of June, 1820, -at the Rosses, (near the Island of Arran), on the west coast -of Ireland. A short time before my arrival at Teneriffe a -stem of South American cedar (Cedrela odorata), well -covered with lichens, had been cast ashore in the harbour -of Santa Cruz.</p> - -<p>Effects of the Gulf Stream in stranding on the Islands -of Fayal, Flores, and Corvo in the Azores, bamboos, -artificially cut pieces of wood, trunks of an unknown -species of Pine from Mexico and the West Indian Islands, -and corpses of men of unknown race with unusually broad -faces, contributed to the discovery of America, by confirming -Columbus in his belief of the existence to the westward -of Asiatic countries and islands at no impassable<span class="pagenum" id="Page_163">[163]</span> -distance. The great discoverer even heard from the lips of -settlers near the Cape de la Verga in the Azores, of some, -“who, in sailing westward, had met decked or covered boats, -manned by persons of strange and foreign appearance, -and built apparently in such a manner that they could not -founder,—almadias con casa movediza que nunca se hunden.” -There is highly credible and well-confirmed testimony to -the fact, much as it has long been doubted, of natives of -America, (probably Esquimaux from Greenland or Labrador), -carried by currents or driven by storms from the North -West, having actually crossed the Atlantic in their canoes -and reached our shores. James Wallace, in his “Account of -the Islands of Orkney, (1700, p. 60),” relates, that in 1682 -a Greenlander was seen in his boat off the South Point of -the Island of Eda by several persons, who did not succeed -in bringing him to shore. In 1684, a Greenland fisherman -appeared in his boat off the Island of Westram. In the -church at Barra there was suspended an Esquimaux boat, -driven thither by currents and tempests. The inhabitants of -the Orkneys call Greenlanders so appearing among them -Finns or “Finnmen.”</p> - -<p>In Cardinal Bembo’s History of Venice, I find a narrative -to the effect that in 1508 a French ship captured near -the English coast a small boat, with seven persons of a -strange and foreign appearance. The description suits extremely -well with Esquimaux, (homines erant septem <i>mediocri -statura, colore subobscuro, lato et patente vultu</i>, -cicatriceque una violacea signato.) No one understood -their language. Their clothing was composed of fish skins<span class="pagenum" id="Page_1640">[164]</span> -sewn together. On their heads they wore “coronam e culmo -pictam, septem quasi auriculis intextam.” They ate raw -flesh, and drank blood as we would wine. Six of the men -died during the passage of the vessel, on board which they -had been taken; but the seventh, a youth, was presented -to the king of France, who was then at Orleans. (Bembo, -Historia Venetæ, ed. 1718, lib. vii. p. 257).</p> - -<p>The appearance of men called <i>Indians</i> on the western -coasts of Germany, under the Othos, and under Frederic -Barbarossa, in the 10th and 12th centuries, and even, -as is related by Cornelius Nepos, (ed. Van Staveren, -cur. Bardili, T. ii., 1820, p. 356), Pomponius Mela, (lib. -iii. cap. 5, § 8), and Pliny, (Hist. Nat., T. ii. p. 67), -when Quintus Metellus Celer was Pro-consul in Gaul, -may be explained by similar effects of currents and north-west -winds of long continuance. A king of the Boii, -others say of the Suevi, gave the shipwrecked dark-coloured -men to Metellus Celer. Gomara, in his Historia Gen. de -las Indias, (Saragossa, 1553, fol. vii.), refers to this account, -and considers the Indians spoken of in it to have been -natives of Labrador. “Si ya no fuesen de Tierra del Labrador, -y los tuviesen, los Romanos por Indianos engañados -en el color.” The appearance of Esquimaux on the northern -coasts of Europe may be believed to have occurred more -often in earlier times, because we know, from the researches -of Rask and Finn Magnusen, that in the 11th and 12th -centuries this race extended in considerable numbers, -under the name of the Skrälinges of Labrador, even as far -south as the “good Vinland;” <i>i. e.</i>, the coast of Massachusets<span class="pagenum" id="Page_165">[165]</span> -and Connecticut. (Kosmos, Bd. ii. S. 270; English -ed. p. 234; Examen critique de l’Hist. de la Géographie, -T. ii. p. 247–278.)</p> - -<p>As the winter cold of the most northern parts of Scandinavia -is softened by the influence of the Gulf Stream, -by which American tropical fruits (cocoa nuts, and seeds -of the Mimosa scandens and the Anacardium occidentale) -are cast upon the shore beyond the 62nd degree of latitude, -so does Iceland also occasionally enjoy the beneficial influence -of the extension of the warm waters of the Gulf Stream -far to the northward. The coasts of Iceland as well as -those of the Färoe Islands, receive a great deal of drift-wood, -which, coming formerly in greater abundance, was -cut into beams and planks and used for building timber. -Fruits of tropical plants, collected on the coast of Iceland, -between Raufarhavn and Vapnafiord, testify the movement -of the waters from the southward. (Sartorius von Waltershausen, -physisch-geographische Skizze von Island, 1847, -S. 22–35.)</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_25" href="#FNanchor_25" class="label">[25]</a> p. 12.—“<i>Neither Lecideas nor other Lichens.</i>”</p> - -<p>In northern countries, the earth, if left bare, soon becomes -covered with Bæomyces roseus, Cenomyce rangiferinus, -Lecidea muscorum, L. icmadophila, and similar Cryptogameæ, -which prepare the way for the growth of grasses and -herbaceous plants. In the tropics, where mosses and lichens -only abound in shady places, some species of succulent -plants take their place.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_166">[166]</span><a id="Footnote_26" href="#FNanchor_26" class="label">[26]</a> p. 13.—“<i>The care of animals yielding milk</i>, ... -... <i>The ruins of the Aztec fortress.</i>”</p> - - -<p>The two kinds of cattle alluded to, and subsequently spoken -of,—the Bos americanus and Bos moschatus,—are peculiar -to the American continent. But the natives—</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Queis neque mos, neque cultus erat, nec jungere tauros.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent4"><i>Virgil, Æn.</i> i. 316.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>—drink the fresh blood, not the milk, of these animals. -Single exceptions have indeed been found, but only among -tribes who at the same time cultivated maize. I have -before remarked, (p. <a href="#Page_54">54</a>), that Gomara speaks of a people in -the north-west of Mexico who possessed herds of tame -bisons, and derived from these animals clothing, meat, and -drink. The drink may have been the blood, (Prescott, -Conquest of Mexico, vol. iii. p. 416) for, as I have more -than once remarked, the dislike to milk, or at least the -absence of its use, appears, before the arrival of Europeans, -to have been, generally speaking, a feature common to all -the natives of the New Continent,—and one which they -possess in common with the inhabitants of China and -Cochin China, who yet were near neighbours to true pastoral -nations. The herds of tame lamas, found in the highlands -of Quito, Peru, and Chili, belonged to a settled population, -who cultivated the ground and did not follow a nomadic -life. Pedro de Cieça de Leon, (Chronica del Peru, Sevilla, -1553, cap. 110, p. 264) seems to imply, though certainly -as a rare and exceptional case, that in the Peruvian mountain -plateau of Collao lamas were used for drawing the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_167">[167]</span> -plough. (Compare Gay, Zoologia de Chile, Mamiferos, -1847, p. 154.) The usual custom in Peru was to plough -with men only. (See the Inca Garcilaso’s Commentarios -reales, P. i. lib. v. cap. 2, p. 133; and Prescott, Hist. of -the Conquest of Peru, 1847, vol. i. p. 136.) Mr. Barton -has made it appear probable that, among some of the tribes -of Western Canada, the buffalo was from early times made -an object of care for the sake of its flesh and skin. (Fragments -of the Nat. Hist. of Pennsylvania, P. i. p. 4.) In -Peru and Quito the lama is now nowhere found in a state of -original wildness. I was told by the natives that the lamas -on the western declivity of the Chimborazo had become wild -when the ancient residence of the rulers of Quito “Lican” -was laid in ashes. In the same manner the oxen in the Ceja -de la Montaña, in Middle Peru, have become perfectly wild: -they are a small and daring race, and often attack the Indians. -The natives call them Vacas del Monte, or Vacas cimarronas. -(Tschudi, Fauna Peruana, S. 256.) Cuvier’s opinion, that the -lama had descended from the still wild Guanaco, has been -unfortunately still further disseminated by the meritorious -traveller Meyen, (Reise um die Erde, Th. iii. S. 64), but -has been completely refuted by von Tschudi.</p> - -<p>The Lama, the Paco or Alpaca, and the Guanaco, are -three originally distinct species of animals. (Tschudi, S. -228 and 237.) The Guanaco (Huanacu in the Quichua -language) is the largest of the three; and the Alpaca, -measured from the ground to the crown of the head, the -smallest. The lama is next to the guanaco in stature. -Herds of lamas, when they are as numerous as I have seen<span class="pagenum" id="Page_168">[168]</span> -them in the high plateau between Quito and Riobamba, -are a great ornament to the landscape. The Moromoro of -Chili appears to be a mere variety of the lama. Vicuñas, -Guanacoes, and Alpacas, still live wild at elevations of from -13000 to 16000 feet above the level of the sea. The two -latter species are sometimes met with tamed, but the guanaco -only rarely. The alpaca does not bear the warmer climate -of the lower elevations so well as the lama. Since the -introduction of the more useful horses, mules, and asses, -(the latter acquire great spirit and beauty within the tropics), -the custom of rearing and using the lama and the -alpaca as beasts of burden, in the mountains and among -the mines, has much decreased. But the wool, of such -different qualities in respect to fineness, is still an important -article in the industry of the inhabitants of the mountains. -In Chili the wild and the tamed guanaco are distinguished -by separate names; the wild being called Luan, and the -tame Chilihueque. The wide dissemination of the wild -guanaco, from the Peruvian Cordilleras to Tierra del Fuego, -sometimes in herds of 500, has been favoured by the circumstance -that these animals can swim with great ease from -island to island, so that the Patagonian fiords offer no -obstacle to their wanderings. (See the pleasing descriptions -by Darwin in his Journal, 1845, p. 66.)</p> - -<p>South of the Gila River, which, together with the Rio -Colorado, enters the Californian Gulf or Mar de Cortes, -stand, in the solitude of the Steppe, the enigmatical ruins of -the Aztec Palace, called by the Spaniards las Casas grandes. -When the Aztecs, about the year 1160, came from the unknown<span class="pagenum" id="Page_169">[169]</span> -land of Aztlan to Anahuac, they settled themselves -for a time on the banks of the Gila. The Franciscan monks, -Garces and Font, are the latest travellers who have visited -the Casas grandes, and they did so in 1773. They stated -the ruins to extend over above a square German mile (16 -English square miles). The whole plain is strewed with -fragments of painted pottery. The principal palace, (if a -house built of unburnt clay can be so designated), is 447 -English feet long and 277 English feet broad. (See a -rare work printed in Mexico, and entitled Cronica seráfica y -apostólica del Colegio de Propaganda Fide de la Santa Cruz -de Querétaro por Fr. Juan Domingo Arricivita).</p> - -<p>The Tayé of California, as drawn by Father Venegas, -appears to differ little from the Ovis musimon of the Old -Continent. The same animal is also seen on the “Stony -Mountains,” near the sources of the Peace River. Very -different from it, on the other hand, is the small white and -black spotted goat-like creature which feeds near the -Missouri and Arkansas rivers. The synonymy of Antilope -furcifer, A. tememazama of Smith, and Ovis montana, is still -very undetermined.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_27" href="#FNanchor_27" class="label">[27]</a> p. 14.—“<i>The cultivation of farinaceous grasses.</i>”</p> - -<p>The original habitat of the farinaceous grasses is wrapped -in the same obscurity as that of the domestic animals which -have accompanied man since his earliest migrations. The -German word for corn, “Getraide,” has been ingeniously -derived by Jacob Grimm from the old German gitragidi, -getregede. “It is as it were the <i>tame</i> fruit (fruges, frumentum),<span class="pagenum" id="Page_170">[170]</span> -which has come into the hands of man; as we speak -of tame animals in opposition to wild ones.” (Jacob Grimm, -Gesch. der deutschen Sprache, 1848, Th. i. S. 62.) It is -certainly a very striking phenomenon, to find on one side of -our planet nations to whom flour or meal from small-eared -grasses (Hordeaceæ and Avenaceæ), and the use of milk, -were completely unknown, while the nations of almost all -parts of the other hemisphere cultivate the Cerealia, and -rear milk-yielding animals. The cultivation of different -kinds of grasses may be said to afford a characteristic distinction -between the two parts of the world. In the New -Continent, from 52° north to 46° south latitude, we see -only one species cultivated, viz. maize. In the Old Continent, -on the other hand, we find every where, from the -earliest times of history, the fruits of Ceres, wheat, barley, -spelt or red wheat, and oats. That wheat grew wild in the -Leontine fields, as well as in several other places in Sicily, -was a belief entertained by ancient nations, and is mentioned -by Diodorus Siculus. (Lib. v. p. 199 and 232, Wessel.) -Ceres was found in the alpine meadow of Enna; and Diodorus -fables that “the inhabitants of the Atlantis were -unacquainted with the fruits of Ceres, because they had -separated from the rest of mankind before those fruits had -been shewn to mortals.” Sprengel has collected several -interesting passages which lead him to think it probable that -the greater part of our European kinds of grain were -originally wild in the northern parts of Persia and India, -namely, summer wheat in the country of the Musicanes, a province -in Northern India (Strabo, xv. 1017); barley (“antiquissimum<span class="pagenum" id="Page_171">[171]</span> -frumentum,” as Pliny calls it, and which is also -the only cereal with which the Guanches of the Canaries were -acquainted), according to Moses of Chorene (Geogr, Armen. -ed. Whiston, 1736, p. 360), on the Araxes or Kur in -Georgia, and according to Marco Polo in Balascham in -Northern India (Ramusio, vol. ii. p. 10); and spelt or red -wheat, near Hamadan. But these passages, as has been -shewn by my keen-sighted friend and teacher Link, in an -instructive critical memoir (Abhandl. de Berl. Akad. -1816, S. 123), still leave much uncertainty. I also -early regarded the existence of originally wild kinds of grain -in Asia as extremely doubtful, and viewed such as might -have been seen there as having <i>become wild</i>. (Essai sur la -Géographie des Plantes, 1805, p. 28.) Reinhold Forster, -who before his voyage with Captain Cook, made by order of -the Empress Catherine an expedition into Southern Russia -for purposes of natural history, reported that the two-stalked -summer barley (Hordeum distichon), grew wild near -the junction of the Samara and the Volga. At the end of -the month of September, 1829, Ehrenberg and myself, on -our journey from Orenburg and Uralsk to Saratow and the -Caspian, also herborised on the banks of the Samara. We -were, indeed, struck with the quantity of wheat and rye -plants growing in what might be called a wild state in the -uncultivated ground, but the plants did not appear to us to -differ from the ordinary cultivated ones. Ehrenberg received -from M. Carelin a kind of rye, Secale fragile, gathered on -the Kirgis Steppe, and which Marschall von Bieberstein -regarded for a time as the original or mother plant of our<span class="pagenum" id="Page_172">[172]</span> -cultivated rye, Secale cereale. Although Olivier and -Michaux speak of spelt (Triticum spelta) as growing wild at -Hamadan in Persia, Achill Richard does not consider that -Michaux’s herbarium bears out this statement. Greater -confidence is due to the most recent accounts obtained by -the unwearied zeal of a highly-informed traveller, Professor -Carl Koch. He found much rye (Secale cereale, var. β -pectinata) in the Pontic Mountains, at elevations of upwards -of five or six thousand feet, in places where within the -memory of the inhabitants no grain of the kind had ever -been cultivated. Koch remarks, that the circumstance is -“the more important because with us this grain never propagates -itself spontaneously.” In the Schirwan parts of the -Caucasus, Koch collected a kind of barley which he calls -“Hordeum spontaneum,” and considers to be the originally -wild “Hordeum zeocriton” of Linnæus. (Carl Koch -Beiträge zur Flora des Orients, Heft i. S. 139 and 142.)</p> - -<p>A negro slave of the great Cortes was the first who cultivated -wheat in New Spain. He had found three grains of -it amongst the rice which had been brought from Spain for -provision for the army. In the Franciscan convent at -Quito, I saw preserved as a relic the earthen vessel which -had contained the first wheat sowed there by the Franciscan -monk Fray Jodoco Rixi, a native of Ghent in Flanders. -The first sowing had been made in front of the convent, -on what is now the Plazuela de San Francisco, after cutting -down the forest which then extended from the foot -of the volcano of Pichincha to the spot in question. The -monks, who I often visited during my stay at Quito, begged<span class="pagenum" id="Page_173">[173]</span> -me to explain to them the inscription on the earthen -vessel, which they thought must contain some mystic reference -to the wheat. I read the motto, which was in the -old German dialect, and was—“Whoso drinks from me -let him not forget his God.” I too felt with the monks -that this old German drinking vessel was a truly venerable -relic. Would that there had been preserved every -where in the New Continent the names, not of those who -made the earth desolate by bloody conquests, but of those -who first intrusted to it these its fruits so early associated -with the civilisation of mankind in the Old Continent! -In respect generally to the names of the kinds of grain, as -bearing on the original affinities of different languages, a -high authority has remarked, that “such indications are -much more rare in the case of different kinds of grain, and -on subjects of agriculture, than on those connected with -the care of cattle: herdsmen when dispersed had still much -in common, whereas the subsequent cultivators of the soil -had to create new words. But the fact that in comparison -with the Sanscrit, Romans and Greeks appear nearly on a -par with the Germans and Slavonians, argues in favour of -the very early contemporaneous emigration of the two -latter. Yet the Indian “java” (Frumentum hordeum), -compared with the Lithuanian “jawai,” and the Finnish -“jywa,” offers a singular exception.” (Jac. Grimm, Gesch. -der deutschen Sprache, Th. i. S. 69.)</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_28" href="#FNanchor_28" class="label">[28]</a> p. 14.—“<i>Keeping by preference to the cooler -mountain regions.</i>”</p> - -<p>Throughout Mexico and Peru the traces of a great degree<span class="pagenum" id="Page_174">[174]</span> -of civilisation are confined to the elevated plateaux. We -have seen on the Andes the ruins of palaces and baths at -heights between 1600 and 1800 toises (10230 and 11510 -English feet). It can only have been men of a northern -race, who, migrating from the north towards the south, could -find delight in such a climate.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_29" href="#FNanchor_29" class="label">[29]</a> p. 15.—“<i>The history of the peopling of Japan.</i>”</p> - -<p>The probability of the western nations of the New Continent -having had communication with the east of Asia long -before the arrival of the Spaniards, was I think shewn by -me in a work on the monuments of the native inhabitants -of America (Vues des Cordillères et Monumens des peuples -indigenes de l’Amérique). I inferred this probability from -a comparison of the Mexican and Thibeto-Japanese calendars,—from -the correct orientation of the steps of the pyramidal -elevations towards the different quarters of the heavens,—and -from the ancient myths and traditions of the four ages -or four epochs of destruction of the world, and the dispersion -of mankind after a great flood of waters. The accounts -published since my work, in England, France, and the -United States, describing the wonderful bas reliefs, almost -in the Indian style, in the ruins of Guatimala and Yucatan, -have given to these analogies a still higher value. (Compare -Antonio del Rio, Description of the Ruins of an -Ancient City discovered near Palenque, 1822, translated -from the original manuscript report by Cabrera (del Rio’s -exploration took place in 1787), p. 9, tab. 12–14; with -Stephens, Incidents of Travel in Yucatan, 1843, vol. i. -pp. 391 and 429–434; vol. ii. pp. 21, 54, 56, 317, 323;<span class="pagenum" id="Page_175">[175]</span> -with the magnificent volume of Catherwood, “Views of -ancient Monuments in Central America, Chiapas, and -Yucatan,” 1844; and lastly, with Prescott’s “Conquest of -Mexico,” vol. iii. App. p. 360.)</p> - -<p>The architectural remains in the peninsula of Yucatan -shew, still more than those of Palenque, a degree of civilisation -and art which excites our astonishment. They are -situated between Valladolid, Merida, and Campeachy, chiefly -in the western part of the country. But the monuments in -the island of Cozumel (more properly Cuzamil), east of -Yucatan, were the first which were seen by the Spaniards -in the expedition of Juan de Grijalva, 1518, and that of -Cortes in 1519, and the report of them did much to spread -over Europe a high idea of ancient Mexican civilisation. -The most important ruins of the peninsula of Yucatan, -which unfortunately have not yet been thoroughly measured -and drawn by architects, are the Casa del Gobernador of -Uxmal, the Teocallis and vaulted constructions at Kabah, the -ruins of Labnah with domed columns, those of Zayi with -columns very nearly of the Doric order, and those of Chiche -with large ornamented pilasters. An old manuscript written -in the Maya language by a Christian Indian, and which is -still in the hands of the Gefe politico of Peto, Don Juan -Pio Perez, gives the different epochs (“Katunes” of 52 -years) in which the Toltecs settled in different parts of the -peninsula. From these data Perez infers that the monuments -or buildings of Chiche go back to the close of the -fourth century of our era, while those of Uxmal belong to -the middle of the tenth century. But the accuracy of these<span class="pagenum" id="Page_176">[176]</span> -conclusions is subject to much uncertainty. (Stephens, -Incidents of Travel in Yucatan, vol. i. p. 439; and vol. ii. -p. 278.)</p> - -<p>I regard the existence of ancient connections between -the inhabitants of western America and eastern Asia as -more than probable, but by what routes, or with what -Asiatic nations, the communications took place, cannot at -present be decided. A small number of individuals of the -educated priestly caste might perhaps be sufficient to bring -about great alterations in the civil and social state of -western America. The stories formerly narrated of Chinese -expeditions to the New Continent really apply only to -voyages to Fusang or Japan. On the other hand, Japanese -and Sian-Pi from the Corea may have been driven by storms -to the American coast, and landed there. We know as -matter of history that Bonzes and other adventurers sailed -over the eastern Chinese seas in search of some medicine -which should entirely prevent death. Under Tschin-schi-kuang-ti, -209 years before our era, 300 young couples, -young men and young women, were sent to Japan, and -instead of returning to China they settled at Nipon (Klaproth, -Tableaux historiques de l’Asie, 1824, p. 79; Nouveau -Journal Asiatique, T. x. 1832, p. 335; Humboldt, Examen -critique, T. ii. p. 62–67). May not similar expeditions have -been driven by storms or other accidents to the Aleutian -islands, to Alashka, or to New California? As the western -coasts of the American continent trend from NW. to SE., -and the eastern coasts of Asia in the opposite direction, or -from NE. to SW., the distance between the two continents<span class="pagenum" id="Page_177">[177]</span> -in 45° of latitude, or in the temperate zone which is most -favourable to mental development, is too considerable to -admit of the probability of such an accidental settlement -taking place in that latitude. We must, then, assume the -first landing to have been made in the inhospitable climate -of from 55° to 65° and that the civilisation thus introduced, -like the general movement of population in America, -has proceeded by successive stations from north to south -(Humboldt, Relat. historique, t. iii p. 155–160). The -remains of ships from Cathay, <i>i. e.</i>, from Japan or China, -were supposed to have been found on the coasts of the -northern Dorado, (called Quivira and Cibora) at the beginning -of the 16th century (Gomara, Hist. general de las -Indias, p. 117).</p> - -<p>Our knowledge of the languages of America is still too -limited, considering their great variety, for us as yet -entirely to relinquish the hope of some day discovering an -idiom which may have been spoken, with certain modifications, -at once in the interior of South America and in -that of Asia; or which may at least indicate an ancient -affinity. Such a discovery would certainly be one of the -most brilliant which can be expected in reference to the -history of mankind. But analogies of language only deserve -confidence when the enquirer, not resting in or dwelling on -resemblances of sound in the roots, traces the analogies -into the organic structure, the grammatical forms, and into -all which in languages shews itself as the product of the -human intellect and character.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_178">[178]</span><a id="Footnote_30" href="#FNanchor_30" class="label">[30]</a> p. 15.—“<i>Many other forms of animals.</i>”</p> - -<p>Whole herds of the Cervus mexicanus wander over -the Caraccas Steppes: the young stag is spotted, and -resembles in appearance the roe-deer of Europe. We saw -among them many entirely white,—a singular circumstance -in the torrid zone. The Cervus mexicanus is not -found at greater elevations on the mountain-slopes of the -Andes under the equator than from 700 to 800 toises -(4476 to 5115 Eng. feet); but a larger, and also often -white, stag,—which I could hardly distinguish from the -European by any specific characters,—is met with up to -2000 toises (12789 Eng. feet). The Cavia capybara, -called in the province of Caraccas “chiguire,” is an unfortunate -animal; being pursued in the water by the crocodile, -and on the plain by the tiger or jaguar. It runs so badly -that we could often catch it with our hands. Its extremities -are smoked for hams, but their taste is very disagreeable -from the smell of musk; and on the Orinoco we willingly -ate monkey hams in preference. The beautifully marked -animals which have so disagreeable an odour are the Viverra -mapurito, Viverra zorilla, and Viverra vittata.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_31" href="#FNanchor_31" class="label">[31]</a> p. 16.—“<i>The Guaranis, and the fan-palm, -Mauritia.</i>”</p> - -<p>The small coast tribe or nation of the Guaranis, (called -in British Guiana the Warraws or Guaranos, and by the -Caribs U-ara-u), inhabit not only the marshy Delta and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_179">[179]</span> -river network of the Orinoco, and particularly the banks -of the Manamo Grande and the Caño Macareo, but also -extend, with little variation in their modes of life, along -the sea coast between the mouths of the Essequibo and -the Boca de Navios of the Orinoco. (Compare my Relation -historique, T. i. p. 492, T. ii. p. 653 and 703, with -Richard Schomburgk’s “Reisen in Britisch Guiana,” Th. i. -1847, S. 62, 120, 173, and 194). According to the -testimony of the last-named excellent explorer and observer, -there are still 1700 Warraus or Guaranis living in the -district of Cumaca, and along the banks of the Barima -river, which empties itself into the gulf of the Boca de -Navios. The manners and customs of the tribes living in -the Delta of the Orinoco were already known to the great -historical writer Cardinal Bembo, the contemporary of -Columbus, Amerigo Vespucci, and Alonzo de Hojeda. He -says, “quibusdam in locis propter paludes incolæ domus -in arboribus ædificant” (Historiæ Venetæ, 1551, p. 88). -It is more probable that Bembo is alluding to the Guaranis -at the mouth of the Orinoco, than to the natives near the -mouth of the Gulph of Macaraibo, where Alonzo de Hojeda, -in August 1499, when he was accompanied by Vespucci -and Juan de la Cosa, also found a population having -their residence “fondata sopra l’ acqua come Venezia” -(Riccardi’s Text in my Examen crit. t. iv. p. 496). In -Vespucci’s account of his voyage (in which we find the -first indication of the etymology of the term Province of -Venezuela, Little Venice, for Province of Caraccas), he<span class="pagenum" id="Page_180">[180]</span> -only speaks of houses raised upon foundation pillars, not of -habitations in the trees.</p> - -<p>Sir Walter Raleigh offers a later evidence of high -authority; he says expressly, in his description of Guiana, -that on his second voyage in 1595, when in the mouth of -the Orinoco, he saw the “<i>fires</i>” of the Tivitives and the -Oua-raa-etes (so he calls the Guaranis) “high up in the -trees” (Raleigh, Discov. of Guiana, 1596, p. 90). The fire -is represented in a drawing in the Latin edition: “brevis et -admiranda descriptio regni Guianæ,” (Norib. 1599) tab. 4. -Raleigh was also the first who brought to England the fruit -of the Mauritia-palm, which he very justly compared, on -account of its scales, to a fir cone. The Padre José -Gumilla, who twice visited the Guaranis as a missionary, -says, indeed, that this people had their habitation in the -palmares (palm groves) of the morasses; but he only -mentions dwellings raised upon high pillars, and not scaffoldings -attached to trees still in a growing state; (Gumilla, -Historia natural, civil, y geografica de las Naciones situadas -en las riveras del Rio Orinoco, nueva imp. 1791, p. 143, -145, and 163). Hillhouse and Sir Robert Schomburgk, -(Journal of the Royal Geographical Society, vol. xii. 1842, -p. 175; and Description of the Murichi or Ita Palm, read -at the Meeting of the British Association held at Cambridge, -June 1845; printed in Simond’s Colonial Magazine), are -of opinion that both Bembo and Raleigh, (the former -speaking from the reports of others, the latter as an eye-witness), -were deceived by the high tops of the palm-trees<span class="pagenum" id="Page_181">[181]</span> -being lit up at night by the flames of fires beneath, so -that those who sailed by thought the habitations themselves -were attached to the trees. “We do not deny that in -order to escape the attacks of the musquitos, the Indian -sometimes suspends his hammock from the tops of trees; -on such occasions, however, no fires are made under the -hammock.” (Compare also Sir Robert Schomburgk’s New -Edition of Raleigh’s Discovery of Guiana, 1848, p. 50.)</p> - -<p>According to Martius, the fine Palm Moriche, Mauritia -flexuosa, Quiteve, or Ita palm, (Bernau, Missionary Labours -in British Guiana, 1847, p. 34 and 44), belongs, as well -as Calamus, to the group of Lepidocaryeæ or Coryphineæ. -Linnæus has described it very imperfectly, as he erroneously -considers it to be leafless. The trunk grows as high as -26 feet, but it probably requires from 120 to 150 years -to reach this height. The Mauritia extends high up on -the declivity of the Duida, north of the Esmeralda mission, -where I have found it in great beauty. It forms in moist -places fine groups of a fresh shining verdure, which reminds -us of that of our Alder groves. The trees preserve the -moisture of the ground by their shade, and hence the -Indians say that the Mauritia draws the water round its -roots by a mysterious attraction. By a somewhat similar -theory they advise that serpents should not be killed; because -the destruction of the serpents and the drying up of the -pools or lagunas accompany each other: thus the untutored -child of nature confounds cause and effect. Gumilla terms -the Mauritia flexuosa of the Guaranis the tree of life, -arbol de la vida. It grows in the mountains of Ronaima,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_182">[182]</span> -east of the sources of the Orinoco, as high as 4000 (4263 -Eng.) feet. On the unvisited banks of the Rio Atabapo, -in the interior of Guiana, we discovered a new species -of Mauritia with prickly stems, our Mauritia aculeata; -(Humboldt, Bonpland and Kunth, Nova Genera et Species -Plantarum, t. i. p. 310).</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_32" href="#FNanchor_32" class="label">[32]</a> p. 16.—“<i>An American Stylites.</i>”</p> - -<p>The founder of the sect of the Stylites, the fanatical -pillar-saint Simeon Sisanites, the son of a Syrian herdsman, -is said to have passed thirty-seven years in religious contemplation -on the summits of five successive pillars, each higher -than the preceding. The last pillar was 40 ells high. -He died in the year 461. For seven hundred years there -continued to be men who imitated this manner of life, and -were called “sancti columnares” (pillar saints). Even in -Germany, in the Diocese of Treves, it was proposed to -erect such aerial cloisters, but the Bishops opposed the -undertaking (Mosheim, Institut. Hist. Eccles. 1755, p. 215.)</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_33" href="#FNanchor_33" class="label">[33]</a> p. 17.—“<i>Towns on the banks of the streams -which flow through the Steppe.</i>”</p> - -<p>Families who live not by agriculture but by the care of -cattle, have congregated in the middle of the Steppe in -small towns, which, in the cultivated parts of Europe, -would hardly be regarded as villages. Such are Calabozo, -in 8° 56′ 14″ N. lat. and 67° 42′ long. according to my -observations, Villa del Pao, lat 8° 38′ 1″, long. 66° 57′, -S. Sebastian, and others.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_183">[183]</span><a id="Footnote_34" href="#FNanchor_34" class="label">[34]</a> p. 17.—“<i>Conical-shaped clouds.</i>”</p> - -<p>The singular phenomenon of these “sand spouts,”—something -analogous to which may occasionally be seen on -a small scale in Europe where four roads meet,—is particularly -characteristic of the Peruvian Sand Desert between -Amotape and Coquimbo. Such a dense cloud of sand or -dust may prove dangerous to the traveller who does not -cautiously avoid its approach. It is also worthy of notice -that these partial conflicting currents of air only arise -when the air generally is perfectly calm. The aerial ocean -resembles the sea in this respect, for in the latter also the -small currents which are often heard to ripple audibly, -(filets de courant), are only perceptible in a dead calm -(calme plat).</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_35" href="#FNanchor_35" class="label">[35]</a> p. 18.—“<i>Increases the suffocating heat.</i>”</p> - -<p>I have observed in the Llanos de Apure, at the Guadalupe -cattle farm, the thermometer rise from 27° to 29° -Reaumur (92°.7 to 97°.2 Fahr.) whenever the hot wind -began to blow from the Desert, which at such times was -covered either with sand or with short withered turf. In -the middle of the sand-cloud the temperature was for some -minutes 35° R. (111° F.). The dry sand in the village of -San Fernando de Apure had a temperature of 42° R. -(126° Fahr.)</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_36" href="#FNanchor_36" class="label">[36]</a> p. 18.—“<i>The illusive image of a cool rippling -watery mirror.</i>”</p> - -<p>The well-known phenomenon of the mirage is called in<span class="pagenum" id="Page_184">[184]</span> -Sanscrit the “thirst of the gazelle.” (See my Relation -historique, T. i. pp. 296 and 625; T. ii. p. 161.) All -objects appear to hover in the air, and are at the same time -seen reflected in the lower stratum of air. At such times -the entire desert assumes the aspect of the wave-covered -surface of a wide spread lake. Palm trees, cattle, and -camels, sometimes appear inverted on the horizon. In the -French expedition to Egypt, the soldiers, parched with -thirst, were often brought by this optical illusion into a -state of desperation. This phenomenon has been remarked -in all quarters of the globe. The ancients were acquainted -with the remarkable refraction of the rays of light in the -Lybian Desert. I find mention made in Diod. Sic. lib. iii. -p. 184, Rhod. (p. 219, Wessel), of extraordinary illusive -images, an African Fata Morgana, with most extravagant -explanations of the supposed conglomeration of the particles -of air.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_37" href="#FNanchor_37" class="label">[37]</a> p. 19.—“<i>The Melon-Cactus.</i>”</p> - -<p>The Cactus melo cactus is often 10 to 12 inches in -diameter, and has usually 14 ribs. The natural group of -Cactaceæ, the whole family of Nopaleæ of Jussieu, belong exclusively -to the New Continent. The cactuses assume a great -variety of shapes: ribbed and melon-like (Melo cacti); articulated -or jointed (Opuntiæ); forming upright columns or -pillars (Cerei); serpentine and creeping (Rhipsalides); or -provided with leaves (Pereskiæ). Many extend high up the -sides of the mountains. Near the foot of the Chimborazo, -in the elevated sandy plain around Riobamba, I have found -a new kind of Pitahaya, the Cactus sepium, even at a height<span class="pagenum" id="Page_185">[185]</span> -of 10,000 (10,660 Eng.) feet. (Humboldt, Bonpland, and -Kunth, Synopsis Plantarum æquinoct. Orbis novi, T. iii. -p. 370).</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_38" href="#FNanchor_38" class="label">[38]</a> p. 19.—“<i>The scene in the Steppe is -suddenly changed.</i>”</p> - -<p>I have endeavoured to depict the coming in of the rainy -season, and the signs by which it is announced. The usual -deep dark azure of the sky in the tropics arises from -the more complete solution of the vapour contained in the -atmosphere. The cyanometer indicates a paler blue as soon -as the vapours begin to be precipitated. The dark spot or -patch in the constellation of the Southern Cross gradually -becomes indistinct as the transparency of the atmosphere -diminishes, and this alteration announces the near approach -of rain. The brightness of the Magellanic clouds, (Nubecula -major and minor), gradually vanishes in a similar manner. -The fixed stars, which before shone like planets with a -steady, tranquil, and not trembling light, now scintillate -even in the zenith, where the vapours are least. (See -Arago, in my Relation hist. T. i. p. 623). All these appearances -are the results of the increased quantity of vapour -diffused in the atmosphere.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_39" href="#FNanchor_39" class="label">[39]</a> p. 20.—“<i>Awakened from a torpid state by the -first fall of rain.</i>”</p> - -<p>Extreme dryness produces in plants and animals the same -phenomena as does the withdrawal of the stimulus of heat. -Many tropical trees and plants shed their leaves during the dry<span class="pagenum" id="Page_186">[186]</span> -season. The crocodiles and other amphibious animals hide -themselves in the mud, where they lie apparently dead, like -animals in a state of hybernation or plunged into winter -sleep by cold. (See my Relation historique, T. ii. pp. 192 -and 626.)</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_40" href="#FNanchor_40" class="label">[40]</a> p. 20.—“<i>The aspect of a vast inland sea.</i>”</p> - -<p>Nowhere are these inundations more extensive than in -the network of rivers formed by the Apure, the Arachuna, -Pajara, Arauca, and Cabuliare. Large vessels sail across -the country over the Steppe for 40 or 50 miles.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_41" href="#FNanchor_41" class="label">[41]</a> p. 21.—“<i>To the mountain plateau of -Antisana.</i>”</p> - -<p>The great mountain plain or plateau surrounding the -volcano of Antisana is 2107 toises (13473 English feet), -above the level of the sea. The atmospheric pressure at -this elevation is so small that the wild cattle, when hunted -with dogs, bleed from the nose and mouth.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_42" href="#FNanchor_42" class="label">[42]</a> p. 22.—“<i>Bera and Rastro.</i>”</p> - -<p>I have described the capture of the Gymnoti in detail in -another place. (Observations de Zoologie et d’Anatomie -comparée, vol. i. p. 83–87; and Relation historique, T. ii. -p. 173–190). M. Gay Lussac and I found the experiment -without a circuit succeed perfectly with a living Gymnotus, -which was still very vigorous when brought to Paris. The -discharge is solely dependent on the will of the animal.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_187">[187]</span> -We did not see any spark, but other physicists have done -so on several occasions.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_43" href="#FNanchor_43" class="label">[43]</a> p. 23.—“<i>Awakened by the contact of moist -dissimilar particles.</i>”</p> - -<p>In all parts of organic bodies dissimilar substances are -in contact with each other: in all, solids are associated -with fluids. Thus, wherever there is organization and life, -there is also electric tension or the play of the voltaic pile, -as the experiments of Nobili and Matteucci, and especially -the latest admirable labours of Emil du Bois, teach us. The -last named physicist has succeeded in “manifesting the -presence of the electric muscular current in living and -wholly uninjured animal bodies:” he shews that “the -human body, through the medium of a copper wire, can -cause a magnetic needle at a distance to be deflected at -pleasure, first in one and then in the opposite direction.” -(Untersuchungen über thierische Elektricität, von Emil du -Bois-Reymond, 1848, Bd. i. S. xv.) I have witnessed -these movements produced at pleasure, and have had the gratification -of seeing thereby great and unexpected light thrown -on phenomena to which I had laboriously and hopefully -devoted several years of my youth.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_44" href="#FNanchor_44" class="label">[44]</a> p. 23.—“<i>Osiris and Typhon.</i>”</p> - -<p>On the conflict between two races of men, the Arabian -pastoral people in Lower Egypt, and the agricultural race in -Upper Egypt who were in a more advanced state of civilisation, -on the fair-haired Prince Baby or Typhon, who founded<span class="pagenum" id="Page_188">[188]</span> -Pelusium, and on the dark-complexioned Dionysos or -Osiris, see Zoëga’s ancient, and now for the most part -abandoned views, in his great work “De Origine et Usu -Obeliscorum,” p. 577.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_45" href="#FNanchor_45" class="label">[45]</a> p. 24.—“<i>The boundary of a partial European -cultivation.</i>”</p> - -<p>In the Capitania general de Caracas, as generally every -where on the eastern shores of America, the cultivation -introduced by Europeans, and their presence and influence, -are limited to a narrow strip of country along the coast. -In Mexico, New Granada, and Quito, on the other hand, -European civilisation has penetrated deep into the interior -of the country, and advanced up the ridges of the Cordilleras. -There existed in these last-named regions a considerable -degree of settled and civilised life previous to the -arrival of the Spaniards; and they have followed this civilisation -wherever they found it, regardless whether its seat -was near or at a distance from the sea coast. They retained -and enlarged the ancient cities, of which they either mutilated -the old significant Indian names, or gave them new -names, as, for example, of Christian saints.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_46" href="#FNanchor_46" class="label">[46]</a> p. 24.—“<i>Massive leaden-coloured granite rocks.</i>”</p> - -<p>In the Orinoco, and more especially at the Cataracts of -Maypures and Atures, all blocks of granite, and even white -pieces of quartz, whenever they are touched by the water of -the river, acquire a greyish-black coating which scarcely -penetrates a hundredth of a line below the surface of the rock.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_189">[189]</span> -The appearance produced is that of basalt, or fossils coloured -with graphite. The crust appears to contain manganese -and carbon; I say appears, for the phenomenon has -not yet been thoroughly examined. Something similar was -remarked by Rozier on the syenite rocks of the Nile, near -Syene and Philæ; by the unfortunate Captain Tuckey on -the rocky banks of the Congo; and by Sir Robert Schomburgh -on the Berbice. (Reisen in Guiana und am Orinoko, -S. 212.) On the Orinoco these leaden-coloured rocks -are considered to give out pernicious exhalations when -wet; and their proximity is believed to produce fevers. -(Rel. hist. T. ii. p. 299–304.) In the Rio Negro, and -generally in the South American rivers which have “black -waters,” “aguas negras,” or waters of a coffee-brown or -yellow tint, no such effects take place. No black colour -is imparted to the granite rocks by the waters; that is to say, -they do not act upon the stone so as to form from its constituent -particles a black or leaden-coloured crust.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_47" href="#FNanchor_47" class="label">[47]</a> p. 24.—“<i>The rain-announcing howlings of the -bearded apes.</i>”</p> - -<p>The melancholy howlings of the small apes, Simia seniculus, -Simia beelzebub, &c., are heard some hours before -the rain commences: it is as if the tempest were heard -raging at a distance. The intensity of the noise produced -by such small animals can only be explained by their -number; seventy or eighty being often lodged in a single -tree. On the organs of voice of these animals, see my anatomical -treatise in the first chapter of my Recueil d’Observations -de Zoologie, vol. i. p. 18.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_190">[190]</span><a id="Footnote_48" href="#FNanchor_48" class="label">[48]</a> p. 24.—“<i>Often covered with birds.</i>”</p> - -<p>The crocodiles lie so motionless that I have seen flamingos -(Phœnicopterus) resting on their heads; the body at the -same time being covered with aquatic birds, like the trunk -of a tree.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_49" href="#FNanchor_49" class="label">[49]</a> p. 24.—“<i>Down his swelling throat.</i>”</p> - -<p>The saliva with which the boa covers his prey hastens the -process of decomposition; the muscular flesh thus becomes -softened into such a gelatinous state, that he can force entire -limbs of larger, and bodies of smaller, animals down his -throat without division. The Creoles call this gigantic -serpent from these circumstances, “Tragavenado,” which -means “Stag swallower:” they tell fabulous stories of -snakes being seen with the antlers of a stag (which it was -impossible to swallow) sticking in their throats. I have -several times seen the boa swimming in the Orinoco, -and in the smaller forest streams, the Tuamini, the Temi -and the Atabapo. It holds its head above the water like a -dog. Its skin is finely spotted. It is said to attain a length -of 48 feet; but the largest skins which have as yet been -brought to Europe and carefully measured do not exceed -21 to 23 feet. The South American boa (which is a -Python) differs from the East Indian. On the Ethiopian -boa, see Diodor. lib. iii. p. 204, ed. Wesseling.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_50" href="#FNanchor_50" class="label">[50]</a> p. 25.—“<i>Using ants, gums, and earth as food.</i>”</p> - -<p>It was a very prevalent report on the coasts of Cumana, -New Barcelona, and Caraccas, visited by the Franciscan<span class="pagenum" id="Page_191">[191]</span> -monks of Guiana on their return from the missions, that -there were men on the banks of the Orinoco who ate earth. -When, in returning from the Rio Negro, we descended the -Orinoco in thirty-six days, we passed the day of the 6th of -June, 1800, in the Mission inhabited by the earth-eating -Otomacs. This little village is called La Concepcion de -Uruana, and is very picturesquely situated at the foot of -a granite rock. I found its geographical position to be -7° 8′ 3″ N. lat., and 67° 18′ W. long. from Greenwich. -The earth which the Otomacs eat is a soft unctuous clay; a -true potter’s clay, of a yellowish-grey colour due to a little -oxide of iron. They seek for it in particular spots on the -banks of the Orinoco and the Meta, and select it with care. -They distinguish the taste of one kind of earth from that of -another, and do not consider all clays as equally agreeable -to eat. They knead the earth into balls of about five or -six inches diameter, which they burn or roast by a weak fire -until the outside assumes a reddish tint. The balls are -remoistened when about to be eaten. These Indians are -generally wild uncultivated beings, and altogether averse to -any kind of tillage. It is a proverb even among the most -distant of the nations living on the Orinoco, when speaking -of anything very unclean, to say that it is “so dirty, -that the Otomacs eat it.”</p> - -<p>As long as the waters of the Orinoco and the Meta are -low these Indians live on fish and river tortoises. They -kill the fish with arrows when at the surface of the water, a -pursuit in which we have often admired their great dexterity. -During the periodical swelling of the rivers the taking<span class="pagenum" id="Page_192">[192]</span> -of fish ceases, for it is as difficult to fish in deep river water -as in the deep sea. It is in this interval, which is of two -or three months’ duration, that the Otomacs swallow great -quantities of earth. We have found considerable stores of -it in their huts, the clay balls being piled together in pyramidal -heaps. The very intelligent monk, Fray Ramon -Bueno, a native of Madrid (who lived twelve years among -these Indians), assured us that one of them would eat from -three quarters of a pound to a pound and a quarter in a -day. According to the accounts which the Otomacs themselves -give, this earth forms their principal subsistence -during the rainy season, though they eat at the same time -occasionally, when they can obtain it, a lizard, a small fish, -or a fern root. They have such a predilection for the clay, -that even in the dry season, when they can obtain plenty -of fish, they eat a little earth after their meals every day -as a kind of dainty. These men have a dark copper-brown -complexion, and unpleasing Tartar features. They are fat, -but not large-bellied. The Franciscan monk who lived -among them as a missionary, assured us that he could -perceive no alteration in their health during the earth-eating -season.</p> - -<p>The simple facts are therefore as follows:—The Indians eat -large quantities of earth without injury to their health; and -they themselves regard the earth so eaten as an alimentary -substance, <i>i. e.</i> they feel themselves satisfied by eating it, and -that for a considerable time; and they attribute this to the -earth or clay, and not to the other scanty articles of subsistence -which they now and then obtain in addition. If you<span class="pagenum" id="Page_193">[193]</span> -inquire from an Otomac about his winter provision, (in -tropical South America the rainy season is usually called -winter), he points to the heap of clay balls stored in his hut. -But these simple facts by no means determine the questions, -whether the clay be really an alimentary substance? whether -earths be capable of assimilation? or whether they merely -serve to appease hunger by distending the stomach? I -cannot pretend to decide these questions. (Rel. hist. T. ii. -p. 618–620.) It is curious that the usually credulous and -uncritical Father Gumilla positively denies the earth-eating -as such. (Historia del Rio Orinoco, nueva impr. 1791, -T. i. p. 179.) He affirms that the balls of clay had maize-meal -and crocodile-fat mixed with them. But the missionary, -Fray Ramon Bueno, and our friend and travelling -companion, the lay brother Fray Juan Gonzalez, who was -lost at sea off the Coast of Africa with part of our collections, -both assured us that the Otomacs never mix crocodile -fat with the clay; and of the meal said to be mixed with -it we heard absolutely nothing during our stay in Uruana. -The earth which we brought back with us, and which -Vauquelin analysed, is thoroughly pure and unmixed. May -Gumilla, by a confusion of things wholly distinct, have been -alluding to the preparation of bread from the long pod of a -kind of Inga, which is previously buried in the earth in order -to hasten the commencement of the first stage of decay? -That the health of the Otomacs should not suffer from eating -so much earth appears to me particularly remarkable. Have -they become accustomed to it in the course of several -generations?</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_194">[194]</span>In all tropical countries, human beings shew an extraordinary -and almost irresistible desire to swallow earth; and -not alkaline earths, which they might be supposed to crave -to neutralize acid, but unctuous and strong-smelling clays. -It is often necessary to confine children to prevent them -from running out to eat earth immediately after a fall of -rain. I have observed with astonishment the Indian -women in the village of Banco on the Magdalena River, -whilst engaged in shaping earthen vessels on the potter’s wheel, -put great lumps of clay into their mouths. The same thing -was remarked at an earlier period by Gili. (Saggio di -Storia Americana, T. ii. p. 311.) Wolves also eat earth, -and especially clay, in winter. It would be important to -examine carefully the excrements of animals and men that -eat earth. With the exception of the Otomacs, individuals -of all other races who indulge for any length of time the -strange desire of earth-eating have their health injured by -it. At the mission of San Borja, we saw the child of an -Indian woman, who, his mother said, would hardly eat -anything but earth. He was, however, wasted nearly to a -skeleton.</p> - -<p>Why is it that in the temperate and cold zones this morbid -craving for eating earth is so much more rare, and is almost -entirely confined, when it is met with, to children and pregnant -women; while in the tropics it would appear to be -indigenous in all quarters of the globe? In Guinea the -negroes eat a yellowish earth, which they call Caouac. -When brought as slaves to the West Indies, they try to -obtain a similar earth, and affirm that in their own country<span class="pagenum" id="Page_195">[195]</span> -the habit never did them any harm. In the American -Islands they were made ill by it, and it was forbidden in -consequence; but a kind of earth (un tuf rouge jaunâtre) -was, in 1751, sold secretly in the market in Martinique. -“Les negres de Guinée disent que dans leur pays ils -mangent habituellement une certaine terre, dont le goût leur -plait, sans en être incommodés. Ceux qui sont dans l’abus -de manger du Caouac en sont si friands qu’il n’y a pas de -châtiment qui puisse les empêcher de dévorer de la terre.” -(Thibault de Chanvalon, Voyage à la Martinique, p. 85.) -In the Island of Java, between Sarabaya and Samarang, -Labillardière saw small square reddish-coloured cakes exposed -for sale in the villages. The natives called them tana ampo -(tanah, in Malay and Javanese, signifies earth). On examination -and enquiry he found that the cakes consisted of reddish -clay, and that they were eaten. (Voyage à la Récherche de -la Pérouse, T. ii. p. 322.) The edible clay of Samarang -has recently been sent to Berlin by Mohnike, in 1847, in -the shape of rolled tubes, like cinnamon, and has been -examined by Ehrenberg. It is a fresh-water formation -deposited on limestone, and consisting of microscopic -Polygastrica, Gaillonella, Naviculas, and Phytolitharia. -(Bericht über die Verhandl. der Akad. d. Wiss. zu Berlin, -aus dem J. 1848, S. 222–225.) The inhabitants of New -Caledonia, to appease their hunger, eat pieces as big as -the fist of friable steatite, which Vauquelin found to contain -in addition no inconsiderable quantity of copper. (Voyage -à la Récherche de la Pérouse, T. ii. p. 205.) In Popayan, -and several parts of Peru, calcareous earth is sold in the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_196">[196]</span> -streets as an eatable for the Indians; it is used with Coca -(the leaves of the Erythroxylon peruvianum.) Thus we find -the practice of eating earth diffused throughout the torrid -zone, among indolent races inhabiting the finest and most -fertile parts of the globe. But accounts have also come -from the North, through Berzelius and Retzius, according -to which, hundreds of cartloads of earth containing Infusoria -are said to be annually consumed by the country people, -in the most remote parts of Sweden, as breadmeal, and -even more from fancy (like the smoking of tobacco) than -from necessity! In Finland this kind of earth is occasionally -mixed with the bread. It consists of empty shells of -animalculæ, so small and soft that they do not crunch -perceptibly between the teeth; it fills the stomach, but -gives no real nourishment. In periods of war, chronicles -and documents preserved in archives often give intimation -of earths containing infusoria having been eaten; speaking -of them under the vague and general name of “mountain -meal.” It was thus during the Thirty Years’ War in -Pomerania (at Camin); in the Lausitz (at Muskau); and -in the territory of Dessau (at Klieken); and subsequently -in 1719 and 1733 at the fortress of Wittenberg. (See -Ehrenberg über das unsichtbar wirkende organische Leben, -1842, S. 41.)</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_51" href="#FNanchor_51" class="label">[51]</a> p. 25.—“<i>Figures graven on the rock.</i>”</p> - -<p>In the interior of South America, between the 2d and -4th degrees of North latitude, a forest-covered plain is -enclosed by four rivers, the Orinoco, the Atabapo, the Rio<span class="pagenum" id="Page_197">[197]</span> -Negro, and the Cassiquiare. In this district are found rocks -of granite and of syenite, covered, like those of Caicara and -Uruana, with colossal symbolical figures of crocodiles and -tigers, and drawings of household utensils, and of the sun and -moon. At the present time this remote corner of the earth -is entirely without human inhabitants, throughout an extent -of more than 8000 square geographical miles. The tribes -nearest to its boundaries are wandering naked savages, in -the lowest stage of human existence, and far removed from -any thoughts of carving hieroglyphics on rocks. One may -trace in South America an entire zone, extending through -more than eight degrees of longitude, of rocks so ornamented; -viz. from the Rupuniri, Essequibo, and the -mountains of Pacaraima, to the banks of the Orinoco and -of the Yupura. These carvings may belong to very -different epochs, for Sir Robert Schomburgk even found -on the Rio Negro representations of a Spanish galiot -(Reisen in Guiana und am Orinoko, übersetzt von Otto -Schomburgk, 1841, S. 500), which must have been of a -later date than the beginning of the 16th century; and this -in a wilderness where the natives were probably as rude -then as at the present time. But it must not be forgotten -that, as I have elsewhere noticed, nations of very different -descent, when in a similar uncivilized state, having the same -disposition to simplify and generalise outlines, and being -impelled by inherent mental dispositions to form rhythmical -repetitions and series, may be led to produce similar signs -and symbols. (Compare Relation hist. T. ii. p. 589, -and Martius über die Physionomie des Pflanzenreichs in -Brasilien, 1824, S. 14.)</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_198">[198]</span>At the Meeting of the Society of Antiquaries of London, -on the 17th of November, 1836, there was read a memoir -by Sir Robert Schomburgk “On the Religious Traditions of -the Macusi Indians, who inhabit the Upper Mahu and a -part of the Pacaraima Mountains;” a nation, consequently, -who for a century (since the journey of the adventurous -Hortsmann,) have not changed their residence. Sir Robert -Schomburgk says: “The Macusis believe that the sole -survivor of a general deluge repeopled the earth by changing -stones into human beings.” This myth (the fruit of the -lively imagination of these nations, and which reminds us -of Deucalion and Pyrrha), shews itself in a somewhat altered -form among the Tamanaks of the Orinoco. When asked how -mankind survived the great flood, the “age of waters” of -the Mexicans, they reply without any hesitation, that ‘one -man and one woman took refuge on the high mountain of -Tamanacu, on the banks of the Asiveru, and that they then -threw over their heads and behind their backs the fruits of -the Mauritia-palm, from the kernels of which sprang men -and women who repeopled the earth.’ Some miles from -Encaramada, there rises, in the middle of the savannah, the -rock Tepu-Mereme, or the painted rock. It shews several -figures of animals and symbolical outlines which resemble -much those observed by us at some distance above Encaramada, -near Caycara, in 7° 5′ to 7° 40′ lat. and 66° 28′ to -67° 23′ W. long. from Greenwich. Rocks thus marked -are found between the Cassiquiare and the Atabapo -(in 2° 5′ to 3° 20′ lat.), and what is particularly remarkable, -560 geographical miles farther to the East in the solitudes -of the Parime. This last fact is placed beyond a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_199">[199]</span> -doubt by the journal of Nicholas Hortsmann, of which I have -seen a copy in the handwriting of the celebrated D’Anville. -That simple and modest traveller wrote down every day, on -the spot, what had appeared to him most worthy of notice, -and he deserves perhaps the more credence because, being -full of dissatisfaction at having failed to discover the objects -of his researches, the Lake of Dorado, with lumps of gold -and a diamond mine, he looked with a certain degree of -contempt on whatever fell in his way. He found, on the -16th of April, 1749, on the banks of the Rupunuri, at the -spot where the river winding between the Macarana mountains -forms several small cascades, and before arriving in the -district immediately round Lake Amucu, “rocks covered -with figures,”—or as he says in Portuguese, “de varias -letras.” We were shown at the rock of Culimacari, on the -banks of the Cassiquiare, signs which were called characters, -arranged in lines,—but they were only ill-shaped figures of -heavenly bodies, boa-serpents, and the utensils employed in -preparing manioc-meal. I have never found among these -painted rocks (piedras pintadas) any symmetrical arrangement -or any regular even-spaced characters. I am therefore -disposed to think that the word “letras” in Hortsmann’s -journal must not be taken in the strictest sense.</p> - -<p>Schomburgk was not so fortunate as to rediscover the -rock seen by Hortsmann, but he has seen and described -others on the banks of the Essequibo, near the cascade of -Warraputa. “This cascade,” he says, “is celebrated not -only for its height but also for the quantity of figures cut -on the rock, which have great resemblance to those which I -have seen in the Island of St. John, one of the Virgin<span class="pagenum" id="Page_200">[200]</span> -Islands, and which I consider to be, without doubt, the -work of the Caribs, by whom that part of the Antilles was -formerly inhabited. I made the utmost efforts to detach portions -of the rock which contained the inscription, and which I -desired to take with me; but the stone was too hard, and -fever had taken away my strength. Neither promises nor -threats could prevail on the Indians to give a single blow with -a hammer to these rocks,—the venerable monuments of the -superior mental cultivation of their predecessors. They -regard them as the work of the Great Spirit, and the -different tribes who we met with, though living at a great -distance, were nevertheless acquainted with them. Terror -was painted on the faces of my Indian companions, who -appeared to expect every moment that the fire of heaven -would fall on my head. I saw clearly that my endeavours -would be fruitless, and I contented myself with bringing -away a complete drawing of these memorials.” The last -determination was certainly the best, and the editor of the -English Journal, to my great satisfaction, adds a note to -the effect that it is to be wished that no one else may be -more successful than Mr. Schomburgk, and that no future -traveller from civilized countries may do anything towards -the destruction of these monuments of the unprotected -Indians.</p> - -<p>The symbolical signs seen by Robert Schomburgk in the -Valley of the Essequibo, near the rapids of Waraputa, -(Richard Schomburgk, Reisen in Britisch-Guiana, Th. i. -S. 320), were remarked by him to bear a great resemblance -to genuine Carib ones in one of the small -Virgin Islands (St. John’s); but notwithstanding the wide<span class="pagenum" id="Page_201">[201]</span> -extent of the invasions of the Caribs, and the ancient power -of this fine race, I cannot believe that all the rock engravings,—which, -as I have said, form an immense belt -traversing a great part of South America from west to -east,—are to be regarded as their work. I am inclined -rather to view these remains as traces of an ancient civilisation,—belonging, -perhaps, to an epoch when the tribes -whom we now distinguish by various appellations were -still unknown. Even the veneration everywhere testified -by the Indians of the present day for these rude sculptures -of their predecessors, shews that they have no idea of the -execution of similar works. There is another circumstance -which should be mentioned: between Encaramada -and Caycara, on the banks of the Orinoco, a number of -these hieroglyphical figures are sculptured on the face of -precipices at a height which could now be reached only by -means of extraordinarily high scaffolding. If one asks the -natives how these figures can have been cut, they answer, -laughing, as if it were a fact of which none but a white -man could be ignorant, that “in the days of the great -waters their fathers went in canoes at that height.” Thus -a geological fancy is made to afford an answer to the -problem presented by a civilisation which has long passed -away.</p> - -<p>Let me be permitted to introduce here a remark -which I borrow from a letter addressed to me by the -distinguished traveller, Sir Robert Schomburgk. “The -hieroglyphical figures are more widely extended than you -had perhaps supposed. During my expedition, which had<span class="pagenum" id="Page_202">[202]</span> -for its object the examination of the Corentyn River, I not -only observed some colossal figures on the rock of Timeri -(4½° N. lat. and 57½° W. long.), but I also discovered -similar ones near the great cataracts of the Corentyn, in -4° 21′ 30″ N. lat. and 57° 55′ 30″ W. long. These -figures are executed with much greater care than any which -I discovered in Guiana. Their size is about ten feet, and -they appear to represent human figures. The head-dress is -extremely remarkable; it encompasses the head, spreading -out considerably in breadth, and is not unlike the halos -represented in paintings as surrounding the heads of Saints -and Sacred Persons. I have left my drawings of these -figures in the colony, but I hope some day to be able to -lay them all before the public. I saw ruder figures on the -Cuyuwini, a river which empties itself into the Essequibo -in latitude 2° 16′ N., entering it from the north-west; and -I have since seen similar figures on the Essequibo itself in -1° 40′ N. lat. These figures extend, therefore, as ascertained -by actual observation, from 7° 10′ to 1° 40′ N. lat., -and from 57° 30′ to 66° 30′ W. long. Thus the -zone of pictured rocks extends, so far as it has been at -present examined, over a space of 192000 square geographical -miles, comprising the basins of the Corentyn, the -Essequibo, and the Orinoco; a circumstance from which -we may form some inferences respecting the former amount -of population in this part of the continent.”</p> - -<p>Other remarkable remains of a degree of civilisation which -no longer exists, are the granite vases with graceful labyrinthine -ornaments, and the earthen masks resembling Roman<span class="pagenum" id="Page_203">[203]</span> -ones, which have been discovered on the Mosquito coast, -among wild Indians. (Archæologia Britan. vol. v. 1779, -p. 318–324; and vol. vi. 1782, p. 107.) I have had them -engraved in the “Picturesque Atlas” which accompanies -the historical portion of my Travels to the Equinoctial Regions. -Antiquaries are astonished at the similarity of these -ornaments (resembling a well-known Grecian form), to those -of the Palace of Mitla, near Oaxaca, in Mexico. In looking -at Peruvian carvings, I have never remarked any figures of the -large-nosed race of men, so frequently represented in the bas-reliefs -of Palenque in Guatimala, and in the Aztec paintings. -Klaproth remembered having seen individuals with -similar large noses among the Chalcas, a northern Mogul -tribe. It is well known that many tribes of the North -American red or copper-coloured Indians have fine aquiline -noses; and that this is an essential physiognomic distinction -between them and the present inhabitants of Mexico, New -Granada, Quito, and Peru. Are the large-eyed, comparatively -fair-complexioned people, spoken of by Marchand as -having been seen in 54° and 58° lat. on the north-west -coast of America, descended from an Alano-Gothic race, the -Usüni of the interior of Asia?</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_52" href="#FNanchor_52" class="label">[52]</a> p. 25.—“<i>Apparently weaponless, and yet prepared -for murder.</i>”</p> - -<p>The Otomacs often poison the thumb-nail with Curare. -A mere scratch of the nail is deadly if the curare mixes -with the blood. We obtained specimens of the climbing -plant, from the juice of which the curare is prepared, at<span class="pagenum" id="Page_204">[204]</span> -Esmeralda on the Upper Orinoco, but unfortunately we -did not find it in blossom. Judging by its physiognomy it -appears to be related to Strychnos (Rel. hist. T. ii. p. 547–556). -Since the notice in the work referred to of the -curare or ourari (previously mentioned by Raleigh, both as a -plant and as a poison), the brothers Robert and Richard -Schomburgk have done much towards making us accurately -acquainted with the nature and preparation of this substance, -of which I was the first to bring a considerable quantity -to Europe. Richard Schomburgk found the plant in -blossom in Guiana on the banks of the Pomeroon and the -Sururu in the territory of the Caribs, who are not, however, -acquainted with the manner of preparing the poison. His -instructive work (Reisen in Britisch-Guiana, Th. i. S. 441–461), -contains the chemical analysis of the juice of the -Strychnos toxifera, which, notwithstanding its name and -its organic structure, does not contain, according to Boussingault, -any trace of strychnine. Virchou and Münter’s -interesting physiological experiments make it probable that -the curare or ourari poison does not kill by mere external -absorption, but only when absorbed by living animal substance -of which the continuity has been severed (<i>i. e.</i> which -has been wounded slightly); that it does not belong to the -class of tetanic poisons; and that its particular effect is to -take away the power of voluntary muscular movement, -whilst the involuntary functions of the heart and intestines -still continue. Compare, also, the older chemical analysis of -Boussingault, in the Annales de Chimie et de Physique, -T. xxxix. 1828, p. 24–37.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_A" href="#FNanchor_A" class="label">[*]</a> - -[The circumstance referred to was even more remarkable. Casks -of palm oil, part of the cargo of the ship wrecked near Cape Lopez, -were conveyed by the current to Finmarken, and stranded near the -North Cape. Vide Editor’s note in the English translation of -“Cosmos,” vol. i. p. xcvii.]—<i>Tr.</i></p> - -</div> - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_207">[207]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="Cataracts"> - -<span class="small">THE</span><br /> - - -CATARACTS OF THE ORINOCO.</h2> - -</div> -<p>In the preceding section, which was made the subject of -an academical lecture, I sought to depict those boundless -plains which, according to the varying modification of their -natural characters induced by climatic relations, appear to -us sometimes as Deserts devoid of vegetation, and sometimes -as Steppes, or widely-extended grassy plains or -Prairies. In so doing I contrasted the Llanos of the -southern part of the New Continent with the dreadful -seas of sand which form the African Deserts; and these -again with the Steppes of Central Asia, the habitation of -world-assailing pastoral nations, who at a former period, -when pressed hitherward from the East, spread barbarism -and devastation over the earth.</p> - -<p>If on that occasion, (in 1806,) I ventured to combine -widely distributed portions of the earth’s surface in a single -picture of nature, and to entertain a public assembly with -images whose colouring was in unison with the mournful -disposition of our minds at that epoch, I will now, limiting -myself to a narrower circle of phenomena, sketch the more -cheerful picture of river scenery composed of foaming rapids -and rich luxuriant vegetation. I propose to describe in -particular two scenes of nature in the wildernesses of Guiana,—the -celebrated Cataracts of the Orinoco, Atures and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_208">[208]</span> -Maypures,—which, previous to my visit, few Europeans -had ever seen.</p> - -<p>The impression left on our minds by the aspect of nature -is frequently determined, less even by the peculiar character -of the strictly terrestrial portion of the scene, than by the -light thrown on mountain or plain, either by a sky of azure -purity, or by one veiled by lowering clouds; and in the -same manner descriptions of nature act upon us more -powerfully or more feebly, according as they are more or -less in harmony with the requirements of our feelings. For -it is the inward mirror of the sensitive mind which reflects -the true and living image of the natural world. All that -determines the character of a landscape,—the outline of the -mountains, which, in the far-vanishing distance, bound the -horizon,—the dark shade of the pine forests,—the sylvan -torrent rushing between overhanging cliffs to its fall,—all -are in antecedent mysterious communion with the inner -feelings and life of man.</p> - -<p>On this communion rests the nobler portion of the -enjoyment which nature affords. Nowhere does she penetrate -us more deeply with the feeling of her grandeur, -nowhere does she speak to us with a more powerful voice, -than in the tropical world, under the “Indian sky,” as, in -the early middle ages, the climate of the torrid zone was -called. If, therefore, I venture again to occupy this -Assembly with a description of those regions, I do so in -the hope that the peculiar charm which belongs to them -will not be unfelt. The remembrance of a distant richly -endowed land,—the aspect of a free and vigorous vegetation,—refreshes<span class="pagenum" id="Page_209">[209]</span> -and strengthens the mind; in the same -manner as our spirits, when oppressed with the actual -present, love to escape awhile, and to delight themselves -with the earlier youthful age of mankind, and with the -manifestations of its simple grandeur.</p> - -<p>Favouring winds and currents bear the voyager westward -across the peaceful Ocean arm,<a id="FNanchor_53" href="#Footnote_53" class="fnanchor">[53]</a> which fills the wide -valley between the New Continent and western Africa. -Before the American shore rises from the liquid plain, he -hears the tumult of contending, mutually opposing, and -inter-crossing waves. The mariner unacquainted with the -region would surmise the vicinity of shoals, or a wonderful -outbreak of fresh springs in the middle of the ocean,<a id="FNanchor_54" href="#Footnote_54" class="fnanchor">[54]</a> -like those in the neighbourhood of Cuba. On approaching -nearer to the granitic coast of Guiana, he becomes sensible -that he has entered the wide embouchure of a mighty river, -which issues forth like a shoreless lake and covers the -ocean around with fresh water. The green, and on the -shallows the milk-white, tint of the fresh water contrasts -with the indigo-blue colour of the sea, and marks with -sharp outlines the limits of the river waves.</p> - -<p>The name Orinoco, given to the river by its first discoverers, -and which probably originated in some confusion -of language, is unknown in the interior of the country. -Nations in a rude state designate by proper geographical -names only such objects as can be confounded with each -other. The Orinoco, the Amazons, and the Magdalena -rivers, are called simply “The River,” or “The Great River,” -or “The Great Water;” whilst those who dwell on their<span class="pagenum" id="Page_210">[210]</span> -banks distinguish even the smallest streams by particular -names.</p> - -<p>The current produced by the Orinoco, between the mainland -and the Island of Trinidad with its asphaltic lake, is -so strong, that ships with all sail set, and with a favourable -breeze, can with difficulty make way against it. This -deserted and dreaded part of the sea is called the Bay of -Sadness (Golfo Triste); the entrance forms the Dragon’s -Mouth (Boca del Drago). Here detached cliffs rise like -towers above the foaming floods, and seem still to indicate -the ancient site of a rocky bulwark<a id="FNanchor_55" href="#Footnote_55" class="fnanchor">[55]</a>, which, before it was -broken by the force of the current, united the island of -Trinidad with the coast of Paria.</p> - -<p>The aspect of this region first convinced the great discoverer -of the New World of the existence of an American -continent. Familiar with nature, he inferred that so immense -a body of fresh water could only be collected in a long -course, and “that the land which supplied it must be a -continent, not an island.” As, according to Arrian, the -companions of Alexander, after crossing the snow-covered -Paropanisus,<a id="FNanchor_56" href="#Footnote_56" class="fnanchor">[56]</a> on reaching the Indus imagined, from the -presence of crocodiles, that they recognised in that river a -branch of the Nile; so Columbus, unaware of the similarity -of physiognomy which characterises the various productions -of the climate of Palms, readily supposed this new continent -to be the eastern coast of the far-projecting continent of -Asia. The mild coolness of the evening air, the ethereal -purity of the starry firmament, the balsamic fragrance of the -flowers wafted to him by the land breeze,—all led him (as<span class="pagenum" id="Page_211">[211]</span> -Herrara tells us in the Decades)<a id="FNanchor_57" href="#Footnote_57" class="fnanchor">[57]</a>, to deem that he had -approached the garden of Eden, the sacred dwelling-place -of the first parents of the human race. The Orinoco -appeared to him to be one of the four rivers descending -from Paradise, to divide and water the earth newly decked -with vegetation. This poetic passage from the journal of -Columbus’s voyage, or rather from a letter written from -Hayti, in October 1498, to Ferdinand and Isabella, has a -peculiar psychological interest. It teaches us anew that -the creative imagination of the poet exists in the Discoverer -as in every form of human greatness.</p> - -<p>In considering the quantity of water which the Orinoco -bears to the Atlantic, the question arises—Which of the great -South American Rivers,—the Orinoco, the Amazons, or the -River Plate,—is the largest? The question, however, thus -put is not a determinate one, the idea of size in this case -not being altogether definite. The River Plate has the -widest embouchure, being 92 geographical miles across; -but, like the British rivers, its length is comparatively small. -Even at Buenos Ayres its depth is already so inconsiderable -as to impede navigation. The Amazons is the longest of -all rivers: its course from its origin in the Lake of Lauricocha -to its mouth is 2880 geographical miles. But its -breadth in the province of Jaen de Bracamoros, near the -cataract of Rentama, as measured by me at the foot of the -picturesque mountain of Patachuma, hardly equals that of -the Rhine at Mayence.</p> - -<p>The Orinoco is narrower at its mouth than either the -River Plate or the Amazons; and its length, according to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_212">[212]</span> -positions astronomically determined by me, only amounts to -1120 geographical miles. But, on the other hand, far in -the interior of Guiana, 560 miles from its mouth, I still -found its breadth, when full, 16200 Parisian (17265 Eng.) -feet. The periodical swelling of the river annually raises -its level at this part of its course from 30 to 36 feet above -its lowest level. Sufficient materials for an accurate comparison -of the enormous rivers which intersect the continent -of South America are still wanting. For such a -comparison it would be needful to know in each case the -profile of the river-bed, and the velocity of the water, which -differs very greatly in different parts of the same stream.</p> - -<p>If, in the Delta enclosed by its variously divided and still -unexplored arms,—in the regularity of its periodical rise -and fall—and in the number and size of its crocodiles,—the -Orinoco shews points of resemblance to the -Nile, there is this further analogy between the two rivers, -that after long rushing rapidly through many windings -between wood-fringed shores formed by granitic and syenitic -rocks and mountains, during the remainder of their course -they slowly roll their waters to the sea, between treeless -banks, over an almost horizontal bed. An arm of the -Nile (the Green Nile, Bahr-el-Azrek) flows from the celebrated -mountain-lake near Gondar, in the Abyssinian Gojam -Alps, to Syene and Elephantis, through the mountains of -Shangalla and Sennaar. In a similar manner the Orinoco -rises on the southern declivity of the mountain chain which, -in the 4th and 5th parallel of North latitude, extends westward -from French Guiana towards the Andes of New<span class="pagenum" id="Page_213">[213]</span> -Granada. The sources of the Orinoco<a id="FNanchor_58" href="#Footnote_58" class="fnanchor">[58]</a> have never been -visited by any European, or even by any natives who have -been in communication with Europeans.</p> - -<p>In ascending the Upper Orinoco in the summer of 1800, -we passed the Mission of Esmeralda, and reached the mouths -of the Sodomoni and the Guapo. Here rises high above -the clouds the massive summit of the Yeonnamari or Duida, -a grand and picturesque mountain which presents to the -spectator one of the finest scenes of nature which the -tropical world has to offer. Its altitude, according to my -trigonometrical measurement, is 8278 (8823 Eng.) feet -above the level of the sea. The southern slope of the -mountain presents a treeless grassy surface, and the humid -evening air is filled far and wide with the fragrance of the -ripe ananas. The stalks of the pine apples, swelling with -rich juice, rise between the lowly herbs of the meadow, -and the golden fruit is seen shining at a distance from -under its leafy crown of bluish-green. Where mountain -springs or rivulets break forth from the turfy covering, -the scene is further adorned by groups of tall fan-palms, -whose foliage never feels the influence of a cool breeze.</p> - -<p>On the east of the Duida mountain a dense thicket of -wild Cacao groves begins, and amidst these are found trees -of the celebrated Bertholletia excelsa, the most vigorous of -the productions of the tropical world<a id="FNanchor_59" href="#Footnote_59" class="fnanchor">[59]</a>. Here the Indians -collect the materials for their blow-pipes, colossal grass-stalks -having joints above 18 feet long from knot to knot.<a id="FNanchor_60" href="#Footnote_60" class="fnanchor">[60]</a> -Some Franciscan monks have penetrated as far as the mouth -of the Chiguire, where the river is already so narrow that<span class="pagenum" id="Page_214">[214]</span> -the natives have thrown across it, near the waterfall of -the Guaharibes, a suspension bridge formed of the twining -stems of climbing plants. The Guaicas, a race of comparatively -light complexion but of small stature, armed with -poisoned arrows, forbid any farther advance towards the east.</p> - -<p>All, therefore, that has been put forward respecting the -lake origin of the Orinoco is fabulous<a id="FNanchor_61" href="#Footnote_61" class="fnanchor">[61]</a>. We seek in vain -in nature for the Laguna of El Dorado, which is still marked -in Arrowsmith’s maps as an inland sea 80 geographical -miles in length. Has the little reedy lake of Amucu, -from which the Pirara (a branch of the Mahu) flows, given -rise to this fable? But the swamp in which the lake of -Amucu is situated is four degrees of longitude to the east of -the district in which the sources of the Orinoco must be -sought.</p> - -<p>It was an ancient custom of dogmatising geographers to -make all the larger rivers of the world originate in considerable -lakes. To the lake forming the supposed origin -of the Orinoco was transferred the site of the island of -Pumacena, a rock of micaceous slate, the glitter of which, -in the 16th century, played, in the fable of El Dorado, -a memorable, and to deceived humanity often a fatal -part. It is the belief of the natives, that the Magellanic -clouds of the southern hemisphere, and even the fine nebulæ -in the constellation of the ship Argo, are a reflection -of the metallic brilliancy of the silver mountains of the -Parime.</p> - -<p>The Orinoco is one of those rivers which, after many -windings, seem to return back towards the region in which<span class="pagenum" id="Page_215">[215]</span> -they took their rise. After following a westerly and then a -northerly course, it runs again to the east, so that its mouth -is almost in the same meridian as its source. From the -Chiguire and the Gehette as far as the Guaviare the -Orinoco flows to the west, as if it would carry its waters to -the Pacific. It is in this part of its course that it sends out -towards the south a remarkable arm, the Cassiquiare, but -little known in Europe, which unites with the Rio Negro, -(called by the natives the Guainia), and offers perhaps the -only example of a bifurcation forming in the very interior -of a continent a natural connection between two great rivers -and their basins.</p> - -<p>The nature of the ground, and the junction of the -Guaviare and Atabapo with the Orinoco, cause the latter to -turn suddenly towards the north. In the absence of correct -geographical knowledge, the Guaviare flowing in from the -west was long regarded as the true origin of the Orinoco. -The doubts raised by an eminent geographer, M. Buache, -since 1797, as to the probability of a connection with the -Amazons, have I hope been entirely refuted by my expedition. -In an uninterrupted navigation of 920 geographical -miles I passed through the singular network of rivers, from -the Rio Negro, by the Cassiquiare, into the Orinoco; traversing -in this manner the interior of the Continent, from -the Brazilian boundary to the coast of Caraccas.</p> - -<p>In the upper portion of the basin of the Orinoco and its -tributaries, between the 3rd and 4th degrees of north latitude, -nature has several times repeated the enigmatical -phenomenon of the so-called “black waters.” The Atabapo,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_216">[216]</span> -whose banks are adorned with Carolinias and arborescent -Melastomas, and the Temi, Tuamini, and Guainia, are all -rivers of a coffee-brown colour. In the shade of the palm -groves this colour seems almost to pass into ink-black. -When placed in transparent vessels, the water appears of a -golden yellow. The image of the Southern Constellations -is reflected with wonderful clearness in these black streams. -Where their waters flow gently, they afford to the observer, -when taking astronomical observations with reflecting instruments, -a most excellent artificial horizon. A cooler atmosphere, -less torment from stinging mosquitoes, greater -salubrity, and the absence of crocodiles (fish, however, are -also wanting), mark the region of these black rivers. They -probably owe their peculiar colour to a solution of carburetted -hydrogen, to the luxuriance of the tropical vegetation, -and to the quantity of plants and herbs on the ground over -which they flow. On the western declivity of the Chimborazo, -towards the coast of the Pacific, I remarked that the -flooded waters of the Rio de Guayaquil gradually assumed a -golden yellow or almost coffee-brown colour, when covering -the meadows for some weeks.</p> - -<p>In the vicinity of the mouths of the Guaviare and Atabapo -grows the Piriguao,<a id="FNanchor_62" href="#Footnote_62" class="fnanchor">[62]</a> one of the noblest of palm trees, -whose smooth and polished trunk, between 60 and 70 feet -high, is adorned with a delicate flag-like foliage curled at the -margins. I know no palm which bears such large and -beautifully coloured fruits. They resemble peaches, and are -tinged with yellow mingled with a roseate crimson. Seventy -or eighty of them form enormous pendulous bunches, of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_217">[217]</span> -which each tree annually ripens three. This fine tree might -be called the peach palm. The fleshy fruits are from the -luxuriance of vegetation most often devoid of seeds, and -offer to the natives a nutritious farinaceous food which, like -plantains and potatoes, can be prepared in a variety of ways.</p> - -<p>Hitherto, or as far as the mouth of the Guaviare, the -Orinoco flows along the southern declivity of the Sierra -de Parime; and from its southern bank the vast forest-covered -plain of the Amazons River stretches far beyond -the equator, even to the 15th degree of south latitude. -When the Orinoco turns suddenly to the north near San -Fernando de Atabapo, it breaks through a part of the mountain -chain along the base of which it had previously flowed; -and this is the site of the great waterfalls of Atures and Maypures. -The river bed is here everywhere hemmed in by -colossal masses of rock, and divided as it were into separate -reservoirs by natural dikes.</p> - -<p>In front of the entrance of the Meta there stands in the -middle of a mighty whirlpool an isolated cliff, to which the -natives have given the very appropriate name of the “rock -of patience;” because when the waters are low it sometimes -costs those who are ascending the river two days to pass it. -Here the Orinoco, eating deep into the land, forms picturesque -rocky bays. Opposite to the Indian mission of Carichana -the traveller is surprised by the singular prospect which -presents itself to his view. His eye is involuntarily riveted -on an abrupt granitic rock, el Mogote de Cocuyza, a cube -with vertically precipitous sides, above 200 feet high and -bearing on its upper surface a forest of trees of rich and varied<span class="pagenum" id="Page_218">[218]</span> -foliage. Resembling a Cyclopean monument in its simple -grandeur, this mass of rock rises high above the tops of the -surrounding palms, its sharp outlines appearing in strong -relief against the deep azure of the sky, and its summit uplifting -high in air a forest above the forest.</p> - -<p>In descending the Orinoco from this point, still within the -range of the Carichana mission, we arrive at the part of the -river where the stream has forced for itself a way through -the narrow pass of Baraguan. Here we recognise everywhere -traces of chaotic devastation. To the north, (towards -Uruana and Encaramada), masses of granite of extraordinarily -notched and serrated outline and grotesque aspect shine -with dazzling whiteness high above the thickets from amidst -which they rise.</p> - -<p>It is in this region, after receiving the Apure, that the -Orinoco leaves the granitic chain of mountains and flows -eastward to the Atlantic, dividing the impenetrable forests of -Guiana from the grassy plains on which the vault of heaven -seems everywhere to rest as on the horizon of the ocean. -Thus the elevated cluster of the Parime mountains, which -occupies the entire space between the sources of the Jao and -the Caura, is surrounded on three sides, to the South, to the -West, and to the North, by the Orinoco. Below Carichana -the course of the river is uninterrupted by rocks or rapids to -its mouth, excepting at the whirlpool of the Boca del Infierno -(Hell’s mouth) near Muitaco, where, however, the rocks which -occasion the rapid do not extend across the entire bed of -the river as at Atures and Maypures. In these lower parts of -the river in the vicinity of the sea, the only danger feared by<span class="pagenum" id="Page_219">[219]</span> -the boatmen is that of encountering the great natural rafts, -consisting of trees torn from the banks by the swelling of -the river, against which canoes are often wrecked during the -night. These rafts, covered like meadows with flowering -water plants, remind the spectator of the floating gardens of -the Mexican lakes.</p> - -<p>After this rapid review of the course of the Orinoco, and -of its general relations to the surrounding country, I pass -to the description of the Falls of Maypures and Atures.</p> - -<p>Between the sources of the rivers Sipapo and Ventuari a -granite ridge projects from the elevated mountain group of -Cunavami, and advances far to the west towards the mountains -of Uniama. Four streams, which may be said to mark -the limits of the cataracts of Maypures, descend from this -ridge; two, the Sipapo and the Sanariapo, on the eastern side -of the Orinoco; and two, the Cameji and the Toparo, on its -western side. Near the Missionary village of Maypures the -mountains retire and form a wide bay open to the south-west.</p> - -<p>The foaming stream flows at the present time at the foot -of the eastern mountain declivity, and far to the west we -recognise the ancient bank now forsaken by the water. A -grass-covered plain, only about thirty feet above the present -highest level of the river, extends between the two chains of -hills. The Jesuits have built upon it a small church formed -of the trunks of palm trees.</p> - -<p>The geological aspect of the district, the shapes of the -rocks of Keri and Oco, which have so much the character -of islands, the water-worn hollows in the first named of these -rocks, situated at exactly the same height as the cavities in -the opposite island of Uivitari, all testify that the Orinoco<span class="pagenum" id="Page_220">[220]</span> -once filled the whole of this now dry gulf or bay. Probably -the waters formed a wide lake as long as the northern dike -was able to withstand their pressure. When it gave way, -the prairie now inhabited by the Guareke Indians must -have been the first part which appeared above the waters; -which may subsequently, perhaps, have long continued to -surround the rocks of Keri and Oco, which rising like mountain -fortresses from the ancient bed of the river, present a -picturesque aspect. As the waters gradually diminished -they withdrew altogether to the foot of the eastern hills, -where the river now flows.</p> - -<p>This conjecture is confirmed by several circumstances. -The Orinoco, like the Nile near Philæ and Syene, has the -property of imparting a black colour to the reddish white -masses of granite which it has bathed for thousands of years. -As far as the waters reach, one may remark on the rocky -shore the leaden-coloured coating described in page <a href="#Page_189">189</a>: its -presence, and the hollows before mentioned, mark the ancient -height of the waters of the Orinoco.</p> - -<p>In the rock of Keri, in the islands of the Cataracts, in the -gneiss hills of Cumadaminari above the island of Tomo, and -lastly at the mouth of the Jao, we trace these black-coloured -hollows at elevations of 150 to 180 (160 to 192 English) -feet above the present height of the river. Their existence -teaches us a fact of which we may also observe indications -in the river beds of Europe; viz. that the streams whose -magnitude now excites our astonishment are only the feeble -remains of the immense masses of water belonging to an -earlier age of the world.</p> - -<p>These simple remarks and inferences have not escaped<span class="pagenum" id="Page_221">[221]</span> -even the rude natives of Guiana. The Indians everywhere -called our attention to the traces of the former height of the -waters. There is in a grassy plain near Uruana an isolated -granite rock, on which, according to the report of trustworthy -witnesses, there are at a height of more than eighty -feet drawings of the sun and moon, and of many animals, -particularly crocodiles and boas, engraven or arranged almost -in rows or lines. Without artificial aid it would now be -impossible to ascend this perpendicular precipice, which deserves -to be carefully examined by future travellers. The -hieroglyphical rock engravings on the mountains of Uruana -and Encaramada are equally remarkable in respect to -situation.</p> - -<p>If one asks the natives how these figures can have been -cut in the rocks, they answer that it was done when the -waters were so high that their fathers’ boats were only a -little lower than the drawings. Those rude memorials of -human art would in such case have belonged to the same -age as a state of the waters implying a distribution of land -and water very different from that which now prevails, and -belonging to an earlier condition of the earth’s surface; -which must not, however, be confounded with that in which -the earlier vegetation which adorned our planet, the gigantic -bodies of extinct land animals, and the oceanic creatures of a -more chaotic state, became entombed in the indurating crust -of globe.</p> - -<p>At the northernmost extremity of the cataracts, attention -is excited by what are called the natural drawings or pictures -of the Sun and Moon. The rock Keri, to which I have<span class="pagenum" id="Page_222">[222]</span> -several times referred, has received its name from a white -spot which is conspicuous from a great distance, and in -which the Indians have thought they recognised a remarkable -similarity to the disk of the full moon. I was not -myself able to climb the steep precipice, but the white mark -in question is probably a large knot of quartz formed by a -cluster of veins in the greyish-black granite.</p> - -<p>Opposite to the Keri rock, on the twin mountain of the -island of Uivitari, which has a basaltic appearance, the -Indians shew with mysterious admiration a similar disk -which they venerate as the image of the Sun, Camosi. -Perhaps the geographical position of the two rocks may -have contributed to these denominations, as the Keri (or -Moon Rock) is turned to the West, and the Camosi to the -East. Some etymologists have thought they recognised in -the American word Camosi a similarity to Camosh, the name -of the Sun in one of the Phœnician dialects, and to Apollo -Chomeus, or Beelphegor and Ammon.</p> - -<p>Unlike the grander falls of Niagara (which are 140 -French or 150 English feet high) the “Cataracts of Maypures” -are not formed by the single precipitous descent of -a vast mass of waters, nor are they “narrows” or passes -through which the river rushes with accelerated velocity, as -in the Pongo of Manseriche in the River of the Amazons. -The Cataracts of Maypures consist of a countless number -of little cascades succeeding each other like steps. The -“Raudal” (the name given by the Spaniards to this species -of cataract) is formed by numerous islands and rocks which -so restrict the bed of the river, that out of a breadth of 8000<span class="pagenum" id="Page_223">[223]</span> -(8526 E.) feet there often only remains an open channel of -twenty feet in width. The eastern side is now much more -inaccessible and dangerous than the western.</p> - -<p>At the confluence of the Cameji with the Orinoco, goods -are unladen in order that the empty canoe, or, as it is here -called, the Piragua, may be conveyed by Indians well acquainted -with the Raudal to the mouth of the Toparo, where -the danger is considered to be past. Where the separate -rocks or steps (each of which is designated by a particular -name) are not much above two or three feet high, the -natives, if descending the stream, venture, remaining themselves -in the canoe, to let it go down the falls: if they are -ascending the stream they leave the boat, swim forward, -and when after many unsuccessful attempts they have succeeded -in casting a rope round the points of rock which -rise above the broken water, they draw up their vessel, -which is often either overset or entirely filled with water -in the course of these laborious proceedings.</p> - -<p>Sometimes, and it is the only case which gives the natives -any uneasiness, the canoe is dashed in pieces against the -rocks; the men have then to disengage themselves with -bleeding bodies from the wreck and from the whirling force -of the torrent, and to gain the shore by swimming. Where -the rocky steps are very high and extend across the entire -bed of the river, the light boat is brought to land and drawn -along the bank by means of branches of trees placed under -it as rollers.</p> - -<p>The most celebrated and difficult steps, those of Purimarimi -and Manimi, are between nine and ten feet high. I<span class="pagenum" id="Page_224">[224]</span> -found with astonishment by barometric measurements, (geodesical -levelling being out of the question from the inaccessibility -of the locality, its highly insalubrious atmosphere, and -the swarms of mosquitoes which fill the air), that the whole -fall of the Raudal from the mouth of the Cameji to that -of the Toparo hardly amounts to 28 or 30 feet (30 or 32 -English). I say, “I found with astonishment;” for this -shews that the dreadful noise and wild dashing and foaming -of the river are the results of the narrowing of its bed -by countless rocks and islands, and of the counter currents -produced by the form and situation of the masses of rock. -The best ocular demonstration of the small height of the -whole fall is obtained by descending from the village of -Maypures to the bed of the river by the rock of Manimi.</p> - -<p>From this point a wonderful prospect is enjoyed. A -foaming surface of four miles in length presents itself at -once to the eye: iron-black masses of rock resembling ruins -and battlemented towers rise frowning from the waters. -Rocks and islands are adorned with the luxuriant vegetation -of the tropical forest; a perpetual mist hovers over the -waters, and the summits of the lofty palms pierce through -the cloud of spray and vapour. When the rays of the -glowing evening sun are refracted in these humid exhalations -a magic optical effect begins. Coloured bows shine, -vanish, and reappear; and the ethereal image is swayed to -and fro by the breath of the sportive breeze. During the -long rainy season the streaming waters bring down islands -of vegetable mould, and thus the naked rocks are studded -with bright flower-beds adorned with Melastomas and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_225">[225]</span> -Droseras, and with small silver-leaved mimosas and ferns. -These spots recall to the recollection of the European those -blocks of granite decked with flowers which rise solitary -amidst the glaciers of Savoy, and are called by the dwellers -in the Alps “Jardins,” or “Courtils.”</p> - -<p>In the blue distance the eye rests on the mountain chain -of Cunavami, a long extended ridge which terminates abruptly -in a truncated cone. We saw the latter, (Calitamini is its -Indian name), glowing at sunset as if in roseate flames. -This appearance returns daily: no one has ever been near -the mountain to detect the precise cause of this brightness, -which may perhaps proceed from a reflecting surface produced -by the decomposition of tale or mica slate.</p> - -<p>During the five days which we passed in the neighbourhood -of the cataracts, it was striking to hear the thunder of -the rushing torrents sound three times louder by night than -by day. In all European waterfalls the same phenomenon -is remarked. What can be its cause in a wilderness where -there is nothing to interrupt the repose of nature? Perhaps -the currents of heated ascending air by causing irregular -density in the elastic medium impede the propagation of -sound during the day, by the disturbance they may occasion -in the waves of sound; whereas during the nocturnal cooling -of the earth’s surface the upward currents cease.</p> - -<p>The Indians called our attention to ancient tracks of -wheels. They speak with admiration of the horned animals, -(oxen), which in the times of the Jesuit missions used to -draw the canoes on wheeled supports, along the left bank of -the Orinoco, from the mouth of the Cameji to that of the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_226">[226]</span> -Toparo. The lading was not then removed from the boats, -nor were the latter worn and injured as they now are by -being constantly stranded upon the rocks and dragged over -their rough surface.</p> - -<p>The topographical plan of the district sketched by me -shews the facilities which the nature of the ground offers -for the opening of a canal from the Cameji to the Toparo, -which would form a navigable side arm to the river, the -dangerous portion of which would be thus avoided. I proposed -its execution to the Governor-General of Venezuela.</p> - -<p>The Raudal of Atures closely resembles that of Maypures; -like it, it is a cluster of islands between which the river -forces its way for ten or twelve thousand yards; a forest of -palms rising from the midst of the foaming waters. The -most celebrated “Steps” of this Raudal are situated between -the islands of Avaguri and Javariveni, between Suripamana -and Uirapuri.</p> - -<p>When M. Bonpland and I returned from the banks of -the Rio Negro, we ventured to pass the latter or lower half of -the Raudal of Atures with the loaded canoe, often leaving it -for the rocky dikes which connect one island with another. -Sometimes the waters rush over these dikes, and sometimes -they fall with a hollow thundering sound into cavities, -and flowing for a time through subterranean channels, -leave large pieces of the bed of the river dry. Here the -golden Pipra rupicola makes its nest; it is one of the -most beautiful of tropical birds, with a double moveable -crest of feathers, and is as pugnacious as the East Indian -domestic cock.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_227">[227]</span></p> - -<p>In the Raudal of Canucari the rocky dike or weir consists -of piled-up granite spheres. We crept into the interior -of a grotto the damp walls of which were covered with -confervæ and shining Byssus, and where the river rushed -high above our heads with deafening noise.</p> - -<p>We had accidentally more time than we desired for the -enjoyment of this grand scene of nature. The Indians had -left us in the middle of the cataract, proposing to take the -canoe round a long narrow island below which we were to -re-embark. We waited an hour and a half under a heavy -tempestuous rain; night was coming on, and we sought in -vain for shelter between the masses of granite. The little -monkeys, which we had carried with us for months in -wicker cages, by their mournful cries attracted crocodiles -whose size and leaden-grey colour shewed their great age. I -should not here notice an occurrence so usual in the Orinoco, -if the Indians had not assured us that no crocodiles were -ever seen in the cataracts; and in dependence on this assurance -we had even ventured repeatedly to bathe in this -part of the river. Meanwhile our anxiety lest we might be -forced to pass the long tropical night in the middle of the -Raudal, wet through and deafened by the thundering noise -of the falling waters, increased every moment; until at last -the Indians reappeared with our canoe. From the low -state of the waters they had found the steps by which they -had intended to let themselves down inaccessible, and had -been forced to seek among the labyrinth of channels for a -more practicable passage.</p> - -<p>Near the southern entrance of the Raudal of Atures, on<span class="pagenum" id="Page_228">[228]</span> -the right bank of the river, is the cave of Ataruipe, which -is widely celebrated among the Indians. The grand and -melancholy character of the scenery around fits it for the -burying-place of a deceased nation. We climbed with difficulty, -and not without danger of falling to a great depth -below, a steep and perfectly bare granite precipice. It -would be hardly possible to keep one’s footing on the -smooth surface, if it were not for large crystals of feldspar, -which, resisting “weathering,” project as much as an inch -from the face of the rock.</p> - -<p>On reaching the summit the traveller beholds a wide, -diversified, and striking prospect. From the foaming river-bed -rise wood-crowned hills, while beyond the western shore -of the Orinoco the eye rests on the boundless grassy plain of -the Meta, uninterrupted save where at one part of the -horizon the Mountain of Uniama rises like a threatening -cloud. Such is the distance; the nearer prospect is desolate, -and closely hemmed in by high and barren rocks. All -is motionless save where the vulture or the hoarse goat-sucker -hover solitarily in mid-air, or, as they wing their -flight through the deep-sunk ravine, their silent shadows -are seen gliding along the face of the bare rocky precipice -until they vanish from the eye.</p> - -<p>This precipitous valley is bounded by mountains on whose -rounded summits are enormous detached granite spheres of -more than 40 to 50 feet diameter: they appear to touch the -base on which they rest only in a single point, as if the -slightest movement, such as that of a faint earthquake shock, -must cause them to roll down.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_229">[229]</span></p> - -<p>The farther part of the valley is densely wooded, and it is -in this shady portion that the cave of Ataruipe is situated. -It is not properly speaking a cave, but rather a vaulted roof -formed by a far over-hanging cliff, the cavity having apparently -been formed by the waters when at their ancient level. -This place is the vault or cemetery of an extinct nation.<a id="FNanchor_63" href="#Footnote_63" class="fnanchor">[63]</a> -We counted about 600 well-preserved skeletons placed in -as many baskets woven from the stalks of palm leaves. -These baskets, which the Indians call “mapires,” are shaped -like square sacks, differing in size according to the age of -the deceased. Even new-born children had each its own -mapire. The skeletons are so perfect that not a bone or a -joint is wanting.</p> - -<p>The bones had been prepared in three different ways; -some bleached, some coloured red with onoto, the pigment -of the Bixa Orellana; and some like mummies closely -enveloped in sweet-smelling resin and plantain leaves.</p> - -<p>The Indians assured us that the custom had been to bury -the fresh corpses for some months in damp earth, which -gradually consumed the flesh; they were then dug up, and -any remaining flesh scraped away with sharp stones. This -the Indians said was still the practice of several tribes in -Guiana. Besides the mapires or baskets we found urns of -half burnt clay which appeared to contain the bones of -entire families. The larger of these urns were about three -feet high and nearly six feet long, of a pleasing oval form -and greenish colour, having handles shaped like snakes and -crocodiles, and meandering or labyrinthine ornaments round -the upper margin. These ornaments are quite similar to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_230">[230]</span> -those which cover the walls of the Mexican Palace at -Mitla. They are found in all countries and climates, and -in the most different stages of human cultivation,—among -the Greeks and Romans, as well as on the shields of the natives -of Tahiti and other islands of the South Sea,—wherever -the eye is gratified by the rhythmical recurrence of regular -forms. These similarities, as I have elsewhere remarked in -more detail, are rather to be ascribed to psychological -causes, or to such as belong inherently to our mental constitution, -than to be viewed as evidences of kindred descent -or ancient intercourse between different nations.</p> - -<p>Our interpreters could give us no certain information as -to the age of these vessels; that of the skeletons appeared -for the most part not to exceed a century. It is reported -among the Guareca Indians, that the brave Atures, being -pressed upon by cannibal Caribs, withdrew to the rocks of -the Cataracts; a melancholy refuge and dwelling-place, in -which the distressed tribe finally perished, and with them -their language. In the most inaccessible parts of the -Raudal there are cavities and recesses which have served like -the cave of Ataruipe as burying-places. It is even probable -that the last family of the Atures may not have been long -deceased, for (a singular fact,) there is still in Maypures an -old parrot of whom the natives affirm that he is not understood -because he speaks the Ature language.</p> - -<p>We left the cave at nightfall, after having collected, to -the great displeasure of our Indian guides, several skulls and -the entire skeleton of a man. One of these skulls has been -figured by Blumenbach in his excellent craniological work,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_231">[231]</span> -but the skeleton (together with a large part of our natural -history collections, especially the entomological) was lost -in a shipwreck on the coast of Africa, in which our friend -and former travelling companion, the young Franciscan monk -Juan Gonzalez, perished.</p> - -<p>As if with a presentiment of this painful loss, we turned -our steps in a thoughtful and melancholy mood from this -burying-place of a race deceased. It was one of those clear -and cool nights so frequent in the tropics. The moon, -encircled with coloured rings, stood high in the zenith illuminating -the margin of the mist which lay with well-defined -cloud-like outlines on the surface of the foaming river. -Countless insects poured their red phosphoric light on the -herb-covered ground, which glowed with living fire as if the -starry canopy of heaven had sunk down upon the turf. -Climbing Bignonias, fragrant Vanillas, and yellow-flowering -Banisterias, adorned the entrance of the cave; and the -summits of the palms rustled above the graves.</p> - -<p>Thus perish the generations of men! Thus do the name -and the traces of nations fade and disappear! Yet when each -blossom of man’s intellect withers,—when in the storms of -time the memorials of his art moulder and decay,—an ever -new life springs forth from the bosom of the earth; maternal -Nature unfolds unceasingly her germs, her flowers, and her -fruits; regardless though man with his passions and his -crimes treads under foot her ripening harvest.</p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_233">[233]</span> -<h3 class="nobreak" id="ANNOTATIONS_AND_ADDITIONS2">ANNOTATIONS AND ADDITIONS.</h3> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_53" href="#FNanchor_53" class="label">[53]</a> p. 209.—“<i>Across the peaceful ocean arm, which fills -the wide valley between the American shore and -Western Africa.</i>”</p> - -<p>The Atlantic Ocean, from the 23d degree of South to the -70th degree of North latitude, has the form of an excavated -longitudinal valley, in which the salient and re-entering angles -are opposite to each other. I first developed this idea in -my “Essai d’un Tableau géologique de l’Amérique méridionale,” -printed in the Journal de Physique, T. liii. p. 61. -(Geognostische Skizze von Südamerika, in Gilbert’s Annalen -der Physik, Bd. xvi. 1804, S. 394–449.) From the Canaries, -and especially from the 21st degree of North latitude and the -23d degree of West longitude, to the North-East coast of -South America, the surface of the sea is usually so calm, -and the waves so gentle, that an open boat might navigate -in safety.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_54" href="#FNanchor_54" class="label">[54]</a> p. 209.—“<i>A wonderful outbreak of fresh springs in -the middle of the ocean.</i>”</p> - -<p>On the southern coast of the island of Cuba, south-west of -the Port of Batabano in the gulf of Xagua, a few miles -from the coast, springs of fresh water gush from the bed of -the ocean probably under the influence of hydrostatic pressure,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_234">[234]</span> -and rise through the midst of the salt water. They -issue forth with such force that boats are cautious in -approaching this locality, which has an ill repute on -account of the high cross sea thus caused. Trading -vessels sailing along the coast and not disposed to land, -sometimes visit these springs to take in a supply of fresh -water, which is thus obtained in the open sea. The greater -the depth from which the water is taken, the fresher it is -found to be. The “river cow,” Trichecus manati, which -does not remain habitually in salt water, is often killed -here. This remarkable phenomenon of fresh springs -issuing from the sea has been most carefully examined -by a friend of mine, Don Francisco Lemaur, who made a -trigonometrical survey of the Bay of Xagua. I have been -farther to the South in the group of islands called the -Jardines del Rey, (the King’s Gardens), making astronomical -observations for latitude and longitude; but I have never -been at Xagua itself.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_55" href="#FNanchor_55" class="label">[55]</a> p. 210.—“<i>The ancient site of a rocky bulwark.</i>”</p> - -<p>Columbus, whose unwearied spirit of observation exerted -itself in every direction, propounds in his letters to the Spanish -monarchs a geognostical hypothesis respecting the forms -of the larger Antilles. Having his mind deeply impressed -with the strength of the East and West Equinoctial current, -he ascribes to it the breaking up of the group of the smaller -West Indian islands, and the singularly lengthened configuration -of the southern coasts of Porto Rico, Haiti, Cuba, and -Jamaica, which all follow almost exactly the direction of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_235">[235]</span> -parallels of latitude. On his third voyage (from the end of May -1498 to the end of November 1500), in which, from the Boca -del Drago to the Island of Margarita, and afterwards from -that island to Haiti, he felt the whole force of the Equinoctial -current, “that movement of the waters which is in accordance -or conformity with the movement of the heavens—movimiento -de los cielos,” he says expressly that the Island of Trinidad -had been torn from the mainland by the violence of the -current. He alludes to a chart which he sends to the -monarchs,—a “pintura de la tierra” by himself, which is -often referred to in the celebrated lawsuit against Don Diego -Colon respecting the rights of the Admiral. “Es la carta -de marear y figura que hizo el Almirante señalando los -rumbos y vientos por los quales vino á Paria, que dicen parte -del Asia”, (Navarrete Viages y Descubrimientos que hiciéron -por mar los Españoles, T. i. p. 253 and 260; T. iii. p. 539 -and 587.)</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_56" href="#FNanchor_56" class="label">[56]</a> p. 210.—“<i>Over the snow-covered Paropanisus.</i>”</p> - -<p>Diodorus’s descriptions of the Paropanisus (Diodor. Sicul. -lib. xvii. p. 553, Rhodom.) might almost pass for a description -of the Andes of Peru. The Army passed through inhabited -places where snow fell daily!</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_57" href="#FNanchor_57" class="label">[57]</a> p. 211.—“<i>Herrara in the Decades.</i>”</p> - -<p>Historia general de las Indias occidentales, Dec. i. lib iii. -cap. 12 (ed. 1601, p. 106); Juan Bautista Muñoz, Historia -del Nuevo Mundo, lib. vi. c. 31, p. 301; Humboldt, Examen -Crit. T. iii p. 111.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_236">[236]</span><a id="Footnote_58" href="#FNanchor_58" class="label">[58]</a> p. 213.—“<i>The Sources of the Orinoco have never -been visited by any European.</i>”</p> - -<p>Thus I wrote respecting these sources in the year 1807, in -the first edition of the “Ansichten der Natur,” and I have to -repeat the same statement after an interval of 41 years. The -travels of the brothers Robert and Richard Schomburgk, so -important for all departments of natural knowledge and -geography, have afforded us thorough investigations of other -and more interesting facts; but the problem of the situation -of the sources of the Orinoco has been only approximately -solved by Sir Robert Schomburgk. It was from the West that -M. Bonpland and myself advanced as far as Esmeralda, -or the confluence of the Orinoco and the Guapo; and I was -able to describe with certainty, by the aid of well-assured information, -the upper course of the Orinoco to above the -mouth of the Gehette, and to the small Waterfall (Raudal) de -los Guaharibos. It was from the East that Robert Schomburgk, -advancing from the mountains of the Majonkong Indians, -(the altitude of the inhabited portions of which he -estimated by the boiling point of water at 3300 F., or 3517 E. -feet), came to the Orinoco by the Padamo River, which the -Majonkongs and Guinaus (Guaynas?) call Paramu (Reisen -in Guiana, 1841, S. 448). In my Atlas I had estimated the -position of the confluence of the Padamo with the Orinoco at -N. lat. 3° 12′, and W. long. 65° 46′: Robert Schomburgk -found it by direct observation, lat. 2° 53′, long. 65° 48′. The -leading object of this traveller’s arduous journey was not the -pursuit of natural history, but the solution of the prize question<span class="pagenum" id="Page_237">[237]</span> -proposed by the Royal Geographical Society of London -in November 1834,—viz. the connection of the coast of British -Guiana with the easternmost point which I had reached on -the Upper Orinoco. After many difficulties and much suffering, -the desired object was completely attained. Robert Schomburgk -arrived with his instruments on the 22d of February, -1839, at Esmeralda. His determinations of the latitude and -longitude of the place agreed more closely with mine than -I had expected would be the case (S. xviii. and 471). Here -let us allow the observer to speak for himself:—“I want -words to describe the feelings which overpowered me as I -sprang to shore. My aim was attained; my observations, -began on the coast of Guiana, were brought into connection -with those of Humboldt at Esmeralda: I frankly own, that -in the course of this enterprise, at a time when almost all my -physical powers had well nigh deserted me, and when I was -surrounded by dangers and difficulties of no common nature, -it was only by the recognition which I hoped for from him, -that I had been encouraged to press onward with unalterable -determination towards the goal which I had now reached. The -emaciated figures of my Indians and faithful guides told more -plainly than any words could do, what difficulties we had had -to surmount, and had surmounted.” After expressions so -kind towards myself, I must be permitted to subjoin the -following passage, extracted from my Preface to the German -Edition of Robert Schomburgk’s Account of his Travels, published -in 1841.</p> - -<p>“Immediately after my return from Mexico, I notified<span class="pagenum" id="Page_238">[238]</span> -the direction and the routes which should be followed -to explore the unknown portion of the South American -Continent between the sources of the Orinoco, the mountain -chain of Pacaraima, and the sea-shore near Essequibo. -These wishes, which I expressed so strongly in my -Rélation Historique, have at last, after the lapse of almost -half a century, been for the greater part fulfilled. Besides -the joy of having lived to see so important an extension of -our geographical knowledge, I have had that of seeing it attained -by means of a courageous and well-conducted enterprise, -requiring the most devoted perseverance, executed by -a young man with whom I feel united by the double bond of -similarity of pursuits and efforts, and of our common country. -Motives such as these have alone been sufficient to overcome -the distaste which I entertain, perhaps without reason, to introductory -prefaces by another hand than that of the author -of the work. But in this case I could not consent to forego -the opportunity of expressing, thus publicly, my heartfelt -esteem for the accomplished traveller who, in pursuit of an -object deriving all its interest from the mind,—namely, in the -self-imposed task of penetrating from East to West, from the -Valley of the Essequibo to Esmeralda,—succeeded, after five -years of efforts and of sufferings (which I can in part appreciate -from my own experience), in reaching the goal which -he had proposed to himself. Courage for the momentary -execution of a hazardous action is more easily met with, and -implies less of inward strength, than does the resolution to -endure patiently long-continued physical sufferings, incurred<span class="pagenum" id="Page_239">[239]</span> -in the pursuit of some deeply-felt mental interest, and still -to determine to go forward, undismayed by the certainty of -having to retrace the same painful route, and to support the -same privations in returning with enfeebled powers. Serenity -of mind, almost the first requisite for an undertaking -in inhospitable regions, passionate love for some class of -scientific labour, (be it in natural history, astronomy, hypsometrics, -magnetism, or aught else,) and a pure feeling for -the enjoyment which nature in her freedom is ready to impart, -are elements which, when they meet together in an -individual, ensure the attainment of valuable results from a -great and important journey.”</p> - -<p>In discussing the question respecting the sources of the -Orinoco, I will begin with the conjectures which I had myself -formed on the subject. The dangerous route travelled in -1739 by the surgeon Nicolas Hortsmann, of Hildesheim; in -1775 by the Spaniard Don Antonio Santos, and his friend -Nicolas Rodriguez; in 1793 by the Lieutenant-Colonel of -the 1st Regiment of the Line of Para, Don Francisco Jose -Rodriguez Barata; and (according to manuscript papers, for -which I am indebted to the former Portuguese Ambassador -in Paris, Chevalier de Brito) by several English and Dutch -settlers, who in 1811 went from Surinam to Para by the -Portage of the Rupunuri and by the Rio Branco;—divides the -terra incognita of the Parime into two unequal portions, and -serves to limit the situation of a very important point in the -geography of those regions—viz. the sources of the Orinoco, -which it is no longer possible to remove to an uncertain distance -to the East, without interfering thereby with what we<span class="pagenum" id="Page_240">[240]</span> -know of the course of the Rio Branco, which flows from -north to south through the basin of the Upper Orinoco; -while that river itself, in this part of its course, pursues -for the most part an East and West direction. From political -reasons, the Brazilians, since the beginning of the present -century, have testified a lively interest in the extensive plains -east of the Rio Branco. See the memoir which I drew up at -the request of the Portuguese court in 1817, “sur la fixation -des limites des Guyanes Française et Portuguaise” (Schoell, -Archives historiques et politiques, ou Recueil de Pièces -officielles, Memoires, &c. T. i. 1818, p. 48–58). Viewing -the position of Santa Rosa on the Uraricapara, the course -of which appears to have been determined with tolerable -accuracy by Portuguese engineers, the sources of the Orinoco -cannot be looked for east of the meridian of 65½° from -Paris, (63°.8′ W. long. from Greenwich). This being the -eastern limit beyond which they cannot be placed, and considering -the state of the river at the Raudal de los Guaharibos -(above Caño Chiguire, in the country of the surprisingly -fair-skinned Guaycas Indians, and 52′ East of the great -Cerro Duida), it appears to me probable that the upper part -of the Orinoco does not really extend, at the utmost, beyond -the meridian of 66½° from Paris (64°.08′ W. from Greenwich.) -This point is according to my combinations 4°.12′ -West of the little lake of Amucu, which was reached by Sir -Robert Schomburgk.</p> - -<p>I next subjoin the conjectures of that gentleman, having -given the earlier ones formed by myself. According to his -view, the course of the upper Orinoco to the east of Esmeralda<span class="pagenum" id="Page_241">[241]</span> -is dedicated from South-east to North-west; my estimations -of latitude for the mouths of the Padamo and the -Gehette appearing to be respectively 19 and 36′ too small. -Robert Schomburgk supposes the sources of the Orinoco to -be in lat. 2°.30′ (S. 460); and the fine “Map of Guayana, -to illustrate the route of R. H. Schomburgk,” which accompanies -the splendid English work entitled “Views in the -Interior of Guiana,” places the sources of the Orinoco in -67°.18′ (W. from Paris), <i>i. e.</i> 1°.6′ west of Esmeralda, and -only 48′ of longitude nearer to the Atlantic than I had -thought admissible. From astronomical combinations -Schomburgk has placed the mountain of Maravaca, which -is upwards of nine thousand feet high, in lat. 3°.41′ and -long. 65°.38′. Near the mouth of the Padamo or Paramú -the Orinoco was scarcely three hundred yards wide; and -more to the west, where it spreads to a breadth of from four to -six hundred yards, it was so shallow and so full of sand-banks -that the Expedition were obliged to dig channels, the -river bed being only fifteen inches deep. Fresh water -Dolphins were still to be seen everywhere in large numbers; -a phenomenon which the zoologists of the 18th century -would not have been prepared to expect in the Orinoco and -the Ganges.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_59" href="#FNanchor_59" class="label">[59]</a> p. 213.—“<i>The most vigorous of the productions -of the tropical world.</i>”</p> - -<p>The Bertholletia excelsa (Juvia), of the family of Myrtaceæ -(and placed in Richard Schomburgk’s proposed division of -Lecythideæ), was first described by Bonpland and myself in<span class="pagenum" id="Page_242">[242]</span> -the “Plantes équinoxiales,” T. i. 1808, p. 122, tab. 36. -This gigantic and magnificent tree offers, in the perfect formation -of its cocoa-like, round, thick, woody fruit enclosing -the three-cornered and also woody seed-vessels, the most -remarkable example of high organic development. The -Bertholletia grows in the forests of the Upper Orinoco -between the Padamo and the Ocamu, near the mountain of -Mapaya, and also between the rivers Amaguaca and Gehette. -(Rélation historique, T. ii. p. 474, 496, 558–562.)</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_60" href="#FNanchor_60" class="label">[60]</a> p. 213.—“<i>Grass stalks having joints above eighteen -feet long from knot to knot.</i>”</p> - -<p>Robert Schomburgk, when visiting the small mountainous -country of the Majonkongs, on his way to Esmeralda, was -so fortunate as to determine the species of Arundinaria -which furnishes the material for the blowpipes or tubes -through which the Indians discharge their arrows. He -says of this plant: “It grows in large tufts like the Bambusa; -the first joint rises without a knot to a height of -from 16 to 17 feet before it begins to put forth leaves. -The entire height of the Arundinaria, as it grows at the foot -of the great mountain of Maravaca, is from 30 to 40 feet, -with a thickness of scarcely half an inch diameter. The top -is always inclined. This kind of grass is peculiar to the -sandstone mountains between the Ventuari, the Paramu -(Padamo), and the Mavaca. The Indian name is Curata, -and hence, from the excellence of these far-famed blow tubes -of great length, the Majonkongs and Guinaus of these<span class="pagenum" id="Page_243">[243]</span> -districts have been given the names of the Curata nation.” -(Reisen in Guiana und am Orinoco, S. 451.)</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_61" href="#FNanchor_61" class="label">[61]</a> p. 214.—“<i>Fabulous lake—origin of the Orinoco.</i>”</p> - -<p>The lakes of these regions (some of which have had their -real size much exaggerated by theoretical geographers, while -the existence of others is purely imaginary), may be divided -into two groups. The first of these groups comprises the -lakes, whether real or imaginary, placed between Esmeralda -(the easternmost mission on the upper Orinoco), and the Rio -Branco; and the second those assumed to exist in the -district between the Rio Branco and French, Dutch, and -British Guiana. This general view, of which travellers -should never lose sight, shews that the question of whether -there is yet a Lake Parime east of the Rio Branco, -other than the Lake Amucu, seen by Hortsmann, Santos, -Colonel Barata, and Schomburgk, has nothing whatever to -do with the problem of the sources of the Orinoco. As the -name of my friend the former Director of the Hydrographic -Office at Madrid, Don Felipe Bauza, is deservedly of great -weight in geography, the impartiality which ought to preside -over every scientific investigation makes me feel it a duty to -recall that this learned man was inclined to the view, that -there must be lakes west of the Rio Branco and not far -from the sources of the Orinoco. He wrote to me from -London, a short time before his death: “I wish you were -here, that I might converse with you on the subject of the -geography of the upper Orinoco, which has occupied you<span class="pagenum" id="Page_244">[244]</span> -so much. I have been so fortunate as to rescue from entire -destruction the papers of the General of Marine, Don José -Solano, father of the Solano who perished in so melancholy -a manner at Cadiz. These documents relate to the boundary -division between the Spaniards and the Portuguese, -with which the elder Solano had been charged, in conjunction -with Chef d’Escadron Yturriaga and Don Vicente Doz, -since 1754. In all these plans and sketches I see a Laguna -Parime, represented sometimes as the source of the Orinoco, -and sometimes quite detached from that river. Are we, -then, to admit the existence of another lake north-east of -Esmeralda?”</p> - -<p>Löffling, the celebrated pupil of Linnæus, came to -Cumana as the botanist of the boundary expedition above -alluded to. After traversing the missions on the Piritu and -the Caroni he died on the 22d of February, 1756, at the -mission of Santa Eulalia de Murucuri, a little to the south -of the confluence of the Orinoco and the Caroni. The -documents of which Bauza speaks are the same as those on -which the great map of De la Cruz Olmedilla is based. -They constitute the type of all the maps which appeared in -England, France, and Germany up to the close of the last -century; and they also served for the two maps drawn in -1756 by Peter Caulin, the historian of Solano’s expedition, -and by an unskilful compiler, M. de Surville, Keeper of the -Archives of the Secretary of State’s office at Madrid. The -discordance between these maps shews the little dependence -which can be placed on the surveys of the expedition; -besides which, Caulin’s acute remarks lead us to perceive<span class="pagenum" id="Page_245">[245]</span> -the circumstances which gave occasion to the fiction of the -Lake Parime; and Surville’s map, which accompanies his -work, not only restores this lake under the name of the -White Sea and of the Mar Dorado, but also adds another -lake, from which, partly through lateral outlets, the Orinoco, -the Siapa, and the Ocamo issue. I was able to satisfy -myself on the spot of the fact, well known in the missions, -that Don José Solano went indeed beyond the cataracts of -Atures and Maypures, but not beyond the confluence of the -Guaviare and the Orinoco, in lat. 4°.3′ and long. 68°.09′; -that the instruments of the Boundary Expedition were -not carried either to the Isthmus of the Pimichin and the -Rio Negro, or to the Cassiquiare; and that even on the -Upper Orinoco they were not taken above the mouth of the -Atabapo. This extensive country, in which previous to my -journey no exact observations had been attempted, had been -traversed since the time of Solano only by a few soldiers -sent in search of discoveries; and Don Apolinario de la -Fuente (whose journals I obtained from the archives of the -province of Quiros), had collected, without critical discrimination, -from the lying tales told by Indians, whatever could -flatter the credulity of the governor Centurion. No member -of the Expedition had seen any lake, and Don Apolinario -had not advanced farther than the Cerro Yumariquin and -the Gehette.</p> - -<p>Having now established throughout the extensive district, -to which it is desired to direct the inquiring zeal of travellers, -a dividing line bounding the basin of the Rio Branco, it still -remains to remark, that for a century past no advance has<span class="pagenum" id="Page_246">[246]</span> -taken place in our geographical knowledge of the country -west of this valley between 61½° and 65½° W. longitude. -The attempts repeatedly made by the Government of Spanish -Guiana, since the expeditions of Iturria and Solano, to reach -and to pass the Pacaraima mountains, have only produced -very inconsiderable results. When the Spaniards, in travelling -to the missions of the Catalonian Capuchin monks of -Barceloneta at the confluence of the Caroni and the Rio -Paragua, ascended the latter river, in going southward, to its -junction with the Paraguamusi, they founded at the site of -the latter junction the mission of Guirion, which at first -received the pompous name of Ciudad de Guirion. I place -it in about 4½° of North latitude. From thence the governor -Centurion, stimulated by the exaggerated accounts given -by two Indian chiefs, Paranacare and Arimuicapi, of the -powerful nation of the Ipurucotos, to search for el Dorado, -prosecuted what were then called spiritual conquests still -farther, and founded beyond the Pacaraima mountains the -two villages of Santa Rosa and San Bautista de Caudacacla; -the former on the higher eastern bank of the Uraricapara, a -tributary of the Uraricuera which in the narrative of Rodriguez -I find called Rio Curaricara; and the latter six or -seven German (24 or 28 English) geographical miles farther -to the east south-east. The astronomer of the Portuguese -Boundary Commission, Don Antonio Pires de Sylva Pontes -Leme, captain of a frigate, and the captain of engineers, -Don Ricardo Franco d’Almeida de Serra, who between 1787 -and 1804 surveyed with the greatest care the whole course -of the Rio Branco and its upper branches, call the westernmost<span class="pagenum" id="Page_247">[247]</span> -part of the Uraricapara “the Valley of Inundation.” -They place the Spanish mission of Santa Rosa in 3°.46′ N. -lat., and point out the route which leads from thence -northward across the chain of mountains to the Caño Anocapra, -an affluent of the Paraguamusi, by means of which -one passes from the basin of the Rio Branco to that of the -Caroni. Two maps of these Portuguese officers, which contain -the whole details of the trigonometrical survey of the -windings of the Rio Branco, the Uraricuera, the Tacutu, -and the Mahu, have been kindly communicated to Colonel -Lapie and myself by the Count of Linhares. These valuable -unpublished documents, of which I have made use, are in -the hands of the learned geographer who began a considerable -time ago to have them engraved at his own expense. -The Portuguese sometimes give the name of Rio Parime to -the whole of the Rio Branco, and sometimes confine that -denomination to one branch or tributary, the Uraricuera, -below the Caño Mayari and above the old mission of San -Antonio. As the words Paragua and Parime signify water, -great water, lake, or sea, it is not surprising to find them -so often repeated among nations at a distance from each -other, the Omaguas on the Upper Marañon, the Western -Guaranis, and the Caribs. In all parts of the world, as I -have already remarked, the largest rivers are called by those -who dwell on their banks “the River,” without any distinct -and peculiar appellation. Paragua, the name of a branch of -the Caroni, is also the name given by the natives to the -Upper Orinoco. The name Orinucu is Tamanaki; and -Diego de Ordaz first heard it pronounced in 1531, when he<span class="pagenum" id="Page_248">[248]</span> -ascended the river to the mouth of the Meta. Besides the -“Valley of Inundation,” above spoken of, we find other -large lakes or expanses of water between the Rio Xumuru -and the Parime. One of these belongs to the Tacutu river, -and the other to the Uraricuera. Even at the foot of the -Pacaraima mountains the rivers are subject to great periodical -overflows; and the Lake of Amucu, which will be -spoken of more in the sequel, imparts a similar character to -the country at the commencement of the plains. The -Spanish missions of Santa Rosa and San Bautista de Caudacacla -or Cayacaya, founded in the years 1770 and 1773 by -the Governor Don Manuel Centurion, were destroyed before -the close of the century, and since that period no fresh -attempt has been made to penetrate from the basin of the -Caroni to the southern declivity of the Pacaraima mountains.</p> - -<p>The territory east of the valley of the Rio Branco has of -late years been the subject of some successful examination. -Mr. Hillhouse navigated the Massaruni as far as the bay of -Caranang, from whence, he says, a path would have conducted -the traveller in two days to the sources of the Massaruni, -and in three days to streams flowing into the Rio -Branco. In regard to the windings of the great river -Massaruni, described by Mr. Hillhouse, that gentleman -remarks, in a letter written to me from Demerara (January -1, 1831), that “the Massaruni beginning from its source -flows first to the West, then to the North for one degree -of latitude, afterwards almost 200 English miles to the -East, and finally North and N.N.E. to its junction with -the Essequibo.” As Mr. Hillhouse was unable to reach<span class="pagenum" id="Page_249">[249]</span> -the southern declivity of the Pacarima chain, he was not -acquainted with the Amucu Lake: he says himself, in his -printed account, that “from the information he had gained -from the Accaouais, who constantly traverse all the country -between the shore and the Amazons river, he had become -satisfied that there is no lake at all in these districts.” This -statement occasioned me some surprise, as it was in direct -contradiction to the views which I had formed respecting the -Lake of Amucu, from which the Caño Pirara flows according -to the narratives of Hortsmann, Santos, and Rodriquez, -whose accounts inspired me with the more confidence because -they agree entirely with the recent Portuguese manuscript -maps. Finally, after five years of expectation, Sir Robert -Schomburgk’s journey has dispelled all doubts.</p> - -<p>“It is difficult to believe,” says Mr. Hillhouse, in his -interesting memoir on the Massaruni, “that the report of a -great inland water is entirely without foundation. It seems -to me possible that the following circumstances may have -given occasion to the belief in the existence of the fabulous -lake of the Parime. At some distance from the fallen rocks -of Teboco the waters of the Massaruni appear to the eye as -motionless as the tranquil surface of a lake. If at a more -or less remote epoch the horizontal stratum of granite at -Teboco had been perfectly compact and unbroken, the waters -must have stood at least fifty feet above their present level, -and there would thus have been formed an immense lake, -ten or twelve English miles broad and 1500 to 2000 English -miles long.” (Nouvelles Annales des Voyages, 1836, Sept. -p. 316.) It is not solely the vast extent of this supposed<span class="pagenum" id="Page_250">[250]</span> -inundation which prevents me from accepting this explanation. -I have seen plains (the Llanos), where during the -rainy season the overflowing of the affluents of the Orinoco -annually cover with water a space of 400 German geographical -square miles (equal to 6400 English geographical square -miles). At such times the labyrinth of branches between the -Apure, the Arauca, the Capanaparo, and the Sinaruco (see -Maps 17 and 18 of my Geographical and Physical Atlas), -can no longer be traced, for the separate courses are obliterated, -and all appears one vast lake. But the fable of the -Dorado of the Parime, and of the White Sea or Lake of the -Parime, belongs historically, as I endeavoured to shew in -another work thirty years ago, to an entirely different part of -Guiana, namely, to the country south of the Pacaraima -mountains; and originated in the shining appearance of the -micaceous rocks of the Ucucuamo, the name of the Rio -Parime (Rio Branco), the overflowings of the tributaries of -that river, and especially the existence of the Lake of Amucu, -which is in the vicinity of the Rio Rupunuwini or Rupunuri, -and is connected through the Pirara with the Rio Parime.</p> - -<p>I have seen with pleasure that the travels of Sir Robert -Schomburgk have fully confirmed these early views. The -part of his map which gives the course of the Essequibo -and the Rupunuri is entirely new and of great geographical -importance. It places the Pacaraima chain in -3° 52′ to 4° North latitude (I had given it 4° to 4° 10′), -and makes it reach the confluence of the Essequibo -and the Rupunuri, in 3° 57′ N. lat. and 60° 23′ W. long. -from Paris (58° 01′ from Greenwich). I had placed this spot<span class="pagenum" id="Page_251">[251]</span> -half a degree too far to the north. Sir Robert Schomburgk -calls the last named river Rupununi, according to the pronunciation -of the Macusis; he gives as synonymes of Rupuniri, -Rupunuwini and Opununy, the Carib tribes in these -districts having much difficulty in articulating the sound of -the letter <i>r</i>. The situation of Lake Amucu and its relations -to the Mahu (Maou) and Tacutu (Tacoto) are quite in -accordance with my map of Columbia in 1825. We agree -equally well respecting the latitude of the lake, which I gave -3° 35′, and which he finds to be 3° 33′; but the Caño -Pirara, (Pirarara) which connects the Lake of Amucu with -the Rio Branco, flows from it to the north, instead of to the -west as I had supposed. The Sibarana of my map, of which -Hortsmann places the source near a fine mine of rock-crystal, -a little to the north of the Cerro Ucucuamo, is the Siparuni -of Schomburgk’s map. His Waa-Ekuru is the Tavaricuru -of the Portuguese geographer Pontes Leme; it is the tributary -of the Rupunuri, which approaches nearest to the -Lake of Amucu.</p> - -<p>The following remarks from the narrative of Robert -Schomburgk throw some light on the subject before us. -“The Lake of Amucu,” says this traveller, “is incontestably -the nucleus of the Lake of Parime and the supposed White -Sea. When we visited it in December and January its -length scarcely amounted to a mile, and its surface was half -covered with reeds.” (This remark is found as early as -in D’Anville’s map, in 1748.) “The Pirara issues from the -lake west north-west of the Indian village of Pirara, and falls -into the Maou or Mahu. The last named river, from such<span class="pagenum" id="Page_252">[252]</span> -information as I was able to gather, rises on the north side -of the Pacaraima mountains, the easternmost part of which -only attains a height of 1500 French (in round numbers -1600 English) feet. The sources of the Mahu are on a -plateau, from whence it descends in a fine waterfall called -Corona. We were about to visit this fall when on the third -day of our excursion to the mountains the sickness of one -of my companions obliged us to return to the station near -Lake Amucu. The Mahu has “black” or coffee-brown -water, and its current is more rapid than that of the Rupunuri. -In the mountains through which it makes its way it -is about 60 yards broad, and its environs are remarkably -picturesque. This valley, as well as the banks of the -Buroburo which flows into the Siparuni, are inhabited by -the Macusis. In April the whole of the savannahs are overflowed, -and present the peculiar phenomenon of the waters -belonging to different river basins being intermixed and -united. The enormous extent of this temporary inundation -may not improbably have given occasion to the story of the -Lake of Parime. During the rainy season there is formed -in the interior of the country a water communication between -the Essequibo, the Rio Branco, and Gran Para. Some -groups of trees, which rise like oases on the sand hills of the -savannahs, assume at the time of the inundation the character -of islands scattered over the extensive lake; they are, no -doubt, the Ipomucena Islands of Don Antonio Santos.”</p> - -<p>In D’Anville’s manuscripts, which his heirs have kindly -permitted me to examine, I find that the surgeon Hortsmann, -of Hildesheim, who described these countries with great care,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_253">[253]</span> -saw a second Alpine lake, which he places two days’ journey -above the confluence of the Mahu with the Rio Parime -(Tacutu?). It is a lake of black water on the top of a -mountain. He distinguishes it clearly from the Lake of -Amucu, which he describes as “covered with reeds.” The -narratives of Hortsmann and Santos are as far as the -Portuguese manuscript maps of the Bureau de la Marine at -Rio Janeiro from indicating or admitting a constant connection -between the Rupunuri and the Lake of Amucu. In -D’Anville’s maps the rivers are better drawn in the first -edition of his South America, published in 1748, than in -the more widely circulated edition of 1760. Schomburgk’s -travels have completely established this general independence -of the basins of the Rupunuri and the Essequibo; but he -remarks that during the rainy season the Rio Waa-Ekuru, -a tributary of the Rupunuri, is in connection with the Caño -Pirara. Such is the state of these river basins, which -are, as it were, still imperfectly developed, and are almost -entirely without separating ridges.</p> - -<p>The Rupunuri and the village of Anai (lat. 3° 56′, long. -58° 34′), are at present recognised as the political boundary -between the British and the Brazilian territories in these -uncultivated regions. Sir Robert Schomburgk makes his -chronologically determined longitude of the Lake of Amucu -depend on the mean of several lunar distances (East and -West) measured by him during his stay at Anai, where he -was detained some time by severe illness. His longitudes -for these points of the Parime are in general a degree more -easterly than the longitudes of my map of Columbia. I am -far from throwing any doubt on the observations of lunar<span class="pagenum" id="Page_254">[254]</span> -distances taken at Anai, and would only remark that their -calculation is important if it is desired to carry the comparison -from the Lake of Amucu to Esmeralda, which I found -in long. 68° 23′ 19″ W. from Paris (66° 21′ 19″ Gr.)</p> - -<p>We see, then, the great Mar de la Parima,—which was -so difficult to displace from our maps that, after my return -from America, it was still set down as having a length of -160 English geographical miles,—reduced by the result of -modern researches to the little Lake of Amucu, of two or three -miles circumference. The illusions cherished for nearly two -centuries (several hundred lives were lost in the last Spanish -expedition for the discovery of el Dorado, in 1775), have -thus finally terminated, leaving some results of geographical -knowledge as their fruit. In 1512, thousands of soldiers -perished in the expedition undertaken by Ponce de Leon -for the discovery of the “Fountain of Youth,” supposed -to exist in one of the Bahama Islands called Bimini, -and which is not to be found on our maps. This Expedition -led to the conquest of Florida, and to the knowledge -of the great current of the Gulf Stream, which -issues forth through the Bahama channel. The thirst for -treasures, and the desire of renovated youth, stimulated with -nearly equal force the passions and cupidity of the nations -of Europe.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_62" href="#FNanchor_62" class="label">[62]</a> p. 216.—“<i>The Piriguao, one of the noblest of -palm trees.</i>”</p> - -<p>Compare Humboldt, Bonpland, and Kunth, Nova Genera -Plant. æquinoct. T. i. p. 315.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_255">[255]</span><a id="Footnote_63" href="#FNanchor_63" class="label">[63]</a> p. 229.—“<i>The vault or cemetery of an extinct -nation.</i>”</p> - -<p>During the period of my stay in the forests of the Orinoco, -these caves of bones were examined by order of the Court. -The Missionary of the Cataracts had been unjustly accused -of having discovered in the caves treasures which had been -hidden there by the Jesuits previous to their flight.</p> - -</div> - - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_259">[259]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="THE_NOCTURNAL_LIFE_OF_ANIMALS">THE NOCTURNAL LIFE OF ANIMALS<br /> - - -<span class="small">IN THE</span><br /> - -PRIMEVAL FOREST.</h2> -</div> - -<p>If the vivid appreciation and sentiment of nature which -differ so greatly in nations of different descent, and if the -natural character and aspect of the countries which those -nations now inhabit, or which have been the scene of their -earlier wanderings or abode, have rendered different languages -more or less rich in well defined and characteristic -expressions denoting the forms of mountains, the state of -vegetation, the appearance of the atmosphere, and the -contour and grouping of the clouds, it is also true that -long use, and perhaps their arbitrary employment by literary -men, have diverted many such words from their original -meaning. Terms have been gradually regarded as synonymous -which ought to have been preserved distinct; and -thus languages have lost part of the vigour and the grace, -as well as the fidelity, which they might otherwise have -been capable of imparting to descriptions of natural scenery -and of the characteristic physiognomy of a landscape. With -the view of shewing how much an intimate acquaintance -and contact with nature, and the wants and necessities -of a laborious nomade life, may increase the riches of a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_260">[260]</span> -language, I would recall the numerous characteristic appellations -which may be used in Arabic<a id="FNanchor_64" href="#Footnote_64" class="fnanchor">[64]</a> and in Persian to -distinguish plains, steppes, and deserts, according as they -are quite bare, covered with sand, broken by tabular masses -of rock, or interspersed with patches of pasturage, or with -long tracts occupied by social plants. Scarcely less striking -is it to observe in the old Castilian idiom<a id="FNanchor_65" href="#Footnote_65" class="fnanchor">[65]</a> the many expressions -afforded for describing the physiognomy of mountain-masses, -and more particularly for designating those -features which, recurring in every zone of the earth’s -surface, announce from afar to the attentive beholder the -nature of the rock. As the declivities of the Andes, of -Peru, Chili, and Mexico, and the mountainous parts of the -Canaries, the Antilles and the Philippines, are all inhabited -by men of Spanish descent, and as these are the parts of -the earth where, (with the exception, perhaps, of the -Himalaya and the Thibetian Highlands), the manner of -life of the inhabitants is most affected by and dependent -on the form of the earth’s surface, so all the expressions -which the language of the mother country afforded for -denoting the forms of mountains in trachytic, basaltic, -and porphyritic districts, as well as in those where schists, -limestones, and sandstone are the prevailing rocks, have -been happily preserved in daily use. Under such influences -even newly formed words become part of the common -treasure. Speech is enriched and animated by everything -that tends to and promotes truth to nature, whether in -rendering the impressions received through the senses -from the contemplation of the external world, or in<span class="pagenum" id="Page_261">[261]</span> -expressing thoughts, emotions, or sentiments which have -their sources in the inner depths of our being.</p> - -<p>In descriptions of natural objects or scenery, both in -the manner of viewing the phenomena, and in the choice -of the expressions employed to describe them, this truth -to nature must ever be kept in view as the guiding aim: -its attainment will be at once most easily and most effectually -secured by simplicity in the narration of what we have -ourselves beheld or experienced, and by limiting and -individualising the locality with which the narrative is -connected. Generalisation of physical views, and the -statement of general results, belong rather to the “study -of the Cosmos,” which, indeed, must ever continue to be -to us a science of Induction; but the animated description -of organic forms (plants and animals) in their local and -picturesque relations to the varied surface of the earth -(as a small fragment of the whole terrestrial life) affords -materials towards the study of the Cosmos, and also tends -to advance it by the stimulus or impulse imparted to the -mind when artistic treatment is applied to phenomena -of nature on a great scale.</p> - -<p>Among such phenomena must certainly be classed the -vast forest region which, in the tropical portion of South -America, fills the great connected basins of the Orinoco -and the Amazons. If the name of primeval forest, or -“Urwald,” which has of late years been so prodigally -bestowed, is to be given to any forests on the face of -the earth, none can claim it perhaps so strictly as the -region of which we are speaking. The term “Urwald,”<span class="pagenum" id="Page_262">[262]</span> -primitive or primeval forest, as well as Urseit and Urvolk,—primitive -age, primitive nation,—are words of rather indefinite -meaning, and, for the most part, only relative import. -If this name is to be given to every wild forest full of -a thick growth of trees on which Man has never laid a -destroying hand, then the phenomenon is one which -belongs to many parts of the temperate and cold zones. -But if the character of the “Urwald” is that of a forest -so truly impenetrable, that it is impossible to clear with -an axe any passage between trees of eight or twelve feet -diameter for more than a few paces, then such forests -belong exclusively to the tropical regions. Nor is it by -any means, as is often supposed in Europe, only the -interlacing “lianes” or climbers which make it impossible -to penetrate the forest; the “lianes” often form only a -very small portion of the underwood. The chief obstacle -is presented by an undergrowth of plants filling up every -interval in a zone where all vegetation has a tendency -to become ligneous. An impatient desire for the fulfilment -of a long cherished wish may sometimes have led -travellers who have only just landed in a tropical country, -or perhaps island, to imagine that although still in the -immediate vicinity of the sea-shore they had entered the -precincts of a primeval forest, or “Urwald,” such as I -have described as impenetrable. In this they deceived -themselves; it is not every tropical forest which is entitled -to an appellation which I have scarcely ever used in the -narrative of my travels; although I believe that of all -investigators of nature now living, Bonpland, Martius<span class="pagenum" id="Page_263">[263]</span>, -Poppig, Robert and Richard Schomburgk, and myself, -are those who have spent the longest period of time in -primeval forests in the interior of a great continent.</p> - -<p>Rich as is the Spanish language, (as I have already -remarked), in appellations of distinct and definite meaning -in the description of nature, yet the same word “Monte” -is employed for mountain and forest, for cerro, (montaña) -and for selva. In an inquiry into the true breadth and -greatest easterly extension of the chain of the Andes, I -have shewed how this two-fold signification of the word -“monte” led to the introduction, in a fine and extensively -circulated English map of South America, of high mountain -ranges, where, in reality, only plains exist. When the -Spanish map of La Cruz Olmedilla, which has served as -the foundation of so many other maps, shewed “Montes -de Cacao,”<a id="FNanchor_66" href="#Footnote_66" class="fnanchor">[66]</a> “cacao woods,” Cordilleras were made to rise -although the cacao seeks only the lowest and hottest -localities.</p> - -<p>If we comprehend in one general view the wooded -region which includes the whole of the interior of South -America, from the grassy steppes of Venezuela (los Llanos -de Caracas) to the Pampas of Buenos Ayres, or from 8° -North to 19° South latitude, we shall perceive that this -connected forest of the tropical zone has an extent unequalled -in any other portion of the earth’s surface. Its -area is about twelve times that of Germany. Traversed -in all directions by systems of rivers, in which the minor -and tributary streams sometimes exceed our Rhine or -our Danube in the abundance of their waters, it owes<span class="pagenum" id="Page_264">[264]</span> -the wonderful luxuriance of the growth of its trees to -the combined influence of great moisture and high temperature. -In the temperate zone, and especially in -Europe and Northern Asia, forests may be named from -particular genera or species, which, growing together as -social plants, (plantæ sociales) form separate and distinct -woods. In the northern forests of Oaks, Pines, and -Birches, and in the eastern forests of Limes or Linden -trees, usually only one species of Amentaceæ, Coniferæ, -or Tiliaceæ, prevails or is predominant; sometimes a single -species of Needle-trees is intermingled with the foliage -of trees of other classes. Tropical forests, on the other -hand, decked with thousands of flowers, are strangers to -such uniformity of association; the exceeding variety of -their flora renders it vain to ask of what trees the primeval -forest consists. A countless number of families are here -crowded together, and even in small spaces individuals -of the same species are rarely associated. Each day, and -at each change of place, new forms present themselves -to the traveller, who, however, often finds that he cannot -reach the blossoms of trees whose leaves and ramifications -had previously arrested his attention.</p> - -<p>The rivers, with their countless lateral arms, afford the -only routes by which the country can be traversed. Between -the Orinoco, the Cassiquiare, and the Rio Negro, astronomical -observations, and where these were wanting, determinations -by compass of the direction of the rivers, respectively -shewed us that two lonely mission villages might be -only a few miles apart, and yet that the monks when they<span class="pagenum" id="Page_265">[265]</span> -wished to visit each other could only do so by spending a -day and a half in following the windings of small streams, -in canoes hollowed out of the trunks of trees. A striking -evidence of the impenetrability of particular parts of the -forest is afforded by a trait related by an Indian of the habits -of the large American tiger, or panther-like jaguar. While -in the Llanos of Varinas and the Meta, and in the Pampas of -Buenos Ayres, the introduction of European cattle, horses, -and mules has enabled the beasts of prey to find an abundant -subsistence,—so that since the first discovery of -America their numbers have increased exceedingly in those -extended and treeless grassy steppes,—their congeners in -the dense forests around the sources of the Orinoco lead a -very different and far less easy life. In a bivouac near the -junction of the Cassiquiare with the Orinoco we had had the -misfortune of losing a large dog, to which we were much -attached, as the most faithful and affectionate companion of -our wanderings. Being still uncertain whether he had been -actually killed by the tigers, a faint hope of recovering him -induced us, in returning from the mission of Esmeralda -through the swarms of musquitoes by which it is infested, -to spend another night at the spot where we had so long -sought him in vain. We heard the cries of the jaguar, -probably the very individual which we suspected of the -deed, extremely near to us; and as the clouded sky made -astronomical observations impossible, we passed part of the -night in making our interpreter (lenguaraz) repeat to us the -accounts given by our native boat’s crew of the tigers of the -country.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_266">[266]</span></p> - -<p>The “black jaguar” was, they said, not unfrequently -found there; it is the largest and most bloodthirsty variety, -with black spots scarcely distinguishable on its deep dark-brown -skin. It lives at the foot of the mountains of Maraguaca -and Unturan. One of the Indians of the Durimund -tribe then related to us that jaguars are often led, by their -love of wandering and by their rapacity, to lose themselves in -such impenetrable parts of the forest that they can no longer -hunt along the ground, and live instead in the trees, where -they are the terror of the families of monkeys and of the -prehensile-tailed viverra, the Cercoleptes. I borrow these -notices from journals written at the time in German, and -which were not entirely exhausted in the Narrative of my -Travels, which I published in the French language. They -contain a detailed description of the nocturnal life, or perhaps -I might rather say the nocturnal voices, of the wild animals -in the forests of the torrid zone; which appears to me particularly -suited to form part of a work bearing the title of -the present volumes. That which is written down on the -spot, either in the immediate presence of the phenomena, or -soon after the reception of the impressions which they -produce, may at least lay claim to more life and freshness -than can be expected in recollections.</p> - -<p>Descending from West to East the Rio Apure, the overflowings -of whose waters and the inundations produced by them -were noticed in the chapter on Steppes and Deserts, we -arrived at its junction with the Orinoco. It was the season -of low water, and the average breadth of the Apure was only -a little more than twelve hundred English feet, yet I found<span class="pagenum" id="Page_267">[267]</span> -the Orinoco at the confluence of the two rivers, not far from -the granite rock of Curiquima, where I was able to measure -a base line, still upwards of 11430 French (12180 English) -feet wide. Yet this point, <i>i. e.</i> the Rock of Curiquima, is -four hundred geographical miles in a straight line from the -sea and from the Delta of the Orinoco. Part of the plains -watered by the Apure and the Pagara are inhabited by -tribes of the Yaruros and Achaguas, who, as they persist in -maintaining their independence, are called savages in the -mission villages established by the monks: their manners, -however, are scarcely more rude than those of the Indians -of the villages,—who, although baptized and living “under -the bell” (baxo la compana), are still almost entirely untaught -and uninstructed.</p> - -<p>On leaving the Island del Diamante, in which Zambos -who speak Spanish cultivate sugar-canes, we entered on -scenes of nature characterized by wildness and grandeur. -The air was filled with countless flocks of flamingoes (Phœnicopterus) -and other water birds, which appeared against the -blue sky like a dark cloud with continually varying outlines. -The river had here narrowed to between 900 and 1000 feet, -and flowing in a perfectly straight line formed a kind of -canal enclosed on either side by dense wood. The margin -of the forest presents at this part a singular appearance. In -front of the almost impenetrable wall of giant trunks of -Cæsalpinia, Cedrela, and Desmanthus, there rises from -the sandy river beach, with the greatest regularity, a -low hedge of Sauso, only four feet high, consisting of a -small shrub, Hermesia castaneifolia, which forms a new<span class="pagenum" id="Page_268">[268]</span> -genus<a id="FNanchor_67" href="#Footnote_67" class="fnanchor">[67]</a> of the family of Euphorbiaceæ. Some slender -thorny palms, called by the Spaniards Piritu and Coroso -(perhaps species of Martinezia and Bactris), stand next; and -the whole resembles a close, well-pruned garden hedge, -having only occasional openings at considerable distances -from each other, which have doubtless been made by the -larger four-footed beasts of the forest to gain easy access to -the river. One sees, more especially in the early morning -and at sunset, the American tiger or jaguar, the tapir, and -the peccary, lead their young through these openings to the -river to drink. When startled by the passing canoe, they -do not attempt to regain the forest by breaking forcibly -through the hedge which has been described, but one has -the pleasure of seeing these wild animals stalk leisurely along -between the river and the hedge for four or five hundred -paces, until they have reached the nearest opening, when -they disappear through it. In the course of an almost -uninterrupted river navigation of 1520 geographical miles -on the Orinoco to near its sources, on the Cassiquiare, and -on the Rio Negro,—and during which we were confined for -seventy-four days to a small canoe,—we enjoyed the repetition -of the same spectacle at several different points, and I -may add, always with new delight. There came down -together, to drink, to bathe, or to fish, groups consisting of -the most different classes of animals, the larger mammalia, -being associated with many coloured herons, palamedeas, -and proudly-stepping curassow and cashew birds (Crax -Alector and C. Pauxi). “Es como en el Paraiso;” -it is here as in Paradise, said, with a pious air, our<span class="pagenum" id="Page_269">[269]</span> -steersman, an old Indian who had been brought up in the -house of an ecclesiastic. The peace of the golden age was, -however, far from prevailing among the animals of this -American paradise, which carefully watched and avoided -each other. The Capybara, a Cavy three or four feet long, -(a magnified repetition of the Brazilian Cavy, Cavia aguti), is -devoured in the river by the crocodiles, and on shore by the -tiger. It runs so indifferently that we were several times -able to catch individuals from among the numerous herds -which presented themselves.</p> - -<p>Below the mission of Santa Barbara de Arichuna we -passed the night as usual, under the open sky, on a sandy -flat on the bank of the Rio Apure closely bordered by the -impenetrable forest. It was not without difficulty that we -succeeded in finding dry wood to kindle the fire with which -it is always customary in that country to surround a bivouac, -in order to guard against the attacks of the jaguar. The -night was humid, mild, and moonlight. Several crocodiles -approached the shore; I think I have observed these animals -to be attracted by fire, like our cray-fish and many other -inhabitants of the water. The oars of our boat were placed -upright and carefully driven into the ground, to form poles -from which our hammocks could be suspended. Deep -stillness prevailed; only from time to time we heard the -blowing of the fresh-water dolphins<a id="FNanchor_68" href="#Footnote_68" class="fnanchor">[68]</a> which are peculiar to -the Orinoco net-work of rivers (and, according to Colebrooke, -to the Ganges as far as Benares), which followed each other -in long lines.</p> - -<p>Soon after 11 o’clock such a disturbance began to be<span class="pagenum" id="Page_270">[270]</span> -heard in the adjoining forest, that for the remainder of the -night all sleep was impossible. The wild cries of animals -appeared to rage throughout the forest. Among the many -voices which resounded together, the Indians could only -recognise those which, after short pauses in the general -uproar, were first heard singly. There was the monotonous -howling of the aluates (the howling monkeys); the plaintive, -soft, and almost flute-like tones of the small sapajous; -the snorting grumblings of the striped nocturnal monkey<a id="FNanchor_69" href="#Footnote_69" class="fnanchor">[69]</a> -(the Nyctipithicus trivirgatus, which I was the first to describe); -the interrupted cries of the great tiger, the cuguar -or maneless American lion, the peccary, the sloth, and a host -of parrots, of parraquas, and other pheasant-like birds. -When the tigers came near the edge of the forest, our dog, -which had before barked incessantly, came howling to seek -refuge under our hammocks. Sometimes the cry of the -tiger was heard to proceed from amidst the high branches of -a tree, and was in such case always accompanied by the -plaintive piping of the monkeys, who were seeking to -escape from the unwonted pursuit.</p> - -<p>If one asks the Indians why this incessant noise and disturbance -arises on particular nights, they answer, with a -smile, that “the animals are rejoicing in the bright moonlight, -and keeping the feast of the full moon.” To me it -appeared that the scene had probably originated in some -accidental combat, and that hence the disturbance had -spread to other animals, and thus the noise had increased -more and more. The jaguar pursues the peccaries and -tapirs, and these, pressing against each other in their flight,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_271">[271]</span> -break through the interwoven tree-like shrubs which impede -their escape; the apes on the tops of the trees, being -frightened by the crash, join their cries to those of the -larger animals; this arouses the tribes of birds, who build -their nests in communities, and thus the whole animal -world becomes in a state of commotion. Longer experience -taught us that it is by no means always the celebration of -the brightness of the moon which disturbs the repose of the -woods: we witnessed the same occurrence repeatedly, and -found that the voices were loudest during violent falls of -rain, or when, with loud peals of thunder, the flashing -lightning illuminated the deep recesses of the forest. The -good-natured Franciscan monk, who, although he had been -suffering for several months from fever, accompanied us -through the Cataracts of Atures and Maypures to San Carlos -on the Rio Negro, and to the Brazilian boundary, used to -say, when fearful on the closing in of night that there might -be a thunder-storm, “May Heaven grant a quiet night both -to us and to the wild beasts of the forest!”</p> - -<p>Scenes, such as those I have just described, were wonderfully -contrasted with the stillness which prevails within the -tropics during the noontide hours of a day of more than -usual heat. I borrow from the same journal the recollections -of a day at the Narrows of Baraguan. At this part of -its course the Orinoco forces for itself a passage through the -western portion of the Parime Mountains. What is called -at this remarkable pass a “Narrow” (Angostura del Baraguan), -is still a bed or water-basin of 890 toises (5690 -English feet) in breadth. On the naked rocks which formed<span class="pagenum" id="Page_272">[272]</span> -the shores we saw only, besides an old withered stem of -Aubletia (Apeiba tiburba), and a new Apocinea (Allamanda -salicifolia), a few silvery croton shrubs. A thermometer -observed in the shade, but brought within a few inches of -the towering mass of granite rock, rose to above 40° Reaumur -(122° Fah.) All distant objects had wave-like undulating -outlines, the effect of mirage; not a breath of air -stirred the fine dust-like sand. The sun was in the zenith, -and the flood of light which he poured down upon the river, -and which, from a slight rippling movement of the waters, -flashed sparkling back, rendered still more sensible the red -haze which veiled the distance. All the naked rocks and -boulders around were covered with a countless number of -large thick-scaled iguanas, gecko-lizards, and variously -spotted salamanders. Motionless, with uplifted heads and -open mouths, they appeared to inhale the burning air with -ecstacy. At such times the larger animals seek shelter in -the recesses of the forest, and the birds hide themselves -under the thick foliage of the trees, or in the clefts of the -rocks; but if, in this apparent entire stillness of nature, -one listens for the faintest tones which an attentive ear can -seize, there is perceived an all-pervading rustling sound, a -humming and fluttering of insects close to the ground, and -in the lower strata of the atmosphere. Every thing announces -a world of organic activity and life. In every -bush, in the cracked bark of the trees, in the earth undermined -by hymenopterous insects, life stirs audibly. It is, -as it were, one of the many voices of Nature, heard only by -the sensitive and reverent ear of her true votaries.</p> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_273">[273]</span></p> -<h3 class="nobreak" id="ANNOTATIONS_AND_ADDITIONS3">ANNOTATIONS AND ADDITIONS.</h3> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_64" href="#FNanchor_64" class="label">[64]</a> p. 260.—“<i>Characteristic names in Arabic and -Persian.</i>”</p> - -<p>More than twenty different terms might be cited as used -by Arabs in speaking of steppes, (tanufah), to denote deserts -without water, entirely bare, covered with siliceous sand, or -interspersed with spots affording some pasture: (sahara, -kafr, mikfar, tih, and mehme.) Sahl, is a low plain; dakkah, -a desolate elevated plain. In Persian, “beyaban” signifies -the arid sandy desert,—as do the Mogul “gobi,” and -the Chinese “han-hai,” and “scha-mo.” “Yaila” is a -steppe covered rather with grasses or herbage than with -herbaceous plants; so are also the Mogul “küdah,” and -the Turkish “tala,” or “tschol,” and the Chinese “huang.” -“Deshti-reft” is an elevated plain devoid of vegetation. -(Humboldt, Relation hist. T. ii. p. 158.)</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_65" href="#FNanchor_65" class="label">[65]</a> p. 260.—“<i>In the old Castilian idiom.</i>”</p> - -<p>Pico, picacho, mogote, cucurucho, espigon, loma tendida, -mesa, panecillo, farallon, tablon, peña, peñon, peñasco, -peñoleria, roca partida, laxa, cerro, sierra, serrania, cordillera, -monte, montaña, montañuela, cadena de montes, los -altos, malpais, reventazon, bufa, &c.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_274">[274]</span><a id="Footnote_66" href="#FNanchor_66" class="label">[66]</a> p. 263.—“<i>Where the map had exhibited Montes -de Cacao.</i>”</p> - -<p>On the range of hills which had been converted into the -lofty Andes de Cuchao, see my Rel. hist. T. iii. p. 238.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_67" href="#FNanchor_67" class="label">[67]</a> p. 268.—“<i>Hermesia.</i>”</p> - -<p>The genus Hermesia, the Sauso, has been described by -Bonpland, and figured in our Plantes equinoxiales, T. i. -p. 162, tab. xlvi.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_68" href="#FNanchor_68" class="label">[68]</a> p. 269.—“<i>The fresh-water dolphin.</i>”</p> - -<p>These are not sea-dolphins, ascending the rivers for a -great distance, as is done by some species of Pleuronectes -(flat fish, which always have both eyes on one side of the -body); for example, the Limande (Pleuronectes Limanda), -which comes up the Loire to Orleans. Some sea forms of -fish, as dolphins and skates, are repeated in the great rivers -of both continents. The fresh-water dolphin of the Apure -and the Orinoco differs specifically from the Delphinus gangeticus, -as well as from all sea-dolphins. See my Rel. hist. -T. ii. pp. 223, 239, 406–413.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_69" href="#FNanchor_69" class="label">[69]</a> p. 270.—“<i>The striped nocturnal monkey.</i>”</p> - -<p>This is the Douroucouli, or Cusi-cusi of the Cassiquiare, -described by me as Simia trivirgata in my Recueil d’Observations -de Zoologie et d’Anatomie comparée, T. i. p. 306–311, -tab. xxviii., the plate being taken from a drawing -made by myself from the living animal. We subsequently<span class="pagenum" id="Page_275">[275]</span> -saw this nocturnal monkey living in the menagerie of the -Jardin des Plantes at Paris. (See the work above cited, T. ii. -p. 340.) Spix also found this remarkable little animal on -the Amazons river, and called it Nyctipithecus vociferans.</p> - -</div> - -<p class="sig">Potsdam, June 1849.</p> - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_277">[277]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="HYPSOMETRIC_ADDENDA">HYPSOMETRIC ADDENDA.</h2> -</div> - - -<p>I am indebted to Mr. Pentland (whose scientific labours -have thrown so much light on the geology and geography -of Bolivia) for the following determinations, which he communicated -to me in a letter written from Paris, in October -1848, after the publication of his great map:—</p> - -<table class="autotable center" summary=""> -<tr> -<th>Nevado of Sorata, or Ancohuma.</th> -<th>S. lat.</th> -<th>Long. from Greenwich.</th> -<th>Height in English Feet.</th> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">South Peak</td> -<td>15° 51′ 33″</td> -<td>68° 33′ 55″</td> -<td>21286</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">North Peak</td> -<td>15° 49′ 18″</td> -<td>68° 33′ 52″</td> -<td>21043</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<th>Illimani.</th> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">South Peak</td> -<td>16° 38′ 52″</td> -<td>67° 49′ 18″</td> -<td>21145</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Middle Peak</td> -<td>16° 38′ 26″</td> -<td>67° 49′ 17″</td> -<td>21094</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">North Peak</td> -<td>16° 37′ 50″</td> -<td>67° 49′ 39″</td> -<td>21060</td> -</tr> -</table> - -<p>The heights (with the exception of the unimportant difference -of a few feet in the South Peak of Illimani) are the -same as those given in the map of the Lake of Titicaca. A -sketch of the last-named mountain (Illimani), as it shews -itself in all its majesty from La Paz, has been given by Mr. -Pentland in the Journal of the Royal Geographical Society, -Vol. V. (1835), p. 77. This was five years after the publication -of the first measurements in the Annuaire du Bureau -des Longitudes for 1830, p. 323, which results I myself<span class="pagenum" id="Page_278">[278]</span> -hastened to make known in Germany. (Hertha, Zeitschrift -für Erd und Völkerkunde, von Berghaus, Bd. xiii. 1829, -S. 3–29.) The Nevado de Sorata is to the east of the -village Sorata, or Esquibel: it is called in the Ymarra language, -according to Pentland, Ancomani, Itampu, and -Illhampu. We recognise in “Illimani,” the Ymarra word -“illi,” snow.</p> - -<p>If, however, in the <i>eastern</i> chain of Bolivia the Sorata -was long assumed 3718 French, or 3952 English feet, and -the Illimani 2675 French, or 2851 English, feet too high, -there are in the <i>western</i> chain of the same country, according -to Pentland’s map of Titicaca (1848), four peaks to the -east of Arica and between lat. 18° 7′ and 18° 25′, all of -which are higher than Chimborazo, which is 21422 English -or 20100 French feet. These four peaks are—</p> - -<table class="autotable" summary=""> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Pomarape</td> -<td class="tdl">21700</td> -<td class="tdl">English</td> -<td class="tdl">feet,</td> -<td class="tdl">or</td> -<td class="tdl">20360</td> -<td class="tdl">French</td> -<td class="tdl">feet.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Gualateiri</td> -<td class="tdl">21960</td> -<td class="tdc">„</td> -<td class="tdc">„</td> -<td rowspan="3"></td> -<td class="tdl">20604</td> -<td class="tdc">„</td> -<td class="tdc">„</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Parinacota</td> -<td class="tdl">22030</td> -<td class="tdc">„</td> -<td class="tdc">„</td> -<td class="tdl">20670</td> -<td class="tdc">„</td> -<td class="tdc">„</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Sahama</td> -<td class="tdl">22350</td> -<td class="tdc">„</td> -<td class="tdc">„</td> -<td class="tdl">20971</td> -<td class="tdc">„</td> -<td class="tdc">„</td> -</tr> -</table> - -<p>Berghaus has applied to the eastern and western chains -of the Andes of Bolivia the investigation published by me -in the Annales des Sciences Naturelles, T. iv. 1825, p. -225–253, of the proportion (very different in different -mountain chains), which the general height of the ridge, the -crest, or kamm (the mean height of the passes), bears to the -highest summits or culminating points. He finds, following -Pentland’s map, the mean height of the passes in the eastern -chain 12672 French, or 13502 English feet; and in the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_279">[279]</span> -western chain 13602 French, or 14896 English feet. The -culminating points are 19972 and 20971 French, 21286 -and 22350 English feet; consequently the ratio of the -height of the ridge to that of the culminating point is, in -the eastern chain, as 1 : 1.57, and in the western chain as -1 : 1.54. (Berghaus, Zeitschrift für Erdkunde, Band. ix. -S. 322–326). This ratio, which is, as it were, the measure -of the subterranean elevating force, is very similar to -that which exists in the Pyrenees, but very different from -the Alps, where the mean height of the passes is less as -compared with Mont Blanc. The ratios are, in the -Pyrenees, = 1 : 1.43, and in the Alps, = 1 : 2.09.</p> - -<p>But, according to Fitz Roy and Darwin, the height of the -Sahama is still surpassed by 796 French, or 850 English -feet, by that of the volcano of Aconcagua, on the north east -of Valparaiso, in Chili, in S. lat. 32° 39′. The officers of -the Adventure and Beagle, in Fitz Roy’s Expedition, found, -in August 1835, the summit of Acongagua between 23000 -and 23400 English feet. If we take it at 23200 (equal to -21767 Paris feet), this volcano would be 1667 French, or -1777 English, feet higher than the Chimborazo. (Fitz -Roy, Voyages of the Adventure and Beagle, 1839, Vol. ii. -p. 481; Darwin, Journal of Researches, 1845, pp. 223 and -291.) According to more recent calculations, the height of -Acongagua is given as 22431 French, or 23907 English -feet. (Mary Somerville, Physical Geogr. 1849, Vol. ii. -p. 425.)</p> - -<p>Our knowledge of the systems of mountains which, north -of the parallels of 30° and 31° N. lat., are called the Rocky<span class="pagenum" id="Page_280">[280]</span> -Mountains and the Sierra Nevada of California, has received -most important additions, geologically, botanically, hypsometrically, -and geographically by astronomical determinations -of position, from the excellent works of Charles Frémont -(Geographical Memoir upon Upper California, an -illustration of his Map of Oregon and California, 1848); of -Dr. Wislizenus (Memoir of a Tour to Northern Mexico, -connected with Col. Doniphan’s Expedition, 1848); and of -Lieutenants Abert and Peck (Expedition on the Upper Arkansas, -1845; and Examination of New Mexico in 1846 -and 1847.) There prevails throughout these different -North American works a true scientific spirit, which is deserving -of the greatest commendation. The remarkable -elevated plain, which rises to an uninterrupted height of -four or five thousand French (4260 and 5330 English) feet, -between the Rocky Mountains and the Sierra Nevada of -California, of which I have spoken in p. <a href="#Page_44">44</a>, and which is -called the Great Basin, forms an inland closed river basin, -and has hot springs and salt lakes. None of its rivers,—Bear -River, Carson River, and Humboldt River,—find their -way to the sea. The Lake, which I was led by combinations -and inferences to represent, in the great Map of Mexico -drawn by me in 1804, under the name of Lake Timpanogos, -is the great Salt Lake of Frémont’s Map: it is sixty -geographical miles long from north to south, and ten broad; -and it communicates with the fresh water lake of Utah, -which is situated at a higher level, and receives the Timpanogos -or Timpanaozu River, which enters it from the eastward, -in lat. 40° 13′. The circumstance of the Timpano<span class="pagenum" id="Page_281">[281]</span>gos -Lake of my map not having been placed by me sufficiently -far to the north and west, is to be attributed to the -entire want, at that time, of any astronomical determinations -of the position of Santa Fé, in New Mexico. The -error amounts, for the western margin of the lake, to almost -50 minutes of arc; a difference of absolute longitude which -will appear less surprising, if it is remembered that my -itinerary map of Guanaxuato could only be based for 15 -degrees of latitude on compass surveys, or compass directions, -for which I was indebted to Don Pedro de Rivera. -(Humboldt, Essai polit. sur la Nouvelle Espagne, T. i. pp. -127–136.) These directions being differently combined -by my early deceased fellow-labourer, Herr Friesen, and -myself, gave him as the result of his combinations 107° 58′ -from Paris as the longitude of Santa Fé, and to me as the -result of mine, 107° 13′. According to actual astronomical -determinations since obtained, the true longitude appears to -be 108° 22′ W. of Paris, or 106° 00′ W. of Greenwich. -The relative position of the beds of fossil salt—found in -“thick strata of red clay,” on the south east of the island-studded -Great Salt Lake (my Laguna de Timpanogos), and -not far from the present Fort Mormon and the Utah Lake—was -given with perfect correctness in my large map of Mexico. -I may refer on this point to the latest evidence of the traveller -who made the first well-assured determinations of -geographical position in that district:—“The mineral or -rock salt, of which a specimen is placed in Congress Library, -was found in the place marked by Humboldt in his map of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_282">[282]</span> -New Spain (northern half), as derived from the journal of -the missionary Father Escalante, who attempted (1777) to -penetrate the unknown country from Santa Fé of New -Mexico to Monterey of the Pacific Ocean. South-east of -the Lake Timpanogos is the chain of the Wha-satch Mountains; -and in this, at the place where Humboldt has written -<i>Montagnes de sel gemme</i>, this mineral is found.” (Frémont, -Geogr. Mem. of Upper California, 1848, pp. 8 and 67; -compare Humboldt, Essai politique, T. ii. p. 261.)</p> - -<p>A great historical interest attaches to this part of the -highland, and more particularly to the country round the -Lake of Timpanogos, which is perhaps the same with the -Lake of Teguayo, the ancestral seat of the Aztecs. In their -migration from Aztlan to Tula, and to the Valley of Tenochtitlan -(Mexico), this people made three halting places or -stations, at which the ruins of the Casas grandes are still to -be seen. The first sojourn of the Aztecs was at the Lake -of Teguayo, the second on the Rio Gila, and the third not -far from the Presidio de Llanos. Lieutenant Abert found -on the banks of the Gila the same immense number of fragments -of pottery ornamented with painting, and scattered -over a considerable tract of ground, which had astonished -the missionaries Francisco Garces and Pedro Fonte in that -locality. These remains of the products of human skill are -supposed to indicate the existence of a former higher civilisation -in these now solitary regions. Remains of buildings -in the singular style of architecture of the Aztecs, and of -their houses of seven stories, are also found far to the east<span class="pagenum" id="Page_283">[283]</span>ward -of the Rio Grande del Norte; for example, in Taos. -(Compare Abert’s Examination of New Mexico, in the Documents -of Congress, No. 41, pp. 489 and 581–605, with -my Essai pol. T. ii. pp. 241–244.) The Sierra Nevada of -California is parallel to the Coast of the Pacific; but between -the latitudes of 34° and 41°, between San Buenaventura -and the Bay of Trinidad, there runs, on the West of the -Sierra Nevada, another (smaller) coast chain, of which Monte -del Diablo, 3448 French, 3674 English feet high, is the -culminating point. In the narrow valley, between this -coast chain and the great Sierra Nevada, flow from the south -the Rio de San Joaquin, and from the north the Rio del -Sacramento, on the banks of which, in rich alluvial soil, are -the rich gold-washings now so much resorted to.</p> - -<p>I have already referred, p. <a href="#Page_43">43</a>, to a hypsometric levelling, -and to barometric measurements made from the junction of -the Kanzas River with the Missouri to the Pacific, or -throughout the immense extent of 28 degrees of longitude. -Dr. Wislizenus has now successfully continued the levelling -began by me from the city of Mexico, in the Equinoctial -Zone, to the North as far as Santa Fé del Nuevo Mexico, -in lat. 35° 38′. It will be seen, perhaps, with surprise, -that the elevated plain which forms the broad crest of the -Mexican Andes is far from sinking down, as had long been -supposed, to an inconsiderable height. I give here for the -first time, according to the measurements which we at present -possess, the elevations of several points, forming a line of -levelling from the city of Mexico to Santa Fé, which latter<span class="pagenum" id="Page_284">[284]</span> -town is less than four German (sixteen English) geographical -miles from the Rio del Norte.</p> - -<table class="autotable" summary=""> -<tr> -<th></th> -<th>French Feet.</th> -<th>Eng. Feet.</th> -<th>Observer.</th> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Mexico</td> -<td class="tdl">7008</td> -<td class="tdl">7490</td> -<td class="tdl">Ht.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Tula</td> -<td class="tdl">6318</td> -<td class="tdl">6733</td> -<td class="tdl">Ht.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">San Juan del Rio</td> -<td class="tdl">6090</td> -<td class="tdl">6490</td> -<td class="tdl">Ht.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Queretaro</td> -<td class="tdl">5970</td> -<td class="tdl">6363</td> -<td class="tdl">Ht.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Celaya</td> -<td class="tdl">5646</td> -<td class="tdl">6017</td> -<td class="tdl">Ht.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Salamanca</td> -<td class="tdl">5406</td> -<td class="tdl">5761</td> -<td class="tdl">Ht.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Guanaxuato</td> -<td class="tdl">6414</td> -<td class="tdl">6836</td> -<td class="tdl">Ht.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Silao</td> -<td class="tdl">5546</td> -<td class="tdl">5910</td> -<td class="tdl">Br.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Villa de Leon</td> -<td class="tdl">5755</td> -<td class="tdl">6133</td> -<td class="tdl">Br.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Lagos</td> -<td class="tdl">5983</td> -<td class="tdl">6376</td> -<td class="tdl">Br.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Aguas Calientes</td> -<td class="tdl">5875</td> -<td class="tdl">6261</td> -<td class="tdl">Br.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">San Luis Potosi</td> -<td class="tdl">5714</td> -<td class="tdl">6090</td> -<td class="tdl">Br.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Zacatecas</td> -<td class="tdl">7544</td> -<td class="tdl">8040</td> -<td class="tdl">Br.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Fresnillo</td> -<td class="tdl">6797</td> -<td class="tdl">7244</td> -<td class="tdl">Br.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Durango</td> -<td class="tdl">6426</td> -<td class="tdl">6848</td> -<td class="tdl">(Oteiza)</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Parras</td> -<td class="tdl">4678</td> -<td class="tdl">4985</td> -<td class="tdl">Ws.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Saltillo</td> -<td class="tdl">4917</td> -<td class="tdl">5240</td> -<td class="tdl">Ws.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">El Bolson de Mapimi</td> -<td class="tdl">3600 to 4200</td> -<td class="tdl">3837 to 4476</td> -<td class="tdl">Ws.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Chihuahua</td> -<td class="tdl">4352</td> -<td class="tdl">4638</td> -<td class="tdl">Ws.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Cosiquiariachi</td> -<td class="tdl">5886</td> -<td class="tdl">6273</td> -<td class="tdl">Ws.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Passo del Norte, on the Rio Grande del Norte</td> -<td class="tdl">3557</td> -<td class="tdl">3812</td> -<td class="tdl">Ws.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Santa Fé del Nuevo Mexico</td> -<td class="tdl">6612</td> -<td class="tdl">7047</td> -<td class="tdl">Ws.</td> -</tr> -</table> - -<p>The letters Ws., Br., and Ht., are placed to distinguish the -barometric measurements of Dr. Wislizenus, Oberbergrath -Burkart, and my own. Wislizenus has appended to his -valuable memoir three vertical sections of the surface of the -ground: one from Santa Fé to Chihuahua by Passo del<span class="pagenum" id="Page_285">[285]</span> -Norte; one from Chihuahua to Reynosa by Parras; and -one from Fort Independence (a little to the east of the -Confluence of the Missouri and the Kanzas River) to Santa -Fé. The calculation is founded on daily corresponding -observations of the barometer, made by Engelmann at St. -Louis, and by Lilly at New Orleans. If we consider that -the difference of latitude between Santa Fé and Mexico is -16° and that thus (apart from deviations from a straight -line) the distance in the north and south direction is above -960 geographical miles, we are led to inquire whether there -be in any other part of the whole globe a similar conformation -of the Earth, equal in extent and elevation (between -5000 and 7000 French, or 5330 and 7460 English feet -above the level of the sea) to the highland of which I have just -given the levelling, and yet over which four-wheeled waggons -can travel as they do from Mexico to Santa Fé. It is -formed by the broad, undulating, flattened crest of the -chain of the Mexican Andes, and is not the swelling of a -valley between two mountain chains, as is the case in some -other remarkable elevations of plain or undulating surface—in -the Northern Hemisphere, in the “Great Basin” between -the Rocky Mountains and the Sierra Nevada of California,—in -the Southern Hemisphere, in the high plain of the lake -of Titicaca, between the eastern and western chains of the -Andes of Bolivia,—and in Asia, in the highlands of Thibet, -between the Himalaya and the Kuen-lün.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_287">[287]</span></p> - - - -<h2> -GENERAL SUMMARY<br /> - -<span class="small">OF THE</span><br /> - -<span class="smaller">CONTENTS OF THE FIRST VOLUME.</span><br /> -</h2> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_289">[289]</span></p> - - -<p class="center"> -<i>Preface to the First Edition</i>—p. <a href="#Page_vii">vii</a>. to p. <a href="#Page_ix">ix</a>.</p> -<p class="center"><i>Preface to the Second and Third Editions</i>—p. <a href="#Page_xi">xi</a>. to p. <a href="#Page_xv">xv</a>.</p> -<p class="center"><i>Note by the Translator</i>—p. <a href="#Page_xvii">xvii</a>.</p> -<p class="center"><i>Steppes and Deserts</i>—p. <a href="#Page_1">1</a> to p. <a href="#Page_26">26</a>.</p> - -<p>Coast chain and mountain valleys of Caraccas. Lake of Tacarigua. -Contrast in respect to the luxuriance of vegetation between those -districts and the treeless plains. The steppe regarded as the bottom -of a Mediterranean Sea; broken strata a little higher than the rest -of the plain called “banks.” General phenomena of extensive -plains; the Heaths of Europe, the Pampas and Llanos of South -America, the African Deserts, and the Steppes of Northern Asia. -Different characters of the vegetable covering of the surface. -Animal life. Pastoral nations, and their invasive migrations <a href="#Page_1">1</a>–<a href="#Page_6">6</a></p> - -<p>Description of the South American plains and prairies—their extent -and climate; the latter dependent on the outline of the coasts, and -on the hypsometric conformation of the New Continent. Comparison -with the plains and deserts of Africa <a href="#Page_7">7</a>–<a href="#Page_13">13</a></p> - -<p>Original absence of pastoral life in America. Food furnished by the -Mauritia palm; the Guaranis’ huts raised on trees <a href="#Page_13">13</a>–<a href="#Page_17">17</a><span class="pagenum" id="Page_290">[290]</span></p> - -<p> -Since the discovery of America the Llanos have become more habitable. -Extraordinary increase in the number of wild cattle, horses, asses, -and mules. Description of the season of extreme dryness, and of -the rainy season. Appearance of the surface of the ground and of -the sky. Life of the animals—their sufferings, their conflicts; -power of adaptation with which certain animals and plants are -endowed. Jaguars, crocodiles, and electric fishes. Unequal conflict -between Gymnoti and horses <a href="#Page_17">17</a>–<a href="#Page_23">23</a></p> - -<p>Retrospective glance at the countries surrounding the Steppes and -Deserts. Forest wildernesses of the Orinoco and the Amazons. -Indian tribes separated by the wonderful diversity of their languages -and differences of their habits; their hardships, and frequent -variance between the different tribes. Figures graven on the rocks -show that these solitudes were once the seat of a degree of civilisation -which has now disappeared <a href="#Page_23">23</a>–<a href="#Page_26">26</a></p> - -<p class="center"> -<i>Scientific Elucidations and Additions</i>—p. <a href="#Page_27">27</a> to p. <a href="#Page_204">204</a>.</p> - -<p>The island-studded lake of Tacarigua; its relations to the neighbouring -mountain chains. Geological description. Progress of cultivation -and of European civilisation. Varieties of the sugar-cane. Cacao -plantations. Great fertility of soil associated within the tropics -with insalubrity of atmosphere <a href="#Page_27">27</a>–<a href="#Page_33">33</a></p> - -<p>“Banks” or broken strata. General horizontality of the surface. -Subsidences of the surface <a href="#Page_33">33</a>–<a href="#Page_35">35</a></p> - -<p>Resemblance of the distant steppe to the ocean. Naked stony crust. -Tabular masses of syenite; whether prejudicial to health <a href="#Page_36">36</a>–<a href="#Page_37">37</a></p> - -<p>General views respecting the mountain systems of North and South -America, embracing the most recent information. Chains running -in a south-west and north-east direction in Brazil and in the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_291">[291]</span> -Atlantic portion of the United States of North America. The low -province of Chiquitos; small swellings of the ground constitute -the division between the waters of the Guaporé and Aguapehi in -15° and 17° S. lat., and between the river basins of the Orinoco -and the Rio Negro in 2° and 3° N. lat. <a href="#Page_37">37</a>–<a href="#Page_39">39</a></p> - -<p>Continuation of the chain of the Andes north of the isthmus of Panama -(through the Aztec country, where Popocatepetl, 16626 French, or -17720 English feet high, has very recently been again ascended by -Captain Stone) in the Sierra de las Grullas and the Rocky Mountains. -Excellent scientific investigations of Captain Frémont. The -longest barometric levelling ever made, showing a profile or vertical -section of the earth’s surface through a space of 28° of longitude. -Culminating point of the route from the coast of the Atlantic to -the Pacific. “South Pass,” south of the Wind River Mountains. -Swelling of the ground in the Great Basin. Long contested -existence of the Timpanogos Lake. Coast Chain, Maritime Alps, -or Sierra Nevada of California. Volcanic eruptions. Falls of the -Columbia <a href="#Page_39">39</a>–<a href="#Page_50">50</a></p> - -<p>General considerations on the contrasts shown by the spaces included -between the central chain (the Rocky Mountains) and the diverging -chains on the east and west (the Alleghanies and the Sierra Nevada -of California); hypsometric characters of the low eastern space, -which is only from 400 to 600 French, or 426 to 639 English feet -above the level of the sea, and of the arid uninhabited plain 5000 -or 6000 (5330 to 6400 English) feet above the same level, called -the Great Basin. Sources of the Mississipi in the Lake of Istaca -according to Nicollet’s highly meritorious researches. Buffalo -country; Gomara’s assertion of buffaloes having been formerly -tamed in the northern part of Mexico <a href="#Page_50">50</a>–<a href="#Page_55">55</a></p> - -<p>Retrospective view of the chain of the Andes from the Rocks of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_292">[292]</span> -Diego Ramirez to Behring’s Strait. Long circulated errors respecting -the heights of mountains in the eastern chain of the Andes -of Bolivia, especially the Sorata and the Illimani. Four summits -of the western chain of Bolivia, which, according to Pentland’s -latest determinations, are higher than the Chimborazo, but are not -equal in height to the still active volcano of Acongagua measured -by Fitz-Roy <a href="#Page_55">55</a>–<a href="#Page_58">58</a></p> - -<p>The African mountains of Harudsch-el-Abiad. Oases <a href="#Page_58">58</a>–<a href="#Page_60">60</a></p> - -<p>West winds on the coast of the Sahara. Accumulation of sea-weed; -position of the great bank of Fucus from the time of Scylax of -Caryanda to that of Columbus, and to the present day <a href="#Page_60">60</a>–<a href="#Page_67">67</a></p> - -<p>Tibbos and Tuaricks. The camel and its distribution <a href="#Page_67">67</a>–<a href="#Page_71">71</a></p> - -<p>Mountain systems of the interior of Asia between Northern Siberia -and India. Erroneous belief in the existence of a single great -elevated plain called “Plateau de la Tartarie” <a href="#Page_71">71</a>–<a href="#Page_75">75</a></p> - -<p>Chinese literature a rich source of orographic knowledge. Series of -elevations of different highlands. Desert of Gobi. Probable mean -height of Thibet <a href="#Page_75">75</a>–<a href="#Page_85">85</a></p> - -<p>Review of the mountain systems of the interior of Asia. Chains -running in the direction of the meridian; the Ural, which separates -the low part of Europe from the low part of Asia, or divides into -two portions the Scythian Europe of Pherecydes of Syros and of -Herodotus; Bolor; Khingan and the Chinese chains, which, near -the great bend in the direction of the Thibetian and Assamo-Burmese -river Dzangbo-tschu, run north and south. The elevations -which, between 66° and 77° E. long. from Greenwich, follow the -direction of meridians from Cape Comorin to the Icy Sea, alternate<span class="pagenum" id="Page_293">[293]</span> -like veins or dikes in which there are faults or displacements; thus -the Ghauts, the Soliman Chain, the Paralasa, the Bolor, and the -Ural, succeed each other from south to north: the Bolor gave -occasion among the ancients to the idea of the Imaus, which -Agathodæmon supposed to be prolonged to the north into the low -basin of the lower Irtysch. Parallel chains running east and west; -the Altai; Thian-schan, with its active volcanoes at a distance of -1528 geographical miles from the Icy Sea at the mouth of the Obi, -and of 1512 geographical miles from the Indian Sea at the mouth -of the Ganges; the Kuen-lün, recognised by Eratosthenes, -Marinus of Tyre, Ptolemy, and Cosmas Indicopleustes, as the -longest axis of elevation in the Old World, runs between 35½° and -36° of latitude in the direction of the diaphragm of Dicearchus. -Himalaya. The Kuen-lün, considered as an axis of elevation, may -be traced from the wall of China near Lung-tscheu through the -somewhat more northerly chains of Nan-schan and Kilian-schan, -through the mountain knot near the Lake called the “Starry Sea,” -through the Hindu-Coosh (the Parapanisus and Indian Caucasus of -the ancients), and through the chain of Demawend and the Persian -Elbourz, to Taurus in Lycia. Near the intersection of the Kuen-lün -and the Bolor the correspondence of the direction of the axes -of elevation (east and west in the Kuen-lün and the Hindu-Coosh, -whereas that of the Himalaya is south-east and north-west) shows -that the Hindu-Coosh is a continuation of the Kuen-lün, and not -of the Himalaya. The point where the direction of the Himalaya -changes to south-east and north-west from having been east and -west, is about the 79th degree of east longitude from Paris (81° 22′ -Greenwich). Next to the Dhawalagiri, it is not, as has been hitherto -supposed, the Jawahir which is the highest summit of the Himalaya; -that rank belonging, according to the most recent intelligence -received from Dr. Joseph Hooker, to a mountain situated between -Boutan and Nepaul in the meridian of Sikkim, the Kinchinjinga: -the western summit of this mountain, which has been measured<span class="pagenum" id="Page_294">[294]</span> -by Colonel Waugh, director of the trigonometrical survey of India, -is 28178 feet, and its eastern summit 27826 feet high, according -to the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, Nov. 1848:—The -mountain which is now supposed to be higher than the Dhawalagiri -is figured on the frontispiece of the magnificent work of Joseph -Hooker entitled “The Rhododendrons of Sikkim-Himalaya, 1849.”—Determination -of the lower limits of the snow-line on the northern -and southern declivities of the Himalaya; its height being on an -average 3400 to 4600 French, or 3620 to 4900 English feet higher -on the northern face. New data on the subject from Hodgson. -Without this remarkable distribution of temperature in the upper -strata of the atmosphere, the mountain plains of Western Thibet -would be uninhabitable to the millions of human beings who now -dwell there <a href="#Page_85">85</a>–<a href="#Page_101">101</a></p> - -<p>The Hiong-nu, regarded by Deguignes and Johannes Müller as a -tribe of Huns, appear rather to have been one of the widely scattered -tribes of the Turks of the Altai and Tang-nu mountains. The -Huns, whose name was known to Dionysius Perigetes, and who are -noticed by Ptolemy as Chuns (whence the later appellation of -Chunigard given to a country!), are a Finnish race of the Ural -mountains <a href="#Page_101">101</a>–<a href="#Page_102">102</a></p> - -<p>Figures of the sun and of animals, and other signs carved on rocks -in the Sierra Parime, as well as in North America, have often -been supposed to be writing <a href="#Page_102">102</a>–<a href="#Page_104">104</a></p> - -<p>Description of the cold mountain elevations between 11000 and -13000 (or 11720 and 13850 English) feet, which are distinguished -by the appellation of Paramos; character of their vegetation <a href="#Page_104">104</a>–<a href="#Page_106">106</a></p> - -<p>Notices of the two groups of mountains (Pacaraima Mountains, and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_295">[295]</span> -the Sierra de Chiquitos) which separate the three plains of the -Lower Orinoco, the Amazons, and the Rio de la Plata <a href="#Page_106">106</a>–<a href="#Page_107">107</a></p> - -<p>On the dogs of South America; both the aboriginal race and the -descendants of European dogs which have become wild. Sufferings -of cats when taken to elevations exceeding 13000 (13850 Eng.) -feet <a href="#Page_107">107</a>–<a href="#Page_112">112</a></p> - -<p>The low tract of the Sahara, and its relations to the Atlas Mountains, -according to the latest information given by Daumas, Carette, and -Renou. The barometric measurements of Fournel make it appear -very probable that part of the North African desert is lower than -the level of the sea. Oasis of Biscara; abundance of fossil salt in -zones or bands running from south-west to north-east. Causes of -the nocturnal cold in the desert according to Melloni <a href="#Page_112">112</a>–<a href="#Page_118">118</a></p> - -<p>Notices of the River Wady Dra (⅙th longer than the Rhine, and -dry a large portion of the year), and of the country of Sheikh -Beirouk, a chief independent of the Emperor of Morocco, from -manuscript communications of the Naval Captain Count Bouet-Villaumez. -The mountains north of Cape Noun (a name used by -Edresi, in which, since the 15th century, an allusion to the negative -particle has been erroneously sought) attain 8600 (9166 English) -feet of elevation <a href="#Page_118">118</a>–<a href="#Page_120">120</a></p> - -<p>The vegetation of the tropical American Llanos consisting of grasses, -compared with the vegetation of the North Asiatic Steppes consisting -of herbaceous plants. In the last-named Steppes, and -especially the more fertile among them, a pleasing effect is produced -in spring by small snow-white and red-flowering Rosaceæ, Amygdaleæ, -species of Astragalus, Crown Imperials, Cypripedias, and -Tulips. Contrast with the desolate salt Steppes full of Chenopodiaceæ, -species of Salsola and Atriplex. Considerations on the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_296">[296]</span> -relative numbers of the prevailing families of plants. The plains -adjoining the Icy Sea, north of the limit determined by Admiral -Wrangel as that of the growth of Coniferæ and Amentaceæ, are the -domain of cryptogamous plants. Aspect and physiognomy of the -Tundras, where the soil, which is perpetually frozen, is covered -either with a thick coating of Sphagnum and other mosses, or with -the snow-white Cenomyce and Stereocaulon paschale <a href="#Page_120">120</a>–<a href="#Page_123">123</a></p> - -<p>Principal causes of the very different distribution of temperature in -the European and American Continents. Direction and curvature -of the isothermal lines, or lines of equal temperature, for the entire -year, for the winter, and for the summer <a href="#Page_123">123</a>–<a href="#Page_136">136</a></p> - -<p>Are there any grounds for believing that America emerged later than -the Old Continent from the chaotic watery covering? <a href="#Page_136">136</a>–<a href="#Page_139">139</a></p> - -<p>Thermic comparison of the Northern and Southern Hemispheres in -high latitudes <a href="#Page_139">139</a>–<a href="#Page_143">143</a></p> - -<p>Apparent connection of the African sea of sand with those of Persia, -Kerman, Beloochistan, and the interior of Asia. On the western -part of Mount Atlas, and the connection of purely mythical ideas -with geographical traditions. Indistinct allusions to igneous eruptions. -Triton Lake. Crater-like forms of a locality south of -Hanno’s “Bay of the Gorilla Apes.” Singular description of the -“hollow Atlas” from the Dialexes of Marinus Tyrius <a href="#Page_143">143</a>–<a href="#Page_149">149</a></p> - -<p>Notices respecting the Mountains of the Moon (Djebel al-Komr) in -the interior of Africa by Reinaud, Beke, and Ayrton. Werne’s -instructive notice of the second expedition undertaken by the orders -of Mehemet Ali. The Abyssinian mountains, which rise, according -to Rüppell, almost to the height of Mont Blanc. The most -ancient notice of snow between the tropics contained in the Inscrip<span class="pagenum" id="Page_297">[297]</span>tion -of Adulis, which is somewhat more modern than Juba. High -mountains which, between 6° and 4° of north latitude, and still -more to the south, approach the Bahr el-Abiad. A considerable -swelling of the ground divides the White Nile from the basin of -the Goschop. Line of separation between the waters which flow -to the Mediterranean and those which flow to the Indian Ocean -according to Carl Zimmermann’s map. Lupata Chain according -to the instructive researches of Wilhelm Peters <a href="#Page_149">149</a>–<a href="#Page_158">158</a></p> - -<p>Oceanic currents. In the northern part of the Atlantic Ocean the -waters are impelled in a true revolving current. That the first -impulse which causes the Gulf Stream is to be sought at the -southern extremity of Africa, was already known to Sir Humphry -Gilbert in 1560. Influence of the Gulf Stream on the climate of -Scandinavia. How it contributed to the discovery of America. -Instances of Esquimaux who, aided by the returning eastward -flowing portion of the warm Gulf Stream, and by north-west winds, -arrived on the coasts of Europe. Such a case related by Cornelius -Nepos and Pomponius Mela (of Indians given by a king of the -Boii to Quintus Metellus Celer, Proconsul of Gaul); others in the -time of the Othos and of Frederic Barbarossa, of Columbus and of -Cardinal Bembo. Again, in the years 1682 and 1684 natives of -Greenland appeared in the Orkneys <a href="#Page_159">159</a>–<a href="#Page_165">165</a></p> - -<p>Operation of lichens and other Cryptogamia in the cold and temperate -zones in preparing the way for the more rapid establishment of -larger phænogamous plants. Within the tropics lichens are often -replaced in this respect by succulent plants. Milk-yielding animals -of the New Continent; the Lama, the Alpaca, the Guanaco <a href="#Page_165">165</a>–<a href="#Page_169">169</a></p> - -<p>Cultivation of farinaceous grasses <a href="#Page_169">169</a>–<a href="#Page_173">173</a></p> - -<p>On the earliest population of America <a href="#Page_173">173</a>–<a href="#Page_174">174</a><span class="pagenum" id="Page_298">[298]</span></p> - -<p>The coast nation of the Guaranis (Warraus), and the Mauritia palm -of the coasts, according to the accounts given by Bembo in the -Historiæ Venetæ, and those of Raleigh, Hillhouse, and Robert and -Richard Schomburgk <a href="#Page_174">174</a>–<a href="#Page_182">182</a></p> - -<p>Phenomena which long-continued drought produces in the Steppe; -sand-spouts, hot winds (Mirage); awakening of crocodiles and -tortoises from long summer sleep <a href="#Page_182">182</a>–<a href="#Page_190">190</a></p> - -<p>Otomacs. General considerations on the practice of earth-eating -among particular nations or tribes. Clays and earths containing -Infusoria <a href="#Page_190">190</a>–<a href="#Page_196">196</a></p> - -<p>Figures graven on rocks throughout a zone running from east to west, -and extending from the Rupunuri, Essequibo, and the Pacaraima -Mountains, to Caycara and the wildernesses of the Cassiquiare. -Earliest notice (April 1749) of these traces of former civilization -in the manuscript account of the travels of the surgeon Nicolas -Hortsmann of Hildesheim, found among D’Anville’s papers <a href="#Page_196">196</a>–<a href="#Page_203">203</a></p> - -<p>The vegetable poison Curare or Ourari <a href="#Page_203">203</a>–<a href="#Page_204">204</a></p> - -<p class="center"> -<i>Cataracts of the Orinoco</i>—p. <a href="#Page_207">207</a> to p. <a href="#Page_231">231</a>.</p> - -<p>The Orinoco; general view of its course. Ideas excited in Columbus -on seeing its embouchure. Its unknown sources are east of the -Mountain of Duida and the groves of Bertholletia. Causes of the -principal bends of the river <a href="#Page_207">207</a>–<a href="#Page_219">219</a></p> - -<p>The falls or rapids; Raudal of Maypures enclosed by four streams. -Former state of the district. Island-like form of the rocks Keri -and Oco. Grandeur of the view obtained on descending the hill of -Manimi, where a foaming river-surface of four miles in extent presents -itself at once to the eye. Iron-black masses of rock rise like<span class="pagenum" id="Page_299">[299]</span> -castles from the bed of the river; the summits of the lofty palm -trees pierce through the cloud of spray and vapour <a href="#Page_219">219</a>–<a href="#Page_226">226</a></p> - -<p>Raudal of Atures; numerous islands; rocky dikes connecting one -island with another, and the resort of pugnacious golden Pipras. -Parts of the bed of the river at the cataracts are dry, from the -waters having found a passage by subterranean channels. We -visited the rocks at the closing in of night and during storm and -heavy rain. Unsuspected proximity of crocodiles <a href="#Page_226">226</a>–<a href="#Page_227">227</a></p> - -<p>Celebrated cave of Ataruipe, the sepulchral vault of an extinct -nation <a href="#Page_227">227</a>–<a href="#Page_231">231</a></p> - -<p class="center"> -<i>Scientific Elucidations and Additions</i>—p. <a href="#Page_233">233</a> to p. <a href="#Page_255">255</a>.</p> - -<p>The river-cow (Trichecus manati) lives in the sea at the place where, -in the Gulf of Xagua, on the south coast of the Island of Cuba, -springs of fresh water break forth <a href="#Page_233">233</a>–<a href="#Page_234">234</a></p> - -<p>Geographical discussion on the sources of the Orinoco <a href="#Page_236">236</a>–<a href="#Page_241">241</a></p> - -<p>The Bertholletia, a Lecythidea, a remarkable example of highly developed -organization. Stem of an Arundinarea sixteen to seventeen -feet long from knot to knot <a href="#Page_241">241</a>–<a href="#Page_243">243</a></p> - -<p>On the myth or fable of the Lake of Parime <a href="#Page_243">243</a>–<a href="#Page_254">254</a></p> - -<p class="center"> -<i>The Nocturnal Life of Animals in the Primeval Forest</i>—p. <a href="#Page_259">259</a> to p. <a href="#Page_272">272</a>.</p> - -<p>Difference between languages in respect to their richness in well-defined -expressions for characterising natural phenomena, such as -the state of vegetation, the forms of plants, the outlines and grouping -of clouds, the appearance of the surface of the ground, and the -forms of rocks and mountains. Loss which languages suffer by the -disuse of such words, or by their signification becoming impaired.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_300">[300]</span> -The misinterpretation of a Spanish word, “Monte,” has caused the -undue extension or introduction of mountains in maps. Primeval -Forest; frequent abuse of the term. Absence of the uniformity -which is produced by the association of the same kinds of trees, -characteristic of tropical forests. Causes of the impenetrability of -forests between the tropics; the twining plants, Lianes, often form -only a small portion of the Underwood <a href="#Page_259">259</a>–<a href="#Page_266">266</a></p> - -<p>Appearance of the Rio Apure in the lower part of its course. Margin -of the forest fenced like a garden by a low hedge of Sauso (Hermesia). -The wild animals of the forest lead their young to the -river through small openings in this hedge. Flocks of large water-hogs -or Cavies (Capybara). Fresh-water dolphins <a href="#Page_266">266</a>–<a href="#Page_269">269</a></p> - -<p>Wild cries of animals resound throughout the forest. Cause of the -nocturnal uproar <a href="#Page_269">269</a>–<a href="#Page_271">271</a></p> - -<p>Contrast with the stillness which reigns during the noon-tide hours -on days of more than usual heat in the torrid zone. Description -of the narrows of the Orinoco at Baraguan. Humming and -fluttering of insects. Life stirs audibly in every bush, in the clefts -of the bark of trees, and in the earth undermined and furrowed by -Hymenopterous insects <a href="#Page_271">271</a>–<a href="#Page_272">272</a></p> - -<p class="center"> -<i>Scientific Elucidations and Additions</i>—p. <a href="#Page_273">273</a> to p. <a href="#Page_275">275</a>.</p> - -<p>Characteristic terms in Arabic and Persian descriptive of the surface -of the ground (Steppes, grassy plains, deserts, &c.) Richness of -the old Castilian idiom in words expressive of the form of mountains. -Fresh-water skates and dolphins. In the great rivers of both -continents some organic sea-forms are repeated. American nocturnal -monkeys, the three-striped Douroucouli of the Cassiquiare. <a href="#Page_273">273</a>–<a href="#Page_275">275</a><span class="pagenum" id="Page_301">[301]</span></p> - -<p class="center"> -<i>Hypsometric Addenda</i>—p. <a href="#Page_277">277</a> to p. <a href="#Page_285">285</a>.</p> - -<p>Pentland’s measurements in the eastern mountain chain of Bolivia. -Height of the volcano of Aconcagua according to Fitzroy and -Darwin. Western mountain chain of Bolivia <a href="#Page_277">277</a>–<a href="#Page_279">279</a></p> - -<p>Mountain systems of North America. Rocky Mountains and the -Snowy Chain (Sierra Nevada) of California. Laguna de Timpanogos <a href="#Page_279">279</a>–<a href="#Page_283">283</a></p> - -<p>Hypsometrical profile of the Highland of Mexico from the city of -Mexico to Santa Fé <a href="#Page_283">283</a>–<a href="#Page_285">285</a> -</p> - - -<p class="center p2">END OF VOL. I.</p> - - -<p class="center p2 small">Wilson and Ogilvy, Printers, 57, Skinner Street, Snowhill, London.</p> - - - - -<hr class="full" /> - - - -<div class="transnote break"> -<h2 class="nobreak" id="Transcribers_Note">Transcriber's Note</h2> - -<p>Duplicate chapter headings have been removed.</p> - -<p>The following apparent errors have been corrected:</p> - -<ul> -<li>p. 47 "parallels of 40° and 55°" changed to "parallels of 40° and 55°."</li> - -<li>p. 49 "Mount St. Elias (1980 toises" changed to "Mount St. Elias, 1980 toises"</li> - -<li>p. 49 "43° 2′, long. 112° 28" changed to "43° 2′, long. 112° 28′"</li> - -<li>p. 50 "Scoriacous" changed to "Scoriaceous"</li> - -<li>p. 52 "miles The surface of" changed to "miles. The surface of"</li> - -<li>p. 53 "the tongue a much-prized" changed to "the tongue, a much-prized"</li> - -<li>p. 60 "greenstone porpyhry" changed to "greenstone porphyry"</li> - -<li>p. 62 "θρύον καὶφῦκος" changed to "θρύον καὶ φῦκος"</li> - -<li>p. 62 "shoal dissappeared" changed to "shoal disappeared"</li> - -<li>p. 65 "E. meditterranea" changed to "E. mediterranea"</li> - -<li>p. 68 "Bedouin tribes”" changed to "Bedouin tribes"</li> - -<li>p. 71 "p. 4.)—" changed to "p. 4.—"</li> - -<li>p. 76 "Appennines. (Compare" changed to "Apennines. (Compare"</li> - -<li>p. 91 "view of Erastosthenes" changed to "view of Eratosthenes"</li> - -<li>p. 91 "issue from a avcity" changed to "issue from a cavity"</li> - -<li>p. 97 "than the Dawalagiri" changed to "than the Dhawalagiri"</li> - -<li>p. 113 "and “this name" changed to "and this name"</li> - -<li>p. 116 "oises (3580 Eng. feet)" changed to "toises (3580 Eng. feet)"</li> - -<li>p. 128 "leaves also A similar" changed to "leaves also. A similar"</li> - -<li>p. 132 "in lat 44° 53′" changed to "in lat. 44° 53′"</li> - -<li>p. 137 "repose. “At the present moment" changed to "repose. At the present moment"</li> - -<li>p. 139 "true “insular climate;" changed to "true “insular climate;”"</li> - -<li>p. 141 "lat 42° 53′" changed to "lat. 42° 53′"</li> - -<li>p. 141 "42°.2, and 63°." changed to "42°.2, and 63°.0"</li> - -<li>p. 142 "Berlin 6°8" changed to "Berlin 6°.8"</li> - -<li>p. 148 "πυρὸς ὲκφυτηματα μεγάλα" changed to "πυρὸς ἐκφυσήματα μεγάλα"</li> - -<li>p. 149 "semicircular deep abyss." changed to "semicircular deep abyss.”"</li> - -<li>p. 151 "σεληνης ὅρος" changed to "σελήνης ὅρος"</li> - -<li>p. 152 "S. 534–536." changed to "S. 534–536.)"</li> - -<li>p. 154 "second of Mehemed" changed to "second of Mehemet"</li> - -<li>p. 156 "Isenberg, Russeger" changed to "Isenberg, Russegger"</li> - -<li>p. 162 "with the equitorial" changed to "with the equatorial"</li> - -<li>p. 173 "Beitrage zur Flora des" changed to "Beiträge zur Flora des"</li> - -<li>p. 178 "so disagreable an odour" changed to "so disagreeable an odour"</li> - -<li>p. 187 "Electricetät" changed to "Elektricität"</li> - -<li>p. 192 "as a misssionary" changed to "as a missionary"</li> - -<li>p. 199 "of Nicholas Hortsman" changed to "of Nicholas Hortsmann"</li> - -<li>p. 225 "These spots recal" changed to "These spots recall"</li> - -<li>p. 235 "(ed. 1601, p. 106]" changed to "(ed. 1601, p. 106)"</li> - -<li>p. 239 "uncertain disance" changed to "uncertain distance"</li> - -<li>p. 240 "4°.12" changed to "4°.12′"</li> - -<li>p. 241 "65°.38′ Near" changed to "65°.38′. Near"</li> - -<li>p. 248 "Pacaraima monntains" changed to "Pacaraima mountains"</li> - -<li>p. 262 "believe that of al’" changed to "believe that of all"</li> - -<li>p. 262 "Bonpland, Martius" changed to "Bonpland, Martius,"</li> - -<li>p. 281 "107° 58" changed to "107° 58′"</li> - -<li>p. 285 "undulating suface" changed to "undulating surface"</li> - -<li>p. 295 "(1–6th" changed to "(⅙th"</li> -</ul> - - -<p>Inconsistent or archaic spelling and punctuation have otherwise been kept as printed.</p> - - -<p>The following possible errors have been kept as printed:</p> - -<ul> -<li>p. 79 two distinguished Savans</li> - -<li>p. 182 mountains of Ronaima</li> - -<li>p. 221 of globe</li> -</ul> - -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ASPECTS OF NATURE (VOL. 1 OF 2) ***</div> -<div style='text-align:left'> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will -be renamed. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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