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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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