BOHN'S SCIENTIFIC LIBRARY. 

HUMBOLDT'S PERSONAL NARRATIVE

VOLUME 3. 

PERSONAL NARRATIVE OF TRAVELS TO THE EQUINOCTIAL REGIONS OF AMERICADURING THE YEARS 1799-1804

BY

ALEXANDER VON HUMBOLDT AND AIME BONPLAND. 

TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH OFALEXANDER VON HUMBOLDTAND EDITED BYTHOMASINA ROSS. 

IN THREE VOLUMES

VOLUME 3. 

LONDON. 

GEORGE BELL & SONS. 1908. LONDON: PORTUGAL STREET, LINCOLN'S INN. CAMBRIDGE: DEIGHTON, BELL AND CO. NEW YORK: THE MACMILLAN CO. BOMBAY: A. H. WHEELER AND CO. 

***

The longitudes mentioned in the text refer always to the meridian ofthe Observatory of Paris. 

The real is about 6 1/2 English pence. 

The agrarian measure, called caballeria, is eighteen cordels, (eachcordel includes twenty-four varas) or 432 square varas; consequently, as 1 vara = 0. 835m. , according to Rodriguez, a caballeria is 186, 624square varas, or 130, 118 square metres, or thirty-two and two-tenthsEnglish acres. 

20 leagues to a degree. 

5000 varas = 4150 metres. 

3403 square toises = 1. 29 hectare. 

An acre = 4044 square metres. 

Five hundred acres = fifteen and a half caballerias. 

Sugar-houses are thought to be very considerable that yield 2000 casesannually, or 32, 000 arrobas (nearly 368, 000 kilogrammes. )

An arroba of 25 Spanish pounds = 11. 49 kilogrammes. 

A quintal = 45. 97 kilogrammes. 

A tarea of wood = one hundred and sixty cubic feet. 

VOLUME 3. 

CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER 3. 25. 

SPANISH GUIANA. --ANGOSTURA. --PALM-INHABITING TRIBES. --MISSIONS OF THECAPUCHINS. --THE LAGUNA PARIME. --EL DORADO. --LEGENDARY TALES OF THEEARLY VOYAGERS. 

CHAPTER 3. 26. 

THE LLANOS DEL PAO, OR EASTERN PART OF THE PLAINS OFVENEZUELA. --MISSIONS OF THE CARIBS. --LAST VISIT TO THE COAST OF NUEVABARCELONA, CUMANA, AND ARAYA. 

CHAPTER 3. 27. 

POLITICAL STATE OF THE PROVINCES OF VENEZUELA. --EXTENT OFTERRITORY. --POPULATION. --NATURAL PRODUCTIONS. --EXTERNALTRADE. --COMMUNICATIONS BETWEEN THE DIFFERENT PROVINCES COMPRISING THEREPUBLIC OF COLUMBIA. 

CHAPTER 3. 28. 

PASSAGE FROM THE COAST OF VENEZUELA TO THE HAVANA. --GENERAL VIEW OFTHE POPULATION OF THE WEST INDIA ISLANDS, COMPARED WITH THE POPULATIONOF THE NEW CONTINENT, WITH RESPECT TO DIVERSITY OF RACES, PERSONALLIBERTY, LANGUAGE, AND WORSHIP. 

CHAPTER 3. 29. 

POLITICAL ESSAY ON THE ISLAND OF CUBA. --THE HAVANNAH. --HILLS OFGUANAVACOA, CONSIDERED IN THEIR GEOLOGICAL RELATIONS. --VALLEY OF LOSGUINES, BATABANO, AND PORT OF TRINIDAD. --THE KING AND QUEEN'S GARDENS. 

CHAPTER 3. 30. 

PASSAGE FROM TRINIDAD DE CUBA TO RIO SINU. --CARTHAGENA. --AIR VOLCANOESOF TURBACO. --CANAL OF MAHATES. 

CHAPTER 3. 31. 

CUBA AND THE SLAVE TRADE. 

CHAPTER 3. 32. 

GEOGNOSTIC DESCRIPTION OF SOUTH AMERICA, NORTH OF THE RIVER AMAZON, AND EAST OF THE MERIDIAN OF THE SIERRA NEVADA DE MERIDA. 

INDEX. 

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PERSONAL NARRATIVE OF A JOURNEY TO THE EQUINOCTIAL REGIONS OF THE NEWCONTINENT. 

VOLUME 3. 

CHAPTER 3. 25. 

SPANISH GUIANA. ANGOSTURA. PALM-INHABITING TRIBES. MISSIONS OF THE CAPUCHINS. THE LAGUNA PARIME. EL DORADO. LEGENDARY TALES OF THE EARLY VOYAGERS. 

I shall commence this chapter by a description of Spanish Guiana(Provincia de la Guyana), which is a part of the ancient Capitaniageneral of Caracas. Since the end of the sixteenth century three townshave successively borne the name of St. Thomas of Guiana. The firstwas situated opposite to the island of Faxardo, at the confluence ofthe Carony and the Orinoco, and was destroyed* by the Dutch, under thecommand of Captain Adrian Janson, in 1579. (* The first of the voyagesundertaken at Raleigh's expense was in 1595; the second, that ofLaurence Keymis, in 1596; the third, described by Thomas Masham, in1597; and the fourth, in 1617. The first and last only were performedby Raleigh in person. This celebrated man was beheaded on October the29th, 1618. It is therefore the second town of Santo Tomas, now calledVieja Guyana, which existed in the time of Raleigh. ) The second, founded by Antonio de Berrio in 1591, near twelve leagues east of themouth of the Carony, made a courageous resistance to Sir WalterRaleigh, whom the Spanish writers of the conquest know only by thename of the pirate Reali. The third town, now the capital of theprovince, is fifty leagues west of the confluence of the Carony. Itwas begun in 1764, under the Governor Don Joacquin Moreno de Mendoza, and is distinguished in the public documents from the second town, vulgarly called the fortress (el castillo, las fortalezas), or OldGuayana (Vieja Guayana), by the name of Santo Thome de la NuevaGuayana. This name being very long, that of Angostura* (the strait)has been commonly substituted for it. (* Europe has learnt theexistence of the town of Angostura by the trade carried on by theCatalonians in the Carony bark, which is the beneficial bark of theBonplanda trifoliata. This bark, coming from Nueva Guiana, was calledcorteza or cascarilla del Angostura (Cortex Angosturae). Botanists solittle guessed the origin of this geographical denomination that theybegan by writing Augustura, and then Augusta. )

Angostura, the longitude and latitude of which I have alreadyindicated from astronomical observations, stands at the foot of a hillof amphibolic schist* bare of vegetation. (* Hornblendschiefer. ) Thestreets are regular, and for the most part parallel with the course ofthe river. Several of the houses are built on the bare rock; and here, as at Carichana, and in many other parts of the missions, the actionof black and strong strata, when strongly heated by the rays of thesun upon the atmosphere, is considered injurious to health. I thinkthe small pools of stagnant water (lagunas y anegadizos), which extendbehind the town in the direction of south-east, are more to be feared. The houses of Angostura are lofty and convenient; they are for themost part built of stone; which proves that the inhabitants have butlittle dread of earthquakes. But unhappily this security is notfounded on induction from any precise data. It is true that the shoreof Nueva Andalusia sometimes undergoes very violent shocks, withoutthe commotion being propagated across the Llanos. The fatalcatastrophe of Cumana, on the 4th of February, 1797, was not felt atAngostura; but in the great earthquake of 1766, which destroyed thesame city, the granitic soil of the two banks of the Orinoco wasagitated as far as the Raudales of Atures and Maypures. South of theseRaudales shocks are sometimes felt, which are confined to the basin ofthe Upper Orinoco and the Rio Negro. They appear to depend on avolcanic focus distant from that of the Caribbee Islands. We were toldby the missionaries at Javita and San Fernando de Atabapo that in 1798violent earthquakes took place between the Guaviare and the Rio Negro, which were not propagated on the north towards Maypures. We cannot besufficiently attentive to whatever relates to the simultaneity of theoscillations, and to the independence of the movements in contiguousground. Everything seems to prove that the propagation of thecommotion is not superficial, but depends on very deep crevices thatterminate in different centres of action. 

The scenery around the town of Angostura is little varied; but theview of the river, which forms a vast canal, stretching fromsouth-west to north-east, is singularly majestic. 

When the waters are high, the river inundates the quays; and itsometimes happens that, even in the town, imprudent persons become theprey of crocodiles. I shall transcribe from my journal a fact thattook place during M. Bonpland's illness. A Guaykeri Indian, from theisland of La Margareta, was anchoring his canoe in a cove where therewere not three feet of water. A very fierce crocodile, whichhabitually haunted that spot, seized him by the leg, and withdrew fromthe shore, remaining on the surface of the water. The cries of theIndian drew together a crowd of spectators. This unfortunate man wasfirst seen seeking, with astonishing presence of mind, for a knifewhich he had in his pocket. Not being able to find it, he seized thehead of the crocodile and thrust his fingers into its eyes. No man inthe hot regions of America is ignorant that this carnivorous reptile, covered with a buckler of hard and dry scales, is extremely sensitivein the only parts of his body which are soft and unprotected, such asthe eyes, the hollow underneath the shoulders, the nostrils, andbeneath the lower jaw, where there are two glands of musk. TheGuaykeri Indian was less fortunate than the negro of Mungo Park, andthe girl of Uritucu, whom I mentioned in a former part of this work, for the crocodile did not open its jaws and lose hold of its prey. Theanimal, overcome by pain, plunged to the bottom of the river, and, after having drowned the Indian, came up to the surface of the water, dragging the dead body to an island opposite the port. A great numberof the inhabitants of Angostura witnessed this melancholy spectacle. 

The crocodile, owing to the structure of its larynx, of the hyoidalbone, and of the folds of its tongue, can seize, though not swallow, its prey under water; thus when a man disappears, the animal isusually perceived some hours after devouring its prey on aneighbouring beach. The number of individuals who perish annually, thevictims of their own imprudence and of the ferocity of these reptiles, is much greater than is believed in Europe. It is particularly so invillages where the neighbouring grounds are often inundated. The samecrocodiles remain long in the same places. They become from year toyear more daring, especially, as the Indians assert, if they have oncetasted of human flesh. These animals are so wary, that they are killedwith difficulty. A ball does not pierce their skin; and the shot isonly mortal when it penetrates the throat or a part beneath theshoulder. The Indians, who know little of the use of fire-arms, attackthe crocodile with lances, after the animal has been caught with largepointed iron hooks, baited with pieces of meat, and fastened by achain to the trunk of a tree. They do not approach the animal till ithas struggled a long time to disengage itself from the iron fixed inthe upper jaw. There is little probability that a country in which alabyrinth of rivers without number brings every day new bands ofcrocodiles from the eastern back of the Andes, by the Meta and theApure, toward the coast of Spanish Guiana, should ever be deliveredfrom these reptiles. All that will be gained by civilization will beto render them more timid and more easily put to flight. 

Affecting instances are related of African slaves, who have exposedtheir lives to save those of their masters, who had fallen into thejaws of a crocodile. A few years ago, between Uritucu and the Missionde Abaxo, a negro, hearing the cries of his master, flew to the spot, armed with a long knife (machete), and plunged into the river. Heforced the crocodile, by putting out his eyes, to let go his prey andto plunge under the water. The slave bore his expiring master to theshore; but all succour was unavailing to restore him to life. He haddied of suffocation, for his wounds were not deep. The crocodile, likethe dog, appears not to close its jaws firmly while swimming. 

The inhabitants of the banks of the Orinoco and its tributary streamsdiscourse continually on the dangers to which they are exposed. Theyhave marked the manners of the crocodile, as the torero has studiedthe manners of the bull. When they are assailed, they put in practice, with that presence of mind and that resignation which characterize theIndians, the Zamboes, and copper-coloured men in general, the counselsthey have heard from their infancy. In countries where nature is sopowerful and so terrible, man is constantly prepared for danger. Wehave mentioned before the answer of the young Indian girl, whodelivered herself from the jaws of the crocodile: "I knew he would letme go if I thrust my fingers into his eyes. " This girl belonged to theindigent class of the people, in whom the habits of physical wantaugment energy of character; but how can we avoid being surprised toobserve in the countries convulsed by terrible earthquakes, on thetable-land of the province of Quito, women belonging to the highestclasses of society display in the moment of peril, the same calm, thesame reflecting intrepidity? I shall mention one example only insupport of this assertion. On the 4th of February, 1797, when 35, 000Indians perished in the space of a few minutes, a young mother savedherself and her children, crying out to them to extend their arms atthe moment when the cracked ground was ready to swallow them up. Whenthis courageous woman heard the astonishment that was expressed at apresence of mind so extraordinary, she answered, with greatsimplicity, "I had been told in my infancy: if the earthquake surpriseyou in a house, place yourself under a doorway that communicates fromone apartment to another; if you be in the open air and feel theground opening beneath you, extend both your arms, and try to supportyourself on the edge of the crevice. " Thus, in savage regions or incountries exposed to frequent convulsions, man is prepared to strugglewith the beasts of the forest, to deliver himself from the jaws of thecrocodile, and to escape from the conflict of the elements. 

The town of Angostura, in the early years of its foundation, had nodirect communication with the mother-country. The inhabitants werecontented with carrying on a trifling contraband trade in dried meatand tobacco with the West India Islands, and with the Dutch colony ofEssequibo, by the Rio Carony. Neither wine, oil, nor flour, threearticles of importation the most sought after, was received directlyfrom Spain. Some merchants, in 1771, sent the first schooner to Cadiz;and since that period a direct exchange of commodities with the portsof Andalusia and Catalonia has become extremely active. The populationof Angostura, * after having been a long time languishing, has muchincreased since 1785. (* Angostura, or Santo Thome de la NuevaGuayana, in 1768, had only 500 inhabitants. Caulin page 63. They werenumbered in 1780 and the result was 1513 (455 Whites, 449 Blacks, 363Mulattoes and Zamboes, and 246 Indians). The population in the year1789 rose to 4590; and in 1800 to 6600 souls. Official Listsmanuscript. The capital of the English colony of Demerara, the town ofStabroek, the name of which is scarcely known in Europe, is only fiftyleagues distant, south-east of the mouths of the Orinoco. It contains, according to Bolingbroke, nearly 10, 000 inhabitants. ) At the time ofmy abode in Guiana, however, it was far from being equal to that ofStabroek, the nearest English town. The mouths of the Orinoco have anadvantage over every other part in Terra Firma. They afford the mostprompt communications with the Peninsula. The voyage from Cadiz toPunta Barima is performed sometimes in eighteen or twenty days. Thereturn to Europe takes from thirty to thirty-five days. These mouthsbeing placed to windward of all the islands, the vessels of Angosturacan maintain a more advantageous commerce with the West Indies than LaGuayra and Porto Cabello. The merchants of Caracas, therefore, havebeen always jealous of the progress of industry in Spanish Guiana; andCaracas having been hitherto the seat of the supreme government, theport of Angostura has been treated with still less favour than theports of Cumana and Nueva Barcelona. With respect to the inland trade, the most active is that of the province of Varinas, which sends mules, cacao, indigo, cotton, and sugar to Angostura; and in return receivesgeneros, that is, the products of the manufacturing industry ofEurope. I have seen long boats (lanchas) set off, the cargoes of whichwere valued at eight or ten thousand piastres. These boats went firstup the Orinoco to Cabruta; then along the Apure to San Vicente; andfinally, on the Rio Santo Domingo, as far as Torunos, which is theport of Varinas Nuevas. The little town of San Fernando de Apure, ofwhich I have already given a description, is the magazine of thisriver-trade, which might become more considerable by the introductionof steamboats. 

I have now described the country through which we passed during avoyage of five hundred leagues; it remains for me to make known thesmall space of three degrees fifty-two minutes of longitude, thatseparates the present capital from the mouth of the Orinoco. Exactknowledge of the delta and the course of the Rio Carony is at onceinteresting to hydrography and to European commerce. 

When a vessel coming from sea would enter the principal mouth of theOrinoco, the Boca de Navios, it should make the land at the PuntaBarima. The right or southern bank is the highest: the granitic rockpierces the marshy soil at a small distance in the interior, betweenthe Cano Barima, the Aquire, and the Cuyuni. The left, or northernbank of the Orinoco, which stretches along the delta towards the Bocade Mariusas and the Punta Baxa, is very low, and is distinguishable ata distance only by the clumps of moriche palm-trees which embellishthe passage. This is the sago-tree* of the country (* The nutritiousfecula or medullary flour of the sago-trees is found principally in agroup of palms which M. Kunth has distinguished by the name ofcalameae. It is collected, however, in the Indian Archipelago, as anarticle of trade, from the trunks of the Cycas revoluta, the Phoenixfarinifera, the Corypha umbraculifera, and the Caryota urens. (Ainslie, Materia Medica of Hindostan, Madras 1813. )) The quantity ofnutritious matter which the real sago-tree of Asia affords (SagusRumphii, or Metroxylon sagu, Roxb. ) exceeds that which is furnished byany other plant useful to man. One trunk of a tree in its fifteenthyear sometimes yields six hundred pounds weight of sago, or meal (forthe word sago signifies meal in the dialect of Amboyna). Mr. Crawfurd, who resided a long time in the Indian Archipelago, calculates that anEnglish acre could contain four hundred and thirty-five sago-trees, which would yield one hundred and twenty thousand five hundred poundsavoirdupois of fecula, or more than eight thousand pounds yearly. History of the Indian Archipelago volume 1 pages 387 and 393. Thisproduce is triple that of corn, and double that of potatoes in France. But the plantain produces, on the same surface of land, still morealimentary substance than the sago-tree. ); it yields the flour ofwhich the yuruma bread is made; and far from being a palm-tree of theshore, like the Chamaerops humilis, the common cocoa-tree, and thelodoicea of Commerson, is found as a palm-tree of the marshes as faras the sources of the Orinoco. * (* I dwell much on these divisions ofthe great and fine families of palms according to the distribution ofthe species: first, in dry places, or inland plains, Corypha tectorum;second, on the sea-coast, Chamaerops humilis, Cocos nucifera, Coryphamaritima, Lodoicea seychellarum, Labill. ; third, in the fresh-watermarshes, Sagus Rumphii, Mauritia flexuosa; and 4th, in the alpineregions, between seven and fifteen hundred toises high, Ceroxylonandicola, Oreodoxa frigida, Kunthia montana. This last group of palmaemontanae, which rises in the Andes of Guanacas nearly to the limit ofperpetual snow, was, I believe, entirely unknown before our travels inAmerica. (Nov. Gen. Volume 1 page 317; Semanario de Santa Fe de Bogota1819 Number 21 page 163. ) In the season of inundations these clumps ofmauritia, with their leaves in the form of a fan, have the appearanceof a forest rising from the bosom of the waters. The navigator, inproceeding along the channels of the delta of the Orinoco at night, sees with surprise the summit of the palm-trees illumined by largefires. These are the habitations of the Guaraons (Tivitivas andWaraweties of Raleigh* (* The Indian name of the tribe of Uaraus(Guaraunos of the Spaniards) may be recognized in the Warawety(Ouarauoty) of Raleigh, one of the branches of the Tivitivas. SeeDiscovery of Guiana, 1576 page 90 and the sketch of the habitations ofthe Guaraons, in Raleghi brevis Descrip. Guianae, 1594 tab 4. )), whichare suspended from the trunks of trees. These tribes hang up mats inthe air, which they fill with earth, and kindle, on a layer of moistclay, the fire necessary for their household wants. They have owedtheir liberty and their political independence for ages to the quakingand swampy soil, which they pass over in the time of drought, and onwhich they alone know how to walk in security to their solitude in thedelta of the Orinoco; to their abode on the trees where religiousenthusiasm will probably never lead any American stylites. * (* Thissect was founded by Simeon Sisanites, a native of Syria. He passedthirty-seven years in mystic contemplation, on five pillars, the lastof which was thirty-six cubits high. The sancti columnares attemptedto establish their aerial cloisters in the country of Treves, inGermany; but the bishops opposed these extravagant and perilousenterprises. Mosheim, Instit. Hist. Eccles page 192. See Humboldt'sViews of Nature (Bohn) pages 13 and 136. ) I have already mentioned inanother place that the mauritia palm-tree, the tree of life of themissionaries, not only affords the Guaraons a safe dwelling during therisings of the Orinoco, but that its shelly fruit, its farinaceouspith, its juice, abounding in saccharine matter, and the fibres of itspetioles, furnish them with food, wine, * and thread proper for makingcords and weaving hammocks. (* The use of this moriche wine however isnot very common. The Guaraons prefer in general a beverage offermented honey. ) These customs of the Indians of the delta of theOrinoco were found formerly in the Gulf of Darien (Uraba), and in thegreater part of the inundated lands between the Guarapiche and themouths of the Amazon. It is curious to observe in the lowest degree ofhuman civilization the existence of a whole tribe depending on onesingle species of palm-tree, similar to those insects which feed onone and the same flower, or on one and the same part of a plant. 

The navigation of the river, whether vessels arrive by the Boca deNavios, or risk entering the labyrinth of the bocas chicas, requiresvarious precautions, according as the waters are high or low. Theregularity of these periodical risings of the Orinoco has been long anobject of admiration to travellers, as the overflowings of the Nilefurnished the philosophers of antiquity with a problem difficult tosolve. The Orinoco and the Nile, contrary to the direction of theGanges, the Indus, the Rio de la Plata, and the Euphrates, flow alikefrom the south toward the north; but the sources of the Orinoco arefive or six degrees nearer to the equator than those of the Nile. Observing every day the accidental variations of the atmosphere, wefind it difficult to persuade ourselves that in a great space of timethe effects of these variations mutually compensate each other: thatin a long succession of years the averages of the temperature of thehumidity, and of the barometric pressure, differ so little from monthto month; and that nature, notwithstanding the multitude of partialperturbations, follows a constant type in the series of meteorologicalphenomena. Great rivers unite in one receptacle the waters which asurface of several thousand square leagues receives. However unequalmay be the quantity of rain that falls during several successiveyears, in such or such a valley, the swellings of rivers that have avery long course are little affected by these local variations. Theswellings represent the average of the humidity that reigns in thewhole basin; they follow annually the same progression because theircommencement and their duration depend also on the mean of theperiods, apparently extremely variable, of the beginning and end ofthe rains in the different latitudes through which the principal trunkand its various tributary streams flow. Hence it follows that theperiodical oscillations of rivers are, like the equality oftemperature of caverns and springs, a sensible indication of theregular distribution of humidity and heat, which takes place from yearto year on a considerable extent of land. They strike the imaginationof the vulgar; as order everywhere astonishes, when we cannot easilyascend to first causes. Rivers that belong entirely to the torrid zonedisplay in their periodical movements that wonderful regularity whichis peculiar to a region where the same wind brings almost alwaysstrata of air of the same temperature; and where the change of the sunin its declination causes every year at the same period a rupture ofequilibrium in the electric intensity, in the cessation of thebreezes, and the commencement of the season of rains. The Orinoco, theRio Magdalena, and the Congo or Zaire are the only great rivers of theequinoctial region of the globe, which, rising near the equator, havetheir mouths in a much higher latitude, though still within thetropics. The Nile and the Rio de la Plata direct their course, in thetwo opposite hemispheres, from the torrid zone towards the temperate. *(* In Asia, the Ganges, the Burrampooter, and the majestic rivers ofIndo-China direct their course towards the equator. The former flowfrom the temperate to the torrid zone. This circumstance of coursespursuing opposite directions (towards the equator, and towards thetemperate climates) has an influence on the period and the height ofthe risings, on the nature and variety of the productions on the banksof the rivers, on the less or greater activity of trade; and, I mayadd, from what we know of the nations of Egypt, Merce, and India, onthe progress of civilization along the valleys of the rivers. )

As long as, confounding the Rio Paragua of Esmeralda with the RioGuaviare, the sources of the Orinoco were sought towards thesouth-west, on the eastern back of the Andes, the risings of thisriver were attributed to a periodical melting of the snows. Thisreasoning was as far from the truth as that in which the Nile wasformerly supposed to be swelled by the waters of the snows ofAbyssinia. The Cordilleras of New Grenada, near which the westerntributary streams of the Orinoco, the Guaviare, the Meta, and theApure take their rise, enter no more into the limit of perpetualsnows, with the sole exception of the Paramos of Chita and Mucuchies, than the Alps of Abyssinia. Snowy mountains are much more rare in thetorrid zone than is generally admitted; and the melting of the snows, which is not copious there at any season, does not at all increase atthe time of the inundations of the Orinoco. 

The cause of the periodical swellings of the Orinoco acts equally onall the rivers that take rise in the torrid zone. After the vernalequinox, the cessation of the breezes announces the season of rains. The increase of the rivers (which may be considered as naturalpluviometers) is in proportion to the quantity of water that falls inthe different regions. This quantity, in the centre of the forests ofthe Upper Orinoco and the Rio Negro, appeared to me to exceed 90 or100 inches annually. Such of the natives, therefore, as have livedbeneath the misty sky of the Esmeralda and the Atabapo, know, withoutthe smallest notion of natural philosophy, what Eudoxus andEratosthenes knew heretofore, * that the inundations of the greatrivers are owing solely to the equatorial rains. (* Strabo lib. 17page 789. Diod. Sic. Lib. L c. 5. ) The following is the usual progressof the oscillations of the Orinoco. Immediately after the vernalequinox (the people say on the 25th of March) the commencement of therising is perceived. It is at first only an inch in twenty-four hours;sometimes the river again sinks in April; it attains its maximum inJuly; remains at the same level from the end of July till the 25th ofAugust; and then decreases progressively, but more slowly than itincreased. It is at its minimum in January and February. In bothworlds the rivers of the northern torrid zone attain the greatestheight nearly at the same period. The Ganges, the Niger, and theGambia reach the maximum, like the Orinoco, in the month of August. *(* Nearly forty or fifty days after the summer solstice. ) The Nile istwo months later, either on account of some local circumstances in theclimate of Abyssinia, or of the length of its course, from the countryof Berber, or 17. 5 degrees of latitude, to the bifurcation of thedelta. The Arabian geographers assert that in Sennaar and in Abyssiniathe Nile begins to swell in the month of April (nearly as theOrinoco); the rise, however, does not become sensible at Cairo tilltoward the summer solstice; and the water attains its greatest heightat the end of the month of September. * (* Nearly eighty or ninety daysafter the summer solstice. ) The river keeps at the same level till themiddle of October; and is at its minimum in April and May, a periodwhen the rivers of Guiana begin to swell anew. It may be seen fromthis rapid statement, that, notwithstanding the retardation caused bythe form of the natural channels, and by local climatic circumstances, the great phenomenon of the oscillations of the rivers of the torridzone is everywhere the same. In the two zodiacs vulgarly called theTartar and Chaldean, or Egyptian (in the zodiac which contains thesign of the Rat, an in that which contains those of the Fishes andAquarius), particular constellations are consecrated to the periodicaloverflowings of the rivers. Real cycles, divisions of time, have beengradually transformed into divisions of space; but the generality ofthe physical phenomena of the risings seems to prove that the zodiacwhich has been transmitted to us by the Greeks, and which, by theprecession of the equinoxes, becomes an historical monument of highantiquity, may have taken birth far from Thebes, and from the sacredvalley of the Nile. In the zodiacs of the New World--in the Mexican, for instance, of which we discover the vestiges in the signs of thedays, and the periodical series which they compose--there are alsosigns of rain and of inundation corresponding to the Chou (Rat) of theChinese* and Thibetan cycle of Tse, and to the Fishes and Aquarius ofthe dodecatemorion. (* The figure of water itself is often substitutedfor that of the Rat (Arvicola) in the Tartar zodiac. The Rat takes theplace of Aquarius. Gaubil, Obs. Mathem. Volume 3 page 33. ) These twoMexican signs are Water (Atl) and Cipactli, the sea-monster furnishedwith a horn. This animal is at once the Antelope-fish of the Hindoos, the Capricorn of our zodiac, the Deucalion of the Greeks, and the Noah(Coxcox) of the Azteks. * (* Coxcox bears also the denomination ofTeo-Cipactli, in which the root god or divine is added to the name ofthe sign Cipactli. It is the man of the Fourth Age; who, at the fourthdestruction of the world (the last renovation of nature), savedhimself with his wife, and reached the mountain of Colhuacan. According to the commentator Germanicus, Deucalion was placed inAquarius; but the three signs of the Fishes, Aquarius and Capricorn(the Antelope-fish) were heretofore intimately linked together. Theanimal, which, after having long inhabited the waters, takes the formof an antelope, and climbs the mountains, reminds people, whoserestless imagination seizes the most remote similitudes, of theancient traditions of Menou, of Noah, and of those Deucalionscelebrated among the Scythians and the Thessalians. As the Tartarianand Mexican zodiacs contain the signs of the Monkey and the Tiger, they, no doubt, originated in the torrid zone. With the Muyscas, inhabitants of New Grenada, the first sign, as in eastern Asia, wasthat of water, figured by a Frog. It is also remarkable that theastrological worship of the Muyscas came to the table-land of Bogotafrom the eastern side, from the plains of San Juan, which extendtoward the Guaviare and the Orinoco. ) Thus we find the general resultsof comparative hydrography in the astrological monuments, thedivisions of time and the religious traditions of nations the mostremote from each other in their situation and in their degree ofintellectual advancement. 

As the equatorial rains take place in the flat country when the sunpasses through the zenith of the place, that is, when its declinationbecomes homonymous with the zone comprised between the equator and oneof the tropics, the waters of the Amazon sink, while those of theOrinoco rise perceptibly. In a very judicious discussion on the originof the Rio Congo, * (* Voyage to the Zaire page 17. ) the attention ofphilosophers has been already called to the modifications which theperiods of the risings must undergo in the course of a river, thesources and the mouth of which are not on the same side of theequinoctial line. * (* Among the rivers of America this is the casewith the Rio Negro, the Rio Branco, and the Jupura. ) The hydraulicsystems of the Orinoco and the Amazon furnish a combination ofcircumstances still more extraordinary. They are united by the RioNegro and the Cassiquiare, a branch of the Orinoco; it is a navigableline, between two great basins of rivers, that is crossed by theequator. The river Amazon, according to the information which Iobtained on its banks, is much less regular in the periods of itsoscillations than the Orinoco; it generally begins, however, toincrease in December, and attains its maximum of height in March. * (*Nearly seventy or eighty days after our winter solstice, which is thesummer solstice of the southern hemisphere. ) It sinks from the monthof May, and is at its minimum of height in the months of July andAugust, at the time when the Lower Orinoco inundates all thesurrounding land. As no river of America can cross the equator fromsouth to north, on account of the general configuration of the ground, the risings of the Orinoco have an influence on the Amazon; but thoseof the Amazon do not alter the progress of the oscillations of theOrinoco. It results from these data, that in the two basins of theAmazon and the Orinoco, the concave and convex summits of the curve ofprogressive increase and decrease correspond very regularly with eachother, since they exhibit the difference of six months, which resultsfrom the situation of the rivers in opposite hemispheres. Thecommencement of the risings only is less tardy in the Orinoco. Thisriver increases sensibly as soon as the sun has crossed the equator;in the Amazon, on the contrary, the risings do not commence till twomonths after the equinox. It is known that in the forests north of theline the rains are earlier than in the less woody plains of thesouthern torrid zone. To this local cause is joined another, whichacts perhaps equally on the tardy swellings of the Nile. The Amazonreceives a great part of its waters from the Cordillera of the Andes, where the seasons, as everywhere among mountains, follow a peculiartype, most frequently opposite to that of the low regions. 

The law of the increase and decrease of the Orinoco is more difficultto determine with respect to space, or to the magnitude of theoscillations, than with regard to time, or the period of the maximaand minima. Having been able to measure but imperfectly the risings ofthe river, I report, not without hesitation, estimates that differmuch from each other. * (* Tuckey, Maritime Geogr. Volume 4 page 309. Hippisley, Expedition to the Orinoco page 38. Gumilla volume 1 pages56 to 59. Depons volume 3 page 301. The greatest height of the rise ofthe Mississippi is, at Natchez, fifty-five English feet. This river(the largest perhaps of the whole temperate zone) is at its maximumfrom February to May; at its minimum in August and September. Ellicott, Journal of an Expedition to the Ohio. ) Foreign pilots admitninety feet for the ordinary rise in the Lower Orinoco. M. Depons, whohas in general collected very accurate notions during his stay atCaracas, fixes it at thirteen fathoms. The heights naturally varyaccording to the breadth of the bed and the number of tributarystreams which the principal trunk receives. 

The people believe that every five years the Orinoco rises three feethigher than common; but the idea of this cycle does not rest on anyprecise measures. We know by the testimony of antiquity, that theoscillations of the Nile have been sensibly the same with respect totheir height and duration for thousands of years; which is a proof, well worthy of attention, that the mean state of the humidity and thetemperature does not vary in that vast basin. Will this constancy inphysical phenomena, this equilibrium of the elements, be preserved inthe New World also after some ages of cultivation? I think we mayreply in the affirmative; for the united efforts of man cannot fail tohave an influence on the general causes on which the climate of Guianadepends. 

According to the barometric height of San Fernando de Apure, I findfrom that town to the Boca de Navios the slope of the Apure and theLower Orinoco to be three inches and a quarter to a nautical mile ofnine hundred and fifty toises. * (* The Apure itself has a slope ofthirteen inches to the mile. ) We may be surprised at the strength ofthe current in a slope so little perceptible; but I shall remind thereader on this occasion, that, according to measurements made by orderof Mr. Hastings, the Ganges was found, in a course of sixty miles(comprising the windings, ) to have also only four inches fall to amile; that the mean swiftness of this river is, in the seasons ofdrought, three miles an hour, and in those of rains six or eightmiles. The strength of the current, therefore, in the Ganges as in theOrinoco, depends less on the slope of the bed, than on theaccumulation of the higher waters, caused by the abundance of therains, and the number of tributary streams. European colonists havealready been settled for two hundred and fifty years on the banks ofthe Orinoco; and during this long period of time, according to atradition which has been propagated from generation to generation, theperiodical oscillations of the river (the time of the beginning of therising, and that when it attains its maximum) have never been retardedmore than twelve or fifteen days. 

When vessels that draw a good deal of water sail up toward Angosturain the months of January and February, by favour of the sea-breeze andthe tide, they run the risk of taking the ground. The navigablechannel often changes its breadth and direction; no buoy, however, hasyet been laid down, to indicate any deposit of earth formed in the bedof the river, where the waters have lost their original velocity. There exists on the south of Cape Barima, as well by the river of thisname as by the Rio Moroca and several estuaries (esteres) acommunication with the English colony of Essequibo. Small vessels canpenetrate into the interior as far as the Rio Poumaron, on which arethe ancient settlements of Zealand and Middleburg. Heretofore thiscommunication interested the government of Caracas only on account ofthe facility it furnished to an illicit trade; but since Berbice, Demerara, and Essequibo have fallen into the hands of a more powerfulneighbour, it fixes the attention of the Spanish Americans as beingconnected with the security of their frontiers. Rivers which have acourse parallel to the coast, and are nowhere farther distant from itthan five or six nautical miles, characterize the whole of the shorebetween the Orinoco and the Amazon. 

Ten leagues distant from Cape Barima, the great bed of the Orinoco isdivided for the first time into two branches of two thousand toises inbreadth. They are known by the Indian names of Zacupana and Imataca. The first, which is the northernmost, communicates on the west of theislands Congrejos and del Burro with the bocas chicas of Lauran, Nuina, and Mariusas. As the Isla del Burro disappears in the time ofgreat inundations, it is unhappily not suited to fortifications. Thesouthern bank of the brazo Imataca is cut by a labyrinth of littlechannels, into which the Rio Imataca and the Rio Aquire flow. A longseries of little granitic hills rises in the fertile savannahs betweenthe Imataca and the Cuyuni; it is a prolongation of the Cordilleras ofParima, which, bounding the horizon south of Angostura, forms thecelebrated cataracts of the Rio Caroni, and approaches the Orinocolike a projecting cape near the little fort of Vieja Guyana. Thepopulous missions of the Caribbee and Guiana Indians, governed by theCatalonian Capuchins, lie near the sources of the Imataca and theAquire. The easternmost of these missions are those of Miamu, Camamu, and Palmar, situate in a hilly country, which extends towardsTupuquen, Santa Maria, and the Villa de Upata. Going up the RioAquire, and directing your course across the pastures towards thesouth, you reach the mission of Belem de Tumeremo, and thence theconfluence of the Curumu with the Rio Cuyuni, where the Spanish postor destacamento de Cuyuni was formerly established. I enter into thistopographical detail because the Rio Cuyuni, or Cuduvini, runsparallel to the Orinoco from west to east, through an extent of 2. 5 or3 degrees of longitude, * and furnishes an excellent natural boundarybetween the territory of Caracas and that of English Guiana. (*Including the Rio Juruam, one of the principal branches of the Cuyuni. The Dutch military post is five leagues west of the union of Cuyuniwith the Essequibo, where the former river receives the Mazuruni. )

The two great branches of the Orinoco, the Zacupana and the Imataca, remain separate for fourteen leagues: on going up farther, the watersof the river are found united* in a single channel extremely broad. (*At this point of union are found two villages of Guaraons. They alsobear the names of Imataca and Zacupana. ) This channel is near eightleagues long; at its western extremity a second bifurcation appears;and as the summit of the delta is in the northern branch of thebifurcated river, this part of the Orinoco is highly important for themilitary defence of the country. All the channels* that terminate inthe bocas chicas, rise from the same point of the trunk of theOrinoco. (* Cano de Manamo grande, Cano de Manamo chico, CanoPedernales, Cano Macareo, Cano Cutupiti, Cano Macuona, Cano grande deMariusas, etc. The last three branches form by their union the sinuouschannel called the Vuelta del Torno. ) The branch (Cano Manamo) thatseparates from it near the village of San Rafael has no ramificationtill after a course of three or four leagues; and by placing a smallfort above the island of Chaguanes, Angostura might be defendedagainst an enemy that should attempt to penetrate by one of the bocaschicas. In my time the station of the gun-boats was east of SanRafael, near the northern bank of the Orinoco. This is the point whichvessels must pass in sailing up toward Angostura by the northernchannel, that of San Rafael, which is the broadest but the mostshallow. 

Six leagues above the point where the Orinoco sends off a branch tothe bocas chicas is placed an ancient fort (los Castillos de la Viejaor Antigua Guayana, ) the first construction of which goes back to thesixteenth century. In this spot the bed of the river is studded withrocky islands; and it is asserted that its breadth is nearly sixhundred and fifty toises. The town is almost destroyed, but thefortifications subsist, and are well worthy the attention of thegovernment of Terra Firma. There is a magnificent view from thebattery established on a bluff north-west of the ancient town, which, at the period of great inundations, is entirely surrounded with water. Pools that communicate with the Orinoco form natural basins, adaptedfor the reception of vessels that want repairs. 

After having passed the little forts of Vieja Guayana, the bed of theOrinoco again widens. The state of cultivation of the country on thetwo banks affords a striking contrast. On the north is seen the desertpart of the province of Cumana, steppes (Llanos) destitute ofhabitations, and extending beyond the sources of the Rio Mamo, towardthe tableland or mesa of Guanipa. On the south we find three populousvillages belonging to the missions of Carony, namely, San Miguel deUriala, San Felix and San Joaquin. The last of these villages, situateon the banks of the Carony, immediately below the great cataract, isconsidered as the embarcadero of the Catalonian missions. Onnavigating more to the east, between the mouth of the Carony andAngostura, the pilot should avoid the rocks of Guarampo, the sandbankof Mamo, and the Piedra del Rosario. From the numerous materials whichI brought home, and from astronomical discussions, the principalresults of which I have indicated above, I have constructed a map ofthe country bounded by the delta of the Orinoco, the Carony, and theCuyuni. This part of Guiana, from its proximity to the coast, willsome day offer the greatest attraction to European settlers. 

The whole population of this vast province in its present state is, with the exception of a few Spanish parishes, scattered on the banksof the Lower Orinoco, and subject to two monastic governments. Estimating the number of the inhabitants of Guiana, who do not live insavage independence, at thirty-five thousand, we find nearlytwenty-four thousand settled in the missions, and thus withdrawn as itwere from the direct influence of the secular arm. At the period of myvoyage, the territory of the Observantin monks of St. Franciscontained seven thousand three hundred inhabitants, and that of theCapuchinos Catalanes seventeen thousand; an astonishing disproportion, when we reflect on the smallness of the latter territory compared tothe vast banks of the Upper Orinoco, the Atabapo, the Cassiquiare andthe Rio Negro. It results from these statements that nearly two-thirdsof the population of a province of sixteen thousand eight hundredsquare leagues are found concentrated between the Rio Imataca and thetown of Santo Thome del Angostura, on a space of ground onlyfifty-five leagues in length, and thirty in breadth. Both of thesemonastic governments are equally inaccessible to Whites, and formstatus in statu. The first, that of the Observantins, I have describedfrom my own observations; it remains for me to record here the notionsI could procure respecting the second of these governments, that ofthe Catalonian Capuchins. Fatal civil dissensions and epidemic fevershave of late years diminished the long-increasing prosperity of themissions of the Carony; but, notwithstanding these losses, the regionwhich we are going to examine is still highly interesting with respectto political economy. 

The missions of the Catalonian Capuchins, which in 1804 contained atleast sixty thousand head of cattle grazing in the savannahs, extendfrom the eastern banks of the Carony and the Paragua as far as thebanks of the Imataca, the Curumu, and the Cuyuni; at the south-eastthey border on English Guiana, or the colony of Essequibo; and towardthe south, in going up the desert banks of the Paragua and theParaguamasi, and crossing the Cordillera of Pacaraimo, they touch thePortuguese settlements on the Rio Branco. The whole of this country isopen, full of fine savannahs, and no way resembling that through whichwe passed on the Upper Orinoco. The forests become impenetrable onlyon advancing toward the south; on the north are meadows intersectedwith woody hills. The most picturesque scenes lie near the falls ofthe Carony, and in that chain of mountains, two hundred and fiftytoises high, which separates the tributary streams of the Orinoco fromthose of the Cuyuni. There are situate the Villa de Upata, * thecapital of the missions, Santa Maria, and Cupapui. (* Founded in 1762. Population in 1797, 657 souls; in 1803, 769 souls. The most populousvillages of these missions, Alta Gracia, Cupapui, Santa Rosa de Cura, and Guri, had between 600 and 900 inhabitants in 1797; but in 1818epidemic fevers diminished the population more than a third. In somemissions these diseases have swept away nearly half of theinhabitants. ) Small table-lands afford a healthy and temperateclimate. Cacao, rice, cotton, indigo, and sugar grow in abundancewherever a virgin soil, covered with a thick coat of grasses, issubjected to cultivation. The first Christian settlements in thosecountries are not, I believe, of an earlier date than 1721. Theelements of which the present population is composed are the threeIndian races of the Guayanos, the Caribs and the Guaycas. The last area people of mountaineers and are far from being so diminutive in sizeas the Guaycas whom we found at Esmeralda. It is difficult to fix themto the soil; and the three most modern missions in which they havebeen collected, those of Cura, Curucuy, and Arechica, are alreadydestroyed. The Guayanos, who early in the sixteenth century gave theirname to the whole of that vast province, are less intelligent butmilder; and more easy, if not to civilize, at least to subjugate, thanthe Caribs. Their language appears to belong to the great branch ofthe Caribbee and Tamanac tongues. It displays the same analogies ofroots and grammatical forms, which are observed between the Sanscrit, the Persian, the Greek, and the German. It is not easy to fix theforms of what is indefinite by its nature; and to agree on thedifferences which should be admitted between dialects, derivativelanguages and mother-tongues. The Jesuits of Paraguay have made knownto us another tribe of Guayanos* in the southern hemisphere, living inthe thick forests of Parana. (* They are also called Guananas, orGualachas. ) Though it cannot be denied in general that in consequenceof distant migrations, * (* Like the celebrated migrations of theOmaguas, or Omeguas. ) the nations that are settled north and south ofthe Amazon have had communications with each other, I will not decidewhether the Guayanos of Parana and of Uruguay exhibit any otherrelation to those of Carony, than that of an homonomy, which isperhaps only accidental. 

The most considerable Christian settlements are now concentratedbetween the mountains of Santa Maria, the mission of San Miguel andthe eastern bank of the Carony, from San Buenaventura as far as Guriand the embarcadero of San Joaquin; a space of ground which has notmore than four hundred and sixty square leagues of surface. Thesavannahs to the east and south are almost uninhabited; we find thereonly the solitary missions of Belem, Tumuremo, Tupuquen, Puedpa, andSanta Clara. It were to be wished that the spots preferred forcultivation were distant from the rivers where the land is higher andthe air more favourable to health. The Rio Carony, the waters ofwhich, of an admirable clearness, are not well stocked with fish, isfree from shoals from the Villa de Barceloneta, a little above theconfluence of the Paragua, as far as the village of Guri. Farthernorth it winds between innumerable islands and rocks; and only thesmall boats of the Caribs venture to navigate amid these raudales, orrapids of the Carony. Happily the river is often divided into severalbranches; and consequently that can be chosen which, according to theheight of the waters, presents the fewest whirlpools and shoals. Thegreat fall, celebrated for the picturesque beauty of its situation, isa little above the village of Aguacaqua, or Carony, which in my timehad a population of seven hundred Indians. This cascade is said to befrom fifteen to twenty feet high; but the bar does not cross the wholebed of the river, which is more than three hundred feet broad. Whenthe population is more extended toward the east, it will avail itselfof the course of the small rivers Imataca and Aquire, the navigationof which is pretty free from danger. The monks, who like to keepthemselves isolated, in order to withdraw from the eye of the secularpower, have been hitherto unwilling to settle on the banks of theOrinoco. It is, however, by this river only, or by the Cuyuni and theEssequibo, that the missions of Carony can export their productions. The latter way has not yet been tried, though several Christiansettlements* are formed on one of the principal tributary streams ofthe Cuyuni, the Rio Juruario. (* Guacipati, Tupuquen, Angel de laCustodia, and Cura, where the military post of the frontiers wasstationed in 1800, which had been anciently placed at the confluenceof the Cuyuni and the Curumu. ) This stream furnishes, at the period ofthe great swellings, the remarkable phenomenon of a bifurcation. Itcommunicates by the Juraricuima and the Aurapa with the Rio Carony; sothat the land comprised between the Orinoco, the sea, the Cuyuni, andthe Carony, becomes a real island. Formidable rapids impede thenavigation of the Upper Cuyuni; and hence of late an attempt has beenmade to open a road to the colony of Essequibo much more to thesouth-east, in order to fall in with the Cuyuni much below the mouthof the Curumu. 

The whole of this southern territory is traversed by hordes ofindependent Caribs; the feeble remains of that warlike people who wereso formidable to the missionaries till 1733 and 1735, at which periodthe respectable bishop Gervais de Labrid, * (* Consecrated a bishop forthe four parts of the world (obispo para las quatro partes del mundo)by pope Benedict XIII. ) canon of the metropolitan chapter of Lyon, Father Lopez, and several other ecclesiastics, perished by the handsof the Caribs. These dangers, too frequent formerly, exist no longer, either in the missions of Carony, or in those of the Orinoco; but theindependent Caribs continue, on account of their connection with theDutch colonists of Essequibo, an object of mistrust and hatred to thegovernment of Guiana. These tribes favour the contraband trade alongthe coast, and by the channels or estuaries that join the Rio Barimato the Rio Moroca; they carry off the cattle belonging to themissionaries, and excite the Indians recently converted, and livingwithin the sound of the bell, to return to the forests. The freehordes have everywhere a powerful interest in opposing the progress ofcultivation and the encroachments of the Whites. The Caribs and theAruacas procure fire-arms at Essequibo and Demerara; and when thetraffic of American slaves (poitos) was most active, adventurers ofDutch origin took part in these incursions on the Paragua, theErevato, and the Ventuario. Man-hunting took place on these banks, asheretofore (and probably still) on those of the Senegal and theGambia. In both worlds Europeans have employed the same artifices, andcommitted the same atrocities, to maintain a trade that dishonourshumanity. The missionaries of the Carony and the Orinoco attribute allthe evils they suffer from the independent Caribs to the hatred oftheir neighbours, the Calvinist preachers of Essequibo. Their worksare therefore filled with complaints of the secta diabolica de Calvinoy de Lutero, and against the heretics of Dutch Guiana, who also thinkfit sometimes to go on missions, and spread the germs of social lifeamong the savages. 

Of all the vegetable productions of those countries, that which theindustry of the Catalonian Capuchins has rendered the most celebratedis the tree that furnishes the Cortex angosturae, which is erroneouslydesignated by the name of cinchona of Carony. We were fortunate enoughto make it first known as a new genus distinct from the cinchona, andbelonging to the family of meliaceae, or of zanthoxylus. This salutarydrug of South America was formerly attributed to the Brucea ferrugineawhich grows in Abyssinia, to the Magnolia glauca, and to the Magnoliaplumieri. During the dangerous disease of M. Bonpland, M. Ravago senta confidential person to the missions of Carony, to procure for us, byfavour of the Capuchins of Upata, branches of the tree in flower whichwe wished to be able to describe. We obtained very fine specimens, theleaves of which, eighteen inches long, diffused an agreeable aromaticsmell. We soon perceived that the cuspare (the indigenous name of thecascarilla or corteza del Angostura) forms a new genus; and on sendingthe plants of the Orinoco to M. Willdenouw, I begged he would dedicatethis plant to M. Bonpland. The tree, known at present by the name ofBonplandia trifoliata, grows at the distance of five or six leaguesfrom the eastern bank of the Carony, at the foot of the hills thatsurround the missions Capapui, Upata and Alta Gracia. The CaribbeeIndians make use of an infusion of the bark of the cuspare, which theyconsider as a strengthening remedy. M. Bonpland discovered the sametree west of Cumana, in the gulf of Santa Fe, where it may become oneof the articles of exportation from New Andalusia. 

The Catalonian monks prepare an extract of the Cortex angosturae whichthey send to the convents of their province, and which deserves to bebetter known in the north of Europe. It is to be hoped that thefebrifuge and anti-dysenteric bark of the bonplandia will continue tobe employed, notwithstanding the introduction of another, described bythe name of False Angostura bark, and often confounded with theformer. This false Angostura, or Angostura pseudo-ferruginea, comes, it is said, from the Brucea antidysenterica; it acts powerfully on thenerves, produces violent attacks of tetanus, and contains, accordingto the experiments of Pelletier and Caventon, a peculiar alkalinesubstance* analogous to morphine and strychnine. (* Brucine. M. Pelletier has wisely avoided using the word angosturine, because itmight indicate a substance taken from the real Cortex angosturae, orBonplandia trifoliata. (Annales de Chimie volume 12 page 117. ) We sawat Peru the barks of two new species of weinmannia and wintera mixedwith those of cinchona; a mixture less dangerous, but still injurious, on account of the superabundance of tannin and acrid matter containedin the false cascarilla. ) As the tree which yields the real Cortexangosturae does not grow in great abundance, it is to be wished thatplantations of it were formed. The Catalonian monks are well fitted tospread this kind of cultivation; they are more economical, industrious, and active than the other missionaries. They have alreadyestablished tan-yards and cotton-spinning in a few villages; and ifthey suffer the Indians henceforth to enjoy the fruit of theirlabours, they will find great resources in the native population. Concentered on a small space of land, these monks have theconsciousness of their political importance, and have from time totime resisted the civil authority, and that of their bishop. Thegovernors who reside at Angostura have struggled against them withvery unequal success, according as the ministry of Madrid showed acomplaisant deference for the ecclesiastical hierarchy, or sought tolimit its power. In 1768 Don Manuel Centurion carried off twentythousand head of cattle from the missionaries, in order to distributethem among the indigent inhabitants. This liberality, exerted in amanner not very legal, produced very serious consequences. Thegovernor was disgraced on the complaint of the Catalonian monks thoughhe had considerably extended the territory of the missions toward thesouth, and founded the Villa de Barceloneta, above the confluence ofthe Carony with the Rio Paragua, and the Ciudad de Guirior, near theunion of the Rio Paragua and the Paraguamusi. From that period thecivil administration has carefully avoided all intervention in theaffairs of the Capuchins, whose opulence has been exaggerated likethat of the Jesuits of Paraguay. 

The missions of the Carony, by the configuration of their soil* andthe mixture of savannahs and arable lands, unite the advantages of theLlanos of Calabozo and the valleys of Aragua. (* It appears that thelittle table-lands between the mountains of Upata, Cumanu, andTupuquen, are more than one hundred and fifty toises above the levelof the sea. ) The real wealth of this country is founded on the care ofthe herds and the cultivation of colonial produce. It were to bewished that here, as in the fine and fertile province of Venezuela, the inhabitants, faithful to the labours of the fields, would notaddict themselves too hastily to the research of mines. The example ofGermany and Mexico proves, no doubt, that the working of metals is notat all incompatible with a flourishing state of agriculture; but, according to popular traditions, the banks of the Carony lead to thelake Dorado and the palace of the gilded man* (* El Dorado, that is, el rey o hombre dorado. See volume 2. 23. ): and this lake, and thispalace, being a local fable, it might be dangerous to awakenremembrances which begin gradually to be effaced. I was assured thatin 1760, the independent Caribs went to Cerro de Pajarcima, a mountainto the south of Vieja Guayana, to submit the decomposed rock to theaction of washing. The gold-dust collected by this labour was put intocalabashes of the Crescentia cujete and sold to the Dutch atEssequibo. Still more recently, some Mexican miners, who abused thecredulity of Don Jose Avalo, the intendant of Caracas, undertook avery considerable work in the centre of the missions of the RioCarony, near the town of Upata, in the Cerros del Potrero and deChirica. They declared that the whole rock was auriferous;stamping-mills, brocards, and smelting-furnaces were constructed. After having expended very large sums, it was discovered that thepyrites contained no trace whatever of gold. These essays, thoughfruitless, served to renew the ancient idea that every shining rock inGuiana is teeming with gold (una madre del oro). Not contented withtaking the mica-slate to the furnace, strata of amphibolic slates wereshown to me near Angostura, without any mixture of heterogeneoussubstances, which had been worked under the whimsical name of blackore of gold (oro negro). 

This is the place to make known, in order to complete the descriptionof the Orinoco, the principal results of my researches on El Dorado, the White Sea, or Laguna Parime, and the sources of the Orinoco, asthey are marked in the most recent maps. The idea of an auriferousearth, eminently rich, has been connected, ever since the end of thesixteenth century, with that of a great inland lake, which furnishesat the same time waters to the Orinoco, the Rio Branco and the RioEssequibo. I believe, from a more accurate knowledge of the country, along and laborious study of the Spanish authors who treat of ElDorado, and, above all, from comparing a great number of ancient maps, arranged in chronological order, I have succeeded in discovering thesource of these errors. All fables have some real foundation; that ofEl Dorado resembles those myths of antiquity, which, travelling fromcountry to country, have been successively adapted to differentlocalities. In the sciences, in order to distinguish truth from error, it often suffices to retrace the history of opinions, and to followtheir successive developments. The discussion to which I shall devotethe end of this chapter is important, not only because it throws lighton the events of the Conquest, and that long series of disastrousexpeditions made in search of El Dorado, the last of which was in theyear 1775; it also furnishes, in addition to this simply historicalinterest, another, more substantial and more generally felt, that ofrectifying the geography of South America, and of disembarrassing themaps published in our days of those great lakes, and that strangelabyrinth of rivers, placed as if by chance between sixty andsixty-six degrees of longitude. No man in Europe believes any longerin the wealth of Guiana and the empire of the Grand Patiti. The townof Manoa and its palaces covered with plates of massy gold have longsince disappeared; but the geographical apparatus serving to adorn thefable of El Dorado, the lake Parima, which, similar to the lake ofMexico, reflected the image of so many sumptuous edifices, has beenreligiously preserved by geographers. In the space of three centuries, the same traditions have been differently modified; from ignorance ofthe American languages, rivers have been taken for lakes, and portagesfor branches of rivers; one lake, the Cassipa, has been made toadvance five degrees of latitude toward the south, while another, theParima or Dorado, has been transported the distance of a hundredleagues from the western to the eastern bank of the Rio Branco. Fromthese various changes, the problem we are going to solve has becomemuch more complicated than is generally supposed. The number ofgeographers who discuss the basis of a map, with regard to the threepoints of measures, of the comparison of descriptive works, and of theetymological study* of names, is extremely small. (* I use thisexpression, perhaps an improper one, to mark a species of philologicalexamination, to which the names of rivers, lakes, mountains, andtribes, must be subjected, in order to discover their identity in agreat number of maps. The apparent diversity of names arises partlyfrom the difference of the dialects spoken by one and the same familyof people, partly from the imperfection of our European orthography, and from the extreme negligence with which geographers copy oneanother. We recognize with difficulty the Rio Uaupe in the Guaupe orGuape; the Xie, in the Guaicia; the Raudal de Atures, in Athule; theCaribbees, in the Calinas and Galibis; the Guaraunos or Uarau, in theOaraw-its; etc. It is, however, by similar mutations of letters, thatthe Spaniards have made hijo of filius; hambre, of fames; and Felipode Urre, and even Utre, of the Conquistador Philip von Huten; that theTamanacs in America have substituted choraro for soldado; and the Jewsin China, Ialemeiohang for Jeremiah. Analogy and a certainetymological tact must guide geographers in researches of this kind, in which they would be exposed to serious errors, if they were not tostudy at the same time the respective situations of the upper andlower tributary streams of the same river. Our maps of America areoverloaded with names, for which rivers have been created. This desireof compiling, of filling up vacancies, and of employing, withoutinvestigation, heterogeneous materials, has given our maps ofcountries the least visited an appearance of exactness, the falsity ofwhich is discovered when we arrive on the spot. ) Almost all the mapsof South America which have appeared since the year 1775 are, in whatregards the interior of the country, comprised between the steppes ofVenezuela and the river of the Amazons, between the eastern back ofthe Andes and the coast of Cayenne, a simple copy of the great Spanishmap of La Cruz Olmedilla. A line, indicating the extent of countrywhich Don Jose Solano boasted of having discovered and pacified by histroops and emissaries, was taken for the road followed by thatofficer, who never went beyond San Fernando de Atabapo, a village onehundred and sixty leagues distant from the pretended lake Parima. Thestudy of the work of Father Caulin, who was the historiographer of theexpedition of Solano, and who states very clearly, from the testimonyof the Indians, how the name of the river Parima gave rise to thefable of El Dorado, and of an inland sea, has been neglected. No useeither has been made of a map of the Orinoco, three years posterior tothat of La Cruz, and traced by Surville from the collection of true orhypothetical materials preserved in the archives of the Despachouniversal de Indias. The progress of geography, as manifested on ourmaps, is much slower than might be supposed from the number of usefulresults which are found scattered in the works of different nations. Astronomical observations and topographic information accumulateduring a long lapse of years, without being made use of; and from aprinciple of stability and preservation, in other respectspraiseworthy, those who construct maps often choose rather to addnothing, than to sacrifice a lake, a chain of mountains, or aninterbranching of rivers, which have figured there during ages. 

The fabulous traditions of El Dorado and the lake Parima having beendiversely modified according to the aspect of the countries to whichthey were to be adapted, we must distinguish what they contain that isreal from what is merely imaginary. To avoid entering here into minuteparticulars, I shall begin first to call the attention of the readerto those spots which have been, at various periods, the theatre of theexpeditions undertaken for the discovery of El Dorado. When we havelearnt to know the aspect of the country, and the local circumstances, such as they can now be described, it will be easy to conceive how thedifferent hypotheses recorded on our maps have taken rise by degrees, and have modified each other. To oppose an error, it is sufficient torecall to mind the variable forms in which we have seen it appear atdifferent periods. 

Till the middle of the eighteenth century, all that vast space of landcomprised between the mountains of French Guiana and the forests ofthe Upper Orinoco, between the sources of the Carony and the RiverAmazon (from 0 to 4 degrees of north latitude, and from 57 to 68degrees of longitude), was so little known that geographers couldplace in it lakes where they pleased, create communications betweenrivers, and figure chains of mountains more or less lofty. They havemade full use of this liberty; and the situation of lakes, as well asthe course and branches of rivers, has been varied in so many waysthat it would not be surprising if among the great number of maps somewere found that trace the real state of things. The field ofhypotheses is now singularly narrowed. I have determined the longitudeof Esmeralda in the Upper Orinoco; more to the east amid the plains ofParima (a land as unknown as Wangara and Dar-Saley, in Africa), a bandof twenty leagues broad has been travelled over from north to southalong the banks of the Rio Carony and the Rio Branco in the longitudeof sixty-three degrees. This is the perilous road which was taken byDon Antonio Santos in going from Santo Thome del Angostura to RioNegro and the Amazon; by this road also the colonists of Surinamcommunicated very recently with the inhabitants of Grand Para. Thisroad divides the terra incognita of Parima into two unequal portions;and fixes limits at the same time to the sources of the Orinoco, whichit is no longer possible to carry back indefinitely toward the east, without supposing that the bed of the Rio Branco, which flows fromnorth to south, is crossed by the bed of the Upper Orinoco, whichflows from east to west. If we follow the course of the Rio Branco, orthat strip of cultivated land which is dependent on the CapitaniaGeneral of Grand Para, we see lakes, partly imaginary and partlyenlarged by geographers, forming two distinct groups. The first ofthese groups includes the lakes which they place between the Esmeraldaand the Rio Branco; and to the second belong those that are supposedto lie between the Rio Branco and the mountains of Dutch and FrenchGuiana. It results from this sketch that the question whether thereexists a lake Parima on the east of the Rio Branco is altogetherforeign to the problem of the sources of the Orinoco. 

Beside the country which we have just noticed (the Dorado de laParime, traversed by the Rio Branco), another part of America isfound, two hundred and sixty leagues toward the west, near the easternback of the Cordillera of the Andes, equally celebrated in theexpeditions to El Dorado. This is the Mesopotamia between the Caqueta, the Rio Negro, the Uaupes, and the Yurubesh, of which I have alreadygiven a particular account; it is the Dorado of the Omaguas whichcontains Lake Manoa of Father Acunha, the Laguna de oro of the Guanesand the auriferous land whence Father Fritz received plates of beatengold in his mission on the Amazon, toward the end of the seventeenthcentury. 

The first and above all the most celebrated enterprises attempted insearch of El Dorado were directed toward the eastern back of the Andesof New Grenada. Fired with the ideas which an Indian of Tacunga hadgiven of the wealth of the king or zaque of Cundirumarca, Sebastian deBelalcazar, in 1535, sent his captains Anasco and Ampudia, to discoverthe valley of El Dorado, * twelve days' journey from Guallabamba, consequently in the mountains between Pasto and Popayan. (* El valledel Dorado. Pineda relates: que mas adelante de la provincia de laCanela se hallan tierras muy ricas, adonde andaban los hombres armadosde piecas y joyas de oro, y que no havia sierra, ni montana. [Beyondthe province of Canela there are found very rich countries (thoughwithout mountains) in which the natives are adorned with trinkets andplates of gold. ] Herrera dec. 5 lib. 10 cap. 14 and dec. 6 lib. 8 cap. 6 Geogr. Blaviana volume 11 page 261. Southey tome 1 pages 78 and373. ) The information which Pedro de Anasco had obtained from thenatives, joined to that which was received subsequently (1536) by Diazde Pineda, who had discovered the provinces of Quixos and Canela, between the Rio Napo and the Rio Pastaca, gave birth to the idea thaton the east of the Nevados of Tunguragua, Cayambe, and Popayan, werevast plains, abounding in precious metals, and where the inhabitantswere covered with armour of massy gold. Gonzales Pizarro, in searchingfor these treasures, discovered accidentally, in 1539, thecinnamon-trees of America (Laurus cinnamomoides, Mut. ); and Franciscode Orellana went down the Napo, to reach the river Amazon. Since thatperiod expeditions were undertaken at the same time from Venezuela, New Grenada, Quito, Peru, and even from Brazil and the Rio de laPlata, * for the conquest of El Dorado. (* Nuno de Chaves went from theCiudad de la Asumpcion, situate on Rio Paraguay, to discover, in thelatitude of 24 degrees south, the vast empire of El Dorado, which waseverywhere supposed to lie on the eastern back of the Andes. ) Those ofwhich the remembrance have been best preserved, and which have mostcontributed to spread the fable of the riches of the Manaos, theOmaguas, and the Guaypes, as well as the existence of the lagunas deoro, and the town of the gilded king (Grand Patiti, Grand Moxo, GrandParu, or Enim), are the incursions made to the south of the Guaviare, the Rio Fragua, and the Caqueta. Orellana, having found idols of massygold, had fixed men's ideas on an auriferous land between the Papameneand the Guaviare. His narrative, and those of the voyages of Jorge deEspira (George von Speier), Hernan Perez de Quesada, and Felipe deUrre (Philip von Huten), undertaken in 1536, 1542, and 1545, furnish, amid much exaggeration, proofs of very exact local knowledge. * (* Wemay be surprised to see, that the expedition of Huten is passed overin absolute silence by Herrera (dec. 7 lib. 10 cap. 7 volume 4 238). Fray Pedro Simon gives the whole particulars of it, true or fabulous;but he composed his work from materials that were unknown to Herrera. )When these are examined merely in a geographical point of view, weperceive the constant desire of the first conquistadores to reach theland comprised between the sources of the Rio Negro, of the Uaupes(Guape), and of the Jupura or Caqueta. This is the land which, inorder to distinguish it from El Dorado de la Parime, we have called ElDorado des Omaguas. * (* In 1560 Pedro de Ursua even took the title ofGovernador del Dorado y de Omagua. Fray Pedro Simon volume 6 chapter10 page 430. ) No doubt the whole country between the Amazon and theOrinoco was vaguely known by the name of las Provincias del Dorado;but in this vast extent of forests, savannahs, and mountains, theprogress of those who sought the great lake with auriferous banks, andthe town of the gilded king, was directed towards two points only, onthe north-east and south-west of the Rio Negro; that is, to Parima (orthe isthmus between the Carony, the Essequibo, and the Rio Branco), and to the ancient abode of the Manaos, the inhabitants of the banksof the Yurubesh. I have just mentioned the situation of the latterspot, which is celebrated in the history of the conquest from 1535 to1560; and it remains for me to speak of the configuration of thecountry between the Spanish missions of the Rio Carony, and thePortuguese missions of the Rio Branco or Parima. This is the countrylying near the Lower Orinoco, the Esmeralda, and French and DutchGuiana, on which, since the end of the sixteenth century, theenterprises and exaggerated narratives of Raleigh have shed so brighta splendour. 

From the general disposition of the course of the Orinoco, directedsuccessively towards the west, the north, and the east, its mouth liesalmost in the same meridian as its sources: so that by proceeding fromVieja Guyana to the south the traveller passes through the whole ofthe country in which geographers have successively placed an inlandsea (Mar Blanco), and the different lakes which are connected with theEl Dorado de la Parime. We find first the Rio Carony, which is formedby the union of two branches of almost equal magnitude, the Caronyproperly so called, and the Rio Paragua. The missionaries of Piritucall the latter river a lake (laguna): it is full of shoals, andlittle cascades; but, passing through a country entirely flat, it issubject at the same time to great inundations, and its real bed (suverdadera caxa) can scarcely be discovered. The natives have given itthe name of Paragua or Parava, which means in the Caribbee languagesea, or great lake. These local circumstances and this denomination nodoubt have given rise to the idea of transforming the Rio Paragua, atributary stream of the Carony, into a lake called Cassipa, on accountof the Cassipagotos, * who lived in those countries. (* Raleigh pages64 and 69. I always quote, when the contrary is not expressly said, the original edition of 1596. Have these tribes of Cassipagtos, Epuremei, and Orinoqueponi, so often mentioned by Raleigh, disappeared? or did some misapprehension give rise to thesedenominations? I am surprised to find the Indian words [of one of thedifferent Carib dialects?] Ezrabeta cassipuna aquerewana, translatedby Raleigh, the great princes or greatest commander. Since acarwanacertainly signifies a chief, or any person who commands (Raleigh pages6 and 7), cassipuna perhaps means great, and lake Cassipa issynonymous with great lake. In the same manner Cass-iquiare may be agreat river, for iquiare, like veni, is, an the north of the Amazon, atermination common to all rivers. Goto, however, in Cassipa-goto, is aCaribbee term denoting a tribe. ) Raleigh gives this basin forty milesin breadth; and, as all the lakes of Parima must have auriferoussands, he does not fail to assert that in summer, when the watersretire, pieces of gold of considerable weight are found there. 

The sources of the tributary streams of the Carony, the Arui, and theCaura (Caroli, Arvi, and Caora, * of the ancient geographers (*D'Anville names the Rio Caura, Coari; and the Rio Arui, Aroay. I havenot been able hitherto to guess what is meant by the Aloica (Atoca, Atoica of Raleigh), which issues from the lake Cassipa, between theCaura and the Arui. )) being very near each other, this suggested theidea of making all these rivers take their rise from the pretendedlake Cassipa. * (* Raleigh makes only the Carony and the Arui issuefrom it (Hondius, Nieuwe Caerte van het wonderbare landt Guiana, besocht door Sir Walter Raleigh, 1594 to 1596): but in later maps, forinstance that of Sanson, the Rio Caura issues also from Lake Cassipa. )Sanson has so much enlarged this lake, that he gives it forty-twoleagues in length, and fifteen in breadth. The ancient geographersplaced opposite to each other, with very little hesitation, thetributary streams of the two banks of a river; and they place themouth of the Carony, and lake Cassipa, which communicates by theCarony with the Orinoco, sometimes* ABOVE the confluence of the Meta. (* Sanson, Map for the Voyage of Acunha, 1680. Id. South America, 1659. Coronelli, Indes occidentales, 1689. ) Thus it is carried back byHondius as far as the latitudes of 2 and 3 degrees, giving it the formof a rectangle, the longest sides of which run from north to south. This circumstance is worthy of remark, because, in assigning graduallya more southern latitude to lake Cassipa, it has been detached fromthe Carony and the Arui, and has taken the name of Parima. To followthis metamorphosis in its progressive development, we must compare themaps which have appeared since the voyage of Raleigh till now. LaCruz, who has been copied by all the modern geographers, has preservedthe oblong form of the lake Cassipa for his lake Parima, although thisform is entirely different from that of the ancient lake Parima, orRupunuwini, of which the great axis was directed from east to west. The ancient lake (that of Hondius, Sanson, and Coronelli) was alsosurrounded by mountains, and gave birth to no river; while the lakeParima of La Cruz and the modern geographers communicates with theUpper Orinoco, as the Cassipa with the Lower Orinoco. 

I have stated the origin of the fable of the lake Cassipa, and theinfluence it has had on the opinion that the lake Parima is the sourceof the Orinoco. Let us now examine what relates to this latter basin, this pretended interior sea, called Rupunuwini by the geographers ofthe sixteenth century. In the latitude of four degrees or four degreesand a half (in which direction unfortunately, south of Santo Thome delAngostura to the extent of eight degrees, no astronomical observationhas been made) is a long and narrow Cordillera, that of Pacaraimo, Quimiropaca, and Ucucuamo; which, stretching from east to south-west, unites the group of mountains of Parima to the mountains of Dutch andFrench Guiana. It divides its waters between the Carony, the Rupunuryor Rupunuwini, and the Rio Branco, and consequently between thevalleys of the Lower Orinoco, the Essequibo, and the Rio Negro. On thenorth-west of the Cordillera de Pacaraimo, which has been traversedbut by a small number of Europeans (by the German surgeon, NicolasHortsmann, in 1739; by a Spanish officer, Don Antonio Santos, in 1775;by the Portuguese colonel, Barata, in 1791; and by several Englishsettlers, in 1811), descend the Noeapra, the Paraguamusi, and theParagua, which fall into the Rio Carony; on the north-east, theRupunuwini, a tributary stream of the Rio Essequibo. Toward the south, the Tacutu and the Urariquera form together the famous Rio Parima, orRio Branco. 

This isthmus, between the branches of the Rio Essequibo and the RioBranco (that is, between the Rupunuwini on one side, and the Pirara, the Mahu, and the Uraricuera or Rio Parima on the other), may beconsidered as the classical soil of the Dorado of Parima. The riversat the foot of the mountains of Pacaraimo are subject to frequentoverflowings. Above Santa Rosa, the right bank of the Urariapara, atributary stream of the Uraricuera, is called el Valle de laInundacion. Great pools are also found between the Rio Parima and theXurumu. These are marked on the maps recently constructed in Brazil, which furnish the most ample details of those countries. More to thewest, the Cano Pirara, a tributary stream of the Mahu, issues from alake covered with rushes. This is the lake Amucu described by NicolasHortsmann, and respecting which some Portuguese of Barcelos, who hadvisited the Rio Branco (Rio Parima or Rio Paravigiana), gave meprecise notions during my stay at San Carlos del Rio Negro. The lakeAmucu is several leagues broad, and contains two small islands, whichSantos heard called Islas Ipomucena. The Rupunuwini (Rupunury), on thebanks of which Hortsmann discovered rocks covered with hieroglyphicalfigures, approaches very near this lake, but does not communicate withit. The portage between the Rupunuwini and the Mahu is farther north, where the mountain of Ucucuamo* rises, the natives still call themountain of gold. (* I follow the orthography of the manuscriptjournal of Rodriguez; it is the Cerro Acuquamo of Caulin, or rather ofhis commentator. Hist. Corogr. Page 176. ) They advised Hortsmann toseek round the Rio Mahu for a mine of silver (no doubt mica with largeplates), of diamonds, and emeralds. He found nothing but rockycrystals. His account seems to prove that the whole length of themountains of the Upper Orinoco (Sierra Parima) toward the east, iscomposed of granitic rocks, full of druses and open veins, the Peak ofDuida. Near these lands, which still enjoy a great celebrity for theirriches, on the western limits of Dutch Guiana, live the Macusis, Aturajos, and Acuvajos. The traveller Santos found them stationedbetween the Rupunuwini, the Mahu, and the chain of Pacaraimo. It isthe appearance of the micaceous rocks of the Ucucuamo, the name of theRio Parima, the inundations of the rivers Urariapara, Parima, andXurumu, and more especially the existence of the lake Amucu (near theRio Rupunuwini, and regarded as the principal source of the RioParima), which have given rise to the fable of the White Sea and theDorado of Parima. All these circumstances (which have served on thisvery account to corroborate the general opinion) are found united on aspace of ground which is eight or nine leagues broad from north tosouth, and forty long from east to west. This direction, too, wasalways assigned to the White Sea, by lengthening it in the directionof the latitude, till the beginning of the sixteenth century. Now thisWhite Sea is nothing but the Rio Parima, which is called the WhiteRiver (Rio Branco, or Rio del Aguas blancas), and runs through andinundates the whole of this land. The name of Rupunuwini is given tothe White Sea on the most ancient maps, which identifies the place ofthe fable, since of all the tributary streams of the Rio Essequibo theRupunuwini is the nearest to the lake Amucu. Raleigh, in his firstvoyage (1595), had formed no precise idea of the situation of ElDorado and the lake Parima, which he believed to be salt, and which hecalls another Caspian Sea. It was not till the second voyage (1596), performed equally at the expense of Raleigh, that Laurence Keymisfixed so well the localities of El Dorado, that he appears to me tohave no doubt of the identity of the Parima de Manao with the lakeAmucu, and with the isthmus between the Rupunuwini (a tributary streamof the Essequibo) and the Rio Parima or Rio Branco. "The Indians, "says Keymis, "go up the Dessekebe [Essequibo] in twenty days, towardsthe south. To mark the greatness of this river, they call it thebrother of the Orinoco. After twenty days' navigating they conveytheir canoes by a portage of one day, from the river Dessekebe to alake, which the Jaos call Roponowini, and the Caribbees Parime. Thislake is as large as a sea; it is covered with an infinite number ofcanoes; and I suppose" [the Indians then had told him nothing of this]"that this lake is no other than that which contains the town ofManoa. "* (* Cayley's Life of Raleigh volume 1 pages 159, 236 and 283. Masham in the third voyage of Raleigh (1596) repeats these accounts ofthe Lake Rupunuwini. ) Hondius has given a curious plate of thisportage; and, as the mouth of the Carony was then supposed to be inlatitude 4 degrees (instead of 8 degrees 8 minutes), the portage ofParima was placed close to the equator. At the same period the Viapoco(Oyapoc) and the Rio Cayenne (Maroni?) were made to issue from thislake Parima. The same name being given by the Caribs to the westernbranch of the Rio Branco has perhaps contributed as much to theimaginary enlargement of the lake Amucu, as the inundations of thevarious tributary streams of the Uraricuera, from the confluence ofthe Tacutu to the Valle de la Inundacion. 

We have shown above that the Spaniards took the Rio Paragua, orParava, which falls into the Carony, for a lake, because the wordparava signifies sea, lake, river. Parima seems also to denote vaguelygreat water; for the root par is found in the Carib words thatdesignate rivers, pools, lakes, and the ocean. * (* In Persian the rootwater (ab) is found also in lake (abdan). For other etymologies of thewords Parima and Manoa see Gili volume 1 pages 81 and 141; and Gumillavolume 1 page 403. ) In Arabic and in Persian, bahr and deria are alsoapplied at the same time to the sea, to lakes, and to rivers; and thispractice, common to many nations in both worlds, has, on our ancientmaps, converted lakes into rivers and rivers into lakes. In support ofwhat I here advance, I shall appeal to very respectable testimony, that of Father Caulin. "When I inquired of the Indians, " says thismissionary, who sojourned longer than I on the banks of the LowerOrinoco, "what Parima was, they answered that it was nothing more thana river that issued from a chain of mountains, the opposite side ofwhich furnished waters to the Essequibo. " Caulin, knowing nothing oflake Amucu, attributes the erroneous opinion of the existence of aninland sea solely to the inundations of the plains (a las inundacionesdilatadas por los bajos del pais). According to him, the mistakes ofgeographers arise from the vexatious circumstance of all the rivers ofGuiana having different names at their mouths and near their sources. "I have no doubt, " he adds, "that one of the upper branches of the RioBranco is that very Rio Parima which the Spaniards have taken for alake (a quien suponian laguna). " Such are the opinions which thehistoriographer of the Expedition of the Boundaries had formed on thespot. He could not expect that La Cruz and Surville, mingling oldhypotheses with accurate ideas, would reproduce on their maps the MarDorado or Mar Blanco. Thus, notwithstanding the numerous proofs whichI have furnished since my return from America, of the non-existence ofan inland sea the origin of the Orinoco, a map has been published inmy name, * on which the Laguna Parima figures anew. (* Carte del'Amerique, dressee sur les Observations de M. De Humboldt, par Fried. Vienna 1818. )

From the whole of these statements it follows, first, that the LagunaRupunuwini, or Parima of the voyage of Raleigh and of the maps ofHondius, is an imaginary lake, formed by the lake Amucu* (* This isthe lake Amaca of Surville and La Cruz. By a singular mistake, thename of this lake is transformed to a village on Arrowsmith's map. )and the tributary streams of the Uraricuera, which often overflowtheir banks; secondly, that the Laguna Parime of Surville's map is thelake Amucu, which gives rise to the Rio Pirara and (conjointly withthe Mahu, the Tacutu, the Uraricuera, or Rio Parima, properly socalled) to the Rio Branco; thirdly, that the Laguna Parime of La Cruzis an imaginary swelling of the Rio Parime (confounded with theOrinoco) below the junction of the Mahu with the Xurumu. The distancefrom the mouth of the Mahu to that of the Tacutu is scarcely 0 degrees40 minutes; La Cruz enlarges it to 7 degrees of latitude. He calls theupper part of the Rio Branco (that which receives the Mahu) Orinoco orPurumu. There can be no doubt of its being the Xurumu, one of thetributary streams of the Tacutu, which is well known to theinhabitants of the neighbouring fort of San Joaquim. All the namesthat figure in the fable of El Dorado are found in the tributarystreams of the Rio Branco. Slight local circumstances, joined to theremembrances of the salt lake of Mexico, more especially of thecelebrated lake Manoa in the Dorado des Omaguas, have served tocomplete a picture created by the imagination of Raleigh and his twolieutenants, Keymis and Masham. The inundations of the Rio Branco, Iconceive, may be compared at the utmost to those of the Red River ofLouisiana, between Nachitoches and Cados, but not to the Laguna de losXarayes, which is a temporary swelling of the Rio Paraguay. * (*Southey volume 1 page 130. These periodical overflowings of the RioParaguay have long acted the same part in the southern hemisphere, aslake Parima has been made to perform in the northern. Hondius andSanson have made the Rio de la Plata, the Rio Topajos (a tributarystream of the Amazon), the Rio Tocantines, and the Rio de SanFrancisco, issue from the Laguna de los Xarayes. )

We have now examined a White Sea, * (* That of D'Anville and La Cruz, and of the greater part of the modern maps. ) which the principal ofthe Rio Branco is made to traverse; and another, * (* The lake ofSurville, which takes the place of lake Amucu. ) which is placed on theeast of this river, and communicates with it by the Cano Pirara. Athird lake* (* The lake which Surville calls Laguna tenida hasta ahoraor La una Parime. ) is figured on the west of the Rio Branco, respecting which I found recently some curious details in themanuscript journal of the surgeon Hortsmann. "At the distance of twodays' journey below the confluence of the Mahu (Tacutu) with the RioParima (Uraricuera) a lake is found on top of a mountain. This lake isstocked with the same fish as the Rio Parima; but the waters of theformer are black, and those of the latter white. " May not Surville, from a vague notion of this basin, have imagined, in his map prefixedto Father Caulin's work, an Alpine lake of ten leagues in length, nearwhich, towards the east, rise at the same time the Orinoco, and theRio Idapa, a tributary stream of the Rio Negro? However vague may bethe account of the surgeon of Hildesheim, it is impossible to admitthat the mountain, which has a lake at its summit, is to the north ofthe parallel of 2 degrees 30 minutes: and this latitude coincidesnearly with that of the Cerro Unturan. Hence it follows that theAlpine lake of Hortsmann, which has escaped the attention ofD'Anville, and which is perhaps situate amid a group of mountains, lies north-east of the portage from the Idapa to the Mavaca, andsouth-east of the Orinoco, where it goes up above Esmeralda. 

Most of the historians who have treated of the first ages of theconquest seem persuaded that the name provincias or pais del Doradodenoted originally every region abounding in gold. Forgetting theprecise etymology of the word El Dorado (the gilded), they have notperceived that this tradition is a local fable, as were almost all theancient fables of the Greeks, the Hindoos, and the Persians. Thehistory of the gilded man belongs originally to the Andes of NewGrenada, and particularly to the plains in the vicinity of theireastern side: we see it progressively advance, as I observed above, three hundred leagues toward the east-north-east, from the sources ofthe Caqueta to those of the Rio Branco and the Essequibo. Gold wassought in different parts of South America before 1536, without theword El Dorado having been ever pronounced, and without the belief ofthe existence of any other centre of civilization and wealth, than theempire of the Inca of Cuzco. Countries which now do not furnishcommerce with the smallest quantities of the precious metals, thecoast of Paria, Terra Firma (Castillo del Oro), the mountains of SantaMarta, and the isthmus of Darien, then enjoyed the same celebritywhich has been more recently acquired by the auriferous lands ofSonora, Choco, and Brazil. 

Diego de Ordaz (1531) and Alonzo de Herrera (1535) directed theirjourneys of discovery along the banks of the Lower Orinoco. The formeris the famous Conquistador of Mexico, who boasted that he had takensulphur out of the crater of the Peak of Popocatepetl, and whom theemperor Charles V permitted to wear a burning volcano on his armorialbearings. Ordaz, named Adelantado of all the country which he couldconquer between Brazil and the coast of Venezuela, which was thencalled the country of the German Company of Welsers (Belzares) ofAugsburg, began his expedition by the mouth of the Maranon. He theresaw, in the hands of the natives, "emeralds as big as a man's fist. "They were, no doubt, pieces of that saussurite jade, or compactfeldspar, which we brought home from the Orinoco, and which LaCondamine found in abundance at the mouth of the Rio Topayos. TheIndians related to Diego de Ordaz that on going up during a certainnumber of suns toward the west, he would find a large rock (pena) ofgreen stone; but before they reached this pretended mountain ofemerald (rocks of euphotide?) a shipwreck put an end to all fartherdiscovery. The Spaniards saved themselves with difficulty in two smallvessels. They hastened to get out of the mouth of the Amazon; and thecurrents, which in those parts run with violence to the north-west, led Ordaz to the coast of Paria where, in the territory of the caciqueYuripari (Uriapari, Viapari), Sedeno had constructed the Casa fuertede Paria. This post being very near the mouth of the Orinoco, theMexican Conquistador resolved to attempt an expedition on this greatriver. He sojourned first at Carao (Caroa, Carora), a large Indianvillage, which appears to me to have been a little to the east of theconfluence of the Carony; he then went up the Cabruta (Cabuta, Cabritu), and to the mouth of the Meta (Metacuyu), where he foundgreat difficulty in passing his boats through the Raudal of Cariven. The Aruacas, whom Ordaz employed as guides, advised him to go up theMeta; where, on advancing towards the west, they asserted he wouldfind men clothed, and gold in abundance. Ordaz pursued in preferencethe navigation of the Orinoco, but the cataracts of Tabaje (perhapseven those of the Atures) compelled him to terminate his discoveries. 

It is worthy of remark that in this voyage, far anterior to that ofOrellana, and consequently the greatest which the Spaniards had thenperformed on a river of the New World, the name of the Orinoco was forthe first time heard. Ordaz, the leader of the expedition, affirmsthat the river, from its mouth as far as the confluence of the Meta, is called Uriaparia, but that above this confluence it bears the nameof Orinucu. This word (formed analogously with the words Tamanacu, Otomacu, Sinarucu) is, in fact, of the Tamanac tongue; and, as theTamanacs dwell south-east of Encaramada, it is natural that theconquistadores heard the actual name of the river only on drawing nearthe Rio Meta. * (* Gili volume 3 page 381. The following are the mostancient names of the Orinoco, known to the natives near its mouth, andwhich historians give us altered by the double fault of pronunciationand orthography; Yuyapari, Yjupari, Huriaparia, Urapari, Viapari, Riode Paria. The Tamanac word Orinucu was disfigured by the Dutch pilotsinto Worinoque. The Otomacs say Joga-apurura (great river); the Cabresand Guaypunabis, Paragua, Bazagua Parava, three words signifying greatwater, river, sea. That part of the Orinoco between the Apure and theGuaviare is often denoted by the name of Baraguan. A famous strait, which we have described above, bears also this name, which is no doubta corruption of the word Paragua. Great rivers in every zone arecalled by the dwellers on their banks the river, without anyparticular denominations. If other names be added, they change inevery province. Thus the Rio Turiva, near the Encaramada, has fivenames in the different parts of its course. The Upper Orinoco, orParagua, is called by the Maquiritares (near Esmeralda) Maraguaca, onaccount of the lofty mountains of this name near Duida. Gili volume 1pages 22 and 364. Caulin page 75. In most of the names of the riversof America we recognize the root water. Thus yacu in the Peruvian, andveni in the Maypure tongues, signify water and river. In the Luledialect I find fo, water; foyavolto, a river; foysi, a lake; as inPersian, ab is water; abi frat, the river Euphrates; abdan, a lake. The root water is preserved in the derivatives. ) On this lasttributary stream Diego de Ordaz received from the natives the firstidea of civilized nations who inhabited the table-lands of the Andesof New Granada; of a very powerful prince with one eye (Indio tuerto), and of animals less than stags, but fit for riding like Spanishhorses. Ordaz had no idea that these animals were llamas (ovejas delPeru). Must we admit that llamas, which were used in the Andes to drawthe plough and as beasts of burden, but not for riding, were alreadycommon on the north and east of Quito? I find that Orellana saw theseanimals at the river Amazon, above the confluence of the Rio Negro, consequently in a climate very different from that of the table-landof the Andes. The table of an army of Omaguas mounted on llamas servedto embellish the account given by the fellow-travellers of Felipe deUrre of their adventurous expedition to the Upper Caqueta. We cannotbe sufficiently attentive to these traditions, which seem to provethat the domestic animals of Quito and Peru had already begun todescend the Cordilleras, and spread themselves by degrees in theeastern regions of South America. 

Herrera, the treasurer of the expedition of Ordaz, was sent in 1553, by the governor Geronimo de Ortal, to pursue the discovery of theOrinoco and the Meta. He lost nearly thirteen months between PuntaBarina and the confluence of the Carony in constructing flat-bottomedboats, and making the preparations indispensable for a long voyage. Wecannot read without astonishment the narrative of those daringenterprises, in which three or four hundred horses were embarked to beput ashore whenever cavalry could act on one of the banks. We find inthe expedition of Herrera the same stations which we already knew; thefortress of Paria, the Indian village of Uriaparia (no doubt belowImataca, on a point where the inundations of the delta prevented theSpaniards from being able to procure firewood), Caroa, in the provinceof Carora; the rivers Caranaca (Caura?) and Caxavana (Cuchivero?); thevillage of Cabritu (Cabruta), and the Raudal near the mouth of theMeta (probably the Raudal of Cariven and the Piedra de la Paciencia). As the Rio Meta, on account of the proximity of its sources and of itstributary streams to the auriferous Cordilleras of new Grenada(Cundinamarca), enjoyed great celebrity, Herrera attempted to go upthis river. He there found nations more civilized than those of theOrinoco, but that fed on the flesh of mute dogs. Herrera was killed inbattle by an arrow poisoned with the juice of curare (yierva); andwhen dying named Alvaro de Ordaz his lieutenant, who led the remainsof the expedition (1535) to the fortress of Paria, after having lostthe few horses which had resisted a campaign of eighteen months. 

Confused reports which were circulated of the wealth of theinhabitants of the Meta, and the other tributary streams that descendfrom the eastern side of the Cordilleras of New Grenada, engagedsuccessively Geronimo de Ortal, Nicolas Federmann, and Jorge de Espira(George von Speier), in 1535 and 1536, to undertake expeditions byland towards the south and south-west. From the promontory of Paria, as far as Cabo de la Vela, little figures of molten gold had beenfound in the hands of the natives, as early as the years 1498 and1500. The principal markets for these amulets, which the women used asornaments, were the villages of Curiana (Coro) and Cauchieto (Near theRio la Hacha). The metal employed by the founders of Cauchieto camefrom a mountainous country more to the south. It may be conceived thatthe expeditions of Ordaz and Herrera served to increase the desire ofdrawing nearer to those auriferous countries. George von Speier leftCoro (1535), and penetrated by the mountains of Merida to the banks ofthe Apure and the Meta. He passed these two rivers near their sources, where they have but little breadth. The Indians told him that, fartheron, white men wandered about the plains. Speier, who imagined that hewas not far from the banks of the Amazon, had no doubt that thesewandering Spaniards were men unfortunately shipwrecked in theexpedition of Ordaz. He crossed the savannahs of San Juan de losLlanos, which were said to abound in gold; and made a long stay at anIndian village called Pueblo de Nuestra Senora, and afterwards LaFragua, south-east of the Paramo de la Suma Paz. I have been on thewestern back of this group of mountains, at Fusagasuga, and thereheard that the plains by which they are skirted toward the east stillenjoy some celebrity for wealth among the natives. Speier found in thepopulous village of La Fragua a Casa del Sol (temple of the sun), anda convent of virgins similar to those of Peru and New Granada. Werethese the consequence of a migration of religious rites towards theeast? or must we admit that the plains of San Juan were their firstcradle? Tradition, indeed, records that Bochica, the legislator of NewGranada and high-priest of Iraca, had gone up from the plains of theeast to the table-land of Bogota. But Bochica being at once theoffspring and the symbol of the sun, his history may containallegories that are merely astrological. Speier, pursuing his waytoward the south, and crossing the two branches of the Guaviare, whichare the Ariare and the Guayavero (Guayare or Canicamare), arrived onthe banks of the great Rio Papamene or Caqueta. The resistance he metwith during a whole year in the province de los Choques, put an end, in 1537, to this memorable expedition. Nicolas Federmann and Geronimode Ortal (1536), who went from Macarapana and the mouth of the RioNeveri, followed (1535) the traces of Jorge de Espira. The formersought for gold in the Rio Grande de la Magdalena; the latterendeavoured to discover a temple of the sun (Casa del Sol) on thebanks of the Meta. Ignorant of the idiom of the natives, they seemedto see everywhere, at the foot of the Cordilleras, the reflexion ofthe greatness of the temples of Iraca (Sogamozo), which was then thecentre of the civilization of Cundinamarca. 

I have now examined, in a geographical point of view, the expeditionson the Orinoco, and in a western and southern direction on the easternback of the Andes, before the tradition of El Dorado was spread amongthe conquistadores. This tradition, as we have noticed above, had itsorigin in the kingdom of Quito, where Luis Daza (1535) met with anIndian of New Grenada who had been sent by his prince (no doubt thezippa of Bogota, or the zaque of Tunja), to demand assistance fromAtahualpa, inca of Peru. This ambassador boasted, as is usual, thewealth of his country; but what particularly fixed the attention ofthe Spaniards who were assembled with Daza in the town of Tacunga(Llactacunga), was the history of a lord who, his body covered withpowdered gold, went into a lake amid the mountains. This lake may havebeen the Laguna de Totta, a little to the east of Sogamozo (Iraca) andof Tunja (Hunca, the town of Huncahua), where two chiefs, ecclesiastical and secular, of the empire of Cundinamarca, orCundirumarca, resided; but no historical remembrance being attached tothis mountain lake, I rather suppose that it was the sacred lake ofGuatavita, on the east of the mines of rock-salt of Zipaquira, intowhich the gilded lord was made to enter. I saw on its banks theremains of a staircase hewn in the rock, and serving for theceremonies of ablution. The Indians said that powder of gold andgolden vessels were thrown into this lake, as a sacrifice to theadoratorio de Guatavita. Vestiges are still found of a breach whichwas made by the Spaniards for the purpose of draining the lake. Thetemple of the sun at Sogamozo being pretty near the northern coasts ofTerra Firma, the notions of the gilded man were soon applied to ahigh-priest of the sect of Bochica, or Indacanzas, who every morning, before he performed his sacrifice, caused powder of gold to be stuckupon his hands and face, after they had been smeared with grease. Other accounts, preserved in a letter of Oviedo addressed to thecelebrated cardinal Bembo, say that Gonzalo Pizarro, when hediscovered the province of cinnamon-trees, "sought at the same time agreat prince, noised in those countries, who was always covered withpowdered gold, so that from head to foot he resembled an image of goldfashioned by the hand of a skilful workman (a una figura d'orolavorato di mano d'un buonissimo orefice). The powdered gold is fixedto the body by means of an odoriferous resin; but, as this kind ofgarment would be uneasy to him while he slept, the prince washeshimself every evening, and is gilded anew in the morning, which provesthat the empire of El Dorado is infinitely rich in mines. " It seemsprobable that there was something in the ceremonies of the worshipintroduced by Bochica which gave rise to a tradition so generallyspread. The strangest customs are found in the New World. In Mexicothe sacrificers painted their bodies and wore a kind of cape, withhanging sleeves of tanned human skin. 

On the banks of the Caura, and in other wild parts of Guiana, wherepainting the body is used instead of tattooing, the nations anointthemselves with turtle-fat, and stick spangles of mica with a metalliclustre, white as silver and red as copper, on their skin, so that at adistance they seem to wear laced clothes. The fable of the gilded manis, perhaps, founded on a similar custom; and, as there were twosovereign princes in New Granada, the lama of Iraca and the secularchief or zaque of Tunja, we cannot be surprised that the same ceremonywas attributed sometimes to the prince and sometimes to thehigh-priest. It is more extraordinary that, as early as the year 1535, the country of El Dorado was sought for on the east of the Andes. Robertson is mistaken in admitting that Orellana received the firstnotions of it (1540) on the banks of the Amazon. The history of FrayPiedro Simon, founded on the memoirs of Queseda, the conqueror ofCundirumarca, proves directly the contrary; and Gonzalo Diaz dePineda, as early as 1536, sought for the gilded man beyond the plainsof the province of Quixos. The ambassador of Bogota, whom Daza metwith in the kingdom of Quito, had spoken of a country situate towardthe east. Was this because the table-land of New Granada is not on thenorth, but on the north-east of Quito? We may venture to say that thetradition of a naked man covered with powdered gold must have belongedoriginally to a hot region, and not to the cold table-lands ofCundirumarca, where I often saw the thermometer sink below four orfive degrees; however, on account of the extraordinary configurationof the country, the climate differs greatly at Guatavita, Tunja, Iraca, and on the banks of the Sogamozo. Sometimes, also, religiousceremonies are preserved which took rise in another zone; and theMuyscas, according to ancient traditions, made Bochica, their firstlegislator and the founder of their worship, arrive from the plainssituate to the east of the Cordilleras. I shall not decide whetherthese traditions expressed an historical fact, or merely indicated, aswe have already observed in another place, that the first Lama, whowas the offspring and symbol of the sun, must necessarily have comefrom the countries of the East. Be it as it may, it is not lesscertain that the celebrity which the expeditions of Ordaz, Herrera, and Speier had already given to the Orinoco, the Meta, and theprovince of Papamene, situate between the sources of the Guaviare andCaqueta, contributed to fix the fable of El Dorado near to the easternback of the Cordilleras. 

The junction of three bodies of troops on the table-land of NewGranada spread through all that part of America occupied by theSpaniards the news of an immensely rich and populous country whichremained to be conquered. Sebastian de Belalcazar marched from Quitoby way of Popayan (1536) to Bogota; Nicholas Federmann, coming fromVenezuela, arrived from the east by the plains of Meta. These twocaptains found, already settled on the table-land of Cundirumarca, thefamous Adelantado Gonzalo Ximenez de Queseda, one of whose descendantsI saw near Zipaquira, with bare feet, attending cattle. The fortuitousmeeting of the three conquistadores, one of the most extraordinary anddramatic events of the history of the conquest, took place in 1538. Belalcazar's narratives inflamed the imagination of warriors eager foradventurous enterprises; and the notions communicated to Luis Daza bythe Indian of Tacunga were compared with the confused ideas whichOrdaz had collected on the Meta respecting the treasures of a greatking with one eye (Indio tuerto), and a people clothed, who rode uponllamas. An old soldier, Pedro de Limpias, who had accompaniedFedermann to the table-land of Bogota, carried the first news of ElDorado to Coro, where the remembrance of the expedition of Speier(1535 to 1537) to the Rio Papamene was still fresh. It was from thissame town of Coro that Felipe von Huten (Urre, Utre) undertook hiscelebrated voyage to the province of the Omaguas, while Pizarro, Orellana, and Hernan Perez de Quesada, brother of the Adelantado, sought for the gold country at the Rio Napo, along the river of theAmazons, and on the eastern chain of the Andes of New Grenada. Thenatives, in order to get rid of their troublesome guests, continuallydescribed Dorado as easy to be reached, and situate at no considerabledistance. It was like a phantom that seemed to flee before theSpaniards, and to call on them unceasingly. It is in the nature ofman, wandering on the earth, to figure to himself happiness beyond theregion which he knows. El Dorado, similar to Atlas and the islands ofthe Hesperides, disappeared by degrees from the domain of geography, and entered that of mythological fictions. 

I shall not here relate the numerous enterprises which were undertakenfor the conquest of this imaginary country. Unquestionably we areindebted to them in great part for our knowledge of the interior ofAmerica; they have been useful to geography, as errors and daringhypotheses are often to the search of truth: but in the discussion onwhich we are employed, it is incumbent on me to rest only upon thosefacts which have had the most direct influence on the construction ofancient and modern maps. Hernan Perez de Quesada, after the departureof his brother the Adelantado for Europe, sought anew (1539) but thistime in the mountainous land north-east of Bogota, the temple of thesun (Casa del Sol), of which Geronimo de Ortal had heard spoken in1536 on the banks of the Meta. The worship of the sun introduced byBochica, and the celebrity of the sanctuary of Iraca, or Sogamozo, gave rise to those confused reports of temples and idols of massygold; but on the mountains as in the plains, the traveller believedhimself to be always at a distance from them, because the realitynever corresponded with the chimerical dreams of the imagination. Francisco de Orellana, after having vainly sought El Dorado withPizarro in the Provincia de los Canelos, and on the auriferous banksof the Napo, went down (1540) the great river of the Amazon. He foundthere, between the mouths of the Javari and the Rio de la Trinidad(Yupura?) a province rich in gold, called Machiparo (Muchifaro), inthe vicinity of that of the Aomaguas, or Omaguas. These notionscontributed to carry El Dorado toward the south-east, for the namesOmaguas (Om-aguas, Aguas), Dit-Aguas, and Papamene, designated thesame country--that which Jorge de Espira had discovered in hisexpedition to the Caqueta. The Omaguas, the Manaos or Manoas, and theGuaypes (Uaupes or Guayupes) live in the plains on the north of theAmazon. They are three powerful nations, the latter of which, stretching toward the west along the banks of the Guape or Uaupe, hadbeen already mentioned in the voyages of Quesada and Huten. These twoconquistadores, alike celebrated in the history of America, reached bydifferent roads the llanos of San Juan, then called Valle de NuestraSenora. Hernan Perez de Quesada (1541) passed the Cordilleras ofCundirumarca, probably between the Paramos of Chingasa and Suma Paz;while Felipe de Huten, accompanied by Pedro de Limpias (the same whohad carried to Venezuela the first news of Dorado from the land ofBogota), directed his course from north to south, by the road whichSpeier had taken to the eastern side of the mountains. Huten leftCoro, the principal seat of the German factory or company of Welser, when Henry Remboldt was its director. After having traversed (1541)the plains of Casanare, the Meta, and the Caguan, he arrived at thebanks of the Upper Guaviare (Guayuare), a river which was longbelieved to be the source of the Orinoco, and the mouth of which I sawin passing by San Fernando de Atabapo to the Rio Negro. Not far fromthe right bank of the Guaviare, Huten entered Macatoa, the city of theGuapes. The people there were clothed, the fields appeared wellcultivated; everything denoted a degree of civilization unknown in thehot region of America which extends to the east of the Cordilleras. Speier, in his expedition to the Rio Caqueta and the province ofPapamene, had probably crossed the Guaviare far above Macatoa, beforethe junction of the two branches of this river, the Ariari and theGuayavero. Huten was told that on advancing more to the south-east hewould enter the territory of the great nation of the Omaguas, thepriest-king of which was called Quareca, and which possessed numerousherds of llamas. These traces of cultivation--these ancientresemblances to the table-land of Quito--appear to me very remarkable. It has already been said above that Orellana saw llamas at thedwelling of an Indian chief on the banks of the Amazon, and that Ordazhad heard mention made of them in the plains of Meta. 

I pause where ends the domain of geography and shall not follow Hutenin the description either of that town of immense extent, which he sawfrom afar; or of the battle of the Omaguas, where thirty-nineSpaniards (the names of fourteen are recorded in the annals of thetime) fought against fifteen thousand Indians. These false reportscontributed greatly to embellish the fable of El Dorado. The name ofthe town of the Omaguas is not found in the narrative of Huten; butthe Manoas, from whom Father Fritz received, in the seventeenthcentury, plates of beaten gold, in his mission of Yurim-Aguas, areneighbours of the Omaguas. The name of Manoa subsequently passed fromthe country of the Amazons to an imaginary town, placed in El Doradode la Parima. The celebrity attached to those countries between theCaqueta (Papamene) and the Guaupe (one of the tributary streams of theRio Negro) excited Pedro de Ursua, in 1560, to that fatal expedition, which ended by the revolt of the tyrant Aguirre. Ursua, in going downthe Caqueta to enter the river of the Amazons, heard of the provinceof Caricuri. This denomination clearly indicates the country of gold;for I find that this metal is called caricuri in the Tamanac, andcarucuru in the Caribbee. Is it a foreign word that denotes gold amongthe nations of the Orinoco, as the words sugar and cotton are in ourEuropean languages? This would prove that these nations learned toknow the precious metals among the foreign products which came to themfrom the Cordilleras, * or from the plains at the eastern back of theAndes. (* In Peruvian or Quichua (lengua del Inca) gold is calledcori, whence are derived chichicori, gold in powder, and corikoya, gold-ore. )

We arrive now at the period when the fable of El Dorado was fixed inthe eastern part of Guiana, first at the pretended lake Cassipa (onthe banks of the Paragua, a tributary stream of the Carony), andafterwards between the sources of the Rio Essequibo and the RioBranco. This circumstance has had the greatest influence on the stateof geography in those countries. Antonio de Berrio, son-in-law* (*Properly casado con una sobrina. Fray Pedro Simon pages 597 and 608. Harris Coll. Volume 2 page 212. Laet page 652. Caulin page 175. Raleigh calls Quesada Cemenes de Casada. He also confounds the periodsof the voyages of Ordaz (Ordace), Orellana (Oreliano), and Ursua. SeeEmpire of Guiana pages 13 to 20. ) and sole heir of the greatAdelantado Gonzalo Ximenez de Quesada, passed the Cordilleras to theeast of Tunja, * (* No doubt between the Paramos of Chita and ofZoraca, taking the road of Chire and Pore. Berrio told Raleigh that hecame from the Casanare to the Pato, from the Pato to the Meta, andfrom the Meta to the Baraguan (Orinoco). We must not confound this RioPato (a name connected no doubt with that of the ancient mission ofPatuto) with the Rio Paute. ) embarked on the Rio Casanare, and wentdown by this river, the Meta, and the Orinoco, to the island ofTrinidad. We scarcely know this voyage except by the narrative ofRaleigh; it appears to have preceded a few years the first foundationof Vieja Guayana, which was in the year 1591. A few years later (1595)Berrio caused his maese de campo, Domingo de Vera, to prepare inEurope an expedition of two thousand men to go up the Orinoco, andconquer El Dorado, which then began to be called the country of theManoa, and even the Laguna de la gran Manoa. Rich landholders soldtheir farms, to take part in a crusade, to which twelve Observantinmonks, and ten secular ecclesiastics were annexed. The tales relatedby one Martinez* (Juan Martin de Albujar?), who said he had beenabandoned in the expedition of Diego de Ordaz, and led from town totown till he reached the capital of El Dorado, had inflamed theimagination of Berrio. (* I believe I can demonstrate that the fableof Juan Martinez, spread abroad by the narrative of Raleigh, wasfounded on the adventures of Juan Martin de Albujar, well known to theSpanish historians of the Conquest; and who, in the expedition ofPedro de Silva (1570), fell into the hands of the Caribs of the LowerOrinoco. This Albujar married an Indian woman and became a savagehimself, as happens sometimes in our own days on the western limits ofCanada and of the United States. After having long wandered with theCaribs, the desire of rejoining the Whites led him by the RioEssequibo to the island of Trinidad. He made several excursions toSanta Fe de Bogota, and at length settled at Carora. (Simon page 591). I know not whether he died at Porto Rico; but it cannot be doubtedthat it was he who learned from the Carib traders the name of theManoas [of Jurubesh]. As he lived on the banks of the Upper Carony andreappeared by the Rio Essequibo, he may have contributed also to placethe lake Manoa at the isthmus of Rupunuwini. Raleigh makes his JuanMartinez embark below Morequito, a village at the east of thatconfluence of the Carony with the Orinoco. Thence he makes him draggedby the Caribs from town to town, till he finds at Manoa a relation ofthe inca Atabalipa (Atahualpa), whom he had known before at Caxamarca, and who had fled before the Spaniards. It appears that Raleigh hadforgotten that the voyage of Ordaz (1531) was two years anterior tothe death of Atahualpa and the entire destruction of the empire ofPeru! He must have confounded the expedition of Ordaz with that ofSilva (1570), in which Juan Martin de Albuzar partook. The latter, whorelated his tales at Santa Fe, at Venezuela, and perhaps at PortoRico, must have combined what he had heard from the Caribs with whathe had learned from the Spaniards respecting the town of the Omaguasseen by Huten; of the gilded man who sacrificed in a lake, and of theflight of the family of Atahualpa into the forests of Vilcabamba, andthe eastern Cordillera of the Andes. Garcilasso volume 2 page 194. ) Itis difficult to distinguish what this conquistador had himselfobserved in going down the Orinoco from what he said he had collectedin a pretended journal of Martinez, deposited at Porto Rico. Itappears that in general at that period the same ideas prevailedrespecting America as those which we have long entertained in regardto Africa; it was imagined that more civilization would be foundtowards the centre of the continent than on the coasts. Already JuanGonzalez, whom Diego de Ordaz had sent in 1531 to explore the banks ofthe Orinoco, announced that "the farther you went up this river themore you saw the population increase. " Berrio mentions theoften-inundated province of Amapaja, between the confluence of theMeta and the Cuchivero, where he found many little idols of moltengold, similar to those which were fabricated at Cauchieto, east ofCoro. He believed this gold to be a product of the granitic soil thatcovers the mountainous country between the Carichana, Uruana, andCuchivero. In fact the natives have recently found a mass of nativegold in the Quebrada del Tigre near the mission of Encaramada. Berriomentions on the east of the province of Amapaja the Rio Carony(Caroly), which was said to issue from a great lake, because one ofthe tributary streams of the Carony, the Rio Paragua (river of thegreat water), had been taken for an inland sea, from ignorance of theIndian languages. Several of the Spanish historians believed that thislake, the source of the Carony, was the Grand Manoa of Berrio; but thenotions he communicated to Raleigh show that the Laguna de Manoa (delDorado, or de Parime) was supposed to be to the south of the RioParagua, transformed into Laguna Cassipa. "Both these basins hadauriferous sands; but on the banks of the Cassipa was situateMacureguarai (Margureguaira), the capital of the cacique of Aromaja, and the first city of the imaginary empire of Guyana. "

As these often-inundated lands have been at all times inhabited bynations of Carib race, who carried on a very active inland trade withthe most distant regions, we must not be surprised that more gold wasfound here in the hands of the Indians than elsewhere. The natives ofthe coast did not employ this metal in the form of ornaments oramulets only; but also as a medium of exchange. It is notextraordinary, therefore, that gold has disappeared on the coast ofParia, and among the nations of the Orinoco, their inlandcommunications have been impeded by the Europeans. The natives whohave remained independent are in our days, no doubt, more wretched, more indolent, and in a ruder state, than they were before theconquest. The king of Morequito, whose son Raleigh took to England, had visited Cumana in 1594, to exchange a great quantity of images ofmassy gold for iron tools, and European merchandise. The unexpectedappearance of an Indian chief augmented the celebrity of the riches ofthe Orinoco. It was supposed that El Dorado must be near the countryfrom which the king of Morequito came; and as this country was ofteninundated, and rivers vaguely called great seas, or great basins ofwater, El Dorado must be on the banks of a lake. It was forgotten thatthe gold brought by the Caribs and other trading people was as littlethe produce of the soil as the diamonds of Brazil and India are theproduce of the regions of Europe, where they are most abundant. Theexpedition of Berrio which had increased in number during the stay ofthe vessels at Cumana, La Margareta, and the island of Trinidad, proceeded by Morequito (near Vieja Guayana) towards the Rio Paragua, atributary stream of the Carony; but sickness, the ferocity of thenatives, and the want of subsistence, opposed invincible obstacles tothe progress of the Spaniards. They all perished; except about thirty, who returned in a deplorable state to the post of Santo Thome. 

These disasters did not calm the ardour displayed during the firsthalf of the 17th century in the search of El Dorado. The Governor ofthe island of Trinidad, Antonio de Berrio, became the prisoner of SirWalter Raleigh in the celebrated incursion of that navigator, in 1595, on the coast of Venezuela and at the mouths of the Orinoco. Raleighcollected from Berrio, and from other prisoners made by CaptainPreston* at the taking of Caracas, all the information which had beenobtained at that period on the countries situate to the south of VieyaGuayana. (* These prisoners belonged to the expedition of Berrio andof Hernandez de Serpa. The English landed at Macuto (then GuaycaMacuto), whence a white man, Villalpando, led them by a mountain-pathbetween Cumbre and the Silla (perhaps passing over the ridge ofGalipano) to the town of Caracas. Simon page 594; Raleigh page 19. Those only who are acquainted with the situation can be sensible howdifficult and daring this enterprise was. ) He lent faith to the fablesinvented by Juan Martin de Albujar, and entertained no doubt either ofthe existence of the two lakes Cassipa and Rupunuwini, or of that ofthe great empire of the Inca, which, after the death of Atahualpa, thefugitive princes were supposed to have founded near the sources of theEssequibo. We are not in possession of a map that was constructed byRaleigh, and which he recommended to lord Charles Howard to keepsecret. The geographer Hondius has filled up this void; and has evenadded to his map a table of longitudes and latitudes, among whichfigure the laguna del Dorado, and the Ville Imperiale de Manoas. Raleigh, when at anchor near the Punta del Gallo* in the island ofTrinidad (* The northern part of La Punta de Icacos, which is thesouth-east cape of the island of Trinidad. Christopher Columbus castanchor there on August 3, 1498. A great confusion exists in thedenomination of the different capes of the island of Trinidad; and asrecently, since the expedition of Fidalgo and Churruca, the Spaniardsreckon the longitudes in South America west of La Punta de la Galera(latitude 10 degrees 50 minutes, longitude 63 degrees 20 minutes), itis important to fix the attention of geographers on this point. Columbus called the south-east cape of the island Punta Galera, onaccount of the form of a rock. From Punta de la Galera he sailed tothe west and landed at a low cape, which he calls Punta del Arenal;this is our Punta de Icacos. In this passage, near a place (Punta dela Playa) where he stopped to take in water (perhaps at the mouth ofthe Rio Erin), he saw to the south, for the first time, the continentof America, which he called Isla Santa. It was, therefore, the easterncoast of the province of Cumana, to the east of the Cano Macareo, nearPunta Redonda, and not the mountainous coast of Paria (Isla de Gracia, of Columbus), which was first discovered. ), made his lieutenantsexplore the mouths of the Orinoco, principally those of Capuri, GrandAmana (Manamo Grande), and Macureo (Macareo). As his ships drew agreat deal of water, he found it difficult to enter the bocas chicas, and was obliged to construct flat-bottomed barks. He remarked thefires of the Tivitivas (Tibitibies), of the race of the GuaraonIndians, on the tops of the mauritia palm-trees; and appears to havefirst brought the fruit to Europe (fructum squamosum, similem palmaepini). I am surprised, that he scarcely mentions the settlement, whichhad been made by Berrio under the name of Santo Thome (la ViejaGuayana. ) This settlement however dates from 1591; and though, according to Fray Pedro Simon, "religion and policy prohibited allmercantile connection between Christians [Spaniards] and Heretics [theDutch and English], " there was then carried on at the end of thesixteenth century, as in our days, an active contraband trade by themouths of the Orinoco. Raleigh passed the river Europa (Guarapo), and"the plains of Saymas (Chaymas), which extend, keeping the same level, as far as Cumana and Caracas;" he stopped at Morequito (perhaps alittle to the north of the site of the villa de Upata, in the missionsof the Carony), where an old cacique confirmed to him all the reveriesof Berrio on the irruption of foreign nations (Orejones and Epuremei)into Guiana. The Raudales or cataracts of the Caroli (Carony), a riverwhich was at that period considered as the shortest way for reachingthe towns of Macureguarai and Manoa, situate on the banks of lakeCassipa and of lake Rupunuwini or Dorado, put an end to thisexpedition. 

Raleigh went scarcely the distance of sixty leagues along the Orinoco;but he names the upper tributary streams, according to the vaguenotions he had collected; the Cari, the Pao, the Apure (Capuri?) theGuarico (Voari?) the Meta, * and even, "in the province of Baraguan, the great cataract of Athule (Atures), which prevents all furthernavigation. " (* Raleigh distinguishes the Meta from the Beta, whichflows into the Baraguan (the Orinoco) conjointly with the Daune, nearAthule; as he distinguishes the Casanare, a tributary stream of theMeta, and the Casnero, which comes from the south, and appears to bethe Rio Cuchivero. All above the confluence of the Apure was then veryconfusedly known; and streams that flow into the tributary streams ofthe Orinoco were considered as flowing into this river itself. TheApure (Capuri) and Meta appeared long to be the same river on accountof their proximity, and the numerous branches by which the Arauca andthe Apure join each other. Is the name of Beta perchance connectedwith that of the nation of Betoyes, of the plains of the Casanare andthe Meta? Hondius and the geographers who have followed him, with theexception of De L'Isle (1700), and of Sanson (1656), place theprovince of Amapaja erroneously to the east of the Orinoco. We seeclearly by the narrative of Raleigh (pages 26 and 72), that Amapaja isthe inundated country between the Meta and the Guarico. Where are therivers Dauney and Ubarro? The Guaviare appears to me to be the Goavarof Raleigh. ) Notwithstanding Raleigh's exaggeration, so little worthyof a statesman, his narrative contains important materials for thehistory of geography. The Orinoco above the confluence of the Apurewas at that period as little known to Europeans, as in our time thecourse of the Niger below Sego. The names of several very remotetributary streams were known, but not their situation; and when thesame name, differently pronounced, or not properly apprehended by theear, furnished different sounds, their number was multiplied. Othererrors had perhaps their source in the little interest which Antoniode Berrio, the Spanish governor, felt in communicating true andprecise notions to Raleigh, who indeed complains of his prisoner, "asbeing utterly unlearned, and not knowing the east from the west. " Ishall not here discuss the point how far the belief of Raleigh, in allhe relates of inland seas similar to the Caspian sea; on "the imperialand golden city of Manoa, " and on the magnificent palaces built by theemperor Inga of Guyana, in imitation of those of his ancestors atPeru, was real or pretended. The learned historian of Brazil, Mr. Southey, and the biographer of Raleigh, Sir G. Cayley, have recentlythrown much light on this subject. It seems to me difficult to doubtof the extreme credulity of the chief of the expedition, and of hislieutenants. We see Raleigh adapted everything to the hypotheses hehad previously formed. He was certainly deceived himself; but when hesought to influence the imagination of queen Elizabeth, and executethe projects of his own ambitious policy, he neglected none of theartifices of flattery. He described to the Queen "the transports ofthose barbarous nations at the sight of her picture;" he would have"the name of the august virgin, who knows how to conquer empires, reach as far as the country of the warlike women of the Orinoco andthe Amazon;" he asserts that "at the period when the Spaniardsoverthrew the throne of Cuzco, an ancient prophecy was found, whichpredicted that the dynasty of the Incas would one day owe itsrestoration to Great Britain;" he advises that "on pretext ofdefending the territory against external enemies, garrisons of threeor four thousand English should be placed in the towns of the Inca, obliging this prince to pay a contribution annually to Queen Elizabethof three hundred thousand pounds sterling;" finally he adds, like aman who foresees the future, that "all the vast countries of SouthAmerica will one day belong to the English nation. "* (* "I showed themher Majesty's picture, which the Casigui so admired and honoured, asit had been easy to have brought them idolatrous thereof. And Ifurther remember that Berreo confessed to me and others (which Iprotest before the majesty of God to be true), that there was foundamong prophecies at Peru (at such a time as the empire was reduced tothe Spanish obedience) in their chiefest temple, among divers otherswhich foreshowed the losse of the said empyre, that from Inglatierrathose Ingas should be again in time to come restored. The Inga wouldyield to her Majesty by composition many hundred thousand poundsyearely as to defend him against all enemies abroad and defray theexpenses of a garrison of 3000 or 4000 soldiers. It seemeth to me thatthis Empyre of Guiana is reserved for the English nation. " (Raleighpages 7, 17, 51 and 100. )

The four voyages of Raleigh to the Lower Orinoco succeeded each otherfrom 1595 to 1617. After all these useless attempts the ardour ofresearch after El Dorado has greatly diminished. No expeditions havesince been formed by a numerous band of colonists; but some solitaryenterprises have been encouraged by the governors of the provinces. The notions spread by the journeys of Father Acunha in 1688, andFather Fritz in 1637, to the auriferous land of the Manoas ofJurubesh, and to the Laguna de Ore, contributed to renew the ideas ofEl Dorado in the Portuguese and Spanish colonies north and south ofthe equator. At Cuenza, in the kingdom of Quito, I met with some men, who were employed by the bishop Marfil to seek at the east of theCordilleras, in the plains of Macas, the ruins of the town of Logrono, which was believed to be situate in a country rich in gold. We learnby the journal of Hortsmann, which I have often quoted, that it wassupposed, in 1740, El Dorado might be reached from Dutch Guiana bygoing up the Rio Essequibo. Don Manuel Centurion, the governor ofSanto Thome del Angostura, displayed an extreme ardour for reachingthe imaginary lake of Manoa. Arimuicaipi, an Indian of the nation ofthe Ipurucotos, went down the Rio Carony, and by his false narrationsinflamed the imagination of the Spanish colonists. He showed them inthe southern sky the Clouds of Magellan, the whitish light of which hesaid was the reflection of the argentiferous rocks situate in themiddle of the Laguna Parima. This was describing in a very poeticalmanner the splendour of the micaceous and talcy slates of his country!Another Indian chief, known among the Caribs of Essequibo by the nameEl Capitan Jurado, vainly attempted to undeceive the governorCenturion. Fruitless attempts were made by the Caura and the RioParagua; and several hundred persons perished miserably in these rashenterprises, from which, however, geography has derived someadvantages. Nicolas Rodriguez and Antonio Santos (1775 to 1780) wereemployed by the Spanish governor. Santos, proceeding by the Carony, the Paragua, the Paraguamusi, the Anocapra, and the mountains ofPacaraymo and Quimiropaca, reached the Uraricuera and the Rio Branco. I found some valuable information in the journals of these perilousexpeditions. 

The maritime charts which the Florentine traveller, Amerigo Vespucci, *constructed in the early years of the sixteenth century, as Pilotomayor de la Casa de Contratacion of Seville, and in which he placed, perhaps artfully, the words Tierra de Amerigo, have not reached ourtimes. (* He died in 1512, as Mr. Munoz has proved by the documents ofthe archives of Simancas. Hist. Del Nuevo Mundo volume 1 page 17. Tiraboschi, Storia della Litteratura. ) The most ancient monument wepossess of the geography of the New Continent, * is the map of theworld by John Ruysch, annexed to a Roman edition of Ptolemy in 1508. (* See the learned researches of M. Walckenaer, in the BibliographieUniverselle volume 6 page 209 article Buckinck. On the maps added toPtolemy in 1506 we find no trace of the discoveries of Columbus. ) Wethere find Yucatan and Honduras (the most southern part of Mexico)*figured as an island, by the name of Culicar. (* No doubt the landsbetween Uucatan, Cape Gracias a Dios, and Veragua, discovered byColumbus (1502 and 1503), by Solis, and by Pincon (1506). ) There is noisthmus of Panama, but a passage, which permits of a direct navigationfrom Europe to India. The great southern island (South America) bearsthe name of Terra de Pareas, bounded by two rivers, the Rio Lareno andthe Rio Formoso. These Pareas are, no doubt, the inhabitants of Paria, a name which Christopher Columbus had already heard in 1498, and whichwas long applied to a great part of America. Bishop Geraldini saysclearly, in a letter addressed to Pope Leo X in 1516: Insula illa, quae Europa et Asia est major, quam indocti Continentem Asiaeappellant, et alii Americam vel Pariam nuncupant [that island, largerthan Europe and Asia joined together, which the unlearned call thecontinent of Asia, and others America or Paria]. * (* AlexandriGeraldini Itinerarium page 250. ) I find in the map of the world of1508 no trace whatever of the Orinoco. This river appears, for thefirst time, by the name of Rio Dolce, on the celebrated mapconstructed in 1529 by Diego Ribeyro, cosmographer of the emperorCharles V, which was published, with a learned commentary, by M. Sprengel, in 1795. Neither Columbus (1498) nor Alonzo de Ojeda, accompanied by Amerigo Vespucci (1499), had seen the real mouth of theOrinoco; they confounded it with the northern opening of the Gulf ofParia, to which they attributed (by an exaggeration so common to thenavigators of that time, an immense volume of fresh water. It wasVicente Yanez Pincon, who, after having discovered the mouth of theRio Maranon, * first saw, in 1500, that of the Orinoco. (* The name ofMaranon was known fifty-nine years before the expedition of Lopez deAguirre; the denomination of the river is therefore erroneouslyattributed to the nickname of maranos (hogs), which this adventurergave his companions in going down the river Amazon. Was not thisvulgar jest rather an allusion to the Indian name of the river?) Hecalled this river Rio Dolce--a name which, since Ribeyro, was longpreserved on our maps, and which has sometimes been given erroneouslyto the Maroni and to the Essequibo. 

The great Lake Parima did not appear on our maps* till after the firstvoyage of Raleigh. (* I find no trace of it on a very rare map, dedicated to Richard Hakluyt, and constructed on the meridian ofToledo. Novus Orbis, Paris 1587. In this map, published before thevoyage of Quiros, a group of Islands is marked (Infortunatae Insulae)where the Friendly Islands actually are. Ortelius (1570) already knewthem. Were they islands seen by Magellan?) It was Jodocus Hondius who, as early as the year 1599, fixed the ideas of geographers and figuredthe interior of Spanish Guiana as a country well known. He transformedthe isthmus between the Rio Branco and the Rio Rupunuwini (one of thetributary streams of the Essequibo) into the lake Rupunuwini, Parima, or Dorado, two hundred leagues long, and forty broad, and bounded bythe latitudes of 1 degree 45 minutes south, and 2 degrees north. Thisinland sea, larger than the Caspian, is sometimes traced in the midstof a mountainous country, without communication with any river;* (*See, for instance, Hondius, Nieuwe Caerte van het goudrycke landtGuiana, 1599; and Sanson's Map of America, in 1656 and 1669. ) andsometimes the Rio Oyapok (Waiapago, Japoc, Viapoco) and the Rio deCayana are made to issue from it. * (* Brasilia et Caribaua, auct. Hondio et Huelsen 1599. ) The first of these rivers, confounded in theeighth article of the treaty of Utrecht with the Rio de Vicente Pincon(Rio Calsoene of D'Anville), has been, even down to the late congressof Vienna, the subject of interminable discussions between the Frenchand Portuguese diplomatists. * (* I have treated this question in aMemoire sur la fixation des limites de La Guyane Francaise, written atthe desire of the Portuguese government during the negotiations ofParis in 1817. (See Schoell, Archives polit. Or Pieces inedites volume1 pages 48 to 58. ) Ribeyro, in his celebrated map of the world of1529, places the Rio de Vicente Pincon south of the Amazon, near theGulf of Maranhao. This navigator landed at this spot, after havingbeen at Cape Saint Augustin, and before he reached the mouth of theAmazon. Herrera dec. I page 107. The narrative of Gomara, Hist. Nat. 1553 page 48, is very confused in a geographical point of view. ) Thesecond is an imaginary prolongation either of the Tonnegrande or ofthe Oyac (Wia?). The inland sea (Laguna Parime) was at first placed insuch a manner that its western extremity coincided with the meridianof the confluence of the Apure and the Orinoco. By degrees it wasadvanced toward the east, * the western extremity being found to thesouth of the mouth of the Orinoco. (* Compare the maps of 1599 withthose of Sanson (1656) and of Blaeuw (1633). ) This change producedothers in the respective situations of the lakes Parima and Cassipa, as well as in the direction of the course of the Orinoco. This greatriver is represented as running from its delta as far as beyond theMeta, from south to north, like the river Magdalena. The tributarystreams, therefore, which were made to issue from the lake Cassipa, the Carony, the Arui, and the Caura, then took the direction of thelatitude, while in nature they follow that of a meridian. Beside thelakes Parima and Cassipa, a third was traced upon the maps, from whichthe Aprouague (Apurwaca) was made to issue. It was then a generalpractice among geographers to attach all rivers to great lakes. Bythis means Ortelius joined the Nile to the Zaire or Rio Congo, and theVistula to the Wolga and the Dnieper. North of Mexico, in thepretended kingdoms of Quivira and Cibola, rendered celebrated by thefalsehoods of the monk Marcos de Niza, a great inland sea wasimagined, from which the Rio Colorado of California was made toissue. * (* This is the Mexican Dorado, where it was pretended thatvessels had been found on the coasts [of New Albion?] loaded with themerchandise of Catayo and China (Gomara, Hist. Gen. Page 117), andwhere Fray Marcos (like Huten in the country of the Omaguas) had seenfrom afar the gilded roofs of a great town, one of the Siete Ciudades. The inhabitants have great dogs, en los quales quando se mudan cargansu menage. (Herrera dec. 6 pages 157 and 206. ) Later discoveries, however, leave no doubt that there existed a centre of civilization inthose countries. ) A branch of the Rio Magdalena flowed to the Lagunade Maracaybo; and the lake of Xarayes, near which a southern Doradowas placed, communicated with the Amazon, the Miari* (Meary) (* Asthis river flows into the gulf of Maranhao (so named because someFrench colonists, Rifault, De Vaux, and Ravadiere, believed they wereopposite the mouth of the Maranon or Amazon), the ancient maps callthe Meary Maranon, or Maranham. See the maps of Hondius, and Paulo deForlani. Perhaps the idea that Pincon, to whom the discovery of thereal Maranon is due, had landed in these parts, since becomecelebrated by the shipwreck of Ayres da Cunha, has also contributed tothis confusion. The Meary appears to me identical with the Rio deVicente Pincon of Diego Ribeyro, which is more than one hundred andforty leagues from that of the modern geographers. At present the nameof Maranon has remained at the same time to the river of the Amazons, and to a province much farther eastward, the capital of which isMaranhao, or St. Louis de Maranon. ) and the Rio de San Francisco. These hydrographic reveries have for the most part disappeared; butthe lakes Cassipa and Dorado have been long simultaneously preservedon our maps. 

In following the history of geography we see the Cassipa, figured as arectangular parallelogram, enlarge by degrees at the expense of ElDorado. While the latter is sometimes suppressed, no one ventures totouch the former, * which is the Rio Paragua (a tributary stream of theCaroni) enlarged by temporary inundations. (* Sanson, Course of theAmazon, 1680; De L'Isle, Amerique Merid. 1700. D'Anville, firstedition of his America, 1748. ) When D'Anville learned from theexpedition of Solano that the sources of the Orinoco, far from lyingto the west, on the back of the Andes of Pasto, came from the east, from the mountains of Parima, he restored in the second edition of hisfine map of America (1760) the Laguna Parime, and very arbitrarilymade it to communicate with three rivers, the Orinoco, the Rio Branco, and the Essequibo, by the Mazuruni and the Cujuni; assigning to it thelatitude from 3 to 4 degrees north, which had till then been given tolake Cassipa. 

I have now stated, as I announced above, the variable forms whichgeographical errors have assumed at different periods. I haveexplained what in the configuration of the soil, the course of therivers, the names of the tributary streams, and the multiplicity ofthe portages, may have given rise to the hypothesis of an inland seain the centre of Guiana. However dry discussions of this nature mayappear, they ought not to be regarded as sterile and fruitless. Theyshow travellers what remains to be discovered; and make known thedegree of certainty which long-repeated assertions may claim. It iswith maps, as with those tables of astronomical positions which arecontained in our ephemerides, designed for the use of navigators: themost heterogeneous materials have been employed in their constructionduring a long space of time; and, without the aid of the history ofgeography, we could scarcely hope to discover at some future day onwhat authority every partial statement rests. 

Before I resume the thread of my narrative, it remains for me to add afew general reflections on the auriferous lands situate between theAmazon and the Orinoco. We have just shown that the fable of ElDorado, like the most celebrated fables of the nations of the ancientworld, has been applied progressively to different spots. We have seenit advance from the south-west to the north-east, from the orientaldeclivity of the Andes towards the plains of Rio Branco and theEssequibo, an identical direction with that in which the Caribs forages conducted their warlike and mercantile expeditions. It may beconceived that the gold of the Cordilleras might be conveyed from handto hand, through an infinite number of tribes, as far as the shore ofGuiana; since, long before the fur-trade had attracted English, Russian, and American vessels to the north-west coast of America, irontools had been carried from New Mexico and Canada beyond the RockyMountains. From an error in longitude, the traces of which we find inall the maps of the 16th century, the auriferous mountains of Peru andNew Granada were supposed to be much nearer the mouths of the Orinocoand the Amazon than they are in fact. Geographers have the habit ofaugmenting and extending beyond measure countries that are recentlydiscovered. In the map of Peru, published at Verona by Paulo diForlani, the town of Quito is placed at the distance of 400 leaguesfrom the coast of the South Sea, on the meridian of Cumana; and theCordillera of the Andes there fills almost the whole surface ofSpanish, French, and Dutch Guiana. This erroneous opinion of thebreadth of the Andes has no doubt contributed to give so muchimportance to the granitic plains that extend on their eastern side. Unceasingly confounding the tributary streams of the Amazon with thoseof the Orinoco, or (as the lieutenants of Raleigh called it, toflatter their chief) the Rio Raleana, to the latter were attributedall the traditions which had been collected respecting the Dorado ofQuixos, the Omaguas, and the Manoas. * (* The flight of Manco-Inca, brother of Atahualpa, to the east of the Cordilleras, no doubt gaverise to the tradition of the new empire of the Incas in Dorado. It wasforgotten that Caxamarca and Cuzco, two towns where the princes ofthat unfortunate family were at the time of their emigration, aresituate to the south of the Amazon, in the latitudes seven degreeseight minutes, and thirteen degrees twenty-one minutes south, andconsequently four hundred leagues south-west of the pretended town ofManoa on the lake Parima (three degrees and a half north latitude). Itis probable that, from the extreme difficulty of penetration into theplains east of the Andes, covered with forests, the fugitive princesnever went beyond the banks of the Beni. The following is what Ilearnt with certainty respecting the emigration of the family of theInca, some sad vestiges of which I saw on passing by Caxamarca. Manco-Inca, acknowledged as the legitimate successor of Atahualpa, made war without success against the Spaniards. He retired at lengthinto the mountains and thick forests of Vilcabamba, which areaccessible either by Huamanga and Antahuaylla, or by the valley ofYucay, north of Cuzco. Of the two Sons of Manco-Inca, the eldest, Sayri-Tupac, surrendered himself to the Spaniards, upon the invitationof the viceroy of Peru, Hurtado de Mendoza. He was received with greatpomp at Lima, was baptized there, and died peaceably in the finevalley of Yucay. The youngest son of Manco-Inca, Tupac-Amaru, wascarried off by stratagem from the forests of Vilcabamba, and beheadedon pretext of a conspiracy formed against the Spanish usurpers. At thesame period, thirty-five distant relations of the Inca Atahualpa wereseized, and conveyed to Lima, in order to remain under the inspectionof the Audiencia. (Garcilasso volume 2 pages 194, 480 and 501. ) It isinteresting to inquire whether any other princes of the family ofManco-Capac have remained in the forests of Vilcabamba, and if therestill exist any descendants of the Incas of Peru between the Apurimacand the Beni. This supposition gave rise in 1741 to the famousrebellion of the Chuncoes, and to that of the Amages and Campoes ledon by their chief, Juan Santos, called the false Atahualpa. The latepolitical events of Spain have liberated from prison the remains ofthe family of Jose Gabriel Condorcanqui, an artful and intrepid man, who, under the name of the Inca Tupac-Amaru, attempted in 1781 thatrestoration of the ancient dynasty which Raleigh had projected in thetime of Queen Elizabeth. ) The geographer Hondius supposed that theAndes of Loxa, celebrated for their forests of cinchona, were onlytwenty leagues distant from the lake Parima, or the banks of the RioBranco. This proximity procured credit to the tidings of the flight ofthe Inca into the forests of Guiana, and the removal of the treasuresof Cuzco to the easternmost parts of that country. No doubt in goingup towards the east, either by the Meta or by the Amazon, thecivilization of the natives, between the Puruz, the Jupura, and theIquiari, was observed to increase. They possessed amulets, littleidols of molten gold, and chairs, elegantly carved; but these tracesof dawning civilization are far distant from those cities and housesof stone described by Raleigh and those who followed him. We have madedrawings of some ruins of great edifices east of the Cordilleras, whengoing down from Loxa towards the Amazon, in the province of Jaen deBracamoros; and thus far the Incas had carried their arms, theirreligion, and their arts. The inhabitants of the Orinoco were also, before the conquest, when abandoned to themselves, somewhat morecivilized than the independent hordes of our days. They had populousvillages along the river, and a regular trade with more southernnations; but nothing indicates that they ever constructed an edificeof stone. We saw no vestige of any during the course of our journey. 

Though the celebrity of the riches of Spanish Guiana is chieflyassignable to the geographical situation of the country and the errorsof the old maps, we are not justified in denying the existence of anyauriferous land in the tract of country of eighty-two thousand squareleagues, which stretches between the Orinoco and the Amazon, on theeast of the Andes of Quito and New Granada. What I saw of this countrybetween the second and eighth degrees of latitude, and the sixty-sixthand seventy-first degrees of longitude, is entirely composed ofgranite, and of a gneiss passing into micaceous and talcous slate. These rocks appear naked in the lofty mountains of Parima, as well asin the plains of the Atabapo and the Cassiquiare. Granite predominatesthere over the other rocks; and though, in both continents, thegranite of ancient formation is pretty generally destitute ofgold-ore, we cannot thence conclude that the granite of Parimacontains no vein, no stratum of auriferous quartz. On the east of theCassiquiare towards the sources of the Orinoco, we observed that thenumber of these strata and these veins increased. The granite of thesecountries, by its structure, its mixture of hornblende, and othergeological features alike important, appears to me to belong to a morerecent formation, perhaps posterior to the gneiss, and analogous tothe stanniferous granites, the hyalomictes, and the pegmatites. Nowthe least ancient granites are also the least destitute of metals; andseveral auriferous rivers and torrents in the Andes, in the Salzburg, Fichtelgebirge, and the table-land of the two Castiles, lead us tobelieve that these granites sometimes contain native gold, andportions of auriferous pyrites and galena disseminated throughout thewhole rock, as is the case with tin and magnetic and micaceous iron. The group of the mountains of Parima, several summits of which attainthe height of one thousand three hundred toises, was almost entirelyunknown before our visit to the Orinoco. This group, however, is ahundred leagues long and eighty broad; and though wherever M. Bonplandand I traversed this vast group of mountains, its structure seemed tous extremely uniform, it would be wrong to affirm that it may notcontain very metalliferous transition rocks and mica-slatessuperimposed on the granite. 

I have already observed that the silvery lustre and frequency of micahave contributed to give Guiana great celebrity for metallic wealth. The peak of Calitamini, glowing every evening at sunset with a reddishfire, still attracts the attention of the inhabitants of Maypures. According to the fabulous stories of the natives, the islets ofmica-slate, situate in lake Amucu, augment by their reflection thelustre of the nebulae of the southern sky. "Every mountain, " saysRaleigh, "every stone in the forests of the Orinoco, shines like theprecious metals; if it be not gold, it is madre del oro (mother ofgold). " Raleigh asserts that he brought back gangues of auriferouswhite quartz ("harde white sparr"); and to prove the richness of thisore he gives an account of the assays that were made by the officersof the mint at London. * (* Messrs. Westewood, Dimocke, and Bulmar. ) Ihave no reason to believe that the chemists of that time sought tolead Queen Elizabeth into error, and I will not insult the memory ofRaleigh by supposing, like his contemporaries, * that the auriferousquartz which he brought home had not been collected in America. (* Seethe defence of Raleigh in the preface to the Discovery of Guiana, 1596pages 2 to 4. ) We cannot judge of things from which we are separatedby so long an interval of time. The gneiss of the littoral chain*contains traces of the precious metals (* In the southern branch ofthis chain which passes by Yusma, Villa de Cura and Ocumare, particularly near Buria, Los Teques and Los Marietas. ); and somegrains of gold have been found in the mountains of Parima, near themission of Encaramada. How can we infer the absolute sterility of theprimitive rocks of Guiana from testimony merely negative, from thecircumstance that during a journey of three months we saw noauriferous vein appearing above the soil?

In order to bring together whatever may enlighten the government ofthis country on a subject so long disputed, I will enter upon a fewmore geological considerations. The mountains of Brazil, notwithstanding the numerous traces of embedded ore which they displaybetween Saint Paul and Villa Rica, have furnished only stream-works ofgold. More than six-sevenths of the seventy-eight thousand marks(52, 000 pounds) of this metal, with which at the beginning of the 19thcentury America annually supplied the commerce of Europe, have come, not from the lofty Cordilleras of the Andes, but from the alluviallands on the east and west of the Cordilleras. These lands are raisedbut little above the level of the sea, like those of Sonora in Mexico, and of Choco and Barbacoas in New Granada; or they stretch along intable-lands, as in the interior of Brazil. * (* The height of VillaRica is six hundred and thirty toises; but the great table-land of theCapitania de Minas Geraes is only three hundred toises in height. Seethe profile which Colonel d'Eschwege has published at Weimar, with anindication of the rocks, in imitation of my profile of the Mexicantable-land. ) Is it not probable that some other depositions ofauriferous earth extend toward the northern hemisphere, as far as thebanks of the Upper Orinoco and the Rio Negro, two rivers which formbut one basin with that of the Amazon? I observed, when speaking of ElDorado de Canelas, the Omaguas and the Iquiare, that almost all therivers which flow from the west wash down gold in abundance, and veryfar from the Cordilleras. From Loxa to Popayan these Cordilleras arecomposed alternately of trachytes and primitive rocks. The plains ofRamora, of Logrono, and of Macas (Sevilla del Oro), the great Rio Napowith its tributary streams* (the Ansupi and the Coca, in the provinceof Quixos (* The little rivers Cosanga, Quixos, and Papallacta orMaspa, which form the Coca, rise on the eastern slope of the Nevado deAntisana. The Rio Ansupi brings down the largest grains of gold: itflows into the Napo, south of the Archidona, above the mouth of theMisagualli. Between the Misagualli and the Rio Coca, in the provinceof Avila, five other northern tributary streams of the Napo (theSiguna, Munino, Suno, Guataracu, and Pucono) are known as beingsingularly auriferous. These local details are taken from severalmanuscript reports of the Governor of Quixos, from which I traced themap of the countries east of the Antisana. )), the Caqueta de Mocoa asfar as the mouth of the Fragua, in fine, all the country comprisedbetween Jaen de Bracamoros and the Guaviare, * (* From Rio Santiago, atributary stream of the Upper Maranon, to the Llanos of Caguan and ofSan Juan. ) preserve their ancient celebrity for metallic wealth. Moreto the east, between the sources of the Guainia (Rio Negro), theUaupes, the Iquiare, and the Yurubesh, we find a soil incontestablyauriferous. There Acunha and Father Fritz placed their Laguna del Oro;and various accounts which I obtained at San Carlos from PortugueseAmericans explain perfectly what La Condamine has related of theplates of beaten gold found in the hands of the natives. If we passfrom the Iquiare to the left bank of the Rio Negro, we enter a countryentirely unknown, between the Rio Branco, the sources of theEssequibo, and the mountains of Portuguese Guiana. Acunha speaks ofthe gold washed down by the northern tributary streams of the LowerMaranon, such as the Rio Trombetas (Oriximina), the Curupatuba, andthe Ginipape (Rio de Paru). It appears to me a circumstance worthy ofattention that all these rivers descend from the same table-land, thenorthern slope of which contains the lake Amucu, the Dorado of Raleighand the Dutch, and the isthmus between the Rupunuri (Rupunuwini) andthe Rio Mahu. There is no reason for denying the existence ofauriferous alluvial lands far from the Cordilleras of the Andes on thenorth of the Amazon; as there are on the south in the mountains ofBrazil. The Caribs of the Carony, the Cuyuni and the Essequibo, havepractised on a small scale the washing of alluvial earth from theremotest times. * (* "On the north of the confluence of the Curupatubaand the Amazon, " says Acunha, "is the mountain of Paraguaxo, which, when illumined by the sun, glows with the most beautiful colours; andthence from time to time issues a horrible noise (revienta con grandesstruenos). " Is there a volcanic phenomenon in this eastern part of theNew Continent? or is it the love of the marvellous, which has givenrise to the tradition of the bellowings (bramidos) of Paraguaxo? Thelustre emitted from the sides of the mountain recalls to mind what wehave mentioned above of the miraculous rocks of Calitamini, and theisland Ipomucena, in the imaginary Lake Dorado. In one of the Spanishletters intercepted at sea by Captain George Popham, in 1594, it issaid, "Having inquired of the natives whence they obtained thespangles and powder of gold, which we found in their huts, and whichthey stick on their skin by means of some greasy substances, they toldus that in a certain plain they tore up the grass, and gathered theearth in baskets, to subject it to the process of washing. " Raleighpage 109. Can this passage be explained by supposing that the Indianssought thus laboriously, not for gold, but for spangles of mica, whichthe natives of Rio Caura still employ as ornaments, when they painttheir bodies?) When we examine the structure of mountains and embracein one point of view an extensive surface of the globe, distancesdisappear; and places the most remote insensibly draw near each other. The basin of the Upper Orinoco, the Rio Negro, and the Amazon isbounded by the mountains of Parime on the north, and by those of MinasGeraes, and Matogrosso on the south. The opposite slopes of the samevalley often display an analogy in their geological relations. 

I have described in this and the preceding volume the vast provincesof Venezuela and Spanish Guiana. While examining their natural limits, their climate, and their productions, I have discussed the influenceproduced by the configuration of the soil on agriculture, commerce, and the more or less rapid progress of society. I have successivelypassed over the three regions that succeed each other from north tosouth; from the Mediterranean of the West Indies to the forests of theUpper Orinoco and of the Amazon. The fertile land of the shore, thecentre of agricultural riches, is succeeded by the Llanos, inhabitedby pastoral tribes. These Llanos are in their turn bordered by theregion of forests, the inhabitants of which enjoy, I will not sayliberty, which is always the result of civilization, but a sort ofsavage independence. On the limit of these two latter zones thestruggle now exists which will decide the emancipation and futureprosperity of America. The changes which are preparing cannot effacethe individual character of each region; but the manners and conditionof the inhabitants will assume a more uniform colour. Thisconsideration perhaps adds interest to a tour made in the beginning ofthe nineteenth century. We like to see, traced in the same picture, the civilized nations of the sea-shore, and the feeble remains of thenatives of the Orinoco, who know no other worship than that of thepowers of nature; and who, like the ancient Germans, deify themysterious object which excites their simple admiration. * (* Deorumnominibus appellant secretum illud, quod sola reverentia vident. Tacitus Germania 9. )

CHAPTER 3. 26. 

THE LLANOS DEL PAO, OR EASTERN PART OF THE PLAINS OF VENEZUELA. MISSIONS OF THE CARIBS. LAST VISIT TO THE COAST OF NUEVA BARCELONA, CUMANA, AND ARAYA. 

Night had set in when we crossed for the last time the bed of theOrinoco. We purposed to rest near the little fort San Rafael, and onthe following morning at daybreak to set out on our journey throughthe plains of Venezuela. Nearly six weeks had elapsed since ourarrival at Angostura; and we earnestly wished to reach the coast, withthe view of finding, at Cumana, or at Nueva Barcelona, a vessel inwhich we might embark for the island of Cuba, thence to proceed toMexico. After the sufferings to which we had been exposed duringseveral months, whilst sailing in small boats on rivers infested bymosquitos, the idea of a sea voyage was not without its charms. We hadno idea of ever again returning to South America. Sacrificing theAndes of Peru to the Archipelago of the Philippines (of which solittle is known), we adhered to our old plan of remaining a year inNew Spain, then proceeding in a galleon from Acapulco to Manila, andreturning to Europe by way of Bassora and Aleppo. We imagined that, when we had once left the Spanish possessions in America, the fall ofthat ministry which had procured for us so many advantages, could notbe prejudicial to the execution of our enterprise. 

Our mules were in waiting for us on the left bank of the Orinoco. Thecollection of plants, and the different geological series which we hadbrought from the Esmeralda and Rio Negro, had greatly augmented ourbaggage; and, as it would have been dangerous to lose sight of ourherbals, we expected to make a very slow journey across the Llanos. The heat was excessive, owing to the reverberation of the soil, whichwas almost everywhere destitute of vegetation; yet the centigradethermometer during the day (in the shade) was only from thirty tothirty-four degrees, and during the night, from twenty-seven totwenty-eight degrees. Here, therefore, as almost everywhere within thetropics, it was less the absolute degree of heat than its durationthat affected our sensations. We spent thirteen days in crossing theplains, resting a little in the Caribbee (Caraibes) missions and inthe little town of Pao. The eastern part of the Llanos through whichwe passed, between Angostura and Nueva Barcelona, presents the samewild aspect as the western part, through which we had passed from thevalleys of Aragua to San Fernando de Apure. In the season of drought, (which is here called summer, ) though the sun is in the southernhemisphere, the breeze is felt with greater force in the Llanos ofCumana, than in those of Caracas; because those vast plains, like thecultivated fields of Lombardy, form an inland basin, open to the east, and closed on the north, south and west by high chains of primitivemountains. Unfortunately, we could not avail ourselves of thisrefreshing breeze, of which the Llaneros, or the inhabitants of theplains, speak with rapture. It was now the rainy season north of theequator; and though it did not rain in the plains, the change in thedeclination of the sun had for some time caused the action of thepolar currents to cease. In the equatorial regions, where thetraveller may direct his course by observing the direction of theclouds, and where the oscillations of the mercury in the barometerindicate the hour almost as well as a clock, everything is subject toa regular and uniform rule. The cessation of the breezes, thesetting-in of the rainy season, and the frequency of electricexplosions, are phenomena which are found to be connected together byimmutable laws. 

On entering the Llanos of Nueva Barcelona, we met with a Frenchman, atwhose house we passed the first night, and who received us with thekindest hospitality. He was a native of Lyons, and he had left hiscountry at a very early age. He appeared extremely indifferent to allthat was passing beyond the Atlantic, or, as they say here, disdainfully enough, when speaking of Europe, on the other side of thegreat pool (al otro lado del charco). Our host was employed in joininglarge pieces of wood by means of a kind of glue called guayca. Thissubstance, which is used by the carpenters of Angostura, resembles thebest animal glue. It is found perfectly prepared between the bark andthe alburnum of a creeper* of the family of the Combretaceae. (*Combretum guayca. ) It probably resembles in its chemical propertiesbirdlime, the vegetable principle obtained from the berries of themistletoe, and the internal bark of the holly. An astonishingabundance of this glutinous matter issues from the twining branches ofthe vejuco de guayca when they are cut. Thus we find within thetropics a substance in a state of purity and deposited in peculiarorgans, which in the temperate zone can be procured only by artificialmeans. 

We did not arrive until the third day at the Caribbee missions ofCari. We observed that the ground was less cracked by the drought inthis country than in the Llanos of Calabozo. Some showers had revivedthe vegetation. Small gramina and especially those herbaceoussensitive-plants so useful in fattening half-wild cattle, formed athick turf. At great distances one from another, there arose a fewfan-palms (Corypha tectorum), rhopalas* (chaparro (* The Proteaceaeare not, like the Araucaria, an exclusively southern form. We foundthe Rhopala complicata and the R. Obovata, in 2 degrees 30 minutes, and in 10 degrees of north latitude. )), and malpighias* withcoriaceous and glossy leaves. (* A neighbouring genus, Byrsonimacocollobaefolia, B. Laurifolia, near Matagorda, and B. Ropalaefolia. )The humid spots are recognized at a distance by groups of mauritia, which are the sago-trees of those countries. Near the coast thispalm-tree constitutes the whole wealth of the Guaraon Indians; and itis somewhat remarkable that we also found it one hundred and sixtyleagues farther south, in the midst of the forests of the UpperOrinoco, in the savannahs that surround the granitic peak of Duida. *(* The moriche, like the Sagus Rumphii, is a palm-tree of the marshes, not a palm-tree of the coast, like the Chamaerops humilis, the commoncocoa-tree, and the lodoicea. ) It was loaded at this season withenormous clusters of red fruit, resembling fir-cones. Our monkeys wereextremely fond of this fruit, which has the taste of an over-ripeapple. The monkeys were placed with our baggage on the backs of themules, and they made great efforts to reach the clusters that hungover their heads. The plain was undulating from the effects of themirage; and when, after travelling for an hour, we reached the trunksof the palm-trees, which appeared like masts in the horizon, weobserved with astonishment how many things are connected with theexistence of a single plant. The winds, losing their velocity when incontact with the foliage and the branches, accumulate sand around thetrunk. The smell of the fruit and the brightness of the verdureattract from afar the birds of passage, which love to perch on theslender, arrow-like branches of the palm-tree. A soft murmuring isheard around; and overpowered by the heat, and accustomed to themelancholy silence of the plains, the traveller imagines he enjoyssome degree of coolness on hearing the slightest sound of the foliage. If we examine the soil on the side opposite to the wind, we find itremains humid long after the rainy season. Insects and worms, everywhere else so rare in the Llanos, here assemble and multiply. This one solitary and often stunted tree, which would not claim thenotice of the traveller amid the forests of the Orinoco, spreads lifearound it in the desert. 

On the 13th of July we arrived at the village of Cari, the first ofthe Caribbee missions that are under the Observantin monks of thecollege of Piritu. We lodged as usual at the convent, that is, withthe clergyman. Our host could scarcely comprehend how natives of thenorth of Europe could arrive at his dwelling from the frontiers ofBrazil by the Rio Negro, and not by way of the coast of Cumana. Hebehaved to us in the most affable manner, at the same time manifestingthat somewhat importunate curiosity which the appearance of astranger, not a Spaniard, always excites in South America. Heexpressed his belief that the minerals we had collected must containgold; and that the plants, dried with so much care, must be medicinal. Here, as in many parts of Europe, the sciences are thought worthy tooccupy the mind only so far as they confer some immediate andpractical benefit on society. 

We found more than five hundred Caribs in the village of Cari; and sawmany others in the surrounding missions. It is curious to observe thisnomad people, recently attached to the soil, and differing from allthe other Indians in their physical and intellectual powers. They area very tall race of men, their height being from five feet six inches, to five feet ten inches. According to a practice common in America, the women are more sparingly clothed than the men. The former wearonly the guajuco, or perizoma, in the form of a band. The men have thelower part of the body wrapped in a piece of blue cloth, so dark as tobe almost black. This drapery is so ample that, on the lowering of thetemperature towards evening, the Caribs throw it over their shoulders. Their bodies tinged with onoto, * (* Rocou, obtained from the Bixaorellana. This paint is called in the Carib tongue, bichet. ) theirtall figures, of a reddish copper-colour, and their picturesquedrapery, when seen from a distance, relieved against the sky as abackground, resemble antique statues of bronze. The men cut their hairin a very peculiar manner, very much in the style of the monks. A partof the forehead is shaved, which makes it appear extremely high, and acircular tuft of hair is left near the crown of the head. Thisresemblance between the Caribs and the monks is not the result ofmission life. It is not caused, as had been erroneously supposed, bythe desire of the natives to imitate their masters, the Franciscanmonks. The tribes that have preserved their wild independence, betweenthe sources of the Carony and the Rio Branco, are distinguished by thesame cerquillo de frailes, * (* Circular tonsure of the friars. ) whichthe early Spanish historians at the time of the discovery of Americaattributed to the nations of the Carib race. All the men of this racewhom we saw either during our voyage on the Lower Orinoco, or in themissions of Piritu, differ from the other Indians not only in thetallness of their stature, but also in the regularity of theirfeatures. Their noses are smaller, and less flattened; the cheek-bonesare not so high; and their physiognomy has less of the Mongolcharacter. Their eyes, which are darker than those of the other hordesof Guiana, denote intelligence, and it may even be said, the habit ofreflection. The Caribs have a gravity of manner, and a certain look ofsadness which is observable among most of the primitive inhabitants ofthe New World. The expression of severity in their features isheightened by the practice of dyeing their eyebrows with the juice ofcaruto: they also lengthen their eyebrows, thereby giving them theappearance of being joined together; and they often mark their facesall over with black spots to give themselves a more fierce appearance. The Carib women are less robust and good-looking than the men, On themdevolves almost the whole burden of domestic work, as well as much ofthe out-door labour. They asked us eagerly for pins, which they stuckunder their lower lip, making the head of the pin penetrate deeplyinto the skin. The young girls are painted red, and are almost naked. Among the different nations of the old and the new worlds, the idea ofnudity is altogether relative. A woman in some parts of Asia is notpermitted to show the tips of her fingers; while an Indian of theCarib race is far from considering herself unclothed if she wear roundher waist a guajuco two inches broad. Even this band is regarded asless essential than the pigment which covers the skin. To go out ofthe hut without being painted, would be to transgress all the rules ofCarib decency. 

The Indians of the missions of Piritu especially attracted ourattention, because they belong to a nation which, by its daring, itswarlike enterprises, and its mercantile spirit has exercised greatinfluence over the vast country extending from the equator towards thenorthern coast. Everywhere on the Orinoco we beheld traces of thehostile incursions of the Caribs: incursions which heretofore extendedfrom the sources of the Carony and the Erevato as far as the banks ofthe Ventuari, the Atacavi, and the Rio Negro. The Carib language isconsequently the most general in this part of the world; it has evenpassed (like the language of the Lenni-Lenapes, or Algonkins, and theNatchez or Muskoghees, on the west of the Allegheny mountains) totribes which have not a common origin. 

When we survey that multitude of nations spread over North and SouthAmerica, eastward of the Cordilleras of the Andes, we fix ourattention particularly on those who, having long held dominion overtheir neighbours, have acted an important part on the stage of theworld. It is the business of the historian to group facts, todistinguish masses, to ascend to the common sources of many migrationsand popular movements. Great empires, the regular organization of asacerdotal hierarchy, and the culture which that organization favoursin the first ages of society, have existed only on the high mountainsof the western world. In Mexico we see a vast monarchy enclosing smallrepublics; at Cundinamarca and Peru we find pure theocracies. Fortified towns, highways and large edifices of stone, anextraordinary development of the feudal system, the separation ofcastes, convents of men and women, religious congregations regulatedby discipline more or less severe, complicated divisions of timeconnected with the calendars, the zodiacs, and the astrology of theenlightened nations of Asia--all these phenomena in America belong toone region only, the long and narrow Alpine band extending from thethirtieth degree of north latitude to the twenty-fifth degree ofsouth. The migration of nations in the ancient world was from east towest; the Basques or Iberians, the Celts, the Germans and the Pelasgi, appeared in succession. In the New World similar migrations flowedfrom north to south. Among the nations that inhabit the twohemispheres, the direction of this movement followed that of themountains; but in the torrid zone the temperate table-lands of theCordilleras had greater influence on the destiny of mankind, than themountains of Asia and central Europe. As, properly speaking, onlycivilized nations have a history, the history of the Americans isnecessarily no more than that of a small portion of the inhabitants ofthe mountains. Profound obscurity envelops the vast country whichstretches from the eastern slope of the Cordilleras towards theAtlantic; and for this very reason, whatever in that country relatesto the preponderance of one nation over others, to distant migrations, to the physiognomical features which denote a foreign race, excite ourdeepest interest. 

Amidst the plains of North America, some powerful nation, which hasdisappeared, constructed circular, square, and octagonalfortifications; walls six thousand toises in length; tumuli from sevento eight hundred feet in diameter, and one hundred and forty feet inheight, sometimes round, sometimes with several stories and containingthousands of skeletons. These skeletons are the remains of men lessslender and more squat than the present inhabitants of thosecountries. Other bones wrapped in fabrics resembling those of theSandwich and Feejee Islands are found in the natural grottoes ofKentucky. What is become of those nations of Louisiana anterior to theLenni-Lenapes, the Shawanese, and perhaps even to the Sioux(Nadowesses, Nahcotas) of the Missouri, who are strongly mongolised;and who, it is believed, according to their own traditions, came fromthe coast of Asia? In the plains of South America we find only a veryfew hillocks of that kind called cerros hechos a mano;* (* Hills madeby the hand, or artificial hills. ) and nowhere any works offortification analogous to those of the Ohio. However, on a vast spaceof ground, at the Lower Orinoco, as well as on the banks of theCassiquiare and between the sources of the Essequibo and the RioBranco, there are rocks of granite covered with symbolic figures. These sculptures denote that the extinct generations belonged tonations different from those which now inhabit the same regions. Thereseems to be no connection between the history of Mexico and that ofCundinamarca and of Peru; but in the plains of the east a warlike andlong-dominant nation betrays in its features and its physicalconstitution traces of a foreign origin. The Caribs preservetraditions that seem to indicate ancient communications between Northand South America. Such a phenomenon deserves particular attention. Ifit be true that savages are for the most part degenerate races, remnants escaped from a common wreck, as their languages, theircosmogonic fables, and numerous other indications seem to prove, itbecomes doubly important to examine the course by which these remnantshave been driven from one hemisphere to the other. 

That fine race of people, the Caribs, now occupy only a small part ofthe country which they inhabited at the time of the discovery ofAmerica. The cruelties exercised by Europeans have entirelyexterminated them from the West Indian Islands and the coasts ofDarien; while under the government of the missions they have formedpopulous villages in the provinces of New Barcelona and SpanishGuiana. The Caribs who inhabit the Llanos of Piritu and the banks ofthe Carony and the Cuyuni may be estimated at more than thirty-fivethousand. If we add to this number the independent Caribs who livewestward of the mountains of Cayenne and Pacaraymo, between thesources of the Essequibo and the Rio Branco, we shall no doubt obtaina total of forty thousand individuals of pure race, unmixed with anyother tribes of natives. Prior to my travels, the Caribs werementioned in many geographical works as an extinct race. Writersunacquainted with the interior of the Spanish colonies of thecontinent supposed that the small islands of Dominica, Guadaloupe, andSt. Vincent had been the principal abodes of that nation of which theonly vestiges now remaining throughout the whole of the eastern WestIndia Islands are skeletons petrified, or rather enveloped in alimestone containing madrepores. * (* These skeletons were discoveredin 1805 by M. Cortez. They are encased in a formation of madreporebreccia, which the negroes call God's masonry, and which, like thetravertin of Italy, envelops fragments of vases and other objectscreated by human skill. M. Dauxion Lavaysse and Dr. Koenig first madeknown in Europe this phenomenon which has greatly interestedgeologists. )

The name of Caribs, which I find for the first time in a letter ofPeter Martyr d'Anghiera is derived from Calina and Caripuna, the l andp being transferred into r and b. It is very remarkable that thisname, which Columbus heard pronounced by the people of Hayti, wasknown to exist at the same time among the Caribs of the islands andthose of the continent. From the word Carina, or Calina, has beenformed Galibi (Caribi). This is the distinctive denomination of atribe in French Guiana, * who are of much more diminutive stature thanthe inhabitants of Cari, but speaking one of the numerous dialects ofthe Carib tongue. (* The Galibis (Calibitis), the Palicours, and theAcoquouas, also cut their hair in the style of the monks; and applybandages to the legs of their children for the purpose of swelling themuscles. They have the same predilection for green stones (saussurite)which we observed among the Carib nations of the Orinoco. There exist, besides, in French Guiana, twenty Indian tribes which aredistinguished from the Galibis though their language proves that theyhave a common origin. ) The inhabitants of the islands are calledCalinago in the language of the men; and in that of the women, Callipinan. The difference in the language of the two sexes is morestriking among the people of the Carib race than among other Americannations (the Omaguas, the Guaranis, and the Chiquitos) where itapplies only to a limited number of ideas; for instance, the wordsmother and child. It may be conceived that women, from their separateway of life, frame particular terms which men do not adopt. Ciceroobserves* that old forms of language are best preserved by womenbecause by their position in society they are less exposed to thosevicissitudes of life, changes of place and occupation which tend tocorrupt the primitive purity of language among men. (* Cicero, deOrat. Lib. 3 cap. 12 paragraph 45 ed. Verburg. Facilius enim mulieresincorruptam antiquitatem conservant, quod multorum sermonis expertesea tenent semper, quae prima didicerunt. ) But in the Carib nations thecontrast between the dialect of the two sexes is so great that toexplain it satisfactorily we must refer to another cause; and this mayperhaps be found in the barbarous custom, practised by those nations, of killing their male prisoners, and carrying the wives of thevanquished into captivity. When the Caribs made an irruption into thearchipelago of the West India Islands, they arrived there as a band ofwarriors, not as colonists accompanied by their families. The languageof the female sex was formed by degrees, as the conquerors contractedalliances with the foreign women; it was composed of new elements, words distinct from the Carib words, * which in the interior of thegynaeceums were transmitted from generation to generation, but onwhich the structure, the combinations, the grammatical forms of thelanguage of the men exercised an influence. (* The following areexamples of the difference between the language of the men (m), andthe women (w); isle, oubao (m), acaera (w); man, ouekelli (m), eyeri(w); but, irhen (m), atica (w). ) There was then manifested in a smallcommunity the peculiarity which we now find in the whole group of thenations of the New Continent. The American languages, from Hudson'sBay to the Straits of Magellan, are in general characterized by atotal disparity of words combined with a great analogy in theirstructure. They are like different substances invested with analogousforms. If we recollect that this phenomenon extends over one-half ofour planet, almost from pole to pole; if we consider the shades in thegrammatical forms (the genders applied to the three persons of theverb, the reduplications, the frequentatives, the duals); it appearshighly astonishing to find a uniform tendency in the development ofintelligence and language among so considerable a portion of the humanrace. 

We have just seen that the dialect of the Carib women in the WestIndia Islands contains the vestiges of a language that was extinct. Some writers have imagined that this extinct language might be that ofthe Ygneris, or primitive inhabitants of the Caribbee Islands; othershave traced in it some resemblance to the ancient idiom of Cuba, or tothose of the Arowaks, and the Apalachites in Florida: but thesehypotheses are all founded on a very imperfect knowledge of the idiomswhich it has been attempted to compare one with another. 

The Spanish writers of the sixteenth century inform us that the Caribnations then extended over eighteen or nineteen degrees of latitude, from the Virgin Islands east of Porto Rico, to the mouths of theAmazon. Another prolongation toward the west, along the coast-chain ofSanta Marta and Venezuela, appears less certain. Gomara, however, andthe most ancient historians, give the name of Caribana, not, as it hassince been applied, to the country between the sources of the Orinocoand the mountains of French Guiana, * (* This name is found in the mapof Hondius, of 1599, which accompanies the Latin edition of thenarrative of Raleigh's voyage. In the Dutch edition Nieuwe Caerte vanhet goudrycke landt Guiana, the Llanos of Caracas, between themountains of Merida and the Rio Pao, bear the name of Caribana. We mayremark here, what we observe so often in the history of geography, that the same denomination has spread by degrees from west to east. )but to the marshy plains between the mouths of the Rio Atrato and theRio Sinu. I have visited those coasts in going from the Havannah toPorto Bello; and I there learned that the cape which bounds the gulfof Darien or Uraba on the east, still bears the name of PuntaCaribana. An opinion heretofore prevailed pretty generally that theCaribs of the West India Islands derived their origin, and even theirname, from these warlike people of Darien. "From the eastern shoresprings Cape Uraba, which the natives call Caribana, whence the Caribsof the island are said to have received their present name. "* (* IndeVrabam ab orientali prehendit ora, quam appellant indigenae Caribana, unde Caribes insulares originem habere nomenque retinere dicuntur. )Thus Anghiera expresses himself in his Oceanica. He had been told by anephew of Amerigo Vespucci that thence, as far as the snowy mountainsof St. Marta, all the natives were e genere Caribium, vel Canibalium. I do not deny that Caribs may have had a settlement near the gulf ofDarien, and that they may have been driven thither by the easterlycurrents; but it also may have happened that the Spanish navigators, little attentive to languages, gave the names Carib and Cannibal toevery race of people of tall stature and ferocious character. Still itis by no means probable that the Caribs of the islands and of Parimatook to themselves the name of the region which they had originallyinhabited. On the east of the Andes and wherever civilization has notyet penetrated, it is the people who have given names to the placeswhere they have settled. * (* These names of places can be perpetuatedonly where the nations succeed immediately to each other, and wherethe tradition is interrupted. Thus in the province of Quito many ofthe summits of the Andes bear names which belong neither to theQuichua (the language of Inca) nor to the ancient language of theParuays, governed by the Conchocando of Lican. ) The words Caribs andCannibals appear significant; they are epithets referring to valour, strength and even superior intelligence. * (* Vespucci says: Charaibimagnae sapientiae viri. ) It is worthy of remark that, at the arrivalof the Portuguese, the Brazilians gave to their magicians the name ofcaraibes. We know that the Caribs of Parima were the most wanderingpeople of America; possibly some wily individuals of that nationplayed the same part as the Chaldeans of the ancient continent. Thenames of nations readily become affixed to particular professions; andwhen, in the time of the Caesars, the superstitions of the East wereintroduced into Italy, the Chaldeans no more came from the banks ofthe Euphrates than our Gypsies (Egyptians or Bohemians) came from thebanks of the Nile or the Elbe. 

When a continent and its adjacent islands are peopled by one and thesame race, we may choose between two hypotheses; supposing theemigration to have taken place either from the islands to thecontinent, or from the continent to the islands. The Iberians(Basques) who were settled at the same time in Spain and in theislands of the Mediterranean, afford an instance of this problem; asdo also the Malays who appear to be indigenous in the peninsula ofMalacca, and in the district of Menangkabao in the island of Sumatra. *(* Crawfurd, Indian Archipelago volume 2 page 371. I make use of theword indigenous (autocthoni) not to indicate a fact of creation, whichdoes not belong to history, but simply to denote that we are ignorantof the autocthoni having been preceded by any other people. ) Thearchipelago of the large and small West India Islands forms a narrowand broken neck of land, parallel with the isthmus of Panama, andsupposed by some geographers to join the peninsula of Florida to thenorth-east extremity of South America. It is the eastern shore of aninland sea which may be considered as a basin with several outlets. This peculiar configuration of the land has served to support thedifferent systems of migration, by which it has been attempted toexplain the settlement of the nations of the Carib race in the islandsand on the neighbouring continent. The Caribs of the continent admitthat the small West India Islands were anciently inhabited by theArowaks, * a warlike nation, the great mass of which still inhabit theinsalubrious shores of Surinam and Berbice. (* Arouaques. Themissionary Quandt (Nachricht von Surinam, 1807 page 47) calls themArawackes. ) They assert that the Arowaks, with the exception of thewomen, were all exterminated by Caribs, who came from the mouths ofthe Orinoco. In support of this tradition they refer to the traces ofanalogy existing between the language of the Arowaks and that of theCarib women; but it must be recollected that the Arowaks, though theenemies of the Caribs, belonged to the same branch of people; and thatthe same analogy exists between the Arowak and Carib languages asbetween the Greek and the Persian, the German and the Sanscrit. According to another tradition, the Caribs of the islands came fromthe south, not as conquerors, but because they were expelled fromGuiana by the Arowaks, who originally ruled over all the neighbouringnations. Finally, a third tradition, much more general and moreprobable, represents the Caribs as having come from Florida, in NorthAmerica. Mr. Bristock, a traveller who has collected every particularrelating to these migrations from north to south, asserts that a tribeof Confachites (Confachiqui* (* The province of Confachiqui, which in1541 became subject to a woman, is celebrated by the expedition ofHernando de Soto to Florida. Among the nations of the Huron tongue, and the Attakapas, the supreme authority was also often exercised bywomen. )) had long waged war against the Apalachites; that the latter, having yielded to that tribe the fertile district of Amana, calledtheir new confederates Caribes (that is, valiant strangers); but that, owing to a dispute respecting their religious rites, theConfachite-Caribs were driven from Florida. They went first to theYucayas or Lucayes Islands (to Cigateo and the neighbouring islands);thence to Ayay (Hayhay, now Santa Cruz), and to the lesser CaribbeeIslands; and lastly to the continent of South America. * (* Rochefort, Hist. Des Antilles volume 1 pages 326 to 353; Garcia page 322;Robertson book 3 note 69. The conjecture of Father Gili that theCaribs of the continent may have come from the islands at the time ofthe first conquest of the Spaniards (Saggio volume 3 page 204), is atvariance with all the statements of the early historians. ) It issupposed that this event took place toward the year 1100 of our era. In the course of this long migration the Caribs had not touched at thelarger islands; the inhabitants of which however also believed thatthey came originally from Florida. The islanders of Cuba, Hayti, andBoriken (Porto Rico) were, according to the uniform testimony of thefirst conquistadores, entirely different from the Caribs; and at theperiod of the discovery of America, the latter had already abandonedthe group of the lesser Lucayes Islands; an archipelago in which thereprevailed that variety of languages always found in lands peopled byshipwrecked men and fugitives. * (* La gente de las islas Yucayas era(1492) mas blanca y de major policia que la de Cuba y Haiti. Haviamucha diversidad de lenguas. [The people of the Lucayes were (1492) offairer complexion and of more civilized manners than those of Cuba andHayti. They had a great diversity of languages. ] Gomara, Hist. De Ind. Fol. 22. )

The dominion so long exercised by the Caribs over a great part of thecontinent, joined to the remembrance of their ancient greatness, hasinspired them with a sentiment of dignity and national superioritywhich is manifest in their manners and their discourse. "We alone area nation, " say they proverbially; "the rest of mankind (oquili) aremade to serve us. " This contempt of the Caribs for their enemies is sostrong that I saw a child of ten years of age foam with rage on beingcalled a Cabre or Cavere; though he had never in his life seen anindividual of that unfortunate race of people who gave their name tothe town of Cabruta (Cabritu); and who, after long resistance, werealmost entirely exterminated by the Caribs. Thus we find among halfsavage hordes, as in the most civilized part of Europe, thoseinveterate animosities which have caused the names of hostile nationsto pass into their respective languages as insulting appellations. 

The missionary of the village of Cari led us into several Indian huts, where extreme neatness and order prevailed. We observed with pain thetorments which the Carib mothers inflict on their infants for thepurpose not only of enlarging the calf of the leg, but also of raisingthe flesh in alternate stripes from the ankle to the top of the thigh. Narrow ligatures, consisting of bands of leather, or of woven cotton, are fixed two or three inches apart from each other, and beingtightened more and more, the muscles between the bands become swollen. The monks of the missions, though ignorant of the works or even of thename of Rousseau, attempt to oppose this ancient system of physicaleducation: but in vain. Man when just issued from the woods andsupposed to be so simple in his manners, is far from being tractablein his ideas of beauty and propriety. I observed, however, withsurprise, that the manner in which these poor children are bound, andwhich seems to obstruct the circulation of the blood, does not operateinjuriously on their muscular movements. There is no race of men morerobust and swifter in running than the Caribs. 

If the women labour to form the legs and thighs of their children soas to produce what painters call undulating outlines, they abstain (atleast in the Llanos), from flattening the head by compressing itbetween cushions and planks from the most tender age. This practice, so common heretofore in the islands and among several tribes of theCaribs of Parima and French Guiana, is not observed in the missionswhich we visited. The men there have foreheads rounder than those ofthe Chaymas, the Otomacs, the Macos, the Maravitans and most of theinhabitants of the Orinoco. A systematizer would say that the form issuch as their intellectual faculties require. We were so much the morestruck by this fact as some of the skulls of Caribs engraved inEurope, for works on anatomy, are distinguished from all other humanskulls by the extremely depressed forehead and acute facial angle. Insome osteological collections skulls supposed to be those of Caribs ofthe island of St. Vincent are in fact skulls shaped by having beenpressed between planks. They have belonged to Zambos (black Caribs)who are descended from Negroes and true Caribs. * (* These unfortunateremnants of a nation heretofore powerful were banished in 1795 to theIsland of Rattam in the Bay of Honduras because they were accused bythe English Government of having connexions with the French. In 1760an able minister, M. Lescallier, proposed to the Court of Versaillesto invite the Red and Black Caribs from St. Vincent to Guiana and toemploy them as free men in the cultivation of the land. I doubtwhether their number at that period amounted to six thousand, as theisland of St. Vincent contained in 1787 not more than fourteenthousand inhabitants of all colours. ) The barbarous habit offlattening the forehead is practised by several nations, * of peoplenot of the same race; and it has been observed recently in NorthAmerica; but nothing is more vague than the conclusion that somedegree of conformity in customs and manners proves identity of origin. (* For instance the Tapoyranas of Guiana (Barrere page 239), theSolkeeks of Upper Louisiana (Walckenaer, Cosmos page 583). Los Indiosde Cumana, says Gomara (Hist. De Ind. ), aprietan a los ninos la cabecamuy blando, pero mucho, entre dos almohadillas de algodon paraensancharlos la cara, que lo tienen por hermosura. Las donzellas traensenogiles muy apretados par debaxo y encima de las rodillas, para quelos muslos y pantorillas engorden mucho. [The Indians of Cumana pressdown the heads of young infants tightly between cushions stuffed withcotton for the purpose of giving width to their faces, which theyregard as a beauty. The young girls wear very tight bandages roundtheir knees in order to give thickness to the thighs and calves of thelegs. ]) On observing the spirit of order and submission which prevailsin the Carib missions, the traveller can scarcely persuade himselfthat he is among cannibals. This American word, of somewhat doubtfulsignification, is probably derived from the language of Hayti, or thatof Porto Rico; and it has passed into the languages of Europe, sincethe end of the fifteenth century, as synonymous with that ofanthropophagi. "These newly discovered man-eaters, so greedy of humanflesh, are called Caribes or Cannibals, "* says Anghiera, in the thirddecade of his Oceanica, dedicated to Pope Leo X. (* Edaces humanarumcarnium novi helluones anthropophagi, Caribes alias Canibalesappellati. ) There can be little doubt that the Caribs of the islands, when a conquering people, exercised cruelties upon the Ygneris, orancient inhabitants of the West Indies, who were weak and not verywarlike; but we must also admit that these cruelties were exaggeratedby the early travellers, who heard only the narratives of the oldenemies of the Caribs. It is not always the vanquished solely, who arecalumniated by their contemporaries; the insolence of the conquerorsis punished by the catalogue of their crimes being augmented. 

All the missionaries of the Carony, the Lower Orinoco and the Llanosdel Cari whom we had an opportunity of consulting assured us that theCaribs are perhaps the least anthropophagous nations of the NewContinent. They extend this remark even to the independent hordes whowander on the east of the Esmeralda, between the sources of the RioBranco and the Essequibo. It may be conceived that the fury anddespair with which the unhappy Caribs defended themselves against theSpaniards, when in 1504 a royal decree declared them slaves, may havecontributed to acquire for them a reputation for ferocity. The firstidea of attacking this nation and depriving it of liberty and of itsnatural rights originated with Christopher Columbus, who was not inall instances so humane as he is represented to have been. Subsequently the licenciado Rodrigo de Figueroa was appointed by thecourt, in 1520, to determine the tribes of South America, who were tobe regarded as of Carib race, or as cannibals; and those who wereGuatiaos, * that is, Indians of peace, and friends of the Castilians. (* I had some trouble in discovering the origin of this denominationwhich has become so important from the fatal decrees of Figueroa. TheSpanish historians often employ the word guatiao to designate a branchof nations. To become a guatiao of any one seems to have signified, inthe language of Hayti, to conclude a treaty of friendship. In the WestIndia Islands, as well as in the archipelago of the South Sea, nameswere exchanged in token of alliance. Juan de Esquivel (1502) se hiceguatiao del cacique Cotubanama; el qual desde adelante se llamo Juande Esquivel, porque era liga de perpetua amistad entre los Indiostrocarse los nombres: y trocados quedaban guatiaos, que era tanto comaconfederados y hermanos en armas. Ponce de Leon se hace guatiao con elpoderoso cacique Agueinaha. " Herrera dec. 1 pages 129, 159 and 181. [Juan de Esquivel (1502) became the guatiao of the cacique Cotubanama;and thenceforth the latter called himself Juan de Esquivel, for amongthe Indians the exchange of names was a bond of perpetual friendship. Those who exchanged names became guaitaos, which meant the same asconfederates or brethren-in-arms. Ponce de Leon became guatiao withthe powerful cacique Agueinaha. ] One of the Lucayes Islands, inhabitedby a mild and pacific people, was heretofore called Guatao; but wewill not insist on the etymology of this word, because the languagesof the Lucayes Islands differed from those of Hayti. ) The ethnographicdocument called El Auto de Figueroa is one of the most curious recordsof the barbarism of the first conquistadores. Without any attention tothe analogy of languages, every nation that could be accused of havingdevoured a prisoner after a battle was arbitrarily declared of Caribrace. The inhabitants of Uriapari (on the peninsula of Paria) werenamed Caribs; the Urinacos (settled on the banks of the Lower Orinoco, or Urinucu), Guatiaos. All the tribes designated by Figueroa as Caribswere condemned to slavery; and might at will be sold, or exterminatedby war. In these sanguinary struggles, the Carib women, after thedeath of their husbands, defended themselves with such desperationthat Anghiera says they were taken for tribes of Amazons. But amidstthe cruelties exercised on the Caribs, it is consolatory to find, thatthere existed some courageous men who raised the voice of humanity andjustice. Some of the monks embraced an opinion different from thatwhich they had at first adopted. In an age when there could be no hopeof founding public liberty on civil institutions, an attempt was atleast made to defend individual liberty. "That is a most holy law (leysanctissima), " says Gomara, in 1551, "by which our emperor hasprohibited the reducing of the Indians to slavery. It is just thatmen, who are all born free, should not become the slaves of oneanother. "

During our abode in the Carib missions, we observed with surprise thefacility with which young Indians of eighteen years of age, whenappointed to the post of alguazil, would harangue the municipality forwhole hours in succession. Their tone of voice, their gravity ofdeportment, the gestures which accompanied their speech, all denotedan intelligent people capable of a high degree of civilization. AFranciscan monk, who knew enough of the Carib language to preach in itoccasionally, pointed out to us that the long and harmonious periodswhich occur in the discourses of the Indians are never confused orobscure. Particular inflexions of the verb indicate beforehand thenature of the object, whether it be animate or inanimate, singular orplural. Little annexed forms (suffixes) mark the gradations ofsentiment; and here, as in every language formed by a freedevelopment, clearness is the result of that regulating instinct whichcharacterises human intelligence in the various stages of barbarismand cultivation. On holidays, after the celebration of mass, all theinhabitants of the village assemble in front of the church. The younggirls place at the feet of the missionary faggots of wood, bunches ofplantains, and other provision of which he stands in need for hishousehold. At the same time the governador, the alguazil, and othermunicipal officers, all of whom are Indians, exhort the natives tolabour, proclaim the occupations of the ensuing week, reprimand theidle, and flog the untractable. Strokes of the cane are received withthe same insensibility as that with which they are given. It werebetter if the priest did not impose these corporal punishments at theinstant of quitting the altar, and if he were not, in his sacerdotalhabits, the spectator of this chastisement of men and women; but thisabuse is inherent in the principle on which the strange government ofthe missions is founded. The most arbitrary civil power is combinedwith the authority exercised by the priest over the little community;and, although the Caribs are not cannibals, and we would wish to seethem treated with mildness and indulgence, it may be conceived thatenergetic measures are sometimes necessary to maintain tranquillity inthis rising society. 

The difficulty of fixing the Caribs to the soil is the greater, asthey have been for ages in the habit of trading on the rivers. We havealready described this active people, at once commercial and warlike, occupied in the traffic of slaves, and carrying merchandize from thecoasts of Dutch Guiana to the basin of the Amazon. The travellingCaribs were the Bokharians of equinoctial America. The necessity ofcounting the objects of their little trade, and transmittingintelligence, led them to extend and improve the use of the quipos, or, as they are called in the missions, the cordoncillos con necos(cords with knots). These quipos or knotted cords are found in Canada, in Mexico (where Boturini procured some from the Tlascaltecs), inPeru, in the plains of Guiana, in central Asia, in China, and inIndia. As rosaries, they have become objects of devotion in the handsof the Christians of the East; as suampans, they have been employed inthe operations of manual arithmetic by the Chinese, the Tartars, andthe Russians. The independent Caribs who inhabit the little-knowncountry situated between the sources of the Orinoco and those of therivers Essequibo, Carony, and Parima, are divided into tribes; and, like the nations of the Missouri, of Chili, and of ancient Germany, form a political confederation. This system is most in accordance withthe spirit of liberty prevailing amongst those warlike hordes who seeno advantage in the ties of society but for common defence. The prideof the Caribs leads them to withdraw themselves from every othertribe; even from those to whom, by their language, they have someaffinity. 

They claim the same separation in the missions, which seldom prosperwhen any attempt is made to associate them with other mixedcommunities, that is, with villages where every hut is inhabited by afamily belonging to another nation and speaking another language. Theauthority of the chiefs of the independent Caribs is hereditary in themale line only, the children of sisters being excluded from thesuccession. This law of succession which is founded on a system ofmistrust, denoting no great purity of manners, prevails in India;among the Ashantees (in Africa); and among several tribes of thesavages of North America. * (* Among the Hurons (Wyandots) and theNatchez the succession to the magistracy is continued by the women: itis not the son who succeeds, but the son of the sister, or of thenearest relation in the female line. This mode of succession is saidto be the most certain because the supreme power remains attached tothe blood of the last chief; it is a practice that insures legitimacy. Ancient traces of this strange mode of succession, so common in Africaand in the East Indies, exist in the dynasty of the kings of the WestIndia Islands. ) The young chiefs and other youths who are desirous ofmarrying, are subject to the most extraordinary fasts and penances, and are required to take medicines prepared by the marirris orpiaches, called in the transalleghenian countries, war-physic. TheCarribbee marirris are at once priests, jugglers and physicians; theytransmit to their successors their doctrine, their artifices, and theremedies they employ. The latter are accompanied by imposition ofhands, and certain gestures and mysterious practices, apparentlyconnected with the most anciently known processes of animal magnetism. Though I had opportunities of seeing many persons who had closelyobserved the confederated Caribs, I could not learn whether themarirris belong to a particular caste. It is observed in North Americathat, among the Shawanese, * (* People that came from Florida, or fromthe south (shawaneu) to the north. ) divided into several tribes, thepriests, who preside at the sacrifices, must be (as among the Hebrews)of one particular tribe, that of the Mequachakes. Any facts that mayhereafter be discovered in America respecting the remains of asacerdotal caste appears to me calculated to excite great interest, onaccount of those priest-kings of Peru, who styled themselves thechildren of the Sun; and of those sun-kings among the Natchez, whorecall to mind the Heliades of the first eastern colony of Rhodes. 

On quitting the mission of Cari, we had some difficulties to settlewith our Indian muleteers. They had discovered that we had broughtskeletons with us from the cavern of Ataruipe; and they were fullypersuaded that the beasts of burden which carried the bodies of theirold relations would perish on the journey. * (* See volume 2. 24. ) Everyprecaution we had taken was useless; nothing escapes a Carib'spenetration and keen sense of smell, and it required all the authorityof the missionary to forward our passage. We had to cross the Rio Cariin a boat, and the Rio de agua clara, by fording, or, it may almost besaid, by swimming. The quicksands of the bed of this river render thepassage very difficult at the season when the waters are high. Thestrength of the current seems surprising in so flat a country; but therivers of the plains are precipitated, to quote a correct observationof Pliny the younger, * "less by the declivity of their course than bytheir abundance, and as it were by their own weight. " (* Epist. Lib. 8ep. 8. Clitumnus non loci devexitate, sed ipsa sui copia et quasipondere impellitur. ) We had two bad stations, one at Matagorda and theother at Los Riecetos, before we reached the little town of Pao. Webeheld everywhere the same objects; small huts constructed of reeds, and roofed with leather; men on horseback armed with lances, guardingthe herds; herds of cattle half wild, remarkable for their uniformcolour, and disputing the pasturage with horses and mules. No sheep orgoats are found on these immense plains. Sheep do not thrive well inequinoctial America, except on table-lands above a thousand toiseshigh, where their fleece is long and sometimes very fine. In theburning climate of the plains, where the wolves give place to jaguars, these small ruminating animals, destitute of means of defence, andslow in their movements, cannot be preserved in any considerablenumbers. 

We arrived on the 15th of July at the Fundacion, or Villa, del Pao, founded in 1744, and situated very favourably for a commercial stationbetween Nueva Barcelona and Angostura. Its real name is El Concepciondel Pao. Alcedo, La Cruz, Olmedilla, and many other geographers, havemistaken the situation of this small town of the Llanos of Barcelona, confounding it either with San Juan Bauptisto del Pao of the Llanos ofCaracas, or with El Valle del Pao de Zarate. Though the weather wascloudy I succeeded in obtaining some heights of alpha Centauri, serving to determine the latitude of the place; which is 8 degrees 37minutes 57 seconds. Some altitudes of the sun gave me 67 degrees 8minutes 12 seconds for the longitude, supposing Angostura to be 66degrees 15 minutes 21 seconds. The astronomical determinations ofCalabozo and Concepcion del Pao are very important to the geography ofthis country, where, in the midst of savannahs, fixed points arealtogether wanting. Some fruit-trees grow in the vicinity of Pao: theyare rarely seen in the Llanos. We even found some cocoa-trees, whichappeared very vigorous, notwithstanding the great distance of the sea. I was the more struck with this fact because doubts have recently beenstarted respecting the veracity of travellers, who assert that theyhave seen the cocoa-tree, which is a palm of the shore, at Timbuctoo, in the centre of Africa. We several times saw cocoa-trees amid thecultivated spots on the banks of the Rio Magdalena, more than ahundred leagues from the coast. 

Five days, which to us appeared very tedious, brought us from Villadel Pao to the port of Nueva Barcelona. As we advanced the sky becamemore serene, the soil more dusty, and the atmosphere more hot. Theheat from which we suffered is not entirely owing to the temperatureof the air, but is produced by the fine sand mingled with it; thissand strikes against the face of the traveller, as it does against theball of the thermometer. I never observed the mercury rise in America, amid a wind of sand, above 45. 8 degrees centigrade. Captain Lyon, withwhom I had the pleasure of conversing on his return from Mourzouk, appeared to me also inclined to think that the temperature offifty-two degrees, so often felt in Fezzan, is produced in great partby the grains of quartz suspended in the atmosphere. Between Pao andthe village of Santa Cruz de Cachipo, founded in 1749, and inhabitedby five hundred Caribs, we passed the western elongation of the littletable-land, known by the name of Mesa de Amana. This table-land formsa point of partition between the Orinoco, the Guarapiche, and thecoast of New Andalusia. Its height is so inconsiderable that it wouldscarcely be an obstacle to the establishment of inland navigation inthis part of the Llanos. The Rio Mano however, which flows into theOrinoco above the confluence of the Carony, and which D'Anville (Iknow not on what authority) has marked in the first edition of hisgreat map as issuing from the lake of Valencia, and receiving thewaters of the Guayra, could never have served as a natural canalbetween two basins of rivers. No bifurcation of this kind exists inthe Llano. A great number of Carib Indians, who now inhabit themissions of Piritu, were formerly on the north and east of thetable-land of Amana, between Maturin, the mouth of the Rio Arco, andthe Guarapiche. The incursions of Don Joseph Careno, one of the mostenterprising governors of the province of Cumana, occasioned a generalmigration of independent Caribs toward the banks of the Lower Orinocoin 1720. 

The whole of this vast plain consists of secondary formations which tothe southward rest immediately on the granitic mountains of theOrinoco. On the north-west they are separated by a narrow band oftransition-rocks from the primitive mountains of the shore of Caracas. This abundance of secondary rocks, covering without interruption aspace of more than seven thousand square leagues, * is a phenomenon themore remarkable in that region of the globe, because in the whole ofthe Sierra da la Parima, between the right bank of the Orinoco and theRio Negro, there is, as in Scandinavia, a total absence of secondaryformations. (* Reckoning only that part of the Llanos which is boundedby the Rio Apure on the south, and by the Sierra Nevada de Merida andthe Parima de las Rosas on the west. ) The red sandstone, containingsome vestiges of fossil wood (of the family of monocotyledons) is seeneverywhere in the plains of Calabozo: farther east it is overlaid bycalcareous and gypseous rocks which conceal it from the research ofthe geologist. The marly gypsum, of which we collected specimens nearthe Carib mission of Cachipo, appeared to me to belong to the sameformation as the gypsum of Ortiz. To class it according to the type ofEuropean formations I would range it among the gypsums, oftenmuriatiferous, that cover the Alpine limestone or zechstein. Farthernorth, in the direction of the mission of San Josef de Curataquiche, M. Bonpland picked up in the plain some fine pieces of riband jasper, or Egyptian pebbles. We did not see them in their native placeenchased in the rock, and cannot determine whether they belong to avery recent conglomerate or to that limestone which we saw at theMorro of Nueva Barcelona, and which is not transition limestone thoughit contains beds of schistose jasper (kieselschiefer). 

We rested on the night of the 16th of July in the Indian village ofSanta Cruz de Cachipo. This mission, founded in 1749 by several Caribfamilies who inhabited the inundated and unhealthy banks of theLagunetas de Auache, is opposite the confluence of the Zir Puruay withthe Orinoco. We lodged at the house of the missionary, Fray Jose delas Piedras; and, on examining the registers of the parish, we saw howrapidly the prosperity of the community has been advanced by his zealand intelligence. Since we had reached the middle of the plains, theheat had increased to such a degree that we should have preferredtravelling no more during the day; but we were without arms and theLlanos were then infested by large numbers of robbers who attacked andmurdered the whites who fell into their hands. Nothing can be worsethan the administration of justice in these colonies. We everywherefound the prisons filled with malefactors on whom sentence is notpassed till after the lapse of seven or eight years. Nearly a third ofthe prisoners succeed in making their escape; and the unpeopledplains, filled with herds, furnish them with booty. They commit theirdepredations on horseback in the manner of the Bedouins. Theinsalubrity of the prisons would be attended with fatal results butthat these receptacles are cleared from time to time by the flight ofthe prisoners. It also frequently happens that sentences of death, tardily pronounced by the Audiencia of Caracas, cannot be executed forwant of a hangman. In these cases the barbarous custom is observed ofpardoning one criminal on condition of his hanging the others. Ourguides related to us that, a short time before our arrival on thecoast of Cumana, a Zambo, known for the great ferocity of his manners, determined to screen himself from punishment by turning executioner. The preparations for the execution however, shook his resolution; hefelt a horror of himself, and preferring death to the disgrace of thussaving his life, he called again for his irons which had been struckoff. He did not long remain in prison, and he underwent his sentencethrough the baseness of one of his accomplices. This awakening of asentiment of honour in the soul of a murderer is a psychologicphenomenon worthy of reflection. The man who had so often shed theblood of travellers in the plains recoiled at the idea of becoming thepassive instrument of justice in inflicting upon others a punishmentwhich he felt that he himself deserved. 

If, even in the peaceful times when M. Bonpland and myself had thegood fortune to travel through North and South America, the Llanoswere the refuge of malefactors who had committed crimes in themissions of the Orinoco, or who had escaped from the prisons on thecoast, how much worse must that state of things have been rendered bydiscord during the continuance of that sanguinary struggle which hasterminated in conferring freedom and independence on those vastregions! Our European wastes and heaths are but a feeble image of thesavannahs of the New Continent which for the space of eight or tenthousand square leagues are smooth as the surface of the sea. Theimmensity of their extent insures impunity to robbers, who concealthemselves more effectually in the savannahs than in our mountains andforests; and it is easy to conceive that even a European police wouldnot be very effective in regions where there are travellers and noroads, herds and no herdsmen, and farms so solitary thatnotwithstanding the powerful action of the mirage, a journey ofseveral days may be made without seeing one appear within the horizon. 

Whilst traversing the Llanos of Caracas, New Barcelona, and Cumana, which succeed each other from west to east, from the snowy mountainsof Merida to the Delta of the Orinoco, we feel anxious to know whetherthese vast tracts of land are destined by nature to serve eternallyfor pasture or whether they will at some future time be subject to theplough and the spade. This question is the more important as theLlanos, situated at the two extremities of South America, areobstacles to the political union of the provinces they separate. Theyprevent the agriculture of the coast of Venezuela from extendingtowards Guiana and they impede that of Potosi from advancing in thedirection of the mouth of the Rio de la Plata. The intermediate Llanospreserve, together with pastoral life, somewhat of a rude and wildcharacter which separates and keeps them remote from the civilizationof countries anciently cultivated. Thus it has happened that in thewar of independence they have been the scene of struggle between thehostile parties; and that the inhabitants of Calabozo have almost seenthe fate of the confederate provinces of Venezuela and Cundinamarcadecided before their walls. In assigning limits to the new states andto their subdivisions, it is to be hoped there may not be causehereafter to repent having lost sight of the importance of the Llanos, and the influence they may have on the disunion of communities whichimportant common interests should bring together. These plains wouldserve as natural boundaries like the seas or the virgin forests of thetropics, were it not that armies can cross them with greater facility, as their innumerable troops of horses and mules and herds of oxenfurnish every means of conveyance and subsistence. 

What we have seen of the power of man struggling against the force ofnature in Gaul, in Germany and recently (but still beyond the tropics)in the United States, scarcely affords any just measure of what we mayexpect from the progress of civilization in the torrid zone. Forestsdisappear but very slowly by fire and the axe when the trunks of treesare from eight to ten feet in diameter; when in falling they rest oneupon another, and the wood, moistened by almost continual rains, isexcessively hard. The planters who inhabit the Llanos or Pampas do notgenerally admit the possibility of subjecting the soil to cultivation;it is a problem not yet solved. Most of the savannahs of Venezuelahave not the same advantage as those of North America. The latter aretraversed longitudinally by three great rivers, the Missouri, theArkansas, and the Red River of Nachitoches; the savannahs of Araura, Calabozo, and Pao are crossed in a transverse direction only by thetributary streams of the Orinoco, the most westerly of which (theCari, the Pao, the Acaru, and the Manapire) have very little water inthe season of drought. These streams scarcely flow at all toward thenorth; so that in the centre of the Llanos there remain vast tracts ofland called bancos and mesas* frightfully parched. (* The Spanishwords banco and mesa signify literally bench and table. In the Llanosof South America little elevations rising slightly above the generalelevation of the plain are called bancos and mesas from their supposedresemblance to benches and tables. ) The eastern parts, fertilized bythe Portuguesa, the Masparro, and the Orivante, and by the tributarystreams of those three rivers, are most susceptible of cultivation. The soil is sand mixed with clay, covering a bed of quartz pebbles. The vegetable mould, the principal source of the nutrition of plants, is everywhere extremely thin. It is scarcely augmented by the fall ofthe leaves, which, in the forests of the torrid zone, is lessperiodically regular than in temperate climates. During thousands ofyears the Llanos have been destitute of trees and brushwood; a fewscattered palms in the savannah add little to that hydruret of carbon, that extractive matter, which, according to the experiments ofSaussure, Davy, and Braconnot, gives fertility to the soil. The socialplants which almost exclusively predominate in the steppes, aremonocotyledons; and it is known how much grasses impoverish the soilinto which their fibrous roots penetrate. This action of thekillingias, paspalums and cenchri, which form the turf, is everywherethe same; but where the rock is ready to pierce the earth this variesaccording as it rests on red sandstone, or on compact limestone andgypsum; it varies according as periodical inundations accumulate mudon the lower grounds or as the shock of the waters carries away fromthe small elevations the little soil that has covered them. Manysolitary cultivated spots already exist in the midst of the pastureswhere running water and tufts of the mauritia palm have been found. These farms, sown with maize, and planted with cassava, will multiplyconsiderably if trees and shrubs be augmented. 

The aridity and excessive heat of the mesas do not depend solely onthe nature of their surface and the local reverberation of the soil;their climate is modified by the adjacent regions; by the whole of theLlano of which they form a part. In the deserts of Africa or Arabia, in the Llanos of South America, in the vast heaths extending from theextremity of Jutland to the mouth of the Scheldt, the stability of thelimits of the desert, the savannahs, and the downs, depends chiefly ontheir immense extent and the nakedness these plains have acquired fromsome revolution destructive of the ancient vegetation of our planet. By their extent, their continuity, and their mass they oppose theinroads of cultivation and preserve, like inland gulfs, the stabilityof their boundaries. I will not enter upon the great question, whetherin the Sahara, that Mediterranean of moving sands, the germs oforganic life are increased in our days. In proportion as ourgeographical knowledge has extended we have discovered in the easternpart of the desert islets of verdure; oases covered with date-treescrowd together in more numerous archipelagos, and open their ports tothe caravans; but we are ignorant whether the form of the oases havenot remained constantly the same since the time of Herodotus. Ourannals are too incomplete to enable us to follow Nature in her slowand gradual progress. From these spaces entirely bare whence someviolent catastrophe has swept away the vegetable covering and themould; from those deserts of Syria and Africa which, by theirpetrified wood, attest the changes they have undergone; let us turn tothe grass-covered Llanos and to the consideration of phenomena thatcome nearer the circle of our daily observations. Respecting thepossibility of a more general cultivation of the steppes of America, the colonists settled there, concur in the opinions I have deducedfrom the climatic action of these steppes considered as surfaces, orcontinuous masses. They have observed that downs enclosed withincultivated and wooded land sooner yield to the labours of thehusbandman than soils alike circumscribed, but forming part of a vastsurface of the same nature. This observation is extremely just whetherin reference to soil covered with heath, as in the north of Europe;with cistuses, mastic-trees, or palmettos, as in Spain; or withcactuses, argemones, or brathys, as in equinoctial America. The morespace the association occupies the more resistance do the socialplants oppose to the labourer. With this general cause others arecombined in the Llanos of Venezuela; namely the action of the smallgrasses which impoverish the soil; the total absence of trees andbrushwood; the sandy winds, the heat of which is increased by contactwith a surface absorbing the rays of the sun during twelve hours, andunshaded except by the stalks of the aristides, chanchuses, andpaspalums. The progress observable on the vegetation of large treesand the cultivation of dicotyledonous plants in the vicinity of towns, (for instance around Calabozo and Pao) prove what may be gained uponthe Llano by attacking it in small portions, enclosing it by degrees, and dividing it by coppices and canals of irrigation. Possibly theinfluence of the winds which render the soil sterile might bediminished by sowing on a large scale, for example, over fifteen ortwenty acres, the seeds of the psidium, the croton, the cassia, or thetamarind, which prefer dry, open spots. I am far from believing thatthe savannahs will ever disappear entirely; or that the Llanos, souseful for pasturage and the trade in cattle, will ever be cultivatedlike the valleys of Aragua or other parts near the coast of Caracasand Cumana: but I am persuaded that in the lapse of ages aconsiderable portion of these plains, under a government favourable toindustry, will lose the wild aspect which has characterized them sincethe first conquest by Europeans. 

After three days' journey we began to perceive the chain of themountains of Cumana, which separates the Llanos, or, as they are oftencalled here, the great sea of verdure, * from the coast of theCaribbean Sea. (* Los Llanos son como un mar de yerbas--The Llanos arelike a vast sea of grass--is an observation often repeated in theseregions. ) If the Bergantin be more than eight hundred toises high, itmay be seen supposing only an ordinary refraction of one fourteenth ofthe arch, at the distance of twenty-seven nautical leagues; but thestate of the atmosphere long concealed from us the majestic view ofthis curtain of mountains. It appeared at first like a fog-bank whichhid the stars near the pole at their rising and setting; graduallythis body of vapour seemed to augment and condense, to assume a bluishtint, and become bounded by sinuous and fixed outlines. The sameeffects which the mariner observes on approaching a new land presentthemselves to the traveller on the borders of the Llano. The horizonbegan to enlarge in some part and the vault of heaven seemed no longerto rest at an equal distance on the grass-covered soil. A llanero, orinhabitant of the Llanos, is happy only when, as expressed in thesimple phraseology of the country, he can see everywhere well aroundhim. What appears to European eyes a covered country, slightlyundulated by a few scattered hills, is to him a rugged region bristledwith mountains. After having passed several months in the thickforests of the Orinoco, in places where one is accustomed, when at anydistance from the river, to see the stars only in the zenith, asthrough the mouth of a well, a journey in the Llanos is peculiarlyagreeable and attractive. The traveller experiences new sensations;and, like the Llanero, he enjoys the happiness of seeing well aroundhim. But this enjoyment, as we ourselves experienced, is not of longduration. There is doubtless something solemn and imposing in theaspect of a boundless horizon, whether viewed from the summits of theAndes or the highest Alps, amid the expanse of the ocean or in thevast plains of Venezuela and Tucuman. Infinity of space, as poets inevery language say, is reflected within ourselves; it is associatedwith ideas of a superior order; it elevates the mind which delights inthe calm of solitary meditation. It is true, also, that every view ofunbounded space bears a peculiar character. The prospect surveyed froma solitary peak varies according as the clouds reposing on the plainextend in layers, are conglomerated in groups, or present to theastonished eye, through broad openings, the habitations of man, thelabour of agriculture, or the verdant tint of the aerial ocean. Animmense sheet of water, animated by a thousand various beings even toits utmost depths, changing perpetually in colour and aspect, moveableat its surface like the element that agitates it, all charm theimagination during long voyages by sea; but the dusty and crevicedLlano, throughout a great part of the year, has a depressing influenceon the mind by its unchanging monotony. When, after eight or ten days'journey, the traveller becomes accustomed to the mirage and thebrilliant verdure of a few tufts of mauritia* (* The fan-palm, orsago-tree of Guiana. ) scattered from league to league, he feels thewant of more varied impressions. He loves again to behold the greattropical trees, the wild rush of torrents or hills and valleyscultivated by the hand of the labourer. If the deserts of Africa andof the Llanos or savannahs of the New Continent filled a still greaterspace than they actually occupy, nature would be deprived of many ofthe beautiful products peculiar to the torrid zone. * (* In calculatingfrom maps on a very large scale I found the Llanos of Cumana, Barcelona, and Caracas, from the delta of the Orinoco to the northernbank of the Apure, 7200 square leagues; the Llanos between the Apureand Putumayo, 21, 000 leagues; the Pampas on the north-west of BuenosAyres, 40, 000 square leagues; the Pampas south of the parallel ofBuenos Ayres, 37, 000 square leagues. The total area of the Llanos ofSouth America, covered with gramina, is consequently 105, 200 squareleagues, twenty leagues to an equatorial degree. ) The heaths of thenorth, the steppes of the Volga and the Don, are scarcely poorer inspecies of plants and animals than are the twenty-eight thousandsquare leagues of savannahs extending in a semicircle from north-eastto south-west, from the mouths of the Orinoco to the banks of theCaqueta and the Putumayo, beneath the finest sky in the world, and inthe land of plantains and bread-fruit trees. The influence of theequinoctial climate, everywhere else so vivifying, is not felt inplaces where the great associations of gramina almost exclude everyother plant. Judging from the aspect of the soil we might havebelieved ourselves to be in the temperate zone and even still farthernorthward but that a few scattered palms, and at nightfall the fineconstellations of the southern sky (the Centaur, Canopus, and theinnumerable nebulae with which the Ship is resplendent), reminded usthat we were only eight degrees distant from the equator. 

A phenomenon which fixed the attention of De Luc and which in theselatter years has furnished a subject of speculation to geologists, occupied us much during our journey across the Llanos. I allude not tothose blocks of primitive rock which occur, as in the Jura, on theslope of limestone mountains, but to those enormous blocks of graniteand syenite which, in limits very distinctly marked by nature, arefound scattered on the north of Holland, Germany and the countries ofthe Baltic. It seems to be now proved that, distributed as in radii, they came at the time of the ancient revolutions of our globe from theScandinavian peninsula southward; and that they did not primitivelybelong to the granitic chains of the Harz and Erzgeberg, which theyapproach without, however, reaching their foot. * (* Leopold von Buch, Voyage en Norwege volume 1 page 30. ) I was surprised at not seeing oneof these blocks in the Llanos of Venezuela, though these immenseplains are bounded on the south by the Sierra Parima, a group ofmountains entirely granitic and exhibiting in its denticulated andoften columnar peaks traces of the most violent destruction. Northwardthe granitic chain of the Silla de Caracas and Porto Cabello areseparated from the Llanos by a screen of mountains that are schistosebetween Villa de Cura and Parapara, and calcareous between theBergantin and Caripe. I was no less struck by this absence of blockson the banks of the Amazon. La Condamine affirms that from the Pongode Manseriche to the Strait of Pauxis not the smallest stone is to befound. Now the basin of the Rio Negro and of the Amazon is also aLlano, a plain like those of Venezuela and Buenos Ayres. Thedifference consists only in the state of vegetation. The two Llanossituated at the northern and southern extremities of South America arecovered with gramina; they are treeless savannahs; but theintermediate Llano, that of the Amazon, exposed to almost continualequatorial rains, is a thick forest. I do not remember having heardthat the Pampas of Buenos Ayres or the savannahs of the Missouri* andNew Mexico contain granitic blocks. (* Are there any isolated blocksin North America northward of the great lakes?) The absence of thisphenomenon appears general in the New World as it probably also is inSahara, in Africa; for we must not confound the rocky masses thatpierce the soil in the midst of the desert, and of which travellersoften make mention, with mere scattered fragments. These facts seem toprove that the blocks of Scandinavian granite which cover the sandycountries on the south of the Baltic, and those of Westphalia andHolland, must be traced to some local revolution. The ancientconglomerate (red sandstone) which covers a great part of the Llanosof Venezuela and of the basin of the Amazon contains no doubtfragments of the same primitive rocks which constitute theneighbouring mountains; but the convulsions of which these mountainsexhibit evident marks, do not appear to have been attended withcircumstances favourable to the removal of great blocks. Thisgeognostic phenomenon was to me the more unexpected since there existsnowhere in the world so smooth a plain entirely granitic. Before mydeparture from Europe I had observed with surprise that there were noprimitive blocks in Lombardy and in the great plain of Bavaria whichappears to be the bottom of an ancient lake, and which is situated twohundred and fifty toises above the level of the ocean. It is boundedon the north by the granites of the Upper Palatinate; and on the southby Alpine limestone, transition-thonschiefer, and the mica-slates ofthe Tyrol. 

We arrived, on the 23rd of July, at the town of Nueva Barcelona, lessfatigued by the heat of the Llanos, to which we had been longaccustomed, than annoyed by the winds of sand which occasion painfulchaps in the skin. Seven months previously, in going from Cumana toCaracas, we had rested a few hours at the Morro de Barcelona, afortified rock, which, near the village of Pozuelos, is joined to thecontinent only by a neck of land. We were received with the kindesthospitality in the house of Don Pedro Lavie, a wealthy merchant ofFrench extraction. This gentleman, who was accused of having givenrefuge to the unfortunate Espana when a fugitive on these coasts in1796, was arrested by order of the Audiencia, and conveyed as aprisoner to Caracas. The friendship of the governor of Cumana and theremembrance of the services he had rendered to the rising commerce ofthose countries contributed to procure his liberty. We had endeavouredto alleviate his captivity by visiting him in prison; and we had nowthe satisfaction of finding him in the midst of his family. Illnessunder which he was suffering had been aggravated by confinement; andhe sank into the grave without seeing the dawn of those days ofindependence, which his friend Don Joseph Espana had predicted on thescaffold prior to his execution. "I die, " said that man, who wasformed for the accomplishment of grand projects, "I die an ignominiousdeath; but my fellow citizens will soon piously collect my ashes, andmy name will reappear with glory. " These remarkable words were utteredin the public square of Caracas, on the 8th of May, 1799. 

In 1790 Nueva Barcelona contained scarcely ten thousand inhabitants, and in 1800, its population was more than sixteen thousand. The townwas founded in 1637 by a Catalonian conquistador, named Juan Urpin. Afruitless attempt was then made, to give the whole province the nameof New Catalonia. As our maps often mark two towns, Barcelona andCumanagoto, instead of one, and as the two names are considered assynonymous, it may be well to explain the cause of this error. Anciently, at the mouth of the Rio Neveri, there was an Indian town, built in 1588 by Lucas Faxardo, and named San Cristoval de losCumanagotos. This town was peopled solely by natives who came from thesaltworks of Apaicuare. In 1637 Urpin founded, two leagues fartherinland, the Spanish town of Nueva Barcelona, which he peopled withsome of the inhabitants of Cumanagoto, together with some Catalonians. For thirty-four years, disputes were incessantly arising between thetwo neighbouring communities till in 1671, the governor Angulosucceeded in persuading them to establish themselves on a third spot, where the town of Barcelona now stands. According to my observationsit is situated in latitude 10 degrees 6 minutes 52 seconds. * (* Theseobservations were made on the Plaza Major. They are merely the resultof six circum-meridian heights of Canopus, taken all in one night. InLas Memorias de Espinosa the latitude is stated to be 10 degrees 9minutes 6 seconds. The result of M. Ferrer's observations made it 10degrees 8 minutes 24 seconds. ) The ancient town of Cumanagoto iscelebrated in the country for a miraculous image of the Virgin, * whichthe Indians say was found in the hollow trunk of an old tutumo, orcalabash-tree (Crescentia cujete). (* La milagrosa imagen de MariaSantissima del Socorro, also called La Virgen del Tutumo. ) This imagewas carried in procession to Nueva Barcelona; but whenever the clergywere dissatisfied with the inhabitants of the new city, the Virginfled at night, and returned to the trunk of the tree at the mouth ofthe river. This miracle did not cease till a fine convent (the collegeof the Propaganda) was built, to receive the Franciscans. In a similarcase, the Bishop of Caracas caused the image of Our Lady de losValencianos to be placed in the archives of the bishopric, where sheremained thirty years under seal. 

The climate of Barcelona is not so hot as that of Cumana but it isextremely damp and somewhat unhealthy in the rainy season. M. Bonplandhad borne very well the irksome journey across the Llanos; and hadrecovered his strength and activity. With respect to myself, Isuffered more at Barcelona than I did at Angostura, immediately afterour passage on the rivers. One of those extraordinary tropical rainsduring which, at sunset, drops of enormous size fall at greatdistances from one another, caused me to experience sensations whichseemed to threaten an attack of typhus, a disease then prevalent onthat coast. We remained nearly a month at Barcelona where we found ourfriend Fray Juan Gonzales, of whom I have often spoken, and who hadtraversed the Upper Orinoco before us. He expressed regret that we hadnot been able to prolong our visit to that unknown country; and heexamined our plants and animals with that interest which must be feltby even the most uninformed man for the productions of a region he haslong since visited. Fray Juan had resolved to go to Europe and toaccompany us as far as the island of Cuba. We were together for thespace of seven months, and his society was most agreeable: he wascheerful, intelligent and obliging. How little did we anticipate thesad fate that awaited him. He took charge of a part of ourcollections; and a friend of his own confided to his care a child whowas to be conveyed to Spain for its education. Alas! the collection, the child and the young ecclesiastic were all buried in the waves. 

South-east of Nueva Barcelona, at the distance of two Leagues, thererises a lofty chain of mountains, abutting on the Cerro del Bergantin, which is visible at Cumana. This spot is known by the name of the hotwaters, (aguas calientes). When I felt my health sufficientlyrestored, we made an excursion thither on a cool and misty morning. The waters, which are loaded with sulphuretted hydrogen, issue from aquartzose sandstone, lying on compact limestone, the same as that wehad examined at the Morro. We again found in this limestoneintercalated beds of black hornstein, passing into kieselschiefer. Itis not, however, a transition rock; by its position, its division intosmall strata, its whiteness and its dull and conchoidal fractures(with very flattened cavities), it rather approximates to thelimestone of Jura. The real kieselschiefer and Lydian-stone have notbeen observed hitherto except in the transition-slates and limestones. Is the sandstone whence the springs of the Bergantin issue of the sameformation as the sandstone of the Imposible and the Tumiriquiri? Thetemperature of the thermal waters is only 43. 2 degrees centigrade (theatmosphere being 27). They flow first to the distance of forty toisesover the rocky surface of the ground; then they rush down into anatural cavern; and finally they pierce through the limestone to issueout at the foot of the mountain on the left bank of the little riverNarigual. The springs, while in contact with the oxygen of theatmosphere, deposit a good deal of sulphur. I did not collect, as Ihad done at Mariara, the bubbles of air that rise in jets from thesethermal waters. They no doubt contain a large quantity of nitrogenbecause the sulphuretted hydrogen decomposes the mixture of oxygen andnitrogen dissolved in the spring. The sulphurous waters of San Juanwhich issue from calcareous rock, like those of the Bergantin, havealso a low temperature (31. 3 degrees); while in the same region thetemperature of the sulphurous waters of Mariara and Las Trincheras(near Porto Cabello), which gush immediately from gneiss-granite, is58. 9 degrees the former, and 90. 4 degrees the latter. It would seem asif the heat which these springs acquire in the interior of the globediminishes in proportion as they pass from primitive to secondarysuperposed rocks. 

Our excursion to the Aguas Calientes of Bergantin ended with avexatious accident. Our host had lent us one of his finestsaddle-horses. We were warned at the same time not to ford the littleriver of Narigual. We passed over a sort of bridge, or rather sometrunks of trees laid closely together, and we made our horses swim, holding their bridles. The horse I had ridden suddenly disappearedafter struggling for some time under water: all our endeavours todiscover the cause of this accident were fruitless. Our guidesconjectured that the animal's legs had been seized by the caymanswhich are very numerous in those parts. My perplexity was extreme:delicacy and the affluent circumstances of my host forbade me to thinkof repairing his loss; and M. Lavie, more considerate of our situationthan sensible of his own misfortune, endeavoured to tranquillize us byexaggerating the facility with which fine horses were procurable fromthe neighbouring savannahs. 

The crocodiles of the Rio Neveri are large and numerous, especiallynear the mouth of the river; but in general they are less fierce thanthe crocodiles of the Orinoco. These animals manifest in America thesame contrasts of ferocity as in Egypt and Nubia: this fact is obviouswhen we compare with attention the narratives of Burckhardt andBelzoni. The state of cultivation in different countries and theamount of population in the proximity of rivers modify the habits ofthese large saurians: they are timid when on dry ground and they fleefrom man, even in the water, when they are not in want of food andwhen they perceive any danger in attacking. The Indians of NuevaBarcelona convey wood to market in a singular manner. Large logs ofzygophyllum and caesalpinia* are thrown into the river and carrieddown by the stream, while the owners of the wood swim here and thereto float the pieces that are stopped by the windings of the banks. (*The Lecythis ollaria, in the vicinity of Nueva Barcelona, furnishesexcellent timber. We saw trunks of this tree seventy feet high. Aroundthe town, beyond that arid zone of cactus which separates NuevaBarcelona from the steppe, grow the Clerodendrum tenuifolium, theIonidium itubu, which resembles the Viola, and the Allionia violacea. )This could not be done in the greater part of those American rivers inwhich crocodiles are found. The town of Barcelona has not, likeCumana, an Indian suburb; and the only natives who are seen there areinhabitants of the neighbouring missions or of huts scattered in theplain. Neither the one nor the other are of Carib race, but a mixtureof the Cumanagotos, Palenkas and Piritus; short, stunted, indolent andaddicted to drinking. Fermented cassava is here the favouritebeverage; the wine of the palm-tree, which is used on the Orinoco, being almost unknown on the coast. It is curious to observe that menin different zones, to satisfy the passion of inebriety, employ notonly all the families of monocotyledonous and dicotyledonous plants, but even the poisonous Agaric (Amanita muscaria) of which, withdisgusting economy, the Coriacs have learnt to drink the same juiceseveral times during five successive days. * (* Mr. Langsdor(Wetterauisches Journal part 1 page 254) first made known this veryextraordinary physiological phenomenon, which I prefer describing inLatin: Coriaecorum gens, in ora Asiae septentrioni opposita, potumsibi excogitavit ex succo inebriante agarici muscarii. Qui succus(aeque ut asparagorum), vel per humanum corpus transfusus, temulentiamnihilominus facit. Quare gens misera et inops, quo rarius mentis sitsuae, propriam urinam bibit identidem: continuoque mingens rursusquehauriens eundem succum (dicas, ne ulla in parte mundi desit ebrietas), pauculis agaricis producere in diem quintum temulentiam potest. )

The packet boats (correos) from Corunna bound for the Havannah andMexico had been due three months; and it was believed they had beentaken by the English cruisers stationed on this coast. Anxious toreach Cumana, in order to avail ourselves of the first opportunitythat might offer for our passage to Vera Cruz, we hired an open boatcalled a lancha, a sort of craft employed habitually in the latitudeseast of Cape Codera where the sea is scarcely ever rough. Our lancha, which was laden with cacao, carried on a contraband trade with theisland of Trinidad. For this reason the owner imagined we had nothingto fear from the enemy's vessels, which then blockaded all the Spanishports. We embarked our collection of plants, our instruments and ourmonkeys; and, the weather being delightful, we hoped to make a veryshort passage from the mouth of the Rio Neveri to Cumana: but we hadscarcely reached the narrow channel between the continent and therocky isles of Borracha and the Chimanas, when to our great surprisewe came in sight of an armed boat, which, whilst hailing us from agreat distance, fired some musket-shot at us. The boat belonged to aprivateer of Halifax; and I recognized among the sailors a Prussian, anative of Memel. I had found no opportunity, since my arrival inAmerica, of expressing myself in my native language, and I could havewished to have spoken it on a less unpleasant occasion. Ourprotestations were without effect: we were carried on board theprivateer, and the captain, affecting not to recognize the passportsdelivered by the governor of Trinidad for the illicit trade, declaredus to be a lawful prize. Being a little in the habit of speakingEnglish, I entered into conversation with the captain, begging not tobe taken to Nova Scotia, but to be put on shore on the neighbouringcoast. While I endeavoured, in the cabin, to defend my own rights andthose of the owner of the lancha, I heard a noise on deck. Somethingwas whispered to the captain, who left us in consternation. Happilyfor us, an English sloop of war, the Hawk, was cruising in thoseparts, and had signalled the captain to bring to; but the signal notbeing promptly answered, a gun was fired from the sloop and amidshipman sent on board our vessel. He was a polite young man, andgave me hopes that the lancha, which was laden with cacao, would begiven up, and that on the following day we might pursue our voyage. Inthe meantime he invited me to accompany him on board the sloop, assuring me that his commander, Captain Garnier, would furnish me withbetter accommodation for the night than I should find in the vesselfrom Halifax. 

I accepted these obliging offers and was received with the utmostkindness by Captain Garnier, who had made the voyage to the north-westcoast of America with Vancouver, and who appeared to be highlyinterested in all I related to him respecting the great cataracts ofAtures and Maypures, the bifurcation of the Orinoco and itscommunication with the Amazon. He introduced to me several of hisofficers who had been with Lord Macartney in China. I had not, duringthe space of a year, enjoyed the society of so many well-informedpersons. They had learned from the English newspapers the object of myenterprise. I was treated with great confidence and the commander gaveme up his own state-room. They gave me at parting the astronomicalEphemerides for those years which I had not been able to procure inFrance or Spain. I am indebted to Captain Garnier for the observationsI was enabled to make on the satellites beyond the equator and I feelit a duty to record here the gratitude I feel for his kindness. Comingfrom the forests of Cassiquiare, and having been confined during wholemonths to the narrow circle of missionary life, we felt a highgratification at meeting for the first time with men who had sailedround the world, and whose ideas were enlarged by so extensive andvaried a course. I quitted the English vessel with impressions whichare not yet effaced from my remembrance, and which rendered me morethan ever satisfied with the career on which I had entered. 

We continued our passage on the following day; and were surprised atthe depth of the channels between the Caracas Islands, where the sloopworked her way through them almost touching the rocks. How much dothese calcareous islets, of which the form and direction call to mindthe great catastrophe that separated from them the mainland, differ inaspect from the volcanic archipelago on the north of Lanzerote wherethe hills of basalt seem to have been heaved up from the bottom of thesea! Numbers of pelicans and of flamingos, which fished in the nooksor harassed the pelicans in order to seize their prey, indicated ourapproach to the coast of Cumana. It is curious to observe at sunrisehow the sea-birds suddenly appear and animate the scene, reminding us, in the most solitary regions, of the activity of our cities at thedawn of day. At nine in the morning we reached the gulf of Cariacowhich serves as a roadstead to the town of Cumana. The hill, crownedby the castle of San Antonio, stood out, prominent from its whiteness, on the dark curtain of the inland mountains. We gazed with interest onthe shore, where we first gathered plants in America, and where, somemonths later, M. Bonpland had been in such danger. Among the cactuses, that rise in columns twenty feet high, appear the Indian huts of theGuaykeries. Every part of the landscape was familiar to us; the forestof cactus, the scattered huts and that enormous ceiba, beneath whichwe loved to bathe at the approach of night. Our friends at Cumana cameout to meet us: men of all castes, whom our frequent herborizationshad brought into contact with us, expressed the greater joy at sightof us, as a report that we had perished on the banks of the Orinocohad been current for several months. These reports had their origineither in the severe illness of M. Bonpland, or in the fact of ourboat having been nearly lost in a gale above the mission of Uruana. 

We hastened to visit the governor, Don Vicente Emparan, whoserecommendations and constant solicitude had been so useful to usduring the long journey we had just terminated. He procured for us, inthe centre of the town, a house which, though perhaps too lofty in acountry exposed to violent earthquakes, was extremely useful for ourinstruments. We enjoyed from its terraces a majestic view of the sea, of the isthmus of Araya, and the archipelago of the islands ofCaracas, Picuita and Borracha. The port of Cumana was every day moreand more closely blockaded, and the vain expectation of the arrival ofSpanish packets detained us two months and a half longer. We wereoften nearly tempted to go to the Danish islands which enjoyed a happyneutrality; but we feared that, if we left the Spanish colonies, wemight find some obstacles to our return. With the ample freedom whichin a moment of favour had been granted to us, we did not consider itprudent to hazard anything that might give umbrage to the localauthorities. We employed our time in completing the Flora of Cumana, geologically examining the eastern part of the peninsula of Araya, andobserving many eclipses of satellites, which confirmed the longitudeof the place already obtained by other means. We also made experimentson the extraordinary refractions, on evaporation and on atmosphericelectricity. 

The living animals which we had brought from the Orinoco were objectsof great curiosity to the inhabitants of Cumana. The capuchin of theEsmeralda (Simia chiropotes), which so much resembles man in theexpression of its physiognomy; and the sleeping monkey (Simiatrivirgata), which is the type of a new group; had never yet been seenon that coast. We destined them for the menagerie of the Jardin desPlantes at Paris. The arrival of a French squadron which had failed inan attack upon Curacao furnished us, unexpectedly, with an excellentopportunity for sending them to Guadaloupe; and General Jeannet, together with the commissary Bresseau, agent of the executive power atthe Antilles, promised to convey them. The monkeys and birds died atGuadaloupe but fortunately the skin of the Simia chiropotes, the onlyone in Europe, was sent a few years ago to the Jardin des Plantes, where the couxio (Simia satanas) and the stentor or alouate of thesteppes of Caracas (Simia ursina) had been already received. Thearrival of so great a number of French military officers and themanifestation of political and religious opinions not altogetherconformable with the interests of the governments of Europe excitedsingular agitation in the population of Cumana. The governor treatedthe French authorities with the forms of civility consistent with thefriendly relations subsisting at that period between France and Spain. In the streets the coloured people crowded round the agent of theFrench Directory, whose dress was rich and theatrical. White men, too, with indiscreet curiosity, whenever they could make themselvesunderstood, made enquiries concerning the degree of influence grantedby the republic to the colonists in the government of Guadaloupe. Theking's officers doubled their zeal in furnishing provision for thelittle squadron. Strangers, who boasted that they were free, appearedto these people troublesome guests; and in a country of which thegrowing prosperity depended on clandestine communication with theislands, and on a freedom of trade forced from the ministry, theEuropean Spaniards extolled the wisdom of the old code of laws (leyesde Indias) which permitted the entrance of foreign vessels into theirports only in extreme cases of want or distress. These contrastsbetween the restless desires of the colonists and the distrustfulapathy of the government, throw some light on the great politicalevents which, after long preparation, have separated Spain from hercolonies. 

We again passed a few agreeable days, from the third to the fifth ofNovember, at the peninsula of Araya, situated beyond the gulf ofCariaco, opposite to Cumana. * (* I have already described the pearlsof Araya; its sulphurous deposits and submarine springs of liquid andcolourless petroleum. See volume 1. 5. ) We were informed that theIndians carried to the town from time to time considerable quantitiesof native alum, found in the neighbouring mountains. The specimensshown to us sufficiently indicated that it was neither alunite, similar to the rock of Tolfa and Piombino, nor those capillary andsilky salts of alkaline sulphate of alumina and magnesia that line theclefts and cavities of rocks, but real masses of native alum, with aconchoidal or imperfectly lamellar fracture. We were led to hope thatwe should find the mine of alum (mina de alun) in the slaty cordilleraof Maniquarez, and so new a geological phenomenon was calculated torivet our attention. The priest Juan Gonzales, and the treasurer, DonManuel Navarete, who had been useful to us from our first arrival onthis coast, accompanied us in our little excursion. We disembarkednear Cape Caney and again visited the ancient salt-pit (which isconverted into a lake by the irruption of the sea), the fine ruins ofthe castle of Araya and the calcareous mountain of the Barigon, which, from its steepness on the western side is somewhat difficult ofaccess. Muriatiferous clay mixed with bitumen and lenticular gypsumand sometimes passing to a darkish brown clay, devoid of salt, is aformation widely spread through this peninsula, in the island ofMargareta and on the opposite continent, near the castle of SanAntonio de Cumana. Probably the existence of this formation hascontributed to produce those ruptures and rents in the ground whichstrike the eye of the geologist when he stands on one of the eminencesof the peninsula of Araya. The cordillera of this peninsula, composedof mica-slate and clay-slate, is separated on the north from the chainof mountains of the island of Margareta (which are of a similarcomposition) by the channel of Cubagua; and on the south it isseparated from the lofty calcareous chain of the continent, by thegulf of Cariaco. The whole intermediate space appears to have beenheretofore filled with muriatiferous clay; and no doubt the continualerosions of the ocean have removed this formation and converted theplain, first into lakes, then into gulfs, and finally into navigablechannels. The account of what has passed in the most modern times atthe foot of the castle of Araya, the irruption of the sea into theancient salt-pit, the formation of the laguna de Chacopata and a lake, four leagues in length, which cuts the island of Margareta nearly intotwo parts, afford evident proofs of these successive erosions. In thesingular configuration of the coasts in the Morro of Chacopata; in thelittle islands of the Caribbees, the Lobos and Tunal; in the greatisland of Coche, and the capes of Carnero and Mangliers there stillseem to be apparent the remains of an isthmus which, stretching fromnorth to south, formerly joined the peninsula of Araya to the islandof Margareta. In that island a neck of very low land, three thousandtoises long, and less than two hundred toises broad, conceals on thenorthern sides the two hilly groups, known by the names of La Vega deSan Juan and the Macanao. The Laguna Grande of Margareta has a verynarrow opening to the south and small boats pass by portage over theneck of land or northern dyke. Though the waters on these shores seemat present to recede from the continent it is nevertheless veryprobable that in the lapse of ages, either by an earthquake or by asudden rising of the ocean, the long island of Margareta will bedivided into two rocky islands of a trapezoidal form. 

The limestone of the Barigon, which is a part of the great formationof sandstone or calcareous breccia of Cumana, is filled with fossilshells in as perfect preservation as those of other tertiarylimestones in France and Italy. We detached some blocks containingoysters eight inches in diameter, pectens, venuses, and lithophytepolypi. I recommend to naturalists better versed in the knowledge offossils than I then was, to examine with care this mountainous coast(which is easy of access to European vessels) in their way to Cumana, Guayra or Curacao. It would be curious to discover whether any ofthese shells and these species of petrified zoophytes still inhabitthe seas of the West Indies, as M. Bonpland conjectured, and as is thecase in the island of Timor and perhaps in Guadaloupe. 

We sailed on the 4th of November, at one o'clock in the morning, insearch of the mine of native alum. I took with me the chronometer andmy large Dollond telescope, intending to observe at the Laguna Chica(Small Lake), east of the village of Maniquarez, the immersion of thefirst satellite of Jupiter; this design, however, was notaccomplished, contrary winds having prevented our arrival beforedaylight. The spectacle of the phosphorescence of the ocean and thesports of the porpoises which surrounded our canoe somewhat atoned forthis disappointment. We again passed those spots where springs ofpetroleum gush from mica-slate at the bottom of the sea and the smellof which is perceptible from a considerable distance. When it isrecollected that farther eastward, near Cariaco, the hot and submarinewaters are sufficiently abundant to change the temperature of the gulfat its surface, we cannot doubt that the petroleum is the effect ofdistillation at an immense depth, issuing from those primitive rocksbeneath which lies the focus of all volcanic commotion. 

The Laguna Chica is a cove surrounded by perpendicular mountains, andconnected with the gulf of Cariaco only by a narrow channeltwenty-five fathoms deep. It seems, like the fine port of Acapulco, toowe its existence to the effect of an earthquake. A beach shows thatthe sea is here receding from the land, as on the opposite coast ofCumana. The peninsula of Araya, which narrows between Cape Mero andCape las Minas to one thousand four hundred toises, is little morethan four thousand toises in breadth near the Laguna Chica, reckoningfrom one sea to the other. We had to cross this distance in order tofind the native alum and to reach the cape called the Punta deChuparuparu. The road is difficult only because no path is traced; andbetween precipices of some depth we were obliged to step over ridgesof bare rock, the strata of which are much inclined. The principalpoint is nearly two hundred and twenty toises high; but the mountains, as it often happens in a rocky isthmus, display very singular forms. The Paps (tetas) of Chacopata and Cariaco, midway between the LagunaChica and the town of Cariaco, are peaks which appear isolated whenviewed from the platform of the castle of Cumana. The vegetable earthin this country is only thirty toises above sea level. Sometimes thereis no rain for the space of fifteen months; if, however, a few dropsfall immediately after the flowering of the melons and gourds, theyyield fruit weighing from sixty to seventy pounds, notwithstanding theapparent dryness of the air. I say apparent dryness, for myhygrometric observations prove that the atmosphere of Cumana and Arayacontains nearly nine-tenths of the quantity of watery vapour necessaryto its perfect saturation. It is this air, at once hot and humid, thatnourishes those vegetable reservoirs, the cucurbitaceous plants, theagaves and melocactuses half-buried in the sand. When we visited thepeninsula the preceding year there was a great scarcity of water; thegoats for want of grass died by hundreds. During our stay at theOrinoco the order of the seasons seemed to be entirely changed. AtAraya, Cochen, and even in the island of Margareta it had rainedabundantly; and those showers were remembered by the inhabitants inthe same way as a fall of aerolites would be noted in the recollectionof the naturalists of Europe. 

The Indian who was our guide scarcely knew in what direction we shouldfind the alum; he was ignorant of its real position. This ignorance oflocalities characterises almost all the guides here, who are chosenfrom among the most indolent class of the people. We wandered foreight or nine hours among rocks totally bare of vegetation. Themica-slate passes sometimes to clay-slate of a darkish grey. I wasagain struck by the extreme regularity in the direction andinclination of the strata. They run north 50 degrees east, incliningfrom 60 to 70 degrees north-west. This is the general direction whichI had observed in the gneiss-granite of Caracas and the Orinoco, inthe hornblende-slates of Angostura, and even in the greater part ofthe secondary rocks we had just examined. The beds, over a vast extentof land, make the same angle with the meridian of the place; theypresent a parallelism, which may be considered as one of the greatgeologic laws capable of being verified by precise measures. Advancingtoward Cape Chuparuparu, the veins of quartz that cross the mica-slateincrease in size. We found some from one to two toises broad, full ofsmall fasciculated crystals of rutile titanite. We sought in vain forcyanite, which we had discovered in some blocks near Maniquarez. Farther on the mica-state presents not veins, but little beds ofgraphite or carburetted iron. They are from two to three inches thickand have precisely the same direction and inclination as the rock. Graphite, in primitive soils, marks the first appearance of carbon onthe globe--that of carbon uncombined with hydrogen. It is anterior tothe period when the surface of the earth became covered withmonocotyledonous plants. From the summit of those wild mountains thereis a majestic view of the island of Margareta. Two groups of mountainsalready mentioned, those of Macanao and La Vega de San Juan, rise fromthe bosom of the waters. The capital of the island, La Asuncion, theport of Pampatar, and the villages of Pueblo de la Mar, Pueblo delNorte and San Juan belong to the second and most easterly of thesegroups. The western group, the Macanao, is almost entirelyuninhabited. The isthmus that divides these large masses of mica-slatewas scarcely visible; its form appeared changed by the effect of themirage and we recognized the intermediate part, through which runs theLaguna Grande, only by two small hills of a sugarloaf form, in themeridian of the Punta de Piedras. Nearer we look down on the smalldesert archipelago of the four Morros del Tunal, the Caribbee and theLobos Islands. 

After much vain search we at length found, before we descended to thenorthern coast of the peninsula of Araya, in a ravine of verydifficult access (Aroyo del Robalo), the mineral which had been shownto us at Cumana. The mica-slate changed suddenly into carburetted andshining clay-slate. It was an ampelite; and the waters (for there aresmall springs in those parts, and some have recently been discoverednear the village of Maniquarez) were impregnated with yellow oxide ofiron and had a styptic taste. We found the sides of the neighbouringrocks lined with capillary sulphate of alumina in effervescence; andreal beds, two inches thick, full of native alum, extending as far asthe eye could reach in the clay slate. The alum is greyish white, somewhat dull on the surface and of an almost glassy lustreinternally. Its fracture is not fibrous but imperfectly conchoidal. Itis slightly translucent when its fragments are thin; and has asweetish and astringent taste without any bitter mixture. When on thespot, I proposed to myself the question whether this alum, so pure, and filling beds in the clay-slate without leaving the smallest void, be of a formation contemporary with the rock, or whether it be of arecent, and in some sort secondary, origin, like the muriate of soda, found sometimes in small veins, where strongly concentrated springstraverse beds of gypsum or clay. In these parts nothing seems toindicate a process of formation likely to be renewed in our days. Theslaty rock exhibits no open cleft; and none is found parallel with thedirection of the slates. It may also be inquired whether thisaluminous slate be a transition-formation lying on the primitivemica-slate of Araya, or whether it owe its origin merely to a changeof composition and texture in the beds of mica-slate. I lean to thelatter proposition; for the transition is progressive, and theclay-slate (thonschiefer) and mica-slate appear to me to constitutehere but one formation. The presence of cyanite, rutile-titanite, andgarnets, and the absence of Lydian stone, and all fragmentary orarenaceous rocks, seem to characterise the formation we describe asprimitive. It is asserted that even in Europe ampelite and green stoneare found, though rarely, in slates anterior to transition-slate. 

When, in 1785, after an earthquake, a great rocky mass was broken offin the Aroyo del Robalo, the Guaykeries of Los Serritos collectedfragments of alum five or six inches in diameter, extremely pure andtransparent. It was sold in my time at Cumana to the dyers andtanners, at the price of two reals* per pound, while alum from Spaincost twelve reals. (* The real is about 6 1/2 English pence. ) Thisdifference of price was more the result of prejudice and of theimpediments to trade, than of the inferior quality of the alum of thecountry, which is fit for use without undergoing any purification. Itis also found in the chain of mica-slate and clay-slate, on thenorth-west coast of the island of Trinidad, at Margareta and near CapeChuparuparu, north of the Cerro del Distiladero. * (* Another place wasmentioned to us, west of Bordones, the Puerto Escondido. But thatcoast appeared to me to be wholly calcareous; and I cannot conceivewhere could be the situation of ampelite and native alum on thispoint. Was it in the beds of slaty clay that alternate with the alpinelimestone of Cumanacoa? Fibrous alum is found in Europe only informations posterior to those of transition, in lignites and othertertiary formations belonging to the lignites. ) The Indians, who arenaturally addicted to concealment, are not inclined to make known thespots whence they obtain native alum; but it must be abundant, for Ihave seen very considerable quantities of it in their possession at atime. 

South America at present receives its alum from Europe, as Europe inits turn received it from the natives of Asia previous to thefifteenth century. Mineralogists, before my travels, knew nosubstances which, without addition, calcined or not calcined, coulddirectly yield alum (sulphate of alumina and potash), except rocks oftrachytic formation, and small veins traversing beds of lignite andbituminous wood. Both these substances, so different in their origin, contain all that constitutes alum, that is to say, alumina, sulphuricacid and potash. The ores of Tolfa, Milo and Nipoligo; those ofMontione, in which silica does not accompany the alumina; thesiliceous breccia of Mont Dore, which contains sulphur in itscavities; the alumiferous rocks of Parad and Beregh in Hungary, whichbelong also to trachytic and pumice conglomerates, may no doubt betraced to the penetration of sulphurous acid vapours. They are theproducts of a feeble and prolonged volcanic action, as may be easilyascertained in the solfataras of Puzzuoli and the Peak of Teneriffe. The alumite of Tolfa, which, since my return to Europe, I haveexamined on the spot, conjointly with Gay-Lussac, has, by itsoryctognostic characters and its chemical composition, a considerableaffinity to compact feldspar, which constitutes the basis of so manytrachytes and transition-porphyries. It is a siliciferous subsulphateof alumina and potash, a compact feldspar, with the addition ofsulphuric acid completely formed in it. The waters circulating inthese alumiferous rocks of volcanic origin do not, however, depositmasses of native alum, to yield which the rocks must be roasted. Iknow not of any deposits analogous to those I brought from Cumana; forthe capillary and fibrous masses found in veins traversing beds oflignites (as on the banks of the Egra, between Saatz and Commothau inBohemia), or efflorescing in cavities (as at Freienwalde inBrandenburg, and at Segario in Sardinia), are impure salts, oftendestitute of potash, and mixed with the sulphates of ammonia andmagnesia. A slow decomposition of the pyrites, which probably act asso many little galvanic piles, renders the waters alumiferous, thatcirculate across the bituminous lignites and carburetted clays. Thesewaters, in contact with carbonate of lime, even give rise to thedeposits of subsulphate of alumina (destitute of potash), found nearHalle, and formerly believed erroneously to be pure alumina belonging, like the porcelain earth (kaolin) of Morl, to porphyry of redsandstone. Analogous chemical actions may take place in primitive andtransition slates as well as in tertiary formations. All slates, andthis fact is very important, contain nearly five per cent of potash, sulphuret of iron, peroxide of iron, carbon, etc. The contact of somany moistened heterogeneous substances must necessarily lead them toa change of state and composition. The efflorescent salts thatabundantly cover the aluminous slates of Robalo, show how much thesechemical effects are favoured by the high temperature of the climate;but, I repeat, in a rock where there are no crevices, no vacuitiesparallel to the direction and inclination of the strata, native alum, semitransparent and of conchoidal fracture, completely filling itsplace (its beds), must be regarded as of the same age with the rock inwhich it is contained. The term contemporary formation is here takenin the sense attached to it by geologists, in speaking of beds ofquartz in clay-slate, granular limestone in mica-slate or feldspar ingneiss. 

After having for a long time wandered over barren scenes amidst rocksentirely devoid of vegetation, our eyes dwelt with pleasure on tuftsof malpighia and croton, which we found in descending toward thecoast. These arborescent crotons were of two new species, * veryremarkable for their form, and peculiar to the peninsula of Araya. (*Croton argyrophyllus and C. Marginatus. ) We arrived too late at theLaguna Chica to visit another rock situated farther east andcelebrated by the name of the Laguna Grande, or the Laguna delObispo. * (* Great Lake, or the Bishop's Lake. ) We contented ourselveswith admiring it from the height of the mountains that command theview; and, excepting the ports of Ferrol and Acapulco, there isperhaps none presenting a more extraordinary configuration. It is aninland gulf two miles and a half long from east to west, and one milebroad. The rocks of mica-slate that form the entrance of the portleave a free passage only two hundred and fifty toises broad. Thewater is everywhere from fifteen to twenty-five fathoms deep. Probablythe government of Cumana will one day take advantage of the possessionof this inland gulf and of that of Mochima, * eight leagues east of thebad road of Nueva Barcelona. (* This is a long narrow gulf, threemiles from north to south, similar to the fiords of Norway. ) Thefamily of M. Navarete were waiting for us with impatience on thebeach; and, though our boat carried a large sail, we did not arrive atManiquarez before night. 

We prolonged our stay at Cumana only a fortnight. Having lost all hopeof the arrival of a packet from Corunna, we availed ourselves of anAmerican vessel, laden at Nueva Barcelona with salt provision for theisland of Cuba. We had now passed sixteen months on this coast and inthe interior of Venezuela, and on the 16th of November we parted fromour friends at Cumana to make the passage for the third time acrossthe gulf of Cariaco to Nueva Barcelona. The night was cool anddelicious. It was not without emotion that we beheld for the last timethe disc of the moon illuminating the summit of the cocoa-trees thatsurround the banks of the Manzanares. The breeze was strong and inless than six hours we anchored near the Morro of Nueva Barcelona, where the vessel which was to take us to the Havannah was ready tosail. 

CHAPTER 3. 27. 

POLITICAL STATE OF THE PROVINCES OF VENEZUELA. EXTENT OF TERRITORY. POPULATION. NATURAL PRODUCTIONS. EXTERNAL TRADE. COMMUNICATIONS BETWEEN THE DIFFERENT PROVINCES COMPRISING THE REPUBLICOF COLUMBIA. 

Before I quit the coasts of Terra Firma and draw the attention of thereader to the political importance of Cuba, the largest of the WestIndia Islands, I will collect into one point of view all those factswhich may lead to a just appreciation of the future relations ofcommercial Europe with the united Provinces of Venezuela. When, soonafter my return to Germany, I published the Essai Politique sur laNouvelle-Espagne, I at the same time made known some of the facts Ihad collected in relation to the territorial riches of South America. This comparative view of the population, agriculture and commerce ofall the Spanish colonies was formed at a period when the progress ofcivilization was restrained by the imperfection of socialinstitutions, the prohibitory system and other fatal errors in thescience of government. Since the time when I developed the immenseresources which the people of both North and South America mightderive from their own position and their relations with commercialEurope and Asia, one of those great revolutions which from time totime agitate the human race has changed the state of society in thevast regions through which I travelled. The continental part of theNew World is at present in some sort divided between three nations ofEuropean origin; one (and that the most powerful) is of Germanic race:the two others belong by their language, their literature, and theirmanners to Latin Europe. Those parts of the old world which advancefarthest westward, the Spanish Peninsula and the British Islands, arethose of which the colonies are most extensive; but four thousandleagues of coast, inhabited solely by the descendants of Spaniards andPortuguese, attest the superiority which in the fifteenth andsixteenth centuries the peninsular nations had acquired, by theirmaritime expeditions, over the navigators of other countries. It maybe fairly asserted that their languages, which prevail from Californiato the Rio de la Plata and along the back of the Cordilleras, as wellas in the forests of the Amazon, are monuments of national glory thatwill survive every political revolution. 

The inhabitants of Spanish and Portuguese America form together apopulation twice as numerous as the inhabitants of English race. TheFrench, Dutch, and Danish possessions of the new continent are ofsmall extent; but, to complete the general view of the nations whichmay influence the destiny of the other hemisphere, we ought not toforget the colonists of Scandinavian origin who are endeavouring toform settlements from the peninsula of Alashka as far as California;and the free Africans of Hayti who have verified the prediction madeby the Milanese traveller Benzoni in 1545. The situation of theseAfricans in an island more than three times the size of Sicily, in themiddle of the West Indian Mediterranean, augments their politicalimportance. Every friend of humanity prays for the development of thecivilization which is advancing in so calm and unexpected a manner. Asyet Russian America is less like an agricultural colony than thefactories established by Europeans on the coast of Africa, to thegreat misfortune of the natives; they contain only military posts, stations of fishermen, and Siberian hunters. It is a curiousphenomenon to find the rites of the Greek Church established in onepart of America and to see two nations which inhabit the eastern andwestern extremities of Europe (the Russians and the Spaniards) thusbordering on each other on a continent on which they arrived byopposite routes; but the almost savage state of the unpeopled coastsof Ochotsk and Kamtschatka, the want of resources furnished by theports of Asia, and the barbarous system hitherto adopted in theScandinavian colonies of the New World, are circumstances which willhold them long in infancy. Hence it follows that if in the researchesof political economy we are accustomed to survey masses only, wecannot but admit that the American continent is divided, properlyspeaking, between three great nations of English, Spanish, andPortuguese race. The first of these three nations, theAnglo-Americans, is, next to the English of Europe, that whose flagwaves over the greatest extent of sea. Without any distant colonies, its commerce has acquired a growth attained in the old world by thatnation alone which communicated to North America its language, itsliterature, its love of labour, its predilection for liberty, and aportion of its civil institutions. 

The English and Portuguese colonists have peopled only the coastswhich lie opposite to Europe; the Castilians, on the contrary, in theearliest period of the conquest, crossed the chain of the Andes andmade settlements in the most western regions. There only, at Mexico, Cundinamarca, Quito and Peru, they found traces of ancientcivilization, agricultural nations and flourishing empires. Thiscircumstance, together with the increase of the native mountainpopulation, the almost exclusive possession of great metallic wealth, and the commercial relations established from the beginning of thesixteenth century with the Indian archipelago, have given a peculiarcharacter to the Spanish possessions in equinoctial America. In theEast Indies, the people who fell into the hands of the English andPortuguese settlers were wandering tribes or hunters. Far from forminga portion of the agricultural and laborious population, as on thetableland of Anahuac, at Guatimala and in Upper Peru, they generallywithdrew at the approach of the whites. The necessity of labour, thepreference given to the cultivation of the sugar-cane, indigo, andcotton, the cupidity which often accompanies and degrades industry, gave birth to that infamous slave-trade, the consequences of whichhave been alike fatal to the old and the new world. Happily, in thecontinental part of Spanish America, the number of African slaves isso inconsiderable that, compared with the slave population of Brazil, or with that of the southern part of the United States, it is found tobe in the proportion of one to fourteen. The whole of the Spanishcolonies, without excluding the islands of Cuba and Porto Rico, havenot, over a surface which exceeds at least by one-fifth that ofEurope, as many negroes as the single state of Virginia. The SpanishAmericans, in the union of New Spain and Guatimala, present anexample, unique in the torrid zone, namely, a nation of eight millionsof inhabitants governed conformably with European institutions andlaws, cultivating sugar, cacao, wheat and grapes, and having scarcelya slave brought from Africa. 

The population of the New Continent as yet surpasses but little thatof France or Germany. It doubles in the United States in twenty-threeor twenty-five years; and at Mexico, even under the government of themother country, it doubles in forty or forty-five years. Withoutindulging too flattering hopes of the future, it may be admitted thatin less than a century and a half the population of America will equalthat of Europe. This noble rivalry in civilization and the arts ofindustry and commerce, far from impoverishing the old continent, ashas often been supposed it might at the expense of the new one, willaugment the wants of the consumer, the mass of productive labour, andthe activity of exchange. Doubtless, in consequence of the greatrevolutions which human society undergoes, the public fortune, thecommon patrimony of civilization, is found differently divided amongthe nations of the old and the new world: but by degrees theequilibrium is restored; and it is a fatal, I had almost said animpious prejudice, to consider the growing prosperity of any otherpart of our planet as a calamity to Europe. The independence of thecolonies will not contribute to isolate them from the old civilizednations, but will rather bring all more closely together. Commercetends to unite countries which a jealous policy has long separated. Itis the nature of civilization to go forward without any tendency todecline in the spot that gave it birth. Its progress from east towest, from Asia to Europe, proves nothing against this axiom. A clearlight loses none of its brilliancy by being diffused over a widerspace. Intellectual cultivation, that fertile source of nationalwealth, advances by degrees and extends without being displaced. Itsmovement is not a migration: and though it may seem to be such in theeast, it is because barbarous hordes possessed themselves of Egypt, Asia Minor, and of once free Greece, the forsaken cradle of thecivilization of our ancestors. 

The barbarism of nations is the consequence of oppression exercised byinternal despotism or foreign conquest; and it is always accompaniedby progressive impoverishment, by a diminution of the public fortune. Free and powerful institutions, adapted to the interests of all, remove these dangers; and the growing civilization of the world, thecompetition of labour and of trade, are not the ruin of states whosewelfare flows from a natural source. Productive and commercial Europewill profit by the new order of things in Spanish America, as it wouldprofit from events that might put an end to barbarism in Greece, onthe northern coast of Africa and in other countries subject to Ottomantyranny. What most menaces the prosperity of the ancient continent isthe prolongation of those intestine struggles which check productionand diminish at the same time the number and wants of consumers. Thisstruggle, begun in Spanish America six years after my departure, isdrawing gradually to an end. We shall soon see both shores of theAtlantic peopled by independent nations, ruled by different forms ofGovernment, but united by the remembrance of a common origin, uniformity of language, and the wants which civilization creates. Itmay be said that the immense progress of the art of navigation hascontracted the boundaries of the seas. The Atlantic already assumesthe form of a narrow channel which no more removes the New World fromthe commercial states of Europe, than the Mediterranean, in theinfancy of navigation, removed the Greeks of Peloponnesus from thoseof Ionia, Sicily, and the Cyrenaic region. 

I have thought it right to enter into these general considerations onthe future connection of the two continents, before tracing thepolitical sketch of the provinces of Venezuela. These provinces, governed till 1810 by a captain-general residing at Caracas, are nowunited to the old viceroyalty of New Grenada, or Santa Fe, under thename of the Republic of Columbia. I will not anticipate thedescription which I shall have hereafter to give of New Grenada; but, in order to render my observations on the statistics of Venezuela moreuseful to those who would judge of the political importance of thecountry and the advantages it may offer to the trade of Europe, evenin its present unadvanced state of cultivation, I will describe theUnited Provinces of Venezuela in their relations with Cundinamarca, orNew Grenada, and as forming part of the new state of Columbia. M. Bonpland and I passed nearly three years in the country which nowforms the territory of the republic of Columbia; sixteen months inVenezuela and eighteen in New Grenada. We crossed the territory in itswhole extent; on one hand from the mountains of Paria as far asEsmeralda on the Upper Orinoco, and San Carlo del Rio Negro, situatednear the frontiers of Brazil; and on the other, from Rio Sinu andCarthagena as far as the snowy summits of Quito, the port of Guayaquilon the coast of the Pacific, and the banks of the Amazon in theprovince of Jaen de Bracamoros. So long a stay and an expedition ofone thousand three hundred leagues in the interior of the country, ofwhich more than six hundred and fifty were by water, have furnished mewith a pretty accurate knowledge of local circumstances. 

I am aware that travellers, who have recently visited America, regardits progress as far more rapid than my statistical researches seem toindicate. For the year 1913 they promise one hundred and twelvemillions of inhabitants in Mexico, of which they believe that thepopulation is doubled every twenty-two years; and during the sameinterval one hundred and forty millions in the United States. Thesenumbers, I confess, do not appear to me to be alarming from themotives that may excite fear among the disciples of Malthus. It ispossible that some time or other, two or three hundred millions of menmay find subsistence in the vast extent of the new continent betweenthe lake of Nicaragua and lake Ontario. I admit that the United Stateswill contain above eighty millions of inhabitants a hundred yearshence, allowing a progressive change in the period of doubling fromtwenty-five to thirty-five and forty years; but, notwithstanding theelements of prosperity to be found in equinoctial America, I doubtwhether the increase of the population in Venezuela, Spanish Guiana, New Grenada and Mexico can be in general so rapid as in the UnitedStates. The latter, which are situated entirely in the temperate zone, destitute of high chains of mountains, embrace an immense extent ofcountry easy of cultivation. The hordes of Indian hunters flee bothfrom the colonists, whom they abhor, and the methodist missionaries, who oppose their taste for indolence and a vagabond life. The morefertile land of Spanish America produces indeed on the same surface agreater amount of nutritive substances. On the table lands of theequinoctial regions wheat doubtless yields annually from twenty totwenty-four for one; but Cordilleras furrowed by almost inaccessiblecrevices, bare and arid steppes, forests that resist both the axe andfire, and an atmosphere filled with venomous insects, will longpresent powerful obstacles to agriculture and industry. The mostactive and enterprising colonists cannot, in the mountainous districtsof Merida, Antioquia, and Los Pastos, in the llanos of Venezuela andGuaviare, in the forests of the Rio Magdalena, the Orinoco, and theprovince of Las Esmeraldas, west of Quito, extend their agriculturalconquests as they have done in the woody plains westward of theAlleghenies, from the sources of the Ohio, the Tennessee and theAlabama, as far as the banks of the Missouri and the Arkansas. Callingto mind the account of my voyage on the Orinoco, it may be easy toappreciate the obstacles which nature opposes to the efforts of man inhot and humid climates. In Mexico, large extents of soil are destituteof springs; rain seldom falls, and the want of navigable riversimpedes communication. As the ancient native population isagricultural, and had been so long before the arrival of theSpaniards, the lands most easy of access and cultivation have alreadytheir proprietors. Fertile tracts of country, at the disposal of thefirst occupier, or ready to be sold in lots for the profit of thestate, are much less common than Europeans imagine. Hence it followsthat the progress of colonization cannot be everywhere as free andrapid in Spanish America as it has hitherto been in the westernprovinces of the United States. The population of that union iscomposed wholly of whites, and of negros, who, having been torn fromtheir country, or born in the New World, have become the instrumentsof the industry of the whites. In Mexico, Guatimala, Quito, and Peru, on the contrary, there exist in our day more than five millions and ahalf of natives of copper-coloured race, whose isolated position, partly forced and partly voluntary, together with their attachment toancient habits, and their mistrustful inflexibility of character, willlong prevent their participation in the progress of the publicprosperity, notwithstanding the efforts employed to disindianize them. 

I dwell on the differences between the free states of temperate andequinoctial America, to show that the latter have to contend againstobstacles connected with their physical and moral position; and toremind the reader that the countries embellished with the most variedand precious productions of nature, are not always susceptible of aneasy, rapid, and uniformly extended cultivation. If we consider thelimits which the population may attain as depending solely on thequantity of subsistence which the land is capable of producing, themost simple calculations would prove the preponderance of thecommunities established in the fine regions of the torrid zone; butpolitical economy, or the positive science of government, isdistrustful of ciphers and vain abstractions. We know that by themultiplication of one family only, a continent previously desert mayreckon in the space of eight centuries more than eight millions ofinhabitants; and yet these estimates, founded on the hypothesis of acontinuous doubling in twenty-five or thirty years, are contradictedby the history of every country already advanced in civilization. Thedestinies which await the free states of Spanish America are tooglorious to require to be embellished by illusions and chimericalcalculations. 

Among the thirty-four million inhabitants spread over the vast surfaceof continental America, in which estimate are comprised the savagenatives, we distinguish, according to the three preponderant races, sixteen millions and a half in the possessions of the SpanishAmericans, ten millions in those of the Anglo-Americans, and nearlyfour millions in those of the Portuguese Americans. The population ofthese three great divisions is, at the present time, in the proportionof 4, 2 1/2, 1; while the extent of surface over which the populationis spread is, as the numbers 1. 5, 0. 7, 1. The area of the UnitedStates* is nearly one-fourth greater than that of Russia west of theUral mountains; and Spanish America is in the same proportion moreextensive than the whole of Europe. (* Notwithstanding the politicalchanges which have taken place in the South American colonies, I shallthroughout this work designate the country inhabited by the SpanishAmericans by the denomination of Spanish America. I call the countryof the Anglo-Americans the United States, without adding of NorthAmerica, although other United States exist in South America. It isembarrassing to speak of nations who play a great part on the scene ofthe world without having collective names. The term American can nolonger be applied solely to the citizens of the United States of NorthAmerica; and it were to be wished that the nomenclature of theindependent nations of the New Continent should be fixed in a mannerat once convenient, harmonious, and precise. ) The United Statescontain five-eighths of the proportion of the Spanish possessions, andyet their area is not one-half so large. Brazil comprehends tracts ofcountry so desert toward the west that over an extent only a thirdless than that of Spanish America its population is in the proportionof one to four. The following table contains the results of an attemptwhich I made, conjointly with M. Mathieu, member of the Academy ofSciences, and of the Bureau des Longitudes, to estimate with precisionthe extent of the surface of the various states of America. We madeuse of maps on which the limits had been corrected according to thestatements published in my Recueil d'Observations Astronomiques. Ourscales were, generally speaking, so large that spaces from four tofive leagues square were not omitted. We observed this degree ofprecision that we might not add the uncertainty of the measure oftriangles, trapeziums, and the sinuosities of the coasts, to theuncertainty of geographical statements. 

TABLE OF GREAT POLITICAL DIVISIONS. 

COLUMN 1 : NAME. 

COLUMN 2 : SURFACE IN SQUARE LEAGUES OF 20 TO AN EQUINOCTIAL DEGREE. 

COLUMN 3 : POPULATION (1823). 

 Surface Pop. 

1. Possessions of the Spanish Americans : 371, 380 : 16, 785, 000. 

 Mexico or New Spain : 75, 830 : 6, 800, 000. Guatemala : 16, 740 : 1, 600, 000. Cuba and Porto Rico : 4, 430 : 800, 000. Columbia--Venezuela : 33, 700 : 785, 000. Columbia--New Grenada and Quito : 58, 250 : 2, 000, 000. Peru : 41, 420 : 1, 400, 000. Chili : 14, 240 : 1, 100, 000. Buenos Ayres : 126, 770 : 2, 300, 000. 

2. Possessions of the Portuguese Americans (Brazil) : 256, 990 : 4, 000, 000. 

3. Possessions of the Anglo-Americans (United States) : 174, 300 : 10, 220, 000. 

From the statistical researches which have been made in severalcountries of Europe, important results have been obtained by acomparison of the relative population of maritime and inlandprovinces. In Spain these relations are to one another as nine tofive; in the United Provinces of Venezuela, and, above all, in theancient Capitania-General of Caracas, they are as thirty-five to one. How powerful soever may be the influence of commerce on the prosperityof states, and the intellectual development of nations, it would bewrong to attribute in America, as we do in Europe, to that cause alonethe differences just mentioned. In Spain and Italy, if we except thefertile plains of Lombardy, the inland districts are arid andabounding in mountains or high table-lands: the meteorologicalcircumstances on which the fertility of the soil depends are not thesame in the lands bordering on the sea, as they are in the centralprovinces. Colonization in America has generally begun on the coast, and advanced slowly towards the interior; such is its progress inBrazil and in Venezuela. It is only where the coast is unhealthy, asin Mexico and New Grenada, or sandy and exempt from rain as in Peru, that the population is concentrated on the mountains, and thetable-lands of the interior. These local circumstances are too oftenoverlooked in considerations on the future fate of the Spanishcolonies; they communicate a peculiar character to some of thosecountries, the physical and moral analogies of which are less strikingthan is commonly supposed. Considered with reference to thedistribution of the population, the two provinces of New Grenada andVenezuela, which have been united in one political body, exhibit themost complete contrast. Their capitals (and the position of capitalsalways denotes where population is most concentrated) are at suchunequal distances from the trading coasts of the Caribbean Sea, thatthe town of Caracas, to be placed on the same parallel with Santa-Fede Bogota, must be transplanted southward to the junction of theOrinoco with the Guaviare, where the mission of San Fernando deAtabapo is situated. 

The republic of Columbia is, with Mexico and Guatemala, the only stateof Spanish America which occupies at once the coasts opposite toEurope and to Asia. From Cape Paria to the western extremity ofVeragua is a distance of 400 sea leagues: and from Cape Burica to themouth of Rio Tumbez the distance is 260. The shore possessed by therepublic of Columbia consequently equals in length the line of coastsextending from Cadiz to Dantzic, or from Ceuta to Jaffa. This immenseresource for national industry is combined with a degree ofcultivation of which the importance has not hitherto been sufficientlyacknowledged. The isthmus of Panama forms part of the territory ofColumbia, and that neck of land, if traversed by good roads andstocked with camels, may one day serve as a portage for the commerceof the world, even though the plains of Cupica, the bay of Mandinga orthe Rio Chagre should not afford the possibility of a canal for thepassage of vessels proceeding from Europe to China, * or from theUnited States to the north-west coast of America. (* The oldvice-royalty of Buenos Ayres extended also along a small portion ofthe South Sea coast. )

When considering the influence which the configuration of countries(that is, the elevation and the form of coasts) exercises in everydistrict on the progress of civilization and the destiny of nations, Ihave pointed out the disadvantages of those vast masses of triangularcontinents, which, like Africa and the greater part of South America, are destitute of gulfs and inland seas. It cannot be doubted that theexistence of the Mediterranean has been closely connected with thefirst dawn of human cultivation among the nations of the west, andthat the articulated form of the land, the frequency of itscontractions and the concatenation of peninsulas favoured thecivilization of Greece, Italy, and perhaps of all Europe westward ofthe meridian of the Propontis. In the New World the uninterruptednessof the coasts and the monotony of their straight lines are mostremarkable in Chili and Peru. The shore of Columbia is more varied, and its spacious gulfs, such as that of Paria, Cariaco, Maracaybo, andDarien, were, at the time of the first discovery better peopled thanthe rest and facilitated the interchange of productions. That shorepossesses an incalculable advantage in being washed by the CaribbeanSea, a kind of inland sea with several outlets, and the only onepertaining to the New Continent. This basin, whose various shores formportions of the United States, of the republic of Columbia, of Mexicoand several maritime powers of Europe, gives birth to a peculiar andexclusively American system of trade. The south-east of Asia with itsneighbouring archipelago and, above all, the state of theMediterranean in the time of the Phoenician and Greek colonies, provethat the nearness of opposite coasts, not having the same productionsand not inhabited by nations of different races, exercises a happyinfluence on commercial industry and intellectual cultivation. Theimportance of the inland Caribbean Sea, bounded by Venezuela on thesouth, will be further augmented by the progressive increase ofpopulation on the banks of the Mississippi; for that river, the Riodel Norte and the Magdalena are the only great navigable streams whichthe Caribbean Sea receives. The depth of the American rivers, theirimmense branches, and the use of steam-boats, everywhere facilitatedby the proximity of forests, will, to a certain extent, compensate forthe obstacles which the uniform line of the coasts and the generalconfiguration of the continent oppose to the progress of industry andcivilization. 

On comparing the extent of the territory with the absolute population, we obtain the result of the connection of those two elements of publicprosperity, a connection that constitutes the relative population ofevery state in the New World. We shall find to every square sealeague, in Mexico, 90; in the United States, 58; in the republic ofColumbia, 30; and in Brazil, 15 inhabitants; while Asiatic Russiafurnishes 11; the whole Russian Empire, 87; Sweden with Norway, 90;European Russia, 320; Spain, 763; and France, 1778. But theseestimates of relative population, when applied to countries of immenseextent, and of which a great part is entirely uninhabited, merelyfurnish mathematical abstractions of but little value. In countriesuniformly cultivated--in France, for example--the number ofinhabitants to the square league, calculated by separate departments, is in general only a third, more or less, than the relative populationof the sum of all the departments. Even in Spain the deviations fromthe average number rise, with few exceptions, only from half todouble. In America, on the contrary, it is only in the Atlanticstates, from South Carolina to New Hampshire, that the populationbegins to spread with any uniformity. In that most civilized portionof the New World, from 130 to 900 inhabitants are reckoned to thesquare league, while the relative population on all the Atlanticstates, considered together, is 240. The extremes (North Carolina andMassachusetts) are only in the relation of 1 to 7, nearly as inFrance, where the extremes, in the departments of the Hautes Alpes andthe Cote-du-Nord are also in the relation of 1 to 6. 7. The variationsfrom the average number, which we generally find restricted to narrowlimits in the civilized countries of Europe, exceed all measure inBrazil, in the Spanish colonies and even in the confederation of theUnited States, in its whole extent. We find in Mexico in some of theintendencias, for example, La Sonora and Durango, from 9 to 15inhabitants to the square league, while in others, on the centraltable-land, there are more than 500. The relative population of thecountry situated between the eastern bank of the Mississippi and theAtlantic states is scarcely 47; while that of Connecticut, Rhodeisland, and Massachusetts is more than 800. Westward of theMississippi as well as in the interior of Spanish Guiana there are nottwo inhabitants to the square league over much larger extents ofterritory than Switzerland or Belgium. The state of these countries islike that of the Russian Empire, where the relative population of someof the Asiatic governments (Irkutsk and Tobolsk) is to that of thebest cultivated European districts as 1 to 300. 

The enormous difference existing, in countries newly cultivated, between the extent of territory and the number of inhabitants, rendersthese partial estimates necessary. When we learn that New Spain andthe United States, taking their entire extent at 75, 000 and 174, 000square sea-leagues, give respectively 90 and 58 souls to each league, we no more obtain a correct idea of that distribution of thepopulation on which the political power of nations depends, than weshould of the climate of a country, that is to say, of thedistribution of the heat in the different seasons, by the mereknowledge of the mean temperature of the whole year. If we take fromthe United States all their possessions west of the Mississippi, theirrelative population would be 121 instead of 58 to the square league;consequently much greater than that of New Spain. Taking from thelatter country the Provincias internas (north and north-east of NuevaGalicia) we should find 190 instead of 90 souls to the square league. 

The provinces of Caracas, Maracaybo, Cumana and Barcelona, that is, the maritime provinces of the north, are the most populous of the oldCapitania-General of Caracas; but, in comparing this relativepopulation with that of New Spain, where the two intendencias ofMexico and Puebla alone contain, on an extent scarcely equal to thesuperficies of the province of Caracas, a greater population than thatof the whole republic of Columbia, we see that some Mexicanintendencias which, with respect to the concentration of theirculture, occupy but the seventh or eighth rank (Zacatecas andGuadalajara), contain more inhabitants to the square league than theprovince of Caracas. The average of the relative population of Cumana, Barcelona, Caracas and Maracaybo, is fifty-six; and, as 6200 squareleagues, that is, one half of the extent of these four provinces arealmost desert Llanos, we find, in reckoning the superficies and thescanty population of the plains, 102 inhabitants to the square league. An analogous modification gives the province of Caracas alone arelative population of 208, that is, only one-seventh less than thatof the Atlantic States of North America. 

As in political economy numerical statements become instructive onlyby a comparison with analogous facts I have carefully examined what, in the present state of the two continents, might be considered as asmall relative population in Europe, and a very great relativepopulation in America. I have, however, chosen examples only fromamong the provinces which have a continued surface of more than 600square leagues in order to exclude the accidental accumulations ofpopulation which occur around great cities; for instance, on the coastof Brazil, in the valley of Mexico, on the table-lands of Santa Fe deBogota and Cuzco; or finally, in the smaller West India Islands(Barbadoes, Martinique and St. Thomas) of which the relativepopulation is from 3000 to 4700 inhabitants to the square league, andconsequently equal to the most fertile parts of Holland, France andLombardy. 

MINIMUM OF EUROPE:

INHABITANTS TO THE SQUARE LEAGUE. 

The four least populous Governments of European Russia:Archangel : 10. Olonez : 42. Wologda and Astracan : 52. Finland : 106. 

The least populous Province of Spain, that of Cuenca : 311. 

The Duchy of Luneburg (on account of the heaths) : 550. 

The least populous Department of Continental France : 758. (Hautes Alps)

Departments of France thinly peopled (the Creuse, : 1300. The Var and the Aude)

MAXIMUM OF AMERICA. 

The central part of the Intendencias of : 1300. Mexico and Puebla, above

In the United States, Massachusetts, but havingonly 522 square leagues of surface : 900. 

Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut, together : 840. 

The whole Intendencia of Puebla : 540. 

The whole Intendencia of Mexico : 460. 

These two Mexican Intendencias together are nearly a third of thesuperficial extent of France, with a suitable population (in 1823nearly 2, 800, 000 souls) to prevent the towns of Mexico and Puebla fromhaving a sensible influence on the relative population. 

Northern part of the Province of Caracas : 208. (without the Llanos)

This table shows that those parts of America which we now consider asthe most populous attain the relative population of the kingdom ofNavarre, of Galicia and the Asturias, which, next to the province ofGuipuscoa, and the kingdom of Valencia, reckon the greatest number ofinhabitants to the square league in all Spain; the maximum of Americais, however, below the relative population of the whole of France(1778 to the square league), and would, in the latter country, beconsidered as a very thin population. If, taking a survey of the wholesurface of America, we direct our attention to the Capitania-Generalof Venezuela, we find that the most populous of its subdivisions, theprovince of Caracas, considered as a whole, without excepting theLlanos, has, as yet, only the relative population of Tennessee; andthat this province, without the Llanos, furnishes in its northernpart, or more than 1800 square leagues, the relative population ofSouth Carolina. Those 1800 square leagues, the centre of agriculture, are twice as numerously peopled as Finland, but still a third lessthan the province of Cuenca, which is the least populous of all Spain. We cannot dwell on this result without a painful feeling. Such is thestate to which colonial politics and maladministration have, duringthree centuries, reduced a country which, for natural wealth, may viewith all that is most wonderful on earth. For a region equally desert, we must look either to the frozen regions of the north, or westward ofthe Allegheny mountains towards the forests of Tennessee, where thefirst clearings have only begun within the last eighty years!

The most cultivated part of the province of Caracas, the basin of thelake of Valencia, commonly called Los Valles de Aragua, contained in1810 nearly 2000 inhabitants to the square league. Supposing arelative population three times less, and taking off from the wholesurface of the Capitania-General nearly 24, 000 square leagues as beingoccupied by the Llanos and the forests of Guiana, and, therefore, presenting great obstacles to agricultural labourers, we should stillobtain a population of six millions for the remaining 9700 squareleagues. Those who, like myself, have lived long within the tropics, will find no exaggeration in these calculations; for I suppose for theportion the most easily cultivated a relative population equal to thatin the intendencias of Puebla and Mexico, * full of barren mountains, and extending towards the coast of the Pacific over regions almostdesert. (* These two Intendencias contain together 5520 square leaguesand a relative population of 508 inhabitants to the squaresea-league. ) If the territories of Cumana, Barcelona, Caracas, Maracaybo, Varinas and Guiana should be destined hereafter to enjoygood provincial and municipal institutions as confederate states, theywill not require a century and a half to attain a population of sixmillions of inhabitants. Venezuela, the eastern part of the republicof Columbia, would not, even with nine millions, have a moreconsiderable population than Old Spain; and can it be doubted thatthat part of Venezuela which is most fertile and easy of cultivation, that is, the 10, 000 square leagues remaining after deducting theLlanos and the almost impenetrable forests between the Orinoco and theCassiquiare, could support in the fine climate of the tropics as manyinhabitants as 10, 000 square leagues of Estramadura, the Castiles, andother provinces of the table-land of Spain? These predictions are byno means problematical, inasmuch as they are founded on physicalanalogies and on the productive power of the soil; but before we canindulge the hope that they will be actually accomplished, we must besecure of another element less susceptible of calculation--thatnational wisdom which subdues hostile passions, destroys the germs ofcivil discord and gives stability to free and energetic institutions. 

When we take a view of the soil of Venezuela and New Grenada weperceive that no other country of Spanish America furnishes commercewith such various and rich productions of the vegetable kingdom. If weadd the harvests of the province of Caracas to those of Guayaquil, wefind that the republic of Columbia alone can furnish nearly all thecacao annually demanded by Europe. The union of Venezuela and NewGrenada has also placed in the hands of one people the greater part ofthe quinquina exported from the New Continent. The temperate mountainsof Merida, Santa Fe, Popayan, Quito and Loxa produce the finestqualities of this febrifugal bark hitherto known. I might swell thelist of these valuable productions by the coffee and indigo ofCaracas, so long esteemed in commerce; the sugar, cotton and flour ofBogota; the ipecacuanha of the banks of the Magdelena; the tobacco ofVarinas; the Cortex Angosturae of Caroni; the balsam of the plains ofTolu; the skins and dried provisions of the Llanos; the pearls ofPanama, Rio Hacha and Marguerita; and finally the gold of Popayan andthe platinum which is nowhere found in abundance but at Choco andBarbacoa: but conformably with the plan I have adopted, I shallconfine myself to the old Capitania-General of Caracas. 

Owing to a peculiar disposition of the soil in Venezuela the threezones of agricultural, pastoral and hunting-life succeed each otherfrom north to south along the coast in the direction of the equator. Advancing in that direction we may be said to traverse, in respect tospace, the different stages through which the human race has passed inthe lapse of ages, in its progress towards cultivation and in layingthe foundations of civilized society. The region of the coast is thecentre of agricultural industry; the region of the Llanos serves onlyfor the pasturage of the animals which Europe has given to America andwhich live there in a half-wild state. Each of those regions includesfrom seven to eight thousand square leagues; further south, betweenthe delta of the Orinoco, the Cassiquiare and the Rio Negro, lies avast extent of land as large as France, inhabited by hunting nations, covered with thick forests and impassable swamps. The productions ofthe vegetable kingdom belong to the zones at each extremity; theintermediary savannahs, into which oxen, horses, and mules wereintroduced about the year 1548, afford food for some millions of thoseanimals. At the time when I visited Venezuela the annual exportationfrom thence to the West India Islands amounted to 30, 000 mules, 174, 000 ox-hides and 140, 000 arrobas (of twenty-five pounds) oftasajo, * or dried meat slightly salted. (* The back of the animal iscut in slices of moderate thickness. An ox or cow of the weight of 25arrobas produces only 4 to 5 arrobas of tasajo or tasso. In 1792 theport of Barcelona alone exported 98, 017 arrobas to the island of Cuba. The average price is 14 reals and varies from 10 to 18 (the real isworth about 6 1/2 pence English). M. Urquinasa estimates the totalexportation of Venezuela in 1809 at 200, 000 arrobas of tasajo. ) It isnot from the advancement of agriculture or the progressiveencroachments on the pastoral lands that the hatos (herds and flocks)have diminished so considerably within twenty years; it is ratherowing to the disorders of every kind that have prevailed, and the wantof security for property. The impunity conceded to the skin-stealersand the accumulation of marauders in the savannahs preceded thatdestruction of cattle caused by the ravages of civil war and thesupplies required for troops. A very considerable number of goat-skinsis exported to the island of Marguerita, Punta Araya and Corolas;sheep abound only in Carora and Tocuyo. The consumption of meat beingimmense in this country the diminution of animals has a greaterinfluence here than in any other district on the well-being of theinhabitants. The town of Caracas, of which the population in my timewas one-tenth of that of Paris, consumed more than one-half thequantity of beef annually used in the capital of France. 

I might add to the productions of the vegetable and animal kingdoms ofVenezuela the enumeration of the minerals, the working of which isworthy the attention of the government; but having from my youth beenengaged in the practical labours of mines I know how vague anduncertain are the judgments formed of the metallic wealth of a countryfrom the mere appearance of the rocks and of the veins in their beds. The utility of such labours can be determined only by well directedexperiments by means of shafts or galleries. All that has been done inresearches of this kind, under the dominion of the mother-country, hasleft the question wholly undecided and the most exaggerated ideas havebeen recently spread through Europe concerning the riches of the minesof Caracas. The common denomination of Columbia given to Venezuela andNew Grenada has doubtless contributed to foster those illusions. Itcannot be doubted that the gold-washings of New Grenada furnished, inthe last years of public tranquillity, more than 18, 000 marks of gold;that Choco and Barbacoa supply platinum in abundance; the valley ofSanta Rosa in the province of Antioquia, the Andes of Quindiu andGauzum near Cuenca, yield sulphuretted mercury; the table-land ofBogota (near Zipaquira and Canoas), fossil-salt and pit-coal; but evenin New Grenada subterranean labours on the silver and gold veins havehitherto been very rare. I am far, however, from wishing to discouragethe miners of those countries: I merely conceive that for the purposeof proving to the old world the political importance of Venezuela, theamazing territorial wealth of which is founded on agriculture and theproduce of pastoral life, it is not necessary to describe asrealities, or as the acquisitions of industry, what is, as yet, founded solely on hopes and probabilities more or less uncertain. Therepublic of Columbia also possesses on its coast, on the island ofMarguerita, on the Rio Hacha and in the gulf of Panama pearl fisheriesof ancient celebrity. In the present state of things, however, fishingfor these pearls is an object of as little importance as theexportation of the metals of Venezuela. The existence of metallicveins on several points of the coast cannot be doubted. Mines of goldand silver were worked at the beginning of the conquest at Buria, nearBarquesimeto, in the province of Los Mariches, at Baruta, on the southof Caracas, and at Real de Santa Barbara near the Villa de Cura. Grains of gold are found in the whole mountainous territory betweenRio Yaracuy, the Villa de San Felipe and Nirgua, as well as betweenGuigue and Los Moros de San Juan. M. Bonpland and myself, during ourlong journey, saw nothing in the gneiss granite of Spanish Guiana toconfirm the old faith in the metallic wealth of that district; yet itseems certain from several historical notices that there exist twogroups of auriferous alluvial land; one between the sources of the RioNegro, the Uaupes and the Iquiare; the other between the sources ofthe Essequibo, the Caroni and the Rupunuri. Hitherto only one workingis found in Venezuela, that of Aroa: it furnished, in 1800, near 1500quintals of copper of excellent quality. The green-stone rocks of thetransition mountains of Tucutunemo (between Villa de Cura andParapara) contain veins of malachite and copper pyrites. Theindications of both ochreous and magnetic iron in the coast-chain, thenative alum of Chuparipari, the salt of Araya, the kaolin of theSilla, the jade of the Upper Orinoco, the petroleum of Buen-Pastor andthe sulphur of the eastern part of New Andalusia equally merit theattention of the government. 

It is easy to ascertain the existence of some mineral substances whichafford hopes of profitable working but it requires greatcircumspection to decide whether the mineral be sufficiently abundantand accessible to cover the expense. * (* In 1800 a day-labourer (peon)employed in working the ground gained in the province of Caracas 15sous, exclusive of his food. A man who hewed building timber in theforests on the coast of Paria was paid at Cumana 45 to 50 sous a day, without his food. A carpenter gained daily from 3 to 6 francs in NewAndalusia. Three cakes of cassava (the bread of the country), 21inches in diameter, 1 1/2 lines thick, and 2 1/2 pounds weight, costat Caracas one half-real, or 6 1/2 sous. A man eats daily not lessthan 2 sous' worth of cassava, that food being constantly mixed withbananas, dried meat (tasajo) and panelon, or unrefined sugar. ) Even inthe eastern part of South America gold and silver are found dispersedin a manner that surprises the European geologist; but thatdispersion, together with the divided and entangled state of the veinsand the appearance of some metals only in masses, render the workingextremely expensive. The example of Mexico sufficiently proves thatthe interest attached to the labours of the mines is not prejudicialto agricultural pursuits, and that those two branches of industry maysimultaneously promote each other. The failure of the attempts madeunder the intendant, Don Jose Avalo, must be attributed solely to theignorance of the persons employed by the Spanish government whomistook mica and hornblende for metallic substances. If the governmentwould order the Capitania-General of Caracas to be carefully examinedduring a series of years by men of science, well versed in geognosyand chemistry, the most satisfactory results might be expected. 

The description above given of the productions of Venezuela and thedevelopment of its coast sufficiently shows the importance of thecommerce of that rich country. Even under the thraldom of the colonialsystem, the value of the exported products of agriculture and of thegold-washings amount to eleven or twelve millions of piastres in thecountries at present united under the denomination of the Republic ofColumbia. The exports of the Capitania-General of Caracas alone, exclusive of the precious metals which are the objects of regularworking, was (with the contraband) from five to six millions ofpiastres at the beginning of the nineteenth century. Cumana, Barcelona, La Guayra, Porto Cabello and Maracaybo are the mostimportant parts of the coast; those that lie most eastward have theadvantage of an easier communication with the Virgin Islands, Guadaloupe, Martinique and St. Vincent. Angostura, the real name ofwhich is Santo Tome de Nueva Guiana, may be considered as the port ofthe rich province of Varinas. The majestic river on whose banks thistown is built, affords by its communications with the Apure, the Metaand the Rio Negro the greatest advantages for trade with Europe. 

The shores of Venezuela, from the beauty of their ports, thetranquillity of the sea by which they are washed and the fine timberthat covers them, possess great advantages over the shores of theUnited States. In no part of the world do we find firmer anchorage orbetter positions for the establishment of ports. The sea of this coastis constantly calm, like that which extends from Lima to Guayaquil. The storms and hurricanes of the West Indies are never felt on theCosta Firme; and when, after the sun has passed the meridian, thickclouds charged with electricity accumulate on the mountains of thecoasts, a pilot accustomed to these latitudes knows that thisthreatening aspect of the sky denotes only a squall. Thevirgin-forests near the sea, in the eastern part of New Andalusia, present valuable resources for the establishment of dockyards. Thewood of the mountains of Paria may vie with that of the island ofCuba, Huasacualco, Guayaquil and San Blas. The Spanish Government atthe close of the last century fixed its attention on this importantobject. Marine engineers were sent to mark the finest trunks ofBrazil-wood, mahogany, cedrela and laurinea between Angostura and themouth of the Orinoco, as well as on the banks of the Gulf of Paria, commonly called the Golfo triste. It was not intended to establishdocks on that spot, but to hew the weighty timber into the formsnecessary for ship-building, and to transport it to Caraque, nearCadiz. Though trees fit for masts are not found in this country, itwas nevertheless hoped that the execution of this project wouldconsiderably diminish the importation of timber from Sweden andNorway. The experiment of forming this establishment was tried in avery unhealthy spot, the valley of Quebranta, near Guirie; I havealready adverted to the causes of its destruction. The insalubrity ofthe place would, doubtless, have diminished in proportion as theforest (el monte virgen) should have been removed from the dwellingsof the inhabitants. Mulattos, and not whites, ought to have beenemployed in hewing the wood, and it should have been remembered thatthe expense of the roads (arastraderos) for the transport of thetimber, when once laid out, would not have been the same, and that, bythe increase of the population, the price of day labour wouldprogressively have diminished. It is for ship-builders alone, whodetermine the localities, to judge whether, in the present state ofthings, the freight of merchant-vessels be not far too high to admitof sending to Europe large quantities of roughly-hewn wood; but itcannot be doubted that Venezuela possesses on its maritime coast, aswell as on the banks of the Orinoco, immense resources forship-building. The fine ships which have been launched from thedockyards of the Havannah, Guayaquil and San Blas have, no doubt, costmore than those constructed in Europe; but from the nature of tropicalwood they possess the advantages of hardness and amazing durability. 

The great struggle during which Venezuela has fought for independencehas lasted more than twelve years. That period has been no lessfruitful than civil commotions usually are in heroic and generousactions, guilty errors and violent passions. The sentiment of commondanger has strengthened the ties between men of various races who, spread over the plains of Cumana or insulated on the table-land ofCundinamarca, have a physical and moral organization as different asthe climates in which they live. The mother-country has several timesregained possession of some districts; but as revolutions are alwaysrenewed with more violence when the evils that produce them can nolonger be remedied these conquests have been transitory. To facilitateand give greater energy to the defence of this country the governmentshave been concentrated, and a vast state has been formed, extendingfrom the mouth of the Orinoco to the other side of the Andes ofRiobamba and the banks of the Amazon. The Capitania-General of Caracashas been united to the Vice-royalty of New Grenada, from which it wasonly separated entirely in 1777. This union, which will always beindispensable for external safety, this centralization of powers in acountry six times larger than Spain, has been prompted by politicalviews. The tranquil progress of the new government has justified thewisdom of those views, and the Congress will find still fewerobstacles in the execution of its beneficent projects for nationalindustry and civilization, in proportion as it can grant increasedliberty to the provinces, must render the people sensible to theadvantages of institutions which they have purchased at the price oftheir blood. In every form of government, in republics as well as inlimited monarchies, improvements, to be salutary, must be progressive. New Andalusia, Caracas, Cundinamarca, Popayan and Quito, are notconfederate states like Pennsylvania, Virginia and Maryland. Withoutjuntas, or provincial legislatures, all those countries are directlysubject to the congress and government of Columbia. In conformity withthe constitutional act, the intendants and governors of thedepartments and provinces are nominated by the president of therepublic. It may be naturally supposed that such dependence has notalways been deemed favourable to the liberty if the communes, whichlove to discuss their own local interests. The ancient kingdom ofQuito, for instance, is connected by the habits and language of itsmountainous inhabitants with Peru and New Grenada. If there were aprovincial junta, if the congress alone determined the taxes necessaryfor the defence and general welfare of Columbia, the feeling of anindividual political existence would render the inhabitants lessinterested in the choice of the spot which is the seat of the centralgovernment. The same argument applies to New Andalusia or Guiana whichare governed by intendants named by the president. It may be said thatthese provinces have hitherto been in a position differing but littlefrom those territories of the United States which have a populationbelow 60, 000 souls. Peculiar circumstances, which cannot be justlyappreciated at such a distance, have doubtless rendered greatcentralization necessary in the civil administration; every changewould be dangerous as long as the state has external enemies; but theforms useful for defence are not always those which, after thestruggle, sufficiently favour individual liberty and the developmentof public prosperity. 

The powerful union of North America has long been insulated andwithout contact with any states having analogous institutions. Although the progress America is making from east to west isconsiderably retarded near the right bank of the Mississippi, she willadvance without interruption towards the internal provinces of Mexico, and will there find a European people of another race, other manners, and a different religious faith. Will the feeble population of thoseprovinces, belonging to another dawning federation, resist; or will itbe absorbed by the torrent from the east and transformed into anAnglo-American state, like the inhabitants of Lower Louisiana? Thefuture will soon solve this problem. On the other hand, Mexico isseparated from Columbia only by Guatimala, a country and extremefertility which has recently assumed the denomination of the republicof Central America. The political divisions between Oaxaca and Chiapa, Costa Rica and Veragua, are not founded either on the natural limitsor the manners and languages of the natives, but solely on the habitof dependence on the Spanish chiefs who resided at Mexico, Guatimalaor Santa Fe de Bogota. It seems natural that Guatimala should one dayjoin the isthmuses of Veragua and Panama to the isthmus of Costa Rica;and that Quito should connect New Grenada with Peru, as La Paz, Charcas and Potosi link Peru with Buenos-Ayres. The intermediate partsfrom Chiapa to the Cordilleras of Upper Peru form a passage from onepolitical association to another, like those transitory forms whichlink together the various groups of the organic kingdom in nature. Inneighbouring monarchies the provinces that adjoin each other presentthose striking demarcations which are the effect of greatcentralization of power in federal republics, states situated at theextremities of each system are some time before they acquire a stableequilibrium. It would be almost a matter of indifference to theprovinces between Arkansas and the Rio del Norte whether they sendtheir deputies to Mexico or to Washington. Were Spanish America oneday to show a more uniform tendency towards the spirit of federalism, which the example of the United States has created on several points, there would result from the contact of so many systems or groups ofstates, confederations variously graduated. I here only touch on therelations that arise from this assemblage of colonies on anuninterrupted line of 1600 leagues in length. We have seen in NorthAmerica, one of the old Atlantic states divided into two, and eachhaving a different representation. The separation of Maine andMassachusetts in 1820 was effected in the most peaceable manner. Schisms of this kind will, it may be feared, render such changesturbulent. It may also be observed that the importance of thegeographical divisions of Spanish America, founded at the same time onthe relations of local position and the habits of several centuries, have prevented the mother-country from retarding the separation of thecolonies by attempting to establish Spanish princes in the New World. In order to rule such vast possessions it would have been requisite toform six or seven centres of government; and that multiplicity ofcentres was hostile to the establishment of new dynasties at theperiod when they might still have been salutary to the mother country. 

Bacon somewhere observes that it would be happy if nations wouldalways follow the example of time, the greatest of all innovators, butwho acts calmly and almost without being perceived. This happinessdoes not belong to colonies when they reach the critical juncture ofemancipation; and least of all to Spanish America, engaged in thestruggle at first not to obtain complete independence, but to escapefrom a foreign yoke. May these party agitations be succeeded by alasting tranquillity! May the germ of civil discord, disseminatedduring three centuries to secure the dominion of the mother-country, gradually perish; and may productive and commercial Europe beconvinced that to perpetuate the political agitations of the New Worldwould be to impoverish herself by diminishing the consumption of herproductions and losing a market which already yields more than seventymillions of piastres. Many years must no doubt elapse before seventeenmillions of inhabitants, spread over a surface one-fifth greater thanthe whole of Europe, will have found a stable equilibrium in governingthemselves. The most critical moment is that when nations, after longoppression, find themselves suddenly at liberty to promote their ownprosperity. The Spanish Americans, it is unceasingly repeated, are notsufficiently advanced in intellectual cultivation to be fitted forfree institutions. I remember that at a period not very remote, thesame reasoning was applied to other nations who were said to have madetoo great an advance in civilization. Experience, no doubt, provesthat nations, like individuals, find that intellect and learning donot always lead to happiness; but without denying the necessity of acertain mass of knowledge and popular instruction for the stability ofrepublics or constitutional monarchies, we believe that stabilitydepends much less on the degree of intellectual improvement than onthe strength of the national character; on that balance of energy andtranquillity of ardour and patience which maintains and perpetuatesnew institutions; on the local circumstances in which a nation isplaced; and on the political relations of a country with neighbouringstates. 

CHAPTER 3. 28. 

PASSAGE FROM THE COAST OF VENEZUELA TO THE HAVANNAH. GENERAL VIEW OF THE POPULATION OF THE WEST INDIA ISLANDS, COMPAREDWITH THE POPULATION OF THE NEW CONTINENT, WITH RESPECT TO DIVERSITY OFRACES, PERSONAL LIBERTY, LANGUAGE, AND WORSHIP. 

We sailed from Nueva Barcelona on the 24th of November at nine o'clockin the evening; and we doubled the small rocky island of Borachita. The night was marked by coolness which characterizes the nights of thetropics, and the agreeable effect of which can only be conceived bycomparing the nocturnal temperature, from 23 to 24 degrees centigrade, with the mean temperature of the day, which in those latitudes isgenerally, even on the coast, from 28 to 29 degrees. Next day, soonafter the observation of noon, we reached the meridian of the islandof Tortugas. It is destitute of vegetation; and like the littleislands of Coche and Cabagua is remarkable for its small elevationabove the level of the sea. 

In the forenoon of the 26th we began to lose sight of the island ofMarguerita and I endeavoured to verify the height of the rocky groupof Macanao. It appeared under an angle of 0 degrees 16 minutes 35seconds; which in a distance estimated at sixty miles would give themica-slate group of Macanao the elevation of about 660 toises, aresult which, in a zone where the terrestrial refractions are sounchanging, leads me to think that the island was less distant than wesupposed. The dome of the Silla of Caracas, lying 62 degrees to thesouth-west, long fixed our attention. At those times when the coast isnot loaded with vapours the Silla must be visible at sea, withoutreckoning the effects of refraction, at thirty-three leagues distance. During the 26th, and the three following days, the sea was coveredwith a bluish film which, when examined by a compound microscope, appeared formed of an innumerable quantity of filaments. We frequentlyfind these filaments in the Gulf-stream, and the Channel of Bahama, aswell as near the coast of Buenos Ayres. Some naturalists are ofopinion that they are vestiges of the eggs of mollusca: but theyappear to be more like fragments of fuci. The phosphorescence ofsea-water seems however to be augmented by their presence, especiallybetween 28 and 30 degrees of north latitude, which indicates an originof some sort of animal nature. 

On the 27th we slowly approached the island of Orchila. Like all thesmall islands in the vicinity of the fertile coast of the continent ithas never been inhabited. I found the latitude of the northern cape 11degrees 51 minutes 44 seconds and the longitude of the eastern cape 68degrees 26 minutes 5 seconds (supposing Nueva Barcelona to be 67degrees 4 minutes 48 seconds). Opposite the western cape there is asmall rock against which the waves beat turbulently. Some angles takenwith the sextant gave, for the length of the island from east to west, 8. 4 miles (950 toises); and for the breadth scarcely three miles. Theisland of Orchila which, from its name, I figured to myself as a barerock covered with lichens, was at that period beautifully verdant. Thehills of gneiss were covered with grasses. It appears that thegeological constitution of Orchila resembles, on a small scale, thatof Marguerita. It consists of two groups of rocks joined by a neck ofland; it is an isthmus covered with sand which seems to have issuedfrom the floods by the successive lowering of the level of the sea. The rocks, like all those which are perpendicular and insulated in themiddle of the sea, appear much more elevated than they really are, forthey scarcely exceed from 80 to 90 toises. The Punta rasa stretches tothe north-west and is lost, like a sandbank, below the waters. It isdangerous for navigators, and so is likewise the Mogote which, at thedistance of two miles from the western cape, is surrounded bybreakers. On a very near examination of these rocks we saw the strataof gneiss inclined towards the north-west and crossed by thick layersof quartz. The destruction of these layers has doubtless created thesands of the surrounding beach. Some clumps of trees shade thevalleys, the summits of the hills are crowned with fan-leavedpalm-trees; probably the palma de sombrero of the Llanos (Coryphatectorum). Rain is not abundant in these countries; but probably somesprings might be found on the island of Orchila if sought for with thesame care as in the mica-slate rocks of Punta Araya. When we recollecthow many bare and rocky islands are inhabited and cultivated betweenthe 17th and 26th degrees of latitude in the archipelago of the LesserAntilles and Bahama islands, we are surprised to find those islandsdesert which are near to the coast of Cumana, Barcelona and Caracas. They would long have ceased to be so had they been under the dominionof any other government than that to which they belong. Nothing canengage men to circumscribe their industry within the narrow limits ofa small island when a neighbouring continent offers them greateradvantages. 

We perceived at sunset the two points of the Roca de afuera, risinglike towers in the midst of the ocean. A survey taken with the compassplaced the most easterly of the points or roques at 0 degrees 19minutes west of the western cape of Orchila. The clouds continued longaccumulated over that island and showed its position from afar. Theinfluence of a small tract of land in condensing the vapours suspendedat an elevation of 800 toises is a very extraordinary phenomenon, although familiar to all mariners. From this accumulation of cloudsthe position of the lowest island may be recognized at a greatdistance. 

On the 29th November we still saw very distinctly, at sunrise, thesummit of the Silla of Caracas just rising above the horizon of thesea. At noon everything denoted a change of weather in the directionof the north: the atmosphere suddenly cooled to 12. 6 degrees, whilethe sea maintained a temperature of 25. 6 degrees at its surface. Atthe moment of the observation of noon the oscillations of the horizon, crossed by streaks or black bands of very variable size, producedchanges of refraction from 3 to 4 degrees. The sea became rough invery calm weather and everything announced a stormy passage betweenCayman Island and Cape St. Antonio. On the 30th the wind veeredsuddenly to north-north-east and the surge rose to a considerableheight. Northward a darkish blue tint was observable on the sky, therolling of our small vessel was violent and we perceived amidst thedashing of the waves two seas crossing each other, one the from northand the other from north-north-east. Waterspouts were formed at thedistance of a mile and were carried rapidly from north-north-east tonorth-north-west. Whenever the waterspout drew near us we felt thewind grow sensibly cooler. Towards evening, owing to the carelessnessof our American cook, our deck took fire; but fortunately it was soonextinguished. On the morning of the 1st of December the sea slowlycalmed and the breeze became steady from north-east. On the 2nd ofDecember we descried Cape Beata, in a spot where we had long observedthe clouds gathered together. According to the observations ofAcherner, which I obtained in the night, we were sixty-four milesdistant. During the night there was a very curious optical phenomenon, which I shall not undertake to account for. At half-past midnight thewind blew feebly from the east; the thermometer rose to 23. 2 degrees, the whalebone hygrometer was at 57 degrees. I had remained upon thedeck to observe the culmination of some stars. The full-moon was highin the heavens. Suddenly, in the direction of the moon, 45 degreesbefore its passage over the meridian, a great arch was formed tingedwith the prismatic colours, though not of a bright hue. The archappeared higher than the moon; this iris-band was near 2 degreesbroad, and its summit seemed to rise nearly from 80 to 85 degreesabove the horizon of the sea. The sky was singularly pure; there wasno appearance of rain; and what struck me most was that thisphenomenon, which perfectly resembled a lunar rainbow, was not in thedirection opposite to the moon. The arch remained stationary, or atleast appeared to do so, during eight or ten minutes; and at themoment when I tried if it were possible to see it by reflection in themirror of the sextant, it began to move and descend, crossingsuccessively the Moon and Jupiter. It was 12 hours 54 minutes (meantime) when the summit of the arch sank below the horizon. Thismovement of an arch, coloured like the rainbow, filled withastonishment the sailors who were on watch on the deck. They alleged, as they do on the appearance of every extraordinary meteor, that itdenoted wind. M. Arago examined the sketch of this arch in my journal;and he is of opinion that the image of the moon reflected in thewaters could not have given a halo of such great dimensions. Therapidity of the movement is no small obstacle in the way ofexplanation of a phenomenon well worthy of attention. 

On the 3rd of December we felt some uneasiness on account of theproximity of a small vessel supposed to be a pirate but which, as itdrew near, we recognized to be the Balandra del Frayle (the sloop ofthe Monk). I was at a loss to conceive what so strange a denominationmeant. The bark belonged to a Franciscan missionary, a rich priest ofam Indian village in the savannahs (Llanos) of Barcelona, who had forseveral years carried on a very lucrative contraband trade with theDanish islands. M. Bonpland and several passengers saw in the night atthe distance of a quarter of a mile, with the wind, a small flame onthe surface of the ocean; it ran in the direction of south-west andlighted up the atmosphere. No shock of earthquake was felt and therewas no change in the direction of the waves. Was it a phosphoric gleamproduced by a great accumulation of mollusca in a state ofputrefaction; or did this flame issue from the depth of the sea, as issaid to have been sometimes observable in latitudes agitated byvolcanoes? The latter supposition appears to me devoid of allprobability. The volcanic flame can only issue from the deep when therocky bed of the ocean is already heaved up so that the flames andincandescent scoriae escape from the swelled and creviced part withouttraversing the waters. 

At half-past ten in the morning of the 4th of December we were in themeridian of Cape Bacco (Punta Abacou) which I found in 76 degrees 7minutes 50 seconds, or 9 degrees 3 minutes 2 seconds west of NuevaBarcelona. Having attained the parallel of 17 degrees, the fear ofpirates made us prefer the direct passage across the bank of Vibora, better known by the name of the Pedro Shoals. This bank occupies morethan two hundred and eighty square sea leagues and its configurationstrikes the eye of the geologist by its resemblance to that ofJamaica, which is in its neighbourhood. It forms an island almost aslarge as Porto Rico. 

From the 5th of December, the pilots believed they took successivelythe measurement at a distance of the island of Ranas (Morant Keys), Cape Portland and Pedro Keys. They may probably have been deceived inseveral of these distances, which were taken from the mast-head. Ihave elsewhere noted these measurements, not with the view of opposingthem to those which have been made by able English navigators in thesefrequented latitudes, but merely to connect, in the same system ofobservations, the points I determined in the forests of the Orinocoand in the archipelago of the West Indies. The milky colour of thewaters warned us that we were on the eastern part of the bank; thecentigrade thermometer which at a distance from the bank and on thesurface of the sea had for several days kept at 27 and 27. 3 degrees(the air being at 21. 2 degrees) sank suddenly to 25. 7 degrees. Theweather was bad from the 4th to the 6th of December: it rained fast;thunder rolled at a distance, and the gusts of wind from thenorth-north-east became more and more violent. We were during somepart of the night in a critical position; we heard before us the noiseof the breakers over which we had to pass, and we could ascertaintheir direction by the phosphoric gleam reflected from the foam of thesea. The scene resembled the Raudal of Garzita and other rapids whichwe had seen in the bed of the Orinoco. We succeeded in changing ourcourse and in less than a quarter of an hour were out of danger. Whilewe traversed the bank of the Vibora from south-south-east tonorth-north-west I repeatedly tried to ascertain the temperature ofthe water on the surface of the sea. The cooling was less sensible onthe middle of the bank than on its edge, a circumstance which weattributed to the currents that there mingle waters from differentlatitudes. On the south of Pedro Keys the surface of the sea, attwenty-five fathoms deep, was 26. 4 and at fifteen fathoms deep 26. 2degrees. The temperature of the sea on the east of the bank had been26. 8 degrees. Some American pilots affirm that among the BahamaIslands they often know, when seated in the cabin, that they arepassing over sand-banks; they allege that the lights are surroundedwith small coloured halos and that the air exhaled from the lungs isvisibly condensed. The latter circumstance appears very doubtful;below 30 degrees of latitude the cooling produced by the waters of thebank is not sufficiently considerable to cause this phenomenon. Duringthe time we passed on the bank of the Vibora the constitution of theair was quite different from what it had been when we quitted it. Therain was circumscribed by the limits of the bank of which we coulddistinguish the form from afar by the mass of vapour with which it wascovered. 

On the 9th of December, as we advanced towards the Cayman Islands, *the north-east wind again blew with violence. (* Christopher Columbusin 1503 named the Cayman Islands Penascales de las Tortugas on accountof the sea-tortoises which he saw swimming in those latitudes. ) Inevertheless obtained some altitudes of the sun at the moment when webelieved ourselves, though twelve miles distant, in the meridian ofthe centre of the Great Cayman, which is covered with cocoa-trees. 

The weather continued bad and the sea extremely rough. The wind atlength fell as we neared Cape St. Antonio. I found the northernextremity of the cape 87 degrees 17 minutes 22 seconds, or 2 degrees34 minutes 14 seconds eastward of the Morro of the Havannah: this isthe longitude now marked on the best charts. We were at the distanceof three miles from land but we were made aware of the proximity ofthe island of Cuba by a delicious aromatic odour. The sailors affirmthat this odour is not perceived when they approach from Cape Catocheon the barren coast of Mexico. As the weather grew clearer thethermometer rose gradually in the shade to 27 degrees: we advancedrapidly northward, carried on by a current from south-south-east, thetemperature of which rose at the surface of the water to 26. 7 degrees;while out of the current it was 24. 6 degrees. We anchored in the portof the Havannah on the 19th December after a passage of twenty-fivedays in continuous bad weather. 

CHAPTER 3. 29. 

POLITICAL ESSAY ON THE ISLAND OF CUBA. THE HAVANNAH. HILLS OF GUANAVACOA, CONSIDERED IN THEIR GEOLOGICAL RELATIONS. VALLEY OF LOS GUINES, BATABANO, AND PORT OF TRINIDAD. THE KING AND QUEEN'S GARDENS. 

Cuba owes its political importance to a variety of circumstances, among which may be enumerated the extent of its surface, the fertilityof its soil, its naval establishments, and the nature of itspopulation, of which three-fifths are free men. All these advantagesare heightened by the admirable position of the Havannah. The northernpart of the Caribbean Sea, known by the name of the Gulf of Mexico, forms a circular basin more than two hundred and fifty leagues indiameter: it is a Mediterranean with two outlets. The island of Cuba, or rather its coast between Cape St. Antonio and the town of Matanzas, situated at the opening of the old channel, closes the Gulf of Mexicoon the south-east, leaving the ocean current known by the name of theGulf Stream, no other outlet on the south than a strait between CapeSt. Antonio and Cape Catoche; and no other on the north than thechannel of Bahama, between Bahia-Honda and the shoals of Florida. Nearthe northern outlet, where the highways of so many nations may be saidto cross each other, lies the fine port of the Havannah, fortified atonce by nature and by art. The fleets which sail from this port andwhich are partly constructed of the cedrela and the mahogany of theisland of Cuba, might, at the entrance of the Mexican Mediterranean, menace the opposite coast, as the fleets that sail from Cadiz commandthe Atlantic near the Pillars of Hercules. In the meridian of theHavannah the Gulf of Mexico, the old channel, and the channel ofBahama unite. The opposite direction of the currents and the violentagitations of the atmosphere at the setting-in of winter impart apeculiar character to these latitudes at the extreme limit of theequinoctial zone. 

The island of Cuba is the largest of the Antilles. * (* Its area islittle less in extent than that of England not including Wales. ) Itslong and narrow form gives it a vast development of coast and placesit in proximity with Hayti and Jamaica, with the most southernprovince of the United States (Florida) and the most easterly provinceof the Mexican Confederation (Yucatan). * (* These places are broughtinto communication one with another by a voyage of ten or twelvedays. ) This circumstance claims serious attention when it isconsidered that Jamaica, St. Domingo, Cuba and the southern parts ofthe United States (from Louisiana to Virginia) contain nearly twomillion eight hundred thousand Africans. Since the separation of St. Domingo, the Floridas and New Spain from the mother-country, theisland of Cuba is connected only by similarity of religion, languageand manners with the neighbouring countries, which, during ages, weresubject to the same laws. 

Florida forms the last link in that long chain, the northern extremityof which reaches the basin of St. Lawrence and extends from the regionof palm-trees to that of the most rigorous winter. The inhabitant ofNew England regards the increasing augmentation of the blackpopulation, the preponderance of the slave states and the predilectionfor the cultivation of colonial products as a public danger; andearnestly wishes that the strait of Florida, the present limit of thegreat American confederation, may never be passed but with the viewsof free trade, founded on equal rights. If he fears events which mayplace the Havannah under the dominion of a European power moreformidable than Spain, he is not the less desirous that the politicalties by which Louisiana, Pensacola and Saint Augustin of Florida wereheretofore united to the island of Cuba may for ever be broken. 

The extreme sterility of the soil, joined to the want of inhabitantsand of cultivation, have at all times rendered the proximity ofFlorida of small importance to the trade of the Havannah; but the caseis different on the coast of Mexico. The shores of that country, stretching in a semicircle from the frequented ports of Tampico, VeraCruz, and Alvarado to Cape Catoche, almost touch, by the peninsula ofYucatan, the western part of the island of Cuba. Commerce is extremelyactive between the Havannah and the port of Campeachy; and itincreases, notwithstanding the new order of things in Mexico, becausethe trade, equally illicit with a more distant coast, that of Caracasor Columbia, employs but a small number of vessels. In such difficulttimes the supply of salt meat (tasajo) for the slaves is more easilyobtained from Buenos Ayres and the plains of Merida than from those ofCumana, Barcelona and Caracas. The island of Cuba and the archipelagoof the Philippines have for ages derived from New Spain the fundsnecessary for their internal administration and for keeping up theirfortifications, arsenals and dockyards. The Havannah was the militaryport of the New World; and, till 1808, annually received 1, 800, 000piastres from the Mexican treasury. At Madrid it was long the customto consider the island of Cuba and the archipelago of the Philippinesas dependencies on Mexico, situated at very unequal distances east andwest of Vera Cruz and Acapulco, but linked to the Mexican metropolis(then a European colony) by all the ties of commerce, mutual aid andancient sympathies. Increased internal wealth has rendered unnecessarythe pecuniary succour formerly furnished to Cuba from the Mexicantreasury. Of all the Spanish possessions that island has been mostprosperous: the port of the Havannah has, since the troubles of St. Domingo, become one of the most important points of the commercialworld. A fortunate concurrence of political circumstances, joined tothe intelligence and commercial activity of the inhabitants, havepreserved to the Havannah the uninterrupted enjoyment of freeintercourse with foreign nations. 

I twice visited this island, residing there on one occasion for threemonths, and on the other for six weeks; and I enjoyed the confidenceof persons who, from their abilities and their position, were enabledto furnish me with the best information. In company with M. Bonpland Ivisited only the vicinity of the Havannah, the beautiful valley ofGuines and the coast between Batabano and the port of Trinidad. Afterhaving succinctly described the aspect of this scenery and thesingular modifications of a climate so different from that of theother islands, I will proceed to examine the general population of theIsland of Cuba; its area calculated from the most accurate sketch ofthe coast; the objects of trade and the state of the public revenue. 

The aspect of the Havannah, at the entrance of the port, is one of thegayest and most picturesque on the shore of equinoctial America northof the equator. This spot is celebrated by travellers of all nations. It boasts not the luxuriant vegetation that adorns the banks of theriver Guayaquil nor the wild majesty of the rocky coast of Rio deJaneiro; but the grace which in those climates embellishes the scenesof cultivated nature is at the Havannah mingled with the majesty ofvegetable forms and the organic vigour that characterizes the torridzone. On entering the port of the Havannah you pass between thefortress of the Morro (Castillo de los Santos Reyes) and the fort ofSan Salvador de la Punta: the opening being only from one hundred andseventy to two hundred toises wide. Having passed this narrowentrance, leaving on the north the fine castle of San Carlos de laCabana and the Casa Blanca, we reach a basin in the form of a trefoilof which the great axis, stretching from south-south-west tonorth-north-east, is two miles and one-fifth long. This basincommunicates with three creeks, those of Regla, Guanavacoa and Atares;in this last there are some springs of fresh water. The town of theHavannah, surrounded by walls, forms a promontory bounded on the southby the arsenal and on the north by the fort of La Punta. After passingbeyond some wrecks of vessels sunk in the shoals of La Luz, we nolonger find eight or ten, but five or six fathoms of water. Thecastles of Santo Domingo de Atares and San Carlos del Principe defendthe town on the westward; they are distant from the interior wall, onthe land side, the one 660 toises, the other 1240. The intermediatespace is filled by the suburbs (arrabales or barrios extra muros) ofthe Horcon, Jesu-Maria, Guadaloupe and Senor de la Salud, which fromyear to year encroach on the Field of Mars (Campo de Marte). The greatedifices of the Havannah, the cathedral, the Casa del Govierno, thehouse of the commandant of the marine, the Correo or General PostOffice and the factory of Tobacco are less remarkable for beauty thanfor solidity of structure. The streets are for the most part narrowand unpaved. Stones being brought from Vera Cruz, and very difficultof transport, the idea was conceived a short time before my voyage ofjoining great trunks of trees together, as is done in Germany andRussia, when dykes are constructed across marshy places. This projectwas soon abandoned and travellers newly arrived beheld with surprisefine trunks of mahogany sunk in the mud of the Havannah. At the timeof my sojourn there few towns of Spanish America presented, owing tothe want of a good police, a more unpleasant aspect. People walked inmud up to the knee; and the multitude of caleches or volantes (thecharacteristic equipage of the Havannah) of carts loaded with casks ofsugar, and porters elbowing passengers, rendered walking mostdisagreeable. The smell of tasajo often poisons the houses and thewinding streets. But it appears that of late the police has interposedand that a manifest improvement has taken place in the cleanliness ofthe streets; that the houses are more airy and that the Calle de losMercadores presents a fine appearance. Here, as in the oldest towns ofEurope. An ill-traced plan of streets can only be amended by slowdegrees. 

There are two fine public walks; one called the Alameda, between thehospital of Santa Paula and the theatre, and the other between theCastillo de la Punta and the Puerta de la Muralla, called the Paseoextra muros; the latter is deliciously cool and is frequented bycarriages after sunset. It was begun by the Marquis de la Torre, governor of the island, who gave the first impulse to the improvementof the police and the municipal government. Don Luis de las Casas andthe Count de Santa Clara enlarged the plantations. Near the Campo deMarte is the Botanical Garden which is well worthy to fix theattention of the government; and another place fitted to excite atonce pity and indignation--the barracoon, in front of which thewretched slaves are exposed for sale. A marble statue of Charles IIIhas been erected since my return to Europe, in the extra muros walk. This spot was at first destined for a monument to Christopher Columbuswhose ashes, after the cession of the Spanish part of St. Domingo, were brought to the island of Cuba. *

(* Columbus lies buried in the cathedral of the Havannah, close to thewall near the high altar. On the tomb is the following inscription:

 O restos y Imagen del grande Colon; Mil siglos duran guardados en la Urna, Y en remembranca de nuestra Nacion. 

 Oh relics and image of the great Colon (Columbus) A thousand ages are encompassed in thy Urn, And in the memory of our Nation. 

His remains were first deposited at Valladolid and thence were removedto Seville. In 1536 the bodies of Columbus and of his son Diego (ElAdelantado) were carried to St. Domingo and there interred in thecathedral; but they were afterwards removed to the place where theynow repose. )

The same year the ashes of Fernando Cortez were transferred in Mexicofrom one church to another: thus, at the close of the eighteenthcentury, the remains of the two greatest men who promoted the conquestof America were interred in new sepulchres. 

The most majestic palm-tree of its tribe, the palma real, imparts apeculiar character to the landscape in the vicinity of the Havannah;it is the Oreodoxa regia of our description of American palm-trees. Its tall trunk, slightly swelled towards the middle, grows to theheight of 60 or 80 feet; the upper part is glossy, of a delicategreen, newly formed by the closing and dilatation of the petioles, contrasts with the rest, which is whitish and fendilated. It appearslike two columns, the one surmounting the other. The palma real of theisland of Cuba has feathery leaves rising perpendicularly towards thesky, and curved only at the point. The form of this plant reminded usof the vadgiai palm-tree which covers the rocks in the cataracts ofthe Orinoco, balancing its long points over a mist of foam. Here, asin every place where the population is concentrated, vegetationdiminishes. Those palm-trees round the Havannah and in theamphitheatre of Regla on which I delighted to gaze are disappearing bydegrees. The marshy places which I saw covered with bamboos arecultivated and drained. Civilization advances; and the soil, graduallystripped of plants, scarcely offers any trace of its wild abundance. From the Punta to San Lazaro, from Cabana to Regla and from Regla toAtares the road is covered with houses, and those that surround thebay are of light and elegant construction. The plan of these houses istraced out by the owners, and they are ordered from the United States, like pieces of furniture. When the yellow fever rages at the Havannahthe proprietors withdraw to those country houses and to the hillsbetween Regla and Guanavacoa to breathe a purer air. In the coolnessof night, when the boats cross the bay, and owing to thephosphorescence of the water, leave behind them long tracks of light, these romantic scenes afford charming and peaceful retreats for thosewho wish to withdraw from the tumult of a populous city. To judge ofthe progress of cultivation travellers should visit the small plots ofmaize and other alimentary plants, the rows of pine-apples (ananas) inthe fields of Cruz de Piedra and the bishop's garden (Quinta delObispo) which of late is become a delicious spot. 

The town of the Havannah, properly so called, surrounded by walls, isonly 900 toises long and 500 broad; yet more than 44, 000 inhabitants, of whom 26, 000 are negroes and mulattoes, are crowded together in thisnarrow space. A population nearly as considerable occupies the twogreat suburbs of Jesu-Maria and La Salud. * (* Salud signifies Health. )The latter place does not verify the name it bears; the temperature ofthe air is indeed lower than in the city but the streets might havebeen larger and better planned. Spanish engineers, who have beenwaging war for thirty years past with the inhabitants of the suburbs(arrabales), have convinced the government that the houses are toonear the fortifications, and that the enemy might establish himselfthere with impunity. But the government has not courage to demolishthe suburbs and disperse a population of 28, 000 inhabitants collectedin La Salud only. Since the great fire of 1802 that quarter has beenconsiderably enlarged; barracks were at first constructed, but bydegrees they have been converted into private houses. The defence ofthe Havannah on the west is of the highest importance: so long as thebesieged are masters of the town, properly so called, and of thesouthern part of the bay, the Morro and La Cabana, they areimpregnable because they can be provisioned by the Havannah, and thelosses of the garrison repaired. I have heard well-informed Frenchengineers observe that an enemy should begin his operations by takingthe town, in order to bombard the Cabana, a strong fortress, but wherethe garrison, shut up in the casemates, could not long resist theinsalubrity of the climate. The English took the Morro without beingmasters of the Havannah; but the Cabana and the Fort Number 4 whichcommands the Morro did not then exist. The most important works on thesouth and west are the Castillos de Atares y del Principe, and thebattery of Santa Clara. 

We employed the months of December, January and February in makingobservations in the vicinity of the Havannah and the fine plains ofGuines. We experienced, in the family of Senor Cuesta (who then formedwith Senor Santa Maria one of the greatest commercial houses inAmerica) and in the house of Count O'Reilly, the most generoushospitality. We lived with the former and deposited our collectionsand instruments in the spacious hotel of Count O'Reilly, where theterraces favoured our astronomical observations. The longitude of theHavannah was at this period more than one fifth of a degreeuncertain. * (* I also fixed, by direct observations, several positionsin the interior of the island of Cuba: namely Rio Blanco, a plantationof Count Jaruco y Mopex; the Almirante, a plantation of the CountessBuenavista; San Antonio de Beitia; the village of Managua; San Antoniode Bareto; and the Fondadero, near the town of San Antonio de losBanos. ). It had been fixed by M. Espinosa, the learned director of theDeposito hidrografico of Madrid, at 5 degrees 38 minutes 11 seconds, in a table of positions which he communicated to me on leaving Madrid. M. De Churruca fixed the Morro at 5 hours 39 minutes 1 second. I metat the Havannah with one of the most able officers of the Spanishnavy, Captain Don Dionisio Galeano, who had taken a survey of thecoast of the strait of Magellan. We made observations together on aseries of eclipses of the satellites of Jupiter, of which the meanresult gave 5 hours 38 minutes 50 seconds. M. Oltmanns deduced in 1805the whole of those observations which I marked for the Morro, at 5hours 38 minutes 52. 5 seconds--84 degrees 43 minutes 7. 5 seconds westof the meridian of Paris. This longitude was confirmed by fifteenoccultations of stars observed from 1809 to 1811 and calculated by M. Ferrer: that excellent observer fixes the definitive result at 5degrees 38 minutes 50. 9 seconds. With respect to the magnetic dip Ifound it by the compass of Borda (December 1800) 53 degrees 22 minutesof the old sexagesimal division: twenty-two years before, according tothe very accurate observations made by Captain Sabine in his memorablevoyage to the coasts of Africa, America and Spitzbergen, the dip wasonly 51 degrees 55 minutes; it had therefore diminished 1 degree 27minutes. 

The island of Cuba being surrounded with shoals and breakers alongmore than two-thirds of its length, and as ships keep out beyond thosedangers, the real shape of the island was for a long time unknown. Itsbreadth, especially between the Havannah and the port of Batabano, hasbeen exaggerated; and it is only since the Deposito hidrografico ofMadrid published the observations of captain Don Jose del Rio, andlieutenant Don Ventura de Barcaiztegui, that the area of the island ofCuba could be calculated with any accuracy. Wishing to furnish in thiswork the most accurate result that can be obtained in the presentstate of our astronomical knowledge, I engaged M. Bauza to calculatethe area. He found, in June, 1835, the surface of the island of Cuba, without the Isla dos Pinos, to be 3520 square sea leagues, and withthat island 3615. From this calculation, which has been twicerepeated, it results that the island of Cuba is one-seventh less thanhas hitherto been believed; that it is 32/100 larger than Hayti, orSan Domingo; that its surface equals that of Portugal, and withinone-eighth that of England without Wales; and that if the wholearchipelago of the Antilles presents as great an area as the half ofSpain, the island of Cuba alone almost equals in surface the otherGreat and Small Antilles. Its greatest length, from Cape San Antonioto Point Maysi (in a direction from west-south-west to east-north-eastand from west-north-west to east-south-east) is 227 leagues; and itsgreatest breadth (in the direction north and south), from PointMaternillo to the mouth of the Magdalena, near Peak Tarquino, is 37leagues. The mean breadth of the island, on four-fifths of its length, between the Havannah and Puerto Principe, is 15 leagues. In the bestcultivated part, between the Havannah and Batabano, the isthmus isonly eight sea leagues. Among the great islands of the globe, that ofJava most resembles the island of Cuba in its form and area (4170square leagues). Cuba has a circumference of coast of 520 leagues, ofwhich 280 belong to the south shore, between Cape San Antonio andPunta Maysi. 

The island of Cuba, over more than four-fifths of its surface, iscomposed of low lands. The soil is covered with secondary and tertiaryformations, formed by some rocks of gneiss-granite, syenite andeuphotide. The knowledge obtained hitherto of the geologicconfiguration of the country, is as unsatisfactory as what is knownrespecting the relative age and nature of the soil. It is onlyascertained that the highest group of mountains lies at thesouth-eastern extremity of the island, between Cape Cruz, Punta Maysi, and Holguin. This mountainous part, called the Sierra or Las Montanasdel Cobre (the Copper Mountains), situated north-west of the town ofSantiago de Cuba, appears to be about 1200 toises in height. If thiscalculation be correct, the summits of the Sierra would command thoseof the Blue Mountains of Jamaica, and the peaks of La Selle and LaHotte in the island of San Domingo. The Sierra of Tarquino, fiftymiles west of the town of Cuba, belongs to the same group as theCopper Mountains. The island is crossed from east-south-east towest-north-west by a chain of hills, which approach the southern coastbetween the meridians of La Ciudad de Puerto Principe and the VillaClara; while, further to the westward towards Alvarez and Matanzas, they stretch in the direction of the northern coast. Proceeding fromthe mouth of the Rio Guaurabo to the Villa de la Trinidad, I saw onthe north-west, the Lomas de San Juan, which form needles or hornsmore than 300 toises high, with their declivities sloping regularly tothe south. This calcareous group presents a majestic aspect, as seenfrom the anchorage near the Cayo de Piedras. Xagua and Batabano arelow coasts; and I believe that, in general, west of the meridian ofMatanzas, there is no hill more than 200 toises high, with theexception of the Pan de Guaixabon. The land in the interior of theisland is gently undulated, as in England; and it rises only from 45to 50 toises above the level of the sea. The objects most visible at adistance, and most celebrated by navigators, are the Pan de Matanzas, a truncated cone which has the form of a small monument; the Arcos deCanasi, which appear between Puerto Escondido and Jaruco, like smallsegments of a circle; the Mesa de Mariel, the Tetas de Managua, andthe Pan de Guaixabon. This gradual slope of the limestone formationsof the island of Cuba towards the north and west indicates thesubmarine connection of those rocks with the equally low lands of theBahama Islands, Florida and Yucatan. 

Intellectual cultivation and improvement were so long restricted tothe Havannah and the neighbouring districts, that we cannot besurprised at the ignorance prevailing among the inhabitants respectingthe geologic formation of the Copper Mountains. Don Francisco Ramirez, a traveller versed in chemical and mineralogical science, informed methat the western part of the island is granitic, and that he thereobserved gneiss and primitive slate. Probably the alluvial deposits ofauriferous sand which were explored with much ardour* at the beginningof the conquest, to the great misfortune of the natives came fromthose granitic formations (* At Cubanacan, that is, in the interior ofthe island, near Jagua and Trinidad, where the auriferous sands havebeen washed by the waters as far as the limestone soil. Martyrd'Anghiera, the most intelligent writer on the Conquest, says: "Cubais richer in gold than Hispaniola (San Domingo); and at the moment Iam writing, 180, 000 castillanos of ore have been collected at Cuba. "Herrera estimates the tax called King's-fifth (quinto del Rey), in theisland of Cuba, at 6000 pesos, which indicates an annual product of2000 marks of gold, at 22 carats; and consequently purer than the goldof Sibao in San Domingo. In 1804 the mines of Mexico altogetherproduced 7000 marks of gold; and those of Peru 3400. It is difficult, in these calculations, to distinguish between the gold sent to Spainby the first Conquistadores, that obtained by washings, and that whichhad been accumulated for ages in the hands of the natives, who werepillaged at will. Supposing that in the two islands of Cuba and SanDomingo (in Cubanacan and Cibao) the product of the washings was 3000marks of gold, we find a quantity three times less than the goldfurnished annually (1790 to 1805) by the small province of Choco. Inthis supposition of ancient wealth there is nothing improbable; and ifwe are surprised at the scanty produce of the gold-washings attemptedin our days at Cuba and San Domingo, which were heretofore soprolific, it must be recollected that at Brazil also the product ofthe gold-washings has fallen, from 1760 to 1820, from 6600 goldkilogrammes to less than 595. Lumps of gold weighing several pounds, found in our days in Florida and North and South Carolina, prove theprimitive wealth of the whole basin of the Antilles from the island ofCuba to the Appalachian chain. It is also natural that the product ofthe gold-washings should diminish with greater rapidity than that ofthe subterraneous working of the veins. The metals not being renewedin the clefts of the veins (by sublimation) now accumulate in alluvialsoil by the course of the rivers where the table-lands are higher thanthe level of the surrounding running waters. But in rocks withmetalliferous veins the miner does not at once know all he has towork. He may chance to lengthen the labours, to go deep, and to crossother accompanying veins. Alluvial soils are generally of small depthwhere they are auriferous; they most frequently rest upon sterilerocks. Their superficial position and uniformity of composition helpto the knowledge of their limits, and wherever workmen can becollected, and where the waters for the washings abound, acceleratethe total working of the auriferous clay. These considerations, suggested by the history of the Conquest, and by the science ofmining, may throw some light on the problem of the metallic wealth ofHayti. In that island, as well as at Brazil, it would be moreprofitable to attempt subterraneous workings (on veins) in primitiveand intermediary soils than to renew the gold-washings which wereabandoned in the ages of barbarism, rapine and carnage. ); traces ofthat sand are still found in the rivers Holguin and Escambray, knownin general in the vicinity of Villa-Clara, Santo Espiritu, Puerto delPrincipe de Bayamo and the Bahia de Nipe. The abundance of coppermentioned by the Conquistadores of the sixteenth century, at a periodwhen the Spaniards were more attentive than they have been in lattertimes to the natural productions of America, may possibly beattributed to the formations of amphibolic slate, transitionclay-slate mixed with diorite, and to euphotides analogous to those Ifound in the mountains of Guanabacoa. 

The central and western parts of the island contain two formations ofcompact limestone; one of clayey sandstone and another of gypsum. Theformer has, in its aspect and composition, some resemblance to theJura formation. It is white, or of a clear ochre-yellow, with a dullfracture, sometimes conchoidal, sometimes smooth; divided into thinlayers, furnishing some balls of pyromac silex, often hollow (at RioCanimar two leagues east of Matanzas), and petrifications of pecten, cardites, terebratules and madrepores. * (* I saw neither gryphites norammonites of Jura limestone nor the nummulites and cerites of coarselimestone. ) I found no oolitic beds, but porous beds almost bulbous, between the Potrero del Conde de Mopox, and the port of Batabano, resembling the spongy beds of Jura limestone in Franconia, nearDondorf, Pegnitz, and Tumbach. Yellowish cavernous strata, withcavities from three to four inches in diameter, alternate with strataaltogether compact, * and poorer in petrifications. (* The western partof the island has no deep ravines; and we recognize this alternationin travelling from the Havannah to Batabano, the deepest beds(inclined from 30 to 40 degrees north-east) appear as we advance. ) Thechain of hills that borders the plain of Guines on the north and islinked with the Lomas de Camua, and the Tetas de Managua, belongs tothe latter variety, which is reddish white, and almost of lithographicnature, like the Jura limestone of Pappenheim. The compact andcavernous beds contain nests of brown ochreous iron; possibly the redearth (tierra colorada) so much sought for by the coffee planters(haciendados) owes its origin to the decomposition of some superficialbeds of oxidated iron, mixed with silex and clay, or to a reddishsandstone* (* Sandstone and ferruginous sand; iron-sand?) superposedon limestone. The whole of this formation, which I shall designate bythe name of the limestone of Guines, to distinguish it from anothermuch more recent, forms, near Trinidad, in the Lomas of St. Juan, steep declivities, resembling the mountains of limestone of Caripe, inthe vicinity of Cumana. They also contain great caverns, near Matanzasand Jaruco, where I have not heard that any fossil bones have beenfound. The frequency of caverns in which the pluvial watersaccumulate, and where small rivers disappear, sometimes causes asinking of the earth. I am of opinion that the gypsum of the island ofCuba belongs not to tertiary but to secondary soil; it is worked inseveral places on the east of Matanzas, at San Antonio de los Banos, where it contains sulphur, and at the Cayos, opposite San Juan de losRemedios. We must not confound with this limestone of Guines, sometimes porous, sometimes compact, another formation so recent thatit seems to augment in our days. I allude to the calcareousagglomerates, which I saw in the islands of Cayos that border thecoast between the Batabano and the bay of Xagua, principally south ofthe Cienega de Zapata, Cayo Buenito, Cayo Flamenco and Cayo dePiedras. The soundings prove that they are rocks rising abruptly froma bottom of between twenty and thirty fathoms. Some are at the water'sedge, others one-fourth or one-fifth of a toise above the surface ofthe sea. Angular fragments of madrepores, and cellularia from two tothree cubic inches, are found cemented by grains of quartzose sand. The inequalities of the rocks are covered by mould, in which, by helpof a microscope, we only distinguish the detritus of shells andcorals. This tertiary formation no doubt belongs to that of the coastof Cumana, Carthagena, and the Great Land of Guadaloupe, noticed in mygeognostic table of South America. * (* M. Moreau de Jonnes has welldistinguished, in his Histoire physique des Antilles Francoises, between the Roche a ravets of Martinique and Hayti, which is porous, filled with terebratulites, and other vestiges of sea-shells, somewhatanalogous to the limestone of Guines and the calcareous pelagicsediment called at Guadaloupe Platine, or Maconne bon Dieu. In thecayos of the island of Cuba, or Jardinillos del Rey y del Reyna, thewhole coral rock lying above the surface of the water appeared to meto be fragmentary, that is, composed of broken blocks. It is, however, probable, that in the depth it reposes on masses of polypi stillliving. ) MM. Chamiso and Guiamard have recently thrown great light onthe formation of the coral islands in the Pacific. At the foot of theCastillo de in Punta, near the Havannah, on shelves of cavernousrocks, * covered with verdant sea-weeds and living polypi, we findenormous masses of madrepores and other lithophyte corals set in thetexture of those shelves. (* The surface of these shelves, blackenedand excavated by the waters, presents ramifications like thecauliflower, as they are observed on the currents of lava. Is thechange of colour produced by the waters owing to the manganese whichwe recognize by some dendrites? The sea, entering into the clefts ofthe rocks, and in a cavern at the foot of the Castillo del Morro, compresses the air and makes it issue with a tremendous noise. Thisnoise explains the phenomena of the baxos roncadores (snoringbocabeoos), so well known to navigators who cross from Jamaica to themouth of Rio San Juan of Nicaragua, or to the island of San Andres. )We are at first tempted to admit that the whole of this limestonerock, which constitutes the principal portion of the island of Cuba, may be traced to an uninterrupted operation of nature--to the actionof productive organic forces--an action which continues in our days inthe bosom of the ocean; but this apparent novelty of limestoneformations soon vanishes when we quit the shore, and recollect theseries of coral rocks which contain the formations of different ages, the muschelkalk, the Jura limestone and coarse limestone. The samecoral rocks as those of the Castillo and La Punta are found in thelofty inland mountains, accompanied with petrifications of bivalveshells, very different from those now seen on the coasts of theAntilles. Without positively assigning a determinate place in thetable of formations to the limestone of Guines, which is that of theCastillo and La Punta, I have no doubt of the relative antiquity ofthat rock with respect to the calcareous agglomerate of the Cayos, situated south of Batabano, and east of the island of Pinos. The globehas undergone great revolutions between the periods when these twosoils were formed; the one containing the great caverns of Matanzas, the other daily augmenting by the agglutination of fragments of coraland quartzose sand. On the south of the island of Cuba, the lattersoil seems to repose sometimes on the Jura limestone of Guines, as inthe Jardinillos, and sometimes (towards Cape Cruz) immediately overprimitive rocks. In the lesser Antilles the corals are covered withvolcanic productions. Several of the Cayos of the island of Cubacontain fresh water; and I found this water very good in the middle ofthe Cayo de Piedras. When we reflect on the extreme smallness of theseislands we can scarcely believe that the fresh-water wells are filledwith rain-water not evaporated. Do they prove a submarinecommunication between the limestone of the coast with the limestoneserving as the basis of lithophyte polypi, and is the fresh water ofCuba raised up by hydrostatic pressure across the coral rocks ofCayos, as it is in the bay of Xagua, where, in the middle of the sea, it forms springs frequented by the lamantins?

The secondary formations on the east of the Havannah are pierced in asingular manner by syenitic and euphotide rocks united in groups. Thesouthern bottom of the bay as well as the northern part (the hills ofthe Morro and the Cabana) are of Jura limestone; but on the easternbank of the two Ensenadas de Regla and Guanabacoa, the whole istransition soil. Going from north to south, and first near Marimelena, we find syenite consisting of a great quantity of hornblende, partlydecomposed, a little quartz, and a reddish-white feldspar seldomcrystallized. This fine syenite, the strata of which incline to thenorth-west, alternates twice with serpentine. The layers ofintercalated serpentine are three toises thick. Farther south, towardsRegla and Guanabacoa, the syenite disappears, and the whole soil iscovered with serpentine, rising in hills from thirty to forty toiseshigh, and running from east to west. This rock is much fendillated, externally of a bluish-grey, covered with dendrites of manganese, andinternally of leek and asparagus-green, crossed by small veins ofasbestos. It contains no garnet or amphibole, but metalloid diallagedisseminated in the mass. The serpentine is sometimes of anesquillous, sometimes of a conchoidal fracture: this was the firsttime I had found metalloid diallage within the tropics. Several blocksof serpentine have magnetic poles; others are of such a homogeneoustexture, and have such a glossiness, that at a distance they may betaken for pechstein (resinite). It were to be wished that these finemasses were employed in the arts as they are in several parts ofGermany. In approaching Guanabacoa we find serpentine crossed by veinsbetween twelve and fourteen inches thick, and filled with fibrousquartz, amethyst, and fine mammelonnes, and stalactiformechalcedonies; it is possible that chrysoprase may also one day befound. Some copper pyrites appear among these veins accompanied, it issaid, by silvery-grey copper. I found no traces of this grey copper:it is probably the metalloid diallage that has given the Cerro deGuanabacoa the reputation of riches in gold and silver which it hasenjoyed for ages. In some places petroleum flows* from rents in theserpentine. (* Does there exist in the Bay of the Havannah any othersource of petroleum than that of Guanabacoa, or must it be admittedthat the betun liquido, which in 1508 was employed by Sebastian deOcampo for the caulking of ships, is dried up? That spring, however, fixed the attention of Ocampo on the port of the Havannah, where hegave it the name of Puerto de Carenas. It is said that abundantsprings of petroleum are also found in the eastern part of the island(Manantialis de betun y chapapote) between Holguin and Mayari, and onthe coast of Santiago de Cuba. ) Springs of water are frequent; theycontain a little sulphuretted hydrogen, and deposit oxide of iron. TheBaths of Bareto are agreeable, but of nearly the same temperature asthe atmosphere. The geologic constitution of this group of serpentinerocks, from its insulated position, its veins, its connection withsyenite and the fact of its rising up across shell-formations, meritsparticular attention. Feldspar with a basis of souda (compactfeldspar) forms, with diallage, the euphotide and serpentine; withpyroxene, dolerite and basalt; and with garnet, eclogyte. These fiverocks, dispersed over the whole globe, charged with oxidulated andtitanious iron, are probably of similar origin. It is easy todistinguish two formations in the euphotide; one is destitute ofamphibole, even when it alternates with amphibolic rocks (Joria inPiedmont, Regla in the island of Cuba) rich in pure serpentine, inmetalloid diallage and sometimes in jasper (Tuscany, Saxony); theother, strongly charged with amphibole, often passing to diorite, * hasno jasper in layers, and sometimes contains rich veins of copper;(Silesia, Mussinet in Piedmont, the Pyrenees, Parapara in Venezuela, Copper Mountains of North America). (* On a serpentine that flows likea penombre, veins of greenstone (diorite) near Lake Clunie inPerthshire. See MacCulloch in Edinburgh Journal of Science 1824 Julypages 3 to 16. On a vein of serpentine, and the alterations itproduces on the banks of Carity, near West-Balloch in Forfarshire seeCharles Lyell l. C. Volume 3 page 43. ) It is the latter formation ofeuphotide which, by its mixture with diorite, is itself linked withhyperthenite, in which real beds of serpentine are sometimes developedin Scotland and in Norway. No volcanic rocks of a more recent periodhave hitherto been discovered in the island of Cuba; for instance, neither trachytes, dolerites, nor basalts. I know not whether they arefound in the rest of the Great Antilles, of which the geologicconstitution differs essentially from that of the series of calcareousand volcanic islands which stretch from Trinidad to the VirginIslands. Earthquakes, which are in general less fatal at Cuba than atPorto Rico and Hayti, are most felt in the eastern part, between CapeMaysi, Santiago de Cuba and La Ciudad de Puerto Principe. Perhapstowards those regions the action of the crevice extends laterally, which is believed to cross the neck of granitic land betweenPort-au-Prince and Cape Tiburon and on which whole mountains wereoverthrown in 1770. 

The cavernous texture of the limestone formations (soboruco) justdescribed, the great inclination of the shelvings, the smallness ofthe island, the nakedness of the plains and the proximity of themountains that form a lofty chain on the southern coast, may beconsidered as among the principal causes of the want of rivers and thedrought which is felt, especially in the western part of Cuba. In thisrespect, Hayti, Jamaica, and several of the Lesser Antilles, whichcontain volcanic heights covered with forests, are more favoured bynature. The lands most celebrated for their fertility are thedistricts of Xagua, Trinidad, Matanzas and Mariel. The valley ofGuines owes its reputation to artificial irrigation (sanjas de riego). Notwithstanding the want of great rivers and the unequal fertility ofthe soil, the island of Cuba, by its undulated surface, itscontinually renewed verdure, and the distribution of its vegetableforms, presents at every step the most varied and beautiful landscape. Two trees with large, tough, and glossy leaves, the Mammea and theCalophyllum calaba, five species of palm-trees (the palma real, orOreodoxa regia, the common cocoa-tree, the Cocos crispa, the Coryphamiraguama and the C. Maritima), and small shrubs constantly loadedwith flowers, decorate the hills and the savannahs. The Cecropiapeltata marks the humid spots. It would seem as if the whole islandhad been originally a forest of palm, lemon, and wild orange trees. The latter, which bear a small fruit, are probably anterior to thearrival of Europeans, * who transported thither the agrumi of thegardens; they rarely exceed the height of from ten to fifteen feet. (*The best informed inhabitants of the island assert that the cultivatedorange-trees brought from Asia preserve the size and all theproperties of their fruits when they become wild. The Braziliansaffirm that the small bitter orange which bears the name of loranja doterra and is found wild, far from the habitations of man, is ofAmerican origin. Caldcleugh, Travels in South America. ) The lemon andorange trees are most frequently separate; and the new planters, inclearing the ground by fire, distinguish the quality of the soilaccording as it is covered with one or other of those groups of socialplants; they prefer the soil of the naranjal to that which producesthe small lemon. In a country where the making of sugar is notsufficiently improved to admit of the employment of any other fuelthan the bagasse (dried sugar-cane) the progressive destruction of thesmall woods is a positive calamity. The aridity of the soil augmentsin proportion as it is stripped of the trees that sheltered it fromthe heat of the sun; for the leaves, emitting heat under a sky alwaysserene, occasion, as the air cools, a precipitation of aqueousvapours. 

Among the few rivers worthy of attention, the Rio Guines may benoticed, the Rio Armendaris or Chorrera, of which the waters are ledto the Havannah by the Sanja de Antoneli; the Rio Canto on the northof the town of Bayamo; the Rio Maximo which rises on the east ofPuerto Principe; the Rio Sagua Grande near Villa Clara; the Rio de lasPalmas which issues opposite Cayo Galiado; the small rivers of Jarucoand Santa Cruz between Guanabo and Matanzas, navigable at the distanceof some miles from their mouths and favourable for the shipment ofsugar-casks; the Rio San Antonio which, like many others, is engulfedin the caverns of limestone rocks; the Rio Guaurabo west of the portof Trinidad; and the Rio Galafre in the fertile district of Filipinas, which throws itself into the Laguna de Cortez. The most abundantsprings rise on the southern coast where, from Xagua to Punta deSabina, over a length of forty-six leagues, the soil is extremelymarshy. So great is the abundance of the waters which filter by theclefts of the stratified rock that, from the effect of an hydrostaticpressure, fresh water springs far from the coast, and amidst saltwater. The jurisdiction of the Havannah is not the most fertile partof the island; and the few sugar-plantations that existed in thevicinity of the capital are now converted into farms for cattle(potreros) and fields of maize and forage, of which the profits areconsiderable. The agriculturists of the island of Cuba distinguish twokinds of earth, often mixed together like the squares of adraught-board, black earth (negra o prieta), clayey and full ofmoisture, and red earth (bermeja), more silicious and containing oxideof iron. The tierra negra is generally preferred (on account of itsbest preserving humidity) for the cultivation of the sugarcane, andthe tierra bermeja for coffee; but many sugar plantations areestablished on the red soil. 

The climate of the Havannah is in accordance with the extreme limitsof the torrid zone: it is a tropical climate, in which a more unequaldistribution of heat at different parts of the year denotes thepassage to the climates of the temperate zone. Calcutta (latitude 22degrees 34 minutes north), Canton (latitude 23 degrees 8 minutesnorth), Macao (latitude 22 degrees 12 minutes north), the Havannah(latitude 23 degrees 9 minutes north) and Rio Janeiro (latitude 22degrees 54 minutes south) are places which, from their position at thelevel of the ocean near the tropics of Cancer and Capricorn, consequently at an equal distance from the equator, afford greatfacilities for the study of meteorology. This study can only advanceby the determination of certain numerical elements which are theindispensable basis of the laws we seek to discover. The aspect ofvegetation being identical near the limits of the torrid zone and atthe equator, we are accustomed to confound vaguely the climates of twozones comprised between 0 and 10 degrees, and between 15 and 23degrees of latitude. The region of palm-trees, bananas and arborescentgramina extends far beyond the two tropics: but it would be dangerousto apply what has been observed at the extremity of the tropical zoneto what may take place in the plains near the equator. In order torectify those errors it is important that the mean temperature of theyear and months be well known, as also the thermometric oscillationsin different seasons at the parallel of the Havannah; and to prove byan exact comparison with other points alike distant from the equator, for instance, with Rio Janeiro and Macao, that the lowering oftemperature observed in the island of Cuba is owing to the irruptionand the stream of layers of cold air, borne from the temperate zonestowards the tropics of Cancer and Capricorn. The mean temperature ofthe Havannah, according to four years of good observations, is 25. 7degrees (20. 6 degrees R. ), only 2 degrees centigrade above that of theregions of America nearest the equator. The proximity of the searaises the mean temperature of the year on the coast; but in theinterior of the island, when the north winds penetrate with the sameforce, and where the soil rises to the height of forty toises, themean temperature attains only 23 degrees (18. 4 degrees R. ) and doesnot exceed that of Cairo and Lower Egypt. The difference between themean temperature of the hottest and coldest months rises to 12 degreesin the interior of the island; at the Havannah and on the coast, to 8degrees; at Cumana, to scarcely 3 degrees. The hottest months, Julyand August, attain 28. 8 degrees, at the island of Cuba, perhaps 29. 5degrees of mean temperature, as at the equator. The coldest months areDecember and January; their mean temperature in the interior of theisland, is 17 degrees; at the Havannah, 21 degrees, that is, 5 to 8degrees below the same months at the equator, yet still 3 degreesabove the hottest month at Paris. 

It will be interesting to compare the climate of the Havannah withthat of Macao and Rio Janeiro; two places, one of which is near thelimit of the northern torrid zone, on the eastern coast of Asia; andthe other on the eastern coast of America, towards the extremity ofthe southern torrid zone. 

The climate of the Havannah, notwithstanding the frequency of thenorth and north-west winds, is hotter than that of Macao and RioJaneiro. The former partakes of the cold which, owing to the frequencyof the west winds, is felt in winter along all the eastern coast of agreat continent. The proximity of spaces of land covered withmountains and table-lands renders the distribution of heat indifferent months of the year more unequal at Macao and Canton than inan island bounded on the west and north by the hot waters of theGulf-stream. The winters are therefore much colder at Canton and Macaothan at the Havannah: yet the latitude of Macao is 1 degree moresoutherly than that of the Havannah; and the latter town and Cantonare, within nearly a minute, on the same parallel. The thermometer atCanton has sometimes almost reached the point zero; and by the effectof reflection, ice has been found on the terraces of houses. Althoughthis great cold never lasts more than one day, the English merchantsresiding at Canton like to make chimney-fires in their apartments fromNovember to January; while at the Havannah, the artificial warmth evenof a brazero is not required. Hail is frequent and the hail-stones areextremely large in the Asiatic climate of Canton and Macao, while itis scarcely seen once in fifteen years at the Havannah. In these threeplaces the thermometer sometimes keeps up for several hours between 0and 4 degrees (centigrade); and yet (a circumstance which appears tobe very remarkable) snow has never been seen to fall; andnotwithstanding the great lowering of the temperature, the bananas andthe palm-trees are as beautiful around Canton, Macao and the Havannahas in the plains nearest the equator. 

In the island of Cuba the lowering of the temperature lasts onlyduring intervals of such short duration that in general neither thebanana, the sugar-cane nor other productions of the torrid zone suffermuch. We know how well plants of vigorous organization resisttemporary cold, and that the orange trees of Genoa survive the fall ofsnow and endure cold which does not more than exceed 6 or 7 degreesbelow freezing-point. As the vegetation of the island of Cuba bearsthe character of the vegetation of the regions near the equator, weare surprised to find even in the plains a vegetable form of thetemperate climates and mountains of the equatorial part of Mexico. Ihave often directed the attention of botanists to this extraordinaryphenomenon in the geography of plants. The pine (Pinus occidentalis)is not found in the Lesser Antilles; not even in Jamaica (between 173/4 and 18 1/2 degrees of latitude). It is only seen further north, inthe mountains of San Domingo, and in all that part of the island ofCuba situated between 20 and 23 degrees of latitude. It attains aheight of from sixty to seventy feet; and it is remarkable that thecahoba* (mahogany (* Swieteinia Mahogani, Linn. )) and the pinevegetate at the island of Pinos in the same plains. We also find pinesin the south-eastern part of the island of Cuba, on the declivity ofthe Copper Mountains where the soil is barren and sandy. The interiortable-land of Mexico is covered with the same species of coniferousplants; at least the specimens brought by M. Bonpland and myself fromAcaguisotla, Nevado de Toluca and Cofre de Perote do not appear todiffer specifically from the Pinus occidentalis of the West IndiaIslands described by Schwartz. Now those pines which we see at sealevel in the island of Cuba, in 20 and 22 degrees of latitude, andwhich belong only to the southern part of that island, do not descendon the Mexican continent between the parallels of 17 1/2 and 19 1/2degrees, below the elevation of 500 toises. I even observed that, onthe road from Perote to Xalapa in the eastern mountains opposite tothe island of Cuba, the limit of the pines is 935 toises; while in thewestern mountains, between Chilpanzingo and Acapulco, nearQuasiniquilapa, two degrees further south, it is 580 toises andperhaps on some points 450. These anomalies of stations are very rarein the torrid zone and are probably less connected with thetemperature than with the nature of the soil. In the system of themigration of plants we must suppose that the Pinus occidentalis ofCuba came from Yucatan before the opening of the channel between CapeCatoche and Cape San Antonio, and not from the United States, so richin coniferous plants; for in Florida the species of which we have heretraced the botanical geography has not been discovered. 

About the end of April, M. Bonpland and myself, having completed theobservations we proposed to make at the northern extremity of thetorrid zone, were on the point of proceeding to Vera Cruz with thesquadron of Admiral Ariztizabal; but being misled by falseintelligence respecting the expedition of Captain Baudin, we wereinduced to relinquish the project of passing through Mexico on our wayto the Philippine Islands. The public journals announced that twoFrench sloops, the Geographe and Naturaliste, had sailed for CapeHorn; that they were to proceed along the coasts of Chili and Peru, and thence to New Holland. This intelligence revived in my mind allthe projects I had formed during my stay in Paris, when I solicitedthe Directory to hasten the departure of Captain Baudin. On leavingSpain, I had promised to rejoin the expedition wherever I could reachit. M. Bonpland and I resolved instantly to divide our herbals intothree portions, to avoid exposing to the risks of a long voyage theobjects we had obtained with so much difficulty on the banks of theOrinoco, the Atabapo and the Rio Negro. We sent one collection by wayof England to Germany, another by way of Cadiz to France, and a thirdremained at the Havannah. We had reason to congratulate ourselves onthis foresight: each collection contained nearly the same species, andno precautions were neglected to have the cases, if taken by Englishor French vessels, remitted to Sir Joseph Banks or to the professorsof natural history at the Museum at Paris. It happened fortunatelythat the manuscripts which I at first intended to send with thecollection to Cadiz were not intrusted to our much esteemed friend andfellow traveller, Fray Juan Gonzales, of the order of the Observanceof St. Francis, who had followed us to the Havannah with the view ofreturning to Spain. He left the island of Cuba soon after us, but thevessel in which he sailed foundered on the coast of Africa, and thecargo and crew were all lost. By this event we lost some of theduplicates of our herbals, and what was more important, all theinsects which M. Bonpland had with great difficulty collected duringour voyage to the Orinoco and the Rio Negro. By a singular fatality, we remained two years in the Spanish colonies without receiving asingle letter from Europe; and those which arrived in the threefollowing years made no mention of what we had transmitted. The readermay imagine my uneasiness for the fate of a journal which containedastronomical observations and barometrical measurements, of which Ihad not made any copy. After having visited New Grenada, Peru andMexico, and just when I was preparing to leave the New Continent, Ihappened, at a public library of Philadelphia, to cast my eyes on ascientific Publication, in which I found these words: "Arrival of M. De Humboldt's manuscripts at his brother's house in Paris, by way ofSpain!" I could scarcely suppress an exclamation of joy. 

While M. Bonpland laboured day and night to divide and put ourcollections in order, a thousand obstacles arose to impede ourdeparture. There was no vessel in the port of the Havannah that wouldconvey us to Porto Bello or Carthagena. The persons I consulted seemedto take pleasure in exaggerating the difficulties of the passage ofthe isthmus, and the dangerous voyage from Panama to Guyaquil, andfrom Guyaquil to Lima and Valparaiso. Not being able to find a passagein any neutral vessel, I freighted a Catalonian sloop, lying atBatabano, which was to be at my disposal to take me either to PortoBello or Carthagena, according as the gales of Saint Martha mightpermit. * (* The gales of Saint Martha blow with great violence at thatseason below latitude 12 degrees. ) The prosperous state of commerce atthe Havannah and the multiplied connections of that city with theports of the Pacific would facilitate for me the means of procuringfunds for several years. General Don Gonzalo O'Farrill resided at thattime in my native country as minister of the court of Spain. I couldexchange my revenues in Prussia for a part of his at the island ofCuba; and the family of Don Ygnacio O'Farrill y Herera, brother of thegeneral, concurred kindly in all that could favour my new projects. Onthe 6th of March the vessel I had freighted was ready to receive us. The road to Batabano led us once more by Guines to the plantation ofRio Blanco, the property of Count Jaruco y Mopox. 

The road from Rio Blanco to Batabano runs across an uncultivatedcountry, half covered with forests; in the open spots the indigo plantand the cotton-tree grow wild. As the capsule of the Gossypium opensat the season when the northern storms are most frequent, the downthat envelops the seed is swept from one side to the other; and thegathering of the cotton, which is of a very fine quality, suffersgreatly. Several of our friends, among whom was Senor de Mendoza, captain of the port of Valparaiso, and brother to the celebratedastronomer who resided so long in London, accompanied us to Potrero deMopox. In herborizing further southward, we found a new palm-tree withfan-leaves (Corypha maritima), having a free thread between theinterstices of the folioles. This Corypha covers a part of thesouthern coast and takes the place of the majestic palma real and theCocos crispa of the northern coast. Porous limestone (of the Juraformation) appeared from time to time in the plain. 

Batabano was then a poor village and its church had been completedonly a few years previously. The Sienega begins at the distance ofhalf a league from the village; it is a tract of marshy soil, extending from the Laguna de Cortez as far as the mouth of the RioXagua, on a length of sixty leagues from west to east. At Batabano itis believed that in those regions the sea continues to gain upon theland, and that the oceanic irruption was particularly remarkable atthe period of the great upheaving which took place at the end of theeighteenth century, when the tobacco mills disappeared, and the RioChorrera changed its course. Nothing can be more gloomy than theaspect of these marshes around Batabano. Not a shrub breaks themonotony of the prospect: a few stunted trunks of palm-trees rise likebroken masts, amidst great tufts of Junceae and Irides. As we stayedonly one night at Batabano, I regretted much that I was unable toobtain precise information relative to the two species of crocodileswhich infest the Sienega. The inhabitants give to one of these animalsthe name of cayman, to the other that of crocodile; or, as they saycommonly in Spain, of cocodrilo. They assured us that the latter hasmost agility, and measures most in height: his snout is more pointedthan that of the cayman, and they are never found together. Thecrocodile is very courageous and is said to climb into boats when hecan find a support for his tail. He frequently wanders to the distanceof a league from the Rio Cauto and the marshy coast of Xagua to devourthe pigs on the islands. This animal is sometimes fifteen feet long, and will, it is said, pursue a man on horseback, like the wolves inEurope; while the animals exclusively called caymans at Batabano areso timid that people bathe without apprehension in places where theylive in bands. These peculiarities, and the name of cocodrilo, givenat the island of Cuba, to the most dangerous of the carnivorousreptiles, appear to me to indicate a different species from the greatanimals of the Orinoco, Rio Magdalena and Saint Domingo. In otherparts of the Spanish American continent the settlers, deceived by theexaggerated accounts of the ferocity of crocodiles in Egypt, allegethat the real crocodile is only found in the Nile. Zoologists have, however, ascertained that there are in America caymans or alligatorswith obtuse snouts, and legs not indented, and crocodiles with pointedsnouts and indented legs; and in the old continent, both crocodilesand gaviales. The Crocodilus acutus of San Domingo, in which I cannothitherto specifically distinguish the crocodiles of the great riversof the Orinoco and the Magdalena, has, according to Cuvier, so great aresemblance to the crocodile of the Nile, * that it required a minuteexamination to prove that the rule laid down by Buffon relative to thedistribution of species between the tropical regions of the twocontinents was correct. (* This striking analogy was ascertained by M. Geoffroy de Saint Hilaire in 1803 when General Rochambeau sent acrocodile from San Domingo to the Museum of Natural History at Paris. M. Bonpland and myself had made drawings and detailed descriptions in1801 and 1802 of the same species which inhabit the great rivers ofSouth America, during our passage on the Apure, the Orinoco and theMagdalena. We committed the mistake so common to travellers, of notsending them at once to Europe, together with some young specimens. )

On my second visit to the Havannah, in 1804, I could not return to theSienega of Batabano; and therefore I had the two species, calledcaymans and crocodiles by the inhabitants, brought to me, at a greatexpense. Two crocodiles arrived alive; the oldest was four feet threeinches long; they had been caught with great difficulty and wereconveyed, muzzled and bound, on a mule, for they were exceedinglyvigorous and fierce. In order to observe their habits and movements, *we placed them in a great hall, where, by climbing on a very highpiece of furniture, we could see them attack great dogs. (* M. Descourtils, who knows the habits of the crocodile better than anyother author who has written on that reptile, saw, like Dampier andmyself, the Crocodilus acutus often touch his tail with his mouth. )Having seen much of crocodiles during six months, on the Orinoco, theRio Apure and the Magdalena, we were glad to have another opportunityof observing their habits before our return to Europe. The animalssent to us from Batabano had the snout nearly as sharp as thecrocodiles of the Orinoco and the Magdalena (Crocodilus acutus, Cuv. );their colour was dark-green on the back, and white below the belly, with yellow spots on the flanks. I counted, as in all the realcrocodiles, thirty-eight teeth in the upper jaw, and thirty in thelower; in the former, the tenth and ninth; and in the latter, thefirst and fourth, were the largest. In the description made by M. Bonpland and myself on the spot, we have expressly marked that thelower fourth tooth rises over the upper jaw. The posterior extremitieswere palmated. These crocodiles of Batabano appeared to us to bespecifically identical with the Crocodilus acutus. It is true that theaccounts we heard of their habits did not quite agree with what we hadourselves observed on the Orinoco; but carnivorous reptiles of thesame species are milder and more timid, or fiercer and morecourageous, in the same river, according to the nature of thelocalities. The animal called the cayman, at Batabano, died on theway, and was not brought to us, so that we could make no comparison ofthe two species. * (* The four bags filled with musk (bolzas delalmizcle) are, in the crocodile of Batabano, exactly in the sameposition as in that of the Rio Magdalena, beneath the lower jaw andnear the anus. I was much surprised at not perceiving the smell ofmusk at the Havannah, three days after the death of the animal, in atemperature of 30 degrees, while at Mompox, on the banks of theMagdalena, living crocodiles infected our apartment. I have sincefound that Dampier also remarked an absence of smell in the crocodileof Cuba where the caymans spread a very strong smell of musk. ) I haveno doubt that the crocodile with a sharp snout, and the alligator orcayman with a snout like a pike, * (* Crocodilus acutus of San Domingo. Alligator lucius of Florida and the Mississippi. ) inhabit together, but in distinct bands, the marshy coast between Xagua, the Surgideroof Batabano, and the island of Pinos. In that island Dampier wasstruck with the great difference between the caymans and the Americancrocodiles. After having described, though not always with perfectcorrectness, several of the characteristics which distinguishcrocodiles from caymans, he traces the geographical distribution ofthose enormous saurians. "In the bay of Campeachy, " he says, "I sawonly caymans or alligators; at the island of Great Cayman, there arecrocodiles and no alligators; at the island of Pinos, and in theinnumerable creeks of the coast of Cuba, there are both crocodiles andcaymans. "* (* Dampier's Voyages and Descriptions, 1599. ) To thesevaluable observations of Dampier I may add that the real crocodile(Crocodilus acutus) is found in the West India Islands nearest themainland, for instance, at the island of Trinidad; at Marguerita; andalso, probably, at Curacao, notwithstanding the want of fresh water. It is observed, further south, in the Neveri, the Rio Magdalena, theApure and the Orinoco, as far as the confluence of the Cassiquiarewith the Rio Negro (latitude 2 degrees 2 minutes), consequently morethan four hundred leagues from Batabano. It would be interesting toverify on the eastern coast of Mexico and Guatimala, between theMississippi and the Rio Chagres (in the isthmus of Panama), the limitof the different species of carnivorous reptiles. 

We set sail on the 9th of March, somewhat incommoded by the extremesmallness of our vessel, which afforded us no sleeping-place but upondeck. The cabin (camera de pozo) received no air or light but fromabove; it was merely a hold for provisions, and it was with difficultythat we could place our instruments in it. The thermometer kept upconstantly at 32 and 33 degrees (centesimal. ) Luckily theseinconveniences lasted only twenty days. Our several voyages in thecanoes of the Orinoco, and a passage in an American vessel laden withseveral thousand arrobas of salt meat dried in the sun had rendered usnot very fastidious. 

The gulf of Batabano, bounded by a low and marshy coast, looks like avast desert. The fishing birds, which are generally at their postwhilst the small land birds, and the indolent vultures (Vultur aura. )are at roost, are seen only in small numbers. The sea is of agreenish-brown hue, as in some of the lakes of Switzerland; while theair, owing to its extreme purity, had, at the moment the sun appearedabove the horizon, a cold tint of pale blue, similar to that whichlandscape painters observe at the same hour in the south of Italy, andwhich makes distant objects stand out in strong relief. Our sloop wasthe only vessel in the gulf; for the roadstead of Batabano is scarcelyvisited except by smugglers, or, as they are here politely called, thetraders (los tratantes). The projected canal of Guines will renderBatabano an important point of communication between the island ofCuba and the coast of Venezuela. The port is within a bay bounded byPunta Gorda on the east, and by Punta de Salinas on the west: but thisbay is itself only the upper or concave end of a great gulf measuringnearly fourteen leagues from south to north, and along an extent offifty leagues (between the Laguna de Cortez and the Cayo de Piedras)inclosed by an incalculable number of flats and chains of rocks. Onegreat island only, of which the superficies is more than four timesthe dimensions of that of Martinique, with mountains crowned withmajestic pines, rises amidst this labyrinth. This is the island ofPinos, called by Columbus El Evangelista, and by some mariners of thesixteenth century, the Isla de Santa Maria. It is celebrated for itsmahogany (Swietenia mahagoni) which is an important article ofcommerce. We sailed east-south-east, taking the passage of DonCristoval, to reach the rocky island of Cayo de Piedras, and to clearthe archipelago, which the Spanish pilots, in the early times of theconquest, designated by the names of Gardens and Bowers (Jardines yJardinillos). The Queen's Gardens, properly so called, are nearer CapeCruz, and are separated from the archipelago by an open seathirty-five leagues broad. Columbus gave them the name they bear, in1494, when, on his second voyage, he struggled during fifty-eight dayswith the winds and currents between the island of Pinos and theeastern cape of Cuba. He describes the islands of this archipelago asverdant, full of trees and pleasant* (verdes, llenos de arboledas, ygraciosos). (* There exists great geographical confusion, even at theHavannah, in reference to the ancient denominations of the Jardinesdel Rey and Jardines de la Reyna. In the description of the island ofCuba, given in the Mercurio Americano, and in the Historia Natural dela Isla de Cuba, published at the Havannah by Don Antonio Lopez Gomez, the two groups are placed on the southern coast of the island. Lopezsays that the Jardines del Rey extend from the Laguna de Cortez toBahia de Xagua; but it is historically certain that the governor DiegoVelasquez gave his name to the western part of the chain of rocks ofthe Old Channel, between Cayo Frances and Le Monillo, on the northerncoast of the island of Cuba. The Jardines de la Reyna, situatedbetween Cabo Cruz and the port of the Trinity, are in no mannerconnected with the Jardines and Jardinillos of the Isla de Pinos. Between the two groups of the chain of rocks are the flats (placeres)of La Paz and Xagua. )

A part of these so-styled gardens is indeed beautiful; the voyagersees the scene change every moment, and the verdure of some of theislands appears the more lovely from its contrast with chains ofrocks, displaying only white and barren sands. The surface of thesesands, heated by the rays of the sun, seems to be undulating like thesurface of a liquid. The contact of layers of air of unequaltemperature produces the most varied phenomena of suspension andmirage from ten in the morning till four in the afternoon. Even inthose desert places the sun animates the landscape, and gives mobilityto the sandy plain, to the trunks of trees, and to the rocks thatproject into the sea like promontories. When the sun appears theseinert masses seem suspended in air; and on the neighbouring beach thesands present the appearance of a sheet of water gently agitated bythe winds. A train of clouds suffices to seat the trunks of trees andthe suspended rocks again on the soil; to render the undulatingsurface of the plains motionless; and to dissipate the charm which theArabian, Persian, and Hindoo poets have celebrated as "the sweetillusions of the solitary desert. "

We doubled Cape Matahambre very slowly. The chronometer of LouisBerthoud having kept time accurately at the Havannah, I availed myselfof this occasion to determine, on this and the following days, thepositions of Cayo de Don Cristoval, Cayo Flamenco, Cayo de Diego Perezand Cayo de Piedras. I also employed myself in examining the influencewhich the changes at the bottom of the sea produce on its temperatureat the surface. Sheltered by so many islands, the surface is calm as alake of fresh water, and the layers of different depths being distinctand separate, the smallest change indicated by the lead acts on thethermometer. I was surprised to see that on the east of the littleCayo de Don Cristoval the high banks are only distinguished by themilky colour of the water, like the bank of Vibora, south of Jamaica, and many other banks, the existence of which I ascertained by means ofthe thermometer. The bottom of the rock of Batabano is a sand composedof coral detritus; it nourishes sea-weeds which scarcely ever appearon the surface: the water, as I have already observed, is greenish;and the absence of the milky tint is, no doubt, owing to the perfectcalm which pervades those regions. Whenever the agitation ispropagated to a certain depth, a very fine sand, or a mass ofcalcareous particles suspended in the water, renders it troubled andmilky. There are shallows, however, which are distinguished neither bythe colour nor by the low temperature of the waters; and I believethat phenomenon depends on the nature of a hard and rocky bottom, destitute of sand and corals; on the form and declivity of theshelvings; the swiftness of the currents; and the absence of thepropagation of motion towards the lower layers of the water. The coldfrequently indicated by the thermometer, at the surface of the highbanks, must be traced to the molecules of water which, owing to therays of heat and the nocturnal cooling, fall from the surface to thebottom, and are stopped in their fall by the high banks; and also tothe mingling of the layers of very deep water that rise on theshelvings of the banks as on an inclined plane, to mix with the layersof the surface. 

Notwithstanding the small size of our bark and the boasted skill ofour pilot, we often ran aground. The bottom being soft, there was nodanger; but, nevertheless, at sunset, near the pass of Don Cristoval, we preferred to lie at anchor. The first part of the night wasbeautifully serene: we saw an incalculable number of falling-stars, all following one direction, opposite to that from whence the windblew in the low regions of the atmosphere. The most absolute solitudeprevails in this spot, which, in the time of Columbus, was inhabitedand frequented by great numbers of fishermen. The inhabitants of Cubathen employed a small fish to take the great sea turtles; theyfastened a long cord to the tail of the reves (the name given by theSpaniards to that species of Echeneis*). (* To the sucet or guaican ofthe natives of Cuba the Spaniards have given the characteristic nameof reves, that is, placed on its back, or reversed. In fact, at firstsight, the position of the back and the abdomen is confounded. Anghiera says: Nostrates reversum appellant, quia versus venatur. Iexamined a remora of the South Sea during the passage from Lima toAcapulco. As he lived a long time out of the water, I triedexperiments on the weight he could carry before the blades of the diskloosened from the plank to which the animal was fixed; but I lost thatpart of my journal. It is doubtless the fear of danger that causes theremora not to loose his hold when he feels that he is pulled by a cordor by the hand of man. The sucet spoken of by Columbus and Martind'Anghiera was probably the Echeneis naucrates and not the Echeneisremora. ) The fisher-fish, formerly employed by the Cubans by means ofthe flattened disc on his head, furnished with suckers, fixed himselfon the shell of the sea-turtle, which is so common in the narrow andwinding channels of the Jardinillos. "The reves, " says ChristopherColumbus, "will sooner suffer himself to be cut in pieces than let gothe body to which he adheres. " The Indians drew to the shore by thesame cord the fisher-fish and the turtle. When Gomara and the learnedsecretary of the emperor Charles V, Peter Martyr d'Anghiera, promulgated in Europe this fact which they had learnt from thecompanions of Columbus, it was received as a traveller's tale. Thereis indeed an air of the marvellous in the recital of d'Anghiera, whichbegins in these words: Non aliter ac nos canibus gallicis per aequoracampi lepores insectamur, incolae [Cubae insulae] venatorio piscepisces alios capiebant. (Exactly as we follow hares with greyhounds inthe fields, so do the natives [of Cuba] take fishes with other fishtrained for that purpose). We now know, from the united testimony ofRogers, Dampier and Commerson, that the artifice resorted to in theJardinillos to catch turtles is employed by the inhabitants of theeastern coast of Africa, near Cape Natal, at Mozambique and atMadagascar. In Egypt, at San Domingo and in the lakes of the valley ofMexico, the method practised for catching ducks was as follows: men, whose heads were covered with great calabashes pierced with holes, hidthemselves in the water, and seized the birds by the feet. TheChinese, from the remotest antiquity, have employed the cormorant, abird of the pelican family, for fishing on the coast: rings are fixedround the bird's neck to prevent him from swallowing his prey andfishing for himself. In the lowest degree of civilization, thesagacity of man is displayed in the stratagems of hunting and fishing:nations who probably never had any communication with each otherfurnish the most striking analogies in the means they employ inexercising their empire over animals. 

Three days elapsed before we could emerge from the labyrinth ofJardines and Jardinillos. At night we lay at anchor; and in the day wevisited those islands or chains of rocks which were most easilyaccessible. As we advanced eastward the sea became less calm and theposition of the shoals was marked by water of a milky colour. On theboundary of a sort of gulf between Cayo Flamenco and Cayo de Piedraswe found that the temperature of the sea, at its surface, augmentedsuddenly from 23. 5 to 25. 8 degrees centigrade. The geologicconstitution of the rocky islets that rise around the island of Pinosfixed my attention the more earnestly as I had always rather doubtedof the existence of those huge masses of coral which are said to risefrom the abyss of the Pacific to the surface of the water. It appearedto me more probable that these enormous masses had some primitive orvolcanic rock for a basis, to which they adhered at small depths. Theformation, partly compact and lithographic, partly bulbous, of thelimestone of Guines, had followed us as far as Batabano. It issomewhat analogous to Jura limestone; and, judging from their externalaspect, the Cayman Islands are composed of the same rock. If themountains of the island of Pinos, which present at the same time (asit is said by the first historians of the conquest) the pineta andpalmeta, be visible at the distance of twenty sea leagues, they mustattain a height of more than five hundred toises: I have been assuredthat they also are formed of a limestone altogether similar to that ofGuines. From these facts I expected to find the same rock (Juralimestone) in the Jardinillos: but I saw, in the chain of rocks thatrises generally five to six inches above the surface of the water, only a fragmentary rock, in which angular pieces of madrepores arecemented by quartzose sand. Sometimes the fragments form a mass offrom one to two cubic feet and the grains of quartz so disappear thatin several layers one might imagine that the polypi have remained onthe spot. The total mass of this chain of rocks appears to me alimestone agglomerate, somewhat analogous to the earthy limestone ofthe peninsula of Araya, near Cumana, but of much more recentformation. The inequalities of this coral rock are covered by adetritus of shells and madrepores. Whatever rises above the surface ofthe water is composed of broken pieces, cemented by carbonate of lime, in which grains of quartzose sand are set. Whether rocks formed bypolypi still living are found at great depth below this fragmentaryrock of coral or whether these polypi are raised on the Jura formationare questions which I am unable to answer. Pilots believe that the seadiminishes in these latitudes, because they see the chain of rocksaugment and rise, either by the earth which the waves heave up, or bysuccessive agglutinations. It is not impossible that the enlarging ofthe channel of Bahama, by which the waters of the Gulf-stream issue, may cause, in the lapse of ages, a slight lowering of the waters southof Cuba, and especially in the gulf of Mexico, the centre of the greatcurrent which runs along the shores of the United States, and caststhe fruits of tropical plants on the coast of Norway. * (* "TheGulf-stream, between the Bahamas and Florida, is very little widerthan Behring's Strait; and yet the water rushing through this passageis of sufficient force and quantity to put the whole Northern Atlanticin motion, and to make its influence be felt in the distant strait ofGibraltar and on the more distant coast of Africa. " Quarterly ReviewFebruary 1818. ) The configuration of the coast, the direction, theforce and the duration of certain winds and currents, the changeswhich the barometric heights undergo through the variable predominanceof those winds, are causes, the concurrence of which may alter, in along space of time, and in circumscribed limits of extent and height, the equilibrium of the seas. * (* I do not pretend to explain, by thesame causes, the great phenomena of the coast of Sweden, where the seahas, on some points, the appearance of a very unequal lowering of fromthree to five feet in one hundred years. The great geologist, Leopoldvon Buch, has imparted new interest to these observations by examiningwhether it be not rather some parts of the continent of Scandinaviawhich insensibly heaves up. An analogous supposition was entertainedby the inhabitants of Dutch Guiana. ) When the coast is so low that thelevel of the soil, at a league within the island, does not change toextent of a few inches, these swellings and diminution of the watersstrike the imagination of the inhabitants. 

The Cayo bonito (Pretty Rock), which we first visited, fully meritsits name from the richness of its vegetation. Everything denotes thatit has been long above the surface of the ocean; and the central partof the Cayo is not more depressed than the banks. On a layer of sandand land shells, five to six inches thick, covered by a fragmentarymadreporic rock, rises a forest of mangroves (Rhizophora). From theirform and foliage they might at a distance be mistaken for laureltrees. The Avicennia, the Batis, some small Euphorbia and grasses, bythe intertwining of their roots, fix the moving sands. But thecharacteristic distinction of the Flora of these coral islands is themagnificent Tournefortia gnaphalioides of Jacquin, with silveredleaves, which we found here for the first time. This is a social plantand is a shrub from four feet and a half to five feet high. Itsflowers emit an agreeable perfume; and it is the ornament of CayoFlamenco, Cayo Piedras and perhaps of the greater part of the lowlands of the Jardinillos. While we were employed in herborizing, * oursailors were searching among the rocks for lobsters. (* We gatheredCenchrus myosuroides, Euphorbia buxifolia, Batis maritima, Iresineobtusifolia, Tournefortia gnaphalioides, Diomedea glabrata, Cakilecubensis, Dolichos miniatus, Parthenium hysterophorus, etc. Thelast-named plant, which we had previously found in the valley ofCaracas and on the temperate table-lands of Mexico, between 470 and900 toises high, covers the fields of the island of Cuba. It is usedby the inhabitants for aromatic baths, and to drive away the fleaswhich are so numerous in tropical climates. At Cumana the leaves ofseveral species of cassia are employed, on account of their smell, against those annoying insects. ) Disappointed at not finding them, they avenged themselves by climbing on the mangroves and making adreadful slaughter of the young alcatras, grouped in pairs in theirnests. This name is given, in Spanish America, to the brownswan-tailed pelican of Buffon. With the want of foresight peculiar tothe great pelagic birds, the alcatra builds his nest where severalbranches of trees unite together. We counted four or five nests on thesame trunk of a mangrove. The young birds defended themselvesvaliantly with their enormous beaks, which are six or seven incheslong; the old ones hovered over our heads, making hoarse and plaintivecries. Blood streamed from the tops of the trees, for the sailors werearmed with great sticks and cutlasses (machetes). In vain we reprovedthem for this cruelty. Condemned to long obedience in the solitude ofthe seas, this class of men feel pleasure in exercising a crueltyranny over animals when occasion offers. The ground was covered withwounded birds struggling in death. At our arrival a profound calmprevailed in this secluded spot; now, everything seemed to say: Manhas passed this way. 

The sky was veiled with reddish vapours, which however dispersed inthe direction of south-west; we hoped, but in vain, to discern theheights of the island of Pinos. Those spots have a charm in which mostparts of the New World are wanting. They are associated withrecollections of the greatest names of the Spanish monarchy--those ofChristopher Columbus and of Hernan Cortez. It was on the southerncoast of the island of Cuba, between the bay of Xagua and the islandof Pinos, that the great Spanish Admiral, in his second voyage, saw, with astonishment, "that mysterious king who spoke to his subjectsonly by signs, and that group of men who wore long white tunics, likethe monks of La Merced, whilst the rest of the people were naked. ""Columbus in his fourth voyage found in the Jardinillos, great boatsfilled with Mexican Indians, and laden with the rich productions andmerchandise of Yucatan. " Misled by his ardent imagination, he thoughthe had heard from those navigators, "that they came from a countrywhere the men were mounted on horses, * and wore crowns of gold ontheir heads. " (* Compare the Lettera rarissima di Christoforo Colombo, di 7 di Julio, 1503; with the letter of Herrera, dated December 1. Nothing can be more touching and pathetic than the expression ofmelancholy which prevails in the letter of Columbus, written atJamaica, and addressed to King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella. Irecommend to the notice of those who wish to understand the characterof that extraordinary man, the recital of the nocturnal vision, inwhich he imagined that he heard a celestial voice, in the midst of atempest, encouraging him by these words: Iddio maravigliosamente fecesonar tuo nome nella terra. Le Indie que sono pa te del mondo cosiricca, te le ha date per tue; tu le hai repartite dove ti e piaciuto, e ti dette potenzia per farlo. Delli ligamenti del mare Oceano cheerano serrati con catene cosi forte, ti dono le chiave, etc. [Godmarvellously makes thy name resound throughout the world. The Indies, which are so rich a portion of the world, he gives to thee forthyself; thou mayest distribute them in the way thou pleasest, and Godgives thee power to do so. Of the shores of the Atlantic, which wereclosed by such strong chains, he gives thee the key. ] This fragmenthas been handed down to us only in an ancient Italian tradition; forthe Spanish original mentioned in the Biblioteca Nautica of DonAntonio Leon has not hitherto been found. I may add a few more lines, characterized by great simplicity, written by the discoverer of theNew World: "Your Highness, " says Columbus, "may believe me, the globeof the earth is far from being so great as the vulgar admit. I wasseven years at your royal court, and during seven years was told thatmy enterprise was a folly. Now that I have opened the way, tailors andshoemakers ask the privilege of going to discover new lands. Persecuted, forgotten as I am, I never think of Hispaniola and Pariawithout my eyes being filled with tears. I was twenty years in theservice of your Highness; I have not a hair that is not white; and mybody is enfeebled. Heaven and earth now mourn for me; all who havepity, truth, and justice, mourn for me (pianga adesso il cielo epianga per me la terra; pianga per me chi ha carita, verita, giustizia). " Lettera rarissima pages 13, 19, 34, 37. ) "Catayo (China), the empire of the Great Khan, and the mouth of the Ganges, " appearedto him so near, that he hoped soon to employ two Arabian interpreters, whom he had embarked at Cadiz, in going to America. Other remembrancesof the island of Pinos, and the surrounding Gardens, are connectedwith the conquest of Mexico. When Hernan Cortes was preparing hisgreat expedition, he was wrecked with his Nave Capitana on one of theflats of the Jardinillos. For the space of five days he was believedto be lost, and the valiant Pedro de Alvarado sent (in November 1518)from the port of Carenas* (the Havannah) three vessels in search ofhim. (* At that period there were two settlements, one at Puerto deCarenas in the ancient Indian province of the Havannah, and theother--the most considerable--in the Villa de San Cristoval de Cuba. These settlements were only united in 1519 when the Puerto de Carenastook the name of San Cristoval de la Habana. "Cortes, " says Herrera, "paso a la Villa de San Cristoval que a la sazon estaba en la costadel sur, y despues se paso a la Habana. " [Cortes proceeded to the townof San Cristoval, which at that time was on the sea-coast, andafterwards he repaired to the Havannah. ]) In February, 1519, Cortesassembled his whole fleet near cape San Antonio, probably on the spotwhich still bears the name of Ensenada de Cortes, west of Batabano andopposite to the island of Pinos. From thence, believing he shouldbetter escape the snares laid for him by the governor, Velasquez, hepassed almost clandestinely to the coast of Mexico. Strangevicissitude of events! the empire of Montezuma was shaken by a handfulof men who, from the western extremity of the island of Cuba, landedon the coast of Yucatan; and in our days, three centuries later, Yucatan, now a part of the new confederation of the free states ofMexico, has nearly menaced with conquest the western coast of Cuba. 

On the morning of the 11th March we visited Cayo Flamenco. I found thelatitude 21 degrees 59 minutes 39 seconds. The centre of this islandis depressed and only fourteen inches above the surface of the sea. The water here is brackish while in other cayos it is quite fresh. Themariners of Cuba attribute this freshness of the water to the actionof the sands in filtering sea-water, the same cause which is assignedfor the freshness of the lagunes of Venice. But this supposition isnot justified by any chemical analogy. The cayos are composed ofrocks, and not of sands, and their smallness renders it extremelyimprobable that the pluvial waters should unite in a permanent lake. Perhaps the fresh water of this chain of rocks comes from theneighbouring coast, from the mountains of Cuba, by the effect ofhydrostatic pressure. This would prove a prolongation of the strata ofJura limestone below the sea and a superposition of coral rock on thatlimestone. * (* Eruptions of fresh water in the sea, near Baiae, Syracuse and Aradus (in Phenicia) were known to the ancients. Strabolib. 16 page 754. The coral islands that surround Radak, especiallythe low island of Otdia, furnish also fresh water. Chamisso inKotzebue's Entdekkungs-Reise volume 3 page 108. )

It is too general a prejudice to consider every source of fresh orsalt water to be merely a local phenomenon: currents of watercirculate in the interior of lands between strata of rocks of aparticular density or nature, at immense distances, like the floodsthat furrow the surface of the globe. The learned engineer, DonFrancisco Le Maur, informed me that in the bay of Xagua, half a degreeeast of the Jardinillos, there issue in the middle of the sea, springsof fresh water, two leagues and a half from the coast. These springsgush up with such force that they cause an agitation of the wateroften dangerous for small canoes. Vessels that are not going to Xaguasometimes take in water from these ocean springs and the water isfresher and colder in proportion to the depth whence it is drawn. Themanatees, guided by instinct, have discovered this region of freshwaters; and the fishermen who like the flesh of these herbivorousanimals, * find them in abundance in the open sea. (* Possibly theysubsist upon sea-weed in the ocean, as we saw them feed, on the banksof the Apure and the Orinoco, on several species of Panicum andOplismenus (camalote?). It appears common enough, on the coast ofTabasco and Honduras, at the mouths of rivers, to find the manateesswimming in the sea, as crocodiles do sometimes. Dampier distinguishesbetween the fresh-water and the salt-water manatee. (Voyages andDescr. Volume 2) Among the Cayos de las doce leguas, east of Xagua, some islands bear the name of Meganos del Manati. )

Half a mile east of Cayo Flamenco we passed close to two rocks onwhich the waves break furiously. They are the Piedras de Diego Perez(latitude 21 degrees 58 minutes 10 seconds. ) The temperature of thesea at its surface lowers at this point to 22. 6 degrees centigrade, the depth of the water being only about one fathom. In the evening wewent on shore at Cayo de Piedras; two rocks connected together bybreakers and lying in the direction of north-north-west tosouth-south-east. On these rocks which form the eastern extremity ofthe Jardinillos many vessels are lost, and they are almost destituteof shrubs because shipwrecked crews cut them to make fire-signals. TheCayo de Piedras is extremely precipitous on the side near the sea; andtowards the middle there is a small basin of fresh water. We found ablock of madrepore in the rock, measuring upwards of three cubic feet. Doubtless this limestone formation, which at a distance resembles Juralimestone, is a fragmentary rock. It would be well if this chain ofcayos which surrounds the island of Cuba were examined by geologistswith the view of determining what may be attributed to the animalswhich still work at the bottom of the sea, and what belongs to thereal tertiary formations, the age of which may be traced back to thedate of the coarse limestone abounding in remains of lithophite coral. In general, that which rises above the waters is only breccia, oraggregate of madreporic fragments cemented by carbonate of lime, broken shells, and sand. It is important to examine, in each of thecayos, on what this breccia reposes; whether it covers edifices ofmollusca still living, or those secondary and tertiary rocks, whichjudging from the remains of coral they contain, seem to be the productof our days. The gypsum of the cayos opposite San Juan de losRemedios, on the northern coast of the island of Cuba, merits greatattention. Its age is doubtless more remote than historic times, andno geologist will believe that it is the work of the mollusca of ourseas. 

From the Cayo de Piedras we could faintly discern in the direction ofeast-north-east the lofty mountains that rise beyond the bay of Xagua. During the night we again lay at anchor; and next day (12th March), having passed between the northern cape of the Cayo de Piedras and theisland of Cuba, we entered a sea free from breakers. Its blue colour(a dark indigo tint) and the heightening of the temperature proved howmuch the depth of the water had augmented. We tried, under favour ofthe variable winds on sea and shore, to steer eastward as far as theport of La Trinidad so that we might be less opposed by the north-eastwinds which then prevail in the open sea, in making the passage toCarthagena, of which the meridian falls between Santiago de Cuba andthe bay of Guantanamo. Having passed the marshy coast of Camareos, * (*Here the celebrated philanthropist Bartolomeo de las Casas obtained in1514 from his friend Velasquez, the governor, a good repartimiente deIndios (grant of land so called). But this he renounced in the sameyear, from scruples of conscience, during a short stay at Jamaica. ) wearrived (latitude 21 degrees 50 minutes) in the meridian of theentrance of the Bahia de Xagua. The longitude the chronometer gave meat this point was almost identical with that since published (in 1821)in the map of the Deposito hidrografico of Madrid. 

The port of Xagua is one of the finest but least frequented of theisland. "There cannot be another such in the world, " is the remark ofthe Coronista major (Antonio de Herrera). The surveys and plans ofdefence made by M. Le Maur, at the time of the commission of CountJaruco, prove that the anchorage of Xagua merits the celebrity itacquired even in the first years of the conquest. The town consistsmerely of a small group of houses and a fort (castillito. ) On the eastof Xagua, the mountains (Cerros de San Juan) near the coast, assume anaspect more and more majestic; not from their height, which does notseem to exceed three hundred toises, but from their steepness andgeneral form. The coast, I was told, is so steep that a frigate mayapproach the mouth of the Rio Guaurabo. When the temperature of theair diminished at night to 23 degrees and the wind blew from the landit brought that delicious odour of flowers and honey whichcharacterizes the shores of the island of Cuba. * (* Cuban wax, whichis a very important object of trade, is produced by the bees of Europe(the species Apis, Latr. ). Columbus says expressly that in his timethe inhabitants of Cuba did not collect wax. The great loaf of thatsubstance which he found in the island in his first voyage, andpresented to King Ferdinand in the celebrated audience of Barcelona, was afterwards ascertained to have been brought thither by Mexicanbarques from Yucatan. It is curious that the wax of melipones was thefirst production of Mexico that fell into the hands of the Spaniards, in the month of November, 1492. ) We sailed along the coast keeping twoor three miles distant from land. On the 13th March a little beforesunset we were opposite the mouth of the Rio San Juan, so much dreadedby navigators on account of the innumerable quantity of mosquitos andzancudos which fill the atmosphere. It is like the opening of aravine, in which vessels of heavy burden might enter, but that a shoal(placer) obstructs the passage. Some horary angles gave me thelongitude 82 degrees 40 minutes 50 seconds for this port which isfrequented by the smugglers of Jamaica and the corsairs of ProvidenceIsland. The mountains that command the port scarcely rise to 230toises. I passed a great part of the night on deck. The coast wasdreary and desolate. Not a light announced a fisherman's hut. There isno village between Batabano and Trinidad, a distance of fifty leagues;scarcely are there more than two or three corrales or farm yards, containing hogs or cows. Yet, in the time of Columbus, this territorywas inhabited along the shore. When the ground is dug to make wells, or when torrents furrow the surface of the earth in floods, stonehatchets and copper utensils* are often discovered; these are remainsof the ancient inhabitants of America. (* Doubtless the copper ofCuba. The abundance of this metal in its native state would naturallyinduce the Indians of Cuba and Hayti to melt it. Columbus says thatthere were masses of native copper at Hayti, of the weight of sixarrobas; and that the boats of Yucatan, which he met with on theeastern coast of Cuba, carried, among other Mexican merchandize, crucibles to melt copper. )

At sunrise I requested the captain to heave the lead. There was nobottom to be found at sixty fathoms; and the ocean was warmer at itssurface than anywhere else; it was at 26. 8 degrees; the temperatureexceeded 4. 2 degrees that which we had found near the breakers ofDiego Perez. At the distance of half a mile from the coast, the seawater was not more than 2. 5 degrees; we had no opportunity of soundingbut the depth of the water had no doubt diminished. On the 14th ofMarch we entered the Rio Guaurabo, one of the two ports of Trinidad deCuba, to put on shore the practico, or pilot of Batabano, who hadsteered us across the flats of the Jardinillos, though not withoutcausing us to run aground several times. We also hoped to find apacket-boat (correo maritimo) in this port, which would take us toCarthagena. I landed towards the evening, and placed Borda's azimuthcompass and the artificial horizon on the shore for the purpose ofobserving the passage of some stars by the meridian; but we hadscarcely begun our preparations when a party of small traders of theclass called pulperos, who had dined on board a foreign ship recentlyarrived, invited us to accompany them to the town. These good peoplerequested us mount two by two on the same horse; and, as the heat wasexcessive, we accepted their offer. The distance from the mouth of theRio Guaurabo to Trinidad is nearly four miles in a north-westdirection. The road runs across a plain which seems as if it had beenlevelled by a long sojourn of the waters. It is covered withvegetation, to which the miraguama, a palm-tree with silvered leaves(which we saw here for the first time), gives a peculiar character. *(* Corypha miraguama. Probably the same species which struck Messrs. John and William Fraser (father and son) in the vicinity of Matanzas. Those two botanists, who introduced a great number of valuable plantsto the gardens of Europe, were shipwrecked on their voyage to theHavannah from the United States, and saved themselves with difficultyon the cayos at the entrance of the Old Channel, a few weeks before mydeparture for Carthagena. ) This fertile soil, although of tierracolorada, requires only to be tilled and it would yield fruitfulharvests. A very picturesque view opens westward on the Lomas of SanJuan, a chain of calcareous mountains from 1800 to 2000 toises highand very steep towards the south. Their bare and barren summits formsometimes round blocks; and here and there rise up in points likehorns, * a little inclined. (* Wherever the rock is visible I perceivedcompact limestone, whitish-grey, partly porous and partly with asmooth fracture, as in the Jura formation. ) Notwithstanding the greatlowering of the temperature during the season of the Nortes or northwinds, snow never falls; and only a hoar-frost (escarcha) is seen onthese mountains, as on those of Santiago. This absence of snow isdifficult to be explained. In emerging from the forest we perceived acurtain of hills of which the southern slope is covered with houses;this is the town of Trinidad, founded in 1514, by the governor DiegoVelasquez, on account of the rich mines of gold which were said tohave been discovered in the little valley of Rio Arimao. * (* Thisriver flows towards the east into the Bahia de Xagua. ) The streets ofTrinidad have all a rapid descent: there, as in most parts of SpanishAmerica, it is complained that the Couquistadores chose veryinjudiciously the sites for new towns. * (* It is questionable whetherthe town founded by Velasquez was not situated in the plain and nearerthe ports of Casilda and Guaurabo. It has been suggested that the fearof the French, Portuguese and English freebooters led to theselection, even in inland places, of sites on the declivity ofmountains, whence, as from a watch-tower, the approach of the enemycould be discerned; but it seems to me that these fears could have hadno existence prior to the government of Hernando de Soto. The Havannahwas sacked for the first time by French corsairs in 1539. ) At thenorthern extremity is the church of Nuestra Senora de la Popa, acelebrated place of pilgrimage. This point I found to be 700 feetabove the level of the sea; it commands a magnificent view of theocean, the two ports (Puerto Casilda and Boca Guaurabo), a forest ofpalm-trees and the group of the lofty mountains of San Juan. We werereceived at the town of Trinidad with the kindest hospitality by SenorMunoz, the Superintendent of the Real Hacienda. I made observationsduring a great part of the night and found the latitude near thecathedral by the Spica Virginis, alpha of the Centaur, and beta of theSouthern Cross, under circumstances not equally favourable, to be 21degrees 48 minutes 20 seconds. My chronometric longitude was 82degrees 21 minutes 7 seconds. I was informed at my second visit to theHavannah, in returning from Mexico, that this longitude was nearlyidentical with that obtained by the captain of a frigate, Don Jose delRio, who had long resided on that spot; but that he marked thelatitude of the town at 21 degrees 42 minutes 40 seconds. 

The Lieutenant-Governor (Teniente Governadore) of Trinidad, whosejurisdiction then extended to Villa Clara, Principe and SantoEspiritu, was nephew to the celebrated astronomer Don Antonio Ulloa. He gave us a grand entertainment, at which we met some Frenchemigrants from San Domingo who had brought their talents and industryto Spanish America. The exportation of the sugar of Trinidad, by theregisters of the custom-house, did not then exceed 4000 chests. 

The advantage of having two ports is often discussed at Trinidad. Thedistance of the town from Puerto de Casilda and Puerto Guaurabo isnearly equal; yet the expense of transport is greatest in the formerport. The Boca del Rio Guaurabo, defended by a new battery, furnishessafe anchorage, although less sheltered than that of Puerto Casilda. Vessels that draw little water or are lightened to pass the bar, cango up the river and approach the town within a mile. The packet-boats(correos) that touch at Trinidad de Cuba prefer, in general, the RioGuaurabo, where they find safe anchorage without needing a pilot. ThePuerto Casilda is more inclosed and goes further back inland butcannot be entered without a pilot, on account of the breakers(arrecifes) and the Mulas and Mulattas. The great mole, constructedwith wood, and very useful to commerce, was damaged in dischargingpieces of artillery. It is entirely destroyed, and it was undecidedwhether it would be best to reconstruct it with masonry, according tothe project of Don Luis de Bassecourt, or to open the bar of Guauraboby dredging it. The great disadvantage of Puerto de Casilda is thewant of fresh water, which vessels have to procure at the distance ofa league. 

We passed a very agreeable evening in the house of one of the richestinhabitants, Don Antonio Padron, where we found assembled at atertulia all the good company of Trinidad. We were again struck withthe gaiety and vivacity that distinguish the women of Cuba. These arehappy gifts of nature to which the refinements of Europeancivilization might lend additional charms but which, nevertheless, please in their primitive simplicity. We quitted Trinidad on the nightof the 15th March. The municipality caused us to be conducted to themouth of the Rio Guaurabo in a fine carriage lined with old crimsondamask; and, to add to our confusion, an ecclesiastic, the poet of theplace, habited in a suit of velvet notwithstanding the heat of theclimate, celebrated, in a sonnet, our voyage to the Orinoco. 

On the road leading to the port we were forcibly struck by a spectaclewhich our stay of two years in the hottest part of the tropics mighthave rendered familiar to us; but previously I had nowhere seen suchan innumerable quantity of phosphorescent insects. * (* Cocuyo, Elaternoctilucus. ) The grass that overspread the ground, the branches andfoliage of the trees, all shone with that reddish and moveable lightwhich varies in its intensity at the will of the animal by which it isproduced. It seemed as though the starry firmament reposed on thesavannah. In the hut of the poorest inhabitants of the country, fifteen cocuyos, placed in a calabash pierced with holes, affordsufficient light to search for anything during the night. To shake thecalabash forcibly is all that is necessary to excite the animal toincrease the intensity of the luminous discs situated on each side ofits body. The people of the country remark, with a simple truth ofexpression, that calabashes filled with cocuyos are lanterns alwaysready lighted. They are, in fact, only extinguished by the sickness ordeath of the insects, which are easily fed with a little sugar-cane. Ayoung woman at Trinidad de Cuba told us that during a long anddifficult passage from the main land, she always made use of thephosphorescence of the cocuyos, when she gave suck to her child atnight; the captain of the ship would allow no other light on board, from the fear of corsairs. 

As the breeze freshened in the direction of north-east we sought toavoid the group of the Caymans but the current drove us towards thoseislands. Sailing to south 1/4 south-east, we gradually lost sight ofthe palm-covered shore, the hills rising above the town of Trinidadand the lofty mountains of the island of Cuba. There is somethingsolemn in the aspect of land from which the voyager is departing andwhich he sees sinking by degrees below the horizon of the sea. Theinterest of this impression was heightened at the period to which Ihere advert; when Saint Domingo was the centre of great politicalagitations, and threatened to involve the other islands in one ofthose sanguinary struggles which reveal to man the ferocity of hisnature. These threatened dangers were happily averted; the storm wasappeased on the spot which gave it birth; and a free black population, far from troubling the peace of the neighbouring islands, has madesome steps in the progress of civilization and has promoted theestablishment of good institutions. Porto Rico, Cuba and Jamaica, with370, 000 whites and 885, 000 men of colour, surround Hayti, where apopulation of 900, 000 negros and mulattos have been emancipated bytheir own efforts. The negros, more inclined to cultivate alimentaryplants than colonial productions, augment with a rapidity onlysurpassed by the increase of the population of the United States. 

CHAPTER 3. 30. 

PASSAGE FROM TRINIDAD DE CUBA TO RIO SINU. CARTHAGENA. AIR VOLCANOES OF TURBACO. CANAL OF MAHATES. 

On the morning of the 17th of March, we came within sight of the mosteastern island of the group of the Lesser Caymans. Comparing thereckoning with the chronometric longitude, I ascertained that thecurrents had borne us in seventeen hours twenty miles westward. Theisland is called by the English pilots Cayman-brack, and by theSpanish pilots, Cayman chico oriental. It forms a rocky wall, bare andsteep towards the south and south-east. The north and north-west partis low, sandy, and scantily covered with vegetation. The rock isbroken into narrow horizontal ledges. From its whiteness and itsproximity to the island of Cuba, I supposed it to be of Juralimestone. We approached the eastern extremity of Cayman-brack withinthe distance of 400 toises. The neighbouring coast is not entirelyfree from danger and breakers; yet the temperature of the sea had notsensibly diminished at its surface. The chronometer of Louis Berthoudgave me 82 degrees 7 minutes 37 seconds for the longitude of theeastern cape of Cayman-brack. The latitude reduced by the reckoning onthe rhumbs of wind at the meridian observation, appeared to me to be19 degrees 40 minutes 50 seconds. 

As long as we were within sight of the rock of Cayman-bracksea-turtles of extraordinary dimensions swam round our vessel. Theabundance of these animals led Columbus to give the whole group of theCaymans the name of Penascales de las Tortugas (rocks of the turtles. )Our sailors would have thrown themselves into the water to catch someof these animals; but the numerous sharks that accompany them renderedthe attempt too perilous. The sharks fixed their jaws on great ironhooks which were flung to them; these hooks were very sharp and (forwant of anzuelos encandenados* (* Fish-hooks with chains. )) they weretied to cords: the sharks were in this manner drawn up half the lengthof their bodies; and we were surprised to see that those which hadtheir mouths wounded and bleeding continued to seize the bait over andover again during several hours. * (* Vidimus quoque squales, quotiescunque, hamo icti, dimidia parte corporis e fluctibusextrahebantur, cito alvo stercus emittere haud absimile excrementiscaninis. Commovebat intestina (ut arbitramur) subitus pavor. Althoughthe form and number of teeth change with age, and the teeth appearsuccessively in the shark genus, I doubt whether Don Antonio Ulloa becorrect in stating that the young sharks have two, and the old onesfour rows of grinders. These, like many other sea-fish, are easilyaccustomed to live in fresh water, or in water slightly briny. It isobserved that sharks (tiburones) abound of late in the Laguna ofMaracaybo, whither they have been attracted by the dead bodies throwninto the water after the frequent battles between the Spanishroyalists and the Columbian republicans. ) At the sight of thesevoracious fish the sailors in a Spanish vessel always recollect thelocal fable of the coast of Venezuela, which describes the benedictionof a bishop as having softened the habits of the sharks, which areeverywhere else the dread of mariners. Do these wild sharks of theport of La Guayra specifically differ from those which are soformidable in the port of the Havannah? And do the former belong tothe group of Emissoles with small sharp teeth, which Cuvierdistinguishes from the Melandres, by the name of Musteli?

The wind freshened more and more from the south-east, as we advancedin the direction of Cape Negril and the western extremity of the greatbank of La Vibora. We were often forced to diverge from our course;and, on account of the extreme smallness of our vessel, we were almostconstantly under water. On the 18th of March at noon we foundourselves in latitude 18 degrees 17 minutes 40 seconds, and in 81degrees 50 minutes longitude. The horizon, to the height of 50degrees, was covered with those reddish vapours so common within thetropics, and which never seem to affect the hygrometer at the surfaceof the globe. We passed fifty miles west of Cape Negril on the south, nearly at the point where several charts indicate an insulated flat ofwhich the position is similar to that of Sancho Pardo, opposite toCape San Antonio de Cuba. We saw no change in the bottom. It appearsthat the rocky shoal at a depth of four fathoms, near Cape Negril, hasno more existence than the rock (cascabel) itself, long believed tomark the western extremity of La Vibora (Pedro Bank, Portland Rock orla Sola), marking the eastern extremity. On the 19th of March, at fourin the afternoon, the muddy colour of the sea denoted that we hadreached that part of the bank of La Vibora where we no longer findfifteen, and indeed scarcely nine or ten, fathoms of water. Ourchronometric longitude was 81 degrees 3 minutes; and our latitudeprobably below 17 degrees. I was surprised that, at the noonobservation, at 17 degrees 7 minutes of latitude, we yet perceived nochange in the colour of the water. Spanish vessels going from Batabanoor Trinidad de Cuba to Carthagena, usually pass over the bank of LaVibora, on its western side, at between fifteen and sixteen fathomswater. The dangers of the breakers begin only beyond the meridian 80degrees 45 minutes west longitude. In passing along the bank on itssouthern limit, as pilots often do in proceeding from Cumana or otherparts of the mainland, to the Great Caymnan or Cape San Antonio, theyneed not ascend along the rocks, above 16 degrees 47 minutes latitude. Fortunately the currents run on the whole bank to south-west. 

Considering La Vibora not as a submerged land, but as a heaved-up partof the surface of the globe, which has not reached the level of thesea, we are struck at finding on this great submarine island, as onthe neighbouring land of Jamaica and Cuba, the loftiest heightstowards its eastern boundary. In that direction are situated PortlandRock, Pedro Keys and South Key, all surrounded by dangerous breakers. The depth is six or eight fathoms; but, in advancing to the middle ofthe bank, along the line of the summit, first towards the west andthen towards the north-west, the depth becomes successively ten, twelve, sixteen and nineteen fathoms. When we survey on the map theproximity of the high lands of San Domingo, Cuba and Jamaica, in theneighbourhood of the Windward Channel, the position of the island ofNavaza and the bank of Hormigas, between Capes Tiburon and Morant;when we trace that chain of successive breakers, from the Vibora, byBaxo Nuevo, Serranilla, and Quita Sueno, as far as the Mosquito Sound, we cannot but recognize in this system of islands and shoals thealmost-continued line of a heaved-up ridge running from north-east tosouth-west. This ridge, and the old dyke, which link, by the rock ofSancho Pardo, Cape San Antonio to the peninsula of Yucatan, divide thegreat sea of the West Indies into three partial basins, similar tothose observed in the Mediterranean. 

The colour of the troubled waters on the shoal of La Vibora has not amilky appearance like the waters in the Jardinillos and on the bank ofBahama; but it is of a dirty grey colour. The striking differences oftint on the bank of Newfoundland, in the archipelago of the BahamaIslands and on La Vibora, the variable quantities of earthy mattersuspended in the more or less troubled waters of the soundings, mayall be the effects of the variable absorption of the rays of light, contributing to modify to a certain point the temperature of the sea. Where the shoals are 8 to 10 degrees colder at their surface than thesurrounding sea, it cannot be surprising that they should produce alocal change of climate. A great mass of very cold water, as on thebank of Newfoundland, in the current of the Peruvian shore (betweenthe port of Callao and Punta Parina* (* I found the surface of thePacific ocean, in the month of October 1802 on the coast of Truxillo, 15. 8 degrees centigrade; in the port of Callao, in November, 15. 5;between the parallel of Callao and Punta Parina, in December, 19degrees; and progressively, when the current advanced towards theequator and receded towards the west-north-west, 20. 5 and 22. 3degrees)), or in the African current near Cape Verd, have necessarilyan influence on the atmosphere that covers the sea, and on the climateof the neighbouring land; but it is less easy to conceive that thoseslight changes of temperature (for instance, a centesimal degree onthe bank of La Vibora) can impart a peculiar character to theatmosphere of the shoals. May not these submarine islands act upon theformation and accumulation of the vesicular vapours in some other waythan by cooling the waters of the surface?

Quitting the bank of La Vibora, we passed between the Baxo Nuevo andthe light-house of Camboy; and on the 22nd March we passed more thanthirty leagues to westward of El Roncador (The Snorer), a name whichthis shoal has received from the pilots who assert, on the authorityof ancient traditions, that a sound like snoring is heard from afar. If such a sound be really heard, it arises, no doubt, from aperiodical issuing of air compressed by the waters in a rocky cavern. I have observed the same phenomenon on several coasts, for instance, on the promontories of Teneriffe, in the limestones of the Havannah, *(* Called by the Spanish sailors El Cordonazo de San Francisco. ) andin the granite of Lower Peru between Truxillo and Lima. A project wasformed at the Canary Islands for placing a machine at the issue of thecompressed air and allowing the sea to act as an impelling force. While the autumnal equinox is everywhere dreaded in the sea of theWest Indies (except on the coast of Cumana and Caracas), the springequinox produces no effect on the tranquillity of those tropicalregions: a phenomenon almost the inverse of that observable in highlatitudes. Since we had quitted La Vibora the weather had beenremarkably fine; the colour of the sea was indigo-blue and sometimesviolet, owing to the quantity of medusae and eggs of fish (purga demar) which covered it. Its surface was gently agitated. Thethermometer kept up, in the shade, from 26 to 27 degrees; not a cloudarose on the horizon although the wind was constantly north, ornorth-north-west. I know not whether to attribute to this wind, whichcools the higher layers of the atmosphere, and there produces icycrystals, the halos which were formed round the moon two nightssuccessively. The halos were of small dimensions, 45 degrees diameter. I never had an opportunity of seeing and measuring any* of which thediameter had attained 90 degrees. (* In Captain Parry's first voyagehalos were measured round the sun and moon, of which the rays were 221/2 degrees; 22 degrees 52 minutes; 38 degrees; 46 degrees. North-westPassage, 1821. ) The disappearance of one of those lunar halos wasfollowed by the formation of a great black cloud, from which fell somedrops of rain; but the sky soon resumed its fixed serenity, and we sawa long series of falling-stars and bolides which moved in onedirection and contrary to that of the wind of the lower strata. 

On the 23rd March, a comparison of the reckoning with the chronometriclongitude, indicated the force of a current bearing towardswest-south-west. Its swiftness, in the parallel of 17 degrees, wastwenty to twenty-two miles in twenty-four hours. I found thetemperature of the sea somewhat diminished; in latitude 12 degrees 35minutes it was only 25. 9 degrees (air 27. 0 degrees). During the wholeday the firmament exhibited a spectacle which was thought remarkableeven by the sailors and which I had observed on a previous occasion(June 13th, 1799). There was a total absence of clouds, even of thoselight vapours called dry; yet the sun coloured, with a fine rosy tint, the air and the horizon of the sea. Towards night the sea was coveredwith great bluish clouds; and when they disappeared we saw, at animmense height, fleecy clouds in regular spaces, and ranged inconvergent bands. Their direction was from north-north-west tosouth-south-east, or more exactly, north 20 degrees west, consequentlycontrary to the direction of the magnetic meridian. 

On the 24th March we entered the gulf which is bounded on the east bythe coast of Santa Marta, and on the west by Costa Rica; for the mouthof the Magdalena and that of the Rio San Juan de Nicaragua are on thesame parallel, nearly 11 degrees latitude. The proximity of thePacific Ocean, the configuration of the neighbouring lands, thesmallness of the isthmus of Panama, the lowering of the soil betweenthe gulf of Papagayo and the port of San Juan de Nicaragua, thevicinity of the snowy mountains of Santa Marta, and many othercircumstances too numerous to mention, combine to create a peculiarclimate in this gulf. The atmosphere is agitated by violent galesknown in winter by the name of the brizotes de Santa Marta. When thewind abates, the currents bear to north-east, and the conflict betweenthe slight breezes (from east and north-east) and the current rendersthe sea rough and agitated. In calm weather, the vessels going fromCarthagena to Rio Sinu, at the mouth of the Atrato and at Portobello, are impeded in their course by the currents of the coast. The heavy orbrizote winds, on the contrary, govern the movement of the waters, which they impel in an opposite direction, towards west-south-west. Itis the latter movement which Major Rennell, in his great hydrographicwork, calls drift; and he distinguishes it from real currents, whichare not owing to the local action of the wind, but to differences oflevel in the surface of the ocean; to the rising and accumulation ofwaters in very distant latitudes. The observations which I havecollected on the force and direction of the winds, on the temperatureand rapidity of the currents, on the influence of the seasons, or thevariable declination of the sun, have thrown some light on thecomplicated system of those pelagic floods that furrow the surface ofthe ocean: but it is less easy to conceive the causes of the change inthe movement of the waters at the same season and with the same wind. Why is the Gulf-stream sometimes borne on the coast of Florida, sometimes on the border of the shoal of Bahama? Why do the watersflow, for the space of whole weeks, from the Havannah to Matanzas, and(to cite an example of the corriente por arriba, which is sometimesobserved in the most eastern part of the main land during theprevalence of gentle winds) from La Guayra to Cape Codera and Cumana?

As we advanced, on the 25th of March, towards the coast of Darien, thenorth-east wind increased with violence. We might have imaginedourselves transported to another climate. The sea became very roughduring the night yet the temperature of the water kept up (fromlatitude 10 degrees 30 minutes, to 9 degrees 47 minutes) at 25. 8degrees. We perceived at sunrise a part of the archipelago* of SaintBernard, which closes the gulf of Morrosquillo on the north. (* It iscomposed of the islands Mucara, Ceycen, Maravilla, Tintipan, Panda, Palma, Mangles, and Salamanquilla, which rise little above the sea. Several of them have the form of a bastion. There are two passages inthe middle of this archipelago, from seventeen to twenty fathoms. Large vessels can pass between the Isla Panda and Tintipan, andbetween the Isla de Mangles and Palma. ) A clear spot between theclouds enabled me to take the horary angles. The chronometer, at thelittle island of Mucara, gave longitude 78 degrees 13 minutes 54seconds. We passed on the southern extremity of the Placer de SanBernardo. The waters were milky, although a sounding of twenty-fivefathoms did not indicate the bottom; the cooling of the water was notfelt, doubtless owing to the rapidity of the current. Above thearchipelago of Saint Bernard and Cape Boqueron we saw in the distancethe mountains of Tigua. The stormy weather and the difficulty of goingup against the wind induced the captain of our frail vessel to seekshelter in the Rio Sinu, or rather, near the Punta del Zapote, situated on the eastern bank of the Ensenada de Cispata, into whichflows the river Sinu or the Zenu of the early Conquistadores. Itrained with violence, and I availed myself of that occasion to measurethe temperature of the rain-water: it was 26. 3 degrees, while thethermometer in the air kept up, in a place where the bulb was not wet, at 24. 8 degrees. This result differed much from that we had obtainedat Cumana, where the rain-water was often a degree colder than theair. * (* As, within the tropics, it takes but little time to collectsome inches of water in a vase having a wide opening, and narrowingtowards the bottom, I do not think there can be any error in theobservation, when the heat of the rain-water differs from that of theair. If the heat of the rain-water be less than that of the air it maybe presumed that only a part of the total effect is observed. I oftenfound at Mexico at the end of June, the rain at 19. 2 or 19. 4 degrees, when the air was at 17. 8 and 18 degrees. In general it appeared to methat, within the torrid zone, either at the level of the sea, or ontable-lands from 1200 to 1500 toises high, there is no rain but thatduring storms, which falls in large drops very distant from eachother, and is sensibly colder than the air. These drops bring withthem, no doubt, the low temperature of the high regions. In the rainwhich I found hotter than the air, two causes may act simultaneously. Great clouds heat by the absorption of the rays of the sun whichstrike their surface; and the drops of water in falling cause anevaporation and produce cold in the air. The temperature ofrain-water, to which I devoted much attention during my travels, hasbecome a more important problem since M. Boisgiraud, Professor ofExperimental Philosophy at Poitiers, has proved that in Europe rain isgenerally sufficiently cold, relatively to the air, to causeprecipitation of vapour at the surface of every drop. From this facthe traces the cause of the unequal quantity of rain collected atdifferent heights. When we recollect that one degree only of coolingprecipitates more water in the hot climate of the tropics, than by atemperature of 10 to 13 degrees, we may cease to be surprised at theenormous size of the drops of rain that fall at Cumana, Carthagena andGuayaquil. )

Our passage from the island of Cuba to the coast of South Americaterminated at the mouth of the Rio Sinu, and it occupied sixteen days. The roadstead near the Punta del Zapote afforded very bad anchorage;and in a rough sea, and with a violent wind, we found some difficultyin reaching the coast in our canoe. Everything denoted that we hadentered a wild region rarely visited by strangers. A few scatteredhouses form the village of Zapote: we found a great number of marinersassembled under a sort of shed, all men of colour, who had descendedthe Rio Sinu in their barks, to carry maize, bananas, poultry andother provisions to the port of Carthagena. These barks, which arefrom fifty to eighty feet long, belong for the most part to theplanters (haciendados) of Lorica. The value of their largest freightamounts to about 2000 piastres. These boats are flat-bottomed, andcannot keep at sea when it is very rough. The breezes from thenorth-east had, during ten days, blown with violence on the coast, while, in the open sea, as far as 10 degrees latitude, we had only hadslight gales, and a constantly calm sea. In the aerial, as in thepelagic currents, some layers of fluids move with extreme swiftness, while others near them remain almost motionless. The zambos of the RioSinu wearied us with idle questions respecting the purpose of ourvoyage, our books, and the use of our instruments: they regarded uswith mistrust; and to escape from their importunate curiosity we wentto herborize in the forest, although it rained. They had endeavoured, as usual, to alarm us by stories of boas (traga-venado), vipers andthe attacks of jaguars; but during a long residence among the ChaymaIndians of the Orinoco we were habituated to these exaggerations, which arise less from the credulity of the natives, than from thepleasure they take in tormenting the whites. Quitting the coast ofZapote, covered with mangroves, * (* Rhizophora mangle. ) we entered aforest remarkable for a great variety of palm-trees. We saw the trunksof the Corozo del Sinu* pressed against each other, which formedheretofore our species Alfonsia, yielding oil in abundance (* InSpanish America palm-trees with leaves the most different in kind andspecies are called Corozo: the Corozo del Sinu, with a short, thick, glossy trunk, is the Elaeis melanococca of Martius, Palm. Page 64 tab. 33, 55. I cannot believe it to be identical with the Elaeis guineensis(Herbal of Congo River page 37) since it vegetates spontaneously inthe forests of the Rio Sinu. The Corozo of Caripe is slender, smalland covered with thorns; it approaches the Cocos aculeata of Jacquin. The Corozo de los Marinos of the valley of Cauca, one of the tallestpalm-trees, is the Cocus butyracea of Linnaeus. ); the Cocos butyracea, called here palma dolce or palma real, and very different from thepalma real of the island of Cuba; the palma amarga, with fan-leavesthat serve to cover the roofs of houses, and the latta, * (* Perhaps ofthe species of Aiphanes. ) resembling the small piritu palm-tree of theOrinoco. This variety of palm-trees was remarked by the firstConquistadores. * (* Pedro de Cieca de Leon, a native of Seville, whotravelled in 1531, at the age of thirteen years, in the countries Ihave described, observes that Las tierras comarcanas del Rio Cenu ydel Golfo de Uraba estan llena de unos palmares muy grandes yespessos, que son unos arboles gruessos, y llevan unas ramas comopalma de datiles. [The lands adjacent to the Rio Cenu and the Gulf ofUraba are full of very tall, spreading palm-trees. They are of vastsize and are branched like the date-palm. ] See La Cronica del Perunuevamenta escrita, Antwerp 1554 pages 21 and 204. ) The Alfonsia, orrather the species of Elais, which we had nowhere else seen, is onlysix feet high, with a very large trunk; and the fecundity of itsspathes is such that they contain more than 200, 000 flowers. Althougha great number of those flowers (one tree bearing 600, 000 at the sametime) never come to maturity, * the soil remains covered with a thicklayer of fruits. (* I have carefully counted how many flowers arecontained in a square inch on each amentum, from 100 to 120 of whichare found united in one spathe. ) We often made a similar observationunder the shade of the mauritia palm-tree, the Cocos butyracea, theSeje and the Pihiguao of the Atabapo. No other family of arborescentplants is so prolific in the development of the organs of flowering. The almond of the Corozo del Sinu is peeled in the water. The thicklayer of oil that swims in the water is purified by boiling, andyields the butter of Corozo (manteca de Corozo) which is thicker thanthe oil of the cocoa-tree, and serves to light churches and houses. The palm-trees of the section of Cocoinies of Mr. Brown are theolive-trees of the tropical regions. As we advanced in the forest, webegan to find little pathways, looking as though they had beenrecently cleared out by the hatchet. Their windings displayed a greatnumber of new plants: Mougeotia mollis, Nelsonia albicans, Melampodiumpaludosum, Jonidium anomalum, Teucrium palustre, Gomphia lucens, and anew kind of Composees, the Spiracantha cornifolia. A fine Pancratiumembalmed the air in the humid spots, and almost made us forget thatthose gloomy and marshy forests are highly dangerous to health. 

After an hour's walk we found, in a cleared spot, several inhabitantsemployed in collecting palm-tree wine. The dark tint of the zambosformed a strong contrast with the appearance of a little man withlight hair and a pale complexion who seemed to take no share in thelabour. I thought at first that he was a sailor who had escaped fromsome North American vessel; but I was soon undeceived. Thisfair-complexioned man was my countryman, born on the coast of theBaltic; he had served in the Danish navy and had lived for severalyears in the upper part of the Rio Sinu, near Santa Cruz de Lorica. Hehad come, to use the words of the loungers of the country para vertierras, y pasear, no mas (to see other lands, and to roam about, nothing else. ) The sight of a man who could speak to him of hiscountry seemed to have no attraction for him; and, as he had almostforgotten German without being able to express himself clearly inSpanish, our conversation was not very animated. During the five yearsof my travels in Spanish America I found only two opportunities ofspeaking my native language. The first Prussian I met with was asailor from Memel who served on board a ship from Halifax, and whorefused to make himself known till after he had fired some musket-shotat our boat. The second, the man we met at the Rio Sinu, was veryamicably disposed. Without answering my questions he continuedrepeating, with a smile, that the country was hot and humid; that thehouses in the town of Pomerania were finer than those of Santa Cruz deLorica; and that, if we remained in the forest, we should have thetertian fever (calentura) from which he had long suffered. We had somedifficulty in testifying our gratitude to this good man for his kindadvice; for according to his somewhat aristocratic principles, a whiteman, were he bare-footed, should never accept money "in the presenceof those vile coloured people!" (gente parda). Less disdainful thanour European countryman, we saluted politely the group of men ofcolour who were employed in drawing off into large calabashes, orfruits of the Crescentia cujete, the palm-tree wine from the trunks offelled trees. We asked them to explain to us this operation, which wehad already seen practised in the missions of the Cataracts. The vineof the country is the palma dolce, the Cocos butyracea, which, nearMalgar, in the valley of the Magdalena, is called the wine palm-tree, and here, on account of its majestic height, the royal palm-tree. After having thrown down the trunk, which diminishes but littletowards the top, they make just below the point whence the leaves(fronds) and spathes issue, an excavation in the ligneous part, eighteen inches long, eight broad, and six in depth. They work in thehollow of the tree, as though they were making a canoe; and three daysafterwards this cavity is found filled with a yellowish-white juice, very limpid, with a sweet and vinous flavour. The fermentation appearsto commence as soon as the trunk falls, but the vessels preserve theirvitality; for we saw that the sap flowed even when the summit of thepalm-tree (that part whence the leaves sprout out) is a foot higherthan the lower end, near the roots. The sap continues to mount as inthe arborescent Euphorbia recently cut. During eighteen to twentydays, the palm-tree wine is daily collected; the last is less sweetbut more alcoholic and more highly esteemed. One tree yields as muchas eighteen bottles of sap, each bottle containing forty-two cubicinches. The natives affirm that the flowing is more abundant when thepetioles of the leaves, which remain fixed to the trunk, are burnt. 

The great humidity and thickness of the forest forced us to retraceour steps and to gain the shore before sunset. In several places thecompact limestone rock, probably of tertiary formation, is visible. Athick layer of clay and mould rendered observation difficult; but ashelf of carburetted and shining slate seemed to me to indicate thepresence of more ancient formations. It has been affirmed that coal isto be found on the banks of the Sinu. We met with Zambos carrying ontheir shoulders the cylinders of palmetto, improperly called thecabbage palm, three feet long and five to six feet thick. The stem ofthe palm-tree has been for ages an esteemed article of food in thosecountries. I believe it to be wholesome although historians relatethat, when Alonso Lopez de Ayala was governor of Uraba, severalSpaniards died after having eaten immoderately of the palmetto, and atthe same time drinking a great quantity of water. In comparing theherbaceous and nourishing fibres of the young undeveloped leaves ofthe palm-trees with the sago of the Mauritia, of which the Indiansmake bread similar to that of the root of the Jatropha manihot, weinvoluntarily recollect the striking analogy which modern chemistryhas proved to exist between ligneous matter and the amylaceous fecula. We stopped on the shore to collect lichens, opegraphas and a greatnumber of mosses (Boletus, Hydnum, Helvela, Thelephora) that wereattached to the mangroves, and there, to my great surprise, vegetating, although moistened by the sea-water. 

Before I quit this coast, so seldom visited by travellers anddescribed by no modern voyager, I may here offer some informationwhich I acquired during my stay at Carthagena. The Rio Sinu in itsupper course approaches the tributary streams of the Atrato which, tothe auriferous and platiniferous province of Choco, is of the sameimportance as the Magdalena to Cundinamarca, or the Rio Cauca to theprovinces of Antioquia and Popayan. The three great rivers herementioned have heretofore been the only commercial routes, I mightalmost add, the only channels of communication for the inhabitants. The Rio Atrato receives, at twelve leagues distance from its mouth, the Rio Sucio on the east; the Indian village of San Antonio issituated on its banks. Proceeding upward beyond the Rio Pabarando, youarrive in the valley of Sinu. After several fruitless attempts on thepart of the Archbishop Gongora to establish colonies in Darien delNorte and on the eastern coast of the gulf of Uraba, the ViceroyEspeleta recommended the Spanish Government to fix its whole attentionon the Rio Sinu; to destroy the colony of Cayman; to fix the plantersin the Spanish village of San Bernardo del Viento in the jurisdictionof Lorica; and from that post, which is the most westerly, to pushforward the peaceful conquests of agriculture and civilization towardsthe banks of the Pabarando, the Rio Sucio and the Atrato. * (* I willhere state some facts which I obtained from official documents duringmy stay at Carthagena, and which have not yet been published. In thesixteenth and seventeenth centuries the name of Darien was givenvaguely to the whole coast extending from the Rio Damaquiel to thePunta de San Blas, on 2 1/4 degrees of longitude. The crueltiesexercised by Pedrarias Davila rendered almost inaccessible to theSpaniards a country which was one of the first they had colonized. TheIndians (Dariens and Cunas-Cunas) remained masters of the coast, asthey still are at Poyais, in the land of the Mosquitos. Some Scotchmenformed in 1698 the settlements of New Caledonia, New Edinburgh andScotch Port, in the most eastern part of the isthmus, a little west ofPunta Carreto. They were soon driven away by the Spaniards but, as thelatter occupied no part of the coast, the Indians continued theirattacks against Choco's boats, which from time to time descended theRio Atrato, The sanguinary expedition of Don Manuel de Aldarete in1729 served only to augment the resentment of the natives. Asettlement for the cultivation of the cocoa-tree, attempted in theterritory of Urabia in 1740 by some French planters under theprotection of the Spanish Government, had no durable success; and thecourt, excited by the reports of the archbishop-viceroy, Gongora, ordered, by the cedule of the 15th August, 1783, either the conversionand conquest, or the destruction (reduccion o extincion) of theIndians of Darien. This order, worthy of another age, was executed byDon Antonio de Arebalo: he experienced little resistance and formed, in 1785, the four settlements and forts of Cayman on the eastern coastof the Gulf of Urabia, Concepcion, Carolina and Mandinga. The Lele, orhigh-priest of Mandinga, took an oath of fidelity to the King ofSpain; but in 1786 the war with the Darien Indians recommenced and wasterminated by a treaty concluded July 27th, 1787, between thearchbishop-viceroy and the cacique Bernardo. The forts and newcolonies, which figured only on the maps sent to Madrid, augmented thedebt of the treasury of Santa Fe de Bogota, in 1789, to the sum of1, 200, 000 piastres. The viceroy, Gil Lemos, wiser than hispredecessor, obtained permission from the Court to abandon Carolina, Concepcion and Mandinga. The settlement of Cayman only was preserved, on account of the navigation of the Atrato, and it was declared free, under the government of the archbishop-viceroy: it was proposed totransfer this settlement to a more healthy spot, that of Uraba; butlieutenant-general Don Antonio Arebalo, having proved that the expenseof this removal would amount to the sum of 40, 000 piastres, the fortof Cayman was also destroyed, by order of the viceroy Espeleta in1791, and the planters were compelled to join those of the village ofSan Bernardo. ) The number of independent Indians who inhabit the landsbetween Uraba, Rio Atrato, Rio Sucio and Rio Sinu was, according to acensus made in 1760, at least 1800. They were distributed in threesmall villages, Suraba, Toanequi and Jaraguia. This population wascomputed, at the period when I travelled there, to be 3000. Thenatives, comprehended in the general name of Caymans, live at peacewith the inhabitants of San Bernardo del Viento (pueblo de Espanoles), situated on the western bank of the Rio Sinu, lower than San Nicolasde Zispata, and near the mouth of the river. These people have not theferocity of the Darien and Cunas Indians, on the left bank of theAtrato; who often attack the boats trading with the town of Quidbo inthe Choco; they also make incursions on the territory of Uraba, in themonths of June and November, to collect the fruit of the cacao-trees. The cacao of Uraba is of excellent quality; and the Darien Indianssometimes come to sell it, with other productions, to the inhabitantsof Rio Sinu, entering the valley of that river by one of its tributarystreams, the Jaraguai. 

It cannot be doubted that the Gulf of Darien was considered, at thebeginning of the sixteenth century, as a nook in the country of theCaribs. The word Caribana is still preserved in the name of theeastern cape of that gulf. We know nothing of the languages of theDarien, Cunas and Cayman Indians: and we know not whether Carib orArowak words are found in their idioms; but it is certain, notwithstanding the testimony of Anghiera on the identity of the raceof the Caribs of the Lesser Antilles and the Indians of Uraba, thatPedro de Cieca, who lived so long among the latter, never calls themCaribs nor cannibals. He describes the race of that tribe as beingnaked with long hair, and going to the neighbouring countries totrade; and says the women are cleanly, well dressed and extremelyengaging (amorosas y galanas). "I have not seen, " adds theConquistador, "any women more beautiful* in all the Indian lands Ihave visited: they have one fault, however, that of having toofrequent intercourse with the devil. " (* Cronica del Peru pages 21 and22. The Indians of Darien, Uraba, Zenu (Sinu), Tatabe, the valleys ofNore and of Guaca, the mountains of Abibe and Antioquia, are accused, by the same author, of the most ferocious cannibalism; and perhapsthat circumstance alone gives rise to the idea that they were of thesame race as the Caribs of the West Indies. In the celebratedProvision Real of the 30th of October, 1503, by which the Spaniardsare permitted to make slaves of the anthropophagic Indians of thearchipelago of San Bernardo, opposite the mouth of the Rio Sinu, theIsla Fuerte, Isla Bura (Baru) and Carthagena, there is more of aquestion of morals than of race, and the denomination of Caribs isaltogether avoided. Cieca asserts that the natives of the valley ofNore seized the women of neighbouring tribes, in order first to devourthe children who were born of the union with foreign wives, and thenthe women themselves. Foreseeing that this horrible depravity wouldnot be believed, although it had been observed by Columbus in the WestIndies, he cites the testimony of Juan de Vadillo, who had observedthe same facts and who was still living in 1554 when the Cronica delPeru appeared in Dutch. With respect to the etymology of the wordcannibal, it seems to me entirely cleared up by the discovery of thejournal kept by Columbus during his first voyage of discovery, and ofwhich Bartholomew de las Casas has left us an abridged copy. Dice masel Almirante que en las islas passadas estaban con gran temor decarib: y en algunas los llamaban caniba; pero en la Espanola carib yson gente arriscada, pues andan por todas estas islas y comen la genteque pueden haber. [And the Admiral moreover says that in the islandsthey passed, great apprehension was entertained on account of thecaribs. Some call them canibas; but in Spanish they are called caribs. They are a very bold people, and they travel about these islands, anddevour all the persons whom they capture. ] Navarete tome 1 page 135. In this primitive form of words it is easy to perceive that thepermutation of the letters r and n, resulting from the imperfection ofthe organs in some nations, might change carib into canib, or caniba. Geraldini who, according to the tendency of that age, sought, likeCardinal Bembo, to latinize all barbarous denominations, recognizes inthe Cannibals the manners of dogs (canes) just as St. Louis desired tosend the Tartars ad suas tartareas sedes unde exierint. )

The Rio Sinu, owing to its position and its fertility, is of thehighest importance for provisioning Carthagena. In time of war theenemy usually stationed their ships between the Morro de Tigua and theBoca de Matunilla, to intercept barques laden with provisions. In thatstation they were, however, sometimes exposed to the attack of thegun-boats of Carthagena: these gun-boats can pass through the channelof Pasacaballos which, near Saint Anne, separates the isle of Barufrom the continent. Lorica has, since the sixteenth century, been theprincipal town of Rio Sinu; but its population which, in 1778, underthe government of Don Juan Diaz Pimienta, amounted to 4000 souls, hasconsiderably diminished, because nothing has been done to secure thetown from inundations and the deleterious miasmata they produce. 

The gold-washings of the Rio Sinu, heretofore so important above all, between its source and the village of San Geronimo, have almostentirely ceased, as well as those of Cienega de Tolu, Uraba and allthe rivers descending from the mountains of Abibe. "The Darien and theZenu, " says the bachelor Enciso in his geographical work published atthe beginning of the sixteenth century, "is a country so rich in goldpepites that, in the running waters, that metal can be fished withnets. " Excited by these narratives, the governor Pedrarias sent hislieutenant, Francisco Becerra, in 1515, to the Rio Sinu. Thisexpedition was most unfortunate for Becerra and his troop weremassacred by the natives, of whom the Spaniards, according to thecustom of the time, had carried away great numbers to be sold asslaves in the West Indies. The province of Antioquia now furnishes, inits auriferous veins, a vast field for mining speculations; but itmight be well worth while to relinquish gold-washings for thecultivation of colonial productions in the fertile lands of Sinu, theRio Damaquiel, the Uraba and the Darien del Norte; above all, that ofcacao, which is of a superior quality. The proximity of the port ofCarthagena would also render the neglected cultivation of cinchona anobject of great importance to European trade. That precious treevegetates at the source of the Rio Sinu, as in the mountains of Abibeand Maria. The real febrifuge cinchona, with a hairy corolla, isnowhere else found so near the coast, if we except the Sierra Nevadaof Santa Marta. 

The Rio Sinu and the Gulf of Darien were not visited by Columbus. Themost eastern point at which that great man touched land, on the 26thNovember, 1503, is the Puerto do Retreto, now called Punta deEscribanos, near the Punta of San Blas, in the isthmus of Panama. Twoyears previously, Rodrigo de Bastidas and Alanso do Ojeda, accompaniedby Amerigo Vespucci, had discovered the whole coast of the main land, from the Gulf of Maracaybo as far as the Puerto de Retreto. Havingoften had occasion in the preceding volumes to speak of New Andalusia, I may here mention that I found that denomination, for the first time, in the convention made by Alonso de Ojeda with the Conquistador Diegode Sicuessa, a powerful man, say the historians of his time, becausehe was a flattering courtier and a wit. In 1508 all the country fromthe Cabo de la Vela to the Gulf of Uraba, where the Castillo del Orobegins, was called New Andalusia, a name since restricted to theprovince of Cumana. 

A fortunate chance led me to see, during the course of my travels, thetwo extremities of the main land, the mountainous and verdant coast ofParia, which Columbus supposes to have been the cradle of the humanrace, and the low and humid coast extending from the mouth of the Sinutowards the Gulf of Darien. The comparison of these scenes, which haveagain relapsed into a savage state, confirms what I have elsewhereadvanced relative to the strange and sometimes retrograde nature ofcivilization in America. On one side, the coast of Paria, the islandsof Cubagua and Marguerita; on the other, the Gulf of Uraba and Darien, received the first Spanish colonists. Gold and pearls, which werethere found in abundance, because from time immemorial they had beenaccumulated in the hands of the natives, gave those countries apopular celebrity from the beginning of the sixteenth century. AtSeville, Toledo, Pisa, Genoa and Antwerp those countries were viewedlike the realms of Ormuz and of Ind. The pontiffs of Rome mentionedthem in their bulls; and Bembo has celebrated them in those historicalpages which add lustre to the glory of Venice. 

At the close of the fifteenth, and the beginning of the sixteenthcentury, Europe saw, in those parts of the New World discovered byColumbus, Ojeda, Vespucci and Rodrigo de Bastidas, only the advancedcapes of the vast territories of India and eastern Asia. The immensewealth of those territories in gold, diamonds, pearls and spices hadbeen vaunted in the narratives of Benjamin de Tudela, Rubruquis, MarcoPolo and Mandeville. Columbus, whose imagination was excited by thesenarrations, caused a deposition to be made before a notary, on the12th of June, 1494, in which sixty of his companions, pilots, sailorsand passengers certified upon oath that the southern coast of Cuba wasa part of the continent of India. The description of the treasures ofCathay and Cipango, of the celestial town of Quinsay and the provinceof Mango, which had fired the admiral's ambition in early life, pursued him like phantoms in his declining days. In his fourth andlast voyage, on approaching the coast of Cariay (Poyais or MosquitoCoast), Veragua and the Isthmus, he believed himself to be near themouth of the Ganges. * (* Tambien dicen que la mar baxa a Ciguare, y dealli a diez jornadas es el Rio de Guangues: para que estas tierrasestan con Veragua como Tortosa con Fuenterabia o Pisa con Venecia. "[Also it is said that the sea lowers at Ciguara, and from thence it isa ten days' journey to the river Ganges; for these lands are, withreference to Veragua, like Tortosa with respect to Fuenterabia, orPisa, with respect to Venice. ] These words are taken from the LetteraRarissima of Columbus, of which the original Spanish was lately found, and published by the learned M. Navarrete, in his Coleccion de Viagesvolume 1 page 299. ) These geographical illusions, this mysteriousveil, which enveloped the first discoveries, contributed to magnifyevery object, and to fix the attention of Europe on regions, the verynames of which are, to us, scarcely known. New Cadiz, the principalseat of the pearl-fishery, was on an island which has again becomeuninhabited. The extremity of the rocky coast of Paria is also adesert. Several towns were founded at the mouth of the Rio Atrato, bythe names of Antigua del Darien, Uraba or San Sebastian de Buenavista. In these spots, so celebrated at the beginning of the sixteenthcentury, the historians of the conquest tell us that the flower of theCastilian heroes were found assembled: thence Balboa set out todiscover the South Sea; Pizarro marched from thence to conquer andravage Peru; and Pedro de Cieca constantly followed the chain of theAndes, by Autioquia, Popayan and Cuzco, as far as La Plata, afterhaving gone 900 leagues by land. These towns of Darien are destroyed;some ruins scattered on the hills of Uraba, the fruit-trees of Europemixed with native trees, are all that mark to the traveller the spotson which those towns once stood. In almost all Spanish America thefirst lands peopled by the Conquistadores, have retrograted intobarbarism. * (* In carefully collating the testimonies of thehistorians of the Conquest, some contradictions are observed in theperiods assigned to the foundation of the towns of Darien. Pedro deCieca, who had been on the spot, affirms that, under the government ofAlonzo de Ojeda and Nicuessa, the town of Nuestra Senora Santa Mariael Antigua del Darien was founded on the western coast of the Gulf orCulata de Uraba, in 1509; and that later (despues desto passado) Ojedapassed to the eastern coast of the Culata to construct the town of SanSebastian de Uraba. The former, called by abbreviation Ciudad delAntigua, had soon a population of 2000 Spaniards; while the latter, the Ciudad del Uraba, remained uninhabited, because Francisco Pizarro, since known as the conqueror of Peru, was forced to abandon it, havingvainly demanded succour from St. Domingo. The historian Herrera, afterhaving said that the foundation of Antigua had preceded by one yearthat of Uraba or San Sebastian, affirms the contrary in the followingchapter and in the Chronicle itself. It was, according to theChronicle, in 1501 that Ojeda, accompanied by Vespucci, andpenetrating for the first time the Gulf of Uraba or Darien, resolvedto construct, with wood and unbaked bricks, a fort at the entrance ofCulata. It appears, however, that this enterprise was not executed;for, in 1508, in the convention made by Ojeda and Nicuessa, they eachpromised to build two fortresses on the limits of New Andalusia and ofCastillo del Oro. Herrera, in the 7th and 8th books of the firstDecade, fixes the foundation of San Sebastian de Uraba at thebeginning of 1510, and mentions it as the most ancient town of thecontinent of America, after that of Ceragua, founded by Columbus in1503, on the Rio Belen. He relates how Francisco Pizarro abandonedthat town, and how the foundation of the Ciudad del Antigua by Entiso, towards the end of the year 1510, was the consequence of that event. Leo X made Antigua a bishopric in 1514; and this was the firstepiscopal church of the continent. In 1519 Pedrarius Davila persuadedthe court of Madrid, by false reports, that the site of the new townof Panama was more healthful than that of Antigua, the inhabitantswere compelled to abandon the latter town, and the bishopric wastransferred to Panama. The Gulf of Uraba was deserted during thirteenyears, till the founder of the town of Carthagena, Pedro de Heredia, after having dug up the graves, or huacas, of the Rio Sinu, to collectgold, sent his brother Alonzo, in 1532, to repeople Uraba, andreconstruct on that spot a town under the name of San Sebastian deBuenavista. ) Other countries, discovered later, attract the attentionof the colonists: such is the natural progress of things in peopling avast continent. It may be hoped that on several points the people willreturn to the places that were first chosen. It is difficult toconceive why the mouth of a great river, descending from a countryrich in gold and platina, should have remained uninhabited. TheAtrato, heretofore called Rio del Darien, de San Juan or Dabayba, hashad the same fate as the Orinoco. The Indians who wander around thedelta of those rivers continue in a savage state. 

We weighed anchor in the road of Zapote, on the 27th March, atsunrise. The sea was less stormy, and the weather rather warmer, although the fury of the wind was undiminished. We saw on the north asuccession of small cones of extraordinary form, as far as the Morrode Tigua; they are known by the name of the Paps (tetas) of Santero, Tolu, Rincon and Chichimar. The two latter are nearest the coast. TheTetas de Tolu rise in the middle of the savannahs. There, from thetrunks of the Toluifera balsamum, is collected the precious balsam ofTolu, heretofore so celebrated in the pharmacopoeias of Europe, and inwhich is a profitable article of trade at Corozal, Caimito and thetown of Tocasuan. In the savannahs (altas del Tolu) oxen and muleswander half wild. Several of those hills between Cienega de Pesqueroand the Punta del Comissario are linked two-and-two together, likebasaltic columns; it is, however, very probable that they arecalcareous, like the Tetas de Managua, south of the Havannah. In thearchipelago of San Bernardo we passed between the island ofSalamanquilla and Cape Boqueron. We had scarcely quitted the gulf ofMorosquillo when the sea became so rough that the waves frequentlywashed over the deck of our little vessel. It was a fine moonlightnight. Our captain sought in vain a sheltering-place on the coast tothe north of the village of Rincon. We cast anchor at four fathomsbut, having discovered that we were lying over a reef of coral, wepreferred the open sea. 

The coast has a singular configuration beyond the Morro de Tigua, theterminatory point of the group of little mountains which rise likeislands from the plain. We found at first a marshy soil extending overa square of eight leagues between the Bocas de Matuna and Matunilla. These marshes are connected by the Cienega de la Cruz, with the Diqueof Mahates and the Rio Magdalena. The island of Baru which, with theisland of Tierra Bomba, forms the vast port of Carthagena, is, properly speaking, but a peninsula fourteen miles long, separated fromthe continent by the narrow channel of Pasacaballos. The archipelagoof San Bernardo is situated opposite Cape Boqueron. Anotherarchipelago, called Rosario, lies off the southern point of thepeninsula of Baru. These rents in the coast are repeated at the 10 3/4and 11 degrees of latitude. The peninsulas near the Ensenada of Galerade Zamba and near the port of Savanilla have the same aspect as thepeninsula Baru. Similar causes have produced similar effects; and thegeologist must not neglect those analogies, in the configuration of acoast which, from Punta Caribana in the mouth of the Atrato, beyondthe cape of La Vela, along an extent of 120 leagues, has a generaldirection from south-west to north-east. 

The wind having dropped during the night we could only advance to theisland of Arenas where we anchored. I found it was 78 degrees 2minutes 10 seconds of longitude. The weather became stormy during thenight. We again set sail on the morning of the 29th of March, hopingto be able to reach Boca Chica that day. The gale blew with extremeviolence, and we were unable to proceed with our frail bark againstthe wind and the current, when, by a false manoeuvre in setting thesails (we had but four sailors), we were during some minutes inimminent danger. The captain, who was not a very bold mariner, declined to proceed further up the coast and we took refuge, shelteredfrom the wind, in a nook of the island of Baru south of PuntaGigantes. It was Palm Sunday and the Zambo, who had accompanied us tothe Orinoco and did not leave us till we returned to France, remindedus that on the same Sunday in the preceding year, we had nearly beenlost on the north of the mission of Uruana. 

There was to be an eclipse of the moon during the night, and the nextday an occultation of alpha Virginis. The observation of the latterphenomenon might have been very important in determining the longitudeof Carthagena. In vain I urged the captain to allow one of his sailorsto accompany me by land to the foot of Boca Chica, a distance of fivemiles. He objected on account of the wild state of the country inwhich there is neither habitation nor path. A little incident whichmight have rendered Palm-Sunday more fatal justified the prudence ofthe captain. We went by moonlight to collect plants on the shore; aswe approached the land, we saw a young negro issue from the thicket. He was quite naked, loaded with chains, and armed with a machete. Heinvited us to land on a part of the beach covered with largemangroves, as being a spot where the surf did not break, and offeredto conduct us to the interior of the island of Baru if we wouldpromise to give him some clothes. His cunning and wild appearance, theoften-repeated question whether we were Spaniards, and certainunintelligible words which he addressed to some of his companions whowere concealed amidst the trees, inspired us with some mistrust. Theseblacks were no doubt maroon negroes: slaves escaped from prison. Thisunfortunate class are much to be feared: they have the courage ofdespair, and a desire of vengeance excited by the severity of thewhites. We were without arms; the negroes appeared to be more numerousthan we were and, thinking that possibly they invited us to land withthe desire of taking possession of our canoe, we thought it mostprudent to return on board. The aspect of a naked man wandering on anuninhabited beach, unable to free himself from the chains fastenedround his neck and the upper part of his arm, was an object calculatedto excite the most painful impressions. Our sailors wished to returnto the shore for the purpose of seizing the fugitives, to sell themsecretly at Carthagena. In countries where slavery exists the mind isfamiliarized with suffering and that instinct of pity whichcharacterizes and enobles our nature is blunted. 

Whilst we lay at anchor near the island of Baru in the meridian ofPunta Gigantes I observed the eclipse of the moon of the 29th ofMarch, 1801. The total immersion took place at 11 hours 30 minutes12. 6 seconds mean time. Some groups of vapours, scattered over theazure vault of the sky, rendered the observation of the immersionuncertain. 

During the total eclipse the lunar disc displayed, as almost alwayshappens, a reddish tint, without disappearing; the edges, examinedwith a sextant, were strongly undulating, notwithstanding theconsiderable altitude of the orb. It appeared to me that the moon wasmore luminous than I had ever seen it in the temperate zone. Thevividness of the light, it may be conceived, does not depend solely onthe state of the atmosphere, which reflects, more or less feebly, thesolar rays, by inflecting them in the cone of the shade. The light isalso modified by the variable transparency of that part of theatmosphere across which we perceived the moon eclipsed. Within thetropics great serenity of the sky and a perfect dissolution of thevapours diminish the extinction of the light sent back to us by thelunar disc. I was singularly struck during the eclipse by the want ofuniformity in the distribution of the refracted light by theterrestrial atmosphere. In the central region of the disc there was ashadow like a round cloud, the movement of which was from east towest. The part where the immersion was to take place was consequentlya few minutes prior to the immersion much more brightly illumined thanthe western edges. Is this phenomenon to be attributed to aninequality of our atmosphere; to a partial accumulation of vapourwhich, by absorbing a considerable part of the solar light, inflectsless on one side the cone of the shadow of the earth? If a similarcause, in the perigee of central eclipses, sometimes renders the discinvisible, may it not happen also that only a small portion of themoon is seen; a disc, irregularly formed, and of which different partswere successively enlightened?

On the morning of the 30th of March we doubled Punta Gigantes, andmade for the Boca Chica, the present entrance of the port ofCarthagena. From thence the distance is seven or eight miles to theanchorage near the town; and although we took a practico to pilot us, we repeatedly touched on the sandbanks. On landing I learned, withgreat satisfaction, that the expedition appointed to take the surveyof the coast under the direction of M. Fidalgo, had not yet put tosea. This circumstance not only enabled me to ascertain theastronomical position of several towns on the shore which had servedme as points of departure in fixing chronometrically the longitude ofthe Llanos and the Orinoco, but also served to guide me with respectto the future direction of my journey to Peru. The passage fromCarthagena to Porto Bello and that of the isthmus by the Rio Chagresand Cruces, are alike short and easy; but it was to be feared that wemight stay long at Panama before we found an opportunity of proceedingto Guayaquil, and in that case the voyage on the Pacific would beextremely lingering, as we should have to sail against contrary windsand currents. I relinquished with regret the hope of levelling by thebarometer the mountains of the isthmus, though it would then have beendifficult to foresee that at the present time (1827), whilemeasurements have been effected on so many other points of Mexico andColumbia, we should remain in ignorance of the height of the ridgewhich divides the waters in the isthmus. The persons we consulted allagreed that the journey by land along the Cordilleras by Santa Fe deBogota, Popayan, Quito and Caxamarca would be preferable to thesea-voyage, and would furnish an immense field for exploration. Thepredilection of Europeans for the tierras frias, that is to say, thecold and temperate climate that prevails on the back of the Andes, gave further weight to these counsels. The distances were known, butwe were deceived with respect to the time it would take to traversethem on mules' backs. We did not imagine that it would require morethan eighteen months to go from Carthagena to Lima. Notwithstandingthis delay, or rather owing to the slowness with which we passedthrough Cundinamarca, the provinces of Popayan and Quito, I did notregret having sacrificed the passage of the isthmus to the route ofBogota, for every step of the journey was full of interest bothgeographically and botanically. This change of direction gave meoccasion to trace the map of the Rio Magdalena, to determineastronomically the position of eighty points situated in the inlandcountry between Carthagena, Popayan, and the upper course of the riverAmazon and Lima, to discover the error in the longitude of Quito, tocollect several thousand new plants, and to observe on a vast scalethe relations between the rocks of syenitic porphyry and trachyte withthe fire of volcanoes. 

The result of those labours of which it is not for me to appreciatethe importance have long since been published. My map of the RioMagdalena, multiplied by the copies of the year 1802 in America andSpain, and comprehending the country between Almaguer and Santa Marta, from 1 degree 54 minutes to 11 degrees 15 minutes latitude, appearedin 1816. Till that period no traveller had undertaken to describe NewGrenada; and the public, except in Spain, knew the navigation of theMagdalena only by some lines traced by Bouguer. That learned travellerhad descended the river from Honda; but, being in want of astronomicalinstruments, he had ascertained but four or five latitudes, by meansof small dials hastily constructed. The narratives of travels inAmerica are now singularly multiplied. Political events have lednumbers of persons to those countries: and travellers have perhaps toohastily published their journals on returning to Europe. They havedescribed the towns where they resided, and landscape sceneryremarkable for beauty; they have furnished information respecting theinhabitants and the different modes of travelling in barks, on mulesor on men's backs. These works, several of which are agreeable andinstructive, have familiarized the nations of the Old World with thoseof Spanish America, from Buenos Ayres and Chili as far as Zacatecasand New Mexico. But unfortunately, in many instances, the want of athorough knowledge of the Spanish language and the little care takento acquire the names of places, rivers and tribes, have occasionedextraordinary mistakes. 

During the six days of our stay at Carthagena our most interestingexcursions were to the Boca Grande and the hill of Popa; the lattercommands the town and a very extensive view. The port, or rather thebahia, is nearly nine miles and a half long, if we compute the lengthfrom the town (near the suburb of Jehemani or Xezemani) to the Cienegaof Cacao. The Cienega is one of the nooks of the isle of Baru, south-west of the Estero de Pasacaballos, by which we reach theopening of the Dique de Mahates. Two extremities of the small islandof Tierra Bomba form, on the north, with a neck of land of thecontinent, and on the south, with a cape of the island of Baru, theonly entrances to the Bay of Carthagena; the former is called BocaGrande, the second Boca Chica. This extraordinary conformation of theland has given birth, for the space of a century, to theories entirelycontradictory respecting the defence of a place which, next to theHavannah and Porto Cabello, is the most important of the main land andthe West Indies. Engineers differed respecting the choice of theopening which should be closed; and it was not, as some writers havestated, after the landing of Admiral Vernon, in 1741, that the ideawas first conceived* of filling up the Boca Grande. (* Don Jorge Juanin his Secret Notices addressed to the Marques de la Ensenada says: Laentrada antigua era por un angosto canal que llaman Boca Chica; deresultas de esta invasion se acordo deja cioga y impassable la BocaGrande, y volver a abrir la antigua fortificandola. [The old entrancewas by a narrow channel called the Boca Chica; but after this invasionit was determined to close up the Boca Grande and to open the oldpassage, fortifying it. ] Secr. Not. Volume 1 page 4. ) The Englishforced the small entrance when they made themselves masters of thebay; but being unable to take the town of Carthagena, which made agallant resistance, they destroyed the Castillo Grande (called alsoSanta Cruz) and the two forts of San Luis and San Jose which defendedthe Boca Chica. 

The apprehension excited by the proximity of the Boca Grande to thetown determined the court of Madrid, after the English expedition, toshut up the entrance along a distance of 2640 varas. From two and ahalf to three fathoms of water were found; and a wall, or rather adyke, in stone, from fifteen to twenty feet high, was raised on piles. The slope on the side of the water is unequal, and seldom 45 degrees. This immense work was completed under the Viceroy Espeleta in 1795. But art could not vanquish nature; the sea is unceasingly thoughgradually silting up the Boca Chica, while it labours unceasingly toopen and enlarge the Boca Grande. The currents which, during a greatpart of the year, especially when the bendavales blow with violence, ascend from south-west to north-east, throw sand into the Boca Chica, and even into the bay itself. The passage, which is from seventeen toeighteen fathoms deep, becomes more and more narrow, * and if a regularcleansing be not established by dredging machines, vessels will not beable to enter without risk. (* At the foot of the two forts San Joseand San Fernando, constructed for the defence of the Boca Chica, itmay be seen how much the land has gained upon the sea. Necks of landare formed on both sides, and also before the Castillo del Angelwhich, northward, commands the fort of San Fernando. ) It is this smallentrance which should have been closed; its opening is only 250toises, and the passage or navigable channel is 110 toises. If itshould one day be determined to abandon the Boca Chica, andre-establish the Boca Grande in the state which nature seems toprescribe, new fortifications must be constructed on thesouth-south-west of the town. This fortress has always required greatpecuniary outlays to keep it up. 

The insalubrity of Carthagena varies with the state of the greatmarshes that surround the town on the east and north. The Cienega deTesca is more than fifteen miles long; it communicates with the oceanwhere it approaches the village of Guayeper. When, in years ofdrought, the heaped-up earth prevents the salt water from covering thewhole plain, the emanations that rise during the heat of the day whenthe thermometer stands between 28 and 32 degrees are very perniciousto the health of the inhabitants. A small portion of hilly landseparates the town of Carthagena and the islet of Manga from theCienega de Tesca. Those hills, some of which are more than 500 feethigh, command the town. The Castillo de San Lazaro is seen from afarrising like a great rocky pyramid; when examined nearer itsfortifications are not very formidable. Layers of clay and sand, belonging to the tertiary formation of nagelfluhe, are covered withbricks and furnish a kind of construction which has little stability. The Cerro de Santa Maria de la Popa, crowned by a convent and somebatteries, rises above the fort of San Lazaro and is worthy of moresolid and extensive works. The image of the Virgin, preserved in thechurch of the convent, has been long revered by mariners. The hillitself forms a prolonged ridge from west to east. The calcareous rock, with cardites, meandrites and petrified corals, somewhat resembles thetertiary limestone of the peninsula of Araya near Cumana. It is splitand decomposed in the steep parts of the rock, and the preservation ofthe convent on so unsolid a foundation is considered by the people asone of the miracles of the patron of the place. Near the Cerro de laPopa there appears, on several points, breccia with a limestone cementcontaining angular fragments of Lydian stone. Whether this formationof nagelfluhe is superposed on tertiary limestone of coral, andwhether the fragments of the Lydian stone come from secondarylimestone analogous to that of Zacatecas and the Moro de NuevaBarcelona, are questions which I have not had leisure to investigate. The view from the Popa is extensive and varied, and the windings andrents of the coast give it a peculiar character. I was assured thatsometimes from the windows of the convent and even in the open sea, before the fort of Boca Chica, the snowy tops of the Sierra Nevada deSanta Marta are discernible. The distance of the Horqueta to the Popais seventy-eight nautical miles. This group of colossal mountains ismost frequently wrapped in thick clouds: and it is most veiled at theseason when the gales blow with violence. Although only forty-fivemiles distant from the coast, it is of little service as a signal tomariners who seek the port of Saint Marta. Hidalgo during the wholetime of his operations near the shore could take only one observationof the Nevados. 

A gloomy vegetation of cactus, Jatropha gossypifolia, croton andmimosa covers the barren declivity of Cerro de la Popa. In herbalizingin those wild spots, our guides showed us a thick bush of Acaciacornigera, which had become celebrated by a deplorable event. Of allthe species of mimosa the acacia is that which is armed with thesharpest thorns; they are sometimes two inches long; and being hollow, serve for the habitation of ants of an extraordinary size. A woman, annoyed by the jealousy and well founded reproaches of her husband, conceived a project of the most barbarous vengeance. With theassistance of her lover she bound her husband with cords, and threwhim, at night, into a bush of Mimosa cornigera. The more violently hestruggled, the more the sharp woody thorns of the tree tore his skin. His cries were heard by persons who were passing, and he was foundafter several hours of suffering, covered with blood, and dreadfullystung by the ants. This crime is perhaps without example in thehistory of human turpitude: it indicates a violence of passion lessassignable to the climate than to the barbarism of manners prevailingamong the lower class of the people. 

My most important occupation at Carthagena was the comparison of myobservations with the astronomical positions fixed by the officers ofthe expedition of Fidalgo. In the year 1783 (under the ministry of M. Valdes) Don Josef Espinosa, Don Dionisio Galiano and Don Josef de Lanzproposed to the Spanish government a plan for taking a survey of thecoast of America, in order to extend the atlas of Tofino to thewestern colonies. The plan was approved; but it was not till 1792 thatan expedition was fitted out at Cadiz, and they were enabled tocommence their scientific operations at the island of Trinidad. 

CHAPTER 3. 31. CUBA AND THE SLAVE TRADE. 

I might enumerate among the causes of the lowering of the temperatureat Cuba during the winter months, the great number of shoals withwhich the island is surrounded, and on which the heat is diminishedseveral degrees of centesimal temperature. This diminished heat may beassigned to the molecules of water locally cooled, which go to thebottom; to the polar currents, which are borne toward the abyss of thetropical ocean, or to the mixture of the deep waters with those of thesurface at the declivities of the banks. But the lowering of thetemperature is partly compensated by the flood of hot water, the GulfStream, which runs along the north-west coast, and the swiftness ofwhich is often diminished by the north and north-east winds. The chainof shoals which encircles the island and which appears on our mapslike a penumbra, is fortunately broken on several points, and thoseinterruptions afford free access to the shore. In the south-east partthe proximity of the lofty primitive mountains renders the coast moreprecipitous. In that direction are situated the ports of Santiago deCuba, Guantanamo, Baitiqueri and (in turning the Punta Maysi) Baracoa. The latter is the place most early peopled by Europeans. The entranceto the Old Channel, from Punta de Mulas, west-north-west of Baracoa, as far as the new settlement which has taken the name of Puerto de lasNuevitas del Principe, is alike free from shoals and breakers. Navigators find excellent anchorage a little to the east of Punta deMulas, in the three rocks of Tanamo, Cabonico, and Nipe; and on thewest of Punta de Mulas in the ports of Sama, Naranjo, del Padre andNuevas Grandes. It is remarkable that near the latter port, almost inthe same meridian where, on the southern side of the island, aresituated the shoals of Buena Esperanza and of Las doce Leguas, stretching as far as the island of Pinos, we find the commencement ofthe uninterrupted series of the cayos of the Old Channel, extending tothe length of ninety-four leagues, from Nuevitas to Punta Icacos. TheOld Channel is narrowest opposite to Cayo Cruz and Cayo Romano; itsbreadth is scarcely more than five or six leagues. On this point, too, the Great Bank of Bahama takes its greatest development. The Cayosnearest the island of Cuba and those parts of the bank not coveredwith water (Long Island, Eleuthera) are, like Cuba, of a long andnarrow shape. Were they only twenty or thirty feet higher, an islandmuch larger than St. Domingo would appear at the surface of the ocean. The chain of breakers and cayos that bound the navigable part of theOld Channel towards the south leave between the channel and the coastof Cuba small basins without breakers, which communicate with severalports having good anchorage, such as Guanaja, Moron and Remedios. 

Having passed through the Old Channel, or rather the Channel of SanNicolas, between Cruz del Padre and the bank of the Cayos de Sel, thelowest of which furnish springs of fresh water, we again find thecoast, from Punta de Icacos to Cabanas, free from danger. It affords, in the interval, the anchorage of Matanzas, Puerto Escondido, theHavannah and Mariel. Further on, westward of Bahia Honda, thepossession of which might well tempt a maritime enemy of Spain, thechain of shoals recommences* (* They are here called Bajos de SantaIsabel y de los Colorados. ) and extends without interruption as far asCape San Antonio. From that cape to Punta de Piedras and Bahia deCortez, the coast is almost precipitous, and does not afford soundingsat any distance; but between Punta de Piedras and Cabo Cruz almost thewhole southern part of Cuba is surrounded with shoals of which theisle of Pinos is but a portion not covered with water. These shoalsare distinguished on the west by the name of Gardens (Jardines yJardinillos); and on the east, by the names Cayo Breton, Cayos de lasdoce Leguas, and Bancos de Buena Esperanza. On all this southern linethe coast is exempt from danger with the exception of that part whichlies between the strait of Cochinos and the mouth of the Rio Guaurabo. These seas are very difficult to navigate. I had the opportunity ofdetermining the position of several points in latitude and longitudeduring the passage from Batabano to Trinidad of Cuba and toCarthagena. It would seem that the resistance of the currents of thehighlands of the island of Pines, and the remarkable out-stretching ofCabo Cruz, have at once favoured the accumulation of sand, and thelabours of the coralline polypes which inhabit calm and shallow water. Along this extent of the southern coast a length of 145 leagues, onlyone-seventh affords entirely free access; namely that part betweenCayo de Piedras and Cayo Blanco, a little to the east of PuertoCasilda. There are found anchorages often frequented by small barks;for example, the Surgidero del Batabano, Bahia de Xagua, and PuertoCasilda, or Trinidad de Cuba. Beyond this latter port, towards themouth of the Rio Cauto and Cabo Cruz (behind the Cayos de doceLeguas), the coast, covered with lagoons, is not very accessible, andis almost entirely desert. 

At the island of Cuba, as heretofore in all the Spanish possessions inAmerica, we must distinguish between the ecclesiastic, politico-military, and financial divisions. We will not add those ofthe judicial hierarchy which have created so much confusion amongstmodern geographers, the island having but one Audiencia, residingsince the year 1797 at Puerto Principe, whose jurisdiction extendsfrom Baracoa to Cape San Antonio. The division into two bishopricsdates from 1788 when Pope Pius VI nominated the first bishop of theHavannah. The island of Cuba was formerly, with Louisiana and Florida, under the jurisdiction of the archbishop of San Domingo, and from theperiod of its discovery it had only one bishopric, founded in 1518, inthe most western part at Baracoa by Pope Leo X. The translation ofthis bishopric to Santiago de Cuba, took place four years later; butthe first bishop, Fray Juan de Ubite, arrived only in 1528. In thebeginning of the nineteenth century (1804), Santiago de Cuba was madean archbishopric. The ecclesiastical limit between the diocese of theHavannah and Cuba passes in the meridian of Cayo Romano, nearly in the80 3/4 degree of longitude west of Paris, between the Villa de SantoEspiritu and the city of Puerto Principe. The island, with relation toits political and military government, is divided into two goviernos, depending on the same capitan-general. The govierno of the Havannahcomprehends, besides the capital, the district of the Quatro Villas(Trinidad, Santo Espiritu, Villa Clara and San Juan de los Remedios)and the district of Puerto Principe. The Capitan-general y Gobernadorof the Havannah has the privilege of appointing a lieutenant in PuertoPrincipe (Teniente Gobernador), as also at Trinidad and NuevaFilipina. The territorial jurisdiction of the capitan-general extends, as the jurisdiction of a corregidor, to eight pueblos de Ayuntamiento(the ciudades of Matanzas, Jaruco, San Felipe y Santiago, Santa Mariadel Rosario; the villas of Guanabacoa, Santiago de las Vegas, Guines, and San Antonio de los Banos). The govierno of Cuba comprehendsSantiago de Cuba, Baracoa, Holguin and Bayamo. The present limits ofthe goviernos are not the same as those of the bishoprics. Thedistrict of Puerto Principe, with its seven parishes, for instance, belonged till 1814 to the govierno of the Havannah and thearchbishopric of Cuba. In the enumerations of 1817 and 1820 we findPuerto Principe joined with Baracoa and Bayamo, in the jurisdiction ofCuba. It remains for me to speak of a third division altogetherfinancial. By the cedula of the 23rd March, 1812, the island wasdivided into three Intendencias or Provincias; those of the Havannah, Puerto Principe and Santiago de Cuba, of which the respective lengthfrom east to west is about ninety, seventy and sixty-five sea-leagues. The intendant of the Havannah retains the prerogatives ofSuperintendente general subdelegado de Real Hacienda de la Isla deCuba. According to this division, the Provincia de Cuba comprehendsSantiago de Cuba, Baracoa, Holguin, Bayamo, Gibara, Manzanillo, Jiguani, Cobre, and Tiguaros; the Provincia de Puerto Principe, thetown of that name, Nuevitas, Jagua, Santo Espiritu, San Juan de losRemedios, Villa de Santa Clara and Trinidad. The most westerlyintendencia, or Provincia de la Havannah, occupies all that partsituated west of the Quatro Villas, of which the intendant of thecapital has lost the financial administration. When the cultivation ofthe land shall be more uniformly advanced, the division of the islandinto five departments, namely: the vuelta de abaxo (from Cape SanAntonio to the fine village of Guanajay and Mariel), the Havannah(from Mariel to Alvarez), the Quintas Villas (from Alvarez to Moron), Puerto Principe (from Moron to Rio Cauto), and Cuba (from Rio Cauto toPunta Maysi), will perhaps appear the most fit, and most consistentwith the historical remembrances of the early times of the Conquest. 

My map of the island of Cuba, however imperfect it may be for theinterior, is yet the only one on which are marked the thirteenciudades; and also seven villas, which are included in the divisions Ihave just enumerated. The boundary between the two bishoprics (lineadivisoria de los dos obispados de la Havana y de Santiago de Cuba)extends from the mouth of the small river of Santa Maria (longitude 80degrees 49 minutes), on the southern coast, by the parish of SanEugenio de la Palma, and by the haciendas of Santa Anna, Dos Hermanos, Copey, and Cienega, to La Punta de Judas (longitude 80 degrees 46minutes) on the northern coast opposite Cayo Romano. During the regimeof the Spanish Cortes it was agreed that this ecclesiastical limitshould be also that of the two Deputaciones provinciales of theHavannah and of Santiago. (Guia Constitucional de la isla de Cuba, 1822 page 79). The diocese of the Havannah comprehends forty, and thatof Cuba twenty-two, parishes. Having been established at a time whenthe greater part of the island was occupied by farms of cattle(haciendas de ganado), these parishes are of too great extent, andlittle adapted to the requirements of present civilization. Thebishopric of Santiago de Cuba contains the five cities of Baracoa, Cuba, Holguin, Guiza, Puerto Principe and the Villa of Bayamo. In thebishopric of San Cristoval de la Havannah are included the eightcities of the Havannah, namely: Santa Maria del Rosario, San AntonioAbad or de los Banos, San Felipe y Santiago del Bejucal, Matanzas, Jaruco, La Paz and Trinidad, and the six villas of Guanabacoa, namely:Santiago de las Vegas or Compostela, Santa Clara, San Juan de losRemedios, Santo Espiritu and S. Julian de los Guines. The territorialdivision most in favour among the inhabitants of the Havannah, is thatof vuelta de arriba and de abaxo, east and west of the meridian of theHavannah. The first governor of the island who took the title ofCaptain-general (1601) was Don Pedro Valdes. Before him there weresixteen other governors, of whom the series begins with the famousPoblador and Conquistador, Diego Velasquez, native of Cuellar, who wasappointed by Columbus in 1511. 

In the island of Cuba free men compose 0. 64 of the whole population;and in the English islands, scarcely 0. 19. In the whole archipelago ofthe West Indies the copper-coloured men (blacks and mulattos, free andslaves) form a mass of 2, 360, 000, or 0. 83 of the total population. Ifthe legislation of the West Indies and the state of the men of colourdo not shortly undergo a salutary change; if the legislation continueto employ itself in discussion instead of action, the politicalpreponderance will pass into the hands of those who have strength tolabour, will to be free, and courage to endure long privations. Thiscatastrophe will ensue as a necessary consequence of circumstances, without the intervention of the free blacks of Hayti, and withouttheir abandoning the system of insulation which they have hithertofollowed. Who can venture to predict the influence which may beexercised on the politics of the New World by an African Confederationof the free states of the West Indies, situated between Columbia, North America, and Guatimala? The fear of this event may act morepowerfully on the minds of many, than the principles of humanity andjustice; but in every island the whites believe that their power isnot to be shaken. All simultaneous action on the part of the blacksappears to them impossible; and every change, every concession grantedto the slave population, is regarded as a sign of weakness. Thehorrible catastrophe of San Domingo is declared to have been only theeffect of the incapacity of its government. Such are the illusionswhich prevail amidst the great mass of the planters of the WestIndies, and which are alike opposed to an amelioration of thecondition of the blacks in Georgia and in the Carolinas. The island ofCuba, more than any other of the West India Islands, might escape thecommon wreck. That island contains 455, 000 free men and 160, 000slaves: and there, by prudent and humane measures, the gradualabolition of slavery might be brought about. Let us not forget thatsince San Domingo has become free there are in the whole archipelagoof the West Indies more free negroes and mulattos than slaves. Thewhites, and above all, the free men, whose cause it would be easy tolink with that of the whites, take a very rapid numerical increase atCuba. The slaves would have diminished, since 1820, with greatrapidity, but for the fraudulent continuation of the slave-trade. If, by the progress of human civilization, and the firm resolution of thenew states of free America, this infamous traffic should ceasealtogether, the diminution of the slave population would become moreconsiderable for some time, on account of the disproportion existingbetween the two sexes, and the continuance of emancipation. It wouldcease only when the relation between the deaths and births of slavesshould be such that even the effects of enfranchisement would becounterbalanced. The whites and free men now form two-thirds of thewhole population of the island, and this increase marks in some degreethe diminution of the slaves. Among the latter, the women are to themen (exclusive of the mulatto slaves), scarcely in the proportion of1 : 4, in the sugar-cane plantations; in the whole island, as 1 : 1. 7;and in the towns and farina where the negro slaves serve as domestics, or work by the day on their own account as well as that of theirmasters, the proportion is as 1 : 1. 4; even (for instance at theHavannah), * as 1 : 1. 2. (* It appears probable that at the end of1825, of the total population of men of colour (mulattos and negroes, free and slaves), there were nearly 160, 000 in the towns, and 230, 000in the fields. In 1811 the Consulado, in a statement presented to theCortes of Spain, computed at 141, 000, the number of men of colour inthe towns, and 185, 000 in the fields. Documentes sobre los Negros page121. ) This great accumulation of mulattos, free negros and slaves inthe towns is a characteristic feature in the island of Cuba. ) Thedevelopments that follow will show that these proportions are foundedon numerical statements which may be regarded as the limit-numbers ofthe maximum. 

The prognostics which are hazarded respecting the diminution of thetotal population of the island, at the period when the slave-tradeshall be really abolished, and not merely according to the laws, assince 1820, respecting the impossibility of continuing the cultivationof sugar on a large scale, and respecting the approaching time whenthe agricultural industry of Cuba shall be restrained to plantationsof coffee and tobacco, and the breeding of cattle, are founded onarguments which do not appear to me to be perfectly just. Instead ofindulging in gloomy presages the planters would do well to wait tillthe government shall have procured positive statistical statements. The spirit in which even very old enumerations were made, for instancethat of 1775, by the distinction of age, sex, race, and state of civilliberty, deserves high commendation. Nothing but the means ofexecution were wanting. It was felt that the inhabitants werepowerfully interested in knowing partially the occupations of theblacks, and their numerical distribution in the sugar-settlements, farms and towns. To remedy evil, to avoid public danger, to consolethe misfortunes of a suffering race, who are feared more than isacknowledged, the wound must be probed; for in the social body, whengoverned by intelligence, there is found, as in organic bodies, arepairing force, which may be opposed to the most inveterate evils. 

In the year 1811 the municipality and the Tribunal of Commerce of theHavannah computed the total population of the island of Cuba to be600, 000, including 326, 000 people of colour, free or slaves, mulattosor blacks. At that time, nearly three-fifths of the people of colourresided in the jurisdiction of the Havannah, from Cape Saint Antonioto Alvarez. In this part it appears that the towns contained as manymulattos and free negroes as slaves, but that the coloured populationof the towns was to that of the fields as two to three. In the easternpart of the island, on the contrary, from Alvarez to Santiago de Cubaand Cape Maysi, the men of colour inhabiting the towns nearly equalledin number those scattered in the farms. From 1811 till the end of1825, the island of Cuba has received along the whole extent of itscoast, by lawful and unlawful means, 185, 000 African blacks, of whomthe custom-house of the Havannah, only, registered from 1811 to 1820, about 116, 000. This newly introduced mass has no doubt been spreadmore in the country than in the towns; it must have changed therelations which persons well informed of the localities hadestablished in 1811, between the eastern and western parts of theisland, between the towns and the fields. The negro slaves have muchaugmented in the eastern plantations; but the fact that, notwithstanding the importation of 185, 000 bozal negroes, the mass ofmen of colour, free and slaves, has not augmented, from 1811 to 1825, more than 64, 000, or one-fifth, shows that the changes in the relationof partial distribution are restrained within narrower limits than onewould at first be inclined to admit. 

The proportions of the castes with respect to each other will remain apolitical problem of high importance till such time as a wiselegislation shall have succeeded in calming inveterate animosities andin granting equality of rights to the oppressed classes. In 1811, thenumber of whites in the island of Cuba exceeded that of the slaves by62, 000, whilst it nearly equalled the number of the people of colour, both free and slaves. The whites, who in the French and Englishislands formed at the same period nine-hundredths of the totalpopulation, amounted in the island of Cuba to forty-five hundredths. The free men of colour amounted to nineteen hundredths, that is, double the number of those in Jamaica and Martinique. The numbersgiven in the enumeration of 1817, modified by the DeputacionProvincial, being only 115, 700 freedmen and 225, 300 slaves, thecomparison proves, first, that the freedmen have been estimated withlittle precision either in 1811 or in 1817; and, secondly, that themortality of the negroes is so great, that notwithstanding theintroduction of more than 67, 700 African negroes registered at thecustom-house, there were only 13, 300 more slaves in 1817 than in 1811. 

In 1817 a new enumeration was substituted for the approximativeestimates attempted in 1811. From the census of 1817 it appears thatthe total population of the island of Cuba amounted to 572, 363. Thenumber of whites was 257, 380; of free men of colour, 115, 691, and ofslaves 199, 292. 

In no part of the world where slavery prevails is emancipation sofrequent as in the island of Cuba. The Spanish legislature favoursliberty, instead of opposing it, like the English and Frenchlegislatures. The right of every slave to choose his own master, orset himself free, if he can pay the purchase-money, the religiousfeeling which disposes many masters in easy circumstances to liberatesome of their slaves, the habit of keeping a multitude of blacks fordomestic service, the attachments which arise from this intercoursewith the whites, the facility with which slaves who are mechanicsaccumulate money, and pay their masters a certain sum daily, in orderto work on their own account--such are the principal causes which inthe towns convert so many slaves into free men of colour. I might addthe chances of the lottery, and games of hazard, but that too muchconfidence in those means often produces the most fatal effects. 

The primitive population of the West India Islands having entirelydisappeared (the Zambo Caribs, a mixture of natives and negroes, having been transported in 1796, from St. Vincent to the island ofRatan), the present population of the islands (2, 850, 000) must beconsidered as composed of European and African blood. The negroes ofpure race form nearly two-thirds; the whites one-fifth; and the mixedrace one-seventh. In the Spanish colonies of the continent, we findthe descendants of the Indians who disappear among the mestizos andzambos, a mixture of Indians with whites and negroes. The archipelagoof the West Indies suggests no such consolatory idea. The state ofsociety was there such, at the beginning of the sixteenth century, that, with some rare exceptions, the new planters paid as littleattention to the natives as the English now do in Canada. The Indiansof Cuba have disappeared like the Guanches of the Canaries, althoughat Guanabacoa and Teneriffe false pretensions were renewed forty yearsago, by several families, who obtained small pensions from thegovernment on pretext of having in their veins some drops of Indian orGuanche blood. It is impossible now to form an accurate judgment ofthe population of Cuba or Hayti in the time of Columbus. How can weadmit, with some, that the island of Cuba, at its conquest in 1511, had a million of inhabitants, and that there remained of that million, in 1517, only 14, 000! The statistic statements in the writings of thebishop of Chiapa are full of contradictions. It is related that theDominican monk, Fray Luys Bertram, who was persecuted* by theencomenderos, as the Methodists now are by some English planters, predicted that the 200, 000 Indians which Cuba contained, would perishthe victims of the cruelty of Europeans. (* See the curiousrevelations in Juan de Marieta, Hist. De todos los Santos de Espanalibro 7 page 174. ) If this be true, we may at least conclude that thenative race was far from being extinct between the years 1555 and1569; but according to Gomara (such is the confusion among thehistorians of those times) there were no longer any Indians on theisland of Cuba in 1553. To form an idea of the vagueness of theestimates made by the first Spanish travellers, at a period when thepopulation of no province of the peninsula was ascertained, we havebut to recollect that the number of inhabitants which Captain Cook andother navigators assigned to Otaheite and the Sandwich Islands, at atime when statistics furnished the most exact comparisons, varied fromone to five. We may conceive that the island of Cuba, surrounded withcoasts adapted for fishing, might, from the great fertility of itssoil, afford sustenance for several millions of those Indians who haveno desire for animal food, and who cultivate maize, manioc, and othernourishing roots; but had there been that amount of population, wouldit not have been manifest by a more advanced degree of civilizationthan the narrative of Columbus describes? Would the people of Cubahave remained more backward in civilization than the inhabitants ofthe Lucayes Islands? Whatever activity may be attributed to causes ofdestruction, such as the tyranny of the conquistadores, the faults ofgovernors, the too severe labours of the gold-washings, the small-poxand the frequency of suicides, * it would be difficult to conceive howin thirty or forty years three or four hundred thousand Indians couldentirely disappear. (* The rage of hanging themselves by wholefamilies, in huts and caverns, as related by Garcilasso, was no doubtthe effect of despair; yet instead of lamenting the barbarism of thesixteenth century, it was attempted to exculpate the conquistadores, by attributing the disappearance of the natives to their taste forsuicide. See Patriota tome 2 page 50. Numerous sophisms of this kindare found in a work published by M. Nuix on the humanity of theSpaniards in the conquest of America. This work is entitledReflexiones imparciales sobre la humanidad de los Epanoles contra lospretendidos filosofos y politicos, para illustrar las historias deRaynal y Robertson; escrito en Italiano por el Abate Don Juan Nuix, ytraducido al castellano par Don Pedro Varela y Ulloa, del Consejo deS. M. 1752. [Impartial reflections on the humanity of the Spaniards, intended to controvert pretended philosophers and politicians, and toillustrate the histories of Raynal and Robertson; written in Italianby the Abate Don Juan Nuix and translated into Castilian by Don PedroVarela y Ulloa, member of His Majesty's Council. ] The author, whocalls the expulsion of the Moors under Philip III a meritorious andreligious act, terminates his work by congratulating the Indians ofAmerica "on having fallen into the hands of the Spaniards, whoseconduct has been at all times the most humane, and their governmentthe wisest. " Several pages of this book recall the salutary rigour ofthe Dragonades; and that odious passage, in which a man distinguishedfor his talents and his private virtues, the Count de Maistre (Soireesde St. Petersbourg tome 2 page 121) justifies the Inquisition ofPortugal "which he observes has only caused some drops of guilty bloodto flow. " To what sophisms must they have recourse, who would defendreligion, national honour or the stability of governments, byexculpating all that is offensive to humanity in the actions of theclergy, the people, or kings! It is vain to seek to destroy the powermost firmly established on earth, namely, the testimony of history. )The war with the Cacique Hatuey was short and was confined to the mosteastern part of the island. Few complaints arose against theadministration of the two first Spanish governors, Diego Velasquez andPedro de Barba. The oppression of the natives dates from the arrivalof the cruel Hernando de Soto about the year 1539. Supposing, withGomara, that fifteen years later, under the government of Diego deMajariegos (1554 to 1564), there were no longer any Indians in Cuba, we must necessarily admit that considerable remains of that peoplesaved themselves by means of canoes in Florida, believing, accordingto ancient traditions, that they were returning to the country oftheir ancestors. The mortality of the negro slaves, observed in ourdays in the West Indies, can alone throw some light on these numerouscontradictions. To Columbus and Velasquez the island of Cuba must haveappeared well peopled, * if, for instance, it contained as manyinhabitants as were found there by the English in 1762. (* Columbusrelates that the island of Hayti was sometimes attacked by a race ofblack men (gente negra), who lived more to the south or south-west. Hehoped to visit them in his third voyage because those black menpossessed a metal of which the admiral had procured some pieces in hissecond voyage. These pieces were sent to Spain and found to becomposed of 0. 63 of gold, 0. 14 of silver and 0. 19 of copper. In fact, Balboa discovered this black tribe in the Isthmus of Darien. "Thatconquistador, " says Gomara, "entered the province of Quareca: he foundno gold, but some blacks, who were slaves of the lord of the place. Heasked this lord whence he had received them; who replied, that men ofthat colour lived near the place, with whom they were constantly atwar... These negroes, " adds Gomara, "exactly resemble those of Guinea;and no others have since been seen in America (en las Indios yo piensoque no se han visto negros despues. ") The passage is very remarkable. Hypotheses were formed in the sixteenth century, as now; and PetrusMartyr imagined that these men seen by Balboa (the Quarecas), wereEthiopian blacks who, as pirates, infested the seas, and had beenshipwrecked on the coast of America. But the negroes of Soudan are notpirates; and it is easier to conceive that Esquimaux, in their boatsof skins, may have gone to Europe, than the Africans to Darien. Thoselearned speculators who believe in a mixture of the Polynesians withthe Americans rather consider the Quarecas as of the race of Papuans, similar to the negritos of the Philippines. Tropical migrations fromwest to east, from the most western part of Polynesia to the Isthmusof Darien, present great difficulties, although the winds blow duringwhole weeks from the west. Above all, it is essential to know whetherthe Quarecas were really like the negroes of Soudan, as Gomaraasserts, or whether they were only a race of very dark Indians (withsmooth and glossy hair), who from time to time, before 1492, infestedthe coasts of the island of Hayti which has become in our days thedomain of Ethiopians. ) The first travellers were easily deceived bythe crowds which the appearance of European vessels brought togetheron some points of the coast. Now, the island of Cuba, with the sameciudades and villas which it possesses at present, had not in 1762more than 200, 000 inhabitants; and yet, among a people treated likeslaves, exposed to the violence and brutality of their masters, toexcess of labour, want of nourishment, and the ravages of thesmall-pox--forty-two years would not suffice to obliterate all but theremembrance of their misfortunes on the earth. In several of theLesser Antilles the population diminishes under English dominationfive and six per cent annually; at Cuba, more than eight per cent; butthe annihilation of 200, 000 in forty-two years supposes an annual lossof twenty-six per cent, a loss scarcely credible, although we maysuppose that the mortality of the natives of Cuba was much greaterthan that of negroes bought at a very high price. 

In studying the history of the island we observe that the movement ofcolonization has been from east to west; and that here, as everywherein the Spanish colonies, the places first peopled are now the mostdesert. The first establishment of the whites was in 1511 when, according to the orders of Don Diego Columbus, together with theconquistador and poblador Velasquez, he landed at Puerto de Palmas, near Cape Maysi, then called Alfa y Omega, and subdued the caciqueHatuey who, an emigrant and fugitive from Hayti, had withdrawn to theeastern part of the island of Cuba, and had become the chief of aconfederation of petty native princes. The building of the town ofBaracoa was begun in 1512; and later, Puerto Principe, Trinidad, theVilla de Santo Espiritu, Santiago de Cuba (1514), San Salvador deBayamo, and San Cristoval de la Havana. This last town was originallyfounded in 1515 on the southern coast of the island, in the Partido ofGuines, and transferred, four years later, to Puerto de Carenas, theposition of which at the entrance of the two channels of Bahama (elViejo y de Nuevo) appears to be much more favourable to commerce thanthe coast on the south-west of Batabano. * (* A tree is still shown atthe Havannah (at Puerto de Carenas) under the shade of which theSpaniards celebrated their first mass. The island, now calledofficially The ever-faithful island of Cuba, was after its discoverynamed successively Juana Fernandina, Isla de Santiago, and Isla delAve Maria. Its arms date from the year 1516. ) The progress ofcivilization since the sixteenth century has had a powerful influenceon the relations of the castes with each other; these relations varyin the districts which contain only farms for cattle, and in thosewhere the soil has been long cleared; in the sea-ports and inlandtowns, in the spots where colonial produce is cultivated, and in suchas produce maize, vegetables and forage. 

Until the latter part of the eighteenth century the number of femaleslaves in the sugar plantations of Cuba was extremely limited; andwhat may appear surprising is that a prejudice, founded on religiousscruples, opposed the introduction of women, whose price at theHavannah was generally one-third less than that of men. The slaveswere forced to celibacy on the pretext of avoiding moral disorder. TheJesuits and the Bethlemite monks alone renounced that fatal prejudice, and encouraged negresses in their plantations. If the census, no doubtimperfect, of 1775, yielded 15, 562 female, and 29, 366 male slaves, wemust not forget that that enumeration comprehended the totality of theisland, and that the sugar plantations occupy even now but a quarterof the slave population. After the year 1795, the Consulado of theHavannah began to be seriously occupied with the project of renderingthe increase of the slave population more independent of thevariations of the slave-trade. Don Francisco Arango, whose views wereever characterized by wisdom, proposed a tax on the plantations inwhich the number of slaves was not comprised of one-third females. Healso proposed a tax of six piastres on every negro brought into theisland, and from which the women (negras bozales) should be exempt. These measures were not adopted because the colonial assembly refusedto employ coercive means; but a desire to promote marriages and toimprove the condition of the children of slaves has existed since thatperiod, when a cedula real (of the 22nd April, 1804) recommended thoseobjects "to the conscience and humanity of the planters. "

The first introduction of negroes into the eastern part of the islandof Cuba took place in 1521 and their number did not exceed 300. TheSpaniards were then much less eager for slaves than the Portuguese;for, in 1539, there was a sale of 12, 000 negroes at Lisbon, as in ourdays (to the eternal shame of Christian Europe) the trade in Greekslaves is carried on at Constantinople and Smyrna. In the sixteenthcentury the slave-trade was not free in Spain; the privilege oftrading, which was granted by the Court, was purchased in 1586, forall Spanish America, by Gaspar de Peralta; in 1595, by Gomez Reynel;and in 1615, by Antonio Rodriguez de Elvas. The total importation thenamounted to only 3500 negroes annually; and the inhabitants of Cuba, who were wholly engaged in rearing cattle, scarcely received any. During the war of succession, French ships were accustomed to stop atthe Havannah and to exchange slaves for tobacco. The Asiento treatywith the English in some degree augmented the introduction of negroes;yet in 1763, although the taking of the Havannah and the sojourn ofstrangers gave rise to new wants, the number of slaves in thejurisdiction of the Havannah did not amount to 25, 000; and in thewhole island, not to 32, 000. The total number of African negroesimported from 1521 to 1763 was probably 60, 000; their descendantssurvive among the free mulattos, who inhabit for the most part theeastern side of the island. From the year 1763 to 1790, when thenegro-trade was declared free, the Havannah received 24, 875 (by theCompania de Tobacos 4957, from 1763 to 1766; by the contract of theMarquess de Casa Enrile, 14, 132, from 1773 to 1779; by the contract ofBaker and Dawson, 5786, from 1786 to 1789). If we estimate theintroduction of slaves in the eastern part of the island during thosetwenty-seven years (1763 to 1790) at 6000, we find from the discoveryof the island of Cuba, or rather from 1521 to 1790, a total of 90, 875. We shall soon see that by the ever-increasing activity of theslave-trade the fifteen years that followed 1790 furnished more slavesthan the two centuries and a half which preceded the period of thefree trade. That activity was redoubled when it was stipulated betweenEngland and Spain that the slave-trade should be prohibited north ofthe equator, from November 22nd, 1817, and entirely abolished on the30th May, 1820. The King of Spain accepted from England (whichposterity will one day scarcely believe) a sum of 400, 000 poundssterling, as a compensation for the loss which might result from thecessation of that barbarous commerce. 

Jamaica received from Africa in the space of three hundred years850, 000 blacks; or, to fix on a more certain estimate, in one hundredand eight years (from 1700 to 1808) nearly 677, 000; and yet thatisland does not now possess 380, 000 blacks, free mulattos and slaves. The island of Cuba furnishes a more consoling result; it has 130, 000free men of colour, whilst Jamaica, on a total population half asgreat, contains only 35, 000. 

On comparing the island of Cuba with Jamaica, the result of thecomparison seems to be in favour of the Spanish legislation, and themorals of the inhabitants of Cuba. These comparisons demonstrate astate of things in the latter island more favorable to the physicalpreservation, and to the liberation of the blacks; but what amelancholy spectacle is that of Christian and civilized nations, discussing which of them has caused the fewest Africans to perishduring the interval of three centuries, by reducing them to slavery!Much cannot be said in commendation of the treatment of the blacks inthe southern parts of the United States; but there are degrees in thesufferings of the human species. The slave who has a hut and a familyis less miserable than he who is purchased as if he formed part of aflock. The greater the number of slaves established with theirfamilies in dwellings which they believe to be their own property, themore rapidly will their numbers increase. 

The annual increase of the last ten years in the United States(without counting the manumission of 100, 000), was twenty-six on athousand, which produces a doubling in twenty-seven years. Now, if theslaves at Jamaica and Cuba had multiplied in the same proportion, those two islands (the former since 1795, and the latter since 1800)would possess almost their present population, without 400, 000 blackshaving been dragged from the coast of Africa, to Port-Royal and theHavannah. 

The mortality of the negroes is very different in the island of Cuba, as in all the West Indies, according to the nature of their treatment, the humanity of masters and overseers, and the number of negresses whocan attend to the sick. There are plantations in which fifteen toeighteen per cent perish annually. I have heard it coolly discussedwhether it were better for the proprietor not to subject the slaves toexcessive labour and consequently to replace them less frequently, orto draw all the advantage possible from them in a few years, andreplace them oftener by the acquisition of bozal negroes. Such are thereasonings of cupidity when man employs man as a beast of burden! Itwould be unjust to entertain a doubt that within fifteen years negromortality has greatly diminished in the island of Cuba. Severalproprietors have made laudable efforts to improve the plantationsystem. 

It has been remarked how much the population of the island of Cuba issusceptible of being augmented in the lapse of ages. As the native ofa northern country, little favoured by nature, I may observe that theMark of Brandebourg, for the most part sandy, contains, under anadministration favourable to the progress of agricultural industry, ona surface only one-third of that of Cuba, a population nearly double. The extreme inequality in the distribution of the population, the wantof inhabitants on a great part of the coast, and its immensedevelopment, render the military defence of the whole islandimpossible: neither the landing of an enemy nor illicit trade can beprevented. The Havannah is well defended, and its works rival those ofthe most important fortified towns of Europe; the Torreones, and thefortifications of Cogimar, Jaruco, Matanzas, Mariel, Bahia Honda, Batabano, Xagua and Trinidad might resist for a considerable time theassaults of an enemy; but on the other hand two-thirds of the islandare almost without defence, and could scarcely be protected by thebest gun-boats. 

Intellectual cultivation is almost entirely limited to the whites, andis as unequally distributed as the population. The best society of theHavannah may be compared for easy and polished manners with thesociety of Cadiz and with that of the richest commercial towns ofEurope; but on quitting the capital, or the neighbouring plantations, which are inhabited by rich proprietors, a striking contrast to thisstate of partial and local civilization is manifest, in the simplicityof manners prevailing in the insulated farms and small towns. TheHavaneros or natives of the Havannah were the first among the richinhabitants of the Spanish colonies who visited Spain, France andItaly; and at the Havannah the people were always well informed of thepolitics of Europe. This knowledge of events, this prescience offuture chances, have powerfully aided the inhabitants of Cuba to freethemselves from some of the burthens which check the development ofcolonial prosperity. In the interval between the peace of Versaillesand the beginning of the revolution of San Domingo, the Havannahappeared to be ten times nearer to Spain than to Mexico, Caracas andNew Grenada. Fifteen years later, at the period of my visit to thecolonies, this apparent inequality of distance had considerablydiminished; now, when the independence of the continental colonies, the importation of foreign manufactures and the financial wants of thenew states have multiplied the intercourse between Europe and America;when the passage is shortened by improvements in navigation; when theColumbians, the Mexicans and the inhabitants of Guatimala rival eachother in visiting Europe; the ancient Spanish colonies--those at leastthat are bathed by the Atlantic--seem alike to have drawn nearer tothe continent. Such are the changes which a few years have produced, and which are proceeding with increasing rapidity. They are theeffects of knowledge and of long-restrained activity; and they renderless striking the contrast in manners and civilization which Iobserved at the beginning of the century, at Caracas, Bogota, Quito, Lima, Mexico and the Havannah. The influences of the Basque, Catalanian, Galician and Andalusian origin become every day moreimperceptible. 

The island of Cuba does not possess those great and magnificentestablishments the foundation of which is of very remote date inMexico; but the Havannah can boast of institutions which thepatriotism of the inhabitants, animated by a happy rivalry between thedifferent centres of American civilization, will know how to extendand improve whenever political circumstances and confidence in thepreservation of internal tranquillity may permit. The PatrioticSociety of the Havannah (established in 1793); those of SantoEspiritu, Puerto Principe, and Trinidad, which depend on it; theuniversity, with its chairs of theology, jurisprudence, medicine andmathematics, established since 1728, in the convent of the PadresPredicedores;* (* The clergy of the island of Cuba is neither numerousnor rich, if we except the Bishop of the Havannah and the Archbishopof Cuba, the former of whom has 110, 000 piastres, and the latter40, 000 piastres per annum. The canons have 3000 piastres. The numberof ecclesiastics does not exceed 1100, according to the officialenumeration in my possession. ) the chair of political economy, foundedin 1818; that of agricultural botany; the museum and the school ofdescriptive anatomy, due to the enlightened zeal of Don AlexanderRamirez; the public library, the free school of drawing and painting;the national school; the Lancastrian schools, and the botanic garden, are institutions partly new, and partly old. Some stand in need ofprogressive amelioration, others require a total reform to place themin harmony with the spirit of the age and the wants of society. 

AGRICULTURE. 

When the Spaniards began their settlements in the islands and on thecontinent of America those productions of the soil chiefly cultivatedwere, as in Europe, the plants that serve to nourish man. Thisprimitive stage of the agricultural life of nations has been preservedtill the present time in Mexico, in Peru, in the cold and temperateregions of Cundinamarca, in short, wherever the domination of thewhites comprehends a vast extent of territory. The alimentary plants, bananas, manioc, maize, the cereals of Europe, potatoes and quinoa, have continued to be, at different heights above the level of the sea, the basis of continental agriculture within the tropics. Indigo, cotton, coffee and sugar-cane appear in those regions only inintercalated groups. Cuba and the other islands of the archipelago ofthe Antilles presented during the space of two centuries and a half auniform aspect: the same plants were cultivated which had nourishedthe half-wild natives and the vast savannahs of the great islands werepeopled with numerous herds of cattle. Piedro de Atienza planted thefirst sugar-canes in Saint Domingo about the year 1520; andcylindrical presses, moved by water-wheels, were constructed. * (* Onthe trapiches or molinos de agua of the sixteenth century see Oviedo, Hist. Nat. Des Ind. Lib. 4 cap. 8. ) But the island of Cubaparticipated little in these efforts of rising industry; and what isvery remarkable, in 1553, the historians of the Conquest* mention noexportation of sugar except that of Mexican sugar for Spain and Peru. (* Lopez de Gomara, Conquista de Mexico (Medina del Campo 1353) fol. 129. ) Far from throwing into commerce what we now call colonialproduce, the Havannah, till the eighteenth century, exported onlyskins and leather. The rearing of cattle was succeeded by thecultivation of tobacco and the rearing of bees, of which the firsthives (colmenares) were brought from the Floridas. Wax and tobaccosoon became more important objects of commerce than leather, but wereshortly superseded in their turn by the sugar-cane and coffee. Thecultivation of these productions did not exclude more ancientcultivation; and, in the different phases of agricultural industry, notwithstanding the general tendency to make the coffee plantationspredominate, the sugar-houses furnish the greatest amount in theannual profits. The exportation of tobacco, coffee, sugar and wax, bylawful and illicit means, amounts to fourteen millions of piastres, according to the actual price of those articles. 

Three qualities of sugar are distinguished in the island of Cuba, according to the degree of purity attained by refining (grados depurga). In every loaf or reversed cone the upper part yields the whitesugar; the middle part the yellow sugar, or quebrado; and the lowerpart, or point of the cone, the cucurucho. All the sugar of Cuba isconsequently refined; a very small quantity is introduced of coarse ormuscovado sugar (by corruption, azucar mascabado). The forms being ofa different size, the loaves (panes) differ also in weight. Theygenerally weigh an arroba after refining. The refiners (maestros deazucar) endeavour to make every loaf of sugar yield five-ninths ofwhite, three-ninths of quebrado, and one-ninth of cucurucho. The priceof white sugar is higher when sold alone than in the sale calledsurtido, in which three-fifths of white sugar and two-fifths ofquebrado are combined in the same lot. In the latter case thedifference of the price is generally four reals (reales de plata); inthe former, it rises to six or seven reals. The revolution of SaintDomingo, the prohibitions dictated by the Continental System ofNapoleon, the enormous consumption of sugar in England and the UnitedStates, the progress of cultivation in Cuba, Brazil, Demerara, theMauritius and Java, have occasioned great fluctuations of price. In aninterval of twelve years it was from three to seven reals in 1807, andfrom twenty-four to twenty-eight reals in 1818, which provesfluctuations in the relation of one to five. 

During my stay in the plains of Guines, in 1804, I endeavoured toobtain some accurate information respecting the statistics of themaking of cane-sugar. A great yngenio producing from 32, 000 to 40, 000arrobas of sugar is generally fifty caballerias, * or 650 hectares inextent, of which the half (less than one-tenth of a square sea league)is allotted to sugar-making properly so called (canaveral) and theother half for alimentary plants and pasturage (potrero). (* Theagrarian measure, called caballeria, is eighteen cordels, (each cordelincludes twenty-four varas) or 432 square varas; consequently, as 1vara = 0. 835m. , according to Rodriguez, a caballeria is 186, 624 squarevaras, or 130, 118 square metres, or thirty-two and two-tenths Englishacres. ) The price of land varies, naturally, according to the qualityof the soil and the proximity of the ports of the Havannah, Matanzasand Mariel. In a circuit of twenty-five leagues round the Havannah thecaballeria may be estimated at two or three thousand piastres. For aproduce* of 32, 000 arrobas (or 2000 cases of sugar) the yngenio musthave at least three hundred negroes. (* There are very few plantationsin the whole island of Cuba capable of furnishing 40, 000 arrobas;among these few are the yngenio of Rio Blanco, or of the Marquess delArca, and those belonging to Don Rafael Ofarrel and Dona FeliciaJaurregui. Sugar-houses are thought to be very considerable that yield2000 cases annually, or 32, 000 arrobas (nearly 368, 000 kilogrammes. )In the French colonies it is generally computed that the third orfourth part only of the land is allotted for the plantation of food(bananas, ignames and batates); in the Spanish colonies a greatersurface is lost in pasturage; this is the natural consequence of theold habits of the haciendas de ganado. ) An adult and acclimated slaveis worth from four hundred and fifty to five hundred piastres; a bozalnegro, adult, not acclimated, three hundred and seventy to fourhundred piastres. It is probable that a negro costs annually, innourishment, clothing and medicine, forty-five to fifty piastres;consequently, with the interest of the capital, and deducting theholidays, more than twenty-two sous per day. The slaves are fed withtasajo (meat dried in the sun) of Buenos Ayres and Caracas; salt-fish(bacalao) when the tasajo is too dear; and vegetables (viandas) suchas pumpkins, munatos, batatas, and maize. An arroba of tasajo wasworth ten to twelve reals at Guines in 1804; and from fourteen tosixteen in 1825. An yngenio, such as we here suppose (with a produceof 32, 000 to 40, 000 arrobas), requires, first, three machines withcylinders put in motion by oxen (trapiches) or two water-wheels;second, according to the old Spanish method, which, by a slow firecauses a great consumption of wood, eighteen cauldrons (piezas);according to the first method of reverberation (introduced since theyear 1801 by Mr. Bailli of Saint Domingo under the auspices of DonNicolas Calvo) three clarificadoras, three peilas and two traines detachos (each train has three piezas), in all twelve fondos. It iscommonly asserted that three arrobas of refined sugar yield one barrelof miel, and that the molasses are sufficient for the expenses of theplantation: this is especially the case where they produce brandy inabundance. Thirty-two thousand arrobas of sugar yield 15, 000 barilesde miel (at two arrobas) of which five hundred pipas de aguardiente decana are made, at twenty-five piastres. 

In establishing an yngenio capable of furnishing two thousand caxasyearly, a capitalist would draw, according to the old Spanish method, and at the present price of sugar, an interest of six and one-sixthper cent; an interest no way considerable for an establishment notmerely agricultural, and of which the expense remains the same, although the produce sometimes diminishes more than a third. It isvery rarely that one of those great yngenios can make 32, 000 cases ofsugar during several successive years. It cannot therefore be matterof surprise that when the price of sugar in the island of Cuba hasbeen very low (four or five piastres the quintal), the cultivation ofrice has been preferred to that of the sugar-cane. The profit of theold landowners (haciendados) consists, first, in the circumstance thatthe expenses of the settlement were much less twenty or thirty yearsago, when a caballeria of good land cost only 1200 or 1600 piastres, instead of 2500 to 3000; and the adult negro 300 piastres, instead of450 to 500; second, in the balance of the very low and the very highprices of sugar. These prices are so different in a period of tenyears that the interest of the capital varies from five to fifteen percent. In the year 1804, for instance, if the capital employed had beenonly 100, 000 piastres, the raw produce, according to the value ofsugar and rum, would have amounted to 94, 000 piastres. Now, from 1797to 1800, the price of a case of sugar was sometimes, mean value, fortypiastres instead of twenty-four, which I was obliged to suppose in thecalculation for the year 1825. When a sugar-house, a great manufactureor a mine is found in the hands of the person who first formed theestablishment, the estimate of the rate of interest which the capitalemployed yields to the proprietor, can be no guide to those who, purchasing afterwards, balance the advantages of different kinds ofindustry. 

In soils that can be watered, or where plants with tuberose roots havepreceded the cultivation of the sugar-cane, a caballeria of fertileland yields, instead of 1500 arrobas, 3000 or 4000, making 2660 or3340 kilogrammes of sugar (blanco and quebrado) per hectare. In fixingon 1500 arrobas and estimating the case of sugar at 24 piastres, according to the price of the Havannah, we find that the hectareproduces the value of 870 francs in sugar; and that of 288 francs inwheat, in the supposition of an octuple harvest, and the price of 100kilogrammes of wheat being 18 francs. I have observed elsewhere thatin this comparison of the two branches of cultivation it must not beforgotten that the cultivation of sugar requires great capital; forinstance, at present 400, 000 piastres for an annual production of32, 000 arrobas, or 368, 000 kilogrammes, if this quantity be made inone single settlement. At Bengal, in watered lands, an acre (4044square metres) renders 2300 kilogrammes of coarse sugar, making 5700kilogrammes per hectare. If this fertility is common in lands of greatextent we must not be surprised at the low price of sugar in the EastIndies. The produce of a hectare is double that of the best soil inthe West Indies and the price of a free Indian day-labourer is notone-third the price of the day-labour of a negro slave in the islandof Cuba. 

In Jamaica in 1825 a plantation of five hundred acres (or fifteen anda half caballerias), of which two hundred acres are cultivated insugar-cane, yields, by the labour of two hundred slaves, one hundredoxen and fifty mules 2800 hundredweight, or 142, 200 kilogrammes ofsugar, and is computed to be worth, with its slaves, 43, 000 poundssterling. According to this estimate of Mr. Stewart, one hectare wouldyield 1760 kilogrammes of coarse sugar; for such is the quality of thesugar furnished for commerce at Jamaica. Reckoning in a greatsugar-fabric of the Havannah 25 caballerias or 325 hectares for aproduce of from 32, 000 to 40, 000 cases, we find 1130 or 1420kilogrammes of refined sugar (blanco and quebrado) per hectare. Thisresult agrees sufficiently with that of Jamaica, if we consider theloss sustained in the weight of sugar by refining, in converting thecoarse sugar into azucar blanco y quebrado) or refined sugar. At SanDomingo a square (3403 square toises = 1. 29 hectare) is estimated atforty, and sometimes at sixty quintals: if we fix on 5000 pounds, westill find 1900 kilogrammes of coarse sugar per hectare. Supposing, aswe ought to do when speaking of the produce of the whole island ofCuba, that, in soils of average fertility, the caballeria (at 13hectares) yields 1500 arrobas of refined sugar (mixed with blanco andquebrado), or 1330 kilogrammes per hectare, it follows that 60, 872hectares, or nineteen five-fourths square sea leagues, (nearly a ninthof the extent of a department of France of middling size), suffice toproduce the 440, 000 cases of refined sugar furnished by the island ofCuba for its own consumption and for lawful and illicit exportation. It seems surprising that less than twenty square sea leagues shouldyield an annual produce of more than the value of fifty-two millionsof francs (counting one case, at the Havannah, at the rate oftwenty-four piastres). To furnish coarse sugar for the consumption ofthirty millions of French (which is actually from fifty-six to sixtymillions of kilogrammes) it requires within the tropics but nine andfive-sixths square sea leagues cultivated with sugar-cane; and intemperate climates but thirty-seven and a half square sea leaguescultivated with beet-root. A hectare of good soil, sown or plantedwith beet-root, produces in France from ten to thirty thousandkilogrammes of beet-root. The mean fertility is 20, 000 kilogrammes, which furnish 2 1/2 per cent, or five hundred kilogrammes of coarsesugar. Now, one hundred kilogrammes of that sugar yield fiftykilogrammes of refined sugar, thirty of sugar vergeoise, and twenty ofmuscovade; consequently, a hectare of beet-root produces 250kilogrammes of refined sugar. 

A short time before my arrival at the Havannah there had been sentfrom Germany some specimens of beet-root sugar which were said tomenace the existence of the Sugar Islands in America. The planters hadlearned with alarm that it was a substance entirely similar tosugar-cane, but they flattered themselves that the high price oflabour in Europe and the difficulty of separating the sugar fit forcrystallization from so great a mass of vegetable pulp would renderthe operation on a grand scale little profitable. Chemistry has, sincethat period, succeeded in overcoming those difficulties; and, in theyear 1812, France alone had more than two hundred beet-root sugarfactories working with very unequal success and producing a million ofkilogrammes of coarse sugar, that is, a fifty-eighth part of theactual consumption of sugar in France. Those two hundred factories arenow reduced to fifteen or twenty, which yield a produce of 300, 000kilogrammes. * (* Although the actual price of cane-sugar not refinedis 1 franc 50 cents the kilogramme, in the ports, the production ofbeetroot-sugar offers a still greater advantage in certain localities, for instance, in the vicinity of Arras. These establishments would beintroduced in many other parts of France if the price of the sugar ofthe West Indies rose to 2 francs, or 2 francs 25 cents the kilogramme, and if the government laid no tax on the beetroot-sugar, to compensatethe loss on the consumption of colonial sugar. The making ofbeetroot-sugar is especially profitable when combined with a generalsystem of rural economy, with the improvement of the soil and thenourishment of cattle: it is not a cultivation independent of localcircumstances, like that of the sugar-cane in the tropics. ) Theinhabitants of the West Indies, well informed of the affairs ofEurope, no longer fear beet-root, grapes, chesnuts, and mushrooms, thecoffee of Naples nor the indigo of the south of France. Fortunatelythe improvement of the condition of the West India slaves does notdepend on the success of these branches of European cultivation. 

Previously to the year 1762 the island of Cuba did not furnish morecommercial produce than the three least industrious and most neglectedprovinces with respect to cultivation, Veragua, the isthmus of Panamaand Darien, do at present. A political event which appeared extremelyunfortunate, the taking of the Havannah by the English, roused thepublic mind. The town was evacuated in 1784 and its subsequent effortsof industry date from that memorable period. The construction of newfortifications on a gigantic plan* threw a great deal of moneysuddenly into circulation (* It is affirmed that the construction ofthe fort of Cabana alone cost fourteen millions of piastres. ); laterthe slave-trade became free and furnished hands for the sugarfactories. Free trade with all the ports of Spain and occasionallywith neutral states, the able administration of Don Luis de Las Casas, the establishment of the Consulado and the Patriotic Society, thedestruction of the French colony of Saint Domingo, * (* In threesuccessive attempts, in August 1791, June 1793, and October 1803. Above all the unfortunate and sanguinary expedition of GeneralsLeclerc and Rochambeau completed the destruction of the sugarfactories of Saint Domingo. ) and the rise in the price of sugar whichwas the natural consequence, the improvement in machines and ovens, due in great part to the refugees of Cape Francois, the more intimateconnection formed between the proprietors of the sugar factories andthe merchants of the Havannah, the great capital employed by thelatter in agricultural establishments (sugar and coffee plantations), such have been successively the causes of the increasing prosperity ofthe island of Cuba, notwithstanding the conflict of the authorities, which serves to embarrass the progress of affairs. 

The greatest changes in the plantations of sugar-cane and in the sugarfactories, took place from 1796 to 1800. First, mules were substituted(trapiches de mulas) for oxen (trapiches de bueyes); and afterwardshydraulic wheels were introduced (trapiches de agua), which the firstconquistadores had employed at Saint Domingo; finally the action ofsteam-engines was tried at Ceibabo, at the expense of Count Jaruco yMopex. There are now twenty-five of those machines in the differentsugar mills of the island of Cuba. The culture of the sugar-cane ofOtaheite in the meantime increased. Boilers of preparation(clarificadoras) were introduced and the reverberating furnaces betterarranged. It must be said, to the honour of wealthy proprietors, thatin a great number of plantations, a kind solicitude is manifested forsick slaves, for the introduction of negresses, and for the educationof children. 

The number of sugar factories (yngenios) in 1775 was 473 in the wholeisland; and in 1817 more than 780. Among the former, none produced thefourth part of the sugar now made in the yngenios of second rank; itis consequently not the number of factories that can afford anaccurate idea of the progress of that branch of agricultural industry. 

The first sugar-canes carefully planted on virgin soil yield a harvestduring twenty to twenty-five years, after which they must be replantedevery three years. There existed in 1804, at the Hacienda deMatamoros, a square (canaveral) worked during forty-five years. Themost fertile soil for the production of sugar is now in the vicinityof Mariel and Guanajay. That variety of sugar-cane known by the nameof Cana de Otahiti, recognised at a distance by a fresher green, hasthe advantage of furnishing, on the same extent of soil, one-fourthmore juice, and a stem more woody, thicker, and consequently richer incombustible matter. The refiners (maestros de azucar), pretend thatthe vezou (guarapo) of the Cana de Otahiti is more easily worked, andyields more crystallized sugar by adding less lime or potass to thevezou. The South Sea sugar-cane furnishes, no doubt, after five or sixyears' cultivation, the thinnest stubble, but the knots remain moredistant from each other than in the Cana creolia or de la tierra. Theapprehension at first entertained of the former degenerating bydegrees into ordinary sugar-cane is happily not realized. Thesugar-cane is planted in the island of Cuba in the rainy season, fromJuly to October; and the harvest is gathered from February to May. 

In proportion as by too rapid clearing the island has become unwooded, the sugar-houses have begun to want fuel. A little stalk (sugar-canedestitute of its juice) used to be employed to quicken the firebeneath the old cauldrons (tachos); but it is only since theintroduction of reverberating furnaces by the emigrants of SaintDomingo that the attempt has been made to dispense altogether withwood and burn only refuse sugar-cane. In the old construction offurnaces and cauldrons, a tarea of wood, of one hundred and sixtycubic feet, is burnt to produce five arrobas of sugar, or, for ahundred kilogrammes of raw sugar, 278 cubic feet of the wood of thelemon and orange trees are required. In the reverberating furnaces ofSaint Domingo a cart of refuse-cane of 495 cubic feet produced 640pounds of coarse sugar, which make 158 cubic feet of refuse-cane for100 kilogrammes of sugar. I attempted, during my stay at Guines, andespecially at Rio Blanco, with the Count de Mopex, several newconstructions, with the view of diminishing the expense of fuel, surrounding the focus with substances which do not powerfully conductthe heat, and thus diminish the sufferings of the slaves who keep upthe fire. A long residence in the salt-producing districts of Europe, and the labours of practical halurgy, to which I have been devotedsince my early youth, suggested to me the idea of those constructions, which have been imitated with some success. Cuvercles of wood, placedon clarificadoras, accelerated the evaporation, and led me to believethat a system of cuvercles and moveable frames, furnished withcounter-weights, might extend to other cauldrons. This object meritsfurther examination; but the quantity of vezou (guarapo) of thecrystallized sugar extracted, and that which is destroyed, the fuel, the time and the pecuniary expense, must be carefully estimated. 

An error, very general through Europe and one which influences opinionrespecting the effects of the abolition of the slave-trade, is that inthose West India islands called sugar colonies, the majority of theslaves are supposed to be employed in the production of sugar. Thecultivation of the sugar-cane is no doubt a powerful incentive to theactivity of the slave trade; but a very simple calculation suffices toprove that the total mass of slaves contained in the West Indies isnearly three times greater than the number employed in the productionof sugar. I showed seven years ago that, if the 200, 000 cases of sugarexported from the island of Cuba in 1812 were produced in the greatestablishments, less than 30, 000 slaves would have sufficed for thatkind of labour. It ought to be borne in mind for the interests ofhumanity that the evils of slavery weigh on a much greater number ofindividuals than agricultural labours require, even admitting, which Iam very far from doing, that sugar, coffee, indigo and cotton can becultivated only by slaves. At the island of Cuba it is generallysupposed that one hundred and fifty negroes are required to produce1000 cases (184, 000 kilogrammes) of refined sugar; or, in roundnumbers, a little more than 1200 kilogrammes, by the labour of eachadult slave. The production of 440, 000 cases would consequentlyrequire only 66, 000 slaves. If we add 36, 000 to that number for thecultivation of coffee and tobacco in the island of Cuba, we find thatabout 100, 000 of the 260, 000 slaves now there would suffice for thethree great branches of colonial industry on which the activity ofcommerce depends. 

COFFEE. 

The cultivation of coffee takes its date, like the improvedconstruction of cauldrons in the sugar houses, from the arrival of theemigrants of San Domingo, especially after the years 1796 and 1798. Ahectare yields 860 kilogrammes, the produce of 3500 plants. Theprovince of the Havannah reckoned:

 In 1800 60 cafetales. In 1817 779 cafetales. 

The coffee tree being a shrub that yields a good harvest only in thefourth year, the exportation of coffee from the port of the Havannahwas, in 1804, only 50, 000 arrobas. It rose:

 In 1809 to 320, 000 arrobas. In 1815 to 918, 263 arrobas. 

In 1815, when the price of coffee was fifteen piastres the quintal, the value of the exportation from the Havannah exceeded the sum of3, 443, 000 piastres. In 1823, the exportation from the port of Matanzaswas 84, 440 arrobas; so that it seems not doubtful that, in years ofmedium fertility, the total exportation of the island, lawful andcontraband, is more than fourteen millions of kilogrammes. 

From this calculation it results that the exportation of coffee fromthe island of Cuba is greater than that from Java, estimated by Mr. Crawfurd, in 1820, at 190, 000 piculs, 11 4/5 millions of kilogrammes. It likewise exceeds the exportation from Jamaica, which amounted, in1823, according to the registers of the custom-house, only to 169, 734hundredweight, or 8, 622, 478 kilogrammes. In the same year GreatBritain received, from all the English islands, 194, 820 hundredweight;or 9, 896, 856 kilogrammes; which proves that Jamaica only producedsix-sevenths. Guadaloupe sent, in 1810, to the mother country, 1, 017, 190 kilogrammes; Martinico, 671, 336 kilogrammes. At Hayti, wherethe production of coffee before the French revolution was 37, 240, 000kilogrammes, Port-au-Prince exported, in 1824, only 91, 544, 000kilogrammes. It appears that the total exportation of coffee from thearchipelago of the West Indies, by lawful means only, now amounts tomore than thirty-eight millions of kilogrammes; nearly five times theconsumption of France, which, from 1820 to 1823, was, on the yearlyaverage, 8, 198, 000 kilogrammes. The consumption of Great Britain isyet* only 3 1/2 millions of kilogrammes. (* Before the year 1807, whenthe tax on coffee was reduced, the consumption of Great Britain wasnot 8000 hundredweight (less than 1/2 million of kilogrammes); in1809, it rose to 45, 071 hundredweight; in 1810, to 49, 147hundredweight; in 1823, to 71, 000 hundredweight, in 1824, to 66, 000hundredweight (or 3, 552, 800 kilogrammes. )

The exportation of 1814 was 60 1/2 millions of kilogrammes, which wemay suppose was at that period nearly the consumption of the whole ofEurope. Great Britain (taking that denomination in its true sense, asdenoting only England and Scotland) now consumes nearly two-thirdsless coffee and three times more sugar than France. 

The price of sugar at the Havannah is always by the arroba of 25Spanish pounds (or 11. 49 kilogrammes), and the price of coffee by thequintal (or 45. 97 kilogrammes). The latter has been known to vary from4 to 30 piastres; it even fell, in 1808, below 24 reals. The price of1815 and 1819 was between 13 and 17 piastres the quintal; coffee isnow at 12 piastres. It is probable that the cultivation of coffeescarcely employs in the whole island of Cuba 28, 000 slaves, whoproduce, on the yearly average, 305, 000 Spanish quintals (14 millionsof kilogrammes), or, according to the present value, 3, 660, 000piastres; while 66, 000 negroes produce 440, 000 cases (81 millions ofkilogrammes) of sugar, which, at the price of 24 piastres, is worth10, 560, 000 piastres. It results from this calculation that a slave nowproduces the value of 130 piastres of coffee, and 160 piastres ofsugar. It is almost useless to observe that these relations vary withthe price of the two articles, of which the variations are oftenopposite and that, in calculations which may throw some light onagriculture in the tropical region, I comprehend in the same point ofview interior consumption, exportation lawful and contraband. 

TOBACCO. 

The tobacco of the island of Cuba is celebrated throughout Europe. Thecustom of smoking, borrowed from the natives of Hayti, was introducedinto Europe about the end of the sixteenth and beginning of theseventeenth century. It was generally hoped that the cultivation oftobacco, freed from an oppressive monopoly, would be to the Havannah avery profitable object of commerce. The good intentions displayed bythe government in abolishing, within six years, the Factoria detabacos, have not been attended by the improvement which was expectedin that branch of industry. The cultivators want capital, the farmshave become extremely dear, and the predilection for the cultivationof coffee is prejudicial to that of tobacco. 

The oldest information we possess respecting the quantity of tobaccowhich the island of Cuba has thrown into the magazines of the mothercountry go back to 1748. According to the Abbe Raynal, a much moreexact writer than is generally believed, that quantity, from 1748 to1753 (average year) was 75, 000 arrobas. From 1789 to 1794 the produceof the island amounted annually to 250, 000 arrobas; but from thatperiod to 1803 the increased price of land, the attention givenexclusively to the coffee plantations and the sugar factories, littlevexations in the exercise of the royal monopoly (estanco), andimpediments in the way of export trade, have progressively diminishedthe produce by more than one-half. The total produce of tobacco in theisland is, however, believed to have been, from 1822 to 1825, againfrom 300, 000 to 400, 000 arrobas. 

In good years, when the harvest rose to 350, 000 arrobas of leaves, 128, 000 arrobas were prepared for the Peninsula, 80, 000 for theHavannah, 9200 for Peru, 6000 for Panama, 3000 for Buenos Ayres, 2240for Mexico, and 1000 for Caracas and Campeachy. To complete the sum of315, 000, 000 (for the harvest loses 10 per cent of its weight in mermay aberias, during the preparation and the transport) we must supposethat 80, 000 arrobas were consumed in the interior of the island (enlos campos), whither the monopoly and the taxes did not extend. Themaintenance of 120 slaves and the expense of the manufacture amountedonly to 12, 000 piastres annually; the persons employed in the factoriacost 54, 100 piastres. The value of 128, 000 arrobas, which in goodyears was sent to Spain, either in cigars or in snuff (rama y polvos), often exceeded 5, 000, 000 piastres, according to the common price ofSpain. It seems surprising to see that the statements of exportationfrom the Havannah (documents published by the Consulado) mark theexportations for 1816, at only 3400 arrobas; for 1823, only 13, 900arrobas of tabaco en rama, and 71, 000 pounds of tabaco torcida, estimated together, at the custom-house, at 281, 000 piastres; for1825, only 70, 302 pounds of cigars, and 167, 100 pounds of tobacco inleaves; but it must be remembered that no branch of contraband is moreactive than that of cigars. Although the tobacco of the Vuelta deabaxo is the most famous, a considerable exportation takes place inthe eastern part of the island. I rather doubt the total exportationof 200, 000 boxes of cigars (value 2, 000, 000 piastres) as stated byseveral travellers during latter years. If the harvests were thusabundant, why should the island of Cuba receive tobacco from theUnited States for the consumption of the lower class of people?

I shall say nothing of the cotton, the indigo, or the wheat of theisland of Cuba. These branches of colonial industry are ofcomparatively little importance; and the proximity of the UnitedStates and Guatimala renders competition almost impossible. The stateof Salvador, belonging to the Confederation of Central America, nowthrows 12, 000 tercios annually, or 1, 800, 000 pounds of indigo intotrade; an exportation which amounts to more than 2, 000, 000 piastres. The cultivation of wheat succeeds (to the great astonishment oftravellers who have passed through Mexico), near the Quatro Villas, atsmall heights above the level of the ocean, though in general it isvery limited. The flour is fine; but colonial productions are moretempting, and the plains of the United States--that Crimea of the NewWorld--yield harvests too abundant for the commerce of native cerealsto be efficaciously protected by the prohibitive system of thecustom-house, in an island near the mouth of the Mississippi and theDelaware. Analogous difficulties oppose the cultivation of flax, hemp, and the vine. Possibly the inhabitants of Cuba are themselves ignorantof the fact that, in the first years of the conquest by the Spaniards, wine was made in their island of wild grapes. * (* De muchas parrasmonteses con ubas se ha cogido vino, aunque algo agrio. [From severalgrape-bearing vines which grow in the mountains, they extract a kindof wine; but it is very acid. ] Herera Dec. 1 page 233. Gabriel deCabrera found a tradition at Cuba similar to that which the people ofSemitic race have of Noah experiencing for the first time the effectof a fermented liquor. He adds that the idea of two races of men, onenaked, another clothed, is linked to the American tradition. HasCabrera, preoccupied by the rites of the Hebrews, imperfectlyinterpreted the words of the natives, or, as seems more probable, hashe added something to the analogies of the woman-serpent, the conflictof two brothers, the cataclysm of water, the raft of Coxcox, theexploring bird, and many other things that teach us incontestably thatthere existed a community of antique traditions between the nations ofthe two worlds? Views of the Cordilleras and Monuments of America. )This kind of vine, peculiar to America, has given rise to the generalerror that the true Vitis vinifera is common to the two continents. The Parras monteses which yields the somewhat sour wine of the islandof Cuba, was probably gathered on the Vitis tiliaefolia which Mr. Willdenouw has described from our herbals. In no part of the northernhemisphere has the vine hitherto been cultivated with the view ofproducing wine south of the 27 degrees 48 minutes, or the latitude ofthe island of Ferro, one of the Canaries, and of 29 degrees 2 minutes, or the latitude of Bushire in Persia. 

WAX. 

This is not the produce of native bees (the Melipones of Latreille), but of bees brought from Europe by way of Florida. The trade in waxhas only become important since 1772. The exportation of the wholeisland, which from 1774 to 1779 was only 2700 arrobas (average year), was estimated in 1803, including contraband, at 42, 700 arrobas, ofwhich 25, 000 were destined for Vera Cruz. In the churches of Mexicothere is a great consumption of Cuban wax. The price varies fromsixteen to twenty piastres the arroba. 

Trinidad and the small port of Baracoa also carry on a considerabletrade in wax, furnished by the almost uncultivated regions on the eastof the island. In the proximity of the sugar-factories many beesperish of inebriety from the molasses, of which they are extremelyfond. In general the production of wax diminishes in proportion as thecultivation of the land augments. The exportation of wax, according tothe present price, amounts to about 500, 000 of piastres. 

COMMERCE. 

It has already been observed that the importance of the commerce ofthe island of Cuba depends not solely on the riches of itsproductions, the wants of the population in the articles andmerchandize of Europe, but also in great part on the favourableposition of the port of the Havannah. This port is situated at theentrance of the Gulf of Mexico, where the high roads of the commercialnations of the old and the new worlds cross each other. It wasremarked by the Abbe Raynal, at a period when agriculture and industrywere in their infancy, and scarcely threw into commerce the value of2, 000, 000 piastres in sugar and tobacco, that the island of Cuba alonemight be worth a kingdom to Spain. There seems to have been somethingprophetic in those memorable words; and since the parent state haslost Mexico, Peru and so many other colonies declared independent, they demand the serious consideration of statesmen who are called uponto discuss the political interests of the Peninsula. 

The island of Cuba, to which for a long time the court of Madridwisely granted great freedom of trade, exports, lawfully and bycontraband, of its own native productions, in sugar, coffee, tobacco, wax and skins, to the value of more than 14, 000, 000 piastres; which isabout one-third less than the value of the precious metals furnishedby Mexico at the period of the greatest prosperity of its mines. * (*In 1805 gold and silver specie was struck at Mexico to the value of27, 165, 888 piastres; but, taking an average of ten years of politicaltranquillity, we find from 1800 to 1810 scarcely 24 1/2 million ofpiastres. ) It may be said that the Havannah and Vera Cruz are to therest of America what New York is to the United States. The tonnage of1000 to 1200 merchant ships which annually enter the port of theHavannah, amounts (excluding the small coasting-vessels), to 150, 000or 170, 000 tons. * (* In 1816 the tonnage of the commerce of New Yorkwas 299, 617 tons; that of Boston, 143, 420 tons. The amount of tonnageis not always an exact measure of the wealth of commerce. Thecountries which export rice, flour, hewn wood and cotton require morecapaciousness than the tropical regions of which the productions(cochineal, indigo, sugar and coffee) are of little bulk, although ofconsiderable value. ) In time of peace from 120 to 150 ships of war arefrequently seen at anchor at the Havannah. From 1815 to 1819 theproductions registered at the custom-house of that port only (sugar, rum, molasses, coffee, wax and butter) amounted, on the average, tothe value of 11, 245, 000 piastres per annum. In 1823 the exportationregistered two-thirds less than their actual price, amounted(deducting 1, 179, 000 piastres in specie) to more than 12, 500, 000piastres. It is probable that the importations of the whole island(lawful and contraband), estimated at the real price of the articles, the merchandize and the slaves, amount at present to 15, 000, 000 or16, 000, 000 piastres, of which scarcely 3, 000, 000 or 4, 000, 000 arere-exported. The Havannah purchases from abroad far beyond its ownwants, and exchanges its colonial articles for the productions of themanufactures of Europe, to sell a part of them at Vera Cruz, Truxillo, Guayra, and Carthagena. 

On comparing, in the commercial tables of the Havannah, the greatvalue of merchandise imported, with the little value of merchandisere-exported, one is surprised at the vast internal consumption of acountry containing only 325, 000 whites and 130, 000 free men of colour. We find, in estimating the different articles, according to the realcurrent prices: in cotton and linen (bretanas, platillas, lienzos yhilo), two and a half to three millions of piastres; in tissues ofcotton (zarazas musulinas), one million of piastres; in silk (rasos ygeneros de seda), 400, 000 piastres; and in linen and woollen tissues, 220, 000 piastres. The wants of the island, in European tissues, registered as exported to the port of the Havannah only, consequentlyexceeded, in these latter years, from four millions to four and a halfmillions of piastres. To these importations of the Havannah we mustadd: hardware and furniture, more than half a million of piastres;iron and steel, 380, 000 piastres; planks and great timber, 400, 000piastres; Castile soap, 300, 000 piastres. With respect to theimportation of provisions and drinks to the Havannah, it appears to meto be well worthy the attention of those who would know the real stateof those societies which are called sugar or slave colonies. Such isthe composition of those societies established on the most fruitfulsoil which nature can furnish for the nourishment of man, such thedirection of agricultural labours and industry in the West Indies, that, in the best climate of the equinoctial region, the populationwould want subsistence but for the freedom and activity of externalcommerce. I do not speak of the introduction of wines at the port ofthe Havannah, which amounted (according to the registers of thecustom-house), in 1803, to 40, 000 barrels; in 1823, to 15, 000 pipasand 17, 000 barrels, to the value of 1, 200, 000 piastres; nor of theintroduction of 6000 barrels of brandy from Spain and Holland, and113, 000 barrels (1, 864, 000 piastres) of flour. These wines, liquorsand flour are consumed by the opulent part of the nation. The cerealsof the United States have become articles of absolute necessity in azone where maize, manioc and bananas were long preferred to everyother amylaceous food. The development of a luxury altogetherEuropean, cannot be complained of amidst the prosperity and increasingcivilization of the Havannah; but, along with the introduction of theflour, wine, and spirituous liquors of Europe, we find, in the year1816, 1 1/2millions of piastres; and, in the year 1823, 3 1/2 millionsfor salt meat, rice and dried vegetables. In the last mentioned year, the importation of rice was 323, 000 arrobas; and the importation ofdried and salt meat (tasajo), for the slaves, 465, 000 arrobas. 

The scarcity of necessary articles of subsistence characterizes a partof the tropical climates where the imprudent activity of Europeans hasinverted the order of nature: it will diminish in proportion as theinhabitants, more enlightened respecting their true interests, anddiscouraged by the low price of colonial produce, will vary thecultivation, and give free scope to all the branches of rural economy. The principles of that narrow policy which guides the government ofvery small islands, inhabited by men who desert the soil whenever theyare sufficiently enriched, cannot be applicable to a country of anextent nearly equal to that of England, covered with populous cities, and where the inhabitants, established from father to son during ages, far from regarding themselves as strangers to the American soil, cherish it as their own country. The population of the island of Cuba, which in fifty years will perhaps exceed a million, may open by itsown consumption an immense field to native industry. If theslave-trade should cease altogether, the slaves will pass by degreesinto the class of free men; and society, being reconstructed, withoutsuffering any of the violent convulsions of civil dissension, willfollow the path which nature has traced for all societies that becomenumerous and enlightened. The cultivation of the sugar-cane and ofcoffee will not be abandoned; but it will no longer remain theprincipal basis of national existence than the cultivation ofcochineal in Mexico, of indigo in Guatimala, and of cacao inVenezuela. A free, intelligent and agricultural population willprogressively succeed a slave population, destitute of foresight andindustry. Already the capital which the commerce of the Havannah hasplaced within the last twenty-five years in the hands of cultivators, has begun to change the face of the country; and to that power, ofwhich the action is constantly increasing, another will be necessarilyjoined, inseparable from the progress of industry and nationalwealth--the development of human intelligence. On these united powersdepend the future destinies of the metropolis of the West Indies. 

In reference to what has been said respecting external commerce, I mayquote the author of a memoir which I have often mentioned, and whodescribes the real situation of the island. "At the Havannah, theeffects of accumulated wealth begin to be felt; the price ofprovisions has been doubled in a small number of years. Labour is sodear that a bozal negro, recently brought from the coast of Africa, gains by the labour of his hands (without having learned any trade)from four to five reals (two francs thirteen sous to three francs fivesous) a day. The negroes who follow mechanical trades, however common, gain from five to six francs. The patrician families remain fixed tothe soil: a man who has enriched himself does not return to Europetaking with him his capital. Some families are so opulent that DonMatheo de Pedroso, who died lately, left in landed property above twomillions of piastres. Several commercial houses of the Havannahpurchase, annually, from ten to twelve thousand cases of sugar, forwhich they pay at the rate of from 350, 000 to 420, 000 piastres. " (Dela situacion presente de Cuba in manuscript. ) Such was the state ofpublic wealth at the end of 1800. Twenty-five years of increasingprosperity have elapsed since that period, and the population of theisland is nearly doubled. The exportation of registered sugar had not, in any year before 1800, attained the extent of 170, 000 cases(31, 280, 000 kilogrammes); in these latter times it has constantlysurpassed 200, 000 cases, and even attained 250, 000 and 300, 000 cases(forty-six to fifty-five millions of kilogrammes). A new branch ofindustry has sprung up (that of plantations of the coffee tree) whichfurnishes an exportation of the value of three millions and a half ofpiastres. Industry, guided by a greater mass of knowledge, has beenbetter directed. The system of taxation that weighed on nationalindustry and exterior commerce has been made lighter since 1791, andbeen improved by successive changes. Whenever the mother-country, mistaking her own interests, has attempted to make a retrograde step, courageous voices have arisen not only among the Havaneros, but oftenamong the Spanish rulers, in defence of the freedom of Americancommerce. A new channel has recently been opened for capital by theenlightened zeal and patriotic views of the intendant Don ClaudioMartinez de Pinillos, and the commerce of entrepot has been granted tothe Havannah on the most advantageous conditions. 

The difficult and expensive interior communications of the islandrender its own productions dearer at the ports, notwithstanding theshort distance between the northern and southern coasts. A project ofcanalization which unites the double advantage of connecting theHavannah and Batabano by a navigable line, and diminishing the highprice of the transport of native produce, merits here a specialmention. The idea of the Canal of Guines had been conceived for morethan half a century with the view of furnishing timber at a moremoderate price for ship-building in the arsenal of the Havannah. In1796 the Count de Jaruco y Mopox, an enterprising man, who hadacquired great influence by his connection with the Prince of thePeace, undertook to revive this project. The survey was made in 1798by two very able engineers, Don Francisco and Don Felix Lemaur. Theseofficers ascertained that the canal in its whole development would benineteen leagues long (5000 varas or 4150 metres), that the point ofpartition would be at the Taverna del Rey, and that it would requirenineteen locks on the north, and twenty-one on the south. The distancefrom the Havannah to Batabano is only eight and a half sea-leagues. The canal of Guines would be very useful for the transport ofagricultural productions by steam-boats, * because its course would bein proximity with the best cultivated lands. (* Steam-boats areestablished from the Havannah to Matanzas, and from the Havannah toMariel. The government granted to Don Juan O'Farrill (March 24th, 1819) a privilege on the barcos de vapor. ) The roads are nowhere worsein the rainy season than in this part of the island, where the soil isof friable limestone, little fitted for the construction of solidroads. The transport of sugar from Guines to the Havannah, a distanceof twelve leagues, now costs one piastre per quintal. Besides theadvantage of facilitating internal communications, the canal wouldalso give great importance to the surgidero of Batabano, into whichsmall vessels laden with salt provisions (tasajo) from Venezuela, would enter without being obliged to double Cape Saint Antonio. In thebad season and in time of war, when corsairs are cruising between CapeCatoche, Tortugas and Mariel, the passage from the Spanish main to theisland of Cuba would be shortened by entering, not at the Havannah, but at some port of the southern coast. The cost of constructing thecanal de Guines was estimated in 1796 at one million, or 1, 200, 000piastres: it is now thought that the expense would amount to more thanone million and a half. The productions which might annually pass thecanal have been estimated at 75, 000 cases of sugar, 25, 000 arrobas ofcoffee, and 8000 bocoyes of molasses and rum. According to the firstproject, that of 1796, it was intended to link the canal with thesmall river of Guines, to be brought from the Ingenio de la Holanda toQuibican, three leagues south of Bejucal and Santa Rosa. This idea isnow relinquished, the Rio de los Guines losing its waters towards theeast in the irrigation of the savannahs of Hato de Guanamon. Insteadof carrying the canal east of the Barrio del Cerro and south of thefort of Atares, in the bay of the Havannah, it was proposed at firstto make use of the bed of the Chorrera or Rio Armendaris, fromCalabazal to the Husillo, and then of the Zanja Real, not only forconveying the boats to the centre of the arrabales and of the city ofthe Havannah, but also for furnishing water to the fountains whichrequire to be supplied during three months of the year. I visitedseveral times, with MM. Lemaur, the plains through which this line ofnavigation is intended to pass. The utility of the project isincontestable if in times of great drought a sufficient quantity ofwater can be brought to the point of partition. 

At the Havannah, as in every place where commerce and the wealth itproduces increase rapidly, complaints are heard of the prejudicialinfluence exercised by them on ancient manners. We cannot here stop tocompare the first state of the island of Cuba, when covered withpasturage, before the taking of the capital by the English, and itspresent condition, since it has become the metropolis of the WestIndies; nor to throw into the balance the candour and simplicity ofmanners of an infant society, against the manners that belong to thedevelopment of an advanced civilization. The spirit of commerce, leading to the love of wealth, no doubt brings nations to depreciatewhat money cannot obtain. But the state of human things is happilysuch that what is most desirable, most noble, most free in man, isowing only to the inspirations of the soul, to the extent andamelioration of its intellectual faculties. Were the thirst of richesto take absolute possession of every class of society, it wouldinfallibly produce the evil complained of by those who see with regretwhat they call the preponderance of the industrious system; but theincrease of commerce, by multiplying the connections between nations, by opening an immense sphere to the activity of the mind, by pouringcapital into agriculture, and creating new wants by the refinement ofluxury, furnishes a remedy against the supposed dangers. 

FINANCE. 

The increase of the agricultural prosperity of the island of Cuba andthe influence of the accumulation of wealth on the value ofimportations, have raised the public revenue in these latter years tofour millions and a half, perhaps five millions of piastres. Thecustom-house of the Havannah, which before 1794 yielded less than600, 000 piastres, and from 1797 to 1800, 1, 900, 000 piastres, poursinto the treasury, since the declaration of free trade, a revenue(importe liquido) of more than 3, 100, 000 piastres. * (* Thecustom-house of Port-au-Prince, at Hayti, produced in 1825, the sum of1, 655, 764 piastres; that of Buenos Ayres, from 1819 to 1821, averageyear, 1, 655, 000 piastres. See Centinela de La Plata, September 1822Number 8; Argos de Buenos Ayres Number 85. )

The island of Cuba as yet contains only one forty-second part of thepopulation of France; and one half of its inhabitants, being in themost abject indigence, consume but little. Its revenue is nearly equalto that of the Republic of Columbia, and it exceeds the revenue of allthe custom-houses of the United States* before the year 1795, whenthat confederation had 4, 500, 000 inhabitants, while the island of Cubacontained only 715, 000. (* The custom-houses of the United States, which yielded in 1801 to 1808 sixteen millions of dollars, produced in1815 but 7, 282, 000. ) The principal source of the public revenue ofthis fine colony is the custom-house, which alone produces abovethree-fifths, and amply suffices for all the wants of the internaladministration and military defence. If in these latter years, theexpense of the general treasury of the Havannah amounted to more thanfour millions of piastres, this increase of expense is solely owing tothe obstinate struggle maintained between the mother country and herfreed colonies. Two millions of piastres were employed to pay the landand sea forces which poured back from the American continent, by theHavannah, on their way to the Peninsula. As long as Spain, unmindfulof her real interests, refuses to recognize the independence of theNew Republics, the island of Cuba, menaced by Columbia and the MexicanConfederation, must support a military force for its external defence, which ruins the colonial finances. The Spanish naval force stationedin the port of the Havannah generally costs above 650, 000 piastres. The land forces require nearly one million and a half of piastres. Such a state of things cannot last indefinitely if the Peninsula donot relieve the burden that presses upon the colony. 

From 1789 to 1797 the produce of the custom-house at the Havannahnever rose to more than 700, 000 piastres. In 1814 it was 1, 855, 117. From 1815 to 1819 the royal taxes in the port of the Havannah amountedto 11, 575, 460 piastres; total 18, 284, 807 piastres; or, average year, 3, 657, 000 piastres, of which the municipal taxes formed 0. 36. 

The public revenue of the Administracion general de Rentas of thejurisdiction of Havannah amounted:

 in 1820 to 3, 631, 273 piastres. In 1821 to 3, 277, 639 piastres. In 1822 to 3, 378, 228 piastres. 

The royal and municipal taxes of importation at the custom-house ofthe Havannah in 1823 were 2, 734, 563 piastres. 

The total amount of the revenue of the Havannah in 1824 was 3, 025, 300piastres. 

In 1825 the revenue of the town and jurisdiction of the Havannah was3, 350, 300 piastres. 

These partial statements show that from 1789 to 1824 the publicrevenue of Cuba has been increased sevenfold. 

According to the estimates of the Cajas matrices, the public revenuein 1822 was, in the province of the Havannah alone, 4, 311, 862piastres; which arose from the custom-house (3, 127, 918 piastres), fromthe ramos de directa entrada, as lottery, tithes, etc. (601, 808piastres), and anticipations on the charges of the Consulado and theDeposito (581, 978 piastres). The expenditure in the same year, for theisland of Cuba, was 2, 732, 738 piastres, and for the succour destinedto maintain the struggle with the continental colonies declaredindependent, 1, 362, 029 piastres. In the first class of expenditure wefind 1, 355, 798 piastres for the subsistence of the military forceskept up for the defence of the Havannah and the neighbouring places;and 648, 908 piastres for the royal navy stationed in the port of theHavannah. In the second class of expense foreign to the localadministration we find 1, 115, 672 piastres for the pay of 4234 soldierswho, after having evacuated Mexico, Columbia and other parts of theContinent formerly Spanish possessions, passed by the Havannah toreturn to Spain; 164, 000 piastres is the cost of the defence of thecastle of San Juan de Ulloa. 

I here terminate the Political Essay on the island of Cuba, in which Ihave traced the state of that important Spanish possession as it nowis. My object has been to throw light on facts and give precision toideas by the aid of comparisons and statistical tables. That minuteinvestigation of facts is desirable at a moment when, on the one handenthusiasm exciting to benevolent credulity, and on the otheranimosities menacing the security of the new republics, have givenrise to the most vague and erroneous statements. I have as far aspossible abstained from all reasoning on future chances, and on theprobability of the changes which external politics may produce in thesituation of the West Indies. I have merely examined what regards theorganization of human society; the unequal partition of rights and ofthe enjoyments of life; the threatening dangers which the wisdom ofthe legislator and the moderation of free men may ward off, whateverbe the form of the government. It is for the traveller who has been aneyewitness of the suffering and the degradation of human nature tomake the complaints of the unfortunate reach the ear of those by whomthey can be relieved. I observed the condition of the blacks incountries where the laws, the religion and the national habits tend tomitigate their fate; yet I retained, on quitting America, the samehorror of slavery which I had felt in Europe. In vain have writers ofability, seeking to veil barbarous institutions by ingenious turns oflanguage, invented the expressions negro peasants of the West Indies, black vassalage, and patriarchal protection: that is profaning thenoble qualities of the mind and the imagination, for the purpose ofexculpating by illusory comparisons or captious sophisms excesseswhich afflict humanity, and which prepare the way for violentconvulsions. Do they think that they have acquired the right ofputting down commiseration, by comparing* the condition of the negroeswith that of the serfs of the middle ages, and with the state ofoppression to which some classes are still subjected in the north andeast of Europe? (* Such comparisons do not satisfy those secretpartisans of the slave trade who try to make light of the miseries ofthe black race, and to resist every emotion those miseries awaken. Thepermanent condition of a caste founded on barbarous laws andinstitutions is often confounded with the excesses of a powertemporarily exercised on individuals. Thus Mr. Bolingbroke, who livedseven years at Demerara and who visited the West India Islands, observes that "on board an English ship of war, flogging is morefrequent than in the plantations of the English colonies. " He adds"that in general the negroes are but little flogged, but that veryreasonable means of correction have been imagined, such as making themtake boiling soup strongly peppered, or obliging them to drink, with avery small spoon, a solution of Glauber-salts. " Mr. Bolingbrokeregards the slave-trade as a universal benefit; and he is persuadedthat if negroes who have enjoyed, during twenty years, all thecomforts of slave life at Demerara, were permitted to return to thecoast of Africa, they would effect recruiting on a large scale, andbring whole nations to the English possessions. Voyage to Demerara, 1807. Such is the firm and frank profession of faith of a planter; yetMr. Bolingbroke, as several passages of his book prove, is a moderateman, full of benevolent intentions towards the slaves. ) Thesecomparisons, these artifices of language, this disdainful impatiencewith which even a hope of the gradual abolition of slavery is repulsedas chimerical, are useless arms in the times in which we live. Thegreat revolutions which the continent of America and the Archipelagoof the West Indies have undergone since the commencement of thenineteenth century, have had their influence on public feeling andpublic reason, even in countries where slavery exists and is beginningto be modified. Many sensible men, deeply interested in thetranquillity of the sugar and slave islands, feel that by a liberalunderstanding among the proprietors, and by judicious measures adoptedby those who know the localities, they might emerge from a state ofdanger and uneasiness which indolence and obstinacy serve only toincrease. 

Slavery is no doubt the greatest evil that afflicts human nature, whether we consider the slave torn from his family in his nativecountry and thrown into the hold of a slave ship, * or as making partof a flock of black men, parked on the soil of the West Indies; butfor individuals there are degrees of suffering and privation. (* "Ifthe slaves are whipped, " said one of the witnesses before theParliamentary Committee of 1789, "to make them dance on the deck of aslave ship--if they are forced to sing in chorus; 'Messe, messe, mackerida, ' [how gaily we live among the whites], this only proves thecare we take of the health of those men. " This delicate attentionreminds me of the description of an auto-da-fe in my possession. Inthat curious document a boast is made of the prodigality with whichrefreshments are distributed to the condemned, and of the staircasewhich the inquisitors have had erected in the interior of the pile forthe accommodation of the relazados (the relapsed culprits. )) How greatis the difference in the condition of the slave who serves in thehouse of a rich family at the Havannah or at Kingston, or one whoworks for himself, giving his master but a daily retribution, and thatof the slave attached to a sugar estate! The threats employed tocorrect an obstinate negro mark this scale of human privations. Thecoachman is menaced with the coffee plantation; and the slave workingon the latter is menaced with the sugar house. The negro, who with hiswife inhabits a separate hut, whose heart is warmed by those feelingsof affection which for the most part characterize the African race, finds that after his labour some care is taken of him amidst hisindigent family, is in a position not to be compared with that of theinsulated slave lost in the mass. This diversity of condition escapesthe notice of those who have not had the spectacle of the West Indiesbefore their eyes. Owing to the progressive amelioration of the stateeven of the captive caste in the island of Cuba, the luxury of themasters and the possibility of gain by their work, have drawn morethan eighty thousand slaves to the towns; and the manumission of them, favoured by the wisdom of the laws, is become so active as to haveproduced, at the present period, more than 130, 000 free men of colour. By considering the individual position of each class, by recompensing, by the decreasing scale of privations, intelligence, love of labourand the domestic virtues, the colonial administration will find thebest means of improving the condition of the blacks. Philanthropy doesnot consist in giving a little more salt-fish, and some fewer lashes:the real amelioration of the captive caste ought to extend over thewhole moral and physical position of man. 

The impulse may be given by those European governments which have aright comprehension of human dignity, and who know that whatever isunjust bears with it a germ of destruction; but this impulse, it ismelancholy to add, will be powerless if the union of the planters, ifthe colonial assemblies or legislatures, fail to adopt the same viewsand to act by a well-concerted plan, having for its ultimate aim thecessation of slavery in the West Indies. Till then it will be in vainto register the strokes of the whip, to diminish the number that maybe given at one time, to require the presence of witnesses and toappoint protectors of slaves; all these regulations, dictated by themost benevolent intentions, are easily eluded: the isolated positionof the plantations renders their execution impossible. Theypre-suppose a system of domestic inquisition incompatible with what isunderstood in the colonies by the phrase established rights. The stateof slavery cannot be altogether peaceably ameliorated except by thesimultaneous action of the free men (white men and coloured) residingin the West Indies; by colonial assemblies and legislatures; by theinfluence of those who, enjoying great moral consideration among theircountrymen and acquainted with the localities, know how to vary themeans of improvement conformably with the manners, habits, and theposition of every island. In preparing the way for the accomplishmentof this task, which ought to embrace a great part of the archipelagoof the West Indies, it may be useful to cast a retrospective glance onthe events by which the freedom of a considerable part of the humanrace was obtained in Europe in the middle ages. In order to amelioratewithout commotion new institutions must be made, as it were, to riseout of those which the barbarism of centuries has consecrated. It willone day seem incredible that until the year 1826 there existed no lawin the Great Antilles to prevent the sale of young infants and theirseparation from their parents, or to prohibit the degrading custom ofmarking the negroes with a hot iron, merely to enable these humancattle to be more easily recognized. Enact laws to obviate thepossibility of a barbarous outrage; fix, in every sugar estate, theproportion between the least number of negresses and that of thelabouring negroes; grant liberty to every slave who has served fifteenyears, to every negress who has reared four or five children; set themfree on the condition of working a certain number of days for theprofit of the plantation; give the slaves a part of the net produce, to interest them in the increase of agricultural riches;* fix a sum onthe budget of the public funds, destined for the ransom of slaves, andthe amelioration of their condition--such are the most urgent objectsfor colonial legislation. (* General Lafayette, whose name is linkedwith all that promises to contribute to the liberty of man and thehappiness of mankind, conceived, in the year 1785, the project ofpurchasing a settlement at Cayenne, and to divide it among the blacksby whom it was cultivated and in whose favour the proprietor renouncedfor himself and his descendants all benefit whatever. He hadinterested in this noble enterprise the priests of the Mission of theHoly Ghost, who themselves possessed lands in French Guiana. A letterfrom Marshal de Castries, dated 6th June, 1785, proves that theunfortunate Louis XVI, extending his beneficent intentions to theblacks and free men of colour, had ordered similar experiments to bemade at the expense of Government. M. De Richeprey, who was appointedby M. De Lafayette to superintend the partition of the lands among theblacks, died from the effects of the climate at Cayenne. )

The Conquest on the continent of Spanish America and the slave-tradein the West Indies, in Brazil, and in the southern parts of the UnitedStates, have brought together the most heterogeneous elements ofpopulation. This strange mixture of Indians, whites, negroes, mestizos, mulattoes and zambos is accompanied by all the perils whichviolent and disorderly passion can engender, at those critical periodswhen society, shaken to its very foundations, begins a new era. Atthose junctures, the odious principle of the Colonial System, that ofsecurity, founded on the hostility of castes, and prepared duringages, has burst forth with violence. Fortunately the number of blackshas been so inconsiderable in the new states of the Spanish continentthat, with the exception of the cruelties exercised in Venezuela, where the royalist party armed their slaves, the struggle between theindependents and the soldiers of the mother country was not stained bythe vengeance of the captive population. The free men of colour(blacks, mulattoes and mestizoes) have warmly espoused the nationalcause; and the copper-coloured race, in its timid distrust andpassiveness, has taken no part in movements from which it must profitin spite of itself. The Indians, long before the revolution, were poorand free agriculturists; isolated by their language and manners theylived apart from the whites. If, in contempt of Spanish laws, thecupidity of the corregidores and the tormenting system of themissionaries often restricted their liberty, that state of vexatiousoppression was far different from personal slavery like that of theslavery of the blacks, or of the vassalage of the peasantry in theSclavonian part of Europe. It is the small number of blacks, it is theliberty of the aboriginal race, of which America has preserved morethan eight millions and a half without mixture of foreign blood, thatcharacterizes the ancient continental possessions of Spain, andrenders their moral and political situation entirely different fromthat of the West Indies, where, by the disproportion between the freemen and the slaves, the principles of the Colonial System have beendeveloped with more energy. In the West Indian archipelago as inBrazil (two portions of America which contain near 3, 200, 000 slaves)the fear of [?] among the blacks, and the perils that surround thewhites, have been hitherto the most powerful causes of the security ofthe mother countries and of the maintenance of the Portuguese dynasty. Can this security, from its nature, be of long duration? Does itjustify the inertness of governments who neglect to remedy the evilwhile it is yet time? I doubt this. When, under the influence ofextraordinary circumstances, alarm is mitigated, when countries inwhich the accumulation of slaves has produced in society the fatalmixture of heterogeneous elements may be led, perhaps unwillingly, into an exterior struggle, civil dissensions will break forth in alltheir violence and European families, innocent of an order of thingswhich they have had no share in creating, will be exposed to the mostimminent dangers. 

We can never sufficiently praise the legislative wisdom of the newrepublics of Spanish America which, since their birth, have beenseriously intent on the total extinction of slavery. That vast portionof the earth has, in this respect, an immense advantage over thesouthern part of the United States, where the whites, during thestruggle with England, established liberty for their own profit, andwhere the slave population, to the number of 1, 600, 000, augments stillmore rapidly than the whites. * (* In 1769, forty-six years before thedeclaration of the Congress at Vienna, and thirty-eight years beforethe abolition of the slave-trade, decreed in London and at Washington, the Chamber of Representatives of Massachusetts had declared itselfagainst "the unnatural and unwarrantable custom of enslaving mankind. "See Walsh's Appeal to the United States, 1819 page 312. The Spanishwriter, Avendano, was perhaps the first who declaimed forcibly notonly against the slave-trade, abhorred even by the Afghans(Elphinstone's Journey to Cabul page 245), but against slavery ingeneral, and "all the iniquitous sources of colonial wealth. "Thesaurus Ind. Tom. 1 tit. 9 cap. 2. ) If civilization, instead ofextending, were to change its place; if, after great and deplorableconvulsions in Europe, America, between Cape Hatteras and theMissouri, were to become the principal seat of the light ofChristianity, what a spectacle would be presented by that centre ofcivilization, where, in the sanctuary of liberty, we could attend asale of negroes after the death of a master, and hear the sobbings ofparents who are separated from their children! Let us hope that thegenerous principles which have so long animated the legislatures ofthe northern parts of the United States will extend by degreessouthward and towards those western regions where, by the effect of animprudent and fatal law, slavery and its iniquities have passed thechain of the Alleghenies and the banks of the Mississippi: let us hopethat the force of public opinion, the progress of knowledge, thesoftening of manners, the legislation of the new continental republicsand the great and happy event of the recognition of Hayti by theFrench government, will, either from motives of prudence and fear, orfrom more noble and disinterested sentiments, exercise a happyinfluence on the amelioration of the state of the blacks in the restof the West Indies, in the Carolinas, Guiana, and Brazil. 

In order to slacken gradually the bonds of slavery the laws againstthe slave-trade must be most strictly enforced, and punishmentsinflicted for their infringement; mixed tribunals must be formed, andthe right of search exercised with equitable reciprocity. It ismelancholy to learn that, owing to the culpable indifference of someof the governments of Europe, the slave-trade (more cruel from havingbecome more secret) has dragged from Africa, within ten years, almostthe same number of negroes as before 1807; but we must not from thisfact infer the inutility, or, as the secret partisans of slaveryassert, the practical impossibility of the beneficent measures adoptedfirst by Denmark, the United States and Great Britain, andsuccessively by all the rest of Europe. What passed from 1807 till thetime when France recovered possession of her ancient colonies, andwhat passes in our days in nations whose governments sincerely desirethe abolition of the slave-trade and its abominable practices, provesthe fallacy of this conclusion. Besides, is it reasonable to comparenumerically the importation of slaves in 1825 and in 1806? With theactivity prevailing in every enterprise of industry, what an increasewould the importation of negroes have taken in the English West Indiesand the southern provinces of the United States if the slave-trade, entirely free, had continued to supply new slaves, and had renderedthe care of their preservation and the increase of the old population, superfluous? Can we believe that the English trade would have beenlimited, as in 1806, to the sale of 53, 000 slaves; and that of theUnited States, to the sale of 15, 000? It is pretty well ascertainedthat the English islands received in the 106 years preceding 1786 morethan 2, 130, 000 negroes, forcibly carried from the coast of Africa. Atthe period of the French revolution, the slave-trade furnished(according to Mr. Norris) 74, 000 slaves annually, of which the Englishcolonies absorbed 38, 000, and the French 20, 000. It would be easy toprove that the whole of the West Indian archipelago, which nowcomprises scarcely 2, 400, 000 negroes and mulattoes (free and slaves), received, from 1670 to 1825, nearly 5, 000, 000 of Africans. Theserevolting calculations respecting the consumption of the human speciesdo not include the number of unfortunate slaves who have perished inthe passage or have been thrown into the sea as damaged merchandize. *(* Volume 7 page 151. See also the eloquent speech of the Duke deBroglie, March 28th, 1822 pages 40, 43 and 96. ) By how many thousandsmust we have augmented the loss, if the two nations most distinguishedfor ardour and intelligence in the development of commerce andindustry, the English and the inhabitants of the United States, hadcontinued, from 1807, to carry on the trade as freely as some othernations of Europe? Sad experience has proved how much the treaties ofthe 15th July, 1814, and of the 22nd January, 1815, by which Spain andPortugal reserved to themselves the trade in blacks during a certainnumber of years, have been fatal to humanity. 

The local authorities, or rather the rich proprietors, forming theAyuntamiento of the Havannah, the Consulado and the Patriotic Society, have on several occasions shown a disposition favourable to theamelioration of the condition of the slaves. * (* Dicen nuestros Indiosdel Rio Caura cuando se confiesan que ya entienden que es pecadocorner carne humana; pero piden qua se les permita desacostumbrarsepoco a poco; quieren comer la carne humana una vez al mes, despuescada tres meses, hasta qua sin sentirlo pierdan la costumbre. Cartasde los Rev Padres Observantes Number 7 manuscript. [Our negroes of theRiver Caura say, when they confess, that they know it is sinful to eathuman flesh; they beg to be permitted to break themselves of thecustom, little by little: they wish to eat human flesh once a month, and afterwards once every three months, until they feel they havecured themselves of the practice. ]) If the government of themother-country, instead of dreading the least appearance ofinnovation, had taken advantage of those propitious circumstances, andof the ascendancy of some men of abilities over their countrymen, thestate of society would have undergone progressive changes; and in ourdays, the inhabitants of the island of Cuba would have enjoyed some ofthe improvements which have been under discussion for the space ofthirty years. The movement at Saint Domingo in 1790 and those whichtook place in Jamaica in 1794 caused so great an alarm among thehaciendados of the island of Cuba that in a Junta economica it waswarmly debated what measure could be adopted to secure thetranquillity of the country. Regulations were made respecting thepursuit of fugitive slaves, * which, till then, had given rise to themost revolting excesses (* Reglamento sobre los Negros Cimmarrones de26 de Dec. De 1796. Before the year 1788 there were great numbers offugitive negroes (cimmarones) in the mountains of Jaruco, where theywere sometimes apalancados, that is, where several of thoseunfortunate creatures formed small intrenchments for their commondefence by heaping up trunks of trees. The maroon negroes, born inAfrica (bozales), are easily taken; for the greater number, in thevain hope of finding their native land, march day and night in thedirection of the east. When taken they are so exhausted by fatigue andhunger that they are only saved by giving them, during several days, very small quantities of soup. The creole maroon negroes concealthemselves by day in the woods and steal provisions during the night. Till 1790, the right of taking the fugitive negroes belonged only tothe Alcalde mayor provincial, an hereditary office in the family ofthe Count de Bareto. At present any of the inhabitants can seize themaroons and the proprietor of the slave pays four piastres per head, besides the food. If the name of the master is not known, theConsulado employs the maroon negro in the public works. Thisman-hunting, which, at Hayti and Jamaica, has given so much fatalcelebrity to the dogs of Cuba, was carried on in the most cruel mannerbefore the regulation which I have mentioned above. ); it was proposedto augment the number of negresses on the sugar estates, to directmore attention to the education of children, to diminish theintroduction of African negroes, to bring white planters from theCanaries, and Indian planters from Mexico, to establish countryschools with the view of improving the manners of the lower class, andto mitigate slavery in an indirect way. These propositions had not thedesired effect. The junta opposed every system of immigration, and themajority of the proprietors, indulging their old illusions ofsecurity, would not restrain the slave-trade when the high price ofthe produce gave a hope of extraordinary profit. It would, however, beunjust not to acknowledge in this struggle between private interestsand the views of wise policy, the desires and the principlesmanifested by some inhabitants of the island of Cuba, either in theirown name or in the name of some rich and powerful corporations. "Thehumanity of our legislation, " says M. D'Arango nobly, * in a memoirwritten in 1796 (* Informe sobre negros fugitives (de 9 de Junio de1769), par Don Francisco de Arango y Pareno, Oidor honorario y syndicodel Consulado. ), "grants the slave four rights (quatro consuelos)which somewhat assuage his sufferings and which have always beenrefused him by a foreign policy. These rights are, the choice of amaster less severe* (* The right of buscar amo. When a slave has founda new master who will purchase him, he may quit the master of whom hehas to complain; such is the sense and spirit of a law, beneficent, though often eluded, as are all the laws that protect the slaves. Inthe hope of enjoying the privilege of buscar amo, the blacks oftenaddress to the travellers they meet, a question, which in civilizedEurope, where a vote or an opinion is sometimes sold, is moreequivocally expressed; Quiere Vm comprarme? [Will you buy me, Sir?]);the privilege of marrying according to his own inclination; thepossibility of purchasing his liberty* by his labour (* A slave in theSpanish colonies ought, according to law, to be estimated at thelowest price; this estimate, at the time of my journey, was, accordingto the locality, from 200 to 380 piastres. In 1825 the price of anadult negro at the island of Cuba, was 450 piastres. In 1788 theFrench trade furnished a negro for 280 to 300 piastres. A slave amongthe Greeks cost 300 to 600 drachmes (54 to 108 piastres), when theday-labourer was paid one-tenth of a piastre. While the Spanish lawsand institutions favour manumission in every way, the master, in theother islands, pays the fiscal, for every freed slave, five to sevenhundred piastres!), and of paying, with an acquired property, for theliberty of his wife and children. * (* What a contrast is observablebetween the humanity of the most ancient Spanish laws concerningslavery, and the traces of barbarism found in every page of the BlackCode and in some of the provincial laws of the English islands! Thelaws of Barbadoes, made in 1686, and those of Bermuda, in 1730, decreed that the master who killed his negro in chastising him, couldnot even be sued, while the master who killed his slave wilfullyshould pay ten pounds sterling to the royal treasury. A law of saintChristopher's, of March 11th, 1784, begins with these words: "Whereassome persons have of late been guilty of cutting off and deprivingslaves of their ears, we order that whoever shall extirpate an eye, tear out the tongue, or cut off the nose of a slave, shall pay fivehundred pounds sterling, and be condemned to six months imprisonment. "It is unnecessary to add that these English laws, which were in forcethirty or forty years ago, are abolished and superseded by laws morehumane. Why can I not say as much of the legislation of the Frenchislands, where six young slaves, suspected of an intention to escape, were condemned, by a sentence pronounced in 1815, to have theirhamstrings cut!) Notwithstanding the wisdom and mildness of Spanishlegislation, to how many excesses the slave is exposed in the solitudeof a plantation or a farm, where a rude capatez, armed with a cutlass(machete) and a whip, exercises absolute authority with impunity! Thelaw neither limits the punishment of the slave, nor the duration oflabour; nor does it prescribe the quality and quantity of his food. *(* A royal cedula of May 31st, 1789 had attempted to regulate the foodand clothing; but that cedula was never executed. ) It permits theslave, it is true, to have recourse to a magistrate, in order that hemay enjoin the master to be more equitable; but this recourse isnearly illusory; for there exists another law according to which everyslave may be arrested and sent back to his master who is found withoutpermission at the distance of a league and a half from the plantationto which he belongs. How can a slave, whipped, exhausted by hunger, and excess of labour, find means to appear before the magistrate? andif he did reach him, how would he be defended against a powerfulmaster who calls the hired accomplices of his cruelties as witnesses. "

In conclusion I may quote a very remarkable extract from theRepresentacion del Ayuntamiento, Consulado, y Sociedad patriotica, dated July 20th, 1811. "In all that relates to the changes to beintroduced in the captive class, there is much less question of ourfears on the diminution of agricultural wealth, than of the securityof the whites, so easy to be compromised by imprudent measures. Besides, those who accuse the consulate and the municipality of theHavannah of obstinate resistance forget that, in the year 1799, thesame authorities proposed fruitlessly that the government would divertattention to the state of the blacks in the island of Cuba (delarreglo de este delicado asunto. ) Further, we are far from adoptingthe maxims which the nations of Europe, who boast of theircivilization, have regarded as incontrovertible; that, for instance, without slaves there could be no colonies. We declare, on thecontrary, that without slaves, and even without blacks, colonies mighthave existed, and that the whole difference would have been comprisedin more or less profit, by the more or less rapid increase of theproducts. But such being our firm persuasion, we ought also to remindyour Majesty that a social organization into which slavery has beenintroduced as an element cannot be changed with inconsiderateprecipitation. We are far from denying that it was an evil contrary toall moral principles to drag slaves from one continent to another;that it was a political error not to have listened to theremonstrances of Ovando, the governor of Hispaniola, who complained ofthe introduction and accumulation of so many slaves in proximity witha small number of free men; but, these evils being now inveterate, weought to avoid rendering our position and that of our slaves worse, bythe employment of violent means. What we ask of your Majesty isconformable to the wish proclaimed by one of the most ardentprotectors of the rights of humanity, by the most determined enemy ofslavery; we desire, like him, that the civil laws should deliver us atthe same time from abuses and dangers. "

On the solution of this problem depends, in the West India Islandsonly, and exclusive of the republic of Hayti, the security of 875, 000free men (whites and men of colour* (* Namely: 452, 000 whites, ofwhich 342, 000 are in the two Spanish Islands (Cuba and Porto Rico), and 423, 000 free men of colour, mulattoes, and blacks. )) and themitigation of the sufferings of 1, 150, 000 slaves. It is evident thatthese objects can never be attained by peaceful means, without theconcurrence of the local authorities, either colonial assemblies, ormeetings of proprietors designated by less dreaded names, by the oldparent state. The direct influence of the authorities isindispensable; and it is a fatal error to believe that we may leave itto time to act. Time will act simultaneously on the slaves, on therelations between the islands and the inhabitants of the continent, and on events which cannot be controlled, when they have been waitedfor with the inaction of apathy. Wherever slavery is long established, the increase of civilization solely has less influence on thetreatment of slaves than many are disposed to admit. The civilizationof a nation seldom extends to a great number of individuals; and doesnot reach those who in the plantations are in immediate contact withthe blacks. I have known very humane proprietors shrink from thedifficulties that arise in the great plantations; they hesitate todisturb established order, to make innovations, which, if notsimultaneous, not supported by the legislation, or (which would bemore powerful) by public feeling, would fail in their end, and perhapsaggravate the wretchedness of those whose sufferings they were meantto alleviate. These considerations retard the good that might beeffected by men animated by the most benevolent intentions, and whodeplore the barbarous institutions which have devolved to them byinheritance. They well know that to produce an essential change in thestate of the slaves, to lead them progressively to the enjoyment ofliberty, requires a firm will on the part of the local authorities, the concurrence of wealthy and enlightened citizens, and a generalplan in which all chances of disorder and means of repression arewisely calculated. Without this community of action and effortslavery, with its miseries and excesses, will survive as it did inancient Rome, * along with elegance of manners, progressiveintelligence, and all the charms of the civilization which itspresence accuses, and which it threatens to destroy, whenever the hourof vengeance shall arrive. (* The argument deduced from thecivilization of Rome and Greece in favour of slavery is much in voguein the West Indies, where sometimes we find it adorned with all thegraces of erudition. Thus, in speeches delivered in 1795, in theLegislative Assembly of Jamaica, it was alleged that from the exampleof elephants having been employed in the wars of Pyrrhus and Hannibal, it could not be blamable to have brought a hundred dogs and fortyhunters from the island of Cuba to hunt the maroon negroes. BryanEdwards volume 1 page 570. ) Civilization, or slow nationaldemoralization, merely prepare the way for future events; but toproduce great changes in the social state there must be a coincidenceof certain events, the period of the occurrence of which cannot becalculated. Such is the complication of human destiny, that the samecruelties which tarnished the conquest of America have been re-enactedbefore our own eyes in times which we suppose to be characterized byvast progress, information and general refinement of manners. Withinthe interval embraced by the span of one life we have seen the reignof terror in France, the expedition to St. Domingo, * (* The NorthAmerican Review for 1821 Number 30 contains the following passage:Conflicts with slaves fighting for their freedom are not only dreadfulon account of the atrocities to which they give rise on both sides;but even after freedom has been gained they help to confound everysentiment of justice and injustice. Some planters are condemning todeath all the male negro population above six years of age. Theyaffirm that those who have not borne arms will be contaminated by theexample of those who have been fighting. This merciless act is theconsequence of the result of the continued misfortunes of thecolonies. Charault, Reflexions sur Saint Domingue. ), the politicalre-action in Naples and Spain, I may also add, the massacres of Chio, Ipsara and Missolonghi, the work of the barbarians of Eastern Europe, which the civilized nations of the north and west did not deem ittheir duty to prevent. In slave countries, where the effect of longhabit tends to legitimize institutions the most adverse to justice, itis vain to count on the influence of information, of intellectualculture, or refinement of manners, except in as much as all thosebenefits accelerate the impulse given by governments and facilitatethe execution of measures once adopted. Without the directive actionof governments and legislatures a peaceful revolution is a thing notto be hoped for. The danger becomes the more imminent when a generalinquietude pervades the public mind; when amidst the politicaldissensions of neighbouring countries the faults and the duties ofgovernments have been revealed: in such cases tranquillity can berestored only by a ruling authority which, in the noble consciousnessof its power and right, sways events by entering itself on the careerof improvement. 

CHAPTER 3. 32. 

GEOGNOSTIC DESCRIPTION OF SOUTH AMERICA, NORTH OF THE RIVER AMAZON, AND EAST OF THE MERIDIAN OF THE SIERRA NEVADA DE MERIDA. 

The object of this memoir is to concentrate the geologicalobservations which I collected during my journeys among the mountainsof New Andalusia and Venezuela, on the banks of the Orinoco and in theLlanos of Barcelona, Calabozo and the Apure; consequently, from thecoast of the Caribbean Sea to the valley of the Amazon, between 2 and10 1/2 degrees north latitude. 

The extent of country which I traversed in different directions wasmore than 15, 400 square leagues. It has already formed the subject ofa geological sketch, traced hastily on the spot, after my return fromthe Orinoco, and published in 1801. At that period the direction ofthe Cordillera on the coast of Venezuela and the existence of theCordillera of Parime were unknown in Europe. No measure of altitudehad been attempted beyond the province of Quito; no rock of SouthAmerica had been named; there existed no description of thesuperposition of rocks in any region of the tropics. Under thesecircumstances an essay tending to prove the identity of the formationsof the two hemispheres could not fail to excite interest. The study ofthe collections which I brought back with me, and four years ofjourneying in the Andes, have enabled me to rectify my first views, and to extend an investigation which, by reason of its novelty, hadbeen favourably received. That the most remarkable geologicalrelations may be the more easily seized, I shall treat aphoristically, in different sections, the configuration of the soil, the generaldivision of the land, the direction and inclination of the beds andthe nature of the primitive, intermediary, secondary and tertiaryrocks. 

SECTION 1. 

 Configuration of the Country. Inequalities of the Soil. Chains and Groups of Mountains. Divisionary Ridges. Plains or Llanos. 

South America is one of those great triangular masses which form thethree continental parts of the southern hemisphere of the globe. Inits exterior configuration it resembles Africa more than Australia. The southern extremities of the three continents are so placed that, in sailing from the Cape of Good Hope (latitude 33 degrees 55 minutes)to Cape Horn (latitude 55 degrees 58 minutes), and doubling thesouthern point of Van Diemen's Land (latitude 43 degrees 38 minutes), we see those lands stretching out towards the south pole in proportionas we advance eastward. A fourth part of the 571, 000 square sealeagues* (* Almost double the extent of Europe. ) which South Americacomprises is covered with mountains distributed in chains or gatheredtogether in groups. The other parts are plains forming longuninterrupted bands covered with forests or gramina, flatter than inEurope, and rising progressively, at the distance of 300 leagues fromthe coast, between 30 and 170 toises above the level of the sea. Themost considerable mountainous chain in South America extends fromsouth to north according to the greatest dimension of the continent;it is not central like the European chains, nor far removed from thesea-shore, like the Himalaya and the Hindoo-Koosh; but it is throwntowards the western extremity of the continent, almost on the coast ofthe Pacific Ocean. Referring to the profile which I have given* of theconfiguration of South America (* Map of Columbia according to theastronomical observations of Humboldt by A. H. Brue 1823. ), in thelatitude of Chimborazo and Grand Para, across the plains of theAmazon, we find the land low towards the east, in an inclined plane, at an angle of less than 25 seconds on a length of 600 leagues; andif, in the ancient state of our planet, the Atlantic Ocean, by someextraordinary cause, ever rose to 1100 feet above its present level (aheight one-third less than the table-lands of Spain and Bavaria), thewaves must, in the province of Jaen de Bracamoros, have broken uponthe rocks that bound the eastern declivity of the Cordilleras of theAndes. The rising of this ridge is so inconsiderable compared to thewhole continent that its breadth in the parallel of Cape Saint Rocheis 1400 times greater than the average height of the Andes. 

We distinguish in the mountainous part of South America a chain andthree groups of mountains, namely, the Cordillera of the Andes, whichthe geologist may trace without interruption from Cape Pilares, in thewestern part of the Straits of Magellan, to the promontory of Pariaopposite the island of Trinidad; the insulated group of the SierraNevada de Santa Marta; the group of the mountains of the Orinoco, orof La Parime; and that of the mountains of Brazil. The Sierra de SantaMarta being nearly in the meridian of the Cordilleras of Peru and NewGrenada, the snowy summits descried by navigators in passing the mouthof the Rio Magdalena are commonly mistaken for the northern extremityof the Andes. I shall soon prove that the colossal group of the Sierrade Santa Marta is almost entirely separate from the mountains of Ocanaand Pamplona which belong to the eastern Cordillera of New Grenada. The hot plains through which runs the Rio Cesar, and which extendtowards the valley of Upar, separate the Sierra Nevada from the Paramode Cacota, south of Pamplona. The ridge which divides the watersbetween the gulf of Maracaibo and the Rio Magdalena is in the plain onthe east of the Laguna Zapatoza. If, on the one hand, the Sierra deSanta Marta has been erroneously considered (on account of its eternalsnow, and its longitude) to be a continuation of the Cordillera of theAndes, on the other hand, the connexion of that same Cordillera withthe coast mountains of the provinces of Cumana and Caracas has notbeen recognized. The littoral chain of Venezuela, of which thedifferent ranges form the Montana de Paria, the isthmus of Araya, theSilla of Caracas and the gneiss-granite mountains north and south ofthe lake of Valencia, is joined between Porto Cabello, San Felipe andTocuyo to the Paramos de las Rosas and Niquitao, which form thenorth-east extremity of the Sierra de Merida, and the easternCordillera of the Andes of New Grenada. It is sufficient here tomention this connexion, so important in a geological point of view;for the denominations of Andes and Cordilleras being altogether indisuse as applied to the chains of mountains extending from theeastern gulf of Maracaibo to the promontory of Paria, we shallcontinue to designate those chains (stretching from west to east) bythe names of littoral chain, or coast-chain of Venezuela. 

Of the three insulated groups of mountains, that is to say, thosewhich are not branches of the Cordillera of the Andes and itscontinuation towards the shore of Venezuela, one is on the north, andthe other two on the west of the Andes: that on the north is theSierra Nevada de Santa Marta; the two others are the Sierra de laParime, between 4 and 8 degrees of north latitude, and the mountainsof Brazil, between 15 and 28 degrees south latitude. This singulardistribution of great inequalities of soil produces three plains orbasins, comprising a surface of 420, 600 square leagues, or four-fifthsof all South America, east of the Andes. Between the coast-chain ofVenezuela and the group of the Parime, the plains of the Apure and theLower Orinoco extend; between the group of Parime and the Brazilmountains are the plains of the Amazon, of the Rio Negro and theMadeira, and between the groups of Brazil and the southern extremityof the continent are the plains of Rio de la Plata and of Patagonia. As the group of the Parime in Spanish Guiana, and of the Brazilmountains (or of Minas Geraes and Goyaz), do not join the Cordilleraof the Andes of New Grenada and Upper Peru towards the west, the threeplains of the Lower Orinoco, the Amazon, and the Rio de la Plata, areconnected by land-straits of considerable breadth. These straits arealso plains stretching from north to south, and traversed by ridgesimperceptible to the eye but forming divortia aquarum. These ridges(and this remarkable phenomenon has hitherto escaped the attention ofgeologists) are situated between 2 and 3 degrees north latitude, and16 and 18 degrees south latitude. The first ridge forms the partitionof the waters which fall into the Lower Orinoco on the north-east, andinto the Rio Negro and the Amazon on the south and south-east; thesecond ridge divides the tributary streams of the right bank of theAmazon and the Rio de la Plata. These ridges, of which the existenceis only manifested, as in Volhynia, by the course of the waters, areparallel with the coast-chain of Venezuela; they present, as it were, two systems of counter-slopes partially developed, in the directionfrom west to east, between the Guaviare and the Caqueta, and betweenthe Mamori and the Pilcomayo. It is also worthy of remark that in thesouthern hemisphere the Cordillera of the Andes sends an immensecounterpoise eastward in the promontory of the Sierra Nevada deCochabamba, whence begins the ridge stretching between the tributarystreams of the Madeira and the Paraguay to the lofty group of themountains of Brazil or Minas Geraes. Three transversal chains (thecoast-mountains of Venezuela, of the Orinoco or Parime, and the Brazilmountains) tend to join the longitudinal chain (the Andes) either byan intermediary group (between the lake of Valencia and Tocuyo), or byridges formed by the intersection of counter-slopes in the plains. Thetwo extremities of the three Llanos which communicate by land-straits, the Llanos of the Lower Orinoco, the Amazon, and the Rio de la Plataor of Buenos Ayres, are steppes covered with gramina, while theintermediary Llano (that of the Amazon) is a thick forest. Withrespect to the two land-straits forming bands directed from north tosouth (from the Apure to Caqueta across the Provincia de los Llanos, and the sources of the Mamori to Rio Pilcomayo, across the province ofMocos and Chiquitos) they are bare and grassy steppes like the plainsof Caracas and Buenos Ayres. 

In the immense extent of land east of the Andes, comprehending morethan 480, 000 square sea leagues, of which 92, 000 are a mountainoustract of country, no group rises to the region of perpetual snow; noneeven attains the height of 1400 toises. This lowering of the mountainsin the eastern region of the New Continent extends as far as 60degrees north latitude; while in the western part, on the prolongationof the Cordillera of the Andes, the highest Summits rise in Mexico(latitude 18 degrees 59 minutes) to 2770 toises, and in the RockyMountains (latitude 37 to 40 degrees) to 1900 toises. The insulatedgroup of the Alleghenies, corresponding in its eastern position anddirection with the Brazil group, does not exceed 1040 toises. * (* Theculminant point of the Alleghenies is Mount Washington in NewHampshire, latitude 44 1/4 degrees. According to Captain Partridge itsheight is 6634 English feet. ) The lofty summits, therefore, thriceexceeding the height of Mont Blanc, belong only to the longitudinalchain which bounds the basin of the Pacific Ocean, from 55 degreessouth to 68 degrees north latitude, that is to say, the Cordillera ofthe Andes. The only insulated group that can be compared with thesnowy summits of the equinoctial Andes, and which attains the heightof nearly 3000 toises, is the Sierra de Santa Marta; it is notsituated on the east of the Cordilleras, but between the prolongationof two of their branches, those of Merida and Veragua. TheCordilleras, where they bound the Caribbean Sea, in that part which wedesignate by the name of Coast Chain of Venezuela, do not attain theextraordinary height (2500 toises) which they reach in theirprolongation towards Chita and Merida. Considering separately thegroups of the east, those of the shore of Venezuela, of the Parime, and Brazil, we see their height diminish from north to south. Thehighest summits of each group are the Silla de Caracas (1350 toises), the peak of Duida (1300 toises), the Itacolumi and the Itambe* (900toises). (* According to the measure of MM. Spix and Martius theItambe de Villa de Principe is 5590 feet high. ) But, as I haveelsewhere observed, it would be erroneous to judge the height of achain of mountains solely from that of the most lofty summits. Thepeak of the Himalayas, accurately measured, is 676 toises higher thanChimborazo (* The Peak Iewahir, latitude 30 degrees 22 minutes 19seconds; longitude 77 degrees 35 minutes 7 seconds east of Paris, height 4026 toises, according to MM. Hodgson and Herbert. ); Chimborazois 900 toises higher than Mont Blanc; and Mont Blanc 653 toises higherthan the peak of Nethou. * (* This peak, called also peak of Anethou orMalahita, or eastern peak of Maladetta, is the highest summit of thePyrenees. It rises 1787 toises and consequently exceeds Mont Perdu by40 toises. ) These differences do not furnish the relative averageheights of the Himalayas, the Andes, the Alps and the Pyrenees, thatis, the height of the back of the mountains, on which arise the peaks, needles, pyramids, or rounded domes. It is that part of the back wherepasses are made, which furnishes a precise measure of the minimum ofthe height of the great chains. In comparing the whole of my measureswith those of Moorcroft, Webb, Hodgson, Saussure and Ramond, Iestimate the average height of the top of the Himalayas, between themeridians of 75 and 77 degrees, at 2450 toises; the Andes* (at Peru, Quito and New Grenada), at 1850 toises (* In the passage of Quindiu, between the valley of the Magdalena and that of the Rio Cauca, I foundthe culminant point (la Garita del Parama) to be 1798 toises; it ishowever, regarded as one of the least elevated. The passages of theAndes of Guanacas, Guamani and Micuipampa, are respectively 2300, 1713, and 1817 toises above sea-level. Even in 33 degrees southlatitude the road across the Andes between Mendoza and Valparaiso is1987 toises high. I do not mention the Col de l'Assuay, where Ipassed, near la Ladera de Cadlud, on a ridge 2428 toises high, becauseit is a passage on a transverse ridge joining two parallel chains. );the summit of the Alps and Pyrenees at 1150 toises. The difference ofthe mean height of the Cordilleras (between 5 degrees north and 2degrees south latitude) and the Swiss Alps, is consequently 200 toisesless than the difference of their loftiest summits; and in comparingthe passes of the Alps, we see that their average height is nearly thesame, although peak Nethou is 600 toises lower than Mont Blanc andMont Rosa. Between the Himalaya* (* The passes of the Himalaya thatlead from Chinese Tartary into Hindostan (Nitee-Ghaut, Bamsaru, etc. )are from 2400 to 2700 toises high. ) and the Andes, on the contrary, (considering those chains in the limits which I have just indicated), the difference between the mean height of the ridges and that of theloftiest summits presents nearly the same proportions. 

Taking an analogous view of the groups of mountains at the east of theAndes, we find the average height of the coast-chain of Venezuela tobe 750 toises; of the Sierra Parime, 500 toises; of the Braziliangroup, 400 toises; whence it follows that the mountains of the easternregion of South America between the tropics are, when compared to themedium elevation of the Andes, in the relation of one to three. 

The following is the result of some numerical statements, thecomparison of which affords more precise ideas on the structure ofmountains in general. * (* The Cols or passes indicate the minimum ofthe height to which the ridge of the mountains lowers in a particularcountry. Now, looking at the principal passes of the Alps ofSwitzerland (Col Terret, 1191 toises, Mont Cenis, 1060 toises; GreatSaint Bernard, 1246 toises; Simplon, 1029 toises; and on the neck ofthe Pyrenees, Benasque, 1231 toises; Pinede, 1291 toises; Gavarnic, 1197 toises; Cavarere, 1151 toises; it would be difficult to affirmthat the Pyrenees are lower than the average height of the SwissAlps. )

TABLE OF HEIGHTS OF VARIOUS RANGES. 

COLUMN 1 : NAMES OF THE CHAINS OF MOUNTAINS. COLUMN 2 : THE HIGHEST SUMMITS IN TOISES. COLUMN 3 : MEAN HEIGHT OF THE RIDGE IN TOISES. COLUMN 4 : PROPORTION OF THE MEAN HEIGHT OF THE RIDGES TO THAT A THEHIGHEST SUMMITS. 

Himalayas (between north latitude : 4026 : 2450 : 1 : 1. 6. 30 degrees 18 minutes and 31 degrees53 minutes, and longitude 75 degrees23 minutes and 77 degrees 38 minutes)

Cordillera of the Andes (between : 3350 : 1850 : 1 : 1. 8. Latitude 5 and 2 degrees south)

Alps of Switzerland : 2450 : 1150 : 1 : 2. 1. 

Pyrenees : 1787 : 1150 : 1 : 1. 5. 

Littoral Chain of Venezuela : 1350 : 750 : 1 : 1. 8. 

Group of the Mountains of the Parime : 1300 : 500 : 1 : 2. 6. 

Group of the Mountains of Brazil : 900 : 500 : 1 : 2. 3. 

If we distinguish among the mountains those which rise sporadically, and form small insulated systems, * (* As the groups of the Canaries, the Azores, the Sandwich Islands, the Monts-Dores, and the Euganeanmountains. ) and those that make part of a continued chain, * (* TheHimalayas, the Alps, and the Andes. ) we find that, notwithstanding theimmense height* of the summits of some insulated systems (* Among theinsulated systems, or sporadic mountains, Mowna-Roa is generallyregarded as the most elevated summit of the Sandwich Islands. Itsheight is computed at 2500 toises, and yet at some seasons it isentirely free from snow. An exact measure of this summit, situated invery frequented latitudes, has for 25 years been desired in vain bynaturalists and geologists. ), the culminant points of the whole globebelong to continuous chains--to the Cordilleras of Central Asia andSouth America. 

In that part of the Andes with which I am best acquainted, between 8degrees south latitude and 21 degrees north latitude, all the colossalsummits are of trachyte. It may almost be admitted as a general rulethat whenever the mass of mountains rises in that region of thetropics much above the limit of perpetual snow (2300 to 2470 toises), the rocks commonly called primitive (for instance, gneiss-granite ormica-slate) disappear, and the summits are of trachyte ortrappean-porphyry. I know only a few rare exceptions to this law, andthey occur in the Cordilleras of Quito where the Nevados of Conderastoand Cuvillan, situated opposite to the trachytic Chimborazo, arecomposed of mica-slate and contain veins of sulphuret of silver. Thusin the groups of detached mountains which rise abruptly from theplains the loftiest summits, such as Mowna-Roa, the Peak of Teneriffe, Etna and the Peak of the Azores, present only recent volcanic rocks. It would, however, be an error to extend that law to every othercontinent, and to admit, as a general rule, that, in every zone, thegreatest elevations have produced trachytic domes: gneiss-granite andmica-slate constitute the summits of the ridge, in the almostinsulated group of the Sierra Nevada of Grenada and the Peak ofMalhacen, * (* This peak, according to the survey of M. Clemente Roxas, is 1826 toises above the level of the sea, consequently 39 toiseshigher than the loftiest summit of the Pyrenees (the granitic peak ofNethou) and 83 toises lower than the trachytic peak of Teneriffe. TheSierra Nevada of Grenada forms a system of mountains of mica-slate, passing to gneiss and clay-slate, and containing shelves of euphotideand greenstone. ), as they also do in the continuous chain of the Alps, the Pyrenees and probably the Himalayas. * (* If we may judge from thespecimens of rocks collected in the gorges and passes of the Himalayasor rolled down by the torrents. ) These phenomena, discordant inappearance, are possibly all effects of the same cause: granite, gneiss, and all the so-styled primitive Neptunian mountains, maypossibly owe their origin to volcanic forces, as well as thetrachytes; but to forces of which the action resembles less thestill-burning volcanoes of our days, ejecting lava, which at themoment of its eruption comes immediately into contact with theatmospheric air; but it is not here my purpose to discuss this greattheoretic question. 

After having examined the general structure of South America accordingto considerations of comparative geology, I shall proceed to noticeseparately the different systems of mountains and plains, the mutualconnection of which has so powerful an influence on the state ofindustry and commerce in the nations of the New Continent. I shallgive only a general view of the systems situated beyond the limits ofthe region which forms the special object of this memoir. Geologybeing essentially founded on the study of the relations ofjuxtaposition and place, I could not treat of the littoral chain andthe chain of the Parime separately, without touching on the othersystems south and west of Venezuela. 

A. SYSTEMS OF MOUNTAINS. 

A. 1. CORDILLERAS OF THE ANDES. 

This is the most continuous, the longest, the most uniform in itsdirection from south to north and north-north-west, of any chain ofthe globe. It approaches the north and south poles at unequaldistances of from 22 to 33 degrees. Its development is from 2800 to3000 leagues (20 to a degree), a length equal to the distance fromCape Finisterre in Galicia to the north-east cape (Tschuktschoi-Noss)of Asia. Somewhat less than one half of this chain belongs to SouthAmerica, and runs along its western shores. North of the isthmus ofCupica and of Panama, after an immense lowering, it assumes theappearance of a nearly central ridge, forming a rocky dyke that joinsthe great continent of North America to the southern continent. Thelow lands on the east of the Andes of Guatimala and New Spain appearto have been overwhelmed by the ocean and now form the bottom of theCaribbean Sea. As the continent beyond the parallel of Florida againwidens towards the east, the Cordilleras of Durango and New Mexico, aswell as the Rocky Mountains, merely a continuation of thoseCordilleras, appear to be thrown still further westward, that is, towards the coast of the Pacific Ocean; but they still remain eight orten times more remote from it than in the southern hemisphere. We mayconsider as the two extremities of the Andes, the rock or graniticisland of Diego Ramirez, south of Cape Horn, and the mountains lyingat the mouth of Mackenzie River (latitude 69 degrees, longitude 1301/2 degrees), more than twelve degrees west of the greenstonemountains, known by the name of the Copper Mountains, visited byCaptain Franklin. The colossal peak of Saint Elias and that of MountFairweather, in New Norfolk, do not, properly speaking, belong to thenorthern prolongation of the Cordilleras of the Andes, but to aparallel chain (the maritime Alps of the north-west coast), stretchingtowards the peninsula of California, and connected by transversalridges with a mountainous land, between 45 and 53 degrees of latitude, with the Andes of New Mexico (Rocky Mountains). In South America themean breadth of the Cordillera of the Andes is from 18 to 22 leagues. *(* The breadth of this immense chain is a phenomenon well worthy ofattention. The Swiss Alps extend, in the Grisons and in the Tyrol, toa breadth of 36 and 40 leagues, both in the meridians of the lake atComo, the canton of Appenzell, and in the meridian of Bassano andTegernsee. ) It is only in the knots of the mountains, that is wherethe Cordillera is swelled by side-groups or divided into severalchains nearly parallel, and reuniting at intervals, for instance, onthe south of the lake of Titicaca, that it is more than 100 to 120leagues broad, in a direction perpendicular to its axis. The Andes ofSouth America bound the plains of the Orinoco, the Amazon, and the Riode la Plata, on the west, like a rocky wall raised across a crevice1300 leagues long, and stretching from south to north. This upheavedpart (if I may be permitted to use an expression founded on ageological hypothesis) comprises a surface of 58, 900 square leagues, between the parallel of Cape Pilesar and the northern Choco. To forman idea of the variety of rocks which this space may furnish for theobservation of the traveller, we must recollect that the Pyrenees, according to the observations of M. Charpentier, occupy only 768square sea leagues. 

The name of Andes in the Quichua language (which wants the consonantsd, f, and g) Antis, or Ante, appears to me to be derived from thePeruvian word anta, signifying copper or metal in general. Anta chacrasignifies mine of copper; antacuri, copper mixed with gold; and pucaanta, copper, or red metal. As the group of the Altai mountains* takesits name from the Turkish word altor or altyn (* Klaproth. Asiapolyglotta page 211. It appears to me less probable that the tribe ofthe Antis gave its name to the mountains of Peru. ), in the same mannerthe Cordilleras may have been termed "Copper-country, " or Anti-suyu, on account of the abundance of that metal, which the Peruviansemployed for their tools. The Inca Garcilasso, who was the son of aPeruvian princess, and who wrote the history of his native country inthe first years of the conquest, gives no etymology of the name of theAndes. He only opposes Anti-suyu, or the region of summits coveredwith eternal snow (ritiseca), to the plains or Yuncas, that is, to thelower region of Peru. The etymology of the name of the largestmountain chain of the globe cannot be devoid of interest to themineralogic geographer. 

The structure of the Cordillera of the Andes, that is, its divisioninto several chains nearly parallel, which are again joined by knotsof mountains, is very remarkable. On our maps this structure isindicated but imperfectly; and what La Condamine and Bouguer merelyguessed, during their long visit to the table-land of Quito, has beengeneralized and ill-interpreted by those who have described the wholechain according to the type of the equatorial Andes. The following isthe most accurate information I could collect by my own researches andan active correspondence of twenty years with the inhabitants ofSpanish America. The group of islands called Tierra del Fuego, inwhich the chain of the Andes begins, is a plain extending from CapeEspiritu Santo as far as the canal of San Sebastian. The country onthe west of this canal, between Cape San Valentino and Cape Pilares, is bristled with granitic mountains covered (from the Morro de SanAgueda to Cabo Redondo) with calcareous shells. Navigators havegreatly exaggerated the height of the mountains of Tierra del Fuego, among which there appears to be a volcano still burning. M. DeChurruca found the height of the western peak of Cape Pilares(latitude 52 degrees 45 minutes south) only 218 toises; even Cape Hornis probably not more than 500 toises* high. (* It is very distinctlyseen at the distance of 60 miles, which, without calculating theeffects of terrestrial refraction, would give it a height of 498toises. ) The plain extends on the northern shore of the Straits ofMagellan, from the Virgin's Cape to Cabo Negro; at the latter theCordilleras rise abruptly, and fill the whole space as far as CapeVictoria (latitude 52 degrees 22 minutes). The region between CapeHorn and the southern extremity of the continent somewhat resemblesthe origin of the Pyrenees between Cape Creux (near the gulf of Rosas)and the Col des Perdus. The height of the Patagonian chain is notknown; it appears, however, that no summit south of the parallel of 48degrees attains the elevation of the Canigou (1430 toises) which isnear the eastern extremity of the Pyrenees. In that southern country, where the summers are so cold and short, the limit of eternal snowmust lower at least as much as in the northern hemisphere, in Norway, in latitude 63 and 64 degrees; consequently below 800 toises. Thegreat breadth, therefore, of the band of snow that envelopes thesePatagonian summits, does not justify the idea which travellers form oftheir height in 40 degrees south latitude. As we advance towards theisland of Chiloe, the Cordilleras draw near the coast; and thearchipelago of Chonos or Huaytecas appears like the vestiges of animmense group of mountains overwhelmed by water. Narrow estuaries fillthe lower valleys of the Andes, and remind us of the fjords of Norwayand Greenland. We there find, running from south to north, the Nevadosde Maca (latitude 45 degrees 19 minutes), of Cuptano (latitude 44degrees 58 minutes), of Yanteles (latitude 43 degrees 52 minutes), ofCorcovado, Chayapirca (latitude 42 degrees 52 minutes) and of Llebean(latitude 41 degrees 49 minutes). The peak of Cuptana rises like thepeak of Teneriffe, from the bosom of the sea; but being scarcelyvisible at thirty-six or forty leagues distance, it cannot be morethan 1500 toises high. Corcovado, situated on the coast of thecontinent, opposite the southern point of the island of Chiloe, appears to be more than 1950 toises high; it is perhaps the loftiestsummit of the whole globe, south of the parallel of 42 degrees southlatitude. On the north of San Carlos de Chiloe, in the whole length ofChile to the desert of Atacama, the low western regions not havingbeen overwhelmed by floods, the Andes there appear farther from thecoast. The Abbe Molina affirms that the Cordilleras of Chile formthree parallel chains, of which the intermediary is the most elevated;but to prove that this division is far from general, it suffices torecollect the barometric survey made by MM. Bauza and Espinosa, in1794, between Mendoza and Santiago de Chile. The road leading from oneof those towns to the other, rises gradually from 700 to 1987 toises;and after passing the Col des Andes (La Cumbre, between the houses ofrefuge called Las Calaveras and Las Cuevas), it descends continuallyas far as the temperate valley of Santiago de Chile, of which thebottom is only 409 toises above the level of the sea. The same surveyhas made known the minimum of height at Chile of the lower limit ofsnow, in 33 degrees south latitude. The limit does not lower in summerto 2000 toises. * (* On the southern declivity of the Himalayas snowbegins (3 degrees nearer the equator) at 1970 toises. ) I think we mayconclude according to the analogy of the Snowy Mountains of Mexico andsouthern Europe, and considering the difference of the summertemperature of the two hemispheres, that the real Nevadas at Chile, inthe parallel of Valdivia (latitude 40 degrees), cannot be below 1300toises; in Valparaiso (latitude 33 degrees) not lower than 2000toises, and in that of Copiapo (latitude 27 degrees) not below 2200toises of height. These are the limit-numbers, the minimum ofelevation, which the ridge of the Andes of Chile must attain indifferent degrees of latitude, to enable their summits to rise abovethe line of perpetual snow. The numerical results which I have justmarked and which are founded on the laws of distribution of heat, havestill the same importance which they possessed at the time of mytravels in America; for there does not exist in the immense extent ofthe Andes, from 8 degrees south latitude to the Straits of Magellan, one Nevada of which the height above the sea-level has beendetermined, either by a simple geometric measure, or by the combinedmeans of barometric and geodesic measurements. 

Between 33 and 18 degrees south latitude, between the parallels ofValparaiso and Arica, the Andes present towards the east threeremarkable spurs, the Sierra de Cordova, the Sierra de Salta, and theNevados de Cochabamba. Travellers partly cross and partly go along theside of the Sierra de Cordova (between 33 and 31 degrees of latitude)in their way from Buenos Ayres to Mendoza; it may be said to be themost southern promontory which advances, in the Pampas, towards themeridian of 65 degrees; it gives birth to the great river known by thename of Desaguadero de Mendoza and extends from San Juan de laFrontera and San Juan de la Punta to the town of Cordova. The secondspur, called the Sierra de Salta and the Jujui, of which the greatestbreadth is 25 degrees of latitude, widens from the valley of Catamarcaand San Miguel del Tucuman, in the direction of the Rio Vermejo(longitude 64 degrees). Finally, the third and most majestic spur, theSierra Nevada de Cochabamba and Santa Cruz (from 22 to 17 1/2 degreesof latitude), is linked with the knot of the mountains of Porco. Itforms the points of partition (divortia aquarum, between the basin ofthe Amazon and that of the Rio de la Plata. The Cachimayo and thePilcomayo, which rise between Potosi, Talavera de la Puna, and LaPlata or Chuquisaca, run in the direction of south-east, while theParapiti and the Guapey (Guapaiz, or Rio de Mizque) pour their watersinto the Mamori, to north-east. The ridge of partition being nearChayanta, south of Mizque, Tomina and Pomabamba, nearly on thesouthern declivity of the Sierra de Cochabamba in latitude 19 and 20degrees, the Rio Guapey flows round the whole group, before it reachesthe plains of the Amazon, as in Europe the Poprad, a tributary of theVistula, makes a circuit in its course from the southern part of theCarpathians to the plains of Poland. I have already observed above, that where the mountains cease (west* of the meridian of 66 1/2degrees (* I agree with Captain Basil Hall, in fixing the port ofValparaiso in 71 degrees 31 minutes west of Greenwich, and I placeCordova 8 degrees 40 minutes, and Santa Cruz de la Sierra 7 degrees 4minutes east of Valparaiso. The longitudes mentioned in the text referalways to the meridian of the Observatory of Paris. )) the partitionridge of Cochabamba goes up towards the north-east, to 16 degrees oflatitude, forming, by the intersection of two slightly inclinedplanes, only one ridge amidst the savannahs, and separating the watersof the Guapore, a tributary of the Madeira, from those of the Aguapehyand Jauru, tributaries of the Rio Paraguay. This vast country betweenSanta Cruz de la Sierra, Villabella, and Matogrosso, is one of theleast known parts of South America. The two spurs of Cordova and Saltapresent only a mountainous territory of small elevation, and linked tothe foot of the Andes of Chile. Cochabamba, on the contrary, attainsthe limit of perpetual snow (2300 toises) and forms in some sort alateral branch of the Cordilleras, diverging even from their topsbetween La Paz and Oruro. The mountains composing this branch (theCordillera de Chiriguanaes, de los Sauces and Yuracarees) extendregularly from west to east; their eastern declivity* is very rapid, and their loftiest summits are not in the centre, but in the northernpart of the group. (* For much information concerning the Sierra deCochabamba I am indebted to the manuscripts of my countryman, thecelebrated botanist Taddeus Haenke, which a monk of the congregationof the Escurial, Father Cisneros, kindly communicated to me at Lima. Mr. Haenke, after having followed the expedition of AlexanderMalaspina, settled at Cochabamba in 1798. A part of the immense herbalof this botanist is now at Prague. )

The principal Cordillera of Chile and Upper Peru is, for the firsttime, ramified very distinctly into two branches, in the group ofPorco and Potosi, between latitude 19 and 20 degrees. These twobranches comprehend the table-land extending from Carangas to Lamba(latitude 19 3/4 to 15 degrees) and in which is situated the smallmountain lake of Paria, the Desaguadero, and the great Laguna ofTiticaca or Chucuito, of which the western part bears the name ofVinamarca. To afford an idea of the colossal dimensions of the Andes, I may here observe that the surface of the lake of Titicaca alone (448square sea leagues) is twenty times greater than that of the Lake ofGeneva, and twice the average extent of a department of France. On thebanks of this lake, near Tiahuanacu, and in the high plains of Callao, ruins are found which bear evidence of a state of civilizationanterior to that which the Peruvians assign to the reign of the IncaManco Capac. The eastern Cordillera, that of La Paz, Palca, Ancuma, and Pelechuco, join, north-west of Apolobamba, the western Cordillera, which is the most extensive of the whole chain of the Andes, betweenthe parallels 14 and 15 degrees. The imperial city of Cuzco issituated near the eastern extremity of this knot, which comprehends, in an area of 3000 square leagues, the mountains of Vilcanota, Carabaya, Abancai, Huando, Parinacochas, and Andahuaylas. Though here, as in general, in every considerable widening of the Cordillera, thegrouped summits do not follow the principal axis in uniform andparallel directions, a phenomenon observable in the generaldisposition of the chain of the Andes, from latitude 18 degrees, iswell worthy the attention of geologists. The whole mass of theCordilleras of Chile and Upper Peru, from the Straits of Magellan tothe parallel of the port of Arica (18 degrees 28 minutes 35 seconds), runs from south to north, in the direction of a meridian at most 5degrees north-east; but from the parallel of Arica, the coast and thetwo Cordilleras east and west of the Alpine lake of Titicaca, abruptlychange their direction and incline to north-west. The Cordilleras ofAncuma and Moquehua, and the longitudinal valley, or rather the basinof Titicaca, which they inclose, take a direction north 42 degreeswest. Further on, the two branches again unite in the group of themountains of Cuzco, and thence their direction is north 80 degreeswest. This group of which the table-land inclines to the north-east, forms a curve, nearly from east to west, so that the part of the Andesnorth of Castrovireyna is thrown back more than 242, 000 toiseswestward. This singular geological phenomenon resembles the variationof dip of the veins, and especially of the two parts of the chain ofthe Pyrenees, parallel to each other, and linked by an almostrectangular elbow, 16, 000 toises long, near the source of theGaronne;* (* Between the mountain of Tentenade and the Port d'Espot. );but in the Andes, the axes of the chain, south and north of the curve, do not preserve parallelism. On the north of Castrovireyna andAndahuaylas (latitude 14 degrees), the direction is north 22 degreeswest, while south of 15 degrees, it is north 42 degrees west. Theinflexions of the coast follow these changes. The shore separated fromthe Cordillera by a plain 15 leagues in breadth, stretches from Camapoto Arica, between 27 1/2 and 18 1/2 degrees latitude north 5 degreeseast; from Arica to Pisco, between 18 1/2 and 14 degrees latitude atfirst north 42 degrees west, afterwards north 65 degrees west; andfrom Pisco to Truxillo, between 14 and 8 degrees of latitude north 27degrees west. The parallelism between the coast and the Cordillera ofthe Andes is a phenomenon the more worthy of attention, as it occursin several parts of the globe where the mountains do not in the samemanner form the shore. 

After the great knot of mountains of Cuzco and Parinacochas, in 14degrees south latitude, the Andes present a second bifurcation, on theeast and west of the Rio Jauja, which throws itself into the Mantaro, a tributary stream of the Apurimac. The eastern chain stretches on theeast of Huanta, the convent of Ocopa and Tarma; the western chain, onthe west of Castrovireyna, Huancavelica, Huarocheri, and Yauli. Thebasin, or rather the lofty table-land which is inclosed by thesechains, is nearly half the length of the basin of Chucuito orTiticaca. Two mountains covered with eternal snow, seen from the townof Lima, and which the inhabitants name Toldo de la Nieve, belong tothe western chain, that of Huarocheri. 

North-west of the valleys of Salcabamba, in the parallel of the portsof Huaura and Guarmey, between 11 and 10 degrees latitude, the twochains unite in the knot of the Huanuco and the Pasco, celebrated forthe mines of Yauricocha or Santa Rosa. There rise two peaks ofcolossal height, the Nevados of Sasaguanca and of La Viuda. Thetable-land of this knot of mountains appears in the Pambas de Bombonto be more than 1800 toises above the level of the ocean. From thispoint, on the north of the parallel of Huanuco (latitude 11 degrees), the Andes are divided into three chains: the first, and most eastern, rises between Pozuzu and Muna, between the Rio Huallaga, and the RioPachitea, a tributary of the Ucayali; the second, or central, isbetween the Huallaga, and the Upper Maranon; the third, or western, between the Upper Maranon and the coast of Truxillo and Payta. Theeastern chain is a small lateral branch which lowers into a range ofhills: its direction is first north-north-east, bordering the Pampasdel Sacramento, afterwards it turns west-north-west, where it isbroken by the Rio Huallaga, in the Pongo, above the confluence ofChipurana, and then it loses itself in latitude 6 1/4 degrees, on thenorth-west of Lamas. A transversal ridge seems to connect it with thecentral chain, south of Paramo de Piscoguanuna (or Piscuaguna), westof Chachapoyas. The intermediary or central chain stretches from theknot of Pasco and Huanuco, towards north-north-west, between Xican andChicoplaya, Huacurachuco and the sources of the Rio Monzan, betweenPataz and Pajatan, Caxamarquilla and Moyobamba. It widens greatly inthe parallel of Chachapoyas, and forms a mountainous territory, traversed by deep and extremely hot valleys. On the north of theParamo de Piscoguanuna (latitude 6 degrees) the central chain throwstwo branches in the direction of La Vellaca and San Borja. We shallsoon see that this latter branch forms, below the Rio Neva a tributarystream of the Amazon, the rocks that border the famous Pongo deManseriche. In this zone, where North Peru approximates to theconfines of New Grenada in latitude 10 and 5 degrees, no summit of theeastern and central chains rises as high as the region of perpetualsnow; the only snowy summits are in the western chain. The centralchain, that of the Paramos de Callacalla, and Piscoguanuna, scarcelyattains 1800 toises, and lowers gently to 800 toises; so that themountainous and temperate tract of country which extends on the northof Chachapoyas towards Pomacocha, La Vellaca and the source of the RioNieva is rich in fine cinchona trees. After having passed the RioHuallaga and the Pachitea, which with the Beni forms the Ucayali, wefind, in advancing towards the east, only ranges of hills. The westernchain of the Andes, which is the most elevated and nearest to thecoast, runs almost parallel with the shore north 22 degrees west, between Caxatambo and Huary, Conchucos and Guamachuco, by Caxamarca, the Paramo de Yanaguanga, and Montan, towards the Rio de Guancabamba. It comprises (between 9 and 7 1/2 degrees) the three Nevados dePelagatos, Moyopata and Huaylillas. This last snowy summit, situatednear Guamachuco (in 7 degrees 55 minutes latitude), is the moreremarkable, since from thence on the north, as far as Chimborazo, on alength of 140 leagues, there is not one mountain that enters theregion of perpetual snow. This depression, or absence of snow, extendsin the same interval, over all the lateral chains; while, on the southof the Nevado de Huaylillas, it always happens that when one chain isvery low, the summits of the other exceed the height of 2460 toises. It was on the south of Micuipampa (latitude 7 degrees 1 minute) that Ifound the magnetic equator. 

The Amazon, or as it is customary to say in those regions, the UpperMaranon, flows through the western part of the longitudinal valleylying between the Cordilleras of Chachapayas and Caxamarca. Comprehending in one point of view, this valley, and that of the RioJauja, bounded by the Cordilleras of Tarma and Huarocheri, we areinclined to consider them as one immense basin 180 leagues long, andcrossed in the first third of its length, by a dyke, or ridge 18, 000toises broad. In fact, the two alpine lakes of Lauricocha andChinchaycocha, where the river Amazon and the Rio de Jauja take theirrise, are situated south and north of this rocky dyke, which is aprolongation of the knot of Huanuco and Pasco. The Amazon, on issuingfrom the longitudinal valley which bounds the chains of Caxamarca andChachacocha, breaks the latter chain; and the point where the greatriver penetrates the mountains, is very remarkable. Entering theAmazon by the Rio Chamaya or Guancabamba, I found opposite theconfluence, the picturesque mountain of Patachuana; but the rocks onboth banks of the Amazon begin only between Tambillo and Tomependa(latitude 5 degrees 31 minutes, longitude 80 degrees 56 minutes). Fromthence to the Pongo de Rentema, a long succession of rocks follow, ofwhich the last is the Pongo de Tayouchouc, between the strait ofManseriche and the village of San Borja. The course of the Amazon, which is first directed north, then east, changes near Puyaya, threeleagues north-east of Tomependa. Throughout the whole distance betweenTambillo and San Borja, the waters force a way, more or less narrow, across the sandstones of the Cordillera of Chachapoyas. The mountainsare lofty near the Embarcadero, at the confluence of the Imasa, wherelarge trees of cinchona, which might be easily transplanted toCayenne, or the Canaries, approach the Amazon. The rocks in the famousstrait of Manseriche are scarcely 40 toises high; and further eastwardthe last hills rise near Xeberos, towards the mouth of the RioHuallaga. 

I have not yet noticed the extraordinary widening of the Andes nearthe Apolobamba. The sources of the Rio Beni being found in the spurwhich stretches northward beyond the confluence of that river with theApurimac, I shall give to the whole group the name of "the spur ofBeni. " The following is the most certain information I have obtainedrespecting those countries, from persons who had long inhabitedApolobamba, the Real das Minas of Pasco, and the convent of Ocopa. Along the whole eastern chain of Titicaca, from La Paz to the knot ofHuanuco (latitude 17 1/2 to 10 1/2 degrees) a very wide mountainousland is situated eastward, at the back of the declivity of the Andes. It is not a widening of the eastern chain itself, but rather of thesmall heights that surround the foot of the Andes like a penumbra, filling the whole space between the Beni and the Pachitca. A chain ofhills bounds the eastern bank of the Beni to latitude 8 degrees; forthe rivers Coanache and Magua, tributaries of the Ucayali (flowing inlatitude 6 and 7 degrees) come from a mountainous tract between theUcayali and the Javari. The existence of this tract in so eastern alongitude (probably longitude 74 degrees), is the more remarkable, aswe find at four degrees of latitude further north, neither a rock nora hill on the east of Xeberos, or the mouth of the Huallaga (longitude77 degrees 56 minutes). 

We have just seen that the spur of Beni, a sort of lateral branch, loses itself about latitude 8 degrees; the chain between the Ucayaliand the Huallaga terminates at the parallel of 7 degrees, in joining, on the west of Lamas, the chain of Chachapayas, stretching between theHuallaga and the Amazon. Finally, the latter chain, to which I havegiven the designation of central, after forming the rapids andcataracts of the Amazon, between Tomependa and San Borja, turns tonorth-north-west, and joins the western chain, that of Caxamarca, orthe Nevados of Pelagatos and Huaylillas, and forms the great knot ofthe mountains of Loxa. The mean height of this knot is only from 1000to 1200 toises: its mild climate renders it peculiarly favourable tothe growth of the cinchona trees, the finest kinds of which are foundin the celebrated forest of Caxanuma and Uritusinga, between the RioZamora and the Cachiyacu, and between Tavacona and Guancabamba. Beforethe cinchona of Popayan and Santa Fe de Bogota (north latitude 2 1/2to 5 degrees), of Huacarachuco, Huamalies and Huanuco (south latitude9 to 11 degrees) became known, the group of the mountains of Loxa hadfor ages been regarded as the sole region whence the febrifuge bark ofcinchona could be obtained. This group occupies the vast territorybetween Guancabamba, Avayaca, Ona and the ruined towns of Zamora andLoyola, between latitude 5 1/2 and 3 1/4 degrees. Some of the summits(the Paramos of Alpachaca, Saraguru, Savanilla, Gueringa, Chulucanas, Guamani, and Yamoca, which I measured) rise from 1580 to 1720 toises, but are not even sporadically covered with snow, which in thislatitude falls only above 1860 to 1900 toises of absolute height. Eastward, in the direction of the Rio Santiago and the Rio de Chamaya, two tributary streams of the Amazon, the mountains lower rapidly:between San Felipe, Matara, and Jaen de Bracamoros, they are not morethan 500 or 300 toises. 

As we advance from the mica-slate mountain of Loxa towards the north, between the Paramos of Alpachaca and Sara (in latitude 3 degrees 15minutes) the knot of mountains ramifies into two branches whichcomprehend the longitudinal valley of Cuenca. This separationcontinues for a length of only 12 leagues; for in latitude 2 degrees27 minutes the two Cordilleras again re-unite in the knot of Assuy, atrachytic group, of which the table-land near Cadlud (2428 toiseshigh) nearly enters the region of perpetual snow. 

The group of the mountains of Assuy, which affords a very frequentedpass of the Andes between Cuenca and Quito (latitude 2 1/2 to 0degrees 40 minutes south) is succeeded by another division of theCordilleras, celebrated by the labours of Bouguer and La Condamine, who placed their signals sometimes on one, sometimes on the other ofthe two chains. The eastern chain is that of Chimborazo (3350 toises)and Carguairazo; the western is the chain of the volcano Sangay, theCollanes, and of Llanganate. The latter is broken by the Rio Pastaza. The bottom of the longitudinal basin that bounds those two chains, from Alausi to Llactacunga, is somewhat higher than the bottom of thebasin of Cuenca. North of Llactacanga, 0 degrees 40 minutes latitude, between the tops of Yliniza (2717 toises) and Cotopaxi (2950 toises), of which the former belongs to the chain of Chimborazo, and the latterto that of Sangay, is situated the knot of Chisinche; a kind of narrowdyke that closes the basin, and divides the waters between theAtlantic and the Pacific. The Alto de Chisinche is only 80 toisesabove the surrounding table-lands. The waters of its northerndeclivity form the Rio de San Pedro, which, joining the Rio Pita, throws itself into the Gualabamba, or Rio de las Esmeraldas. Thewaters of the southern declivity, called Cerro de Tiopullo, run intothe Rio San Felipe and the Pastaza, a tributary stream of the Amazon. 

The bipartition of the Cordilleras re-commences and continues from 0degrees 40 minutes latitude south to 0 degrees 20 minutes latitudenorth; that is, as far as the volcano of Imbabura near the villa ofIbarra. The eastern Cordillera presents the snowy summits of Antisana(2992 toises), of Guamani, Cayambe (3070 toises) and of Imbabura; thewestern Cordillera, those of Corazon, Atacazo, Pichinca (2491 toises)and Catocache (2570 toises). Between these two chains, which may beregarded as the classic soil of the astronomy of the 18th century, isa valley, part of which is again divided longitudinally by the hillsof Ichimbio and Poignasi. The table-lands of Puembo and Chillo aresituated eastward of those hills; and those of Quito, Inaquito andTurubamba lie westward. The equator crosses the summit of the Nevadode Cayambe and the valley of Quito, in the village of San Antonio deLulumbamba. When we consider the small mass of the knot of Assuy, andabove all, of that of Chisinche, we are inclined to regard the threebasins of Cuenca, Hambato and Quito as one valley (from the Paramo deSarar to the Villa de Ibarra) 73 sea leagues long, from 4 to 5 leaguesbroad, having a general direction north 8 degrees east, and divided bytwo transverse dykes one between Alausi and Cuenca (2 degrees 27minutes south latitude), and the other between Machache and Tambilbo(0 degrees 40 minutes). Nowhere in the Cordillera of the Andes arethere more colossal mountains heaped together than on the east andwest of this vast basin of the province of Quito, one degree and ahalf south, and a quarter of a degree north of the equator. This basinwhich, next to the basin of Titicaca, is the centre of the mostancient native civilization, touches, southward, the knot of themountains of Loxa, and northward the tableland of the province of LosPastos. 

In this province, a little beyond the villa of Ibarra, between thesnowy summits of Cotocache and Imbabura, the two Cordilleras of Quitounite, and form one mass, extending to Meneses and Voisaco, from 0degrees 21 minutes north latitude to 1 degree 13 minutes. I call thismass, on which are situated the volcanoes of Cumbal and Chiles, theknot of the mountains of Los Pastos, from the name of the provincethat forms the centre. The volcano of Pasto, the last eruption ofwhich took place in the year 1727, is on the south of Yenoi, near thenorthern limit of this group, of which the inhabited table-lands aremore than 1600 toises above sea-level. It is the Thibet of theequinoctial regions of the New World. 

On the north of the town of Pasto (latitude 1 degree 13 minutes north;longitude 79 degrees 41 minutes) the Andes again divide into twobranches and surround the table-land of Mamendoy and Almaguer. Theeastern Cordillera contains the Sienega of Sebondoy (an alpine lakewhich gives birth to the Putumayo), the sources of the Jupura orCaqueta, and the Paramos of Aponte and Iscanse. The westernCordillera, that of Mamacondy, called in the country Cordillera de laCosta, on account of its proximity to the shore of the Pacific, isbroken by the great Rio de Patias, which receives the Guativa, theGuachicon and the Quilquase. The table-land or intermediary basin hasgreat inequalities; it is partly filled by the Paramos of Pitatumbaand Paraguay, and the separation of the two chains appeared to meindistinct as far as the parallel of Almaguer (latitude 1 degree 54minutes; longitude 79 degrees 15 minutes). The general direction ofthe Andes, from the extremity of the basin of the province of Quito tothe vicinity of Popayan, changes from north 8 degrees east to north 36degrees east; and follows the direction of the coast of Esmeralda andBarbacoas. 

On the parallel of Almaguer, or rather a little north-east of thattown, the geological structure of the ground displays very remarkablechanges. The Cordillera, to which we have given the name of eastern, that of the lake of Sebondoy, widens considerably between Pansitaraand Ceja. The knot of the Paramo de las Papas and of Socoboni givesbirth to the great rivers of Cauca and Magdalena, and is divided intotwo chains, latitude 2 degrees 5 minutes east and west of La Plata, Vieja and Timana. These two chains continue nearly parallel as far as5 degrees of latitude, and they bound the longitudinal valley throughwhich winds the Rio Magdalena. We shall give the name of the easternCordillera of New Grenada to that chain which stretches towards SantaFe de Bogota, and the Sierra Nevada de Merida, east of Magdalena; thechain which lies between the Magdalena and the Cauca, in the directionof Mariquita, we will call the central Cordillera of New Grenada; andthe chain which continues the Cordillera de la Costa from the basin ofAlmaguer, and separates the bed of the Rio Cauca from theplatiniferous territory of Choco, we will designate the westernCordillera of New Grenada. For additional clearness, we may also namethe chain, that of Suma Paz, after the colossal group of mountains onthe south of Santa Fe de Bogota, which empties the waters of itseastern declivity into the Rio Meta. The second chain may bear thename of the chain of Guanacas or Quindiu, after the two celebratedpassages of the Andes, on the road from Santa Fe de Bogota to Popayan. The third chain may be called the chain of Choco, or of the shore. Some leagues south of Popayan (latitude 2 degrees 21 minutes north), west of Paramo de Palitara and the volcano of Purace, a ridge ofmica-slate runs from the knot of the mountains of Sacoboni tonorth-west, and divides the waters between the Pacific and theCaribbean Sea; they flow from the northern declivity into the RioCauca, and from the southern declivity, into the Rio de Patias. 

The tripartition of the Andes (north latitude 1 3/4 to 2 1/4 degrees)resembles that which takes place at the source of the Amazon in theknot of the mountains of Huanuco and Pasco (latitude 11 degreessouth); but the most western of the three chains that bound the basinsof the Amazon and the Huallaga, is the loftiest; while that of Choco, or the shore, is the least elevated of the three chains of NewGrenada. Ignorance of this tripartition of the Andes in that part ofSouth America near the Rio Atrato and the isthmus of Panama, has ledto many erroneous opinions respecting the possibility of a canal thatshould connect the two seas. 

The eastern chain of the Andes of New Grenada* preserves itsparallelism during some time with the two other chains, those ofQuindiu and Choco; but beyond Tunja (latitude 5 1/2 degrees) itinclines more towards the north-east, passing somewhat abruptly fromthe direction north 25 degrees east to that of north 45 degrees east. (* I employ a systematic denomination, for the name of the Andes isunknown in the countries situated north of the equator. ) It is like avein that changes its direction; and it rejoins the coast after beinggreatly enlarged by the grouping of the snowy mountains of Merida. Thetripartition of the Cordilleras, and above all, the spreading of theirbranches, have a vast influence on the prosperity of the nations ofNew Grenada. The diversity of the superposed table-lands and climatesvaries the agricultural productions as well as the character of theinhabitants. It gives activity to the exchange of productions, andrenews over a vast surface, north of the equator, the picture of thesultry valleys and cool and temperate plains of Peru. It is alsoworthy of remark that, by the separation of one of the branches of theCordilleras of Cundinamarca and by the deviation of the chain ofBogota towards the north-east, the colossal group of the mountains ofMerida is enclosed in the territory of the ancient Capitania-generalof Venezuela, and that the continuity of the same mountainous landfrom Pamplona to Barquisimeto and Nirgua may be said to havefacilitated the political union of the Columbian territory. As long asthe central chain (that of Quindiu) presents its snowy summits, nopeak of the eastern chain (that of La Suma Paz) rises, in the sameparallels, to the limit of perpetual snow. Between latitude 2 and 51/2 degrees neither the Paramos situated on the east of Gigante andNeiva, nor the tops of La Suma Paz, Chingasa, Guachaneque, and Zoraca, exceed the height of 1900 to 2000 toises; while on the north of theparallel of Paramo d'Erve (latitude 5 degrees 5 minutes), the last ofthe Nevados of the central Cordillera, we discover in the easternchain the snowy summits of Chita (latitude 5 degrees 50 minutes), andof Mucuchies (latitude 8 degrees 12 minutes). Hence it results thatfrom latitude 5 degrees the only mountains covered with snow duringthe whole year are the Cordilleras of the east; and although theSierra Nevada of Santa Marta is not, properly speaking, a continuationof the Nevados of Chita and Mucuchies (west of Patute and east ofMerida), it is at least very near their meridian. 

Having now arrived at the northern extremity of the Cordilleras, comprehended between Cape Horn and the isthmus of Panama, we shallproceed to notice the loftiest summits of the three chains whichseparate in the knot of the mountains of Socoboni, and the ridge ofRoble (latitude 1 degree 50 minutes to 2 degrees 20 minutes). I beginwith the most eastern chain, that of Timana and Suma Paz, whichdivides the tributary streams of the Magdalena and the Meta: it runsby the Paramos de Chingasu, Guachaneque, Zoraca, Toquillo (nearLabranza Grande), Chita, Almorsadero, Laura, Cacota, Zumbador andPorqueras, in the direction of the Sierra Nevada de Merida. TheseParamos indicate ten partial risings of the back of the Cordilleras. The declivity of the eastern chain is extremely rapid on the easternside, where it bounds the basin of the Meta and the Orinoco; it iswidened on the west by the spurs on which are situated the towns ofSanta Fe de Bogota, Tunja, Sogamoso and Leiva. They are liketablelands fixed to the western declivity, and are from 1300 to 1400toises high; that of Bogota (the bottom of an ancient lake) containsfossil bones of the mastodon, in the plain called (from them) theCampo de Gigantes, near Suacha. 

The intermediary, or central chain, runs east of Popayan, by the highplains of Mabasa, the Paramos of Guanacas, Huila, Savelillo, Iraca, Baraguan, Tolima, Ruiz and Herveo, towards the province of Antioquia. In 5 degrees 15 minutes of latitude this chain, the only one thatshows traces of recent volcanic fire, in the summits of Sotara andPurace, widens considerably towards the west, and joins the westernchain, which we have called the chain of Choco, because theplatiniferous land of that province lies on the slope opposite thePacific ocean. By the union of the two chains, the basin of theprovince of Popayan is close on the north of Cartago Viejo; and theriver of Cauca, issuing from the plain of Buga, is forced, from theSalto de San Antonio, to La Boca del Espiritu Santo, to open its wayacross the mountains, along a course of from 40 to 50 leagues. Thedifference of the level is very remarkable in the bottom of the twoparallel basins of Cauca and Magdalena. The former, between Cali andCantago, is from 500 to 404 toises; the latter, from Neiva toAmbalema, is from 265 to 150 toises high. According to differentgeological hypotheses, it may be said either that the secondaryformations have not accumulated to the same thickness between theeastern and central, as between the central and western chains; or, that the deposits have been made on the base of primitive rocks, unequally upheaved on the east and west of the Andes of Quindiu. Theaverage difference of the thickness of these formations is 300 toises. The rocky ridge of the Angostura of Carare branches from thesouth-east, from the spur of Muzo, through which winds the Rio Negro. By this spur, and by those that come from the west, the eastern andcentral chains approach between Nares, Honda, and Mendales. In fact, the bed of the Rio Magdalena is narrowed in 5 and 5 degrees 18minutes, on the east by the mountains of Sergento, and on the west bythe spurs that are linked with the granitic mountains of Maraquito andSanta Ana. This narrowing of the bed of the river is in the sameparallel with that of the Cauca, near the Salto de San Antonio; but, in the knot of the mountains of Antioquia the central and westernchains join each other, while between Honda and Mendales, the tops ofthe central and eastern chains are so far removed that it is only thespurs of each system that draw near and are confounded together. It isalso worthy of remark that the central Cordillera of New Grenadadisplays the loftiest summit of the Andes in the northern hemisphere. The peak of Tolima (latitude 4 degrees 46 minutes) which is almostunknown even by name in Europe, and which I measured in 1801, is atleast 2865 toises high. It consequently surpasses Imbabura andCotocache in the province of Quito, the Chiles of the table-lands ofLos Pastos, the two volcanoes of Popayan and even the Nevados ofMexico and Mount Saint Elias of Russian America. The peak of Tolima, which in form resembles Cotapaxi, is perhaps inferior in height onlyto the ridge of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, which may beconsidered as an insulated system of mountains. 

The eastern chain, also called the chain of Choco and the east coast(of the Pacific), separates the provinces of Popayan and Antioquiafrom those of Barbacoas, Raposo and Choco. It is in general but littleelevated, compared to the height of the central and eastern chains; ithowever presents great obstacles to the communications between thevalley of Cauca and the shore. On its western slope lies the famousauriferous and platiniferous land, * which has during ages yielded morethan 13, 000 marks of gold annually. (* Choco, Barbacoas and Brazil arethe only countries in which the existence of grains of platinum andpalladium has hitherto been fully ascertained. The small town ofBarbacoas is situated on the left bank of the Rio Telembi (a tributaryof Patias or the Rio del Castigo) a little above the confluence ofTelembi and the Guagi or Guaxi, nearly in latitude 1 degree 48minutes. The ancient Provincia, or rather the Partido del Raposo, comprehends the insalubrious land extending from the Rio Dagua, or SanBuenaventura, to the Rio Iscuande, the southern limit of Choco. ) Thisalluvial zone is from ten to twelve leagues broad; its maximum ofproductiveness lies between the parallels of 2 and 6 degrees latitude;it sensibly impoverishes towards the north and south, and almostentirely disappears between 1 1/4 degree north latitude and theequator. The auriferous soil fills the basin of Cauca, as well as theravines and plains west of the Cordillera of Choco; it rises sometimesnearly 600 toises above the level of the sea, and descends at least 40toises. * (* M. Caldas assigns to the upper limit of the zone ofgold-washings, only the height of 350 toises. Semanario tome 1 page18; but I found the Seraderos[?] of Quilichao, on the north ofPopayan, to be 565 toises high. ) Platinum (and this fact is worthy ofattention) has hitherto been found only on the west of the Cordilleraof Choco, and not on the east, notwithstanding the analogy of thefragments of rocks of greenstone, phonolite, trachyte, and ferruginousquartz, of which the soil of the two slopes is composed. From theridge of Los Robles, which separates the table-land of Almaguer fromthe basin of Cauca, the western chain forms, first, in the Cerros deCarpinteria, east of the Rio San Juan de Micay, the continuation ofthe Cordillera of Sindagua, broken by the Rio Patias; then, loweringnorthward, between Cali and Las Juntas de Dagua, and at the elevationof 800 to 900 toises, it sends out considerable spurs (latitude 4 1/4to 5 degrees) towards the source of the Calima, the Tamana and theAndagueda. The two former of these auriferous rivers are tributarystreams of the Rio San Juan del Choco; the second empties its watersinto the Atrato. This widening of the western chain forms themountainous part of Choco: here, between the Tado and Zitara, calledalso Francisco de Quibdo, lies the isthmus of Raspadura, across whicha monk traced a navigable line of communication between the twooceans. The culminant point of this system of mountains appears to bethe Peak of Torra, situated south-east of Novita. 

The northern extremity of this enlargement of the Cordillera of Choco, which I have just described, corresponds with the junction formed onthe east, between the same Cordillera and the central chain, that ofQuindiu. The mountains of Antioquia, on which we have the excellentobservations of Mr. Restrepo, may be called a knot of mountains, andon the northern limit of the plains of Buga, or the basin of Cauca, they join the central and western chains. The ridge of the easternCordillera is at the distance of thirty-five leagues from this knot, so that the contraction of the bed of the Rio Magdalena, between Hondaand Ambalema, is caused only by the approximation of the spurs ofMariquita and Guaduas. There is not, therefore, properly speaking, agroup of mountains between latitude 5 and 5 1/4 degrees, uniting thethree chains at once. In the group of the province of Antioquia, whichforms the junction of the central and western Cordilleras, we maydistinguish two great masses; one between the Magdalena and the Cauca, and the other between the Cauca and the Atrato. The first of thesemasses, which is linked most immediately to the snowy summits ofHerveo, gives birth on the east to the Rio de la Miel and the Nare;and on the north to Porce and Nechi; its average height is only from1200 to 1350 toises. The culminant point appears to be near SantaRosa, south-west of the celebrated Valley of Bears (Valle de Osos). The towns of Rio Negro and Marinilla are built on table-lands 1060toises high. The western mass of the knot of the mountains ofAntioquia, between the Cauca and the Atrato, gives rise, on itswestern descent, to the Rio San Juan, Bevara, and Murri. It attainsits greatest height in the Alto del Viento, north of Urrao, known tothe first conquistadores by the name of the Cordilleras of Abide orDabeida. This height (latitude 7 degrees 15 minutes) does not, however, exceed 1500 toises. Following the western slope of thissystem of mountains of Antioquia, we find that the point of partitionof the waters that flow towards the Pacific and the Caribbean Sea(latitude 5 1/2 and 6 degrees ) nearly corresponds with the parallelof the isthmus of Raspadura, between the Rio San Juan and the Atrato. It is remarkable that in this group, more than 30 leagues broad, without sharp summits, between latitude 5 1/4 and 7 degrees, thehighest masses rise towards the west; while, further south, before theunion of the two chains of Quindiu and Choco, we saw them on the eastof Cauca. 

The ramifications of the knot of Antioquia, on the north of theparallel 7 degrees, are very imperfectly known; it is observed onlythat their lowering is in general more rapid and complete towards thenorth-west, in the direction of the ancient province of Biruquete andDarien, than towards the north and north-east, on the side of Zaragozaand Simiti. From the northern bank of the Rio Nare, near itsconfluence with the Samana, a spur stretches out, known by the name ofLa Simitarra, and the Mountains of San Lucar. We may call it the firstbranch of the group of Antioquia. I saw it, in going up the RioMagdalena, on the west, from the Regidor and the mouth of the RioSimiti, as far as San Bartolome (on the south of the mouth of the RioSogamozo); while, eastward, in latitude 7 3/4 and 8 1/4 degrees, thespur of the mountains of Ocana appear in the distance; they areinhabited by some tribes of Molitone Indians. The second branch of thegroup of Antioquia (west of Samitarra) commences at the mountains ofSanta Rosa, stretches out between Zaragoza and Caceres, and terminatesabruptly at the confluence of the Rio Nechi (latitude 8 degrees 33minutes): at least if the hills, often conical, between the mouth ofthe Rio Sinu and the small town of Tolu, or even the calcareousheights of Turbaco and Popa, near Carthagena, may not be regarded asthe most northern prolongation of this second branch. A third advancestowards the gulf of Uraba or Darien, between the Rio San Jorge and theAtrato. It is linked southward with the Alto del Viento, or Sierra deAbide, and is rapidly lost, advancing as far as the parallel of 8degrees. Finally, the fourth branch of the Andes of Antioquia, situated westward of Zitara and the Rio Atrato, undergoes, long beforeit enters the isthmus of Panama, such a depression, that between theGulf of Cupica and the embarcadero of the Rio Naipipi, we find only aplain across which M. Gogueneche has projected a canal for thejunction of the two seas. It would be interesting to know theconfiguration of the strata between Cape Garachine, or the Gulf of St. Miguel, and Cape Tiburon, especially towards the source of the RioTuyra and Chucunaque or Chucunque, so as to determine with precisionwhere the mountains of the isthmus of Panama begin to rise; mountainswhose elevation does not appear to be more than 100 toises. Theinterior of Darfur is not more unknown to geographers than the humid, insalubrious forest-land which extends on the north-west of Betoi andthe confluence of the Bevara with the Atrato, towards the isthmus ofPanama. All that we positively know of it hitherto is that betweenCupica and the left bank of the Atrato there is either a land-strait, or a total absence of the Cordillera. The mountains of the isthmus ofPanama, by their direction and their geographical position, may beconsidered as a continuation of the mountains of Antioquia and Choco;but on the west of Bas-Atrato, there is scarcely a ridge in the plain. We do not find in this country a group of interposed mountains likethat which links (between Barquisimeto, Nirgua and Valencia) theeastern chain of New Grenada (that of Suma Paz and the Sierra Nevadade Merida) to the Cordillera of the shore of Venezuela. 

The Cordillera of the Andes, considered in its whole extent, from therocky wall of the island of Diego Ramirez to the isthmus of Panama, issometimes ramified into chains more or less parallel, and sometimesarticulated by immense knots of mountains. We distinguish nine ofthose knots, and consequently an equal number of branching-points andramifications. The latter are generally bifurcations. The Andes aretwice only divided into three chains; in the knot of Huanuco, near thesource of the Amazon, and the Huallaga (latitude 10 to 11 degrees) andin the knot of the Paramo de las Papas (latitude 2 degrees), near thesource of the Magdalena and the Cauca. Basins, almost shut in at theirextremities, parallel with the axis of the Cordillera and bounded bytwo knots and two lateral chains, are characteristic features of thestructure of the Andes. Among these knots of mountains some, forinstance those of Cuzco, Loxa and Los Pastos, comprise 3300, 1500 and1130 square leagues, while others no less important in the eye of thegeologist are confined to ridges or transversal dykes. To the latterbelong the Altos de Chisinche (latitude 0 degrees 40 minutes south)and the Los Robles (latitude 2 degrees 20 minutes north), on the southof Quito and Popayan. The knot of Cuzco, so celebrated in the annalsof Peruvian civilization, presents an average height of from 1200 to1400 toises, and a surface nearly three times greater than the wholeof Switzerland. The ridge of Chisinche, which separates the basins ofTacunga and Quito, is 1580 toises high, but scarcely a mile broad. Theknots or groups which unite several partial chains have not thehighest summits, either in the Andes or, for the most part, in thegreat mountain ranges of the old continent; it is not even certainthat there is always in those knots a widening of the chain. Thegreatness of the mass, and the height so long attributed to pointswhence several considerable branches issue, was founded either ontheoretic ideas or on false measures. The Cordilleras were compared torivers that swell as they receive a number of tributary streams. 

Among the basins which the Andes present, and which form probably asmany lakes or small inland seas, those of Titicaca, Rio Jauja and theUpper Maranon, comprise respectively 3500, 1300, and 2400 squareleagues of surface. * (* I here subjoin some measures interesting togeologists. Area of the Andes, from Tierra del Fuego to the Paramo delas Rosas (latitude 9 1/4 degrees north), where the mountainous landof Tocuyo and Barquesimeto begins, part of the Cordillera of the shoreof Venezuela, 58, 900 square leagues, (20 to a degree) the four spursof Cordova, Salta, Cochabamba and Beni alone, occupy 23, 300 squareleagues of this surface, and the three basins contained betweenlatitude 6 and 20 degrees south measure 7200 square leagues. Deducting33, 200 square leagues for the whole of the enclosed basins and spurs, we find, in latitude 65 degrees, the area of the Cordilleras elevatedin the form of walls, to be 25, 700 square leagues, whence results(comprehending the knots, and allowing for the inflexion of thechains) an average breadth of the Andes of 18 to 20 leagues. Thevalleys of Huallaga and the Rio Magdalena are not comprehended inthese 58, 900 square leagues, on account of the diverging direction ofthe chain, east of Cipoplaya and Santa Fe de Bogota. ) The first is soencompassed that no drop of water can escape except by evaporation; itis like the enclosed valley of Mexico, * (* We consider it in itsprimitive state, without respect to the gap or cleft of the mountains, known by the name of Desaghue de Huehuetoca. ) and of those numerouscircular basins which have been discerned in the moon, and which aresurrounded by lofty mountains. An immense alpine lake characterizesthe basin of Tiahuanaco or Titicaca; this phenomenon is the moreworthy of attention, as in South America there are scarcely any ofthose reservoirs of fresh water which are found at the foot of theEuropean Alps, on the northern and southern slopes, and which arepermanent during the season of drought. The other basins of the Andes, for instance, those of Jauja, the Upper Maranon and Cauca, pour theirwaters into natural canals, which may be considered as so manycrevices situated either at one of the extremities of the basin, or onits banks, nearly in the middle of the lateral chain. I dwell on thisarticulated form of the Andes, on those knots or transverse ridges, because, in the continuation of the Andes called the Cordilleras ofthe shore of Venezuela, we shall find the same transverse dykes, andthe same phenomena. 

The ramification of the Andes and of all the great masses of mountainsinto several chains merits particular consideration in reference tothe height more or less considerable of the bottom of the enclosedbasins, or longitudinal valleys. Geologists have hitherto directedmore attention to the successive narrowing of these basins, theirdepth compared with the walls of rock that surround them, and thecorrespondence between the re-entering and the salient angles, than tothe level of the bottom of the valleys. No precise measure has yetfixed the absolute height of the three basins of Titicaca, Jauja andthe Upper Maranon;* (* I am inclined to believe that the southern partof the basin of the Upper Maranon, between Huary and Huacarachuco, exceeds 350 toises. ) but I was fortunate enough to be able todetermine the six other basins, or longitudinal valleys, which succeedeach other, as if by steps, towards the north. The bottom of thevalley of Cuenca, between the knots of Loxa and Assuay, is 1350toises; the valley of Allansi and of Hambato, between the knot of theAssuay and the ridge of Chisinche, 1320 toises; the valley of Quito inthe eastern part, 1340 toises, and in the western part, 1490 toises;the basin of Almaguer, 1160 toises; the basin of the Rio Cauca, between the lofty plains of Cali, Buga, and Cartago, 500 toises; thevalley of Magdalena, first between Neiva and Honda, 200 toises; andfurther on, between Honda and Mompox, 100 toises of average heightabove the level of the sea. * (* In the region of the Andescomprehended between 4 degrees of south latitude and 2 degrees ofnorth, the longitudinal valleys or basins inclosed by parallel chainsare regularly between 1200 and 1500 toises high; while the transversalvalleys are remarkable for their depression, or rather the rapidlowering of their bottom. The valley of Patias, for instance, runningfrom north-east to south-west is only 350 toises of absolute height, even above the junction of the Rio Guachion with the Quilquasi, according to the barometric measures of M. Caldas; and yet it issurrounded by the highest summits, the Paramos de Puntaurcu andMamacondy. Going from the plains of Lombardy, and penetrating into theAlps of the Tyrol, by a line perpendicular to the axis of the chain, we advance more than 20 marine leagues towards the north, yet we findthe bottom of the valley of the Adige and of Eysack near Botzen, to beonly 182 toises of absolute height, an elevation which exceeds but 117toises that of Milan. From Botzen however, to the ridge of Brenner(culminant point 746 toises) is only 11 leagues. The Valais is alongitudinal valley; and in a barometric measurement which I made veryrecently from Paris to Naples and Berlin, I was surprised to find thatfrom Sion to Brigg, the bottom of the valley rises only to from 225 to350 toises of absolute height; nearly the level of the plains ofSwitzerland, which, between the Alps and the Jura, are only from 274to 300 toises. ) In this region, which has been carefully measured, thedifferent basins lower very sensibly from the equator northward. Theelevation of the bottom of enclosed basins merits great attention inconnection with the causes of the formation of the valleys. I do notdeny that the depressions in the plains may be sometimes the effect ofancient pelagic currents, or slow erosions. I am inclined to believethat the transversal valleys, resembling crevices, have been widenedby running waters; but these hypotheses of successive erosions cannotwell be applied to the completely enclosed basins of Titicaca andMexico. These basins, as well as those of Jauja, Cuenca and Almaguer, which lose their waters only by a lateral and narrow issue, owe theirorigin to a cause more instantaneous, more closely linked with theupheaving of the whole chain. It may be said that the phenomenon ofthe narrow declivities of the Sarenthal and of the valley of Eysack inthe Tyrol, is repeated at every step, and on a grander scale, in theCordilleras of equinoctial America. We seem to recognize in theCordilleras those longitudinal sinkings, those rocky vaults, which, touse the expression of a great geologist, * "are broken when extendedover a great space, and leave deep and almost perpendicular rents. " (*Von Buch, Tableau du Tyrol meridional page 8 1823. )

If, to complete the sketch of the structure of the Andes from Tierradel Fuego to the northern Polar Sea, we pass the boundaries of SouthAmerica, we find that the western Cordillera of New Grenada, after agreat depression between the mouth of the Atrato and the gulf ofCupica, again rises in the isthmus of Panama to 80 or 100 toises high, augmenting towards the west, in the Cordilleras of Veragua andSalamanca, * and extending by Guatimala as far as the confines ofMexico. (* If it be true, as some navigators affirm, that themountains at the north-western extremity of the republic of Columbia, known by the names of Silla de Veragua, and Castillo del Choco, bevisible at 36 leagues distance, the elevation of their summits must benearly 1400 toises, little lower than the Silla of Caracas. ) Withinthis space it extends along the coast of the Pacific where, from thegulf of Nicoya to Soconusco (latitude 9 1/2 to 16 degrees) is found along series of volcanoes, * most frequently insulated, and sometimeslinked to spurs or lateral branches. (* See the list of twenty-onevolcanoes of Guatimala, partly extinct and partly still burning, givenby Arago and myself, in the Annuaire du Bureau des Longitudes pour1824 page 175. No mountain of Guatimala having been hitherto measured, it is the more important to fix approximately the height of the Volcande Agua, or the Volcano of Pacaya, and the Volcan de Fuego, calledalso Volcano of Guatimala. Mr. Juarros expressly says that thisvolcano which, by torrents of water and stones, destroyed, on the 11thSeptember, 1541, the Ciudad Vieja, or Almolonga (the ancient capitalof the country, which must not be confounded with the ancientGuatimala), is covered with snow, during several months of the year. This phenomenon would seem to indicate a height of more than 1750toises. ) Passing the isthmus of Tehuantepecor Huasacualco, on theMexican territory, the Cordillera of central America extends on towardthe intendancia of Oaxaca, at an equal distance from the two oceans;then from 18 1/2 to 21 degrees latitude, from Misteca to the mines ofZimapan, it approximates to the eastern coast. Nearly in the parallelof the city of Mexico, between Toluca, Xalapa and Cordoba, it attainsits maximum height; several colossal summits rising to 2400 and 2770toises. Farther north the chain called Sierra Madre runs north 40degrees west towards San Miguel el Grande and Guanaxuato. Near thelatter town (latitude 21 degrees 0 minutes 15 seconds) where therichest silver mines of the known world are situated, it widens in anextraordinary degree and separates into three branches. The mosteastern branch advances towards Charcas and the Real de Catorce, andlowers progressively (turning to north-east) in the ancient kingdom ofLeon, in the province of Cohahuila and Texas. That branch is prolongedfrom the Rio Colorado de Texas, crossing the Arkansas near theconfluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri (latitude 38 degrees 51minutes). In those countries it bears the name of the Mountains ofOzark, * and attains 300 toises of height. (* Ozark is at once theancient name of Arkansas and of the tribe of Quawpaw Indians whoinhabit the banks of that great river. The culminant point of theMountains of Ozark is in latitude 37 1/2 degrees, between the sourcesof the White and Osage rivers. ) It has been supposed that on the eastof the Mississippi (latitude 44 to 46 degrees) the Wisconsin Hills, which stretch out to north-north-east in the direction of LakeSuperior, may be a continuation of the mountains of Ozark. Theirmetallic wealth seems to denote that they are a prolongation of theeastern Cordillera of Mexico. The western branch or Cordilleraoccupies a part of the province of Guadalajara and stretches byCuliacan, Aripe and the auriferous lands of the Pimeria Alta and LaSonora, as far as the banks of the Rio Gila (latitude 33 to 34degrees), one of the most ancient dwellings of the Aztek nations. Weshall soon see that this western chain appears to be linked by thespurs that advance to the west, with the maritime Alps of California. Finally, the central Cordillera of Anahuac, which is the mostelevated, runs first from south-east to north-west, by Zacatecastowards Durango, and afterwards from south to north, by Chihuahua, towards New Mexico. It takes successively the names of Sierra de Acha, Sierra de Los Mimbres, Sierra Verde, and Sierra de las Grullas, andabout the 29 and 39 degrees of latitude, it is connected by spurs withtwo lateral chains, those of the Texas and La Sonora, which rendersthe separation of the chains more imperfect than the trifurcations ofthe Andes in South America. 

That part of the Cordilleras of Mexico which is richest in silver bedsand veins, is comprehended between the parallels of Oaxaca andCosiquiriachi (latitude 16 1/2 to 29 degrees); the alluvial soil thatcontains disseminated gold extends some degrees still furthernorthwards. It is a very striking phenomenon that the gold-washing ofCinaloa and Sonora, like that of Barbacoas and Choco on the south andnorth of the isthmus of Panama, is uniformly situated on the west ofthe central chain, on the descent opposite the Pacific. The traces ofa still-burning volcanic fire which was no longer seen, on a length of200 leagues, from Pasto and Popayan to the gulf of Nicoya (latitude 11/4 to 9 1/2 degrees), become very frequent on the western coast ofGuatimala (latitude 9 1/2 to 16 degrees); these traces of fire againcease in the gneiss-granite mountains of Oaxaca, and re-appear, perhaps for the last time, towards the north, in the centralCordillera of Anahuac, between latitude 18 1/4 and 19 1/2 degrees, where the volcanoes of Taxtla, Orizaba, Popocatepetl, Toluca, Jorulloand Colima appear to be situated in a crevice* extending fromeast-south-east to west-north-west, from one ocean to the other. (* Onthis zone of volcanoes is the parallel of the greatest heights of NewSpain. If the survey of Captain Basil Hall afford results alikecertain in latitude and in longitude, the volcano of Colima is northof the parallel of Puerto de Navidad in latitude 19 degrees 36minutes; and, like the volcano of Tuxtla, if not beyond the zone, atleast beyond the average parallel of the volcanic fire of Mexico, which parallel seems to be between 18 degrees 59 minutes and 19degrees 12 minutes. ) This line of summits, several of which enter thelimit of perpetual snow, and which are the loftiest of the Cordillerasfrom the peak of Tolima (latitude 40 degrees 46 minutes north), isalmost perpendicular to the great axis of the chain of Guatimala andAnahuac, advancing to the 27th parallel, uniformly north 42 degreeseast. A characteristic feature of every knot, or widening of theCordilleras, is that the grouping of the summits is independent of thegeneral direction of the axis. The backs of the mountains in New Spainform very elevated plains, along which carriages can roll for anextent of 400 leagues, from the capital to Santa-Fe and Taos, near thesources of Rio del Norte. This immense table-land, in 19 and 24 1/2degrees, is constantly at the height of from 950 to 1200 toises, thatis, at the elevation of the passes of the Great Saint Bernard and theSplugen. We find on the back of the Cordilleras of Anahuac, whichlower progressively from the city of Mexico towards Taos, a successionof basins: they are separated by hills little striking to the eye ofthe traveller because they rise only from 250 to 400 toises above thesurrounding plains. The basins are sometimes closed, like the valleyof Tenochtitlan, where lie the great Alpine lakes, and sometimes theyexhibit traces of ancient ejections, destitute of water. 

Between latitude 33 and 38 degrees, the Rio del Norte forms, in itsupper course, a great longitudinal valley; and the central chain seemshere to be divided into several parallel ranges. This distributioncontinues northward, in the Rocky Mountains, * where, between theparallels of 37 and 41 degrees, several summits covered with eternalsnow (Spanish Peak, James Peak and Big Horn) are from 1600 to 1870toises of absolute height. (* The Rocky Mountains have been atdifferent periods designated by the names of Chypewyan, Missouri, Columbian, Caous, Stony, Shining and Sandy Mountains. ) Towardslatitude 40 degrees south of the sources of the Paduca, a tributary ofthe Rio de la Plata, a branch known by the name of the Black Hills, detaches itself towards the north-east from the central chain. TheRocky Mountains at first seem to lower considerably in 46 and 48degrees; and then rise to 48 and 49 degrees, where their tops are from1200 to 1300 toises, and their ridge near 950 toises. Between thesources of the Missouri and the River Lewis, one of the tributaries ofthe Oregon or Columbia, the Cordilleras form in widening, an elbowresembling the knot of Cuzco. There, also, on the eastern declivity ofthe Rocky Mountains, is the partition of water between the CaribbeanSea and the Polar Sea. This point corresponds with those in the Andesof South America, at the spur of Cochabamba, on the east, latitude 19degrees 20 minutes south; and in the Alto de los Robles (latitude 2degrees 20 minutes north), on the west. The ridge that separates theRocky Mountains extends from west to east, towards Lake Superior, between the basins of the Missouri and those of Lake Winnipeg and theSlave Lake. The central Cordillera of Mexico and the Rocky Mountainsfollow the direction north 10 degrees west, from latitude 25 to 38degrees; the chain from that point to the Polar Sea prolongs in thedirection north 24 degrees west, and ends in the parallel 69 degrees, at the mouth of the Mackenzie River. *

 (* The eastern boundary of the Rocky Mountains lies:-- In 38 degrees latitude : 107 degrees 20 minutes longitude. In 40 degrees latitude : 108 degrees 30 minutes longitude. In 63 degrees latitude : 124 degrees 40 minutes longitude. In 68 degrees latitude : 130 degrees 30 minutes longitude. )

In thus developing the structure of the Cordilleras of the Andes from56 degrees south to beyond the Arctic circle, we see that its northernextremity (longitude 130 degrees 30 minutes) is nearly 61 degrees oflongitude west of its southern extremity (longitude 60 degrees 40minutes); this is the effect of the long-continued direction fromsouth-east to north-west north of the isthmus of Panama. By theextraordinary breadth of the New Continent, in the 30 and 60 degreesnorth latitude, the Cordillera of the Andes, continually approachingnearer to the western coast in the southern hemisphere, is removed 400leagues on the north from the source of the Rio de la Paz. The Andesof Chile may be considered as maritime Alps, * (* Geognosticallyspeaking, a littoral chain is not a range of mountains forming ofitself the coast; this name is extended to a chain separated from thecoast by a narrow plain. ) while, in their most northern continuation, the Rocky Mountains are a chain in the interior of a continent. Thereis, no doubt, between latitude 23 and 60 degrees from Cape Saint Lucasin California, to Alaska on the western coast of the Sea ofKamschatka, a real littoral Cordillera; but it forms a system ofmountains almost entirely distinct from the Andes of Mexico andCanada. This system, which we shall call the Cordillera of California, or of New Albion, is linked between latitude 33 and 34 degrees withthe Pimeria alta, and the western branch of the Cordilleras ofAnahuac; and between latitude 45 and 53 degrees, with the RockyMountains, by transversal ridges and spurs that widen towards theeast. Travellers who may at some future time pass over the unknownland between Cape Mendocino and the source of the Rio Colorado, mayperhaps inform us whether the connexion of the maritime Alps ofCalifornia or New Albion, with the western branch of the Cordillerasof Mexico, resembles that which, notwithstanding the depression, orrather total interruption observed on the west of the Rio Atrato, isadmitted by geographers to exist between the mountains of the isthmusof Panama and the western branch of the Andes of New Grenada. Themaritime Alps, in the peninsula of Old California, rise progressivelytowards the north in the Sierra of Santa Lucia (latitude 34 1/2degrees), in the Sierra of San Marcos (latitude 37 to 38 degrees) andin the Snowy Mountains near Cape Mendocino (latitude 39 degrees 41minutes); the last seem to attain at least the height of 1500 toises. From Cape Mendocino the chain follows the coast of the Pacific, but atthe distance of from twenty to twenty-five leagues. Between the loftysummits of Mount Hood and Mount Saint Helen, in latitude 45 3/4degrees, the chain is broken by the River Columbia. In New Hanover, New Cornwall and New Norfolk these rents of a rocky coast arerepeated, these geologic phenomena of the fjords that characterizewestern Patagonia and Norway. At the point where the Cordillera turnstowards the west (latitude 58 3/4 degrees, longitude 139 degrees 40minutes) there are two volcanic peaks, one of which (Mount SaintElias) perhaps equals Cotopaxi in height; the other (Fair-WeatherMountain) equals the height of Mount Rosa. The elevation of the formerexceeds all the summits of the Cordilleras of Mexico and the RockyMountains, north of the parallel 19 1/4 degrees; it is even theculminant point in the northern hemisphere, of the whole known worldnorth of 50 degrees of latitude. North-west of the peaks of SaintElias and Fair-Weather the chain of California widens considerably inthe interior of Russian America. Volcanoes multiply in number as weadvance westward, in the peninsula of Alaska and the Fox Islands, where the volcano Ajagedan rises to the height of 1175 toises abovethe level of the sea. Thus the chain of the maritime Alps ofCalifornia appears to be undermined by subterraneous fires at its twoextremities; on the north in 60 degrees of latitude, and on the south, in 28 degrees, in the volcanoes of the Virgins. * (* Volcanes de lasVirgenes. The highest summit of Old California, the Cerro de laGiganta (700 toises), appears to be also an extinguished volcano. ) Ifit were certain that the mountains of California belong to the westernbranch of the Andes of Anahuac, it might be said that the volcanicfire, still burning, abandons the central Cordillera when it recedesfrom the coast, that is, from the volcano of Colima; and that the fireis borne on the north-west by the peninsula of Old California, MountSaint Elias, and the peninsula of Alaska, towards the Aleutian Islandsand Kamschatka. 

I shall terminate this sketch of the structure of the Andes byrecapitulating the principal features that characterize theCordilleras, north-west of Darien. 

Latitude 8 to 11 degrees. Mountains of the isthmus of Panama, Veraguaand Costa Rica, slightly linked to the western chain of New Grenada, which is that of Choco. 

Latitude 11 to 16 degrees. Mountains of Nicaragua and Guatimala; lineof volcanoes north 50 degrees west, for the most part still burning, from the gulf of Nicoya to the volcano of Soconusco. 

Latitude 16 to 18 degrees. Mountains of gneiss-granite in the provinceof Oaxaca. 

Latitude 18 1/2 to 19 1/2 degrees. Trachytic knot of Anahuac, parallelwith the Nevados and the burning volcanoes of Mexico. 

Latitude 19 1/2 to 20 degrees. Knot of the metaliferous mountains ofGuanaxuato and Zacatecas. 

Latitude 21 3/4 to 22 degrees. Division of the Andes of Anahuac intothree chains:

Eastern chain (that of Potosi and Texas), continued by the Ozark andWisconsin mountains, as far as Lake Superior. 

Central chain (of Durango, New Mexico and the Rocky Mountains), sending on the north of the source of the river Platte (latitude 42degrees) a branch (the Black hills) to north-east, widening greatlybetween the parallels 46 and 50 degrees, and lowering progressively asit approaches the mouth of Mackenzie River (latitude 68 degrees). 

Western chain (of Cinaloa and Sonora). Linked by spurs to the maritimeAlps, or mountains of California. 

We have yet no means of judging with precision the elevation of theAndes south of the knot of the mountains of Loxa (south latitude 3degrees 5), but we know that on the north of that knot the Cordillerasrise five times higher than the majestic elevation of 2600 toises:

In the group of Quito, 0 to 2 degrees south latitude (Chimborazo, Antisano, Cayambe, Cotopaxi, Collanes, Yliniza, Sangay, Tungurahua. )

In the group of Cundinamarca, latitude 4 3/4 degrees north (peak ofTolima, north of the Andes of Quindiu). 

In the group of Anahuac, from latitude 18 degrees 59 minutes to 19degrees 12 minutes (Popocatepetl or the Great Volcano of Mexico, andPeak of Orizaba). If we consider the maritime Alps or mountains ofCalifornia and New Norfolk, either as a continuation of the westernchain of Mexico, that of Sonora, or as being linked by spurs to thecentral chain, that of the Rocky Mountains, we may add to the threepreceding groups:

The group of Russian America, from latitude 60 to 70 degrees (MountSaint Elias). Over an extent of 63 degrees of latitude, I know onlytwelve summits of the Andes which reach the height of 2600 toises, andconsequently exceed by 140 toises, the height of Mont Blanc. Onlythree of these twelve summits are situated north of the isthmus ofPanama. 

2. INSULATED GROUP OF THE SNOWY MOUNTAINS OF SANTA MARTA. 

In the enumeration of the different systems of mountains, I place thisgroup before the littoral chain of Venezuela, though the latter, beinga northern prolongation of the Cordillera of Cundinamarca, isimmediately linked with the chain of the Andes. The Sierra Nevado ofSanta Marta is encompassed within two divergent branches of the Andes, that of Bogota, and that of the isthmus of Panama. It rises abruptlylike a fortified castle, amidst the plains extending from the gulf ofDarien, by the mouth of the Magdalena, to the lake of Maracaybo. Theold geographers erroneously considered this insulated group ofmountains covered with eternal snow, as the extremity of the highCordilleras of Chita and Pamplona. The loftiest ridge of the SierraNevada de Santa Marta is only three or four leagues in length fromeast to west; it is bounded (at nine leagues distance from the coast)by the meridians of the capes of San Diego and San Augustin. Theculminant points, called El Picacho and Horqueta, are near the westernborder of the group; they are entirely separated from the peak of SanLorenzo, also covered with eternal snow, but only four leagues distantfrom the port of Santa Marta, towards the south-east. I saw thislatter peak from the heights that surrounded the village of Turbaco, south of Carthagena. No precise measurement has hitherto given us theheight of the Sierra Nevada, which Dampier affirms to be one of thehighest mountains of the northern hemisphere. Calculations founded onthe maximum of distance at which the group is discerned at sea, give aheight of more than 3004 toises. That the group of the mountains ofSanta Marta is insulated is proved by the hot climate of the lands(tierras calientes) that surround it. Low ridges and a succession ofhills indicate, perhaps, an ancient connection between the SierraNevada de Santa Marta on one side, by the Alto de las Minas, with thephonolitic and granitic rocks of the Penon and Banca, and on theother, by the Sierra de Perija, with the mountains of Chiliguana andOcana, which are the spurs of the eastern chain of the Andes of NewGrenada. In this latter chain, the febrifuge species of cinchona(corollis hirsutis, staminibus inclusis) are found in the SierraNevada de Merida; but the real cinchona, the most northern of SouthAmerica, is found in the temperate region of the Sierra Nevada deSanta Marta. 

3. LITTORAL CHAIN OF VENEZUELA. 

This is the system of mountains the configuration and direction ofwhich have excited so powerful an influence on the cultivation andcommerce of the ancient Capitania General of Venezuela. It bearsdifferent names, as the mountains of Coro, of Caracas, of theBergantin, of Barcelona, of Cumana, and of Paria; but all these namesbelong to the same chain, of which the northern part runs along thecoast of the Caribbean Sea. This system of mountains, which is 160leagues long, * is a prolongation of the eastern Cordillera of theAndes of Cundinamarca. (* It is more than double the length of thePyrenees, from Cape Creux to the point of Figuera. ) There is animmediate connection of the littoral chain with the Andes, like thatof the Pyrenees with the mountains of Asturia and Galicia; it is notthe effect of transversal ridges, like the connection of the Pyreneeswith the Swiss Alps, by the Black Mountain and the Cevennes. Thepoints of junction are between Truxillo and the lake of Valencia. 

The eastern chain of New Grenada stretches north-east by the SierraNevada de Merida, as well as by the four Paramos of Timotes, Niquitao, Bocono and Las Rosas, of which the absolute height cannot be less thanfrom 1400 to 1600 toises. After the Paramo of Las Rosas, which is moreelevated than the two preceding, there is a great depression, and weno longer see a distinct chain or ridge, but merely hills, and hightable-lands surrounding the towns of Tocuyo and Barquisimeto. We knownot the height even of Cerro del Altar, between Tocuyo and Caranacatu;but we know by recent measures that the most inhabited spots are from300 to 350 toises above sea-level. The limits of the mountainous landbetween Tocuyo and the valleys of Aragua are, the plains of San Carloson the south, and the Rio Tocuyo on the north; the Rio Siquisiqueflows into that river. From the Cerro del Altar on the north-easttowards Guigue and Valencia, succeed, as culminant points, themountains of Santa Maria (between Buria and Nirgua); then the Picachode Nirgua, supposed to be 600 toises high; and finally Las Palomerasand El Torito (between Valencia and Nirgua). The line ofwater-partition runs from west to east, from Quibor to the loftysavannahs of London, near Santa Rosa. The waters flow on the north, towards the Golfo triste of the Caribbean Sea; and on the south, towards the basins of the Apure and the Orinoco. The whole of thismountainous country, by which the littoral chain of Caracas is linkedto the Cordilleras of Cundinamarca, was celebrated in Europe in themiddle of the nineteenth century; for that part of the territoryformed of gneiss-granite, and lying between the Rio Tocuyo and the RioYaracui, contains the auriferous veins of Buria, and the copper-mineof Aroa which is worked at the present day. If, across the knot of themountains of Barquisimeto, we trace the meridians of Aroa, Nirgua andSan Carlos, we find that on the north-west that knot is linked withthe Sierra de Coro, and on the north-east with the mountains ofCapadare, Porto Cabello and the Villa de Cura. It may be said to formthe eastern wall of that vast circular depression of which the lake ofMaracaybo is the centre and which is bounded on the south and west bythe mountains of Merida, Ocana, Perija and Santa Marta. 

The littoral chain of Venezuela presents towards the centre and theeast the same phenomena of structure as those observed in the Andes ofPeru and New Grenada; namely, the division into several parallelranges and the frequency of longitudinal basins or valleys. But theirruptions of the Caribbean Sea having apparently overwhelmed, at avery remote period, a part of the mountains of the shore, the rangesor partial chains are interrupted and some basins have become oceanicgulfs. To comprehend the Cordillera of Venezuela in mass we mustcarefully study the direction and windings of the coast from PuntaTucacas (west of Porto Cabello) as far as Punta de la Galera of theisland of Trinidad. That island, those of Los Testigos, Marguerita andTortuga constitute, with the mica-slates of the peninsula of Araya, one and the same system of mountains. The granitic rocks which appearbetween Buria, Duaca and Aroa cross the valley of the Rio Yaracui anddraw near the shore, whence they extend, like a continuous wall, fromPorto Cabello to Cape Codera. This prolongation forms the northernchain of the Cordillera of Venezuela and is traversed in going fromsouth to north, either from Valencia and the valleys of Aragua, toBurburata and Turiamo, or from Caracas to La Guayra. Hot springs*issue from those mountains (* The other hot springs of the Cordilleraof the shore are those of San Juan, Provisor, Brigantin, the gulf ofCariaco, Cumucatar and Irapa. MM. Rivero and Boussingault, who visitedthe thermal waters of Mariara in February, 1823, during their journeyfrom Caracas to Santa Fe de Bogota, found their maximum to be 64degrees centigrade. I found it at the same season only 59. 2 degrees. Has the great earthquake of the 26th March, 1812, had an influence onthe temperature of these springs? The able chemists above mentionedwere, like myself, struck with the extreme purity of the hot watersthat issue from the primitive rocks of the basin of Aragua. Those ofOnoto, which flow at the height of 360 toises above the level of thesea, have no smell of sulphuretted hydrogen; they are without taste, and cannot be precipitated, either by nitrate of silver or any otherre-agent. When evaporated they have an inappreciable residue whichconsists of a little silica and a trace of alkali; their temperatureis only 44. 5 degrees, and the bubbles of air which are disengaged atintervals are at Onoto, as well as in the thermal waters of Mariara, pure nitrogen. The waters of Mariara (244 toises) have a faint smellof sulphuretted hydrogen; they leave, by evaporation, a slightresiduum, that yields carbonic acid, sulphuric acid, soda, magnesiaand lime. The quantities are so small that the water is altogetherwithout taste. In the course of my journey I found only the springs ofCumangillas hotter than the thermal waters of Las Trincheras: they aresituated on the south of Porto Cabello. The waters of Comangillas areat the height of 1040 toises and are alike remarkable for their purityand their temperature of 96. 3 degrees centigrade. ), those of LasTrincheras (90. 4 degrees) on its southern slope and those of Onoto andMariara on its southern slope. The former issue from a granite withlarge grains, very regularly stratified; the latter from a rock ofgneiss. What especially characterizes the northern chain is a summitwhich is not only the loftiest of the system of the mountains ofVenezuela, but of all South America, on the east of the Andes. Theeastern summit of the Silla of Caracas, according to my barometricmeasurement made in 1800, is 1350 toises high, * (* The Silla ofCaracas is only 80 toises lower than the Canigou in the Pyrenees. ) andnotwithstanding the commotion which took place on the Silla during thegreat earthquake of Caracas, that mountain did not sink 50 or 60toises, as some North American journals asserted. Four or five leaguessouth of the northern chain (that of Mariara, La Silla and CapeCodera) the mountains of Guiripa, Ocumare and Panaquire form thesouthern chain of the coast, which stretches in a parallel directionfrom Guigue to the mouth of the Rio Tuy, by the Guesta of Yusma andthe Guacimo. The latitudes of the Villa de Cura and San Juan, soerroneously marked on our maps, enabled me to ascertain the meanbreadth of the whole Cordillera of Venezuela. Ten or twelve leaguesmay be reckoned as the distance from the descent of the northern chainwhich bounds the Caribbean Sea, to the descent of the southern chainbounding the immense basin of the Llanos. This latter chain, whichalso bears the name of the Inland Mountains, is much lower than thenorthern chain; and I can hardly believe that the Sierra de Guayraimaattains the height of 1200 toises. 

The two partial chains, that of the interior, and that which runsalong the coast, are linked by a ridge or knot of mountains known bythe names of Altos de las Cocuyzas (845 toises) and the Higuerote (835toises between Los Teques and La Victoria) in longitude 69 degrees 30minutes and 69 degrees 50 minutes. On the west of this ridge lies theenclosed basin* of the lake of Valencia or the Valles de Aragua (*This basin contains a small system of inland rivers which do notcommunicate with the ocean. The southern chain of the litteralCordillera of Venezuela is so depressed on the south-west that the RioPao is separated from the tributary streams of the lake of Tacariguaor Valencia. Towards the east the Rio Tuy, which takes its rise on thewestern declivity of the knot of mountains of Las Cocuyzas, appears atfirst to empty itself into the valleys of Aragua; but hills ofcalcareous tufa, forming a ridge between Consejo and Victoria, forceit to take its course south-east. ); and on the east the basin ofCaracas and of the Rio Tuy. The bottom of the first-mentioned basinsis between 220 and 250 toises high; the bottom of the latter is 460toises above the level of the Caribbean Sea. It follows from thesemeasures that the most western of the two longitudinal valleysenclosed by the littoral Cordillera is the deepest; while in theplains near the Apure and the Orinoco the declivity is from west toeast; but we must not forget that the peculiar disposition of thebottom of the two basins, which are bounded by two parallel chains, isa local phenomenon altogether separate from the causes on which thegeneral structure of the country depends. The eastern basin of theCordillera of Venezuela is not shut up like the basin of Valencia. Itis in the knot of the mountains of Las Cocuyzas, and of Higuerote, that the Serrania de los Teques and Oripoto, stretching eastward, formtwo valleys, those of the Rio Guayre and Rio Tuy; the former containsthe town of Caracas and both unite below the Caurimare. The Rio Tuyruns through the rest of the basin, from west to east, as far as itsmouth which is situated on the north of the mountains of Panaquire. 

Cape Codera seems to terminate the northern range of the littoralmountains of Venezuela but this termination is only apparent. Thecoast forms a vast nook, thirty-five sea leagues in length, at thebottom of which is the mouth of the Rio Unare and the road of NuevaBarcelona. Stretching first from west to east, in the parallel of 10degrees 37 minutes, this coast recedes at the parallel 10 degrees 6minutes, and resumes its original direction (10 degrees 37 minutes to10 degrees 44 minutes) from the western extremity of the peninsula ofAraya to the eastern extremities of Montana de Paria and the island ofTrinidad. From this dissection of the coast it follows that the rangeof mountains bordering the shore of the provinces of Caracas andBarcelona, between the meridian 66 degrees 32 minutes and 68 degrees29 minutes (which I saw on the south of the bay of Higuerote and onthe north of the Llanos of Pao and Cachipo), must be considered as thecontinuation of the southern chain of Venezuela and as being linked onthe west with the Sierras de Panaquire and Ocumare. It may thereforebe said that between Cape Codera and Cariaco the inland chain itselfforms the coast. This range of very low mountains, often interruptedfrom the mouth of the Rio Tuy to that of the Rio Neveri, risesabruptly on the east of Nueva Barcelona, first in the rocky island ofChimanas, and then in the Cerro del Bergantin, elevated probably morethan 800 toises, but of which the astronomical position and theprecise height are yet alike unknown. On the meridian of Cumana thenorthern chain (that of Cape Codera and the Silla of Caracas) againappears. The micaceous slate of the peninsula of Araya and Maniquarezjoins by the ridge or knot of mountains of Meapire the southern chain, that of Panaquire the Bergantin, Turimiquiri, Caripe and Guacharo. This ridge, not more than 200 toises of absolute height, has, in theancient revolutions of our planet, prevented the irruption of theocean, and the union of the gulfs of Paria and Cariaco. On the west ofCape Codera the northern chain, composed of primitive granitic rocks, presents the loftiest summits of the whole Cordillera of Venezuela;but the culminant points east of that cape are composed in thesouthern chain of secondary calcareous rocks. We have seen above thatthe peak of Turimiquiri, at the back of the Cocollar, is 1050 toises, while the bottoms of the high valleys of the convent of Caripe and ofGuardia de San Augustin are 412 and 533 toises of absolute height. Onthe east of the ridge of Meapire the southern chain sinks abruptlytowards the Rio Arco and the Guarapiche; but, on quitting the mainland, we again see it rising on the southern coast of the island ofTrinidad which is but a detached portion of the continent, and ofwhich the northern side unquestionably presents the vestiges of thenorthern chain of Venezuela, that is, of the Montana de Paria (theParadise of Christopher Columbus), the peninsula of Araya and theSilla of Caracas. The observations of latitude I made at the Villa deCura (10 degrees 2 minutes 47 seconds), the farm of Cocollar (10degrees 9 minutes 37 seconds) and the convent of Caripe (10 degrees 10minutes 14 seconds), compared with the more anciently known positionof the south coast of Trinidad (latitude 10 degrees 6 minutes), provethat the southern chain, south of the basins of Valencia and of Tuy*(* The bottom of the first of these four basins bounded by parallelchains is from 230 to 460 toises above, and that of the two latterfrom 30 to 40 toises below the present sea-level. Hot springs gushfrom the bottom of the gulf of the basin of Cariaco, as from thebottom of the basin of Valencia on the continent. ) and of the gulfs ofCariaco and Paria, is still more uniform in the direction from west toeast than the northern chain from Porto Cabello to Punta Galera. It ishighly important to know the southern limit of the littoral Cordilleraof Venezuela because it determines the parallel at which the Llanos orthe savannahs of Caracas, Barcelona and Cumana begin. On somewell-known maps we find erroneously marked between the meridians ofCaracas and Cumana two Cordilleras stretching from north to south, asfar as latitude 8 3/4 degrees, under the names of Cerros de AltaGracia and del Bergantin, thus describing as mountainous a territoryof 25 leagues broad, where we should seek in vain a hillock of a fewfeet in height. 

Turning to the island of Marguerita, composed, like the peninsula ofAraya, of micaceous slate, and anciently linked with that peninsula bythe Morro de Chacopata and the islands of Coche and Cubagua, we seemto recognize in the two mountainous groups of Macanao and La Vega deSan Juan traces of a third coast-chain of the Cordillera of Venezuela. Do these two groups of Marguerita, of which the most westerly is above600 toises high, belong to a submarine chain stretching by the isle ofTortuga, towards the Sierra de Santa Lucia de Coro, on the parallel of11 degrees? Must we admit that in latitude 11 1/4 and 12 1/2 degrees afourth chain, the most northerly of all, formerly stretched out in thedirection of the island of Hermanos, by Blanquilla, Los Roques, Orchila, Aves, Buen Ayre, Curacao and Oruba, towards Cape Chichivacoa?These important problems can only be solved when the chain of islandsparallel with the coast has been properly examined. It must not beforgotten that a great irruption of the ocean appears to have takenplace between Trinidad and Grenada, * and that no where else in thelong series of the Lesser Antilles are two neighbouring islands so farremoved from each other. (* It is affirmed that the island of Trinidadis traversed in the northern part by a chain of primitive slate, andthat Grenada furnishes basalt. It would be important to examine ofwhat rock the island of Tobago is composed; it appeared to me ofdazzling whiteness; and on what point, in going from Trinidadnorthward, the trachytic and trappean system of the Lesser Antillesbegins. ) We observe the effect of the rotatory current in thedirection of the coast of Trinidad, as in the coasts of the provincesof Cumana and Caracas, between Cape Paria and Punta Araya and betweenCape Codera and Porto Cabello. If a part of the continent has beenoverwhelmed by the ocean on the north of the peninsula of Araya it isprobable that the enormous shoal which surrounds Cubagua, Coche theisland of Marguerita, Los Frailes, La Sola and the Testigos marks theextent and outline of the submerged land. This shoal or placer, whichis of the extent of 200 square leagues, is well known only to thetribe of the Guayqueries; it is frequented by these Indians on accountof its abundant fishery in calm weather. The Gran Placer is believedto be separated only by some canals or deep furrows of the bank ofGrenada from the sand-bank that extends like a narrow dyke from Tobagoto Grenada, and which is known by the lowering of the temperature ofthe water and from the sand-banks of Los Roques and Aves. TheGuayquerie Indians and, generally speaking, all the inhabitants of thecoast of Cumana and Barcelona, are imbued with an idea that the waterof the shoals of Marguerita and the Testigos diminishes from year toyear; they believe that, in the lapse of ages, the Morro do Chacopataon the peninsula of Araya will be joined by a neck of land to theislands of Lobos and Coche. The partial retreat of the waters on thecoast of Cumana is undeniable and the bottom of the sea has beenupheaved at various times by earthquakes; but these local phenomena, which it is so difficult to account for by the action of volcanicforce, the changes in the direction of currents, and the consequentswelling of the waters, are very different from the effects manifestedat once over the space of several hundred square leagues. 

4. GROUP OF THE MOUNTAINS OF PARIME. 

It is essential to mineralogical geography to designate by one nameall the mountains that form one system. To attain this end, adenomination belonging to a partial group only may be extended overthe whole chain; or a name may be employed which, by reason of itsnovelty, is not likely to give rise to homogenic mistakes. Mountaineers designate every group by a special denomination; and achain is generally considered as forming a whole only when it is seenfrom afar bounding the horizon of the plains. We find the name ofsnowy mountains (Himalaya, Imaus) repeated in every zone, white(Alpes, Alb), black and blue. The greater part of the Sierra Parimeis, as it were, edged round by the Orinoco. I have, however, avoided adenomination having reference to this circumstance, because the groupof mountains to which I am about to direct attention extends farbeyond the banks of the Orinoco. It stretches south-east, towards thebanks of the Rio Negro and the Rio Branco, to the parallel of 1 1/2degrees north latitude. The geographical name of Parime has theadvantage of reviving recollections of the fable of El Dorado, and thelofty mountains which, in the sixteenth century, were supposed tosurround the lake Rupunuwini, or the Laguna de Parime. Themissionaries of the Orinoco still give the name of Parime to the wholeof the vast mountainous country comprehended between the sources ofthe Erevato, the Orinoco, the Caroni, the Rio Parime* (a tributary ofthe Rio Branco) and the Rupunuri or Rupunuwini, a tributary of the RioEssequibo. (* The Rio Parime, after receiving the waters of theUraricuera, joins the Tacutu, and forms, near the fort of SanJoacquim, the Rio Branco, one of the tributary streams of the RioNegro. ) This country is one of the least known parts of South Americaand is covered with thick forests and savannahs; it is inhabited byindependent Indians and is intersected by rivers of dangerousnavigation, owing to the frequency of shoals and cataracts. 

The system of the mountains of Parime separates the plains of theLower Orinoco from those of the Rio Negro and the Amazon; it occupiesa territory of trapezoidal form, comprehended between the parallels of3 and 8 degrees, and the meridians of 61 and 70 1/2 degrees. I hereindicate only the elements of the loftiest group, for we shall soonsee that towards south-east the mountainous country, in lowering, draws near the equator, as well as to French and Portuguese Guiana. The Sierra Parime extends most in the direction north 85 degrees westand the partial chains into which it separates on the westwardgenerally follow the same direction. It is less a Cordillera or acontinuous chain in the sense given to those denominations whenapplied to the Andes and Caucasus than an irregular grouping ofmountains separated the one from the other by plains and savannahs. Ivisited the northern, western and southern parts of the Sierra Parime, which is remarkable by its position and its extent of more than 25, 000square leagues. From the confluence of the Apure, as far as the deltaof the Orinoco, it is uniformly three or four leagues removed from theright bank of the great river; only some rocks of gneiss-granite, amphibolic slate and greenstone advance as far as the bed of theOrinoco and create the rapids of Torno and of La Boca del Infierno. *(* To this series of advanced rocks also belong those which pierce thesoil between the Rio Aquire and the Rio Barima; the granitic andamphibolic rocks of the Vieja Guayana and of the town of Angostura;the Cerro de Mono on the south-east of Muitaco or Real Corono; theCerro of Taramuto near the Alta Gracia, etc. ) I shall namesuccessively, from north-north-east to south-south-west, the differentchains seen by M. Bonpland and myself as we approached the equator andthe river Amazon. First. The most northern chain of the whole systemof the mountains of Parime appeared to us to be that which stretches(latitude 7 degrees 50 minutes) from the Rio Arui, in the meridian ofthe rapids of Camiseta, at the back of the town of Angostura, towardsthe great cataracts of the Rio Carony and the sources of the Imataca. In the missions of the Catalonian Capuchins this chain, which is not300 toises high, separates the tributary streams of the Orinoco andthose of the Rio Cuyuni, between the town of Upata, Cupapui and SantaMarta. Westward of the meridian of the rapids of Camiseta (longitude67 degrees 10 minutes) the high mountains in the basin of the RioCaura only commence at 7 degrees 20 minutes of latitude, on the southof the mission of San Luis Guaraguaraico, where they occasion therapids of Mura. This chain stretches westward by the sources of theRio Cuchivero, the Cerros del Mato, the Cerbatana and Maniapure, asfar as Tepupano, a group of strangely-formed granitic rockssurrounding the Encaramada. The culminant points of this chain(latitude 7 degrees 10 minutes to 7 degrees 28 minutes) are, accordingto the information I gathered from the Indians, situated near thesources of Cano de la Tortuga. In the chain of the Encaramada thereare some traces of gold. This chain is also celebrated in themythology of the Tamanacs; for the painted rocks it contains areassociated with ancient local traditions. The Orinoco changes itsdirection at the confluence of the Apure, breaking a part of the chainof the Encaramada. The latter mountains and scattered rocks in theplain of the Capuchino and on the north of Cabruta may be consideredeither as the vestiges of a destroyed spur or (on the hypothesis ofthe igneous origin of granite) as partial eruptions and upheavings. Ishall not here discuss the question whether the most northerly chain, that of Angostura and of the great fall of Carony, be a continuationof the chain of Encaramada. Third. In navigating the Orinoco fromnorth to south we observe, alternately, on the east, small plains andchains of mountains of which we cannot distinguish the profiles, thatis, the sections perpendicular to their longitudinal axes. From themission of the Encaramada to the mouth of the Rio Qama I counted sevenrecurrences of this alternation of savannahs and high mountains. First, on the south of the isle Cucuruparu rises the chain ofChaviripe (latitude 7 degrees 10 minutes); it stretches, incliningtowards the south (latitude 6 degrees 20 minutes to 6 degrees 40minutes), by the Cerros del Corozal, the Amoco, and the Murcielago, asfar as the Erevato, a tributary of the Caura. It there forms therapids of Paru and is linked with the summits of Matacuna. Fourth. Thechain of Chaviripe is succeeded by that of the Baraguan (latitude 6degrees 50 minutes to 7 degrees 5 minutes), celebrated for the straitof the Orinoco, to which it gives its name. The Saraguaca, or mountainof Uruana, composed of detached blocks of granite, may be regarded asa northern spur of the chain of the Baraguan, stretching south-westtowards Siamacu and the mountains (latitude 5 degrees 50 minutes) thatseparate the sources of the Erevato and the Caura from those of theVentuari. Fifth. The chain of Carichana and of Paruaci (latitude 6degrees 25 minutes), wild in aspect, but surrounded by charmingmeadows. Piles of granite crowned with trees and insulated rocks ofprismatic form (the Mogote of Cocuyza and the Marimaruta or Castillitoof the Jesuits) belong to this chain. Sixth. On the western bank ofthe Orinoco, which is low and flat, the Peak of Uniana rises abruptlymore than 3000 feet high. The spurs (latitude 5 degrees 35 minutes to5 degrees 40 minutes) which this peak sends eastward are crossed bythe Orinoco in the first Great Cataract (that of Mapura or theAtures); further on they unite together and, rising in a chain, stretch towards the sources of the Cataniapo, the rapids of Ventuari, situated on the north of the confluence of the Asisi (latitude 5degrees 10 minutes) and the Cerro Cunevo. Seventh. Five leagues southof the Atures is the chain of Quittuna, or of Maypures (latitude 15degrees 13 minutes), which forms the bar of the Second Great Cataract. None of those lofty summits are situated on the west of the Orinoco;on the east of that river rises the Cunavami, the truncated peak ofCalitamini and the Jujamari, to which Father Gili attributes anextraordinary height. Eighth. The last chain of the south-west part ofthe Sierra Parime is separated by woody plains from the chain ofMaypures; it is the chain of the Cerros de Sipapo (latitude 4 degrees50 minutes); an enormous wall behind which the powerful chief of theGuaypunabi Indians intrenched himself during the expedition of Solano. The chain of Sipapo may be considered as the beginning of the range oflofty mountains which bound, at the distance of some leagues, theright bank of the Orinoco, where that river runs from south-east tonorth-west, between the mouth of the Ventuari, the Jao and the Padamo(latitude 3 degrees 15 minutes). In ascending the Orinoco, above thecataract of Maypures, we find, long before we reach the point where itturns, near San Fernando del Atabapo, the mountains disappearing fromthe bed of the river, and from the mouth of the Zama there are onlyinsulated rocks in the plains. The chain of Sipapo forms thesouth-west limit of the system of mountains of Parime, between 70 1/2and 68 degrees of longitude. Modem geologists have observed that theculminant points of a group are less frequently found at its centrethan towards one of its extremities, preceding, and announcing in somesort, a great depression* of the chain. (* As seen in Mont Blanc andChimborazo. ) This phenomenon is again observed in the group of theParime, the loftiest summits of which, the Duida and the Maraguaca, are in the most southerly range of mountains, where the plains of theCassiquiare and the Rio Negro begin. 

These plains or savannahs which are covered with forests only in thevicinity of the rivers do not, however, exhibit the same uniformcontinuity as the Llanos of the Lower Orinoco, of the Meta and ofBuenos Ayres. They are interrupted by groups of hills (Cerros deDaribapa) and by insulated rocks of grotesque form which pierce thesoil and from a distance fix the attention of the traveller. Thesegranitic and often stratified masses resemble the ruins of pillars oredifices. The same force which upheaved the whole group of the SierraParime has acted here and there in the plains as far as beyond theequator. The existence of these steeps and sporadic hills renders itdifficult to determine the precise limits of a system in which themountains are not longitudinally ranged as in a vein. As we advancetowards the frontier of the Portuguese province of the Rio Negro thehigh rocks become more rare and we no longer find the shelves or dykesof gneiss-granite which cause rapids and cataracts in the rivers. 

Such is the surface of the soil between 68 1/2 and 70 1/2 degrees oflongitude, between the meridian of the bifurcation of the Orinoco andthat of San Fernando de Atabapo; further on, westward of the Upper RioNegro, towards the source of that river, and its tributary streams theXie and the Uaupes (latitude 1 to 2 1/4 degrees, longitude 72 to 74degrees) lies a small mountainous tableland, in which Indiantraditions place a Laguna de oro, that is, a lake surrounded with bedsof auriferous earth. * (* According to the journals of Acunha and Fritzthe Manao Indians (Manoas) obtained from the banks of the Yquiari(Iguiare or Iguare) gold of which they made thin plates. Themanuscript notes of Don Apollinario also mention the gold of the RioUaupes. La Condamine, Voyage a l'Amazone. We must not confound theLaguna de Oro, which is said to be found in going up the Uaupes (northlatitude 0 degrees 40 minutes) with another gold lake (south latitude1 degree 10 minutes) which La Condamine calls Marahi or Morachi(water), and which is merely a tract often inundated between thesources of the Jurubech (Urubaxi) and the Rio Marahi, a tributarystream of the Caqueta. ) At Maroa, the most westerly mission of the RioNegro, the Indians assured me that that river as well as the Inirida(a tributary of the Guavare) rises at the distance of five days'march, in a country bristled with hills and rocks. The natives of SanMarcellino speak of a Sierra Tunuhy, nearly thirty leagues west oftheir village, between the Xie and the Icanna. La Condamine learnedalso from the Indians of the Amazon that the Quiquiari comes from acountry of mountains and mines. Now, the Iquiari is placed by theFrench astronomer between the equator and the mouth of the Xie (Ijie), which identifies it with the Iguiare that falls into the Icanna. Wecannot advance in the geologic knowledge of America without havingcontinually recourse to the researches of comparative geography. Thesmall system of mountains, which we may provisionally call that of thesources of the Rio Negro and the Uaupes, and the culminant points ofwhich are not probably more than 100 or 120 toises high, appears toextend southward to the basin of Rio Yupura, where rocky ridges formthe cataracts of the Rio de los Enganos and the Salto Grande de Yupura(south latitude 0 degrees 40 minutes to north latitude 0 degrees 28minutes), and the basin of the Upper Guaviare towards the west. Wefind in the course of this river, from 60 to 70 leagues west of SanFernando del Atabapo, two walls of rocks bounding the strait (nearly 3degrees 10 minutes north latitude and 73 3/4 degrees longitude) wherefather Maiella terminated his excursion. That missionary told me that, in going up the Guaviare, he perceived near the strait (angostura) achain of mountains bounding the horizon on the south. It is not knownwhether those mountains traverse the Guaviare more to the west, andjoin the spurs which advance from the eastern Cordillera of NewGrenada, between the Rio Umadea and the Rio Ariari, in the directionof the savannahs of San Juan de los Llanos. I doubt the existence ofthis junction. If it really existed, the plains of the Lower Orinocowould communicate with those of the Amazon only by a very narrowland-strait, on the east of the mountainous country which surroundsthe source of the Rio Negro: but it is more probable that thismountainous country (a small system of mountains, geognosticallydependent on the Sierra Parime) forms as it were an island in theLlanos of Guaviare and Yupura. Father Pugnet, Principal of theFranciscan convent at Popayan, assured me, that when he went from themissions settled on the Rio Caguan to Aramo, a village situated on theRio Guayavero, he found only treeless savannahs, extending as far asthe eye could reach. The chain of mountains placed by several moderngeographers, between the Meta and the Vichada, and which appears tolink the Andes of New Grenada with the Sierra Parime, is altogetherimaginary. 

We have now examined the prolongation of the Sierra Parime on thewest, towards the source of the Rio Negro: it remains for us to followthe same group in its eastern direction. The mountains of the UpperOrinoco, eastward of the Raudal of the Guaharibos (north latitude 1degree 15 minutes longitude 67 degrees 38 minutes), join the chain ofPacaraina, which divides the waters of the Carony and the Rio Branco, and of which the micaceous schist, resplendent with silvery lustre, figures so conspicuously in Raleigh's El Dorado. The part of thatchain containing the sources of the Orinoco has not yet been explored;but its prolongation more to the east, between the meridian of themilitary post of Guirior and the Rupunuri, a tributary of theEssequibo, is known to me through the travels of the Spaniards AntonioSantos and Nicolas Rodriguez, and also by the geodesic labours of twoPortuguese, Pontes and Almeida. Two portages but little frequented*are situated between the Rio Branco and the Rio Essequibo, south ofthe chain of Pacaraina; they shorten the land-road leading from theVilla del Rio Negro to Dutch Guiana. (* The portages of Sarauru andthe lake Amucu. ) On the contrary, the portage between the basin of theRio Branco and that of the Carony crosses the summit of the chain ofPacaraina. On the northern slope of this chain rises the Anocapra, atributary of the Paraguamusi or Paravamusi; and on the southern slope, the Araicuque, which, with the Uraricapara, forms the famous Valley ofInundations, above the destroyed mission of Santa Rosa (latitude 3degrees 46 minutes, longitude 65 degrees 10 minutes). The principalCordillera, which appears of little breadth, stretches on a length of80 leagues, from the portage of Anocapra (longitude 65 degrees 35minutes) to the left bank of the Rupunuri (longitude 61 degrees 50minutes), following the parallels of 4 degrees 4 minutes and 4 degrees12 minutes. We there distinguish from west to east the mountains ofPacaraina, Tipique, Tauyana, among which rises the Rio Parime (atributary of the Uraricuera), Tubachi, Christaux (latitude 3 degrees56 minutes, longitude 62 degrees 52 minutes) and Canopiri. The Spanishtraveller, Rodriguez, marks the eastern part of the chain by the nameof Quimiropaca; but preferring to adopt general names, I continue togive the name of Pacaraina to the whole of this Cordillera which linksthe mountains of the Orinoco to the interior of Dutch and FrenchGuiana, and which Raleigh and Keymis made known in Europe at the endof the 16th century. This chain is broken by the Rupunuri and theEssequibo, so that one of their tributary streams, the Tavaricuru, takes its rise on the southern declivity, and the other, the Sibarona, on the northern. On approaching the Essequibo, the mountains are moredeveloped towards the south-east, and extend beyond 2 1/2 degreesnorth latitude. From this eastern branch of the chain of Pacaraina theRio Rupunuri rises near the Cerro Uassari. On the right bank of theRio Branco, in a still more southern latitude (between 1 and 2 degreesnorth) is a mountainous territory in which the Caritamini, thePadaviri, the Cababuri (Cavaburis) and the Pacimoni take their source, from east to west. This western branch of the mountains of Pacarainaseparates the basin of Rio Branco from that of the Upper Orinoco, thesources of which are probably not found east of the meridian of 66 15minutes: it is linked with the mountains of Unturan and Yumariquin, situated south-east of the mission of Esmeralda. Thence it resultsthat, while on the west of the Cassiquiare, between that river, theAtabapo, and the Rio Negro, we find only vast plains, in which risesome little hills and insulated rocks; real spurs stretch eastward ofthe Cassiquiare, from north-west to south-east, and form a continuedmountainous territory as far as 2 degrees north latitude. The basinonly, or rather the transversal valley of the Rio Branco, forms a kindof gulf, a succession of plains and savannahs (campos) several ofwhich penetrate from south to north, into the mountainous land betweenthe eastern and western branches of the chain of Pacaraina, to thedistance of eight leagues north of the parallel of San Joaquin. 

We have just examined the southern part of the vast system of themountains of Parime, between 2 and 4 degrees of latitude, and betweenthe meridians of the sources of the Orinoco and the Essequibo. Thedevelopment of this system of mountains northward between the chain ofPacaraina and Rio Cuyuni, and between the meridians 66 and 61 3/4degrees, is still less known. The only road frequented by white men isthat of the river Paragua, which receives the Paraguamusi, near theGuirior. We find indeed, in the journal of Nicolas Rodriguez, that hewas constantly obliged to have his canoe carried by men (arrastrando)past the cataracts which intercept the navigation; but we must notforget a circumstance of which my own experience furnished me withfrequent proofs--that the cataracts in this part of South America areoften caused only by ridges of rocks which do not form mountains. Rodriguez names but two between Barceloneta and the mission of SanJose; while the missionaries place more to the east, in 6 degreeslatitude, between the Rio Caroni and the Cuyuni, the Serranias ofUsupama and Rinocote. The latter crosses the Mazaruni, and formsthirty-nine cataracts in the Essequibo, from the military post ofArinda (latitude 5 degrees 30 minutes) to the mouth of Rupunuri. 

With respect to the continuation of the system of the mountains ofParime, south-east of the meridian of the Essequibo, the materials areentirely wanting for tracing it with precision. The whole interior ofDutch, French and Portuguese Guiana is a terra incognita; and theastronomical geography of those countries has scarcely made anyprogress during the space of thirty years. If the American limitsrecently fixed between France and Portugal should one day cease to bemere diplomatic illusions and acquire reality in being traced on theterritory by means of astronomical observations (as was projected in1817), this undertaking would lead geographical engineers to thatunknown region which, at 3 1/2 degrees west of Cayenne, divides thewaters between the coast of Guiana and the Amazon. Till that period, which the political state of Brazil seems to retard, the geognostictable of the group of Parime can only be completed by scatterednotions collected in the Portuguese and Dutch colonies. In going fromthe Uassari mountains (latitude 2 degrees 25 minutes, longitude 61degrees 50 minutes) which form a part of the eastern branch of theCordillera of Pacaraina, we find towards the east a chain ofmountains, called by the missionaries Acaray and Tumucuraque. Thosetwo names are found on our maps between 1/2 and 3 degrees northlatitude. Raleigh first made known, in 1596, the system of themountains of Parime, between the sources of the Rio Carony and theEssequibo, by the name of Wacarima (Pacarima), and the Jesuits Acunhaand Artedia furnished, in 1639, the first precise notions of that partof this system which extends from the meridian of Essequibo to that ofOyapoc. There they place the mountains of Yguaracuru and Paraguaxo, the former of which gives birth to a gold river (Rio de oro), atributary of the Curupatuba;* (* When we know that in Tamanac gold iscalled caricuri; in Carib, caricura: in Peruvian, cori (curi), weeasily recognize in the names of the mountains and rivers(Yguara-curu, Cura-patuba) which we have just marked, the indicationof auriferous soil. Such is the analogy of the imported roots in theAmerican tongues, which otherwise differ altogether from each other, that 300 leagues west of the mountain Ygaracuru, on the banks of theCaqueta, Pedro de Ursua heard of the province of Caricuri, rich ingold washings. The Curupatuba falls into the Amazon near the Villa ofMonte Alegre, north-east of the mouth of the Rio Topayos. ); andaccording to the assertion of the natives, subterraneous noises aresometimes heard from the latter. The ridge of this chain of mountains, which runs in a direction south 85 degrees east from the peak of Duidanear the Esmeralda (latitude 3 degrees 19 minutes), to the rapids ofthe Rio Manaye near Cape Nord (latitude 1 degree 50 minutes), divides, in the parallel of 2 degrees, the northern sources of the Essequibo, the Maroni and the Oyapoc, from the southern sources of the RioTrombetas, Curupatuba and Paru. The most southern spurs of this chainapproach nearer to the Amazon, at the distance of fifteen leagues. These are the first heights which we perceived after having leftXeberos and the mouth of the Huallaga. They are constantly seen innavigating from the mouth of the Rio Topayo towards that of Paru, fromthe town of Santarem to Almeirim. The peak Tripoupou is nearly in themeridian of the former of those towns and is celebrated among theIndians of Upper Maroni. It is said that farther eastward, at Melgaco, the Serras do Velho and do Paru are still distinguished in thehorizon. The real boundaries of this series of sources of the RioTrombetas are better known southward than northward, where amountainous country appears to advance in Dutch and French Guiana, asfar as within twenty to twenty-five leagues of the coast. The numerouscataracts of the rivers of Surinam, Maroni and Oyapoc, prove theextent and the prolongation of rocky ridges; but in those regionsnothing indicates the existence of continued plains or table-landssome hundred toises high, fitted for the cultivation of the plants ofthe temperate zone. 

The system of the mountains of Parime surpasses in extent nineteentimes that of the whole of Switzerland. Even considering themountainous group of the sources of the Rio Negro and the Xie asindependent or insulated amidst the plains, we still find the SierraParime (between Maypures and the sources of the Oyapoc) to be 340leagues in length; its greatest breadth (the rocks of Imataca, nearthe delta of the Orinoco, at the sources of the Rio Paru) is 140leagues. In the group of the Parime, as well as in the group of themountains of central Asia, between the Himalaya and the Altai, thepartial chains are often interrupted and have no uniform parallelism. Towards the south-west, however (between the strait of Baraguan, themouth of the Rio Zama and the Esmeralda), the line of the mountains isgenerally in the direction of north 70 degrees west. Such is also theposition of a distant coast, that of Portuguese, French, Dutch andEnglish Guiana, from Cape North to the mouth of the Orinoco; such isthe mean direction of the course of the Rio Negro and Yupura. It isdesirable to fix our attention on the angles formed by the partialchains, in different regions of America, with the meridians; becauseon less extended surfaces, for instance in Germany, we find also thissingular co-existence of groups of neighbouring mountains followinglaws of direction altogether different, though every separate groupexhibits the greatest uniformity in the line of chains. 

The soil on which the mountains of Parime rise, is slightly convex. Bybarometric measures I found that, between 3 and 4 degrees northlatitude, the plains are elevated from 160 to 180 toises abovesea-level. This height will appear considerable if we reflect that atthe foot of the Andes of Peru, at Tomependa, 900 leagues from thecoast of the Atlantic Ocean, the Llanos or plains of the Amazon riseonly to the height of 194 toises. The distinctive characteristics ofthe group of the mountains of Parime are the rocks of granite andgneiss-granite, the total absence of calcareous secondary formations, and the shelves of bare rock (the tsy of the Chinese deserts), whichoccupy immense spaces in the savannahs. 

5. GROUP OF THE BRAZIL MOUNTAINS. 

This group has hitherto been marked on the maps in a very erroneousway. The temperate table-lands and real chains of 300 to 500 toiseshigh have been confounded with countries of exceedingly hottemperature, and of which the undulating surface presents only rangesof hills variously grouped. But the observations of scientifictravellers have recently thrown great light on the orography ofPortuguese America. The mountainous region of Brazil, of which themean height rises at least to 400 toises, is comprehended within verynarrow limits, nearly between 18 and 28 degrees south latitude; itdoes not appear to extend, between the provinces of Goyaz andMatogrosso, beyond longitude 53 degrees west of the meridian of Paris. 

When we regard in one view the eastern configuration of North andSouth America, we perceive that the coast of Brazil and Guiana, fromCape Saint Roque to the mouth of the Orinoco (stretching fromsouth-east to north-west), corresponds with that of Labrador, as thecoast from Cape Saint Roque to the Rio de la Plata corresponds withthat of the United States (stretching from south-west to north-east). The chain of the Alleghenies is opposite to the latter coast, as theprincipal Cordilleras of Brazil are nearly parallel to the shore ofthe provinces of Porto Seguro, Rio Janeiro and Rio Grande. TheAlleghenies, generally composed of grauwacke and transition rocks, aresomewhat loftier than the almost primitive mountains (of granite, gneiss and mica-slate) of the Brazilian group; they are also of a farmore simple structure, their chains lying nearer to each other andpreserving, as in the Jura, a more uniform parallelism. 

If, instead of comparing those parts of the new continent situatednorth and south of the equator, we confine ourselves to South America, we find on the western and northern coasts in their whole length, acontinued chain near the shore (the Andes and the Cordillera ofVenezuela), while the eastern coast presents masses of more or lesslofty mountains only between the 12 and 30 degrees south latitude. Inthis space, 360 leagues in length, the system of the Brazil mountainscorresponds geologically in form and position with the Andes of Chileand Peru. Its most considerable portion lies between the parallels 15and 22 degrees, opposite the Andes of Potosi and La Paz, but its meanheight is five toises less, and cannot even be compared with that ofthe mountains of Parime, Jura and Auvergne. The principal direction ofthe Brazilian chains, where they attain the height of from four tofive hundred toises, is from south to north, and from south-south-westto north-north-east; but, between 13 and 19 degrees the chains areconsiderably enlarged, and at the same time lowered towards the west. Ridges and ranges of hills seem to advance beyond the land-straitswhich separate the sources of the Rio Araguay, Parana, Topayos, Paraguay, Guapore and Aguapehy, in 63 degrees longitude. As thewestern widening of the Brazilian group, or rather the undulations ofthe soil in the Campos Parecis, correspond with the spurs of SantaCruz de la Sierra, and Beni, which the Andes send out eastward, it wasformerly concluded that the system of the mountains of Brazil waslinked with that of the Andes of Upper Peru. I myself laboured underthis error in my first geologic studies. 

A coast chain (Serra do Mar) runs nearly parallel with the coast, north-east of Rio Janeiro, lowering considerably towards Rio Doce, andlosing itself almost entirely near Bahia (latitude 12 degrees 58minutes). According to M. Eschwege* some small ridges reach Cape SaintRoque (latitude 5 degrees 12 minutes). (* Geognostiches Gemulde vonBrasilien, 1822. The limestone of Bahia abounds in fossil wood. )South-east of Rio Janeiro the Serra do Mar follows the coast behindthe island of Saint Catherine as far as Torres (latitude 29 degrees 20minutes); it there turns westward and forms an elbow stretching by theCampos of Vacaria towards the banks of the Jacuy. 

Another chain is situated westward of the shore-chain of Brazil. Thisis the most lofty and considerable of all and is called the chain ofVillarica. Mr. Eschwege distinguishes it by the name of Serra doEspinhaco and considers it as the principal part of the wholestructure of the mountains of Brazil. This Cordillera loses itselfnorthward, * between Minas Novas and the southern extremity of theCapitania of Bahia, in 16 degrees latitude. (* The rocky ridges thatform the cataract of Paulo Affonso, in the Rio San Francisco, aresupposed to belong to the northern prolongation of the Serra doEspinhaco, as a series of heights in the province of Seara (fetidcalcareous rocks containing a quantity of petrified fish) belong tothe Serra dos Vertentes. ) It is there more than 60 leagues removedfrom the coast of Porto Seguro; but southward, between the parallelsof Rio Janeiro and Saint Paul (latitude 22 to 23 degrees), in the knotof the mountains of Serra da Mantiquiera, it draws so near to theCordillera of the shore (Serra do Mar), that they are almostconfounded together. In the same manner the Serra do Espinhaco followsconstantly the direction of a meridian, towards the north; whiletowards the south it runs south-east, and terminates about 25 degreeslatitude. The chain reaches its highest elevation between 18 and 21degrees; and there the spurs and table-lands at its back are ofsufficient extent to furnish lands for cultivation where, atsuccessive heights, there are temperate climates comparable to thedelicious climates of Xalapa, Guaduas, Caracas and Caripe. Thisadvantage, which depends at once on the widening of the mass of thechain and of its spurs, is nowhere found in the same degree east ofthe Andes, not even in chains of more considerable absolute height, asthose of Venezuela and the Orinoco. The culminant points of the Serrado Espinhaco, in the Capitania of Minas Geraes, are the Itambe (932toises), the Serra da Piedade, near Sabara (910 toises), theItacolumi, properly Itacunumi (900 toises), the Pico of Itabira (816toises), the Serras of Caraca, Ibitipoca and Papagayo. Saint Hilairefelt piercing cold in the month of November (therefore in summer) inthe whole Cordillera of Lapa, from the Villa do Principe to the Morrode Gaspar Suares. 

We have just noticed two chains of mountains nearly parallel but ofwhich the most extensive (the littoral chain) is the least lofty. Thecapital of Brazil is situated at the point where the two chains drawnearest together and are linked together on the east of the Serra deMantiqueira, if not by a transversal ridge, at least by a mountainousterritory. Old systematic ideas respecting the rising of mountains inproportion as we advance into a country, would have warranted thebelief that there existed, in the Capitania of Mato Grosso, a centralCordillera much loftier than that of Villarica or do Espinhaco; but wenow know (and this is confirmed by climateric circumstances) thatthere exists no continued chain, properly speaking, westward of RioSan Francisco, on the frontiers of Minas Geraes and Goyaz. We findonly a group of mountains, of which the culminant points are theSerras da Canastra (south-west of Paracatu) and da Marcella (latitude18 1/2 and 19. 10 degrees), and, further north, the Pyrenees stretchingfrom east to west (latitude 16 degrees 10 minutes) between Villaboaand Mejaponte). M. Eschwege has named the group of mountains of Goyazthe Serra dos Vertentes, because it divides the waters between thesouthern tributary streams of the Rio Grande or Parana, and thenorthern tributary streams of Rio Tucantines. It runs southward beyondthe Rio Grande (Parana), and approaches the chain of Espinpapo in 23degrees latitude, by the Serra do Franca. It attains only the heightof 300 or 400 toises, with the exception of some summits north-west ofParacatu, and is consequently much lower than the chain of Villarica. 

Further on, west of the meridian of Villaboa, there are only ridgesand a series of low hills which, on a length of 12 degrees, form thedivision of water (latitude 13 to 17 degrees) between the Araguay andthe Paranaiba (a tributary of the Parana), between the Rio Topayos andthe Paraguay, between the Guapore and the Aguapehy. The Serra of SanMarta (longitude 15 1/2 degrees) is somewhat lofty, but maps havevastly exaggerated the height of the Serras or Campos Parecis north ofthe towns of Cuyaba and Villabella (latitude 13 to 14 degrees, longitude 58 to 62 degrees). These Campos, which take their name fromthat of a tribe of wild Indians, are vast, barren table-lands, entirely destitute of vegetation; and in them the sources of thetributary streams of three great rivers, the Topayos, the Madeira andthe Paraguay, take their rise. 

According to the measures and geologic observations of M. Eschwege, the high summits of the Serra do Mar (the coast-chain) scarcely attain660 toises; those of the Serra do Espinhaco (chain of Villarica), 950toises; those of Serra de los Vertentes (group of Canastra and theBrazilian Pyrenees), 450 toises. Further west the surface of the soilseems to present but slight undulations; but no measure of height hasbeen made beyond the meridian of Villaboa. Considering the system ofthe mountains of Brazil in their real limits, we find, except someconglomerates, the same absence of secondary formations as in thesystem of the mountains of the Orinoco (group of Parime). Thesesecondary formations, which rise to considerable heights in theCordillera of Venezuela and Cumana, belong only to the low regions ofBrazil. 

B. PLAINS (LLANOS) OR BASINS. 

In that part of South America situated on the east of the Andes wehave successively examined three systems of mountains, those of theshore of Venezuela, of the Parime and Brazil: we have seen that thismountainous region, which equals the Cordillera of the Andes, not inmass, but in area and horizontal section of surface, is three timesless elevated, much less rich in precious metals adhering to the rock, destitute of recent traces of volcanic fire and, with the exception ofthe coast of Venezuela, little exposed to the violence of earthquakes. The average height of the three systems diminishes from north tosouth, from 750 to 400 toises; those of the culminant points (maximaof the height of each group) from 1350 to 1000 or 900 toises. Hence itresults that the loftiest chain, with the exception of the smallinsulated system of the Sierra Nevada of Santa Marta, is theCordillera of the shore of Venezuela, which is itself but acontinuation of the Andes. Directing our attention northward, we findin Central America (latitude 12 to 30 degrees) and North America(latitude 30 to 70 degrees), on the east of the Andes of Guatimala, Mexico and Upper Louisiana, the same regular lowering which struck ustowards the south. In this vast extent of land, from the Cordillera ofVenezuela to the polar circle, eastern America presents two distinctsystems, the group of the mountains of the West Indies (which in itseastern part is volcanic) and the chain of the Alleghenies. The formerof these systems, partly covered by the ocean, may be compared, withrespect to its relative position and form, to the Sierra Parime; thelatter, to the Brazil chains, running also from south-west tonorth-east. The culminant points of those two systems rise to 1138 and1040 toises. Such are the elements of this curve, of which the convexsummit is in the littoral chain of Venezuela:

AMERICA, EAST OF THE ANDES. 

COLUMN 1 : SYSTEMS OF MOUNTAINS. 

COLUMN 2 : MAXIMA OF HEIGHTS IN TOISES. 

Brazil Group : Itacolumi 900 (south latitude 20 1/2 degrees). 

Parime Group : Duida 1300 (north latitude 3 1/4 degrees). 

Littoral Chain of Venezuela : Silla of Caracas 1350 (north latitude 101/2 degrees). 

Group of the West Indies : Blue Mountains 1138 (north latitude 18 1/5degrees). 

Chain of the Alleghenies : Mount Washington 1040 (north latitude 441/4 degrees). 

I have preferred indicating in this table the culminant points of eachsystem to the mean height of the line of elevation; the culminantpoints are the results of direct measures, while the mean height is anabstract idea somewhat vague, particularly when there is only onegroup of mountains, as in Brazil, Parime and the West Indies, and nota continued chain. Although it cannot be doubted that, among the fivesystems of mountains on the east of the Andes, of which one onlybelongs to the southern hemisphere, the littoral chain of Venezuela isthe most elevated (having a culminant point of 1350 toises, and a meanheight from the line of elevation of 750), we yet recognise withsurprise that the mountains of eastern America (whether continental orinsular) differ very inconsiderably in their height above the level ofthe sea. The five groups are all nearly of an average height of from500 to 700 toises; and the culminant points (maxima of the lines ofelevation) from 1000 to 1300 toises. That uniformity of structure, inan extent twice as great as Europe, appears to me a very remarkablephenomenon. No summit east of the Andes of Peru, Mexico and UpperLouisiana rises beyond the limit of perpetual snow. * (* Not even theWhite Mountains of the state of New Hampshire, to which MountWashington belongs. Long before the accurate measurement of CaptainPartridge I had proved (in 1804), by the laws of the decrement ofheat, that no summit of the White Mountains could attain the heightassigned to them by Mr. Cutler, of 1600 toises. ) It may be added that, with the exception of the Alleghenies, no snow falls sporadically inany of the eastern systems which we have just examined. From theseconsiderations it results, and above all, from the comparison of theNew Continent with those parts of the old world which we know best, with Europe and Asia, that America, thrown into the aquatichemisphere* of our planet, is still more remarkable for the continuityand extent of the depressions of its surface, than for the height andcontinuity of its longitudinal ridge. Beyond and within the isthmus ofPanama, but eastward of the Cordillera of the Andes, the mountainsscarcely attain, over an extent of 600, 000 square leagues, the heightof the Scandinavian Alps, the Carpathians, the Monts-Dores (inAuvergne) and the Jura. (* The southern hemisphere, owing to theunequal distribution of seas and continents, has long been marked aseminently aquatic; but the same inequality is found when we considerthe globe as divided not according to the equator but by meridians. The great masses of land are stinted between the meridian of 10degrees west, and 150 degrees east of Paris, while the hemisphereeminently aquatic begins westward of the meridian of the coast ofGreenland, and ends on the east of the meridian of the eastern coastof New Holland and the Kurile Isles. This unequal distribution of landand water has the greatest influence on the distribution of heat overthe surface of the globe, on the inflexions of the isothermal lines, and the climateric phenomena in general. For the inhabitants of thecentral parts of Europe the aquatic hemisphere may be called western, and the land hemisphere eastern; because in going to the west we reachthe former sooner than the latter. It is the division according to themeridians, which is intended in the text. Till the end of the 15thcentury the western hemisphere was as much unknown to the nations ofthe eastern hemisphere, as one half of the lunar globe is to us atpresent, and will probably always remain. ) One system only, that ofthe Andes, comprises in America, over a long and narrow zone of 3000leagues, all the summits exceeding 1400 toises high. In Europe, on thecontrary, even considering the Alps and the Pyrenees as one sole lineof elevation, we still find summits far from this line or principalridge, in the Sierra Nevada of Grenada, Sicily, Greece, the Apennines, perhaps also in Portugal, from 1500 to 1800 toises high. * (* Culminantpoints; Malhacen of Grenada, 1826 toises; Etna, according to CaptainWilliam Henry Smith, 1700 toises; Monte Corno of the Apennines, 1489toises. If Mount Tomoros in Greece and the Serra Gaviarra of Portugalenter, as is alleged, into the limit of perpetual snow, those summits, according to their position in latitude, should attain from 1400 to1600 toises. Yet on the loftiest mountains of Greece, Tomoros, Olympusin Thessaly, Polyanos in Dolope and Mount Parnassus, M. Pouquevillesaw, in the month of August, snow lying only in patches, and incavities sheltered from the rays of the sun. ) The contrast betweenAmerica and Europe, with respect to distribution of the culminantpoints, which attain from 1300 to 1500 toises, is the more striking, as the low eastern mountains of South America, of which the maximum ofelevation is only from 1300 to 1400 toises, are situated beside aCordillera of which the mean height exceeds 1800 toises, while thesecondary system of the mountains of Europe rises to maxima ofelevation of 1500 to 1800 toises, near a principal chain of at least1200 toises of average height. 

MAXIMA OF THE LINE OF ELEVATION IN THE SAME PARALLELS. 

Andes of Chile, Upper Peru. Knots of the mountains of Porco and Cuzco, 2500 toises. : Group of the Brazil Mountains; a little lower than theCevennes 900 to 1000 toises. 

Andes of Popayan and Cundinamarca. Chain of Guacas, Quindiu, andAntioquia. More than 2800 toises. : Group of Parime Mountains; littlelower than the Carpathians; 1300 toises. 

Insulated group of the Snowy Mountains of Santa Marta. It is believedto be 3000 toises high. : Littoral Chain of Venezuela; 80 toises lowerthan the Scandinavian Alps; 1350 toises. 

Volcanic Andes of Guatimala, and primitive Andes of Oaxaca, from 1700to 1800 toises. : Group of the West Indies, 170 toises higher than themountains of Auvergne, 1140 toises. 

Andes of New Mexico and Upper Louisiana (Rocky Mountains) and furtherwest. The Maritime Alps of New Albion, 1600 to 1900 toises. : Chain ofthe Alleghenies; 160 toises higher than the chains of Jura and theGates of Malabar; 1040 toises. 

This table contains the whole system of mountains of the NewContinent; namely: the Andes, the maritime Alps of California or NewAlbion and the five groups of the east. 

I may subjoin to the facts I have just stated an observation equallystriking; in Europe the maxima of secondary systems, which exceed 1500toises, are found solely on the south of the Alps and Pyrenees, thatis, on the south of the principal continental ridge. They are situatedon the side where that ridge approaches nearest the shore, and wherethe Mediterranean has not overwhelmed the land. On the north of theAlps and Pyrenees, on the contrary, the most elevated secondarysystems, the Carpathian and the Scandinavian mountains* do not attainthe height of 1300 toises. (* The Lomnitzer Spitz of the Carpathiansis, according to M. Wahlenberg, 1245 toises; Sneehattan, in the chainof Dovrefjeld in Norway (the highest summit of the old continent, north of the parallel of 55 degrees), is 1270. ) The depression of theline of elevation of the second order is consequently found in Europeas well as in America, where the principal ridge is farthest removedfrom the shore. If we did not fear to subject great phenomena to toosmall a scale, we might compare the difference of the height of theAlps and the mountains of eastern America, with the difference ofheight observable between the Alps or the Pyrenees, and the MontsDores, the Jura, the Vosges or the Black Forest. 

We have just seen that the causes which upheaved the oxidated crust ofthe globe in ridges, or in groups of mountains, have not acted verypowerfully in the vast extent of country stretching from the easternpart of the Andes towards the Old World; that depression and thatcontinuity of plains are geologic facts, the more remarkable, as theyextend nowhere else in other latitudes. The five mountain systems ofeastern America, of which we have stated the limits, divide that partof the continent into an equal number of basins of which only that ofthe Caribbean Sea remains submerged. From north to south, from thepolar circle to the Straits of Magellan, we see in succession:

1. THE BASIN OF THE MISSISSIPPI AND OF CANADA. 

An able geologist, Mr. Edwin James, has recently shown that this basinis comprehended between the Andes of New Mexico, or Upper Louisiana, and the chains of the Alleghenies which stretch northward in crossingthe rapids of Quebec. It being quite as open northward as southward, it may be designated by the collective name of the basin of theMississippi, the Missouri, the river St. Lawrence, the great lakes ofCanada, the Mackenzie river, the Saskatchewan and the coast ofHudson's Bay. The tributary streams of the lakes and those of theMississippi are not separated by a chain of mountains running fromeast to west, as traced on several maps; the line of partition of thewaters is marked by a slight ridge, a rising of two counter-slopes inthe plain. There is no chain between the sources of the Missouri andthe Assineboine, which is a branch of the Red River and of Hudson'sBay. The surface of these plains, almost all savannah, between thepolar sea and the gulf of Mexico, is more than 270, 000 square sealeagues, nearly equal to the area of the whole of Europe. On the northof the parallel of 42 degrees the general slope of the land runseastward; on the south of that parallel it inclines southward. To forma precise idea how little abrupt are these slopes we must recollectthat the level of Lake Superior is 100 toises; that of Lake Erie, 88toises, and that of Lake Ontario, 36 toises above the level of thesea. The plains around Cincinnati (latitude 39 degrees 6 minutes) arescarcely, according to Mr. Drake, 80 toises of absolute height. Towards the west, between the Ozark mountains and the foot of theAndes of Upper Louisiana (Rocky Mountains, latitude 35 to 38 degrees), the basin of the Mississippi is considerably elevated in the vastdesert described by Mr. Nuttal. It presents a series of smalltable-lands, gradually rising one above another, and of which the mostwesterly (that nearest the Rocky Mountains, between the Arkansas andthe Padouca), is more than 450 toises high. Major Long measured a baseto determine the position and height of James Peak. In the great basinof the Mississippi the line that separates the forests and thesavannahs runs, not, as may be supposed, in the manner of a parallel, but like the Atlantic coast, and the Allegheny mountains themselves, from north-east to south-west, from Pittsburg towards Saint Louis, andthe Red River of Nachitoches, so that the northern part only of thestate of Illinois is covered with gramina. This line of demarcation isnot only interesting for the geography of plants, but exerts, as wehave said above, great influence in retarding culture and populationnorth-west of the Lower Mississippi. In the United States the prairiecountries are more slowly colonized; and even the tribes ofindependent Indians are forced by the rigour of the climate to passthe winter on the banks of rivers, where poplars and willows arefound. The basins of the Mississippi, of the lakes of Canada and theSt. Lawrence, are the largest in America; and though the totalpopulation does not rise at present beyond three millions, it may beconsidered as that in which, between latitude 29 and 45 degrees(longitude 74 to 94 degrees), civilization has made the greatestprogress. It may even be said that in the other basins (of theOrinoco, the Amazon and Buenos Ayres) agricultural life scarcelyexists; it begins, on a small number of points only, to supersedepastoral life, and that of fishing and hunting nations. The plainsbetween the Alleghenies and the Andes of Upper Louisiana are of suchvast extent that, like the Pampas of Choco and Buenos Ayres, bamboos(Ludolfia miega) and palm-trees grow at one extremity, while theother, during a great part of the year, is covered with ice and snow. 

2. THE BASIN OF THE GULF OF MEXICO, AND OF THE CARIBBEAN SEA. 

This is a continuation of the basin of the Mississippi, Louisiana andHudson's Bay. It may be said that all the low lands on the coast ofVenezuela situated north of the littoral chain and of the SierraNevada de Merida belong to the submerged part of this basin. If Itreat here separately of the basin of the Caribbean Sea, it is toavoid confounding what, in the present state of the globe, is partlyabove and partly below the ocean. The recent coincidence of theperiods of earthquakes observed at Caracas and on the banks of theMississippi, the Arkansas and the Ohio, justifies the geologictheories which regard as one basin the plains bounded on the south, bythe littoral Cordillera of Venezuela; on the east, by the Allegheniesand the series of the volcanoes of the West Indies; and on the west, by the Rocky Mountains (Mexican Andes) and by the series of thevolcanoes of Guatimala. The basin of the West Indies forms, as we havealready observed, a Mediterranean with several issues, the influenceof which on the political destinies of the New Continent depends atonce on its central position and the great fertility of its islands. The outlets of the basin, of which the four largest* are 75 milesbroad, are all on the eastern side, open towards Europe, and agitatedby the current of the tropics. (* Between Tobago and Grenada; SaintMartin and the Virgin Isles; Porto Rico and Saint Domingo; and betweenthe Little Bank of Bahama and Cape Canaveral of Florida. ) In the samemanner as we recognize, in our Mediterranean, the vestiges of threeancient basins by the proximity of Rhodes, Scarpanto, Candia, andCerigo, as well as by that of Cape Sorello of Sicily, the island ofPantelaria and Cape Bon, in Africa; so the basin of the West IndiaIslands, which exceeds the Mediterranean in extent, seems to presentthe remains of ancient dykes which join* Cape Catoche of Yucatan toCape San Atonio of the island of Cuba (* I do not pretend that thishypothesis of the rupture and the ancient continuity of lands can beextended to the eastern foot of the basin of the West Indies, that is, to the series of the volcanic islands in a line from Trinidad to PortoRico. ); and that island to Cape Tiburon of St. Domingo; Jamaica, theBank of La Vibora and the rock of Serranilla to Cape Gracias a Dios onthe Mosquito Shore. From this situation of the most prominent islandsand capes of the continent, there results a division into threepartial basins. The most northerly has long been distinguished by aparticular denomination, that of the Gulf of Mexico; the intermediaryor central basin may be called the Sea of Honduras, on account of thegulf of that name which makes a part of it; and the southern basin, comprehended between the Caribbean Islands and the coast of Venezuela, the isthmus of Panama, and the country of the Mosquito Indians, wouldform the Caribbean Sea. The modern volcanic rocks distributed on thetwo opposite banks of the basin of the West Indies on the east andwest, but not on the north and south, is also a phenomenon worthy ofattention. In the Caribbean Islands, a group of volcanoes, partlyextinct and partly burning, stretches from 12 to 18 degrees; and inthe Cordilleras of Guatimala and Mexico from latitude 9 to 19 1/2degrees. I noticed on the north-west extremity of the basin of theWest Indies that the secondary formations dip towards south-east;along the coast of Venezuela rocks of gneiss and primitive mica-slatedip to north-west. The basalts, amygdaloids, and trachytes, which areoften surmounted by tertiary limestones, appear only towards theeastern and western banks. 

3. THE BASIN OF THE LOWER ORINOCO, OR THE PLAINS OF VENEZUELA. 

This basin, like the plains of Lombardy, is open to the east. Itslimits are the littoral chain of Venezuela on the north, the easternCordillera of New Grenada on the west, and the Sierra Parime on thesouth; but as the latter group extends on the west only to themeridian of the cataracts of Maypures (longitude 70 degrees 37minutes), there remains an opening or land-strait, running from northto south, by which the Llanos of Venezuela communicate with the basinof the Amazon and the Rio Negro. We must distinguish between the basinof the Lower Orinoco, properly so called (north of that river and theRio Apure), and the plains of Meta and Guaviare. The latter occupy thespace between the mountains of Parime and New Grenada. The two partsof this basin have an opposite direction; but being alike covered withgramina, they are usually comprehended in the country under the samedenomination. Those Llanos extend, in the form of an arch, from themouth of the Orinoco, by San Fernando de Apure, to the confluence ofthe Rio Caguan with the Jupura, consequently along a length of morethan 360 leagues. 

(3a. ) PART OF THE BASIN OF VENEZUELA RUNNING FROM EAST TO WEST. 

The general slope is eastward, and the mean height from 40 to 50toises. The western bank of that great sea of verdure (mar de yerbas)is formed by a group of mountains, several of which equal or exceed inheight the Peak of Teneriffe and Mont Blanc. Of this number are theParamos del Almorzadero, Cacota, Laura, Porquera, Mucuchies, Timotes, and Las Rosas. The height of the northern and southern banks isgenerally less than 500 or 600 toises. It is somewhat extraordinarythat the maximum of the depression of the basin is not in its centre, but on its southern limit, at the Sierra Parime. It is only betweenthe meridians of Cape Codera and Cumana, where a great part of thelittoral Cordillera of Venezuela has been destroyed, that the watersof the Llanos (the Rio Unare and the Rio Neveri) reach the northerncoast. The partition ridge of this basin is formed by smalltable-lands, known by the names of Mesas de Amana, Guanipa and Jonoro. In the eastern part, between the meridians 63 and 66 degrees, theplains or savannahs run southward beyond the bed of the Orinoco andthe Imataca, and form (as they approach the Cujuni and the Essequibo)a kind of gulf along the Sierra Pacaraina. 

(3b. ) PART OF THE BASIN OF VENEZUELA RUNNING FROM SOUTH TO NORTH. 

The great breadth of this zone of savannahs (from 100 to 120 leagues)renders the denomination of land-strait somewhat improper, at least ifit be not geognostically applied to every communication of basinsbounded by high Cordilleras. Perhaps this denomination more properlybelongs to that part in which is situated the group of almost unknownmountains that surround the sources of the Rio Negro. In the basincomprehended between the eastern declivity of the Andes of New Grenadaand the western part of the Sierra Parime, the savannahs, as we haveobserved above, stretch far beyond the equator; but their extent doesnot determine the southern limits of the basin here underconsideration. These limits are marked by a ridge which divides thewaters between the Orinoco and the Rio Negro, a tributary stream ofthe Amazon. The rising of a counter-slope almost imperceptible to theeye, forms a ridge that seems to join the eastern Cordillera of theAndes to the group of the Parime. This ridge runs from Ceja (latitude1 degree 45 minutes), or the eastern slope of the Andes of Timana, between the sources of the Guayavero and the Rio Caguan, towards theisthmus that separates the Tuamini from Pimichin. In the Llanos, consequently, it follows the parallels of 20 degrees 30 minutes and 2degrees 45 minutes. It is remarkable that we find the divortia aquarumfurther westward on the back of the Andes, in the knot of mountainscontaining the sources of the Magdalena, at a height of 900 toisesabove the level of the Llanos, between the Caribbean Sea and thePacific ocean, and almost in the same latitude (1 degree 45 minutes to2 degrees 20 minutes). From the isthmus of Javita towards the east, the line of the partition of waters is formed by the mountains of theParime group; it first rises a little on the north-east towards thesources of the Orinoco (latitude 3 degrees 45 minutes ?) and the chainof Pacaraina (latitude 4 degrees 4 minutes to 4 degrees 12 minutes);then, during a course of 80 leagues, between the portage of theAnocapra and the banks of the Rupunuri, it runs very regularly fromwest to east; and finally, beyond the meridian 61 degrees 50 minutes, it again deviates towards lower latitudes, passing between thenorthern sources of the Rio Suriname, the Maroni, the Oyapoc and thesouthern sources of Rio Trombetas, Curupatuba, and Paru (latitude 2degrees to 1 degree 50 minutes). These facts suffice to prove thatthis first line of partition of the waters of South America (that ofthe northern hemisphere) traverses the whole continent between theparallels of 2 and 4 degrees. The Cassiquiare alone has cut its wayacross the ridge just described. The hydraulic system of the Orinocodisplays the singular phenomenon of a bifurcation where the limit oftwo basins (those of the Orinoco and the Rio Negro) crosses the bed ofthe principal recipient. In that part of the basin of the Orinocowhich runs in the direction of from south to north, as well as in thatrunning from west to east, the maxima of depression are found at thefoot of the Sierra Parime, we may even say, on its outline. 

4. THE BASIN OF THE RIO NEGRO AND THE AMAZON. 

This is the central and largest basin of South America. It is exposedto frequent equatorial rains, and the hot and humid climate develops aforce of vegetation to which nothing in the two continents can becompared. The central basin, bounded on the north by the Parime group, and on the south by the mountains of Brazil, is entirely covered bythick forests, while the two basins at the extremities of thecontinent (the Llanos of Venezuela and the Lower Orinoco, and thePampas of Buenos Ayres or the Rio de la Plata) are savannahs orprairies, plains without trees and covered with gramina. Thissymmetric distribution of savannahs bounded by impenetrable forests, must be connected with physical revolutions which have operatedsimultaneously over great surfaces. 

(4a. ) PART OF THE BASIN OF THE AMAZON, RUNNING FROM EAST TO WEST, BETWEEN 2 DEGREES NORTH AND 12 DEGREES SOUTH; 880 LEAGUES IN LENGTH. 

The western shore of this basin is formed by the chain of the Andes, from the knot of the mountains of Huanuco to the sources of theMagdalena. It is enlarged by the spurs of the Rio Beni, * (* The realname of this great river, respecting the course of which geographershave been so long divided, is Uchaparu, probably water (para) of Ucha;Peni also signifies river or water; for the language of the Maypureshas very many analogies with that of the Moxos; and veni (oueni)signifies water in Maypure, as una in Moxo. Perhaps the river retainedthe name of Maypure, after the Indians who spoke that language hademigrated northward in the direction of the banks of the Orinoco. )rich in gem-salt, and composed of several ranges of hills (latitude 8degrees 11 minutes south) which advance into the plains on the easternbank of the Paro. These hills are transformed on our maps into UpperCordilleras and Andes of Cuchao. Towards the north the basin of theAmazon, of which the area (244, 000 square leagues) is only one-sixthless than the area of all Europe, rises in a gentle slope towards theSierra Parime. At 68 degrees of west longitude the elevated part ofthis Sierra terminates at 3 1/2 degrees north latitude. The group oflittle mountains surrounding the source of the Rio Negro, the Iniridaand the Xie (latitude 2 degrees) the scattered rocks between theAtabapo and the Cassiquiare, appear like groups of islands and rocksin the middle of the plain. Some of those rocks are covered with signsor symbolical sculpture. Nations, very different from those who nowinhabit the banks of the Cassiquiare, penetrated into the savannahs;and the zone of painted rocks, extending more than 150 leagues inbreadth, bears traces of ancient civilization. On the east of thesporadic groups of rocks (between the meridian of the bifurcation ofthe Orinoco and that of the confluence of the Essequibo with theRupunuri) the lofty mountains of the Parime commence only in 3 degreesnorth latitude; where the plains of the Amazon terminate. 

The limits of the plains of the Amazon are still less known towardsthe south than towards the north. The mountains that exceed 400 toisesof absolute height do not appear to extend in Brazil northward of theparallels 14 or 15 degrees of south latitude, and west of the meridianof 52 degrees; but it is not known how far the mountainous countryextends, if we may call by that name a territory bristled with hillsof one hundred or two hundred toises high. Between the Rio dosVertentes and the Rio de Tres Barras (tributary streams of the Araguayand the Topayos) several ridges of the Monts Parecis run northward. Onthe right bank of the Topayos a series of little hills advance as faras the parallel of 5 degrees south latitude, to the fall (cachoeira)of Maracana; while further west, in the Rio Madeira, the course ofwhich is nearly parallel with that of the Topayos, the rapids andcataracts indicate no rocky ridges beyond the parallel of 8 degrees. The principal depression of the basin of which we have just examinedthe outline, is not near one of its banks, as in the basin of theLower Orinoco, but at the centre, where the great recipient of theAmazon forms a longitudinal furrow inclining from west to east, underan angle of at least 25 degrees. The barometric measurements which Imade at Javita on the banks of the Tuamini, at Vasivia on the banks ofthe Cassiquiare and at the cataract of Rentema, in the Upper Maranon, seem to prove that the rising of the Llanos of the Amazon northward(at the foot of the Sierra Parime) is 150 toises, and westward (at thefoot of the Cordillera of the Andes of Loxa), 190 toises above thesea-level. 

(4b. ) PART OF THE BASIN OF THE AMAZON STRETCHING FROM SOUTH TO NORTH. 

This is the zone or land-strait by which, between 12 and 20 degrees ofsouth latitude, the plains of the Amazon communicate with the Pampasof Buenos Ayres. The western bank of this zone is formed by the Andes, between the knot of Porco and Potosi, and that of Huanuco and Pasco. Part of the spurs of the Rio Beni, which is but a widening of theCordilleras of Apolobamba and Cuzco and the whole promontory ofCochabamba, advance eastward into the plains of the Amazon. Theprolongation of this promontory has given rise to the idea that theAndes are linked with a series of hills which the Serras dos Parecis, the Serra Melgueira, and the supposed Cordillera of San Fernando, throw out towards the west. This almost unknown part of the frontiersof Brazil and Upper Peru merits the attention of travellers. It isunderstood that the ancient mission of San Jose de Chiquitos (nearlylatitude 17 degrees, longitude 67 degrees 10 minutes, supposing SantaCruz de la Sierra, in latitude 17 degrees 25 minutes, longitude 66degrees 47 minutes) is situated in the plains, and that the mountainsof the spur of Cochabamba terminate between the Guapaix (Rio deMizque) and the Parapiti, which lower down takes the names of Rio SanMiguel and Rio Sara. The savannahs of the province of Chiquitoscommunicate on the north with those of Moxos, and on the south withthose of Chaco; but a ridge or line of partition of the waters isformed by the intersection of two gently sloping plains. This ridgetakes its origin on the north of La Plata (Chuquisaca) between thesources of the Guapaix and the Cachimayo, and it ascends from theparallel of 20 degrees to that of 15 1/2 degrees south latitude, consequently on the north-east, towards the isthmus of Villabella. From this point, one of the most important of the whole hydrography ofAmerica, we may follow the line of the partition of the water to theCordillera of the shore (Serra do Mar). It is seen winding (latitude17 to 20 degrees) between the northern sources of the Araguay, theMaranhao or Tocantines, the Rio San Francisco and the southern sourcesof the Parana. This second line of partition which enters the group ofthe Brazil mountains on the frontier of Capitania of Goyaz separatesthe flowings of the basin of the Amazon from those of the Rio de laPlata, and corresponds, south of the equator, with the line we haveindicated in the northern hemisphere (latitude 2 to 4 degrees), on thelimits of the basins of the Amazon and the Lower Orinoco. 

If the plains of the Amazon (taking that denomination in thegeognostic sense we have given it) are in general distinguished fromthe Llanos of Venezuela and the Pampas of Buenos Ayres, by the extentand thickness of their forests, we are the more struck by thecontinuity of the savannahs in that part running from south to north. It would seem as though this sea of verdure stretched forth an armfrom the basin of Buenos Ayres, by the Llanos of Tucuman, Manso, Chuco, the Chiquitos, and the Moxos, to the Pampas del Sacramento andthe savannahs of Napo, Guaviare, Meta and Apure. This arm crosses, between 7 and 3 degrees south latitude, the basin of the forests ofthe Amazon; and the absence of trees on so great an extent ofterritory, together with the preponderance which the smallmonocotyledonous plants have acquired, is a phenomenon of thegeography of plants which belongs perhaps to the action of ancientpelagic currents or other partial revolutions of our planet. 

5. PLAINS OF THE RIO DE LA PLATA, AND OF PATAGONIA, FROM THESOUTH-WESTERN SLOPE OF THE GROUP OF THE BRAZIL MOUNTAINS TO THE STRAITOF MAGELLAN; FROM 20 TO 53 DEGREES OF LATITUDE. 

These plains correspond with those of the Mississippi and of Canada inthe northern hemisphere. If one of their extremities approaches lessnearly to the polar regions, the other enters much further into theregion of palm-trees. That part of this vast basin extending from theeastern coast towards the Rio Paraguay does not present a surface soperfectly smooth as the part situated on the west and the south-eastof the Rio de la Plata, and which has been known for ages by the nameof Pampas, derived from the Peruvian or Quichua language. * (* HatanPampa signifies in that language, a great plain. We find the wordPampa also in Riobamba and Guallabamba; the Spaniards, in order tosoften the geographical names, changing the p into b. ) Geognosticallyspeaking these two regions of east and west form only one basin, bounded on the east by the Sierra de Villarica or do Espinhaco, whichloses itself in the Capitania of San Paul, near the parallel of 24degrees; issuing on the north-east by little hills, from the Serra daCanastra and the Campos Parecis towards the province of Paraguay; onthe west by the Andes of Upper Peru and Chile; and on the north-westby the ridge of the partition of the waters which runs from the spurof Santa Cruz de la Sierra, across the plains of the Chiquitos, towards the Serras of Albuquerque (latitude 19 degrees 2 minutes) andSan Fernando. That part only of this basin lying on the west of theRio Paraguay, and which is entirely covered with gramina, is 70, 000square leagues. This surface of the Pampas or Llanos of Manse, Tucuman, Buenos Ayres and eastern Patagonia is consequently four timesgreater than the surface of the whole of France. The Andes of Chilenarrow the Pampas by the two spurs of Salta and Cordova; the latterpromontory forms so projecting a point that there remains (latitude 31to 32 degrees) a plain only 45 leagues broad between the easternextremity of the Sierra de Cordova and the right bank of the riverParaguay, stretching in the direction of a meridian, from the town ofNueva Coimbra to Rosario, below Santa Fe. Far beyond the southernfrontiers of the old viceroyalty of Buenos Ayres, between the RioColorado and the Rio Negro (latitude 38 to 39 degrees) groups ofmountains seem to rise in the form of islands in the middle of amuriatiferous plain. A tribe of Indians of the south (Tehuellet) havethere long borne the characteristic name of men of the mountains(Callilehet) or Serranos. From the parallel of the mouth of the RioNegro to that of Cabo Blanco (latitude 41 to 47 degrees) scatteredmountains on the eastern Patagonian coast denote more considerableinequalities inland. All that part, however, of the Straits ofMagellan, from the Virgins' Cape to the North Cape, on the breadth ofmore than 30 leagues, is surrounded by savannahs or Pampas; and theAndes of western Patagonia only begin to rise near the latter cape, exercising a marked influence on the direction of that part of thestrait nearest the Pacific, proceeding from south-east to north-west. 

If we have given the plains or great basins of South America the namesof the rivers that flow in their longitudinal furrows, we have notmeant by so-doing to compare them to mere valleys. In the plains ofthe Lower Orinoco and the Amazon all the lines of the declivitydoubtless reach a principal recipient, and the tributaries oftributary streams, that is the basins of different orders, penetratefar into the group of the mountains. The upper parts or high valleysof the tributary streams must be considered in a geological table asbelonging to the mountainous region of the country, and beyond theplains of the Lower Orinoco and the Amazon. The views of the geologistare not identical with those of the hydrographer. In the basin of theRio de la Plata and Patagonia the waters that follow the lines of thegreatest declivities have many issues. The same basin contains severalvalleys of rivers; and when we examine nearly the polyedric surface ofthe Pampas and the portion of their waters which, like the waters ofthe steppes of Asia, do not go to the sea, we conceive that theseplains are divided by small ridges or lines of elevation, and havealternate slopes, inclined, with reference to the horizon, in oppositedirections. In order to point out more clearly the difference betweengeological and hydrographic views, and to prove that in the former, abstracting the course of the waters which meet in one recipient, weobtain a far more general point of view, I shall here again recur tothe hydrographic basin of the Orinoco. That immense river rises on thesouthern slope of the Sierra Parime. It is bounded by plains on theleft bank, from the Cassiquiare to the mouth of the Atabapo, and flowsin a basin which, geologically speaking, according to one greatdivision of the surface of South America into three basins, we havecalled the basin of the Rio Negro and the Amazon. The low regions, which are bounded by the southern and northern declivities of theParime and Brazil mountains, and which the geologist ought to mark byone name, contain, according to the no less precise language ofhydrography, two basins of rivers, those of the Upper Orinoco and theAmazon, separated by a ridge that runs from Javita towards Esmeralda. From these considerations it results that a geological basin (sitvenia verbo) may have several recipients and several emissaries, divided by small ridges almost imperceptible; it may at the same timecontain waters that flow to the sea by different furrows independentof each other, and the systems of inland rivers flowing into lakesmore or less charged with saline matter. A basin of a river, orhydrographic basin, has but one recipient, one emissary; if, by abifurcation, it gives a part of its waters to another hydrographicbasin, it is because the bed of the river, or the principal recipient, approaches so near the banks of the basin or the ridge of partitionthat the ridge partly crosses it. 

The distribution of the inequalities of the surface of the globe doesnot present any strongly marked limits between the mountainous countryand the low regions, or geologic basins. Even where real chains ofmountains rise like rocky dykes issuing from a crevice, spurs more orless considerable, seem to indicate a lateral upheaving. While I admitthe difficulty of properly defining the groups of mountains and thebasins or continuous plains, I have attempted to calculate theirsurfaces according to the statements contained in the precedingsheets. 

TABLE OF AREAS FOR SOUTH AMERICA. 

COLUMN 1 : GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION. 

COLUMN 2 : AREA IN SQUARE MARINE LEAGUES. 

1. MOUNTAINOUS PART:

Andes : 58, 900. Littoral Chain of Venezuela : 1, 900. Sierra Nevada de Merida : 200. Group of the Parime : 25, 800. System of the Brazil mountains : 27, 600. 

TOTAL : 114, 400. 

2. PLAINS:

Llanos of the Lower Orinoco, the Meta, : 29, 000. And the GuaviarePlains of the Amazon : 260, 400. Pampas of Rio de la Plata and Patagonia : 135, 200. Plains between the eastern chain of theAndes of Cundinamarca and the chain of Choco : 12, 300. Plains of the shore on the west of the Andes : 20, 000. 

TOTAL : 456, 900. 

The whole surface of South America contains 571, 300 square leagues (20to a degree), and the proportion of the mountainous country to theregion of the plains is as 1 to 3. 9. The latter region, on the east ofthe Andes, comprises more than 424, 600 square leagues, half of whichconsists of savannahs; that is to say, it is covered with gramina. 

SECTION 2. 

GENERAL PARTITION OF GROUND. DIRECTION AND INCLINATION OF THE STRATA. RELATIVE HEIGHT OF THE FORMATIONS ABOVE THE LEVEL OF THE OCEAN. 

In the preceding section we have examined the inequalities of thesurface of the soil, that is to say, the general structure of themountains and the form of the basins rising between those variouslygrouped mountains. These mountains are sometimes longitudinal, runningin narrow bands or chains, similar to the veins that preserve theirdirections at great distances, as the Andes, the littoral chain ofVenezuela, the Serra do Mar of Brazil, and the Alleghenies of theUnited States. Sometimes they are in masses with irregular forms, inwhich upheavings seem to have taken place as on a labyrinth ofcrevices or a heap of veins, as for example in the Sierra Parime andthe Serra dos Vertentes. These modes of formation are linked with ageognostic hypothesis, which has at least the recommendation of beingfounded on facts observed in remote times, and which stronglycharacterize the chains and groups of mountains. Considerations on theaspect of a country are independent of those which indicate the natureof the soil, the heterogeneity of matter, the superposition of rocksand the direction and inclination of strata. 

In taking a general view of the geological constitution of a chain ofmountains, we may distinguish five elements of direction too oftenconfounded in works of geognosy and physical geography. These elementsare:--

 1. The longitudinal axis of the whole chain. 2. The line that divides the waters (divortia aquarum). 3. The line of ridges or elevation passing along the maxima of height. 4. The line that separates two contiguous formations into horizontal sections. 5. The line that follows the fissures of stratification. 

This distinction is the more necessary, there existing probably nochain on the globe that furnishes a perfect parallelism of all thesedirecting lines. In the Pyrenees, for instance, 1, 2, 3, do notcoincide, but 4 and 5 (that is, the different formations which come tolight successively, and the direction of the strata) are obviouslyparallel to 1, or to the direction of the whole chain. We find sooften in the most distant parts of the globe, a perfect parallelismbetween 1 and 5, that it may be supposed that the causes whichdetermine the direction of the axis (the angle under which that axiscuts the meridian) are generally linked with causes that determine thedirection and inclination of the strata. This direction of the stratais independent of the line of the formations, or their visible limitsat the surface of the soil; the lines 4 and 5 sometimes cross eachother, even when one of them coincides with 1, or with the directionof the longitudinal axis of the whole chain. The RELIEF of a countrycannot be precisely explained on a map, nor can the most erroneousopinions on the locality and superposition of the strata be avoided, if we do not apprehend with clearness the relation of the directinglines just mentioned. 

In that part of South America to which this memoir principallyrelates, and which is bounded by the Amazon on the south, and on thewest by the meridian of the Snowy Mountains (Sierra Nevada) of Merida, the different bands or zones of formations (4) are sensibly parallelwith the longitudinal axis (1) of the chains of mountains, basins orinterposed plains. It may be said in general that the granitic zone(including under that denomination the rocks of granite, gneiss andmica-slate) follows the direction of the Cordillera of the shore ofVenezuela, and belongs exclusively to that Cordillera and the group ofthe Parime mountains; since it nowhere pierces the secondary andtertiary strata in the Llanos or basin of the Lower Orinoco. Thence itresults that the same formations do not constitute the region ofplains and that of mountains. 

If we may be allowed to judge of the structure of the whole SierraParime, from the part which I examined in 6 degrees of longitude, and4 degrees of latitude, we may believe it to be entirely composed ofgneiss-granite; I saw some beds of greenstone and amphibolic slate, but neither mica-slate, clay-slate, nor banks of green limestone, although many phenomena render the presence of mica-slate probable onthe east of the Maypures and in the chain of Pacaraina. The geologicalformation of the Parime group is consequently still more simple thanthat of the Brazilian group, in which granites, gneiss and mica-slateare covered with thonschiefer, chloritic quartz (Itacolumite), grauwacke and transition-limestone; but those two groups exhibit incommon the absence of a real system of secondary rocks; we find inboth only some fragments of sandstone or silicious conglomerate. Inthe littoral Cordillera of Venezuela the granitic formationspredominate; but they are wanting towards the east, and especially inthe southern chain, where we observe (in the missions of Caripe andaround the gulf of Cariaco) a great accumulation of secondary andtertiary calcareous rocks. From the point where the littoralCordillera is linked with the Andes of New Grenada (longitude 71 1/2degrees) we observe first the granitic mountains of Aroa and SanFelipe, between the rivers Yaracui and Tocuyo; these graniticformations extend on the east of the two coasts of the basin of theValleys of Aragua, in the northern chain, as far as Cape Codera; andin the southern as far as the mountains (altas savanas) of Ocumare. After the remarkable interruption of the littoral Cordillera in theprovince of Barcelona, granitic rocks begin to appear in the island ofMarguerita and in the isthmus of Araya, and continue, perhaps, towardsthe Boca del Drago; but on the east of the meridian of Cape Codera thenorthern chain only is granitic (of micaceous slate); the southernchain is entirely composed of secondary limestone and sandstone. 

If, in the granitic series, where a very complex formation, we woulddistinguish mineralogically between the rocks of granite, gneiss, andmica-slate, it must be borne in mind that coarse-grained granite, notpassing to gneiss, is very rare in this country. It belongs peculiarlyto the mountains that bound the basin of the lake of Valencia towardsthe north; for in the islands of that lake, in the mountains near theVilla de Cura, and in the whole northern chain, between the meridianof Vittoria and Cape Codera, gneiss predominates, sometimesalternating with granite, or passing to mica-slate. Mica-slate is themost frequent rock in the peninsula of Araya and the group of Macanao, which forms the western part of the island of Marguerita. On the westof Maniquarez the mica-slate of the peninsula of Araya loses bydegrees its semi-metallic lustre; it is charged with carbon, andbecomes a clay-slate (thonschiefer) even an ampelite (alaunschiefer). Beds of granular limestone are most common in the primitive northernchain; and it is somewhat remarkable that they are found in gneiss, and not in mica-slate. 

We find at the back of this granitic, or rather mica-slate-gneiss soilof the southern chain, on the south of the Villa de Cura, a transitionstratum, composed of greenstone, amphibolic serpentine, micaceouslimestone, and green and carburetted slate. The most southern limit ofthis district is marked by volcanic rocks. Between Parapara, Ortiz andthe Cerro de Flores (latitude 9 degrees 28 minutes to 9 degrees 34minutes; longitude 70 degrees 2 minutes to 70 degrees 15 minutes)phonolites and amygdaloids are found on the very border of the basinof the Llanos, that vast inland sea which once filled the whole spacebetween the Cordilleras of Venezuela and Parime. According to theobservations of Major Long and Dr. James, trap-formations (bulleusesdolerites and amygdaloids with pyroxene) also border the plains orbasin of the Mississippi, towards the west, at the declivity of theRocky Mountains. The ancient pyrogenic rocks which I found nearParapara where they rise in mounds with rounded summits, are the moreremarkable as no others have hitherto been discovered in the wholeeastern part of South America. The close connection observed in thestrata of Parapara, between greenstone, amphibolic serpentine, andamygdaloids containing crystals of pyroxene; the form of the Morros ofSan Juan, which rise like cylinders above the table-land; the granulartexture of their limestone, surrounded by trap rocks, are objectsworthy the attention of the geologist who has studied in the southernTyrol the effects produced by the contact of poroxenic porphyries. * (*Leopold von Buch. Tableau geologique du Tyrol page 17. M. Boussingaultstates that these singular Morros de San Juan, which furnish alimestone with crystalline grains, and thermal springs, are hollow, and contain immense grottos filled with stalactites, which appear tohave been anciently inhabited by the natives. )

The calcareous soil of the littoral Cordillera prevails most on theeast of Cape Unare, in the southern chain; it extends to the gulf ofParia, opposite the island of Trinidad, where we find gypsum of Guire, containing sulphur. I have been informed that in the northern chainalso, in the Montana de Paria, and near Carupana, secondary calcareousformations are found, and that they only begin to show themselves onthe east of the ridge of rock called the Cerro de Meapire, which joinsthe calcareous group of Guacharo to the mica-slate group of thepeninsula of Araya; but I have not had an opportunity of ascertainingthe accuracy of this information. The calcareous stratum of thesouthern chain is composed of two formations which appear to be verydistinct the one from the other: namely limestone of Cumanacoa andthat of Caripe. When I was on the spot the former appeared to me tohave some analogy with zechstein, or Alpine limestone; the latter withJura limestone; I even thought that the granular gypsum of Guire mightbe that which belongs in Europe to zechstein, or is placed betweenzechstein and variegated sandstone. Strata of quartzose sandstone, alternating with slaty clay, cover the limestone of Cumanacoa, Cerrodel Imposible, Turimiquiri, Guarda de San Agustin, and the Juralimestone in the province of Barcelona (Aguas Calientes). According totheir position these sandstones may be considered as belonging to theformation of green sandstone, or sandstone with lignites below chalk. But if, as I thought I observed at Cocollar, sandstone forms strata inthe Alpine limestone before it is superposed, it appears doubtfulwhether the sandstone of the Imposible, and of Aguas Calientes, constitute one series. Muriatiferous clay (with petroleum and lamellargypsum) covers the western part of the peninsula of Araya, opposite tothe town of Cumana, and in the centre of the island of Marguerita. This clay appears to lie immediately over the mica-slate, and underthe calcareous breccia of the tertiary strata. I cannot decide whetherAraya, which is rich in disseminated muriate of soda, belongs to thesandstone formation of the Imposible, which from its position may becompared to variegated sandstone (red marl). 

There is no doubt that fragments of tertiary strata surround thecastle and town of Cumana (Castillo de San Antonio) and they alsoappear at the south-western extremity of the peninsula of Araya (Cerrode la Vela et del Barigon); at the ridge of the Cerro de Meapire, nearCariaco; at Cabo Blanco, on the west of La Guayra, and on the shore ofPorto Cabello; they are consequently found at the foot of the twoslopes of the northern chain of the Cordillera of Venezuela. Thistertiary stratum is composed of alternate beds of calcareousconglomerate, compact limestone, marl, and clay, containing seleniteand lamellar gypsum. The whole system (of very recent beds) appears tome to constitute but one formation, which is found at the Cerro de laPopa, near Carthagena, and in the islands of Guadaloupe and Martinico. 

Such is the geological distribution of strata in the mountainous partof Venezuela, in the group of the Parime and in the littoralCordillera. We have now to characterize the formations of the Llanos(or of the basin of the Lower Orinoco and the Apure); but it is noteasy to determine the order of their superposition, because in thisregion ravines or beds of torrents and deep wells dug by the hands ofman are entirely wanting. The formations of the Llanos are, first, asandstone or conglomerate, with rounded fragments of quartz, Lydianstone, and kieselschiefer, united by a ferruginous clayey cement, extremely tenacious, olive-brown, sometimes of a vivid red; second, acompact limestone (between Tisnao and Calabozo) which, by its smoothfracture and lithographic aspect, approaches the Jura limestone:third, alternate strata of marl and lamellar gypsum (Mesa de SanDiego, Ortiz, Cachipo). These three formations appeared to me tosucceed each other in the order I have just described, the sandstoneinclining in a concave position, northward, on the transition-slatesof Malpasso, and southward, on the gneiss-granite of Parime. As thegypsum often immediately covers the sandstone of Calabozo, whichappeared to me, on the spot, to be identical with our red sandstone, Iam uncertain of the age of its formation. The secondary rocks of theLlanos of Cumana, Barcelona and Caracas occupy a space of more than5000 square leagues. Their continuity is the more remarkable, as theyappear to have no existence, at least on the east of the meridian ofPorto Cabello (70 degrees 37 minutes) in the whole basin of the Amazonnot covered by granitic sands. The causes which have favoured theaccumulation of calcareous matter in the eastern region of the coastchain, in the Llanos of Venezuela (from 10 1/2 to 8 degrees north), cannot have operated nearer the equator, in the group of the mountainsof the Parime and in the plains of the Rio Negro and the Amazon(latitude 1 degree north to 1 degree south). The latter plains, however, furnish some ledges of fragmentary rocks on the south-west ofSan Fernando de Atabapo, as well as on the south-east, in the lowerpart of the Rio Negro and the Rio Branco. I saw in the plains of Jaende Bracamoros a sandstone which alternates with ledges of sand andconglomerate nodules of porphyry and Lydian stone. MM. Spix andMartius affirm that the banks of the Rio Negro on the south of theequator are composed of variegated sandstone; those of the Rio Branco, Jupura and Apoporis of quadersandstein; and those of the Amazon, onseveral points, of ferruginous sandstone. * (* Braunes eisenschussigesSandstein-Conglomerat (Iron-sand of the English geologists, betweenthe Jura limestone and green sandstone. ) MM. Spix and Martius found onrocks of quadersandstein, between the Apoporis and the Japura, thesame sculptures which we have pointed out from the Essequibo to theplains of Cassiquiare, and which seem to prove the migrations of apeople more advanced in civilization than the Indians who now inhabitthose countries. ) It remains to examine if (as I am inclined tosuppose) the limestone and gypsum formations of the eastern part ofthe littoral Cordillera of Venezuela differ entirely from those of theLlanos, and to what series belongs that rocky wall* named the Galera, which bounds the steppes of Calabozo towards the north? (* Is thiswall a succession of rocks of dolomite or a dyke of quadersandstein, like the Devil's Wall (Teufelsmauer), at the foot of the Hartz?Calcareous shelves (coral banks), either ledges of sandstone (effectsof the revulsion of the waves) or volcanic eruptions, are commonlyfound on the borders of great plains, that is, on the shores ofancient inland seas. The Llanos of Venezuela furnish examples of sucheruptions near Para(?) like Harudje (Mons Ater, Plin. ) on the northernboundary of the African desert (the Sahara). Hills of sandstone risinglike towers, walls and fortified castles and offering great analogy toquadersandstein, bound the American desert towards the west, on thesouth of Arkansas. ) The basin of the steppes is itself the bottom of asea destitute of islands; it is only on the south of the Apure, between that river and the Meta, near the western bank of the Sierra, that a few hills appear, as Monte Parure, la Galera de Sinaruco andthe Cerritos de San Vicente. With the exception of the fragments oftertiary strata above mentioned there is, from the equator to theparallel of 10 degrees north (between the meridian of Sierra Nevada deMerida and the coast of Guiana), if not an absence, at least ascarcity of those petrifactions, which strikes an observer recentlyarrived from Europe. 

The maxima of the height of the different formations diminishregularly in the country we are describing with their relative ages. These maxima, for gneiss-granite (Peak of Duida in the group ofParime, Silla de Caracas in the coast chain) are from 1300 to 1350toises; for the limestone of Cumanacoa (summit or Cucurucho ofTurimiquiri), 1050 toises; for the limestone of Caripe (mountainssurrounding the table-land of the Guarda de San Augustin), 750 toises;for the sandstone alternating with the limestone of Cumanacoa(Cuchilla de Guanaguana), 550 toises; for the tertiary strata (PuntaAraya), 200 toises. 

The tract of country of which I am here describing the geologicalconstitution is distinguished by the astonishing regularity observedin the direction of the strata of which the rocks of different erasare composed. I have already often pointed the attention of my readersto a geognostic law, one of the few that can be verified by precisemeasurements. Occupied since the year 1792 by the parallelism, orrather the loxodromism of the strata, examining the direction andinclination of the primitive and transition beds, from the coast ofGenoa across the chain of the Bochetta, the plains of Lombardy, theAlps of Saint Gothard, the table-land of Swabia, the mountains ofBareuth, and the plains of Northern Germany, I was struck with theextreme frequency, if not the uniformity, of the horary directions 3and 4 of the compass of Freiberg (direction from south-west tonorth-east). This research, which I thought might lead to importantdiscoveries relating to the structure of the globe, had then suchattractions for me that it was one of the most powerful incentives ofmy voyage to the equator. My own observations, together with those ofmany able geologists, convince me that there exists in no hemisphere ageneral and absolute uniformity of direction; but that in regions ofvery considerable extent, sometimes over several thousand squareleagues, we observe that the direction and (though more rarely) theinclination have been determined by a system of particular forces. Wediscover at great distances a parallelism (loxodromism) of the strata, a direction of which the type is manifest amidst partial perturbationsand which often remains the same in primitive and transition strata. Afact which must have struck Palasson and Saussure is that in generalthe direction of the strata, even in those which are far distant fromthe principal ridges, is identical with the direction of mountainchains; that is to say, with their longitudinal axis. 

Venezuela is one of the countries in which the parallelism of thestrata of gneiss-granite, mica-slate and clay-slate, is most stronglymarked. The general direction of these strata is north 50 degreeseast, and the general inclination from 60 to 70 degrees north-west. Thus I observed them on a length of more than a hundred leagues, inthe littoral chain of Venezuela; in the stratified granite of LasTrincheras at Porto Cabello; in the gneiss of the islands of the lakeof Valencia, and in the vicinity of the Villa de Cura; in thetransition-slate and greenstone on the north of Parapara; in the roadfrom La Guayra to the town of Caracas, and through all the Sierra deAvila in Cape Codera; and in the mica-slate and clay-slate of thepeninsula of Araya. The same direction from north-east to south-west, and this inclination to north-west, are also manifest, although lessdecidedly, in the limestones of Cumanacoa at Cuchivano and betweenGuanaguana and Caripe. The exceptions to this general law areextremely rare in the gneiss-granite of the littoral Cordillera; itmay even be affirmed that the inverse direction (from south-east tonorth-west) often bears with it the inclination towards south-west. 

As that part of the group of the Sierra Parime over which I passedcontains much more granite* than gneiss (* Only the granite of theBaragon is stratified, as well as crossed by veins of granite: thedirection of the beds is north 20 degrees west), and other rocksdistinctly stratified, the direction of the layers could be observedin this group only on a small number of points; but I was often struckin this region with the continuity of the phenomenon of loxodromism. The amphibolic slates of Angostura run north 45 degrees east, like thegneiss of Guapasoso which forms the bed of the Atabapo, and like themica-slate of the peninsula of Araya, though there is a distance of160 leagues between the limits of those rocks. 

The direction of the strata, of which we have just noticed thewonderful uniformity, is not entirely parallel with the longitudinalaxes of the two coast chains, and the chain of Parime. The stratagenerally cut the former of those chains at an angle of 35 degrees, and their inclination towards the north-west becomes one of the mostpowerful causes of the aridity which prevails on the southerndeclivity* of the mountains of the coast. (* This southern declivityis however less rapid than the northern. ) May we conclude that thedirection of the eastern Cordillera of New Grenada, which is nearlynorth 45 degrees east from Santa Fe de Bogota, to beyond the SierraNevada de Merida, and of which the littoral chain is but acontinuation, has had an influence on the direction (hor. 3 to 4) ofthe strata in Venezuela? That region presents a very remarkableloxodromism with the strata of mica-slate, grauwacke, and theorthoceratite limestone of the Alleghenies, and that vast extent ofcountry (latitude 56 to 68 degrees) lately visited by CaptainFranklin. The direction north-east to south-west prevails in everypart of North America, as in Europe in the Fitchtelgebirge ofFranconia, in Taunus, Westerwald, and Eifel; in the Ardennes, theVosges, in Cotentin, in Scotland and in the Tarentaise at thesouth-west extremity of the Alps. If the strata of rocks in Venezuelado not exactly follow the direction of the nearest Cordillera, that ofthe shore, the parallelism between the axis of one chain, and thestrata of the formations that compose it, are manifest in the Brazilgroup. * (* The strata of the primitive and intermediary rocks ofBrazil run very regularly, like the Cordillera of Villarica (Serra doEspinhaco) hor. 1. 4 or hor. 2 of the compass of Freiberg (north 28degrees east. ))

SECTION 3. 

NATURE OF THE ROCKS. RELATIVE AGE AND SUPERPOSITION OF THE FORMATIONS. PRIMITIVE, TRANSITION, SECONDARY, TERTIARY, AND VOLCANIC STRATA. 

The preceding section has developed the geographical limits of theformations, the extent of the direction of the zones ofgneiss-granite, mica-slate-gneiss, clay-slate, sandstone andintermediary limestone, which come successively to light. We will nowindicate succinctly the nature and relative age of these formations. To avoid confounding facts with geologic opinions I shall describethese formations, without dividing them, according to the methodgenerally followed, into five groups--primitive, transition, secondary, tertiary and volcanic rocks. I was fortunate enough todiscover the types of each group in a region where, before I visitedit, no rock had been named. The great inconvenience of the oldclassification is that of obliging the geologist to establish fixeddemarcations, while he is in doubt, if not respecting the spot or theimmediate superposition, at least respecting the number of theformations which are not developed. How can we in many circumstancesdetermine the analogy existing between a limestone with but fewpetrifactions and an intermediary limestone and zechstein, or betweena sandstone superposed on a primitive rock and a variegated sandstoneand quadersandstein, or finally, between muriatiferous clay and thered marl of England, or the gem-salt of the tertiary strata of Italy?When we reflect on the immense progress made within twenty-five yearsin the knowledge of the superposition of rocks, it will not appearsurprising that my present opinion on the relative age of theformations of Equinoctial America is not identically the same withwhat I advanced in 1800. To boast of a stability of opinion in geologyis to boast of an extreme indolence of mind; it is to remainstationary amidst those who go forward. What we observe in any onepart of the earth on the composition of rocks, their subordinatestrata and the order of their position are facts immutably true, andindependent of the progress of positive geology in other countries;while the systematic names applied to any particular formation ofAmerica are founded only on the supposed analogies between theformations of America and those of Europe. Now those names cannotremain the same if, after further examination, the objects ofcomparison have not retained the same place in the geologic series; ifthe most able geologists now take for transition-limestone and greensandstone, what they took formerly for zechstein and variegatedsandstone. I believe the surest means by which geologic descriptionsmay be made to survive the change which the science undergoes inproportion to its progress, will be to substitute provisionally in thedescription of formations, for the systematic names of red sandstone, variegated sandstone, zechstein and Jura limestone, names derived fromAmerican localities, as sandstone of the Llanos, limestone ofCumanacoa and Caripe, and to separate the enumeration of factsrelative to the superposition of soils, from the discussion on theanalogy of those soils with those of the Old World. *

(* Positive geography being nothing but a question of the series orsuccession (either simple or periodical) of certain terms representedby the formations, it may be necessary, in order to understand thediscussions contained in the third section of this memoir, toenumerate succinctly the table of formations considered in the mostgeneral point of view. 

1. Strata commonly called Primitive; granite, gneiss and mica-slate(or gneiss oscillating between granite and mica-slate); very littleprimitive clay-slate; weisstein with serpentine; granite withdisseminated amphibole; amphibolic slate; veins and small layers ofgreenstone. 

2. Transition strata, composed of fragmentary rocks (grauwacke), calcareous slate and greenstone, earliest remains of organizedexistence: bamboos, madrepores, producta, trilobites, orthoceratites, evamphalites). Complex and parallel formations; (a) Alternate beds ofgrey and stratified limestone, anthracitic mica-slate, anhydrousgypsum and grauwacke; (b) clay-slate, black limestone, grauwacke withgreenstone, syenite, transition-granite and porphyries with a base ofcompact felspar; (c) Euphotides, sometimes pure and covered withjasper, sometimes mixed with amphibole, hyperstein and grey limestone;(d) Pyroxenic porphyries with amygdaloides and zirconian syenites. 

3. Secondary strata, presenting a much smaller number ofmonocotyledonous plants; (a) Co-ordinate and almost contemporaryformations with red sandstone (rothe todtes liegende), quartz-porphyryand fern-coal. These strata are less connected by alternation than byopposition. The porphyries issue (like the trachytes of the Andes) indomes from the bosom of intermediary rocks. Porphyritic breccias whichenvelope the quartzose porphyries. (b) Zechstein or Alpine limestonewith marly, bituminous slate, fetid limestone and variegated gypsum(Productus aculeatus). (c) Variegated sandstone (bunter sandstein)with frequent beds of limestone; false oolites; the upper beds are ofvariegated marl, often muriatiferous (red marl, salzthon) withhydrated gypsum and fetid limestone. The gem-salt oscillates fromzechstein to muschelkalk. (d) Limestone of Gottingen or muschelkalkalternating towards the top with white sandstone or brittle sandstein. (Ammonitis nodosus, encrinites, Mytilus socialis): clayey marl isfound at the two extremities of muschelkalk. (e) White sandstone, brittle sandstein, alternating with lias, or limestone with graphites;a quantity of dicotyledonous mixed with monocotyledonous plants. (f)Jura limestone of complex formation; a quantity of sandy intercalatedmarl. We most frequently observe, counting from below upwards; lias(marly limestone with gryphites), oolites, limestone with polypi, slaty limestone with fish, crustacea, and globules of oxide of iron(Amonites planulatus, Gryphaea arcuata). (g) Secondary sandstone withlignites; iron sand; Wealden clay; greensand or green sandstone; (h)Chlorite; tufted and white chalk; (planerkalk, limestone of Verona. )

4. Tertiary strata, showing a much smaller number of dicotyledonousplants. (a) Clay and tertiary sandstone with lignites; plastic clay;mollasse and nagelfluhe, sometimes alternating where chalk is wanting, with the last beds of Jura limestone; amber. (b) Limestone of Paris orcoarse limestone, limestone with circles, limestone of Bolca, limestone of London, sandy limestone of Bognor; lignites. (c)Silicious limestone and gypsum with fossil bones alternating withmarl. (d) Sandstone of Fontainebleau. (e) Lacustrine soil with porousmillstone grit. (e) Alluvial deposits. )

1. CO-ORDINATE FORMATIONS OF GRANITE, GNEISS AND MICA-SLATE. 

There are countries (in France, the vicinity of Lyons; in Germany, Freiberg, Naundorf) where the formations of granite and gneiss areextremely distinct; there are others, on the contrary, where thegeologic limits between those formations are slightly marked, andwhere granite, gneiss and mica-slate appear to alternate by layers orpass often from one to the other. These alternations and transitionsappeared to me less common in the littoral Cordillera of Venezuelathan in the Sierra Parime. We recognise successively, in the former ofthese two systems of mountains, above all in the chain nearest thecoast, as predominating rocks from west to east, granite (longitude 70to 71 degrees), gneiss (longitude 68 1/2 to 70 degrees), andmica-slate (longitude 65 3/4 to 66 1/2 degrees); but consideringaltogether the geologic constitution of the coast and the SierraParime, we prefer to treat of granite, gneiss and mica-slate, if notas one formation, at least as three co-ordinate formations closelylinked together. The primitive clay-slate (urthonschiefer) issubordinate to mica-slate, of which it is only a modification. It nomore forms an independent stratum in the New Continent, than in thePyrenees and the Alps. 

(a) GRANITE which does not pass to gneiss is most common in thewestern part of the coast-chain between Turmero, Valencia and PortoCabello, as well as in the circle of the Sierra Parime, near theEncaramada, and at the Peak of Duida. At the Rincon del Diablo, between Mariara and Hacienda de Cura, and at Chuao, it iscoarse-grained, and contains fine crystals of felspar, 1 1/2 incheslong. It is divided in prisms by perpendicular vents, or stratifiedregularly like secondary limestone, at Las Trincheras, the strait ofBaraguan in the valley of the Orinoco, and near Guapasoso, on thebanks of the Atabapo. The stratified granite of Las Trincheras, givingbirth to very hot springs (from 90. 5 degrees centigrade), appears fromthe inclination of its layers to be superposed on gneiss which is seenfurther southward in the islands of the lake of Valencia; butconjectures of superposition founded only on the hypothesis of anindefinite prolongation of the strata are doubtful; and possibly thegranite masses which form a small particular zone in the northernrange of the littoral Cordillera, between 70 degrees 3 minutes and 70degrees 50 minutes longitude, were upheaved in piercing the gneiss. The latter rock is prevalent, both in descending from the Rincon delDiablo southward to the hot-springs of Mariara, and towards the banksof the lake of Valencia, and in advancing on the east towards thegroup of Buenavista, the Silla of Caracas and Cape Codera. In theregion of the littoral chain of Venezuela, where granite seems toconstitute an independent formation from 15 to 16 leagues in length, Isaw no foreign or subordinate layers of gneiss, mica-slate orprimitive limestone. * (* Primitive limestone, everywhere so common inmica-slate and gneiss, is found in the granite of the Pyrenees, atPort d'Oo, and in the mountains of Labourd. )

The Sierra Parime is one of the most extensive granitic strataexisting on the globe;* but the granite, which is seen alike bare onthe flanks of the mountains and in the plains by which they arejoined, often passes into gneiss. (* To prove the extent of thecontinuity of this granitic stratum, it will suffice to observe thatM. Leschenault de la Tour collected in the bars of the river Mana, inFrench Guiana, the same gneiss-granites (with a little amphibole)which I observed three hundred leagues more to the west, near theconfluence of the Orinoco and the Guaviare. ) Granite is most commonlyfound in its granular composition and independent formation, nearEncaramada, at the strait of Baraguan, and in the vicinity of themission of the Esmeralda. It often contains, like the granites of theRocky Mountains (latitude 38 to 40 degrees), the Pyrenees and SouthernTyrol, amphibolic crystals, * disseminated in the mass, but withoutpassing to syenite. (* I did not observe this mixture of amphibole inthe granite of the littoral chain of Venezuela except at the summit ofthe Silla of Caracas. ) Those modifications are observed on the banksof the Orinoco, the Cassiquiare, the Atabapo, and the Tuamini. Theblocks heaped together, which are found in Europe on the ridge ofgranitic mountains (the Riesengebirge in Silesia, the Ochsenkopf inFranconia), are especially remarkable in the north-west part of theSierra Parime, between Caycara, the Encaramada and Uruana, in thecataracts of the Maypures and at the mouth of the Rio Vichada. It isdoubtful whether these masses, which are of cylindrical form, parallelopipedons rounded on the edge, or balls of 40 to 50 feet indiameter, are the effect of a slow decomposition, or of a violent andinstantaneous upheaving. The granite of the south-eastern part ofSierra Parime sometimes passes to pegmatite, * composed of laminaryfelspar, enclosed in curved masses of crystalline quartz. (*Schrift-granit. It is a simple modification of the composition andtexture of granite, and not a subordinate layer. It must not beconfounded with the real pegmatite, generally destitute of mica, orwith the geographic stones (piedras mapajas) of the Orinoco, whichcontain streaks of dark green mica irregularly disposed. ) I saw gneissonly in subordinate layers;* (* The magnetic sands of the rivers thatfurrow the granitic chain of the Encaramada seem to denote theproximity of amphibolic or chloritic slate (hornblende orchloritschiefer), either in layers in the granite, or superposed onthat rock. ); but, between Javita, San Carlos del Rio Negro, and thePeak of Duida, the granite is traversed by numerous veins of differentages, abounding with rock-crystal, black tourmalin and pyrites. Itappears that these open veins become more common on the east of thePeak of Duida, in the Sierra Pacaraina, especially between Xurumu andRupunuri (tributaries of the Rio Branco and the Essequibo), whereHortsmann discovered, instead of diamonds* and emeralds, a mine (four)of rock-crystal. (* These legends of diamonds are very ancient on thecoast of Paria. Petrus Martyr relates that, at the beginning of thesixteenth century, a Spaniard named Andres Morales bought of a youngIndian of the coast of Paria admantem mire pretiosum, duos infantisdigiti articulos longum, magni autem pollicis articulum aequantemcrassitudine, acutum utrobique et costis octo pulchre formatisconstantem. [A diamond of marvellous value, as long as two joints ofan infant's finger, and as thick as one of the joints of its thumb, sharp on both sides, and of a beautiful octagonal shape. ] Thispretended adamas juvenis pariensis resisted the action of lime. PetrusMartyr distinguishes it from topaz by adding offenderunt et topaziosin littore, [they pay no heed to topazes on the coast] that is ofParia, Saint Marta and Veragua. See Oceanica Dec. 3 lib. 4 page 53. )

(b) GNEISS predominates along the littoral Cordillera of Venezuela, with the appearance of an independent formation, in the northern chainfrom Cerro del Chuao, and the meridian of Choroni, as far as CapeCodera; and in the southern chain, from the meridian of Guigne to themouth of the Rio Tuy. Cape Codera, the great mass of the Silla ofGalipano, and the land between Guayra and Caracas, the table-land ofBuenavista, the islands of the lake of Valencia, the mountains betweenGuigne, Maria Magdalena and the Cerro do Chacao are composed ofgneiss;* (* I have been assured that the islands Orchila and LosFrailes are also composed of gneiss; Curacao and Bonaire arecalcareous. Is the island of Oruba (in which nuggets of native gold ofconsiderable size have been found) primitive?); yet amidst this soilof gneiss, inclosed mica-slate re-appears, often talcous in the Vallede Caurimare, and in the ancient Provincia de Los Mariches; at CaboBlanco, west of La Guayra; near Caracas and Antimano, and above all, between the tableland of Buenavista and the valleys of Aragua, in theMontana de las Cocuyzas, and at Hacienda del Tuy. Between the limitshere assigned to gneiss, as a predominant rock (longitude 68 1/2 to 701/2 degrees), gneiss passes sometimes to mica-slate, while theappearance of a transition to granite is only found on the summit ofthe Silla of Caracas. * (* The Silla is a mountain of gneiss like AdamsPeak in the island of Ceylon, and of nearly the same height. ) It wouldrequire a more careful examination than I was able to devote to thesubject, to ascertain whether the granite of the peak of St. Gothard, and of the Silla of Caracas, really lies over mica-slate and gneiss, or if it has merely pierced those rocks, rising in the form of needlesor domes. The gneiss of the littoral Cordillera, in the province ofCaracas, contains almost exclusively garnets, rutile titanite andgraphite, disseminated in the whole mass of the rock, shelves ofgranular limestone, and some metalliferous veins. I shall not decidewhether the granitiferous serpentine of the table-land of Buenavistais inclosed in gneiss, or whether, superposed upon that rock, it doesnot rather belong to a formation of weisstein (heptinite) similar tothat of Penig and Mittweyde in Saxony. 

In that part of the Sierra Parime which M. Bonpland and myselfvisited, gneiss forms a less marked zone, and oscillates morefrequently towards granite than mica-slate. I found no garnets in thegneiss of Parime. There is no doubt that the gneiss-granite of theOrinoco is slightly auriferous on some points. 

(c) MICA-SLATE, with clay-slate (thonschiefer), forms a continuousstratum in the northern chain of the littoral Cordillera, from thepoint of Araya, beyond the meridian of Cariaco, as well as in theisland of Marguerita. It contains, in the peninsula of Araya, garnetsdisseminated in the mass, cyanite and, when it passes to clayey-slate, small layers of native alum. Mica-slate constituting an independentformation must be distinguished from mica-slate subordinate to astratum of gneiss, on the east of Cape Codera. The mica-slatesubordinate to gneiss presents, in the valley of Tuy, shelves ofprimitive limestone and small strata of graphic ampelite(zeicheschiefer); between Cabo Blanco and Catia layers of chloritic, granitiferous slate, and slaty amphibole; and between Caracas andAntimano, the more remarkable phenomenon of veins of gneiss inclosingballs of granitiferous diorite (grunstein). 

In the Sierra Parime, mica-slate predominates only in the most easternpart, where its lustre has led to strange errors. 

The amphibolic slate of Angostura, and masses of diorite in balls, with concentric layers, near Muitaco, appear to be superposed, not onmica-slate, but immediately on gneiss-granite. I could not, however, distinctly ascertain whether a part of this pyritous diorite was notenclosed on the banks of the Orinoco, as it is at the bottom of thesea near Cabo Blanco, and at the Montana de Avila, in the rock whichit covers. Very large veins, with an irregular direction, often assumethe aspect of short layers; and the balls of diorite heaped togetherin hillocks may, like many cones of basalt, issue from the crevices. 

Mica-slate, chloritic slate and the rocks of slaty amphibole containmagnetic sand in the tropical regions of Venezuela, as in the mostnorthern regions of Europe. The gannets are there almost equallydisseminated in the gneiss (Caracas), the mica-slate (peninsula ofAraya), the serpentine (Buenavista), the chloritic slate (CaboBlanco), and the diorite or greenstone (Antimano). These garnetsre-appear in the trachytic porphyries that crown the celebratedmetalliferous mountain of Potosi, and in the black and pyroxenicmasses of the small volcano of Yana-Urca, at the back of Chimborazo. 

Petroleum (and this phenomenon is well worthy of attention) issuesfrom a soil of mica-slate in the gulf of Cariaco. Further east, on thebanks of the Arco, and near Cariaco, it seems to gush from secondarylimestone formations, but probably that happens only because thoseformations repose on mica-slate. The hot springs of Venezuela havealso their origin in, or rather below, the primitive rocks. They issuefrom granite (Las Trincheras), gneiss (Mariara and Onoto) and thecalcareous and arenaceous rocks that cover the primitive rocks (Morrosde San Juan, Bergantin, Cariaco). The earthquakes and subterraneousdetonations of which the seat has been erroneously sought in thecalcareous mountains of Cumana have been felt with most violence inthe granitic soils of Caracas and the Orinoco. Igneous phenomena (iftheir existence be really well certified) are attributed by the peopleto the granitic peaks of Duida and Guaraco, and also to the calcareousmountain of Cuchivano. 

From these observations it results that gneiss-granite predominates inthe immense group of the mountains of the Parime, as mica-slate-gneissprevails in the Cordillera of the coast; that in the two systems thegranitic soil, unmixed with gneiss and mica-slate, occupies but a verysmall extent of country; and that in the coast-chain the formations ofclayey slate (thonschiefer), mica-slate, gneiss and granite succeedeach other in such a manner on the same line from east to west(presenting a very uniform and regular inclination of their stratatowards the north-west), that, according to the hypothesis of asubterraneous prolongation of the strata, the granite of LasTrincheras and the Rincon del Diablo may be superposed on the gneissof the Villa de Cura, of Buenavista and Caracas; and the gneisssuperposed in its turn on the mica-slate and clay-slate of Maniquarezand Chuparuparu in the peninsula of Araya. This hypothesis of aprolongation of every rock, in some sort indefinite, founded on theangle of inclination presented by the strata appearing at the surface, is not admissible; and according to similar equally vague reasoning weshould be forced to consider the primitive rocks of the Alps ofSwitzerland as superposed on the formation of the compact limestone ofAchsenberg, and that [transition, or identical with zechstein?] inturn, as being superposed on the molassus of the tertiary strata. 

2. FORMATION OF THE CLAY-SLATE (THONSCHIEFER) OF MALPASSO. 

If, in the sketch of the formations of Venezuela, I had followed thereceived division into primitive, intermediary, secondary and tertiarystrata, I might be doubtful what place the last stratum of mica-slatein the peninsula of Araya should occupy. This stratum, in the ravine(aroyo) of Robalo, passes insensibly in a carburetted and shiningslate, into a real ampelite. The direction and inclination of thestratum remain the same, and the thonschiefer, which takes the look ofa transition-rock, is but a modification of the primitive mica-slateof Maniquarez, containing garnets, cyanite, and rutile titanite. Theseinsensible passages from primitive to transition strata by clay-slate, which becomes carburetted at the same time that it presents aconcordant position with mica-slate and gneiss, have also beenobserved several times in Europe by celebrated geologists. Theexistence of an independent formation of primitive slate(urthonschiefer) may even be doubted, that is, of a formation which isnot joined below by strata containing some vestiges of monocotyledonousplants. 

The small thonschiefer bed of Malpasso (in the southern chain of thelittoral Cordillera) is separated from mica-slate-gneiss by aco-ordinate formation of serpentine and diorite. It is divided intotwo shelves, of which the upper presents green steatitous slate mixedwith amphibole, and the lower, dark-blue slate, extremely fissile, andtraversed by numerous veins of quartz. I could discover no fragmentarystratum (grauwacke) nor kieselschiefer nor chiastolite. Thekieselschiefer belongs in those countries to a limestone formation. Ihave seen fine specimens of the chiastolite (macle) which the Indianswore as amulets and which came from the Sierra Nevada de Merida. Thissubstance is probably found in transition-slate, for MM. Rivero andBoussingault observed rocks of clay-slate at the height of 2120toises, in the Paramo of Mucuchies, on going from Truxillo to Merida. *(* In Galicia, in Spain, I saw the thonschiefer containingchiastholite alternate with grauwacke; but the chiastoliteunquestionably belongs also to rocks which all geologists havehitherto called primitive rocks, to mica-schists intercalated likelayers in granite, and to an independent stratum of mica-slate. )

3. FORMATION OF SERPENTINE AND DIORITE (GREEN-STONE OF JUNCALITO. )

We have indicated above a layer of granitiferous serpentine inclosedin the gneiss of Buenavista, or perhaps superposed on that rock; wehere find a real stratum of serpentine alternating with diorite, andextending from the ravine of Tucutunemo as far as Juncalito. Dioriteforms the great mass of this stratum; it is of a dark green colour, granular, with small grains, and destitute of quartz; its mass isformed of small crystals of felspar intermixed with crystals ofamphibole. This rock of diorite is covered at its surface, by theeffect of decomposition, with a yellowish crust, like that of basaltsand dolerites. Serpentine, of a dull olive-green and smooth fracture, mixed with bluish steatite and amphibole, presents, like almost allthe co-ordinate formations of diorite and serpentine (in Silesia, atFichtelgebirge, in the valley of Baigorry, in the Pyrenees, in theisland of Cyprus and in the Copper Mountains of circumpolar America), *traces of copper. (* Franklin's Journey to the Polar Sea page 529. )Where the diorite, partly globular, approaches the green slate ofMalpasso, real beds of green slate are found inclosed in diorite. Thefine saussurite which we saw in the Upper Orinoco in the hands of theIndians, seems to indicate the existence of a soil of euphotide, superposed on gneiss-granite, or amphibolic slate, in the eastern partof the Sierra Parime. 

4. GRANULAR AND MICACEOUS LIMESTONE OF THE MORROS OF SAN JUAN. 

The Morros of San Juan rise like ruinous towers in a soil of diorite. They are formed of a cavernous greyish green limestone of crystallinetexture, mixed with some spangles of mica, and are destitute ofshells. We see in them masses of hardened clay, black, fissile, charged with iron, and covered with a crust, yellow fromdecomposition, like basalts and amphiboles. A compact limestonecontaining vestiges of shells adjoins this granular limestone of theMorros of San Juan which is hollow within. Probably on a furtherexamination of the extraordinary strata between Villa de Cura andOrtiz, of which I had time only to collect some few specimens, manyphenomena may be discovered analogous to those which Leopold von Buchhas lately described in South Tyrol. M. Boussingault, in a memoirwhich he has recently addressed to me, calls the rock of the Morros aproblematic calcariferous gneiss. This expression seems to prove thatthe plates of mica take in some parts a uniform direction, as in thegreenish dolomite of Val Toccia. 

5. FELSPATHIC SANDSTONE OF THE ORINOCO. 

The gneiss-granite of the Sierra Parime is covered in some few places(between the Encaramada and the strait of Baraguan and in the islandof Guachaco) in its western part with an olive-brown sandstone, containing grains of quartz and fragments of felspar, joined by anextremely compact clayey cement. This cement, where it abounds, has aconchoidal fracture and passes to jasper. It is crossed by small veinsof brown iron-ore, which separate into very thin plates or scales. Thepresence of felspar seems to indicate that this small formation ofsandstone (the sole secondary formation hitherto known in the SierraParime) belongs to red sandstone or coal. * (* Broken and intactcrystals of feldspar are found in the todte liegende coal-sandstone ofThuringia. I observed in Mexico a very singular agglomerated felsparformation superposed upon (perhaps inclosed in) red sandstone, nearGuanaxuato. ) I hesitate to class it with the sandstone of the Llanos, the relative antiquity of which appears to me to be lesssatisfactorily verified. 

6. FORMATION OF THE SANDSTONE OF THE LLANOS OF CALABOZO. 

I arrange the various formations in the order which I fancied I coulddiscern on the spot. The carburetted slate (thonschiefer) of thepeninsula of Araya connects the primitive rocks of gneiss-granite andmica-slate-gneiss with the transition strata (blue and green slate, diorite, serpentine mixed with amphibole and granular greenish-greylimestone) of Malpasso, Tucutunemo and San Juan. On the south thesandstone of the Llanos rests on this transition strata; it isdestitute of shells and composed, like the savannahs of Calabozo, ofrounded fragments of quartz, * kieselschiefer and Lydian stone, cemented by a ferruginous olive-brown clay. (* In Germany sandstoneswhich belong unquestionably to red sandstone contain also (nearWeiderstadt, in Thuringia) nodules, and rounded fragments. I shall notcite the pudding-stone subordinate to the red sandstone of thePyrenees because the age of that sandstone destitute of coal may bedisputed. Layers of very large rounded nodules of quartz are inclosedin the coal sandstone of Thuringia, and in Upper Silesia. ) We therefind fragments of wood, in great part monocotyledonous, and masses ofbrown iron-ore. Some strata, as in the Mesa de Paja, present grains ofvery fine quartz; I saw no fragments of porphyry or limestone. Thoseimmense beds of sandstone that cover the Llanos of the Lower Orinocoand the Amazon well deserve the attention of travellers. In appearancethey approximate to the pudding-stones of the molassus stratum, inwhich calcareous vestiges are also often wanting, as at Schottwyl andDiesbach in Switzerland; but they appeared to me by their position tohave more relation to red sandstone. Nowhere can they be confoundedwith the grauwackes (fragmentary transition-rocks) which MM. Boussingault and Rivero found along the Cordilleras of New Grenada, bordering the steppes on the west. Does the want of fragments ofgranite, gneiss and porphyry, and the frequency of petrified wood, * (*The people of the country attribute those woods to the Alcornoco, Bowdichia virgilioides (See Nova Gen. Et Spec. Plant. Volume 3 page377), and to the Chaparro bovo, Rhopala complicata. It is believed inVenezuela as in Egypt that petrified wood is formed in our times. Ifound this dicotyledonous petrified wood only at the surface of thesoil and not inclosed in the sandstone of the Llanos. M. Caillaud madethe same observation on going to the Oasis of Siwa. The trunks oftrees, ninety feet long, inclosed in the red sandstone of Kifhauser(in Saxony), are, according to the recent researches of Von Buch, divided into joints, and are certainly monocotyledonous. ) sometimesdicotyledonous, indicate that those sandstones belong to the morerecent formations which fill the plains between the Cordillera of theParime and the coast Cordillera, as the molassus of Switzerland fillsthe space between the Jura and the Alps? It is not easy, when severalformations are not perfectly developed, to determine the age ofarenaceous rocks. The most able geologists do not concur in opinionrespecting the sandstone of the Black Forest and of the whole countrysouth-west of the Thuringer Waldgebirge. M. Boussingault, who passedthrough a part of the steppes of Venezuela long after me, is ofopinion that the sandstone of the Llanos of San Carlos, that of thevalley of San Antonio de Cucuta and the table-lands of Barquisimeto, Tocuyo, Merida and Truxillo belong to a formation of old red sandstoneor coal. There is in fact real coal near Carache, south-west of theParamo de las Rosas. 

Before a part of the immense plains of America was geologicallyexamined, it might have been supposed that their uniform and continuedhorizontality was caused by alluvial soils, or at least by arenaceoustertiary strata. The sands which in the Baltic provinces and in allthe north of Germany, cover coarse limestone and chalk, seem tojustify these systematic ideas, which have been extended to the Saharaand the steppes of Asia. But the observations which we have been ableto collect sufficiently prove that both in the Old and the New World, both plains, steppes, and deserts contain numerous formations ofdifferent eras, and that these formations often appear without beingcovered by alluvial deposits. Jura limestone, gem-salt (plains of theMeta and Patagonia) and coal-sandstone are found in the Llanos ofSouth America; quadersandstein, * (* The forms of these rocks in wallsand pyramids, or divided in rhomboid blocks, seems no doubt toindicate quadersandstein; but the sandstone of the eastern declivityof the Rocky Mountains in which the learned traveller Mr. James foundsalt-springs (licks), strata of gypsum and no coal, appear rather tobelong to variegated sandstone (buntersandstein). ) a saliferous soil, beds of coal, * (* This coal immediately covers, as in Belgium, thegrauwacke, or transition-sandstone. ) and limestone with trilobites, *(* In the plains of the Upper Missouri the limestone is immediatelycovered by a secondary limestone with turritulites, believed to beJurassic, while a limestone with grypheae, rich in lead-ore and whichI should have believed to be still more ancient than ooliticlimestone, and analogous to lias, is described by Mr. James as lyingabove the most recent formation of sandstone. Has this superpositionbeen well ascertained?) fill the vast plains of Louisiana and Canada. In examining the specimens collected by the indefatigable Caillaud inthe Lybian desert and the Oasis of Siwa, we recognize sandstonesimilar to that of Thebes; fragments of petrified dicotyledonous wood(from thirty to forty feet long), with rudiments of branches andmedullary concentric layers, coming perhaps from tertiary sandstonewith lignites;* (* Formation of molassus. ); chalk with spatangi andanachytes, Jura limestone with nummulites partly agatized; anotherfine-grained limestone* employed in the construction of the temple ofJupiter Ammon (Omm-Beydah) (* M. Von Buch very reasonably inquireswhether this statuary limestone, which resembles Parian marble, andlimestone become granular by contact with the systematic granite ofPredazzo, is a modification of the limestone with nummulites, of Siwa. The primitive rocks from which the fine-grained marble was believed tobe extracted, if there be no deception in its granular appearance, arefar distant from the Oasis of Siwa. ); and gem-salt with sulphur andbitumen. These examples sufficiently prove that the plains (llanos), steppes and deserts have not that uniform tertiary formation which hasbeen too generally supposed. Do the fine pieces of riband-jasper, orEgyptian pebbles, which M. Bonpland picked up in the savannahs ofBarcelona (near Curataquiche), belong to the sandstone of the Llanosof Calabozo or to a stratum superposed on that sandstone? The formerof these suppositions would approach, according to the analogy of theobservations made by M. Roziere in Egypt, the sandstone of Calabozo, or tertiary nagelfluhe. 

7. FORMATION OF THE COMPACT LIMESTONE OF CUMANACOA. 

A bluish-grey compact limestone, almost destitute of petrifactions, and frequently intersected by small veins of carburetted lime, formsmountains with very abrupt ridges. These layers have the samedirection and the same inclination as the mica-slate of Araya. Wherethe flank of the limestone mountains of New Andalusia is very steep weobserve, as at Achsenberg, near Altdorf in Switzerland, layers thatare singularly arched or turned. The tints of the limestone ofCumanacoa vary from darkish grey to bluish white and sometimes passfrom compact to granular. It contains, as substances accidentallydisseminated in the mass, brown iron-ore, spathic iron, evenrock-crystal. As subordinate layers it contains (1) numerous strata ofcarburetted and slaty marl with pyrites; (2) quartzose sandstone, alternating with very thin strata of clayey slate; (3) gypsum withsulphur near Guire in the Golfo Triste on the coast of Paria. As I didnot examine on the spot the position of this yellowish-whitefine-grained gypsum I cannot determine with any certainty its relativeage. 

([Footnote not indicated:] This sandstone contains springs. In generalit only covers the limestone of Cumanacoa, but it appeared to me to besometimes enclosed. )

The only petrifactions of shells which I found in this limestoneformation consist of a heap of turbinites and trochites, on the flankof Turimiquiri, at more than 680 toises high, and an ammonite seveninches in diameter, in the Montana de Santa Maria, north-north-west ofCaripe. I nowhere saw the limestone of Cumanacoa (of which I treatspecially in this article) resting on the sandstone of the Llanos; ifthere be any such superposition it must be found on descending thetable-land of Cocollar towards the Mesa de Amana. On the southerncoast of the gulf of Cariaco the limestone formation probably covers, without the interposition of another rock, a mica-slate which passesto carburetted clay-slate. In the northern part of the gulf Idistinctly saw this clayey formation at the depth of two or threefathoms in the sea. The submarine hot springs appeared to me to gushfrom mica-slate like the petroleum of Maniquarez. If any doubts remainas to the rock on which the limestone of Cumanacoa is immediatelysuperposed, there is none respecting the rocks which cover it, such as(1) the tertiary limestone of Cumana near Punta Delgada and at Cerrode Meapire; (2) the sandstone of Quetepe and Turimiquiri, which, forming layers also in the limestone of Cumanacoa, belongs properly tothe latter soil; the limestone of Caripe which we have oftenidentified in the course of this work with Jura limestone, and ofwhich we shall speak in the following article. 

8. FORMATION OF THE COMPACT LIMESTONE OF CARIPE. 

Descending the Cuchillo de Guanaguana towards the convent of Caripe, we find another more recent formation, white, with a smooth orslightly conchoidal fracture, and divided in very thin layers, whichsucceeds to the bluish grey limestone formation of Cumanacoa. I callthis in the first instance the limestone formation of Caripe, onaccount of the cavern of that name, inhabited by thousands ofnocturnal birds. This limestone appeared to me identical (1) with thelimestone of the Morro de Barcelona and the Chimanas Islands, whichcontains small layers of black kieselschiefer (slaty jasper) withoutveins of quartz, and breaking into fragments of parallelopiped form;(2) with the whitish grey limestone with smooth fracture of Tisnao, which seems to cover the sandstone of the Llanos. We find theformation of Caripe in the island of Cuba (between the Havannah andBatabano and between the port of Trinidad and Rio Guaurabo), as wellin the small Cayman Islands. 

I have hitherto described the secondary limestone formations of thelittoral chain without giving them the systematic names which mayconnect them with the formations of Europe. During my stay in AmericaI took the limestone of Cumanacoa for zechstein or Alpine limestone, and that of Caripe for Jura limestone. The carburetted and slightlybituminous marl of Cumanacoa, analogous to the strata of bituminousslate, which are very numerous* in the Alps of southern Bavaria (* Ifound them also in the Peruvian Andes near Montau, at the height of1600 toises. ), appeared to me to characterize the former of theseformations; while the dazzling whiteness of the cavernous stratum ofCaripe, and the form of those shelves of rocks rising in walls andcornices, forcibly reminded me of the Jura limestone of Streitberg inFranconia, or of Oitzow and Krzessowic in Upper Silesia. There is inVenezuela a suppression of the different strata which, in the oldcontinent, separate zechstein from Jura limestone. The sandstone ofCocollar, which sometimes covers the limestone of Cumanacoa, may beconsidered as variegated sandstone; but it is more probable that inalternating by layers with the limestone of Cumanacoa, it is sometimesthrown to the upper limit of the formation to which it belongs. Thezechstein of Europe also contains a very quartzose sandstone. The twolimestone strata of Cumanacoa and Caripe succeed immediately eachother, like Alpine and Jura limestone, on the western declivity of theMexican table-land, between Sopilote, Mescala and Tehuilotepec. Theseformations, perhaps, pass from one to the other, so that the lattermay be only an upper shelf of zechstein. This immediate covering, thissuppression of interposed soils, this simplicity of structure andabsence of oolitic strata, have been equally observed in Upper Silesiaand in the Pyrenees. On the other hand the immediate superposition ofthe limestone of Cumanacoa on mica-slate and transitionclay-slate--the rarity of the petrifactions which have not yet beensufficiently examined--the strata of silex passing to Lydian stone, may lead to the belief that the soils of Cumanacoa and Caripe are ofmuch more ancient formation than the secondary rocks. We must not besurprised that the doubts which arise in the mind of the geologistwhen endeavouring to decide on the relative age of the limestone ofthe high mountains in the Pyrenees, the Apennines (south of the lakeof Perugia) and in the Swiss Alps, should extend to the limestonestrata of the high mountains of New Andalusia, and everywhere inAmerica where the presence of red sandstone is not distinctlyrecognized. 

9. SANDSTONE OF THE BERGANTIN. 

Between Nueva Barcelona and the Cerro del Bergantin a quartzosesandstone covers the Jura limestone of Cumanacoa. Is it an arenaceousrock analogous to green sandstone, or does it belong to the sandstoneof Cocollar? In the latter case its presence seems to prove still moreclearly that the limestones of Cumanacoa and Caripe are only two partsof the same system, alternating with sandstone, sometimes quartzose, sometimes slaty. 

10. GYPSUM OF THE LLANOS OF VENEZUELA. 

Deposits of lamellar gypsum, containing numerous strata of marl, arefound in patches on the steppes of Caracas and Barcelona; forinstance, in the table-land of San Diego, between Ortiz and the Mesade Paja; and near the mission of Cachipo. They appeared to me to coverthe Jura limestone of Tisnao, which is analogous to that of Caripe, where we find it mixed with masses of fibrous gypsum. I have not giventhe name formation either to the sandstone of the Orinoco, ofCocollar, of Bergantin or to the gypsum of the Llanos, because nothingas yet proves the independence of those arenaceous and gypsous soils. I think it will one day be ascertained that the gypsum of the Llanoscovers not only the Jura limestone of the Llanos, but that it issometimes enclosed in it like the gypsum of the Golfo Triste on theeast of the Alpine limestone of Cumanacoa. The great masses of sulphurfound in the layers, almost entirely clayey, of the steppes (atGuayuta, valley of San Bonifacio, Buen Pastor, confluence of the RioPao with the Orinoco) may possibly belong to the marl of the gypsum ofOrtiz. These clayey beds are more worthy of attention since theinteresting observations of Von Buch and several other celebratedgeologists respecting the cavernosity of gypsum, the irregularity ofthe inclination of its strata and its parallel position with the twodeclivities of the Hartz and the upheaved chain of the Alps; while thesimultaneous presence of sulphur, oligist iron and the sulphurous acidvapours which precede the formation of sulphuric acid, seem tomanifest the action of forces placed at a great depth in the interiorof the globe. 

11. FORMATION OF MURIATIFEROUS CLAY (WITH BITUMEN AND LAMELLAR GYPSUM)OF THE PENINSULA OFARAYA. 

This soil presents a striking analogy with salzthon or leberstein(muriatiferous clay) which I have found accompanying gem-salt in everyzone. In the salt-pits of Araya (Haraia) it attracted the attention ofPeter Martyr d'Anghiera at the beginning of the sixteenth century. Itprobably facilitated the rupture of the earth and the formation of thegulf of Cariaco. This clay is of a smoky colour, impregnated withpetroleum, mingled with lamellar and lenticular gypsum and sometimestraversed by small veins of fibrous gypsum. It incloses angular andless friable masses of dark brown clay with a slaty and sometimesconchoidal fracture. Muriate of soda is found in particles invisibleto the naked eye. The relations of position or superposition betweenthis soil and the tertiary rocks does not appear sufficiently clear toenable me to pronounce with certainty on this element, the mostimportant of positive geology. The co-ordinate layers of gem-salt, muriatiferous clay and gypsum present the same difficulties in bothhemispheres; these masses, the forms of which are very irregular, everywhere exhibit traces of great commotions. They are scarcely evercovered by independent formations; and after having been longbelieved, in Europe, that gem-salt was exclusively peculiar to Alpineand transition limestone, it is now still more generally admitted, either from reasoning founded on analogy or from suppositions on theprolongation of the strata, that the true location of gem-salt isfound in variegated sandstone (buntersandstein). Sometimes gem-saltappears to oscillate between variegated sandstone and muschelkalk. 

I made two excursions on the peninsula of Araya. In the first I wasinclined to consider the muriatiferous clay as subordinate to theconglomerate (evidently of tertiary formation) of the Barigon and ofthe mountain of the castle of Cumana, because a little to the north ofthat castle I had found shelves of hardened clay containing lamellargypsum inclosed in the tertiary strata. I believed that themuriatiferous clay might alternate with the calcareous conglomerate ofBarigon; and near the fishermen's huts situated opposite Macanao, conglomerate rocks appeared to me to pierce through the strata ofclay. During a second excursion to Maniquarez and the aluminiferousslates of Chaparuparu, the connexion between tertiary strata andbituminous clay seemed to me somewhat problematical. I examined moreparticularly the Penas Negras near the Cerro de la Vela, east-south-east of the ruined castle of Araya. The limestone of thePenas is compact, bluish grey and almost destitute of petrifactions. It appeared to me to be much more ancient than the tertiaryconglomerate of Barigon, and I saw it covering, in concordantposition, a slaty clay, somewhat analogous to muriatiferous clay. Iwas greatly interested in comparing this latter formation with thestrata of carburetted marl contained in the Alpine limestone ofCumanacoa. According to the opinions now most generally received, therock of the Penas Negras may be considered as representing muschelkalk(limestone of Gottingen); and the saliferous and bituminous clay ofAraya, as representing variegated sandstone; but these problems canonly be solved when the mines of those countries are worked. Thosegeologists who are of opinion that the gem-salt of Italy penetratesinto a stratum above the Jura limestone, and even the chalk, may beled to mistake the limestone of the Penas Negras for one of the strataof compact limestone without grains of quartz and petrifactions, whichare frequently found amidst the tertiary conglomerate of Barigon andof the Castillo de Cumana; the saliferous clay of Araya would appearto them analogous to the plastic clay of Paris, * (* Tertiary sandstonewith lignites, or molassus of Argovia. ) or to the clayey shelves (diefet tourtia) of secondary sandstone with lignites, containingsalt-springs, in Belgium and Westphalia. However difficult it may beto distinguish separately the strata of marl and clay belonging tovariegated sandstone, muschelkalk, quadersandstein, Jura limestone, secondary sandstone with lignites (green and iron sand) and thetertiary strata lying above chalk, I believe that the bitumen whicheverywhere accompanies gem-salt, and most frequently salt-springs, characterizes the muriatiferous clay of the peninsula of Araya and theisland of Marguerita, as linked with formations lying below thetertiary strata. I do not say that they are anterior to thatformation, for since the publication of M. Von Buch's observations onthe Tyrol, we must no longer consider what is below, in space, asnecessarily anterior, relatively to the epoch of its formation. 

Bitumen and petroleum still issue from the mica-slate; thesesubstances are ejected whenever the soil is shaken by a subterraneanforce (between Cumana, Cariaco and the Golfo Triste). Now, in thepeninsula of Araya, and in the island of Marguerita, saliferous clayimpregnated with bitumen is met with in connexion with this earlyformation, nearly as gem-salt appears in Calabria in flakes, in basinsinclosed in strata of granite and gneiss. Do these circumstances serveto support that ingenious system, according to which all theco-ordinate formations of gypsum, sulphur, bitumen and gem-salt(constantly anhydrous) result from floods passing across the creviceswhich have traversed the oxidated crust of our planet, and penetratingto the seat of volcanic action. The enormous masses of muriate of sodarecently thrown up by Vesuvius, * (* The ejected masses in 1822 were soconsiderable that the inhabitants of some villages round Vesuviuscollected them for domestic purposes. ) the small veins of that saltwhich I have often seen traverse the most recently ejected lavas, andof which the origin (by sublimation) appears similar to that ofoligist iron deposited in the same vents, * (* Gay-Lussac on the actionof volcanoes in the Annales de Chimie volume 22 page 418. ) the layersof gem-salt and saliferous clay of the trachytic soil in the plains ofPeru and around the volcano of the Andes of Quito are well worthy theattention of geologists who would discuss the origin of formations. Inthe present sketch I confine myself to the mere enumeration of thephenomena of position, indicating, at the same time, some theoreticviews, by which observers in more advantageous circumstances than Iwas myself may direct their researches. 

12. AGGLOMERATE LIMESTONE OF THE BARIGON, OF THE CASTLE OF CUMANA, ANDOF THE VICINITY OF PORTO CABELLO. 

This is a very complex formation, presenting that mixture and thatperiodical return of compact limestone, quartzose sandstone andconglomerates (limestone breccia) which in every zone peculiarlycharacterises the tertiary strata. It forms the mountain of the castleof San Antonio near the town of Cumana, the south-west extremity ofthe peninsula of Araya, the Cerro Meapire, south of Caraco and thevicinity of Porto Cabello. It contains (1) a compact limestone, generally of a whitish grey, or yellowish white (Cerro del Barigon), some very thin layers of which are entirely destitute ofpetrifactions, while others are filled with cardites, ostracites, pectens and vestiges of lithophyte polypi: (2) a breccia in which aninnumerable number of pelagic shells are found mixed with grains ofquartz agglutinated by a cement of carbonate of lime: (3) a calcareoussandstone with very fine rounded grains of quartz (Punta Arenas, westof the village of Maniquarez) and containing masses of brown iron ore:(4) banks of marl and slaty clay, containing no spangles of mica, butenclosing selenite and lamellar gypsum. These banks of clay appearedto me constantly to form the lower strata. There also belongs to thistertiary stratum the limestone tufa (fresh-water formation) of thevalleys of Aragua near Vittoria, and the fragmentary rock of CaboBlanco, westward of the port of La Guayra. I must not designate thelatter by the name of nagelfluhe, because that term indicates roundedfragments, while the fragments of Cabo Blanco are generally angular, and composed of gneiss, hyaline quartz and chloritic slate, joined bya limestone cement. This cement contains magnetic sand, * (* Thismagnetic sand no doubt owes its origin to chloritous slate, which, inthese latitudes, forms the bed of the sea. ) madrepores, and vestigesof bivalve sea shells. The different fragments of tertiary stratawhich I found in the littoral Cordillera of Venezuela, on the twoslopes of the northern chain, seem to be superposed near Cumana(between Bordones and Punta Delgada); in the Cerro of Meapire; on the[Alpine] limestone of Cumanacoa; between Porto Cabello and the RioGuayguaza; as well as in the valleys of Aragua; on granite; on thewestern declivity of the hill formed by Cabo Blanco, on gneiss; and inthe peninsula of Araya, on saliferous clay. But this is perhaps merelythe effect of apposition. * (* An-nicht Auflagerung, according to theprecise language of the geologists of my country. ) If we would rangethe different members of the tertiary series according to the age oftheir formation we ought, I believe, to regard the breccia of CaboBlanco with fragments of primitive rocks as the most ancient, and makeit be succeeded by the arenaceous limestone of the castle of Cumana, without horned silex, yet somewhat analogous to the coarse limestoneof Paris, and the fresh-water soil of Victoria. The clayey gypsum, mixed with calcareous breccia with madrepores, cardites and oysters, which I found between Carthagena and the Cerro de la Popa, and theequally recent limestones of Guadalope and Barbadoes (limestonesfilled with seashells resembling those now existing in the CaribbeanSea) prove that the latest deposited strata of the tertiary formationextend far towards the west and north. 

These recent formations, so rich in vestiges of organized bodies, furnish a vast field of observation to those who are familiar with thezoological character of rocks. To examine these vestiges in stratasuperposed as by steps, one above another, is to study the Fauna ofdifferent ages and to compare them together. The geography of animalsmarks out limits in space, according to the diversity of climates, which determine the actual state of vegetation on our planet. Thegeology of organized bodies, on the contrary, is a fragment of thehistory of nature, taking the word history in its proper acceptation:it describes the inhabitants of the earth according to succession oftime. We may study genera and species in museums, but the Fauna ofdifferent ages, the predominance of certain shells, the numericalrelations which characterize the animal kingdom and the vegetation ofa place or of a period, should be studied in sight of thoseformations. It has long appeared to me that in the tropics as well asin the temperate zone the species of univalve shells are much morenumerous than bivalves. From this superiority in number the organicfossil world furnishes, in every latitude, a further analogy with theintertropical shells that now live at the bottom of the ocean. Infact, M. Defrance, in a work* full of new and ingenious ideas, notonly recognizes this preponderance of the univalves in the number ofthe species, but also observes that out of 5500 fossil univalve, bivalve and multivalve shells, contained in his rich collections, there are 3066 univalve, 2108 bivalve, and 326 multivalve; theunivalve fossils are therefore to the bivalve as three to two. (*Table of Organized Fossil Bodies, 1824. )

13. FORMATION OF PYROXENIC AMYGDALOID AND PHONOLITE, BETWEEN ORTIZ ANDCERRO DE FLORES. 

I place pyroxenic amygdaloid and phonolite (porphyrschiefer) at theend of the formations of Venezuela, not as being the only rocks whichI consider as pyrogenous, but as those of which the volcanic origin isprobably posterior to the tertiary strata. This conclusion is notdeduced from the observations I made at the southern declivity of thelittoral Cordillera, between the Morros of San Juan, Parapara and theLlanos of Calabozo. In that region local circumstances would possiblylead us to regard the amygdaloids of Ortiz as linked to a system oftransition rocks (amphibolic serpentine, diorite, and carburettedslate of Malpasso); but the eruption of the trachytes across rocksposterior to the chalk (in the Euganean Mountains and other parts ofEurope) joined to the phenomenon of total absence of fragments ofpyroxenic porphyry, trachyte, basalt and phonolite (The fragments ofthese rocks appear only in tufas or conglomerates which belongessentially to basaltic formations or surround the most recentvolcanoes. Every volcanic formation is enveloped in breccia, which isthe effect of the eruption itself. ), in the conglomerates orfragmentary rocks anterior to the recent tertiary strata, renders itprobable that the appearance of trap rocks at the surface of the earthis the effect of one of the last revolutions of our planet, even wherethe eruption has taken place by crevices (veins) which crossgneiss-granite, or the transition rocks not covered by secondary andtertiary formations. 

The small volcanic stratum of Ortiz (latitude 9 degrees 28 minutes to9 degrees 36 minutes) formed the ancient shore of the vast basin ofthe Llanos of Venezuela: it is composed on the points where I couldexamine it of only two kinds of rocks, namely, amygdaloid andphonolite. The greyish blue amygdaloid contains fendilated crystals ofpyroxene and mesotype. It forms balls with concentric layers of whichthe flattened centre is nearly as hard as basalt. Neither olivine noramphibole can be distinguished. Before it shows itself as a separatestratum, rising in small conic hills, the amygdaloid seems toalternate by layers with the diorite, which we have mentioned above asmixed with carburetted slate and amphibolic serpentine. These closerelations of rocks so different in appearance and so likely toembarrass the observer give great interest to the vicinity of Ortiz. If the masses of diorite and amygdaloid, which appear to us to belayers, are very large veins, they may be supposed to have been formedand upheaved simultaneously. We are now acquainted with two formationsof amygdaloid; one, the most common, is subordinate to the basalt: theother, much more rare, * (* We find examples of the latter in Norway(Vardekullen, near Skeen), in the mountains of the Thuringerwald; inSouth Tyrol; at Hefeld in the Hartz, at Bolanos in Mexico etc. )belongs to the pyroxenic porphyry. * (* Black porphyries of M. VonBuch. ) The amygdaloid of Ortiz approaches, by its oryctognosticcharacters, to the former of those formations, and we are almostsurprised to find it joining, not basalt, but phonolite, * an eminentlyfelspathic rock, in which we find some crystals of amphibole, butpyroxene very rarely, and never any olivine. (* There are phonolitesof basaltic strata (the most anciently known) and phonolites oftrachytic strata (Andes of Mexico). The former are generally above thebasalts; and the extraordinary development of felspar in that union, and the want of pyroxene, have always appeared to me very remarkablephenomena. ) The Cerro de Flores is a hill covered with tabulary blocksof greenish grey phonolite, enclosing long crystals (not fendillated)of vitreous felspar, altogether analogous to the phonolite ofMittelgebirge. It is surrounded by pyroxenic amygdaloid; it would nodoubt be seen below, issuing immediately from gneiss-granite, like thephonolite of Biliner Stein, in Bohemia, which contains fragments ofgneiss embedded in its mass. 

Does there exist in South America another group of rocks, which may bepreferably designated by the name of volcanic rocks, and which are asdistinct from the chain of the Andes, and advance as far towards theeast as the group that bounds the steppes of Calabozo? Of this Idoubt, at least in that part of the continent situated north of theAmazon. I have often directed attention to the absence of pyroxenicporphyry, trachyte, basalt and lavas (I range these formationsaccording to their relative age) in the whole of America eastward ofthe Cordilleras. The existence even of trachyte has not yet beenverified in the Sierra Nevada de Merida which links the Andes and thelittoral chain of Venezuela. It would seem as if volcanic fire, afterthe formation of primitive rocks, could not pierce into easternAmerica. Possibly the scarcity of argentiferous veins observed inthose countries may be owing to the absence of more recent volcanicphenomena. M. Eschwege saw at Brazil some layers (veins?) of diorite, but neither trachyte, basalt, dolerite, nor amygdaloid; and he wastherefore much surprised to see, in the vicinity of Rio Janeiro, aninsulated mass of phonolite, exactly similar to that of Bohemia, piercing through gneiss. I am inclined to believe that America, on theeast of the Andes, would have burning volcanoes if, near the shore ofVenezuela, Guiana and Brazil, the series of primitive rocks werebroken by trachytes, for these, by their fendillation and opencrevices, seem to establish that permanent communication between thesurface of the soil and the interior of the globe, which is theindispensable condition of the existence of a volcano. If we directour course from the coast of Paria by the gneiss-granite of the Sillaof Caracas, the red sandstone of Barquisimeto and Tocuyo, the slatymountains of the Sierra Nevada de Merida, and the eastern Cordilleraof Cundinamarca to Popayan and Pasto, taking the direction ofwest-south-west, we find in the vicinity of those towns the firstvolcanic vents of the Andes still burning, those which are the mostnortherly of all South America; and it may be remarked that thosecraters are found where the Cordilleras begin to present trachytes, ata distance of eighteen or twenty-five leagues from the present coastof the Pacific Ocean. * (* I believe the first hypotheses respectingthe relation between the burning of volcanoes and the proximity of thesea are contained in Aetna Dialogus, a very eloquent thoughlittle-known work by Cardinal Bembo. ) Permanent communications, or atleast communications frequently renewed, between the atmosphere andthe interior of the globe, have been preserved only along that immensecrevice on which the Cordilleras have been upheaved; but subterraneanvolcanic forces are not less active in eastern America, shaking thesoil of the littoral Cordillera of Venezuela and of the Parime group. In describing the phenomena which accompanied the great earthquake ofCaracas, * on the 26th March, 1812, I mentioned the detonations heardat different periods in the mountains (altogether granitic) of theOrinoco. (* I stated in another place the influence of that greatcatastrophe on the counter-revolution which the royalist partysucceeded in bringing about at that time in Venezuela. It isimpossible to conceive anything more curious than the negociationopened on the 5th of April, by the republican government, establishedat Valencia in the valleys of Aragua, with Archbishop Prat (DonNarciso Coll y Prat), to engage him to publish a pastoral lettercalculated to tranquilize the people respecting the wrath of thedeity. The Archbishop was permitted to say that this wrath was meritedon account of the disorder of morals; but he was enjoined to declarepositively that politics and systematic opinions on the new socialorder had nothing in common with it. Archbishop Prat lost his libertyafter this singular correspondence. ) The elastic forces which agitatethe ground, the still-burning volcanoes, the hot sulphurous springs, sometimes containing fluoric acid, the presence of asphaltum andnaphtha in primitive strata, all point to the interior of our planet, the high temperature of which is perceived even in mines of littledepth, and which, from the times of Heraclitus of Ephesus, andAnaxagoras of Clazomenae, to the Plutonic theory of modern days, hasbeen considered as the seat of all great disturbances of the globe. 

The sketch I have just traced contains all the formations known inthat part of Europe which has served as the type of positive geology. It is the fruit of sixteen months' labour, often interrupted by otheroccupations. Formations of quartzose porphyry, pyroxenic porphyry andtrachyte, of grauwacke, muschelkalk and quadersandstein, which arefrequent towards the west, have not yet been seen in Venezuela; but itmay be also observed that in the system of secondary rocks of the oldcontinent muschelkalk and quadersandstein are not always clearlydeveloped, and are often, by the frequency of their marls, confoundedwith the lower layers of Jura limestone. The muschelkalk is almost alias with encrinites; and quadersandstein (for there are doubtlessmany above the lias or limestone with gryphites) seems to me torepresent the arenaceous layers of the lower shelves of Juralimestone. 

I have thought it right to give at some length this geologicdescription of South America, not only on account of the novelinterest which the study of the formations in the equinoctial regionsis calculated to excite, but also on account of the honourable effortswhich have recently been made in Europe to verify and extend theworking of the mines in the Cordilleras of Columbia, Mexico, Chile andBuenos Ayres. Vast sums of money have been invested for the attainmentof this useful end. In proportion as public confidence has enlargedand consolidated those enterprises, from which both continents mayderive solid advantage, it becomes the duty of persons who haveacquired a local knowledge of these countries to publish informationcalculated to create a just appreciation of the relative wealth andposition of the mines in different parts of Spanish America. Thesuccess of a company for the working of mines, and that of worksundertaken by the order of free governments, is far from dependingsolely on the improvement of the machines employed for draining offthe water, and extracting the mineral, on the regular and economicaldistribution of the subterraneous works, or the improvements inpreparation, amalgamation, and melting: success depends also on athorough knowledge of the different superposed strata. The practice ofthe science of mining is closely linked with the progress of geology;and it would be easy to prove that many millions of piastres have beenrashly expended in South America from complete ignorance of the natureof the formations, and the position of the rocks, in directing thepreliminary researches. At the present time it is not precious metalssolely which should fix the attention of new mining companies; themultiplication of steam-engines renders it indispensable, whereverwood is not abundant or easy of transport, to seek at the same time todiscover coal and lignites. In this point of view the preciseknowledge of the red sandstone, coal-sandstone, quadersandstein andmolassus (tertiary formation of lignites), often covered with basaltand dolerite, is of great practical importance. It is difficult for aEuropean miner, recently arrived, to judge of a country presenting sonovel an aspect, and when the same formations cover an immense extent. I hope that the present work, as well as my Political Essay on NewSpain, and my work on the Position of Rocks in the Two Hemispheres, will contribute to diminish those obstacles. They may be said tocontain the earliest geologic information respecting places whosesubterraneous wealth attracts the attention of commercial nations; andthey will assist in the classification of the more precise notionswhich later researches may add to my labours. 

The republic of Colombia, in its present limits, furnishes a vastfield for the enterprising spirit of the miner. Gold, platinum, silver, mercury, copper, gem-salt, sulphur and alum may become objectsof important workings. The production of gold alone amounted, beforethe outbreak of the political dissensions, on the average, to 4700kilogrammes (20, 500 marks of Castile) per annum. This is nearly halfthe quantity furnished by all Spanish America, a quantity which has aninfluence the more powerful on the variable proportions between thevalue of gold and silver, as the extraction of the former metal hasdiminished at Brazil, for forty years past, with surprising rapidity. The quint (a tax which the government raises on gold-washings) whichin the Capitania of Minas Geraes was, in 1756, 1761 and 1767, from118, 102 and 85 arobas of gold (of 14 3/5 kilogrammes), has fallen, during 1800, 1813 and 1818, to 30, 20 and 9 arobas; an arob of goldhaving, at Rio Janeiro, the value of 15, 000 cruzados. According tothese estimates the produce of gold in Brazil, making deductions forfraudulent exportation, was, in the middle of the eighteenth century, the years of the greatest prosperity of the gold-washings, 6600kilogrammes, and in our days, from 1817 to 1820, 600 kilogrammes less. In the province of San Paulo the extraction of gold has entirelyceased; in the province of Goyaz, it was 803 kilogrammes in 1793 andin 1819 scarcely 75. In the province of Mato Grosso it is almostnothing; and M. Eschwege is of opinion that the whole produce of goldin Brazil does not amount at present to more than 600, 000 cruzados(scarcely 440 kilogrammes). I dwell on these particulars because, inconfounding the different periods of the riches and poverty of thegold-washings of Brazil, it is still affirmed in works treating of thecommerce of the precious metals, that a quantity of gold equivalent tofour millions of piastres (5800 kilogrammes of gold*) flows intoEurope annually from Portuguese America. (* This error is twofold: itis probable that Brazilian gold, paying the quint, has not, during thelast forty years, risen to 5500 kilogrammes. I heretofore shared thiserror in common with writers on political economy, in admitting thatthe quint in 1810 was still (instead of 26 arrobas or 379 kilogrammes)51, 200 Portuguese ounces, or 1433 kilogrammes; which supposed aproduct of 7165 kilogrammes. The very correct information afforded bytwo Portuguese manuscripts on the gold-washings of Minas Geraes, MinasNovas and Goyaz, in the Bullion Report for the House of Commons, 1810, acc. Page 29, goes as far only as 1794, when the quinto do ouro ofBrazil was 53 arrobas, which indicates a produce of more than 3900kilogrammes paying the quint. In Mr. Tooke's important work, On Highand Low Prices part 2 page 2) this produce is still estimated (meanyear 1810 to 1821) at 1, 736, 000 piastres; while, according to officialdocuments in my possession, the average of the quint of those tenyears amounted only to 15 arrobas, or a product quint of 1095kilogrammes, or 755, 000 piastres. Mr. John Allen reminded theCommittee of the Bullion Report, in his Critical Notes on the table ofM. Brongniart, that the decrease of the produce of the gold-washingsof Brazil had been extremely rapid since 1794; and the notions givenby M. Auguste de Saint Hilaire indicate the same desertion of thegold-mines of Brazil. Those who were miners have become cultivators. The value of an arroba of gold is 15, 000 Brazilian cruzados (eachcruzado being 50 sous). According to M. Franzini the Portuguese oncais equal to 0. 028 of a kilogramme, and 8 oncas make 1 mark; 2 marksmake 1 arratel, and 32 arratels 1 arroba. ) If, in commercial value, gold in grains prevails, in the republic of Columbia, over the valueof other metals, the latter are not on that account less worthy to fixthe attention of government and of individuals. The argentiferousmines of Santa Anna, Manta, Santo Christo de las Laxas, Pamplona, Sapoand La Vega de Sapia afford great hope. The facility of thecommunications between the coast of Columbia and that of Europeimparts the same interest to the copper-mines of Venezuela and NewGrenada. Metals are a merchandize purchased at the price of labour andan advance of capital; thus forming in the countries where they areproduced a portion of commercial wealth; while their extraction givesan impetus to industry in the most barren and mountainous districts. 

INDEX. 

Acephali. 

Action:electric, similarity of, in the electric eel and the voltaic battery. Volcanic, centre of. Connexion of. 

Acosta, travels of. 

Adansonia, or baobab of, Senegal. 

Acuvajos, country of the. 

Aerolites. 

Africa:travels in. Deserts of. 

Aguas Calientes:ravine of. River of. 

Agriculture:tropical. Early practice of. Influence of on individuals. Mean temperature required for the success of. Geology applied to. In the island of Cuba. Zone of, in Spanish America. 

Aguatire, the. 

Ajuntas. 

Alcaldes, or Indian magistrates. 

Alegranza, island of. 

Algodonal:crocodiles of. 

Aloe, see Maguey. 

Alligators. 

Almond-trees. 

Alphabet, application of the, in Indian languages. 

Alta Vista:plain of. Natural ice-house of. Gracia. 

Alum:European. Mines. 

Amalivaca. 

Amasonia, arborea. 

Amazon river:falls of the. Valley of the. Navigation of. Tributary streams of. Bridges over the. Course of the. Basin of the. Plains of the. Stones. Locality of. 

Amazons, traditions of the. 

Amygdaloide. 

America:discovery of. Rapidity of vegetation in. Savannahs of. Geological structure of. Early colonists of. Traditons of. Ancient name of. Supposed identity of, with Asia. East of the Andes. English. Population of. Portuguese. Population of. South. Plants of. Forests of. Missions of. Natives of. Waters of. Pampas of. Geography of. Geognostic description of. Configuration of. Mountains of. Extent of. Plains of Ibib, boundaries of. 

America, Spanish:inhabitants of. Civil wars of. State of society in. Productions of. Boundaries of. Frontier posts of. Population of. Extent of. Republics of. Commerce of. Agriculture of. Political position of. 

Amerigo, Vespucci. 

Andalusia, New:coasts of. Mountains of. Capital of. Inhabitants of. Earthquakes in. Extent of. 

Andes:ascent of the. Branches of the. Structure of. Elevation of. Etymology of the name. Importance of the. Of Chili. 

Angostura:commerce of. Geology of. Bark. 

Anil, see Indigo. 

Animals:effects of heat and cold upon. Organization of. Contemplations on the nature of. Hemispherical distribution of. Geography of. Domestic. Wild, herds of. 

Animals, painted representations of, by native Indians. 

Anthropophagy. 

Antidotes, to poisons. 

Antiles, the. 

Antimano. 

Ants:of the torrid zone. Use of by the natives as food. 

Apes, different species of. 

Apparatus, electrical. 

Apples, American. 

Apure river:voyage on the. Channel of. Navigation of. Junction of, with the Orinoco. Fetid waters of. Rise of the. 

Apurito, island of. 

Aquio, river. 

Aradores. 

Aragua:cotton plantations of. Boundaries of. Forests of. Plains of. Indigo grounds of. Cacao plantations of. Geology of. Vultures of. 

Araguatos. 

Araya:salt works of. Peninsula of. Castle of. Pearls of. Inhabitants of. Scarcity of rain in. Geology of. 

Archipelago:of St. Bernard. Of Chonos. Of Rosario. 

Arenas. 

Areverians, tribe of. 

Areo, river. 

Aroa:copper mines of. River of. 

Arowaks, tribe of the. 

Arrua, the. 

Artabrum, promontory of. 

Arvi, the. 

Asia, steppes of. 

Asphaltum, lake of. 

Assuay, mountains of. 

Astorga. 

Astronomy, study of. 

Atabapo, the:pure waters of the. Banks of the. 

Ataripe, cavern of. 

Atlantic:temperature of the. Currents in the. Phenomena, in the. 

Atlantis. 

Atmosphere:rapid changes in the. Serenity of the. Greatest heat of the. Observations on the. 

Atmospheric transparency, effects of, on mental and vegetableproperties. 

Atrato. 

Aturajos, country of the. 

Atures:rapids of. Mission of. Prevalence of fevers at. Vegetation of. Church of. Tribes of. Language of. 

Arauca, river:birds of the. 

Avila, mountain of. 

Azores:new island of the. Sea around the. 

Balsam-trees, groves of. 

Bamboos:furniture made from. Region of. 

Banana-tree. 

Bandits of the plains. 

Baracoa, commerce of. 

Baragnan, passage of. 

Barba de Tigre. 

Barbarian, origin of the term. 

Barbarism, regions in which it most prevails. 

Barbula, cotton plantations of. 

Barcelona, New:native population of. Languages of. Port of. Fort of. Earthquakes at. Plains of. Town of. 

Barigon, limestones of the. 

Bark:medicinal. Trees. 

Barometer:variations of, previous to earthquakes. Horary variations of. 

Barquisimeto. 

Baru:peninsula of. Island of. 

Basalt. 

Batabano:route to. Gulf of. Rocks of. 

Batavia, sugar cane of. 

Bathing, methods of, practised by the Indians. 

Bats. 

Baudin, Captain:expedition of to the South Seas. Ascent of peak of Teneriffe, by. 

Baxo de la Cotua. 

Bears. 

Beauty, national ideas of. 

Bees:peculiar to the New World. European importation of. 

Beet-root sugar. 

Benedictus Alexander, physiological phenomenon related by. 

Beni, river. 

Benzoni Girolamo:voyage of. 

Berbice. 

Bergantin:excursion to. Sandstone of the. 

Bermuda, islands of. 

Berrio, Antonio de:expedition of. 

Bertholletia excelsa, or Brazil nut tree. 

Bird island. 

Birds of South America:domestic. Migrations of. Fishing. Granivorous. Nocturnal, see Guacharo. 

Bishop's lake. 

Bitumen springs. 

Blow-tubes of the Indians. 

Boats of Cumana. 

Bobadilla Francisco, mission founded by. 

Boca de Arichuna:Chica. Del Drago. Grande of Carthagena. De la Tortuga. 

Bochica, or Indacanzas, priests of. 

Body-painting:practice of. Methods of. 

Bohemia, mountains of. 

Bombax. 

Bonpland, M. :intrepidity of. Tree dedicated to (Bonplandia trifoliata). 

Boracha, island of. 

Borachita, island of. 

Botany:descriptive. Of the Canary islands. Of the Coral islands. 

Bougainville, dissemination of the sugar cane by. 

Bovadillo, expedition of. 

Branco river. 

Brazil:boundaries of. Extent of. Population of. Mountains of. Frontiers of. Gold of. 

Brazil-nut trees (Bertholletia excelsa):nut, harvest of. 

Bread-fruit. 

Breschet, M. 

Bridges:over the Amazon. Of Lianas. 

Brigantine:situation of the. Conjunction of, with the Cocolla. Descent of the. 

Bruyere, description of slaves by. 

Brownea, or mountain roses. 

Buen Pastor, mineral springs of. 

Buenos Ayres:exports of. Extent of. Population of. Situation of. Pampas of. 

Burro, isle of. 

Butterflies, American. 

Butter:tree. From birds. From palm-fruit. From the tortoise egg. 

Cabo Blanco:summit of. Climate of. 

Cabrera, promontory of. 

Cabruta, town of. 

Cabullure, river. 

Cacao:port of. Export of. Adulteration of. Harvest of. Of Cumana. Trees, propagation of. Plants having the same properties. Of Barcelona. Wild. Plantations. 

Cactus:American. Forests of. Varieties of. Plantations of. 

Calabozo:departure from. Plains of. 

Calabury river. 

Caldera, of Peak of Teneriffe. 

Caledonia, New. 

Camels:first introduction of, in America. Of Forteventura. Of Teneriffe. 

Campeachy. 

Campoma, lake of. 

Canada:basin of. Lakes of. 

Cananivacari, rapids of. 

Canaries of Orotava:of Montana Clara. 

Canary Islands:birds of the. Ancient historical notices of. Geology of the. Fruits and plants of. Aborigines of. Inhabitants of. Government of the. Hot springs of. 

Cannibal:origin of the term. Chief. Tribes. 

Cannibalism:tribes most addicted to. In Egypt. 

Cano de la Tigre. 

Canoes:Indian. Modes of conveying them overland. Of Norfolk Island. 

Caparro monkey. 

Capanaparo, lake of. 

Cape:Araya, salt-pits of. Baco. Barima. De la Brea. Cirial. Codera. Finistere. Guaratarito. Macanao. Matahambre. Negril. Portland. Manas. Sotto. St. Vincent. Three Points. Vela. 

Cape Verd Islands. 

Capitania, General of Caracas. Government of. Population of. Exportation of hides from. Annexation of with New Granada. 

Caps, of bark. 

Capuchin Hospital, near Cumana. 

Capuchins:missions of. Indigo, manufactures of. Government of. Influence of. 

Caracas:city of. Salt-works of. Population of. Valleys of. Climate of. Vegetable productions of. Temperature of. State of society in. Intelligence of the inhabitants. Printing office in. Mines of. Earthquakes at. Effects of the. Departure from. Flora of. Cacao, plantations of. Commerce of. Plains of. La Venta, or large Inn of. Islands of. 

Carapa. 

Caratapona, granite islands of. 

Caravalleda, sugar plantations of. 

Caravanserai of San Fernando. 

Cari:missions of. Inhabitants of. 

Cariaco:town of. Valley of. Climate of. Population of. 

Cariaco, gulf of. 

Caribbean Sea:basins of the. 

Caribbees, see Caribs. 

Caribs:language of the. Tribes of. Native white race of. Migrations of. Ferocity. Missions of. Customs of. Characteristics of. Extermination of the. Origin of the term. Government of. Laws of. 

Carib:chief. Slave-dealers. Women. Language of the. 

Carichana:mission of. Port of. 

Caripe:convent of. Valley of. Climate of. Cavern of. Oil harvest of. River of. Geology of. 

Carizales, island of. 

Carlos:del Pino. Pozo. 

Carolinas. 

Carony, river:course of the. Falls of. Tributary streams of. 

Carthagena, port of. 

Cascabel, or rattlesnake. 

Cascades. 

Cascarilla-bark, see Cinchona. 

Cassime, or Zodiacal Light. 

Cassipagotos, tribe of. 

Cassiquiare:river banks of the. Encampment on the. Branch of the. Fertility of the. General aspect of. Temperature of. Navigation of. 

Castanos, el Monte de. 

Castile, climate of. 

Castle of San Antonio:hospital of the. 

Cataracts:latitude of the. Of Atures. Of Cariven. Of Cunuri. Of Guaharibos. Of Maypures. Of the Orinoco. Navigation of the. Scenery of the. Of Rio Caroni. Of Quittuna. 

Catia. 

Cattle:of the plains. Exportation of hides. European. 

Cavern:of Ataripe. Of Caripe. Of Dantoe. Of the Guacharo. 

Caverns:origin of. Geological formations of. Of Derbyshire. Of Franconia. 

Cayman, see Crocodile:islands. Geology of. Situation of. 

Caymanbrack. 

Cayo:Bonito. De Cristoval. Flamenco. Piedras. De Perez. 

Cecropia, the. 

Cedeno, river. 

Centurion, Don M. , expedition of. 

Ceremonies, religious, of the Indians. 

Cerro de Flores. 

Cerros de Sipapo. 

Ceylon, pearl fisheries of. 

Chacaito, river of. 

Chamberg, island of. 

Charts:inaccuracies of. Of Vespucci. 

Chaymas:missions of the. Nation of. Physiognomy of. Habits of. Physical conformation of. Mental inaptitude of. Language of. Colour of. 

Chayma women. 

Chemistry, vegetable. 

Chiquires, or water hogs. 

Chile:mountains of. 

Chimanas, groups of. 

Chimborazo, chain of. 

Churches:of Cumana. Of Caracas. 

Chocolate, preparation of. 

Cigars, exportation of, from Cuba. 

Cinchona, or Cascarilla bark. 

Cinnamon, or Canela tree. 

Civilization:causes which tend to retard the progress of. Advance of, between the tropics. Effects of, on the human countenance. Physical evils attending. Grades of. Course of. Humanizing influence of. Promoted by river-intercourse. And slavery. 

Claystone (Thonschiefer):muriatiferous. 

Climate of America:causes of the variableness of, in corresponding latitudes. 

Cloquet, M. , on physiognomy. 

Cocoa, see cacao. 

Cocollar:ascent of the. Climate of. Elevation of the. 

Cocuy, harem of. 

Cocuyza, peak of. 

Coffee trees:propagation of. Cultivation of, at Caripe. At Caracas. Plantations of. Abundant produce of. Berries. Of the Havannah. 

Colonies:American society in the. Castilian. Dutch. English. French. Spanish. 

Colonists of America. 

Colorado river. 

Colonization, progress of. 

Colour:causes of the different shades of, in the human family. Of the native Indians. Aristocracy of. 

Columbia:republic of. Mines of. 

Columbus, Christopher:early discoveries of. His estimation of gold. Tomb of. Journal of. 

Columbus, Ferdinand, description of the Indians by. 

Combustion, volcanic. 

Commerce, future advantages to. 

Concepcion de Urban. 

Concervo, island of. 

Congo river. 

Conorichite, river. 

Conquistadores. 

Consejo, see Mammon. 

Constellations of the torrid zone. 

Contagion:of fevers, facts relating to. Of the plague. Dr. Bailey's opinion on the. 

Convent of Caripe. 

Conuco, or Farm of Bermudez. 

Coral:formation of. Rocks. Snake. 

Cordillera:of the Andes. Of Baraguaro. Near Cumana. Native inhabitants of the. Climate of. Volcanic nature of the. Of the coast. Real de Neve. 

Corn:European. Cultivation of, in the equinoctial regions. Limits of the growth of. 

Cortez, Hernan. 

Cortex Angosturae. 

Corunna:port of. Mountains of. Light house of. Departure from. 

Cosmogony, theory of. 

Cotopaxi, mountain of. 

Cotton:native manufactures of. Trees of America. Cultivation of. Plantations of. 

Courbrail, the. 

Cow-tree (Palo de Vaca). 

Cows in the torrid zone. 

Creole sugar cane, introduction of the, into West Indies. 

Creoles, nobility of the. 

Crocodiles:groups of. Ferocity of. Summer sleep of. Instinct of. Oil of, used medicinally. Effect of heat and cold upon. Food of. Flesh of, sold for food. Habits of. Modes of destroying. Of Algodonol. Of the Havannah. Of Latie Valencia. Of Manzanares. Of the Nile. Of Rio Adeuas Calentes. Of Rio Cabulare. Of Rio Neveri. Of the Orinoco. Of Uritucu. 

Crystals:formation of. 

Cuba:coffee plantations of. Agriculture of. Extent of. Population of. Political importance of. Inhabitants of. Position of. Geology of. Minerals of. Climate of. Turtles of. Voyage of Cortez to. Ports of. Shores of. Temperature of. Dioceses of. Government of. Colonization of. Public institutions of. Commerce of. Tobacco plantations of. Productions of. Revenue of. 

Cuba and the slave trade. 

Cubagua:island of. Pearls of. Native deer of. 

Cuchivano:Risco or crevice of. Tigers of the. Forests of. Gold mines of. Caverns of. 

Culebra, island of. 

Culimacari, rock of. 

Cumana:city of. Geology of. Forests of. Frequency of earthquakes in. Population of. Plains of. Port of. Climate of. Ancient name of. Slave market of. Government of. Mountains of. Cacao of. Languages of. Trading boats of. Departure from. Return to. Geology of. Governor of. 

Cumanacoa:town of. Tobacco plantations of. Indigo plantations of. Geology of. 

Cumanagoto:subdued tribes of. 

Cunavami, mountains of. 

Cuneva. 

Cunucunumo river. 

Cunuri, cataract of. 

Cura, the. 

Curare, or vegetable poison, see Poisons. 

Curacicanas, cotton manufactures of the. 

Currents:equinoctial, in the Atlantic. Causes of. Variations of the. Seeds and fruits, deposited by. 

Currency. 

Cuspa, or Cinchona tree, medicinal properties of. 

Cuzco, city of. 

Dagysa notata, a mollusc, discovered by Sir J. Banks. 

Darien:coast of. Gold of the. Gulf of. 

Dairies of Andalusia. 

Dances of the Indians. 

Dapa, island of. 

Dapicho, or fossil India-rubber. Preparation of. Growth of. 

Daripe, San Miguel de. 

Decrement of heat, laws of the. 

Deer, American. 

Deformities, natural, total absence of, among the Indians. 

Deity, ideas of the, held by native Indians. 

Delpeche, printing office established by. 

Delta, the plains of the. 

Deluge, traditions of the. 

Demerara:settlement of. 

Depons, M. , opinions of, on Lake of Valencia. 

Deserts of the New World:dangers of travelling in. 

Devil's Nook (Rincon del Diablo). 

Dialects, Indian:analogy of. Affinity of. Diversity of. 

Diamante:island of. Sugar plantations of. 

Diamonds:cutting of, first invented. Legends of. 

Diego de Losada, town founded by. 

Diego de Ordaz. 

Dirt-eating, a custom of the Ottomacs. 

Diseases most prevalent in America. 

Divinity, native ideas of. 

Dolphins:of the river Manzanares. Of the Temi. 

Dornajito, spring of. 

Don Alexandro Mexia. 

Don Jose de Manterola. 

Don Nicolas Soto, travels with. 

Don Vincent Emparan, Governor of Cumana:intelligence and hospitality of. 

Dorado:district of. Expeditions to. De la Parima. 

Doubts, geographical, respecting the junction of great rivers. 

Dragon-tree:height and antiquity of. Juice of the. 

Dresses of the native Indians. 

Duida:volcano of. Peak of the. 

Durasno, hill of, levelled by the Marquis de Nava. 

Dutch:settlements. Guiana. 

Earth:oscillation of the. Undulations of. Effects of, on men and animals. 

Earth-eating:practice of. Effects of. In Asia. Among animals. 

Earths, odoriferous. 

Earthquakes:causes of. Connection of, with the atmosphere, preceding the shock. Connection of, with volcanic eruptions. Frequent shocks of, in towns distant from volcanoes. Effects of, on the sea. On the shoals. Annual indications of. Atmospheric indications of. Phenomena of. Theories of. At Caracas. At Cumana. At Lima. In Mexico. At Morro Roxo. In Peru. At Riobamba. 

Eclipse:of the moon. Of the sun, effects of. 

Eels:electric. Varied species of. Modes of fishing for. Habits of the. Dangers attending the shock from. Medicinal properties of the. 

Eggs of the turtle:fisheries of, on the river Orinoco. Harvest of. Season for laying. Method of depositing. Immense numbers of. 

Egypt:crocodiles of. Traditions of. 

El Castillo. 

El Castillito, rock of. 

El Cucurucho de Coco, mountain of. 

El Dorado:legends of. Etymology of. Traditions of. Legendary city of. 

El Moro, or fort of Barcelona. 

El Penol de los Banos. 

El Roncador. 

Electricity:theory of. Indian knowledge of. Effects of, on horses. Transmission of the shock. Dangerous effects of. Atmospheric. 

Elevation of mountains, maxima of. 

Emancipation of slaves. 

Emeralds, supposed mines of. 

Encampments, Indian. 

Encaramada:port of. Mountains of. Natives of. Legends of. 

Endava. 

Epidemics. 

Equator, crossing the. 

Equinox:autumnal. Vernal. 

Errors, geographical. 

Eruptions, volcanic:connection of, with earthquakes. 

Erythrina, the. 

Esmeralda:mission of. Origin of the colony. Monkeys of. Villa of. Native tribes of. Departure from. Mosquitos of. Longitude of. 

Essay, political, on the island of Cuba. 

Essequibo:English colony of. Missionaries of. River. 

Estevan:river. Acqueducts of. 

Esquimaux:countries of the. Colour of the. 

Etna, eruptions, and lava of. 

Europe, departure of the author from. 

Europeans:dangers of a tropical climate to. Influence of. On slavery. 

Evaporation:theory of. Effects of, on the atmosphere. 

Exhalations, inflammable. 

Eye-stones, remarkable properties of the. 

Facts, pathological, relating to fevers. 

Falling-stars:observations on. 

Faxardo, Francisco:town founded by. Island of. 

Features, mobility and immobility of, in men and animals. 

Females, Indian, condition of. 

Fernando, Cortez. 

Ferns:arborescent. Geographical distribution of. 

Ferrol, port of. 

Fever:American typhus. Propagation of. Yellow, first appearance of the. Limits and spread of. Proximate cause of. Prevalence of. Treatment of. 

Fevers:prevalence of, in the islands of the Orinoco. Remedies for. Pathological facts relating to. Epidemic, in the region of Cariaco. 

Fig tree. 

Fires:nocturnal, in the Llanos. Subterranean. 

Fish:caribe or cannibal. Electrical. Action of. Of the Nile. Flying, formation of. Flour. Bread. 

Fishes, respiration of. 

Fishing, singular methods of. 

Florida:bees of. 

Flour:of the United States. Stores of Caracas

Forests:American. Zone of. Effects of the diminution of. On the Caribbean Sea. Of Catuaro. Of cedar. Of mahogany. Of palm trees. Of Pimichin. Of Punzera. Of Venezuela. 

Formations:geologic. Volcanic. 

Forteventura. 

Fortunate Islands. 

Fossil remains:discovery of. Study of. 

Francisco, Lozano:remarkable physiological phenomenon of. Of Pampeluna. 

Fray Ramon Bueno:residence of. Remarks of, on the habits of the Ottomacs. 

Fruits:of Antimano. Of Araya. Of Caracas. Of Macarao. 

Fucus, or sea-weed, banks of, in the Atlantic. 

Fuente de Sanchorquiz. 

Galicia:scenery of. Mines. Plants of. 

Galipano, mountain of. 

Gallitos, or rock manikin. 

Gardens, botanical, of Orotava. 

Garnets. 

Garzes, or white herons. 

Geognosy:of America. Laws of. 

Geology:queries in. Problem of. Basis of the study of. Of America. Of Aragua. Of the Canary Islands. Of Cumana. Applied to mining and agriculture. Of Mariara. Of Peak of Teneriffe. Of volcanoes. 

Geophagy, details of. 

Geography:errors in. Nature of. By M. Leschenault. Of America. Of plants. 

Girolamo, Benzoni:account of the slave trade by. Voyage of. 

Glass, volcanic. 

Glorieta de Cocuy. 

Glue, natural. 

Gneiss. Strata of. Formation of. Strata of. 

Goats, of Peak of Teneriffe. 

Gold. Early use of, as a medium of exchange. Of Brazil. Districts. Their legends. Mines of Baruta. Of Buria. Of Cuba. Of Paria. Of Rincomada. Of San Juan. Of the valley of Tuy. Ornaments, worn by native Indians. Washings. Of Brazil. Produce of. 

Golfo:de las Damas. Yeguas. Triste. 

Gomara, history of the Parians by. 

Gomora, island of. 

Gonzales Pizarro. 

Govierno de Cumana:prevailing languages in the. 

Graciosa, island of. 

Grammars, American, collected by the author's brother. 

Granite:formations. Varieties of. Of Cape Finisterre. Of Guiana. Islands. Mountains. Rocks. 

Gravina, Admiral. 

Greenland:language of. Inhabitants of. 

Greenstone, strata of. 

Grenada, New:connexion of, with foreign colonies. Commerce of. Extent of. Population of. Mountains of. 

Grenada, island of. 

Grotto:of Caripe. Of Muggendorf. 

Grottoes:formation of. Varied structure of, in both hemispheres. 

Guacara, Indians. 

Guachaco, island of. 

Guacharo, or nocturnal bird:cavern of the. Description of the. Oil or butter procured from. Pyramid of. Majestic peak of. 

Guadaloupe:hot springs of. Volcano of. 

Guahaibos:natives of. Cataract of. 

Guaineres, tribe of. 

Guamo Indians, tribe of. Habits of the. 

Guanaguana:mission of. Fertile valley of. Mules of. Geological formations of. 

Guanches. Origin of the. Extinction of the race. Laws of. Mummy caves of. Language of. Successors of the. 

Guantanamo. 

Guaraons:tribe of. Character and habits of the. Habitations of. 

Guarapiche, river. 

Guardia. 

Guatavita, sacred lake of. 

Guatimala, extent and population of. 

Guatiaos. 

Guaurabo, river. 

Guaviare:river of. Plains of. 

Guaiana, Old:fort of. 

Guayanos, tribes of. 

Guayavo. 

Guayguaza, river:fords of the. 

Guaypunaves, warlike chief of. 

Guayqueria Indians:district of the. Origin of. Habits of. Language of. 

Guayra, La:voyage to. Fevers in. Port of. Climate of. Valleys of. Fortifications of. Coasts of. Earthquakes at. Exports of. 

Guayra river:source of the. Swells of the. 

Guayupes. 

Guainia river:frontier posts on the. 

Guiana:supposed mineral wealth of. Natives of. Missions of. Population of. Maps of. Granites of. Auriferous soil of. English. Spanish. Capitals of. Commerce of. 

Guigue:mountains of. Village of. 

Guines:port of. Canal of. 

Gulf Stream:temperature of the. Breadth of the. Course of the. 

Gulf:of Cariaco. Traditions of the. Hot springs of. Cacao plantations of. Coasts of. Of Batabano. Of Darien. Of Maracaybo. Of Mexico. Of Mochima. Of Panama. Of Paria. Of Santa Fe. Of Santa Marta. Of Uraba. 

Gulfs, subterranean. 

Gums. 

Gymnotus:experiments on the. Influence of, on other fish. Shocks from the. Electrical apparatus of the. 

Gypsum:of Araya. Of the LLanos. 

Hacienda de Cura. 

Hail-storms, phenomena of. 

Hanno, early travels of. 

Hateros, or farmers, wealth of the. 

Hato:de Alta Gracia. Del Cayman, inhabitants of the. Del Cocollar. 

Havannah, The:state of society in. Fevers of. Voyage to. Arrival at. Commerce of. Town of. Climate of. Population of. Slave population of. Fortifications of. Sugar plantations of. Conquest of. Coffee plantations of. Port of. Wealth of. Revenue of. 

Havaneros. 

Haiti (Hayti):language of. Copper of. Population of. 

Hay tree. 

Heat:decrement of. Atmospheric, parts of the New World most exposed to. 

Heaths:arborescent. Of Teneriffe. Existence of. Zone of. 

Hercules, tower of, in Galicia. 

Hernan Cortez:discoveries of. Shipwreck of. Perez de Quesada. 

Herons. 

Herrera, Alonzo de, expedition of. 

Hides, exportation of. 

Hieroglyphic rock-marks. 

Higuerote:bay of. Departure from. Mountains. Vegetation on the. 

Himalaya mountains:height of the. 

History, natural, museum of, at Madrid. 

Hocco, or American pheasant. 

Homes of native Indians. 

Honda. 

Hondius:map of America, by. Errors of. 

Honduras. 

Horizon, distant visibility of the. 

Horticulture. 

Hortsmann. 

Horses of the Llanos:contests of, with electric eels. 

Hospital at Caripe. 

Hot-springs. 

Huanta. 

Huarocheri. 

Huaytecas. 

Hudson's Bay. 

Hunger, physiology of. 

Huten, Felipe de, expedition of. 

Huts of the natives. 

Huttonian theory. 

Hyalites. 

Iceland, introduction of Christianity into. 

Ice-house, natural, of Peak of Teneriffe. 

Idapa, mouth of the. 

Idioms:American. Grammatical system of. 

Iguana, nests of the. 

Imposible, mountain:geological conformation of the. 

Indians of the missions:compared with free tribes. Great age attained by. Language of. 

Indians:first meeting with. Festivals of. Settlement of, on the salt lakes. Superstitions of. Characteristic traits of. Religious instruction of. Religious principles of. Rencontre with. Manners of. Food of. Tribes of. Apathy of. Physiology of. Colour of. System of navigation practised by. Districts of the. Hire of, as beasts of burden. Languages of. Intellectual development of. Encampments of. Intrepidity of. Cannibalism of the. 

Indians:of Barcelona. Copper coloured, districts of. Of Cuba. Dwarf, tribes of. Fair, tribes of. Country of. Of the Guainia. Of Maguiritares. Of the Orinoco. Distribution of the hordes. Of Panapana. Of Pararuma. Of Rio Negro. 

Indigo, or Anil:culture and manufacture of. Exportation of. Early use of by the Mexicans. Of Aragua. Of Batabano. Of Guainia. Of Mijagual. 

Indios andantes, or wandering tribes of Indians. 

Infanticide, Indian practice of. 

Infierno, or Hell rock. 

Inheritance, laws of. 

Insect-food, used by the Indians. 

Insects:American. Phosphorescent, of the Torrid Zone. Plague of. 

Instruments, musical, of the Indians. 

Insurrections, Indian. 

Interment, Indian modes of. 

Interpreters. 

Inundations:causes of. 

Isla:Clara. De Uruana. Vieja de la Manteca. 

Islands:origin of. Of the South Sea. Volcanic. 

Islote, granite island of. 

Italy, travels in. 

Java. 

Javanavo, island of. 

Jaguar tigers:size of. Haunts of. Rencontre with. Intrepidity of. Familiarity of. Varieties of. 

Jamaica:coffee plantations of. Slave trade of. Sugar plantations of. 

James, Mr. Edwin, geology of the Mississippi by. 

Jardinillos:coral rocks of. Flats of the. 

Javariveni:island of. Rapids of. 

Javita:the Indian chief. San Antonio de, mission of. Forests of. Salt manufactures of. Isthmus of. 

Jehemani. 

Jesuit Missions, destruction of the. 

Jesuits:suppression of. Wars of the. 

Joval, tigers of the. 

Juagua, river. 

Juan Gonzales, intelligence and premature death of. 

Jarumo tree. 

Juliac, M. , skilful treatment of the yellow fever by. 

Junction of rivers, doubts respecting the. 

Jupura, river. 

Juruario, river. 

Keri:valley of. Rocks of. 

Keymis, Lawrence, travels of. 

Kings:of the Guanches. Of Mexico. Of the Manitivitanos. 

La Boca. 

La Cabrera, peninsula of. 

La Concepcion de Piritu. 

La Guayra, see Guayra. 

La Mina, ravine of. 

La Valle, medicated waters of. 

La Vega. 

La Venta of Caracas. 

La Vibora. 

La Victoria, road to. 

Lafayette, on the emancipation of slaves. 

Lagartero. 

Laguna:situation of. Town of. Climate of. Chica. Grande, port of. Del Obispo. Parima. 

Lake:Amucu. Of asphaltum. Of Campoma. Of Capanaparo. Cassipa. Erie. Manoa. Ontario. Parima. Traditions of. First geographical notice of. Putacuao. Superior. Xarayes. 

Lancerota:volcanic region of. Inhabitants of. Capital of. 

Landmarks, natural. 

Language:influence of, on the diversity of nations. Construction and mechanism of. Arabic. Biscayan. Of the Caribbees. Chayma. Its relation to the Tamanac. Grammatical construction of. Coptic. Of Greenland. Maypure. Tamanac. 

Languages:varieties of, in the New Continent. Analogy of. Affinity of. Classification of. Grammatical construction of. Study of. Difficulty of acquiring, experienced by the Indian. American. European. 

Laplanders. 

Las:Cocuyzas. Lagunetes. 

Lata. 

Latin, early knowledge of. 

Laurels, zone of. 

Lava:strata of. Primitive rock in. 

Leap of the Toucan. 

Legends:of the deluge. Of the gold districts. Of headless men. Of the Indians. Of monkeys. Of the salvaje. 

Leschenault, M. , on geophagy. 

Lichens, zone of. 

Light:phosphoric. Of the stars, intensity of. Volcanic, cause of. Zodiacal. Variations of. 

Lima:state of society in. Town of. 

Limestone:formations of. Of Caripe. Of Cumanacoa. Secondary. Of Penas Negras. 

Lines, isothermal. 

Lizards. 

Llaneros:characteristics of the. 

Llano del Retama. 

Llanos:latitude of the. Basins of the. Arid plains of. Banks of the. Landscape of. Subdivisions of the. Origin of the. Reptiles of the. Electric eels of the. Geological construction of. Hot winds of the. Cattle of the. Proportions of the. Of New Barcelona. Of Caracas. Of Cumana. Del Pao. Of Rio de la Plata. Of Venezuela. 

Lobelia. 

Lobos, island of. 

Lomas of St. Juan. 

Lopez de Aguirre. 

Los Aparecidos. 

Los Budares. 

Los Penones. 

Los Teques, mountains of. 

Los Vueltas. 

Maelstrom, doubted existence of the. 

Macarao, fruits of. 

Macaws. 

Machine, electrical, invented by a native. 

Maco Indians:habits of the. 

Macusis, tribe of. 

Magdalena, river:course of the. Navigation of. Serpents of the. 

Madrid, visit of the author to. 

Magellan, straits of. 

Maguey, or Aloe:cord from the fibres of the. 

Mahates, town of. 

Mahogany:forests of. Of Cuba. Of Pinos. 

Maiquetia, cocoa trees of. 

Mairan on zodiacal light. 

Maize. 

Malaria, supposed causes of. 

Malpasso, geology of. 

Malpays. 

Mammee tree. 

Mammon or Consejo:miraculous image of the Virgin at. 

Manimi, mountain of. 

Man:geographical distribution of the races of. Difference of colour in. Physical effects of civilization upon. Different characteristics of. 

Manapiari river. 

Manco, Inca, flight of. 

Mandavaca, mission of. 

Mangroves. 

Manatee (Manati):of the river Apure. Of the island of Cuba. 

Manitivitanos. 

Maniquarez:inhabitants of. Village of. Potteries of. Petroleum, springs of. 

Manoa, expedition to. 

Manzanares, the:bar of the. Banks of the. Indian custom of bathing in. 

Mapara, cataract of. 

Maps:of America. Of Cuba. 

Mar Blanco. 

Maracay:inhabitants of. Situation of. 

Maracaybo (Maracaibo), port of. 

Maravaca, or Sierra Mariguaca. 

Marepizanas, tribe of. 

Margareta (Margarita), island of. 

Marguerita, island of. 

Mariara:peaks of. Geological construction of. Hot springs of. Medicinal waters of. 

Marl formations. 

Maroa, mission of. 

Maryland. 

Matacona, river. 

Matagorda. 

Mataveni, river. 

Matanzas. Hamlet of. Origin of the name. 

Matuna. 

Matunilla. 

Mauritia-palm, or sago-tree. 

Mauritius, sugar canes, first brought to the. 

Mavaca, river. 

Maxima of mountain elevation. 

Maypures:climate of. Luxuriant vegetation of. Village of. Cataract of. Inhabitants of. Potteries of. Birds of. Animals of. Language. 

Menagerie. 

Meat:consumption of. 

Mediterranean Sea:formation of the. Basins of the. Of the west. 

Medusas, or sea-nettles:phosphoric properties of. 

Memnon, statue of, probable cause of the sounds issuing from. 

Mendoza. 

Mesopotamia. 

Mestizoes. 

Meta, river:plains of the. 

Meteorology, main problem of. 

Meteors:connection of, with the undulations of the earth. Falling. Fiery, seen at Cumana. Luminous. 

Mexico, or New Spain:connection of, with foreign colonies. Native population of. State of society in. Nobility of. Wheat of. Government of. Agriculture of. Extent of. 

Miasma, experiments on. 

Mica-slate, formations of. 

Middleberg. 

Migration:of nations. Of insects. Of plants. Difficulties of the theory. 

Milk:distribution of animals yielding. Vegetable. Analysis of. Tree. 

Minerals. 

Mines:of alum. Of Aroa. Of Buria. Of Caracas. Of Columbia. Of copper. Of emeralds. Deserted. Of gold. Of Granada. Of Guanaxuato. Of Los Teques. Of Santa Rosa. Of silver. 

Mining, geology applied to. 

Mirage:effects of. Phenomena of. 

Mission:of Atures. Of Carichana. Of the Capuchins. Inhabitants of the. Capital of. Government of the. Of Carony. Of Catuaro. Of the Chayma Indians. Of Guanaguana. Of Javita. Of Maroa. Of Pararuma. Of Piritu. Native tribes of the. Of San Antonio. Of San Balthasar, on the Orinoco. Of San Borja, of Santa Cruz. Of Uruana. 

Missionary:life of the. Influence of. General character of the. 

Missions:first establishment of in America. Etymology of the names. Interpreters of the. Of the Upper Orinoco. 

Mississippi:earthquakes in the valleys of the. Basin of the. 

Mochima, gulf of. 

Mocundo, sugar plantations of. 

Monkeys:anatomical cause of the cry of. Natural phenomena of. Distance at which the cry may be heard. Rare species of. Legends of. Capuchin. Of Valencia. Of Vuelta Basilio. 

Monks:of the Cataracts. Catalonian. 

Mompox. 

Montana Clara. Canary birds of. De Paria, strata of. 

Monte Verde. 

Montserrat. 

Moon:prismatic colours round the. Total eclipse of the. Names for the. 

Morro Roxo. 

Morros of San Juan. 

Mosquitos. Plague of. Various species. Effects of the sting of. Migration of. Voracity of. Sting of. Scourge of. Disappearance of. Of Maypure. 

Mountain:scenery. Chains. Geological constitution of. Chains, transverse. Vegetation. Ridges. 

Mountaineers, district of. 

Mountains:origin of. Structure of. Systems of. Maxima of the heights of. Of Andalusia. Of Araya. Of Avila. Basaltic. Of Brazil. Of Buenavista. Calcareous. Conical, peculiarities of. Of Cumana. Of Cariaco. Of Encaramada. Of Guanaja. Of Higuerote. Of Meapera. Of Parime. Of Santa Maria. Of Santa Marta. Of Silla and Cordera. Of Venezuela. Volcanic, shape of. Geology of. Isolated position of. Sinking of, during an earthquake. Of Yumariquin. 

Mucuju river. 

Mulattoes:of Araya. Of Guadaloupe. Characteristics of. 

Mules, American. 

Mummies of Ataruipe. 

Mummy-caves of the Guanches. 

Music of the Indians. 

Mythology. 

Myths, ancient. 

Naga, peak of. 

Nao, lake of. 

Naphtha, natural springs of. 

Nations:of the New World, supposed origin of. Causes of the shades of colour in the. Anthropophragitic. Indian. 

Native:boatmen. Hordes, distribution of. Indians, subtlety of. Varied colour of. Manner of living. Characteristics of. Legends of the. Rafts of the. Infanticide encouraged by. Polygamy of the. Population. White race. Worship, objects of. 

Nature:tranquillity of. Immutable laws of. 

Navigation:new system of. Indian mode of. 

Needle, magnetic, variations in the. 

Negress. 

Negro population. 

Negroes:sale of. Festivals of. Municipality of. Mortality of. Moral condition of. Emancipation of. Importation of. 

Negroes of valley of Tuy. 

Negro, Rio, the:its source. Tributaries of the. Oscillations of. Basin of the. 

Neiva, valley of. 

Nettles, see Medusas. 

Nueva:Barcelona, see Barcelona. Valencia, see Valencia. 

Neveri, river. 

New:Cadiz. Grenada, see Grenada. Spain, see Mexico. Toledo, see Toledo. 

Niger, sands of the. 

Night in the woods of America. 

Niguator, mountain of. 

Nile:crocodiles of the. Periodical risings of the. 

Niopo, or Indian snuff. 

Nobility:of Spanish America. Badge of. Of complexion. 

Noon, in the tropics. 

Numbers, difficulty of acquiring a knowledge of. 

Oak, magnitude and antiquity of the. 

Observations:astronomical. Meteorological. 

Obsidian:weapons made of. Varieties of. Origin of. 

Ocean:temperature of the. Currents in the. Phosphoresence of the, see Humboldt's Views of Nature. Aerial. 

Ochsenberg, mountain of. 

Ocumare. 

Oil:obtained from the birds of Caripe. Of the cocoa nut. Of the crocodile, medicinal properties of the. Of the manatee. Of the turtle egg. Sale of. 

Omaguas, province of the. 

Optical illusion. 

Orang-otang, the. 

Orange trees:of America. Of Cuba. Of Spain. 

Orchila:island of. Geology of. 

Ordaz, expeditions of. 

Orinoco:course of the. Waters of the. Water levels of. Navigation of. Junctions of the. Celebrated bifurcation of the. Sinuosities of the. Breadth of. Temperature of. Insalubrious winds of the. Connection of, with the Amazon. Source of. Confluence of. Periodical swellings of. Current of. Branches of the. Origin of the name. Ancient name of. Tributary streams of. Accident on the. Aspect of the, from Uruana. Coast scenery of the. District of the. Great cataracts of the. Islands of the. Mountains of the. Monkeys of the. Vegetation on the banks of the. Lower, dangerous navigation of. Basin of the. Upper, course of the. Cataracts of. Mountains of. Valley of. 

Orotava:port of. Town of. Fruits of. Society in. 

Ortiz, volcanic strata of. 

Otaheite, sugar canes of, first introduced into America. 

Otters. 

Ottomac Indians:customs of. Physiological phenomena of. Character and habits of. 

Ouavapavi monkey. 

Oviedo y Banos, the historiographer:description of Lake Valencia, by. 

Oxen. 

Pacimoni river. 

Padaviri river. 

Palm-trees:forests of. Groves of. Classification of. Utility of the. Of Cuba. Of the Llanos. Of Piritu. Cordage. Cabbage. Oil. Wine. 

Palo de Vaca, see Cow-tree. 

Pampas, or steppes:origin of the term. Extent of. Of Buenos Ayres. 

Panama, isthmus of. 

Panthers. 

Panumana, island of. 

Pao:town of. River of. 

Papaw-trees. 

Paper, substitutes for. 

Paraguay river. 

Pararuma, encampment of Indians at. 

Paria:promontory of. Coast of. Origin of the name. Inhabitants of. 

Parians, history of the. 

Parima:district of. River. Lake of. Traditions of. 

Parkinsonia aculeata. 

Parnati river. 

Parroquets, flocks of. 

Pascua, valley of. 

Pasto, town of. 

Pasturage:region of. Cultivation of the. 

Patagonia:mountains of. Plains of. 

Patagonians, origin of. 

Pathology of fevers. 

Pays de Vaud, scenery of, compared with Valencia. 

Peak:of Ayadyrma, or Echerdo. Of Calitamini. Of Cocunza. Of Cuptano. Of Duida. Of Guacharo. Of the Silla, see Silla. Of Teneriffe. Ascent of. Scenery of the. Crater of. Temperature of the. Descent from. Structure of. Geology of. Historical notice of. Eruptions of. Vegetation on the. Of Teyde. Uriana. 

Pearls:early use of, by the Americans. Revenue arising from the sale of. Modes of procuring. 

Pearl coast:situation of the. Fisheries of Cubagua. Rapid diminution of. Of Ceylon. Of Margareta. Of Panama. Oyster, methods of taking the. Destruction of. 

Pedro:Keys. Shoals. 

Pennsylvania. 

Pericantral. 

Peru:summits of. Nobility of. Government of. Extent of. Population of. Mountains of. Frontiers of. 

Petare. 

Petrifactions. 

Petroleum:origin of. Springs. Of Maniquarez. 

Pheasant, American. 

Phenomena:atmospheric. Of earthquakes. Electric. Geognostic. Geological. Of hailstones. Magnetic. Meteorological. Natural. Physiological. Of vegetable sleep. 

Phenomenon:volcanic, series of. Luminous. Optical. Physical. 

Phonolite. 

Phosphoresence of the sea. 

Physiognomy:causes of tribal features. Shades of. 

Physiology:of man. Of animals. 

Piedra:rapids of the. De la Paciencia, a rock in the middle of the Orinoco. Raton. Del Tigre. 

Pigments:Indian. General use of. 

Pimichin, forests of. 

Pine-apples:of Baruto. Wild. 

Pino del Dornajito:spring of. 

Pinos, island of. 

Pirijao palm. 

Piritu:islands of. Palm trees of. 

Piton:of Teneriffeof the Teyde. 

Plain:of Charas. Of Retama. 

Plains:culture and population of. Continuity of. Of the Amazon. Of Caracas. Of Europe. Of Rio de la Plata. Of the Tuy, of Venezuela. 

Plane-tree, antiquity of the. 

Plants:phenomena of the sleep of. Experiments on the air from. Distribution of. Migration of. Malaria of. Cordage from. Milk of. Arborescent. Aromatic. Cruciform. Of the island of Teneriffe. Of the islands of Valencia. Medicinal. Of North America. Parasitic. Resinous. Of South America. Succulent. 

Plantains. 

Plata:Rio de la. Plains of the. 

Poison:Curare, preparation of the. Effects of, on the system. 

Poisons, vegetable, peculiar to the New World. 

Polygamy, Indian practice of. 

Popa, convent de la. 

Population, compared with territory. Of Angostura. Of Brazil. Of Buenos Ayres. Of Caracas. Of Cariaco. Of Chile. Of the colonies. Of Cuba. Of Cumana. Of Grenada. Of Guatimala. Of Guiana. Of Mexico. Native. Of Peru. Of Porto Rico. Of Quito. Of Spanish America. Of the United States. Of Upata. Of Venezuela. 

Porpoises:phosphoresence caused by. Of the river Apure. 

Portachuelo, promontory of. 

Portages on the rivers. 

Portland Rock. 

Porto Cabello:saltworks of. Departure from. Geology of. Rico, extent of. Population of. 

Portuguese:settlements of. Colonists. 

Portus Magnus. 

Potato, cultivation of the. 

Pottery, early manufacture of. 

Potteries, Indian. 

Powders, intoxicating, used by the Indians. 

Poya, or balls of earth, consumption of. 

Prairies. 

Priests of Tomo. 

Printing-office, of Caracas. 

Prognostications by the author of the great earthquake at Caracas. 

Prussic acid, discovery of. 

Puerto de Arriba. 

Pumice-stones. 

Punta:Zamuro. Plantations of. Araya. 

Punzera:plains of. Wild silk of. 

Python, the. 

Pyramid of Guacharo. 

Quaquas, warlike tribe of. 

Quartz, veins of. 

Quebrada, or ravines:de Aguas Calientes. Del Oro. De Seca. De Tipe. 

Quebranta. 

Queries, geological. 

Quetepe:plain and spring of. View of. 

Quince-tree:fruit of the. 

Quindiu:mountains of. 

Quinsay. 

Quipos, or knotted cords, use of. 

Quirabuena, see Mandavaca. 

Quito:province of. Summits of. Volcanic nature of the kingdom. Earthquakes in. Town of. State of society in. Civilization of. Sheep of. Extent of. Population of. Political position. 

Quittuna, cataract of. 

Races:antiquity of. Differences of. Proportion of. Jealousies of. Disappearance of. Anglo Saxon. Mixed. Native, affinity of. Native, white. 

Rafts:Indian. Natural, of the Orinoco. 

Rain:scarcity of, in Araya. Frequency of, at Caracas. Periodical seasons of. Electrical. Equatorial. Prognostics of. Tropical. Causes of. 

Raleigh, Sir W. :voyages of. Expeditions of. 

Rambleta, plain of. 

Ranges, volcanic. 

Rapids:navigation and causes of. Of Atures. Of Piedra. 

Raudal:of Cameji. Of Canucari. Of Cariven. Of Garcita. Of Javariveni. Of Marimara. Of Tobaje. 

Raudals, elevation of, see Cataracts. 

Raya, Indians. 

Reactions, volcanic. 

Redoute, M. , work of, on Roses. 

Reeds. 

Region of perpetual snow. 

Religion of the Indians. 

Republics of Spanish America. 

Resins. 

Retama, plain of. 

Rhododendrons, zone of. 

Rialexo de Aboxo. 

Rinconada, gold mines of. 

Rincon del Diablo, see Devil's Nook. 

Rivers:junctions of. Advantages of. Changes in the courses of. Causes of the swelling of. Source of the five great streams. Of Cuba. Of hot water. 

The following rivers are referred to under their respectivealphabetical entries:Rio Apure, Aguas Calientes, Amazon, Aquio, Areo, Aroa, Atabapo, Arauca, Beni, Cabullare, Calaburg, Chacaito, Congo, Carony, Esteven, Essequibo, Guiamo Guayre, Guaurapo, Jagua, Jupura, Juruario, Manzanares, Matacona, Mataveni, Negro, Neveri, Orinoco, Parima, Plata, Sinu, Sipapo, Sodomoni, Suapure, Tocuyo, Tomo. 

Roca:de Afuera. Del Infierno. 

Rock-manikin. 

Rocks:strata of. Classification of. Geological arrangement of. Incrustations of. Nature of. Subterranean fires in. Caverns of. Varieties of. Worship of. Antediluvian. Auriferous. Of Cabo Blanco. Which compose the island of Teneriffe. Of the plains. Painted (Tepu-mereme). Phonolitic. Pyrogenic. Sculptured. Volcanic. 

Rum, manufacture of. 

Sabrina:island of. Origin and destruction of. 

Sacrifices, human. 

Sago-trees, see Mauritia palm. 

Salive Indians. 

Salt:geognostical phenomena of. Substitutes for. Lake of Penon Blanco. Marshes, of Cerro de la Vela. Works of Araya. Revenue yielded to the government by. Of Caracas. Of Porto Cabello. Of San Antonio de Javita. 

Salvaje, or wild man of the woods. 

San:Antonio, castle of. Geology of. Carlos. Domingo. Coffee plantations of. Sugar plantations of. Fernando. Fernando de Apure. Temperature of, trade of. De Atabapo. Political importance of. Plantations of. Francisco, Solano. Josef, island of. Juan river. Juan de los Remedios. Juanillo, ravine of. Luis de Cura, see Villa Cura. Del Encaramada. Mateo. Pedro, valley of. 

Sanchorquiz, spring of. 

Sandstone:formations. Varieties of. Of the Llanos. Of the Orinoco. 

Sanscrit language. 

Santa Barbara. 

Santa Cruz:situation of. Town of. Humboldt's departure from. Indian village of. De Cachipo. 

Santa Fe de Bogota:gulf of. 

Santiago:ruins of. Present name of. 

Santos, Don Antonio. 

Sarsaparilla (Zarza):varieties of. 

Savages:countries of. Character of. State of, in the torrid and temperate zones. Mental inaptitude of. Difference of colour in. Encampment of. Festivals of. Food of. Origin of. 

Savannahs:origin of. Floods in. Extent of. Distribution of. Of Atures. Of Caripe. Of Invernadero del Garzel. Of Lagartero. Of Louisiana. Of Lower Orinoco. 

Schonbrunn, conservatories of. 

Scylax, travels of. 

Sea:vegetation in the. Phosphorescence of the. Volcanic shocks in the. Temperature of, see Ocean. Caribbean. Weeds. Distinct banks of. Remarkable specimen of. Shores. 

Seasons:changes in the. Of rain and storm. 

Seeds, tide-borne. 

Serpents:summer sleep of. 

Serritos. 

Sharks. 

Shells, petrifactions of. 

Ship-building, American. 

Shirt-trees. 

Shocks:electric. Dangerous effects of. Transmission of. Theory of. Of the gymnotus. 

Shrubs:mountain. Aromatic. 

Siapa, see Idapa. 

Sienega of Batabano. 

Sierra:de Cochabamba. Del Guacharo. Mariare. De Meapire, cacao plantations of. Nevada de Santa Maria. De la Parime. Strata of the. 

Silk of the palm-tree. 

Silla of Caracas:ascent of the. Peaks of the. Summit of the. Precipice of. Descent from the. Strata of. 

Sipapo, river:forests of. Mountains of. 

Sinu, river. 

Skeletons, Indian. 

Slates:strata of. Formations. 

Slaves:elevation of, to farmers and landowners. Manumission of. Importation of. Rights of. Punishment of. Sabbath of. Of the Canary Islands. Of Cumana. Of Venezuela. Of Victoria. Fugitive, capture of. 

Slave dealers:routes of the. Food. Labour. Price of. 

Slave laws:English. Spanish. 

Slave:market, at Cumana. Trade. Commercial establishments to facilitate the. Causes which led to the abolition of. Benzoni, on the. Spanish. 

Slavery, statistics of. 

Snakes, antidote to the venom of. 

Soap-berry. 

Society:zones of. Three ages of. Effects of earthquakes upon. 

Sodomoni river. 

Soils, auriferous. 

Solano:expeditions of. Residence of. 

Sombrero-palm. 

Sounds:analogy of. Propagation of. Rapid transmission of. Resemblance of. Nocturnal propagation of. Subterranean. 

South Sea Islands. 

Spain:journey through. Possessions of, in America. 

Spaniards:first settlement of. Descendants of. 

Speier, George von. 

Springs:of Europe and America. Temperature of. Of warm water. Origin of. Of hot water. Of bitumen. Of Caracas. Of Caripe. Of Mariara. Medicinal properties of. Of mineral tar, see Petroleum. Of Mount Imposible. Of Quetepe. Sulphureous. 

Stabroek. 

Stalactites. 

Stars:constellations of. Radiance of. Falling. Magnitude of. 

States, American. 

Stone:of the eye. Butter. 

Stones:Amazon. Locality of. Painted, locality of. Worship of. 

St. Juan de la Rambla, malmsey wine of. 

St. Michael. 

St. Thomas de la Guiana. 

Strata:inclination of. Maxima of. Enumeration of. Parallelism of. Calcareous. Primitive. Of Sierra Parime. Secondary. Tertiary. Transition. 

Stylites, sect of. 

Styptic, natural. 

Suapure river. 

Succession, laws of. 

Sugar:manufacture of. Prices of. Preparations from. Refining of. Profits of. Machinery for. From beet-root. Of Cuba. Of St. Domingo. Of slave colonies. Of Trinidad. 

Sugar cane:plantations of. Cultivation of the. First introduction of, to America. Geographical distribution of the. Creole. 

Sulphur, beds of. 

Sun:effects of the, on plants. Eclipse of the. Indian names for the. Worship of the. Temple of the. 

Surinam. 

Swallows, migration of. 

Swine, wild, herds of. 

Tacarigua:lake of. Mountains of. 

Tacoronte, valley of. 

Tamanac:nation and language. Historical tradition of the. 

Tarragona. 

Tayuchuc. 

Teguisa. 

Temanfaya, volcano of. 

Temi river:navigation of the. 

Teneriffe:peak of. Camels of. Island of. Temperature of. Botanical gardens of. Geognosy of. Fruits and plants of. Aborigines of. Feudal government of. 

Termites, ravages of the. 

Terra Firma:old and new routes to. Situation of, in relation to the island of Cuba. Insalubrity of. Seven provinces of. Seasons in. Coast defences of. 

Tetas:de Managua. De Tolu. 

Teyde, peak of. 

Theatre of Caracas. 

Theocritus, translations from. 

Theories:of earthquakes. Of electricity. Of migration. 

Thermometer, use of, in navigation. 

Thonschiefer, see Clay-slate. 

Thunder, subterranean. 

Tibitibies. 

Tide-borne fruits. 

Tierra del Fuego:straits of. Islands of. 

Tiger, ravine. 

Tigers, see Jaguar. Black. 

Timber:luxuriance of. Abundance of. 

Titis. 

Tivitivas, see Tibitibies. 

Tobacco:origin of the word. Cultivation of, in Cumana and Mexico. Plantations of, in Valencia. In Guiania. In Cumanacoa. In the island of Cuba. Statistics of. 

Tobago:situation of. 

Tocuyo river. 

Tomatoes, cultivation of. 

Tombs, Indian. 

Tomo river. 

Torito. 

Torpedo, experiments on the. 

Torrid zone, see Zone. 

Toucan, natural history of the. 

Tovar, Count, generous treatment of slaves by. 

Tower of Hercules:lighthouse of the. 

Trade winds:latitudes of the. 

Traditions:Egyptian. 

Tree-frogs. 

Tree-inhabiting Indians. 

Trees:antiquity of. Alimentary properties of. The following American trees are referred to under their respectivealphabetical entries: the Aloe, Aguatire, Almond, Balsam, Barba deTigre, Bombax, Bonplandia trifoliata, Brazil Nut, Cuspa, CortexAngosturae, Cecropia, Cotton-tree, Canela or Cinnamon, Curacay, Courbaril, Cacao, Coffee, Cow-tree, Carolinea princeps, Dragon's-blood, Erythrina, Fig-tree, Guarumo or Jarumo, Hay-tree, Mammea, Mauritia, Mangrove, Palms, Palo de Vaca, Parkinsonia aculeata, Shirt-tree, Volador, and Zamang-tree. 

Tribes:various, of native Indians. Migrations of. Intelligence of. Proportion of the different castes. Aboriginal. Hyperborean. 

Trincheras, Las, hot springs of. 

Trinidad:town of. Commerce of. Humboldt's departure from. 

Tropics:atmosphere of the. Noon in the. 

Tropical:climate, dangers of, to Europeans, from variable temperature. Fever. Fatal effects of. Vegetation. 

Turmero:Indians of. Militia of. 

Tuamini, isthmus of. 

Tunales, or cactus groves. 

Turimiquiri:mountain of. Ascent of the. Lofty peaks of. 

Turmero. 

Turner, Mr. , on Sea Vegetation. 

Turtle fisheries. 

Turtles:different species of. Instinct of. Eggs of the. Fisheries for. Capture of. Abundance of. 

Tuy, valley of the. 

Typhus fevers. 

Uaupes, see Guauapes. 

Ucucuamo, mountain of. 

Uita. 

Ulloa:observations on the native Indians by. Statistics of the yellow fever, by. Notices of monkeys, by. 

Uniana, peak of. 

United States:savages of the. Newspapers of. District of the. Population of. Extent of the. Slaves of the. Slave trade of the. Prairies of the. 

Unona xylopioides. 

Upper Orinoco:course of the. Cataracts of the. Mountains of. Valley of. 

Uraba, gulf of. 

Urariapara, the. 

Urbana, La Concepcion de. 

Urijino, springs of. 

Uritucu river:cacao of. Crocodiles of. 

Uruana:turtle fisheries of. Mission of. Inhabitants of. 

Vachaco, island of. 

Valencia:lake of. Ancient extent of. Retreat of the waters. Supposed outlet of. Temperature of. Islands of. Neuva. Promontory of. City of. History of. 

Valleys:general description of the. Of Caracas. Of Cariaco. Of Guanaguana. Of La Pascua, or Cortes. Configuration of. Of Tacoronte. Of Rio Tuy. Gold mines of the. 

Valparaiso. 

Vampire-bats. 

Vapours:phenomena of. Explosions of. Sulphureous. 

Varinas. 

Vases, or funeral urns. 

Vegetable:glue. Milk. 

Vegetables, American. 

Vegetation:various zones of. Total absence of. Remarkable power of. Of North and South America compared. On the Higuerote. On the mountains of Andalusia. In the seas. Tropical. 

Venezuela:capital of. Provinces of. Coasts of. Towns of. Mines of. Earthquake in. Plains of. Geology of. Political state of. Extent of. Productions of. Commerce of. Political institutions of. Mountains of. Basin of. Hot springs of. 

Ventuari river. 

Vera Cruz:port of. 

Verbs, inflexions of. 

Vespucci, charts of. 

Vesuvius. 

Vibora, La. 

Vichada, or Visita river. 

Victoria:corn of. Town of. 

Vieja Guayana. 

Villa:de Cura. De Fernando de Apure. De Laguna. De Orotava. De Upata. 

Villages:of Missions. Native, of South America. Migratory character of. 

Vines:zone of. Of Cuba. 

Vipers. 

Virginia. 

Viruelas mountains. 

Viudita, or Widow Monkey. 

Volador, the:geographical distribution of the species. 

Volcanic eruptions, see Eruptions. 

Volcano:of Cayamba. Of Cotopaxi. Of Guadaloupe. Of Jorullo. Of Lancerote. Of Pasto. Of St. Vincent. Of Teneriffe. Of Tungurahua. 

Volcanoes:effects of, on the earth. Structure of. Action of. Isolated position of. Submarine effects of. Study of. 

Voyages:of Columbus. Of Sir Walter Raleigh. 

Vuelta de Basilio. Del Cochino Roto. Del Joval. 

Vultures. 

Walls, Cyclopean. 

Wars, religious. 

Wasps, fatal effects of the sting. 

Water:search for, in the plains. Varied colours of. Causes of the. Scarcity of, after earthquakes. Varieties of, in the streams of the Orinoco. Theory of the diminution of. Properperties of, as a conductor of electricity. Temperature of. Hogs, see Chiguires. Melons. Spouts. Snakes. 

Waters:medicinal. Thermal. 

Weapons, American. 

Wells, affected by earthquakes. 

West India Islands:commerce of the. Old and new route to. Prevalence of fevers in. Volcanoes of. Epidemics of. Primitive population of. Sugars of the. Slaves of. Basin of the. 

West rock. 

Western continent, first indications of the. 

Wheat:cultivation of, in the Canary Islands. In Mexico. Produce of. Limits of the growth of. Of the United States. 

White Sea:native tribes. 

Windward Channel. 

Winds:insalubrious, of Caracas and Italy. Of sand. 

Wine:of the island of Cuba. Indian. From the palm-tree. 

Wild:beasts of America. Man of the woods. 

Wood:varied colours of. Petrifactions of. Of fruits. 

Women:native Indian. Language peculiar to. Exclusion of, from religious services. Predilections of. Condition of. Inequality in the rights of. Caribbean. Javanese. 

Words:identity of, in different languages. Grammatical construction of. Compounds of. Analogy of. 

Xalapa:climate of. Vegetation of. 

Xagua:bay of. Fresh water springs in the. Port of. 

Xarayes, lake of. 

Xeberos. 

Xezemani. 

Xurumu, the. 

Yaracuy:valleys of. Timber of. 

Yaruro Indians. 

Yauli. 

Yellalas, or rapids. 

Yellow-fever, statistics of the. 

Ygenris:language of the. Conquest of. 

Yeguas, gulf of. 

Yucatan, political position of. 

Yusma mountains. 

Zacatecas. 

Zama river. 

Zamang-tree. 

Zambo Caribs. Indian, dangerous rencontre with. 

Zamboes:hamlet of. Republic of. Characteristics of. Banishment of the. 

Zamuro vultures. 

Zancudos. 

Zapote. Village of. Road to. 

Zarza, see Sarsaparilla. 

Zealand, settlement of. 

Zenu, gold of. 

Zerepe, Indian. 

Zipaquira, mines of. 

Zodiac:Egyptian. Signs used in the. Mexican. 

Zone:of grasses and lichens. Of heaths. Of laurels. Temperate. Vegetable physiognomy of. Torrid. Temperature of. Effects of, on the constitution. Atmospherical purity of the. Springs in the. Organic richness of. Scenery of. Vegetable physiognomy of. Rivers of the. Insects of the. Constellations of the. Agriculture of. 

Zones, distinct demarcation of, Terra Firma. 

Zumpango. 

END OF VOLUME 3.