Digitale Ausgabe

my dear brother, Lima, Nov. 25, 1802.

You must have learned by my preceding letters that Ihad reached Quito, at which we arrived by traversing thesnow of Quiridian and Tolima; for as the cordillera of the Andes forms three separate branches, and as we were at SantaFé de Bogota, on that which is the most eastern, it was ne-cessary to cross the highest to approach the coasts of theSouth Sea. Oxen are the only animals which can be employ-ed in this passage for transporting baggage. Travellers ingeneral are carried by men called largeros. They have achair, in which the traveller is seated, tied to their back;they travel about four hours journey every day, and in fiveor six weeks earn only fourteen piastres. We preferred

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* From Magazin Encyclopédique, Thermidor, an. 11.|238| travelling on foot; and the weather being exceedingly fine,we spent only seventeen days in these solitudes, which ex-hibit no trace of their having ever been inhabited: we sleptin huts constructed of the leaves of the heliconia, whichtravellers carry with them on purpose. On the western sideof the Andes there are marshes in which we sunk up to theknees. The weather had changed, and during the last daysof our journey there fell such torrents of rain that our bootsrotted on our legs; and we arrived at Carthago with ourlegs naked and covered with bruises, but enriched with abeautiful collection of new plants, of which I have a greatnumber of drawings. From Carthago we went to Popayan by Buga, crossingthe beautiful valley of the river Cauca, and having alwaysat our sides the mountain of Choca, and the platina mineswhich it contains. During the month of November 1801 we remained atPopayan, and went to visit the basaltic mountains of Ju-lusuito; the mouths of the volcano of Puracé, which witha horrid noise throw out vapours of hydro-sulphurous water;and the porphyritic granites of Pisché, which form columnsof from five to seven planes, similar to those which I re-member to have seen in the Fuganean mountains of Italy,and which are described by Strange. The greatest difficulty still remained; which was, to gofrom Popayan to Quito. It was necessary to cross theParamos from Pasto, and even in the rainy season, whichhad already commenced. The name of Paramo is given inthe Andes to every place at the height of 1700 or 2000toises, where vegetation ceases, and where a cold which pe-netrates to the bones is experienced. To avoid the heatsof the valley of Patia, where people in the course of onenight are seized with fevers which continue three or fourmonths, and which are known under the name of calcutu-ras de Patia (fevers of Patia), we passed the summit ofthe cordillera by horrid precipices, in order to proceed fromPopayan to Almager, and thence to Pasto, situated at thebottom of a terrible volcano. Nothing can be more frightful than the entrance and out-let of this valley, in which we spent the Christmas holidays,and where the inhabitants received us with the utmost hos-pitality. They were covered with thick forests, situatedamong marshes where the mules sunk half up to the backs,and we passed ravines so deep and so narrow that we thoughtwe were entering the galleries of a mine. The roads there-fore are paved with the bones of mules which have perished |239| here of cold and fatigue. The whole province of Pasto,comprehending the environs of Guachucal and Tuqueres,is a cold plain, almost above that point at which vegetationcan take place, and surrounded by volcanoes and soufriereswhich continually throw up clouds of smoke. The un-fortunate inhabitants of these deserts have no other foodbut potatoes; and when these fail, as they did last year, theygo into the mountains to eat the trunk of a small tree called achupalla (pourretia pitcarnia). As this tree however isthe food also of the bears of the Andes, the latter oftendispute with them the only nourishment which these ele-vated regions afford. To the north of the volcano of PastoI discovered in the small Indian village of Voisaco, at theheight of 1370 toises above the level of the sea, a red por-phyry with an argillaceous base inclosing vitreous feldsparand hornstone, which has all the properties of the serpen-tine of the Fichtel-Gebirge. This porphyry has very evi-dent poles, and shows no attractive force. After havingbeen wet day and night for two months, and exposed to thedanger of drowning by a very sudden rise of the waters,accompanied with earthquakes, we arrived on the 6th ofJanuary 1802 at Quito, where the marquis of Salvaalegre wasso kind as to prepare for us a house, which after so manyfatigues afforded us all the conveniences that we could havewished for at Paris, or at London. Quito is a beautiful town, but the sky is dismal and cloudy.The neighbouring mountains exhibit little verdure, and thecold is very considerable. The great earthquake of Fe-bruary 4th 1797, which agitated the whole province, and de-stroyed in a moment from thity-five to forty thousand peo-ple, has also been fatal to the survivors. It has so changedthe temperature of the air, that the thermometer generallystands at from 4° to 10° of Reaumur, and rarely ascends to16° or 17°; while Bouguer always observed it at 15° or 16°.Since that catastrophe there have been continual earth-quakes: and what shocks! It is probable that the wholeelevated part is only one volcano. What are called themountains of Cotopaxi and Pinchincha are only small sum-mits, the craters of which form different apertures all ter-minating in the same hollow. The earthquake of 1797 un-fortunately proved this hypothesis, for the earth everywhereopened and vomited up sulphur, water, &c. Notwith-standing these horrors and dangers with which nature hassurrounded the inhabitants of Quito, they are cheerful, lively,and agreeable. Their town breathes nothing but pleasure;and no where does there appear so decided a taste for amuse- |240| ments. It is in this manner that man is accustomed to sleepsoundly on the brink of a precipice. We resided nearly eight months in the province of Quito;that is to say, from the beginning of January to the monthof August, and employed that time in visiting the differentvolcanoes. We examined in succession the summits of Pin-chincha, Cotopaxi, Antisana, and Iliniça, spending froma fortnight to three weeks on each of them; and always re-turning in the intervals to Quito, which we left on the 9thof June 1802 to proceed to the environs of Chimboraço,which is situated in the southern part of the province. I twice ascended, viz. on the 26th and 28th of May 1802,to the edge of the crater of Pinchincha, a mountain whichoverlooks the town of Quito. Before, no person, as far asI know, except Condamine, ever saw it; and Condamine himself arrived there only after five or six days of fruitlessresearches, and without instruments; and, on account ofthe excessive cold, could remain on it only twelve or fifteenminutes. I succeeded in carrying thither my instruments;I made important measurements, and collected some of theair to analyse it. The first time I ascended I was accom-panied only by an Indian. As La Condamine approachedthe crater at the lower part of its edge covered with snow,I made my first attempt by following his traces; but wewere in danger of perishing. The Indian fell into a fis-sure up to the breast; and we observed with horror that wehad walked on a bridge of frozen snow, for at the distanceof some paces from us there were holes through which day-light appeared. We then found ourselves on arches whichadhere to the very crater. Alarmed, but not discouraged,I changed my project. From the circumference of the cra-ter there arise, projecting themselves as I may say over theabyss, three peaks or rocks not covered with snow; becausethe vapours exhaled from the mouth of the volcano conti-nually dissolve it. I climbed up one of these rocks, andfound at its summit a stone, which being supported at oneend only, and hollow below, projected over the precipicein the form of a balcony. Here I stationed myself to makeexperiments. But this stone was only about twelve feet inlength and six in breadth, and was strongly agitated by fre-quent shocks of an earthquake, of which I counted eighteenin less than thirty minutes. That we might examine thebottom of the crater better, we lay down on our bellies;and I do not think that the imagination can conceive anything more gloomy and frightful than what we then saw.The mouth of the volcano forms a circular hole of nearly a |241| league in circumference, the edges of which, cut perpendi-cularly, are covered with snow at the top. The inside is veryblack, but the gulph is so immense, that the summits ofseveral mountains placed there can be distinguished. Thesesummits seemed to be 300 toises below us: you may judgethen where their bases must be. I have no doubt that thebottom of the crater is on a level with the town of Quito. LaCondamine found this crater extinct, and even covered withsnow; but we had melancholy news to carry to the inha-bitants of Quito, that the volcano in their neighbourhood wasnow burning. We were convinced of this beyond all doubtby the most evident signs. When we approached the mouthof it we were almost suffocated by sulphureous vapours.We even saw blue flames moving about here and there, andevery two or three minutes we experienced strong shocks ofan earthquake, with which the edges of the crater were agi-tated, and of which nothing was perceived at the distanceof 100 toises. I suppose that the great catastrophe of Fe-bruary 7th 1797 kindled up the flames also of Pinchincha.After visiting this mountain alone I returned two days after,accompanied by my friend Bonpland, and Charles de Mon-tufar the son of the marquis de Selvaalegre. We were fur-nished with more instruments than the preceding time, andmeasured the diameter of the crater and the height of themountain. We found the former to be 754 toises *, andthe latter 2477. In the interval of two days which tookplace between our excursions to Pinchincha we had a veryviolent earthquake at Quito. The Indians ascribed it to somepowder which I must have thrown into the volcano. During our journey to the volcano of Antisana, the wea-ther was so favourable that we ascended to the height of2773 toises. The barometer fell in that elevated region to14 inches 7 lines; and in consequenee of the rarity of theair the blood flowed from our lips, gums, and even eyes.We experienced extreme weakness, and one of the personswho accompanied us fainted. It was before thought im-possible to ascend higher than the summit called Corazon,which is 2470 toises in height, and which La Condamine reached. On analysing the air brought from the highestpoint to which we ascended, it gave 0·008 of carbonic acidfor 0·218 of oxygen gas. We paid a visit also to the volcano of Cotopaxi, but it wasimpossible for us to reach the mouth of the crater. It is not

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* The crater of Veſuvius is only 312 toises in diameter.|242| true that this mountain has become lower since the earth-quake of 1797. On the 9th of June 1802 we left Quito to proceed to thesouthern part of the province, where we wished to examineand measure Chimboraço and Tunguragua; and to takea plan of the whole country convulsed by the grand cata-strophe of 1797. We succeeded in approaching to withinabout 250 toises of the summit of the immense colossus ofChimboraço. A ridge of volcanic rocks, destitute of snow,facilitated our ascent. We ascended to the height of 3031toises, and felt ourselves incommoded in the same manneras we had been on the summit of Antisana. Two or threedays even after our return to the plain we were still subjectto an indisposition, which we could ascribe only to the effectof the air in these elevated regions, which by analysis gaveus 20 hundreds of oxygen. The Indians by whom we wereaccompanied deserted us before we reached that height, say-ing that we intended to kill them. Bonpland, CharlesMontufar, and one of my domestics, who carried a part ofmy instruments, were the only persons who remained withme: nevertheless, we could have continued our journey tothe top had we not been prevented by a fissure too deep to becrossed. We therefore thought proper to descend. Beingill secured from the cold of these elevated regions, we suf-fered very much; and I in particular had the misfortune tolacerate my foot by a fall a few days before, which subjectedme to great pain in a road where we every moment struck ourtoes against sharp stones, and were obliged to examine theground at every step. La Condamine found the height ofChimboraço to be nearly 3217 toises. Trigonometrical mea-surement, which I made at two different times, gave 3267toises, and I have reason to place some confidence in myoperations. All this enormous colossus, as well as all thehigh mountains of the Andes, consists not of granite, but ofporphyry, from the base to the summit; and the porphyryis 1900 toises in thickness. The short stay which we madeat that enormous height was dismal and melancholy: wewere enveloped by a thick fog, which only suffered us fromtime to time to have a glimpse of the horrid abysses by whichwe were surrounded. No living creature, not even the con-dour, which on Antisana continually hovered over ourheads, was to be seen. Small kinds of moss were the onlyorganized beings which reminded us that we were still in theneighbourhood of the earth. It is almost probable that Chimboraço, like Pinchincha |243| and Antisana, is of a volcanic nature. The ridge on whichwe ascended consists of burnt and scorified rock, mixed withpumice stone. It resembles all the currents of lava in thiscountry; and continues beyond that point where I was ob-liged to set bounds to my researches, towards the summit ofthe mountain. It is possible that this summit may be thecrater of an extinguished volcano; and this is even probable.The idea of this possibility, however, makes one shudder—and with reason; for, if the volcano should be rekindled,this colossus would destroy the whole province. The mountain of Tunguragua sunk down at the period ofthe earthquake of 1797. Bouguer makes its height to be2620 toises; I found it to be only 2531: it has lost there-fore nearly 100 toises of its height. The inhabitants of theneighbouring country assert that they have seen its summitcrumble down before their eyes. During our stay at Riobamba, where we spent some weekswith the brother of Charles Montufar, who is corregidorthere, we by chance made a very curious discovery. Thestate of the province of Quito before the conquest of theinca Tupayupagi * is absolutely unknown. But the king ofthe Indians, Leandro Zapla, who resides at Lican, and whosemind is highly cultivated, has in his possession manuscriptswritten by one of his ançestors in the sixteenth century,which contain the history of that period. These manuscriptsare written in the language of Paraguay, which formerly wasthe general language of Quito; but in the course of time itgave place to that of the Incas, or the Anichna, and is nowlost. Fortunately, another of Zapla’s ancestors amusedhimself in translating these manuscripts into Spanish. Wemade extracts from these valuable documents, and particu-larly in regard to the memorable period of the eruption ofthe mountain called Nevado del Attas, which must have beenthe highest in the universe, superior even to Chimboraço, andwhich the Indians called Capa-Urcu, ‘the chief of moun-tains.’ Ouainia Abomatha, the last independent cochocando (king of the country), reigned at that time at Lican. Thepriests informed him that this catastrophe was a sinister pre-sage of his destruction. “The face of the universe,” saidthey to him, “is changing: other gods will expel ours. Letus not oppose what has been ordained by fate.” The Pe-ruvians indeed introduced into the country the worship ofthe sun. The eruption of the mountain continued sevenyears, and Zapla’s manuscript asserts that the shower ofashes at Lican was so abundant that continual night pre-

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* Quito was conquered by the Peruvians in 1470.|244| vailed during that period. When the quantity of volcanicmatters which are found in the plain of Tapia around theenormous mountain which then crumbled to pieces, is con-sidered, and when we reflect that Cotopaxi has often in-volved Quito in darkness for fifteen or eighteen hours, wemay believe that the exaggeration of this account is notvery great. This manuscript, the traditions which I col-lected at Parime, and the hieroglyphics I saw in the desertof Casiquiare, where at present no vestiges of mankind re-main, added to the ideas offered by Clavigero respecting theemigration of the Mexicans towards the southern part of America, have given rise to some conjectures on the originof these people, which I purpose to explain as soon as I canfind leisure. I have applied also with great assiduity to the study of theAmerican languages, and I have seen how much what LaCondamine says of their poverty is false. The Carib lan-guage is rich, beautiful, energetic, and polished: it is inno want of expressions for abstract ideas. It speaks ofposterity, eternity, existence, &c.; and the numerical signsare sufficient to express all the possible combinations of fi-gures. I applied in particular to the Inca language: it isgenerally spoken in company; and is so rich in delicate andvaried phrases, that the young men, in order to say softthings to the ladies, when they have exhausted all the re-sources of the Castillan, begin to speak Inca. These twolanguages, and others equally rich, are sufficient to provethat America formerly possessed a greater degree of culturethan the Spaniards found there in 1492. But I have col-lected still further proofs, not only at Mexico and in Peru,but even at the court of the king of Bogota, a country thehistory of which is absolutely unknown in Europe, and whosemythology even and fabulous traditions are highly inter-esting. The priests were acquainted with the art of draw-ing a meridian line, and observing the moment of the sol-stice. They reduced the lunar year to a solar by interca-lations; and I have in my possession a heptagon stone,found near Santa Fé, which they employed for calculatingthese intercalary days. But what is still more, even at Ere-vato, in the interior of Parime, the savages believe that themoon is inhabited by men; and know by tradition fromtheir ancestors, that it derives its light from the sun. From Riobamba I proceeded by the famous paramo of Assuay towards Cuença, after having visited the large sul-phur mines of Tirrau. It was this mountain of sulphurwhich the negroes who revolted in 1797, after the earth-quake, attempted to set on fire. This no doubt was the |245| most desperate project ever attempted, for they hoped bythese means to form a volcano which would swallow up thewhole province of Alaussy. At the height of the paramoof Assuay, an elevation of 2300 toises, are the magnificentruins of the Inca’s highway. It conducted almost to Cuzco,was entirely constructed of cut stone, and very straight, andresembled the most beautiful of the Roman roads. In thesame neighbourhood are found also the ruins of the palaceof the inca Tupayupangi, of which La Condamine gave adescription in the Memoirs of the Academy of Berlin.In the quarry which furnished the stones there are still seenseveral half cut. I do not know whether Condamine spokealso of the so-called Inca’s billiard-table. The Indiansname this place in the Quichua language, Inca-chun-gana, the Inca’s game. But I much doubt whether it wasever destined for that purpose. It is a seat cut out in therock, with ornaments in the arabesc form, in which it isbelieved that the ball ran. There is nothing more elegantin our gardens in the English style; and every thing provesthe good taste of the inca, for the seat is so situated as tocommand a delightful view. In a wood not far from thisplace is found a round spot of yellow iron in freestone:the Peruvians have ornamented it with figures, supposingit to be the image of the sun. I made a drawing of it. We remained only ten days at Cuença, and proceededthence to Lima through the province of Jaen, where wespent a month in the neighbourhood of the river of theAmazons. We arrived at Lima on the 23d of October1802. In the month of December I purpose proceeding fromthis place to Acapulco, and thence to Mexico, that in themonth of May 1803 I may reach the Havanna, where Ishall embark without delay for Spain. I have given up, asyou may see, the idea of returning by the Philippines. Ishould have crossed an immense tract of the ocean withoutseeing any thing but Manilla and the Cape; or, if I hadattempted to proceed to the East Indies, I should havewanted the necessaries for that voyage, and which it wasimpossible for me to procure here. We have had forty or fifty young crocodiles, on the re-spiration of which I have made very curious experiments.Other animals diminish the volume of the air in which theylive, but the crocodile increases it. A crocodile immersedin 1000 parts of atmospheric air, which contain 274 of oxy-gen gas, 15 of carbonic acid gas, and 711 of azot, increasesthis mass in one hour and forty-three minutes 124 parts; |246| and these 1124 parts contain then, as I found by exactanalysis, 106·8 of oxygen, 79 of carbonic acid, and 938·2of azotic gas, mixed with other unknown gaseous sub-stances. The crocodile then in one hour and three quartersproduces 64 parts of carbonic acid, and absorbs 167·2 ofoxygen; but as 46 parts are found in the 64 parts of carbonicacid, it appropriates to itself only 121 parts of oxygen;which is very little, considering the colour of its blood. Itproduces 227 parts of azote, or other gaseous substances, onwhich the acidifiable bases exercise no action. I made these experiments in the town of Munpox withlime water and nitrous gas prepared with great care. Thecrocodile is so sensible to carbonic acid gas and to its ownexhalations, that it dies when put into air corrupted by oneof its own species. It however can live two or three hourswithout breathing at all. I made these experiments on cro-codiles seven or eight inches in length: notwithstandingthis smallness of size, they are capable of cutting off a fingerwith their teeth, and they have the courage to attack a dog.These experiments are troublesome, and require great cir-cumspection. We have made very minute descriptions ofthe caïman or crocodile of South America; but as the de-scriptions of that of Egypt which I saw before my depar-ture from Europe were not equally circumstantial, I cannotventure to determine whether they are of the same species.The Institute of Egypt must undoubtedly have obtained de-tails which will remove all doubt in regard to this point.This much however is certain, that there are three differentspecies of crocodile in the tropical regions of the new con-tinent, to which the inhabitants give the names of bava,caïman, and crocodile. No naturalist has yet sufficientlydistinguished these species. These monsters, as at NewBarcelona, are sometimes of so peaceable a nature that peo-ple bathe before them; and sometimes, as at New Guiana,they are so mischievous and ferocious, that during the timewe were there they devoured an Indian on the quay in themiddle of the street. At Uritucu we saw an Indian girl,eighteen years of age, whom a crocodile seized by the arm.She had the courage to put her other hand into her pocketto pull out her knife, with which she gave the monster somany wounds in the eyes that he let her go, but cut off thearm near the shoulder. This girl’s presence of mind was asastonishing as the skill displayed by the Indians in speedilycuring so dangerous a wound: one might have said that thearm was amputated and dressed at Paris. Near Santa-Fe there are found in the Campo de Gigante, |247| at the height of 1370 toises, an immense number of fossilelephants’ bones, both of the African species and of thecarnivorous kind discovered near the Ohio. We causedseveral to be dug up, and have sent some specimens of themto the National Institute. I much doubt whether any ofthese bones were ever before found at such a great height:since that time I have received two from a place of the Andes situated about two degrees of latitude from Quito andChili, so that I can prove the existence and destruction ofthese gigantic elephants from the Ohio to the country ofthe Patagonians. I shall bring with me a fine collection ofthese bones for M. Cuvier. About fifteen years ago theentire petrified skeleton of a crocodile was discovered in acalcareous rock in the valley of the Magdalen: it was brokenthrough ignorance, and it was impossible for me to pro-cure the head, which existed not long ago.