Digitale Ausgabe

Three branchesof the Andes. We arrived at Quito, by croſſing the ſnows of Quridienand Tolima, for as the cordillera of the Andes forms three ſe-parate branches, and at Santa Fe de Bogoto, we were on theeaſternmoſt, it was neceſſary for us to paſs the loftieſt, inorder to reach the coaſt of the Pacific ocean. We travelledon foot, and ſpent ſeventeen days in theſe deſerts, in whichare to be found no traces of their ever having been inha- Huts made ofthe leaves of he-liconia.bited. We ſlept in huts made of the leaves of the heliconia,which we carried with us for the purpoſe. Deſcending the The Andes marſhy towardthe weſt. Andes to the weſt, there are marſhes, in which you ſink upto the knees. The latter part of the time we were delugedwith rain; our boots rotted on our legs; and we arrivedbarefoot at Carthago, but enriched with a ſine collection ofnew plants, of which I have a great number of drawings. Mines of Platinain mount Choca. From Carthago we went to Popayan, by way of Buga,croſſing the beautiful vale of the river Cauca, and having con-ſtantly at one ſide the mountain of Choca, in which are themines of Platina. Baſaltic moun-tains. We ſtaid during the month of November 1801, at Po-payan, viſiting the Baſaltic mountains of Juluſuito; the Volcano ofPurace.mouths of the volcano of Purace, which evolve, with adreadful noiſe, vapours of hydroſulphurated water; and the Columnar por-phyritic gra-nites.porphyritic granites of Piſche, which form columns of five,ſix, or ſeven ſides, ſimilar to thoſe I remember I ſaw in theEuganean mountains in Italy, which Strange has deſcribed. Paramos piercingcold and deſti-tute of vegeta-tion. In travelling from Popayan to Quito, we had to croſs the paramos of Paſto, and this in the rainy ſeaſon. Every placein the Andes, where, at the height of 3500 or 4000 yards,vegetation ceaſes, and the cold penetrates to the very mar-row of your bones, is called a paramo. To avoid the heats

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* Abridged from the Magazin Encylopédique.|243| of the valley of Patia, where, in a fingle night, a fever maybe caught, that will laſt three or four months, we paſſed theſummit of the Cordillera, traverſing frightful precipices. We ſpent our Chriſtmas at Paſto, a little town at the footTown of Paſto. of a tremendous volcano, where we were entertained withgreat hoſpitality. The roads leading to and from it are themoſt ſhocking in the world. Thick foreſts, between marſhes,in which the mules ſink up to their bellies; and gullies ſodeep and narrow, that we ſeemed entering the galleries of amine. The whole province of Paſto, including the environs ofThe province afrozen plain. Guachucal and Tuqueres, is a frozen plain, nearly beyond thepoint where vegetation can ſubſiſt, and ſurrounded by vol-canos and ſulphur-pits, continually emitting volumes ofſmoke. The wretched inhabitants of theſe deſerts have noThe people liveon potatoes, food but potatoes: and if theſe fail, as they did laſt year, theygo to the mountains to eat the ſtem of a little tree, called achupalla (pourretia pitcarnia); but the bears of the Andes,and the ſtems ofthe pouretia pit-carnia. as they too feed on it, often diſpute it with them. On thenorth of the volcano of Paſto, I diſcovered, in the little In- dian village of Voiſaco, 1900 yards above the level of theſea, a red porphyry, with baſe of argil, encloſing vitreousRed porphyrywith diſtinctpoles. feldſpar, and hornblende, that has all the properties of theſerpentine of the Fichtelgebirge. This porphyry has verydiſtinctly marked poles, but no attractive power. Near thetown of Ibarra, we nearly eſcaped being drowned by a veryſudden ſwell of the water, accompanied with ſhocks of anearthquake. We reached Quito on the 6th of January 1802. It is aQuito. handſome city; but the ſky is commonly clouded and gloomy.The neighbouring mountains exhibit little verdure, and thecold is very conſiderable. The great earthquake on the 4thEarthquake of1797. of February 1797, which changed the face of the wholeprovince, and in one inſtant deſtroyed thirty-five or fortythouſand perſons, has ſo altered the temperature of the air,altered theclimate greatly. that the thermometer is now commonly 41° to 54°, and ſel-dom riſes to 68° or 70°, whereas Bouguer obſerved it con-ſtantly at 66° or 68°. Since this cataſtrophe, earthquakesare continually recurring; and ſuch ſhocks! it is probable,that all the higher ground is one vaſt volcano. What areThe heights onevaſt volcano. called the mountains of Cotopoxi and Pichincha, are but little |244| ſummits, the craters of which, form different conduits termi-nating in the ſame cavity. The earthquake of 1797, affordeda melancholy proof of this; for the ground then opened every People of Quito.where, and vomited forth ſulphur, water, &c. Notwith-ſtanding the dangers and horrors that furround them, thepeople of Quito are gay, lively, and ſociable, and in noplace did I ever ſee a more decided and general taſte for plea-ſure, luxury, and amuſement. Thus man accuſtoms himſelfto ſleep tranquilly on the brink of a precipice. Pichincha. I was twice at the mouth of the crater of Pichincha, themountain that overlooks the city of Quito. I know of no onebut Condamine, that ever reached it before; and he waswithout inſtruments, and could not ſtay above a quarter of anhour, on account of the extreme cold. I was more ſucceſsful. Its crater.From the edge of the crater riſe three peaks, which are freefrom ſnow, as it is continually melted by the aſcending vapour.At the ſummit of one of theſe I found a rock, that projectedover the precipice, and hence I made my obſervations. Thisrock was about twelve feet long, by ſix broad, and ſtronglyagitated by the frequent ſhocks, of which we counted eighteenin leſs than half an hour. We lay on our bellies, the betterto examine the bottom of the crater. The mouth of thevolcano forms a circular hole, near a league in circumference,the perpendicular edges of which are covered with ſnow onthe top. The inſide is of a deep black; but the abyſs is ſo Several moun-tains within it.vaſt, that the ſummits of ſeveral mountains may be diſtin-guiſhed in it. Their tops ſeemed to be ſix hundred yardsbelow us, judge then where their baſes muſt be. I have nodoubt but the bottom of the crater is on a level with the cityof Quito. Condamine found it extinct, and even coveredwith ſnow; but we had to report the unpleaſant news, that Its diameter1600 yards;it was burning. On my ſecond viſit, being better furniſhedwith inſtruments, I found the diameter of the crater to be height 5280.1600 yards, whereas that of Veſuvius is but 670. The heightof the mountain is 5280 yards. Volcano of An-tiſana, 5915yards.Barometer at15.6 inches.Hemorrhagesbrought on. When we viſited the volcano of Antiſana, the weatherwas ſo favourable, that we reached the height of 5915 yards.In this loſty region, the barometer ſunk to 14 inches 7 lines,[15.6 Eng.] and the tenuity of the air occaſioned the bloodto iſſue from our lips, gums, and even eyes: we felt ex-tremely feeble, and one of our company fainted away. The |245| air brought from the loftieſt point we viſited, gave onAir 0.218 ofoxigen. being analyſed 0.218 of oxigen gas, and 0.008 of carbonicacid. We viſited Cotopoxi, but could not reach the mouth ofCotopoxi notſunk by theearthquake of1797. the crater. The aſſertion, that this mountain was diminiſhedin height by the earthquake of 1797, is a miſtake. In June we proceeded to meaſure Chimboraco and Tungu-ragua, and take a plan of all the country affected by thegrand cataſtrophe of 1797. We approached within about 500yards of the ſummit of Chimboraco, our aſcent being faci-litated by a line of volcanic rocks bare of ſnow. The heightAir at 6465yards, contained0.20 of oxigen. we reached was 6465 yards; and we were prevented fromaſcending farther by a chaſm too deep to croſs. We felt theſame inconveniences as on Antiſana; and were unwell fortwo or three days after. The air at this height contained0.20 of oxigen. The trigonometrical meaſurement I tookof the mountain at two different times, and I can place ſomeChimboraco6970 yardshigh. conſidence in my operations, gave me for its height 6970yards, a hundred more than Condamine aſſigns it. Thewhole of this huge maſs, as of all the high mountains of theConſiſts of por-phyry. Andes, is not granite, but porphyry, from the foot to theſummit, and there the porphyry is 4050 yards thick. Chimboraco is probably a volcanic mountain, for the trackChimboraco avolcano. by which we aſcended, conſiſts of a burnt and ſcoriſied rockmixed with pumice-ſtone, reſembling all the ſtreams of lavain this country, and ran higher up the mountain than wecould climb. The ſummit therefore is in all likelihood thecrater of an extinct volcano. The mountain of Tunguragua has diminiſthed in height ſinceTunguraguadiminiſhed inheight.Now 5399yards. the earthquake of 1797. Bouguer aſſigns it 5589 yards, Ifound it but 5399, ſo that it muſt have loſt 190 yards; andindeed the people in the vicinity ſay, that they have ſeen itsſummit crumble away before their eyes. During our ſtay at Riobancha, we accidentally made avery curious diſcovery. The ſtate of the province of Quito,previous to its conqueſt by the Inca Tupaynpangi, in 1470, iswholly unknown: but the king of the Indians, Leandro Indian manu-ſcripts of the16th century. Zapla, who reſides at Lican, and has a mind extraordinarilycultivated for an Indian, poſſeſſes manuſcripts compoſed byone of his anceſtors, in the ſixteenth century, which containsthe hiſtory of that period. They are written in the Parugay |246| tongue, which was formerly general in Quito, but is nowloſt, having been ſupplanted by the Inca or Anichna. Fortu-nately another of Zapla’s anceſtors amuſed himſelf by tranſ-lating theſe memoirs into Spaniſh. We have obtained fromthem valuable information, particularly in the memorable Nevado delAtlas, once thehigheſt moun-tain in theworld.period of the eruption of Nevado del Atlas, which muſthave been the higheſt mountain in the world, loftier thanChimboraco, and called by the Indians Capa-urcu, or chief ofmountains. Theſe manuſcripts, the traditions I collected at Hieroglyphics.Parima, and the hieroglyphies I ſaw in the deſert of Caſi-quiare, where ſcarcely a veſtige of a human being is now tobe ſeen, added to what Clavigero has ſaid of the emigrationof the Mexicans toward the ſouth, have ſuggeſted to me ideasreſpecting the origin of this people, which I ſhall purſuewhen I have leiſure. American lan-guages not poor. I have likewiſe paid much attention to the ſtudy of theAmerican languages, and found what Condamine has ſaid Caribee.of their poverty to be extremely falſe. The Caribbee is rich,beautiful, energetic, and poliſhed: it is not deſtitute of ex-preſſions for abſtract ideas; and it has numerical terms ſuffi- Inca.cient for any poſſible combination of figures. The Inca isparticularly rich in delicacy and variety of expreſſion. The Ancient ſcience.prieſts knew how to draw a meridian line, and obſerve theſolſtices: they had reduced the lunar to a ſolar year by in-tercalations: and the ſavages even at Erevato, in the interiorof Parima, believe the moon to be inhabited, and know, fromthe traditions of their anceſtors, that its light is derived fromthe ſun. Crocodile in-creaſes air byreſpiration. At Monpox I made ſome very curious experiments on thereſpiration of the crocodile, having procured forty or fiftyyoung ones. Inſtead of diminiſhing the quantity of the airin which it reſpires like other animals, the crocodile in- Air 274 oxigen,15 carbonicacid, 711 azot.creaſes it. A crocodile placed in 1000 parts of atmoſphericair, conſiſting of 274 oxigen, 15 carbonic acid, and 711azot, increaſed it in an hour and forty-three minutes, by theaddition of 124 parts. The carbonic acid had received anaugmentation of 64 parts: the oxigen had been diminiſhed167; but, as 46 are contained in the carbonic acid pro-duced, the crocodile had appropriated to itſelf only 121parts, a ſmall quantity conſidering the colour of its blood:and 227 parts of azot, or other gaſſes, on which acidifiable |247| baſes had no action, were produced. For the analyſis Iuſed lime water and nitrous gas, prepared with great care. Near Santa Fee, at an elevation of 2890 yards, are foundLarge foſſilbones at a conſi-derable height,and nearly fromone extremity of America to theother. an immenſe number of foſſil bones of elephants, both of theAfrican ſpecies and of the carnivorous kind, diſcovered in North America. I have ſince received others from a part ofthe Andes, about the latitude of 2° from Quito, and fromChili: ſo that theſe animals muſt have exiſted from Patagoniato the Ohio.