BARON HUMBOLDT. The following abſtract of the American Travels of the celebrated Baron Humboldt and his companion Bonpland, has been drawn up from notes which, the former has kindly furniſhed, and will ſuperſede the many very incorrect, accounts hitherto publiſhed relative to this intereſting object. Baron Humboldt, having travelled from the year 1790, as a naturaliſt, through Germany, Poland, France, Switzerland, and through parts of England, Italy, Hungary, and Spain, came to Parts in 1798, when he received an invitation, from the directors of the national muſeum to accompany captain Baudin in his voyage round the world. Citizen Alexander Aime Gourjon Bonpland, a native of Rochelle, and brought up in the Paris muſeum, was alſo to have accompanied them; when on the point of departing, the whole plan was ſuſpended until a more favourable opportunity, owing to the re-commencement of the war with Auſtria, and the conſequent want of funds. Mr. Humboldt, who, from 1792, had conceived the plan of travelling through India at his own expenſe, with a view of adding to the knowledge of the ſciences connected with natural hiſtory, then reſolved to follow the learned men, who had gone on the expedition to Egypt. His plan was to go to Algiers in the Swediſh frigate which carried the conſul Skoldebrandt, to follow the caravan which goes from Algiers to Mecca, going through Egypt to Arabia, and thence by the Perſian gulph to the Engliſh Eaſt-India eſtabliſhments. The war which unexpectedly broke out in October, 1798, between France and the Barbary powers, and the troubles in the Eaſt, prevented Mr. Humboldt from embarking at Marſeilles, where he had been fruitleßly two months waiting to proceed. Impatient at this delay, and continuing firm in his determination to go to Egypt, he went to Spain, hoping to paß more readily under the Spaniſh flag from Carthagena to Algiers and Tunis. He took with him the large collection of philoſophical, chemical, and aſtronomical inſtruments, which he had purchaſed in England and France. From a happy concurrence of circumſtances, he obtained, in February, 1789, from the court of Madrid, a permiſſion to viſit the Spaniſh colonies of the two Americas, a permiſſion which was granted with a liberality and frankneß, which was honourable to the government and to a philoſophic age. After a reſidence of ſome months at the Spaniſh court, during which time the king ſhowed a ſtrong perſonal intereſt in the plan, Mr. Humboldt, in June, 1799, left Europe, accompanied by Mr. Bonpland, who, to a profound knowledge in botany and zoology, added an indefatigable zeal. It is with this friend that Mr. Humboldt has accompliſhed, at his own expenſe, his travels in the two hemiſpheres, by land and ſea, probably the moſt extenſive which any individual has ever undertaken. Theſe two travellers left Corunna in the Spaniſh ſhip Pizarro, for the Canary Iſlands, where they aſcended to the crater of the Peak of Teyde, and made experiments on the analyſis of the air. In July they arrived at the port of Omana, in South America. In 1799, 1800, they viſited the coaſt of Paria, the miſſions of the Chaymas Indians, the province of New Andaluſia (a country which had been rent by the moſt dreadful earthquakes, the hotteſt, and yet the moſt healthy, in the world,) of New Barcelona, of Venezuela; and Spaniſh Guayana.—In January 1800 they left Caraccas to viſit the beautiful vallies of Aagca, where the great lake of Valencia recals to mind the views of the lake of Geneva, embelliſhed by the majeſty of the vegetation of the tropics. From Porto Cabello they croſſed, to the ſouth, the immenſe plains of Caloboza, of Apure, and of the Oronoco, alſo los Llanos, a deſert ſimilar to thoſe of Africa, where in the ſhade (by the reverberation of heat) the thermometer of Reaumur roſe to 35 and 37 (111 to 115 F.) degrees. The level of the country for 2000 ſquare leagues does not differ 5 inches. The ſand every where repreſents the horizon of the ſea, without vegetation; and its dry boſom hides the crocodiles, and the torpid boa (a ſpecies of ſerpent.) The travelling here, as in all Spaniſh America, except Mexico, is performed on horſeback. They paſſed whole days without ſeeing a palm-tree or the veſtige of a human dwelling. At St. Fernando de Apure, in the provinces of Varinas, Meſſrs. Humboldt and Bonpland began that fatiguing navigation of nearly 1000 marine leagues, executed in canoes, making a chart of the country by the aſſiſtance of chronometers, the ſatellites of Jupiter, and the lunar diſtances. They deſcended the river Apure, which empties itſelf into the Oronoco, in 7 degrees of latitude.— They aſcended the laſt river (paſſing the celebrated cataracts of Mapure and Atures) to the mouth of the Guaviare. From thence they aſcended the ſmall rivers of Tabapa, Juamini, and Tenie. From the miſſion of Sarita they croſſed by land to the ſources of the famous Rio Negro, which Condamine ſaw, where it joins the Amazon, and which he calls a ſea of freſh water. About 30 Indians carried the canoes through woods of Mami Lecy this and Laurus Cinamomoides to the cano (or creek) of Pemichin. It was by this ſmall ſtream that the travellers entered the Rio Negro, or Black River, which they deſcended to St. Carlos, which has been erroneouſly ſuppoſed to be placed under the equator, or juſt at the frontiers of Great Para, in the government of Breſil. A canal from Tenie to Pemichin, which from the level nature of the ground is very practicable, would preſent a fine internal communication between the Para and the province of Carracas, a communication infinitely ſhorter than that of Caſſiquiare. From the fortreß of St. Carlos on the Rio Negro, Mr. H. went north up that river and the Caſſiquiare to the Oronoco, and on this river to the volcano Daida or the miſſion of the Eſmeralda, near the ſources of the Oronoco: the Indians Guaicas (or race of men almoſt pigmies, very white and very warlike) render fruitleß any attempts to reach the ſources themſelves. From the Eſmeralda Meſſrs. H. and B. went down the Oronoco, when the waters roſe, towards its mouths at St. Thomas de la Guayana, or the Angoſtura. It was during this long navigation that they were in a continued ſtate of ſuffering, from want of nouriſhment, and ſhelter from the night rains, from living in the woods, from the moſquetoes, and an infinite variety of ſtinging inſects, and from the impoſſibility of bathing, owing to the fierceneß of the crocodile and the little carib fiſth, and finally the miaſmata of a burning climate. They returned to Cumana by the plains of Cari and the miſſion of the Carib Indians a race of men very different from any other, and probable after the Patagonians, the tallest and most robuſt in the world. After remaining ſome months at, New Barcelona and Cumana, the travellers arrived at the Havanna, after a tedious and dangerous Navigation, the veſſel being in the night on the point of ſtriking upon the Vibora rocks. Mr. H. remained three months in the iſland of Cuba, where he occupied himſelf in aſcertaining the longitude of the Havanna, and in conſtructing ſtoves on the ſugar plantations, which have ſince been pretty generally adopted. They were on the point of ſetting off for Vera Cruz, meaning, by the way of Mexico and Acapulco, to go to the Philippine Iſlands, and from thence if it was poſſible, by Bombay and Aleppo, to Conſtantinople, when ſome falſe reports relative to Baudin’s voyage alarmed them, and made them change their plan. The gazettes held out the idea that this navigator would proceed from France to Buenos Ayres, and from thence, by Cape Horn, for Chili and the coaſt of Peru. Mr. Humboldt had promiſed to Mr. Baudin and to the Muſeum of Paris, that wherever he might be, he would endeavour to join the expedition, as ſoon as he ſhould know of its having been commenced. He flattered himſelf that his reſearches, and thoſe of his friend Bonpland, might be more uſeful to ſcience, if united to the labours of the learned men who would accompany captain Baudin. Theſe conſiderations induced Mr. Humboldt to ſend his manuſcripts, for 1799 and 1800 direct to Europe, and to freight a ſmall ſchooner at Bantabano, intending to go to Carthagena, and from thence, as quickly as poſſible, by the Iſthmus of Panama, to the South Sea. He hoped to find captain Baudin at Guayaquil, or at Lima, and with him to viſit New Holland, and the Iſlands of the Pacific Ocean, equally intereſting in a moral point of view, as by the luxuriance of their vegetation. It appeared imprudent to expoſe the manuſcripts and collections already made to the riſks of this propoſed navigation. Theſe manuſcripts of the fate of which Mr. H. remained ignorant during three years, and until his arrival in Philadelphia, arrived ſafe, but one third part of the collection was loſt by ſhipwreck. Fortunately except the inſects of the Oronoco and Rio Negro they were only duplicates; but unhappily friar John Gonzales, monk of the order of St. Francis, the friend to whom they were entruſted, periſhed with them. He was a young man full of ardour, who had penetrated into this unknown world of Spaniſh Guayana further than any other European. Mr. Humboldt left Batabano in March 1801, and paſſed to the ſouth of the Iſland of Cuba, on which he determined many geographical poſitions. The paſſage was rendered very long by calms, and the currents carried the little ſchooner too much to the weſt, to the mouths of the Attracto. The veſſel put into the river Sinu, where no botaniſt had ever before viſited and they had a very difficult paſſage up to Carthagena. The ſeaſon being too far advanced for the South Sea navigation, the project of croſſing the iſthmus was abandoned; and animated by the deſire of being acquainted with the celebrated Mutis, and admiring his immenſely rich collections of objects of natural hiſtory, Mr. H. determined to paß ſome weeks in the woods of Turbaco, and to aſcend (which took forty days) the beautiful river of Madalaine, of the ſource of which he has ſketched a chart. From Honda, our travellers proceeded thro’ foreſts of oaks, of melaſlomo, and of cinchona, (the tree which affords the Peruvian bark,) to St. Fe de Bogota, capital of the kingdom of New Grenada, ſituated in a fine plain, elevated 1360 toiſes (of fix French feet) above the level of the ſea. The ſuperb collections of Mutis, the majeſtic cataract of the Tequendama (falls of 98 toiſes height) the mines of Mariquits, St. Ana, and of Tipaquira, the natural bridge of Scononza, (three ſtones thrown together in the manner of an arch, by an earthquake,) theſe curious objects ſtopped the progreß of Meſſrs. Humboldt and Bonpland until the month of September 1801. At this time, notwithſtanding the rainy ſeaſon had commenced, they undertook the journey to Quito, and paſſed the Andes of Quindin, which are ſnowy mountains covered with wax palm-trees, (palmers a cire,) with paſſe flores, (paſſion flower) of the growth of trees, ſtorax, and bambuſa (bamboo.) They were, during 13 days, obliged to paß on foot through places dreadfully ſwampy, and without any traces of population. (to be continued.) BARON HUMBOLDT. (Concluded from Tueſday, laſt.) From the village of Carthago, in the valley of Cauca, they followed the courſe of the choco, the country of Palatina, which was there found in round pieces of baſalte and green rock (grein ſtein of Werner,) and foſſil wood. They paß by Buga to Popayan, a biſhip’s ſee, and ſituated near the volcanoes of Sotara and Purace, a moſt pictureſque ſituation, and enjoying the moſt delicious climate in the world, the thermometer of Reamur keeping conſtantly at 16 to 18 (68 to 72 Fahr.) They aſcended to the crater of the volcano of Purace, whoſe mouth, in the middle of ſnow, throws out vapours of ſulphureous hydrogene, with continued and frightful rumbling. From Papayan they paſſed by the dangerous defiles of Almager, avoiding the infected and contagious valley of Patia, to Poſto, and from this town, even now ſituated at the foot of a burning volcano, by Tuqueras and the province of Paſtos, a flat portion of country, fertile in European grain, but elevated more than 1500 to 1600 toiſes above the towns of Ibarra and Quito. They arrived, in January, 1802, at this beautiful capital, celebrated by the labours of the illuſtrious Condamine, of Bouger, Godin, Dr. George Juan, and Ulloa, and ſtill more celebrated by the great amiability of its inhabitants, and their happy turn for the arts. They remained nearly a year in the kingdom of Quito: the height of its ſnow-capped mountains, its terrible earthquakes (that of February 7, 1797, ſwallowed up 42,000 inhabitants, in a few ſeconds,) its fertility, and the manners of its inhabitants, combined to render it the moſt intereſting ſpot in the univerſe.— After three vain attempts, they twice ſucceeded in aſcending to the crater of the volcano of Pichincha, taking with them electrometers, barometers, and hygrometers. Condamine could only ſtop here a few minutes, and that without inſtruments. In his time, this immenſe crater was cold and filled with ſnow. Our travellers found it inflamed; diſtreſſing information for the town of Quito, which is diſtant from it only 5000 to 6000 toiſes. They made ſeperate viſits to the ſnowy and porphyritic mountains of Antiſana, Cotopaxi, Tungarague, and Chimborazo, the laſt the higheſt point of our globe. They ſtudied the geological part of the Cordillera of the Andes, on which ſubject nothing has been publiſhed in Europe, mineralogy (if the expreſſion may be uſed) having been created, as it were, ſince the time of Condamine. The geodeſical meaſurements proved that ſome mountains, particularly the volcano of Tungarague, has conſiderably lowered ſince 1750, which reſult agrees with the obſervations made to them by the inhabitants. During the whole of this part of the journey, they were accompanied by Mr. Charles Montutar, ſon of the marquis of Selva-alegre, of Quito, a perſon zealous for the progreſs of ſcience, and who is, at his own expenſe, rebuilding the pyramids of Saraqui, the extremity of the celebrated baſes of the triangles of the Spaniſh and French academicians. This intereſting young man having followed Mr. Humboldt in the remainder of his journey through Peru and the kingdom of New Spain, is now on his paſſage with him to Europe. Circumſtances were ſo favourable to the efforts of the three travellers, that at Antiſana they aſcended 2200 French feet, and at Chimborazo, on June 22, 1802, nearly 3200 feet higher than Condamine was able to carry his inſtruments. They aſcended to 3036 toiſes elevation above the level of the ſea, the blood ſtarting from their eyes, lips, and gums. An opening, of 80, toiſes deep, and very wide, prevented them from reaching the top, from which they were only diſtant 134 toiſes. It was at Quito that Mr. Humboldt received a letter from the National Inſtitute of France, informing him, that captain Baudin had proceeded by the Cape of Good Hope, and that there was no longer any hope of joining him. After having examined the country overturned by the earthquake of Riobamba, in 1797, they paſſed by the Andes of Aſſuay to Cuenza. The deſire of comparing the barks (cinchona) diſcovered by Mr. Mutis, at Santa Fe de Bagota, and with thoſe of Popayan, and the cuſpa and cuſpare of New Andaluſia, and of the river Caroni (named falſely Cortex Auguſtura) with the cinchona, (barks) of Loxa and Peru, they preferred deviating from the beaten track from Cuenza to Lima; but they paſſed with immenſe difficulties in the carriage their inſtruments and collections, by the foreſt (paramo) of Saragura to Loxa, and from thence to the province of Saen de Bracamoros. They had to croß thirty-five times, in two days, the river Guancabamba, ſo dangerous for its ſudden freſhes. They ſaw the ruins of the ſuperb Ynga road, comparable to the fineſt roads in France, and which went upon the ridge of the Andes from Cuſco to the Aſſuay, accommodated with fountains and taverns. They deſcended the river Chamaya, which led them into that of the Amazones, and they navigated this laſt river down to the cataracts of Tomeperda, one of the moſt fertile, but one of the hotteſt, climates of the habitable globe. From the Amazone river they returned to the ſouth eaſt by the Cordilleras of the Andes to Montar, where they found they had paſſed the magnetic equator, the inclination being 0, although at ſeven degrees of ſouth latitude. They viſited the mines of Hualgayoc, where native ſilver is found at the height of 2000 toiſes. Some of the veins of theſe mines contain petrified thells, and which, with thoſe of Paſco and Huantajayo, are actually the richeſt of Peru. From Caxamarca they deſcended to Truxillo, in the neighbourhood of which are found the ruins of the immenſe Peruvian city, Manſiche. It was on this weſtern deſcent of the Andes that the three voyagers, for the firſt time, had the pleaſure of ſeeing the Pacific Ocean. They followed its barren ſides, formerly watered by the canals of the Yngas at Santa, Guerma, and Lima. They remained ſome months in this intereſting capital of Peru, of which the inhabitants are diſtinguiſhed by the vivacity of their genius and the liberality of their ideas. Mr. Humboldt had the good fortune to obſerve the end of the paſſage of Mercury over the ſun’s diſk, in the port of Callao. He was aſtoniſhed to find, at ſuch a diſtance from Europe, the moſt recent productions in chemiſtry, mathematics, and medicine; and he found great activity of mind in the inhabitants, who, in a climate where it never either rains or thunders, have been falſely accuſed of indolence. From Lima our travellers paſſed by ſea to Guayaquil, ſituated on the brink of a river where the growth of the palm-tree is beautiful beyond deſcription. They every moment heard the rumbling of the vulcano of Cotopaxi, which made an alarming exploſion on the 6th January, 1803. They immediately ſet off to viſit it a ſecond time, when the unexpected intelligence of the ſpeedy departure of the frigate Atalanta determined them to return, after being ſeven days expoſed to the dreadful attacks of the muſquitoes of Babaoya and Ujibar. They had a fortunate paſſage, by the Pacific Ocean, to Acapulco, the weſtern port of the kingdom of New Spain, famous for the beauty of its harbour, which appears to have been formed by earthquakes, for the miſery of its inhabitants, and for its climate, which is equally hot and unhealthy. Mr. Humboldt had originally the intention to remain only a few months in Mexico, and to haſten his return to Europe; his voyage had already been too much protracted, his inſtruments, particularly the chronometers, began to be out of order, and every effort that he made to have new ones ſent to him proved of no avail; add to this conſideration, that the progreſs of ſcience is ſo rapid in Europe, that, in a journey that laſts four or five years, great riſk is run of contemplating the different phenomena under aſpects, which are no longer intereſting at the moment of publiſhing the reſult of your labours. Mr. Humboldt hoped to be in France in Auguſt or September, 1803 but the attractions of a county, ſo beautiful and ſo varied, as is that of the kingdom of New Spain, the great hoſpitality of its inhabitants, and the fear of the yellow fever, fatal, from June to November, for thoſe who come from the mountainous parts of the country, led him to ſtay a year in this kingdom. Our travellers aſcended from Acapulco to Taſco, celebrated for its mines, as intereſting as they are ancient. They riſe, by ſmall degrees, from the ardent valley of Meſcala and Papagayo, where the thermometer of Reaumur ſtands, in the ſhade, conſtantly from 28 to 31 (95 to 101 Fah.) in a region 6 or 700 toiſes above the level of the ſea, where you find the oaks, the pines, and the fougere (fern) as large as trees, and where the European grains are cultivated. They paſſed by Taſco, by Cuerna Vacca, to the capital of Mexico. This city, of 150,000 inhabitants, is placed upon the ancient ſite, of Texochtitlan, between the lakes of Tezcuco and Xochimilco, lakes which have leſſened ſomewhat ſince the Spaniards have opened the canal of Hacheutoca, in ſight of two ſnow-topped mountains, of which out, Hopocatepec, is even now an active volcano, ſurrounded by a great number of walks, ſhaded with trees, and by Indian villages. This capital of Mexico, ſituated 1160 toiſes above the ſea, in a mild and temperate climate, may doubtleſs be compared to ſome of the fineſt towns in Europe. Great ſcientific eſtablithments, ſuch the Academy of Painting, Sculpture and Engraving, the College of Mines, (owing to the liberality of the Company of Miners of Mexico,) and the Botanic Garden, are inſtitutions which do honour to the government which has created them. After remaining ſome months in the valley of Mexico, and after fixing the longitude of the capital, which had been laid down with an error of nearly two degrees, our travellers viſited the mines of Moran and Real del Monte, and the Cerro of Oyamel, where the ancient Mexicans had the manufactory of knives made of the obſidian ſtone. They ſoon after paſſed by Queretaro and Salamanca to Guanaxoato a town of fifty thouſand inhabitants, and celebrated for its mines, more rich than thoſe of Potoſi have ever been. The mine of the count of Valenciana, which is 1840 French feet perpendicular depth, is the deepeſt and richeſt mine of the univerſe. This mine alone gives to its proprietor nearly ſix hundred thouſand dollars annual and conſtant profit. From Guanaxoato they returned by the valley of St. Jago to Valladolid, in the ancient kingdom of Michuacan, one the moſt fertile and charming provinces of the kingdom. They deſcended from Paſcuaro towards the coaſt of the Pacific Ocean to the plains of Serullo, where, in 1759, in one night, a volcano aroſe from the level, ſurrounded by two thouſand ſmall mouths, from whence ſmoke ſtill continues to iſſue. They arrived almoſt to the bottom of the crater of the great volcano of Serullo, of which they analyſed the air, and found it ſtrongly impregnated with carbonic acid. They returned to Mexico by the valley of Teluca, and viſited the volcano, to the higheſt point of which they aſcended, 14,400 French feet above the level of the ſea. In the months of January and February, 1804, they purſued their reſearches on the eaſtern deſcent of the Cordilleras, they meaſured the mountains Morados, de la Puebla, Popocatyce, Izazihuatli, the great peak of Orizaba, and the Cofre de Perote; upon the top of this laſt Mr. Humboldt obſerved the meridian height of the ſun. In fine, after ſome reſidence at Xalappa, they embarked at Vera Cruz for the Havanna. They reſumed the collections they had left there in 1801, and by the way of Philadelphia, embarked for France in July, 1804, after ſix years of abſence and labours. A collection of 6000 different ſpecies of plants (of which a great part are new) and numerous mineralogical, aſtronomical, chemical, and moral obſervations, have been the reſult of this expedition. Mr. Humboldt gives the higheſt praiſes to the liberal protection granted to his reſearches by the Spaniſh government. Baron Humboldt was born in Pruſſia, on the 14th of September, 1769.