Digitale Ausgabe

The following abſtract of the AmericanTravels of the celebrated Baron Humboldt and his companion Bonpland, has beendrawn up from notes which the former haskindly furniſhed, and will ſupercede the ma-ny very incorect accounts hitherto publiſh-ed relative to this intereſting object. Baron Humboldt, having travelled fromthe year 1790, as a naturaliſt, through Ger-many, Poland, France, Switzerland, and thro’parts of England, Italy, Hungary and Spain,came to Paris in 1798, when he received aninvitation, from the directors of the nationalmuſeum to accompany capt. Baudin in hisvoyage round the world. Citizen Alexan-der Aime Gourjon Bonpland, a native ofRochelle, and brought up in the Paris mu-ſeum, was alſo to have accompanied them;when on the point of departing, the wholeplan was ſuſpended until a more favorableopportunity, owing to the re-commence-ment of the war with Auſtria, and the con-ſequent want of funds. Mr. Humboldt, who, from 1792, hadconceived the plan of travelling thro’ India athis own expence, with a view of adding tothe knowledge of the ſciences connected withnatural hiſtory, then reſolved to follow thelearned men, who had gone on the expedi-tion to Egypt. His plan was to go to Al-giers in the Swediſh frigate which carriedthe conſul Skoldebrandt, to follow the car-avan which goes from Algiers to Mecca,going thro’ Egypt to Arabia, and thence bythe Perſian gulph to the Engliſh Eaſt-Indiaeſtabliſhments. The war which unexpect-edly broke out in October, 1798, betweenFrance and the Barbary powers, and thetroubles in the Eaſt, prevented mr. Hum-boldt from embarking at Marſeilles, where hehad been fruitleſsly two months waiting toproceed. Impatient at this delay, and con-tinuing firm in his determination to go to E-gypt, he went to Spain, hoping to paſs morereadily under the Spaniſh flag from Cartha-gena to Algiers and Tunis. He took withhim the large collection of philoſophical, chy-mical and aſtronomical inſtruments, whichhe had purchaſed in England and France. From a happy concurrence of circumſtan-ces, he obtained, in February 1798, fromthe court of Madrid, a permiſſion to viſit the Spaniſh colonies of the two Americas, apermiſſion which was granted with a liberali-ty and frankneſs, which was honorable tothe government and to a philoſophic age. Af-ter a reſidence of ſome months at the Span-iſh court, during which time the king ſhow-ed a ſtrong perſonal intereſt in the plan, mr. |Spaltenumbruch| Humboldt, in June, 1799, left Europe, ac-companied by mr Bonpland, who, to a pro-found knowledge in botany and zoology, ad-ded an indefatigalde zeal. It is with thisfriend that mr. Humboldt has accompliſhed,at his own expence, his travels in the twohemiſpheres, by land and ſea, probably themoſt extenſive which any individual has everundertaken. Theſe two travellers left Corunna in theSpaniſh ſhip Pizarro, for the Canary Iſlands,where they aſcended to the crater of the Peakof Teyde, and made experiments on the an-alyſis of the air. In July they arrived at theport of Omana, in South America. In 1799,1800, they viſited the coaſt of Paria, the miſ-ſions of the Chaymas Indians, the provinceof New Andaluſia (a country which hadbeen rent by the moſt dreadful earthquakes,the hotteſt, and yet the moſt healthy, in theworld) of New Barcelona, of Venezuela,and Spaniſh Guayana. In January, 1800,they left Caraccas to viſit the beautiful val-lies of Aagca, where the great lake of Val-encia recals to mind the views of the lake ofGeneva, embelliſhed by the majeſty of the ve-getation of the tropics. From Porto Ca-bello they croſſed to the ſouth, the immenſeplains of Caloboza, of Apure, and of the O-ronoco, alſo los Llanos, a deſert ſimiliar tothoſe of Africa, where in the ſhade (by thereverbration of heat) the thermometer of Rea-umur roſe to 35 and 37 (111 to 115 F.) de-grees. The level of the country for 2000ſquare leagues does not differ 5 inches. Theſand every where repreſents the horizon of theſea, without vegitation; and its dry boſomhides the crocodiles, and the torpid boas (aſpecies of ſerpent.) The travelling here, asin all Spaniſh America, except Mexico, isperformed on horſeback. They paſſed wholedays without ſeeing a palm tree or the veſtigeof a human dwelling. At St. Fernando deApure, in the provinces of Varinas, meſſis. Humboldt and Bonpland began that fatigu-ing navigation of nearly 1000 marine leaguesexecuted in canoes, making a chart of thecountry by the aſſiſtance of chronometers, theſatellites of Jupiter, and the lunar diſtances.They deſcended the river Apure, which emp-ties itſelf into the Oronoco, in 7 degrees oflatitude. They aſcended the laſt river (paſſingthe celebrated cataracts of Mapure and A-tures) to the mouth of the Guavire. Fromthence they aſcended the ſmall rivers of Ta-bapa, Juamina, and Tenie. From the miſ-ſion of Sarita they croſſed by land to theſources of the famous Rio Negro, which Con-damine ſaw, where it joins the Amazon, andwhich he calls a ſea of freſh water. About30 Indians carried the canoes thro’ woods ofmami lecythis and laures cinamomoides tothe canoe (or creek) of Pemichin. It wasby this ſmall ſtream that the travellers enter-ed the Rio Negro, or Black river which theydeſcended to St. Carlos, which has been er-roneouſly ſuppoſed to be placed under the equator, or juſt at the frontiers of great Parain the government of Braſil. A canal fromTenie to Pemichin, which from the level na-ture of the ground is very practicable, wouldpreſent a fine internal communication be-tween the Para and the province of Carracasa communication infinitely ſhorter thanthat of Caſſiquiare. From the fortreſs of St.Carlos on the Rio Negro, mr. H. went northup that river and the Caſſiquiare to the O-ronoco, and on this river to the volcanoDaida or the miſſion of the Eſmeralda, nearthe ſources of the Oronoco: the Indians,Guaicas (or race of men almoſt pigmies,very white and very warlike) render fruit-leſs any attempts to reach the ſources them-ſelves. After remaining ſome months at New Bar-celona and Cumana, the travellers arrivedat the Havanna, after a tedious and danger-ous navigation, the veſſel being in the nighton the point of ſtriking upon the Vibora rocks.Mr. H. remained three months in the iſlandof Cuba, where he occupied himſelf in aſcer-taining the longitude of the Havanna, andin conſtructing ſtoves on the ſugar planta-tions, which have ſince been pretty generallyadopted. They were on the point of ſet-ting off for Vera Cruz, meaning, by the way |Spaltenumbruch| of Mexico and Acapulco, to go to the Phili-pine Iſlands, and from thence, if it was poſ-ſible, by Bombay and Aleppo, to Conſtanti-nople, when ſome falſe reports relative to Baudin’s voyage alarmed them, and madethem change their plan. The gazettes heldout the idea that this navigator would pro-ceed from France to Buenos Ayres and fromthence, by cape Horn, for Chili and the coaſtof Peru. Mr. Humboldt had promiſed tomr. Baudin and to the muſeum of Paris, thatwherever he might be, he would endeavourto join the expedition, as ſoon as he ſhouldknow of its having been commenced. Heflattered himſelf that his reſearches, and thoſeof his friend Bonpland, might be more uſe-ful to ſcience, if united to the labors of thelearned men who would accompany captain Baudin. Theſe conſiderations induced mr. Hum-boldt to ſend his manuſcripts, for 1799 and1800, direct to Europe, and to freight a ſmallſchooner at Bantabano intending to go toCarthagena, and from thence, as quickly aspoſſible, by the Iſthmus of Panama, to theſouth ſea. He hoped to find capt. Baudin atGuayaquil, or at Lima, and with him to viſitNew-Holland, and the Iſlands of the Paci-fic Ocean, equally intereſting in a moralpoint of view, as by the luxuriance of theirvegetation. From the Eſmeralda meſſrs. H. and B.went down the Oronoco, when the water roſetowards its mouth at St. Thomas de la Gu-ayana, or the Angoſtura. It was during thislong navigation that they were in a continuedſtate of ſuffering, from want of nouriſhmentand ſhelter from the night rains, from livingin the woods, from the moſquettoes, and aninfinite variety of ſtinging inſects, and theimpoſſibility of bathing, owing to the fierce-neſs of the crocodile and the little carib fiſh,finally the miaſmata of a burring climate.They returned to Cumana by the plains ofCari and the miſſion of the Carib Indians, arace of men very different from any other, andprobably, after the Patagonians, the tallestand moſt robuſt in the world. It appeared imprudent to expoſe the man-uſcripts and collections already made to theriſks of this propoſed navigation. Theſemanuſcripts, of the fate of which mr. H. re-mained ignorant during three years, and un-til his arrival in Philadelphia, arrived ſafe,but one third part of the collection was loſtby ſhipwreck. Fortunately, except the in-ſects of the Oronoco and Rio Negro theywere only duplicates; but unhappily, friar John Gonzales, monk of the order of St Fran-cis, to whom they were entruſted, periſhedwith them. He was a young man full of ar-dour, who had penetrated into this unknownworld of Spaniſh Guayana further than anyother European. Mr. Humboldt left Batabona in March1801, and paſſed to the ſouth of the Iſlandof Cuba, on which he determined many ge-ographical poſitions. The paſſage was ren-dered very long by calms, and the currentscarried the little ſchooner too much to theweſt, to the mouths of the Attracto. Theveſſel put into the river Sinu, where no bo-taniſt had ever before viſited, and they had avery difficult paſſage up to Carthagena. Theſeaſon being too ſar advanced for the ſouthſea navigation, the project of croſſing the iſth-mus was abandoned; and animated by thedeſire of being acquainted with the celebrated Mutis, and admiring his immenſely rich col-lections of objects of natural hiſtory, mr. H.determined to paſs ſome weeks in the woodsof Tobaco, and to aſcend (which took fortydays) the beautiful river Madalaine, of theſource of which he has ſketched a chart. From Honda, our traveller proceed thro’foreſts of oaks, of melaslomo, and of cincho-na, (the tree which affords the Peruvianbark,) to St. Fe de Bogota, capital of thekingdom of New Grenada, ſituated in a fineplain, elevated 1360 toiſes (or ſixty Frenchfeet) above the level of the ſea. The ſuperbcollections of Mutis, the majeſtic cataract ofthe Tequendama (falls of 98 toiſes height)the mines of Mariquità, St. Ana, and of Ti-paquira, the natural bridge of Scononza,(three ſtones thrown together in the manner |2| |Spaltenumbruch| of an arch, by an earthquake,) theſe curiousobjects ſtopped the progreſs of meſſrs. Hum-boldt and Bonpland until the month of Sep-tember 1801. At this time, notwithſtanding the rainyſeaſon had commenced, they undertook thejourney to Quito, and paſſed the Andes ofQuindin, which are ſnowy mountains cover-ed with wax palm trees (palmers acire,) withpaſſ. flores, (paſſion flower) of the growthof trees, ſtorax, and bambuſa (bamboo.)They were, during 13 days, obliged to paſson foot through places dreadfully ſwampy,and without any traces of population. (To be continued.) |1| |Spaltenumbruch| From the N. York Daily Advertiser.

[Concluded from our laſt.] FROM the village of Carthago, in thevalley of Cauca, they followed the courſeof the Choco, the country of Palatina, whichwas there found in round pieces of baſalteand green rock (grein ſtein of Werner,) andfoſſil wood. They paſs by Buga to Popay-an, a biſhop’s ſee, and ſituated near the vol-canoes of Satara and Puracce, a moſt pic-tureſque ſituation, and enjoying the moſt de-licious climate in the world, the thermometerof Reamur keeping conſtantly at 16 to 18(68 to 72 fahr.). They aſcended to thecrater of the volcano of Purace, whoſe mouthin the middle of ſnow, throws out vapoursof ſulphureous hydrogene, with continuedand frightful rumbling. From Popayan, they paſſed by the dange-rous defiles of Almager, avoiding the infect-ed and contagious valley of Patia, to Poſto,and from this town, even now ſituated atthe foot of a burning volcano, by Toquerasand the province of Paſtos, a flat portion ofcountry, fertile in European grain, but ele-vated more than 1500 to 1600 toiſes abovethe towns of Ibarra and Quito. They arrived, in January 1802, at thisbeautiful capital, celebrated by the laboursof the illuſtrious Condamine, of Bouger, Godin, dr. George Juan, and Ulloa, and ſtillmore celebrated by the great amiability of itsinhabitants, and their happy turn for thearts. They remained nearly a year in the king-dom of Quito; the height of its ſnow-cappedmountains, its terrible earthquakes (that ofFebruary 7, 1797, ſwallowed up 42,000inhabitants in a few ſeconds) its fertility, andthe manners of its inhabitants, combined torender it the moſt intereſting ſpot in the uni-verſe. After three vain attempts, they twiceſucceeded in aſcending to the crater of thevolcano of Pichincha, taking with them e-lectrometers, barometers, and hydrometers. Condamine could only ſtop here a few min-utes, and that without inſtruments. In histime, this immenſe crater was cold and filledwith ſnow. Our travellers found it inflam-ed: diſtreſſing information for the town ofQuito, which is diſtant from it only 5000to 6000 toiſes. They made ſeparate viſits to the ſnowy &porphyritick mountains of Antiſana, Coto-paxi, Tungarague, und Chimborazo, the laſtthe higheſt point of our globe. They ſtu-died the geological part of the Cordillerasof the Andes, on which ſubject nothing hasbeen publiſhed in Europe, mineralogy (ifthe expreſſion may be uſed) having been cre-ated, as it were, ſince the time of Conda-mine. The geodeſical meaſurements provedthat ſome mountains, particularly the volca-no of Tungarage, has conſiderably loweredſince 1750, which reſult agrees with theobſervations made to them by the inhabi-tants. During the whole of this part of the jour-ney; they were accompanied by mr. CharlesMontufar, ſon of the marquis Selva-Alegree,of Quito, a perſon zealous for the progreſsof ſcience, and who is, at his own expenſe,rebuilding the pyramids of Saraqui, the ex-tremity of the celebrated baſes of the trian-gles of the Spaniſh and French academi-cians. This intereſting young man havingfollowed mr. Humboldt in the remainder ofhis journey through Peru and the kingdomof New Spain, is now on his paſſage withhim to Europe. Circumſtances were ſo favorable to theefforts of the three travellers, that at Anti-ſana they aſcended 2200 French feet, and atChimborazo, on June 22d, 1802, nearly3200 feet higher than Condamine was ableto carry his inſtruments. They aſcended to3036 toiſes elevation above the level of theſea, the blood ſtarting from their eyes, lips,and gums. An opening of 80 toiſes deep,and very wide, prevented them from reach-ing the top, from which they were only diſ-tant 134 toiſes. |Spaltenumbruch| It was at Quito that mr. Humboldt re-ceived a letter from the National Inſtitute ofFrance, informing him, that captain Baudin had proceeded by the Cape of Good Hope,and that there was no longer any hope ofjoining him. After having examined the country over-turned by the earthquake of Riobamba, in1797, they paſſed by the Andes of Aſſua toCuenza. The deſire of comparing the barks(cinchona) diſcovered by mr. Mutis, at San-ta Fe de Bagota, and with thoſe of Popayan,and the cuſpa and cuſpare of New Andalu-ſia, and on the river Caroni (named falſelyCortex Auguſtura) with the cinchona, (barks)of Loxa and Peru, they preferred deviatingfrom the beaten track from Crenza to Lima;but they paſſed with immenſe difficulties inthe carriage of their inſtruments and collec-tions, by the foreſt (Paramo) of Saragura toLoxa, and from thence to the province of Jaen de Bracamoros. They had to croſs35 times, in two days, the river Guanca-bamba, ſo dangerous for its ſudden freſhes.They ſaw the ruins of the ſuberb Ynga road,comparable to the fineſt roads in France,and which went upon the ridge of the An-des from Cuſco to the Aſſuay, accommodat-ed with fountains and taverns. They deſcended the river Chamaya, whichled them into that of the Amazones, andthey navigated this laſt river down to thecataracts of Tomeperda, one of the moſtfertile, but one of the hotteſt climates of thehabitable globe. From the Amazone river they returned to the ſouth eaſt by the Cord- illeras of the Andes to Montar, where theyfound they had paſſed the magnetic equator;the inclination being 0, although at ſevendegrees of ſouth latitude. They viſited themines Hualgayoc, where native ſilver is foundat the height of 2000 toiſes. Some of theveins of theſe mines contain petrified ſhells,and which, with thoſe of Paſco and Huan-tajayo, are actually the richeſt of Peru. FromCaxamarca they deſcended to Truxillo, inthe neighborhood of which are found the ru-ins of the immenſe Peruvian city, Man-ſiche. It was on the weſtern deſcent of the An-des that the three voyagers, for the firſt time,had the pleaſure of ſeeing the Pacific ocean.They followed its barren ſides, formerly wa-tered by the canals Yngas at Santa, Guer-ma, and Lima. They remained ſome monthsin this intereſting capital of Peru, of whichthe inhabitants are diſtinguiſhed by the viva-city of their genius and the liberality of theirideas. Mr. Humboldt had the good fortune toobſerve the end of the paſſage of Mercury o-ver the ſun’s diſk, in the port of Callan. Hewas aſtoniſhed to find, at ſuch a diſtance fromEurope, the moſt recent productions inchymiſtry, mathematics, and medicine; andhe found great activity of mind in the inhabi- tants, who in a climate where it never eitherrains or thunders, have been falſely accuſedof indolence. From Lima our travellers paſſed by ſea toGuayaquil, ſituated on the brink of a river,where the growth of the palm tree is beauti-ful beyond deſcription. They every mo-ment heard the rumbling of the volcano of Co-topaxi, which made an alarming exploſionon the 6th January, 1803. They immedi-ately ſet off to viſit it a ſecond time, whenthe unexpected intelligence of the ſpeedy de-parture of the frigate Atalanta determinedthem to return, after being ſeven days expoſ-ed to the dreadful attacks of the muſquetoesof Babaoya and Ujibar. They had a fortunate paſſage, by the Pa-cific ocean, to Acupulco, the weſtern port ofthe kingdom of New Spain, famous for thebeauty of its harbor, which appears to havebeen formed by earthquakes for the miſery ofits inhabitants, and for its climate, which isequally hot and unhealthy. Mr. Humboldt had originally the inten-tion to remain only a few months in Mexico,and to haſten his return to Europe; his voy-age had already been too much protracted,his inſtruments, particularly the chronome-ters, began to be out of order, and every ef-fort that he made to have new ones ſent tohim proved of no avail; add to this conſider- |Spaltenumbruch| ation, that the progreſs of ſcience is ſo rapidin Europe, that, in a journey that laſts fouror five years, great riſk is run of contempla-ting the different phenomena under aſpects,which are no longer intereſting, at the mo-ment of publiſhing the reſult of your labors.Mr. Humboldt hoped to be in France in Au-guſt or September, 1803, but the attractionsof a country, ſo beautiful and ſo varied, as isthat of the kingdom of New Spain, the greathoſpitality of its inhabitants, and the fear ofthe yellow fever, fatal, from June to Novem-ber, for thoſe who come from the mountain-ous parts of the country, led him to ſtay ayear in this kingdom. Our travellers aſcended from Acapulco to Taſco, celebrated for its mines, as inter-eſting as they are ancient. They riſe, byſmall degrees, from the ardent valley of Meſ-cala and Papagayo, where the thermometerof Reaumur ſtands, in the ſhade, conſtantlyfrom 28 to 31 (95 to 101 ſah.) in a region6 or 700 toiſes above the level of the ſea,where you ſind the oaks, the pines, and thefourgere (fern) as long as trees, and wherethe European grains are cultivated. Theypaſſed by Taſco, by Cuerna Vacca, to thecapital of Mexico. This city of 150,000inhabitants, is placed upon the ancient ſiteof Texochtitlan, between the lakes of Tez-cuco and Xochimilco, lakes which have leſ-ſened ſomewhat ſince the Spaniards have o-pened the canal of Hacheutoca, in ſight oftwo ſnow-topped mountains, of which one,Hopocatepec, is even now an active volca-no, ſurrounded by a great number of walks,ſhaded with trees, and by Indian villages. This capital of Mexico, ſituated 1100toiſes above the ſea, in a mild and temperateclimate, may doubtleſs be compared to ſomeof the fineſt towns in Europe. Great ſcientificeſtabliſhments, ſuch as the academy of paint-ing, ſculpture and engraving, the college ofmines, [owing to the liberality of the com-pany of miners of Mexico] and the botanicgarden, are inſtitutions which do honor tothe government which has created them. After remaining ſome months in the val-ley of Mexico, and after fixing the longitudeof the capital, which had been laid downwith an error of nearly two degrees, our tra-vellers viſited the mines of Moran and Realdel Monte, and the Cerro of Oyamel, wherethe ancient Mexicans had the manufactoryof knives made of the obſidian ſtone. Theyſoon after paſſed by Queretaro and Salaman-ca to Guanaxoato, a town of 50,000 inha-bitants, and celebrated for its mines, morerich than thoſe of Potoſi have ever been. Themine of the count of Valenciana, which is1840 French feet, perpendicular depth, isthe deepeſt and richeſt mine of the univerſe.This mine alone gives to its proprietor near-ly ſix hundred thouſand dollars annual andconſtant profit. From Guanaxoato they returned by thevalley of St. Jago to Valladolid, in the an-cient kingdom of Michoacan, one of the moſtfertile and charming provinces of the king-dom. They deſcended from Paſcuara to-wards the coaſt of the Pacific ocean to theplains of Serullo, where, in 1759, in onenight, a volcano aroſe from the level, ſur-rounded by 2 thouſand ſmall mouths, fromwhence ſmoke ſtill continues to iſſue. Theyarrived almoſt to the bottom of the crater ofthe great volcano of Serullo, of which theyanalyſed the air, and found it ſtrongly im-pregnated with carbonic acid. They return-ed to Mexico by the valley of Teluca, andviſited the volcano, to the higheſt point ofwhich they aſcended, 14,400 French feet a-bove the level of the ſea. In the months of January and February,1801, they purſued their reſearches on theeaſtern deſcent of the Cordilleras, they meaſ-ured the mountains Morados, de la Puebla,Popocatyce, Izazihuatli, the great peak ofOrizaba, and the Cofre de Perote; upon thetop of this laſt, mr. Humboldt obſerved themeridian height of the ſun. In fine, afterſome reſidence at Xalappa, they embarked atVera Cruz for the Havanna. They reſumedthe collections they had left there in 1801,and by the way of Philadelphia, embarkedfor France in July, 1801, after ſix years ofabſence and labors. A collection of 6000 |Spaltenumbruch| different ſpecies (of which a great part arenew) of mineralogical, aſtronomical, chemicaland moral obſervations, have been the reſultof this expedition. Mr. Humboldt giventhe higheſt praiſes to the liberal protectiongranted to his reſearches by the Spaniſh go-vernment. Baron Humboldt was born in Pruſſia, onthe 14th of Sept. 1769.