Digitale Ausgabe

Baron Humboldt, having travelledfrom the year 1790, as a naturaliſt,through Germany, Poland, France, Swit-zerland, and through parts of England,Italy, Hungary, and Spain, came to Pa-ris in 1798, when he received an invi-tation, from the directors of the nationalmuſeum, to accompany captain Baudin in his voyage round the world.—Citizen Alexander Aime Goujon Bonpland, anative of Rochelle, and brought up inthe Paris muſeum, was alſo to have ac-companied them; when on the point ofdeparting the whole plan was ſuſpendeduntil a more favorable opportunity, ow-ing to the recommencement of the warwith Auſtria, and to the conſequent wantof funds. Mr. Humboldt, who, from 1792, hadconceived the plan of travelling throughIndia at his own expence, with a viewof adding to the knowledge of theſciences 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 theConſul Skoldebrandt, to follow the ca-ravan which goes from Algiers to Mec-ca, going through Egypt to Arabia,and thence by the Perſian gulph to theEngliſh Eaſt-India eſtabliſhments. Thewar which unexpectedly broke out inOctober 1798, between France and theBarbary powers, and the troubles in theEaſt, prevented Mr. Humboldt fromembarking at Marſeilles, where he hadbeen fruitlesſly two months waiting toproceed. Impatient at this delay, andcontinuing firm in his determination togo to Egypt, he went to Spain, hopingto paſs more readily under the Spaniſhflag from Carthagena to Algiers andTunis. He took with him the largecollection of philoſophical, chemical, andaſtronomical inſtruments, which he hadpurchaſed in England and France. From a happy concurrence of circum-ſtances, he obtained, in February, 1799,from the court of Madrid, a permiſſionto viſit the Spaniſh colonies of the twoAmericas, a permiſſion which wasgranted with a liberality and frankneſs,which was honourable to the governmentand to a philoſophic age. After a re-ſidence of ſome months at the Spaniſhcourt, during which time the king ſhow-ed a ſtrong perſonal intereſt in the plan,Mr. Humboldt, in June, 1799, left Eu-rope, accompanied by Mr. Bonpland,who, to a profound knowledge in botanyand zoology, added an indefatigablezeal. It is with this friend thatMr. Humboldt has accompliſhed, athis own expence, his travels in thetwo hemiſpheres, by land and ſea, pro-bably the moſt extenſive which any in-dividual has ever undertaken. Theſe two travellers left Corunna inthe Spaniſh ſhip Pizarro, for the CanaryIſlands, where they aſcended to the cra-ter of the Peak of Teyde, and made ex-periments on the analyſis of the air. InJuly they arrived at the port of Cuma-na, in South America. In 1799, 1800,they viſited the coaſt of Paria, the miſ-ſions of the Chaymas Indians, the pro-vinces of New Andaluſia (a countrywhich had been rent by the moſt dreadfulearthquakes, the hotteſt, and yet themoſt healthy in the world) of NewBarcelona, of Venezuela, and of Spa-niſh Guayana.—In January, 1800, theyleft Caraccas to viſit the beautiful valliesof Aragua, where the great lake ofValencia recals to the mind the viewsof the lake of Geneva, embelliſhed bythe majeſty of the vegetation of the tro-pics. From Porto Cabello they croſſedto the ſouth, the immenſe plains of Ca-labozo, of Apure, and of the Oronoco,alſo los Llanos, a deſert ſimilar to thoſeof Africa, where in the ſhade (by thereverberation of heat) the thermometerof Reaumur roſe to 35 and 37 (111 to115 F.) degrees. The level of the coun-try for 2000 ſquare leagues does notdiffer 5 inches. The ſand every whererepreſents the horizon of the ſea, with-out vegetation; and its dry boſom hidesthe crocodiles, and the torpid boa (aſpecies of ſerpent.) The travellinghere, as in all Spaniſh America, exceptMexico, is performed on horſeback.—They paſſed whole days without ſeeing|Spaltenumbruch| a palm-tree, or the veſtige of a humandwelling. At St. Fernando de Apure, in the provinces of Varinas, Meſſrs. Humboldt and Bonpland began that fa-tiguing navigation of nearly 1000 ma-rine leagues executed in canoes, makinga chart of the country by the aſſiſtanceof chronometers, the ſatellites of Jupi-ter, and the lunar diſtances. They de-ſcended the river Apure, which emptiesitſelf into the Oronoco, in 7 degrees oflatitude. They aſcended the laſt river(paſſing the celebrated cataracts of May-pure and Atures) to the mouth of theGuaviare. From thence they aſcendedthe ſmall rivers of Tabapa, Juamini,and Temi. From the miſſion of Saritathey croſſed by land to the ſources ofthe famous Rio Negro, which Conda-mine ſaw, where it joins the Amazon,and which he calls a ſea of freſh water.About 30 Indians carried the canoesthrough woods of Mami, Lecythis, andLaurus Cinamomoides, to the cano (orcreek) of Pimichin. It was by this ſmallſtream that the travellers entered theRio Negro, or Black River, which theydeſcended to St. Carlos, which has beenerroneouſly ſuppoſed to be placed underthe equator, or juſt at the frontiers ofGreat Para, in the government of Bra-ſil. A canal from Temi to Pimichin,which from the level nature of theground is very practicable, would pre-ſent a fine internal communication be-tween the Para and the province ofCarracas, a communication infinitelyſhorter than that of Caſſiquiare.—Fromthe fortreſs of St. Carlos on the RioNegro, Mr. H. went north up that ri-ver and the Caſſiquiare to the Oronoco,and on this river to the volcano Duida, or the miſſion of the Eſmeralda, nearthe ſources of the Oronoco: the Indi-ans Guaicas (a race of men almoſt pig-mies, very white and very warlike)render fruitleſs any attempts to reach theſources them ſelves. From the Eſmeralda, Meſſrs. H. andB. went down the Oronoco, when thewaters roſe, towards its mouth at St.Thomas de la Guayana, or the Angoſ-tura. It was during this long naviga-tion that they were in a continued ſtateof ſuffering, from want of nouriſhmentand ſhelter, from the night rains, fromliving in the woods, from the muſque-toes, and an infinite variety of ſtinginginſects, and from the impoſſibility ofbathing, owing to the fierceneſs of thecrocodile and the little carib fiſh, andfinally the miaſmata of a burning cli-mate. They returned to Cumana bythe plains of Cari and the miſſion of theCarib Indians, a race of men very diffe-rent from any other, and probably, afterthe Patagonians, the talleſt and moſt ro-buſt in the world. After remaining ſome months at NewBarcelona and Cumana, the travellersarrived at the Havanna, after a tediousand dangerous navigation, the veſſel be-ing in the night on the point of ſtrikingupon the Vibora rocks. Mr. H. re-mained three months in the iſland ofCuba, where he occupied himſelf in aſ-certaining the longitude of the Havan-na, and in conſtructing ſtoves on the ſu-gar plantations, which have ſince beenpretty generally adopted, They wereon the point of ſetting off for VeraCruz, meaning, by the way of Mexicoand Acapulco, to go to the PhilippineIſlands, and from thence, if it was poſ-ſible, by Bombay and Aleppo, to Con-ſtantinople, when ſome falſe reports re-lative to Baudin’s voyage alarmed them,and made them change their plan. Thegazettes held out the idea that this na-vigator would proceed from France toBuenos Ayres, and from thence by CapeHorn, 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 wouldendeavor to join the expedition, as ſoonas he ſhould know of its having beencommenced. He flattered himſelf thathis reſearches, and thoſe of his friend Bonpland, might be more uſeful to ſci-ence, if united to the labors of the learn-ed men who would accompany captain Baudin. Theſe conſiderations induced Mr. Humboldt to ſend his manuſcripts, for1799 and 1800, direct to Europe, andto freight a ſmall ſchooner at Batabano,intending to go to Carthagena, and fromthence, as quickly as poſſible, by theIſthmus of Panama, to the South Sea.He hoped to find captain Baudin atGuayaquil, or at Lima, and with himto viſit New Holland, and the iſlands ofthe Pacific Ocean, equally intereſting ina moral point of view, as by the luxu-riance of their vegetation. It appeared imprudent to expoſe themanuſcripts and collections already madeto the riſks of this propoſed navigation.Theſe manuſcripts, the fate of which|Spaltenumbruch| Mr. H. remained ignorant during threeyears, and until his arrival in Philadel-phia, arrived ſafe; but one third part ofthe collection was loſt by ſhipwreck.—Fortunately (except the inſects of theOronoco and of the Rio Negro) theywere only duplicates; but unhappilyfriar John Gonzales, monk of the or-der of St. Francis , the friend to whomthey were entruſted, periſhed with them.He was a young man full of ardor, whohad penetrated into this unknown worldof Spaniſh Guyana further than any o-ther European. Mr. Humboldt left Batabano inMarch, 1801, and paſſed to the ſouthof the iſland of Cuba, on which he de-termined many geographical poſitions.The paſſage was rendered very long bycalms, and the currents carried the lit-tle ſchooner too much to the weſt, toto the mouths of the Attracto. Theveſſel put into the river Sinu, which nobotaniſt had ever before viſited, andthey had a very difficult paſſage up toCarthagena. The ſeaſon being too faradvanced for the South Sea navigation,the project of croſſing the iſthmus wasabandoned; and animated with the de-ſire of being acquainted with the cele-brated Mutis, and admiring his im-menſely rich collections of objects ofnatural hiſtory, Mr. H. determined topaſs ſome weeks in the woods of Turba-co, and aſcend (which took 40 days)the beautiful river of Madelaine, of thecourſe of which he ſketched a chart. From Honda, our travellers aſcendedthrough foreſts of oaks, of melastoma and of chincona (the tree which affordsthe Peruvian bark) to St. Fe de Bogo-ta, capital of the kingdom of NewGrenada, ſituated in a fine plain, eleva-ted 1360 toiſes (of ſix French feet) a-bove the level of the ſea. The ſuperbcollections of Mutis, the majeſtic cata-ract of the Tequedama (falls of 98 toi-ſes height) the mines of Mariquita, St.Ana, and of Zipaquira, the naturalbridge of Scononza, three ſtones throwntogether in the manner of an arch, byan earthquake, theſe curious objectsſtopped the progreſs of Meſſrs. Hum-boldt and Bonpland until the month ofSeptember, 1801. At this time, notwithſtanding therainy ſeaſon had commenced, they un-dertook the journey to Quito, and paſ-ſed the Andes of Quindiu, which areſnowy mountains covered with waxpalm trees, palmiers a cire, withpaſſe flores, paſſion flowers, of thegrowth of trees, ſtorax, and bam-buſa, bamboo. They were during 13days, obliged to paſs on foot throughplaces dreadfully ſwampy, and withoutany traces of population. (To be continued.)

[Concluded.]From the village of Carthago, in thevalley of Cauca, they followed thecourſe of the Choco, the country ofPlatina, which was there found inround pieces of baſalte and green rock,(grein ſtein of Werner) and foſſil wood.They paſs by Buga to Popayan, a biſh-op’s ſee, and ſituated near the volcanoesof Sotara and Purace, a moſt pictureſ-que ſituation, and enjoying the moſtdelicious climate in the world, the ther-mometer of Reamur keeping conſtantlyfrom 16 to 18 (68 to 72 Fahr.) Theyaſcended to the crater of the volcano ofPurace, whoſe mouth, in the middle ofſnow, throws out vapours of ſulphure-ous hydrogene, with continued andfrightful rumbling. From Popayan they paſſed by the dan-gerous defiles of Almager, avoiding theinfected and contagious valley of Patia,to Poſto, and from this town, even nowſituated at the foot of a burning volca-noe, by Tuqueras and the provinces ofPaſtos, a flat portion of country, fer-tile in European grain, but elevatedmore than 1500 to 1600 toiſes abovethe towns of Ibarra and Quito. They arrived in January, 1802, atthis beautiful capital, celebrated by thelabours of the illuſtrious Condamine, of Bouger, Godin, Don George Juan, Ul-loa, and ſtill more celebrated by thegreat amiability of its inhabitants, andtheir happy turn for the arts. They remained nearly a year in thekingdom of Quito; the height of itsſnow capped mountains, its terribleearthquakes, that of February 7, 1797,ſwallowed up 42,000 inhabitants, in afew ſeconds, its fertility, and the man-ners of its inhabitants, combine to ren-der it the moſt intereſting ſpot in theuniverſe. After three vain attempts,they twice ſucceeded in aſcending to thecrater of the volcano of Pichincha, tak-ing with them electrometers, barome-ters and hydrometers. Condamine could only ſtop here a few minutes, andthat without instruments. In his time,this immenſe crater was cold and filledwith ſnow. Our travellers found it in-flamed; diſtreſſing information for thetown of Quito, which is diſtant from itonly 5000 to 6000 toiſes. They made ſeparate viſits to the ſnowyand porphyritic mountains of Antiſana,Cotopaxi, Tungaraque and Chimborazo,the laſt the higheſt point of our globe.They ſtudied the geological part of theCordillera of the Andes, on which ſub-ject nothing has been publiſhed in Eu-rope, mineralogy, if the expreſſionmay be uſed, having been created ſincethe time of Condamine. The geodeſi-cal meaſurements proved that ſomemountains, particularly the volcano ofTungaraque, has conſiderably loweredſince 1750, which reſult agrees with theobſervations made to them by the inha-bitants. During the whole of this part of thejourney, they were accompanied by Mr. Charles Montufar, ſon of the marquisof Selva-alegre, of Quito, a perſonzealous for the progreſs of ſcience, andwho is, at his own expenſe, rebuildingthe pyramids of Saraqui, the extremityof the celebrated baſes of the triangles of the Spaniſh and French academicians.This intereſting young man having fol-lowed Mr. Humboldt in the remainderof his journey through Peru and thekingdom of New Spain, is now on hispaſſage with him to Europe. Circumſtances were ſo favorable tothe efforts of the three travellers, thatat Antiſana they aſcended 2200 Frenchfeet, and at Chimborazo, on June 22,1802, nearly 3200 feet higher than Condamine was able to carry his inſtru-ments. They aſcended to 3036 toiſeselevation above the level of the ſea, theblood ſtarting from their eyes, lips andgums. An opening of 80 toiſes deep,and very wide, prevented them fromreaching the top, from which they wereonly diſtant 134 toiſes. It was at Quito that Mr. Humboldt received a letter from the National In-ſtitute of France, informing him thatCaptain Baudin had proceeded by theCape of Good Hope, and that there wasno longer any hope of joining him. After having examined the countryoverturned by the earthquake of Rio-bamba, in 1797, they paſſed by the Au-des of Aſſuay to Cuenza. The deſireof comparing the Chinchonas diſcoveredby Mr. Mutis, at Santa Fe de Bogota,and with thoſe of Popayan, and thecuſpa and cuſpare of New Andaluſia,of the river Caroni, named falſely cor- |Spaltenumbruch|tex Anguſtura, with the Chinconas ofLoxa and Peru, they preferred deviat-ing from the beaten track from Cuenzato Lima: but they paſſed with immenſedifficulties in the carriage of their in-ſtruments and collections, by the foreſt(paramo) of Saragura to Loxa, andfrom thence to the province of Saen deBracamoros. They had to croſs thirty-five times, two days, the river Guanca-bamba, ſo dangerous for its ſuddenfreſhes. They ſaw the ruins of the ſu-perb Ynga road comparable to the fineſtroads in France, and which went uponthe ridge of the Andes from Cuſco tothe Aſſuay, accomodated with fountainsand taverns. They deſcended the river Chamaya,which led them into that of theAmazones, and they navigated this laſtriver down to the cataracts of Tome-perda, one of the moſt fertile, but oneof the hotteſt climates of the habitableglobe. From the Amazone river theyreturned to the ſouth caſt by the Cordil-lera of the Andes to Montar, wherethey found they had paſſed the magne-tic equator, the inclination being 0, al-though at ſeven degrees of ſouth lati-tude. They viſited the mines of Hual-guayœ, where native ſilver is found atthe height of 2000 toiſes. Some of theveins of theſe mines contain petrifiedſhells, and which, with thoſe of Paſcoand Huantajoyo, are actually the rich-eſt of Peru. From Caxamarca theydeſcended to Truxillo, in the neighbour-hood of which are found the ruins ofthe immenſe Peruvian city, Manſiche. It was on this weſtern deſcent of the Andes that the three voyagers, for thefirſt time, had the pleaſure of ſeeing thePacific Ocean. They followed its bar-ren ſides, formerly watered by the ca-nals of the Yngas at Santa Guerma, andLima. They remained ſome months inthis intereſting capital of Peru, of whichthe inhabitants are diſtinguiſhed by thevivacity of their genius, and the liberal-ity of their ideas. Mr. Humboldt had the good fortuneto obſerve the end of the paſſages ofMercury over the ſun’s diſk in the portof Callao. He was aſtoniſhed to find,at ſuch a diſtance from Europe, the moſtrecent productions in chemiſtry, mathe-matics, and medicine; and he foundgreat activity of mind in the inhabitants,who, in a climate where it never eitherrains or thunders, have been falſely ac-cuſed of indolence. From Lima our travellers paſſed byſea to Guayaquil, ſituated on the brinkof a river, where the growth of the palmtree is beautiful beyond deſcription. Theyevery moment heard the rumbling ofthe volcano of Cotopaxi, which madeand alarming exploſion on the6th of January, 1803. They im-mediately ſet off to viſit it a ſecondtime, when the unexpected intelligenceof the ſpeedy departure of the frigateAtalanta determined them to return, af-ter being ſeven days expoſed to thedreadful attacks of the musquitoes of Babaoya and Ujibar. They had a fortunate paſſage, by thePacific Ocean, to Acapulco, the weſternport of the kingdom of New Spain fa-mous for the beauty of its harbour,which appears to have been formed byearthquakes, for the miſery of its inha-bitants, and for its climate, which isequally hot and unhealthy. Mr. Humboldt had originally the in-tention to remain only a few months inMexico, and to haſten his return to Eu-rope; his voyage had already been toomuch protracted, his inſtruments, par-ticularly the chronometers, began to becut of order, and every effort that hemade to have new ones ſent to him prov-ed of no avail; add to this conſidera-tion, that the progreſs of ſcience is ſorapid in Europe, that, in a journey thatlaſt four or five years, great riſk is runof contemplating the different pheno-mena under aſpects, which are no longerintereſting at the moment of publiſhingthe reſult of your labours. Mr. Hum-boldt hoped to be in France in Auguſtor September, 1803, but the attractionsof a country, 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* ſo fa-tal, from June to November, for thoſewho come from the mountainous parts ofthe country, led him to ſtay a year in thiskingdom. Our travellers aſcended from Acapul-co to Taſco, celebrated for its mines,as intereſting as they are ancient. Theyriſe, by ſmall degrees, from the ardentvalley of Meſcala and Papagayo, wherethe thermometer of Reaumur ſtands inthe ſhade, conſtantly from 28 to 31 (95to 101 Fah.) in a region 6 or 700 toiſesabove the level of the ſea, where you findthe oaks, the pines, and the fougere|Spaltenumbruch| (fern) as large as trees, and where theEuropean grains are cultivated. Theypaſſed by Taſco, by Cuerna Vaca, to thecapital of Mexico —This city of150,000 inhabitants, is placed upon theancient ſite of Texochtitlan, betweenthe lakes of Tezcuco and Xochimilcalakes which have leſſened ſomewhatſince the Spaniards have opened thecanal of Hucheutoca, in ſight of twoſnow topped Mountains, of which one,Popocatepec, is even now an activevolcano, ſurrounded by a great numberof walks, ſhaded with trees, and by In-dian village. This capital of Mexico, ſituated1160 toiſes above the ſea, in a mildand temperate climate may doubtleſs becompared to ſome of the fineſt towns inEurope. Great ſcientific eſtabliſhments,ſuch as the Academy of Painting, Sculp-ture, and Engraving, the College ofMines (owing to the liberality of theCompany of Miners of Mexico), and theBotanic Garden, are inſtitutions whichdo honour to the government which hascreated them. After remaining ſome months in thevalley of Mexico, and after fixing thelongitude of the capital, which had beenlaid down by an error of nearly twodegrees, our travellers viſited the minesof Moran and Real del Monte, and theCerro of Oyamel, where the ancientMexicans had the manufactory of knivesmade of the obſidian ſtone. They ſoonafter paſſed by Queretaro and Salaman-ca to Guanaxoato, a town of fifty thou-ſand inhabitants, and celebrated for itsmines, more rich than thoſe of Potoſihave ever been. The mine of the countof Valenciana, which is 1840 Frenchfeet perpendicular depth, is the deepeſtand richeſt mine of the univerſe. Thismine alone gives to its proprietor near-ly ſix hundred thouſand dollars annualand conſtant profit. From Guanaxoato they returned bythe valley of St. Jago to Valladolid, inthe ancient kingdom of Michuacan, oneof the moſt fertile and charming provin-ces of the kingdom. They deſcendedfrom Paſcuaro towards the coaſt of thePacific Ocean to the plains of Serullo,where, in 1759, in one night, a volcanoaroſe from the level, ſurrounded by twothouſand ſmall mouths, from whenceſmoke ſtill continues to iſſue. Theyarrived almoſt to the bottom of the cra-ter of the great volcano of Serullo ofwhich they analized the air, and foundit ſtrongly impregnated with carbonicacid.—They returned to Mexico by thevalley of Toluca, and viſited the volcano,to the higheſt point of which they aſ-cended, 14,400 French feet above thelevel of the ſea. In the months of January and Febru-ary, 1804, they purſued their reſearches,on the eaſtern deſcent of the Cordillerasthey meaſured the mountains Novadosde la Puebla Popocatyce, Izazihutle, thegreat peak of Grizaba, and the Coſrede Perrote; upon the top of the laſtMr. Humboldt obſerved the meredianheight of the ſun. In fine, after ſomereſidence at Xalappa, they embarkedat Vera Crux, for the Havannah. Theyreſumed the collections they hadleft their in 1801, and by the wayof Philadelpha, embarked for France, inJuly, 1804, after ſix years abſence andlabors. A collection of 6000 differ-ent ſpecies of plants (of which a greatpart are new) and numerous mineralo-gical, aſtronomical, chemical, and mo-ral obſervations, have been the reſult ofthis expedition. Mr. Humboldt giveshigheſt praiſes to the liberal protectiongranted to his reſearches by the Spa-niſh government. Baron Humboldt was born in Pruſſia,on the 14th of September, 1769.