Digitale Ausgabe

---

(in continuation.)

---

Mr. HUMBOLDT left Batabano in March, 1801, and paſſed to theſouth of the iſland of Cuba, onwhich he determined many geo-graphical poſitions. The paſſagewas rendered very long by calms, |Spaltenumbruch| and the currents carried the littleſchooner too much to the weſt, tothe mouths of the Attracto. Theveſſel put into the river Sinu, whichno botaniſt had ever viſited before,and they had a very difficult paſſageup to Carthagena. The seaſon be-ing too far advanced for the SouthSea navigation, the project of croſſ-ing the iſthmus was abandoned;and animated by the deſire of be-ing acquainted with the celebrated Mutis, and admiring his immenſelyrich collections of objects of nat-ural hiſtory, Mr. H. determinedto paſs ſome weeks in the woods ofTurbaco, and to aſcend (which tookforty days) the beautiful river Mad-elaine, of the courſe of which heſketched a chart. From Honda, our travellers aſcen-ded through foreſts of oaks, of mel-aſtoma, and of cinchona (the treewhich affords the Peruvian bark,)to St. Fe de Bogota, capital of thekingdom of New Grenada,ſituated in a fine plain, el-evated 1360 toiſes (of ſix Frenchfeet) above the level of the ſea. Theſuperb collections of Mutis, the maj-eſtic cataract of the Tequedama(falls of 98 toiſes height) the Minesof Mariquita, St. Ana, and of Zip-aquira, the natural bridge of Scon-onza (three ſtones thrown togetherin the manner of an arch, by anearthquake,) theſe curious objectsſtopped the progreſs of Meſſrs. Hum-boldt and Bonpland until the monthof September, 1801. At this time, notwithſtanding therainy ſeaſon had commenced, theyundertook the journey to Quito,and paſſed the Andes of Quindiu,which are ſnowy mountains cover-ed with wax-palm-trees (palmiers acire), with paſſe flores (paſſion flow-ers) of the growth of trees, ſtorax,and bambuſa (bamboo.) They were,during 13 days, obliged, to paſs onfoot thro’ places dreadfully ſwam-py, and without any traces of popu-lation. From the village of Carthago, inthe valley of Cauca, they followedthe Choco, the country of Platina,which was there found in roundpieces of baſalte and green rock(grein ſtein of Werner, and foſſilwood.) They paſs by Buga to Po-payan, a biſhop’s ſee, and ſituatednear the volcanoes of Sotara andPurace, a moſt pictureſque ſituation,and enjoying the moſt delicious cli-mate in the world, the thermometerof Reamur keeping conſtantly at 16to 18 (68 to 72 Fahr.) They aſcen-ded to the crater of the volcano ofPurace, whoſe mouth, in the middleof ſnow, throws out vapours ofſulphurous hydrogene, with a con-tinued and frightful rumbling. From Popayan they paſſed by thedefiles of Almager, avoiding the in-fected and contagious valley of Pa-tia, to Poſto, and from this town,even now ſituated at the foot of aburning volcano, by Tuquera andthe provinces of Paſtos, a flat por-tion of country, fertile in Europeangrain, but elevated more than 1500to 1600 toiſes above the towns ofIbarra and Quito. They arrived, in January, 1802,at this beautiful capital, celebratedby the labours of the illuſtrious Condamine, of Bouger, Godin, Don George Juan, and Ulloa, and ſtillmore celebrated by the great amia-bility of its inhabitants, and theirhappy turn for the arts. |2| |Spaltenumbruch| They remained nearly a year in the king-dom of Quito: the height of its ſnow-cap-ped mountains, its terrible earthquakes(that of February 7, 1797, ſwallowed up42,000 inhabitants, in a few ſeconds), itsfertility, and the manners of its inhabitants,combined to render it the moſt intereſtingſpot in the univerſe. After three vain at-tempts, they twice ſucceeded in aſcendingto the crater of the volcano of Pichincha,taking with them electrometers, barometers,and hydrometers. Condamine could onlyſtop here a few minutes, and that withoutinſtruments. In his time, this immenſe cra-ter was cold and filled with ſnow. Ourtravellers found it inflamed; diſtreſſing in-formation for the town of Quito, which isdiſtant from it only 5000 to 6000 toiſes. They made ſeparate viſits to the ſnowyand porphyritic mountains of Antiſana, Co-topaxi, Tungaraque, and Chimborazo, thelaſt the higheſt point of our globe. Theyſtudied the geological part of the Cordilleraof the Andes, on which ſubject nothing hasbeen publiſhed in Europe, mineralogy (ifthe expreſſion may be uſed) having beencreated, as it were, ſince the time of Con-damine. The geodeſical meaſurementsproved that ſome mountains particularlythe volcano of Tungaraque, has conſidera-bly lowered ſince 1750 which reſult agreeswith the obſervations made to them by theinhabitants. During the whole of this part of the jour-ney, they were accompanied by Mr. CharlesMontufar, ſon of the Marquis of Selva-ale-gre, of Quito, a perſon zealous for the pro-greſs of ſcience, and who is, at his own ex-penſe, rebuilding the pyramids of Saraqui,the extremity of the celebrated baſes of the triangles 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 atChimboraza, on June 22. 1802, nearly 3200feet higher than Condamine was able to car-ry his inſtruments. They aſcended to 3086toiſes elevation above the level of the ſea, theblood ſtarting from their eyes, lips, andgums. An opening, of 80 toiſes deep, andvery wide, prevented them from reachingthe top, from which they were only diſtant134 toiſes. It was at Quito that Mr. Humboldt re-ceived a letter from the National Inſtituteof France, informing him that Capt. Bau-din had proceeded by the Cape of GoodHope, and that there was no longer anyhope of joining him. After having examined the country over-turned by the earthquake of Riobamba, in1797, they paſſed by the Andes of Aſſuay to Cuenza. The deſire of comparing theCinchonas diſcovered by Mr. Mutis, at San-ta Fe de Bogota, and with thoſe of Popayan,and the cuſpa and cuſpare of New Andalu-ſia, and of the river Caroni, (named falſelyCortex Auguſtura), with the Chinchonas ofLoxa and Peru, they preferred deviatingfrom the beaten track from Cuenza to Li-ma; but they paſſed with immenſe difficul-ties in the carriage of their inſtruments andcollections, by the forest (paramo) of Sa-ragura to Loxa, and from thence to theprovince of Jaen de Bracamoros. They hadto croſs thirty-five times, two days, the riverGuancabamba, so dangerous for its ſuddenfreſhes. They ſaw the ruins of the ſuperbYnga road, comparable to the fineſt roads inFrance, and which went upon the ridge ofthe Andes from Cuſco to the Aſſuay, ac-commodated with fountains and taverns. They deſcended the river Chamaya, whichled them into that of the Amazones, and theynavigated this laſt river down to the cata-racts of Tomeperda, one of the moſt fertile,but one of the hotteſt climates of the habit-able globe. From the Amazone river theyreturned to the ſouth-eaſt by the Cordilleraof the Andes to Montar, where they foundthey had paſſed the magnetic equator, theinclination being 0, although at ſeven de-grees of ſouth latitude. They viſited themines of Hualguayoc, where native ſilver isfound at the height of 2000 toiſes. Someof the veins of theſe mines contain petrifiedſhells, and which, with thoſe of Paſco andHuantajayo, are actually the richeſt of Pe-ru. From Caxamarca they deſcended toTruxillo, in the neighborhood of which arefound the ruins of the immenſe Peruvian ci-ty, Manſiche. It was on this weſtern deſcent of the An-des that the three voyagers, for the firſt time,had the pleaſure of ſeeing the Pacific O-cean. They followed its barren ſides, for-merly watered by the canals of the Yngasat Santa Guerma, in Lima. They re-mained ſome months in this intereſting capi-tal of Peru, of which the inhabitants are diſ-tinguiſhed by the vivacity of their genius,and the liberality of their ideas. Mr. Humboldt had the good fortune toobſerve the end of the paſsage of Mercuryover the ſun’s disk, in the port of Callao.He was aſtoniſhed to find, at ſuch a diſ-tance from Europe the moſt recent produc- |Spaltenumbruch|tions, in chemistry, mathematics, and medi-cine: and he found great activity of mindin the inhabitants, who, in a climate whereit never either rains or thunders, have beenfalſely accuſed of indolence. (To be concluded in our next.)

Concluded. FROM Lima, our travellers paſſed by ſeato Guayaquil, ſituated on the brink of a riv-er, where the growth of the palm tree isbeautiful beyond deſcription. They everymoment heard the rumbling of the volcanoof Cotopaxi, which made an alarming ex-ploſion on the 6th January, 1803. Theyimmediately ſet off to viſit it a ſecond time,when the unexpected intelligence of theſpeedy departure of the frigate Atalanta,determined them to return, after be-ing ſeven days expoſed to the dreadful at-tacks of the moſquetoes of Babaoya andUjibar. They had a fortunate paſſage, by the Pa-cific Ocean, to Acapulco, the weſtern portof the kingdom of New-Spain, famous forthe beauty of its harbor, which appears tohave been formed by earthquakes, for themiſery of its inhabitants, and for its climate,which is equally hot and unhealthy. Mr. Humboldt had originally the inten-tion to remain only a few months in Mexi-co, and to haſten his return to Europe;his voyage had already been too much pro-tracted, his inſtruments, particularly thechronometers, began to be out of order, andevery effort that he made to have new onesſent to him proved of no avail; add to thisconſideration, that the progreſs of ſcienceis ſo rapid in Europe, that, in a journeythat laſts four or five years, great risk isrun of contemplating the different pheno-mena under aſpects, which are no longer in-tereſting at the moment of publiſhing thereſult of your labors. Mr. Humboldt hop-ed to be in France in Auguſt or September,1803, but the attractions of a country, ſobeautiful and ſo varied, as is that of thekingdom of New-Spain, the great-hoſ-pitality of its inhabitants, and the fearof the yellow fever* ſo fatal, from June toNovember, for thoſe who come from themountainous part of the country, led himto ſtay a year 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 ofMeſcala and Papagayo, where the thermom-eter of Reaumur ſtands, in the ſhade, con-ſtantly from 28 to 31 (95 to 101 Fah.) ina region 6 or 700 toiſes above the level ofthe ſea, where you find the oaks, the pines,and the fougere, (fern) as large as trees,and where the European grains are culti-vated. They paſſed by Taſco, by CuernaVaca, to the capital of Mexico.—This city,of 150,000 inhabitants is placed upon theancient ſite of Texochtitlan, between thelakes of Tezcuco and Xochimilco, lakeswhich have leſſened ſomewhat ſince theSpaniards have opened the canal of Huch-entoca, in ſight of two ſnow-topped moun-tains, of which one, Ponocatepec, is evennow an active volcano, ſurrounded by agreat number of walks, ſhaded with trees,and by Indian villages. This capital of Mexico, ſituated, 1160toiſes above the ſea, in a mild and temperateclimate, may doubtleſs be compared toſome of the fineſt towns in Europe. Greatſcientific eſtabliſhments, ſuch as the Acade-my of Painting, Sculpture, and Engraving,the College of Mines, (owing to the liber-ality of the Company of Miners of Mexico)and the Botanic Garden, are inſtitutionswhich do honor to the government whichhas created them. After remaining ſome months in the val-ley of Mavic, and after fixing the longitudeof the capital, which had been laid downwith an error of nearly two degrees, ourtravellers viſited the mines of Moran andReal del Monte, and the Corro of Oyamel,where the ancient Mexicans had the manu-factory of knives, made of the obſidian ſtone.They ſoon after paſſed by Kueretaro andSalamanca to Guanaxoato, a town of fiftythouſand inhabitants, and celebrated for itsmines, more rich than thoſe of Potoſi haveever been. The mine of the count of Va-lenciania, which is 1840 French feet perpen-dicular depth, is the deepeſt and richeſtmine of the univerſe. The mine alonegives to its proprietor nearly ſix hundredthouſand dollars annual and conſtant profit. From Guanaxoato they returned by thevalley of St. Jago to Valladolid, in the an-cient kingdom of Michuakan, one of themoſt fertile and charming provinces of thekingdom. They deſcended from Paſcuarotowards the coaſt of the Pacific Ocean, tothe plains of Serullo, where, in 1759, in onenight a volcano aroſe from the level, ſur-rounded by two thouſand ſmall mouths,from whence ſmoke ſtill continues to iſſue.They arrived almoſt to the bottom of thecrater of the great volcano of Serullo,when they analized the air, and found itſtrongly impregnated with carbonic acid.—They returned to Mexico, by the valley ofToſuca, and viſited the volcano, to the high-eſt point of which they aſcended, 14,400French feet above the level of the ſea. |Spaltenumbruch| In the months of January and February,1804, they purſued their reſearches on theeaſtern deſcent of the Corderillas, they meaſ-ured the mountains Navados de la Pueble,Popacatyce, Izazihuatle, the great peak ofOrizaba, and the Cofre de Perete; uponthe top of this laſt, Mr. Humboldt obſervedthe meridian height of the ſun. In fine, af-ter ſome reſidence at Xallappa, they em-barked at Vera Cruz, for the Havanah.They reſumed the collections they had leftthere in 1801, and by the way of Philadel-phia, embarked for France, in July, 1804,after ſix years of abſence and labors. Acollection of 6000 different ſpecies of plants(of which a great part are new) and nu-merous mineralogical, aſtronomical, chem-ical and moral obſervations, have been thereſult of this expedition. Mr. Humboldt gives the higheſt praiſes to the liberal pro-tection granted to his reſearches by theSpaniſh government. Baron Humboldt was born in Pruſſia, onthe 14th of September, 1769.