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Antiqua
Antiqua (mit lang-s); Spaltensatz; Auszeichnung: Kursivierung; Fußnoten mit Asterisken.
The following abſtract of the American Tra-
vels of the celebrated Baron
companion
notes which the former has kindly furniſhed, and
will ſupercede the many very incorrect accounts
hitherto publiſhed relative to this intereſting ob-
ject.
Baron
year 1790, as a naturaliſt, through Germany,
Poland, France, Switzerland, and through parts
of England, Italy, Hungary, and Spain, came
to Paris in 1798, when he received an invitation,
from the directors of the national muſeum, to
accompany captain
the world.—Citizen
Bonpland
in the Paris muſeum, was alſo to have accompa-
nied them; when on the point of departing the
whole plan was ſuſpended until a more favora-
ble opportunity, owing to the recommencement
of the war with Auſtria, and to the conſequent
want of funds.
Mr.
ved the plan of travelling through India at his
own expence, with a view of adding to the
knowledge of the ſciences connected with natu-
ral hiſtory, then reſolved to follow the learned
men, who had gone on the expedition to
—His plan was to go to
frigate which carried the Conſul
to follow the caravan which goes from
to Mecca, going through
thence by the Perſian gulph to the Engliſh Eaſt-
India eſtabliſhments. The war which unex-
pectedly broke out in October 1798, between
France and the Barbary powers, and the trou-
bles in the Eaſt, prevented Mr.
embarking at Marſeilles, where he had been
fruitleſsly two months waiting to proceed. Im-
patient at this delay, and continuing firm in his
determination to go to
hoping to paſs more readily under the Spaniſh
flag from Carthagena to
took with him the large collection of philoſophi-
cal, chemical, and aſtronomical inſtruments,
which he had purchaſed in England and
France.
From a happy concurrence of circumſtances,
he obtained, in
February, 1799, from the court
of Madrid, a
permiſſion to viſit the
lonies of
the two Americas
was granted with a liberality and frankneſs,
which was honorable 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.
rope, accompanied by Mr.
a profound
knowledge in botany and zoology,
added an indefatigable zeal. It
is with this
friend that Mr.
his own
expence, his travels in the two hemiſ-
pheres, by land and
ſea, probably the moſt ex-
tenſive which any
individual has ever underta-
ken.
Theſe two travellers left
niſh ſhip
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
Cumana, in
they
viſited the coaſt of Paria, the miſſions of
the Chaymas Indians, the province of New An-
daluſia (a country which had been rent by the
moſt dreadful earthquakes, the hotteſt, and yet
the moſt healthy in the world) of
na
In January, 1800, they left
Caraccas to viſit the
beautiful vallies of
of
Valencia recals to the mind the views of the
lake of Geneva,
embelliſhed by the majeſty of
the vegetation of
the tropics. From Porto Ca-
bello they croſſed to
the ſouth, the immenſe
plains of Callaboza, of
noce, alſo los Llanos, a deſert ſimilar to thoſe
of
of heat) the thermometer of
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 repre-
ſents 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
is performed on horſeback.—They
paſſed whole
days without ſeeing a
palm-tree, or the veſtige
of a human dwelling. At
pure
boldt and
gation of nearly 1000 marine leagues executed
in canoes, making a chart of the country by the
aſſiſtance of chronometers, the ſatellities of
Ju-
piter, and the lunar diſtances. They
deſcended
the
renoco, in 7 degrees of latitude. They aſcend-
ed the
laſt river (paſſing the celebrated cataracts
of Maypure and
Guaviare. From hence they aſcended the
ſmall
rivers of
the
miſſion of Sarita they croſſed by land to the
ſources of the famous Rio Negro, which Conda-
mine ſaw, where it joins
he calls a ſea of
freſh water. About 30 Indians
carried the canoes through
the woods of Mami,
Lecythis, and Laurus Cinamomoides, to the
ca-
no (or creek) of Pimichin. It was by this ſmall
ſtream that the travellers entered the Rio Ne-
gro, or Black River, which they deſcended to
St. Carlos, which has been erroneouſly
ſuppoſed
to be placed under the
frontiers of Great Para, in the government of
Braſil. A
canal from Temi to Pimichin, which
from the level nature of the
ground is very prac-
ticable, would preſent a fine
internal communi-
cation between the Para and the province of
Caracas, a communication infinitely ſhorter than
that of Caſſiquaire.—From the
fortreſs of St.
Carlos on the Rio Negro, Mr. H. went
north up
that river and the Caſſiquaire to the
Oronoco,
and on this river to the volcano Daida, or the
miſſion of the Eſmeralda, near the
ſources of
Oronoco: the Indians Guaicas (a race of men
almoſt pigmies, very white and very warlike)
render fruitleſs any attempts to reach the
ſour-
ces themſelves.
From the Eſmeralda, Meſſrs. H. and B. went to
down the Oronoco, when the waters roſe, to-
wards its mouth at St. Thomas de la Guayana
or the
gation that they were in a continued ſtate of ſuf-
fering, from want of nouriſhment and ſhelter
from the night rains, from living in the woods,
from the muſquetoes, and an infinite variety of
ſtinging inſects, and from the impoſſibility of ba-
thing, owing to the fierceneſs of the crocodile
and the little crab fiſh, and finally the miaſmata
of a burning climate. They returned to Cuma-
na by the plains of Cari and the miſſion of the
Carab Indians, a race of men very different from
any other, and probably, after the Patagonians
the talleſt and moſt robuſt in the world.
After remaining ſome months at
lona
Havanna, after a tedious and dangerous naviga-
tion, the veſſel being in the night on the point of
ſtriking upon the
ed 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
point of ſetting off for Vera Cruz, meaning, by
the way of Mexico and
Philippine iſlands, and from thence, if it was
poſſible, by Bombay and
nople, when ſome falſe reports relative to
din’s
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.
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 re-
ſearches, and thoſe of his friend
might be more uſeful to ſcience, if united to
the labors of the learned men who would ac-
company capt.
Theſe conſiderations induced Mr.
to ſend his manuſcripts, for 1799 and 1800, di-
rect to Europe, and to freight a ſmall ſhooner
at
from thence, as quickly as poſſible, by the iſth-
mus of Panama, to the South Sea. He hoped
to find capt.
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 manu-
ſcripts and collections already made to the riſks
of this propoſed navigation. Theſe manu-
ſcripts, the fate of which Mr. H. remained igno-
rant during three years, and until his arrival in
Philadelphia, arrived ſafe; but one third part of
the collection was loſt, by ſhipwreck.—Fortu-
nately (except the inſects of the Oronoco and of
the Rio Negro) they were only duplicates; but
unhappily friar
der of St.
were entruſted, periſhed, with them. He was a
young man full of ardor, who had penetrated
into this unknown world of Spaniſh Guyana
further than any other European.
Mr.
and paſſed to the ſouth of the iſland of Cuba, on
which he determined many geographical poſiti-
ons. The paſſage was rendered very long by
calms, and the currents carried the little ſhooner-
er too much to the weſt, to the mouth of
which no botaniſt had ever before viſited, and
they had a very difficult paſſage up to cartha-
gena. The ſeaſon being too far advanced for the
South Sea navigation, the project of croſſing the
iſthmus was abandoned; and animated with the
deſire of being acquainted with the celebrated
tions of objects of natural hiſtory, Mr. H. deter-
mined to paſs ſome weeks in the woods of Tur-
baco, and aſcend (which took 40 days) the beau-
tiful river of Madelaine, of the courſe of which
he ſketched a chart.
From Honda, our travellers aſcended through
foreſts of oaks, of melaſtoma and of chincona (the
tree which affords the Peruvian bark) to St. Fe
de Bogota, capital of the kingdom of New-Gre-
nada, ſituated in a fine plain, elevated 1360 toiſes
(of ſix French feet) above the level of the ſea. The
ſuperb collections of
of the Tequedama (falls of 98 toiſes height) the
mines of Mariquita, St. Ana, and of Zipaquira,
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.
til the month of September, 1801.
At this time, not withſtanding the rainy ſeaſon
had commenced, they undertook the journey to
Quito, and paſſed the
are ſnowy mountains covered with wax
palm-
trees, palmiers a cire, with paſſe
flores, paſſion
flowers of the growth of trees,
ſtorix, and bam-
buſa, bamboo. They were during 13
days, ob-
liged to paſs on foot through places
dreadfully
ſwampy, and without any traces of
population
(To be continued.)
concluded from our last.
From the village of Carthago, in the valley of
Cauca, they
followed the courſe of the Choco,
the country of Platina,
which was there found
in round pieces of baſalte and
green rock (grein
ſtein of
by Buga to Popayani a biſhop’s ſee, and
ſituated
near the volcanoes of Sotara and Purace, a moſt
pictureſque ſituation, and enjoying the
moſt de-
licious 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 ſulpherous hy-
drogene, with continued and frightful rumbling.
From Popayan they paſſed by the dangerous
defiles
of
tagious valley of Patia, to Poſto, and from
this
town, even now ſituated at the foot of a
burn-
ing volcano, by Tuqueras and the provinces of
Paſtos, a flat portion of country, fertile in Euro-
pean grain, but elevated more than 1500 to
1600
toiſes above the towns of Ibarra & Quito.
They arrived, in January, 1802, at this beau-
tiful capital,
celebrated by the labours of the il-
luſtrious
ted by the great amiability of its inhabitants, &
their happy turn for the arts.
They remained nearly a year in the kingdom
of Quito: the height
of its ſnow capt moun-
tains, its terrible earthquakes
(that of February
7, 1797, ſwallowed up 42,000
inhabitants, in a
few ſeconds) its fertility, and the
manner of its
inhabitants, combined to render it the moſt
inte-
reſting ſpot in the univerſe.
After three vain
attempts, they twice ſucceeded in
aſcending to
the crater of the volcano of Pichinca,
taking with
them
ters.
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 ſeparate viſits to the ſnowy and
porphyritic mountains of
Tungaraque, and
Chimborazo, the laſt the high-
eſt point of our
globe. They ſtudied the geo-
logical part of the
Cordillera of the
which ſubject nothing has been publiſhed in
Europe, meneralogy (if the expreſſion may be
uſed) having been created, as it were, ſince the
time of
ments proved that ſome
mountains, particularly
the volcano of Tungaroque, 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.
tar
far
a perſon zealous for the progreſs of Science,
and
who is, at his own expence, rebuilding the py-
ramids of Saraqui, the extremity of the celebra-
ted baſis of the triangles of the
Spaniſh & French
academicians. This
intereſting young man hav-
ing followed Mr.
his journey through Peru and the kingdom of
New Spain, is now
on his paſſage with him to
Europe.
Circumſtances were ſo favorable to the efforts
of
the three travellers, that at
cended 2200
French feet, and at Chimborazo,
on June 22, 1802, nearly 3200
feet higher than
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.
a letter from the national inſtitute of
France, in-
forming him that captain
ed by the Cape of Good Hope,
and that there
was no longer any hope of joining him.
After having examined the country over-
turned by the earthquake
of Riobamba, in 1797,
they paſſed by the
The
deſire of comparing the Cinchonas diſco-
vered by
Mr.
with thoſe of Popayan, and the cuſpa and
cuſ-
pare of New Andaluſia, and of the river
Caro-
ni (named falſely Cortex Anguſtura) with
the
Chichonas of Loxa and Peru, they preferred de-
viating from the beaten track from Cuenza to
Lima; but they paſſed with immenſe difficul-
ties in the carriage of their inſtruments and col-
lections, 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, 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
ſuay, accommodated with fountains and ta-
verns.
They deſcended the river Chamaya, which
led them into that
of the
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
eaſt by the Cordillera of the
where they found
they had paſſed the
equator
ven degrees of ſouth latitude. They
viſited the
mines of Hualguayoc, where native
ſilver is
found at the height of 2000 toiſes. Some
of
the veins of theſe mines contain petrified
ſhells,
and which, with thoſe of Paſco
and Huanta-
jayo, 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
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 in-
tereſting capital of Peru, of which the inhabi-
tants
are diſtinguiſhed by the vivacity of their
genius,
and the liberality of their ideas.
Mr.
ſerve the end of the paſſage of
Mercury over the
ſun’s diſk, in the port of
Callao. He was aſ-
toniſhed to find, at ſuch
a diſtance from Europe
the moſt recent productions
in chemiſtry, ma-
thematics, and medicine; and he found
great
activity of mind in the inhabitants, who, in a cli-
mate 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 a palm tree is beautiful be-
yond deſcription.
They every moment heard
the rumbling of the volcano 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 muſ-
quitoes of
They had a fortunate paſſage, by the Pacific
Ocean,
to
kingdom of New Spain, famous for the beauty
of its harbor, 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.
to remain only a few months in Mexico, and to
haſten his return to Europe; his voyage had al-
ready 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 ſci-
ence 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 labors.
Mr.
guſt or September, 1808, but the attractions of
a country, ſo beautiful and ſo varied, as is
that
of the kingdom of New Spain, the great hoſ-
pitality of its inhabitants, and the fear of the
yellow fever Vomito prieto.
for thoſe
who come from the
of the country, led him to
ſtay a year in this
kingdom.
Our travellers aſcended from
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
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 Vaca, to the
capital of Mexico.—This city of
150,000 inha-
bitants, is placed upon the ancient ſcite of
Tex-
ochtitlan, between the lakes of Tezeuco and
Xochimilco, lakes which have leſſened
ſome-
what ſince the Spaniards have opened the
ca-
nal of Hucheutoca, in ſight of two ſnow
topped
mountains, of which one, Popocatepec, is even
now an active volcano, ſurrounded by a great
number of walks, ſhaded with trees, and 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
eſtabliſh-
ments, ſuch as the academy of
painting, ſculp-
ture and engraving, the college of mines,
(ow-
ing to the liberality of the company of miners
of Mexico,) and the Botanic garden, are inſti-
tutions which do honor 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 has 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 Ob-
ſidian
ſtone. They ſoon after paſſed by Que-
retaro and Saramanca 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 Valen-
ciana which is 1840 French feet
perpendicular
depth, is the deepeſt and
richeſt mine of the uni-
verſe. This mine alone
gives to its proprietor
nearly ſix hundred
thouſand dollars annual and
conſtant profit.
From Guanaxoato they returned by the val-
ley of St. Jago to
Valladolid, in the ancient
kingdom of Michuacan, one of the
moſt fertile
and charming provinces of the kingdom.
They deſcended from Paſcuaro towards the
coaſt of the Pacific Ocean to the plains of Serul-
lo, where in 1759, in 1 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 analized the air, and found it ſtrongly
im-
pregnated with carbonic acid. They returned
to Mexico by the valley of Toluca, 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 Novados de
la Pluebla, Popocatyce,
Izazihuatle, the great peak of Orizaba,
and the
Cofre de Perote; upon the top of this laſt Mr.
ſun. In fine, after ſome
reſidence at Xulappa,
they embarked at Verra Cruze, for
the Havan-
nah. They reſumed the collections they had
left there in 1801, and by the way of Philadel-
phi, embarked for France, in July, 1804, after
fix years of
abſence and labours. A collection
of 6000 different
ſpecies of plants (of which a
great part are new) and
numerous mineralogi-
cal, aſtronomical, chemical, and
moral obſer-
vations, have been the reſult of this
expedition.
Mr.
liberal protection granted to his reſearches by
the Spaniſh government.
Baron
14th of September, 1769.