BARON HUMBOLDT.

(The following extracts are made from an abſtract of Baron Humboldt’s Travels in America)

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 Paris 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 Goujon Bonpland, a native of Rochelle, and brought up in the Paris muſeum, was allo to have accompanied them; when on the point of departing, the whole plan was ſuſpended until a more favourable opportunity, owing to the recommencement of the war with Auſtria, and to 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, 1799, from the court of Madrid, a permiſſion which 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. Humboldt, in June, 1799, left Europe, accompanied by Mr. Bonpland, who, to a profound knowledge of 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 Cumana, in South America.

In 1799, 1800, they viſited the coaſt of Paria, the miſſions of the Chaymas Indians, the provinces 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 of Spaniſh Guayana.— In January, 1800, they left Caraccas to viſit the beautiful vallies of Aragua, where the great lake of Valencia recals to the mind the views of the lake of Geneva, embeliſhed by the majeſty of the vegetation of the tropics.

From Porto Cabello they croſſed, to the ſouth, the immenſe plains of Calabozo, 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 Reamur roſe to 35 and 37 (111. to 115 F.) degrees.

The country is perfectly level for 2000 ſquare leagues.

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 Maypure and Atures) to the mouth of the Guaviare.

From thence they aſcended the ſmall rivers of Tabapa, Juamini, and Temi.

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 thro’ the woods of Mami, Lecythis, and Laurus Cinamomoides, to the cano (or creek) of Pimichin.

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 Braſil.

[After continuing to deſcribe at conſiderable length the travels of the Baron through various parts of South-America, the abſtract concludes as follows:]

It was on the weſtern deſcent of the Andes that theſe 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 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 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 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 fatal, from June to November, for thoſe who come from the mountainous part 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 Vaca, to the capital of Mexico—This city of 150,000 inhabitants, is placed upon the ancient ſite of Texochtitlan, between the lakes of Tezucco and Xochimilco, lakes which have leſſened ſomewhat ſince the Spaniards have opened the canal 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 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 eſtabliſhments, ſuch as the Academy of Painting, Sculpture, and Engraving, the College of Mines, (owning 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 of the moſt fertile and charming provinces of the kingdom.

They deſended 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 analized the air, and found it ſtrongly impregnated 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 Puebla, Popocatyce, Izazihuatle, the great peak of Orizaba, and the Cofre de Perote; upon the top of this laſt Mr.

Humboldt obſerved the meredian height of the ſun.

In fine, after ſome reſidence at Xalappa, they embarked at Vera Cruz, for the Havannah.

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 greater 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, 1763.