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Alexander von Humboldt: „Account of the Travels between the Tropics of Messrs. Humboldt and Bonpland, in 1799, 1800, 1801, 1802, 1803, and 1804. By J. C. Delamétherie“, in: ders., Sämtliche Schriften digital, herausgegeben von Oliver Lubrich und Thomas Nehrlich, Universität Bern 2021. URL: <https://humboldt.unibe.ch/text/1804-Baron_Humboldt-21-neu> [abgerufen am 10.11.2025].
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| Titel | Account of the Travels between the Tropics of Messrs. Humboldt and Bonpland, in 1799, 1800, 1801, 1802, 1803, and 1804. By J. C. Delamétherie | ||||||
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| Jahr | 1805 | ||||||
| Ort | London | ||||||
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Nachweis in: The Monthly Magazine; or, British Register 19:6:130 (1. Juli 1805), S. 556–558; 20:1:132 (1. August 1805), S. 15–17; 20:2:133 (1. September 1805), S.112–116.
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| Sprache | Englisch | ||||||
| Typografischer Befund | Antiqua (mit lang-s); Spaltensatz; Auszeichnung: Kursivierung; Fußnoten mit Asterisken; Schmuck: Initialen. | ||||||
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Statistiken
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|556|
|Spaltenumbruch|
AFTER making phyſical reſearchesfor eight years in Germany, Poland,England,
France, Swiſſerland, and Italy,M. Humboldt came to Paris in 1798,where the Muſeum of Natural Hiſtory af-forded
him an opportunity of making avoyage round the world with
Captain
Baudin. When on the point of
ſettingout for Havre, with Alexander AiméGonjou
Bonpland, a pupil of the Schoolof Medicine and
Garden of Plants, thewar which recommenced with
Auſtria,and the want of funds, induced the Di-rectory to put off the voyage of Baudin
till a more favourable occaſion. M.
Humboldt, who, ſince 1792, had
con-ceived the deſign of undertaking, at hisown expence, a voyage to the tropics, in
|Spaltenumbruch| order to promote the phyſical ſciences,reſolved then to accompany the men ofſcience
who were deſtined for Egypt.—The battle of Aboukir having
interrupt-ed all direct communication with Alexan-dria, his plan was, to
take advantage of aSwediſh frigate which was to carry
theconſul Sezioldebrant to Algiers, to
ac-company the caravan thence to Mecca,and
to proceed to India by Egypt andthe Perſian Gulph; but the war, whichbroke out in an unexpected manner in themonth of October
1798, between Franceand the Barbary Powers, and the troublesin the Eaſt, prevented M. Humboldt fromſetting out from
Marſeilles, where hewaited to no purpoſe for two
months.—Impatient at this new delay, but alwaysfirm in the project of joining the expedi-tion
in Egypt, he ſet out for Spain,
hop-ing he ſhould be able to proceed more ea-ſily under the Spaniſh flag from Cartha-gena to Algiers or Tunis. He
took theroad to Madrid, through Montpellier, Per-pignan, Barcelona, and Valentia; butthe news from the Eaſt became every daymore diſtreſſing. The war there wascarried on with unexampled fury, and hewas at length obliged
to renounce the de-ſign of going through Egypt to Indoſtan.A happy
concurrence of circumſtancesſoon indemnified M.
Humboldt for thisdelay. In the month of March 1799,the Court of Madrid granted
him fullpermiſſion to proceed to the Spaniſh Co-lonies
in both the Americas, in order tomake
ſuch reſearches as might be uſeful tothe
ſciences. His Catholic Majeſty evendeigned to
ſhow particular intereſt for theſucceſs of this expedition; and M. Hum-boldt,
after reſiding ſome months at Ma-drid and
Aranjues, ſet out from
Europein June 1799, accompanied by his friend
Bonpland, who unites an
extenſive know-ledge of botany and zoology to that
inde-fatigable zeal and love for the ſcienceswhich induce men to ſubmit with indiffe-rence to every kind of hardſhip.
With this friend M. Humboldt travel-led for five years, at his own expence, be-tween
the tropics, paſſing over, by ſeaand land,
nearly nine thouſand leagues.Theſe two
travellers, provided with re-commendations from the Court of
Spain,embarked in the Pizarro frigate, at Co-runna, for the Canaries.
They touchedat the iſland of Gracioſa, near
Lancerot-ta, and at Teneriff, where they aſcendedto the crater of the Peak, in order toanalyſe the atmoſpheric air, and makegeological
obſervations on the baſaltes andporphyritic
ſchiſt of Africa. In the
|557|
|Spaltenumbruch| month of July they arrived at the port ofCumana, in the
gulph of Cariaco, a partof South
America, celebrated by the la-bours and
misfortunes of the indefatigable
Löfling. In the courſe of 1799 and
1800they viſited the coaſt of Paria, the
In-dian miſſions of Chaymas, and the pro-vince of New Andaluſia, one of the hot-teſt, but, at the ſame time, healthieſt,countries in the world, though convulſedby dreadful
and frequent earthquakes.—They traverſed the
provinces of NewBarcelona, Venezuela, and Spaniſh Guy-ana. After determining the longitude ofCumana, Caraccas, and
ſeveral otherpoints, by obſervations of the
ſatellites ofJupiter; after collecting plants on theſummits of Caripe and Silla de Avila,crowned by befaria, they ſet out for thecapital of
Caraccas in February 1800,and the beautiful valleys of
Aragua,where the large
lake of Valentia calls toremembrance that of Geneva, but em-belliſhed by the majeſtic vegetation of thetropics.
From Portocabello they proceededſouth, penetrating from
the coaſt of the
ſea of the Antilles as far
as the bounda-ries of Brazil towards the equator.—They
firſt traverſed the immenſe plains ofCalabozo, Apure, and Lower Orenoko;the Llanos,
deſerts ſimilar to thoſe of
Africa, where, by the reverberation ofthe heat, but under the ſhade, Reaumur’s
thermometer riſes to 33° or 37°, andwhere the ſcorching ſoil, for more thantwo
thouſand leagues, differs in its levelonly five inches.
The ſand, ſimilar to thehorizon at ſea,
exhibits every where themoſt curious phenomena of
refraction andelevation. Without any vegetation, inthe dry months it affords ſhelter to thecrocodile and the torpid boa.
The want of water, the heat of the ſun,and the
duſt raiſed by the ſcorching winds,haraſs in turns the traveller, who directshimſelf and mule by the courſe of theſtars, or by ſome ſcattered trunks of the
mauritia and embothrium, which
are diſ-covered every three or four leagues.
At St. Fernando d’Apure,
in the pro-vince of Varinas, Meſſrs. Humboldt and
Bonpland began a laborious navigation
ofnearly five hundred nautical leagues incanoes, during which they made a chartof the country by the
help of time-keep-ers, the ſatellites, and lunar
diſtances.—They deſcended the
river Apure, whichfalls
into the Orenoko in the latitude ofſeven degrees. Having
eſcaped from the
|Spaltenumbruch| danger of imminent ſhipwreck near theiſland
of Pananuma, they aſcended thelatter river as far as the
mouth of the RioGuaviare, paſſing the famous
cataracts of
Atures and Maypure, where the cavern of
Ataruipe contains mummies of a nationdeſtroyed by the war of the Caribs andMaravitains. From the mouth of theRio Guaviare, which
deſcends from the
Andes of New Granada, and which Fa-ther Gumilla
erroneouſly took for theſources of the Orenoko,
they quitted thelatter and aſcended the ſmall
rivers Ata-bapo, Tuamini,
and Temi.
From the miſſion of Javita they pro-ceeded by land
to the ſources of the Gui-ainia, which the Europeans call
the RioNegro, and which Condamine, who ſaw itonly at its mouth
in the river Amazon,calls
a freſh water ſea. Thirty Indianscarried their
canoes through buſhy trees of
hevea, lecythis, and the laurus
cinnamo-moides, to Cano Pimichin. By this
ſmallſtream our travellers proceeded to
theRio Negro, which they deſcended as far asthe ſmall fortreſs of San Carlos, which hasbeen erroneouſly believed to be ſituatedunder the equator, and as
far as the fron-tiers of the Grand Para, the
CaptainryGeneral of
Brazil. A canal from Temito Pimichin, which, on account of the
le-vel nature of the ground is very practi-cable, would form an interior communi-cation between the
provinces of Caraccasand the capital of Peru much
ſhorter thanthat of Caſquiare. By this canal
alſo,ſuch is the aſtoniſhing
diſpoſition of therivers in this new continent,
one mightdeſcend in a canoe from Rio Guallaga,within three days journey of Lima, or theSouth
Sea, by the river Amazon andRio Negro, as far as the mouths of theOrenoko
oppoſite to Trinidad, a navigationof nearly two
thouſand leagues. Themiſunderſtanding
which prevailed thenbetween the Courts of Madrid and
Liſ-bon prevented M. Humboldt from carry-ing his operations beyond
St. Gabriel delas Cochuellas, in the Captainry Generalof Great Para.
La Condamine and Maldonado havingdetermined aſtronomically the mouth ofthe Rio Negro, this obſtacle was leſs ſen-ſible, and it remained to fix a part moreunknown,
which is the arm of the Ore-noko called Caſquiare,
forming the com-munication between the Orenoko and the
river Amazon, and reſpecting the
exiſtenceof which there have been ſo many
diſ-putes for fifty years paſt. To execute
|558|
|Spaltenumbruch| this labour, Meſſrs. Humboldt and Bon-pland aſcended from the Spaniſh
fortreſsof St. Carlos along the Rio Negro and theCaſquiare to the Orenoko, and on the latterto the Miſſion of Eſmeraldo, near the
vol-cano Duida, or as far as the ſources ofthat river.
The Guaica Indians, a very white,ſmall, and almoſt
pigmy race of men, butexceedingly warlike, who inhabit thecountry to the eaſt of the Paſimoni; andthe Guajaribes, of a dark copper colour,extremely ferocious, and ſtill anthropophagi,render
fruitleſs every attempt to reach theſources of
the Orenoko, which the maps of
Caulin, though in other reſpects
meritori-ous, place in a longitude much too far
eaſt.
From the miſſion of Eſmeralda, an aſ-ſemblage of huts ſituated in the moſt re-mote and moſt ſolitary corner of this In-dian
world, our travellers deſcended, withthe
aſſiſtance of the floods, 340 leagues;that
is to ſay, the whole of the Orenoko,as far as towards
its mouths at St. Tho-mas de la Nueva Guyana or Angoſtura,paſſing a ſecond time the cataracts, to theſouth of which the two hiſtoriographersof theſe countries, Father Gumilla and
Caulin, never penetrated.
In the courſe of this long and painfulnavigation, the
want of food and ſhelter;the nocturnal rains; living in
the woods;the moſquitoes, and a multitude of otherſtinging and venemous inſects; the im-poſſibility of cooling themſelves by thebath, on account of the ferocity of thecrocodile and of the ſmall carib fiſh; to-gether
with the miaſmata of a hot anddamp climate,
expoſed our travellers tocontinual ſuffering.
They returned fromthe Orenoko to Barcelona and Cumana bythe plains of Cari and
the Miſſions of theCarib Indians, a very
extraordinary raceof men, and, next to the Patagonians, thetalleſt and moſt robuſt perhaps in theworld.
After a ſtay of ſome months on thecoaſt,
they proceeded to the Havannah bythe ſouth of St.
Domingo and Jamaica.This navigation, performed when the
ſea-ſon was far advanced, was both long anddangerous, the veſſel having been in greatdanger of being loſt on the bank of Vibora,the
poſition of which M. Humboldt
deter-mined by the time-keeper. He ſtaid inthe iſland of Cuba three months, duringwhich time he employed himſelf on thelongitude of the
Havannah, and the con-ſtruction of a new kind of
ſtove in the ſu-
|Spaltenumbruch| gar-houſes, which was ſpeedily and gene-rally adopted. When on the point ofſetting out for La
Vera Cruz, intendingto proceed by the way of Mexico and
Acapulco to the Philippines, and
thence,if poſſible, by Bombay, Buſſorah, andAleppo, to Conſtantinople, falſe intelli-gence
reſpecting the voyage of Captain
Baudin alarmed him, and induced him toalter his plan. The American papers an-nounced
that this navigator would ſet outfrom France for
Buenos-Ayres, and that,after doubling Cape Horn, he would
pro-ceed along the coaſts of Chili and Peru.
M. Humboldt, at the time of his de-parture from Paris in the year 1798, hadpromiſed to the Muſeum and to Captain
Baudin, that, in whatever part of theworld he might be, he would endeavourto join
the French expedition as ſoon ashe ſhould hear of
its having been ſet onfoot. He flattered himſelf
that his re-ſearches and thoſe of Bonpland would bemore
uſeful to the progreſs of the ſciencesif
they united their labours to thoſe ofthe men of
ſcience who were to accom-pany Captain Baudin. Theſe conſidera-tions induced M. Humboldt
to ſend hismanuſcripts of the years 1799 and
1800directly to Europe, and to freight a ſmallgalliot in the port of Batabano to proceedto Carthagena in the
Indies, and thence,as ſoon as poſſible, by
the iſthmus ofPanama, to the South Sea. He hopedto find Capta in Baudin at
Guyaquil or atLima, and to viſit New Holland and theiſlands of the Pacific Ocean, ſo
intereſtingin a moral point of view, and by the
rich-neſs of their vegetation.
It appeared to him imprudent to ex-poſe the
manuſcripts and collections al-ready formed to the
dangers of this longnavigation. The manuſcripts,
reſpectingthe fate of which M. Humboldt remainedin painful
uncertainty for three years, tillhis arrival at Philadelphia,
were ſaved;but a third of the collections were
loſt atſea by ſhipwreck. Fortunately this
loſs,and that of ſome inſects from the
Orenokoand Rio Negro, extended only to dupli-cates; but this ſhipwreck proved fatal to afriend to
whom M. Humboldt had in-truſted his plants and inſects, Fray JuanGonzales, a Franciſcan, a young
man ofgreat courage and activity, who bad pe-netrated in this unknown world from Spa-niſh Guyana
much farther than any otherEuropean.
(To be continued.)
|15|
|Spaltenumbruch|
(Continued from p. 558. No. 130.)
M. HUMBOLDT ſet out from Bata-bano in March, 1801, coaſtingalong the South ſide of the iſland of Cuba,and determining aſtronomically ſeveralpoints in that group of ſmall iſles calledthe King’s Gardens, and the approachesto the part of Trinidad. A navigationwhich ought to have been only thirteen orfifteen days, was prolonged by currentsbeyond a month. The galliot was car-ried by them too far eaſt, beyond themouths of the Atracto. They touched at
|Spaltenumbruch| Rio Sinu, where no botaniſt had everſearched for plants; but they found it dif-ficult to land at Carthagena, on accountof the violence of the breakers of St. Mar-tha. The galliot had almoſt gone topieces near Giant’s Point: they wereobliged to ſave themſelves towards theſhore in order to anchor; and this diſap-pointment gave M. Humboldt an oppor-tunity of obſerving the eclipſe of the moonon the 2d of March, 1801. Unfortunatelythey learned on this coaſt that the ſeaſonfor navigating the South Sea, from Pana-ma to Guyaquil, was already too far ad-vanced: it was neceſſary to give up the de-ſign of croſſing the iſthmus; and the de-ſire of ſeeing the celebrated Mutis, and ex-amining his immenſe treaſures in naturalhiſtory, induced M. Humboldt to ſpendſome weeks in the foreſts of Turbaco, or-namented with guſtavia, toluifera, ana-cardium caracoli, and the
Cavanilleſca
ofthe Peruvian botaniſts; and to aſcend inthirty-five days the beautiful and majeſticriver of the Magdalen, of which he ſketch-ed out a chart, though tormented by themoſquitoes, while Bonpland ſtudied thevegetation, rich in heliconia, pſychoſtria,melaſtoma, myrodia, and dychotria emetica,
the root of which is the ipecacuanha ofCarthagena.
Having landed at Honda, our travellersproceeded on mules, the only way of travel-ling in South America, and by frightfulroads through foreſts of oaks, melaſtoma
and cinchona, to Santa Fé de Bagota, thecapital of the kingdom of New Grenada,ſituated in a beautiful plain 1360 toiſesabove the level of the ſea, and, in conſe-quence of a perpetual ſpring temperature,abounding in the wheat of Europe and theſeſamum of Aſia. The ſuperb collectionsof Mutis; the grand and ſublime cataractof Tequendama, 98 toiſes or 588 feet inheight; the mines of Mariquita, St. Ana,and Zipaguira; the natural bridge ofIcononzo, two detached rocks which bymeans of an earthquake have been diſpoſedin ſuch a manner as to ſupport a third;occupied the attention of our travellers atSanta Fé till September 1801.
Though the rainy ſeaſon had now ren-dered the roads almoſt impaſſable, they ſetout for Quito; they re-deſcended by Fu-ſagaſuga, in the valley of Magdalena, andpaſſed the Andes of Quindiu, where theſnowy pyramid of Tolina riſes amidſtforeſts of ſtyrax paſſiflora in trees, bam-buſa, and wax palms. For thirteen daysthey were obliged to drag themſelvesthrough horrid mud, and to ſleep, as onthe Orenoko, under the bare heavens, in
|16|
|Spaltenumbruch| woods where they ſaw no veſtiges of man.When they arrived, bare-footed, anddrenched with continual rain, in the val-ley of the river Cauca, they ſtopped atCathago and Buga, and proceeded alongthe province of Choco, the country of pla-tina, which is found between rolledfragments of baſaltes, filled with olivinand augite, green rock (the grunſtein of
Werner), and foſſil wood.
They aſcended by Caloto and Quilichao,where gold is waſhed, to Popayan, viſitedby Bouguer when he returned to France,and ſituated at the bottom of the ſnowyvolcanoes of Puracé and Sotara, one ofthe moſt pictureſque ſituations and in themoſt delightful climate of the univerſe,where Reaumur’s thermometer ſtands con-ſtantly between 17 and 19 degrees. Whenthey had reached, with much difficulty,the crater of the volcano of Puracé, filledwith boiling water, which from the midſtof the ſnow throws up, with a horrid roar-ing, vapours of ſulphurated hydrogen, ourtravellers paſſed from Popayan by the ſteepcordilleras of Almaguer a Parto, avoid-ing the contagious air of the valley ofPatia.
From Paſto, a town ſituated at the bot-tom of a burning volcano, they traverſedby Guachucal the high plateau of the pro-vince of Paſtes, ſeparated from the Paci-fic Ocean by the Andes of the volcano ofChili and Cumbal, and celebrated for itsgreat fertility in wheat and the erytroxy-lou Peruvianum, called cocoa. At length,after a journey of four months on mules,they arrived at the towns of Ibarra andQuito. This long paſſage through thecordillera of the high Andes, at a ſeaſonwhich rendered the roads impaſſable, andduring which they were expoſed to rainswhich continued ſeven or eight hours aday, encumbered with a great number ofinſtruments and voluminous collections,would have been almoſt impoſſible, with-out the generous and kind aſſiſtance of M.
Mendiunetta, viceroy of Santa Fé, and thebaron de Carondelet, preſident of Quito,who, being equally zealous for the progreſsof ſcience, cauſed the roads and the moſtdangerous bridges to be repaired on aroute of 450 leagues in length.
Meſſrs. Humboldt and Bonpland arrivedon the 6th of January 1802, at Quito, acapital celebrated in the annals of aſtro-nomy by the labours of La Condamine,
Bouguer, Godin, and Don Jorge-Juan and
Ulloa; juſtly celebrated alſo by the greatamiableneſs of its inhabitants and theirhappy diſpoſition for the arts. Our tra-vellers continued their geological and bo-
|Spaltenumbruch| tanical reſearches for eight or nine monthsin the kingdom of Quito; a country ren-dered perhaps the moſt intereſting in theworld by the coloſſal height of its ſnowyſummits; the activity of its volcanoes,which in turns throw up flames, rocks,mud, and hydro-ſulphureous water; thefrequency of its earthquakes, one of which,on the 7th of February 1797, ſwallowedup in a few ſeconds nearly 40,000 inhabi-tants; its vegetation; the remains of Pe-ruvian architecture; and, above all, themanners of its ancient inhabitants.
After two fruitleſs attempts, they ſuc-ceeded in twice aſcending to the crater ofthe volcano of Pinchinca, where they madeexperiments on the analyſis of the air; itselectric charge, magnetiſm, hygroſcopy,electricity, and the temperature of boilingwater. La Condamine ſaw the ſame crater,which he very properly compares to thechaos of the poets; but he was there with-out inſtruments, and could remain onlyſome minutes.
In his time this immenſe mouth, hollow-ed out in baſaltic porphyry, was cooledand filled with ſnow: our travellers foundit again on fire; and this intelligence wasdiſtreſſing to the town of Quito, which isdiſtant only about four or five thouſandtoiſes. Here M. Humboldt was in dangerof loſing his life. Being alone with anIndian, who was as little acquainted withthe crater as himſelf, and walking over afiſſure concealed by a thin ſtratum of con-gealed ſnow, he had almoſt fallen intoit.
Our travellers, during their ſtay in thekingdom of Quito, made ſeveral excur-ſions to the ſnowy mountains of Antiſana,Cotopaxi, Tunguragua, and Chimborazo,which is the higheſt ſummit of our earth,and which the French academicians mea-ſured only by approximation. They ex-amined in particular the geognoſtic part ofthe cordillera of the Andes, reſpectingwhich nothing has yet been publiſhed inEurope; mineralogy, as we may ſay, be-ing newer than the voyage of La Conda-mine, whoſe univerſal genius and incredibleactivity embraced every thing elſe thatcould be intereſting to the ſciences. Thetrigonometrical and barometrical meaſure-ments of M. Humboldt have proved thatſome of theſe volcanoes, and eſpecially thatof Tunguragua, have become conſiderablylower ſince 1753; a reſult which accordswith what the inhabitants of Pellileo andthe plains of Tapia have obſerved.
M. Humboldt found that all theſe largemaſſes were the work of cryſtallization.“Every thing I have ſeen,” ſays he in a
|17|
|Spaltenumbruch| letter to Delametherie, “in theſe regions,where the higheſt elevations of the globeare ſituated, have confirmed me more andmore in the grand idea that you threw outin your Theory of the Earth, the moſtcomplete work we have on that ſubject, inregard to the formation of mountains. Allthe maſſes of which they conſiſt have unitedaccording to then aſſinities by the laws ofattraction, and have formed theſe eleva-tions, more or leſs conſiderable in differentparts on the ſurface of the earth, by thelaws of general cryſtallization. There canremain no doubt in this reſpect to the tra-veller who conſiders without prejudicetheſe large maſſes. You will ſee in ourrelations that there is not one of the objectsyou treat of which we have not endeavour-ed to improve by our labours.”
In all theſe excurſions, begun in Janu-ary 1802, our travellers were accompaniedby M. Charles Montufar, ſon of the Mar-quis de Selvalegre, of Quito, an individualzealous for the progreſs of the ſciences,and who cauſed to be reconſtructed, at hisown expenſe, the pyramids of Sarouguier,the boundaries of the celebrated baſe ofthe French and Spaniſh academicians.This intereſting young man, having ac-companied M. Humboldt during the reſtof his expedition to Peru and the kingdomof Mexico, proceeded with him to Europe.The efforts of theſe three travellers wereſo much favoured by circumſtances, thatthey reached the greateſt heights to whichman had ever attained in theſe mountains.On the volcano of Antiſana they carriedinſtruments 2200, and on Chimborazo,June 23, 1802, 3300 feet higher than
Condamine and Bouguer did on Corazon.They aſcended to the height of 3036 toiſesabove the level of the Pacific Ocean,where the blood iſſued from their eyes,lips, and gums, and where they experi-enced a cold not indicated by the thermo-meter, but which aroſe from the little ca-loric diſengaged during the inſpiration ofair ſo much rarefied. A fiſſure eightytoiſes in depth and of great breadth pre-vented them from reaching the top ofChimborazo when they were diſtant fromit only about 224 toiſes.
(To be continued.)
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DURING his reſidence at Quito, M.
Humboldt received a letter from theFrench National Inſtitute, informing himthat Captain Baudin had ſet out for NewHolland, purſuing an eaſterly courſe bythe Cape of Good Hope. He found itneceſſary, therefore, to give up all idea ofjoining him, though our travellers hadentertained this hope for thirteen months,by which means they loſt the advantageof an eaſy paſſage from the Havannah toMexico and the Philippines. It had madethem travel by ſea and by land more thana thouſand leagues to the ſouth, expoſed toevery extreme of temperature, from ſum-mits covered with perpetual ſnow to the
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|Spaltenumbruch| bottom of thoſe profound ravines wherethe thermometer ſtands night and day be-tween 25° and 31° of Reaumur. But,accuſtomed to diſappointments of everykind, they readily conſoled themſelves onaccount of their fate. They were oncemore ſenſible that man muſt depend onlyon what can be produced by his own ener-gy; and Baudin’s voyage, or rather thefalſe intelligence of the direction he hadtaken, made them traverſe immenſe coun-tries towards which no naturaliſt perhapswould otherwiſe have turned his reſearches.M. Humboldt being then reſolved topurſue his own expedition, proceededfrom Quito towards the river Amazon
and Lima, with a view of making the im-portant obſervation of the tranſit of Mer-cury over the ſun’s diſk.
Our travellers firſt viſited the ruins ofLactacunga, Hambato, and Riobamba, adiſtrict convulſed by the dreadful earth-quake of the year 1797. They paſſedthrough the ſnows of Aſſonay to Cuenca,and thence with great difficulty, on ac-count of the carriage of their inſtrumentsand packages of plants, by the Paramo ofSaraguro to Loxa. It was here, in theforeſts of Gonzanama and Malacates, thatthey ſtudied the valuable tree which firſtmade known to man the febrifuge qualitiesof cinchona. The extent of the territorywhich their travels embraced, gave theman advantage never before enjoyed by anybotaniſt, namely, that of comparing thedifferent kinds of cinchona of Santa Fé,Popayan, Cuenca, Loxa, and Jaen, withthe cuſpa and cuſpare of Cumana and RioCarony, the latter of which, named im-properly Cortex anguſturæ, appears to be-long to a new genus of the pentandriamonogynia, with alternate leaves.
From Loxa they entered Peru by Aya-vaca and Gouncabamba, traverſing thehigh ſummit of the Andes, to proceed tothe river Amazon. They had to paſsthirty-five times in the courſe of two daysthe river Chamaya, ſometimes on a raft,and ſometimes by fording. They ſaw theſuperb remains of the cauſeway of Ynga,which may be compared to the moſt beau-tiful cauſeways in France and Spain, andwhich proceeds on the porphyritic ridge ofthe Andes, from Cuſco to Aſſonay, andis furniſhed with cambo (inns) and publicfountains. They then embarked on araft of ochroma, at the ſmall Indian vil-lage of Chamaya, and deſcended by theriver of the ſame name, to that of the
Amazons, determining by the culmina-tion of ſeveral ſtars, and by the difference
|Spaltenumbruch| of time, the aſtronomical poſition of thatconfluence.
La Condamine, when he returned fromQuito to Para and to France, embarkedon the river Amazon only below Quebradade Chucunga; he therefore obſerved thelongitude only at the mouth of the RioNapo. M. Humboldt endeavoured toſupply this deficiency in the beautifulchart of the French aſtronomer, navigat-ing the river Amazon as far as the cata-racts of Rentema, and forming at Tome-penda, the capital of the province of Jaende Bracamorros, a detailed plan of thatunknown part of the Upper Maranon,both from his own obſervations and theinformation obtained from Indian travel-lers. M. Bonpland, in the mean time,made an intereſting excurſion to the foreſtsaround the town of Jaen, where he diſco-vered new ſpecies of cinchona; and aftergreatly ſuffering from the ſcorching heatof theſe ſolitary diſtricts, and admiring avegetation rich in new ſpecies of Jacqui-nia, Godoya, Porteria, Bougainvillea,Colletia, and Piſonia, our three travellerscroſſed for the fifth time the cordillera ofthe Andes by Montan, in order to returnto Peru.
They fixed the point where Borda’s
compaſs indicated the zero of the magneticinclination, though at ſeven degrees ofſouth latitude. They examined the minesof Hualguayoc, where native ſilver isfound in large maſſes at the height of 2000toiſes above the level of the ſea, in mines,ſome metalliferous veins of which containpetrified ſhells, and which, with thoſe ofHuontajayo, are at preſent the richeſt ofPeru. From Caxamarca, celebrated byits thermal waters, and by the ruins of thepalace of Atahualpa, they deſcended toTruxillo, in the neighbourhood of whichare found veſtiges of the immenſe Peru-vian city of Manſiſche, ornamented withpyramids, in one of which was diſcover-ed, in the eighteenth century, hammeredgold to the value of more than 150,000l.ſterling.
On this weſtern declivity of the Andes
our travellers enjoyed, for the firſt time,the ſtriking view of the Pacific Ocean;and from that long and narrow valley, theinhabitants of which are unacquaintedwith rain or thunder, and where, under ahappy climate, the moſt abſolute power,and that moſt dangerous to man, theocracyitſelf, ſeems to imitate the beneficence ofnature.
From Truxillo they followed the drycoaſts of the South Sea, formerly watered
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|Spaltenumbruch| and rendered fertile by the canals of theYnga; nothing of which remains butmelancholy ruins. When they arrived,by Santa and Guarmey, at Lima, theyremained ſome months in that intereſtingcapital of Peru, the inhabitants of whichare diſtinguiſhed by the vivacity of theirgenius and the liberality of their ſenti-ments. M. Humboldt had the happineſsof obſerving, in a pretty complete man-ner, at the port of Callao at Lima, theend of the tranſit of Mercury: a circum-ſtance the more fortunate, as the thick fogwhich prevails at that ſeaſon often pre-vents the ſun’s diſk from being ſeen fortwenty days. He was aſtoniſhed to find inPeru, at ſo immenſe a diſtance from Eu-rope, the neweſt literary productions inchemiſtry, mathematics, and phyſiology;and he admired the great intellectual acti-vity of a people whom the Europeans ac-cuſe of indolence and luxury.
In the month of January 1803, our tra-vellers embarked in the King’s corvetteLa Caſtora for Guyaquil; a paſſagewhich is performed, by the help of thewinds and currents, in three or four days,whereas the return from Guyaquil requiresas many months. In the former port,ſituated on the banks of an immenſe river,the vegetation of which in palms, plume-ria tabernæmontana, and ſcitamineæ, ismajeſtic beyond all deſcription. Theyheard growling every moment the volcanoof Catopaxi, which made a dreadful ex-ploſion on the 6th of January 1803.
They immediately ſet out that theymight have a nearer view of its ravages,and to viſit it a ſecond time; but the un-expected news of the ſudden departure ofthe Atlanta frigate, and the ſear of notfinding another opportunity for ſeveralmonths, obliged them to return, afterbeing tormented for ſeven days by themoſquitoes of Babaoyo and Ugibar.
They had a favourable navigation ofthirty days on the Pacific Ocean to Aca-pulco, the weſtern port of the kingdom ofNew Spain, celebrated by the beauty ofits baſon, which appears to have been cutout in the granite rocks by the violence ofearthquakes; celebrated alſo by thewretchedneſs of its inhabitants, who ſeethere millions of piaſtres embarked for thePhilippines and China; and unfortunatelycelebrated by a climate as ſcorching asmortal.
M. Humboldt intended at firſt to ſtayonly a few months in Mexico, and tohaſten his return to Europe; his travelshad already been too long; the inſtru-ments, and particularly the time-keepers,
|Spaltenumbruch| began to be gradually deranged; and allthe efforts he had made to get new oneshad proved fruitleſs. Beſides, the pro-greſs of the ſciences in Europe is ſo rapid,that in travels of more than four years atraveller may ſee certain phenomena underpoints of view which are no longer inte-reſting when his labours are preſented tothe public.
M. Humboldt flattered himſelf with thehope of being in England in the months ofAuguſt or September 1803; but the at-traction of a country ſo beautiful and ſovariegated as the kingdom of New Spain,the great hoſpitality of its inhabitants, andthe dread of the yellow-fever at VeraCruz, which cuts off almoſt all thoſe whobetween the months of June and Octobercome down from the mountains, inducedhim to defer his departure till the middleof winter. After having occupied hisattention with plants, the ſtate of the air,the hourly variations of the barometer,the phenomena of the magnet, and, inparticular, the longitude of Acapulco, aport in which two able aſtronomers,Meſſrs. Eſpinoſa and Galeano, had beforemade obſervations, our travellers ſet out forMexico. They aſcended gradually fromthe ſcorching valleys of Meſcala and Pa-pagayo, where the thermometer in theſhade ſtood at 32° of Reaumur, andwhere they paſſed the river on the fruit ofthe creſcentia pinnata, bound together byropes of agave, to the high table lands ofChilpantzingo, Tehuilotepec, and Taſco.
At theſe heights of ſix or ſeven hun-dred toiſes above the level of the ſea, inconſequence of the mildneſs and coolneſsof the climate, the oak, cypreſs, fir, andfern, begin to be ſeen, together with thekinds of grain cultivated in Europe.
Having ſpent ſome time in the mines ofTaſco, the oldeſt and formerly the richeſtin the kingdom, and having ſtudied thenature of thoſe ſilvery veins which paſsfrom the hard calcareous rock to mica-ceous ſchiſt, and incloſe foliaceous gyp-ſum, they aſcended, by Cuernaraca andthe cold regions of Guchilaqua, to the ca-pital of Mexico. This city, which has150,000 inhabitants, and ſtands on theſite of the old Tenochtitlan, between thelakes of Tezcuco and Xochimilo, whichhave decreaſed in ſize ſince the Spaniards,to leſſen the danger of inundations, haveopened the mountains of Sincoc, is inter-ſected by broad ſtraight ſtreets. It ſtandsin ſight of two ſnowy mountains, one ofwhich is named Popocatepec; and of avolcano ſtill burning; and, at the heightof 1160 toiſes, enjoys a temperate and
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|Spaltenumbruch| agreeable climate: it is ſurrounded by ca-nals, walks bordered with trees, a multi-tude of Indian hamlets, and withoutdoubt may be compared to the fineſt citiesof Europe. It is diſtinguiſhed alſo byits large ſcientific eſtabliſhments, whichmay vie with ſeveral of the old continent,and to which there are none ſimilar in thenew.
The botanical garden, directed by thatexcellent botaniſt M. Cervantes; the ex-pedition of M. Seſſe, who is accompaniedby able draftſmen, and whoſe object is toacquire a knowledge of the plants of Mex-ico; the School of Mines, eſtabliſhed bythe liberality of the corps of miners andby the creative genius of M. d’Elhuyar;and the Academy of Painting, Engraving,and Sculpture; all tend to diffuſe taſteand knowledge in a country, the riches ofwhich ſeem to oppoſe intellectual cul-ture.
With inſtruments taken from the excel-lent collection of the School of Mines,M. Humboldt determined the longitudeof Mexico, in which there was an errorof nearly two degrees, as has been con-firmed by correſponding obſervations ofthe ſatellites made at the Havannah.
After a ſtay of ſome months in that ca-pital, our travellers viſited the celebratedmines of Moran and Real-del-Monte,where the vein of La Biſcayna has givenmillions of piaſtres to the Counts De Re-gla; they examined the obſidian ſtones ofOyamel, which form ſtrata in the pearl-ſtone and porphyry, and ſerved as knivesto the ancient Mexicans. The whole ofthis country, filled with baſaltes, amyg-daloids, and calcareous and ſecondaryformations, from the large cavern ofDanto, traverſed by a river to the porphy-ritic rocks of Actopan, preſents pheno-mena intereſting to the geologiſt, whichhave been already examined by M. delRio, the pupil of Werner, and one of themoſt learned mineralogiſts of the preſentday.
On their return from their excurſion toMoran in July 1803, they undertook an-other to the northern part of the kingdom.At firſt they directed their reſearches toHuehuetoca, where, at the expence ofſix millions of piaſtres, an aperture hasbeen formed in the mountain of Sincoc todrain off the waters from the valley ofMexico to the river Montezuma. Theythen paſſed Queretaro, by Salamanca andthe fertile plains of Yrapuaro, to Gua-naxuato, a town which contains 50,000inhabitants: it is ſituated in a narrow de-file, and celebrated by its mines, which
|Spaltenumbruch| are of far greater conſequence than thoſeof Potoſi.
The mine of Count de Valenciana,which has given birth to a conſiderabletown on a hill which thirty years agoſcarcely afforded paſture to goats, is alrea-dy 1840 feet in perpendicular depth. Itis the deepeſt and richeſt in the world;the annual profit of the proprietors havingnever been leſs than three millions oflivres, and it ſometimes amounts to fiveor ſix.
After two months employed in mea-ſurements and geological reſearches, andafter having examined the thermal watersof Comagillas, the temperature of whichis 11° of Reaumur higher than thoſe ofthe Philippine iſlands, which Sonnerat
conſiders as the hotteſt in the word, ourtravellers proceeded through the valley ofSt. Jago, where they thought they ſaw inſeveral lakes at the ſummits of the baſal-tic mountains ſo many craters of burnt-out volcanoes, to Valladolid, the capital ofthe ancient kingdom of Michoacan.—They thence deſcended, notwithſtandingthe continual autumnal rains, by Patz-quaro, ſituated on the margin of a veryextenſive lake towards the coaſt of the Pa-cific Ocean, to the plains of Jorullo,where, in the courſe of one night in 1759,during one of the greateſt convulſionswhich the globe ever experienced, thereiſſued from the earth a volcano 1494 feetin height, ſurrounded by more than 2000mouths ſtill emitting ſmoke. They de-ſcended into the burning crater of thegreat volcano to the perpendicular depthof 258 feet, jumping over fiſſures whichexhaled flaming ſulphurated hydrogen gas.After great danger, ariſing from the brit-tleneſs of the baſaltic and ſienitic lava,they reached nearly the bottom of the cra-ter, and analyſed the air in it, which wasfound to be ſurcharged in an extraordi-nary manner with carbonic acid.
From the kingdom of Michoacan, oneof the moſt agreeable and moſt fertilecountries in the Indies, they returned toMexico by the high table-land of Tolucca,in which they meaſured the ſnowy moun-tain of the ſame name, aſcending to itshigheſt ſummit, the peak of Fraide,which riſes 2364 toiſes above the level ofthe ſea. They viſited alſo at Tolucca thefamous hand-tree, the cheiranthoſtæmon ofM. Cervantes, a genus which preſents a phe-nomenon almoſt unique,—that of therebeing only one individual of it, whichhas exiſted ſince the remoteſt antiquity.
On their return to the capital of Mexico,they remained there ſeveral months to ar-
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|Spaltenumbruch| range their herbals, abundant in grami-neous plants, and their geological collec-tions; to calculate their barometric andtrigonometrical meaſurements performedin the courſe of that year; and in parti-cular to make fair drawings of the geo-logical Atlas, which M. Humboldt pro-poſes to publiſh.
Their return furniſhed them alſo withan opportunity of aſſiſting at the erectionof the coloſſal equeſtrian ſtatue of theKing, which one artiſt, M. Tolſa, over-coming difficulties of which a proper ideacannot be formed in Europe, modelled,caſt, and erected on a very high pedeſtal:it is wrought in the ſimpleſt ſtyle, andwould be an ornament in the fineſt capi-tals in Europe.
In January 1804 our travellers leftMexico to explore the eaſtern declivity ofthe cordillera of New Spain: they mea-ſured geometrically the two volcanoes ofPuebla, Popocatepec, and Itzaccihuatl.—According to a fabulous tradition, DiegoOrdaz entered the inacceſſible crater of theformer, ſuſpended by ropes, in order tocollect ſulphur, which may be found everywhere in the plains.
M. Humboldt diſcovered that the vol-cano of Popocatepec, on which M. Son-nenſchmidt, a zealous mineralogiſt, hadthe courage to aſcend 2557 toiſes, is higherthan the peak of Orizaba, which has hi-therto been conſidered the higheſt coloſſusof the country of Anahuac. He meaſuredalſo the great pyramid of Cholula, a my-ſterious work conſtructed of unbaked brickby the Tultequas, and from the ſummit ofwhich there is a moſt beautiful viewover the ſnowy ſummits and ſmilingplains of Tlaxcala.
After theſe reſearches they deſcendedby Perote to Xalapa, a town ſituated atthe height of 674 toiſes above the level ofthe ſea, at a mean height at which the in-habitants enjoy the fruits of all climates,and a temperature equally mild and bene-ficial to the health of man. It was herethat, by the kindneſs of Mr. ThomasMurphy, a reſpectable individual, who toa large fortune adds a taſte for the ſci-ences, our travellers found every facilityimaginable for performing their operationsin the neighbouring mountains.
The level of the horrid road whichleads from Xalapa to Perote, through al-moſt impenetrable foreſts of oaks and firs,and which has begun to be converted intoa magnificent cauſeway, was three timestaken with the barometer. M. Humboldt,notwithſtanding the quantity of ſnowwhich had fallen the evening before,
|Spaltenumbruch| aſcended to the ſummit of the famousCofre, which is 162 toiſes higher thanthe Peak of Teneriffe, and fixed its poſi-tion by direct obſervations. He meaſur-ed alſo trigonometrically the Peak of Ori-zava, which the Indians call Sitlalteptl,becauſe the luminous exhalations of itscrater reſemble at a diſtance a falling ſtar,and reſpecting the longitude of which M.
Ferrer publiſhed very exact obſervations.
After an intereſting reſidence in theſecountries, where, under the ſhade of the
liquidambar and amyris, are
found grow-ing the epidendrum vanilla
and convolvu-lus jalappa, two
productions equally va-luable for exportation, our travellers
de-ſcended towards the coaſt of Vera Cruz,ſituated between hills of ſhifting
ſand,the reverberation of which cauſes a
ſuffo-cating heat; but happily eſcaped the
yel-low-fever, which prevailed there at thattime.
They proceeded in a Spaniſh frigate tothe Havannah to get
the collections andherbals left there in 1800, and, after a
ſtayof two months, embarked for the UnitedStates: but they were expoſed to greatdanger in the channel of the Bahamas
froma hurricane which laſted ſeven days.
After a paſſage of thirty-two days theyarrived at Philadelphia; remained in thatcity and in Waſhington two months; andreturned to Europe in Auguſt 1804, bythe way of Bourdeaux, with a great num-ber of drawings, thirty-five boxes of col-lections, and 6000 ſpecies of plants.
account of the travels between the tropics of messrs. humboldt and bonpland, in 1799, 1800, 1801,1802, 1803, and 1804. By j. c. de-lametherie.
account of the travels between the tropics of messrs. humboldt and bonpland, in 1799, 1800, 1801,1802, 1803, and 1804. By j. c. de-lametherie.
account of the travels between the tropics of messrs. humboldt and bonpland, in 1799, 1800, 1801,1802, 1803, and 1804. By j. c. de-lametherie. (Concluded from page 17 of our laſt Number.)