28 Scientific Reviews. 



work ; there are some loose statements on points of science^ and 

 some errors in natural history, as " many black bears are said to 

 infest the neighbourhood of Chachapoya/' (p. 55,) and " tigers are 

 said to grow near to the size of an ox," (p. 274 ;) but as a pioneering 

 excursion down a river, and across a country very little known, it 

 is of so much importance that no collection of travels should be 

 without it. 



The vast cordillera of the Andes gives rise on both acclivities to 

 innumerable streams and rivulets, which, owing to the irregular 

 situation of these chains, are immediately lost in the Paciiic on 

 the one side, but on the other traverse many thousand leagues of a 

 flat country, are enriched in their course by the water of many 

 thousand rivulets and streams, and carry in their bosom the soil of 

 vast uplands, which, deposited near their mouths, leave a few hun- 

 dred square leagues of land rich enough in its own produce to 

 nourish the dispersed population of either of the two Americas, and 

 lay the foundation of a populous and commercial nation. 



The physical character of the southern continent depends upon 

 this geographical distribution of its mountains and rivers. The 

 coast of Peru, and the greater part of the coast of Chili, Mr. Maw, 

 decidedly states to be, with a few exceptions, little more than a 

 waste of rocks, sand, and saltpetre, its sterility proceeding princi- 

 pally from the want of rain, caused by the continued easterly wind, 

 which he supposes to be a continuation of the south-east trades; 

 blowing across the continent of South America, and bringing the 

 clouds to the higher ranges and Cordilleras of the Andes, by 

 which they are broken, and the rain falls before reaching the 

 coast. The exceptions to this sterility are a few occasional valleys,- 

 through which small streams run towards the Pacific, but even in 

 these exceptions there is not that excessive luxuriance which some 

 of their names import. 



On the nature of the Montana, or woody country of the other 

 acclivity, we have already remarked ; and, a little beyond, the con- 

 fluence of rivers already brings a soil rich in vegetation, and har* 

 bouring the snakes and reptiles of abandoned lands, and the varied 

 forms of animal life, which abound in the woods and plains un- 

 tenanted by man. In the same latitudes in South America the de- 

 serts of dry sand, of rock, and clay which occur in Africa, are scarce- 

 ly to be met with, and the same causes that influence vegetation pro- 

 duces its anomalies in the colour and characters of man : the wool- 

 ly hair, thick lip, and deep black colour of the negro, are not met with 

 on the rich banks of the Brazilian and Columbian rivers, nor un- 

 der the shelter of the most gorgeous vegetation in the world. 



The ancient civilization of the Peruvian is gone by — and imper- 

 fect architectural designs, roads of extraordinary length, and min- 

 ing operations at unexampled elevations, attest an infant state of 

 the arts, but a perseverance and industry, not surpassed at the pre- 

 sent day ; and, traditions subsequent to their subjugation, inform 

 us of their riches and their magnificence ; but, in future days, the 



