930 



ANNUAL REGISTER, 1809. 



on the west side of tlie Andes, they 

 perceived with transport the Pacific 

 Ocean, and pursuing their course 

 along its naked and barren shores, 

 the temperature of the air being 

 only, in the present month of Oc- 

 tober, seventy, and that of the 

 water, sixty-one degrees, arrived 

 at Lima, the capital of the vice- 

 royalty of Peru. 



In Linua, Humboldt remained 

 some months, delighted with the 

 vivacity and intelligence of the in- 

 habitants. At theportof Callao he 

 had the good fortune to observe the 

 emersion of the transit of Mercury 

 over thedisk of thesun. From Lima 

 our travellers were sent by sea to 

 Guyaquil, and from thence in a fri- 

 gate to Acapulco, in the kingdom of 

 New Spain. They found the in- 

 habitants of this country suffering 

 and unhappy under an insalubrious 

 and sultry climate. But various 

 circumstances obliged ihem to tar- 

 ry there for a whole year. In 

 April, 1803, they made an excur- 

 sion from Acapulco to Tasco, fa- 

 mous for its mines, in a country 

 clad with oak, fir, and ash, and 

 producing abundanceof both barley 

 and wheat, at the height of 6,000 

 feet above the level of the sea. In a 

 few days thereafter they arrived at 

 the famous and opulent city of 

 Mexico* The lakes between which 

 Mexico has been built, have de- 

 creased in a very remarkable man- 

 ner since the Spaniards have drain- 

 ed the adjacent land and opened 

 the canal of Huchue. It is sur- 

 rounded with alleys of trees, where 

 ihere is a number of Indian vil- 

 lages. Mexico, situate at the 

 height of Tj^TS feet above the 

 level of the sea, and at some dis- 

 tance two mountains covered with 

 everlasting snow, enjoys a tem- 



perate climate ; its mean tempe- 

 rature being no more than sixty- 

 two degrees of Fahrenheit. 



Humboldt and his companions 

 visited a great number of mines in 

 the kingdom of Mexico. In the 

 plains of Malpays they had the 

 courage to descend to the very 

 bottom of the crater of the great 

 volcano of Torallo, from whence 

 they carried away some specimens 

 of its volcanic productions. The 

 travels of our philosophers now 

 drew towards a close. They de- 

 parted early in ISO-tfrom Mexico, 

 and in their way to Vera Cruz vi- 

 sited several burning mountains, 

 the crater of one of which was 

 17,736 feet above the sea. At 

 Vera Cruz they set sail for the 

 Havannah ; from whence they set 

 sail, in the month of July, for 

 Philadelphia. After sojourning 

 for some time in the United States, 

 they crossed the Atlantic, and ar- 

 rived safely in France, after sis 

 years spent in travels the most use- 

 ful and satisfactory, but at the 

 same time full of fatigues, dangers, 

 and anxieties of every kind. 



In the course of his travels, baron 

 Humboldt makes a variety of inge- 

 nious and important observations, 

 among which are the following: 



" In the genial climes of the 

 south. Nature has poured forth her 

 productions in rich variety and 

 splendid profusion. Here is the 

 reign of eternal spring, and flowers 

 and fruits cluster the boughs in 

 constant succession. Nothing can 

 exceed the beauty and grandeur 

 of the forests within the torrid 

 zone. Thick intermingled trees, 

 of majestic port and each varied 

 hue, rear their lofty heads, crown- 

 ed with odoriferous flowers, and 

 spreading with umbrageous and re- 

 splendent 



