GEOGEAPHICAL EXPLORATIONS. 



433 



suits of Ms explorations in 1863, in the Zeit- 

 schriftfur Erdkunde. A New Granadian, Setter 

 Samper, has also, during the past year, pub- 

 lished an excellent and very complete treatise 

 on the geography of the country, under the 

 title of Eiuayosobre las Republican Colombianos. 

 Ecuador was visited in 1862 by three English 

 geographers, who explored different portions 

 of it, and published their observations in 1863. 

 Mr. Jameson, setting out from Quito, visited 

 Mount Cayaruba; Mr. Kichard Spruce visited 

 the region lying southeast of Quito; and Mr. 

 James Wilson made a geological and geograph- 

 ical tour through Esmeraldas, a province which 

 he regards as destined to become of great com- 

 mercial importance if it can only be provided 

 with tolerable roads. The Ecuadorian Govern- 

 ment has undertaken to build a road connect- 

 ing the city of Esmeraldas with Quito. This 

 province was once famous for the beautiful 

 emeralds found there, and Mr. "Wilson is satis- 

 fied that the supply is still far from being ex- 

 hausted, although very few are now brought 

 into market. It is also a fine cotton country. 



Venezuela has been, during the past year, as 

 for most of its independent history, torn by in- 

 ternal convulsions and revolutions, which al- 

 most prohibit any material or commercial pro- 

 gress. Under a strong, wise, and good govern- 

 ment, it could hardly fail to take a high posi- 

 tion among the South American States, from 

 its great mineral and agricultural resources. 

 Dr. Plassard, a French geologist, discovered in 

 1862 valuable and extensive gold deposits in 

 Tupuquen, and his account of them has led to a 

 considerable emigration thither. 



In Guiana a joint French and Dutch scien- 

 tific expedition was engaged in 1861 and 1862 

 in exploring the basin of the Maroni river, 

 which forms the boundary between French and 

 Dutch Guiana, and in tracing the course of its 

 two principal affluents, the Awa and the Tapa- 

 nahoni ; MM. Vidal and Rech, the French mem- 

 bers of the expedition, published in 1863, in the 

 Revue Maritime et Coloniale, an extended ac- 

 count of the results of their explorations, with 

 a map of the river basin. They describe the 

 country as very rich in agricultural promise, 

 producing in great abundance tapioca, rice, 

 sweet potatoes, maize, sugar cane, cotton, to- 

 bacco, all kinds of leguminous plants and fruits, 

 and rare and valuable woods for timber, and 

 for cabinet purposes, which are fully described 

 by M. Rech, who was the naturalist of the ex- 

 pedition. M. Rech also gives an interesting 

 account of the native tribes whom he found 

 there, the principal of whom were the Ron- 

 couyenes, a mild and gentle race of Indians, 

 and also of the Maroons, mixed races, Indian 

 and negro, known as the Yucas, and the Bonis, 

 who inhabit a part of the river basin. The new 

 governor of French Giuana, M. de Montravel, 

 in his report to the French Government, an- 

 nounces that the sea-island cotton is thoroughly 

 acclimated there, and that its culture had been 

 commenced on a grand scale. Mr. Bollilrt, the 

 VOL. in. 28 A 



eminent naturalist, who has devoted great at- 

 tention to the ethnology, geography, and his- 

 tory of the South American States, has edited 

 for the Hakluyt Society, the past year, a nar- 

 rative of an expedition to Guiana, undertaken 

 in 1560 and 1561 by Pedro de Ursua and Lopez 

 de Aguirre, in search of the El Dorado, so of- 

 ten sought by the early Spanish and Portuguese 

 navigators. 



Brazil, though possessing a larger amount of 

 unexplored territory than any other South 

 American State, is more advanced in its in- 

 tellectual condition, and is doing more to de- 

 velop its own wild regions, and to ascertain 

 their capacities and products, than any other 

 country in South America. It has an active 

 Geographical Society at Rio Janeiro, and its 

 Revista Trimensal, a quarterly scientific review, 

 conducted by the Imperial Institute, devotes 

 special attention to geographical discovery and 

 exploration in Brazil. The Emperor, who is 

 himself one of the most accomplished physi- 

 cists in the empire, gives special encourage- 

 ment to this department of science. As'a con- 

 sequence of this encouragement, geographical 

 explorations have been very numerous of late 

 years in Brazil. The narratives of five have 

 been published in 1863, viz. : " a Description of 

 Brazil," by the eminent traveller Baril de la 

 Hure ; " An Account of the Indians of Matto 

 Grosso," by Dr. Moore; "Report upon the 

 Prince of Parana," by Senor Vereker; "Fred. 

 Gerstaecker's Narrative of the Condition and 

 History of the German Colonies in the South 

 of Brazil, as well as of those in Peru and Chili ; " 

 and " A Description of the Province of Minas 

 Geraes," by Dr. Von Tschudi, with a map by 

 Messrs. Halfeld and Fred. Wagner, published as 

 a supplement of Petermann's Mittheilungen. 



The Argentine Confederation, though engaged 

 in war with Buenos Ayres for a portion of the 

 year, has with the recurrence of peace set itself 

 to the work of developing more fully its re- 

 sources. In the early summer of 1863 it sent a 

 scientific expedition up theVermejo river, one of 

 the principal branches of the Parana, to examine 

 its capacity for navigation, and the advantages 

 of the districts which it drains for commercial 

 enterprise. One of the members of the expe- 

 dition, Mr. Porter C. Bliss, a citizen of the 

 United States, and for several years an atten- 

 tive observer of the manners, habits, and cus- 

 toms of our North American Indians, was spe- 

 cially charged with the investigations concern- 

 ing the Indians of the Upper Vermejo. Mr. Bliss 

 returned to Buenos Ayres in the latter part of 

 September, and brought with him ample notes 

 in regard to these tribes, and the adaptation of 

 the country to immigrants. His narrative of 

 his expedition has not yet been published. 



Uruguay has recently completed a census, 

 though like that of most of the South American 

 States, it makes no great pretensions to ac- 

 curacy. The number of inhabitants is stated at 

 350,000, distributed in 13 departments or prov- 

 inces. The population of the capital, Monte- 



