thehi*> 



AMMCA. 



with the prairie* of the northern continent and 

 of UM Arkansas. The immense plain which stretches 

 of MM town of Buenos Ayres, and runs south into the 

 at PsVig u . appean to the eye like one deed 



wood, without a stone, almost without water, in parts 

 r rut- with thistles taller than a man, in other 

 parti dotted with rich j,is*s. which furnishes food for innumerable 

 hents at wild cattle. The enormous pampas of Patagonia, Buenos 

 Ayres, and lh* more northern province ot Tuouman, have been stated, 

 e*. to be four times the area of France ; and perhaps the 

 i is not unarm From the mouth of the Rio de la Plata the 

 t at America narrow! southward through SO degree! of 

 the greater pert of it being a country yet little known to 

 Ron about 40' 8. lat the country called Patagonia 



no the east coast Though not without some rivers, it 



_^ (o have none that run far into the interior ; and it is hardly 



probable that it will offer many inducements for the white man to 

 pt to CTtsHbh himself among a warlike race, whoee climate and 

 soil afford no great encouragement to European settlement 



This mighty peninsula of South America, whoee northern limits are 

 warmed by the perpetual heats of the tropics, terminates, like the 

 northern portion of the continent, though in a much lower latitude, 

 in a region generally represented as cold and barren. In summer, 

 however, when the north winds blow, the temperature of the island 

 of Terra del Fuego is moderate ; and in some parts of the Strait of 

 Magalhaaos vegetation is very active. The fuchsia and veronica were 

 found growing in the Strait, in lat 54 8., "and in full flower 

 within a very short distance of the base of a mountain, covered for 

 two-thirds down with snow, and with the temperature at 36 degrees." 

 (Captain King.) But the winds from the south sometimes bring cold 

 even in summer, and the highest mountains, though not more than 

 4000 or 5000 feet above the sea-level, are covered with snow in 

 summer. A race of men inhabit* the island of Terra del Fuogo 

 different from those of the higher continent, whose place in the scale 

 of intellectual power is somewhat analogous to the ungenial nature of 

 the southern parts of their island. 



The immense pampas of Buenos Ayres are said to extend south- 

 ward to the eastern banks of the A neon sin Salida, and the northern 

 shores of the Otway and Skyring waters. For. east of the Ancon sin 

 Salida, and north of the Skyring and Otway waters, no hills are seen ; 

 the general nature of the Patagonian coast, from the Rio de la Plata 

 to the entrance of the Strait of Magalhaens, U comparatively low, and, 

 as far as we know, it bean the general character of the pampas. It 

 is then probable, that from the wide levels of the Orinoco to the 

 Otway water, a man might travel without crossing a single mountain. 

 \'olcanic Action. The phenomena of earthquakes and volcanoes 

 are exhibited in South America with more activity than in any other 

 quarter of the world ; nor is North America free from them, though 

 their sphere of action appears to be perhaps more limited, and their 

 te leas terrible. ~ 



The great earthquake which on March 26, 1812, 

 laid Caracas and La Ouayra in ruins, was felt near New Madrid on 

 the Mississippi, where it* effect* wen only leu disastrous because the 

 place was lees populous. The forest near New Madrid presented for 

 some yean afterwards a singular scene of confusion, the trees 

 standing inclined in every direction, and many having their trunks 

 and branches broken. Then concussions, which are very common 

 boot New Madrid, an felt, it is said, from New Orleans to the 

 oath of the Missouri, and from the settlement* on the Red River 

 and the YTashita to the Fall* of Ohio. They an felt also in the 

 Allegheny system and on the Atlantic slope, though we know of no 

 instance in which any damage has been done. But m South America 

 earthquake* an matters of ordinary occurrence, though we believe 

 they an always within the more immediate sphen of the greater 

 Cordillera* and the detached branch along the northern coast of 

 VenexneU. On the eastern coast of America they seldom occur. It 

 i* asserted that, where thunder and lightning an common in South 

 America, a* at Potosi, earthquake* an unknown ; while at Lima, 

 when thunder and lightning seldom oocur, earthquakes an an ordi- 

 nary oeeuiieoo*. Whether this generalisation is really a safe one 

 may perhaps be doubted, till it is confirmed by further observation. 

 The existing volcanoes an noticed under Alton, MEXICO, &c. 



MM e/ ANN* Amtrin. The climate of South America neoeeaa- 



AMERICA. m 



bough bordering upon the torrid MM, never feels an excessive 

 Agree at heat At Lima the thermometer varies from 81* to 84". 

 >n the eastern part of the continent, namely, Buenos Ayres and 

 Monte Video, the weather U wetter, and in the winter month* U 

 often boisterous and the air cool, whilst in mimnier the heat U very 

 great and the thunder-storms often tremendous. The mean tempera- 

 ore of Terra del Fuego, for the autumnal period of February, 

 March, and April, is 47" ; and for the three following months, the 

 winter period, it u 34*. The extensive pampas produce, in the 

 try season, an effect not unlike that of the arid regions of Africa 

 and the Arabian Desert. In 8. Jago del Estoro, in the province of 

 the same name, a hot wind like the Kamsin has been felt in the 

 summer month of December, which blisters the skin and face, scorches 

 the leaves, and shrivels the bark of tteea. 



Espioratio* of Iht Jntrrior of Soutk America. Much information 

 respecting part* both of the western coast and of the inter!' !.: 

 America, was obtained about the middle of the last century, from the 

 expeditions sent out thither by France and Spain to measure the arc 

 of a meridian. The French expedition was put under the command 

 of Oodin, Bouguer, and De Is Condamine ; and the Spanish, which 

 was to co-operate with it, under that of Don Jorge Juan and Don 

 Antonio de Ulloa. Both left Europe in the spring of 1735, and the 

 ;wo parties met, as had been arranged, at Carthagena in the course of 

 the summer. It was nearly ten years before their return home ; soon 

 after which ample accounts of their operations and of all they had 

 and learned were published in Spanish by Ulloa, and in French 



nly varies with the extent of latitude which the continent traverses. 

 The latitude however is only one of the causes of the variation* of 

 temperature. The extensive and lofty mountain-chain, the highest 

 Pks of which in covered with perpetual enow, and the great height 

 i <* pkteau*. added to the steep descents and great depths of the 

 Uey* that belong to the system of the Andes, necessarily produce a 

 *'r^<>fto a nMratunwithtoBn.Jia*Uiioe. TheAndeehave 

 MM efect on the distribution of rain in South America. The 

 UM eM sn deluged, within the tropics, by the heavy 

 ' n"Dm NoranW to May, but the narrow margin 

 acific Is almost entirely without 

 , >njli , tI\ L ""~" '* *? ***"' "owever, that thin pho- 







to 



"*" * 



"* "i*? * parts when the 

 ' CMi. the uorth.we* wind* 



T B| T!!!' l ?L U " lt ** 0u ~ M 

 Fahrenheit; i. eumnHr, from W 



brim bundance of 

 ri" ta 



to 



winter from 

 Chili also 



roth by Bouguer and De la Condamine. The third edition of Ulloa's 

 tmok, translated into English, was published in London in 1772, with 

 additions by Mr. John Adams of Waltham Abbey, who had resided 

 many years in South America. It was by far the fullest account of 

 the Province of Quito and the neighbouring districts which had then 

 appeared. Ulloa and his companions had visited in person nearly 

 every part of that province ; and they had, besides, been exceedingly 

 industrious in collecting information from all who had any to give. 

 Ulloa, besides crossing the Isthmus of Panama, and exploring the 

 greater part of the coast from Panama down to Conception in Chili, 

 tiad repeatedly made the journey from Guayaquil to Quito, and had 

 traversed in various directions a great part of the country to the 

 south and north-east of that town. 



De la Condamine published an account of the adventures of himself 

 and his associates, first under the title of 'Relation Abre'ge'e d'un 

 Voyage fait dans 1'Inte'rieur de I'Ame'riqxie Me'ridionale,' 8vo., Paris, 

 1745, being the report read before the Academy of Sciences ; and 

 afterwards more at length under the title of ' Journal du Voyage fait 

 par Ordre du Roi a 1'Equateur,' 4to., Paris, 1751. Prefixed to the 

 last-mentioned work is a map of Quito on a large scale, drawn by 

 D'Anville under the direction of the author. In addition to much 

 information respecting the interior of the province of Quito, the 

 French academicians brought home the first complete account that 

 had been given of the course of the Amazonas, which they had 

 descended from Quebrada de Chuchunga to its mouth, a distance of 

 a thousand leagues. They ascertained in particular that this river 

 was connected with the Orinoco by the Rio Negro and one of its 

 affluents a fact till then doubted or denied. [AMAZONAS.] 



But the geography of the upper regions of these two rivers has been 

 recently more completely elucidated by Humboldt and Bonplond, 

 whose examination of this part of South America began in 1799, and 

 did nut terminate till 1804. In these five years, after having examined 

 the coast from Cuuiana to Caracas, and made various excursions in 

 the neighbourhood of both towns, they penetrated across the great 

 plains to the Rio Apure, down which they sailed to its junction with 

 the Orinoco. They then ascended the Orinoco till they reach, 

 village of San-Fernando de Atabipo, at its confluence with tlm 

 Atabipo and the Guaviare, near 4 N. lat From thin point they 

 sailed up the Atabipo to the mouth of the Rio Toini, which latter 

 they ascended as far as to its junction with the Tuamini, anil then to 

 the village of San-Antonia de Javita. Here they were detained for 

 some days till their boat was carried across the land to the Pimichin, 

 a tributary of the Rio Negro. Entering tin 1 I'iniirhin. tln-y ilr." 

 it till <t brought them into the Rio Negro, down u hid; thry nailed till 

 they reached the mission of San-Carlos, a short distance below the 

 mouth of the Cassiquiari channel, by which the Orinoco communicates 

 with the Rio Negro, and through that, as has just been mentioned, 

 ho Amazonas. They afterwards returned up the river to the 

 mouth of the Cassiquiari, along which they proceeded to the point ot 

 its junction with the Orinoco at Esmeralda, having for the first time 

 completely traced the connection between the Amazonas and the 

 latter. From Esmeralda they sailed down the Orinoco to Angostura, 

 thus retracing part of their former voyage, but also following the 

 river over a much larger portion of its course. From Angostura they 

 proceeded acmes the country to New Barcelona on the coast After 



a visit to Cuba they again returned to the continent ; and, having 

 landed at the town of Carthagena, proceeded to the Rio Magdalena, 

 ludi they ascended as far as it was navigable. On leaving tho 

 Magdalen* they pursued their mute to Popayan and Quito, and 

 penetrated southward an far as Lima, in tho course of their jourm y 

 crossing the Cordillera of the Andes not less than five times, and 

 obtaining much new information respecting the upper portions of the 



