293 



AMERICA. 



AMERICA. 



294 



Amazonas, a part of one of the branches of which they descended, 

 having entered it at a point considerably higher than that where De 

 la Condamine had begun his voyage. From Lima they went by sea 

 to Guayaquil, and thence in the same manner to Acapulco in Mexico. 

 The examination of the town and vicinity of Mexico and the other 

 parts of that interesting region concluded their researches in America, 

 in the course of which, besides large and important accessions to 

 natural history, antiquities, and various other branches of knowledge, 

 the geographical positions determined amounted to nearly seven 

 hundred. 



In 1817, when the Archduchess of Austria was married to Don 

 Pedro, then Crown Prince of Brazil, Dr. Joh. Bapt. Von Spix, and Dr. 

 C. F. Phil. Von Martius, were sent out in the train of the princess by 

 the King of Bavaria, with instructions to explore some portion of that 

 region of South America. Having landed at Rio de Janeiro, these 

 travellers, after some time, proceeded to the city of San-Paulo, from 

 which they directed their course northward to Villa-Rica, having 

 visited on the way the royal iron-foundries at San-Joao de Ypanema. 

 From Villa-Rica they made an excursion to the Coroados Indians on 

 the Rio XipoW, and also ascended the mountain of Itacolumi in the 

 neighbourhood of the town. They then, after some other excursions, 

 went to the Island of St. Louis, and there putting on board ship, 

 arrived after a voyage of six days at Para, near the mouth of the 

 Amazonas. From this point they travelled along the bank of the 

 river as far as to Pauxis, 500 miles up the country ; from whence, 

 pursuing their route in the same direction, they at length reached the 

 mouth of the Rio Negro. Martius then proceeded up the Japura till 

 he reached the base of the mountain Arascoara ; while Spix, following 

 the main stream, crossed successively the Jurua, the Jutai, and the 

 lea or Patumayo, and penetrated to Tabatinga, the last Portuguese 

 settlement, at the mouth of the Yavari. On meeting again, the two 

 returned together down the Amazonas to Para. Spix and Martius 

 brought home extensive and valuable collections in natural history, 

 which have been deposited in a building at Munich, called the Brazilian 

 Museum, erected expressly for their reception. 



Not long after these important journeys three European travellers 

 crossed the whole breadth of South America, from the Pacific to the 

 Atlantic, descending the Amazonas, which was first explored by the 

 intrepid Orellana three centuries ago ; namely, Lieut. Mawe, R. N., in 

 1828 ; Dr. Poppig, in 1831 ; and Lieut. Smith, R.N., in 1834. Of 

 these travellers Poppig added most to our geographical knowledge. 

 He went first to Chili, where he spent two years chiefly in exploring 

 the Andes ; he then sailed to Lima, whence he ascended the high table- 

 land of Pasco, and descended thence by the eastern declivity of the 

 Andes to the valley of the Huanuco or Huallaga, where he remained 

 nearly two years, during which he collected a great deal of information 

 respecting the climate, productions, and geography of that country. 

 From the Huallaga he passed down the river Maranon, and thence 

 returned to Europe, after five years (1827 to 1832) of wandering in 

 the wilds of the New World, laden with 17,000 specimens of dried 

 plants, some hundred stuffed animals, many plants before unknown, 

 3000 descriptions of plants, and many sketches. His work is a moat 

 valuable addition to our knowledge of South America. 



Nearly simultaneously, namely from 1826 to 1833, another extensive 

 journey was accomplished by Alcide d'Orbigny, who travelled through 

 the Banda Oriental, Patagonia, La Plata, Chili, Peru, and Bolivia, and 

 published a very full account with many illustrations. 



More important still are the results of the great Surveying Expe- 

 peditions of the Adventure and Beagle, 1825 to 1836, commanded by 

 captains King, Stokes, and Fitzroy. The extent of the coast-surveys 

 of this expedition has already been alluded to ; and it may be added, 

 that it brought home a greater mass of accurate geographical informa- 

 tion than any expedition since the voyages of Cook and Flinders. 

 Very valuable collections in all departments of natural history were 

 made by Charles Darwin, the naturalist of the expedition. 



During the years 1835 to 1844 Sir Robert Schomburgk explored 

 British Guyana and the country to the west as far as the Orinoco and 

 Cassiqitiari. In reaching the Upper Orinoco he was enabled to connect 

 his observations with those of Humboldt ; and thus was completed a 

 connected series of fixed points, astronomically determined, along a 

 line extending from the Atlantic to the Pacific. One of the most 

 interesting of his discoveries is that of the Victoria Rtyia, the most 

 beautiful specimen of the flora of the western hemisphere, which has 

 <i successfully been brought to Europe, and has been an object of 

 admiration during several years. 



In the same region, and extending over the whole of Venezuela, 

 Cnloni-l Codazzi, by order of the government of that country, has 

 made a complete survey, which is embodied in a valuable work and 

 atlas, executed at Paris. 



Prince Adalbert of Prussia has explored the Xingu and some other 

 rivers and regions in the lower basin of the Amazonas, not before 

 visited by any European. 



In the more southern portion of the continent some interesting 

 observations were made by Mr. Pentland in the elevated regions of the 

 Titicaca Lake in 1827 and 1838. According to these observations the 

 heights of the Sorata and Illimani, situated to the east of the lake, were 

 long given out to be greater than that of Chimborazo, and the highest 

 peaks of the New World, till quite recently it was found by the 



i trigonometrical surveys of M. Pissis, a French engineer, that the 

 alleged elevation of Illimani was about 3000 feet too high ; and Mr. 

 Pentland himself on recalculating his observations admitted this 

 error, and found that the elevation of Sorata had even been assumed 

 by him 4000 feet too high. 



W. Bollaert and G. Smith, who since 1826 had been residing for a 

 considerable time in the province of Tarapaca, Peru, have made \is 

 acquainted with a very remarkable region of South America, a full 

 account of which was published in 1851 by Mr. Bollaert. In it the 

 silver mines of the region along the coast, the Desert of Atacama with 

 its deposits of nitrate of soda, salt, and other saline substances, and 

 the Andes, have been well described. Mount Lirima, the highest 

 peak of that portion of the Andes, is estimated at 24,000 to 25,000 

 feet, which, if correct, would place it above all other American 

 mountains. 



The provinces of La Plata have been well described by Sir Wood- 

 bine Parish, in a work published in 1839, of which a second edition, 

 much enlarged, appeared early in 1852; and the French traveller 

 Castelnau, accompanied by the English naturalist Weddell, has lately 

 explored the little-known regions between the upper course of the 

 Plata and the Peru-Bolivian table-land. 



The Man of America. The native Americans constitute at the 

 present day, by their physical characters not less than by their 

 languages, a race different from those known before the discovery of 

 America. The following general description of them has been given. 

 The natives of this part of the world are, in general, of a robust frame 

 and a well-proportioned figure. Their complexion is of bronze, or 

 reddish-copper hue rusty-coloured, as it were, and nut unlike cinna- 

 mon. Their hair is black, long, coarse, and shining, but not thickly 

 set on the head. Their beard is thin, and grows in tufts. Their 

 forehead is low, and their eyes are lengthened out, with the outer 

 angles turned up towards the temples ; the eyebrows high, the cheek- 

 bones prominent ; the nose a little flattened, but well marked ; the 

 lips extended, and the teeth closely set and pointed. In their mouth 

 there is an expression of sweetness, which forms a contrast with the 

 harsh character of their countenance. Their head is of a square 

 shape, and their face is broad without being flat, and tapers towards 

 the chin. Their features viewed in profile are prominent and deeply 

 sculptured. They have a high chest, massy thighs, and arched legs 

 their feet are generally large, though some have been noticed to have 

 small feet and hands, and their whole body ia squat and thick-set. 

 Though the shape of the forehead and of the vertex frequently 

 depends on artificial means, yet, independently of the custom which 

 prevails amongst them of disfiguring the heads of infants, there is no 

 other people in the world in whom the frontal bone is so much flat- 

 tened above ; and, generally speaking, the skull is light. Such are 

 said to be the general characteristics of all the nations of America, 

 with the exception perhaps of those who occupy its two extremities. 

 The Esquimaux, according to former statements, are below the middle 

 stature ; but recent arctic travellers describe them as rather tall. The 

 Abipones, it is said, and still more especially the Patagonians, exceed 

 the ordinary height. This muscular constitution, with a tall figure, 

 is in some degrte met with among the natives of Chili, as well as the 

 Caribbeans on the banks of the Caroni, a tributary of the Orinoco, 

 and amongst the Arkansas, who are esteemed the handsomest natives 

 of this continent. 



The copper or bronze hue of the skin is, with some slight excep- 

 tions, common to almost all the nations of America ; upon which the 

 climate, the situation, or the mode of living, appear not to exercise 

 the slightest influence. Some of the tribes in Guyana are described 

 as nearly black, though easily distinguished from the negro. The 

 colour of the natives of Brazil and of California is deep, although the 

 latter inhabit the temperate zone, and the former live near the tropir-. 

 The natives of New Spain are darker than the Indians of Quito and 

 New Granada, who inhabit a precisely analogous climate. The natives 

 dispersed to the north of the Rio Gola are darker than those that 

 border on the kingdom of Guatemala. The Indians who, in the torrid 

 zone, inhabit the most elevated table-land of the Cordilleras of the 

 Andes, have a complexion as much copper-coloured as those who 

 cultivate the banana under a burning sun, in the narrowest and 

 deepest /alleys of the equinoctial regions. The Indians who inhabit 

 the mountains are clothed, and were so long before the conquest ; 

 while the aborigines that wander on the plains of South America are 

 perfectly or nearly naked, and consequently are always exposed to the 

 vertical rays of the sun. These facts show that the colour of the 

 American depends very little on the local situation which he actually 

 occupies ; and never, in the same individual, are those parts of the 

 body that are constantly covered of a fairer colour than those in 

 contact with the air : the infants, moreover, are never white when 

 they are born. 



It was formerly supposed that the Americans were without beards, 

 and certainly there are many among them who have neither beard nor 

 hair on any part of their person, except the head. But the Indians 

 who inhabit the torrid zone and South America have generally.a small 

 beard which becomes longer by shaving, and among the Patagonians 

 there are many who have beards. One traveller (Mr. Temple) asserts 

 that the Chiriguario Indians of the province of Tarija are beardless, 

 without stating any opinion as to this being natural or the effect oC 



