LKSSONS IN OKOORAI'IIV. 



237 



:i:i.l intonating; BO tlmt in no portion of tin- globe have greater 



< lu-.-n mini.' in tin- knowledge of physics Mid geography, 



mid i.i' :ill Hi.- MMi'iicr.-i connected with them. Botanical geo- 



. may, in fact, be said to hare originated with Baron von 

 H mill. ol.lt. If to this wo add that tho aulhor of ti 

 in In Nature " Htudk'il tho count ri.-i in wlii<-h In- travelled both 

 in an economical and political point of view, his merit OH a 

 i ill.- traveller stands unrivalled. 



i ruvolH of La Condamine in Pern and on the river Amazon ; 

 of Smith oiid Maw, on the aamo river ; of Messrs. Spix, Martins, 

 nn.l Augnate St Hiloire, in Brazil; of Don Felix A/am, in 

 Paraguay; of Captains Kin? and Fitzroy, in Patagonia and 

 Tirrra del Fuego ; of M. Stephonaon, in Chili and Peru; of M. 

 < !:iy, in Chili ; and of M. Schomberg, in Guiana, have all con- 

 tributed to the perfection of our knowledge of tho geography, 

 tho productions, the geology, and the population of South Amo- 



Among these later travellers must bo mentioned M. A. 

 d'Orbigny, a learned French geologist, who, in 1826, after a 

 sojourn of seven months at Buenos Ayres, ascended the Parana 



tone, some of which weigh eighty ton*. The great gate* are 

 each composed of one single mass; and that* are eoloessi 

 image* rudely sculptured, showing that at a very early period 

 there most have been some communication between the Old 

 World and the New. The traveller above mentioned than visited 

 in roooession the cities of Cochabamba and of Santa Cruz da 

 ra; oonrageonsly penetrated into the province of the 

 ('hi'juitos, which he surveyed in every direction to the river 

 Paraguay and the Brazilian province of Matto-0 rosso; noted the 

 manners of the GnarayoK, a tribe still entirely savage; traversed 

 tho province of the Mozos, to the north-cant of Upper Pern; 

 passed some time in tho forests inhabited by the Yuraoares) 

 Indians ; discovered the points of discharge of the Bio Bcni and 

 Bio Mamon', tributaries to the Amazon ; returned to 



Cm/.; visited Potosi, the city of inexhaustible mines; and finally 

 sailed for France from the coast of Peru. This mnarkabU 

 expedition lasted for tho space of eight years, and produced 

 valuable results for the geographer, tho natural historian, and 

 the geologist. 



OTAHEITE OR TAHITI, TIIE " GEM OF THE PACIFIC." 



as far as 1,000 miles from its mouth, travelled over the province 

 of Corrientes, and other ports of the Argentine Confederation, 

 visited the hordes of savages which people tho Grand-Choco, and 

 returned to a civilised territory, passing through the provinces 

 of Entre-Bios and Santo-Fe. He then travelled into Patagonia, 

 ascended the Bio Negro, and sojourned eight months in that 

 country amongst the stalwart savages, whose Herculean forms 

 and size had been described with so much exaggeration by 

 Pigalotta, Drake,' Sarmiento, Lemaire, Byron, Bougainville, and 

 many other navigators. This intrepid naturalist then proceeded 

 to Chili, having doubled Capo Horn and reached Bolivia, some- 

 times called Upper Porn, of which he explored the western 

 region, rendered so remarkable by the labours of the ancient 

 Quichuos. He ascended the summits of the Andes, and on his 

 reaching the opposite sides of these amazing heights, beheld a 

 jiagnificent panorama of snowy peaks, and of immense chains 

 of mountains. He at lost reached the vast table-land on which 

 is situated tho great Lake of Titicaca, 150 miles long, rendered 

 so famous by the Temple of the Sun, built by the Incas, on an 

 island in its centre. At tho village of Tiahuanaou, near tho 

 banks of this lake, are also to be seen the remains of the 

 stupendous palace erected by tho ancient Peruvians. The 

 interior courts, 360 feet square, are built of enormous blocks of 



From tho extremity of South America lot us pass on to the 

 regions which surround the Antarctic pole. There we see navi- 

 gators of all nations braving tho storms and the icebergs of 

 those seas which are covered with everlasting mists, in order to 

 enrich geography with important observations and discoveries. 

 After the immortal name of Cook, come those of William South 

 (1818), of Lieutenant Barnsfield, of the Bussian officers Belling. 

 hausen and Lazareff (1819), of Botwell (1820), of Weddell and 

 Palmer (1822), of Biscoe (1830), and of Balleny (1839). It is to 

 these navigators, some commissioned by the government of tho 

 nations to which they belonged, and others who were simply 

 whalers or seal-catchers, that we owe the successive discoveries 

 of New South Shetland, the South Orkneys, Palmer Land, 

 Trinity Land, the islands of Peter and Alexander, Enderby Lacd, 

 Adelie Land, Graham Land, and the islands of Biscoe and 

 Balleny. Three voyages in the southern oircnmpolar seas those 

 of Dumont d'Urville, of Captain James Clarke Boss, and of the 

 American Commodore Wilkea deserve particular notice. The 

 French expedition, under the command of Captain Dumont 

 d'Urville, after a careful exploration of the Strait of Magellan, 

 proceeded in 1838 towards tho icy regions, and was stopped by 

 an iceberg in latitude 64 S. The two vessels endeavoured to 

 overcome the obstacles which opposed their progress, but they 



