106 SKETCH OF THE LIFE AND ACHIEVEMENTS 



Negro, and of confirming its existence, which 

 had been for half a century both asserted 

 and denied. Baron Humboldt's experience in 

 these regions was of the greatest importance, 

 for the purpose of rectifying the mistakes of 

 existing maps. 



Humboldt's feelings in sight of this region, 

 in close approximation to the equator, are best 

 expressed in his own words : " In these interior 

 parts of America we become almost accustomed 

 to regard man as something non-essential in 

 the order of nature. The earth is overburdened 

 by a vegetation unrestrained in its process of 

 development. Immense banks testify to the con- 

 tinual operations of organic forces; the crocodile 

 and the boa rule the rivers ; the jackal and 

 other wild beasts rove without fear or danger 

 through the forests. The sight of a luxuriant 

 nature, in which man is nothing in comparison, 

 is strange and saddening. Here, in a most 

 fertile region, ever green, one searches in vain 

 for traces of human activity, and believes oneself 

 to be in a different world. These impressions 

 become fortified in proportion to their duration." 



Baron Humboldt visited the various Roman 

 Catholic missions which are here dispersed ; 

 amongst others Maroa, and the still more 

 southern fortress St. Carlos the extreme 



