332 



TOPOGRAPHY. 



beneficent and heroical, Tucuman, Tarija, &c. will owe the 

 inestimable advantages of this new discovery. Cornejo, in a less 

 extensive field, rivals Columbus in valour and success. We 

 have not to dread that he will encounter the same disappoint- 

 ments : the age is more just, at the same time that men are 

 more accustomed to view heroes near to them, and to hear, 

 without incredulity, and without surprize, the relation of their 

 exploits. 



If we could lay before our readers the MSS. which have 

 served as the basis of this chorographical description, we 

 should be enabled to satisfy them that the geographer can 

 rarely avail himself of documents of equal authenticity. The 

 greater part of them have been drawn up by enlightened indi- 

 viduals, who have surveyed, step by step, every part of the 

 ground, and who know, both intuitively and analytically, the 

 situation and resources of the country. With these premises, 

 we flatter ourselves that the estimable author of the Geogra- 

 phical Di6lionary of America, will not be displeased at the 

 many amplifications and corre6tions this article of his work 

 has been subje6led to. It would have been much more exadl, 

 if to his great theoretical notions, he could have added a still 

 greater share of that pra6tical information which the ancients 

 required of their historians. 



Having examined the province of Chichas y Tarija in 

 whatever relates to its history, local situation, and com- 

 mercial relations, we shall now proceed to touch on a 

 few particulars which refer to its natural history. One of 

 the principal of these is the disease, or furious madness, as it 

 is termed by Dr. Cosme Bueno, which attacks both men and 



beasts, 



