1838.3 



Progress of Geography in 1836-7. 



461 



ject; one from the pen of Captain Vetch, R. E., who spent many years 

 there— the other by Dr. Von Martins, inserted in the Transactions of 

 the Academy of Sciences at Munich : the latter seems to be of opinion 

 that a nation of Toltecs never existed, but that it was a name applied 

 to the Astecs, who erected the pyramids of Cholula, &c., Toltec, Dr. 

 Von Martins says, signifying * builder.* 



Herr Carl Nebel, of Hamburg, has just completed the twelveNum- 

 bers, containing his voyage to Mexico, beautifully illustrated; and now 

 that there is no longer any difficulty in travelling there it may be 

 hoped that some of our many wandering countrymen will turn their 

 steps to Mexico, where are yet many discoveries to be made, and 

 particularly with regard to that interesting subject, the migration of 

 nations,— and thus complete the work that Humboldt has so well 

 begun. 



Central America. — The eastern shores of this country have just 

 been accurately surveyed by Captain Owen, R. N. Commencing at 

 Cape Catoche, the north-eastern point of Yucatan, the survey has 

 been continued down the coast of Honduras, and along the Poyais 

 shore, to Cape Gracias a Dios, and from thence to the southward as far 

 as the Rio San Juan. But Captain Owen's skill and resources have 

 not been confined to that shore;— they have new-modelled the charts 

 of that most intricate group, the Bahama Isles ; he has corrected nu- 

 merous errors in those of Jamaica, Haiti, and Cuba, and after minutely 

 examining the bank of Demerara, he surveyed that river for 200 miles 

 from its mouth. On the western shores a survey is carrying on 

 under Captain Belcher, R, N., whose present ground is between the 

 Gulfs of Panama and California ; bat he will ultimately unite the sur- 

 veys of Captain Fitz Roy to the discoveries of Vancouver and Bee- 

 chey; and thus will the British government present to the mariner 

 and geographer the noble gift of a correct and uniform representation 

 of the whole western coast of America from Cape Horn to Behring's 

 Straits, comprising a space of upwards of 9000 miles. Of the interior 

 we have some routes of travellers, &c. ; and a general memoir on the 

 country, by Colonel Galindo, will be found in the Royal Geographical 

 Society's Journal, vol. vi. 



The ruins of the nameless city, or cities, near Palenque, as also of 

 Itzalan, have been beautifully drawn by Mr. Waldeck, and are now, we 

 are informed, in course of publication at Paris. 



West Indies, — The survey of this archipelago of islands, cays, and 

 shoals, is continued under the direction of the Hydrographic Office, and 



