472 
EXftOSlONS OF VAl'OUK. 
caybo. It throws up asphaltum, and is said to emit gaseous 
emanations, which ignite spontaneously, and are seen at a 
great distance. 
These are the springs of petroleum and of thermal waters, 
the igneous meteors, and the ejections of muddy substances 
attended with explosions, of which 1 acquired a knowledge 
in the vast provinces of Venezuela, whilst travelling over a 
space of two hundred leagues from east to west. These 
various phenomena have occasioned great excitement among 
the inhabitants since the catastrophes of 1797 and 1812 : 
yet they present nothing which constitutes a volcano, in the 
sense hitherto attributed to that word. If the apertures, 
which throw up vapours and water with violent noise, be 
sometimes called volcancitos, it is only by such ot the inha- 
bitants as persuade themselves that volcanos must necessa- 
rily exist in countries so frequently exposed to earthquakes. 
Advancing from the burning crater of St. Vincent in the 
directions of south, west and south-west, first by the chain 
of the Caribbee Islands, then by the littoral chain of 
Cumana and Venezuela, and finally by the Cordilleras of 
New Grenada, along a distance of three hundred and eighty 
leagues, we find no active volcano before we arrive at Purace, 
near Popayan. The total absence of apertures, through 
which melted substances can issue, in that part ot the con- 
tinent, which stretches eastward of the Cordillera of the 
Andes, and eastward of the Kocky Mountains, is a most 
remarkable geological fact. 
In this chapter we have examined the great commotions 
which from time to time convulse the stony crust of the 
globe, and scatter desolation in regions favoured by the 
most precious gifts of nature. An uninterrupted calm pre- 
vails in the upper atmosphere ; but, to use an expression of 
Franklin, more ingenious than accurate, thunder often rolls 
in the subterranean atmosphere , amidst that mixture of 
elastic fluids, the impetuous movements of which are fre- 
quently felt at the surface of the earth. The destruction 
of so many populous cities presents a picture of the greatest 
calamities which afflict mankind. A people struggling for 
independence are suddenly exposed to the want of sub- 
sistence, and of all the necessaries of life. Famished and 
without shelter, the inhabitants are dispersed through the 
