1805.) | 
month of July they arrived at the port of 
Cumana, in the gulph of Cariaco, a part 
of South America, celebrated by the Ia- 
bours and misfortunes of the indefatigable 
Lofling. In the Courfe of 1799 and 1800 
they vifited the, ‘coaft of Paria, the In- 
dian mifficts of Chaymas, and the pro- 
vince of New Andalufia, one of the Hot. 
teft, but, at the fame time, healthielt, 
countries id the world, though ‘convulfed 
by dreadful and frequent earthquakes. — 
‘They traverfed the provinces of New 
Barcelona, Venezuela, and Spanifh Guy- 
ana. After determinine:the longitude of 
Cumana, Caraccas,. and  feveral® other 
points, by obfervarions of the fatellites of 
Jupiter; after collecting ‘plants ‘on ‘the 
fummits of Caripe and Silla de ~Avila, 
crowned’ by écfaria; they fet out for ‘the 
capital of Caraccas’in February 1890, 
and the beautiful valleys of’ Aragua, 
where the large lake of Valentia calls to 
remembrance that of Geneva; but em- 
bellithed by the msjeftic vecetation of the 
tropics, ; 
From ' Portocabello they proceeded 
fouth, penetrating from the coaft of the 
féa of the Antilles as faras the bounda- 
ries of Bfazil towards the equator.— 
They firft traverfed the immenfe’ plains of 
Calabozo, Apure, and Tower Orencko ; 
the Llanos, deferts fimilar to thofe of 
Africa, where, by the reverberation of 
the heat, but under the fhade, Reaumur’s 
thermometer -rifes to 33° or 379, and 
where the fcorching foil, for more ‘than 
two thoufand leacues, differs in its level 
only five inches. The fand, fimilar'to the 
horizon at fea, exhibits every where the 
moft curious phenomena of refraétion and 
_ elevation. 
the dry months it affords fhelter to the 
crocodile and the torpidboa.. -' 2 
The want of water, the heat of the fun, 
and the duit raifed by the feorching winds, 
harafs in turns the traveller, who direéts 
himfelf and mule by the courfe of the 
ftars, or by forme fcattered trunks of the: 
mauritia and embothrium, which ‘are dif. 
covered every three or four leagues. 
At St. Fernando d’Apure, in the pro- 
vince of Vavinas, Meffts, Humboldt and 
Bonpland began a laborious navieation of 
nearly five hundred nautical leagues in 
canoes, during which they made a chart. 
of the country by the help of time-keep- 
ers,” the fatellites, and lunar diftances.— 
They defcended the river Apure; which 
- falls into the Orenoko in- the latitude of 
feven degrees. Haying efcaped from the 
Montuty Mas. No. 1309. 
Without any vegetation, in’ 
, 
Travels between the Tropics, &'c. gg7 
danger of imminent fhipwreck near the’ 
ifland of Pananuma, they afcended ‘the’ 
latter river-as far asthe mouth of the Rio 
Guaviare, paffing the famous cataracts of 
Atures and Maypure, where the cavern of 
Atatuipe contains mummies of a nation’ 
deftroyed by the war of the Caribs and” 
Maravitains: From ‘the rhouth of the 
Rio Guaviare, which defcends frora the 
Andes of New Granada, and which Fas 
ther Gumilla erroneoufly took for’ the 
fources of the Orenoko, they quitted the 
latter and’ afcended the fmaill rivers Ata- 
bapo, Tuamini, and’ Lem. | 
From’the miffion of: Javita they pro- 
céeded by land ‘to. the fources of the Gui. 
ainia, which’ the Europeans call the Rio 
Negro, and which Condamine, who faw it 
only ‘at its mouth in the river “Amazon, 
calls ‘a frefh- water fea. Thirty Indians 
carried theircanpes through buthy trees of 
bewen, lecythisy and the laurus cizramo~ 
moides, to Cano Pimichin. By this {malt 
ftream ‘our’ traveliers proceeded to” the 
Rio Negro, which they defeended as far as 
_the {mall fortréfs of San Carlos, which’has 
been erroneoufly believed to be fituated 
under the equator, and as far as the fron- 
tiers of the, Grand Para, the Captainry- 
General af Brazil. A canal from Temi 
to Pimichin, which, on account of the le- 
vel nature of the ground is very praéti- 
cable, would form an interior communi- 
cation between the provinces of Caraccas 
and the capital of Perw much fhorter than 
that of Cafeuiare. By this canal allio, 
fueh is the atlonifhing difpofition of the 
rivers in this new continent, one might 
defcend in a canoe from Rio Guallaga, 
within three days journey of Lima, orsthe 
South Sea, by the river Amazon and 
Rio Negro, as far as the incuths of the 
Orenoko oppcfiie to Trinidad, a navigation 
of nearly two thoufand leagues.” The 
nifunde:ftanding. which prevailed then 
between the Courts of Madrid and Lif. 
bon prevented M.“‘Humboldt from carry- 
ing his operations beyond St. Gabriel de 
jas Cochucllas, in the Captainry-General 
of “Great Para. be ‘ 
La Condamine and Maldonado having 
determined afironomically the mouth of. 
the Rio Negro, this obfiacle was lefs fen- 
fible, and it remained to fix a part more 
uiiknown, which is the arm of the Ore- 
noko ¢alled Cafquiare, forming the com- 
munication between the Orenoko and the 
river Amazon, and refpecting the exiftence: 
of whieh*there have been fo nwny dif. 
putes for fifty years pat. To execute 
va Os this 
