Equinoctial Regions of America, vol 2

몬%Equinoctial Regions of America, vol 2

The Project Gutenberg EBook of Equinoctial Regions of America V2
by Alexander von Humboldt #2 in our series by Alexander von Humboldt
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Title: Equinoctial Regions of America V2
Author: Alexander von Humboldt
Release Date: December, 2004 [EBook #7014] [Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] [This file was first posted on February 23, 2003]
Edition: 10
Language: English
Character set encoding: ASCII
*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK EQUINOCTIAL REGIONS OF AMERICA V2 ***

Produced by Sue Asscher [email protected]

BOHN'S SCIENTIFIC LIBRARY.
HUMBOLDT'S PERSONAL NARRATIVE
VOLUME 2.
PERSONAL NARRATIVE OF TRAVELS TO THE EQUINOCTIAL REGIONS OF AMERICA DURING THE YEARS 1799-1804
BY
ALEXANDER VON HUMBOLDT AND AIME BONPLAND.
TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH OF
ALEXANDER VON HUMBOLDT
AND EDITED BY
THOMASINA ROSS.
IN THREE VOLUMES
VOLUME 2.
LONDON.
GEORGE BELL & SONS. 1907. LONDON: PORTUGAL ST., LINCOLN'S INN. CAMBRIDGE: DEIGHTON, BELL AND CO. NEW YORK: THE MACMILLAN CO. BOMBAY: A.H. WHEELER AND CO.
***
A tablon, equal to 1849 square toises, contains nearly an acre and one-fifth: a legal acre has 1344 square toises, and 1.95 legal acre is equal to one hectare.
A torta weighs three quarters of a pound, and three tortas cost generally in the province of Caracas one silver rial, or one-eighth of a piastre.
It is sufficient to mention, that the cubic foot contains 2,985,984 cubic lines.
Foot (old measure of France) about five feet three inches English measure.

VOLUME 2.
CONTENTS.

CHAPTER 2.
16.
LAKE OF TACARIGUA.--HOT SPRINGS OF MARIARA.--TOWN OF NUEVA VALENCIA DEL REY.--DESCENT TOWARDS THE COASTS OF PORTO CABELLO.

CHAPTER 2.
17.
MOUNTAINS WHICH SEPARATE THE VALLEYS OF ARAGUA FROM THE LLANOS OF CARACAS.--VILLA DE CURA.--PARAPARA.--LLANOS OR STEPPES.--CALABOZO.

CHAPTER 2.
18.
SAN FERNANDO DE APURE.--INTERTWININGS AND BIFURCATIONS OF THE RIVERS APURE AND ARAUCA.--NAVIGATION ON THE RIO APURE.

CHAPTER 2.
19.
JUNCTION OF THE APURE AND THE ORINOCO.--MOUNTAINS OF ENCARAMADA.--URUANA.--BARAGUAN.--CARICHANA.--MOUTH OF THE META.--ISLAND OF PANUMANA.

CHAPTER 2.
20.
THE MOUTH OF THE RIO ANAVENI.--PEAK OF UNIANA.--MISSION OF ATURES.--CATARACT, OR RAUDAL OF MAPARA.--ISLETS OF SURUPAMANA AND UIRAPURI.

CHAPTER 2.
21.
RAUDAL OF GARCITA.--MAYPURES.--CATARACTS OF QUITUNA.--MOUTH OF THE VICHADA AND THE ZAMA.--ROCK OF ARICAGUA.--SIQUITA.

CHAPTER 2.
22.
SAN FERNANDO DE ATABAPO.--SAN BALTHASAR.--THE RIVERS TEMI AND TUAMINI.--JAVITA.--PORTAGE FROM THE TUAMINI TO THE RIO NEGRO.

CHAPTER 2.
23.
THE RIO NEGRO.--BOUNDARIES OF BRAZIL.--THE CASSIQUIARE.--BIFURCATION OF THE ORINOCO.

CHAPTER 2.
24.
THE UPPER ORINOCO, FROM THE ESMERALDA TO THE CONFLUENCE OF THE GUAVIARE.--SECOND PASSAGE ACROSS THE CATARACTS OF ATURES AND MAYPURES.--THE LOWER ORINOCO, BETWEEN THE MOUTH OF THE RIO APURE, AND ANGOSTURA THE CAPITAL OF SPANISH GUIANA.
***
PERSONAL NARRATIVE OF A JOURNEY TO THE EQUINOCTIAL REGIONS OF THE NEW CONTINENT.
VOLUME 2.

CHAPTER 2.
16.
LAKE OF TACARIGUA. HOT SPRINGS OF MARIARA. TOWN OF NUEVA VALENCIA DEL REY. DESCENT TOWARDS THE COASTS OF PORTO CABELLO.
The valleys of Aragua form a narrow basin between granitic and calcareous mountains of unequal height. On the north, they are separated by the Sierra Mariara from the sea-coast; and towards the south, the chain of Guacimo and Yusma serves them as a rampart against the heated air of the steppes. Groups of hills, high enough to determine the course of the waters, close this basin on the east and west like transverse dykes. We find these hills between the Tuy and La Victoria, as well as on the road from Valencia to Nirgua, and at the mountains of Torito.* (* The lofty mountains of Los Teques, where the Tuy takes its source, may be looked upon as the eastern boundary of the valleys of Aragua. The level of the ground continues, in fact, to rise from La Victoria to the Hacienda de Tuy; but the river Tuy, turning southward in the direction of the sierras of Guairaima and Tiara has found an issue on the east; and it is more natural to consider as the limits of the basin of Aragua a line drawn through the sources of the streams flowing into the lake of Valencia. The charts and sections I have traced of the road from Caracas to Nueva Valencia, and from Porto Cabello to Villa de Cura, exhibit the whole of these geological relations.) From this extraordinary configuration of the land, the little rivers of the valleys of Aragua form a peculiar system, and direct their course towards a basin closed on all sides. These rivers do not