Equinoctial Regions of America, vol 2

Equinoctial Regions of America,
vol 2

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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]
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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.--MO
UTH 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