Equinoctial Regions of America, vol 3

Equinoctial Regions of America,
vol 3

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Title: Equinoctial Regions of America V3
Author: Alexander von Humboldt
Release Date: January, 2005 [EBook #7254] [Yes, we are more than

one year ahead of schedule] [This file was first posted on April 1,
2003]
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EQUINOCTIAL REGIONS OF AMERICA V3 ***

Produced by Sue Asschers

BOHN'S SCIENTIFIC LIBRARY.
HUMBOLDT'S PERSONAL NARRATIVE
VOLUME 3.
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 3.
LONDON.
GEORGE BELL & SONS. 1908. LONDON: PORTUGAL STREET,
LINCOLN'S INN. CAMBRIDGE: DEIGHTON, BELL AND CO.
NEW YORK: THE MACMILLAN CO. BOMBAY: A.H. WHEELER
AND CO.
***
The longitudes mentioned in the text refer always to the meridian of the
Observatory of Paris.
The real is about 6 1/2 English pence.
The agrarian measure, called caballeria, is eighteen cordels, (each
cordel includes twenty-four varas) or 432 square varas; consequently,

as 1 vara = 0.835m., according to Rodriguez, a caballeria is 186,624
square varas, or 130,118 square metres, or thirty-two and two-tenths
English acres.
20 leagues to a degree.
5000 varas = 4150 metres.
3403 square toises = 1.29 hectare.
An acre = 4044 square metres.
Five hundred acres = fifteen and a half caballerias.
Sugar-houses are thought to be very considerable that yield 2000 cases
annually, or 32,000 arrobas (nearly 368,000 kilogrammes.)
An arroba of 25 Spanish pounds = 11.49 kilogrammes.
A quintal = 45.97 kilogrammes.
A tarea of wood = one hundred and sixty cubic feet.

VOLUME 3.
CONTENTS.

CHAPTER 3.
25.
SPANISH GUIANA.--ANGOSTURA.--PALM-INHABITING
TRIBES.--MISSIONS OF THE CAPUCHINS.--THE LAGUNA
PARIME.--EL DORADO.--LEGENDARY TALES OF THE EARLY
VOYAGERS.

CHAPTER 3.
26.
THE LLANOS DEL PAO, OR EASTERN PART OF THE PLAINS
OF VENEZUELA.--MISSIONS OF THE CARIBS.--LAST VISIT TO
THE COAST OF NUEVA BARCELONA, CUMANA, AND ARAYA.

CHAPTER 3.
27.
POLITICAL STATE OF THE PROVINCES OF

VENEZUELA.--EXTENT OF
TERRITORY.--POPULATION.--NATURAL
PRODUCTIONS.--EXTERNAL TRADE.--COMMUNICATIONS
BETWEEN THE DIFFERENT PROVINCES COMPRISING THE
REPUBLIC OF COLUMBIA.

CHAPTER 3.
28.
PASSAGE FROM THE COAST OF VENEZUELA TO THE
HAVANA.--GENERAL VIEW OF THE POPULATION OF THE
WEST INDIA ISLANDS, COMPARED WITH THE POPULATION
OF THE NEW CONTINENT, WITH RESPECT TO DIVERSITY OF
RACES, PERSONAL LIBERTY, LANGUAGE, AND WORSHIP.

CHAPTER 3.
29.
POLITICAL ESSAY ON THE ISLAND OF CUBA.--THE
HAVANNAH.--HILLS OF GUANAVACOA, CONSIDERED IN
THEIR GEOLOGICAL RELATIONS.--VALLEY OF LOS GUINES,
BATABANO, AND PORT OF TRINIDAD.--THE KING AND
QUEEN'S GARDENS.

CHAPTER 3.
30.
PASSAGE FROM TRINIDAD DE CUBA TO RIO
SINU.--CARTHAGENA.--AIR VOLCANOES OF
TURBACO.--CANAL OF MAHATES.

CHAPTER 3.
31.
CUBA AND THE SLAVE TRADE.

CHAPTER 3.
32.
GEOGNOSTIC DESCRIPTION OF SOUTH AMERICA, NORTH OF
THE RIVER AMAZON, AND EAST OF THE MERIDIAN OF THE
SIERRA NEVADA DE MERIDA.
INDEX.
***

PERSONAL NARRATIVE OF A JOURNEY TO THE
EQUINOCTIAL REGIONS OF THE NEW CONTINENT.
VOLUME 3.

CHAPTER 3.
25.
SPANISH GUIANA. ANGOSTURA. PALM-INHABITING TRIBES.
MISSIONS OF THE CAPUCHINS. THE LAGUNA PARIME. EL
DORADO. LEGENDARY TALES OF THE EARLY VOYAGERS.
I shall commence this chapter by a description of Spanish Guiana
(Provincia de la Guyana), which is a part of the ancient Capitania
general of Caracas. Since the end of the sixteenth century three towns
have successively borne the name of St. Thomas of Guiana. The first
was situated opposite to the island of Faxardo, at the confluence of the
Carony and the Orinoco, and was destroyed* by the Dutch, under the
command of Captain Adrian Janson, in 1579. (* The first of the
voyages undertaken at Raleigh's expense was in 1595; the second, that
of Laurence Keymis, in 1596; the third, described by Thomas Masham,
in 1597; and the fourth, in 1617. The first and