Chapter X: Part 10

Compare my Rélation hist. du Voyage aux Régions équinoxiales, T. iii. p. 622; and Kosmos, Bd. i. S. 191 and 432; where, however, by errors of the press, the longitude is once 48° 40´, and afterwards 80° 40´, instead of, as it should be, 80° 54´ from Paris (or 78° 32´ from Greenwich), (English edit. p. 173, and note 159).

[53] p. 290.--“_Accompanied by inconvenient ceremonies of Court etiquette._”

In conformity with a highly ancient Court ceremonial, Atahuallpa spat not on the ground, but into the hand of one of the principal ladies present; “all,” says Garcilaso, “on account of his majesty.” El Inca nunca escupia en el suelo, sino en la mano de una Señora mui principal, por Majestad, (Garcilaso, Comment. Reales, P. ii. p. 46).

[54] p. 290.--“_Captivity of Atahuallpa._”

A short time before the captive Inca was put to death, he was taken into the open air, in compliance with his request, to see a large comet. The “greenish black comet, nearly as thick as a man,” (Garcilaso says, P. ii. p. 44, una cometa verdinegra, poco menos gruesa que el cuerpo de un hombre), seen by Atahuallpa before his death, therefore in July or August 1533, and which he supposed to be the same malignant comet which had appeared at the death of his father, Huayna Capac, is certainly the one observed by Appian (Pingré, Cométographie, T. i. p. 496; and Galle’s “Notice of all the Paths of Comets hitherto computed,” in “Olber’s Leichtester Methode die Bahn eines Cometen zu berechnen,” 1847, S. 206), and which, on the 21st of July, standing high in the north, near the constellation of Perseus, represented the sword which Perseus holds in his right hand. (Mädler, Astronomie, 1846, S. 307; Schnurrer, Die Chronik der Seuchen in Verbindung mit gleichzeitigen Erscheinungen, 1825, Th. ii. S. 82.) Robertson considers the year of Huayna Capac’s death uncertain; but, from the researches of Balboa and Velasco, that event appears to have occurred towards the close of 1525: thus the statements of Hevelius (Cometographia, p. 844), and of Pingré (T. i. p. 485), derive confirmation from the testimony of Garcilaso (P. i. p. 321) and the tradition preserved among the “amautas, que son los filosofos de aquella Republica.” I may here introduce the remark, that Oviedo alone, and certainly erroneously, asserts, in the inedited continuation of his Historia de las Indias, that the proper name of the Inca was not Atahuallpa, but Atabaliva (Prescott, Conquest of Peru, Vol. i. p. 498.)

[55] p. 291.--“_Ducados de Oro._”

The sum mentioned in the text is that which is stated by Garcilaso de la Vega in the Commentarios reales de los Incas, Parte ii. 1722, pp. 27 and 51. The statements of Padre Blas Valera and of Gomara, Historia de las Indias, 1553, p. 67, differ, however, considerably. Compare my Essai politique sur la Nouvelle Espagne (éd. 2), T. iii. p. 424. It is, moreover, no less difficult to determine the value of the Ducado, Castellano, or Peso de Oro. (Essai pol. T. iii. pp. 371 and 377; Joaquin Acosta, Descubrimiento de la Nueva Granada, 1848, p. 14.) The modern excellent historical writer, Prescott, has been able to avail himself of a manuscript bearing the very promising title, “Acta de Reparticion del Rescate de Atahuallpa.” The estimate of the whole Peruvian booty which the brothers Pizarro and Almagro divided amongst themselves at the (I believe) too large value of three and a half millions of pounds sterling, includes doubtless the gold of the ransom and that taken from the different temples of the Sun and from the enchanted gardens, (Huertas de Oro). (Prescott, Conquest of Peru, Vol. i. pp. 464-477.)

[56] p. 292.--“_The great, but, for a Son of the Sun, somewhat free-thinking Huayna Capac._”

The nightly absence of the Sun excited in the Inca many philosophical doubts as to the government of the world by that luminary. Padre Blas Valera noted down the remarks of the Inca on the subject of the Sun: “Many maintain that the Sun lives, and is the Maker and Doer of all things (el hacedor de todas las cosas); but whoever would complete any thing must remain by what he is doing. Now many things take place when the Sun is absent; therefore he is not the original cause of all things. It seems also doubtful whether he is living; for though always circling round, he is never weary (no se cansa). If he was living, he would become weary, as we do; and if he was free, he would surely move sometimes into parts of the heavens where we never see him. The Sun is like an animal fastened by a cord so as always to move in the same round, (como una Res atada que siempre hace un mismo cerco); or as an arrow which only goes where it is sent, and not where it chooses itself.” (Garcilaso, Comment. Reales, P. i. lib. viii. cap. 8, p. 276.) The view taken of the circling round of a heavenly body, as if it was fastened to a cord, is very striking. As Huayna Capac died at Quito in 1525, seven years before the arrival of the Spaniards, he no doubt used, instead of “res atada,” the general expression of an “animal” fastened to a cord; but indeed, even in Spanish, “res” is by no means limited to oxen, but may be applied to any tame cattle. We cannot examine here how far the Padre may have mingled parts of his own sermons with the heresies of the Inca, with the view of weaning the natives from the official and dynastic worship of the Sun, the religion of the Court. We see in the very conservative State policy, and in the maxims of State and proceedings of the Inca Roca, the conqueror of the province of Charcas, the solicitude which was felt to guard strictly the lower classes of the people from such doubts. This Inca founded schools for the upper classes only, and forbade, under heavy penalties, to teach the common people any thing, “lest they should become presumptuous, and should create disturbances in the State!” (No es lecito que enseñen á los hijos de los Plebeios las Ciencias, porque la gente baja no se eleve y ensobervezca y menoscabe la Republica; Garcilaso, P. i. p. 276.) Thus the policy of the Inca’s theocracy was almost the same as that of the Slave States in the United Free States of North America.

[57] p. 295.--“_The restoration of an empire of the Incas._”

I have treated this subject more fully in another place (Relation hist. T. iii. p. 703-705 and 713). Raleigh thought there was in Peru an old prophecy “that from Inglaterra those Ingas should be againe in time to come restored and deliuered from the seruitude of the said conquerors. I am resolued that if there were but a smal army afoote in Guiana marching towards Manoa, the chiefe citie of Inga, he would yield Her Majestie by composition so many hundred thousand pounds yearely, as should both defend all enemies abroad and defray all expences at home, and that he woulde besides pay a garrison of 3000 or 4000 soldiers very royally to defend him against other nations. The Inca wil be brought to tribute with great gladnes.” (Raleigh, “The Discovery of the large, rich, and beautiful Empire of Guiana, performed in 1595,” according to the edition published by Sir Robert Schomburgk, 1848, p. 119 and 137.) This scheme of a Restoration promised much that might be very agreeable to both sides, but unfortunately the dynasty who were to be restored, and who were to pay the money, were wanting!

[58] p. 299.--“_Of the expedition of Vasco Nuñez de Balboa._”

I have already remarked elsewhere (Examen critique de l’histoire de la Géographie du Nouveau Continent, et des progrès de l’Astronomie nautique aux 15ème et 16ème siècles, T. i. p. 349) that Columbus knew fully ten years before Balboa’s expedition the existence of the South Sea and its great proximity to the east coast of Veragua. He was conducted to this knowledge not by theoretical speculations respecting the configuration of Eastern Asia, but by the local and positive reports of the natives, which he collected on his fourth voyage (May 11, 1502, to November 7, 1504). On this fourth voyage the Admiral went from the coast of Honduras to the Puerto de Mosquitos, the western end of the Isthmus of Panama. The reports of the natives, and the comments of Columbus on those reports in the “Carta rarissima” of the 7th of July, 1503, were to the effect that “not far from the Rio de Belen the other sea (the South Sea) turns (boxa) to the mouths of the Ganges, so that the countries of the Aurea (_i. e._ the countries of the Chersonesus aurea of Ptolemy) are situated in relation to the eastern coasts of Veragus, as Tortosa (at the mouth of the Ebro) is to Fuentarrabia (on the Bidassoa) in Biscay, or as Venice in relation to Pisa.” Although Balboa first saw the South Sea from the heights of the Sierra de Quarequa on the 25th of September (Petr. Martyr, Epist. dxl. p. 296), yet it was not until several days later that Alonso Martin de Don Benito, who found a way from the mountains of Quarequa to the Gulf of San Miguel, embarked on the South Sea in a canoe. (Joaquin Acosta, Compendio hist. del Descubrimiento de la Nueva Granada, p. 49.)

As the taking possession of a considerable part of the west coast of the New Continent by the United States of North America, and the report of the abundance of gold in New California (now called Upper California) have rendered more urgent than ever the formation of a communication between the Atlantic States and the regions of the West through the Isthmus of Panama, I feel it my duty to call attention once again to the circumstance that the shortest way to the shores of the Pacific, which was shown by the natives to Alonso Martin de Don Benito, is in the eastern part of the Isthmus, and led to the Golfo de San Miguel. We know that Columbus (Vida del Almirante por Don Fernando Colon, cap. 90) sought for an “estrecho de Tierra firmë”; and in the official documents which we possess of the years 1505 and 1507, and especially 1514, mention is made of the desired “opening” (abertura), and of the pass (passo), which should lead directly to the “Indian Land of Spices.” Having for more than forty years been occupied with the subject of the means of communication between the two seas, I have constantly, both in my printed works and in the different memoirs which with honourable confidence the Free States of Spanish America have requested me to furnish, urged that the Isthmus should be examined hypsometrically throughout its entire length, and more especially where, in Darien and the inhospitable former Provincia de Biruquete, it joins the continent of South America; and where, between the Atrato and the Bay of Cupica (on the shore of the Pacific), the mountain chain of the Isthmus almost entirely disappears. (See in my Atlas géographique et physique de la Nouvelle Espagne, Pl. iv.; in the Atlas de la Relation historique, Pl. xxii. and xxiii.; Voyage aux Régions équinoxiales du Nouveau Continent, T. iii. p. 117-154; and Essai politique sur le Royaume de la Nouvelle Espagne, T. i. 2de édit. 1825, p. 202-248.)

General Bolivar at my request caused an exact levelling of the Isthmus between Panama and the mouth of the Rio Chagres to be made in 1828 and 1829 by Lloyd and Falmarc. (Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London for the year 1830, p. 59-68.) Other measurements have since been executed by accomplished and experienced French engineers, and projects have been formed for canals and railways with locks and tunnels, but always in the direction of a meridian between Portobello and Panama,--or more to the west, towards Chagres and Cruces. Thus the _most important_ points of the _eastern_ and _south-eastern_ part of the Isthmus have remained unexamined on both shores! So long as this part is not examined geographically by means of exact but easily obtained determinations of latitude and of longitude by chronometers, as well as hypsometrically in the conformation of the surface by barometric measurements of elevation,--so long I consider that the statement I have repeatedly made, and which I now repeat in 1849, will still be true; viz. “that it is as yet unproved and _quite premature_ to pronounce that the Isthmus does not admit of the formation of an Oceanic Canal (_i. e._ a canal with fewer locks than the Caledonian Canal) permitting at all seasons the passage of the same sea-going ships between New York and Liverpool on the one hand, and Chili and California on the other.”

On the Atlantic side (according to examinations which the Direccion of the Deposito hidrografico of Madrid have entered on their maps since 1809) the Ensenada de Mandinga penetrates so deeply towards the south that it appears to be only four or five German geographical miles, fifteen to an equatorial degree, (_i. e._ 16 or 20 English geographical miles), from the coast of the Pacific on the _east_ of Panama. On the Pacific side the isthmus is almost equally indented by the deep Golfo de San Miguel, into which the Rio Tuyra falls, with its tributary river the Chuchunque (Chuchunaque). This last-named stream in the upper part of its course approaches within 16 English geographical miles of the Atlantic side of the isthmus to the west of Cape Tiburon. For more than twenty years I have had inquiries made from me on the subject of the problem of the Isthmus of Panama, by associations desirous of employing considerable pecuniary means: but the simple advice which I have given has never been followed. Every scientifically educated engineer knows that between the tropics, (even without corresponding observations), good barometric measurements (the horary variations being taken into account) afford results which are well assured to less than from 70 to 90 French or 75 to 96 English feet. It would besides be easy to establish for a few months on the two shores two fixed corresponding barometric stations, and to compare repeatedly the portable instruments employed in preliminary levelling, with each other and with those at the fixed stations. Let that part be particularly examined where, near the continent of South America, the separating mountain ridge sinks into hills. Seeing the importance of the subject to the great commerce of the world, the research ought not, as hitherto, to be restricted to a limited field. A great and comprehensive work, which shall include the whole eastern part of the Isthmus,--and which will be equally useful for every possible kind of operation or construction,--for canal, or for railway,--can alone decide the much discussed problem either affirmatively or negatively. That will be done at last, which should, and, had my advice been taken, would have been done in the first instance.

[59] p. 300.--“_That which is awakened in us by childish impressions or by the circumstances of life._”

On the incitements to the study of nature, compare Kosmos, Bd. ii. S. 5, (English edit. vol. ii. p. 5).

[60] p. 302.--“_Of importance for the exact determination of the longitude of Lima._”

At the period of my Expedition, the Longitude of Lima was given in the maps published in the Deposito hidrografico de Madrid, from the observations of Malaspina, which made it 5h. 16m. 53s. from Paris. The transit of Mercury over the Sun’s disk on the 9th of November, 1802, which I observed at Callao, the Port of Lima, (in the northern Torreon del Fuerte de San Felipe) gave for Callao by the mean of the contact of both limbs 5h. 18m. 16s. 5, and by the exterior contact only 5h. 18m. 18s. (79° 34´ 30´´). This result (obtained from the Transit of Mercury) is confirmed by those of Lartigue, Duperrey, and Captain FitzRoy in the Expedition of the Adventure and Beagle. Lartigue found Callao 5h. 17m. 58s., Duperrey 5h. 18m. 16s., and FitzRoy 5h. 18m. 15s. (all West of Paris). As I determined the difference of longitude between Callao and the Convent de San Juan de Dios at Lima by carrying chronometers between them four times, the observation of the transit of Mercury gives the longitude of Lima 5h. 17m. 51s. (79° 27´ 45´´ W. from Paris, or 77° 06´ 03´´ W. from Greenwich). Compare my Recueil d’observations astron. Vol. ii. p. 397, 419 and 428, with my Relat. hist. T. iii. p. 592.

Potsdam, June 1849.

GENERAL SUMMARY

OF THE

CONTENTS OF THE SECOND VOLUME.

_Physiognomy of Plants_--p. 1 to p. 31.

Universal profuse distribution of organic life on the declivities of
the highest mountains, on the ocean, and in the atmosphere.
Subterranean Flora. Siliceous-shelled Polygastrica in masses of polar
ice. Podurellæ in tubular holes in the glaciers of the Alps; the
glacier flea (Desoria glacialis). Small organic creatures in the
dust which falls like rain in the neighbourhood of the African
Desert 3-8

History of the vegetable covering of the surface of the globe. Gradual
extension of vegetation over the bare rocky crust. Lichens,
mosses, and succulent plants. Causes of the present absence of
vegetation in particular districts 8-13

Each zone has its peculiar character. All animal and vegetable forms
attached to fixed and always recurring types. Physiognomy of
Nature. Analysis of the general impression produced by the aspect
of a country or district. The several elements which make up this
impression; outlines of the mountains, azure of the sky, and form
of the clouds: but principally determined by the vegetable covering.
Animal organisation far less influential on the landscape from
deficiency of mass. The power of locomotion of individuals, and
frequently their small size, also contribute to lessen their general
effect on the landscape 13-16

Enumeration of the forms of plants which principally determine the
physiognomy of Nature, and which decrease or increase from the
equator to the poles according to laws which have been made the
subject of investigation 17-20

Palms 20, 21, 126-140

Plantains or Bananas 21, 22, 140, 141

Malvaceæ 22, 141-143

Mimosæ 22, 23, 143-145

Ericeæ, or Heath form 23, 24, 145-147

Cactus form 24, 147-151

Orchideæ 24, 25, 151, 152

Casuarineæ 25, 152, 153

Needle trees 25, 153-175

Pothos and Aroideæ 26, 175-178

Lianes, or twining rope plants 26, 178-180

Aloë form 27, 180-183

Gramineæ 27, 28, 183-187

Ferns 28, 188-193

Liliaceæ 28, 193

Willow form 28, 193-196

Myrtaceæ 28, 196-200

Melastomaceæ 28, 200

Laurel form 28, 200

Enjoyment derived from the sight of the natural grouping and contrasts
of these forms of plants. Importance of the physiognomic
study of plants to the landscape painter 29-31, 200-203

_Scientific Elucidations and Additions_--p. 33 to p. 210.

Organic forms, animal and vegetable, in the highest mountain regions
adjacent to the limit of perpetual snow in the Andes and the Alps;
insects carried up involuntarily by ascending currents of air. The
Hypudæus nivalis of the Swiss Alps. On the true elevation above
the sea reached by the Chinchilla laniger in Chili 33-35

Lecidias and Parmelias on rocks not entirely covered with snow;
some phænogamous plants also wander in the Cordilleras beyond
the limits of perpetual snow, as the Saxifraga boussingaulti, to
15770 English feet above the level of the sea. Groups of phænogamous
plants extend in the Andes to 13700 and 14920 English
feet above the sea; species of Culcitium, Espeletia, and Ranunculus;
small umbelliferous plants resembling mosses in appearance;
Myrrhis andicola and Fragosa arctioides 35, 36

Measurement of the height of Chimborazo, and etymology of the
name 36-39

On the greatest absolute heights which have yet been reached by any
human beings in either continent; in the Cordilleras and the
Himalaya, on the Chimborazo and the Tarhigang 40

Habits and haunts of the Condor (Cuntur in the Inca language), and
singular mode of capturing these powerful birds in an enclosure
fenced by palisades 40-44

Useful services rendered by the Gallinazos (Cathartes urubu and C.
aura) in purifying the air in the neighbourhood of human habitations;
these birds sometimes tamed 44, 45

On what has been called the revivification of Rotiferæ; views of
Ehrenberg and Doyère. According to Payen, germs of Cryptogamia
preserve their power of germination even after being exposed
to the highest temperatures 45-47

Diminution, if not entire suspension, of organic functions in the
winter sleep of animals belonging to the higher classes 47, 48

Summer sleep of animals in the tropical zone; great dryness acts
like winter cold. Tenrecs, crocodiles, tortoises, and the Lepidosiren
of Eastern Africa 48-51

Anther dust or pollen; fertilization of flowers. The Cœlebogyne
found to produce perfect seeds in England without any traces of
pollen being discovered 51-53

The luminosity of the ocean produced by living luminous animals and
by decaying fibres and membranes of animals. Acalephæ and
siliceous-shelled luminous Infusoria. Influence on the luminosity
of a stimulus applied to the nerves 53-60

Pentastomes inhabiting the pulmonary cells of the rattle-snake of
Cumana 60, 61

Rock-building corals. The scaffolding or solid material which survives
the death of the coral animals. More correct views of recent times.
Shore reefs, encircling reefs, and lagoon islands. Atolls, or coral
walls enclosing a lagoon. The coral islands to the south of Cuba, the
Jardines del Rey of Columbus. The living gelatinous investment
of the calcareous scaffolding of the coral trunks attracts fish and
turtles in search of food. Singular mode of fishing by the aid of
the Remora (the Echeneis naucrates) 62-72

Probable greatest depth of coral structures 72-75

Besides much carbonate of lime and magnesia, Madrepores and
Astræas also contain some fluoric and phosphoric acids 75, 76

Oscillatory state of the bottom of the sea according to Darwin 76-79

Traditions of Samothrace. Irruptions of the sea. Mediterranean.
Sluice theory of Strato. Myth of Lyktonia, and the “Atlantis
broken into fragments” 78-83

On the causes which prevent the sinking down of clouds and
precipitation taking place from them 83-84

Heat disengaged from the crust of the earth while solidifying. Hot
currents of air which in the early ages of the earth, from frequent
corrugations of the strata and elevations of land, may have been
diffused in the atmosphere from temporary fissures 84, 85

Colossal size and great age of some kinds of trees; Dragon tree
of Orotava thirteen, and Adansonia digitata (Baobab) thirty-two
English feet in diameter. Characters cut in the bark of the trees in
the 15th century. Adanson assigns to some of the Baobab trunks
in Senegambia an age of between 5100 and 6000 years 86-92

Judging by the annular rings, there are yew-trees (Taxus baccata)
from 2600 to 3000 years old. Is it true that in the northern
temperate zone the part of the tree turned towards the north has
narrower annular rings, as Michel Montaigne affirmed in 1581?
Species of trees in which individuals attain a size of above twenty-
one or twenty-two English feet diameter, and an age of several
centuries, belong to the most different natural families 92-94

Diameter of the Mexican Schubertia disticha of Santa Maria del Tule
40-1/2 English feet; the sacred Banyan fig-tree of Ceylon almost 30;
and the oak at Saintes (Dep. de la Charente Inférieure) 29-1/2 English
feet. The age of the oak tree estimated from its annular rings at
from 1800 to 2000 years. The root of the rose tree growing
against the crypt of the Cathedral of Hildesheim is 800 years old.
A kind of sea-weed, Macrocystis pyrifera, attains a length of 630
English feet, exceeding therefore the height of the loftiest Coniferæ,
even that of the Sequoia gigantea 94-97

Examination of the probable number of phænogamous plants hitherto
described or preserved in herbariums. Relative numbers. Laws
discovered in the geographical distribution of plants. Relative
numbers of the great divisions of Cryptogamia to Cotyledonous
plants, and of Monocotyledonous to Dicotyledonous plants, in the
torrid, temperate, and frigid zones. Elements of arithmetical botany.
Number of individuals; predominance of social plants. The forms
of organic beings are mutually dependent on and limit each other.
If we know exactly the number of species of one of the great
families of Glumaceæ, Leguminosæ, or Compositæ, at any one
part of the globe, we may infer approximatively both the number
of species in the remaining families, and the entire number of
phænogamous plants in the same district. Application of the
numerical ratios to the direction of the isothermal lines. Mysterious
original distribution of types. Absence of Roses in
the southern, and of Calceolarias in the northern hemisphere.
Why has our heather (Calluna vulgaris), and why have our oaks
never advanced eastward beyond the Ural Mountains into Asia?
The vegetation cycle of each species requires for its successful
organic development a certain minimum amount of temperature. 97-113

Analogy between the numerical laws of the distribution of animal and
of vegetable forms. If there are now cultivated in Europe above
35000 species of phænogamous plants, and if our herbariums probably
contain, described and undescribed, from 160000 to 212000
species of phænogamous plants, it is probable that the number of
collected insects and collected phænogamous plants are nearly
equal; whilst we know that certain well-explored districts in
Europe have more than three times as many insects as phænogamous
plants 113-119

Considerations on the probable proportion which the number of known
phænogamous plants bears to the entire number existing on the
surface of the globe 119-125

The different forms of plants successively noticed. Physiognomy of
plants treated in a threefold manner; viz. as to the absolute
diversity of forms, their local predominance in comparison with the
entire number of species in different phænogamous Floras, and
their geographical climatic distribution 126-200

Greatest extension in height or of the longitudinal axis in
arborescent vegetation: examples of 235 to 245 English feet in Pinus
lambertiana and P. douglasii; of 266 English feet in P. strobus; of
298 and 300 English feet in Sequoia gigantea and Pinus trigona. All
these examples are from the north-west part of the New Continent.
Araucaria excelsa of Norfolk Island only attains, according to
well-assured measurements, 203 to 223 English feet; and the
Mountain Palm of the Cordilleras, Ceroxylon andicola, 192 English
feet 165-168

These gigantic vegetable forms contrasted with the stem of two
inches high of a willow-tree stunted by cold of latitude or of
mountain elevation; and still more remarkably with a phænogamous
plant, Tristicha hypnoides, which, when fully developed in the plains
of a tropical country, is only a quarter of an English inch in
height 169

Bursting forth of blossoms from the rough bark of the Crescentia
cujete, the Gustavia augusta, and the roots of the Cacao tree.
The largest flowers, Rafflesia arnoldi, Aristolochia cordata,
Magnolia, Helianthus annuus, Victoria regina, Euryale amazonica,
&c. 203, 240

The different forms of plants determine the character of the landscape
as dependent on vegetation in different zones. Physiognomic
classification or division into groups according to external “facies”
or aspect, entirely different in its principles from the
classification according to the system of natural families. The study
of the physiognomy of plants is based principally on what are called
the vegetative organs, or those on which the preservation of the
_individual_ depends; systematic botany grounds the arrangement
of natural families on a consideration of the reproductive organs,
or those on which the _preservation of the species_ depends 205-210

_On the Structure and Mode of Action of Volcanos in the different
Parts of the Earth_--p. 211 to p. 241.

Influence of journeys in distant countries on the generalisation of
ideas, and the progress of physical geology. Influence of the
form of the Mediterranean on the earliest ideas respecting volcanic
phenomena. Comparative geology of volcanos. Periodical recurrence
of certain natural changes or revolutions which have their
origin in the interior of the globe. Relative proportion of the
height of volcanos to that of their cones of ashes in Pichincha,
the Peak of Teneriffe, and Vesuvius. Changes in the height of
the summit of volcanos. Measurements of the height of the
margins of the crater of Vesuvius from 1773 to 1822: the author’s
measurements comprise the period from 1805 to 1822 213-228

Particular description of the eruption in the night of 23-24
October, 1822. Falling in of a cone of cinders 426 English feet in
height, which previously stood in the interior of the crater. The
eruption of ashes from the 24th to the 28th of October is the most
remarkable of which we possess any certain knowledge since the
death of the elder Pliny 228-235

Difference between volcanos with permanent craters; and the
phenomena (very rarely observed within historic times) in which
trachytic mountains open suddenly, emit lava and ashes, and
reclose again perhaps for ever. The latter class of phenomena
are particularly instructive to the geologist, because they recall the
earliest revolutions of the oscillating, upheaved, and fissured
surface of the globe. They led, in classical antiquity, to the view
of the Pyriphlegethon. Volcanos are intermitting earth springs,
indicating a communication (permanent or transient) between the
interior and the exterior of our planet; they are the result of a
reaction of the still fluid interior against the crust of the earth;
it is therefore needless to ask what chemical substance burns, or
supplies materials for combustion, in volcanos 235-238

The primitive cause of subterranean heat is, as in all planets, the
process of formation itself, _i. e._ the forming of the aggregating
mass from a cosmical gaseous fluid. Power and influence of the
radiation of heat from numerous open fissures and unfilled veins
in the ancient world. Climate (or atmospheric temperature) at that
period very independent of the geographical latitude, or of the
position of the planet in respect to the central body, the sun.
Organic forms of the present tropical world buried in the icy
regions of the north 238-241

_Scientific Elucidations and Additions_--p. 243 to p. 248.

Barometric measurements of Vesuvius. Comparison of the height
of different points of the crater of Vesuvius 243-247

Increase of temperature with depth, 1° Reaumur for every 113
Parisian feet, or 1° of Fahrenheit for every 53·5 English feet.
Temperature of the Artesian well at Oeynhausen’s Bad (New
Salzwerk, near Minden), the greatest depth yet reached below the
level of the sea. The hot springs near Carthage led Patricius,
Bishop of Pertusa, in the 3rd century, to form just conjectures
respecting the cause of the increase of temperature in the interior
of the earth 248

_The Vital Force, or the Rhodian Genius_--p. 249 to p. 257.

_Note to “The Vital Force, or the Rhodian Genius”_--p. 259 to p. 263.

The Rhodian Genius, the development of a physiological idea in a
mythical garb. Difference of views respecting the hypothesis of
peculiar vital forces. 259, 260

The difficulty of satisfactorily reducing the vital phenomena of
organisation to physical and chemical laws, is principally founded on
the complication of the phenomena, and on the multiplicity of
simultaneously acting forces, as well as the varying conditions of
the activity of those forces. Definition of the expressions “animate”
and “inanimate” substances. Criteria derived from the
composition of the elements after a substance has been separated
into parts by external agency are the simple enunciation of
facts. 260-263

_The Plateau of Caxamarca, the ancient residence of the Inca
Atahuallpa, and the first view of the Pacific from the crest of
the Andes_--p. 265 to p. 302.

Quina-producing forests in the valleys of Loxa. First use of the
fever-bark in Europe; the Countess of Chinchon, wife of the
Viceroy 267-269

Alpine vegetation of the Paramos. Remains of ancient Peruvian
artificial roads; they rise in the Paramo del Assuay almost to the
height of the summit of Mont Blanc 269-277

Singular mode of communication by a “swimming post” messenger 277-279

Descent to the Amazons river. Vegetation round Chamaya and
Tomependa; Red Groves of Bougainvillæa. Ridges of rock
traverse the Amazons. Its breadth at the Pongo de Manseriche
less than 160 English feet. The falling in of masses of rock at
Rentema left the bed of the river below the falls dry for some hours,
to the great alarm of those who lived on the banks 279-281

Passage across the chain of the Andes at the part where it is
intersected by the magnetic equator. Ammonites nearly 15 English
inches long, Echini, and Isocardias of the cretaceous group,
collected between Guambos and Montan, 12790 English feet above
the level of the sea. Rich silver mines of Chota. The picturesquely
towering Cerro de Gualgayoc. Large mass of pure
native silver in filaments or wire found in the Pampa de Navar.
A fine piece of pure gold, wound round with similar threads of
silver, found in the Choropampa (field of shells), so called from the
numerous fossils. Outbursts of silver and gold ores amongst the
cretaceous rocks. The small mountain town of Micuipampa is
11874 English feet above the level of the sea 282-286

From the mountain wilderness of the Paramo de Yanaguanga the
traveller descends into the beautiful valley, or rather plateau,
of Caxamarca (the elevation of which is nearly equal to that of
the city of Quito). Hot baths of the Incas. Ruins of the
Palace of Atahuallpa inhabited by his descendants, the family of
Astorpilco, who live there in the greatest poverty. Strong belief
of the still remaining subterranean “golden gardens” of the Inca
beneath the ruins; such certainly existed in the valley of Yucay,
beneath the Temple of the Sun at Cuzco, and at several other points.
Conversation with the youthful son of the Curaca Astorpilco.
The room is still shewn in which (1553) the unhappy Atahuallpa
was imprisoned for nine months, also the wall on which the Inca
indicated the height to which he would fill the room with gold if
he should regain his liberty. Manner in which the Inca was
put to death on the 29th of August, 1533, and remarks on what
are erroneously called “the indelible stains of blood” on a stone
slab in front of the altar of the chapel of the state prison 287-295

Hope of a restoration of the empire of the Incas (which was also
entertained by Raleigh) has been preserved among the natives.
Cause of this expectation 295

Journey from Caxamarca to the sea-coast. Passage over the
Cordillera by the Altos de Guangamarca. Often disappointed
hope of enjoying the first view of the Pacific Ocean from the crest
of the Andes. This hope at last fulfilled at an elevation of 9380
English feet 296-302

_Scientific Elucidations and Additions_--p. 303 to p. 324.

On the origin of the name borne by the chain of the Andes 303-305

Epoch of the introduction of the Quina-bark in Europe 305, 306

Remains of the roads of the Incas, and of fortified dwellings;
Apozentos de Mulalo, Fortalezar del Cañar, Inti-Guaycu 307, 308

On the ancient civilisation of the Chibchas or Muyscas of New
Granada 308-310

Potatoes and Plantains, when first cultivated 311

Etymology of the word Cundinamarca, which has been corrupted
from Cundirumarca, and was used in the first years of republican
independence to denote the whole country of New Granada 311, 312

Chronometric connection of the town of Quito with Tomependa on
the upper waters of the Amazons, and with Callao de Lima, the
position of which was accurately determined by observations of
the transit of Mercury on the 9th day of November, 1802 312, 313

Unpleasant etiquette in the Inca’s court. Atahuallpa’s captivity;
his proposed ransom 314

Philosophic doubts of Huayna Capac (according to the report of Padre
Blas Valera) respecting the Deity of the Sun. Objections of the
Inca-government to the extension of knowledge among the poorer
and lower classes of the people 316, 317

Raleigh’s project for restoring the dynasty of the Incas under
English protection, for which a yearly tribute of several hundred
thousand pounds was to be paid 317, 318

Earliest evidence obtained by Columbus of the existence of the
South Sea or Pacific Ocean. The South Sea first beheld by Vasco
Nuñez de Balboa (25th Sept. 1513), and first navigated by Alonso
Martin de Don Benito 318, 319

On the possibility of the formation of an oceanic canal (with fewer
locks than the Caledonian Canal) through the Isthmus of Panama.
Points in which the examination has been neglected 319-323

Determination of the longitude of Lima 323, 324

INDEX

Adansonia digitata (monkey-bread tree), one of the largest and oldest
trees of the globe, ii. 89.

Allco, the native Peruvian dog, i. 108.

Aloë, ii. 27, 180.

Altai, one of the four parallel mountain chains in Central Asia,
i. 86.

American races, connection between the inhabitants of Western America
and Eastern Asia probable, but its nature and period uncertain,
i. 176.

Andes, etymological considerations connected with the word Andes or
Antis, ii. 303.

Animal life, its universal diffusion, ii. 1.

Asia, Central, general review of its mountain systems, i. 85.

Atlas.--The position of the ancient Atlas discussed, i. 144.

Atahuallpa, site of his ancient palace, ii. 289;
his prison, 290;
death, 291;
descendants, 292;
notice of the comet which appeared in the year on which the Inca
was put to death, 313.

Banks, slightly elevated portions of the Llanos, called “Banks” by
the natives, i. 2, 33.

Boa, swims in the South American rivers, and carries its head above
water like a dog, i. 190.

Bogota, the seat of an ancient civilisation of the Muyscas or
Chibchas, ii. 309.

Cactus, ii. 24, 147.

Camel, i. 68;
Ritter’s memoir on the diffusion of the camel, present existence
in a wild state, i. 70;
fossil in the Sewalik hills, i. 71.

Casas grandes, ruins of an Aztec palace, i. 168.

Casuarineæ, ii. 25, 152.

Caxamarca, the ancient capital of the Incas, ii. 267, 287.

Cereals.--Original country of the principal Cereals discussed, i. 169.

Chibchas, ii. 309.

Chimborazo, conjectures as to the origin of the name, ii. 37.

Chota, silver mines of, ii. 282.

Cinchona, fever-bark, or quina, ii. 267, 305.

Climate of the eastern or flat portions of South America widely
different from that of Africa in the same latitudes, causes
of the difference, i. 8, 123;
the southern hemisphere cooler and moister than the northern, 139.

Climatic effects of extensive forests, i. 126.

Cœlebogyne, produces perfect seeds without any trace of pollen having
been discovered, ii. 51.

Condor.--Discussion of the height in the atmosphere to which the
condor ascends, ii. 40.

Coniferæ, or needle trees, ii. 25, 175.

Coral reefs, classified by Darwin, ii. 64;
his hypothesis of the origin and growth of coral reefs, 76.

Correo que nada, the “swimming post” in the upper waters of the
Amazons river, ii. 277.

Curare, plant from which the poison is obtained, i. 203.

Current.--Great revolving current of the Atlantic Ocean discussed,
i. 159.

Dogs.--European dogs have become wild in South America, and live in
troops in the Pampas, i. 107;
native Peruvian dogs, 108;
Tschudi’s remarks on the indigenous races of dogs in America, 111.

Dragon-tree of Orotava, ii. 16, 85.

Esquimaux, instances recorded of their having been carried across the
Atlantic to the shores of Europe, i. 162.

Ferns, ii. 28, 188.

Figured rocks, _i. e._ figures engraven on rocks in an extensive
district of South America, i. 196.

Fresh-water springs in the ocean near Cuba, i. 233.

Fournel, recent contributions to the physical geography of Northern
Africa, i. 115.

Frémont, Captain, importance of his geographical memoirs on our
knowledge of the geography of North America, i. 37, and
generally in Note[5], also i. 280.

Geographical distribution of plants, laws of the, ii. 102.

Gobi, the plateau of, i. 74, 79.

Gramineæ, ii. 27, 183.

Guaranis, a tribe inhabiting the sea-coast and rivers near the mouth
of the Orinoco, i. 178.

Granite, leaden-coloured rocks of, in the Orinoco, i. 188.

Great basin, the elevated plain so called, between the Rocky Mountains
and the Sierra Nevada of California, i. 44;
forms an inland closed river basin, 280.

Gymnotus, description of its capture in South America by means of
horses, i. 22.

Heat in plants developed during inflorescence, ii. 175.

Heaths, ii. 23, 145.

Himalaya, one of the four parallel mountain chains of Central Asia,
i. 92.

Hiongnu, i. 101.

Hooker, Dr. J., recent determination of the elevation of the
Kinchinjinga, one of the highest peaks of the
Himalaya, i. 93;
on the production of perfect seeds by the Cœlebogyne, ii. 51;
remarks on the geographical distribution of plants in Antarctic
floras, ii. 122.

Illimani and Sorata, their height above the sea recently corrected,
i. 57, 96, 277.

Kashmeer, valley of, i. 80.

Kinchinjinga, one of the highest peaks of the Himalaya, its elevation
recently determined, i. 92.

Kuen-lün, one of the four parallel mountain chains in Central Asia,
i. 72, 90.

Lama, alpaca, and guanaco, three originally distinct species of
animals, described, i. 166.

Laurels as a characteristic form of vegetation, ii. 28, 200.

Lianes, ii. 26, 178.

Liliaceæ, ii. 28, 193.

Llanos, their description, i. 7;
climate strongly contrasted with that of the African plains, 8;
animals which inhabit them, 15;
their prevalent vegetation, 120.

Luminosity of the ocean, ii. 53.

Malvaceæ, ii. 22.

Marañon, or Amazons, upper valley of, ii. 281.

Mauritia palm, i. 16, 181.

Melastomaceæ, ii. 28, 200.

Mimoseæ, ii. 22, 145.

Mississipi, river, its source correctly ascertained, i. 52.

Moon, mountains of the, their existence, extent, distance from the
Equator, and general direction, discussed, i. 149.

Mountain chains in Asia, in the direction of parallels of latitude,
i. 85;
those coinciding nearly with meridians, i. 94.

Muyscas, ancient civilisation of the, ii. 308.

Myrtaceæ, ii. 28, 196.

North America, general aspect of its natural features, and
considerations on its physical geography, i. 39.

Orchideæ, ii. 24, 151.

Orinoco, i. 207;
magnitude of the river compared with that of the rivers Plate and
Amazons, 211;
its sources yet unvisited, 213;
general description of its course, 214;
“black waters” of the Upper Orinoco, 215;
cataracts of Atures and Maypures, 217;
discussion of questions concerning its sources, 239;
supposed origin in a lake, 243.

Otomacs, a tribe on the Orinoco who use earth as food, i. 190.

Pacific, the author’s gratification at first seeing the Pacific from
the Alto de Guangamarca, ii. 300.

Palms, ii. 20, 128.

Panama.--Communication by canal or railroad across the Isthmus of
Panama discussed, ii. 319.

Paramo, a mountainous region in South America so called, i. 105;
its climate and vegetation, i. 105, ii. 269.

Pastoral life almost unknown to the original inhabitants of America,
i. 13.

Plants, physiognomy of, essentially distinct from a botanical
arrangement, ii. 14, 17, 208;
is the principal element in the characteristic aspect of different
portions of the earth’s surface, 16;
about sixteen different forms of plants enumerated, which are
chiefly concerned in determining the aspect of Nature, 18;
Palms, 20;
Plantains or Bananas, 21;
Malvaceæ and Bombaceæ, 22;
Mimosas, 22;
Heaths, 28;
Cactuses, 24;
Orchideæ, 24;
Casuarineæ, 25;
Coniferæ, 25;
Pothos, 26;
Lianes, 26;
Aloes, 27;
Grasses, 27;
Ferns, 28;
Liliaceæ, 28;
Willows, 28;
Myrtaceæ, Melastomaceæ, and Laurineæ, 29;
number of species contained in herbariums, 97;
points of view in which the laws of the geographical distribution of
plants may be regarded, 102;
conjectures as to the whole number of species on the globe, 119;
more than half the number of species are probably yet unknown, 121;
heat developed during inflorescence, 175;
general remarks on a physiognomic classification, 205.

Pothos, ii. 26, 175.

Quina (or fever bark), ii. 267.

Roads, old Peruvian, of the times of the Incas, ii. 270.

Rotiferæ, their revivification, ii. 45.

Sahara (African desert) composed of several detached basins, i. 114.

Sand-spouts a phenomenon characteristic of the Peruvian Sand Desert,
i. 183.

Sargasso, Mar de; its geographical position discussed, i. 63;
is the most remarkable assemblage of plants of a single species yet
known on the globe, i. 64.

Schomburgk.--Travels of the brothers Robert and Richard Schomburgk
important in many respects in regard to the physical geography
of Guiana and the bordering countries, i. 178, 197, 236, 250.

Sleep, summer and winter, of animals, i. 18, 185; ii. 48.

Snow, limit of perpetual; inequality of this limit on the northern
and southern declivities of the Himalaya, i. 98.

Sorata and Illimani; their heights above the sea recently corrected,
i. 57, 96, 277.

Steppes and Deserts, Characteristics of the European, i. 2;
African, i. 3;
Asiatic, i. 4;
South American, i. 7;
analogies and contrasts between the steppes and the ocean, i. 2, 35.

Strato, his sluice theory, ii. 78.

Sugar-cane; of Tahiti, of the West Indies, and of Guiana, i. 31.

Tacarigua, Lake of, i. 1;
its scenery and vegetation, i. 27.

Temperature.--Contrast between the temperature of the east coast of
America and the west coast of Europe in the same latitudes,
i. 129;
general remarks on the temperature of the United States of America,
i. 131.

Thian-schan, one of the four parallel mountain chains in Central Asia,
i. 72, 82.

Thibet, occupying the valley between the great chains of the Kuen-lün
and Himalaya, divided into Upper, Middle, and Little Thibet; its
mean elevation and description, i. 81.

Tibbos, i. 67.

Timpanogos, Laguna de, i. 44;
is the Great Salt Lake of Frémont, 280.

Traditions of Samothrace, ii. 78.

Trees, age of, ii. 86;
trees of highest growth, ii. 165.

Trisetum subspicatum, an inhabitant both of the Arctic and Antarctic
Circles, ii. 186.

Tuaricks, i. 67.

Urwald, or primeval forest, a name too lightly used, i. 261;
true character of a primeval forest, 262;
description of the nocturnal life of wild animals in the Urwald,
266.

Vegetation, its propagation and extension over newly formed lands,
ii. 8;
the absence of trees erroneously supposed to characterise hot
countries, 10;
extensive arid tracts in countries otherwise of luxuriant vegetation
a geological problem which has not been sufficiently considered,
12;
characteristic aspect of vegetation in the tropics, 30;
characteristic vegetation of the Alps and Andes at great elevations,
35.

Vesuvius, measurements of height at different periods, ii. 225, 243;
particulars of the eruption of 1822, 228.

Vital force, the, or Rhodian Genius, ii. 251.

Volcanos of the Thian-schan chain situated in the interior of Asia far
distant from the sea, i. 88;
structure and mode of action of, ii. 213;
instances of extensive volcanic connection, 221;
importance of repeating exact measurements of the heights of
craters, 224.

Willows, ii. 28, 193.

THE END.

Wilson and Ogilvy, Printers, 57, Skinner Street, Snowhill, London.

Transcriber's Note

Duplicate chapter headings have been removed.

The following apparent errors have been corrected:

p. i "BY." changed to "BY"

p. 13 "heat, But," changed to "heat. But,"

p. 52 "as follows:--Un" changed to "as follows:--”Un"

p. 60 "of a line,) S. xix." changed to "of a line,)” S. xix."

p. 64 "of the Carolinas;--and" changed to "of the Carolinas);--and"

p. 81 "“A more richly varied" changed to "A more richly varied"

p. 93 "have been counted.”" changed to "have been counted."

p. 100 "entitled “De distributione" changed to "entitled De distributione"

p. 113 "acccording to" changed to "according to"

p. 126 "Muskel-und Nervenfaser" changed to "Muskel- und Nervenfaser"

p. 127 "Chæmerops and Cocos" changed to "Chamærops and Cocos"

p. 133 "systematically 12. “How interesting" changed to "systematically 12. How interesting"

p. 134 "concentric rings.”" changed to "concentric rings."

p. 134 "Rio Atabapo.”" changed to "Rio Atabapo."

p. 135 "Nature has lavished" changed to "“Nature has lavished"

p. 145 "10.°5 Reanmur" changed to "10.°5 Reaumur"

p. 146 "in the Canaries.”" changed to "in the Canaries."

p. 160 "aus Indien wahrend der" changed to "aus Indien während der"

p. 160 "torulosa (Don)," changed to "torulosa, Don),"

p. 172 "Tännen-stöcke" changed to "Tannenstöcke"

p. 184 "Asiat Res." changed to "Asiat. Res."

p. 210 "organic devolopment" changed to "organic development"

p. 239 "study of fosssils" changed to "study of fossils"

p. 307 "fortress of the Cañar" changed to "fortress of the Cañar."

p.311 "native of New Granada" changed to "native of New Granada."

p. 313 "164000 French" changed to "16400 French"

p. 315 "p. 424)." changed to "p. 424."

p. 323 "p. 300" changed to "p. 300."

p. 323 "79° 34" changed to "79° 34´"

p. 341 "Alöe" changed to "Aloë"

p. 344 "Maranon" changed to "Marañon"

Inconsistent or archaic spelling and punctuation have otherwise been kept as printed.