5.AME Years RICA. Urabá, part of the north coast of Darien, and Progress of 1511.-Juan Diaz de Solis, a Spaniard, discovered 1512.-Vasco Nunez de Balboa, discovered the South 1517.-Francisco Hernandez de Cordova discovered Yucatan. 1518.-Juan de Grijalba began the discovery of New 1526. Francisco Pizarro discovered the land of Tum- Francisco de Montejo discovered Yucatán. 1531.-Garcia de Lerma, a Spaniard, discovered a great Diego de Ordez discovered the grand river Ori- 1535. He discovered the river Rimac, Pachacamac, Pedro de Mendoza, a Portuguese, discovered the rest of the river La Plata, and the famous discovery, &c. 1539.-Pedro de Valdivia discovered the rest of the Progress of 1540.-Gonzalo Pizarro discovered the rivers Napo 1566.-Alvaro de Mendana discovered the Solomon 1766.- Carteret, an Englishman-do. Surville, a Frenchman-do. § II. Geographical details of South America generally. GULFS, STRAITS, &c.-No country in the world is Gulfs, more famous for its enormous gulfs than South straits, &e. America. The gulf of Mexico is of itself an extensive Gulf of sea, which almost intersects the two continents. Mr. Mexico. Thompson, an author to whom we have just alluded, has published a tract, wherein he attempts to explain how this gulf has been formed by the natural ablution of ages. He shows that there is a constant stream running from the bottom of New Holland, round the Cape of Good Hope, and across the Atlantic, into this gulf, whence it runs up the side of North America, forming the gulf-stream, and so onwards to the north, beyond Newfoundland, &c. He points out the peculiar circumstance of this stream's following the exact course of the sun's ecliptic, and RICA. Bay of Pa nama. S. AME- ending, with respect to the gulf, exactly in that point Valdivia. San Miguel. Buena Ventura. Chacas. San Miguel is also a fine gulf in this sea, in the province of Terra Firma. It is very great and beautiful, having its mouth, or entrance, closed in by a shoal called El Buey, there being only a narrow channel left for the course of vessels. Within it are many small rocks or reefs, and there runs into it a large river, which flows down from the mountains of the same province. The port of Buena Ventura is in the district of the province of Choco, also on the South sea, where there is a small settlement, subsisting only by means of the vessels which arrive at it; since it is of a very bad temperature, and difficult to be entered, and since the road to the city of Cali is so rough, as to be passed only upon men's shoulders; a circumstance arising from the inaccessible mountains which lie in the route. It is thirty-six leagues from Cali, and is the staple port of this place, Popayan, Santa Fé, &c. W. lon. 76°, 48'. N. lat. 3o, 51'. In Chiloe, an island dependent upon the government of Chili, there are two very good ports, of which Chacas, in S. lat. 41°, 50', is the best. Castro, the capital city, is also a good port, which lies between two small rivers, and is inhabited by some good and opulent cal detai families, and enjoys a pleasant and healthy tempera- S. AME On the coast of Terra Firma is the gulf of Cumana, Cumana. The gulf of Guayaquil, in S. lat. 2°, 27', is so called Guaya from the river of its name, which is famous for its shifting sand-banks, on which, as the river recedes, alligators are left in great numbers. Vessels require to be steered by an experienced pilot, after leaving their guns in the island of La Puna. Gulf Triste, in the Atlantic, and in the province of Triste. Caracas, is 16 leagues wide from the point of Carvalleda to the S. S. E. as far as cape Muerto to N. N. E. and about nine leagues in depth. It was discovered, and thus named by Columbus, in his fourth voyage, in 1498, in memory of the misfortunes he suffered here. In the gulf of Cumana, in the province of that name, are several convenient and secure ports and bays, and, indeed, the whole coast is covered with them, as the sea is here remarkably calm, and peculiarly so in the celebrated gulf of Cariaco, as also in the gulfs of the lake Cari of Obispo, Guanantar, and Gurintar. Within cannonshot of the shore of the gulf lies the city of Cumana, in a semicircular form, where all kinds of vessels may be built on its beach a saline ground supplies sufficient salt for the use of the city and the neighbouring settlements. It lies in the middle of the plain of its name. At the back begins the servania, which, for more than eight leagues, is sterile and impassable, on account of brambles and thorns. The soil towards the front of the city is composed of pebble, gypsum, and sand, which, during the prevalence of the wind briza, occasions an excessive heat, and is very offensive to the eyes; bad sight here being a very common malady. Nearly in the centre of the town, upon an elevated ground, stands the castle of Santa Maria de la Cabeza, which is of a square figure, and commands the city. In the lofty part of the sierra are seen three round hills; upon the highest of which stands a castle called San Antonio, and upon the lowest a fort called La Cande os San - Se e Ja bam. of Todos Santos is one of the best of the numerous bays on the coast of Brazil. It is three leagues from the entrance from the bar of San Antonio to the strait of Tapagipe; 12 leagues in diameter and 36 in circumference. It is convenient, secure, and full of islands. All its vicinities are covered with sugar engines and estates, the productions of which are conveyed in large barges by the rivers; and for this employ there are no less than 2,000 of the above craft in constant employ, so great is the traffio of the bay. It lies in W. lon. 38°, 42. S. lat. 12°, 42. Porto Seguro, also on the same coast, takes its name from the security it afforded to Pedro Alvarez Cabral, when he discovered it, and found it a shelter from tempests. The capital is situate on an eminence, and defended with good fortifications, and a castle, well furnished, in which the governor resides. The town is small, but handsome, rich, commercial, and well peopled. Amongst the inhabitants are some noble and distinguished Portuguese families. Its climate is hot, but healthy. It is 92 miles S. of San Jorge, and 286 N. N. E. of Espirito Santo. W. lon. 39°, 37. S. lat. 16,°7'. The harbour of Rio de Janeiro is one of the finest known, having at its entrance a bar, at the extremes of which rise two rocks. This bay is 24 leagues in length and eight in width; in which are many islands, some cultivated and having sugar-engines, and the most celebrated of them being that called De Cobras, off which the ships cast anchor. On the opposite side of the city, a natural wall of rocks, called Los Organos, extends itself as far as the sea; they are of different heights, forming a perfect line of defence, independently of the neighbouring fortresses. The bay of Maranham affords a very convenient harbour, commanded by the capital St. Louis, at the mouth of the river St. Mary. This bay is 492 miles N. W. of cape St. Roque. The straits of Magellan, at the southern extremity an. of this continent, are amongst the most celebrated in the world, both for their length and the difficulty of their navigation. From cape Virgin Mary, in the Atlantic, W. lon. 68°, 22', S. lat. 52°, 24, to cape Pillar, in the Pacific ocean, W. lon. 75°, 10', S. lat. 520, 45', they have been estimated at 342 miles in length, and are of varying breadth, bounded northward by Patagonia, and on the S. by Terra del Fuego. They derive their name from Hernando de Magallanes, who discovered them in 1520; they were subsequently passed by Drake, Byron, Wallis, Carteret, and Bougainville. In the same neighbourhood, RICA. cal details.. Maguari. Capes. Maguari; and various minor passages formed by the S. AMEnumerous islands round the shores of this continent, have been dignified with this appellation. CAPES. There are scarcely any capes or promon- Geographitories in this extensive country that have not the same names as the chief rivers or gulfs which surround them. Though they are innumerable, there are scarcely any deserving particular notice. Amongst the few that are worth enumerating is point Natá, or Chama, on the W. point of the celebrated isthmus of Panama, from whence the coast tends W. to Haguera point seven leagues. All ships bound to the N. W. and to Acapulco make this point. Lower down is the promontory of Ballena, on the coast of Peru, to the S. S. E. of the cape Borrachos, and N. N. E. of Palmar. Mariners should remember that the soil round this point is sandy and level, and the water very shallow. In Chili we find the point Canero, extending itself with a gradual slope into the sea; here the E. winds are very prevalent, endangering navigation. Ballena, another point on this coast, is well marked by navigators. It lies between the river and ravine of Cheoapa, in the province of Quillota. Villiva, or Quedal, in the province of Valdivia, is 80 miles S. of that place; in S. lat. 41°, 6'; and is also a noted landmark. In the province of New Granada, cape Guia, between the point Aguja and the river Del Hacha, obtrudes itself on our notice, being seen an immense distance from land. MOUNTAINS. If any feature distinguishes more than Mountains. another the continent of South America from the other quarters of the globe, it is the extraordinary chain of mountains which interesect it from south to north, commonly called the Andes; all the other mountains being The Andes. properly considered, by some writers, but as different branches or ramifications of these, the main chain of which, running along the western coast, extends on both sides of the equator to near the 30th degree of latitude. It is of unequal height, sinking in some parts to 600 feet from the level of the sea, and, at certain points, towering above the clouds to an elevation of almost four miles. The colossal Chimborazo lifts its snowy head to an altitude which would equal that of the Peak of Teneriffe, placed on the top of Mount Etna. The medium height of the chain under the equator may be rekoned at 14,000 feet, while that of the Alps and Pyrenees hardly exceeds 8,000. Its breadth is proportionably great, being 60 miles at Quito, and 150 or 200 at Mexico, and some districts of the Peruvian territory. This stupendous ridge is intersected in Peru and New Granada by frequent clefts, or ravines, of amazing depth; but to the north of the isthmus of Panama, it softens down by degrees, and spreads out into the vast and elevated plain of Mexico. In the former provinces, accordingly, the inhabitants are obliged to travel on horseback or on foot, or even to be carried on the backs of Indians; whereas carriages drive with ease through the whole extent of New Spain, from Mexico to Santa Fé, along a road of more than 15,000 miles. The equatorial regions of America exhibit the same composition of rock that we meet with in other parts of the globe. The only formations which Humboldt could not discover in his travels, were those of chalk, roe-stone, grey wakke, the topaz-rock of Werner, and the compound of serpentine with granular limestone, which occurs in Asia Minor. Granite constitutes, in South America, the great basis which sup RICA. S. AME- ports the other formations; above it lies gnesis, next comes micaceous schist, and then primitive schist. Granular limestone, chlorite schist, and primitive trap, Geographi- often form subordinate beds in the gnesis and micacal details. ceous schist, which is very abundant, and sometimes alternates with serpentine and sienite. The high ridge of the Andes is every where covered with formations of porphyry, basalt, phonolite, and greenstone; and these, being often divided into columns, that appear from a distance like ruined castles, produce a very striking and picturesque effect. At the bottom of those huge mountains occur two different kinds of limestone; the one with a filiceous base, enclosing primitive masses, and sometimes cinnabar and coal; the other with a calcareous base, and cementing together the secondary rocks. Plains of more than 600,000 square miles are covered with an ancient deposit of limestone, containing fossil wood and brown iron ore; on this rests the limestone of the Higher Alps, presenting marine petrifactions at a vast elevation. Next appears a lamellar gypsum, impregnated with sulphur and salt; above this, another calcareous formation, whitish and homogeneous, but sometimes cavernous. Again occurs calcareous sandstone, then lamellar gypsum mixed with clay; and the series terminates with calcareous masses, involving flints and hornstone. But what may perplex some geologists, is the singular fact noticed by Humboldt, that the secondary formations in the New World have such enormous thickness and elevation. Beds of coal are found in the neighbourhood of Santa Fé, 8,650 feet above the level of the sea; and even at the height of 14,700, near Huanuco, in Peru. The plains of Bogota, although elevated 9,000 feet, are covered with sandstone, gypsum, shell-limestone, and even, in some parts, with rock-salt. Fossil shells, which, in the old continent, have not been discovered higher than the summits of the Pyrenees, or 11,700 feet above the sea, were observed in Peru, near Micuipampa, at the height of 12,800; and again at that of 14,120 besides, at Huancavelica, where sandstone also appears. The basalt of Pichincha, near the city of Quito, has an elevation of 15,500 feet; while the top of the Schneekoppe, in Silesia, is only 4,225 feet above the sea, the highest point in Germany where that species of rock occurs. On the other hand, granite, which in Europe crowns the loftiest mountains, is not found, in the American continent, above the height of 11,500 feet. It is scarcely known at all in the provinces of Quito and Peru. The frozen summits of Chimborazo, Cayambe, and Anitsana, consist entirely of porphyry, which, on the flanks of the Andes, forms a mass of 10 or 12,000 feet in depth. The sandstone near Cuença has a thickness of 5,000 feet; and the stupendous mass of pure quartz, on the W. of Caxamarca, measures, perpendicularly, 9,600 feet. It is likewise a remarkable fact, that the porphyry of those mountains very frequently contains hornblende, but never quartz, and seldom mica. The Andes of Chili have a distinct nature from those three chains called the Maritime mountains, which have been successively formed by the waters of the ocean. This great interior structure appears to be coeval with the creation of the world. It rises abruptly, and forms but a small angle with its base; its general shape being that of a pyramid, crowned at intervals with conical, and, as it were, crystallized elevations. It is composed of primitive rocks of quartz, of an enormous size, and almost uniform configuration, containing no marine s. AME substances, which abound in the secondary mountains. RICA It is in the Cordillera of this part of the Andes that blocks of crystal are obtained, of a size sufficient for Geograp columns of six or seven feet in height. The central cal dete Andes are rich beyond conception in all the metals, lead only excepted. One of the most curious ores in the bowels of those mountains is the pacos, a compound of clay, oxyd of iron, and the muriate of silver, with native silver. The mines of Mexico and Peru, so long the objects of envy and admiration, far from being yet exhausted, promise, under a liberal and improved system, to become more productive than ever. But nature has blended with those hidden treasures the active aliments of destruction. The whole chain of the Andes is subject to the most terrible earthquakes. From Cotopaxi to the South sea, no fewer than forty volcanoes are constantly burning; some of them, especially the lower ones, ejecting lava, and others discharging the muriate of ammonia, scorified basalt, and porphyry, enormous quantities of water, and especially moya, or clay mixed with sulphur and carbonaceous matter. Eternal snow invests their sides, and forms a barrier to the animal and vegetable kingdoms. Near that confine, the torpor of vegetation is marked by dreary wastes. In these wide solitudes, the condor, a fierce and powerful bird of prey, fixes its gloomy abode; its size, however, has been greatly exaggerated. According to Humboldt, it is not larger than the læmmer geyer, or alpine vulture of Europe; its extreme length being only three feet and a half, and its breadth across the wings nine feet. The condor pursues the small deer of the Andes, and commits very considerable havoc among sheep and heifers; it tears out the eyes and the tongue, and leaves the wretched animal to languish and expire. Estimating from very probable data, this bird skims whole hours at the height of four miles; its power of wing must be prodigious, and its pliancy of organs most astonishing, since in an instant it can dart from the chill region of mid-air to the sultry shores of the ocean. The condor is sometimes caught alive by means of a slip-cord; and this chase, termed correr buitres, is, next to a bull-fight, the most favourite diversion of the Spanish colonists. The dead carcase of a cow or horse soon attracts from a distance crowds of these birds, which have a most acute scent. They fall on with incredible voracity, devour the eyes and the tongue of the animal, and plunging through the anus, gorge themselves with the entrails. In this drowsy plight they are approached by the Indians, who easily throw a noose over them. The condor, thus entangled, looks shy and sullen; it is most tenacious of life, and is therefore made to suffer a variety of protracted tortures. The most important feature of the American continent is the very general and enormous elevation of its soil. In Europe the highest tracts of cultivated land seldom rise more than 2,000 feet above the sea; but in the Peruvian territory extensive plains occur at an altitude of 9,000 feet; and three-fifths of the viceroyalty of Mexico, comprehending the interior provinces, present a surface of half a million of square miles, which runs nearly level, at an elevation from 6,000 to 8,000 feet, equal to that of the celebrated passages of Mount Cenis, of St. Gothard, or of the Great St. Bernard. We proceed to give a more detailed description of some of the more notable mountains of this continent. CA. bo RICA. cal details. The turquoises, or stones found on its mountains, are S. AME- situated. ME The name of Chimborazo, a mountain in the Paramo, si. In Quito is also the mountain desert of Cotopaxi, in the province of Tacunja, in S. lat. 4°, 11'. It is of the figure of an inverted truncated cone, and was discovered, in 1802, to be only 260 feet lower than the crater of Antisana, which is 19,150 feet above the level of the sea. On its summit, which is perpetually covered with snow, is a volcano, which burst forth, in 1698, in such a dreadful manner as not only to destroy the city of Tacunja, with three-fourths of its inhabitants, but other settlements also. It likewise vomited up a river of mud, which so altered the face of the province, that the missionaries of the Jesuits of Maynos, seeing so many carcases, pieces of furniture, and houses floating down the Maragnon, were persuaded amongst themselves that the Almighty had visited this kingdom with some signal destruction: they, moreover, wrote circular letters, and transmitted them open about the country, to ascertain what number of persons were remaining alive. These misfortunes, though in a moderate degree, recurred in the years 1742, 1743, 1766, and 1768. From the E. part of this mountain the Napo takes its rise; and from the S. the Cotouche and the Alagues, and several other rivers of less note. The celebrated mountain of Potosi has on its skirts the city of its name. This mountain is well known throughout the world for the immense riches extracted from its inexhaustible silver-mines, an account of which will be seen under that head. The distinguishing feature of the mountains of Chili, especially that of Copiapo, is, that they consist in a great degree of petrified teeth, or bones of animals, coloured by metallic vapours. Copiapo, according to the Indian tradition, owes its name to, and is indicative of this circumstance. In Spanish America. in Peru. Chimborazo, in Peru. Carambour, is under the equator. Pinchincha, in Peru In Europe, and other parts. Mount Blanc. Switzerland Summit of Granacion The Blue Mountains, in Jamaica 2'. was 3,585 Cape of Good Hope. . . 1,195 RIVERS. As the mountains of America are much Rivers.. superior in height to those of the other divisions of the globe, so are the rivers of much greater magnitude and importance than those of the Old World. Some of them are indeed so large, that they might much more properly be denominated seas: the Magdalena, for Magdalena.. instance, rushes into the ocean with such a volume of waters, that it holds itself independent of the Atlantic, and refuses to embody itself with the sea till after a distance of twenty leagues from its disemboguement, and as far as this the water is perfectly pure, and sweet to drink. This river, whose mouth is about 63 miles. to the N. E. of Carthagena, in N. lat. 11°, discovered in 1525, by Rodrigo Bastidas, on the day of St. Mary Magdalen, and was first navigated in 1531. It rises in the province of Popayan, from two fountains, which are in the mountains to the W. of Timana, through which it passes; it then traverses and irrigates the province and government of Neiba and follows its course from S. to N., running upwards of 300 leagues before it enters the sea, and first receiving the waters of many other rivers, with which its stream becomes much enlarged: some of these tributary streams are of themselves abundant rivers, and such are the Cauca, Cesar or Pompatao, Carari, Macates, De la Miel, Zarate, and others. It is navigable from its mouth as far as the town and port of Honda, the same being a distance of 160 leagues. Its shores are covered with thick woods, in which dwell some barbarian Indians, who are ferocious and treacherous.. |