ME the number of trees and pieces of earth which it draws CA. down with it in its course; and these impediments render its navigation here somewhat dangerous to aphi- canoes, although not so to the larger vessels, or piratails. guas, of the Portuguese. This river is navigable from the city of Jaen, in the kingdom of Quito, as far as its entrance into the sea, which is nearly its whole course. The climate of the countries that it irrigates, from the province of Yaguarsongo to its mouth, is hot, moist, and unhealthy, especially on its shores, which have also the disagreeable molestation of musquitoes of a thousand kinds, as well as of many other venomous insects.

The communication between the Spanish colonies on the borders of the river had always been attended with considerable difficulty and danger, on account of the pirates who infested the south and north seas, and intercepted their navigation. The galleons, richly laden with the treasures of Peru, &c. were captured in great numbers by these daring freebooters. Things were in this situation when an account of the successful attempts which had been made to explore the course of the Amazonas reached the court of Madrid, and gave rise to the project of transporting thither, by means of the numerous navigable rivers which flow into it, the riches of New Granada, Popayan, Quito, Peru, and Chili itself. After proceeding down the river, galleons were to be stationed in the harbour of Pará, in order to receive the treasures; and these being joined by the Brazil fleet, it was supposed they might navigate in security, in latitudes little known and frequented by these formidable pirates. The revolution, however, which placed the duke of Braganza on the throne of Portugal, put an end to these important projects.

The Orinoco, which rises from the lake Ipava, in Guaiana, runs more than 600 leagues, receiving in its extended course an exceeding number of other rivers, which swell it to an amazing size, and it proceeds to empty itself into the sea, opposite the island of Trinidad, by seven different mouths, forming various isles, namely the Orotomecas, or Palomas, so called from a barbarous nation of Indians of this name inhabiting them.

The Orinoco bears the name of Iscaute until it passes through the country of the Tames Indians, where it receives by the west side the rivers Papamene and Placencia, and acquires then the name of that district, which it changes at passing through the settlement of San Juan de Yeima into that of Guayare, and then to that of Barragan, just below where it entered by the abundant stream of the Meta, and before it is joined by the Cazanare, of equal size. It receives on the north side twelve large rivers, and several of less note; and, being rendered thus formidable, it at last becomes the Orinoco. Its shores and islands are inhabited by many barbarous nations of Indians, some of whom have been reduced to the Catholic faith by the Jesuits, who had founded some flourishing missions, until the year 1767; when, through their expulsion from the Spanish dominions, these Indians passed to the charge of the Capuchin fathers.

The Orinoco is navigable for more than 200 leagues for vessels of any size, and for canoes and small craft from its mouth as far Tunja, or San Juan de los Llanos. It abounds exceedingly in all kinds of fish; and on its shores, which are within the ecclesiastical government of the bishop of Puerto Rico, are forests covered with

VOL. XVII.

a great variety of trees and woods, and inhabited by S, AMEstrange animals and rare birds; the plants, fruits, and RICA. insects being the same as those on the shores of the Maragnon. This last-mentioned river communicates Geographi with the Orinoco by the river Negro, although this was a problem much disputed until acknowledged by the discovery made by the father Ramuel Roman, the Jesuit, in 1743.

The Orinoco has seven mouths, the principal of which was discovered by Columbus in 1498, and Diego de Ordez was the first who entered it, he having sailed up it in 1531. The soundings between Fort San Francisco de la Guaiana and the channel of Limon is sixtyfive fathoms, measured, in 1734, by the engineer Don Pablo Dias Faxardo, and at the narrowest part it is more than eighty fathoms deep; in addition to which, in the months of August and September, the river is accustomed to rise twenty fathoms at the time of its swelling or overflow, which lasts for five months; and the natives have observed that it rises a yard higher every twenty-five years.

The flux and reflux of the sea is clearly distinguishable in this river for 160 leagues. In the part where it is narrowest stands a formidable rock, in the middle of the water, of forty yards high, and upon its top is a great tree, the head of which alone is never covered by the waters, and is very useful to mariners as a mark to guard against the rock. Such is the rapidity and force with which the waters of this river rush into the sea, that they remain pure and unconnected with the waters of the ocean for more than twenty leagues distance. Its principal mouth, called De Navios, is in N. lat. 8°, 9'.

There is a peculiar phenomenon in this river, namely, that it rises and falls once a year only; for it gradually rises during the space of five months, and then remains one month stationary; after which it falls for five months, and in that state continues for one month also. These alternate changes are regular, and even invariable. Perhaps the rising of the waters of the river may depend on the rains, which constantly fall in the mountains of the Andes every year about the month of April.

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The river La Plata ranks in size next to the Marag- La Plata. non, and gives its name to some very extensive provinces to the south of Brazil. It was discovered by the pilot Juan Diaz de Solis, in 1515, who navigated it as far as a small island in S. lat. 34°, 23', 30", and who, having seen on the shores some Indian cabins, had the boldness to disembark with ten men; when they were all put to death by the native inhabitants. Five years afterwards there arrived here Sebastian Gaboto, who passed from the service of the English to that of the Spaniards, by the former of whom he was sent to the discovery of the strait of Magellan. But he, finding himself impeded in his views by an insurrection of his people, was under the necessity of entering the river La Plata: by this he navigated as far as the island discovered by Solis, to which he gave the name of San Gabriel. Seven leagues above this island he discovered a river called San Salvador, and another at 30 leagues distance, which the natives called Sarcana, where he built a fort, which he named the tower of Gaboto. He then pursued his voyage as far as the conflux of the rivers Paraná and Paraguay, and, leaving the former to the W. entered by the second,

3 M

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S. AME and had a battle with the Indians, in which he lost twenty-five men, but succeeded in routing the infidels, taking from them many valuables of silver, which these Geographi had brought from Peru; and he thus, supposing that there was an abundance of this metal in the territories washed by this river, called it Rio la Plata (river of silver), whereby it lost the name of Solis, first given it by the discoverer.

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This river receives in its extensive course the waters of various other very considerable streams, so that it is accustomed to have such excessive high floods as to inundate the country for many leagues, fertilizing it, however, in the same manner as the Nile. When this rise occurs, the Indians take their families and effects, and retire to their canoes, where they live till the waters subside, and that they can return to their habitations. When it runs into the sea, its current, also, is so rapid and violent, that its waters, which are clear and salutary, maintain themselves sweet, without mixing with the waters of the ocean, for many leagues from its entrance. It abounds with an incredible multitude of fish, and on its shores are many most beautiful birds. The distance from the conflux of the Paraguay and Paraná to its mouth, is about 200 leagues by the course of the river, the whole space being filled with the most delightful islands, and being navigable for the largest vessels.

The country on either side of the river is most extensive and level, but so scantily supplied with fountains, lakes, or streams, as to render travelling very precarious. It produces every species of American and European fruit, as also grain and seeds, cotton, sugar, honey, &c. but what is its chief recommendation, is its excessively large breeds of cattle, inasmuch as it abounds in excellent pastures, from the llanuras extending for upwards of 200 leagues. The first heads of cattle brought from Europe have increased to such a degree, that it is impossible for any one to define those which belong to himself; from whence it arises that all are in common, and every one takes such as he may want, the number being so extraordinary, that, for lading all the vessels which come to Spain, many thousand animals are killed merely for the sake of their hides, the flesh being left to be devoured by the wild beasts and the birds of prey. Those who want milk, go out and profit by as many cows as they require, driving home with them the calves: nor is there a want of an equal abundance of horses which are common to all, with no other expence or trouble than that of catching them: the birds and animals of the chase are also equally numerous, and the partridges, which are as large as the hens of Europe, are not unfrequently knocked down with sticks. In short, there is nothing wanting in this country but salt and fuel: the first, however, is brought in vessels, and, for the second, large plantations of peach-trees are made, which, from the richness of the soil, produce extremely well.

This river is at its mouth about 60 leagues wide; being formed by the cape San Antonio on the S. part, and that of Santa Maria on the N. From thence, as far as Buenos Ayres, it preserves its name, being afterwards called the Paraná. Although, as we have before observed, it is, the whole of it, na- vigable, it has many shoals and rocks, on which many vessels have been wrecked, especially during the prevalence

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of some very impetuous winds, which they here call 8. AME pamperos; and which blow from W. to S. W., acquir. RICA ing from the shore so much the greater force in proportion to the smallness of the obstacles they find to Geograph impede their course; for they sweep over llanuras of 200 leagues without being interrupted either by mountains or trees. On some occasions, though not very frequently, a regular huricane takes place here; which, if it take its course along the river, no vessel can resist, but its masts are immediately snapped in twain, as has happened to some ships even when their top-masts and yard-arms were struck. In this river the storms are more frequent than at sea. It laves the cities of Buenos Ayres, the colony of Sacramento, which belongs to the Portuguese, and Monte Video. It has some very good ports, and its mouth is in S. lat. 35°, 30'.

The fine river Paraguay, has its remote springs to the The Par W. of the heads of the Arinas, in lat 13°, and after a S. guay. course of 600 leagues, enters the ocean under the appellation of the Rio de la Plata. The heads of the Paraguay are 270 miles N. E. from Villa Bella, and 164 miles N. from Cuiaba, and divided into many branches, already forming complete rivers, which, as they run S. successively unite, and form the channel of this immense river, which is immediately navigable. In the upper part of this river, and near its W. branch, called the Jurubamba, was formerly a gold-mine, which was worked with considerable profit.

The confluence of the Jauru with the Paraguay is a Jaur point of much importance: it guards and covers the great road between Villa Bella, Cuiaba, and their intermediate establishments, and in the same manner commands the navigation of both rivers, and defends the entrance into the interior of the latter captainship. The Paraguay from this place has a free navigation upwards, almost to its sources, which are about 70 leagues distant, with no other impediment than a large fall. These sources are said to contain diamonds.

Between the Paraguay and the Paraná there runs Paraná, from N. to S. an extensive chain of mountains, which have the appellation of Amanbay; they terminate to the S. of the river Iguatimy, forming a ridge running S. and W. called Maracaver. From these mountains spring all the rivers which, from the Taquari S. enter the Paraguay, and from the same chain also proceed many other rivers, which, taking a contrary direction, flow into the Paraná; one of them, and the most S. being the Iguatimy, which has its mouth in lat. 23°, 47', a little above the Seven Falls, or the wonderful cataract of the Paraná. This cataract is a most sublime spectacle, being distinguished to the eye of the spectator from below by the appearance of six rainbows, and emitting from its fall a constant cloud of vapours, which impregnates the air to a great distance.

From the river Xexuy downwards, the Paraguay Xery takes its general course S. for 32 leagues to the city of Assuncion, the capital of Paraguay, and the residence of its governor. This city is situated on an obtuse angle made by the E. bank of the river; the popu lation is by no means trifling, and there are some Portugese among the inhabitants. The government is of vast extent, and its total population is given by dif ferent authorities at from 97,000 to 120,000 souls. Eleven leagues to the S. of Coimbra, on the W. side of the Paraguay, is the mouth of Bahia Negra, a large sheet

E of water of six leagues in extent, being five leagues long CA from N. to S.: it receives the waters of the wide-flooded plains and lands to the S. and W. of the mountains of phi Albuquerque. At this bay the Portuguese possessions on both banks of the Paraguay terminate.

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To the above rivers we may add the names, although our limits will not permit an equally diffuse description, of the Janeiro, a river giving the name to that captainship, in Brazil, being so called from its being discovered on the first of January, 1516, and which forms a large and convenient bay, much frequented by merchant vessels; the Apure, which, after running 300 leagues through the kingdom of Granada, enters, by three mouths, into the Orinoco, with such force that the latter resigns its current to the influence of the Apure for upwards of a league; the Paraná running 300 leagues through the province of Paraguay, for upwards of 125 leagues of which it is navigable; the Negro, also tributary to the Orinoco, which it enters at a disemboguement a league and a half wide; the Valdivia, in the kingdom of Chili, which is so large, clear, and deep, that vessels of the greatest burden come close up to the city, three leagues from its mouth; the Biobio, and the Maule, both in the kingdom of Chili, whose shores abound no less in natural curiosities, and in gold and silver minerals, than they are noted for the famous battles fought between the Spaniards, and the native Araucanians, both of whom have still several forts remaining on their banks. In the Maule is found a clay as white as snow, smooth and greasy to the touch, extremely fine, and sprinkled with brilliant specks. It is found on the borders of rivers and brooks in the province of Maule, in strata which run deep into the ground; and its surface, when seen at a distance, has the appearance of ground covered with snow, and is so unctuous and slippery that it is almost impossible to walk upon it without falling. It does not effervesce with acids, and instead of losing in the fire any portion of its shining whiteness, it acquires a slight degree of transparency. It is believed to be very analogous to the kaolin of the Chinese; and that, combined with fusible spar, of which there are great quantities in the same province, it would furnish an excellent porcelain. DESERTS.-The deserts of South America are vast and numerous, and are commonly known under the titles of paramos, llanos, and savannahs. The former are dreary wastes, consisting of table lands, resting upon mountains, several of them of greater altitude than the highest mountains of the Old World; the llanos are plains of the level country, of many leagues in extent, and, with the savannahs, are sometimes entirely barren and sandy, and sometimes in part covered with the rankest vegetation, particularly on the verge of the vallies or ravines. These deserts are common to every part of South America, and there is no province without them. Those in the neighbourhood of Caracas and of La Plata are the most extensive. In the latter, the traveller will sometimes see large flocks of cattle, of all descriptions, hurrying to some distant lake, to which they are led by instinct, to quench their parching thirst, and with such force do the poor animals plunge into the water, that those who arrive first are sure to be drowned, being so pressed upon by those that follow, that they cannot regain the shore; so that it is no unusual sight to see the borders of these lakes completely whitened with their bones.

LAKES. The lakes of this country are rather large S. AMEthan numerous; for the waters that are so called by RICA. geographers are, many of them, nothing but overfluxes of the immense rivers with which this continent is inter- Geographi

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sected, appearing in the winter, and being perfectly Lakes. dried in the summer, when they form many of the savannahs of which we have just spoken. Amongst the regular and more important lakes, however, we shall particularize the following:

The lake of Maracaibo took its title from a cacique Maracaibo. of this name, who was living at the time of the entrance of the Spaniards. It is about 132 miles long from N. to S. and 90 wide at the broadest part, though Coleti reduces it to 33, and is formed by many rivers. This fresh-water gulf is navigated by frigates, bilanders, and other vessels; and even the largest might plough through the bottom, if the bar at the entrance would permit. In it are two small islands, the one called De las Palomas, the other De la Vigia. In the high sea-tides the waters of the gulf of Venezuela enter this lake, and then they are somewhat brackish. Its first discoverer was Bartholomew Sailler, a German, lieutenant of the General Ambrosio de Alfinger, who entered it in 1529, and who, from having found a number of houses built in the same manner as they are at Venice, gave it the name of Venezuela, a title which was aftewards extended to the whole of the province. At the present day there are not more than four very small settlements; and the beams of timber on which the houses are built are converted into stone as far as they are immersed in the water. The extraordinary lake of Valencia is of an oblong Valencia. form, and, although receiving the waters of twenty rivers, has no visible outlet. It has been diminishing for twenty years, and its waters are still receding, leaving behind them a rich and productive soil, but an unhealthy air; and the cultivators are, in some parts, under the necessity, from the want of water, of draining off the neighbouring streams to irrigate their plantations. The eastern side is laid out in tobacco-grounds, which occupy 15,000 people, who are paid by the crown. The water is thick, and nauseous to drink.

The lake of Parìme, in Guaiana, is an oblong sheet Parime. of water, 100 miles long and 50 broad, in an island of which is a rock of glittering mica, celebrated as having been the seat of El Dorado, a suppositious city, the streets of which were paved with gold, alluded to by Milton in his Paradise Lost.

CLIMATE.-The climate of this extensive country is Climate,. of course variable, according to the relative situation of the vast regions of which it is composed. It is, however, for the most part, except in the mountainous regions, of a mild and benign temperature, though the mighty influence of such a chain of snow-clad heights as the Andes and their branches has contributed to render it, upon the whole, colder than parallel latitudes in the west. In Peru, the Andes mountains being on one side and the South sea on the other, it is not so hot as tropical countries in general are; and in some parts it is disagreeably cold. In one part are mountains of a stupendous height and magnitude, having their summits covered with snow; on the other, volcanoes flaming within, while their summits, chasms, and apertures, are involved in ice. The plains are temperate, the beaches and vallies hot; and lastly, according to the disposition of the country, its high or

The city of Lima, though very healthy and pleasant, is infested by swarms of flies and musquitoes all the year round. The infirmities most frequently experienced here are putrid fevers and convulsions, which are called pasmo and cancro. It is very subject to earthquakes, by which it has been frequently destroyed: the strongest of these occurred in the following years, viz. in 1582, 1586, 1609, 1630, 1655, 1578, 1687, 1690, 1697, 1699, 1716, 1725, 1734, 1743, 1746; and in this last, in particular, it was completely demolished.

The maximum height of Reaumur's thermometer, in the province of Cumana, is 27°, the minimum 17°, in the month of July. In the paramos alone some change is to be perceived; for the coldness which generally reigns there is increased by the winds, although the manner in which these paramos are affected, and what may be considered the peculiar characteristic of their climate, is a dense cloud, which almost constantly envelopes them, and which, when it happens to fall in the shape of small hail, snow, or mist, makes them so insufferably cold as to render life precarious. With all this, however, in the parts in which there are no paramos, and where the wind is moderate, and the rays of the sun can penetrate the earth, the climate is very supportable.

The temperature of Caracas does not at all correspond with its latitude; for, instead of insupportable heat, which, it would appear, ought to reign so near the equator, it, on the contrary, enjoys an almost perpetual spring. It owes this advantage to its elevation, which is 460 fathoms above the level of the sea. Thus, although the sun has the power usual in such a latitude, the elevated situation of Caracas counterbalances its influence. The transitions from heat to cold are great and sudden, from whence numerous diseases arise, the most common of which are colds, called by the Spaniards catarros.

Height of Fahrenheit's thermometer at Caracas.
In the winter.

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14ths of the Paris inch, ascends onlyths in the eastern 5.4 parts of Terra Firma. They observe at Caracas, in RIC all seasons, four small atmospherical variations every twenty-four hours; two in the day, and two in the night. Ge Blue of the skies by the cyanometer of Seaussure. Generally Oxygen and nitrogen gas.-Of 100 parts, 28 of oxygen and 72 of nitrogen.

The maximum of the first is
The minimum..

Variation of the needle.

.

.. 18

29

27/

4°, 38, 45".

Sept. 17th, 1799. Inclination of the dipping needle.-Generally 43-55 Oscillation of the pendulum: in 15 minutes, 1270 oscillations.

For climate, Chili is one of the best countries in America, perhaps in the world. Though bordering on the torid zone, it never feels the extremity of heat, being secured on the E. by the Andes, and refreshed from the W. by cooling sea-breezes. The seasons succeed each other regularly, and are sufficiently marked, although the transition from cold to heat is very moderate. The spring in Chili commences, as in all the countries of the southern hemisphere on the 22d September, the summer in December, the autumn in March, and the winter in June. From the beginning of spring until autumn, there is, throughout Chili, a constant succession of fine weather, particularly between the 24° and 36° of latitude; but in the islands, which for the most part are covered with woods, the rains are very frequent, even in summer. The rainy season on the continent usually commences in April, and continues until the end of August. These rains are never accompanied with storms of hail, and thunder is scarcely known in the country, particularly in places at a distance from the Andes, where, even in summer, it is seldom ever heard. Lightning is wholly unknown in the province of Chili; and although, in the above-mentioned mountains, and near the sea, storms occasionally arise, yet they, according to the direction of the wind, pass over, and take their course to the N. or S. In the maritime provinces snow is never seen. In those nearer the Andes, it falls about once in five years; sometimes not so often, and the quantity very trifling. The north and northerly winds, before they arrive at Chili, cross the torrid zone, and there becoming loaded with vapours, bring with them heat and rain. This heat is, however, very moderate, and it would seem that these winds, in crossing the Andes, which are constantly covered with snow, become qualified, and lose much of their heat and unhealthy properties. In Tucuman and Cujo, where they are known by the name of sonda, they are much more incommodious, and are more suffocating than even the siroc in Italy. The south winds, coming immediately from the antarctic pole, are cold and dry; these are usually from the S. W., and prevail in Chili during the time that the sun is in the southern hemisphere; they blow constantly towards the equator, the atmosphere being at that period highly rarefied, and no adverse current of air opposing itself to their course: as they disperse the vapours, and drive them towards the Andes, it rains but seldom during their continuance. The