The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1869-09-10
TELEGRAPH- -PHtADELPHIA FRIDAY SEPTEMBER TO- 1869

we're instantly aaoat. One book they lost, but /
tne other things were recovered; and their In
dian pilot, who was to blame for the accident,
told them, with the utmost GOODNESS, that they
would have sun enough soon to dry their
papers On arriving at Paramura, this man
could take them no farther; but Bernardo Iea,
a missionary near the great cataracts, volun-
Ieered TO accompany them in his stead Here
humboldt saw an
Indian Lady Undergoing n State Toilet.
she was being painted by her two daughters
In black lattice-work on red ground, with
dot in the centre of each diamond. 1t was a
tedious ceremonial, for Humboldt spent some
hours out herborzing, and on his return found
IL still unfinished.
Tour of Five Hundred Leagues.
As they assembled the river they found 1t
crossed from north to south by chain of
gigantic mountains, and the waters confined in
their course for five miles by innumerable dikes
of rocks which form natural dams, broken into
thousand foaming torrents. In this region
the travellers were terribly tormented by the
mosquitoes. In the missions on the kOronoco
they furnish endless talk, and one old monk
told Humboldt that he had enjoyed twenty years
of their intimate acquaintance.
From the mission of San Fernando to that of
Javita, the travellers sailed through the flooded
forests in their canoe, and after n tedious and
dangerous journey they gained the Rio Negro.
They had already travelled one hundred and
eighty leagues in their boat, and to reach the
Oronoco by the Cassiquiareathey would have to
sail three hundred and twenty leagues more.
Some of the travellers would have preferred a
shorter route, but Humboldt and Bonpaud per-
sisted in the route they had originally laid
down for themselves, and accomplished it. They
then sailed down the Orinoco to Ataruipe
where there existed cavern which was the
sepulchre of an extinct Indian tribe. In this
place they counted more than six hundred
skeletons, all regularly arranged Amongst
them were funeral urns of oval form, the ham
dies turned like serpents or crocodiles and the
edges adorned with designs similar to those of
ancient Greece. The travellers carried away
some skulls and bones and the Indians, who
approached their mules, instantly detected their
presence amongst the baggage by the smell of
the rosin that had preserved them. At the mis-
sion of Aturee Father Bernardo Zea left them
after having shared all their difficulties and
dangers during two months.
The travellers reached Angostura in June
having made journey of five hundred leagues
in seventy-five days. After their privations and
hardships, every thing appeared to them luXu-
rious, and for u short time Humboldt and Bon
pland, in perfect health, applied themselves to
drying such plants rs they had been able to
preserve in the damp regions through which
they had come; but on the same day they were
attacked with disorder, which, in Bonpland,
took the character of low fever. Humboldt
soon recovered by taking bark and honey, but
Bonpland remained for several weeks in an
alarming condition. In July, however, he was
sufficiently strong to continue his travels, and
proceeding to Nueva Barcelona, they were en-
barked in an open boat, with all their collections,
and
hCturned To CUmanu
by sea. Their friends came out to meet them
with joyful congratulations, for Il report that
they had perished on the OronocO had been cur
rent for several months
Cuba and Bogotn.
At Cumaua they were detained some time, but
in December they made a voyage to Cuba, and
returning to South America in March, landed at
Carthagena. Here they divided their collections
into three portions, sending one TO Germany,
one to France, and the third to Havana, taking
every precaution to have them remittcd to the
Museums of Natural History at Paris, or to Sir
Joseph Banks in London, in case the vessels by
which they were despatched were captured by
French or English ships. This anxious business
accomplished, they ascended the Rio Magdaena,
Bonpland botanizing as usual, and Humboldt
making II chart of the river district. In fiye-and
thirty days they reached Honda, and thence
travelled on mules to Bogota, which place
they reached in June, pursuing their researches.
Thence they went TO the Lake of Guatavite, n
solitary spot i'll the mountains of Iipagura, $500
feet above the level of the sea- The old Indians
held itin great veneration, and there was a chan
mel by which the Spanish conquerors had at
tempted to drain it, TO recover possession of the
treasures said to have been hidden in its depths
at their approach.
Towards the end of September they left Bo-
gotta and set out for Quito, taking the least fire.
quented road. Early in their journey they
crossed two natural bridges of rock one of them
312 feet above the torrent which it spanned.
After passing these bridges they reached the
mountains OF QulndrlO, the most dlfhcult
Pass OF the CordilIerns.
1t lay through dense forest which it took
them twelve davs to traverse. There was no
hut by the way, and no means OF subsistence, so
that travellers always carried months pro-
visions, lest they should be delayed by the tor
rents which, on the melting of the snow in the
higher regions, frequently became impossible.
The road was 1850 feet above the sea-level, and
in many places the pathway was barely foot
wide; IN others, the rock, being covered with a
stratum OF clay, was channeled into deep gulleys
of mud, which made the journey excessively
arduous, both TO the explorers and their oxen of
burden. Humboldt and Bonpland went on foot,
and twelve oxen carried their collections, instru-
ments, and provisions, through an incessant
deluge OF rain. When the travellers shoes were
worn out, they went barefoot for the road,
though wearisome and difficult, was not
dangerous.
In January 1902, the travellers reached Quito
| which place was their headquarters for nine
months. While here they attempted the as
| cent OF
COtOpnXi and ChimbOrazO,
| the two grandest parks of the Cordilleras: but
they were defeated by the difficulties of the en-
| terprise. in the eruption of l739 Cotopaxi
| Vomted red-hot stones 1904 feet above the crater
| and its roaring was heard at distance of two
| hundred miles. 1t Is the most terrible volcano
in the whole range; its form is perfect cone
! crowned with snow, and its appearance is emil
nently grand and beautiful. In the attempted
ascent of Chimborazo, the explorers were ac-
! companied by a young Spanard. They started
| from the southwest SIDE traversing great plains
| which rose one above the other, like terraces
! until they reached that of Sisgun, Il, 400 feet
above the level of the sea. They continued to
ascend until they reached Yaya-Cocha, a circu-
lar lake, the highest spot yet reached by other
travellers. Here they left their mules, and
crossing plain of tawny grass, they came to n