THE 
 
 LIFE AND TRAVELS 
 
 OF 
 
 ALEXANDER VON HUMBOLDT: 
 
 WITH AN ACCOUNT OF HIS DISCOVERIES, 
 
 AXD 
 
 NOTICES OF HIS SCIENTIFIC FELLOW-LABOURERS 
 AND CONTEMPORARIES. 
 
 I am Become a name; 
 For, always roaming with a hungry heart. 
 Much haTe I seen and known ; cities of men 
 And manners, climates, councils, goTernmenta, 
 Hy self not least, but h.onour'd of them all. 
 
 IlNKTION. 
 
 LONDON : 
 JAMES BLACKWOOD & CO., PATERNOSTER ROW.
 
 fi 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 THERE are several biographies of Humboldt, French., 
 
 German, and English, but none of any importance except 
 
 ^J^ Professor Klencke's. Klencke had an excellent opportunity 
 
 v to make a good book, for much of his material was obtained 
 
 from Humboldt himself, but he failed to do so. He seemed 
 
 =. to have no idea of writing, beyond its being a means of 
 
 - conveying facts. His facts are reliable, but arranged without 
 
 * order or method. He says the same thing over and over 
 ^ again, and entirely lacks the chief requisite of a biographer 
 
 the art of making his subject attractive. Still, he is re- 
 liable, and the author has made considerable use of his work, 
 especially in the earlier portions of this volume. 
 
 The first chapters, descriptive of the earlier South Ameri- 
 can journeys, are derived from Humboldt's " Voyage aux 
 Regions Equinoxiales" As these chapters cover an impor- 
 tant epoch in Humboldt's life, it was thought advisable to 
 let him tell his own story, and this has accordingly been 
 done, wherever it was practicable. It would have been easy 
 to have rewritten this matter, but the author could not see 
 the advantage of so doing : his book would have gained 
 something in originality, but it would have lost much more 
 in interest. No writer of travels, ancient or modern, can 
 compare with Humboldt in descriptive power, especially in 
 the " Voyage" where his words are pictures. These pictures
 
 iv PREFACE. 
 
 have been faithfully transferred to the chapters mentioned, 
 and are commended to the reader's attention. 
 
 The chapters on Columbia, and Peru, and Mexico, are 
 compiled from the " Vues des Corditteres" the " Ansichten 
 der Natur" and the " Essai Politique sur le Royaume de 
 Nouvette Espagne? They are not so full as the author could 
 have wished ; for the " Voyage" which would have furnished 
 material for them had it ever been completed, ends abruptly at 
 Carthagena. Beyond that point the narrative of the journey 
 ceases. Gleams of it occur, however, in Humboldt's other 
 works, chiefly in those just mentioned, and it is by these 
 that his progress has been traced until his return to Europe. 
 If this portion of the Biography lacks the picturesque and 
 adventurous element of the chapters that precede it, it has at 
 least the merit of variety, and of being the fullest account of 
 the last two or three years of Humboldt's eventful journey in 
 the New World. 
 
 The chapter on Central Asia is the substance of Rose's 
 " Reise nach dem Ural." These / as far as the author remem- 
 bers, are the principal sources to which his acknowledgments 
 are due. 
 
 His book has been written so as to suit both old and 
 young readers. Scientific statements will, it is believed, be 
 found accurate and ample enough for the best informed ; 
 while to those who seek no more than an interesting and 
 thrilling narrative, we could not conceive any history of 
 individual effort and travel more likely to exceed their ex- 
 pectation. And the strict truth of every thing recorded, how- 
 ever wondrous, gives to the biography an interest in which 
 no fable of adventure not Sindbad or Rob: oson Crusoe 
 can equal it.
 
 ; 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTEH I. 
 
 EAELT LIFE. 
 
 1769-1799. 
 
 Pa 
 
 Ancestors Childhood and youth Tutors College life George Forster Dreams of 
 Travel Geological Studies Werner The Hamburg counting-house Friendship of 
 Goethe and Schiller Schemes of Travel Paris life Aitne" Bonpland Journey to 
 Spain Humboldt sails for South America _ 
 
 CHAPTER H. 
 
 THE VOTAGE; AND VISIT TO THE CANARY ISLANDS 
 
 1799. 
 
 The Canaries Ascent of Teneriffe Night in the Cavern Across the Malpays The 
 crater Descent of the mountain At sea again The Southern Cross Tn sight of 
 laud Disembark at Cumana. ._ ...._ 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 EXCURSIONS ABOUT CUMANA. 
 
 1799. 
 
 Bathing Journey to the Peninsula of Araya The Imposible The Burning Forest 
 The Father-mother Ascent of Turimiquiri Cavern of the Guacharo The Cave of 
 Souls Ghostly plants Descent of Purgatory Indians on a tramp Forest of Santa 
 Maria Back to Cumana 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 TOWARDS THE ORINOCO. 
 17991809. 
 
 Fight with a Zambo Eclipse of the sun An earthquake Porpoises and Flamingoes- 
 Pestilent forests Ascent of the Saddle mountain The little angels Frightened by 
 a jaguar The Cow-tree Howling monkeys Lost in the Llanos Fishing with 
 horses The famished Indian girl Sleeping over a crocodile .
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 UP THE ORINOCO 
 
 1800. 
 
 sofwi 
 
 jaguar In sight of the Orinoco The turtle egg harvest The Painted Rocks Mad 
 turtles Turtle butter Animals of the Orinoco The monkey's taste in art Rocks 
 and torrents The hairy man of the woods Insects mounting guard The mission- 
 ary's lemonade The captive mother Ant paste Roasted monkeys Dance of 
 Indians A mule-load of skeletons The dirt-eaters 9 
 
 CHAPTER VL 
 
 TO CUBA AND BACK. 
 
 18001801. 
 
 Back again to Cumana Taken by a privateer Released by an English captain- 
 Arrive at Havanna Fishing with fish Slaughtering alcatras Land again on the 
 South American Main Humboldt meets a fellow-countryman Change of route 
 Resolve to penetrate to Peru Volcanoes spouting mud ........................................ 151 
 
 CHAPTER VIL 
 
 COLOMBIA AND PEBU. 
 
 18011803. 
 
 The travellers sail up the Bio Magdalena The falls of Teqnendama Natural bridges- 
 Deluge of raln-JRiding on men's backs Cataracts of the Kio Vinagre Arrive at 
 Quito Ascent of Chitnborazo Forest of Hocks Birds and butterflies Peruvian 
 bridges of rope and wood Peruvian remains House of the Inca Ravine of the 
 Sun Chair of the Incas Roads of the Incas Swimming postman Voyage down 
 the Amazons Palace of Atahuallpa The blood-stained stone First view of the 
 Pacific from the Andes Sail for Mexico _ 164 
 
 CHAPTER VIIL 
 
 MEXICO. 
 
 18031804. 
 
 Land at Acapulco Monument of Xochiealco City of Mexico Aztec remains Float- 
 inggardens Ancient working of the Mexican mines Letter of Cortes to Charles V. 
 Humboldt visits the mines Drunkenness and longevity of the Indians Volcano 
 of Jorullo Pyramid of Cholula Montezuma Mystery of the skeletons Arrive at 
 Havanna Take shio for Philadelphia Leave America for Europe......... 206 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 PUBLICATION OF THE RESULTS OF HUMBOLDT'S TRAVELS. 
 18041829. 
 
 Arrives In Europe His scientific collections Visits his brother in Italy Life in 
 
 Berlin Removes to Paris Plan of the publication of his travels and discoveries 
 
 His coadjutors in the work Appearance of the first volume of his travels Extracts 
 from preface Lady Morgan's gossip about Humboldt His diplomatic visit to the 
 congress at Aix-la-Chapelle Enumeration of his works Visits Vesuvius Back to 
 Prussia Humboldt and Goethe Idea of Kosmos Popular lectures Prepares fora 
 journey to Siberia 236
 
 PREFACE. Vli 
 
 CHAPTER X 
 
 JOURNEY TO CENTRAL ASIA. 
 1829. 
 
 St. Petersburg Moscow Embarks on the Volga Ruins of Bnlgar The pine of the 
 Continents Forests of the Ural The Siberian plague The boundary of China- 
 Mines and Smeltings Visit to a Chinese station A feast given to a party of 
 Mongols MiaskDiamonds in the Ural The Mountain of Storms Tartar sports 
 The Golden Lake Kalmuck Temple Astrachan Back to St. Petersburg and to 
 Berlin .. 271 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 LAST LITERARY LABOURS. 
 18301859. 
 
 Fruits of the Asiatic journey Humboldt and Agassiz Climatology of Asia Obser- 
 vations in the Russian empire Death of HumboMt's brother Proposed history of 
 Columbus Humboldt made Chancellor of the Order of Merit Commencement of 
 Kosmos Bayard Taylor's visit to Humboldt Humboldt in the streets of Berlin 
 Kosmos completed Last illness and death His character The lessons of his life ... 293
 
 THE 
 
 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF HUMBOLDT. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 fife. 
 17691799. 
 
 Ancestors Childhood and youth Tutors College life George Forster 
 Dreams of travel Geological studies Werner The Hamburg counting- 
 house Friendship of Goethe and Schiller Schemes of travel Paris life- 
 Aime Bonpland Journey to Spain Humboldt sails for South America. 
 
 THREE leagues from the good city of Berlin, near an arm of 
 the Havel called Tegel, stands, or stood ninety years ago, 
 the old castle of Tegel. All that we know is, that shortly 
 before the opening of this life-history it was the residence of 
 a Prussian commissioner of woods and forests, who had 
 greatly beautified it by the laying out of nurseries and plan- 
 tations. This commissioner, who^e name was Von Burgsdorf, 
 was succeeded in 1768, or thereabouts, by Major Alexander 
 George Von Humboldt. 
 
 Major A r on Humboldt was born in 1720. His father, 
 Hans Paul Von Humboldt, served as a captain in the army 
 of Frederick William the First ; his mother was the daughter 
 of the Prussian major and general adjutant, Von Schweder; 
 it was natural therefore that he should follow the profession 
 of arms. He served for a long time in a dragoon regiment, 
 and was then made major, and finally adjutant to Duke
 
 10 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF HUMBOLDT. 
 
 Frederick of Brunswick, who often sent him on embassies 
 to Frederick the Great. This was in the famous Seven 
 Years' War. When the war was over in 1765, the great 
 Frederick made him one of his chamberlains ; he was also 
 attendant chamberlain on Elizabeth, the newly-married 
 princess of Prussia. His official duties compelled him to 
 reside in Potsdam, where he probably met the lady who 
 became his wife. A descendant of the family of Colomb, 
 which emigrated from Burgundy, where it was celebrated 
 for its glass-works she was the widow of a Baron Von 
 Holwede. Major Von Humboldt persuaded her to change 
 her weeds for the orange-wreath, so they married and settled 
 in Potsdam. Their first child, William, was born there on 
 the 22nd of June, 1767. They lived in Potsdam but a short 
 time, two or three years at most ; for the marriage of the 
 princess being at length dissolved, she had no further need 
 of an attendant chamberlain, consequently Major Von Hum- 
 boldfc was at liberty to change his residence, if so inclined. 
 He exchanged Potsdam for Berlin, and lived partly there, 
 and partly in his castle at TegeL How he became possessed 
 of the castle is not stated. It was originally a hunting-seat 
 of the great Elector, and a hunting establishment was kept 
 up there under Frederick the Great. The Major's second 
 son, Frederick Henry Alexander, was born at Berlin on the 
 14th of September, 1769. It was principally at Tegel, how- 
 ever, that his childhood passed. 
 
 Of the first years of his life nothing remai-kable has 
 been related. In 1775, when his education commenced, the 
 science of education was agitating the European world. The 
 new method of Rousseau, which aimed at the physical as 
 well as the mental development of its pupils, and which 
 considered the study of natural science as important as 
 that of metaphysics and the classics, had made many adhe- 
 rents in Germany, and among others Joachim Heinrich 
 Campe. Bom in 1746, Campe studied theology at Helm-
 
 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF HUMBOLDT. 1 1 
 
 stadt and at Halle, and was appointed, in 1773, chaplain 
 to the Prince of Prussia's regiment in Potsdam. He 
 fulfilled for two years the duties of his sacred calling in that 
 doubtful sphere of action ; and, feeling himself much more 
 titted to teach children than men, and those men soldiers, 
 he was transplanted by Major Von Humboldt to teach his 
 sons at the old castle of Tegel. A ripe and varied scholar 
 even then, he enjoyed in after life the reputation of being, 
 next to Klopstock, the greatest philologist and critic of 
 German style. He is the author of a German dictionary, 
 and other works calculated to improve the language. But 
 the books by which he is best known ai'e those of travel 
 and adventure. The chiefest of these are his " Discovery of 
 America," and " Robinson Crusoe." 
 
 What better teacher could the boy have had, considering 
 the work he was to do, than one who translated that mar- 
 vellous fiction of the homely old truth-teller, De Foe the 
 fresh, unfading, world-renowned Robinson Crusoe? It was 
 the book of all others to fire his youthful imagination with 
 the desire of travel, and to fill his mind with the uncon- 
 querable spirit of adventure. It was a happy day when 
 Joachim Heinrich Campe, philologist, critic, translator, and 
 finally bookseller, became the tutor of Humboldt. 
 
 He remained in the family a year, teaching the eldest 
 boy the languages, and the youngest, who was then in his 
 seventh year, whatever he was pleased to learn. Alexander 
 was not so robust as his brother, for his health was considered 
 delicate for many years, nor was he regarded as his equal in 
 mental endowments. 
 
 Their next tutor was a young man of twenty, poor in this 
 world's goods, but rich in what the proverb declares to be 
 better than houses and lauds learning. His name was 
 Christian Kunth. He is said to have possessed an extra- 
 ordinary knowledge of German, Latin, and French literature, 
 and to have been deeply read in philosophy and history.
 
 12 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF IIUMBOLDT. 
 
 He taught William the languages, and Alexander the natural 
 sciences. One studied Man in classic antiquity and art, the 
 other the World in its maniiold forms and appearances. It 
 seems strange, not to say impossible, for children of eight and 
 ten to pursue such profound studies, but we must remember 
 that these were not common children. 
 
 Nor was their teacher, Kunth, a common man. Had he 
 been he would have stopped here. But, having sense as well 
 as learning, he took care of their bodies as well as their minds. 
 Instead of merely cramming them with books until they be- 
 came unwholesome monstrosities, mental pdtes de Joie gras, 
 he gave their thoughts and limbs free play in the wind, and 
 dew, and sunshine. They had holidays whenever they needed 
 them ; long walks with Kunth in the woods and fields ; sails 
 on the blue bosom of the Tegel lake; excursions to the fortress 
 of Spandau ; and now and then a flying visit to Berlin. Or 
 they threw aside *their books, and ran off by themselves, like 
 the children they were, and romped and played to their heart's 
 content. This kept the roses of health in their cheeks (Alex- 
 ander's as yet were delicate buds), and enabled them to 
 
 " bear their weight 
 Of learning lightly, like a flower." 
 
 But for this it might have been a nightshade of deadly 
 power. Besides, their life was diversified by the coming 
 and going of visiters : for their father was hospitable, and 
 the castle was always open to his friends. Retiring from 
 the world with honour, the world sought him, in the shape 
 of its princes, statesmen, and scholars, to say nothing of 
 generals, colonels, and the like, his old companions in arms. 
 Among other celebrities who enjoyed the hospitalities of 
 Tegel was Goethe, who, accompanying Duke Karl August to 
 Berlin in May 1778, to see a grand review, strolled over 
 Schonhausen one morning, and dined at the castle with the 
 Major and his family. Little did the man of thirty know 
 that he saw in the boy of nine one who was destined to
 
 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF HUMBOLDT. 1 3 
 
 accomplish as much in Science as he himself in Literature. 
 But the time came when he knew him, and admired him 
 none more warmly. 
 
 Among the most frequent of the visiters at the castle was 
 Dr. Ernst Ludwig Heim of Spandau, -who, having attended 
 the head-ranger, Von Burgsdorf, continued his visits, medical 
 and friendly, to his successor, Major Von Humboldt ; and 
 the Major stood in need of his services, for his health, which 
 had been broken for some time, now began to fail rapidly. 
 Day after day Dr. Heim might have been seen on horseback, 
 with his saddle-bags full of medicine, rounding the stretch of 
 land between Spandau and Tegel. But he could do little 
 for the shattered constitution and the sixty years of his 
 patient. He died in January 1779, and was buried at Tegel. 
 
 After the Major's death Dr. Heim continued to come as 
 usual, not now bringing medicine let us hope, but with a 
 book under his arm for Kunth, or possibly for William and 
 Alexander. Or, perhaps, it was a rare flower from his con- 
 servatory ; for, as long ago as the days of Von Burgsdorf, 
 he was noted for his knowledge of foreign trees and plants, 
 and he helped the head ranger to lay out the nurseries and 
 plantations which the Humboldts were now enjoying. He 
 would drop in near their dinner-hour, and being pressed 
 would remain to dinner, and often for hours, after instructing 
 the boys in botany, and explaining to them the twenty-four 
 classes of the system of Linnaeus. They could now know 
 the names, classes, and characteristics of the flowers, which 
 they had before admired ignorantly. "William was con- 
 sidered the cleverest, because he could easily comprehend 
 the Doctor's lessons and retain the botanical names : Alex- 
 ander was not, or did not seem, so apt. The brothers went 
 with the Doctor in his excursions about the neighbourhood, 
 and in May, 1783, were present with him in Spandau, where 
 they saw Frederick the Great reviewing his grenadiers one 
 of his annual anmsements.
 
 14 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF HUMBOLDT. 
 
 But grand reviews, country excursions, after-dinner chats 
 on botany, and the cosey comforts of home, must soon come 
 to an end ; for, though the widowed mother lives only in 
 her children, she knows that they must one day be men, 
 and go out into the world. So the best thing they can do 
 is to go to Berlin, and pursue their studies and enlarge 
 their experiences. 
 
 They are instructed in Greek and the modern languages, 
 William having great philological talent ; while Alexander, 
 whose love of the natural sciences grows with his growth, 
 continues the study of botany under the celebrated botanisb 
 Wildenow. Kunth, who accompanies them, engages Engel, 
 Klein, Dohn, and others, to give them complete courses of 
 lectures on philosophy, law, and political economy. Nor 
 do they neglect the literature of their own land and time. 
 They read Goethe and Schiller together. William prefers 
 " Werter," and " Don Carlos," and their art-writings : Alex- 
 ander, while he admires these, prefers Goethe's more abstruse 
 researches in natural history. So passes the time, now in the 
 bustle of the capital, and now in the quiet of the old castle at 
 home. Dear old Tegel ! it is doubly dear to them now ; feu- 
 there their mother lives, and there lies their dead father's dust. 
 
 In 17 86 they commenced their academical life in the 
 University of Frankfort on the Oder, where they remained 
 nearly two years, William devoting himself to the study of 
 law, and Alexander to political economy. In 1788 they 
 removed to the University of Gottingen. 
 
 It was a staid grave place, full of earnest students and 
 learned professors. Among the latter, we may mention three 
 who were celebrated in their different branches of literature 
 and science, and who helped to mould the minds of William 
 and Alexander ; these were Blumenbach, Heyne, and Eich- 
 horn. Eichhorn, the professor -of Arabic, was a profound 
 scholar, especially in biblical literature, of which he may be 
 considered the historian ; he filled the chair of Theology.
 
 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF HUMBOLDT. 15 
 
 To the care of these famous professors William and Alex- 
 ander were committed by their old tutor and friend. Kunth, 
 and they remained under their teachings for two years. 
 Strongly attracted by Eichhorn and Heyne, William pursued 
 his favourite studies, philology and art, while Alexander 
 speculated on " the ground plan of man " in the lecture-room 
 of Blumenbach. 
 
 But the person who exercised the most influence over him 
 while at Gottingen. was the son-in-law of his teacher Heyne 
 George Forster. Nor is this at all strange ; for the expe- 
 rience of every day shows us that the influence of man over 
 man outweighs that of books a thousand-fold. There are 
 times, indeed, when even a bad man is more potent than 
 many good books. Blumenbach, Heyne, Eichhorn, and the 
 rest, excellent and indispensable as they were, were books, so 
 to speak dead books to the realistic Alexander, while 
 Forster was a live man. He had seen what they had only 
 dreamed of. The feats of Alexander's mythical friend, 
 Crusoe, were outdone by Forster. Not that Forster had ever 
 been shipwrecked on a solitary island ; but he had done 
 better he had put a girdle round the earth. Some sixteen 
 years before, when a boy of eighteen, he had accompanied 
 Captain Cook as a naturalist in that great navigator's second 
 voyage round the world. Afterwards professor of natural 
 history in Hesse Cassell and at Wilna, he was now spending 
 the summer with his wife at the house of his father-in-law, 
 Heyne. He had written several works on natural history, 
 geography, philosophy, and politics, besides a history of his 
 voyage round the world. Writing of Forster in 1844, more 
 than fifty years after his death, Humboldt paid the following 
 tribute to his memory : 
 
 " Through him began a new era of scientific voyages, the 
 aim of which was to arrive at a knowledge of the comparative 
 history and geography of different countries. Gifted with 
 delicate aesthetic feelings, and retaining a vivid impression of
 
 16 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF HUMBOLDT. 
 
 the pictures with which Tahiti and the other then happy 
 islands of the Pacific had filled his imagination, as in recent 
 times that of Charles Darwin, George Forster was the first 
 to depict in pleasing colours the changing stages of vegeta- 
 tion, the relations of climate and of articles of food in their 
 influence on the civilization of mankind, according to differ- 
 ences of original descent and habitation. All that can give 
 truth, individuality, and distinctiveness to the delineation of 
 exotic nature, is united in his works. We trace, not only in 
 his admirable description of Cook's second voyage of dis- 
 covery, but still more in his smaller writings, the germ of 
 that richer fruit which has since matured." 
 
 Such was George Forster, who, after Campe, was the chief 
 instrument in determining the future life of Alexander Yon 
 Humboldt. They were fast friends during the short period 
 of their intercourse in Gottingen ; and all the time they could 
 spare from their customary duties was spent in each other's 
 society. What conversations they must have had of that 
 eventful journey round the world, and what schemes they 
 planned for the future ! The active imagination of the young 
 student, fresh from the reading of wonderful adventures in 
 the New World, the chronicles of Vasco Nunes de Balboa, 
 Pizarro, and the rest of those grand old Spaniards, was fired 
 with the thought of making new voyages and discoveries, 
 which should cast the old ones for ever in the shade. Voy- 
 ages in the long swell of tropic seas, under constellations 
 that never shine to European eyes : sailing along the dim 
 outlines of the western continent, dark with the long belt of 
 the pathless forests, or ragged with the peaks of inland 
 mountains, capped with eternal snow : or up great rivers a 
 thousand leagues in length, on, on, into the heart of the New 
 World, the primeval solitudes of Nature ! Not the worst 
 hours of a man's life are those that he wastes in dreams, and 
 happy is he who can make them true, as Humboldt did. 
 
 But this was recreation rather than study, and, as he went
 
 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF HUMBOLDT. J7 
 
 to the University to study, a graver mood soon succeeded. 
 The University was rich in scientific collections, none of 
 which were neglected by the earnest young student. When 
 not attending the lectures of Blumenbach and Heyne, which 
 were generally given in their own houses, he pursued his re- 
 searches and experiments in the University Museum. To- 
 day in the laboratory among its vials and crucibles, testing 
 acids and gases, or in the botanic gardens, theorizing over 
 tropical plants and trees : to-morrow in the anatomical room, 
 surrounded by casts and models ; and many a long night in 
 the observatory, unwinding the dances of the stars. William 
 meanwhile was deep in the philosophy of Kant, and the 
 aesthetic speculations of Goethe and Schiller. 
 
 In the summer of 1789, Campe, who had been for some 
 years canon and councillor in Brunswick, determined to make 
 a trip to Paris, to be present at the funeral of French despo- 
 tism, and it was deemed advisable for William to accompany 
 him. They arrived in Paris on the 3rd of August. Kot 
 being fortunate enough while there to follow Tyranny to its 
 grave, Campe revenged his disappointment by doing what 
 most authors wculd have done in his place he wrote patriotic 
 letters in favour of the Revolution, which attracted much 
 attention. Alexander remained behind, probably at Gottin- 
 gen, pursuing his favourite studies, and constantly correspond- 
 ing with Forster, who was then at Mayence, where he was 
 councillor and librarian of the University. The plan of the 
 great transatlantic journey, formed a year or two before, was 
 laid aside for a time, in order that he might study what was 
 then a new science Geology. He was deep in the writings 
 of the then celebrated geologist, Abraham Gottlob Werner. 
 
 In his peculiar department of science, Werner was un- 
 doubtedly the most remarkable man of his time. The son of 
 a poor iron-worker, he commenced his career as a minera- 
 logist, in the Mineral ogical Academy of Freyberg, before he 
 was out of his teens. From thence he went to Leipsic, where
 
 18 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF HUJIBOLDT. 
 
 he busied himself in defining the external character of 
 minerals, experimenting, and eventually in 1774 publishing 
 a work on the subject. Up to that time the descriptive 
 language of mineralogists had been too indefinite to convey 
 accurate information, or to enable those of different countries 
 to understand each other. After publishing this work, which 
 was long a manual, Werner returned to the Mineralogical 
 Academy at Freyberg, and took charge of its noble cabinet 
 of natural history. He lectured on mineralogy and the art 
 of mining, rendering the latter intelligible to all by his 
 simplification of the machinery, and his drawings and figures. 
 His cabinet of minerals was unrivalled for its completeness 
 and arrangement, numbering one hundred thousand specimens. 
 He wrote largely in the scientific reviews of that day, the 
 reading of which probably drew the attention of Humboldt 
 towards him. He contributed more to extend the practical 
 knowledge of mineralogy than any one who preceded him, 
 although his method of classifying minerals according to their 
 external characteristics instead of their internal essences, if 
 we may use the phrase, was rather empirical than scientific. 
 His geology was shallow, yet he raised the art of mining into 
 the science of geology. 
 
 Such was Abraham Gottlob Werner, over whose multifa- 
 rious writings Alexander was now poring. That they made 
 a deep impression on him may be gathered from the fact, that 
 we find him, in company with his friend Forster, in the 
 spring of 1790 making a mineralogical journey. Their route 
 was to the Rhine, through Holland, and to England. 
 While in England, Forster introduced him to Sir Joseph 
 Banks, the famous President of the Royal Society. Humboldt 
 studied the rock-formations of the countries through which 
 he passed, especially the basaltic rocks of the Rhine, and em- 
 bodied the result in a small work which was published in 
 that year. It was entitled, " Mineralogical Observations on 
 Borne Basaltic Formations of the Rhine," and was intended
 
 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF HUMBOLDT. 19 
 
 to support the Neptunic theory of Werner. Forster collected 
 materials for his magnum opus, " The Views of the Lower 
 Uliine." In the mean time William, who had returned from 
 Paris, vibrated between Erfurt, where he and the beautiful 
 daughter of the president, Yon Dacheroden, to whom he was 
 betrothed, were perfecting themselves in the art of Love, and 
 Weimar, the residence of Schiller, with whom he was 
 intimate. 
 
 Alexander sympathized with his brother in the character 
 which he was then playing in the delightful drama of life, 
 but showed no inclination to appear in the same rfile himself. 
 It was not that he loved women and society less, but that he 
 loved solitude and wisdom more. Besides, had he not his 
 great transatlantic journey to make 1 To do this properly it 
 was necessary that he should have a more thorough worldly 
 training. So while William, who was appointed councillor 
 of legation and assessor to the court of Berlin, went thither 
 to familiarize himself with his duties, after which he intended 
 to marry, Alexander, choosing the department of finance, 
 set off for Hamburg, and, entering the Commercial Academy 
 of Busch and Ebeling, studied the practical part of book-' 
 keeping. Ere long he was initiated into its mysteries ; but 
 beyond the sense of satisfaction which the performance of a 
 duty always gives, we suspect that he found no delight in 
 them. He still pursued his mineralogical and botanical 
 studies. Indeed, he was so fond of the latter that he would 
 often take a tramp in mid winter to gather the mosses which 
 only grow at that time. 
 
 His stay in Hamburg was short ; for, in addition to his 
 admiration for Werner, and his growing taste for mining, 
 one of his acquaintances, Leopold Von Buch of Berlin, had 
 gone to Freyberg to study mining under Werner, who had 
 just published a new theory of the formation of metallic 
 veins. This determined Alexander to vacate his high stool 
 at the mercantile desk, and to set off for Freyberg. Before
 
 20 LIFE AST) TRAVELS OF HUMBOLDT. 
 
 going, however, he hastened to Berlin, to enjoy for a time the 
 society of his mother, who doubtless found the old castle of 
 Tet-l too melancholy a place to live in since the death of her 
 husband, and the absence of her sons. William was there 
 with his beloved Caroline, and his old tutor and friend, 
 Kunth ; for Kunth was one of the family, if untiring de- 
 votion to their interests could make him so. 
 
 After his trip to Berlin, Alexander proceeded to Freyberg, 
 where he remained a year, employing himself during that 
 time in attending the lectures of Werner, in looking over 
 his magnificent collection, and in visiting the mines in the 
 neighboui'hood. Freyberg had a fine cathedral, and several 
 remarkable monuments and works of art, but nothing that 
 would have led Humboldt thither except its mines. There 
 were over a hundred of these in the country about ; silver 
 mines, copper mines, lead mines, and mines of cobalt. How 
 the enthusiastic young mineralogist must have revelled in 
 them ! 
 
 In the spring of 1792 he was appointed assessor to the 
 mining and smelting departments at Berlin ; in the latter 
 part of the same year he was removed to Bayreuth, as super- 
 intendent of mines, in the newly-acquired Franconian districts, 
 and officially commissioned to remodel the mining operations 
 there. He was general director of the mines in the princi- 
 palities of Bayreuth and Anspach. His duties were many 
 and arduous ; for, in addition to his scientific labours, he 
 superintended the erection of public institutions in these 
 districts. Humboldt spent a considerable part of his time in 
 journeying over the country, visiting the various mines, and 
 directing the operations of the miners. He descended into 
 the mines for the purpose of making observations on the fun<ji 
 that grew in the shafts, or, pursuing his journeys, he botanized 
 by the way. If the region was mountainous he studied the 
 rock -formations, and speculated on the Neptunic theory of his 
 teacher Werner. Busy as he must have been at this time,
 
 LIFE AND TRAVELS OP HUMBOLDT. 21 
 
 he wrote largely for the scientific journals and periodicals, 
 contributing to them the result of his experiments on the 
 physical and chemical laws of metallurgy, and on the suscep- 
 tibility of plants, their modes of nourishment, colour, etc. He 
 also published a work of local botany, a " Flora of Crypto- 
 gamic Plants in the Neighbourhood of Freyberg," and dedi- 
 cated it to his former teacher, Wildenow. 
 
 In 1794- he accompanied the provincial minister, Von 
 Hardenberg, on a political mission to the Rhine. He also 
 made several tours through the Alp districts and Silesia, and 
 an official trip into Prussian Poland. Not being able yet to 
 begin his great journey, he contented himself with these 
 small ones slight studies, as it were, for the great picture 
 that was to be. 
 
 In 1795 he resigned his situation as director of mines, and 
 went to Vienna, where he renewed his passion for botany,' 
 studying to great advantage an excellent collection of exotic 
 plants which he found there, and enjoying the society of the 
 geologist Freiesleben. He also studied galvanism, and made 
 a variety of interesting experiments. He planned an excur- 
 sion into Switzerland with Freie&lebeu, but postponed it to 
 make an Italian journey. The war, which was then raging, 
 confined him to Upper Italy, so that he was obliged to return 
 without visiting the volcanic regions of Naples and Sicily. 
 
 Shortly before leaving Eayreuth he had received a letter 
 from his brother William, "who. having finished his role as a 
 lover, had now assumed that of a husband, telling him that 
 the health of their mother was failing. She is ill at Tegel, 
 the letter ran (it was dated in June, 1795) but we, 
 William and Caroline, will remain with her until the spring. 
 On his return from Italy another letter reached him one 
 of those mournful letters which every man sooner or later 
 receives. It bore the escutcheon of death a black seal. 
 There was a new grave at Tegel. His mother was dead. 
 
 In the beginning of the year 1797 he went to Jena, where
 
 22 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF HUMBOLDT. 
 
 his brother William was then residing. Here he found 
 Freiesleben and Goethe. Goethe was so much interested in 
 his studies in anatomy, that he devoted the rest of his stay 
 in Jena to that science. On his return to Weimar he wrote 
 to Schiller " I have spent the time with Humboldt agree- 
 ably and usefully : my natural-history studies have been 
 roused from their winter sleep by his presence." And Schiller 
 wrote back shortly after " Although the whole family of 
 Humboldt, down to the servant, lie ill with ague, they still 
 speak only of great journeys." 
 
 But, sick or well, Humboldt's studies went on. He con- 
 tinued his experiments on galvanism, turning his attention 
 chiefly to the laws of muscular irritation, and the disposition 
 of the nerves of living animals when under the galvanic in- 
 fluence. He wrote a work on the subject, "Experiments on 
 Nervous and Muscular Irritation," and sent it to his old 
 teacher Blumenbach, who published it for him, with notes 
 and comments of his own. 
 
 The brothers went to Berlin in May to settle the family 
 inheritance, previous to making a journey together into Italy. 
 "William's share was the old castle at Tegel; Alexander's the 
 estate of Ringenwalde in Neumark. He sold it to the poet 
 Franz Von Kleist, to procure the necessary funds for his 
 great journey. 
 
 The unsettled state of affairs in Italy preventing the con- 
 templated journey, William ancl his family determined to 
 proceed to Paris. Alexander went with them as far as 
 Saltzburg, where he was induced to stay a while by his 
 friend Leopold Von Buch. Buch, who had just published a 
 scientific work, " Outlines of a Mineralogical Description of 
 Landeck," had been one of his fellow-students in the Minera- 
 logical Academy at Freyberg, and was like him a believer in 
 the Neptunic theory of Werner. Humboldt afterwards 
 called him " the greatest geologist of the age." A scientific 
 trip was proposed, and the pair started off on foot, armed
 
 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF HUMBOLDT. 23 
 
 -with their geological hammers, and a change of linen. They 
 travelled through several cantons of Saltzburg and Styria, 
 and reached the Tyrolese Alps. While on this Bohemian 
 trip Humboldt made the acquaintance of Lord Bristol, an 
 English nobleman who had visited the coasts of Greece and 
 Illyria, and had planned an expedition to Upper Egypt. The 
 party were to be provided with astronomical instruments and 
 able draughtsmen, and were to ascend the Nile as far as 
 Assouan, after examining minutely the positions of the Said 
 between Tentyris and the cataracts. The expedition was to 
 occupy eight months. Humboldt consented to join it, on 
 condition that he should be allowed to continue the journey 
 over Palestine and Syria, and went to Paris to make the 
 necessary preparations. 
 
 He arrived at Paris in the spring of 1798, and was warmly 
 welcomed by his brother William, whose house was a rallying- 
 point for all his educated countrymen. The family led a 
 pleasant life during their stay in the capital : gave dinner 
 parties, literary teas, etc., and enjoyed themselves at the 
 Parisian theatres. The Humboldts were surrounded by 
 celebrities of all sorts artists, poets, statesmen, and savans. 
 Among others who patronised them was the celebrated 
 Madame de Stael, who called William, who had praised her 
 works highly it is scarcely necessary to say, "La, plus grande 
 capacite de I' Europe." Had the flattering Corinne christened 
 Alexander so, she would not have been far from the truth. 
 
 The political aspect of Europe destroyed the plan of the 
 Egyptian journey, as it had already done the Italian one. and 
 Lord Bristol having been arrested at Milan, it was given up. 
 Another scheme, however, was soon set afoot, for Humboldt 
 now learned that the National Museum of France was prepar- 
 ing an expedition under the command of Captain Baudin. The 
 purpose of this expedition was to visit the Spanish possessions 
 of South America, from the mouth of the river Plata to the 
 kingdom of Quito, and the isthmus of Panama. It was to
 
 24 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF HUMBOLDT. 
 
 visit the archipelago of the Pacific, explore the coasts of New 
 Holland, from Van Dieman's Land to that of Nuyts, after 
 which the vessels were to stop at Madagascar, and return by 
 the Cape of Good Hope. Humboldt had but little confidence 
 in Baudin, who had given cause of discontent to the court of 
 Vienna when he was commissioned to conduct to Brazil the 
 botanist, Van der Schott ; but, as he could not hope with his 
 own resources to make a voyage of such extent, he determined 
 to take the chances of the expedition. He obtained per- 
 mission to embark, with his instruments, in one of the vessels 
 destined for the South Sea, reserving to himself the right to 
 leave Captain Baudin whenever he thought proper. Michaux 
 and Bonpland were to accompany the expedition as naturalists. 
 
 The war breaking out afresh in Italy and Germany, and 
 the French government needing the funds for something more 
 urgent than science, it was postponed to an indefinite period. 
 The failure of the expedition was no interruption to the 
 friendship which Humboldt had formed with Bonpland. Aim6 
 Bonpland, the naturalist, then in his twenty-fifth year, was 
 a native of Rochelle, in France. His father was a physician, 
 and he studied the same profession ; but the revolutionary 
 authorities got hold of him before he could finish his studies, 
 and made him a surgeon of a man-of-war. When peace was 
 restored he went to Paris, and became a pupil of the cele- 
 brated Corvisart, who had established a clinical school at the 
 hospital of La Charite. It was at this tune that Humboldt 
 and he met. They were friends at once. Understanding 
 anatomy and botany better than Humboldt did, he gave him 
 further instructions in those studies, receiving from him in 
 exchange a knowledge of natural history and mineralogy. 
 
 Humboldt's friendship with Bonpland, the society that he 
 met at the house of his brother William, and his own scientific 
 attainments, soon introduced him to the notice of the natural- 
 ists and mathematicians of Paris. He mingled with the most 
 eminent French savans as their equal. He pursued his
 
 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF HUMBOLDT. 25 
 
 experiments before and after the failure of the expedition of 
 Baudin, working in concert with Gay Lussac, with whom he 
 undertook eudiometric investigations of the chemical analysis 
 of the atmosphere. The result of their labours was embodied 
 in a joint production, " Researches on the Composition of the 
 Atmosphere." He also wrote a work on subterranean gases, 
 the fruit of his experience in the mines of Bayreuth and 
 Anspach. 
 
 In the autumn there was a prospect of another expedition. 
 The Swedish consul, Skioldebrand, was at Paris on his way 
 to embark at Marseilles, on a special mission from his govern- 
 ment with presents to the Dey of Algiers. He had resided 
 a long time on the coast of Africa, and being highly respected 
 by the government of Algiers, he could, he thought, easily 
 procure permission for Humboldt to visit the chain of the 
 Atlas mountains. A portion of these mountains had been 
 visited by M. Desfontaines ; but no mineralogist had yet 
 examined them. Besides this inducement the consul de- 
 spatched every year a vessel for Tunis, where the pilgrims 
 embarked for Mecca, and he promised Humboldt to convey 
 him by this means to Egypt. The opportunity was too good 
 to be lost. Humboldt completed his collection of instruments, 
 and purchased works relating to the countries he intended to 
 visit, and bidding adieu to his brother and Frau Caroline, 
 not forgetting the delicate Caroline, junior, the handsome 
 but naughty William, and the amiable Theodore with his 
 blue eyes and light hair, he repaired to Marseilles with his 
 friend Bonpland. They impatiently awaited the Swedish 
 frigate, which was expected at the end of October ; several 
 times a day they climbed the mountain of Notre Dame de la 
 Garde, which commands an extensive outlook on the Medi- 
 terranean, eagerly watching every sail on the horizon. Two 
 months passed, and no frigate came. The papers at length 
 informed them that she had suffered severely in a storm on 
 the coast of Portugal, and had been obliged to enter the port
 
 26 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF HUMBOLDT. 
 
 of Cadiz to refit. She would not be at Marseilles till spring. 
 Still persisting in their intention of visiting Africa, they 
 found a small vessel of Kagusa on the point of setting sail for 
 Tunis, and agreed with the captain for their passage. Before 
 the vessel sailed they learned that the government of Tunis, 
 inimical to la grande nation, was persecuting its residents in 
 Barbary, and that every person coming from a French port 
 was thrown into a dungeon. The journey was abandoned. 
 Not to be baffled, however, they resolved to pass the winter 
 in Spain, in hopes of embarking the next spring, either at 
 Carthagena or Cadiz. 
 
 They crossed Catalonia and Valencia, visiting the ruins of 
 Tarragona and ancient Saguntum. They made an excursion 
 from Barcelona to Montserrat, and saw the hermits that 
 inhabit its lofty peaks. Humboldt ascertained by astro- 
 nomical observations the position of several points important 
 for the geography of Spain, and determined by the barometer 
 the heights of the central plain. The inclination of the 
 needle, and the intensity of the magnetic forces, came in for a 
 share of his attention. 
 
 They arrived at Madrid in March, 1799, and Humboldt 
 was presented to the king at Aranjuez by the minister from 
 the court of Saxony, who was himself a mineralogist. The 
 king received him graciously. He explained to his majesty 
 the motives which led him to undertake his journey to the 
 New World, and presented a memoir on the subject to the 
 secretary of state. Don Mariano Luis de Urquijo, the 
 minister, supported Humboldt's demand, and obtained for 
 the travellers two passports, one from the first secretary of 
 the state, the other from the council of the Indies. The good 
 time had come at last. ''Never," says Humboldt, "had so 
 extensive a permission been granted to any traveller, and 
 never had any foreigner been honoured by more confidence 
 ou the part of the Spanish government." 
 
 The savans of Madrid offered the travellers great induce-
 
 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF HUMBOLDT. 27 
 
 ments to stay awhile among them. They could have spent 
 a long time usefully as well as pleasantly in the Spanish 
 capital ; but, bearing in mind their previous disappointments, 
 they departed about the middle of May en route for Corunna, 
 from whence they intended to embark for Cuba. 
 
 Arriving at Corunna they sought Don Raphael Clavijo, 
 the superiutendant of the dockyards, to whom they had re- 
 commendations from the Spanish minister, and the chief 
 secretary of state. He advised them to embark on board the 
 frigate Pizarro, which was soon to sail for Cuba, in company 
 with the Alcudia, the packet-boat of the month of May, which 
 had been detained by an English fleet then blockading the 
 port ; in order to cut off the communication between Spain 
 and her colonies. They followed his advice, and arrange- 
 ments were made to receive their instruments on board the 
 Pizarro. Don Raphael ordered the captain to stop at 
 TenerifFe as long as Humboldt should deem necessary, that 
 the travellers might visit the port of Orotava, and ascend the 
 peak. 
 
 The time of departure drawing near, Humboldt wrote 
 farewell letters to his friends in Germany and Paris. As 
 before leaving Paris he had agreed with Captain Baudin, that 
 if the expedition for discoveries in the Pacific, which seemed to 
 be adjourned for several years, should take place at an earlier 
 period, he would endeavour to return from Algiers and join 
 it, at some port in France or Spain ; he now wrote him that 
 if the government persisted in sending him by Cape Horn, he 
 would meet him at Montevideo, Chili, or Lima, or wherever 
 else he should touch in the Spanish colonies. This done, he 
 was ready to bid the Old World a lieu. 
 
 The English squadron was still off the harbour, but a storm 
 coming up on the 5th of June, it was obliged to quit the 
 coast, and make for the open sea. They seized the opportu- 
 nity and set sail, cheered by a pleasing prophecy, from those 
 who saw the Pizarro weigh anchor, that they would certainly
 
 28 LIFE AND TRAVELS OP HUMBOLDT. 
 
 be captured in three days. They sailed at two o'clock in the 
 afternoon. The wind was contrary, and they made several 
 tacks before they could get out of the harbour. At half-past 
 six they passed the lighthouse of Corunna, the famous Tower 
 of Hercules. At sunset the wind increased, and the sea ran 
 high. The shores of Europe lessened in the distance. The 
 last thing they saw that night was the light of a fishing hut 
 at Sisarga. It faded. The land diappeared. The sea was 
 before them, the wide waste Sea !
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 &\t Engage; snit $isii ta % CHarg"|slsnbs. 
 1799. 
 
 The Canaries Ascent of Teneriffe Night in the cavern Across the 
 Malpays The crater Descent of the mountain At sea again 
 The southern cross In sight of land Disembark at Cumana. 
 
 AT sunset on the third day they saw from the mast-head 
 an English convoy sailing along the coast, and steering 
 towards the south-east. To avoid it they altered their course. 
 From that moment no light was allowed in the great cabin, 
 for fear of their being seen at a distance. Humboldt and 
 Bonpland were obliged to make use of dark lanterns to 
 examine the temperature of the water. 
 
 From the time of their sailing until they reached the 36th 
 degree of latitude, they saw no organic beings except sea 
 swallows and dolphins ; they even looked in vain for sea- 
 weeds and mollusca. On the sixth day, however, they entered 
 a zone where the waves were covered with a prodigious 
 quantity of medusae. The sea was nearly becalmed, but the 
 medusae were bound towards the south-east, with a rapidity 
 four times greater than that of the current. 
 
 Between the island of Madeira and the coast of Africa, 
 they had slight breezes and dead calms, which were favourable 
 for the magnetic observations that occupied Humboldt during 
 the passage. The travellers were never weary of admiring 
 the beauty of the nights ; nothing could be compared to the 
 transparency and serenity of the African sky. They were
 
 30 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF HUMBOLDT. 
 
 struck with the innumerable quantity of falling stars, which 
 appeared at every instant. The farther progress they made 
 towards the south, the more frequent was this phenomenon, 
 especially near the Canaries. Forty leagues east of the 
 island of Madeira, a swallow perched on the topsail yard. 
 It was so fatigued that it suffered itself to be caught by 
 the hand. 
 
 The Pizarro had orders to touch at the isle of Lancerota, 
 one of the seven great Canary Islands ; and at five in the 
 afternoon of the 16th of June, that island appeared so dis- 
 tinctly in view that Humboldt was able to take the angle of 
 altitude of a conic mountain, which towered majestically over 
 the other summits. 
 
 The current drew them toward the coast more rapidly than 
 they wished. As they advanced, they discovered at first the 
 island of Forteventura, famous for its numerous camels ; and 
 a short time after saw the island of Lobos, in the channel 
 which separated Forteventura from Lancerota. They spent 
 part of the night on deck. The moon illumined the volcanic 
 summits of Lancerota, the flanks of which, covered with 
 ashes, reflected a silver light. Antares threw out its resplen- 
 dent rays near the lunar disk, which was but a few degrees 
 above the horizon. The night was beautifully serene and 
 cool. The phosphorescence of the ocean seemed to augment 
 the mass of light diffused through the air. After midnight, 
 great black clouds rising behind the volcano shrouded at 
 intervals the moon, and the beautiful constellation of the 
 Scorpion. They beheld lights carried to and fro on shore, 
 which were probably those of fishermen preparing for their 
 labours. Humboldt and Bonpland had been occasionally 
 employed during their passage in reading the old voyages of 
 the Spaniards, and these moving lights recalled to their fancy 
 those which Pedro Gutierrez, page of Queen Isabella, saw in 
 the isle of Guanahani, on the memorable night of the dis- 
 covery of the New World.
 
 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF IIUMBOLDT. 31 
 
 From some notions which the captain of the Pizai*ro had 
 collected in au old Portuguese itinerary, he thought himself 
 opposite to a small fort, situated north of Teguisa, the capital 
 of the island of Lancerota. Mistaking a rock of basalt for a 
 castle, he saluted it by hoisting a Spanish flag, and sent a 
 boat with an officer to inquire of the commandant whether 
 any English vessels were ci*uising in the roads. He was not 
 a little surprised to learn that the land which he had con- 
 sidered as a prolongation of the coast of Lancerota, was the 
 small island of Graciosa, and that for several leagues there 
 was not an inhabited place. Humboldt and Bonpland took 
 advantage of the boat to survey the land, which enclosed a 
 large bay. The small portion of the island which they 
 traversed resembled a promontory of lava. The rocks were 
 naked, with, no marks of vegetation, and scarcely any of vege- 
 table soil. 
 
 The wind having freshened a little towards the morning 
 of the 18th, they succeeded in passing the channel. 
 
 From the time of their departure from Graciosa, the horizon 
 continued so hazy that they did not discover the island of 
 Canary, notwithstanding the height of its mountains, till the 
 evening of the 18th. On the morning of the 19th, they dis- 
 covered the point of Naga ; but the land, obscured by a 
 thick mist, presented forms that were vague and confused. 
 As they approached the road of Santa Cruz, they observed 
 that the mist, driven by the winds, drew nearer to them. 
 The sea was strongly agitated, as it most commonly is in 
 those latitudes. The vessel anchored after several soundings, 
 for the mist was so thick that they could scarcely distinguish 
 objects at a few cables' distance ; but at the moment they 
 began to salute the place, the fog was instantly dispelled. 
 The peak of Teyde appeared in a break above the clouds, and 
 the first rays of the sun, which had not yet risen, illumined 
 the summit of the volcano. 
 
 Humboldt and Bonpland hastened to the prow of the
 
 32 LIFJE AND TRAVELS OP HUMBOLDT. 
 
 vessel to behold the magnificent spectacle, and at the same 
 instant saw four English vessels lying to, and very near the 
 stern. They had passed without being perceived, and the 
 same mist which had concealed the peak from their view, had 
 saved them from the risk of being carried back to Europe. 
 The Pizari-o stood in as close as possible to the fort, to be 
 under its protection. It was on this shore, that, in the landing 
 attempted by the English, two years before, in July, 1797, the 
 great Kelson had his arm carried off by a cannon-ball. 
 
 The recommendation of the court of Madrid procured for 
 the travellers the most satisfactory reception at Santa Cruz. 
 The captain-general gave them immediate permission to ex- 
 amine the island, and Colonel Armiaga, who commanded a 
 regiment of infantry, received them into his house with great 
 hospitality. They could not enough admire the banana, the 
 papaw tree, and other plants, which they had hitherto seen 
 only in hot-houses, cultivated in his garden in the open air. 
 In the evening they went to herborize along the rocks, but 
 were little satisfied with their harvest, for the drought and dust 
 had almost destroyed vegetation. The few plants that they 
 saw, chiefly succulent ones, which draw their nourishment 
 from the air rather than the soil on which they grow, re- 
 minded them, by their appearance, that this group of islands 
 belonged to Africa, and even to the most arid part of that 
 arid continent. 
 
 Though the captain of the Pizarro had orders to stop long 
 enough at TenerifFe to give the naturalists time to scale the 
 summit of the peak, if the snows did not prevent their 
 ascent, they received notice, on account of the blockade of the 
 English ships, not to expect longer delay than four or five 
 days. They consequently hastened their departure for the 
 port of Orotava, which was situated on the western declivity 
 of the volcano, where they were sure of procuring guides ; 
 for they could find no one at Santa Cruz who had mounted 
 the peak.
 
 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF HUMBOLDT. 33 
 
 On the 20th of June, before sunrise, they began their ex- 
 cursion by ascending to the Villa de Laguna. The road by 
 which they ascended was on the right of a torrent, which in 
 the raiuy season formed fine cascades. IS ear the town they 
 met some white camels. The town itself, at which they soon 
 arrived, was situated in a small plain, surrounded by gardens, 
 and protected by a hill which was crowned by a wood of 
 laurels, myrtle, and arbutus. It was encircled by a great 
 number of chapels. Shaded by trees of perpetual verdure, 
 and erected on small eminences, these chapels added to the 
 picturesque effect of the landscape. The interior of the town 
 was not equal to its external appearance. The houses were 
 solidly built, but very antique, and the streets seemed 
 deserted. Our botanists, however, did not complain of the 
 antiquity of the edifices, for the roofs and walls were covered 
 with Canary house-leek, and elegant tvichomanes. 
 
 Before they reached Orotava they visited, at a little dis- 
 tance from the port, a botanic garden, which had been laid 
 out at a great expense some years before by the Marquis de 
 Nava. There they found M, Le Gros, the French vice- 
 consul, who had often scaled the summit of the peak, and who 
 served them as a guide. 
 
 They began their ascent on the morning of the 21st. M. 
 Le Gros, M. Lalande, secretary to the French consulate at 
 Santa Cruz, and an English gardener at Durasno, joined 
 them on this excursion. The day was not fine, for the 
 summit of the peak, which was generally visible at Orotava 
 from sunrise till ten o'clock, was covered with thick clouds. 
 
 They passed along a lofty aqueduct, lined with a great 
 number of fine ferns, and visited several gardens, in which 
 the fruit-trees of the north of .Europe were mingled with 
 orange-trees, pomegranate, and date trees. Here they saw 
 the famous dragon-tree of M. Frauqui. Although they had 
 been made acquainted with it, from the narratives of many 
 travellers, they were not the less struck with its enormous
 
 34 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF HUMBOLDT. 
 
 magnitude. They were told that the trunk of this tree, 
 which is mentioned in several very ancient documents, was 
 as gigantic in the fifteenth century as when they saw it. Its 
 height appeared to them to be about fifty or pixty feet ; its 
 circumference near the roots was forty-five feet. The trunk 
 was divided into a great number of branches, which rose in 
 the form of a candelabrum, and were terminated by tufts of 
 leaves. 
 
 On leaving Orotava, a narrow and stony pathway led them 
 through a beautiful forest of chestnut-trees to a site covered 
 with brambles, some species of laurels, and arborescent 
 heaths. The trunks of the latter grew to an extraordinary 
 size, and were loaded with flowers. They now stopped to 
 take in their provision of water under a solitary fir-tree. 
 
 They continued to ascend till they came to the rock of La 
 Gayta and to Portillo : traversing this narrow pass between 
 two basaltic hills, they entered the great plain of Spartium. 
 They spent two hours and a half in crossing the Llano del 
 Retama, which appeared like an immense sea of sand. 
 
 As far as the rock of Gayta, or the entrance of the exten- 
 sive Llano del Retama, the peak of Teneriffe was covered 
 with beautiful vegetation. There were no traces of recent 
 devastation. They might have imagined themselves scaling 
 the side of some volcano, the fire of which had been extin- 
 guished for centuries ; but scarcely had they reached the 
 plain covered with pumice-stone, when the landscape changed 
 its aspect, and at every step they met with large blocks of 
 obsidian thrown out by the volcano. Every thing here spoke 
 perfect solitude. A few goats and rabbits bounded across 
 the plain. The barren region of the peak was nine square 
 leagues; and as the lower regions viewed from this point 
 retrograded in the distance, the island appeared an immense 
 heap of torrefied matter, hemmed round by a scanty border 
 of vegetation. 
 
 From the Llano del Retama they passed through narrow
 
 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF HUMBOLDT. 35 
 
 defiles, and small ravines hollowed at a very remote time by 
 the torrents, first arriving at a more elevated plain, then at 
 the place where they intended to pass the night. This sta- 
 tion bore the name of the English Halt. Two inclined rocks 
 formed a kind of cavern, which afforded a shelter from the 
 winds. Though in the midst of summer, and under an 
 Africau sky, they suffered from cold during the night. The 
 thermometer descended there as low as to 41. Their guides 
 made up a large fire with the dry branches of retama. 
 Having neither tents nor cloaks, Humboldt and Bonpland 
 lay down on some masses of rock, and were incommoded by 
 the flame and smoke which the wind drove towards them. 
 They had attempted to form a kind of screen with cloths tied 
 together, but their enclosure took fire, which they did not 
 perceive till the greater part had been consumed by the 
 flames. As the temperature diminished, the peak became 
 covered with thick clouds. The approach of night inter- 
 rupted the play of the ascending cxirrent, which, during the 
 day, rose from the pl?.ins towards the high regions of the 
 atmosphere ; and the air, in cooling, lost its capacity of sus- 
 pending water. A strong northerly wind chased the clouds ; 
 the moon at intervals shooting through the vapours, exposed 
 its disk on a firmament of the darkest blue ; and the view of 
 the volcano threw a majestic character over the nocturnal 
 scenery. Sometimes the peak was entirely hidden from 
 their eyes by the fog, at other times it broke upon them in 
 terrific proximity; and, like an enormous pyramid, threw its 
 shadow over the clouds rolling beneath their feet. 
 
 About three in the morning, by the sombre light of a few 
 fir torches, they started on their journey to the summit of 
 the Sugar-loaf. They scaled the volcano on the north-east 
 side, where the declivities were extremely steep ; and after 
 two hours' toil reached a small plain, which, on account of 
 its elevated position, bore the name of Alta Vista. This 
 was the station of the neveros, those natives whose occupa-
 
 30 LIFE AND TRAVELS OP HUMBOLDT. 
 
 tion it was to collect ice and snow, which they sold in the 
 neighbouring towns. Their mules, better practised in climb- 
 ing mountains than those hired by travellers, reach Alta 
 Vista, and the neveros are obliged to transport the snow to 
 that place on their backs. Above this point commenced the 
 Malpays, a term by which is designated here, as well as in 
 every other country subject to volcanoes, a ground destitute 
 of vegetable mould, and covered with fragments of lava. 
 
 Day was beginning to dawn when the travellers left the 
 ice-cavern. They observed, during the twilight, a pheno- 
 menon which is not unusual on high mountains, but which 
 the position of the volcano they were scaling rendered very 
 striking. A layer of white and fleecy clouds concealed from 
 them the sight of the ocean, and the lower region of the 
 island. This layer did not appear above five thousand feet 
 high ; the clouds were so uniformly spread, and kept so 
 perfectly a level, that they wore the appearance of a vast 
 plain covered with snow. The colossal pyramid of the peak, 
 the volcanic summits of L^ncerota, of Forteventura, and the 
 isle of Palma, were like rocks amidst this vast sea of vapours, 
 and their black tints were in fine contrast with the whiteness 
 of the clouds. 
 
 While they were climbing over the broken lava of the 
 Malpays, they perceived a very curious optical phenomenon, 
 which lasted some minutes. They thought they saw on the 
 east side small rockets thrown into the air. Luminous points, 
 about seven or eight degrees above the horizon, appeared 
 first to move in a vertical direction; but their motion was 
 gradually changed into a horizontal oscillation. Their fellow- 
 travellers, their guides even, were astonished at this phe- 
 nomenon, without either Humboldt or Bonpland having 
 made any remark on it to them. The travellers thought, at 
 first sight, that these luminous points, which floated in the 
 air, indicated some new eruption of the great volcano of 
 Lancerota ; for they recollected that Bouguer and La Con-
 
 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF HUMBOLDT. o7 
 
 damine, in scaling the volcano of Pichincha, were witnesses 
 of the eruption of Cotopaxi. But the illusion soon ceased, 
 and they found that the luminous points were the images of 
 several stars magnified by the vapours. These images re- 
 mained motionless at intervals; they then seemed to rise 
 perpendicularly, descended sideways, and returned to the 
 point whence they had departed. This motion lasted one 
 or t\vo seconds. Though they had no exact means of mea- 
 suring the extent of the lateral shifting, they did not the 
 lass distinctly observe the path of the luminous point It 
 did not appear double from an effect of mirage, and left no 
 trace of light behind. Bringing, with the telescope of a 
 small sextant, the stars into contact with the lofty summit 
 of a mountain in Lancerota, Humboldt observed that the 
 oscillation was constantly directed towards the same point, 
 which was towards that part of the horizon where the disk 
 of the sun was to appear ; and that, making allowance for 
 the motion of the star in its declination, the image returned 
 always to the same place. These appearances of lateral 
 refraction ceased long before daylight rendered the stars 
 quite invisible. 
 
 The road, which they were obliged to clear for themselves 
 across the Malpays, was extremely fatiguing. The ascent 
 was steep, and the blocks of lava rolled from beneath their 
 feet. At the peak the lava, broken into sharp pieces, left 
 hollows, in which they risked falling up to their waists. 
 Unfortunately the listlessness of their guides contributed to 
 increase the difficulty of this ascent. Models of the phleg- 
 matic, they had wished to persuade Humboldt and Bonpland 
 on the preceding evening not to go beyond the station of the 
 rocks. Every ten minutes they sat down to rest themselves, 
 and when unobserved they threw away the specimens of 
 obsidian and pumicestone, which the geologists had care- 
 fully collected. They discovered at length that none of the 
 guides had ever visited the summit of the volcano.
 
 38 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF HUMBOLDT. 
 
 After three hours' walking, they reached, at the extremity 
 of the Malpays, a small plain, called La Rambleta, from the 
 centre of which the Sugar-loaf took its rise. They had yet 
 to scale the steepest part of the mountain, the Sugar-loaf, 
 which formed the summit. The slope of this small cone, 
 covered with volcanic ashes and fragments of pumicestone, 
 was so steep that it would have been almost impossible to 
 reach the top, had they not ascended by an old current of 
 lava, the debris of which had resisted the ravages of time. 
 These debris formed a wall of scorious rock, which stretched 
 into the midst of the loose ashes. They ascended the Sugar- 
 loaf by grasping the half-decomposed scoriae, which often 
 broke in their hands. They employed nearly half an hour 
 to scale a hill, the perpendicular height of which was 
 scarcely five hundred and forty feet. 
 
 When they gained the summit of the Sugar-loaf they were 
 surprised to find scarcely room enough to seat themselves 
 conveniently. They were stopped by a small circular wall 
 of porphyritic lava, with a base of pitchstone, which con- 
 cealed from them the view of the crater. The west wind 
 blew with such violence that they could scarcely stand. It 
 was eight in the morning, and they suffered severely from 
 the cold, though the thermometer kept a little above freezing- 
 point. 
 
 The wall, which surrounded the crater like a parapet, was 
 so high, that it would have been impossible to reach the 
 crater itself, if, on the eastern side, there had not been a 
 breach, which seemed to have been the effect of -a flowing of 
 very old lava. They descended through this breach toward 
 the bottom of the funnel, the figure of which was elliptic. 
 The greatest breadth of the mouth appeared to them to be 
 three hundred feet, the smallest two hundred feet. 
 
 The external edges of the crater were almost perpendicular. 
 They descended to the bottom of the crater on a train of 
 broken lava, from the eastern breach of the enclosure. The
 
 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF HUMBOLDT. 39 
 
 heat was perceptible only in a few crevices, which gave vent 
 to aqueous vapours with a peculiar buzzing noise. Some of 
 these funnels or crevices were on the outside of the enclosure, 
 on the external brink of the parapet that surrounded the 
 crater. Humboldt plunged the thermometer into them, and 
 saw it rise rapidly to 154 and 167. He also sketched on 
 the spot a view of the interior edge of the crater as it pre- 
 sented itself in the descent by the eastern track. 
 
 The top of the circular wall exhibited those curious rami- 
 fications which are found in coke. The northern edge was 
 most elevated. Towards the soiith-west the enclosure was 
 considerably sunk, and an enormous mass of 'scorious lava 
 seemed glued to the extremity of the brink. The rock was 
 perforated on the west, and a large opening gave a view of 
 the horizon of the sea. 
 
 Seated on the brink of the crater, Humboldt dug a hole 
 some inches deep, into which he placed the thermometer, 
 which rapidly rose to 107. Some sulphureous crystals which 
 he gathered here, consumed the paper in which he wrapt 
 them, and a part of his mineralogical journal besides. 
 
 From the outer edge of the crater the admiring travellers 
 turned their eyes towards the north-east, where the coasts 
 were studded with villages and hamlets. At their feet were 
 masses of vapour constantly drifted by the winds. A uniform 
 stratum of clouds had been pierced in several places by the 
 effect of the small currents of air, which the earth, heated 
 by the sun, began to send towards them. The port of 
 Orotava, its vessels at anchor, the gardens and the vineyards 
 encircling the town, showed themselves through an opening 
 which seemed to enlarge every instant. From the summit 
 of these solitary regions their eyes wandered over an in- 
 habited world. They enjoyed the striking contrast between 
 the bare sides of the peak, its steep declivities covered with 
 scoriae, its elevated plains destitute of vegetation, and the 
 smiling aspect of the cultured country beneath. They beheld
 
 40 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF HUAIBOLDT. 
 
 the plants divided by zones, as the temperature of the atmo- 
 sphere diminished with the elevation of the site. Below the 
 Sugar loaf, lichens began to cover the scorious and lustrous 
 lava ; and violets rose on the slope of the volcano at eight 
 ' thousand five hundred feet of height. Tufts of retama, 
 loaded with flowers, adorned the valleys hollowed out by the 
 torrents, and encumbered with the effects of the lateral 
 eruptions. Below the retama, lay the region of ferns, bor- 
 dered by the tract of the arborescent heaths. Forests of 
 laurel, rhamnus, and arbutus divided the ericas from the 
 rising grounds planted with vines and fruit-trees. A rich 
 carpet of verdure extended from the plain of spartium, and 
 the zone of the alpine plants even to the groups of the date- 
 tree and the musa, at the feet of which the ocean appeared 
 to roll. The seeming proximity in which, from the summit 
 of the peak, they beheld the hamlets, the vineyards, and the 
 gardens on the coast, was increased by the prodigious trans- 
 parency of the atmosphere. In spite of the great distance, 
 they could plainly distinguish not only the houses, the sails 
 of the vessels, and the trunks of the trees, but they could 
 discern the vivid colouring of the vegetation of the plains. 
 
 Notwithstanding the heat which they felt in their feet on 
 the edge of the crater, the cone of ashes remains covered 
 with snow during several months in winter. It was probable 
 that under the cap of snow considerable hollows were found, 
 like those existing under the glaciers of Switzerland, the 
 temperature of which was constantly less elevated than that 
 of the soil on which they reposed. The cold and violent 
 wind, which blew from the time of sunrise, induced them to 
 seek shelter at the foot of the Sugar-loaf. Their hands and 
 faces were neai'ly frozen, while their boots were burnt by the 
 soil on which they walked. They descended in the space of 
 a few minutes the Sugar-loaf which they had scaled with so 
 much toil ; and this rapidity was in part involuntary, for 
 they often rolled down on the ashes. It was with regret that
 
 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF HUMBOLDT. 41 
 
 they quitted this solitude, this domain where Nature reigned 
 in all her majesty. 
 
 They traversed the Malpays but slowly; for their feet 
 found no sure foundation on the loose blocks of lava. 
 Nearer the station of the rocks, the descent became extremely 
 difficult ; the compact short-swarded turf was so slippery, 
 that they were obliged to incline their bodies continually 
 backward in order to avoid falling. In the sandy plain of 
 retama, the thermometer rose to 72 ; and this heat seemed 
 to them suffocating in comparison with the cold, which they 
 had suffered from the air on the summit of the volcano. 
 They were absolutely without water ; for their guides, not 
 satisfied with drinking clandestinely their little supply of 
 Malmsey wine, had broken their water jars. 
 
 They at length enjoyed the refreshing breeze in the 
 beautiful region of the arborescent erica and fern, and were 
 enveloped in a thick bed of clouds, stationary at three 
 thousand six hundred feet above the plain. The clouds 
 having dispersed, they remarked a phenomenon which after- 
 wards became familiar to them on the declivities of the 
 Cordilleras. Small currents of air chased trains of cloud 
 with unequal velocity, and in opposite directions : they bore 
 the appearance of streamlets of water in rapid motion and 
 flowing in all directions, amidst a great mass of stagnant 
 water. As the travellers approached the town of Orotava, 
 they met great flocks of canaries. These birds, well 
 known in Europe and America, were in general uniformly 
 jp-een. Some, however, had a yellow tinge on their backs ; 
 their note was the same as that of the tame canary. Towards 
 the close of the day they reached the port of Orotava, where 
 they received the unexpected intelligence that the Pizarro 
 would not set sail till the 24th or 25th. If they could 
 have calculated on this delay, they might either have 
 lengthened their stay on the peak, or have made an excursion 
 to the volcano of Chahorra. As it was, they passed the 
 
 D
 
 42 LIFE AND TRAVELS OP HUMBOLBT, 
 
 following day in visiting the environs of Orotava, and 
 enjoying its agreeable society. They were present on the 
 eve of St. John at a pastoral fete. In the beginning of the 
 evening the slope of the volcano exhibited on a sudden a 
 most extraordinary spectacle. The shepherds, in conformity 
 to a custom, no doubt introduced by the Spaniards, had 
 lighted the fires ot St. John. The scattered masses of fire, 
 and the columns of smoke driven by the wind, formed a fine 
 contrast with the deep verdure of the forests which covered 
 the sides of the peak. Shouts of joy resounding from afar, 
 were the only sounds that broke the silence of nature in these 
 solitary regions. 
 
 They left Santa Cruz on the 25th of June, and directed 
 their course towards South America. From the time they 
 entered the torrid zone, they were never weary of admiring 
 at night the beauty of the southern sky, which, as they 
 advanced to the south, opened new constellations to their 
 view. " We feel," says Humboldt, writing of himself at this 
 time " we feel an indescribable sensation when, on approach- 
 ing the equator, and particularly on passing from one hemi- 
 sphere to the other, we see those stars which we have 
 contemplated from our infancy, progressively sink, and 
 finally disappear. Nothing awakens in the traveller a livelier 
 remembrance of the immense distance by which he is 
 separated from his country, than the aspect of an unknown 
 firmament. The grouping of the stars of the first magnitude, 
 some scattered nebulas, rivalling in splendour the milky-way, 
 and tracts of space remarkable for their extreme blackness, 
 give a peculiar physiognomy to the southern sky. This 
 sight fills with admiration even those who, uninstructed in 
 the several branches of physical science, feel the same emotion 
 of delight in the contemplation of the heavenly vault, as in 
 the view of a beautiful landscape or a majestic site. A 
 traveller needs not to be a botanist to recognise the torrid 
 zone by the mere aspect of its vegetation. Without having
 
 Peak of Teneriffe.
 
 LIFE AXD TRAVELS OF HUMBOLDT. 43 
 
 acquired any notions of astronomy, without any acquaintance 
 with the celestial charts of Flamstead and De la Caille, 
 he feels he is not in Europe when he sees the immense 
 constellation of the Ship, or the phosphorescent Clouds of 
 Magellan, arisa on the horizon. The heavens and the 
 earth, every thing in the equinoctial regions, presents an 
 exotic character." 
 
 The lower regions of the air were loaded with vapours 
 for some days. They saw distinctly for the first time the 
 Southern Cross only on the night of the 4th of July, in 
 the sixteenth degree of latitude. It was strongly inclined, 
 and appeared from time to time between the clouds, the 
 centre of which, furrowed by uncondensed lightnings, reflected 
 a silvery light. 
 
 The pleasure the travellers felt on discovering the Southern 
 Cross was warmly shared by those of the crew who had 
 visited the colonies. In the solitude of the seas, we hail a 
 star as a friend from whom we have long been separated. 
 The Portuguese and the Spaniards are peculiarly susceptible 
 of this feeling ; a religious sentiment attaches them to this 
 constellation, the form of which recalls the sign of the 
 faith planted by their ancestors in the deserts of the New 
 World. 
 
 The two great stars which mark the summit and the 
 foot of the Cross having nearly the same right ascension, 
 it follows that the constellation is almost perpendicular at 
 the moment when it passes the meridian. This circumstance 
 is known to the people of every nation situated beyond the 
 tropics, or in the southern hemisphere. It has been 
 observed at what hour of the night, in different seasons, the 
 Cross is erect or inclined. It is a timepiece which advances 
 very regularly nearly four minutes a day, and no other group 
 of stars affords to the naked eye an obsevation of time so 
 easily made. Often afterward did Humboldt and Bonpland 
 hear their guides exclaim in the savannas of Venezuela, or
 
 44 LIFE A3TD TRAVELS OP HTTMBOLDT. 
 
 in the desert extending from Lima to Truxillo, " Midnight 
 is past, the Cross begins to bend ! " It reminded them of 
 that affecting scene where Paul and Virginia, seated near 
 the source of the river of Lataniers, conversed together for 
 the last time, and where the old man, at the sight of 
 the Southern Cross, warned them that it was time to 
 separate. 
 
 On the morning of the 13th, high land was seen from the 
 mast-head, though not clearly, as it waa surrounded with a 
 thick fog. The wind blew hard, and the sea was very rough. 
 Large drops of rain fell at intervals, and every indication 
 menaced tempestuous weather. When the sun rose, and the 
 fog had cleared away, they saw the island of Tobago. It was 
 a heap of rocks carefully cultivated. The dazzling whiteness 
 of the stone formed an agreeable contrast to the verdure of 
 some scattered tufts of trees. Cylindrie and very lofty 
 cactuses crowned the top of the mountains, and gave a 
 peculiar physiognomy to this tropical landscape. The wind 
 slackened after sunset, and the clouds disappeared as the 
 moon reached the zenith. The number of falling stars was 
 considerable on this and the following nights. 
 
 On the morning of the 1 5th they perceived a very low 
 islet, covered with a few sandy downs, on which they could 
 discover with their glasses no trace of habitation or culture. 
 Cylindrical cactuses rose here and there in the form of can- 
 delabra. The soil, almost destitute of vegetation, seemed to 
 have a waving motion, in consequence of the extraordinary 
 refraction which the rays of the sun underwent in traversing 
 the strata of air in contact with plains strongly heated. 
 Under every zone, deserts and sandy shores appear like an 
 agitated sea, from the effect of mirage. 
 
 At daybreak on the 16th of July, 1799, forty-one days 
 after their departure from Corunna, they beheld a verdant 
 coast of picturesque aspect. The mountains of New Anda- 
 lusia, half- veiled by mists, bounded the horizon to the south.
 
 LIFE AND TRAVELS OP HUMBOLDT. 45 
 
 The city of Cumana and its castle appeared between groups 
 of cocoa-trees. They anchored in the port about nine in the 
 morning : the sick dragged themselves on deck to enjoy the 
 sight of a land which was to put an end to their sufferings. 
 The eyes of the naturalists were fixed on the groups of cocoa- 
 trees which bordered the river : their trunks, more than 
 sixty feet high, towered over eveiy object in landscape. The 
 plain was covered with tufts of cassia, caper, and arborescent 
 mimosas, which spread their branches in the form of an 
 umbrella. The pinnated leaves of the palms were conspicuous 
 on the azure sky, the clearness of which was unsullied by any 
 trace of vapour. The sun was ascending rapidly towards the 
 zenith. A dazzling light was spread through the air, along 
 the whitish hills, which were strewed with cactuses, and over 
 a sea ever calm, the shores of which were peopled with 
 brown pelicans, egrets, and flamingoes. The splendour of 
 the day, the vivid colouring of the vegetable world, the forms 
 of the plants, the varied plumage of the birds, every thing was 
 stamped with the grand character of nature in the equinoctial 
 regions.
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 feursiotts Hfr 
 
 1799. 
 
 Bathing Journey to the Peninsula of Araya The Tmposible -The Burning 
 Forest The Father-mother Ascent of Turimiquiri Cavern of the Gua- 
 charo The Cave of Souls Ghostly Plants Descent of Purgatory Indians 
 on a Tramp Forest of Santa Maria Back to Cumana. 
 
 THE captain of the Pizarro conducted Humboldt and 
 Bonpland to Don Vincente Emparan, the governor of the 
 province, that they might present to him the passports which 
 had been furnished them by the Secretary of State at Madrid. 
 He received them with much cordiality, and expressed his 
 great satisfaction at the resolution they had taken to remain 
 for some time in the province, which at that period was but 
 little known, even by name, in Europe. Sefior Emparan was 
 a lover of science, and the public marks of consideration 
 which he gave them during a long abode in his government, 
 contributed greatly to procure them a favourable welcome in 
 every part of South America. 
 
 The city of Cumana occupied the ground lying between 
 'the castle of San Antonio and the small rivers of Manzanares 
 and Santa Catalina. The banks of the Mauzanares were very 
 pleasant, and were shaded by mimosas, erythrinas, ceibas, 
 and other trees of gigantic growth. The children of Cumana 
 passed a considerable part of their lives in its waters ; all the 
 inhabitants, even to the women of the most opulent families,
 
 
 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF HUMBOLDT. 47 
 
 knew Low to swim ; and in a country where man was so 
 near the state of nature, one of the first questions asked on 
 meeting in the morning was, whether the water was cooler 
 than it was on the preceding evening. One of the modes of 
 bathing was curious. Every evening Humboldt and Bon- 
 pland visited a family in the suburb of the Guayquerias. In 
 a fine moonlight night, chairs were placed in the water ; the 
 men and women were lightly clothed, and the family and 
 strangers, assembled in the river, passed some hours in 
 smoking cigars, and in talking, according to the custom of 
 the country, of the extreme dryness of the season, of the 
 abundant rains in the neighbouring districts, and particularly 
 of the extravagances of which the ladies of Cumana accused 
 those of Caracas and Havanna. The company were luckily 
 under no apprehensions from the small crocodiles, which were 
 extremely scarce, and which approached men without attack- 
 ing them. These animals are three or four feet long. 
 Humboldt never met with them in the Manzanares, but 
 found a great number of dolphins, which sometimes ascended 
 the river in the night, and frightened the bathers by spouting 
 water. 
 
 The first excursion of the travellers was to the peninsula 
 of Araya. They embarked on the Rio Manzanares on the 
 19th of August, about two in the morning. The principal 
 objects of this excursion were, to see the ruins of the castle 
 of Araya, to examine the salt-works, and to make a few geo- 
 logical observations on the mountains iorming the narrow 
 peninsula of Maniquarez. The night was delightfully cool ; 
 swarms of phosphorescent insects glistened in the air, and 
 over the groves of mimosa which bordered the river. 
 
 When, on descending the river, they drew near planta- 
 tions, they saw bonfires kindled by the negroes. A light and 
 undulating smoke rose to the tops of the palm-trees, and 
 imparted a reddish hue to the disk of the moon. It was on 
 a Sunday night, and the slaves were dancing to the music of
 
 48 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF HUMBOLDT. 
 
 the guitar. The bark in which they passed the gulf oi" 
 Cariaco was very spacious. Large skins of the jaguar, or 
 American tiger, were spread for their repose during the night. 
 Though they had been scarcely two months yet in the torrid 
 zone, they had already become so sensible to the smallest 
 variation of temperature, that the cold prevented them from 
 sleeping. 
 
 They landed at Araya, and examined the salt-works, and, 
 having finished their operations, departed at sunset to sleep 
 at an Indian hut, some miles distant, near the ruins ot the 
 castle of Araya. Night overtook them while they were in a 
 narrow path, bordered on one side by the sea, and on the 
 other by a range of perpendicular rocks. The tide was 
 rising rapidly, and narrowed the road at every step. They 
 at length arrived at the foot of the old castle of Araya, 
 where they enjoyed a prospect that had in it something 
 melancholy and romantic. The ruins stood on a bare and 
 arid mountain, which was crowned with agave, cactus, and 
 thorny mimosas, and bore less resemblance to the works of 
 man than to masses of rock which were ruptured at the 
 early revolutions of the globe. 
 
 In the morning the son of their Indian host conducted them 
 to the village of Maniquarez. On their way they examined 
 the ruins of Santiago, the structure of which was remarkable 
 for its extreme solidity. The walls of freestone, five feet 
 thick, had been blown up by mines ; but they still found 
 masses of seven or eight hundred feet square, which had 
 scarcely a crack in them. Their guide showed them a cistern, 
 thirty feet deep, which, though much damaged, furnished 
 water to the inhabitants of the peninsula of Araya. 
 
 After having examined the environs of Maniquarez, they 
 embarked at night in a fishing-boat for Cumana. The small 
 crazy boats employed by the natives here, bore testimony to 
 the extreme calmness of the sea in these regions. The boat 
 of the travellers, though the best they could procure, was so
 
 LIFE AND TRAVELS OP HCMBOLDT. 49 
 
 leaky, that the pilot's son was constantly employed in baling 
 out the water with a calabash shell 
 
 Their first visit to the peninsula of Araya was soon suc- 
 ceeded by an excursion to the mountains of the missions of 
 the Chayma Indians. 
 
 On the 4th of September, at five in the morning, they 
 began their journey. On account of the extreme difficulties 
 of the road, they had been advised to reduce their baggage 
 to a very small bulk. Two beasts of burden were sufficient 
 to carry their provision, their instruments, and the paper 
 necessary to dry their plants. The morning was deliciously 
 cool. The road, which led to Curnanagoa, ran along the 
 right bank of the Manzanares, passing by the hospital of 
 the Capuchins. On leaving Cumana they enjoyed, during 
 the short duration of the twilight, from the top of the 
 hill of San Francisco, an extensive view over the sea, the 
 plain covered with golden flowers, and the mountains of the 
 Brigantine. 
 
 After walking two hours, they arrived at the foot of the 
 high chain ot the interior mountains, which stretched from 
 east to west ; from the Brigantiue to the Cerro de San 
 Lorenzo. There, new rocks appeared, and with them another 
 aspect of vegetation. Every object assumed a more majestic 
 and picturesque character. The soil, watered by springs, 
 was furrowed in every direction ; trees of gigantic height, 
 covered with lianas, rose from the ravines ; their bark, black 
 and burnt by the double action of the light and the oxygen 
 of the atmosphere, contrasted with the fresh verdure of the 
 pothos and dracontium, the tough and shining leaves of 
 which were sometimes several feet long. 
 
 From the top of a hill of sandstone they had a magnificent 
 view of the sea, of Cape Macanao, and the peninsula of 
 Maniquarez. At their feet an immense forest extended to 
 the edge of the ocean. The tops of the trees, intertwined 
 with lianas, and crowned with long wreaths of flowers, formed
 
 50 LIFE AND TRAVELS OP HUMBOLDT. 
 
 a vast carpet of verdure, the dark tint of which augmented 
 the splendour of the aerial light. 
 
 In proportion as they penetrated into the forest, the 
 barometer indicated the progressive elevation of the land. 
 The trunks of the trees here presented a curious phenomenon, 
 for a gramineous plant, like a liana, eight or ten feet high, 
 formed festoons, which crossed the path, and swung about 
 with the wind. They halted in the afternoon on a small 
 flat known by the name of Quetepe. A few small houses 
 had been erected near a spring, well known by the natives 
 for its coolness and great salubrity. They found the water 
 delicious. 
 
 As they advanced towards the south-west, the soil became 
 dry and sandy. They climbed a group of mountains which 
 separated the coast from the vast plains, or savannas, bor- 
 dered by the Orinoco. That part of the group, over which 
 passed the road to Cumanac.oa, was destitute of vegetation, 
 and had steep declivities both on the north and the south. 
 It was known by the name of the Imposible, because it was 
 believed that, in case of hostile invasion, this ridge of 
 mountains would be inaccessible to the enemy, and would 
 offer an asylum to the inhabitants of Cumana, The view 
 from the Imposible was finer and more extensive than that 
 from the table-land of Quetepe. Humboldt distinguished 
 clearly by the naked eye the flattened top of the Brigantine, 
 the landing-place, and the roadstead of Cumana. The rocky 
 coast of the penins\ila of Araya was discernible in its whole 
 length. The travellers were particularly struck with the 
 extraordinary configuration of a port known by the name of 
 Laguna Grande. A vast basin, surrounded by high moun- 
 tains, communicated with the gulf of Cariaco by a narrow 
 channel which admitted of the passage of only one ship at a 
 time. 
 
 This port was capable of containing several squadrons at 
 once. It was an uninhabited place, but annually frequented
 
 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF HUMBOLDT. 51 
 
 by vessels which carried mules to the West Indian islands. 
 Humboldt traced the sinuosities of this arm of the sea, which, 
 like a river, had dug a bed between perpendicular rocks 
 destitute of vegetation. The prospect here reminded him of 
 the fanciful landscape which Leonardo da Vinci has made the 
 background of his famous portrait of Mona Lisa, the wife 
 of Francisco del Giacondo. 
 
 They left the Imposible early in the morning of the 5th 
 of September. The path was dangerous for their beasts, 
 being in most places but fifteen inches broad, and bordered 
 by precipices. When they quitted it, it was to enter a thick 
 forest traversed by many small rivers. They walked for 
 some hours in the shade of this forest with scarcely a glimpse 
 of the sky. 
 
 In this place they were struck for the first time with the 
 sight of nests in the shape of bottles, or small bags, suspended 
 from the branches of the lowest trees, and attesting the 
 wonderful industry of the orioles, that mingled their warbling 
 with the hoarse cries of the parrots and the macaws. They 
 left the forests, and, taking a narrow path with many wind- 
 ings, came into an open but humid country. Here the 
 evaporation catised by the action of the sun was so great 
 that they were wet as with a vapour bath. The road was 
 bordered with a kind of bamboo, more than forty feet in 
 height. Nothing could exceed its elegance. Its smooth and 
 glossy trunk generally bent towards the banks of rivulets, 
 and it waved with the lightest breath of air. 
 
 The road led them to the small village of San Fernando, 
 which was situated in a narrow plain, and surrounded by 
 steep rocks. This was the first mission they saw in America. 
 The huts of the Chayma Indians, though separated from 
 each other, were not surrounded by gardens. The streets, 
 which were wide and very straight, crossed each other at 
 right angles. The walls of the huts were made of clay, 
 strengthened by lianas. The uniformity of these huts, the
 
 52 LIFE AND TRAVELS OP HUMBOLDT. 
 
 grave and taciturn air of their inhabitants, and the extreme 
 neatness of the dwellings, reminded Humboldt of the esta- 
 blishments of the Moravian brethren. Besides their own 
 gardens, every Indian family helped to cultivate the garden 
 of the community, which was situated at some distance from, 
 the village. In this garden the adults of each sex worked 
 one hour in the morning, and one in the evening. The 
 great square of San Fernando, in the centre of the village, 
 contained the church, the dwelling of the missionary, and a 
 very humble-looking edifice pompously called the King's house. 
 This was a caravanserai, destined for travellers ; and, as our 
 travellers often experienced, infinitely valuable in a country 
 where the name of an inn was unknown. 
 
 The missionary of San Fernando was a Capuchin, a native 
 of Aragon, far advanced in years, but strong and healthy. 
 His extreme corpulency, his hilarity, the interest he took in 
 battles and sieges, ill accorded with the ideas we form of the 
 melancholy reveries and the contemplative life of missionaries. 
 Though extremely busy about a cow which was to be killed 
 next day, the old monk received Humboldt and Bonpland 
 with kindness, and permitted them to hang up their ham- 
 mocks in a gallery of his house. Seated, without doing 
 any thing the greater part of the day, in an arm-chair of red 
 wood, he complained bitterly of what he called the indolence 
 and ignorance of his countrymen. The sight of Humboldt's 
 instruments and books, and the dried plants of Bonpland, 
 drew from him a sarcastic smile ; and he acknowledged, with 
 the -naivete peculiar to the inhabitants of those countries, 
 that of all the enjoyments of life, without excepting sleep, 
 none was comparable to the pleasure of eating good beef 
 
 In the village of Arenas, at which they next arrived, lived 
 a labourer, Francisco Lozano, who presented a curious 
 physiological phenomenon. This man had suckled a child 
 with his own milk. The mother having fallen sick, thtf 
 father, to quiet the infant, took it into bed, and pressed it to
 
 LIFE AND TRAVELS OP HUMBOLDT. 53 
 
 his bosom, Lozano, then thirty-two years of age, had never 
 before remarked that he had milk : but the irritation of the 
 nipple, sucked by the child, caused the accumulation of that 
 liquid. The milk was thick, and very sweet. Astonished afc 
 the increased size of his breast, the father suckled his child 
 two or three times a day during five months. He drew on 
 himself the attention of his neighbours ; but he never thought, 
 as he probably would have done in Europe, of deriving any 
 advantage from the curiosity he excited. Humboldt and 
 Bonpland saw the certificate, which had been drawn up on 
 the spot, to attest this remarkable fact, eyewitnesses of 
 which were then living. They assured them that, during 
 this suckling, the child had no other nourishment than the 
 milk of his father. Lozano, who was not at Arenas duiing 
 their journey in the missions, came to them afterwards at 
 Cumana. He was accompanied by his son, then thirteen or 
 fourteen years of age. Bonpland examined with attention 
 the father's breasts, and found them wrinkled like those of a 
 woman who has given suck. He observed that the left 
 breast in particular was much enlarged; which Lozano 
 explained from the cii-cumstance, that the two breasts did not 
 furnish milk in the same abundance. Don Vincente Emparan 
 sent a circumstantial account of this phenomenon to Cadiz. 
 
 As they approached the southern bank of the basin of 
 Cumanagoa, they enjoyed the view of the Turimiquiri. An 
 enormous wall of rocks, the remains of an ancient cliff, rose 
 in the midst of the forests. Farther to the west, at Cerro 
 del Cuchivano, the chain of mountains seemed as if broken 
 by the effects of an earthquake. The crevice, which was 
 more than nine hundred feet wide, was surrounded by per- 
 pendicular rocks, and filled with trees, the interwoven 
 branches of which found no room to spread. It appeared 
 like a mine opened by the falling in of the earth. Two 
 caverns opened into this crevice, whence at times there issued 
 flames, which might be seen at a great distance in the night ;
 
 54 LIFE AND TRAVELS OP HUHBOLDT. 
 
 judging by the elevation of the rocks, above which these fiery 
 exhalations ascended, Humboldt was led to think that they 
 rose several hundred feet. 
 
 In an excursion which they made at Rinconado, the tra- 
 vellers attempted to penetrate into the crevice, wishing to ex- 
 amine the rocks which seemed to contain in their bosom the 
 cause of these extraordinary conflagrations ; but the strength 
 of the vegetation, the interweaving of the lianas and thorny 
 plants, hindered their progress. Happily the inhabitants of the 
 valley themselves felt a warm interest in their researches, less 
 from the fear of a volcanic explosion, than because their 
 minds were impressed with the idea that the crevice con- 
 tained a gold mine ; and, although the travellers expressed 
 their doubts of the existence of gold in a secondary limestone, 
 they insisted on knowing " what the German miner thought 
 of the richness of the vein." Ever since the time of Charles 
 V. and the government of the Welsers, the Alfingers, and 
 the Sailers, at Coro and Caracas, the people of Terra Firma 
 had entertained a great confidence in the Germans with 
 respect to all that related to the working of mines. "Wher- 
 ever Humboldt went in South America, when the place of 
 his birth was known, he was shown samples of ore. In these 
 colonies every Frenchman was supposed to be a physician, 
 and every German a miner. 
 
 The farmers, with the aid of their slaves, opened a path 
 across the woods to the first fall of the Rio Juagua ; and on 
 the 10th of September, Humboldt and Bonpland made their 
 excursion to the crevice. On entering it they recognised the 
 proximity of panthers by a porcupine recently embuwelled. 
 For greater security the Indians returned to the farm, and 
 brought back some dogs of a very small breed. The travellers 
 were assured, that in the event of meeting a jaguar in a nar- 
 row path he would spring on the dog rather than on a man. 
 They did not proceed along the brink of the torrent, but on 
 the slope of the rocks which overhung the water. They
 
 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF HUMBOLDT. 55 
 
 walked on the side of a precipice from two to three hundred 
 feet deep, on a kind of very narrow cornice ; when the cor- 
 nice was so narrow that they could find no place for their 
 feet, they descended into the torrent, crossed it by fording, 
 and then climbed the opposite wall. These descents were 
 very fatiguing, and it was not safe to trust to the lianas, 
 which hung like great cords from the tops of the trees. The 
 creeping and parasite plants clung but feebly to the branches 
 which they embraced ; the united weight of their stalks was 
 considerable, and the travellers ran the risk of pulling down 
 a whole mass of verdure, if, in walking on a sloping ground, 
 they supported their weight by the lianas. The farther they 
 advanced the thicker the vegetation became. In several 
 places the roots of the trees had burst the rock, by inserting 
 themselves into the clefts that separated the beds. They 
 had some trouble to carry the plants which they gathered at 
 every step. The cannas, the heliconias with fine purple 
 flowers, the costuses, and other plants of the Amomum family, 
 attained here eight or ten feet in height; and their fresh 
 tender verdure, their silky gloss, and the extraordinary de- 
 velopment of the parenchyma, formed a striking contrast with 
 the brown colour of the arborescent ferns, the foliage of which 
 was delicately shaped. The Indians made incisions with their 
 large knives in the trunks of the trees, and fixed Humboldt's 
 attention on the beautiful red and gold-coloured woods. 
 
 The supposed gold mine of this crevice, which was the 
 object of their examination, was nothing but an excavation 
 cut into a black stratum of marl, which contained pyrites in 
 abundance. The marly strata crossed the torrent; and, as the 
 water washed out metallic grains, the natives imagined, ou 
 account of the brilliancy of the pyrites, that the torrent bore 
 down gold. Nor could Humboldt convince them to the 
 contrary ; for they continued to pick up secretly every bit 
 of pyrites they saw sparkling in the water. The melancholy 
 proverb, " All that glitters is not gold," seemed never to have
 
 56 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF HUMBOLDT. 
 
 reached them. Leaving this mythical gold mine, they follo\ved 
 the course of the crevice, -which stretched along a narrow 
 canal overshadowed by lofty ti*ees. 
 
 They had suffered great fatigue, and were quite drenched 
 by frequently crossing the torrent when they reached the 
 caverns. A wall of rock rose there perpendicularly to the 
 height of five thousand feet. In the middle of this section, 
 and in a position unfortunately inaccessible to man, two 
 caverns opened in the form of crevices. The naturalists were 
 assured by their guides that they were inhabited by nocturnal 
 birds. The party reposed at the foot of the cavern where 
 the flames were seen to issue. The natives discussed the 
 danger to which the town of Cumana9oa would be exposed 
 in case the crevice should become an active volcano, while 
 Humboldt and Bonpland speculated on the causes of the 
 phenomenon. 
 
 On the 12th of September they continued their journey to 
 the convent of Caripe, the principal settlement of the Chayma 
 missions. Their first stopping-place was a solitary farm, 
 situated on a small plain among the mountains of Cocallar. 
 
 Nothing could be compared to the majestic tranquillity 
 which the aspect of the firmament presented in this solitary 
 region. Tracing with the eye, at nightfall, the meadows 
 which bounded the horizon, the plain covered with verdure 
 and gently undulated, they thought they beheld from afar 
 the surface of the ocean supporting the starry vault of 
 heaven. The tree under which they were seated, the luminous 
 insects flying in the air, the constellations which shone in the 
 south ; every object seemed to tell them how far they were 
 from their native land. If amidst this exotic nature they 
 heard from the depth of the valley the tinkling of a bell, or 
 the lowing of herds, the remembrance of their country was 
 awakened suddenly. The sounds were like distant voices 
 resounding from beyond the ocean, and with magical power 
 transporting them from one hemisphere to the other.
 
 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF HUMBOLDT. 57 
 
 On the following morning they made the ascent of the 
 Turimiquiri. The view on this mountain was vast and 
 picturesque. From the summit to the ocean they perceived 
 chains of mountains extended in parallel lines from east to 
 west, and bounding longitudinal valleys. These valleys were 
 intersected at right angles by an infinite number of small 
 ravines, scooped out by the torrents. The ground in general 
 was a gentle slope as far as the Imposible ; farther on, the 
 precipices became bold, and continued so to the shore of the 
 gulf of Cariaco. They seemed to look down into the bottom 
 of a funnel, in which they could distinguish, amidst tufts of 
 scattered trees, the Indian village of Aricagua. Towards the 
 north, a narrow slip of land, the peninsula of Araya, formed 
 a dark stripe on the sea, which, being illumined by the rays 
 of the sun, reflected a strong light. Beyond the peninsula 
 the horizon was bounded by Cape Macanao, the black rocks 
 of which rose amid the waters like an immense bastion. 
 
 At last the travellers reached the convent of Caripe. It was 
 backed with an enormous wall of perpendicular rock, covered 
 with thick vegetation : the stone, which was of resplendent 
 whiteness, appeared only here and there between the foliage. 
 In a small square in front of the convent was a cross of Brazil 
 wood, surrounded with benches for the infirm monks. 
 They were telling their beads when Humboldt and Bonpland 
 arrived. 
 
 They were received with great hospitality by the monks 
 of Caripe. The building had an inner court surrounded by 
 an arcade, like the convents in Spain. This enclosed place 
 was highly convenient for setting up their instruments and 
 making observations. They found a numerous society in the 
 convent. Young monks, recently arrived from Spain, were 
 just about to settle in the Missions, while old infirm mission- 
 aries sought for health in the fresh and salubrious air of the 
 mountains of Caripe. Humboldt was lodged in the cell of 
 the superior, which contained a pretty good collection of
 
 58 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF HUMBOLDT. 
 
 books. He found there the Teatro Critico of Feijoo, the 
 Lettres Edifiantes, and the Traite cFElectrictie by Abbe 
 Nollet. It seemed as if the progress of knowledge had 
 advanced even in the forests of America. 
 
 But that which conferred the most celebrity on the valley 
 of Caiipe, was the great cavern of the Guacharo. In a 
 country where the people loved the marvellous, a cavern which 
 gave birth to a river, and was inhabited by thousands of 
 nocturnal birds, the fat of which was employed in the Missions 
 to dress food, was an everlasting object of conversation and 
 discussion. The cavern, which the natives called "a mine 
 of fat," was not in the valley of Caripe itself, but three short 
 leagues distant from the convent. 
 
 Humboldt and Bonpland set out for it on the 18th of Sep- 
 tember, accompanied by the alcaldes or Indian magistrates, 
 and the greater part of the monks of the convent. A nar- 
 row path led them at first towards the south, across a fine 
 plain, covered with beautiful ttirf. They then turned west- 
 ward, along the margin of a small river which issued from 
 the mouth of the cavern. They ascended sometimes in the 
 water, which was shallow, sometimes between the torrent 
 and a wall of rocks, on a soil extremely slippery and miry. 
 The falling down of the earth, the scattered trunks of 
 trees, over which the mules could scarcely pass, and the 
 creeping plants that covered the ground, rendered this part 
 of the road fatiguing. They were within four hundred paces 
 of the cavern, and yet they could not perceive it. The 
 torrent ran in a crevice hollowed out by the waters, and they 
 went on under a cornice, the projection of which prevented 
 them from seeing the sky. The path wound in the direction 
 of the river ; and at the last turning they came suddenly 
 before the immense opening of the grotto. Pierced in the 
 vertical profile of a rock, the entrance faced the south, and 
 formed an arch eighty feet broad, and seventy-two feet high. 
 The rock which surmounted the grotto was covered with
 
 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF HUMBOLDT. 59 
 
 trees of gigantic height. Plants rose in its clefts, and creep- 
 ing vines, waving in the wind, were interwoven in festoons 
 before the mouth of the cavern. Nor did this luxury of 
 vegetation embellish the external arch merely ; it appeared 
 even in the vestibule of the grotto. They saw with astonish- 
 ment plantain-leaved heliconias eighteen feet high, the praga 
 palm-tree, and arborescent arums, following the course of the 
 river even to those subterranean places. The vegetation 
 continued in the cave of Caripe, and did not disappear till, 
 penetrating into the interior, they had advanced thirty or 
 forty paces from the entrance. They measured the way by 
 means of a cord, and went on about four hundred and thirty 
 feet without being obliged to light their torches. Daylight 
 penetrated far into this region, because the grotto formed but 
 one single channel, keeping the same direction. Where the 
 light began to fail, they heard from afar the hoarse sounds of 
 the nocturnal birds. 
 
 The noise of these birds was horrible. Their shrill and 
 piercing cries struck upon the vaults of the rocks, and were 
 repeated by the subterranean echoes. The Indians showed 
 fche travellers the nests of the guacharos by fixing a torch to 
 the end of a long pole. These nests were fifty or sixty feet 
 high above their heads, in holes in the shape of funnels, with 
 which the roof of the grotto was pierced like a sieve. The 
 noise increased as they advanced, and the birds were scared 
 by the light of the torches. When this noise ceased for a 
 few minutes around them, they heai'd at a distance the 
 plaintive cries of the birds roosting in other ramifications of 
 the cavern. It seemed as if different groups answered each 
 other alternately. 
 
 The Indians were in the habit of entering this cavern once 
 a year, near midsummer. They went armed with poles, with 
 which they destroyed the greater part of the nests. At that 
 season several thousand birds were killed ; and the old ones, 
 as if to defend their brood, hovered over the heads of the
 
 60 LIFE AXD TRAVELS OP HUMBOLDT. 
 
 Indians, uttering terrible cries- The young, which fell to 
 the ground, were opened on the spot for their fat. 
 
 At the period commonly called, at Caripe, the oil harvest, 
 the Indians built huts with palm-leaves near the entrance, 
 and even in the porch of the cavern. There, with a fire of 
 brushwood, they melted in pots of clay the fat of the young 
 birds just killed. This fat was known by the name of the 
 butter of the guacharo. 
 
 As the travellers continued to advance into the cavern, 
 they followed the banks of the river which issued from it, 
 and was from twenty-eight to thirty feet wide. They walked 
 on the banks, as far as the hills formed of calcareous incrusta- 
 tions permitted them. Where the torrent wound among 
 high masses of stalactites, they were often obliged to descend 
 into its bed, which was only two feet deep. They learned 
 that this subterranean rivulet was the origin of the river 
 Caripe, which, at the distance of a few leagues, where it 
 joined the small river of Santa Maria, was navigable for 
 canoes. They found on the banks of the subterranean rivulet 
 a great quantity of palm-tree wood, the remains of trunks, on 
 which the Indians climbed to reach the nests hanging from 
 the roofs of the cavern. The rings formed by the vestiges of 
 the old footstalks of the leaves, furnished as it were the steps 
 of a ladder perpendicularly placed. 
 
 They had great difficulty in persuading the Indians to 
 pass beyond the anterior portion of the grotto, the only part 
 which they annually visited to collect the fat. The whole 
 authority of the monks was necessary to induce them to 
 advance as far as the spot where the torrent formed a small 
 subterranean cascade. The natives connected mystic ideas 
 with .this cave, inhabited by nocturnal birds ; they believed 
 that the souls of their ancestors sojourned in the deep re- 
 cesses of the cavern. "Man," said they, "should avoid 
 places which are enlightened neither by the sun nor by the 
 moon." "To go and join the guacharos," was with them
 
 LIFE AND TRAVELS OP HUMBOLDT. 61 
 
 a phrase signifying to rejoin their fathers to die. The 
 magicians and the poisoners performed their nocturnal tricks 
 at the entrance of the cavern, to conjure the chief of the 
 evil spirits. 
 
 At the point where the river formed the subterranean 
 cascade, a hill covered with vegetation, which was opposite 
 to the opening of the grotto, presented a very picturesque 
 aspect. It was seen at the extremity of a straight passage, 
 one thousand four hundred and fifty feet in length. The 
 stalactites descending from the roof, and resembling columns 
 suspended in the air. were relieved on a background of 
 verdure. The opening of the cavern appeared singularly 
 contracted when the travellers saw it, about the middle of 
 the day, illumined by the vivid light reflected at once from 
 the sky, the plants, and the rocks. The distant light of day 
 formed a strange contrast with the darkness which sur- 
 rounded them in the vast cavern. They discharged their 
 guns at a venture, wherever the cries of the nocturnal birds, 
 and the flapping of their wings, led them to suspect that a 
 great number of nests were crowded together. After several 
 fruitless attempts, Bonpland succeeded in killing a couple of 
 guacharos, which, dazzled by the light of the torches, seemed 
 to pursue him. This circumstance afforded Humboldt the 
 means of making a drawing of this bird, which had previously 
 been unknown to naturalists. 
 
 In this part of the cavern the rivulet deposited a blackish 
 mould. They could not discover whether it fell through the 
 cracks which communicated with the surface of the ground 
 above, or was washed down by the rain-water penetrating 
 into the cavern. They walked in thick mud to a spot where 
 they beheld with astonishment the progress of subterranean 
 vegetation. The seeds which the birds had carried into the 
 grotto to feed their young, had sprung up wherever they 
 could fix in the mould which covered the incrustations. 
 Blanched stalks, with some half-formed leaves, had risen to
 
 62 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF HUMBOLDT. 
 
 the height of two feet. It was impossible to ascertain the 
 species of these plants, their form, colour, and aspect having 
 been changed by the absence of light. These traces of orga- 
 nization amidst darkness, forcibly excited the curiosity of 
 the natives, who examined them with silent meditation in- 
 spired by a place they seemed to dread. They regarded these 
 subterranean plants, pale and deformed, as phantoms banished 
 from the face of the earth. To Humboldt the scene recalled 
 one of the happiest periods of his youth his abode in the 
 mines of Freyberg, where he had made experiments on the 
 effects of blanching. 
 
 The missionaries, with all their authority, could not prevail 
 on the Indians to penetrate farther into the cavern. As the 
 roof became lower, the cries of the guacharos were more and 
 more shrill. The travellers were obliged to yield to the 
 pusillanimity of their guides, and retrace their steps. 
 
 On turning back to go out of the cavern, they followed 
 the course of the torrent. Before their eyes became dazzled 
 with the light of day, they saw on the outside of the grotto 
 the water of the river sparkling amid the foliage of the trees 
 which shaded it. It was like a picture placed in the distance, 
 the mouth of the cavern serving as a frame. Having at 
 length reached the entrance, they seated themselves on the 
 bank of the rivulet, to rest after their fatigues. They were 
 glad to be beyond the hoarse cries of the birds, and to leave 
 a place where darkness did not offer even the charm of silence 
 and tranquillity. 
 
 From the valley of Caripe the travellers proceeded across 
 a ridge of hills, and over a vast savanna, to the table-land 
 of Guardia de San Augustin. Beyond this was a slope, 
 extremely slippery and steep, to which the missionaries had 
 given the name of the Descent of Purgatory. "When they 
 looked down from the top to the bottom of the hill, the road 
 seemed inclined more than 60. The mules in going down 
 drew their hind-legs near to their fore-legs, and, lowering
 
 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF HUMBOLDT. 63 
 
 their cruppers, let themselves slide at a venture. They 
 soon entei'ed a thick forest, known by the name of the 
 Montaua de Santa Maria. Here they descended without 
 intermission for seven hours. It was difficult to conceive a 
 more tremendous descent ; it was absolutely a road of steps, 
 a kind of ravine, in which, during the rainy season, impetuous 
 torrents dashed from rock to rock. The steps were from two 
 to three feet high, and the beasts of burden, after measuring 
 with their eyes the space necessary to let their load pass 
 between the trunks of the trees, leaped from ome rock to 
 another. Afraid of missing their mark, the travellers saw 
 them stop a few minutes to scan the ground, and bring to- 
 gether their four feet like wild-goats. If the animal did not 
 reach the nearest block of stone, he sank half his depth into 
 the soft ochreous clay, that filled up the interstices of the 
 rock. When the blocks were wanting, enormous roots served 
 as supports for the feet of men and beasts. Some of these 
 roots were twenty inches thick, and they often branched out 
 from the trunks of the trees much above the level of the 
 soil. The Creoles had sufficient confidence in the address 
 and instinct of the mules, to remain in their saddles during 
 this long and dangerous descent. Fearing fatigue less than 
 they did, and being accustomed to travel slowly, for the 
 purpose of gathering plants and examining the nature of 
 the rocks, Humboldt and Bonpland preferred going down 
 on foot. 
 
 The weather was cloudy. The sun at times illumined 
 the tops of the trees, and, though sheltered from its rays, 
 they felt an oppressive heat Thunder rolled at a distance ; 
 the clouds seemed suspended on the tops of the lofty moun- 
 tains of the Guacharo ; and the plaintive howling of the 
 monkeys denoted the proximity of a storm. They stopped 
 to observe these monkeys,, which, to the number of thirty 
 or forty, crossed the road, passing in a file from one tree to 
 another over the horizontal and intersecting branches. "While
 
 64 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF HUMBOLDT. 
 
 the travellers were observing their movements, they saw a 
 troop of Indians going towards the mountains of Caripe. 
 They were without clothing, as the natives of this country 
 generally are. The women, laden with rather heavy burdens, 
 closed the march. The men were all armed, and even the 
 youngest boys had bows and arrows. They moved on in 
 silence, with their eyes fixed on the ground. The travellers 
 endeavoured to learn from them whether they were yet far 
 from the Mission of Santa Cruz, where they intended passing 
 the night. They were overcome with fatigue, and suffered 
 from thirst. The heat increased as the storm drew near, and 
 they had not met with a single spring on their way. The 
 words, si patre, no patre, which the Indians continually 
 repeated, led them to think they understood a little Spanish. 
 In the eyes of a native every white man was a monk ; for, 
 in the Missions, the colour of the skin characterized the monk 
 more than the colour of the garment. In vain they ques- 
 tioned the Indians respecting the length of the way : they 
 answered, si and no, without the travellers being able to 
 attach any precise sense to their replies. This made them 
 the more impatient, as their smiles and gestures indicated 
 their wish to direct them ; and the forest seemed at every 
 step to become thicker and thicker. At length they separated 
 from the Indians ; their guides were able to follow them only 
 at a distance, because the beasts of burden fell at every step 
 in the ravines. 
 
 After journeying for several hours, continually descending 
 on blocks of scattered rock, they found themselves unex- 
 pectedly at the outlet of the forest of Santa Maria. A 
 savanna stretched before them farther than the eye could 
 reach. On the left was a narrow valley, extending as far as 
 the mountains ot the Guacharo, and covered with a thick 
 forest. Looking downward, the eyes of the travellers rested 
 on the tops of the trees, which, at eight hundred feet below 
 the road, formed a carpet of verdure of dark and uniform
 
 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF HUMBOLDT. 65 
 
 tint. They passed the night at one of the King's houses 
 already mentioned. 
 
 They were desirous of continuing their journey eastward 
 still farther; but learning that the roads were impassable in 
 consequence of the- torrents of rain that had fallen, and that 
 they would be likely to lose the plants which they had already 
 gathered, they resolved to embark at Cariaco, and return to 
 Cumana by the gulf, instead of passing between the island 
 of Margareta and the isthmus of Araya. They accordingly 
 started from the mission of Catuaro, and proceeded to the 
 town of Cariaco, where they embarked in a canoe on the 
 morning of the 24th. Quitting the town, they sailed west- 
 ward along the river of Carenicuar, which ran through gardens 
 and plantations of cotton-trees. They saw the Indian women 
 on the banks washing their clothes with the fruit of the soap- 
 berry. Contrary winds beset them in the gulf of Cariaco. 
 The rain fell in torrents, and the thuuder rolled very near. 
 Swarms of flamingoes, egrets, and cormorants filled the air, 
 seeking the shore, whilst the alcatras alone continued peace- 
 ably to fish in the middle of the gulf. They landed till 
 evening, and then resumed their voyage under a misty sky. 
 In the morning they saw the vultures perching on the cocoa- 
 trees, in flocks of forty or fifty. 
 
 At last they reached Cumana,
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Cflfaarbs tyt nvaca. 
 17991800. 
 
 Fight with a Zainbo Eclipse of the sun An earthquake Porpoises and 
 Flamingoes Pestilent forests Ascent of the Saddle mountain The little 
 angels Frightened by a jaguar The Cow-tree Howling monkeys Lost 
 in the Llanos Fishing with horses The famished Indian girl Sleeping 
 over a crocodile. 
 
 HUMBOLDT and Bonpland remained a month at Cumana, 
 employing themselves in preparing for a visit to the Orinoco 
 and the Kio Negro. They had to choose such instruments 
 as could be most easily transported in narrow boats ; and 
 to engage guides for an inland journey of ten months, across 
 a country without communication with the coasts. The 
 astronomical determination of places being the most im- 
 portant object of this undertaking, Humboldt felt desirous 
 not to miss the observation of an eclipse of the sun, which 
 was to be visible at the end of October ; and in consequence 
 preferred remaining till that period at Cumana, where the 
 sky was generally clear and serene. It was now too late to 
 reach the banks of the Orinoco before October ; and the high 
 valleys of Caracas promised less favourable opportunities on 
 account of the vapours which accumulated round the neigh- 
 bouring mountains. 
 
 He was, however, near being compelled by a deplorable 
 occurrence to renounce, or at least delay for a long time his
 
 LIFE AXD TRAVELS OP HUMBOLDT. 67 
 
 journey to the Orinoco. On the 27th of October, the day 
 before the eclipse, he and Bonpland went as usual to take 
 the air on the shore of the gulf, and to observe the instant 
 of high water, which in those parts was only twelve or 
 thirteen inches. It was eight in the evening, and the 
 breeze was not yet stirring. They crossed the beach which 
 separated the suburb of the Guayqueria Indians from the 
 landing-place. Here Humboldt heard some one walking 
 behind them, and on turning he saw a tall Zambo, naked to 
 the waist. He held almost over Humboldt's head a stick of 
 palm-tree wood, enlarged to the end like a club. Humboldt 
 avoided the stroke by leaping towards the left; but Bon- 
 pland; who walked on his right, was less fortunate. He did 
 not see the Zambo as soon as Humboldt did, and received a 
 stroke above the temple, which levelled him to the ground. 
 The travellers were alone, without arms, half a league from 
 any habitation, on a vast plain bounded by the sea. The 
 Zambo, instead of attacking Humboldt, moved off slowly to 
 pick up Bonpland's hat, which, having somewhat deadened 
 the violence of the blow, had fallen off and lay at some 
 distance. Alarmed at seeing his companion on the ground, 
 and for some moments senseless, Humboldt thought of him 
 only. He helped Bonpland to raise himself, and pain and 
 anger doubled his strength. They ran towards the Zambo, 
 who, either from cowardice, or because he perceived at a 
 distance some men on the beach, did not wait for them, but 
 ran off in the direction of a little thicket of cactus. He 
 chanced to fall in running, and Bonpland, who reached him 
 first, seized him round the body. The Zambo drew a long 
 knife ; and in this unequal struggle the travellers would 
 infallibly have been wounded, if some Biscayan merchants, 
 who were taking the air on the beach, had not come to their 
 assistance. The Zambo, seeing himself surrounded, thought 
 no longer of defence. He again ran away, and they pursued 
 him through the thorny cactuses. At length, tired out, he
 
 68 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF HUMBOLDT. 
 
 took shelter in a cow-house, whence he suffered himself to be 
 quietly led to prison. 
 
 Bonpland was seized with fever during the night ; but, 
 being endowed with great energy and fortitude, he continued 
 his labours the next day. The stroke of the club had 
 extended to the top of his head, and he felt its effect for the 
 space of two or three months. When stooping to collect 
 plants, he was sometimes seized with giddiness, which led 
 him to fear that an internal abscess was forming. Happily 
 these apprehensions were unfounded, and the symptoms 
 gradually disappeared. 
 
 During a few days which preceded and followed the 
 eclipse of the sun, very remarkable atmospherical phenomena 
 were observable. From the 10th of October to the 3rd of 
 November, at nightfall a reddish vapour arose in the horizon, 
 and covered in a few minutes, with a veil more or less thick, 
 the azure vault of the sky. Sometimes, in the midst of the 
 night, the vapours disappeared in an instant ; and at the 
 moment when Humboldt had arranged his instruments, 
 clouds of brilliant whiteness collected at the zenith, and 
 extended towards the horizon. On the 18th of October 
 these clouds were so remarkably transparent, that they did 
 not hide stars even of the fourth magnitude. He could dis- 
 tinguish so perfectly the spots of the moon, that it might 
 have been supposed its disk was before the clouds. 
 
 After the 28th of October, the reddish mist became 
 thicker than it had previously been. The heat of the nights 
 seemed stifling, though the thermometer rose only to 78. 
 The breeze, which generally refreshed the air from eight or 
 nine o'clock in the evening, was no longer felt. The 
 atmosphere was burning hot, and the parched and dusty 
 ground was cracked on every side. On the 4th of November, 
 about two in the afternoon, large clouds of peculiar blackness 
 enveloped the high mountains of the Brigantine and the 
 Tataraqual. They extended by degrees as far as the zenith.
 
 LIFE AND TRAVELS OP HUMBOLDT. 69 
 
 About four in the afternoon, Humboldfc and Bonpland heard 
 thunder over their heads at an immense height, not regularly 
 rolling, but with a hollow and often interrupted sound. At 
 the moment of the strongest electric explosion, at twelve 
 minutes past four, there were two shocks of earthquake, 
 which followed each other at the interval of fifteen seconds. 
 The people ran into the streets, uttering loud cries. Bon- 
 pland, who was leaning over a table examining plants, was 
 almost thrown on the floor. Humboldt felt the shock very 
 strongly, though he was lying in a hammock. Some slaves, 
 who were drawing water from a well eighteen or twenty 
 feet deep, near the river Manzanares, heard a noise like the 
 explosion of a strong charge of gunpowder. The noise seemed 
 to come from the bottom of the well. 
 
 A few minutes before the first shock there was a very 
 violent blast of wind, followed by electrical rain, falling in 
 great drops. The sky remained cloudy, and the blast of 
 wind was followed by a dead calm, which lasted all night. 
 The sunset presented a picture of extraordinary magnificence. 
 The thick veil of clouds was rent asunder, as in shreds, quite 
 near the horizon ; the sun appeared at 12 of latitude on a 
 sky of indigo-blue. Its disk was enormously enlarged, dis- 
 torted, and undulated towards the edges. The clouds were 
 gilded j and fascicles of divergent rays, reflecting the most 
 brilliant rainbow hues, extended over the heavens. A great 
 crowd of people assembled in the public square. This 
 celestial phenomenon, the earthquake, the thunder which 
 accompanied it, the red vapour seen during so many days, all 
 were regarded as the effect of the eclipse. About nine in 
 the evening there was another shock, much slighter than the 
 former, but attended with a subterraneous noise. In the 
 night between the 3rd and 4th of November, the reddish 
 vapour was so thick that Humboldt could not distinguish 
 the situation of the moon, except by a beautiful halo of 20 
 diameter.
 
 70 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF HUMBOLDT. 
 
 The travellers had frequent visits from persons who wished 
 to know whether their instruments indicated new. shocks for 
 the next day ; and alarm was great and general when on 
 the 5th, exactly at the same hour as on the preceding day, 
 there was a violent gust of wind, attended by thunder and a 
 few drops of rain. No shock was felt. The wind and storm 
 returned during five or six days at the same hour, almost at 
 the same minute. 
 
 The reddish vapour disappeared after the 7th of Novem- 
 ber. The atmosphere resumed its former purity, and the 
 firmament appeared, at the zenith, of that deep blue tint 
 peculiar to climates where heat, light, and a great equality of 
 electric charge, seem all to promote the most perfect dissolu- 
 tion of Avater in the air. Humboldt observed, on the night 
 of the 7th, the immersion of the second satellite of Jupiter. 
 The belts of the planet were more distinct than he had ever 
 seen them before. 
 
 The night of the 1 1 th was cool, and extremely fine. From 
 half-past two in the morning, the most extraordinary 
 luminous meteors were seen in the direction of the east. 
 Bonpland, who had risen to enjoy the freshness of the air, 
 perceived them first. Thousands of bolides and falling stars 
 succeeded each other during the space of four hours. No 
 trace of clouds was to be seen. From the first appearance 
 of the phenomenon, there was not in the firmament a space 
 equal in extent to three diameters of the moon, which was 
 not filled every instant with bolides and falling stars. The 
 first were fewer in number ; but, as they were of different 
 sizes, it was impossible to fix the limit between these two 
 classes of phenomena. All these meteors left luminous 
 traces fiom 5 to 10 in length. The phosphorescence of 
 these traces, or luminous bands, lasted seven or eight seconds. 
 
 The phenomenon ceased by degrees after four o'clock, and 
 the bolides and falling stars became less frequent, though 
 Humboldt still distinguished some to the north-east by their
 
 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF HUMBOLDT. 71 
 
 whitish light, and the rapidity of their movement, a quarter 
 of an hour after sunrise. 
 
 On the evening of the 1 6th of November the travellers set 
 sail from Cumana for La Guayra, descending the little river 
 of Manzanares, the windings of which were marked by cocoa- 
 nut-trees. At high water they passed the bar at its mouth. 
 The evening breeze gently swelled the waves in the gulf of 
 Caricao. The moon had not risen ; but that part of the milky 
 way which extended from the feet of the Centaur towards 
 the constellation of Sagittarius, seemed to pour a silvery 
 light over the surface of the ocean. The white rock, crowned 
 by the castle of San Antonio, appeared from time to time 
 between the high tops of the cocoa-trees which bordered the 
 shore, and the voyagers soon recognised the coasts only by 
 the scattered lights of the Guayqueria fishermen. 
 
 As they advanced towards the shoal that surrounded Cape 
 Arenas, ..they enjoyed one, of those varied sights which the 
 great phosphorescence of the sea so often displays in those 
 climates. Bands of porpoises followed their bark. Fifteen 
 or sixteen of these animals swam at equal distances from 
 each other. "When turning on their backs, they struck the 
 surface of the water with their broad tails ; they diffused a 
 brilliant light, which seemed like flames issuing from the 
 depth of the ocean. Each band of porpoises, ploughing the 
 surface of the waters, left behind it a track of light, the more 
 striking as the rest of the sea was not phosphorescent. 
 
 The voyagers found themselves at midnight between some 
 barren and rocky islands, which uprose like bastions in the 
 middle of the sea, and formed the group of the Caracas and 
 Chinianas, The moon was above the horizon, and lighted up 
 these cleft rocks, which were bare of vegetation, and of 
 fantastic aspect. 
 
 As they came near this group of mountainous islands they 
 were becalmed ; and at sunrise small currents drifted them 
 towards Boracha, the largest of them. The temperature of