running in the direction of the meridian; the Ural, which
separates the low part of Europe from the low part of Asia, or
divides into two portions the Scythian Europe of Pherecydes of
Syros and of Herodotus; Bolor; Khingan and the Chinese chains,
which, near the great bend in the direction of the Thibetian and
Assamo-Burmese river Dzangbo-tschu, run north and south. The
elevations which, between 66° and 77° E. long. from Greenwich,
follow the direction of meridians from Cape Comorin to the
Icy Sea, alternate like veins or dikes in which there are
faults or displacements; thus the Ghauts, the Soliman Chain,
the Paralasa, the Bolor, and the Ural, succeed each other from
south to north: the Bolor gave occasion among the ancients
to the idea of the Imaus, which Agathodæmon supposed to be
prolonged to the north into the low basin of the lower Irtysch.
Parallel chains running east and west; the Altai; Thian-schan,
with its active volcanoes at a distance of 1528 geographical
miles from the Icy Sea at the mouth of the Obi, and of 1512
geographical miles from the Indian Sea at the mouth of the
Ganges; the Kuen-lün, recognised by Eratosthenes, Marinus of
Tyre, Ptolemy, and Cosmas Indicopleustes, as the longest axis
of elevation in the Old World, runs between 35-1/2° and 36°
of latitude in the direction of the diaphragm of Dicearchus.
Himalaya. The Kuen-lün, considered as an axis of elevation, may
be traced from the wall of China near Lung-tscheu through the
somewhat more northerly chains of Nan-schan and Kilian-schan,
through the mountain knot near the Lake called the “Starry Sea,”
through the Hindu-Coosh (the Parapanisus and Indian Caucasus
of the ancients), and through the chain of Demawend and the
Persian Elbourz, to Taurus in Lycia. Near the intersection of
the Kuen-lün and the Bolor the correspondence of the direction
of the axes of elevation (east and west in the Kuen-lün and the
Hindu-Coosh, whereas that of the Himalaya is south-east and
north-west) shows that the Hindu-Coosh is a continuation of the
Kuen-lün, and not of the Himalaya. The point where the direction
of the Himalaya changes to south-east and north-west from having
been east and west, is about the 79th degree of east longitude
from Paris (81° 22′ Greenwich). Next to the Dhawalagiri, it is
not, as has been hitherto supposed, the Jawahir which is the
highest summit of the Himalaya; that rank belonging, according
to the most recent intelligence received from Dr. Joseph
Hooker, to a mountain situated between Boutan and Nepaul in the
meridian of Sikkim, the Kinchinjinga: the western summit of this
mountain, which has been measured by Colonel Waugh, director
of the trigonometrical survey of India, is 28178 feet, and its
eastern summit 27826 feet high, according to the Journal of the
Asiatic Society of Bengal, Nov. 1848:--The mountain which is now
supposed to be higher than the Dhawalagiri is figured on the
frontispiece of the magnificent work of Joseph Hooker entitled
“The Rhododendrons of Sikkim-Himalaya, 1849.”--Determination of
the lower limits of the snow-line on the northern and southern
declivities of the Himalaya; its height being on an average
3400 to 4600 French, or 3620 to 4900 English feet higher on the
northern face. New data on the subject from Hodgson. Without
this remarkable distribution of temperature in the upper strata
of the atmosphere, the mountain plains of Western Thibet would
be uninhabitable to the millions of human beings who now dwell
there 85-101
The Hiong-nu, regarded by Deguignes and Johannes Müller
as a tribe of Huns, appear rather to have been one of the
widely scattered tribes of the Turks of the Altai and Tang-nu
mountains. The Huns, whose name was known to Dionysius
Perigetes, and who are noticed by Ptolemy as Chuns (whence the
later appellation of Chunigard given to a country!), are a
Finnish race of the Ural mountains 101-102
Figures of the sun and of animals, and other signs carved on
rocks in the Sierra Parime, as well as in North America, have
often been supposed to be writing 102-104
Description of the cold mountain elevations between 11000 and
13000 (or 11720 and 13850 English) feet, which are distinguished
by the appellation of Paramos; character of their vegetation
104-106
Notices of the two groups of mountains (Pacaraima Mountains,
and the Sierra de Chiquitos) which separate the three plains of
the Lower Orinoco, the Amazons, and the Rio de la Plata 106-107
On the dogs of South America; both the aboriginal race and the
descendants of European dogs which have become wild. Sufferings
of cats when taken to elevations exceeding 13000 (13850 Eng.)
feet 107-112
The low tract of the Sahara, and its relations to the Atlas
Mountains, according to the latest information given by Daumas,
Carette, and Renou. The barometric measurements of Fournel make
it appear very probable that part of the North African desert
is lower than the level of the sea. Oasis of Biscara; abundance
of fossil salt in zones or bands running from south-west to
north-east. Causes of the nocturnal cold in the desert according
to Melloni 112-118
Notices of the River Wady Dra (1/6th longer than the Rhine,
and dry a large portion of the year), and of the country of
Sheikh Beirouk, a chief independent of the Emperor of Morocco,
from manuscript communications of the Naval Captain Count
Bouet-Villaumez. The mountains north of Cape Noun (a name used
by Edresi, in which, since the 15th century, an allusion to the
negative particle has been erroneously sought) attain 8600 (9166
English) feet of elevation 118-120
The vegetation of the tropical American Llanos consisting of
grasses, compared with the vegetation of the North Asiatic
Steppes consisting of herbaceous plants. In the last-named
Steppes, and especially the more fertile among them, a
pleasing effect is produced in spring by small snow-white
and red-flowering Rosaceæ, Amygdaleæ, species of Astragalus,
Crown Imperials, Cypripedias, and Tulips. Contrast with the
desolate salt Steppes full of Chenopodiaceæ, species of Salsola
and Atriplex. Considerations on the relative numbers of the
prevailing families of plants. The plains adjoining the Icy Sea,
north of the limit determined by Admiral Wrangel as that of the
growth of Coniferæ and Amentaceæ, are the domain of cryptogamous
plants. Aspect and physiognomy of the Tundras, where the soil,
which is perpetually frozen, is covered either with a thick
coating of Sphagnum and other mosses, or with the snow-white
Cenomyce and Stereocaulon paschale 120-123
Principal causes of the very different distribution of
temperature in the European and American Continents. Direction
and curvature of the isothermal lines, or lines of equal
temperature, for the entire year, for the winter, and for the
summer 123-136
Are there any grounds for believing that America emerged later
than the Old Continent from the chaotic watery covering? 136-139
Thermic comparison of the Northern and Southern Hemispheres in
high latitudes 139-143
Apparent connection of the African sea of sand with those
of Persia, Kerman, Beloochistan, and the interior of Asia.
On the western part of Mount Atlas, and the connection of
purely mythical ideas with geographical traditions. Indistinct
allusions to igneous eruptions. Triton Lake. Crater-like forms
of a locality south of Hanno’s “Bay of the Gorilla Apes.”
Singular description of the “hollow Atlas” from the Dialexes of
Marinus Tyrius 143-149
Notices respecting the Mountains of the Moon (Djebel al-Komr)
in the interior of Africa by Reinaud, Beke, and Ayrton. Werne’s
instructive notice of the second expedition undertaken by the
orders of Mehemet Ali. The Abyssinian mountains, which rise,
according to Rüppell, almost to the height of Mont Blanc. The
most ancient notice of snow between the tropics contained in
the Inscription of Adulis, which is somewhat more modern than
Juba. High mountains which, between 6° and 4° of north latitude,
and still more to the south, approach the Bahr el-Abiad. A
considerable swelling of the ground divides the White Nile from
the basin of the Goschop. Line of separation between the waters
which flow to the Mediterranean and those which flow to the
Indian Ocean according to Carl Zimmermann’s map. Lupata Chain
according to the instructive researches of Wilhelm Peters 149-158
Oceanic currents. In the northern part of the Atlantic Ocean the
waters are impelled in a true revolving current. That the first
impulse which causes the Gulf Stream is to be sought at the
southern extremity of Africa, was already known to Sir Humphry
Gilbert in 1560. Influence of the Gulf Stream on the climate of
Scandinavia. How it contributed to the discovery of America.
Instances of Esquimaux who, aided by the returning eastward
flowing portion of the warm Gulf Stream, and by north-west
winds, arrived on the coasts of Europe. Such a case related
by Cornelius Nepos and Pomponius Mela (of Indians given by a
king of the Boii to Quintus Metellus Celer, Proconsul of Gaul);
others in the time of the Othos and of Frederic Barbarossa, of
Columbus and of Cardinal Bembo. Again, in the years 1682 and
1684 natives of Greenland appeared in the Orkneys 159-165
Operation of lichens and other Cryptogamia in the cold and
temperate zones in preparing the way for the more rapid
establishment of larger phænogamous plants. Within the tropics
lichens are often replaced in this respect by succulent plants.
Milk-yielding animals of the New Continent; the Lama, the
Alpaca, the Guanaco 165-169
Cultivation of farinaceous grasses 169-173
On the earliest population of America 173-174
The coast nation of the Guaranis (Warraus), and the Mauritia
palm of the coasts, according to the accounts given by Bembo in
the Historiæ Venetæ, and those of Raleigh, Hillhouse, and Robert
and Richard Schomburgk 174-182
Phenomena which long-continued drought produces in the Steppe;
sand-spouts, hot winds (Mirage); awakening of crocodiles and
tortoises from long summer sleep 182-190
Otomacs. General considerations on the practice of earth-eating
among particular nations or tribes. Clays and earths containing
Infusoria 190-196
Figures graven on rocks throughout a zone running from east
to west, and extending from the Rupunuri, Essequibo, and the
Pacaraima Mountains, to Caycara and the wildernesses of the
Cassiquiare. Earliest notice (April 1749) of these traces of
former civilization in the manuscript account of the travels
of the surgeon Nicolas Hortsmann of Hildesheim, found among
D’Anville’s papers 196-203
The vegetable poison Curare or Ourari 203-204
_Cataracts of the Orinoco_--p. 207 to p. 231.
The Orinoco; general view of its course. Ideas excited in
Columbus on seeing its embouchure. Its unknown sources are east
of the Mountain of Duida and the groves of Bertholletia. Causes
of the principal bends of the river 207-219
The falls or rapids; Raudal of Maypures enclosed by four
streams. Former state of the district. Island-like form of the
rocks Keri and Oco. Grandeur of the view obtained on descending
the hill of Manimi, where a foaming river-surface of four
miles in extent presents itself at once to the eye. Iron-black
masses of rock rise like castles from the bed of the river;
the summits of the lofty palm trees pierce through the cloud of
spray and vapour 219-226
Raudal of Atures; numerous islands; rocky dikes connecting one
island with another, and the resort of pugnacious golden Pipras.
Parts of the bed of the river at the cataracts are dry, from
the waters having found a passage by subterranean channels. We
visited the rocks at the closing in of night and during storm
and heavy rain. Unsuspected proximity of crocodiles 226-227
Celebrated cave of Ataruipe, the sepulchral vault of an extinct
nation 227-231
_Scientific Elucidations and Additions_--p. 233 to p. 255.
The river-cow (Trichecus manati) lives in the sea at the place
where, in the Gulf of Xagua, on the south coast of the Island of
Cuba, springs of fresh water break forth 233-234
Geographical discussion on the sources of the Orinoco 236-241
The Bertholletia, a Lecythidea, a remarkable example of highly
developed organization. Stem of an Arundinarea sixteen to
seventeen feet long from knot to knot 241-243
On the myth or fable of the Lake of Parime 243-254
_The Nocturnal Life of Animals in the Primeval Forest_--p. 259
to p. 272.
Difference between languages in respect to their richness in
well-defined expressions for characterising natural phenomena,
such as the state of vegetation, the forms of plants, the
outlines and grouping of clouds, the appearance of the surface
of the ground, and the forms of rocks and mountains. Loss
which languages suffer by the disuse of such words, or by
their signification becoming impaired. The misinterpretation
of a Spanish word, “Monte,” has caused the undue extension or
introduction of mountains in maps. Primeval Forest; frequent
abuse of the term. Absence of the uniformity which is produced
by the association of the same kinds of trees, characteristic
of tropical forests. Causes of the impenetrability of forests
between the tropics; the twining plants, Lianes, often form only
a small portion of the Underwood 259-266
Appearance of the Rio Apure in the lower part of its course.
Margin of the forest fenced like a garden by a low hedge of
Sauso (Hermesia). The wild animals of the forest lead their
young to the river through small openings in this hedge. Flocks
of large water-hogs or Cavies (Capybara). Fresh-water dolphins
266-269
Wild cries of animals resound throughout the forest. Cause of
the nocturnal uproar 269-271
Contrast with the stillness which reigns during the noon-tide
hours on days of more than usual heat in the torrid zone.
Description of the narrows of the Orinoco at Baraguan. Humming
and fluttering of insects. Life stirs audibly in every bush, in
the clefts of the bark of trees, and in the earth undermined and
furrowed by Hymenopterous insects 271-272
_Scientific Elucidations and Additions_--p. 273 to p. 275.
Characteristic terms in Arabic and Persian descriptive of the
surface of the ground (Steppes, grassy plains, deserts, &c.)
Richness of the old Castilian idiom in words expressive of the
form of mountains. Fresh-water skates and dolphins. In the great
rivers of both continents some organic sea-forms are repeated.
American nocturnal monkeys, the three-striped Douroucouli of the
Cassiquiare. 273-275
_Hypsometric Addenda_--p. 277 to p. 285.
Pentland’s measurements in the eastern mountain chain of
Bolivia. Height of the volcano of Aconcagua according to Fitzroy
and Darwin. Western mountain chain of Bolivia 277-279
Mountain systems of North America. Rocky Mountains and the Snowy
Chain (Sierra Nevada) of California. Laguna de Timpanogos 279-283
Hypsometrical profile of the Highland of Mexico from the city of
Mexico to Santa Fé 283-285
END OF VOL. I.
Wilson and Ogilvy, Printers, 57, Skinner Street, Snowhill, London.
Transcriber's Note
Duplicate chapter headings have been removed.
The following apparent errors have been corrected:
p. 47 "parallels of 40° and 55°" changed to "parallels of 40° and 55°."
p. 49 "Mount St. Elias (1980 toises" changed to "Mount St. Elias, 1980
toises"
p. 49 "43° 2′, long. 112° 28" changed to "43° 2′, long. 112° 28′"
p. 50 "Scoriacous" changed to "Scoriaceous"
p. 52 "miles The surface of" changed to "miles. The surface of"
p. 53 "the tongue a much-prized" changed to "the tongue, a much-prized"
p. 60 "greenstone porpyhry" changed to "greenstone porphyry"
p. 62 "θρύον καὶφῦκος" changed to "θρύον καὶ φῦκος"
p. 62 "shoal dissappeared" changed to "shoal disappeared"
p. 65 "E. meditterranea" changed to "E. mediterranea"
p. 68 "Bedouin tribes”" changed to "Bedouin tribes"
p. 71 "p. 4.)--" changed to "p. 4.--"
p. 76 "Appennines. (Compare" changed to "Apennines. (Compare"
p. 91 "view of Erastosthenes" changed to "view of Eratosthenes"
p. 91 "issue from a avcity" changed to "issue from a cavity"
p. 97 "than the Dawalagiri" changed to "than the Dhawalagiri"
p. 113 "and “this name" changed to "and this name"
p. 116 "oises (3580 Eng. feet)" changed to "toises (3580 Eng. feet)"
p. 128 "leaves also A similar" changed to "leaves also. A similar"
p. 132 "in lat 44° 53′" changed to "in lat. 44° 53′"
p. 137 "repose. “At the present moment" changed to "repose. At the
present moment"
p. 139 "true “insular climate;" changed to "true “insular climate;”"
p. 141 "lat 42° 53′" changed to "lat. 42° 53′"
p. 141 "42°.2, and 63°." changed to "42°.2, and 63°.0"
p. 142 "Berlin 6°8" changed to "Berlin 6°.8"
p. 148 "πυρὸς ὲκφυτηματα μεγάλα" changed to "πυρὸς ἐκφυσήματα μεγάλα"
p. 149 "semicircular deep abyss." changed to "semicircular deep abyss.”"
p. 151 "σεληνης ὅρος" changed to "σελήνης ὅρος"
p. 152 "S. 534-536." changed to "S. 534-536.)"
p. 154 "second of Mehemed" changed to "second of Mehemet"
p. 156 "Isenberg, Russeger" changed to "Isenberg, Russegger"
p. 162 "with the equitorial" changed to "with the equatorial"
p. 173 "Beitrage zur Flora des" changed to "Beiträge zur Flora des"
p. 178 "so disagreable an odour" changed to "so disagreeable an odour"
p. 187 "Electricetät" changed to "Elektricität"
p. 192 "as a misssionary" changed to "as a missionary"
p. 199 "of Nicholas Hortsman" changed to "of Nicholas Hortsmann"
p. 225 "These spots recal" changed to "These spots recall"
p. 235 "(ed. 1601, p. 106]" changed to "(ed. 1601, p. 106)"
p. 239 "uncertain disance" changed to "uncertain distance"
p. 240 "4°.12" changed to "4°.12′"
p. 241 "65°.38′ Near" changed to "65°.38′. Near"
p. 248 "Pacaraima monntains" changed to "Pacaraima mountains"
p. 262 "believe that of al’" changed to "believe that of all"
p. 262 "Bonpland, Martius" changed to "Bonpland, Martius,"
p. 281 "107° 58" changed to "107° 58′"
p. 285 "undulating suface" changed to "undulating surface"
p. 295 "(1-6th" changed to "(1/6th"
Inconsistent or archaic spelling and punctuation have otherwise been
kept as printed.
The following possible errors have been kept as printed:
p. 79 two distinguished Savans
p. 182 mountains of Ronaima
p. 221 of globe