Personal Narrative Of Travels To The Equinoctial Regions Of America During The Years 1799-1804 - Volume 1 - By Alexander Von Humboldt And Aime Bonpland.
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But This Direct Route Would Have Deprived
Us Of The Opportunity Of Surveying The Valleys Of Aragua, Which Are
The
Finest and most cultivated portion of the province; of taking
the level of an important part of the chain of
The coast by means
of the barometer; and of descending the Rio Apure as far as its
junction with the Orinoco. A traveller who has the intention of
studying the configuration and natural productions of a country is
not guided by distances, but by the peculiar interest attached to
the regions he may traverse. This powerful motive led us to the
mountains of Los Teques, to the hot springs of Mariara, to the
fertile banks of the lake of Valencia, and through the immense
savannahs of Calabozo to San Fernando de Apure, in the eastern part
of the province of Varinas. Having determined on this route, our
first direction was westward, then southward, and finally to
east-south-east, so that we might enter the Orinoco by the Apure in
latitude 7 degrees 36 minutes 23 seconds.
On the day on which we quitted the capital of Venezuela, we reached
the foot of the woody mountains which close the valley on the
south-west. There we halted for the night, and on the following day
we proceeded along the right bank of the Rio Guayra as far as the
village of Antimano, by a very fine road, partly scooped out of the
rock. We passed by La Vega and Carapa.
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