TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH OF
ALEXANDER VON HUMBOLDT
AND EDITED BY
THOMASINA ROSS.
IN THREE VOLUMES
VOLUME 3.
LONDON.
GEORGE BELL & SONS.
1908.
LONDON: PORTUGAL STREET, LINCOLN'S INN.
CAMBRIDGE: DEIGHTON, BELL AND CO.
NEW YORK: THE MACMILLAN CO.
BOMBAY: A.H. WHEELER AND CO.
***
The longitudes mentioned in the text refer always to the meridian of
the Observatory of Paris.
The real is about 6 1/2 English pence.
The agrarian measure, called caballeria, is eighteen cordels, (each
cordel includes twenty-four varas) or 432 square varas; consequently,
as 1 vara = 0.835m., according to Rodriguez, a caballeria is 186,624
square varas, or 130,118 square metres, or thirty-two and two-tenths
English acres.
20 leagues to a degree.
5000 varas = 4150 metres.
3403 square toises = 1.29 hectare.
An acre = 4044 square metres.
Five hundred acres = fifteen and a half caballerias.
Sugar-houses are thought to be very considerable that yield 2000 cases
annually, or 32,000 arrobas (nearly 368,000 kilogrammes.)
An arroba of 25 Spanish pounds = 11.49 kilogrammes.
A quintal = 45.97 kilogrammes.
A tarea of wood = one hundred and sixty cubic feet.
VOLUME 3.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER 3.25.
SPANISH GUIANA. - ANGOSTURA. - PALM-INHABITING TRIBES. - MISSIONS OF THE
CAPUCHINS. - THE LAGUNA PARIME. - EL DORADO. - LEGENDARY TALES OF THE
EARLY VOYAGERS.
CHAPTER 3.26.
THE LLANOS DEL PAO, OR EASTERN PART OF THE PLAINS OF
VENEZUELA. - MISSIONS OF THE CARIBS. - LAST VISIT TO THE COAST OF NUEVA
BARCELONA, CUMANA, AND ARAYA.
CHAPTER 3.27.
POLITICAL STATE OF THE PROVINCES OF VENEZUELA. - EXTENT OF
TERRITORY. - POPULATION. - NATURAL PRODUCTIONS. - EXTERNAL
TRADE. - COMMUNICATIONS BETWEEN THE DIFFERENT PROVINCES COMPRISING THE
REPUBLIC OF COLUMBIA.
CHAPTER 3.28.
PASSAGE FROM THE COAST OF VENEZUELA TO THE HAVANA. - GENERAL VIEW OF
THE POPULATION OF THE WEST INDIA ISLANDS, COMPARED WITH THE POPULATION
OF THE NEW CONTINENT, WITH RESPECT TO DIVERSITY OF RACES, PERSONAL
LIBERTY, LANGUAGE, AND WORSHIP.
CHAPTER 3.29.
POLITICAL ESSAY ON THE ISLAND OF CUBA. - THE HAVANNAH. - HILLS OF
GUANAVACOA, CONSIDERED IN THEIR GEOLOGICAL RELATIONS. - VALLEY OF LOS
GUINES, BATABANO, AND PORT OF TRINIDAD. - THE KING AND QUEEN'S GARDENS.
CHAPTER 3.30.
PASSAGE FROM TRINIDAD DE CUBA TO RIO SINU. - CARTHAGENA. - AIR VOLCANOES
OF TURBACO. - CANAL OF MAHATES.
CHAPTER 3.31.
CUBA AND THE SLAVE TRADE.
CHAPTER 3.32.
GEOGNOSTIC DESCRIPTION OF SOUTH AMERICA, NORTH OF THE RIVER AMAZON,
AND EAST OF THE MERIDIAN OF THE SIERRA NEVADA DE MERIDA.
INDEX.
***
PERSONAL NARRATIVE OF A JOURNEY TO THE EQUINOCTIAL REGIONS OF THE NEW
CONTINENT.
VOLUME 3.
CHAPTER 3.25.
SPANISH GUIANA.
ANGOSTURA.
PALM-INHABITING TRIBES.
MISSIONS OF THE CAPUCHINS.
THE LAGUNA PARIME.
EL DORADO.
LEGENDARY TALES OF THE EARLY VOYAGERS.
I shall commence this chapter by a description of Spanish Guiana
(Provincia de la Guyana), which is a part of the ancient Capitania
general of Caracas. Since the end of the sixteenth century three towns
have successively borne the name of St. Thomas of Guiana.
