Personal Narrative Of Travels To The Equinoctial Regions Of America During The Years 1799-1804 - Volume 3 - By Alexander Von Humboldt And Aime Bonpland.
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This Circumstance Not Only Enabled Me To Ascertain The
Astronomical Position Of Several Towns On The Shore Which Had Served
Me as points of departure in fixing chronometrically the longitude of
the Llanos and the Orinoco, but also served to
Guide me with respect
to the future direction of my journey to Peru. The passage from
Carthagena to Porto Bello and that of the isthmus by the Rio Chagres
and Cruces, are alike short and easy; but it was to be feared that we
might stay long at Panama before we found an opportunity of proceeding
to Guayaquil, and in that case the voyage on the Pacific would be
extremely lingering, as we should have to sail against contrary winds
and currents. I relinquished with regret the hope of levelling by the
barometer the mountains of the isthmus, though it would then have been
difficult to foresee that at the present time (1827), while
measurements have been effected on so many other points of Mexico and
Columbia, we should remain in ignorance of the height of the ridge
which divides the waters in the isthmus. The persons we consulted all
agreed that the journey by land along the Cordilleras by Santa Fe de
Bogota, Popayan, Quito and Caxamarca would be preferable to the
sea-voyage, and would furnish an immense field for exploration. The
predilection of Europeans for the tierras frias, that is to say, the
cold and temperate climate that prevails on the back of the Andes,
gave further weight to these counsels.
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