Although The Spaniards And Portuguese, Who, Till Very Lately, Possessed
Nearly The Whole Of South America, Guarded Their Possessions Strictly
From
the curious intrusion of foreigners, and were themselves very sparing in
giving to the world the information respecting them
Which they must have
acquired, - yet, even during their power there, the geography of this part
of America was gradually developed and extended; the face of the country;
the great outline of those immense mountains, which, under the torrid zone,
are visited by the cold of the Pole; the nature of the vast plains which
lie between the offsets of these mountains; and the general direction of
the rivers, not less remarkable for their size than the mountains and
plains, were generally known. The geography of South America, however,
taking the term in the most philosophical and comprehensive sense, has been
principally enriched within these few years, by the labours of Humboldt and
his fellow-traveller Bompland, of Depons, Koster, Prince Maximilian,
Luccock, Henderson, and by those Englishmen who joined the Spanish
Americans during their struggle with the mother country. From the
observations, enquiries, and researches of these travellers, our
information respecting all those parts of South America which constituted
the Spanish and Portuguese dominions there, especially of Mexico, Terra
Firma, Brazil, and Buenos Ayres, and generally the eastern and middle
portions, has been much extended, as well as rendered more accurate and
particular. Humboldt, especially, has left little to be gleaned by any
future traveller, from any of those countries which he has visited and
described.
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