Humboldt's travels and discoveries in South AmericaJ.W. Parker, 1840 - 278 pages |
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Page 15
... ample subsistence within a narrow space , and the tracts of cultivated land are separated from each other by the intervention of large wastes . Even in the 16 THE IMPOSSIBLE . neighbourhood of the most populous cities.
... ample subsistence within a narrow space , and the tracts of cultivated land are separated from each other by the intervention of large wastes . Even in the 16 THE IMPOSSIBLE . neighbourhood of the most populous cities.
Page 25
... land covered with grass and herbs , we fancied we saw at a distance , as in the Steppes of the Oronoco , the surface of the ocean supporting the starry canopy of heaven . The tree under which we sat , the luminous insects fluttering in ...
... land covered with grass and herbs , we fancied we saw at a distance , as in the Steppes of the Oronoco , the surface of the ocean supporting the starry canopy of heaven . The tree under which we sat , the luminous insects fluttering in ...
Page 46
... land , are per- formed in boats without decks , in the manner of the ancients , without any observations of the meridian alti- tude of the sun , without charts , and , generally , without a compass . The Indian pilot directs his way at ...
... land , are per- formed in boats without decks , in the manner of the ancients , without any observations of the meridian alti- tude of the sun , without charts , and , generally , without a compass . The Indian pilot directs his way at ...
Page 47
... land , beat up with great difficulty to the eastward , against the wind and the current . The pilots , in time of war , often pay dearly for their ignorance , and their neglect of the quadrant , since the privateers cruize near those ...
... land , beat up with great difficulty to the eastward , against the wind and the current . The pilots , in time of war , often pay dearly for their ignorance , and their neglect of the quadrant , since the privateers cruize near those ...
Page 50
... land which they have wrested from the ocean . " The passengers who had accompanied our travellers from Cumana , disliking to encounter the rough sea through which lay the rest of the voyage , resolved to proceed to Caraccas by land ...
... land which they have wrested from the ocean . " The passengers who had accompanied our travellers from Cumana , disliking to encounter the rough sea through which lay the rest of the voyage , resolved to proceed to Caraccas by land ...
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Common terms and phrases
Amazon Andalusia animals appeared Apure Aragua Atabapo Atures banks beautiful birds boat Bonpland Calabozo canoe Caraccas Caripe Cassiquiare cataracts cavern climate coast colour continued Cordilleras covered crocodiles cultivated Cumana Cumanacoa descended distance earth earthquake elevated Europe feet fish forests granite ground Guacharo Guayra gymnoti heat height inches Indians inhabitants insects island jaguar La Guayra lake land leagues Llanos Maypures Mexico miles mission missionary monkeys monks moschetoes mountains mouth mules natives nature nearly neighbouring night noise observed Orinoco palm-trees palms Pararuma passed plains plants Quito reached regions remarkable resembling Rio Negro rise river rocks San Fernando savannahs says Humboldt scarcely shore Silla soil South America Spanish species spot stream summit surface surrounded thousand tion toises torrid zone town travellers trees tribes trunks Turmero Uruana valley vapour vast vegetation village wind yellow fever
Popular passages
Page 115 - These yellowish and livid eels, resembling large aquatic serpents, swim on the surface of the water, and crowd under the bellies of the horses and mules. A contest between animals of so different an organization presents a very striking spectacle.
Page 95 - American oak, and the fruit, from the kernel of which, first dried in the sun, the butter is prepared by boiling the kernel in water, has somewhat the appearance of a Spanish olive. The kernel is enveloped in a sweet pulp, under a thin green rind ; and the butter produced from it, besides the advantage of its keeping the whole year without salt, is whiter, firmer, and to my palate of a richer flavour than the best butter I ever tasted made of cow's milk.
Page 143 - They attach great importance to certain forms of the body ; and a mother would be accused of culpable indifference toward her children, if she did not employ artificial means, to shape the calf of the leg after the fashion of the country. As none of our Indians of Apure understood the Caribbee language, we could obtain no information from the Cacique of Panama respecting the encampments, that are made at this season in several islands of the Oroonoko for collecting turtles
Page 116 - It is natural that the effect felt by the horses should be more powerful than that produced upon man by the touch of the same fish at only one of his extremities. The horses are probably not killed, but only stunned. They are drowned from the impossibility of rising amid the prolonged struggle between the other horses and the eels. We...
Page 96 - Its branches appear dead and dried, but when the trunk is pierced, there flows from it a sweet and nourishing milk. It is at the rising of the sun, that this vegetable fountain is most abundant. The blacks and natives are then seen hastening from all quarters, furnished with large bowls to receive the milk, which grows yellow, and thickens at its surface.
Page 211 - It was the rainy season, and the night was profoundly dark. Forests till then believed to be impenetrable separated the mission of Javita from that of San Fernando, which was twenty-five leagues distant in a straight line.
Page 74 - Nine-tenths of the fine town of Caraccas were entirely destroyed. The walls of the houses that were not thrown down, as those of the street San Juan, near the Capuchin Hospital, were cracked in such a manner that it was impossible to run the risk of inhabiting them.
Page 211 - She succeeded by the help of her teeth in breaking them entirely ; disappeared during the night; and at the fourth rising sun was seen at the mission of San Fernando, hovering around the hut where her children were confined. ' What that woman performed,' added the missionary who gave us this sad narrative, ' the most robust Indian would not have ventured to undertake.
Page 74 - TH».CHTT. so great in the churches, that nearly three or four thousand persons were crushed by the fall of their vaulted roofs. The explosion was stronger towards the north, in that part of the town situate nearest the mountain of Avila, and the Silla.
Page 157 - These are so many voices proclaiming to us, that all nature breathes ; and that, under a thousand different forms, life is diffused throughout the cracked and dusty soil, as well as in the bosom of the waters, and in the air that circulates around us.