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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Thermal Springs Of Provisor, Near San Diego, In The Province Of
New Barcelona.
13. Thermal springs of Onoto, between Turmero and Maracay, in the
valleys of Aragua, west of Caracas.
14. Thermal springs of Mariara, in the same valleys. Temperature
58.9 degrees.
15. Thermal springs of Las Trincheras, between Porto Cabello and
Valencia, issuing from granite like those of Mariara, and forming a
river of warm water (Rio de Aguas Calientes). Temperature 90.4
degrees.
16. Boiling springs of the Sierra Nevada of Merida.
17. Aperture of Mena, on the borders of Lake Maracaybo. It throws
up asphaltum, and is said to emit gaseous emanations, which ignite
spontaneously, and are seen at a great distance.
These are the springs of petroleum and of thermal waters, the
igneous meteors, and the ejections of muddy substances attended
with explosions, of which I acquired a knowledge in the vast
provinces of Venezuela, whilst travelling over a space of two
hundred leagues from east to west. These various phenomena have
occasioned great excitement among the inhabitants since the
catastrophes of 1797 and 1812: yet they present nothing which
constitutes a volcano, in the sense hitherto attributed to that
word. If the apertures, which throw up vapours and water with
violent noise, be sometimes called volcancitos, it is only by such
of the inhabitants as persuade themselves that volcanoes must
necessarily exist in countries so frequently exposed to
earthquakes. Advancing from the burning crater of St. Vincent in
the directions of south, west and south-west, first by the chain of
the Caribbee Islands, then by the littoral chain of Cumana and
Venezuela, and finally by the Cordilleras of New Grenada, along a
distance of three hundred and eighty leagues, we find no active
volcano before we arrive at Purace, near Popayan. The total absence
of apertures, through which melted substances can issue, in that
part of the continent, which stretches eastward of the Cordillera
of the Andes, and eastward of the Rocky Mountains, is a most
remarkable geological fact.
In this chapter we have examined the great commotions which from
time to time convulse the stony crust of the globe, and scatter
desolation in regions favoured by the most precious gifts of
nature. An uninterrupted calm prevails in the upper atmosphere;
but, to use an expression of Franklin, more ingenious than
accurate, thunder often rolls in the subterranean atmosphere,
amidst that mixture of elastic fluids, the impetuous movements of
which are frequently felt at the surface of the earth. The
destruction of so many populous cities presents a picture of the
greatest calamities which afflict mankind. A people struggling for
independence are suddenly exposed to the want of subsistence, and
of all the necessaries of life. Famished and without shelter, the
inhabitants are dispersed through the country, and numbers who have
escaped from the ruin of their dwellings are swept away by disease.
Far from strengthening mutual confidence among the citizens, the
feeling of misfortune destroys it; physical calamities augment
civil discord; nor does the aspect of a country bathed in tears and
blood appease the fury of the victorious party.
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