Humbolt's travels and discoveries in South America . rain for a long time. In gathering them an incisionis made in the middle rib, which is the continuationof the footstalk; and by this they are suspended whenthe roof is formed. When it is taken down, theleaves are spread out and carefully rolled up in a cy-lindrical bundle. About a hundred-weight of leaveswill cover a hut large enough for six or eight persons. When the travellers, says Humboldt, reach a spotin the midst of the forests where the ground is dry, andwhere they propose to pass the night, the cargueroslop a few branches from the tr
Humbolt's travels and discoveries in South America . rain for a long time. In gathering them an incisionis made in the middle rib, which is the continuationof the footstalk; and by this they are suspended whenthe roof is formed. When it is taken down, theleaves are spread out and carefully rolled up in a cy-lindrical bundle. About a hundred-weight of leaveswill cover a hut large enough for six or eight persons. When the travellers, says Humboldt, reach a spotin the midst of the forests where the ground is dry, andwhere they propose to pass the night, the cargueroslop a few branches from the trees, with which theymake a tent. In a few minutes, this slight timber-workis divided into squares by the stalks of some climbingplant, or threads of the agava, placed in parallel lines,twelve or fifteen inches from each other. The vijaoleaves, having been unrolled, are now spread over thisframework, so as to cover each other in the same man-ner as the tiles of a house. These huts, thus hastilybuilt, are cool and commodious. If, during his stay, the. J?alls of the Vinaigre Hiver. THE VINAIGRE RIVER. 257 traveller feels the rain, he points out the spot where itenters, and a single leaf is sufl&cient to obviate theinconvenience. We passed several days in the valley ofBoquia under one of these leafy tents, which remainedperfectly dry amidst violent and incessant rains. The Andes/ says Humboldt, bear the same pro-portion to the chain of the Alps, as these to the chainof the Pyi-enees. Whatever I have beheld, pictuiesqueor awful, on the borders of the Saverne, in the northof Germany, or the Euganean mountains, the centralchain of Europe, or the rapid declivity of the peak ofTeneriffe, I have found all assembled in the Cordillerasof the New World. It would require ages to observethese beauties, and discover the wonders which naturehas lavished over an extent of 2500 leagues, from thegranite mountains of the Strait of Magellan to thecoasts bordering on the east of Asia. From these moun
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1840, bookpublisherlondo, bookyear1846
