Aurora Borealis, and Aurora Australis, 426-Lumen Bore- Atmospherical refraction, 440-Parhelia, or Mock Suns, The Rattle Snake, 478-The Cobra de Capello, 480-The The Beaver, 493-The Chamelion, 494-The Bottle-nested Royal Palace of Ispahan, 564-Temple of Mecca, Holy Land, 566-Bethlehem, ib.-Nazareth, 567-The Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem, 568-Mount of Olives, 570-Other revered Sites, 571-Napolese of Sichem, Wonders of art continued, 572-Mosque of Omar, ib.-The THE WONDERS OF THE WORLD, AND OF THE THREE KINGDOMS OF NATURE. THE MOUNTAINS OF THE ANDES, IN SOUTH AMERICA. [See Plate, No. 2.] "Mountains and all hills-praise the name of the Lord; for his name alone is excellent: his glory is above earth and heaven.” AMONG the wonders, or uncommon phenomena of the world, may be classed stupendous Mountains; and of these the Andes, in South America, are the loftiest, the most extensive, and, therefore, the most wonderful. Description of objects which are striking, because they are vast, often fail in exciting appropriate ideas; and however accurate or poetical may be the accounts of this class of Nature's Prodigies, no just notions of their vastness can be conveyed by any written or graphical representation. The magnitude of an object must be seen to be duly conceived, and mountain-wonders will be best felt by those who have vis ited Wales, Scotland, Switzerland, or the mountaneous regions of America or Asia. The stupendous mountains called by the Spaniards the Cordilleras, (from cord, or chain, pronounced by them Cor-dil-le-ras,) or Chains of the Andes, (An'-des,) stretch north and south, near the western coast, from the Isthmus of Darien, through the whole of the continent of South America, to the Straits of Magellan. In the north there are three chains of separate ridges, but in advancing from Popayan towards the south, the three chains unite into a single group, which is continued far beyond the equator. In the kingdom of Quito,* the more elevated summits of this group are ranged in two rows, which form a double crest to the Cordillera. The extent of the Andes Mountains is not less than four thousand three hundred miles. Rocks rich in gems, and mountains big with mines, Whence many a bursting stream auriferous plays. THOMSON. In this country the operations of nature appear to have been carried on on a large scale, and with a bolder hand, than elsewhere; and in consequence the whole is distinguished by a peculiar magnificence. Even the plain of Quito, which may be considered as the base of the Andes, is more elevated above the sea than the summits of many European mountains. In different places the Andes rise more than one third above the famous Peak of Teneriffe, the highest land in the ancient hemisphere. Their cloudenveloped summits, though exposed to the rays of the sun in the torrid zone, are covered with eternal snows, and below them the storm is seen to burst, and the exploring traveller hears the thunder roll, and sees the lightnings dart beneath his feet. Throughout the whole of the range of these extensive mountains, as far as they have been explored, there is a certain boundary, above which the snow never melts, which boundary, in the torrid zone, has been ascertained to be 14,600 feet, or nearly three miles, above the level of the South Sea. The ascent to the plain of Quito, on which stands Chimborazo, Cotopaxi, Pichincha, &c. is thus described by Don Juan de Ulloa: "The ruggedness of the road from Taraguaga, leading up the mountain, is not easily described. The declivity is so great, in some parts, that the mules can scarcely keep their footing; and, in others, the acclivity is equally difficult. The trouble of sending people before to mend the road, the pain arising from the many falls and bruises, and * Pronounced Questo, the i in all European languages being sounded as an e. |