Personal Narrative of Travels

by Humboldt, Alexander Von; Bonpland, Aime; Williams, Helen Maria

• ISBN13: 9781108027946
• ISBN10: 1108027946
• Edition: Revised
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2011-06-02
• Publisher: Cambridge Univ Pr

Summary

The Prussian naturalist Alexander von Humboldt (1769-1859) was one of the most famous explorers of his generation. Charles Darwin called him 'the greatest scientific traveller who ever lived'. In 1799, Humboldt and the botanist Aim_ Bonpland secured permission from the Spanish crown for a voyage to South America. They left from Madrid and spent five years exploring the continent. Humboldt reported his findings in a total of thirty volumes, published in French over a period of more than twenty years beginning in 1805. This English translation by Helen Maria Williams of one important component of Humboldt's account, the Relation historique du voyage (1814-25), consists of seven volumes and was published in London between 1814 and 1829. Volume 7 (1829) focuses mainly on the geography of Cuba, its slave population and sugar production, and ends with Humboldt's experiences in Colombia.

Table of Contents

Passage from Teneriffe to the coasts of South America. The Island of Tobago. Arrival at Cumana

First abode at Cumana. Banks of the Manzanares

Peninsula of Araya. Salt-marshes. Ruins of the castle of San Giacomo

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