FOOTNOTES:
[120] The fares, first class (including provisions and bedding, but without wine), are as follows:
| Miles | Dols. | £ | s. | d. | ||
| Valparaiso to Callao de Lima | 1467 | 95 | or | 19 | 19 | 0 |
| Callao to Panama | 1594 | 110 | " | 23 | 2 | 0 |
| Aspinwall (E. coast of Isthmus of Panama) to St. Thomas, and thence to Southampton | 4572 | 360 | " | 75 | 12 | 0 |
| Total, exclusive of 49 miles of rail from Colon to Panama | 7633 | 565 | " | 118 | 13 | 0 |
[121] Hitherto, the coal procured at Lota in the south of Chile has been neglected, in consequence of the freight being so heavy that it is cheaper to import coals from England and North America.
[122] See "On the Source and Supply of Cubic Saltpetre, or Nitrate of Soda, and its use in small quantities as a Restorative to Corn-crops, by Philip Pusey." London, W. Clowes and Sons, 1853.
[123] The proportion as found along the coast is 93 to 95 per cent. of saltpetre, to 7 to 5 per cent. of earth.
[124] The export, however, is constantly increasing. In 1858 it amounted to 61,000 tons, in 1859 to 78,000, of which 22,500 tons went to England, 15,200 to France, and the remainder to Germany.
[125] From Arica there are bridle-paths to Potosi, Oruru, Cochabamba, La Paz, Chuquisaca, and Calamaca, probably the highest inhabited point of the earth's surface, where a population of 800 souls live at an elevation of 13,800 feet above the level of the sea.
[126] The volcano of Arequipa is 10,500 feet above its base, but 18,000 above sea-level.
[127] "Peru; Sketches of Travel, 1839-42, by J. J. v. Tschudi." St. Gall, 1846: Vol. i. p. 335. Also, "Investigations on the Fauna of Peru." St. Gall, 1844-46. The author from personal observation speaks as follows of these singular sand-columns, whirling along before the wind. "Driving before a strong wind, the medanos speedily overleap all barriers, the lighter and more easily-propelled preceding the heavier like an advanced guard. Sometimes they are hurled against each other, when, so soon as they meet, they are dashed violently together, and break up simultaneously. Frequently a flat stretch of ground is covered within a few hours by a row of sand-hills, which within a day or two more resume their level monotonous appearance. The most experienced guides consequently become confused as to the way, and it is they who the soonest give way to despair as they wander blindly about among the sand-hills. The small mountain-spurs, by which the country is traversed from W. to E., afford some sort of clue, but these oases are few and far between in the sterile wilderness around."
[128] The ordinary mode of writing the word "Guano" is erroneous, as already remarked by Tschudi, as the Quichua language, to which the word belongs, is deficient in the consonant G, among others. The Spaniards first converted into a G the strongly aspirated H of the original, while the last syllable "nu," which so frequently terminates the words adopted from the Quichua, was changed by them into "no."
[129] Only the immense numbers of sea-fowl, their extraordinary voracity, and the bounteous provision for supplying them with food, can furnish any possible explanation of the enormous mass accumulated here, even allowing for such a lapse of time. Mr. Tschudi, in the course of his travels in Peru, once kept for several days a live Sula variegata, which he was continually feeding with fish. He carefully collected the excrement, when, notwithstanding these birds eat much less in captivity than in a state of nature, it voided in a day from 3 1⁄2 to 5 oz.! According to other investigations in natural history, it seems that the pelican eats 20 lbs. a day of fish.
[130] Beds of guano have also been discovered lately by Captain Ord at the Kooria-Mooria Islands, on the south coast of Arabia, in 18° N. 56° E., 850 miles E.N.E. of Aden. Here any ship can load this valuable cargo on paying a duty of £2 per ton to the English Government, which has recently established a colony at the bay and islands of that name, and has made it a coaling station. But the African guano is by no means so strong or so pungent a manure as that found on the rainless coasts of Peru, where certain peculiarities of climate combine to make it less liable to diminution of its saline virtues by dissolution or liquefaction.
[131] The day on which Lima was founded by Pizarro was the 6th January, 1534, which according to the Catholic calendar is that dedicated to the Three Kings of Cologne, whence, in conformity with the religious customs of the period, the city was named "Ciudad de los Reyes" (City of the Kings).
[132] I feel it a pleasant duty to express here publicly how much I am indebted to the representatives of this celebrated firm in the different ports of South America, and to the head of the house in London, for the kind and generous manner in which this gentleman endeavoured to facilitate and advance the objects I had in view.
[133] One of the most distinguished physicians of the capital, Dr. Archibald Smith, has collected some interesting particulars, with the dates, respecting the outbreak of these fearful maladies, which we intend to publish elsewhere.
[134] This institution is also in charge of the Sisters of Charity. There were only some ten or twelve children in course of education, who, however, seemed to be in excellent health and well fed. When I expressed to the lady superintendent my astonishment that the establishment was not more extensively patronized, she replied, "Los niños se crian en la Calle!" (The children are here brought up in the streets.)
[135] There are in Lima 46 private lying-in establishments. The mothers are extremely loth to separate from their children, and if great difficulty be experienced in getting wet-nurses, this is to be attributed far more to the love of the mothers for their children than to strict morality among the mass of the population.
[136] A Peruvian author, Don J. A. Delavalle, gives in one of his works the following severe, yet faithful, portraiture of the state of letters in his native country:—"En un país en el que el cultivo de las letras ni constituye una profesion, ni crea una posicion social, ni procura lo necesario—no decimos para lucrar con ella—para conseguir el sustento para la vida, nos admiraremos de que haya quien escriba en Lima, y reputaremos como extraordinario el número de obras que han salido de sus prensas en 1860, por muy pequeño que este haya sido. Sin proteccion, pues, y sin estimulo, ni oficial, ni social, ¿ qué se podrá esperar de las letras Peruanas?" (Translation of the foregoing.) "In a country where the cultivation of letters is not a profession by itself, where literature confers no social position, and barely procures the necessaries of life,—we do not speak of realizing competence and independence,—we marvel there should be any one in Lima who writes at all, and we consider little less than extraordinary the number of books which have issued from its press in 1860, insignificant as the sum total may be. Without protection, without influence, and without stimulus, official or social, who can suffer himself to hope for a better future for Peruvian literature?" (Compare Peru in 1860, in the National Annual Register, by Alfredo G. Leubel, Lima, 1861.)
[137] Pachacamác, the invisible God, i. e. "he who created the earth out of nothing."
[138] In Cañete, an Indian village of 9000 inhabitants, 60 English miles from Lurin, there are also numerous Peruvian architectural memorials, as also an antique temple of idols, which have never been carefully examined. On my return to Lima, I was shown the mummy of a very young child, which Don Juan Quiros, deputy from the province of Cañete, had brought to the capital with him from his own home. The little corpse, quite mummified, lay in a beautiful, neatly-plaited little basket, and was swathed in layers of fine variegated cloth. On both sides lay toys of various kinds, attesting not alone the tenderness of the mother for her dead offspring, but also that a high degree of artistic taste and finish had been attained.
[139] According to the "Estadistica general de Lima" (1858) of M. Fuentes, Lima has a population of 94,195, all told; according to the "Anuario Nacional" of A. Leubel for 1861, only 85,116 souls, who inhabit a surface of 6523.597 square Varas (Spanish). The entire population of Peru can hardly exceed 1,900,000, but a reliable census has never yet been made.
[140] Once during my stay in Lima I had an opportunity of conversing with Don Ramon. He had come up from his country-seat, or rather from the roulette-table of Chorillos, to the capital, and was courteous enough to accord me a reception at his house. After passing a couple of sentinels, I was ushered through a large bare room into a small ill-lighted apartment on the ground-floor, when I found myself suddenly face to face with the President of the Peruvian Republic. I was presented by a friend settled in Lima. The General is a mestizo with a strongly-marked brown Indian visage, projecting cheek-bones, and an arched nose, wiry grey hair kept close cropped, and energetic, but withal coarse features. He is so far entitled to gratitude, that during the few years he has swayed the destinies of the Republic, he has maintained internal tranquillity. But there still remains the saddening feeling, borne out by the actual state of matters, that a territory over which Spanish grandees and viceroys once held sway, is at present ruled by an Indian half-breed, who can scarcely read and write. In manners and general appearance, Don Ramon Castilla strongly reminded me of his dusky confrère, General Rafael Carrera, President of Guatemala, with whose despotic tendencies he may be said fully to sympathize.
[141] Thus too it is the predominance of the pure Spanish type and the extent of foreign immigration, which render the future of Chile so hopeful.
[142] Vide E. Pöppig, Travels in Chile, Peru, and down the Amazon, vol. ii. p. 248.—Von Tschudi, Sketches of Peruvian Travel, vol. ii. p. 290.—Weddell, Travels in Northern Bolivia in 1853, p. 514.—Von Bibra, Narcotics and their Influence on Man.—History of the Expedition of M. Castelnau in the Central Territories of South America. Paris, 1850, vol. iii. p. 349.—Dr. Paul Montegazza, "Researches into the Hygienic and Medicinal Properties of Coca. Annali de Medicina, March, 1859."
[143] This custom of the Aymara Indians, not less universal than extraordinary, of standing on their heads after long and fatiguing marches, seems to be the result of an instinct which teaches them how best to mitigate the severe pressure of the blood.
[144] The mail goes four times a month from La Paz to Tacna, and usually weighs 25 lbs., which the courier carries on his back and delivers within some five or six days, without other nourishment than that already specified!
[145] The Aymara Indian rarely uses animal food, as to do so he would require to kill one of his beloved Llamas. His chief food consists of roasted Chuño, a small bitter species of potato, which flourishes only on the barren, rugged plateau of the Andes inhabited by the Aymara, where neither the common potato nor the maize continue to grow; even barley, which the Spaniards introduced, ceases to thrive. Their only other food is a species of moss, which grows in the swamps, and is called by the natives "Lanta." Under such alimentary conditions, it is readily intelligible why the Aymara have a predilection for coca balls (acullica), which (as sailors and others do with us, with tobacco) they keep continually rolling about in their mouths, and which, as soon as the whole of the juice has been sucked out, is thrown away and replaced by a fresh "quid." The juice of the green leaves diluted with oceans of saliva is usually swallowed. An Indian chews on the average an ounce to an ounce and a half per diem, but on feast-days double that quantity.
[146] Cocain is precipitated in colourless inodorous prismatic crystals. It is with difficulty soluble in water, but melts readily in alcohol, and with still more facility in ether. When dissolved in alcohol, the solution becomes a strong alkaline reagent, and has a peculiar slightly bitter taste. When brought in contact with the nerves of the tongue, it possesses the singular property of deadening sensation after a few seconds have elapsed, in the part to which it has been applied, which for a time becomes almost void of feeling. It fuses at a temperature of 208°.4 Fahr., and in cooling resumes its former prismatic crystalline form. When heated beyond this temperature, it changes to a reddish hue, and volatilizes with a strong ammoniacal odour. Only a small portion seems to get liberated by the destructive process. When heated on a platinum disc, it burns away with a bright flame, leaving no residuum. Cocain completely neutralizes acids, although most of the resulting salts seem to crystallize with difficulty, and to remain for a considerable time in an amorphous state. The resultant chloride seemed the most readily formed as well as delicately shaped of the crystals. Cocain exposed in chlorine is followed by such a development of heat that the former is fused. (Compare "Cocain, an Organic Base in the Coca," letter of Professor F. Wöhler to W. Haidinger, acting Fellow of the Imperial Academy of Sciences, presented at the meeting of the Class of Mathematics and Physical Science, 8th March, 1860. See also "On a New Organic Base in the Coca-leaves," Inaugural dissertation on attaining the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at Göttingen, by Albert Niemann of Goslar. Printed at the Göttingen Press, 1860.)
[147] According to Wöhler, this fluid substance admits of being distilled even along with water; its odour strongly recalls Trimethylamin; it is a strong alkaline reagent, but is not bitter to the taste, and forms a white cloud when acids are poured upon it. Its chloride crystallizes readily, but is very volatile. With chloride of platina it forms a flocculent uncrystallized precipitate, which decomposes on the liquid being heated. With chloride of quicksilver, it assumes a dim milky appearance, which is caused by the formation of a substance resembling drops of oil. Hygrin is not poisonous; a few drops given to a rabbit were followed by no perceptible symptoms.
[148] As, judging by the experiments hitherto made, cocain seems to consist of two atoms in juxta-position, there is reason to conjecture that it is destined to be the source of a large number of products of transformation. It is highly probable, as Wöhler has remarked, that cocain may yet be artificially made by a mixture of hygrin with Benzoic acid, or rather with one of the substances forming part of the Benzoyle group.
[149] See Von Tschudi ut suprà, vol. ii. 309.
[150] I append here the most important points on which information is sought respecting the climatic and other conditions of the various Cinchona species as cultivated in South America, concerning which Dr. Junghuhn needed more correct information, and can but express the hope, that, should curiosity or destiny lead the steps of any one of my more earnest readers to Peru, he may succeed by his own observation in solving these questions, my inability to aid more effectively in which has been to me a source of deep mortification. The learned naturalist of Java furnished me with the following particulars:—
"What it behoves us especially to ascertain, respecting which Hasskarl has observed nothing, and Weddell furnishes no accurate information, is comprised in the following questions:
1. What are the highest and lowest limits of the Cinchona Calisaya, or at all events, what is the altitude of the region in which it most abounds?
2. What is the unvarying warmth of the soil, as observed at a depth of 5 feet below the surface?
3. On what soil does it grow most abundantly and luxuriantly? Does it affect rich black mould, in moist forcing soils, or rather dry, stony, barren soils? Does it grow on steep acclivities, or does it seem to prefer gentle slopes or level ground? Can specimens of the soil be procured? What is the description of the rock formation, trachytic, granitic, or gneiss, or are slate or sandstone the characteristic formations?
4. What are the general meteorological conditions, and what is the annual amount of rain-fall? For how many and during what months does it rain, and during what period of the day are the showers heaviest? Does it rain for months at a time, and for how many, and during what months? Or does it not rain at all, in which case is its place supplied by regular afternoon storms? How many days of rain are there in the rainy season of that particular region of the tropical zone? Are the nights and forenoons, as in Java, usually clear until noon? Is it known whether observations have ever been made by the Spanish Creoles as to the amount and duration of the rain-fall? A correct knowledge of the amount of moisture and rain-fall of the Calisaya district is of special importance to all engaged in the cultivation of that plant. Further, frequent observations must be made with the psychrometer in the morning before sunrise, between nine and ten o'clock, at the hour of maximum of temperature, and in the evening, in the forest and in the open ground, that these may afterwards be compared with mine in Java.
5. Does the Calisaya prefer the deepest shadows of the forest, does it grow there quite apart from other trees, or is it more frequently found in the open spaces where it is warmed by the sun's rays, such places being usually rather clear of trees? Does it grow solitary, or is it found in groups or clusters, and are its special peculiarities in this respect observable in every forest? Is it observed to be more numerous towards the edge of the forest, and does it evince a tendency to extend thence over the grass, the drift, the plateaux, &c., and what alterations do these make in its habits?
6. Information is wanted as to the month in which the Calisaya blossoms, and that in which the fruit ripens, as also what length of time usually elapses between the first appearance of the buds and the shedding of the corolla, and from the shedding of the corolla to the bursting, i. e. the complete maturity of the capsules. It would seem that in Java it takes a much longer time, as also that it blossoms at an entirely different season from that in which it blossoms in its native regions.
7. Much anxiety is felt as to whether it is possible to ascertain with accuracy how many years old, as also what are the usual height and the diameter (at the base of the trunk) of a Calisaya tree, when it first begins to blossom, and whether these first blossoms are developed into ripe fruit, with seeds capable of fertilization.
8. How high, how thick, and how old are—
a. The youngest and smallest, and
b. The largest and oldest,
Calisaya trees, which are now felled for their bark in South America? What description of bark is the most prized, that from the young and slender, or that from the larger and older trees? Also whether the bark of a very young tree, e. g. four years old, contain thus early the active principle, genuine?
9. As, judging by appearances, it has been rightly assumed that the bark of any given description of Cinchona is found to be more abundantly provided with alkaloid, especially quinine, the greater the elevation above the sea, and becomes impoverished in these respects in proportion as a lower level and a warmer climate are reached, it is desirable that special observations should be made for the elucidation of these particulars.
10. It is desirable information should be got from the China bark collectors (Cascarilleros) of Peru, as to the natural foes of the Cinchona plant, especially C. Calisaya, and it appears likewise important to ascertain whether the Calisaya is there also liable to be injured and bored into by mites and other noxious insects.
11. It is highly desirable that all the above recommended observations made respecting Cinchona Calisaya, may also be applied to all other species of Cinchona that may occur in South America, of which those ranking next in interest and importance to us in Java, and which have been planted here, are C. Condaminea, var. lucumæfolia, laurifolia, lanceolata, as also C. cordifolia, C. ovata, and var. erythroderma.
12. Is the pure red China bark actually obtained from the C. ovata, var. erythroderma of Weddell, as would appear from an article by Howard in "the Pharmaceutical Journal for October, 1856?" The leaves of that variety have the most resemblance to those of the three young trees brought over, which we now possess in Java, and which I have spoken of as Cinchona cordifolia.
13. The experiments in acclimatization of the above-named species in Java, especially in Western Java, which, it must be admitted, has a very much more moist, rainy climate than Peru, and still more so than Southern Bolivia, where the Calisaya chiefly grows, have already undergone several phases, and it has successfully struggled with numerous obstacles, some natural, others the result of failures of the earliest cultivators. The species named C. Condaminea, var. lucumæfolia, has shown itself more susceptible of being acclimatized than the C. Calisaya, and at present (May, 1858) promises to produce from 50,000 to 70,000 ripe fruit, within a few weeks, all fit for reproduction. Apparently the climate and other physical conditions of the locality in Java, where the cultivation has been carried on, have corresponded with those natural conditions which enable this plant to grow so abundantly in its native soil of Peru."
[151] The name dates from the time when what is now Bolivia (in the forest of which the China tree chiefly grows) formed an integral portion of Peru, and was in fact called Upper Peru, whereas from that which is now called Peru, hardly any bark is exported, while that found in New Granada and Ecuador, whence it is exported to Spain under the name of Pitaya, is a species of very inferior quality for medicinal purposes.
[152] The name, Countess' powder, which was given to the drug owing to its use by a certain Countess Chinchon (wife of a Peruvian viceroy), was afterwards altered to Cardinal's or Jesuit's powder, in consequence of the Procurator-general of the order of Jesus, Cardinal de Lugo, having, during his passage through France, everywhere made known the virtues of the drug, and recommended it to the particular attention of Cardinal Mazarin, as the brethren of the order had begun to drive quite a lucrative trade in South American China bark, which they had carried on by their missionaries. V. Humboldt's "Ansichten der Natur," third edition, 1849, vol. ii. p. 372.
[153] See Humboldt's Ansichten der Natur. Third edition. 1849. Vol. ii. p. 319.
[154] Señor Emilio Escobar of Lima sent me a small flask of a hitherto little-known vegetable stuff, which gives very much the same dye as the cochineal insect, and is found in great abundance throughout Peru. I have added this bottle of dye, which at all events merits more minute investigation, to the other collections of the Novara Expedition.
[155] In 1859, there were forwarded, according to official documents:
| From Aspinwall to Panama. | From Panama to Aspinwall. | Totals. | ||
| Passengers | 23,206 | 16,567 | 39,773 | |
| Bullion | 3,146,983 | 57,097,061 | 60,244,044 | |
| Mail parcels of the U.S. | pounds | 643,752 | 184,395 | 828,147 |
| Mail parcels of England | " | 47,060 | 8,824 | 55,884 |
| Merchandise | tons | 17,278 | 3,802 | 21,080 |
| Coal. | " | 7,618 | - | 7,618 |
| Personal baggage | pounds | 67,698 | 62,581 | 130,279 |
[156] The cost of keeping in repair is not less than £100,000 per annum, owing to the destroying energies of the atmosphere and of insects, as also of the rapid growth of vegetation, to keep which under employs not less than 3000 labourers.
[157] The statistics of mortality among the various races on the Isthmus for the year 1858 give the following results.
| Of the | natives, there die annually | 1 in 50 |
| " | immigrant negroes | 1 in 40 |
| " | Coolies | 1 in 40 |
| " | Europeans | 1 in 30 |
| " | Chinese | 1 in 10 |
XXIII.
From Gibraltar to Trieste.
From 7th to 26th August, 1859.
First circumstantial details of the War of 1859.—Alterations in Gibraltar since our previous visit.—Science and Warfare.—Voyage through the Mediterranean.—Messina.—The Novara taken in tow by the War-steamer Lucia.—Gravosa.—Ragusa.—Arrival of H.I.H. the Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian at Gravosa.—Presentation of the Staff.—Banquet on board the screw-corvette Dandolo.—Pola.—Roman Amphitheatre.—Porta Aurea.—Triumphal return to Trieste.—Retrospect of the achievements and general scientific results of the Expedition.—Concluding Remarks.
Eighty-two days elapsed between the departure of the Novara from Valparaiso and her arrival in the harbour of Gibraltar. They had been as many days of dreadful trial and disaster for our country! While the good ship was careering along in mid ocean, and in an unusually short space of time had sailed over 10,600 nautical miles, the fortune
of arms had gone against our House, and we now heard for the first time of the desperate battles, the heavy losses, the sudden armistice of Villafranca! The Commodore at once telegraphed to Trieste the news of our arrival, and asked for further instructions.
Among our friends and acquaintances at Gibraltar many changes and alterations had taken place. The former Governor, Sir James Ferguson, had in the interim been replaced by Sir W. Codrington. The Austrian Consul, the estimable Mr. Longlands Cowell, was dead, and in his stead Mr. Frembly attended provisionally to the duties of the office.
The heads of the community, the Governor, the staff, Mr. Creswell, Postmaster-General, Mr. Frembly, &c., paid us marked attention on our present visit. Singular to say, no one here seemed to be aware of our having been declared neutral by most of the European powers, thanks to the far-sighted circumspection of the projector of the voyage, and consequently some apprehension had been felt lest some warships of the enemy might have encountered the Novara in American waters. But albeit of late years we have been pretty well accustomed to see even written treaties trodden underfoot, yet, in the present instance, the capture of the Novara had been stringently prohibited to all French cruisers. For even in the Tuileries the consequences of such an abuse of power had been well foreseen; it was felt moreover even there, that in our time the most powerful can no longer dispense with science or disregard its interests, that any violence
offered to her votaries is an outrage upon mankind and civilization. So great, indeed, was the anxiety felt at Paris to avoid any possible collision with the Novara, that in addition to the existing declaration of neutrality, special orders were dispatched by the French Government, and from amid the din of battle and the thunder of artillery, the word went forth: "The Novara may proceed unmolested, for she is freighted with scientific treasures, and science is the common benefit of all nations!"
On 7th of August, a telegraphic dispatch was received in the course of the morning from the Lord High Admiral, with instructions for the Novara to proceed under sail to Messina, where a war-steamer would be in waiting to take us in tow. The same afternoon we weighed anchor on our way up the Mediterranean.
On 15th August we sighted the northern shores of Sicily, and the same evening could plainly perceive the brilliant red lights of the newly erected lighthouse on Cape San Vito, the extreme N.W. point of the island. Diversified by frequent calms, and but occasionally favoured with gentle breezes, our progress was necessarily very slow. On the 16th we passed the island of Ustica, and the following day the Lipari Islands, and at last, about 7 A.M. of the 18th, we reached the Straits of Messina. A pilot who came on board informed us that an Austrian war-steamer was lying off Messina. Orders were now given to fire a few blank shot, to advise her commander of our arrival in the Straits, after which we resumed our
course. A few hours more and we were in tow of the steamer, which proved to be the Lucia, the same vessel which upwards of two years before had brought us as far as Messina on our outward voyage. We now received letters from friends and relatives at home, as also the customary and inevitable poetical effusion, which some sailor poet had written on "The Return of the Novara."
On the night of the 19th August we were off Cape Santa Maria di Leuca, which marks the entrance of the Adriatic Gulf, and in the afternoon of the following day passed Caste Nuovo near Cattaro, and the same night anchored in the harbour of Gravosa in Dalmatia. The captain of the Lucia had been dispatched to bring us hither, there to wait further orders.
The following morning, Sunday, 21st August, the naturalists and superior officers made an excursion to the highly interesting city of Ragusa, only a few miles distant, which communicates with Gravosa by a beautiful wide well-kept road. For the first time in 28 months our feet once more trod our native soil.
Next morning, about nine, the imperial steam yacht Fantasie came into port, with H.I.H. the Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian on board, accompanied by the Archduchess. The Lord High Admiral stood on the paddle-box, and saluted us most heartily, repeatedly waving his cap, to which the crew of the Novara replied by a shout that made the welkin
ring. The screw-corvette Dandolo shortly after anchored near us.
About noon the Archduke came on board, and inspected the crew and ship, after which he expressed himself in the most kind terms to the officers of the ship and the scientific corps of the expedition. The Archduchess afterwards had a levee, at which the officers and naturalists had the honour of being presented to her Highness, who addressed to each a few gracious words of welcome and interest.
In the evening there was an elegant banquet of forty covers, at which the Archduke presided, his consort also sharing in the festivities, during which his Highness distinguished the members of the Expedition in proposing the toast, "The men of the Novara, whose names will belong to Austrian history."
On 23rd August our frigate, accompanied by the Lucia and the screw-corvette Dandolo, sailed for Pola. Shortly before our departure the Archduke again came on board, and himself brought with him a long list of promotions. The entire crew were promoted one grade, and all the midshipmen were made officers.
On the 25th August we passed, during the morning, the light-tower of Promontore, standing on a solitary rock that rises out of the sea, hardly a cable's length from the shore, and at 11 reached Pola, the chief naval arsenal of Austria. Here we availed ourselves of the stoppage to visit some of the classical monuments of Pola.
Few cities can present better-preserved or more extensive mementoes of Roman architecture than this, the ancient Pietas Julia, so named because shortly after its destruction by Julius Cæsar, it was rebuilt at the instance of Julia, the daughter of Augustus. The majestic amphitheatre, of elliptical form, rises on the slope of the hills, so that to remedy the inequality of the ground the portion next the sea is held up by a succession of buttresses. The dazzling white of the stone does not present any traces by which one would guess its age. This relic of antiquity is in far better preservation than the Colosseum of Rome, or the Amphitheatre of Verona, and would have been far more perfect had it not been used as a stone-quarry during the days of Venetian supremacy, when entire ship-loads of this brilliant white stone were transported to Venice, there to be used as building material.
Near the amphitheatre, on the side next the city, the stranger is struck by another beautiful edifice, the Porta Aurea (golden gate), a monumental structure in the Corinthian style, which, according to one of the inscriptions, was erected by his widow, Salvia, at her own expense, in honour of Lucius Sergius Lepidus, tribune. For harmony of proportion, richness and elegance of decoration, and perfect preservation, it may be cited as one of the best existing specimens of Roman architecture. A temple to Augustus and another to Diana also attract the astonished gaze of the artist and antiquary, while many another object of classical interest lies prostrate on the earth for want of means, or perhaps, more probably,
through indifference. It is highly probable that, with the rapid development of the town, some interest will also be taken in preserving its antiquities.
The importance of this spacious, easily accessible, secure, and well-fortified harbour, induced the Austrian Government during the last few years to commence public works on a large scale, which was munificently projected and fully carried out, and have resulted in opening for Pola a prospect of future importance second to none on the Adriatic, making it the Portsmouth of the Austrian Empire.
In the evening we again set sail, and about 11 A.M. of the 26th escorted by a squadron of above a dozen ships of war, in two columns, the one led by H.I.H. the Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian, the other by our Commodore, we neared the imposing roadstead of Trieste. As the Novara passed beneath the walls of the splendid château of Miramar, the residence of the Archduke, a guard of artillery saluted the home-returning wanderer, and almost immediately afterwards the cannon of the citadel of Trieste thundered forth their salute.
A Lloyd's steamer, having on board the principal officials of the city, as also a few friends, was now seen wending its way towards us with a band of music on board, and fell into the procession. The latter made its way, enveloped in clouds of smoke, to the picturesquely-situated city, as far as the Bay of Muggia, where each ship let go her anchor in her appointed position, and—The voyage was over.
On the transcriber of the foregoing literary detail of the incidents of the voyage of the Novara still devolves the task of presenting a brief summary of the chief objects aimed at, and the actual scientific results attained by the Imperial Expedition, so as to moderate the exaggerated expectations of one set of readers, and to rectify the hasty, depreciatory judgment of others, by stating obvious and convincing facts.
He feels, above all, compelled to examine the question, which not alone criticism but the entire educated world will address with reference to an undertaking begun under such auspices and of such universal interest, "What are the actual results, and what those to be anticipated from the Novara Expedition? How did its members respond to the efforts made to provide them with every possible appliance that munificence could supply?"
In order aright to answer this query, whether the first Austrian Expedition round the globe has really answered the expectations formed of it, it is necessary to bear in mind that its first and foremost object was the instruction on an adequate scale of the officers and midshipmen of the Imperial navy, and that scientific investigation was always regarded as of secondary importance to that chief object.
The descriptive portion of the voyage of the Novara must be considered simply as the precursor of a series of scientific publications which, thanks to Imperial munificence, will be published at the expense of the State. The nautico-physical portion will include the astronomico-geodetical, magnetic,
and meteorological observations made throughout the voyage, and will appear under the auspices of the Imperial hydrographic Institution at Trieste.
The abundant materials collected in the departments of natural history, statistics, and commercial policy, will be prepared by the various gentlemen who accompanied the Expedition, and comprise as many sections as there were scientific branches represented on board ship during the voyage. These publications will embrace, in a collected form, the observations, investigations, and results obtained in the course of the entire campaign, relating to Geology, Zoology, Botany, Ethnography and Anthropology, Medicine, Statistics, and Trade.
And while these various works can only after their publication admit of a just opinion being formed as to what has been achieved in this respect by the Expedition, the numerous and valuable collections of objects of natural history already give an idea of the activity and research of each member of the scientific staff in the course of the voyage.
The zoological collection comprises above 26,000 specimens, partly collected by the two zoologists themselves, partly presented or purchased; they consist of 320 mammalia, 1500 birds, 950 amphibiæ, 2000 fish, 6550 conchyliæ, 13,000 insects, 950 crustacea, 500 molluscs, 60 skeletons, 50 skulls, 120 nests, and 150 eggs.
The botanical portion embraces several very comprehensive and valuable herbaria and collections of seeds (in selecting the latter the capabilities of the various portions of the Empire were
carefully borne in mind, with reference to the power of propagating the plant), besides a large quantity of fruits and flowers of tropical plants, preserved in acetic acid or alcohol, as also Indian and Chinese drugs, and specimens of ornamental and useful woods.
The mineralogical, petrographical, and palæontological collections consist of several thousand specimens of mineralogy and petrifactions, part collected by the geologist himself, part presented by scientific Institutes, or private donors, or purchased.
The ethnographic collection embraces 376 objects, such as weapons of the most diverse form, house utensils and implements of labour, ornaments, amulets, carvings, idols, headgears, masks, pieces of clothing, models, textile fabrics, manufactures in bark, musical instruments, Cingalese manuscripts, as also fragments of palm-leaves, bamboo-reeds, and bark, all variously transcribed. Some of these various objects are the more interesting, as furnishing, so to speak, the last proofs of the aboriginal skill which, in proportion to the increasing intercourse of the savage tribes with European civilization, is rapidly diminishing, and in all the principal colonies may be considered as already extinguished.
The anthropological collection consists of 100 skulls of various races of men, and includes a complete Bushman-skeleton, besides a great variety of interesting physiological and pathologico-anatomical preparations.
But it is not merely in its general, nautical, scientific, and
politico-economical features that the voyage of the Novara has reacted in a suggestive and instructing manner upon those who were privileged to belong to the Expedition. It has widened the horizon of political knowledge, presented the opportunity of instituting interesting comparisons between the conditions of the various countries visited, and has furnished many an instructive insight into the transmuting process, which the possession of civil and religious liberty effects upon the material welfare and intellectual energy of every race and land, from pole to pole. And although mankind is subjected to the powerful influences of climate, nourishment, soil, and natural phenomena in general, yet it is not less certain that by freely developing the physical and intellectual powers, those influences may be materially limited in extent of operation, and modified in practice; so that, while we see a people inhabiting a country, where Nature has lavished her utmost treasures of fertility, beauty, and loveliness, languishing spiritually and physically under the oppression of a despotic power, and the land itself hastening to impoverishment and decay, we perceive on the other hand that another, far less favourably situated, has been able under free institutions to become by its own unaided energy the marvel of all nations, colonizing every region of the earth, and extending its commercial and political importance over the entire universe.
What a melancholy picture of stagnation and decay is presented by the Spanish and Portuguese possessions in Asia,
Africa, and the West Indies, by the Slave-empire of Brazil, and the Hispano-American Republics, with their mestizo dictators, as compared with the mighty development and glorious promise of the British colonies in Asia, Africa, America, and Australia, governed as they are by constitutional laws, and enjoying full civil and religious rights! Here the energy of free self-governing men, aided by a keen spirit of enterprise and investigation, has obtained a victory over all impediments of a primeval nature, and not alone opened to European civilization new channels for the extension of commerce and industry, but also accomplished important social and political reforms, for which many a civilized state in old Europe is still sighing in vain!
And to the German who has circumnavigated the globe, the consideration of these lofty themes is mingled with a glow of pride and satisfaction, in reflecting that it is a kindred Anglo-Saxon race, to whom apparently has been assigned the glorious mission of diffusing a new life over the earth, of carrying the light of Christian civilization, of political liberty, and spiritual culture, to the most primitive tribes in the furthest regions of the world, and of heralding, amid the ruins of slavery and despotism, the day-spring of a lasting era of Freedom, Peace, and Prosperity!
THE END.