The ancient state of the town of Quito, and the first discoveries and settlements of the southern and eastern regions of New Granada, by Benalcazar and his followers, will be treated of under the head of the presidency of Quito.
Climate.—The climate of New Granada presents great variety; the elevated Cordillera of the Andes, and the eternal snows which cap its summits, render this country, though it lies partly under the equator, subject to all the cold of the polar regions; whilst on its low savannahs, the tropical heats are felt with all their ardour. The elevated plains between the ridges of the Andes, enjoy a temperate and unvariable climate, and it is in these delightful spots, that the European colonists have chiefly fixed their abodes.
FEATURES OF THE COUNTRY.
The great feature of the kingdom of New Granada or Santa Fé, is that amazing range of mountains denominated the Cordillera of the Andes, which crosses the country from the south to the north, and as some of the most sublime scenes in that astonishing chain exist in this viceroyalty, a general description of the whole will be given here from the latest sources of information.
The Andes run nearly parallel to the coast of the Pacific Ocean, at the general distance of about 150 miles, and may be satisfactorily traced from the river Atrato, in 8° north latitude, on the isthmus of Panama, as far south as Cape Pilares, at the western entrance of the Straits of Magellan, in 53° south latitude, being a length of 4200 miles. Their greatest altitude is conjectured to take place nearly under the equator, where the cone of Chimborazo rises to the amazing height of 7147 yards above the level of the sea, but they insensibly decrease in elevation towards the province of Darien, and in running through the isthmus of Panama are nearly lost; after passing the province of Darien, they again begin to evince their majestic forms, and dividing North from South America, enter the province of Veragua, pass to that of Costa Rica, and through the kingdom of Guatimala, where they again attain considerable elevation, and in which they are thickly set with volcanic cones.
Leaving Guatimala, the Andes ascend through the viceroyalty of New Spain, near the capital of which, their summits are scarcely inferior to Chimborazo, and continuing their immense course, they pass the confines of New Spain by the province of New Mexico; entering a wild and unfrequented country, where the elevation of their peaks is still very great; and they are supposed finally to lose themselves in the icy ocean of the Arctic regions.
That part of the Andes which crosses New Spain and Guatimala has been already described. Three secondary chains are thrown out in the known parts of South America; the first of these is in the kingdom of New Granada; the second is known by the name of the Cordillera of the cataracts of the Orinoco; and the third is the Cordillera of Chiquitos, which province it traverses.
The first branch, or Cordillera of New Granada and Caraccas, bends eastward from the river Atrato, forming the Sierra of Abibé, and of Cauca, and the high plains of Tolu, and crosses the river Magdalena. It then forms a narrow chain along the coast to Cape Vela, where it separates into two parallel ridges; but joining again, and forming lofty summits, it stretches along the whole government of the Caraccas, and loses itself in the Atlantic ocean, at the cape of Paria. Its highest points are in the provinces of Santa Marta and Merida. The Nevada of the former is 16,000 feet, and that of the latter 15,000 in altitude, and their heads constantly enveloped in snow. These parallel ridges form vast plains between their summits, elevated to great heights above the sea; the plain of the Caraccas being 2660 feet in height. The greatest elevation of the chain after it crosses the boundary between New Granada and the Caraccas is near the metropolis of the latter government, where the Silla de Caraccas raises itself to the height of 8420 feet, and forms an enormous and frightful precipice fronting the Caribbean sea.
In New Granada, the main chain also separates itself into parallel ridges, three of which exist between 2° 30ʹ and 5° 15ʹ of north latitude. The eastern ridge divides the great river Magdalena from the plains of the Meta; none of its summits are covered with snow. The central ridge separates the Magdalena from the Rio Cauca; this is the most lofty of the three, and its most elevated peaks enter the region of eternal frost; the three highest are named Quindiu, Baragan, and Guanacas.
The western ridge separates the Rio Cauca from the province of Choco; it attains scarcely 4500 feet in altitude, and nearly loses itself in the province of Darien. These three ridges unite in the district of Pastos in Popayan, and continue single till they have far past the equator; when they again separate themselves into two parallel chains, in the province of Quito, by a valley near their summits. It is here that they are seen in their most sublime forms, Chimborazo, Pichincha, Illinissa, Antisana, and Cotopaxi ascending to the very skies, their white cones being beautifully contrasted with the dark blue of the surrounding firmament.