The second branch of the Andes, called the Cordillera of the Cataracts of the Orinoco extends itself from the great chain eastward between the 3d and 6th degrees of north latitude, where the high plains of Tuquillo and St. Martin, with the peaks of Canavami and Umama are formed; it contains the sources of the Guaviari, the Meta, Zama, and Ymerida rivers, and forms the tremendous cataracts of Maypuré and Aturé; beyond these it acquires still greater elevation, and occupies an immense space, stretching southward to the boundaries of the Portuguese dominions, where it is lost in vast and nearly impenetrable tracts of woody country, over which no European ever trod, as the tribes who inhabit the region are of a ferocious and sanguinary disposition. In this gloomy country exist the sources of the magnificent Orinoco, which have never been seen, either by the civilised Indians, or the Spaniards. The chain has again been observed issuing from forests farther to the eastward; it is, however, neither so elevated nor so broad, and is called Sierra de Quineropaca and Pacaraimo, near the lake of Parimé and the Amazons. It again extends its breadth a few degrees further east, and bends southwards along the Mao, where the hill of Ucucuamo, which being formed of shining yellow mica, deceived the venturous travellers, who fancied they at last found a mountain of gold. From this hill, called El Dorado, or the Golden Mountain, the branch stretches eastwards towards the mountains of French Guiana, where its form is little known, as the interior of that country is inhabited by Caribs and negroes, who keep the settlers at bay. The rivers of Berbice, Surinam, Marony, and Essequibo rise in this part of the chain.
The mountain of Duida is the highest point which has yet been seen of the Cordillera of the Cataracts; this volcano has not hitherto been explored, but its height has been found to be 8465 feet above the sea.
The Cordillera of the Cataracts is remarkable for the abrupt descent of its southern face.
It is said to exhibit no rock of secondary formation, or to contain any petrifactions or organic remains, consisting only of granite, gneiss, mica, slate, and hornblende; this however applies only to the part visited by M. de Humboldt, from the Rio Negro to the frontier of the Grand Para, a distance of 600 miles.
The third great branch from the main body of the Andes, is that of Chiquitos, between the 15th and 20th degree of south latitude, which, sweeping from the main chain in a semicircular shape, traverses the province of the same name, connecting the heights of Paraguay and La Plata with those of Chili and Peru. The great rivers which fall into, and form parts of the La Plata and the Maranon, rise in this branch, but as no satisfactory accounts of it have been published, it is impracticable to give any general description of its particular properties and forms.
These branches form three immense plains between their bases, open to the southern Atlantic Ocean on the east, and shut out from the Pacific by the great trunk of the Andes on the west; the most northerly is the Savannah, or Plain of the Orinoco, noted for its luxuriant herbage, and possessing only a few scattered trees. The plain of the Amazons, or Maranon, succeeds to that of the Orinoco on the opposite side of the central branch. On this widely extended tract, forests, coeval with the soil they are nourished by, extend their gloomy and nearly impenetrable fastnesses, inhabited only by tribes of savage and wandering Indians, whose ferocity allies them to the beasts of prey which roam in every part of the savannahs of the Maranon.
The third great plain is that distinguished by the appellation of the Pampas, or the Plains of the La Plata, resembling in some measure the valley of the Orinoco, being covered with a strong and luxuriant growth of herbage, and occupied by countless herds of wild cattle, which are hunted solely for the sake of their hides, these forming one of the chief articles of the export trade of the viceroyalty of Buenos Ayres.
The mother chain of the Andes is rich beyond description in metallic productions, and furnishes several sorts of the precious stones; but with all this profusion of treasure, it contains within its bosom the materials of destruction; earthquakes of the most tremendous nature swallow whole cities, the activity of the internal fires frequently destroys entire mountains, and leaves sheets of water in their place, by which provinces are devastated, and thousands of the animal creation destroyed. Forty volcanoes have been counted from Cotopaxi to the shores of the Straits of Magellan, that discharge lava, enormous rocks, showers of ashes, great quantities of water, liquid mud, sulphur, or devastating blasts of heated air from their craters.
The most striking features of the southern Andes are these volcanic cones, whose flanks, beset with frightful crevices of immeasurable depth, are crossed by the fearless natives, by means of pendulous bridges, formed of the fibres of equinoctial plants. Over these frail and tremulous passages, the natives carry the traveller in a chair attached to their backs, and bending forward the body, they move with a swift and equal step; but when they reach the centre, the oscillation of the bridge is so great, that were they to stop, inevitable destruction must ensue; the native and his burden would be dashed to the bottom of a precipice to whose profound depth the eye can hardly reach.
These bridges are, from the nature of their materials, frequently out of repair, presenting to the shuddering European, who visits these countries, frightful chasms, over which the Indians step with undaunted confidence. Volcanoes and crevices are not the only surprising circumstances which attract the notice of the adventurous traveller; cataracts of magnificent forms are every where observed, that of Tequendama, near the city of Santa Fé, dashing a volume of water from the plains of Bogota, through an opening in the Cordillera, to the depth of six hundred feet, into a dark and unfathomable gulf. In these mountains, the largest rivers in the world derive their sources; the La Plata, the Maranon, and the Orinoco; of which, as well as of some of the peculiar scenery of the Andes, we shall treat more at large in the local descriptions of the governments and provinces of South America, resuming the subject of the present section, we shall describe the capital of the kingdom of New Granada.