G. DE HUMBOLDT: GENERAL REPORT

Abstract

Interesting document given the information he presents to his brother and which spans about a year: November 1801 and November 1802. It offers geographical, sociological and linguistic details. Those who accompany the travelers, a sort of cowboys, are called cargueros and the huts are built with Heliconia leaves. They spent almost two weeks "in those solitudes", places that have not been previously inhabited. The greatest difficulty was to go from Popayán to Quito, where they had "a stay of almost eight months [...], from the beginning of January until August". And he used "that time to visit each of the volcanoes and we have examined one after another the peaks of Pichincha, Cotopaxi, Antisana and Iliniza." He climbed the colossal Chimborazo, did not reach the summit and yet several days later was still affected by the altitude. He was abandoned by the native porters. He learned of manuscripts written in the Purugnay language, the general language of Quito before the Inca conquest. He has studied more than forty newborn crocodiles.