Part 1
# The wonders of the world : $b a complete museum, descriptive and pictorial, of the wonderful phenomena and results of nature, science and art ### By Abbott, John Loraine
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This version of the text cannot represent certain typographical effects. Italics are delimited with the ‘_’ character as _italic_.
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There are numerous illustrations, which are represented here by their captions and which have been moved slightly to fall in between paragraphs or sections.
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[Illustration:
WONDERS of the WORLD. ]
THE
WONDERS OF THE WORLD:
A
COMPLETE MUSEUM, DESCRIPTIVE AND PICTORIAL,
OF THE
WONDERFUL PHENOMENA AND RESULTS
OF
NATURE, SCIENCE AND ART.
----------
BY
JOHN LORAINE ABBOTT.
----------
ILLUSTRATED FROM ORIGINAL DESIGNS BY BILLINGS AND OTHERS.
=Hartford:= PUBLISHED BY CASE, TIFFANY AND COMPANY. 1856.
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Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1855, by CASE, TIFFANY AND COMPANY, in the Clerk’s Office of the District Court of Connecticut.
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PREFACE.
The _ancients_ boasted of their SEVEN WONDERS OF THE WORLD. These were the Pyramids of Egypt, the Colossus of Rhodes, the Aqueducts of Rome, the Labyrinth on the banks of the Nile, the Pharos of Alexandria, the Walls of Babylon, and the temple of Diana at Ephesus. But the WONDERS known to those of the _present_ day, may be counted by hundreds: wonders of Nature, wonders of Science, wonders of Art, and Miscellaneous wonders; each department full, to overflowing, of themes of the richest instruction and deepest interest.
To present some of the most striking of these wonders, in a manner that shall be acceptable to the man of science and profound research, and at the same time full of interest to the general reader, and the family at the fireside, has been the aim of the editor of the following pages. The exaggerated and marvelous stories which the mischievous fancy of travelers has too often imposed on the credulity of the weak, as well as the foolish fables founded in bigotry and superstition, which were too often received as truths in the dark ages, have been carefully avoided, and, where the narrative permitted, exposed; and nothing has been brought forward that has not been confirmed by the concurrent testimony of enlightened travelers, and men of science, and extended observation. On the subjects in which Nature, in her various departments, displays her most wondrous magnificence and beauty; or in those in which Science and Art have sought out their most wondrous inventions, and wrought out the most wondrous results, the best authorities have been carefully consulted. And the endeavor has been, so to assemble and arrange the multiplied objects of wonder and delight, as to confer a lasting benefit on the rising generation, and on families, and at the same time to present a work that shall commend itself to those whose lives have been wholly devoted to researches among the sublime wonders of nature, science and art. Believing that the standard of general reading is constantly rising higher, and that the sphere of intellectual tastes and pursuits is constantly growing wider, the writer has endeavored to prepare a volume that shall have more than the interest of fiction, and, at the same time, the ripe and rich instruction of the book of travels, or the work of science or descriptive art. The table of contents makes manifest how extensive the range of the topics presented; while the list of engravings may show how profusely and richly the enterprise of the publishers has illustrated a work, which it is hoped may meet with universal acceptance.
J. L. A.
CONTENTS.
PAGE. Preface 3 List of Illustrations 8
MOUNTAINS. The Andes 9 Chimborazo 12 Cotopaxi 13 Pichincha 14 Mount Etna 15 Mount Vesuvius 21 Mount Hecla 28 The Geysers 32 The Sulphur Mountain (Iceland) 36 Mont Blanc 37 The Glaciers, or Ice Masses 51 The =Mer de Glace= 51 View from the Buet 55 Montserrat 57 The Peak of Teneriffe 59 The Souffriere Mountain, (St. Vincent, W. I.) 69 Peter Botte’s Mountain, (Mauritius) 73 Kilauea, (Sandwich Islands) 74 The Peak of Derbyshire 82 Mountains of Great Britain 97 Stromboli 101 Lipari 103 Vulcano 104 The Himalaya Mountains 105 Asiatic Volcanoes 115 Islands which have risen from the Sea 119
SUBTERRANEAN WONDERS. The Grotta del Cane 131 The Grotto of Antiparos 136 Caverns in Hungary and Germany, containing Fossil Bones 139 The Mammoth Cave 141 The Great Cavern of Guacharo 157 Fingal’s Cave, or Grand Staffa Cavern 161 Other Grottos and Caverns 164
MINES, METALS, GEMS, &C. Introductory 168 Diamond Mines 169 Gold and Silver Mines 178 Quicksilver Mines 193 Iron Mines 195 Copper Mines 204 Tin Mines 209 Lead Mines 211 Coal Mines 212 Salt Mines 223
PHENOMENA OF THE OCEAN. Introductory 230 Saltness of the Sea 231 Congelation of Sea-Water 234 Ice-Islands 235 Icebergs 244 Luminous Points in the Sea 245 Tides and Currents 246
CATARACTS AND CASCADES. Introductory 252 Falls of Niagara 253 Falls of the Montmorenci 270 The Tuccoa Fall 272 Falls of the Missouri 272 Catskill Falls 274 Trenton Falls 275 Waterfall of South Africa 275 Cataracts of the Nile 276 Cataract of the Mender 276 Other Cataracts 277
SPRINGS AND WELLS. St. Winifred’s Well 280 Wigan Well 282 Dropping Well at Knaresborough 283 Broseley Spring 284 Hot Springs of St. Michael 284 Hot Springs of the Troad 285 Other Springs 286
BITUMINOUS AND OTHER LAKES. Pitch Lake of Trinidad 290 Mud Lake of Java 291 Salt Lake of Utah 292
ATMOSPHERICAL PHENOMENA. Meteors 294 Aerolites 307 Aurora Borealis and Aurora Australis 312 Lumen Boreale, or Streaming Lights 314 Luminous Arches 316 Ignes Fatui, or Mock Fires 317 Specter of the Brocken 319 The Mirage 322 Fata Morgana 323 Atmospherical Refraction 324 Parhelia, or Mock Suns 328 Lunar Rainbow 330 Concentric Rainbows 330 Thunder and Lightning 331 Remarkable Thunder-Storms 334 Hail-Storms 338 Hurricanes 339 The Monsoons 341 Whirlwinds and Waterspouts 342 Sounds and Echoes 348
BURIED CITIES. The Yanar, or Perpetual Fire 350 Pompeii 351 The Museum at Naples 360 Herculaneum 362 Pompeii 365 The Museum 375 Herculaneum 379
EARTHQUAKES. Introductory 384 Earthquakes of Ancient Times 389 Earthquake in Calabria 389 The Great Earthquake of 1755 391 Earthquake in Sicily and in the Two Calabrias 401 Earthquakes in Peru 409 Earthquake in Jamaica, 1692 411 Earthquake in Venezuela, 1812 412
CONNECTION OF EARTHQUAKES WITH VOLCANOES. Island of Java 413
BASALTIC AND ROCKY WONDERS. The Giant’s Causeway 417 Basaltic Columns 422
NATURAL BRIDGES. Natural Bridges of Icononzo 424 Natural Bridge in Virginia 427
PRECIPICES AND PROMONTORIES. Besseley Ghaut 432 The Cape of the Winds 433 The North Cape 435 Precipices of San Antonia 436
GEOLOGICAL CHANGES OF THE EARTH. Introductory 438 Extraneous Fossils 446 Fossil Crocodiles 448 Large Fossil Animal of Maestricht 449 Fossil Remains of Ruminantia 450 Fossil Remains of Elephants 451 Fossil Remains of the Mastodon 453 Fossil Remains of the Rhinoceros 454 Fossil Remains of the Siberian Mammoth 455 Fossil Shells 457 Subterranean Forests 458 Moors, Mosses and Bogs 460 Coral Reefs and Islands 465
WIDE AND INHOSPITABLE DESERTS. Asiatic Deserts 469 Arabian Deserts 470 African Deserts 470 Pilgrimage across the Deserts 474 Sands of the Desert 486
WONDERS OF ART. The Pyramids of Egypt 491 The Tombs at Sakkara 506 The Sphinx 509 Ruins and Pyramids of Meroë 511 Pyramids and Ruins of Merawe 516 Egyptian Temples and Monuments 520 Bathing in the East 526 Egyptian Temples, Monuments, &c. 527 Other Ruins in Egypt, &c. 554 The River Nile 562 The African Birds-nest 568 Ruins of Palmyra 569 Ruins of Balbec 570 Ruins of Babylon 572 Babylonian Bricks 579 Later Discoveries at Babylon 580 Ruins of Nineveh 582 The Ruins of Persepolis 587 Royal Palace of Ispahan 589 The Temple of Mecca 589
THE HOLY LAND. Jacob’s Well 591 Bethlehem 592 Nazareth 594 The Holy Sepulcher at Jerusalem 594 Mount Tabor 596 The Mount of Olives 598 Other Revered Sites 599 Mount Carmel 599 Mount Ararat 600
WONDERS OF ART RESUMED. The Mosque of Omar 601 Mosque of St. Sophia at Constantinople 602 Ruins of Carthage 603 The Plain of Troy 604 Athens 607 Temples of Elephants 610 Temples of Salsette 612 Mausoleum of Hyder Ali 614 The Taje Mahal 614 Great Wall of China 616 Porcelain Tower at Nankin 618 The Shoemadoo at Pegu 618 Colossal Figure of Jupiter Pluvius, or the Apennine Jupiter 621 The Leaning, or Hanging Tower of Pisa, in Tuscany 624 The Coliseum at Rome 627 The Pantheon 630 Roman Amphitheater at Nismes 632 Trajan’s Pillar 634 Column of Antonine 635 Naison Carré, at Nismes 635 The Pont du Gard 636 Ancient Aqueduct near Rome 637 The Roman Forum 638 St. Peter’s of Rome 642 The Soil of Rome 646 Eddystone Light-house 647 Bell Rock Light-house 649 Stonehenge 652 Rocking Stones 654 The Round Towers of Ireland 656 St. Paul’s Cathedral 657 First Church in England 661 Westminster Abbey 662 Cathedral of Notre Dame 665 Strasburg Cathedral 665 Cathedral of Cologne 669 Church of St. Mark, at Venice 669 The Cathedral of Milan 670 The Tower of London 671 The Bank of England 674 Monument of the Great Fire of 1666 in London 675 The Louvre 676 The British Museum 679 Madame Tusseau’s Museum 686 The Palace of Blenheim 689 The Palace of Versailles 691 The Palace of St. Cloud 693 The Crystal Palace in New York 697 The Crystal Palace in London 702 The Capitol at Washington 712 The Smithsonian Institute 714 The Washington Monument 715 The Column of Vendome, Paris 718 The Bunker Hill Monument 719 The Arc de Triomphe (Paris) 721 The Cooper Institute (New York) 723 Vergnais’s Improved Bridge over the Seine at Paris 725 Railroad Bridge at Portage, New York 726 The Britannia Tubular Bridge, over Menai Strait 728 The Suspension Bridge over the Menai Strait 730 Great Railway Suspension Bridge at Niagara Falls 731 Other Immense Bridges 732 The High Bridge at Harlem 733 The Boston Reservoir 734 Aqueduct at the Peat Forest Canal (England) 735 The Thames Tunnel 737 Railroad Tunnels 739 The Colossus at Rhodes 741
MISCELLANEOUS WONDERS. Youle’s Shot-Tower 744 The Emperor Fountain 746 The United States Mint in Philadelphia 747 The Air Balloon 749 The Progress of Navigation 755 Steam Navigation 758 Chinese Junks 766 The Artesian Well of Grenelle 767 The Banyan-Tree 768 The Wedded Banyan-Tree 771 The Cocoa-Tree 771 The Reindeer Sledge 772 The Upas or Poison-Tree 773 The Prairie on Fire 775 The Mammoth Tree of California 776 Other Mammoth Trees in California 778 The Palm-Tree 778 The Bamboo-Tree 781 The Manna-Tree 783 Continental Money 783 The Milk-Tree 784 The Signal Telegraph 786 The Electro-Magnetic Telegraph 787 The Art of Printing 788 The India-Rubber Tree 793 The Round Tower at Newport 795 Diving Armor 796 Tree House in Caffraria 799 The Raining-Tree 800 The Traveler’s Friend 800 The Camphor-Tree 801 The Cinnamon Plant 802 The Tree Temple at Matibo in Piedmont 803 The Termites, or White Ants 804 Huts in Kamtschatka 806 The Whale 807 Landing of the Pilgrims 808 Plymouth Rock 809 A Wonder of Art 811 The Whale Killer 812 A Pile of Serpents 813 American Ruins 814 Insect Slavery 815
List of Illustrations.
PAGE.
The Cordilleras, or Andes, near Quito 10
Crater of Mount Etna 16
The “Castano de Cento Cavilli,” or Great Chestnut Tree of 18 Mount Etna
Mount Vesuvius 22
Mount Hecla and the Geysers 29
Mont Blanc and the Glaciers 38
The Peak of Teneriffe 59
Peter Botte’s Mountain 74
Bridge over the Wye 92
Source of the Jumna 109
St. Michael’s Volcano 122
Sabrina Island 125
Grotto of Antiparos 136
The Mammoth Cave 141
Diamond Washing in Brazil 171
Discovery of Silver in Peru 179
Silver Mine at Königsberg, Sweden 185
Gold Washing in California 188
Place where Gold was first discovered in Australia 190
Copper Mine in Cornwall 207
Thin Plates of Coal 213
Great Salt Mine of Cracow 225
Icebergs, or Ice-Islands 236
The Maelstrom 250
Niagara Falls 256
Niagara Falls on the American side 259
Suspension Bridge over Niagara River 265
Falls of Montmorenci 270
Catskill Falls 274
Dropping Well at Knaresborough, England 283
The Emigrant Family 293
Specter of the Brocken 320
Ship refracted in the Air 327
Waterspout on the Ocean 346
Temple of Isis at Pompeii 356
Papyri 361
Earthquake at Lisbon 394
Natural Bridge in Virginia 428
Skeleton of the Siberian Mammoth 456
The Sphinx and Pyramids 492
Entrance to one of the Pyramids of Gizeh 499
Entrance to the Tombs of Sakkara 507
Great Gallery of the Tombs of Sakkara 510
Cleopatra’s Needle 521
The Two Colossi 535
The Nilometer 565
African Birds-nest 568
Tower near Babylon 573
Colossal Winged Bull from Nineveh 584
Jacob’s Well 591
Church of the Holy Sepulcher 595
Mount Tabor 597
The Areopagus 608
Temple of Jupiter Olympius 609
Great Wall of China 615
Porcelain Tower at Nankin 617
Jupiter Pluvius, or the Apennine Jupiter 622
The Leaning Tower at Pisa 624
The Coliseum at Rome 629
Ancient Roman Aqueduct 638
The Arch of Titus 640
St. Peter’s as seen from the Tiber 643
The Eddystone Light-house 648
Stonehenge 653
The First Church in England 661
Strasburg Cathedral 666
The Crystal Palace in New York 697
The Capitol at Washington 712
The Smithsonian Institute 715
The Washington Monument 716
The Bunker-Hill Monument 720
Vergnais’s Herculean Bridge 725
The Britannia Tubular Bridge 728
The High Bridge at Harlem 733
The Boston Reservoir 735
Aqueduct on the Peat Forest Canal 736
Tunnel in Shakspeare’s Cliff 740
The Colossus of Rhodes 742
The Emperor Fountain 747
The Air Balloon 750
Early Navigation 756
The Launch of a Packet-Ship 757
Fulton’s First Steamboat 759
An Ocean Steamer 762
Chinese Junks 766
The Banyan-Tree 769
The Reindeer Sledge 772
The Prairie on Fire 775
The Date-Palm 779
The Bamboo-Tree 782
Continental Money 783
The Signal Telegraph 785
The Electro-Magnetic Telegraph 787
Faust taking First Proof from movable types 789
Franklin’s Printing-Press 790
Hoe’s Eight-Cylinder Power Press 792
The India-Rubber Tree 793
The Old Round Tower at Newport 795
Submarine or Diving Armor 796
Manner of working the Diving-Armor 797
Tree House in Caffraria 799
The Camphor-Tree 801
Tree Temple at Matibo in Piedmont 803
Ant-Hills of the White Ant 805
Huts in Kamtschatka 806
Taking a Whale 807
Landing of the Pilgrims 809
Plymouth Rock 810
Early Settlers of New England going to Church 811
THE
=Wonders of the World.=
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MOUNTAINS.
“And lo! the mountains print the distant sky, And o’er their airy tops faint clouds are driven, So softly blending that the cheated eye, Forgets or which is earth, or which is heaven!”—FAY.
“Mountains and all hills—let them praise the name of the Lord, for his name alone is excellent; his glory is above the earth and heaven.”—DAVID.
Among the _wonders_, or uncommon phenomena of the world, may be classed stupendous _mountains_. For though compared with the entire diameter of the earth, the highest elevations on its surface are no more than the inequalities on the skin of the orange to the orange itself, yet to our eyes they often appear immensely lofty and sublime. Descriptions of such vast and striking objects often fail to excite corresponding ideas; so that however accurate or poetical may be the accounts of this class of the prodigies of nature, no just notions of their vastness can be conveyed, by any written or graphical representation. The magnitude of an object must be seen to be duly conceived; and the mountain-wonders of the world will best be understood and felt by those who have visited Wales, Scotland, Switzerland, or the mountainous regions of America or Asia.
THE ANDES.
Some of the loftiest and most extensive mountains in the world, are the Andes, in South America. These stupendous hills, called by the Spaniards the =Cordilleras=, (from the word _cord_ or _chain_,) =i. e.=, the chains of the Andes, stretch north and south near the western coast, from the isthmus of Darien, through the whole of the continent of South America, to the straits of Magellan. In the north, there are three chains of separate ridges; but in advancing from Popayan toward the south, the three chains unite into a single group, which is continued far beyond the equator. In Equador, near Quito, the more elevated summits of this group are ranged in two rows, (as seen in the cut below,) which form a double crest to the Cordilleras. The extent of the Andes mountains is not less than four thousand three hundred miles, from one end to the other.
[Illustration: THE CORDILLERAS, OR ANDES, NEAR QUITO.]
“Rocks rich in gems, and mountains big with mines, That on the high equator ridgy rise, Whence many a bursting stream auriferous plays.”—THOMSON.
In this country, the operations of nature appear to have been carried on on a larger scale, and with a bolder hand, than elsewhere; and in consequence, the whole is distinguished by a peculiar magnificence. Even the plain of Quito, which may be considered as the base of the Andes, is more elevated above the sea than the summits of many European mountains. In different places the Andes rise more than one-third higher than the famous peak of Teneriffe, the highest land in the ancient hemisphere. Their cloud-enveloped summits, though exposed to the rays of the sun in the torrid zone, are covered with eternal snows, and below them the storm is seen to burst, and the exploring traveler hears the thunder roll, and sees the lightnings dart beneath his feet. Throughout the whole of the range of these extensive mountains, as far as they have been explored, there is a certain boundary, above which the snow never melts; which boundary, in the torrid zone, has been ascertained to be fourteen thousand, six hundred feet, or nearly three miles above the level of the sea.
The ascent to the plain of Quito, on which stands Chimborazo, Cotopaxi, Pichincha, &c., is thus described by Don Juan de Ulloa:
“The ruggedness of the road from Taraguaga, leading up the mountain, is not easily described. The declivity is so great, in some parts, that the mules can scarcely keep their footing; and, in others, the acclivity is equally difficult. The trouble of sending people before to mend the road, the pain arising from the many falls and bruises, and the being constantly wet to the skin, might be supported; but these inconveniences are augmented by the sight of such frightful precipices and deep abysses, as excite in the mind constant terror. The road, in some places, is so steep, and yet so narrow, that the mules are obliged to slide down without making any use whatever of their feet. On one side of the rider, in this situation, rises an eminence of many hundred yards; and, on the other, is an abyss of equal depth; so that, if he should give the least check to his mule, and destroy the equilibrium, both must inevitably perish.
“Having traveled nine days in this manner, slowly winding along the sides of the mountains, we began to find the whole country covered with a hoar-frost; and a hut, in which we reposed, had ice in it. At length, after a perilous journey of fifteen days, we arrived upon a plain, at the extremity of which stands the city of Quito, the capital of one of the most charming regions in the world. Here, in the center of the torrid zone, the heat is not only very tolerable, but, in some places, the cold is even painful. Here the inhabitants enjoy the temperature and advantages of perpetual spring; the fields being constantly covered with verdure, and enameled with flowers of the most lively colors. But although this beautiful region is more elevated than any other country in the world, and it employs so many days of painful journey in the ascent, it is itself overlooked by tremendous mountains, their sides being covered with snow, while their summits are flaming with volcanoes. These mountains seem piled one upon the other, and to rise, with great boldness, to an astonishing hight. However, at a determined point above the surface of the sea, the congelation is found at the same hight in all the mountains. Those parts which are not subject to a continual frost, have here and there growing upon them a species of rush, resembling the broom, but much softer and more flexible. Toward the extremity of the part where the rush grows, and the cold begins to increase, is found a vegetable with a round bulbous head. Higher still, the earth is bare of vegetation, and seems covered with eternal snow. The most remarkable of the Andes are the mountains of Chimborazo, Cotopaxi, and Pichincha.”
CHIMBORAZO.
This is the most lofty and majestic peak of the Andes, and has a circular summit. It is twenty-two thousand feet, or more than four miles high. On the shores of the ocean, after the long rains of winter, Chimborazo appears like a cloud in the horizon. It detaches itself from the neighboring summits, and raises its lofty head over the whole chain of the Andes. Travelers who have approached the summits of Mont Blanc and Mont Rose, are alone capable of feeling the effect of such vast, majestic, and solemn scenery.
The bulk of Chimborazo is so enormous, that the part which the eye embraces at once, near the limit of the snows, is twenty-two thousand, nine hundred and sixty-eight feet, or four miles and a third in breadth. The extreme rarity of the strata of air across which the summits of the Andes are seen, contributes greatly to the splendor of the snow and the magical effect of its reflection. Under the tropics, at a hight of sixteen thousand, four hundred feet, or upward of three miles, the azure vault of the heavens appears of an indigo tint; while, in so pure and transparent an atmosphere, the outlines of the mountains seem to detach themselves from the sky, and produce an effect at once sublime, awful, and profoundly impressive.
With the exception of the loftiest of the Himalaya, in Asia, Chimborazo is the highest known mountain in the world. Humboldt, Bonpland, and Montufar, were persevering enough to approach within one thousand, six hundred feet of the summit of this mighty king of mountains. Being aided in their ascent by a train of volcanic rocks, destitute of snow, they thus attained the amazing hight of nearly four miles above the level of the sea; and the former of these naturalists is persuaded that they might have reached the highest summit, had it not been for the intervention of a great crevice, or gap, which they were unable to cross. They were, therefore, obliged to descend, after experiencing great inconveniences and many unpleasant sensations. For three or four days, even after their return into the plain, they were not free from sickness, and an uncomfortable feeling, owing, as they suppose, to the vast proportion of oxygen in the atmosphere above. Long before they reached the above surprising hight, they had been abandoned by their guides, the Indians, who had taken alarm and were fearful of their lives. So great was the fall of snow on their return, that they could scarcely recognize each other, and they all suffered dreadfully from the intenseness of the cold.
A great number of Spaniards formerly perished in crossing the vast and dangerous deserts which lie on the declivity of Chimborazo; being now, however, better acquainted with them, such misfortunes seldom occur, especially as very few take this route, unless there be a prospect of calm and serene weather.
COTOPAXI.