SPANISH AMERICA;

OR A

DESCRIPTIVE, HISTORICAL, AND GEOGRAPHICAL

ACCOUNT

OF

THE DOMINIONS OF SPAIN

IN THE

Western Hemisphere,

CONTINENTAL AND INSULAR;

ILLUSTRATED BY

A MAP OF SPANISH NORTH AMERICA, AND THE WEST-INDIA ISLANDS;
A MAP OF SPANISH SOUTH AMERICA,
AND AN ENGRAVING, REPRESENTING THE COMPARATIVE ALTITUDES
OF THE MOUNTAINS IN THOSE REGIONS.

By R. H. BONNYCASTLE,

CAPTAIN IN THE CORPS OF ROYAL ENGINEERS.

“Such of late
Columbus found the American, so girt
With feathered cincture, naked else and wild
Among the trees, on iles and woody shores—
---- In spirit perhaps he also saw
Rich Mexico the seat of Montezume,
And Cusco in Peru, the richer seat
Of Atabalipa, and yet unspoilʼd
Guiana, whose great city Geryonʼs sons
Call El Dorado”—Paradise Lost.

IN TWO VOLUMES.

VOL. I.

LONDON:
PRINTED FOR LONGMAN, HURST, REES, ORME, AND BROWN, PATERNOSTER-ROW.
1818.

Printed by A. Strahan,
New-Street-Square, London.

TO

COLONEL J. CARMICHAEL-SMYTH,

OF THE ROYAL ENGINEERS,

C.B., K.M.T., K.St.W.,

COMMANDING ROYAL ENGINEER

OF THE BRITISH ARMY IN FRANCE UNDER

HIS GRACE THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON,

AND

AID-DE-CAMP TO

HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS THE PRINCE REGENT,

&c. &c. &c.

THIS WORK

IS MOST RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED

BY HIS MOST OBEDIENT

AND HUMBLE SERVANT

RICHARD HENRY BONNYCASTLE.

PREFACE.

A variety of estimable works have appeared on the subject of America, which have certainly, in a great degree, extended the geographical knowledge of the New World. Many of them, however, were written long ago; the political face of the country has changed; the journals of recent travellers have opened new sources of knowledge; and we find, among other things, that North America, which was supposed to contain mountains only of inferior altitude, has now been discovered to possess summits of superior elevation to those of the Alps, or the Peak of Teneriffe.

The publications of the most celebrated writers, as well as those of recent travellers, on that country, are in general bulky and expensive, and the mixture of political and abstruse scientific subjects, renders many of them uninteresting to the generality of readers.

This work has therefore been undertaken, with the object of forming a useful and amusing compendium of historical and geographical information, with respect to the acquisitions of Spain on the continent and in the islands of America, unmixed with political suggestions or reflections, and including a simple record of events, without comment. The Authorʼs inducements to this undertaking have been principally his fondness for the Spanish language, and the idea, that the little knowledge he possesses of it might be usefully employed in giving form to a work on the Spanish colonies.

Authorities of the first eminence have been carefully consulted for this purpose, it is therefore hoped that the matter contained in the work will be found correct and interesting: to the labours of the enterprising M. de Humboldt, it is highly indebted; his researches and indefatigable efforts have recently thrown so much light on the obscure geography of America, that the existence of a great part of the Spanish colonies would have been still unknown but for that able and scientific traveller, the most zealous, as well as the most interesting, of any that ever appeared on the shores of the western world.

The situation of remarkable places has been laid down with the greatest possible accuracy, and a copious index at the conclusion affords an easy reference.

The History of the Invasion and Conquests is only touched upon, so far as it is deemed generally interesting; to have given extended details on this head, would have required volumes; such abridgements have therefore been made as will render all its remarkable points sufficiently known.

The work is divided into two parts; the First comprehends the Spanish dominions in North America, including the West India Islands subject to the crown of Spain.

The Second Part relates to Spanish South America, and the islands on its coasts.

Each part is illustrated by a map, on both of which the Author has bestowed great pains, to render them as correct and as useful to the Reader as possible. The French, the English and M. de Humboldtʼs maps, which are universally acknowledged to be the best, have been consulted; from the united positions of which, these have been constructed.

An engraving, representing the relative heights of the mountains in Spanish North and South America, accompanies the Work; in which plate, some of the principal cities, volcanoes and extraordinary features of those countries are designated upon a new plan.

With these assistances, and from the consideration that no work of a similar nature exists in the English language, on the Trans-atlantic colonies of Spain, it is conceived that this will prove both instructive and useful to those who have not leisure to consult more voluminous writers on the subject.

Previous to proceeding into the body of the work, it will be necessary to make some observations on the plan. The possessions of the Spanish Crown in the Americas being naturally, as well as geographically, divided from each other by the Isthmus of Darien, and the two great portions of the New Continent being usually styled (according to this natural and geographical separation) North and South America, we have judged it proper to adopt this rational and clearly defined distinction, in undertaking to give an account of the territories of a nation, which extend through the greater part of both divisions; accordingly in the following pages, our plan will be found to be, that all the Colonies of Spain in North America will have been described before any thing shall have been advanced concerning the colonies in South America belonging to that Power.

The maps are also divided according to this plan, and accompany their respective portions; thus affording an easy reference to either. In these maps, the latest subdivisions of territories, the towns, rivers and objects of most importance are alone marked; for, as the scale must of necessity be small, too great a confusion would exist if the names of all the minor towns and rivers were laid down. The colonies of European powers, and the territories of the United States, which surround the Spanish dominions in America, are merely traced out, with the names of a few of their most remarkable