explained, that of Eolus also in the tenth Odyssey, seems undoubtedly to be referable to the southern division of the vast continent of America. In the following lines from that book:

Αιολιην δ' ες νήσον αφικομεθ' ενθαδ' έναιεν
Αιολος ιπποτάδης φιλος αθανατοισι θεοισι
Πλωτη εν νησω πασαν δε τε μιν περι τείχος
Χαλκεον άρρηκτον λισση δ' αναδέδραμε πέτρη.

The words πλωτη ενι νήσω imply a country which may be sailed round (from its peninsular shape), or one that may be traversed all over in sailing (from its abounding so much in large rivers; and τειχος and πετρη refer to the Andes mountains, and to the ice with which they are covered. The following lines also seem to be strictly applicable to the same country, 21 Od. 10,

Κείνον μεν ταμίην ανεμων ποιησε Κρονίων
Η μεν παυσεμεναι ηδ' ορνυμεν ον κε θελησι
Ναι ενι γλαφυρή κατεδει μέρμιθι φαεινη
Αργυρέη ινα μητι παραπνευση ολίγον περ.

South America as viewed with its west side

uppermost has the shape of a ship (Νηυς γλαφυρη) its head at Cape Horn, and its stern at the kingdom of New Granada: the words μερμιθι φαεινη relate to the chain or cordillera of the Andes; and agrugen, to the silver in the bowels of those mountains, or to the snow upon their tops. The 35th line again alludes to the precious metals, produced in such abundance in Mexico and South America:

Και μ' εφασαν χρυσον τε και αργυρον οικαδ' αγεσθαι

and the 48th and 54th

and

—τες δ' αρπάσασα φερεν τοντονδε θυελλα,

παιδ' εφέροντο κακη ανέμοιο θυελλη,

refer manifestly to the hurricanes which prevail at a certain season of the year in the West India Gulf. Indeed one meaning of the fable of Æolus's bladder of winds would seem to have relation to the trade winds, which, blowing steadily in the

same direction, require that direction to be observed by navigators, as it is known to be impossible to sail by a backward course directly against them, within the gulf of the West India islands; and the fable becomes much more amusing as well as more intelligible when read under that view. As to what regards the quotation just now given from the 21 Odyssey, nɛnov με Taμm &c. the following passage from the " Voyage to South America by Don George Juan and Don Antonio de Ulloa," who passed a considerable time at the top of the Andes mountains there, will go strongly to prove both the tempests of wind and the calms which reign in their turn at the summit of those elevated regions. "We generally kept within our hut. Indeed we were obliged to do this both on account of the intenseness of the cold, the violence of the wind and our being continually involved in a thick fog, that an object at six or eight paces was hardly discernible. When the fog cleared up, the clouds by their gravity, moved nearer to the surface of the earth and on all sides surrounded the mountain to a vast

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distance representing the sea, with our rock like an island in the centre of it. When this happened, we heard the horrid noises of the tempests, which then discharged themselves on Quito and the neighbouring country. We saw the lightnings issue from the clouds, and heard the thunders roll far beneath us; and whilst the lower parts were involved in tempests of thunder and rain, we enjoyed a delightful serenity; the wind was abated, the sky clear, and the enlivening rays of the sun moderated the severity of the cold. But our circumstances were very different when the clouds rose; their thickness rendered respiration difficult; the snows and hail fell continually, and the wind returned with all its violence; so that it was impossible entirely to overcome the fears of being, together with our huts, blown down the precipice on whose edge it was built, or of being buried under it by the daily accumulations of ice and snow.

The wind was often so violent in these regions, that its velocity dazzled the sight; whilst our fears were increased by the dreadful concussions

of the precipice by the fall of enormous fragments of rocks. These crashes were the more alarming, as no other noises are heard in these deserts. And, during the night, our rest, which we so greatly wanted, was frequently disturbed by such sudden sounds," vol. i. p. 216.

To speak now of South America somewhat more in detail, it will be found, in regard to that part of it which lies to the north of the river Amazon, that the province of New Andalusia, (as intercepted by the sea on the north and east, the Amazon on the south, and the course of the Ornooko on the west,) has much the shape of an egg. This province I take to be the original birth-place of the calenture, marsh fever, yellow fever, pestilence, or whatever else it may be called, so common in the West Indies and America. It seems to be the true egg of Chaos, of which mention is made in the 35th page of the Treatise on the Worship of Pirapus; which is the more probable from considering the etymology of the word chaos, as derivable from xaw, uro, and so pointing to the sands, originally from the