Spain, . . .

Venezuela and Peru, each 750,000=1,500,000

The exports from the United States, are flour, salt, dry-goods, drugs, &c. The value of its commerce with that country during the year ending 30th June, 1846, was, imports $67,043, and exports $75,944, of which $51,849 was for domestic, and $24,095 for foreign products and merchandise. The port of Cartagena, on the northern coast, is one of the finest harbors of the world. The coasting trade is chiefly conducted from the port of Panama. A line of steamships, owned by the British, carry the mails from Chagres to Valparaiso, and the West India steamers plying between England, the United States, (New-York and Cat Island,) leave the mails at the isthmus, to be carried across to that point, and receive the return mail.

The United States have lately concluded a treaty with this country, highly conducive to the interests of both nations, and it may be premised that the United States have secured the privilege of constructing canals or railroads across the isthmus from the Atlantic to the Pacific; but whether to the exclusion of other nations, to which the same right had been formerly conceded, is a matter of question.

* The following abstract contains the most important section of the Treaty of 1848: "Article 35. The United States of America and the Republic of New Grenada desiring to make as durable as possible the relations which are to be established between the two parties by virtue of this treaty, have declared solemnly, and do agree to the following points:

1st. For the better understanding of the preceding articles, it is and has been stipu lated between the high contracting parties, that the citizens, vessels, and merchandise of the United States shall enjoy in the ports of New Grenada, including those of the part of the Grenadan territory generally denominated Isthmus of Panama, from its southernmost extremity until the boundary of Costa Rica, all the exemptions, privileges, and immunities, concerning commerce and navigation, which are now, or may hereafter be enjoyed by the Grenadan citizens, their vessels, and merchandise; and that this equality of favors shall be made to extend to the passengers, correspondence, and merchandise of the United States, in their transit across the said territory, from one sea to the other. The Government of New Grenada guaranties to the Government of the United States, that the right of way or transit across the Isthmus of Panama, upon any modes of communication that now exist, or that may hereafter be constructed, shall be open and free to the government and citizens of the United States, and for the transportation of articles of produce, manufactures, or merchandise, of lawful commerce, belonging to the citizens of the United States; that no other tolls or charges shall be levied or collected upon the citizens of the United States, or their said merchandise thus passing over any road or canal, that may be made by the government of New Grenada, or by the authority of the same, than is, under like circumstances, levied upon and collected from Grenadan citizens; that any lawful produce, manufacture or merchandise belonging to the citizens of the United States, thus passing from one sea to the other, in either direction, for the purpose of exportation to any other foreign country, shall not be liable to any import duties whatever; or, having paid such duties, they shall be entitled to drawback upon their exportation; nor shall the citizens of the United States be liable to any duties, tolls or charges of any kind, to which native citizens are not subjected in passing the said isthmus. And, in order to secure to themselves the tranquil and constant enjoyment of these advantages, and as an especial compensation for the said advantages, and for the favors they have acquired by the 4th, 5th, and 6th articles of this treaty, the United States guaranty, positively and efficaciously, to New Grenada, by the present stipulation, the perfect neutrality of the beforementioned isthmus, with the view that the free transit, from the one to the other sea, may not be interrupted or embarrassed in any future time while this treaty exists; and, in consequence, the United States also guaranty, in the same manner, the rights of sovereignty and property which New Grenada has and possesses over the said territory."

The public revenue is raised from import and export duties, taxes,( rentas internas,) salt-mines, post-offices, and in times of disturbance, from voluntary and extraordinary contributions. This revenue averages about $3,500,000 a year, and the ordinary expenses do not entirely consume the amount. The national debt is not very large, and is chiefly owing to the English. The Congress has appropriated for its payment one-eighth of the customs, as well as the surplus revenue and national profits on tobacco and the sale of public lands.

The form of government of New Grenada is based upon the plan of that of the United States. The legislative function is vested in a Senate and House of Representatives, both consisting of members elected by the cantonal deputies of the provinces, in a provincial assembly, held once in four years: the Executive is vested in a President and Vice-President, the former of whom is elected for a period of four years. The constitution is, with slight variations, the same as was adopted by the former Confederation at Cucuta, on the 18th July, 1821. The departments have each an Intendente, with full powers under the General Government, save military command ; the provinces are under the administration of governors, with similar powers and restrictions, and the cantons and parishes have each their own officers. The laws, as in all the old Spanish colonies, are an ill-digested mass of the laws of Spain and the Indies, but even such as they are they would be tolerable, if they were not so badly administered. The justice of these countries is generally dearly sold, and it seems to be a maxim that justice is too precious an article to deal out cheaply to the people. The poor here, indeed, have no redress from the laws. Trial by jury, however, is allowed to all.

The Roman Catholic is the religion of the nation, and the church festivals and celebrations are conducted with extraordinary magnificence. The clergy are paid by the State, but since the revolution they have lost much of that influence they formerly possessed over the minds of the people. Education is more flourishing in New Grenada than in the other Colombian states, and as a consequence the people are more intelligent and refined. The government is making great efforts to instruct the population, and Lancasterian schools are now established in all the chief cities and towns; and elementary schools are, by law, supported in every district of the country. The fine arts of this country are chiefly confined to the capital, where some degree of architectural taste is displayed in the buildings; otherwise mediocrity in this department prevails.

The people of New Grenada, especially as refers to the whites, negroes and mixed races, are similar to the same classes throughout Spanish America Many of the Indian tribes still enjoy their independence, and almost all of them retain their language and particular customs. The Guairas or Guagniros, occupy part of the provinces of Rio de la Hacha and Santa Marta, and live on friendly terms with the Motilones, who inhabit the lands watered by the Muchuchies and the St. Faustin, as far as the valley of Cucuta. They infest the passes of the mountains; pillage, conflagration and murder mark their incursions into the plains. The Chilimes, and another band of the Guairas, are freebooters on the banks of the Magdalena. The Urabas, the Zitaras and the Oromisas, form three independent states in the province of Darien, the first under a native prince called the Playon, the two last under a republican government. The Curacunas dwell on the mountains of Choco

and Novita; they extend their ravages as far as Panama, and even attack small vessels in search of plunder. The ancient inhabitants of Quito are said to have spoken many different dialects. The missionaries have specified not less than a hundred and seventeen; it appears, however, that the language of the Quitos prevailed over the plateau, and that of the Scires along the coast. It is remarkable that the name of the Scires should be the same as that of an ancient European tribe, famous for its migrations and warlike exploits. They are said to have conquered the upper districts, and introduced their language into that part of Quito in the year 1000. At the time of the arrival of the Spaniards, the Peruvians were in possession of the country, and their language was generally adopted; but must we therefore conclude, with Hervas, that the Scires spoke a Peruvian dialect? In the year 1600, the Cofanes, one of the hundred and seventeen tribes of Quito, are said to have amounted to fifteen thousand souls; they spoke a peculiar language, which was also spoken by the inhabitants of Anga Marca, and in which a Jesuit has written an epitome of Christianity. Of the fifty-two tribes of Popayan, those of Guasinca, Cocanuca and Paos, had three distinct languages, which are still partly preserved in the writings of the missionaries. The Xibaros, the Macas and the Quixos, at one time formidable tribes, occupied the eastern declivities of the Andes, in the kingdom of Quito. Nearer the level of the sea, in the vast district of Maynas, are found the remains of unnumbered tribes, whose languages the missionaries have classed in the following order :-1st, Sixteen mother tongues, of which the Andoa has nine dialects, the Campa seven, and the Mayna four; 2dly, Sixteen scattered dialects that have no resemblance to any known mother tongue; 3dly, Twenty-two tribes, several of which are still extant, although their language is extinct; lastly, ten unknown languages. We have not included in this list the extensive tribe of the Omaguas; its inhabitants, spread over the whole course of the Maranon or Amazon, speak a dialect of the Guarani language in Brazil, but simpler in its grammatical forms, and more abundant in its vocabulary, from which we may infer that they had arrived at a greater degree of civilization than their kindred tribes. The migrations of this tribe of river navigators have not been clearly ascertained, but it is generally believed that they were originally from Brazil.

A civilized country, surrounded by these savage and wandering nations, is a phenomenon worthy of our particular attention. Santa Fé de Bogota rivals Cuzco, the city of the sun, as a city of religious and civil institutions. We shall therefore proceed to illustrate this interesting problem in the history of society.

In the most remote period of antiquity, before the moon accompanied the earth, according to the mythology of the Muyscas, the inhabitants of Cundinamarca, on the plateau of Bogota, lived like savages, without agriculture, laws, or religion. An aged person appeared suddenly amongst them, who came from the plains on the east of the Cordillera of Chingaza. His long and thick beard showed that his origin was not the same as that of the natives. He was known by three different names: Bochica, Nemquetheba, and Zuhé. Like Manco-Capac, he taught men to clothe themselves, to build cottages, to cultivate the ground, and to live in society. He brought with him a wife, to whom tradition has also given three names, Chia, Yubecayguaya, and Huythaca. She was remarkable for her beauty, but more so for her wickedness. She opposed all her husband's labors for the happiness of the human race; by her magic she raised the waters of the River Funzha, and inundated the whole valley of Bogota. In this

deluge, the greater number of the inhabitants were destroyed; a few only escaped to the summits of the neighboring mountains. The aged stranger, provoked by such crimes, drove Huythaca from the earth; she became the moon, and began, at that period, to illuminate our planet during the night. Bochica, pitying those that wandered in the mountains, broke the rocks which enclosed the valley on the side of Canoas and Tequendama. The waters of the Funzha having by this means subsided, he brought back the people to the vale of Bogôta, founded cities, introduced the worship of the sun, and named two chiefs, whom he invested with the religious and civil authority. He then withdrew to Mount Idacanzas, in the sacred valley of Iraca, near Tunja; having lived at this place in the exercise of the most austere devotion for two thousand years, or a hundred Muysca cycles, he disappeared at the end of that time in a mysterious manner.

This Indian fable bears an analogy to some opinions contained in the religious traditions of different nations in the old world. The good and evil principles are personified in the aged Zuhé and his wife Huythaca. The broken rocks, through which a passage is made for the waters, recalls to mind what is related of Yao, the founder of the Chinese empire. A remote period before the existence of the moon is taken notice of by the Arcadians, a people that boasted of their ancient origin. The moon was considered as a malevolent being, that increased the humidity of the earth; but Bochica, the offspring of the sun, drained the soil, protected agriculture, and was as much revered, as a benefactor, by the Muyscas, as the first Inca by the Peruvians.

There is a tradition that Bochica, observing the chiefs of the different tribes contending for the supremacy, advised them to choose Huncahua for their zaque, or sovereign, a person distinguished for his justice and great wisdom. The advice of the high priest was willingly obeyed, and Huncahua having reigned for two hundred and fifty years, made himself master of all the country from the savannas of San Juan de los Llanos to the mountains of Opon. The form of government which Bochica gave the inhabitants of Bogota, resembled those of Japan and Thibet. In Peru, the Incas held in their own hands the ecclesiastical and secular power, and were kings and priests at the same time. At Cundinamarca, at a period probably anterior to that of Manco-Capac, Bochica appointed four electors, Gameza, Busbanca, Pesca, and Toca, the chiefs of their respective tribes; after his death, these persons and their descendants had the privilege of choosing the high priest of Iraca. The pontiffs, or lamas, being the successors of Bochica, were supposed to inherit his virtues and his sanctity. The people flocked in crowds to the Iraca, that they might offer gifts to their high priest. Many places in which Bochica wrought miracles, were visited with holy ardor. In time of war, pilgrims enjoyed the protection of the princes, through whose territory they passed to repair to the sanctuary, (chunsua,) and to prostrate themselves before the lama, who resided there. The secular chief was denominated the zaque of Tunja, to whom the zippas or princes of Bogota paid an annual tribute. Thus the high priest and the zaque formed two distinct powers, like the dairi and secular emperor in Japan.

Bochica was not only regarded as the author of a new worship, and as the legislator of the Muyscas, but being the symbol of the sun, he measured the seasons, taught the Muyscas the use of their calendar, and marked the order of sacrifices to be offered at the close of the little cycles, at the period of every fifth lunar intercalation. In the dominions of the zaque, the

day and night (or the sua and za) were divided into four parts: the sua mena lasted from sunrise to noon; the sua meca, from noon to sunset; the zasca, from sunset to midnight, and the caqui, from midnight to sunrise. In the Muysca language, sua or zuhe signifies the sun as well as a day. From sua, which is one of the surnames of Bochica, is derived sue, a European or white man, a word that was first applied to the Spaniards, who landed with Quesada, because the natives believed them to be the children of the sun. The Muyscas computed their time by divisions of three days; hebdomadal periods were unknown in America, as well as in a part of Eastern Asia. The year (zocam) was calculated by lunations; the civil year consisted of twenty moons, while that of the priests contained thirtyseven; and twenty of these great years formed the Muysca cycle. To express lunar days, lunations, and years, the people made use of a periodical series, the terms of which were denoted by numbers.

The language of Bogota has been almost extinct since the end of the last century: it was extended by the victories of the Zaque Huncahua, by the warlike exploits of the Zippas, and by the influence of the lamas of Iraca, from the plains of the Ariari and the Rio Meta to the north of Sogamozo. This language was called by the natives, the Chibcha. Muysca, of which Mozca seems to be a corruption, signifies a man or person, but in general the natives applied it exclusively to themselves.

The CITY of BOGOTA is the capital of the republic. It is situated at the foot of two mountains, which shelter it from the violent east winds, on an elevated table land, 8,650 feet above the level of the sea, in north latitude 4° 37′ and west longitude 74° 10'. The temperature of the atmosphere is fine and equable, but the climate is exceedingly humid, though not unhealthy. Externally the city has an imposing appearance, but the streets are generally narrow, though regular, and the houses low, of ancient architecture, and of heavy and gloomy aspect. Nearly half its area is occupied by religious buildings, there being 26 churches, besides the cathedral, nine monasteries and three nunneries. The city was founded in 1538 by Quesada, and now contains 40,000 inhabitants. Few of the dwellings display much taste or splendor; and the beauty of the city rests entirely with its ecclesiastical edifices, the tall spires and towers of which, rising amid the grandeur of the surrounding scenery, give, when viewed at a distance, a very fine appearance. HONDO, on the Magdalena, is the port of Bogota, and is situated about 55 miles west of that city. It has a considerable trade in cotton goods, hides, grain, &c., and contains a population of about 10,000. The climate here is much warmer than at the capital, but by no means is it unhealthy. Bogota is an archepiscopal see.

POPAYAN is the next city to Bogota in size, and is more elegantly built, being the residence of many opulent merchants. It contains a mint, a university, and many magnificent religious buildings. This city is situated on the River Cauca, and has a considerable trade through the port of Cartagena. Population, 25,000.

CARTAGENA is the principal port of the republic, and carries on quite an extensive trade with the United States and Europe. This city was at one time of immense importance to the Spanish possessions, and is still considered as the stronghold of the republic. It is built on a sandy island of the north coast, to the westward of the Rio Magdalena, and possesses one of the finest harbors in America. It is an episcopal city-is well for