THE 



EDINBURGH JOURNAL 



OF 



NATURAL AND GEOGRAPHICAL SCIENCE. 



AUGUST 1830. 



ORIGINAL COMMUNICATIONS. 



ART. I. An Account of the Eruptions of the Volcano of Peuquenes, 

 in the Andes of Chile. By John Gillies, M.D. M.W.S. &c.* 



The Volcano of Peuquenes has of late years excited considerable 

 attention in consequence of its frequent eruptions. It is situated in 

 the western ridge of that part of the Cordillera of the Andes, which 

 separates the province of Mendoza from Chile, at the distance of a 

 few miles to the south of the route across these mountains, called 

 the road of the Portillo, or the little door, from that part of the ridge 

 over which the road passes, having some resemblance to a gateway. 

 This route, at certain seasons of the year, is preferred by many 

 travellers to the more frequented one of Uspallata, as, besides seve- 

 ral other advantages, it is considerably shorter. On the other 

 hand, being more elevated and farther to the south than the ordi- 

 nary road, the snow renders it impassable for mules during a 

 greater portion of the year ; it is seldom open, even in the 

 most favourable seasons, longer than from Christmas to the end of 

 April. 



At this place the Cordillera of the Andes consists of two paral- 

 lel ridges running nearly south and north, and separated from each 

 other, for the distance of about twenty miles, by the extensive val- 

 ley of the river Tenuyan. The eastern or Mendoza range is the 

 most elevated, being at the Pass of the Portillo about 14,365 feet 

 above the level of the sea. This chain extends, with very little 

 interruption, from the River of Mendoza, in a southerly direction, 



• Read before the Wemerian Society April 17- 1830. 

 VOL. II. 2 s 



