316 Dr. Gillies' Account of the Eruptions 



as far as the River Diamante, a distance of about 140 miles. The 

 western or Chilian range, in which the volcano is situated, has an 

 elevation, where it is crossed by the road, of only 13,210 feet. 

 This ridge extends also a considerable way northwards, whilst a 

 little south cf the pass it is continued in a south-easterly direc- 

 tion, and at length joins with the eastern or Portillo range, consti- 

 tuting the southern boundary of the valley of the Tenuyan. This 

 river coming from the north, from the base of the mountain of To- 

 pongato, decidedly the most lofty of the Chilian Andes, collects 

 the various streams which water this extensive valley, and reach- 

 ing the north-eastern base of the Volcano of Peuquenes, sweeps 

 towards the south-eastern extremity of the valley. It then crosses 

 the Portillo chain by a deep chasm or valley, which it seems to 

 have formed for itself, at the distance of about twelve miles south 

 of the pass of the Portillo, and has its exit to the extensive plains 

 of Mendoza, which extend along the eastern base of the Andes. 

 The elevation of the bed of the river Tenuyan, where it intersects 

 the road which crosses the valley, is 7j530 feet above the level of 

 the sea. 



From the base of the volcanic mountain on the western and south- 

 western sides, there take origin the Rio del Yeso and Rio del Vol- 

 can, which constitute tbe principal northern branches of the river 

 Maypu in Chile. Travellers crossing from the eastern to the western 

 side of the valley of the Tenuyan, have the summit of the volcano 

 concealed from them by a portion of the same mountain, which juts 

 considerably into the south-western part of the valley ; but when 

 upwards of half way from the river to the pass of Peuquenes, a 

 very good view is obtained of it, at the distance of from 8 to 9 

 miles south by compass. Its summit has a rounded appearance on 

 its eastern side, but to the westward it is rather less elevated, and 

 its surface appears more level : the summit is generally covered 

 with snow, and its elevation cannot be less than 15,000 ieet above 

 the level of the sea. 



As far as I could learn, no one has yet visited the crater of this 

 volcano. It is stated that the peons in charge of the cattle which 

 graze in the valley of the Tenuyan during the summer months, oc- 

 casionally ascend the mountain, on the side next the valley, in 

 search of their stray cattle ; but having accomplished their object, 

 they have never been prompted by curiosity to visit the crater itself. 

 Although this does not appear when viewed from the valley to be 

 an enterprize of great difficulty, it is reported, that about twenty- 

 live years ago, some Germans made a fruitless attempt to reach its 

 summit from the Chilian side. 



Public attention seems to have been principally directed to this 

 volcano, since the occurrence of the great earthquake, which, on 

 the evening of the 19th November 1822, converted the busy port 

 of Valparaiso, and various other places in Chile, into a heap of 

 ruins, and which, was felt, though with diminished violence, at 



