30 Historical 



tude the barometer fell to 14 inches, 7 lines, and the rarity of the air 

 made blood issue from our lips, our gums, and even our eyes; we felt 

 an extreme weakness, and one of those who accompanied us on this 

 journey fainted. . . . 



We succeeded in approaching to about 250 fathoms from the sum- 

 mit of the immense column of Chimborazo. . . . We mounted to a height 

 of 3031 fathoms, and we felt inconvenienced in the same manner as on 

 the summit of Antisana. Even two or three days after our return 

 to the plain, we continued to feel a discomfort which we could at- 

 tribute only to the effect of the air in these lofty regions, an analysis 

 of which gave us 20 per cent of oxygen. (P. 329.) 



Thirty-five years later, 15 von Humboldt returned with details 

 about the account of these ascents. He dwells particularly upon 

 the physiological symptoms, and develops some very interesting 

 theories in this regard. 



June 22, 1802, he was in the plain of Tapia, at an altitude of 

 2890 meters. The first part of the ascent had no particular inter- 

 est for our purpose: 



At an elevation of 15,600 feet, all the Indians but one abandoned 

 us. . . . They claimed that they suffered far more than we did. There 

 were only four of us left then: M. Bonpland, . . . M. Carlos Montufar, 

 ... a half-breed from San Juan, a nearby village, and I. (P. 413.) . . . 



We all began by degrees to be very uncomfortable (they were 

 then at a height of about 5,000 meters) . The desire to vomit was ac- 

 companied by fits of dizziness and was much more painful than the 

 difficulty of breathing. The half-breed from San Juan, a poor and 

 sturdy peasant, who had wished to follow us to the end out of the 

 kindness of his heart and not from any selfish interest, suffered more 

 than we did. Our gums and lips bled. The conjunctiva of the eyes in 

 all of us without exception was bloodshot. These symptoms of extra- 

 vasation in the eyes and of a discharge of blood from the gums and lips 

 did not disturb us, because we were acquainted with them from many 

 examples. In Europe, M. Zumstein began to bleed at a much lower 

 elevation, on Monte Rosa. 16 (P. 417.) . . . 



Once, on the volcano of Pichincha, I felt, without any bleeding, 

 such a violent pain in my stomach, accompanied by vertigo, that my 

 companions found me stretched out unconscious on the ground. The 

 altitude was only 13,800 feet (4480 m.), and consequently not im- 

 portant. But on Antisana, at the great height of 17,022 feet (5527 m.), 

 Don Carlos Montufar bled profusely from the gums. All these phe- 

 nomena vary greatly, according to the age, the constitution, the deli- 

 cacy of the skin, and the previous muscular efforts which one has 

 made; however, they are for each individual a sort of measure of 

 the rarefaction of the air and the altitude he has reached. According 

 to my observations, they appear in the Andes in white men, when the 

 barometer stands between 14 inches and 15 inches 10 lines. (P. 418.) 



We shall see later what successive opinions, and considerably 



