9o6.] 



SEE— THE CAUSE OF EARTHQUAKES. 331 



the earth ; and this region is so near to Cotopaxi, Sangay and other 

 active vents as to leave Httle doubt that it contributes to the activity 

 of the volcanoes. In Whymper's account of his " Travels among 

 the Great Andes of the Equator," p. 240, he cites an interesting pas- 

 sage from the " Royal Commentaries of Peru," p. 632, which runs 

 thus : 



" By reason of the continual Rains, and moisture of the Earth, their 

 woolen Clothes and Hnen being always wet, became rotten, and dropped from 

 their Bodies, so that from the highest to the lowest every Man was naked, 

 and had no other covering than some few Leaves. ... So great, and so 

 insupportable were the Miseries which Gonzalo Pigarro and his Companions 

 endured for want of Food, that the four thousand Indians which attended 

 him in this Discovery, perished with Famine. . . . Likewise of the three 

 hundred and forty Spaniards which entred on this Discovery, two hun- 

 dred and ten dyed, besides the fifty which were carried away by Orellana. 

 . . . Their Swords they carried without Scabbards, all covered with rust, 

 and they walked barefoot, and their Visages were become so black, dry and 

 withered, that they scarce knew one the other; in which condition they came 

 at length to the Frontiers of Quitu, where they kissed the Ground, and re- 

 turned Thanks to Almighty God, who had delivered them out of so many 

 and so imminent dangers." 



In his account of the ascent of Sara-urcu, Whymper says 



(p. 241): 



. . . The scouts came back with bad reports. The animals, they said, 

 could go no farther ; there was an end to paths and trails, except occasional 

 wild-beast tracks ; there was nothing whatever to eat, and everything must 

 be carried; there was no place to camp upon, the whole country was a 

 dismal swamp ; and everlasting rain was falHng ; so much so that, although 

 they supposed they had been near to Sara-urcu, they were quite unable to be 

 sure. ..." 



Pages 241-242: 



"... This (food) arrived late, and delayed us so much that we could 

 not reach the next camping-place by nightfall, and had to stop in a swamp, 

 on a spot where, if you stood still, you sank up to the knees in slime. This 

 place was just on the divide, nearly 13,000 feet above the sea, and during the 

 greater part of the eleven hours' night sleet or rain fell, rendering it well-nigh 

 impossible to keep up a fire out of the sodden materials. For me the men 

 constructed a sort of floating bed, cutting down reeds, and crossing and 

 recrossing them, piling them up until they no longer sank in the slime. For 

 themselves they made smaller platforms of a similar description, and sat on 

 their heels during the whole night, trying to keep up a fire. ..." 



Page 242 : 



"... The land was entirely marshy, even where the slopes were con- 

 siderable; and upon it there was growing a reedy grass to the height of 



