Ch.il SOUTH AMERICA. 213 



Jumns of sand, carried up by the rapidity and gyra- 

 tions of violent eddy winds, which sometimes pro- 

 duce fatal consequences : one melancholy instance 

 happened while wc were there; an Indian, being 

 caught in the centre of one of these blasts, died on 

 the spot. It is not, indeed, at all strange, that the 

 quantity of t^and in one of these columns should to- 

 tally stop all respiration in any living creature, who 

 has the, misfortune of being involved in it. 



Our daily labour was, to measure the length of 

 this plain in a horizontal direction, and, at the same 

 time, by means of a level, to correct the inequalities 

 of the ground; beginning early in the morning, and 

 continuing to pursue our task closely till evening, 

 unless interrupted by extreme bad weather; when we 

 retired to a tent always pitched for that purpose, as 

 well as for a retreat at noon, when the heat of the sun 

 became too great for U5, after the fatigue of the 

 morning. 



We at first intended to have formed our base in 

 the plain of Cayambe, situated twelve leagues to the 

 north of Quito. Accordingly, the company first re- 

 paired to this plain, to view it more attentively. In 

 this place we lost M. Couplet, on the i yrh of Septem- 

 ber 1736, after only two days illness. He was indeed 

 slightly indisposed when we set out from (^ito ; but, 

 being of a strong constitution, his zeal for tne service 

 would not permit him to be absent at our first essay. 

 On his arrival, however, his distemper rose to such 

 a height, that he had only two days to prepare for his 

 passage into eternity ; but we had the satisfaction to 

 see he performed his part with exemplary devotion.- 

 This almost subitaneous death of a person in the flower 

 of his age, was the more alarming, as none of us could 

 discover the nature of his disease. 



The mensuration of the base was succeeded by ob- 

 serving the angles, both horizontal and vertical, of the 

 first triangles we intended to form; but many of them 



P 3 were 



