232 A VOYAGE TO Book Y. 



not to mention our own suiFerings, the frost and snow, 

 togcthtir with the winds, which blew so violently 

 that they seemed endeavouring to tear up that dreads 

 ful volcano by its roots, rendered the making ob-i 

 servations absolutely impracticable. Such is indeed 

 the rigour of this climate, that the very beasts avoid 

 it ; nor could our nudes be kept at the place where 

 we, at first, ordered the Indians to take care of them ; 

 so that they were obliged to wander in search of a 

 milder air, and sometimes to such a distance that we 

 had often no small trouble in finding them. 



At Pucaguaico we however saw the necessity of 

 either erecting the signal furtber to the south, or set- 

 ting up another in the intermediate space. Several 

 consultations were held, to determine on the best me- 

 thod ; but, as other things were necessary tobe done 

 before we came to a conclusion, the operations werp 

 suspended, and the interval spent in making obser- 

 vations on the velocity of sound, and other physical 

 subjects. Every thing being ready for renewing our 

 operations, we a second time ascended Pucaguaico on 

 the 1 6th of August, and it was our good fortune by 

 the 22d to have finished all our necessary operations. 



VIII. Signal on the desert Corazón. 



On the lath of July, before we had finished our 

 operations at the station of Pucaguaico, we ascended 

 to the desert Corazón, where vvc staid till the 9th of 

 August. This mountain is nearly of the same height 

 with that of Pichincha; and its loftiest summit, like 

 that of the former, a rock of considerable altitude. 

 At the foot of this rock the signal was erected ; and 

 thus our station nearly resembled that of Pichincha. 

 There was indeed this considerable difference, that 

 our sufferings from the winds, frosty and snows^ 

 were considerably less. 



IX. SiG'- 



