426 A VOYAGE TO Book VI. 



its declivity, at that time buried under prodigious 

 masses of snow. The ignited sul)st:inces ejected on 

 that occasion, mixed with a prodigious quantity 

 of ice and snow, melting aniidst the flames, were car- 

 ried down with such astorishing rapidity, that in 

 an instant the plain, from Callo to Latacunga, was 

 overflowed ; and, besides its ravages in bearing down 

 houses of the Indians and other poor inliabitants, 

 great numbers of people lost their lives. The river 

 of Latacunga was the channel of this terrible flood, 

 till, being too small for receiving such a prodigious 

 current, it overflowed the adjacent country like a vast 

 lake near the town, and carried away all the build- 

 ings within its reach. The inhabitants retired to a 

 spot of higher ground behind their town, of which 

 those parts which stood within the limits of the cur- 

 rent were totally destroyed. The dread of still greater 

 devastations did not subside in three days, during 

 which the volcano ejected cinders, while torrents of 

 melted ice and snow poured down its sides. The Are 

 lasted severa^ days, and was accompanied with terri- 

 ble roarino-s of the v.ind rushino- throu«"h the volcano, 

 and greatly exceeded the great runiblings before heard 

 in its bowels. At last all Vi'as quiet, neither fire nor 

 smoke were seen, nor was there any noise to be heard 

 till the following year, 1744; when, in the month of 

 May, the flames increased, and forced their passage 

 through several other parts on the sides of the moun- 

 tain ; so that in clear nights, the flames being reflect- 

 ed by the transparent iee, formed a very grand and 

 beautiful illumination. November the 30th, it eject- 

 ed such prodigious quantities of fire and ignited sub- 

 stances, that an inundation equal to the former soon 

 ensued ; so that the inhabitants of Latacunga gave 

 themselves over for lost. And we ought to acknow- 

 ledge the Divine protection, that it did not rage when 

 Me visited it, having occasion twice to centinue some 



time 



