M. Humboldt on two Attempts io ascend C/iimborazo. 299 



had withdrawn the ground from any geognostlcal examination. 

 Great walls of rocks, extending from the N. E. towards the 

 S. W,, in part cleft into misshapen columns, reared themselves 

 out of the eternal snow, — a brownish-black augite rock shinino- 

 like pitch-stone porphyry. The columns were very thin, per- 

 haps fifty to sixty feet in height, almost like the trachyte co- 

 lumns of Tabla-Umca on the volcano Pichincha. One <Troup 

 stood alone, and reminded one of masts and stems of trees. The 

 steep walls led us through the snow region to a narrow rido-e of 

 rock extending towards the summit, by which alone it was pos- 

 sible for us ,to advance any farther ; for the snow was then so 

 soft that one scarcely dared to tread upon its surface. The 

 ridge consisted of very weathered crumbling rock. It was often 

 vesicular like a basaltic-amygdaloid. 



The path became more and more narrow and steep. The na- 

 tives forsook us all but one at the height of 15,600 feet. AH 

 entreaties and threats were unavailing. The Indians maintain- 

 ed that they suffered more than we did from breathlessness. 

 We remained alone, Bonpland, — our amiable friend the 

 younger son of the Marquis of Selvalegre, Carlos Montufar, 

 who, in the subsequent struggle Tor freedom, was sliot, (at the 

 command of General Morillo), — a Mestize from the neiohbour- 

 ing village of San Juan, — and myself. We attained, with o-reat 

 exertion and endurance, a greater height than we had dared 

 hope to reach, as we were almost entirely wrapped in mist. 

 The ridge (very significantly called, in Spanish, Cuchilla, as it 

 were the knife-back) was in many places only eio-ht to ten 

 inches broad. On the left the precipice was concealed by snow 

 the surface of the latter seeming glazed with frost. The thin icy 

 mirror-like surface had an inclination of about 30°. On the 

 right our view sank shuddering 800 or 1000 feet into an 

 abyss out of which projected, perpendicularly, snowless masses 

 of rock. We held the body continually inclined towards this 

 side, for the precipice upon the left seemed still more threaten- 

 ing, because there no chance presented itself of graspino- the 

 toothed rock, and because, further, the thin ice-crust offered no 

 security against sinking in the loose snow. Only extremely- 

 light porous bits of dolerite could we roll down this crust of 

 ice; and the inclined plane of snow was so extended that we lost 



