M. Humboldt 07i two Attempts to ascend Chimborazo. 303 



diminished atmospheric pressure, during fatigue, on the moving 

 of the legs in regions of very attenuated air ; for, according to 

 the memorable discovery of two spirited inquirers, Wilhelm and 

 Edward Weber,* the hovering leg, hanging from the trunk, is 

 held and carried merely by the pressure of the atmosphere. 



The layers of mist that prevented our seeing distant objects, 

 appeared suddenly, notwithstanding the total stillness of the 

 air, perhaps through electrical processes, to be broken up. We 

 recognised once more, and indeed immediately before us, the 

 dome-shaped summit of Chimborazo. It was an earnest, mo- 

 mentous gaze. The hope to reach this summit animated our 

 powers anew. The ridge of rock, only here and there covered 

 with thin flakes of snow, became somewhat broader. We hastened 

 onwards, with certain steps, when all at once a ravine of some 

 400 feet in depth, and 50 broad, set an insurmountable barrier 

 to our undertaking. We saw distinctly beyond the abyss, our 

 ridge of rock continued forward in the same direction ; yet I 

 doubt its leading to the summit itself. The chasm was not to 

 be 'gone round. On the Antis'ana, M. Bonpland indeed had 

 found it possible, after a very cold night, to proceed for a con- 

 siderable length through the snow. We durst not venture the 

 attempt, because of the looseness of the mass, and the form of 

 the precipice rendered cHmbing down impossible. It was one 

 o'clock in the afternoon. We set up with much care the baro- 

 meter. It indicated 13 inches 11/g lines. The temperature 

 of the air was now — 1° 6' (+ 29° IS' F.), but after several 

 years' stay in the hottest regions of the Tropics, this small de- 

 gree of cold benumbed us. Besides, our boots were thoroughly 

 soaked with snow-water, for the sand that covered here and 

 there the ridge was mixed with old snow. According to La 

 Place''s barometrical formula, we had reached a height of 301() 

 toises, or more precisely 18,097 Paris feet. If La Condamine's 

 estimate of the height of Chimborazo, as noted on the stone- 

 table of the Jesuit's College in Quito, be correct, there failed us 



* Mechanik der Merschlkhen Gehwerkzeuge. 183C. § fi4. S. 147-160. 

 More recent experiments of the brothers Weber, at Berlin, have fully con- 

 firmed the position, that the leg is carried in the acetabulum by the pressure 

 of the atmosphere. 



