352 Heights of the most remarkable Summits of' the 



of Mont Blanc ; while its plains are covered with harvests of 

 maize, rye, barley, and even of wheat. The banks of the Titi- 

 caca formed the central part of the kingdom of the Incas. It 

 is in one of the islands of this lake that Manco Capac was born. 

 It is there that we find the finest remains of the monuments 

 that were erected by the Peruvians, during the time of their 

 ancient civilization. The western Cordillera, that which, in the 

 lanoruage of the countrv, is called the " Cordillera of the West," 

 separates the Valley of Desaguadero, the Thibet of the New 

 World, as Mr Pentland calls it, and the basin of the Lake of 

 Titicaca, from the shores of the Pacific. This chain contains 

 many active volcanoes, such as those of Sehama, Areqiilpa, &c. 



The eastern Cordillera separates the same valley from the vast 

 plains of the Chiquitos and Moxos, and the declivities of the 

 rivers Beni, Mamore and Paraguay, which fall into the Atlantic 

 Ocean, from those of Desaguadero, and tlie lake of Titicaca. 

 This eastern Cordillera is confined within the limits of the new 

 republic of Bolivia. The Illimani and the Sorata, the two 

 loftiest summits measured by !Mr Pentland, are situated in this 

 range. They not only surpass Chimborazo, but even approach 

 in height to the principal summits of the Himalayas. 



Mr Pentland not being able to reach the top either of Illimani 

 or Sorata, on account of the immense glaciers which covered 

 their sides, measured their heights by means of trigonometrical 

 operations. 



In measuring Illimani, the triangles were made to rest on a 

 base measured along the side of a lake, situated at the very foot 

 of a mountain, and whose height above the IcvlI of the sea was 

 determined barometrically. The angles of elevation exceeded 



The height of Sorata is grounded upon an operation which 

 was carried on along the banks of the Lake Titicaca; but this 

 operation having made it appear only how far the top of the 

 mountain rises above the line, marking the inferior limit of the 

 perpetual snows, it was necessary, in order to get the real 

 height, to borrow the vertical co-ordinate of the snows, at other 

 points of the same chain, where an immediate measure was pos- 

 sible. Thus we see that the height of Sorata has been obtained 

 less directly than that of Illimani. Mr Pentland is sure that, if 



