438 Account of M. Htimloldt's Travels 



travelling on foot ; and the weall.er being exceedingly fine, 

 we gpcnt only seventeen days in these solitndes, w hich ex- 

 hibit no trace ot their haviny ever been inhabited : we slept 

 in huts constructed of the leaves of the hehconia, which 

 travellers eari\' with them on purpose. On the western side 

 of the Andes there are marshes in which we sunk up to the 

 knees. The weather had changed, and dui ing the last days 

 of our journey there fell such torrents of rain that our boots 

 rotted on our legs ; and v.e arrived at Carthago with our 

 kirs naked and covered with braises, but enriched with a 

 beautiful collection of new plants, of which 1 have a great 

 number of dra>ving3. 



From Carthago we went to Popayan by Buga, crossing 

 the beautiful valley of the river Cauea, and having always 

 at our sides the mountain of Choea, and the platina mines 

 which it contains. 



During the month of November ISOl we remained at 

 Popayan, and went to visit the basaltic mountains of Ju- 

 lusuito; the mouths of the volcano of Purace, which with 

 a horrid noise throw out vapours of hydro-sulphurous water; 

 and the porphvritic granites of Pische, which form colunms 

 of from five to seven planes, similar to those which I re- 

 member to have seen in the Fuganean mountains of Italy, 

 and which are described by Strange. 



The greatest diriiculty still remained ; which ^^■as, to go 

 from Popayan to Quito. It was necessary to cross tlie 

 Paramos from Pasto, and even in the rainy season, which 

 had already commenced. The name of Paramo is given in 

 the Andes to every place at the height of 1 700 or 2000 

 toises, where vegetation ceases, and where a cold which pe- 

 netrates to the Dones is experienced. To avoid the heats 

 of the valley of Patia, where people in the course of one 

 night are seized with fevers which continue three or four 

 months, and which are known under the name of ca/cufu- 

 ras de Patia ^{kvcTS of Patia), we passed the summit of 

 the Cordillera bv horrid precipices, in order to proceed from 

 Popayan to Ahnager, and thence to Pasto, situated at the 

 bottom of a terrible volcano. 



Nothing can be n)ore frightful than the entrance and out- 

 let of this valley, in which we spent the Christmas holidays, 

 and where the inhabitants received us with the utmost hos- 

 pitality. They were covered with thick forests, situated 

 among marslies v. here the mules sunk half up to the backs, 

 and we passed ravines so deep and so narrow that wc thought 

 we were entering the galleri(;s of a mine. The roads there- 

 fore are paved with the bones of mules which have perished 



here 



