THE EARTH. 131 



while the tempest was raging below, the moun- 

 tain top, where I was placed, enjoyed a delight- 

 ful serenity ; the wind was abated ; the sky clear ; 

 and the enlivening rays of the sun moderated the 

 severity of the cold. However, this was of no 

 very long duration, for the wind returned with 

 all its violence, and with such velocity as to 

 dazzle the sight; whilst my fears were increased 

 by the dreadful concussions of the precipice, and 

 the fall of enormous rocks, the only sounds that 

 were heard in this frightful situation." 



Such is the animated picture of these moun- 

 tains, as given us by this ingenious Spaniard : and 

 I believe the reader will wish that I had made the 

 quotation still longer. A passage over the Alps, 

 or a journey across the Pyrenees, appear petty 

 trips or excursions in the comparison ; and yet 

 these are the most lofty mountains we know of in 

 Europe. 



If we compare the Alps with the mountains 

 already described, we shall find them but little 

 more than one-half of the height of the former. 

 The Andes, upon being measured by the baro- 

 meter, are found above three thousand one hun- 

 dred and thirty-six toises or fathoms above the 

 surface of the sea ; * whereas the highest point 

 of the Alps is not above sixteen hundred. The 

 one, in other words, is above three miles high ; 

 the other, about a mile and a half. The highest 

 mountains in Asia are, Mount Taurus, Mount 

 Immaus, Mount Caucasus, and the mountains of 



* Ulloa, vol. i. p. 442. 



