GEOGRAPHICAL PROGRESS AND DISCOVERY. 



331 



based upon the boiling-point of water are 

 altogether untrustworthy in lofty mountain- 

 regions. Whymper was accompanied by two 

 tried Italian-Swiss mountain-guides, the broth- 

 ers Carrel. He first ascended Chimborazo and 

 explored its neighborhood, then ascended Co- 

 razon, situated west of the town of Machachi, 

 and attempted to ascend Illiniza from the 

 south. With his two assistants he mounted 

 to the summit of Cotopaxi, remaining twenty- 

 six hours on the top. From Quito they as- 

 cenddH Antisana, which summit they failed to 

 reach in the first attempt, but succeeded on 

 another trial. Two of the peaks of Pichincha 

 were explored, and then they departed for 

 the north and examined the great mountain 

 Oayambe, ascended the little-known peak of 

 Sara-urcu, the most arduous ascent of all, and 

 Cotocachi, the dominating peak of this dis- 

 trict. Whymper proceeded farther north to 

 the towus of Ibarri and Carranqui, sending his 

 Italian guides to seek a path to the summit 

 of Illiniza, in which they were successful. 

 Whymper was broken down by his exertions, 

 and remained some time at Quito. When he 

 recovered he proceeded south, making an ex- 

 cursion to Altar without being able to see its 

 summit, ascending Carihuairazo, and passing 

 around the western side of Chimborazo, of 

 which peak he made a second ascent. He re- 

 turned to Guayaquil through Guamote and the 

 pass called the Bridge of Chimbo. 



The coast-region of Ecuador is low and flat, 

 a great part of the country being submerged 

 in the rainy season. It is reticulated by a con- 

 fused net-work of rivers and lagoons connecting 

 with one another. The slopes of the Andes are 

 excessively steep, and are covered by a dense 

 growth of gigantic trees festooned with para- 

 sitic creepers, and at their feet a mass of tan- 

 gled undergrowth. There is an outer chain of 

 mountains, not down on the maps, though ex- 

 tending 40 miles north and south and rising 

 to the height of 15,000 feet. Beyond this is 

 the main ridge of the Andes, which culminates 

 in the peak of Chimborazo. The river Chimbo 

 flows through the valley inclosed between the 

 two ranges. The Andes south of Chimborazo 

 have an average elevation of about 15,000 feet, 

 and contain several smaller peaks, all of about 

 the same size. There are few passes, the low- 

 est one being perhaps the Bridge of Chimbo, 

 which has an elevation of 12,000 feet above 

 the sea. North of this the most frequently 

 used pass is that of the road from Quito, which 

 leads across the sandy plain called the Arenal 

 Grande ; this is about 14,000 feet in elevation. 

 North of this pass rises the great mass of Chim- 

 borazo, which is separated by a depression on 

 its northern side from Carihuairazo, a mount- 

 ain with several peaks, the highest of which 

 is nearly 17,000 feet in altitude. North of 

 this mountain the range sinks abruptly to the 

 basin in which is situated the town of Ambato, 

 where the climate is temperate and agreeable. 

 No important mountains are found to the west 



of this place, nor for 30 miles to the north, 

 until Illiniza is reached, which rises above 17,- 

 000 feet. In the next 35 miles to the north, 

 and almost in a line with Illiniza, are the 

 isolated peaks of Corazon, Atacatzo, and Pi- 

 chincha. The depressions between them are 

 never so low as 10,000 feet. North of Pichin- 

 cha is another break in the range, formed by 

 the valley of the river Guallabamba, which at 

 one point has an elevation of only 5,600 feet 

 above the sea. Then comes the mountain Mo- 

 janda, which does not rise to the snow-line, 

 but covers more ground than any other mount- 

 ain in Ecuador. North of this are the two 

 large mountains Imbabura and Cotocachi, and 

 then the basin of Ibarra, which is not much 

 over 7,000 feet above the plane of the ocean, 

 beyond which the elevation of the range in- 

 creases. On the southeast is the great mount- 

 ain of Cayambe, which is covered with 5,000 

 feet of snow and glacier, and farther on a 

 glacier-bearing mountain called Sara-urcu. 

 South of this there is no lofty summit until 

 Antisana is reached, though the general eleva- 

 tion of the country is probably as great as 13,- 

 000 feet. This mountain covers a large area, 

 and contains as much snow and ice as Ca- 

 yambe. On the south no lofty mountains were 

 seen, but on the west, in the same group with 

 the peaks of Illiniza, Corazon, Atacatzo. and 

 Cotopaxi, are Pasochoa and Ruminahui, com- 

 paratively low, but r.teep and well-defined in 

 shape, and Sincholagua, a fine, sharp peak. 

 South of this is Cotopaxi, the second in height 

 of the mountains of Ecuador. A considerable 

 distance beyond is the snow-clad and very 

 regularly formed summit of Tunguragua, over 

 16,000 feet high. Farther to the southward 

 comes the basin of Riobamba, on the eastern 

 border of which rises the extinct volcano Altar. 

 Around the crater of Altar are magnificent 

 needle-like pinnacles. South of here the coun- 

 try is of moderate elevation. Far to the south- 

 east is visible the active volcano Sangai, which 

 is but little smaller than Altar. The French 

 explorers of the last century and Alexander 

 von Humboldt are responsible for a serious 

 error respecting the physical configuration of 

 this region. The two parallel chains, set down 

 on the maps as the western and eastern Cor- 

 dillera, have no existence. The distribution of 

 the mountains in Ecuador does not even show 

 how such a misconception ever arose. The 

 eastern part of Ecuador, where the Andes de- 

 scend in undulations to the plains of Brazil, is 

 an unknown region. 



All the great Andes of Ecuador have been 

 volcanoes. There are only two volcanoes in 

 Ecuador which may be properly called active. 

 These are Sangai and Cotopaxi, which are sel- 

 dom at rest. Two others, Pichincha and Tun- 

 guragua, give occasional signs of life. 



Sangai has been seen by but very few per- 

 sons. Whymper caught a glimpse of it but 

 once, when encamped on Chimborazo at a 

 height of 17,300 feet, though he frequently 



