542 



MOUNTAIN EXPLORATION, EECENT. 



the cone becoming unusually hot and liquefy- 

 ing the "glaciers which repose upon it." While 

 it is said in the " Encyclopaedia Britannica " 

 that the crater of Altar is the bed of the only 

 real glacier known to exist in the Ecuadorian 

 Andes, Mr. Whymper has found, on Altar, 

 larger glaciers outside of the crater than that 

 which lies inside it, and other large glaciers 

 upon Carihuairazo, Illiniza, Cotocachi, Sin- 

 cholagua, Ruilindafia, Cotopaxi, Cayambe, 

 Sara-urcu, Antisana, and Chiinborazo. The 

 largest were on the four mountains last 

 named. Although the glacier-covered area 

 on several of these mountains is comparable 

 to the amount on Mont Blanc, the Ecuadorian 

 glaciers never descend to so low an elevation 

 as one might expect from glaciers flowing 

 out of such extensive reservoirs. None of 

 them are known to descend so low as 12,000 

 feet, and they generally terminate at between 

 14,000 and 15,000 feet. Moraines are scarce 

 upon them, and roches moutonnees are rare. 

 The crevasses in the lower parts of the gla- 

 ciers of the Ecuadorian Andes are smaller 

 and less numerous than in corresponding 

 situations in the Alps ; but in the higher 

 regions they are frequently of enormous size. 

 The force of the winds on the mountains was 

 not remarkable, but Mr. Whymper says, "It 

 is almost impossible to speak in too extrav- 

 agant terms of the highly electrical condition 

 of the Ecuadorian Andes." Mr. Whymper 

 gives the following table of temperatures and 

 heights of mountain-summits in Ecuador, as de- 

 termined by himself and by Reiss and Stubel : 



35th degrees of south latitude, and is bounded 

 on the east by the Pampas and on the west by 

 the Pacific Ocean. The central Chilian-Ar- 

 gentine Andes are sketched by Dr. Gussfeldt 

 as two parallel chains, having on the Pacific 

 an outlying coast-range. The western chain is 



The two estimates of the height of Chimbo- 

 razo differ by 186 feet. Villavicencio, twenty 

 years earlier than Reiss and Stubel, stated the 

 height at 21,067 feet; Humboldt, forty years 

 earlier still, at 21 ,424 feet ; and the Spaniards as- 

 sociated with the French Academicians in 1748, 

 at 21, 6 11 feet. These would seem to indicate 

 that the mountain is sinking, but the French 

 Academicians who were associated with the 

 Spaniards made the height 20,581 feet, or 64 

 feet less than Mr. Whymper's measurement. 



Dr. Gussfeldt in the Chilian-Argentine Andes. Dr. 

 Paul Gussfeldt explored from November, 1882, 

 to March, 1883, the Chilian- Argentine mount- 

 ain-region containing Aconcagua, the most 

 elevated known point of the American Con- 

 tinent. This region Jies between the 32d and 



SANGAI, AS SEEN PROM CHIMBORAZO. 



the true water-shed of the Atlantic and the 

 Pacific; while the eastern chain is in many 

 places broken through by the waters rising in 

 the^ great trough between the two chains, 

 which have no well-defined valley formation. 

 This trough, or basin, 185 miles in length, is 

 very difficult of exploration, while only three 

 months in the year are available for the pur- 

 pose. Dr. Gussfeldt crossed the divide at four 

 points, and obtained the following altitudes : 

 Atravieso de la Lefia, 13,474 feet; Paso del 

 Maipo, 11,394 feet; Cumbre Iglesia, 12,303 

 feet; and Boquete del Valle Hermoso, 11,690 

 feet. The crest-line between these elevations 

 was estimated to reach over 19,600 feet. The 

 passes of the second chain reach similar heights, 

 viz., 13,779 feet, 12,270 feet, and 9,494 feet, 

 respectively. The mountain-land forming the 

 left northern side of Valle Hermoso comprises 

 the Ramada range, with peaks 19, 685 feet high, 

 the highest being 21,040 feet. Lastly, the great 

 volcano Aconcagua reaches 22,867 feet, near 

 the beginning of Valle Hermoso. Dr. Gussfel<lt 

 in his paper discusses the question of the 

 effect of rarefied air at great elevations upon 

 the human frame. He says that he and his 

 assistant attained 21,030 feet on Aconcagua, 

 and were able to work their scientific instru- 

 ments at that height, although, from anxiety 

 and want of sleep, they were not in good con- 

 dition. Their lungs were physically exhausted 

 by the effort of speaking, but there was no 

 flow of blood from nose or ears. He believes 





