402 QUITO, THE MOUNTAIN CITY. 



of 9520 feet above the level of the sea, * where the 

 mean annual temperature is only 55 Fahr., though the 

 Equator is supposed to pass as nearly as possible 

 through the town or a very little to the north of it 

 as some say. 



Here, in the close proximity to the snow-clad peaks, 

 the traveller may enjoy the climate of an English spring, 

 under a sky of matchless purity. From Quito trails lead 

 quickly down from the tableland to the zone of tropical 

 heats ; and the fruit markets, for which the town is cele- 

 brated, are well supplied not only with all the best fruits 

 of the temperate zone, but also the finest varieties of 

 tropical growth, in great profusion. Quito is thus 

 specially referred to, as furnishing a striking example 

 of the all-powerful influence exercised by mountains 

 upon climate; for here, in this zone of highest normal 

 temperatures, it thus becomes possible for the visitor 

 to enjoy any range of heat or cold that he may desire. 

 He may live at Guayaquil in a torrid climate, where 

 the mean temperature of the year is as high as almost 

 anywhere on earth, or he may ascend to Quito, where 

 exactly upon the equator, it is that of the colder tem- 

 perate zone, or still higher, where he at length enters 

 into the region of perpetual snow. 



The rapid change from the evergreen equatorial 

 zone to the desert, is singularly striking in South 

 America, as almost immediately we leave the southern 

 limits of the region of continuous rains, the dry plains 

 begin. The cause of this, it can hardly be doubtful, 

 is entirely due to the influence of the mountains, whose 

 great altitudes have as we have stated, intercepted 



* Encycl. Brit,, Vol. xx, p. 189 (Art. "Quito"). 



