THE EARTH. 



at least, and five miles long. I walked so far 

 before my companions up the mountain, along 

 the side of the river of tire, that I was obliged 

 to retire in gre.it haste, the sulphureous stream 

 having surprised me, and almost taken away 

 my breath. During our return, which was 

 about three o'clock in the morning, the roar- 

 ing of the mountain was heard all the way, 

 while we observed it throwing up huge spouts 

 of fire and burning stones, which, falling, re- 

 sembled the stars in a rocket. Sometimes I 

 observed two or three distinct columns of 

 flame, and sometimes one only, that was large 

 enough to fill the whole crater. These burn- 

 ing columns, and fiery stones, seemed to be 

 shot a thousand feet perpendicular above the 

 summit of the volcano; and in this manner 

 the mountain continued raging for six or eight 

 days after. On the 18th of the same month, 

 the whole appearance ended, and the moun- 

 tain remained perfectly quiet, without any 

 visible smoke or flame. 



The matter which is found to roll down 

 from the mouth of all volcanoes in general, 

 resembles the dross that is thrown from a 

 smith's forge. But it is different, perhaps, in 

 various parts of the globe ; for, as we have 

 already said, there is not a quarter of the 

 world that has not its volcanoes. In Asia, 

 particularly in the islands of the Indian Ocean, 

 there are many. One of the most famous is 

 that of Albouras, near Mount Taurus, the 

 (summit of which is continually on fire, and 

 covers the whole adjacent country with ashes. 

 In the island of Ternate there is a volcano, 

 which, some travellers assert, burns most fu- 

 riously in the times of the equinoxes, because 

 of the winds which then contribute to increase 

 the flames. In the Molucco islands there 

 are many burning mountains; they are also 

 seen in Japan, and the islands adjacent ; 

 and in Java and Sumatra, as well as in other 

 of the Philippine islands. In Africa there is 

 a cavern, near Fez, which continually sends 

 forth either smoke or flames. In the Cape 

 de Verde islands, one of them, called the 

 Island del Fuego, continually burns ; and the 

 Portuguese, who frequently attempted a set- 

 tlement there, have as often been obliged to 

 desist. The Peak of Teneriffe is, as every 

 one knows, a volcano, that seldom desists 

 from eruptions. But, of all parts of the earth, 



America is the place where those dreadful 

 irregularities of nature are the most conspicu- 

 ous. Vesuvius, and YEtria itself, are but 

 mere fireworks in comparison to the burning- 

 mountains of the Andes ; which, as they are 

 the highest mountains of the world, so also 

 are they the most formidable for their erup- 

 tions. The mountain of Arequipa in Peru, is 

 one of the most celebrated ; Carassa, and 

 Malahallo, are very considerable ; but that 

 of Cotopaxi, in the province of Quito, exceeds 

 any thing we have hitherto read or heard of. 

 The mountain of Cotopaxi, as described by 

 Ulloa," is more than three miles perpendicular 

 from the sea ; and it became a volcano at the 

 time of the Spaniards' first arrival in that 

 country. A new eruption of it happened in the 

 year 1743,having been some days preceded by 

 a continual roaring in its bowels. The sound 

 of one of these mountains is not, like that of 

 the volcanoes in Europe, confined to a pro- 

 vince, but is heard at a hundred and fifty 

 miles distance. 1 * " An aperture was made in 

 the summit of this immense mountain ; and 

 three more about equal heights near the mid- 

 dle of its declivity, which was at that time 

 buried under prodigious masses of snow. The 

 ignited substances ejected on that occasion, 

 mixed with a prodigious quantity of ice and 

 snow, melting amidst the flames, were car- 

 ried down with such astonishing rapidity, that 

 in an instant the valley from Callo to Latu- 

 cunga was overflowed; and besides its ravages 

 in bearing down the houses of the Indians, 

 and other poor inhabitants, great numbers of 

 people lost their lives. The river of Latu- 

 cunga was the channel of this terrible flood ; 

 till being too small for receiving such a pro- 

 digious current, it overflowed the adjacent 

 country, like a vast lake, near the town, and 

 carried away all the buildings within its reach. 

 The inhabitants retired into a spot of higher 

 ground behind the town, of which those parts 

 which stood within the limits of the current 

 were totally destroyed. The dread of still 

 greater devastations did not subside for three 

 days; during which the volcano ejected cin- 

 ders, while torrents of melted ice and snow 

 poured down its sides. The eruption lasted 

 several days, and was accompanied with ter- 



a Ulloa, vol. i. p. 442. 



b Ulloa, vol. i. p. 442. 



