THE EARTH. 



43 



run in ridges for a considerable length, 

 without interruption ; in others, the line seems 

 indented by great valleys to an amazing 

 depth. Sometimes a solitary and a single 

 mountain rises from the bosom of the plain ; 

 and sometimes extensive plains, and even 

 provinces, as those of Savoy and Quito, are 

 found embosomed near tops of mountains. 

 In general, however, those countricsthat are 

 most mountainous, are the most barren and 

 uninhabitable. 



If we compare the heights of mountains 

 with each other, we shall lind that the great- 

 est and highest are found under the line." It 

 is thought by some, that the rapidity of the 

 earth's motion in these parts, together with 

 the greatness of the tides there, may have 

 thrown >up those stupendous masses of earth. 

 But, be the cause as it may, it is a remarka- 

 ble fact, that the inequalities of the earth's 

 surface are greatest there. Near the poles, 

 the earth, indeed, is craggy and uneven 

 enough; but the heights of the mountains 

 there are very inconsiderable. On the con- 

 trary, at the equator, where nature seems to 

 sport in the amazing size of all her produc- 

 tions, the plains are extensive, and the moun- 

 tains remarkably lofty. Some of them are 

 known to rise three miles perpendicular above 

 the bed of the ocean. 



To enumerate the most remarkable of these, 

 according to their size, we shall begin with 

 the Andes, of which we have an excellent de- 

 scription by Ulloa, who wont thither by com- 

 mand of the king of Spain, in company with 

 the French Academicians, to measure a de- 

 gree of the meridian. His journey up these 

 mountains is too curious not to give an ex- 

 tract from it. 



After many incommodious days sailing up 

 the river Guayaquil, he arrived at Caracol, a 

 town situated at the foot of the Andes. No- 

 thing could exceed the inconveniences which 

 ho experienced in this voyage, from the flies 

 and moschotoes, (an animal resembling our 

 gnat.) " We were the whole day," says he, 

 " in continual motion to keep them off; but 

 at night our torments were excessive. Our 

 gloves, indeed, were some defence to our 

 hands; but our faces were entirely exposed; 



Kuftbn, passim. 

 NO. 5. 



nor were our clothes a sufficient defence for 

 the rest of our bodies ; for their stings pene- 

 trating through the cloth, caused a very pain- 

 ful and fiery itching. One night, in coming 

 to an anchor near a large and handsome house 

 that was uninhabited, we had no sooner seat- 

 ed ourselves in it, than we were attacked on 

 all sides by swarms of moschetoes, so that it 

 was impossible to have one moment's quiet. 

 Those who had covered themselves with 

 clothes made for this purpose, found not the 

 smallest defence ; wherefore, hoping to find 

 some relief in the open fields, we ventured 

 out, though in danger of suffering in a more 

 terrible manner from the serpents. But both 

 places were equally obnoxious. On quitting 

 this inhospitable retreat, we the next night 

 took up our quarters in a house that was in- 

 habited ; the host of which being informed of 

 the terrible manner we had past the night bc- 

 fore, gravely told us, that the house we so 

 greatly complained of, had been forsaken on 

 account of its being the purgatory of a soul. 

 But we had more reason to believe that it 

 was quitted on account of its being the pur- 

 gatory of the body. After having journeyed 

 for upwards of three days, through boggy 

 roads, in which the mules at every step sunk 

 up to their bellies, we began at length to per- 

 ceive an alteration in the climate; and hav- 

 ing been long accustomed to heat, we now 

 began to feel it grow sensibly colder. 



" It is remarkable, that at Tariguagua we 

 often see instances of the effects of two op- 

 posite temperatures, in two persons happen- 

 ing to meet; one of them leaving the plains 

 below, and the other descending from the 

 mountain. The former thinks the cold so se- 

 vere, that he wraps himself up in all the gar- 

 ments he can procure ; while the latter finds 

 the heat so great, that he is scarce able to 

 bear any clothes whatsoever. The one thinks 

 the water so cold, that he avoids being sprink- 

 led by it; the ofher is so delighted with its 

 warmth, that he uses it as a bath. Nor is the 

 ease very different in the same person, who 

 experiences the same diversity of sensation 

 upon his journey up, and upon his return. 

 This difference only proceeds from the change 

 naturally felt at leaving a climate to which 

 one has been accustomed, and coming into 

 another of an opposite tempeniture. 



N 



