288 CHIMBORAZO. 



chains, in the great longfitudinal valleys of which 

 flow two large rivers. To the south of Popayan, 

 on the table-land of Los Pastos, these three chains 

 unite into a single group, which stretches far be- 

 yond the equator. This group, in the kingdom of 

 Quito, presents an extraordinary appearance from 

 the river of Chota, the most elevated summits being 

 arranged in two lines, forming, as it were, a double 

 ridge to the cordilleras. These summits served for 

 signals to the French academicians when employed 

 in the measurement of an equinoctial degree. Bou- 

 guer considered them as two chains, separated by a 

 longitudinal valley ; but this valley Humboldt views 

 as the ridge of the Andes itself. It is an elevated 

 plain, from 8858 to 9515 feet above the level of the 

 sea; and the volcanic summits of Pichincha, Ca- 

 yambo, Cotopaxi, and other celebrated peaks, are, 

 he thinks, so many protuberances of the great mass 

 of the Andes. In consequence of the elevation of 

 the territory of Quito, these mountains do not seem 

 so high as many of much inferior altitude rising 

 from a lower basis. 



On Chimborazo the line marking the inferior 

 limit of perpetual snow is at a height somewhat ex- 

 ceeding that of Mont Blanc. On a narrow ledge, 

 which rises amid the snows on the southern de- 

 clivity, our travellers attempted on the 23d June to 

 reach the summit. The point where they stopped 

 to observe the inclination of the magnetic meridian 

 was more elevated than any yet attained by man, 

 being 3609 feet higher than the summit of Mont 

 Blanc, and more than 3714 feet higher than La Con- 

 damine and Bouguer reached in 1745 on the Cora- 

 zon. The ridge to which they climbed, and beyond 

 which they were prevented from proceeding by a 

 deep chasm in the snow, was 19,798 feet above the 

 level of the sea ; but the summit of the mountain 

 was still 1439 feet higher. The blood issued from 

 their eyes, lips, and gums. The form of Chimborazo 



