246 MOUNTAINS AEOUT THE VALLEY OF QUITO. 



mountain-spurs and isolated ranges. Situated in a pleas- 

 ant valley through which we passed, is the Ihdian town 

 of Lloa, comprised of muddnits, thatched with long grass. 

 From here a short ride brought us to the Hacienda of 

 Lloa, formerly a Jesuit mission-station, where we stopped 

 for the night, intending to take an early start the follow- 

 ing morning for the crater. The building has an anti- 

 quated appearance, with its old archways, tiled roof, and 

 environs of crumbling walls, overrun with vines. We were 

 in the very heart of the Andes ; yet, despite the wildness, 

 the evening scenery possessed an unusual aspect of repose 

 and beauty. The clouds which had hung about the sum- 

 mit of the volcano during the day broke away just at 

 sunset, and the golden hue imparted to the mountain- 

 ridges contrasted beautifully with the deej) green of inter- 

 vening valleys and forests. 



Some time before the light indicated the approach of 

 morning, we were astir; for, in order to obtain a good 

 view of the crater, it should be reached by sunrise, before 

 obscured by rising mist. Subjected to considerable delay 

 in procuring a guide willing to accompany us into the 

 crater, it was late before we were mounted. Once started, 

 we ascended rapidly by a forest trail. A short ascent 

 through this zone of tree-vegetation brought us uj^on a 

 paramo, or moorland, which sweeps iip to within a few 

 liundred feet of the scoriae-covered summit of the volcano. 

 From this point the view was grand. We were above 

 the clouds, through which rents torn here and there 

 would allow us a glimpse of the valley of Quito, far be- 

 low. The volcanoes of the Andes stood out like islands 

 from the clouds that concealed their bases. Cotopaxi 

 never appeared more grand than standing, as it did, with 

 its cone raised more than a mile above the clouds, with 

 light columns of smoke issuing from its crater. Antisana 

 and Sincholagua, with several other snow-crowned moun- 



