490 



THE TROPICAL WORLD. 



rounded by a series of peaks the most picturesque, and, after the highest peaks of the 

 Himalayas, among the loftiest on the globe. The valley is 10,000 feet above the level 



of the sea, which, by the rule of 

 allowing 300 feet in elevation to 

 be equivalent to a degree of lati- 

 tude, would give a climate ap- 

 proximating to that of Florida 

 and Georgia; but this is much 

 modified by other circumstances, 

 especially by the snow-clad peaks 

 which surround it, and by the 

 more abundant rainfall. 



This lofty valley is approach- 

 able by the great Inca road of 

 which we have spoken, leading 

 across the crest of the Cordilleras. 

 But for generations probably no 

 man has ever thus reached it. 

 Some day it will be visited from 

 the east by steaming up the 

 Amazon to the foot of the Andes, 

 and ascending the mountains. At 

 present it is approached from 

 Guayaquil on the Pacific. We 

 will accompany Mr. Orton,* an 

 American traveler, who in 1867- 

 8, at the head of a scientific expe- 

 dition, made the journey thither; 

 and thence, descending the Ama- 

 zon, crossed the entire continent 

 almost on the line of the equator. 

 Landing at Guayaquil, the seaport 

 of Ecuador, we embark on a 

 little steamer which carries us 

 seventy miles up the turbid river 

 Guayas. The Eucadorian govern- 

 ment, however, docs not patronize 

 the steamer, but sends the mails 

 up the river in a canoe. The river runs first through an almost impenetrable jungle; 

 then come vast plantations of cocoa and coffee ; then follow groves of oranges, lemons, 

 plantains and mango. Leaving the boat, we hire mules with which to make the ascent 

 of the Andean Cordilleras. f We plunge at once by a narrow path into a dense forest. 



*The Andes and the Amazon, by James Orton, Professor in Vassar College, Pough- 

 keepsie, N. Y. 



t Cordillera, literally a long ridge, is usually applied to a longitudinal subdivision of the 

 Andes, as the east and west Cordilleras, enclosing the valley of Quito. A Sierra is a jagged 

 spur of the mountains. 



ASCENDING THE ANDES. 



