PLATEAU OF CAXAMARCA. 417 



mission, within the restricted boundaries of the interior of a 

 mountainous country, we felt an ardent desire to enjoy a view 

 of the open sea, a desire which was heightened by repeated 

 disappointments. Looking from the summit of the volcano 

 of Pichincha, over the thick forests of the Provincia de las 

 Esmeraldas, no sea horizon is distinctly discernible owing to 

 the great distance and the height of the point of view. It 

 is like looking down from a balloon into empty space ; the 

 fancy divines objects which the eye cannot distinguish. 

 Afterwards, when, between Loxa and Guancabamba, we ar- 

 rived at the Paramo de Guamani (where there are many ruins 

 of buildings of the times of the Incas), our mule-drivers con- 

 fidently assured us that, beyond the plain, on the other side 

 of the low districts of Piura and Lambajeque, we should have 

 a view of the sea. But a thick mist overhung the plain and 

 obscured the distant coast. We beheld only variously-shaped 

 masses of rock, now rising like islands above the waving sea of 

 mist, and now vanishing. It was a view similar to that which 

 we had from the Peak of Teneriffe. We experienced a similar 

 disappointment whilst proceeding through the Andes Pass of 

 Guangamarca, which I am now describing. Whilst we 

 toiled along the ridges of the mighty mountain, with ex- 

 pectation on the stretch, our guides, who were not very well 

 acquainted with the way, repeatedly assured us that, after 

 proceeding another mile, our hopes would be fulfilled. The 

 stratum of mist, in which we were enveloped, seemed some- 

 times to disperse for a moment, but whenever that happened, 

 our view was bounded by intervening heights. 



The desire which we feel to behold certain objects is not 

 excited solely by their grandeur, their beauty, or their im- 

 portance. In each individual this desire is interwoven with 

 pleasing impressions of youth, with early predilections for 

 particular pursuits, with the inclination for travelling, and the 

 _ove of an active life. In proportion as the fulfilment of a 

 wish may have appeared improbable, its realization affords the 



2l 



