ON ITS EXTERIOR. VOLCANOES. 239 



Inca or Quichua language, " Capac," i. e. King or 

 Prince of Mountains (urcu), because its summit was 

 seen to rise higher than any other above the lower limit 

 of the snowy region. ( 33 ) Mount Ararat, whose summit. 

 17,080 feet high,*was reached by Friedrich Parrot in 

 1829, and by Abich and Chodzko in 1845 and 18oO, 

 forms, like Chimborazo, an unopened dome. Its large 

 streams of lava broke forth far below the snow line. An 

 important feature in the shape of Ararat is formed by 

 the deep lateral hollow of Jacob's Vajley, which may be 

 compared to the Val del Bove in Mount Etna. It is 

 here that, according to Abich, the internal structure of 

 the nucleus of the trachytic bell-shaped mountain is 

 first visible, as this nucleus and the elevation of the 

 whole mountain are much more ancient than the streams 

 of lava. ( 331 ) The mountains of Kasbegk and Tschegem, 

 which rise from the same leading Caucasian ridge, run- 

 ning E.S.E. to W.N.W. as does Elburuz, or Elbourz 

 (19,716 feet high), are also cones without craters on their 

 summits: on the summit of the last-named colossal 

 mountain there is a crater-lake. 



As cones and domes are in all parts of the world 

 much the most frequent forms, it is the more surprising 

 to see, as a solitary instance in the group of volca- 

 noes around Quito, the long ridge of the volcano of 

 Pichincha. I occupied myself long and carefully with 

 examining its form, and besides the view of its profile 

 founded on many measurements of angles, I have 

 published also a topographic sketch of its cross- 

 valleys. ( 332 ) Pichincha forms a wall more than eight 

 geographical miles long, consisting of black trachytic 

 rock (composed of augite and oligoclase), upheaved over 



