Antisana. 145 



the highest human habitations in the world, being thirteen 

 thousand three hundred feet above the sea, or a thousand 

 feet higher than the Peak of Teneriffe.* The mean tem- 

 perature is the same as that of Quebec, so that thirteen 

 thousand feet in elevation at the equator is equal to 47° 

 in latitude.f Here is an extensive corral, inclosing thou- 

 sands of cattle, owned by a rheumatic old gentleman, Seiior 

 Yaldevieso, who supplies the beef -market of Quito.:}: A 

 desire for beef has alone brought man and his beast to this 

 chilly altitude. It is difficult to get a quart of milk, and 

 impossible to find a pound of butter at this hacienda. The 

 predominant colors of the cattle are red and black. They 

 feed on the wild paramo grass, and the beef is not only re- 

 markably cheap, but superior in quality. The lasso is used 

 in catching the animals, but not so skillfully as by the 

 Gauchos of Rio Plata. It is a singular fact that cattle 

 have followed men over the whole earth, from the coast of 

 Afi'ica to the highlands of Antisana. The same species is 

 attacked by crocodiles and condors. 



The atmospheric pressure is here so small that they fre- 

 quently bleed at the nose and mouth when hunted. We 

 have already given oui experience in ascending high alti- 

 tudes. AYe may add that while the pulse of Boussiugault 

 beat 106 pulsations at the height of 18,600 feet on Chim- 

 borazo, ours was 87 at 16,000 feet on Antisana. De Saus- 

 sure says that a draught of liquor wliich would inebriate 



* M. d'Abbadie professes to have visited a village in Abyssinia (Arquiage) 

 which is 12,4r)0 feet above the sea. Potosi stands 13,500 feet. 



t This agrees with Humboldt's calculation that a difference of elevation of 

 278 feet produces the same effect on the annual temperature as a change of 

 one degree of latitude. According to the experiments of Captain PuUen, the 

 minimum temperature of the great depths of the ocean is 35°, and it com- 

 mences soon after passing 12,000 feet. 



+ The gi-eat de'pots of cattle in Ecuador are at the two extremes of eleva- 

 tion, tlie lowlands of St« Elena and the highlands of Antisana. On the slope 

 of Cayambi is another extensive cattle estate. 



K 



