Hacienda of Chillo. 155 



floiirislied in Siberia ; and Gibbon met an elephant on the 

 high table-lands of Bolivia that had walked over the Cor- 

 dillera at the pass of Antarangua, sixteen thousand feet 

 above the sea. Darwin thinks that the climate of the Cor- 

 dilleras has changed since the pleistocene period. " It is 

 a marvelous fact in the history of mammalia (says this nat- 

 uralist) that in South America a native horse should have 

 lived and disappeared, to be succeeded in after ages by the 

 countless herds descended from the few introduced witli 

 the Spanish colonists." 



The liigh ridge of Chisinchi, stretching across the great 

 plateau n-om Cotopaxi to Iliniza, separates the ever-green 

 Yalley of Quito from the arid and melancholy valleys of 

 Cuenca and Ambato. It rolls out like a rich carpet of em- 

 erald verdure between the towering mountains of Pichincha 

 and Antisana, Cotacachi and Cayambi. This was the cen- 

 tre of the most ancient native civilization after that of Ti- 

 ticaca. Here, while the darkness of the Middle Ages was 

 settling over Europe, dwelt the Quitus, whose origin is lost 

 in the mists of fable. Then, while Peter the Hermit was 

 leading his fanatic host against the Saracens, the Cara na- 

 tion waged a more successful crusade, and supplanted the 

 Quitus. Here, too, in the bloody days of Pizarro, reigned, 

 and was buried, the last of the Incas, ill-fated Atahuallpa. 

 To him, indeed, it was a more delightful s]3ot than the vale 

 of Yilcamayu — the paradise of Peru. 



The Puengasi Hills, running through the valley from 

 north to south, partially divide the capital and its vicinity 

 from the charming Valley of Chillo, spread out at the foot 

 of Antisana. Here is the venerable hacienda of Chillo, 

 where Humboldt and Bonpland resided for some time. It 

 is owned by the Aguirres, w^ho are grand-nephews of Don 

 Carlos Montufar, the companion of the famous travelers. 

 The hacienda contains two valuable paintings — an original 



