THK EAUTH. 109 



table, with a round bulbous head, which, when dried, l)ecomes 

 of amazing elasticity. Higher up, the earth is entirely bare of 

 vegetation, and seems covered with eternal snow. The most 

 remarkable mountains ai'e, I'hat of Cotopaxi (already described as 

 a volcano), Chimborazo, and Pichincha. Cotopaxi is more than 

 three geographical miles above the surface of the sea : the rest 

 are not much inferior. On the top of the latter was my station 

 for measuring a degree of the meridian ; where I suffered parti- 

 cular hardships from the intenseness of the cold, and the violence 

 of the storms. The sky round was, in general, involved in thick 

 fogs, which, when they cleared away, and the clouds, by their 

 gravity, moved nearer to the surface of the earth, they appeared 

 surrounding the foot of the mountain, at a vast distance below, 

 like a sea, encompassing an island in the midst of it. When 

 this happened, the horrid noises of tempests were heard from 

 beneath, then discharging themselves on Quito, and the neigh- 

 bouring country. I saw the lightnings issue from the clouds, 

 and heard the thunders roll far beneath me. All this time, 

 while the tempest was raging below, the mountain top, where I 

 was placed, enjoyed a delightful serenity, the wind was abated; 

 the sky clear ; and the enlivening rays of the sun moderated the 

 severity of the cold. However, this was of no very long dura- 

 tion, for the wind returned; w:ith all its violence, and with such 

 velocity as to dazzle the sights whilst my fears w^re increased 

 by the dreadful concussions of the precipice, and the fall of 

 enormous rocks ; the only sounds that were heard in this fright- 

 ful situation." 



Such is the animated picture of these mountains, as given us 

 by this ingenious Spaniard : and I believe the reader w ill wish 

 that I had made the quotation still longer. A passage over the 

 Alj)S, or a journey across the Pyrenees, appear petty trips or 

 excursions in the comparison ; and yet these are the most lofty 

 mountains we know of in Europe. 



If we compare the Alps with the mountains already described, 

 we shall find them but little more than one half of the height of 

 the former. The Andes, upon being measured by the barome- 

 ter, are found above three thousand one hundred and thirty-six 

 ti/ises or fathoms above the surface of the sea.' Whereas the 



i Ulloa, vol. i. p. 442. 



