THE ASCENT OF CHIMBORAZO. 413 
at all. Sometimes it was very cold and there was much wind, but when we 
were in the sun it was very hot. Whether in the sun or in the shade the snow 
was very soft, and we sank in deeply, often up to the knees. This was very 
fatiguing, and it was owing to this that we took so much longer time in ascending 
the upper than the lower part of the mountain. To break the ascent we zig- 
zagged about, and at one time came round to the side fronting Guaranda, and 
then came back to above the place where the tent was pitched. At last we got 
on to the top and could see the two summits. The snow was very soft indeed 
here, and we went along very slowly, and had often to stop to get breath. The 
higher of the two summits was on our left hand—that is, upon the north side of 
the mountain—and we went to it, without going upon the lower one. As we ap- 
proached the very highest point we saw that there was something strange upon it, 
and when we got up we found the pole of the flag which Mr. Whymper had put 
up on January 4, 1880. It stood up about 14% varas above the snow, and very 
little of the flag remained, as it had been torn to pieces by the wind. I took a 
small piece of the flag to show to my friends below, and was filled with joy at 
being the first Ecuadorian to reach the summit of the great Chimborazo. We 
arrived at the very highest point of the summit at 1:20 p. m., and about the 
same time ashes from Cotopaxi began to fall. They filled our eyes, noses, mouths, 
and ears, and made the snow quite black. Mr, Whymper, however, prepared his 
instruments, and was at work during the whole time we were on the summit. He 
did not once sit down from the time we left the tent in the morning until the time 
that we returned to it in the evening. He took the height of the mountain with 
his barometers, and told us that the observations that he now made agreed very 
well with those which he made upon the first ascent of Chimborazo, on January 
4, 1880. At 2:30 p. m. we left the summit, and came down as fast as we could, 
only stopping a little from time to time to allow Mr. Whymper to collect rocks 
at various places. We arrived again at the tent at 5:10 p. m., and found it 
covered with the ashes from Cotopaxi, which were still falling, and filled the 
whole valley with a thick cloud. On the 4th of July we continued the tour of 
the mountain, and arrived at night close to Tortorillas; and on the 6th we re- 
turned to Riobamba, having had a most successful journey, without accidents of 
any sort whatever, not only having made the tour and the second ascent of 
Chimborazo, but having also made em route, on the 2gth of June, the first ascent 
of Carihuairazo. FRANcisco J. CampaNa.—Guayaquil, July 19, 1880.—Declared 
and subscribed at Guayaquil, this twentieth day of July, 1880, before me, GEORGE 
CuHampers, Her Britannic Majesty’s Consul, Guayaquil.” 
