ANNOTATIONS AND ADDITIONS. 37 



ment of the Chimborazo was made from the plain of Tapia, 

 which is covered with pumice. It is situated to the west of 

 the .Rio Chambo, and its elevation, as determined by the 

 barometer, is 1482 toises (9477 E. frrt.) The Llanos de 

 Luisa, and still more the plain of Sisgun, which is 1900 

 toises (12150 E. feet) high, would have given greater 

 angles of altitude ; I had prepared everything for making 

 the measurement at the latter station when thick clouds 

 concealed the summit of Chimborazo 



Those who are engaged in investigations on languages 

 may not be unwilling to find here some conjectures re- 

 specting the etymology of the widely celebrated name of 

 Chimborazo. Chimbo is the name of the Corregimiento or 

 District in which the mountain of Chimborazo is situated. 

 La Condamine (Voyage a 1'Equateur, 1751, p. 184) 

 deduces Chimbo from " chimpani," " to pass over a river/' 

 Clrimbo-rago signifies, according to him, "la neige de Tautre 

 bord," because at the village of Chimbo one crosses a stream 

 in full view of the enormous snow-clad mountain. (In the 

 Quiclma language " chimpa" signifies the " other, or 

 farther, side;" and chimpani signifies to pass or cross over 

 a river, a bridge, &c.) Several natives of the province of 

 Quito have assured me that Chimborazo signifies merely 

 " the snow of Chimbo." We find the same termination in 

 Carguai-razo. But r'azo appears to be a provincial word. 

 The Jesuit Holguin, (whose excellent " Vocabulario de la 

 Lengua general de toclo el Peru llamada Lengua Qquichua 

 6 del Inca," printed at Lima in 1608, is in my possession,,) 

 knows nothing of the word "razo." The genuine word 



