230 SOUTH AMERICA— THE ANDES REGIONS. 



volcanoes, which stand, not on the edge of the plateau, as elsewhere in Ecuador, 

 but in the very heart of the inter- Andean region. 



Azuay itself represents one of these igneous groups ; another rises farther east 

 near Cuenca, and a third more to the south towards the sources of the Rio Jubones. 

 Although their outlines are so far effaced that regular cones and craters can no longer 

 be recognised, their eruptive origin is still attested by the surrounding lava-fields. 



Eastwards the cordillera offers nothing but crystalline schists, some few of 

 whose summits penetrate to the lower limit of perennial snows. Beyond the 

 mountain mass which sends its running waters eastwards to the Rio Paute, and 

 the centre of which is occupied by the town of Loja, the Andean system 

 contracts to a single range trending southwards between the upland Peruvian 

 valleys on the west, and those draining to the upper Marafion on the east. Here 

 is developed the upper bend of the great river within 200 miles of the Pacific 

 seaboard, so that in this district the cordillera is reduced to little more than a 

 narrow ridge forming the link between the Ecuadorean and the Peruvian Andes. 

 The ridge itself, decreasing in height in proportion to its contracted width, falls 

 to an altitude of scarcely 6,500 feet above sea-level. 



PlCHl^X'HA COKAZON IlLIXIZA. 



South of the deep Guallabamba valley follows Pululagua, an igneous cone, 

 standing not on the summit of a mountain, but on the flank of the cordillera 

 itself. Pichincha, the first volcano of the western range, is the famous mountain 

 at whose base lies the city of Quito. Since La Condamine's exjoedition of 1742 

 numerous explorers have visited Pichincha, which is of extremely easy ascent, 

 its broad flanks, with their grassy approaches, sloping so gently that riders are 

 able to reach a height of 13,800 feet before dismounting. Yet this volcano 

 is still but imperfectly known, and the number of peaks and craters, as well as 

 their height and respective dimensions, continue to be subjects of dispute. 



A feeling of local pride has inspired certain inflated descriptions, in which 

 the reader finds it difficult to draw the line between truth and exaggeration. 

 But Guagua (the *' Young"), loftiest of the two chief peaks, appears to have 

 certainlj^ increased in height during the historic period, outstripping Rucu (the 

 " Old "), and the three other peaks. Pichincha, whose Quichua name has the 

 meaning of " Boiling Mountain," has been the scene of violent explosions, 

 although since 1660 it has ejected nothing but steam, accompanied by some ashes. 

 The principal crater, which has a very wide breach on its west side, is one of 

 the deepest known, the pipe being variously estimated at 2,540 and 2,860 feet. 

 At the bottom are still seen some solfataras and smoking crevasses, while a 

 stream, well named the Rio del Volcan, descends from the breached crater 

 across the wooded slopes in the direction of the Rios Toachi and Esmeraldas. 



South of Pichincha follow in a straight line Atacazo, Corazon, and Illiniza, 

 the first a regular cone, with gentle slope falling below the snow-line. Corazon, 

 in which popular fancy detects the form of a " heart," is both higher and of 



