Beautiful View. 55 



As soon as we began to descend, the glittering cone of 

 Cotopaxi, and the gloomy plain it has so often devastated, 

 passed out of view, and before ns was a green valley ex- 

 ceedingly rich and well cultivated, girt by a wall of moun- 

 tains, the towers of which were the peaks of Corazon and 

 Ruminagui. Loathsome lepers by the wayside alone dis- 

 turbed the pleasing impression. Three hours more of trav- 

 el brought us to the straggling village of Machachi, stand- 

 ing in the centre of the beautiful plain, at an altitude of 

 nine thousand nine hundred feet. K^ature designed this 

 spot for a home of plenty and comfort, but the habitations 

 of the wretched proprietors are windowless adobe hovels, 

 thatched with dried grass, and notorious for their filth. 



We must needs make one more ascent, for the ridge of 

 Tambillo hides the goal of our journey. The moment we 

 reached the summit, views unparalleled in the Andes or 

 any where else met our astonished vision whithersoever we 

 looked. Far away to the south stretched the two Cordil- 

 leras, till they were lost in the mist which enshrouded Chim- 

 borazo and Tunguragua. Turning to the north, we beheld 

 the city of Quito at our feet, and Pichincha and Antisana 

 standing like gallant sentinels on either side of the proud 

 capital. Beautiful were the towering mountains, and al- 

 most as delightful now are the memories of that hour. A 

 broad, well-traveled road, gentlemen on horseback clad in 

 rich ponchos, droves of Indians bowed under their heavy 

 burdens, and long lines of laden donkeys hurrying to and 

 fro, indicate our approach to a great city. Winding with 

 the road through green pastures and fields of ripening 

 grain, and crossing the Machangara by an elegant bridge, 

 we enter the city of the Incas. 



