134 The Andes and the Amazon. 



by Eubens. The sunset views in this heart of the Andes 

 were surpassingly beautiful. Mounting our horses at break 

 of day, and taking an Indian guide, we ascended rapidly, 

 by a narrow and difficult path, through the forest that belts 

 the volcano, up to the height of 12,000 feet, emerging grad- 

 ually into a thicket of stunted bushes, and then entered the 

 dreary paramo. Splendid was the view of the Eastern Cor- 

 dillera. At least six dazzling white volcanoes were in sight 

 just across the Yalley of Quito, among them table-topped 

 Cayambi, majestic Antisana, and princely Cotopaxi, whose 

 tapering summit is a mile above the clouds. Toiling up- 

 ward, we reached the base of the cone, where vegetation 

 ceased entirely ; and, tying our horses to some huge rocks 

 that had fallen from the mural cliff above, started off on 

 hands and feet for the crater. The cone is deeply covered 

 with sand and cinders for about two hundred feet, and the 

 sides are inclined at an angle of about 35°. At ten o'clock 

 we reached the brim of the crater, and the great gulf burst 

 suddenly into view. We can never forget the impression 

 made upon us by the sight. We speak of many things here 

 below as awful, but that word has its full meaning when 

 carried to the top of Pichincha. There you see a frightful 

 opening in the earth's crust nearly a mile in width and half 

 a mile deep, and from the dark abyss comes rolling up a 

 cloud of sulphurous vapors. Monte Somma in the time of 

 Strabo was a miniature ; but this crater is on the top of a 

 mountain four times the height of the Italian volcano. Im- 

 agination finds it difficult to conceive a spectacle of more 

 fearful grandeur or such solemn magnificence. It well ac- 

 cords with Milton's picture of the bottomless pit. The 

 united effect of the silence and solitude of the place, the 

 great depth of the cavity, the dark precipitous sides, and 

 the column of smoke standing over an unseen crevice, was 

 to us more impressive than thundering Cotopaxi or fiery 



