152 The Andes and the Amazon. 



CHAPTER X. 



The Valley of Quito. — Riobamba. — A Bed of "Fossil Giants." — Chillo Ha- 

 cienda. — Otovalo and Ibarra. — The Great Earthquake of 1868. 



The Yalley of Quito has about the same size and shape 

 as the basin of Salt Lake, but it is five thousand feet high- 

 er.* The two Cordilleras inclosing it are tied by the 

 mountain-knots of Assuay and Chisinchi, so that the val- 

 ley is subdivided into three basins, those of Cuenca, Am- 

 bato, and Quito proper, which increase in beauty and alti- 

 tude as we travel north. There are several subordinate 

 transversal dikes and some longitudinal ridges, but all the 

 basins lie parallel to the axes of the cordilleras — a charac- 

 teristic feature of the Andes. The deep valleys on the 

 outside flanks are evidently valleys of erosion, but the ba- 

 sins between the cordilleras were created with them. 



The first is fifty miles long. It contains the cities of 

 Loja and Cuenca,t the former distinguished for its cincho- 

 na forests, the latter for Inca graves and mines of precious 

 metals. The middle basin (130 miles in length) is covered 

 with vast quantities of volcanic debris, the outpourings of 

 Cotopaxi, Tunguragua, and Altar, on one side, and of Chim- 

 borazo and Caraguairazo on the other. Nothing relieves 



* Compare the table-lands in the Old World : 



Thibet 11,500 feet. 



South Africa 6,000 " 



Mysore (India) 2,880 " 



Spain 2,240 " 



Bavaria 1,770 " 



t The altitude of Loja is 6768 feet ; of Cuenca, 8640 feet. 



