28 
dominion of man. In spite of the rodeos 
on all these estates, a considerable number 
of cattle escape to the deserts of the Para- 
mos, or conceal themselves in the forests 
below. They are then called alzados, or 
miscreants; a term frequently in the Revo- 
lution applied by the Spaniards to the Pa- 
triots. The stock of Antisana is reckoned 
at about 4,000. It is curious that the two 
great reservoirs of cattle in South America 
are placed, one on the burning plains at the 
level of the sea, and the other near the 
limits of perpetual congelation. Mules and 
horses are equally bred in both; but the 
latter, though hardy, are inferior on the 
highlands, both in size and figure, to the 
breed of the lowlands. The best horses of 
Quito are those which are brought colts 
from the pastures of Guayaquil, and after- 
wards reared in the mountains. 
e dined, on our arrival, in the open 
balcony of the mansion of Antisana, for the 
benefit of fresh air, with the thermometer 
at 369, though, to say the truth, there was 
no room in the house big enough to hold a 
table, nor a door through which it could be 
introduced. We accommodated ourselves 
tolerably well at night with blankets and 
sheep-skins, and suffered little from cold, 
except M. Boussingault, who imposed on 
himself the task of getting up several times, 
to observe the horary variations of the ba- 
rometer. The next morning we rode seve- 
ral leagues, through bog and mire, to exa- 
mine what it was hoped might prove a 
silver mine, situated in a glen on the east 
side of the mountain. The specimens, 
however, produced nothing but iron pyrites. 
On the 6th we set out to visit the Nevado, 
or snowy summit of the mountain. We 
arrived early at the foot of the peak, which 
rises abruptly from the surrounding table 
land. The northern extremity swells into 
a dome, while the southern is terminated 
by sharp broken pinnacles. The interme- 
diate space has somewhat the figure of a 
saddle seat, and as the slope seemed here 
ing the ascent to the summit at this point. 
The surface of the snow was frozen hard, 
and the first part of the glacis was so steep 
EXCURSIONS IN THE NEIGHBOURHOOD OF QUITO: 
and slippery, that it required the aid of 
M. Boussingault’s mineralogical hammer 
to break a footing; but after mounting in 
this manner a few hundred feet, the slope 
became more gradual, and finally termi- 
nated in a plain, forming the connexion 
already mentioned betwixt the two extre- 
mities. This was the limit of my ascent; 
for having made an attempt at a point 
which seemed more accessible, I was sub- 
sequently obliged to return, and retrace the 
path of M. Boussingault. In the mean while 
he had continued to climb, and reached, by 
his computation, a part of the northern 
dome, not more than 200 feet below its 
summit: here a perpendicular ice-rock im- 
peded his further progress: the barometer 
giving 17,653 feet. According to the mea- 
surement of the Academicians, Antisana 
is 19,305 feet high; but M. Boussingault 
could hardly be far mistaken as to the 
height of the rock betwixt him and the 
summit, which he compared to that of a 
middling-sized house; granting the inter- 
vening space to be 300 feet, or say, 18,000 
feet, there is still a difference of 1,300 feet 
—an error I am the more inclined to con- 
sider on the part of the Academicians, be- 
cause, judging by the sight, Cayambe, to 
which they give an elevation of 19,386 
feet, is much higher than Antisana. The 
thermometer, at the point ascended, sto 
at 29°; but when the sun occasionally 
broke on the broad snow-field, it produced 
a glare too intense to be endured by the 
eyes, and a heat like that of an oven. The 
bens was partially clouded; but we 
in part above the region of clouds, 
which rolled beneath our feet, and as the 
landscape glimmered far below, dim and 
blue through their misty veil, it reminded 
me of the shadowy worlds of Hades, de- 
scribed in Lord Byron’s “ Cain.” Our 
descent, as may be supposed, was readily 
accomplished, and at 1 P. m. we were at the 
foot of the snow. I found the sun's re- 
flected heat to be here 81°. The vegeta- 
tion of Antisana has little to distinguish it 
from that of the other mountains. It is 
abundant in han one species of 
which, with Ornaments 
