14 TRAVELS AMONGST THE GREAT ANDES, chap. r. 



range on its west ; and subsequently, after skirting the great 

 block of mountains to the south of Ohimborazo, I came upon 

 the range again at the Bridge of Chimbo, passed around its 

 southern extremity, and saw its western slopes at that end 

 dying out in the neighbourhood of Barraganetal. They also 

 extend as far as Muiiapamba. Its northern extremity, and 

 north-western slopes, I have not seen at all. The range has, 

 however, an ascertained length from north to south of 65 miles, 

 and is in breadth 18 to 20 miles — that is to say, it is at least 

 twice the length and breadth of the range of Mont Blanc. 



The range is bounded on the east by the valley of the 

 River Chimbo, and the course of this valley is well seen in the 

 neighbourhood of Guaranda. To the north of that town it 

 opens out into a very large basin, which receives the whole of 

 the drainage of the western side of Ohimborazo. South of 

 Guaranda, the valley for a long distance runs north and south. 

 At Guaranda the river is 8530 feet, and at Chimbo (formerly 

 called the Bridge of Chimbo), according to the Railway authorities, 

 it is 1130 feet above the level of the sea. These facts suffi- 

 ciently show that Chimborazo itself, and the great massif of 

 which it is the culminating point, are separated by a large and^ 

 profound valley from the range of which I have spoken ; and, 

 as this range is not yet known by any distinctive appellation, 

 I propose to call it the Pacific Range of Ecuador.^ 



At Tambo Gobierno we passed as it were into another 

 world. The slopes of the Pacific Range were densely wooded 

 right up to their crests on the side facing the Ocean, while their 

 eastern ones were almost absolutely bare of vegetation. In a few 

 hundred yards the track lost its royal character, and on the 

 other side of the ridge became as dry as the Sahara. A good, 

 made road down a steep lateral valley led us through the 



1 The stream near Chimbo marked Agua Clara on my map, is a mountain 

 torrent gushing out of the southernmost extremity of the Pacific Range, and now 

 supplies Guayaquil with water. 



