84 TRAVELS AMONGST THE GREAT ANDES. chap. iy. 



elevations/ In these days, besides ascending to the summit, I 

 went three times as high as 18,528 feet. Or, the case may be 

 stated in the following way. In the period intervening between 

 4.45 p.m. on Dec. 27 and 4 p.m. on Jan. 12 I did not ex- 

 perience a higher pressure than 16*500 inches, except during 

 the few hours on Jan. 1 when I descended to inspect the depot. 

 For six consecutive days, namely, from 4 p.m. on Jan. 2 to the 

 same hour on Jan. 8, pressure was never higher than sixteen 

 inches ; and in these six days, on three occasions, the barometer 

 was observed to be standing below 15*300 inches, and on one 

 other day to be as low as 14*100 inches.' 



In these seventeen days we had experienced the reality of 

 mountain-sickness, and found that we were not exempt from it 

 at a pressure of sixteen and a half inches ; that in course of time 

 the more acute symptoms disappeared, as we became habituated 

 to that pressure, and that we were able to sustain a slight further 

 diminution without their recurrence. There was no certainty 



^ The nearest parallel of which I am aware is to be found in the experiences 

 of some of the officers of Sir Douglas Forsyth's Mission to Yarkund. See the 

 Geographical Report of Capt. (now Col.) H. Trotter, R.E., in Report of a Mis.sioii 

 to Yarkund in 1873, under command of iSir T. D. Forsyth, K.C.S.I., C.B. ; 4to, 

 Calcutta, 1875. 



2 During the whole of this time, there was not one really fine day. As a 

 rule, the weather at daybreak on Chimborazo was reasonably good at our level, 

 and the two summits were cloudless, or nearly so. Clouds at that time, however, 

 always existed beneath us, commencing at about 13-14,000 feet, and extending 

 how low I cannot say. Hill-tops of greater elevation than this'" were commonly 

 clear. By 8 a.m., or thereabouts, clouds commenced to form over the eastern side 

 of the mountain ; and, gradually extending upwards, generally shut out the sum- 

 mits by 10 a.m. There were thunderstorms on the south side of Chimborazo on 

 every day from Dec. 28 to Jan. 12 inclusive, and some were extremely violent. 

 These seldom occurred before mid-day. Snow fell around us every day, on an 

 average, to the extent perhaps of three inches per day. The snow was commonly 

 wet, and in small flakes. Dry, powdery snow did not occur. Hail fell, but not in 

 great quantities or in pellets of large size. The extreme temperatures noted at 

 the camps were 72°"5 Faht. at 11 a.m., in the tent at the second camp on Jan. 9, 

 and 17° Faht., the minimum of the night of Jan. 5, at the third camp. 



