152 



TRAVELS AMONGST THE GREAT ANDES, chap. vir. 



We saw an amphitheatre 2300 feet in diameter from north to 

 souths and 1650 feet across from east to west/ with a rugged and 

 irregular crest, notched and cracked ; surrounded by cHffs, by 

 perpendicular and even overhanging precipices, mixed with steep 

 slopes — some bearing snow, and others apparently encrusted with 

 sulphur. Cavernous recesses belched forth smoke ; the sides of 



cracks and chasms no more than half-way down shone with 

 ruddy light ; and so it continued on all sides, right down to the 

 bottom, precipice alternating with slope, and the fiery fissures 

 becoming more numerous as the bottom was approached. At 

 the bottom, probably twelve hundred feet below us, and towards 

 the centre, there was a rudely circular spot, about one-tenth of 

 the diameter of the crater, the pipe of the volcano, its channel 



^ The accompanying plan is made from measurements wliich were talcen on 

 the following morning. From A to B (600 feet) was measured by a line. Z repre- 

 sents the mouth of the pipe at the bottom of the crater. C was the lowest point 

 in the lip or rim, and A, D, E were the highest ones. 



