CHAP. XI. SECOND CAMP ON PICHINCIIA. 209 



which we conjectured were those that are called Guagua and 

 Eucn.^ Although there are numerous allusions in the works of 

 previous writers to these summits and to the craters of Pichincha, 

 and we had met various persons in Quito who claimed to have 

 visited the craters (for it was said there were several), I was unable 

 to tell from anything that had been said or heard what was the 

 relative position of the summits/ or where the craters were located ; 

 and when these two peaks made their appearance we were not 

 certain which of the two was the higher. The right hand or 

 eastern one ajopeared to be the lower and the easier to ascend, 

 and I sent Louis to tackle it, while Jean-Antoine and Verity 

 went to pay their attentions to the other. 



During their absence I mounted to the depression in the ridge 

 connecting the two peaks, or ensillada as it is termed/ and found 

 that on the other side it descended very steeply. So far as mist 

 would permit one to see, this was the head of an ordinary mount- 

 ain valley. I awaited the return of my people, and, as their 

 reports agreed that the western peak was the higher, shifted our 

 camp in the afternoon up to a sort of cave that had been dis- 

 covered by Jean-Antoine,* a convenient place (where some cavities 

 in the lava were protected by overhanging masses) roomy enough 

 to let each one select a nook for himself ; and my assistants, con- 

 sequently, were able to snore ad lihitum, without having their 

 ribs poked with an ice-axe. From this refuge, which was just 



^ According to Dr. M. Villavicensio, Rucu-Pichincha means old Pichincha, and 

 Guagua-Pichincha means young or child Pichincha. From this it would appear 

 that, traditionally, the highest point is of less age than the lower one. 



2 Rucu is said to be the most eastern one. Besides these two peaks, others are 

 sometimes referred to. I saw only two. 



3 There are many ensilladas in Ecuador. The term is the equivalent of ' saddle ' 

 as used in the Alps. 



^ By taking a more circuitous route, mules might have been brought to this 

 place, 14,992 feet above the level of the sea. Three hundred feet above it I found 

 the minute mushroom (Cantharellus) which has been described in the Journal of 

 Botany^ June 1890, by Messrs. Massee and Murray. This (15,300 feet) was the 

 greatest height at which Fungi were obtained. 



2E 



