228 



TRAVELS AMONGST THE GREAT ANDES, chap. xii. 



once. Later on, attracted by the sound of music, we came upon 

 a minstrel, with upcast eyes, appealing to his star. Then there 

 was a flash, and a quickly following splash, for she suddenly 



appeared on the balcony to 

 damp his ardour, according to 

 the manner of the country ; 

 and made us go back, wonder- 

 ing at the ways of women, — 

 resolved never to play a guitar 

 under a first-floor at Cayambe. 



Our mountain looked im- 

 mense from the village, and 

 we saw on the 2nd of April 

 that, like Antisana, its upper 

 3-4000 feet was almost com- 

 pletely buried under snow and 

 glacier. On the west, its slopes 

 die out very gradually on the 

 Plain of Cayambe,^ and upon 

 this side they do not become 

 steep until one gets higher 

 than 13,000 feet. On the 

 south the angles are more 

 abrupt, and upon its eastern 

 side the mountain is precipi- 

 tous. It was formerly sup- 

 posed to be the only great 

 mountain, anywhere in the 

 world, immediately upon the 



Equator, and it has become improbable that a loftier one will 



ever be discovered exactly on the Line. 



^ The Plain of Cayambe is bounded by Cayambe, Imbabura, and Mojanda. 

 Its drainage falls into the Rio de Guallabamba, and by the Esmeraldas into the 

 Pacific. 



INGRATITUDE. 



