230 TRAVELS AMONGST THE GREAT ANDES, chap. xii. 



Mont Blanc, and affords a perfect stand-point for studying the 

 western side of the mountain. Its position is sufficiently indi- 

 cated by saying that it is at the head of the Monk's Valley and 

 the White Valley ; and it cannot be mistaken if it is added 

 that it lies south-west of the highest point of Cayambe, and is 

 elevated 16,164 feet above the sea/ 



The extreme top of this peak was flat, and the lava in situ 

 was strewn with small pieces of pumice and a number of 

 varieties of other lavas'^ (all, however, having a strong family 

 resemblance to each other) which doubtless were morainic matter, 

 and had been deposited there when the contiguous glacier rose 

 to a higher level. Growing amongst them, there was a quantity 

 of Andrema striata, Mitt., a moss of unattractive character, 

 which seemed to thrive in most exposed positions, and grew 

 both on naked lavas, amongst snow, or in damp volcanic ash.^ 



1 On April 3, at 11 a.m., the mercurial barometer No. 558 (reduced to 32° 

 Faht.) read 16-924 inches, air temperature 55° Faht. The 11 a.m. reading at 

 Guayaquil, reduced to 32° Faht., was 29*915 inches, air temp. 79° Faht. 



2 " The rocks of Cayambe are very uniform in character, and of the same 

 general type as those of Chimborazo, Antisana (in part), and Pichincha (in part). 

 They are andesites, but as they contain hornblende and augite, as well as mica, it 

 is difficult to give them a distinctive name. . . Perhaps it is more appropriate to 

 classify these rocks with the augite-andesites, using the Avord hornblendic as a 

 qualifying epithet, except in the case of the second specimen described, which might 

 perhaps be termed a mica-andesite." — Proc. Hoyal Soc, June 19, 1884. 



3 It had been already collected around the Second Camp on Chimborazo, upon 

 the summit of Corazon, and had been seen in the neighbourhood of the snow-line 

 generally. 



In the Journal of the Royal Geographical Society for 1861, at pp. 184-190, there 

 is an account of a journey made by the late Dr. William Jameson, of Quito, to 

 Cayambe in 1859. He visited the lower slopes of the northern side of the mountain. 

 Botany was his principal object, and a list is given of seventy-eight species of 

 plants that he collected between the height of 10,000 feet and the neighbourhood 

 of the snow-line. In consequence of Dr. Jameson's labours, I did not devote any 

 time to the flora of Cayambe. 



The altitudes given in this paper are generally too high. For Cayambe village 

 he quotes 9724 feet. According to my observations it is 9328 feet above the sea. 

 Messrs. Reiss & Stiibel say 9357 feet. 



