CHAP. XIII. THE HEIGHT OF SARA-URCU. 251 



ally from the statements made about that mountain by Villavi- 

 cencio. He gives in his Geografia 6210 varas as its height ; ^ upon 

 his map, places it south of east of Quito and south-soiith-iuest of 

 Cayambe (mountain), near Papallacta ; he quotes from A^elasco '^ 

 to the effect that it was a volcano which formerly emitted fire, 

 and he says it has latterly ejected ashes, producing consternation 

 in the Capital, whence it is distant thirty-five miles/ I found 

 that Sara-urcu is only 15,502 feet high, and is placed south-east 

 by south of Cayambe (mountain) ; that it is not a volcano, and 

 cannot have emitted fire and ejected ashes ; and that it lies con- 

 siderably to the 710 rth of east of Quito, at the distance of about 

 forty-five English miles. Instead of being the fifth in altitude 

 of the G-reat Andes of the Equator, it proved to be the lowest of 

 all the snow-peaks, and considerably inferior in elevation to 

 several which scarcely reach the snow-line. 



Before we left Cayambe I pursued enquiries for Cyclojnum 

 {P imelochts) cyclopum. In the first volume of the Zoology of 

 Humboldt and Bonpland's Journey, a description,'' and a figure 

 drawn on the spot by Humboldt himself, of this fish are given, 

 which is said (p. 23) to be the oyily one found in the ' Kingdom 

 of Quito' at heights above 8752 feet (1400 toises). This state- 

 ment is in itself somewhat remarkable, and the information which 



^ Reckoning the vara at 2"782 English feet, 6310 varas are equal to 17,276 

 English feet. I am not aware what foundation he had for this statement. 

 Possibly, he heard that the mountain bore large glaciers, and conjectured that its 

 elevation must be near those of the other glacier-bearing Andes. 



^ I have not been able to find a reference to this mountain in Velasco. 



^ " Segun refiere el P. Velasco en su historia de Quito, este volcan ha arrojado 

 llamas por dos veces ; mas, en estos liltimos aiios, ha arrojado gran cantidad de 

 cenizas volcanicas, por Diciembre de 1843, i por el mismo mes, en 1856. La primera 

 de estas erupciones duro dos dias, i puso en mucha consternacion a los habitantes 

 de Quito, i a sus pueblos circumvecinos. La altura de esta montaiia es de 6210 

 varas sobre el mar. . . Esta situado a 35 millas E. de Quito." — Oeografia de la 

 Repuhlica del Ecuador, por Manuel Villavicencio, 8vo, New York, 1858, pp. 52-53. 



* Vol. i, pp. 21-25, PI. 7. Memoire sur une nouvelle espece de Pimelode, jctee par- 

 ies volcans du Royaume de Quito. 



