252 TRAVELS AMONGST THE GREAT ANDES, chap. xiii. 



accompanies the description is extraordinary. Humboldt says 

 that during minor eruptions of Cotopaxi, Tunguragua, and Sangai, 

 and eruptions or convulsions of Imbabura and Carihuairazo, 

 immense numbers — thousands — of these fish (which he calls 

 Pimelodus cyclopum) are thrown out ; that they are sometimes 

 ejected from the craters at the summits of these mountains, and 

 sometimes through fissures in their slopes ; curious to say, " con- 

 stantly at the elevation of 15,986-16,626 feet (3500 to 2600 

 toises) above the sea/' He speaks of this as a regular occurrence 

 in the case of the first three named mountains, and says that the 

 pestilential odours which arise from the decay of these fish cause 

 fevers, etcetera. 



The most wonderful part of the story has yet to come. These 

 fish, which are supposed to be ejected from the craters of fiery 

 volcanoes 17,000 to 19,500 feet above the sea, or from fissures at 

 heights of 16,000 to 16,600 feet, are said to reach the plains alive, 

 after they have tumbled or have been washed all the way down 

 the sides of the mountains. The distinguished traveller adds, 

 cautiously, '^'^this fact does not appear to me to be sufficiently 

 vouched for^' ; but says, immediately afterwards, ^^ What is certain 

 is that, amongst the thousands of dead fish one sees come down 

 from Cotopaxi there are very few sufficiently disfigured to let 

 one believe that they have been exposed to great heat. This 

 fact becomes more striking when we consider the soft flesh of 

 these animals. . . It appeared very interesting for Natural His- 

 tory to verify the nature of these animals.'^ For the rest let me 

 refer the reader to the original, or to Aspects of Nature, vol. ii, 

 p. 231, where the same story is given in different words. 



It will, I think, be gathered from the original, that Humboldt 

 did not himself see any of the fish which were said to have been 

 ^ ejected.^ He identified them with the fish which are found in 

 ponds, lakes, and streams throughout the interior of Ecuador, and 

 it was one of these latter that he figured and described. He 

 commits himself, however, to a belief in the story by the passage 



