254 TRAVELS AMONGST THE GREAT ANDES, chap. xiii. 



and earthquakes large numbers of these fish have been found out of 

 water^ but this would not prove ejection by or from the volcanoes. 

 Floods occasionally pour down the slopes of Cotopaxi, causing 

 rivers to swell and to overflow their banks (see pages 127, 138, 

 and 159) ; and it would be no marvel if during such inundations 

 multitudes of fish were borne from their native haunts, and left 

 stranded when the waters subsided. Also, during earthquakes, 

 fissures opening in the earth may change the courses of streams ; 

 or might, by intersecting the beds of pools, drain them and leave 

 shoals of fish high and dry, living and unscathed. In these possi- 

 bilities there is, I imagine, the sub-stratum of truth upon which 

 a mountain of fable has been raised. 



In an indirect manner, the statement that Pimelochis cyclopum 

 is the only fish found in the interior above 8750 feet has been 

 questioned. Other travellers have brought home fish from this 

 region, on several occasions, which have been described under 

 various names. In a paper in the American Naturalist for 1871 

 (pp. 694-5), Dr. Putnam, however, advanced the opinion that the 

 whole of these so-called different species should be referred to 

 one, somewhat variable, species ; and as the descriptions had been 

 based upon a small number of examples I thought it was advisable 

 to collect freely, in order that the matter might be re-investigated. 



Machachi was the first place where enquiries were made, and 

 I introduced the matter there to the tambo-keeper, who at once 

 declared that several kinds of fish could be found in the neigh- 

 bouring streams. "My good Antonio,^" said I, '^''if you will only 

 shew me two kinds I will give you five pesos." This manner of 

 approaching the subject commended itself to the landlord, and 

 he soon brought examples ; but, although there were differences 

 amongst them, Antonio Eacines did not earn the reward ; for 

 when they were placed side by side he was obliged to confess 

 that they were all one kind. Yet he maintained to the last that 

 other fish were to be found in the interior of Ecuador, and that 

 they grew six, seven to eight inches long. 



