CHAP, xviir. THE DESCENT. 327 



The surface of the snow had hardened under the increasing 

 cold, and we slipped along quickly, — Louis first, followed by 

 David ; then Campana in my charge ; while Jean - Antoine came 

 last, and acted as sheet-anchor. Though the little Interpreter 

 tumbled about gloriously, he tugged no more than a good - sized 

 fish at the end of a line ; and we descended boisterously, cutting 

 the zigzags, and finding great advantage from sticks which had 

 been planted to mark the route, in the same manner as upon 

 Sara-urcu and Carihuairazo. About 4.45 a brief halt was made to 

 get an observation of the mercurial barometer for the height of the 

 snow-line (16,700 feet), and then, casting off the rope, we put on 

 full steam, and arrived at camp at 5.10 p.m.^ 



By this time the coarser particles of the Volcanic Dust had 

 fallen below our level, and were settling down into the valley of 

 the Chimbo (the bottom of which was still 7000 feet beneath us), 

 causing it to appear as if filled by thick smoke. The finest ones 

 were still floating in the air like a light fog, and so it continued 

 until night closed in. The tent was laden with the dust, and a 

 large quantity had slipped and fallen down its sloping sides. I 

 collected more than three ounces from the roof, and this was not 

 the half of what remained upon it. Subsequently, I found that at 

 the town of Ambato, between 11 and 11.15 a.m., upon a piece of 

 paper one foot square, spread out to receive it, four ounces were 



1 I have felt it unnecessary to say much about the second ascent of Chimborazo, 

 beyond indicating the direction that was followed. The north-west ridge (that 

 referred to upon p. 25, and shewn on the left of the engraving facing p. 24) leads 

 with remarkable directness towards the summit, and its crest or arete is unusually 

 free from impediments. At the upper end, where it abuts against the Northern 

 Walls (or, perhaps it should be said, where it issues from them, for I suspect that 

 this is another lava-stream), one is already 18,900 feet above the sea. and so far as 

 this point ice-axes are not required. It is then necessary to bear towards the south, 

 and a certain amount of cutting is obligatory whilst traversing the head of the 

 Glacier de Stiibel. Crevasses there, though numerous, are easily avoided, and the 

 steepest angles of the slopes do not exceed 35°. Beyond this, the route joins that 

 described in Chapter III. Neither upon Jan. 4 nor July 3 were there any open 

 crevasses in the plateau between the two domes. 



