A PHASMA FROM LA DORMIDA, CAYAMBE. 



CHAPTER XIX. 



UPON SOME RESULTS OF THE JOURN^EY. 



In" a very short time it was found that there were things to be 

 unlearned as well as discovered in Ecuador. It had been supposed 

 that the slopes of Chimborazo led continuously, without a break, 

 down to the flat land bordering the shores of the Pacific [see p. 12]. 

 I saw that this was not the case, and that an important range 

 of mountains intervened between it and the Ocean. Next we 

 ascertained that Chimborazo streamed with glaciers, although high 

 authorities state that it has none ; and in course of time it became 

 apparent that the two '"^parallel Cordilleras," which according to 

 geographers are the great feature of the country, do not exist. 



The axis of the Andes of Ecuador, part of the backbone of 

 South America, runs nearly north and south ; and towards the 

 western edge of the main chain there is a certain sequence of peaks 

 more or less in a line with each other. ^ On the east of these 

 summits there is a succession of basins,'^ of different dimensions 



^ See page 210, and my Route Map. 



2 See pages 85-6, 97, 105, 158-9, 167, 265, etc. 



