53 



NATURAL BRIDGES 



ICONONZO 



PLATE IV. 



Amidst the majestic and varied scenery of the 

 Cordilleras, the vallies most powerfully affect 

 the imagination of the European traveller. The 

 stupendous height of the mountains can be dis- 

 cerned only at a considerable distance, and from 

 the low lands which extend along the coasts to 

 the foot of the central chain. The elevated 

 plains, which encircle the summits of these moun- 

 tains covered with perpetual snow, are for the 

 most part from two thousand five hundred to 

 three thousand metres above the level of the 

 ocean. This circumstance weakens in some 

 measure the effect produced by the colossal 

 masses of Chimborazo, Cotopaxi, and Antisana, 

 viewed from the lofty plains of Riobamba and 

 Quito : while, on the contrary, the vallies of the 

 Cordilleras, deeper and narrower than those of 



