72 



BRIDGE OF ROPES 



PENIPE. 



PLATE XXXIII. 



The small river of Chambo, which flows from 

 the lake of Coley, separates the pleasing village 

 of Guanando from that of Penipe. It waters a 

 ravine, the bottom of which is two thousand four 

 hundred metres above the level of the ocean ; 

 and which is celebrated for the cultivation of 

 cochineal*, which the natives have followed from 

 time immemorial. In crossing this country to 

 reach Riobamba, on the western declivity of the 

 volcano of Tunguragua, we stopped to examine 

 the country disrupted by the memorable earth- 

 quake of the 7th of February, 1 797 ; which, in 

 the space of a few minutes, destroyed thirty or 



* See my Political Essay on New Spain, vol. ii, p. 465. 



