332 COTOPAXI. 
volcanic summit of Pichincha, where they made ex- 
periments on the constitution of the air,—its elasti- 
city, its electrical, magnetic, and hygroscopic quali- 
ties,—and the temperature of boiling water. 
Cotopaxi is the loftiest of those volcanoes of the 
Andes which have produced eruptions at recent pe- 
riods ; its absolute height being 18,878 feet. It is 
consequently 2625 feet higher than Vesuvius would 
be were it placed on the top of the Peak of Teneriffe. 
The scorie and rocks ejected by it, and scattered 
over the neighbouring valleys, would form a vast 
mountain of themselves. In 1738 its flames rose 
2953 feet above the crater; and in 1744 its roarings 
were heard as far as Honda, on the Magdalena, at 
a distance of 690 miles. On the 4th April 1768, 
the quantity of ashes thrown out was so great, that 
in the towns of Hambato and Tacunga the inha- 
bitants were obliged to use lanterns in the streets. 
The explosion which took place in January 1803 
was preceded by the sudden melting of the snows 
which covered the surface; and our travellers, at 
the port of Guayaquil, 1794 miles distant, heard 
day and night the noises proceeding from it, like 
discharges of a battery. 
This celebrated mountain is situated to the south- 
east of Quito, at the distance of 41 miles, in the 
midst of the Andes. Its form is the most beautiful 
and regular of all the colossal summits of that. 
mighty chain ; being a perfect cone, which is covered 
with snow, and shines with dazzling splendour at 
sunset. No rocks project through the icy covering, 
Toribio Montes, sentenced as a traitor, and shot through the back ; 
after which his heart was taken out and burnt.—See Stevenson’s 
Residence in South America, vol. ili. p. 44. 
