PEAKS OF THE ANDES. 



167 



that we kept them in sight for several days, and 

 by making observations upon them at different 

 stations, we were enabled to compute their dis- 

 tance, and, in a rough manner, their elevation 

 also. On the 23d, the western peak was distant 

 eighty-eight miles, and, on the 24th, one hundred 

 and five. The height deduced from the first 

 day''s observations was 14,196 feet; and by the 

 second day's, 15,110: the mean, being 14,653, 

 is probably within a thousand feet of the truth ; 

 being somewhat more than two thousand feet 

 higher than the peak of Teneriffe. The height 

 of the eastern mountain, by the first day's obser- 

 vations, was 14,409 feet, and, by the second, 

 it was 15,382, the mean being 14,895. How 

 far they may have preserved their peaked sh^pe 

 lower down we do not know, nor can we say any- 

 thing of the lower ranges from whence they took 

 their rise, since our distance was so great, that the 

 curvature of the earth hid from our view not on- 

 ly their bases, but a considerable portion of their 

 whole altitude. On the first day 5273 feet were 

 concealed ; and, on the second day, no less than 

 7730 feet of these mountains, together with the 



