39Q 



CARTAGO. 



evening made an excursion with the Juez Po- 

 litico, Sehor Zereso, Don Luis, and M. Le 

 Roche, to a small hill commanding the town, 

 when, the evening being tolerable, we had a 

 fine view of a ridge of mountains which di- 

 vides this valley from the Pacific Ocean, — 

 their summits entirely covered with snow. The 

 smoke of a volcano is to be seen, which is si- 

 tuated on the other side of the summit of the 

 mountains. From a small chain of hills, near 

 to this range of mountains, with a good glass, 

 have been seen numbers of the carnivorous ele- 

 phants, feeding on the plains which skirt these 

 frozen regions : their enormous teeth have oc - 

 casionally been seen ; but no one has yet suc- 

 ceeded in killing one of these animals, or, in- 

 deed, in getting near to them. There are 

 great quantities of v^'ild cattle in these plains, 

 to kill which the Indians sometimes make ex- 

 cursions. This chain of mountains runs north- 

 east and south-west. 



About three or four leagues from Carta- 

 go, a ridge of hills, of but little elevation, 

 rises in the plain, and entirely shelters the 

 town and valley of Cartago from the cold 

 blasts which come from the snow-clad moun- 

 tarns. These chilling winds skirt along the 



