I 



414 A VOYAGE TO Book VI, 



mencement of this point to the fnmmit of the moun- 

 tain, we found, from fome geometrical obfervations 

 - made for that purpofe, to be about 880 toifes. Thus 

 the fummit of Cotopaxi is elevated 3126 toifes above 

 the furface of the fea, or fomething above three geo- 

 graphical miles ; and 639 toifes higher than the top of 

 Pichincha. Thefe are mountains I intend to fpeak 

 of ; and the height of them all, confidering the great- 

 nefs of it, may be faid to be nearly equal. 



Iff thefe Cordilleras, the moil fouthern mountain is 

 that of Mecas, more properly called Sanguay, though 

 in this country better known by the former, lying in 

 the jurifdidlion of the fame name. It is of a prodi- 

 gious height, and the far greatefl: part of the whole 

 lurftC^ covered with fnow. From its fummit ilTues 

 a continual fire, attended with explofions, which are 

 plainly heard at Pintac, a village belonging to the 

 jurifdidion of Quito, and near forty leagues diflant 

 from the mountain and, when the v/ind is fair, the 

 nolle is heard even at Quito itfelf. The country ad- 

 iacent to this volcano is totally barren, being covered 

 with cinders ejected by it. In this Pacamo, the river 

 Sangay has its fource. This river cannot be faid to be 

 fmall, but after its junflion with another, called the 

 Upano, forms the Payra, a large riyer which dif- , 

 charges itfelf into the Maranon. 



In the lame eafiern Cordillera, aboyt Cix leagues weft 

 of the town of Riobamba, is a very high mountain, 

 \^^ith two crcfls, and both of them covered with fnow ; 

 ^ that on the north is called Collanes, and that on the 

 fouth Altar ; but the fpace covered with fnow is much 

 lefs than that of Sangay and others qf this clafs, its 

 h^eight being proportionally lefs. 



North of the fame town, and about feven leagues 

 did ant, is the mountain of Tunguragua, of a conical 

 figure, and eqv^ally fleep on all fides. The ground, 

 at its bafis, is fomething lower than that of the Cor- > 

 fjillera^ erpecialjy on the porth fide, where it feems tq 

 / rifq 



