171 



we had been accustomed to a very high temper- 

 ature, and the dry wind increased the feeling of 

 cold, because it carried off every moment the 

 small atmosphere of warm and humid air, which 

 was formed around us from the effect of cuta- 

 taneous perspiration. 



The brink of the crater of the Peak bears no 

 resemblance to those of the greater part of the 

 other volcanoes which I have visited : for in- 

 stance, the craters of Vesuvius, Jorullo, and Pi- 

 chincha. In these the Piton preserves it's conic 

 figure to the very summit ; the whole of their 

 declivity is inclined the same number of degrees, 

 and uniformly covered with a layer of pumice 

 stone very minutely divided ; when we reach the 

 top of these volcanoes nothing obstructs the 

 view of the bottom of the crater. The Peak of 

 Teneriffe, and Cotopaxi, on the contrary, are of 

 very different construction. At their summit a 

 circular wall surrounds the crater ; which wall, 

 at a distance, has the appearance of a small cy- 

 linder placed on a truncated cone. On Coto- 

 paxi * this peculiar construction is visible to the 

 naked eye at more than 2000 toises distance ; 

 and no person has ever reached the crater of 

 this volcano. On the Peak of Teneriffe, the wall, 

 which surrounds the crater like a parapet, is so 

 high, that it would be impossible to reach the 

 Caldera, if on the eastern side there was not a 



* Picturesque Atlas, folio, pi. 10. 



