524 



order to shorten the way, our guides led us 

 from the Puerta de la Silla to the farm of Gal- 

 legos by a path, which conducted us to a reser- 

 voir of water, el tanque. They missed their 

 way, however ; and this last descent, the steep- 

 est of all, brought us near the ravin of Cha- 

 caito. The noise of the cascades gave this 

 nocturnal scene a grand and wild character. 



We passed the night at the foot of the Silia. 

 Our friends at Caraccas were able to distinguish 

 us with glasses on the summit of the eastern 

 peak. They felt an interest in the history of our 

 fatigues, but they were little satisfied with the 

 result of a measurement, which did not give the 

 Silla even the elevation of the highest summit of 

 the Pyrennees How can we blame that na- 

 tional feeling, which attaches itself to monu- 

 ments of nature, in a spot where the monu- 

 ments of art are nothing ? How can we wonder, 

 that the inhabitants of Quito and Rio Bamba, 

 proud for ages of the height of Chimborazo, mis- 

 trust those measurements, that elevate the 

 mountains of Himalaya in India above all the 

 colossal Cordilleras ? 



During the journey to the Silla, which I have 

 just described, and in all our excursions in the 

 valley of Caraccas, we were very attentive to 



* It was formerly believed, that the height of the Silla of 

 Caraccas scarcely differed from that of the peak of TenerifTe. 



Lad. America Dcscr., 1633, p. 682. 



