53 
NATURAL BRIDGES 
OF 
ICONONZO. 
PLATE IV. 
Amidst the majestic and varied scenery of the 
Cordilleras, the vallies most powerfully affect 
the imagination of the European traveller. The 
stupendous height of the mountains can be dis- 
cerned only at a considerable distance, and from 
the low lands which extend along the coasts to 
the foot of the central chain. The elevated 
plains, which encircle the summits of these moun- 
tains covered with perpetual snow, are for the 
most part from two thousand five hundred to 
three thousand metres above the level of the 
ocean. This circumstance weakens in some 
measure the effect produced by the colossal 
masses of Chimborazo, Cotopaxi, and Antisana, 
viewed from the lofty plains of Riobamba and 
Quito : while, on the contrary, the vallies of the 
Cordilleras, deeper and narrower than those of 
