115 
VOLCANO OF COTOPAXI* 
PLATE X. 
In the description of the valley of Icononzo, 
I observed^ that the enormous height of the 
elevated plains, which surround the lofty sum- 
mits of the Cordilleras, somewhat weakens the 
impression, which these great masses leave on 
the mind of a traveller accustomed to the ma- 
jestic scenes of the Alps and the Pyrenees. It 
is not so much the absolute height of mountains, 
as their aspect, figure, and groupings, that give 
a peculiar character to the landscape. 
I have endeavoured to represent what may be 
called the physiognomy of mountains, in a series 
of drawings, some of which have already ap- 
peared in the geographical and physical Atlas 
belonging to my Essay on the Kingdom of New 
Spain. The comparison of the respective forms 
of mountains in the most distant parts of the 
Globe, like that of the forms of the vegetable 
tribes under different climates, appeared to me 
highly interesting to geology. Very few ma- 
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