Visit of the Academicians to Quito in 1736....Inscription left by....Climate of Quito....View of Mountains at....Description of Chimboraso....Of Cayambe urcu....Of Antisana....Of Cotopaxi....Of Pichincha....Of El Altar....Description of the fertility of the Valleys....Mines....Ruins of Temples, Palaces, and Fortified Places....Account of the Indians....Of Commerce.

In 1736 the academy of sciences at Paris sent M. Luis Godin, M. Peter Bouguer, M. Charles de la Condamine and others to Quito, in order to make some astronomical and physical observations. They were accompanied, by order of the Spanish Court, by Don Jorge Juan, and Don Antonio de Ulloa. Having finished their operations they left the following inscription in marble on the wall of the church belonging to the ex-Jesuits:—

Observationibus Ludovici Godin, Petri Bouguer, Caroli MariÆ de la Condamine Á Regia Parasiensi Scientiarum Academia, inventa sunt Quiti latitudo hujusce templiaustralis grad. 0 min. 3 sec. 18. longitudo occidentalis ab observatorio Regio grad. 81, min. 22. Declinatio acus magneticÆ À borea ad orientem, exeunte anno 1736 grad. 8, min. 45; anno 1742 grad. 8, min. 20. Inclinatio ejusdem infra orizontem parte boreali, conchoe anno 1739 grad. 12. Quiti 1741 grad. 15. Altitudines supra libellam maris geometrice collectÆ in exapedis Parisiensibus spectabiliorum nive perenni hujus provinciÆ montium quorum plerique flammas evomuerunt—Cota-cache 2567, Cayambur 3028, Antisana 3016, Cotopaxi 2952, Tunguragua 2623, Sangay etiam nunc ardentis 2678, Chimboraso 3220, Ilinisa 2717, Soli Quitensis in foro majori 1462, Crucis in proximo Pichincha montis vertice conspicuÆ 2042, acutioris ac lapidei cacuminis nive plerumque operti 2432, ut et nivis infimÆ permanentis in montibus nivosis: media elevatio mercurii in barometro suspensi in Zona Torrida, eaque parum variabilis in ora maritima pollicum 28. linearum 0. Quiti poll. 20. lin. 0¼ in Pichinche ad crucem poll. 17. lin. 7. ad nivem poll. 16. lin. 0 spiritus vini qui in thermometro Reaumuriano À partibus 1000 incipiente gelu ad 1080 partes in aqua fervente intumescit: dilatio Quiti À partibus 1008 ad partes 1018 juxta mare a 1017 ad 1029 in fastigio Pichinche À 995 ad 1012. Soni velocitatis unius minuti secundi intervalo hÆxapedarum 175. Penduli simplicis equinoctialis, unius minuti secundi temporis medii in altitudine soli Quitensis archetypus.

lines

(MensuruÆ naturalis exemplar, utinam et
universalis)

Aqualis 5079/10000 HexapedÆ, seu pedibus 3 pollicibus 0. lineis 6-83/100 major in proximÆ maris littore 27/100 lin. minor in apice Pichinche 16/100 lin. Refractio Astronomica Orizontalis sub Æquatore media, juxta mare 27 min. ad nivem in Chimboraso 19´ 51´´; ex qua et aliis observatis Quiti 22´ 50´´. Limborum inferiorum Solis in Tropicis, Dec. 1736, et Junii 1737, distantia instrumento dodecapedalia mensurata grad. 47, min. 28, sec. 36, ex qua positis diametris Solis min. 32, sec. 37, et 31´ 33´´. Refractione in 66, grad. altitudinis 0´ 15´´. Parallaxi vero 4´ 10´´ eruiter obliquitas EclipticÆ, circa Equinoctium Martii 1737, grad. 23, min. 28, sec. 28. StellÆ triem in Baltheo Orionis mediÆ (Bayero E.) Declinatio Australis Julio 1737 grad. 1, min. 23, sec. 40. Ex arcu graduum plusquam trium reipsa dimenso gradus Meridiani, seu latitudinis primus, ad libellam maris reductus Hexap. 36650. Quorum memoriam ad Physices, AstronomiÆ GeographiÆ Nautice incrementa hoc marmore parieti Templi Colegii Maximii Quitensis Soc. Jesu affixo, hujus et posteri Ævi utilitati V. D. C. Spissimi Observatories Anno Christi 1742.

M. de la Condamine fixed his meridian on the terrace of the college; but this line being traced on brick became effaced, and in 1766 another was substituted on stone, and a Latin inscription on marble was placed on the wall near to it.

The climate of Quito is remarkably agreeable, and almost invariable; the indication of winter is the fall of rain, and the absence of rain constitutes the summer season. During the months of December, January, February, and March it generally rains every afternoon; usually beginning at half-past one o'clock and continuing till five. A rainy or even a cloudy morning is seldom seen at Quito, and even during the rainy season the evenings and mornings are most beautiful.

The temperature is so benign, that vegetation never ceases; hence this city is called the evergreen Quito, siempre verde Quito; it is also called the everlasting spring, eterna primavera; both which epithets it may be said to deserve, for the native trees are all evergreens, and the fields on the slopes of the mountains never lose their verdure.

From the terrace of the government palace there is one of the most enchanting prospects that human eye ever witnessed, or nature ever exhibited. Looking to the south, and glancing along towards the north, eleven mountains covered with perpetual snow present themselves, their bases apparently resting on the verdant hills that surround the city, and their heads piercing the blue arch of heaven, while the clouds hover midway down them, or seem to crouch at their feet. Among these, the most lofty are Cayambe urcu, Imbaburu, Ilinisa, Antisana, Chimboraso, and the beautifully magnificent Cotopaxi, crowned with its volcano, which during the greater part of the three years that I was a resident in this part of America was continually ejecting either smoke or flames, not observable during the day, but particularly visible in the morning and evening.

Having mentioned these mountains, I shall give a brief description of the most remarkable in the province of Quito, being the most elevated in the new world, and till the discovery of the Himmalah mountains, considered the highest on the globe.

Chimboraso is the "Giant of the Andes," the hoary head of which may be seen from the mouth of the Guayaquil river, a distance of not less than one hundred and eighty miles; and here the view is certainly more imposing than when we observe it from the plains extended at its foot: seen from that spot it looks like an enormous semi-transparent dome, defined by the deep azure of the sky; at the same time it cannot be mistaken for a cloud, on account of its solid appearance and well defined edges, so different from the aspect of those collections of vapours. The height of this enormous mass, from the level of the sea, was ascertained by M. de Humboldt to be twenty-two thousand four hundred and forty feet. Its height from the road leading to Quito, which passes along the plain at the foot of the mountain called el paramo, or el pajonal, is twelve thousand one hundred and eighty feet, and five thousand four hundred and sixteen feet above the limit of perpetual snow, under the scorching sun of the equator, and sixteen thousand eight hundred and ninety-two above what is computed to be the limit in England.

M. de Humboldt has remarked, that "mountains which would astonish us by their height, if they were placed near the sea shore, seem to be but hills when they rise from the ridge of the Cordilleras." Without scarcely daring to contradict this most scientific traveller, I cannot avoid expressing my own feelings when I viewed Chimboraso, even at its foot. Perhaps my ideas of grandeur are not correct, so that I must appeal to persons of more extensive conceptions, to know whether a mass rising twelve thousand one hundred and eighty feet above the head of an observer can be considered a "hill!" In the comprehensive mind of a philosopher, the base, not only of this mountain, but the whole range of the Andes, may be a matter not worthy of attention, and consequently detached parts of it must form minor objects. I viewed Chimboraso with sensations of inexpressible delight, mixed with a kind of veneration perhaps more strongly impressed, from the consideration, that it was considered the highest mountain on the globe, for at that time (1809) I had not heard it questioned, and much less denied. A kind of reverential awe crept over me as I stood and gazed on this majestic mass, such as may be more easily imagined than described.

The figure of Chimboraso resembles a truncated cone, with a spherical summit. From the foot of the snow its sides are covered with a calcined matter, resembling white sand; and although no tradition exists of its active volcanic state, yet the issuing of some streams of hot water from the north side of it seems to warrant that it is a volcano, or that it possesses volcanic properties; and the circular summit of the mountain has the appearance "of those paps without craters, which the elastic force of the vapours swells up in regions where the hollow crust of the globe is mined by subterraneous fires."

From the melting of the ice, and perhaps with the assistance of some undiscovered springs on the sides of this mountain, the rivers of Huaranda, Huando, and Machala, have their origin.

Cayambe urcu, Cayambe mountain, is the loftiest of the Cordilleras, excepting Chimboraso; its elevation above the level of the sea is nineteen thousand three hundred and sixty feet, and above that of the plasa mayor of Quito nine thousand one hundred and eighteen. It bears some resemblance to Chimboraso in its dome-shaped summit, and, seen from Quito, it is the most majestic. The beauty of the appearance of Cayambe urcu is rendered more interesting at sunset, on a clear evening; Huahua Pichincha, little Pichincha, being due west of it, the shadow of this may be observed gradually covering the foreground of that, and a few seconds before the sun dips in the horizon, the shadow ascends the mountain with great rapidity, and finally, in a moment, the whole is dissolved in darkness. An impression is made on the mind of the observer, that this is caused by an overshadowing, and he remains gazing in expectation that the mountains will again emerge; but the very short duration of twilight soon convinces him that he looks in vain; and when he turns his eyes from Cayambe to search for the other mountains, they are gone also. This colossal mountain is crossed on its summit by the equator, and were it not overtopped by its neighbour Chimboraso, it would appear as if destined by the hand of nature to be a monumental division of the two hemispheres. Cayambe is a volcano; but its crater has never been examined, nor are there any traditions of its being in a state of injurious activity. At the foot there are several vestiges of mines, said to have been very rich when worked by the indians before the conquest of the country, but at present they are entirely abandoned. The rivers which have their origin in the north and west sides of Cayambe empty themselves by the Esmeraldas and Mira into the Pacific; the others into the Atlantic, by the MaraÑon.

Antisana is a porphyritic mountain; its summit is nineteen thousand one hundred and fifty feet above the level of the sea, on which there is the crater of a volcano: near to the foot of this mountain is the small village of Antisana, situated at the amazing height of thirteen thousand five hundred feet above the sea; it is considered to be the highest inhabited spot on the surface of the globe.

Seen from Quito, Cotopaxi is the most beautiful mountain in the whole range, on account of its shape, being that of a truncated cone, having a flat summit; it is eighteen thousand eight hundred and ninety feet above the level of the sea, and, as already observed, its volcano, the crater opening on the top of the mountain, is in constant activity, appearing sometimes in the morning and evening like a colossal beacon: the flame rises in such a manner, that its light is reflected from the icy coating of the mountain.

A faint idea of the majestic Cotopaxi may be conveyed, if we consider that it is nearly as high above the level of the sea as Mount Vesuvius would be were it placed on the top of Mont Blanc, the highest point of the Alps—or if the highest volcano in the old world, Etna, were placed on the top of Bennevis, the highest mountain in Scotland, and both on the top of Snowdon, the loftiest mountain in Great Britain; the crater of Etna would not then be on a level with that of Cotopaxi.

Cotopaxi is the most dreadful volcano in the province of Quito, and its ravages are spoken of by the inhabitants with horror. In 1738 the flame which rose from the crater ascended to the height of three thousand feet above the summit of the mountain: in 1743 its roarings were heard at the distance of two hundred leagues, at Hurda; at Guayaquil, a distance of fifty-two leagues, they were mistaken for loud peals of thunder. This was the first eruption after the arrival of the Spaniards in this part of America; but a short time before their appearance, when Pedro Alvarado was on his march from Punto Viejo, the first eruption took place, at which time a huge mass of stone was ejected, which the natives call the head of the Inca, cabesa del Inca. The traditional record of the indians is, that this explosion and ejectment happened on the very day on which Atahualpa was strangled at Caxamarca, for which reason it received the name which it now bears.

Before the second eruption, in 1743, a rumbling subterraneous noise was heard, which continued to increase for five or six days, when an eruption took place on the summit, and three other apertures or craters made their appearance about the middle of the acclivity, the whole mountain being covered with snow till the moment that the eruption took place, when the entire frozen mass was instantaneously melted by the streams of melted lava, excepting some huge heaps that were thrown into the air, where they melted amid the flames of the ignited matter that was ejected. The melted snow overflowed the country lying between Cotopaxi and Tacunga, a distance of five leagues, destroying the houses, inhabitants, and cattle. The river of Tacunga was too limited to carry off the enormous quantity of matter which flowed into it, and part of the town and property on the adjacent country was destroyed. This dreadful scene of devastation continued for three days, and the country at the foot of the mountain, and extending more than three leagues on each side, was covered with cinders and scoria. During this time of terror and dismay to the people of Quito, Tacunga, Ambato, Riobamba, and the surrounding villages, the roaring of the volcano seemed to increase; but on the fifth day all was quiet; the fire and the smoke disappeared, and the terrified inhabitants hoped that all the combustible matter was consumed, and that they should, consequently, thenceforward live securely from the fury of this devastating enemy.

In the month of May, 1774, the flames forced their passage through the sides of the mountain, and continued to burn till November, when an eruption, equal to that of the preceding year took place, and the inhabitants of the surrounding towns were afraid that utter ruin awaited both them and the whole country. At this eruption enormous quantities of ashes were thrown out, which mixing with the water and mud darkened the current of the MaraÑon to the distance of more than a hundred leagues; so that the Jesuit missionaries, seeing not only that the colour of the water was changed, but that many dead bodies, drowned animals, pieces of furniture, and wrecks of houses floated down the stream, and hearing also the loud roaring of the volcano, sent expresses to inquire the fate of their countrymen, imagining that something more dreadful had occurred than what had really taken place.

On the 4th of April, 1768, another explosion took place; but nothing except ashes were thrown or carried to any considerable distance; the latter were ejected in such quantities, that the sun was completely hidden, and from half past two o'clock till the following morning the inhabitants of the neighbouring towns and villages were obliged to light candles and to use lanterns in the streets.

In January, 1803, an explosion took place, after all external appearances of the existence of a volcano, or that either fire, smoke or vapour had ceased to be visible for more than twenty years. In one night the activity of the subterraneous fires became so powerful, that the surface of the mountain was heated to such a degree as to melt the whole of the immense quantity of ice and snow which covered it to an unfathomable depth, and to a height, from the limit of perpetual snow, of not less than four thousand two hundred feet. At sunrise on the following morning the whole cone was entirely deprived of its customary covering, and of its dark brown appearance. At this time the damage sustained was not so considerable as at the former explosions; nothing was injured except some houses and cattle that were washed away by the sudden increase of the waters. M. de Humboldt says, that he heard the tremendous noise of the volcano, like continued discharges of a battery, at Guayaquil, fifty-two leagues in a straight line from the crater; it was heard also even on the Pacific Ocean to the south west of the island of Puna.

From the east side of Cotopaxi the river Napo takes it rise; and from the south the Cotuche and Alagues, which afterwards unite and enter the MaraÑon; to the north rises the river del Pedregal, which after receiving some minor streams joins the Esmeraldas, which empties itself into the Pacific Ocean.

Carguairaso is a volcano, the summit of which is fourteen thousand seven hundred feet above the level of the sea; it is situated in the province of Riobamba. In the year 1698 it ejected such enormous quantities of water, mud and stones as to destroy the crops in the neighbouring fields, and the lives of many thousands of the inhabitants. This dreadful calamity was also accompanied by one of the most alarming earthquakes that had been felt in this part of South America.

To the westward of Quito is the volcano of Pichincha, on the eastern skirt of which the city is built. The mountain is elevated fifteen thousand nine hundred and forty feet above the level of the sea. The greatest explosions of this volcano have been in the years 1535, 1575, 1660, and 1690; in the last of which very fine ashes continued to fall in Quito for twelve days; the air was darkened by them, and the streets were covered more than two feet thick. The crater of this volcano opens to the westward, so that Quito must suffer from it so long as this continues to be the only crater, for the ashes are blown over the top of the mountain by a westerly wind; but the ravages committed by it are generally limited to the province of Esmeraldas.

In 1811 I observed the leaves of the plantains covered with very fine ashes, which had been ejected from Pichincha, and carried to the distance of thirty-one leagues.

The summit of this mountain is called Rucu Pichincha, old Pichincha; it is composed of several spire-shaped rocks, rising above the snow, at the back of the crater; these are seen from Mindo, a small village situated near the road which I re-explored, between Quito and Esmeraldas. Detached from this there is the top of another mountain, connected with the same base, and called Huahna Pichincha, young Pichincha; its head is rocky, and it is the highest point that the Spanish and French academicians arrived at during their operations.

El Altar, formerly called by the indians Caparurar, and which name it still retains among the natives, when speaking of it in Quichua, signifying the snow mountain, was anciently higher than Chimboraso is at present; but the volcano having consumed the walls of the crater till they were incapable of supporting their own weight, the top fell in. This was the case with that of Carguairaso in 1698; and the ruins of the two volcanos bear a strong similarity in their pointed ridges, their spire-like rocks, and leaning directions; they appear as if falling into decayed heaps.

I have only mentioned the most remarkable of the mountains visible at the city of Quito; but besides these are the following in different parts of the kingdom:

Many of the ravines, quebradas, and valleys in this province have a very warm atmosphere, which in some is so very hot and unwholesome that they are uninhabitable. Other valleys which are more elevated are remarkably healthy, uncommonly productive, and extremely delightful as places of residence. One of these, called Pomasqui, is about five leagues from Quito, where sugar-cane arrives at a state of maturity in three years, and where many of the intertropical fruits come to their greatest perfection. This luxury is enhanced by the proximity of other situations possessing all the variety of climates known in the world: in the course of three hours a person may experience the rigidity of the poles, the oppressive heat of the equator, and all the intermediate temperatures. A peon will ascend a mountain in the morning, and return with ice so early in the day as to afford time to allow him to bring before sunset the luscious pine-apple, the banana, and the chirimoya, to where the apple, peach, and pear grow and ripen. There the botanist at one glance would compass the whole of the vegetable creation, and in one day's excursion would range from the palm to the region where vegetation becomes extinct.

These valleys are principally under cultivation, and bless the husbandman with a continued succession of crops; for the uninterrupted sameness of the climate in any spot is such as to preclude the plant as well as the fruit from being damaged by sudden changes in the temperature of the atmosphere, changes which are in other countries so detrimental to the health of the vegetable world. The fertility of some of these valleys exceeds all credibility, and the veracity of the description would be doubted, did not the knowledge of their localities and the universal descriptions of the equability and benignity of these climates ensure the probability. An European is astonished on his first arrival here to see the plough and the sickle, the sower and the thrashing-floor, at the same time in equal requisition:—to see at one step a herb fading through age, and at the next one of the same kind springing up—one flower decayed and drooping, and its sister unfolding her beauties to the sun—some fruits inviting the hand to pluck them, and others in succession beginning to shew their ripeness—others can scarcely be distinguished from the colour of the leaves which shade them, while the opening blossoms ensure a continuation. Nothing can be more beautiful than to stand on an eminence and observe the different gradations of the vegetable world, from the half-unfolded blade just springing from the earth, to the ripe harvest yellowing in the sun and gently waving with the breeze.

An enumeration of the different vegetable productions of this province would be useless; it will be sufficient to observe, that grain, pulse, fruits, esculents, and horticultural vegetables are produced in the greatest abundance and of an excellent quality, as well as all kinds of flesh meat and poultry.

The province of Quito abounds in veins of gold and silver ore; but at present (1810) none are wrought. Grains of gold are often found among the sand washed down from Pichincha; but no search has ever been made to discover the matrix, nor does any tradition exist, nor any vestige remain of the working of mines in this mountain.

The mountains in the neighbourhood of Palactawga, in the district of Riobamba, are full of veins of gold and silver ore; but, excepting what is gathered when the rainy season ceases among the decombres washed down, they are entirely neglected; however, Don Martin Chiriboga, in 1808, had selected a very rich vein, which he assured me he had chosen out of thirteen shewn to him, and had taken out a register for the working of it; but during my stay in the province nothing effectual was done.

Near a village called Puncho a vein of cinnabar was discovered and seized by the government, because mines producing quicksilver were a royal monopoly; but a German mineralogist having been sent for from Lima, to form an assay of the ore, declared in his report to the royal audience, that it was a mine of sheet tin, haja de lata, not knowing the proper name for tin; however this mistake caused the tribunal to declare, that the mine should not be wrought nor again mentioned in court.

At Popayan and Cuenca there are many veins of iron, according to the generally received reports, particularly at the latter place, which is said to stand on a bed of iron ore. As I did not visit Cuenca, I mention this on the authority of several individuals, of whose veracity I have no reason to doubt.

I have already, when at Huacho, spoken of the character of the Peruvian indians; and as those of Quito were under the government of three of the Incas, received their laws, rites, and customs, and adopted their language, it is only reasonable to consider them a part of that nation, or rather, that the character of that nation was stamped on their habits and customs: at least, persevering industry, whether the result of their becoming the subjects of the Inca, or otherwise, is strongly marked in many of the remains of buildings in the territory belonging to Quito.

The ruins near to Cayambe may certainly be called superb. They are supposed to be the remains of a temple dedicated to the great creating spirit, Pachacamac. These ruins are on an elevated part of the plain: their form is a circle forty-eight feet in diameter; the walls are fifteen feet high and five thick, and the whole is built of adobes, sun-dried bricks, cemented with clay. The materials of which the walls are constructed are in a state of perfect preservation, which fact appeared to me more surprising than the building itself; because the climate is very different from that on the coast of Peru, where I had seen buildings of this class. Here the rains are both violent and of long continuance, nevertheless the walls are in many parts entire, though formed of clay, and seem by their hardness destined to defy the ravages of time for centuries to come.

At the northern extremity of the plains on which the town of Tacunga is built are the remains of Callo, belonging at present to a farm in the possession of the Augstin friars. This edifice, supposed to have been a palace of the Inca, was built of porphyry; the stones were cut into long square prisms of different dimensions, having the exterior surface slightly convex, except at the doors, where the fronts are plain; this gives to the walls the fluted appearance of rustic work. The stones are joined with such extreme nicety and exactness that the point of a pen-knife cannot be introduced between them. A kind of asphaltum seems to have been used as a cement, although in other Peruvian buildings a marly soil was employed for this purpose.

About one hundred yards from these ruins, fronting the principal entrance, there is a mount, standing in the middle of a plain: it is about a hundred and fifty feet high, having the shape of a cone, and appears to owe its existence ta human labour. It is called el panecillo de Callo, and, like that which stands at the southern extremity of the city of Quito, is supposed to have served the purpose of a watch-tower, because it commands an extensive view of the surrounding country, and might be one of the means employed to provide for the safety of the conqueror against any sudden surprize of his new subjects. If we believe the tradition of the Indians, it is a huaca or mausoleum of some of the royal race of the Incas; but this is not correct, because, according to Garcilaso, these were all interred at Cusco, to which place they were conveyed if they died in any other part of the country, Cusco being considered their holy city.

Near the town of Atun CaÑar there is another ruin, similar to that at Callo, but of much greater extent; it was visited by M. de Humboldt, who gives a description of it in his researches. At the distance of six leagues is another at Pomallacta, and there are more in many parts of the country.

Several remains of fortified places, called pucuras, still exist; they are hills or mounts surrounded by ranges of moats or ditches, dug behind each other, and protected or strengthened with parapets of stone, whence the holders could safely annoy the enemy. These places were so common, that almost every eligible situation was thus fortified: the outward moat of circumvallation at Pambamarca is upwards of a league and a half in extent.

The oral traditions of the indians touching the state of their country before the arrival of the prince Huaina Capac, afterwards Inca of Peru, are very trifling, and clothed in almost impenetrable obscurity; indeed, the language spoken by them is entirely unknown, having been completely superseded by the Quichua, the court language of the Incas.

Huaina Capac having conquered the capital, called at that time Lican, he espoused Pacchachiri, the daughter of the Quitu or supreme chief; she was afterwards the mother of the unfortunate Atahualpa, to whom the Inca at his death bequeathed the territory, which had formerly belonged to the Quitu: the result of which bequest has already been shewn at Caxamarca.

Of the present race of indians, I shall only add to what I have said when speaking generally of this class of the inhabitants of South America, that the law of repartimiento, and the continuation of corregidores in the provinces have weighed most heavily on the unfortunate indians of the kingdom of Quito; consequently with their debasement all the vices of indolence, apathy, and sloth are more visible here than in those parts of the colonies, where the curse of conquest has been less felt.

Owing to the numerous population of Quito, its various climates, and consequent diversity of productions, it must at some future period become highly interesting to the naturalist, the merchant, and the traveller. At present, one of the principal branches which will attract commercial attention is that of wool, the quantity being great, and the quality above mediocrity; but it will gradually improve as a more perfect knowledge of the treatment of sheep becomes known to the natives.