# Travels amongst the Great Andes of the Equator

"THE WHIRLING SNOW MOCKED OUR EFFORTS."
TRAVELS
AMONGST THE GREAT ANDES
OF THE EQUATOR
BY
EDWARD WHYMPER
WITH MAPS AND ILLUSTRATIONS
To sit on rocks, to muse o’er flood and fell, To slowly trace the forest’s shady scene, Where things that own not man’s dominion dwell, And mortal foot hath ne’er, or rarely been; To climb the trackless mountain all unseen,
This is not solitude; ’tis but to hold Converse with Nature’s charms, and see her storess unroll’d. Byron.
SECOND EDITION
LONDON
JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET
1892
All rights are reserved
Copyright 1891, by Charles Scribner’s Sons, for the United States of America
Printed by R. & R. Clark, Edinburgh.
INTRODUCTION.
It will be within the knowledge of most of those who take up this book that it has long been much debated whether human life can be sustained at great altitudes above the level of the sea in such a manner as will permit of the accomplishment of useful work.
The most opposite statements and opinions have been advanced concerning this matter. The extremes range from saying that fatal results may occur, and have occurred, from some obscure cause, at comparatively moderate elevations, down to that no effects whatever have been experienced at the greatest heights which have been attained. Allegations of the latter class may be set aside for the present, for the evidence is overwhelming that, from 14,000 feet above the level of the sea and upwards, serious inconveniences have occurred; that prostration (amounting in the more extreme eases to incapacitation) has been experienced; and that, in a few instances, perhaps, even death has resulted through some cause which operates at great elevations.
This evidence has come from all parts of the world, and has accumulated during several centuries. It has been afforded, independently, by multitudes of persons of diverse conditions—by cultured men of science down to illiterate peasants, the latter of whom cannot have heard of experiences beyond their own; and, although the testimony often differs in detail, it agrees in the ​general, leading features. Nausea and vomiting; headaches of most severe character; feverishness; hemorrhages; lassitude, depression and weakness, and an indescribable feeling of illness, have been repeatedly mentioned as occurring at great elevations, and have only been cured by descending into lower zones. To these maladies the term Mountain-sickness is now commonly applied.
It is very generally admitted that mountain-sickness should be attributed to the diminished atmospheric pressure (or, as it is termed, to the rarefaction of the air) which is experienced as one goes upward. Yet, in various parts of the world, the notion is, and has long been entertained that it is due to local causes, such, for example, as noxious exhalations from vegetation. Some support to this notion seems to be found in the fact that whilst the greatest heights in Europe (15–16,000 feet) are annually ascended by throngs of persons without perceptible inconvenience, multitudes of others in Asia and America suffer acutely at lower elevations (14–15,000 feet); and it would therefore seem that there are influences at work on the latter continents which do not operate in Europe. The apparent discordance is explicable without having recourse to local influences, which could not be deemed sufficient to account for the effects in general, even if they might be entertained in particular instances. Whilst the assumed causes are local, the observed effects are world-wide; and no cause would be adequate to account for the effects except one operating in every clime and at all times.
But, although it is very generally admitted that the evils which have been enumerated are due to diminished atmospheric pressure, many persons arc unconvinced that such is the true explanation, especially those who are accustomed to travel amongst the mountains of Europe; and it is pointed out, apparently with force, that the whole of the symptoms can be produced by other causes, and that aeronauts have sometimes attained higher elevations than have ever been reached on the earth, and have scarcely been affected at all. It is argued that some persons are predisposed to nausea, ​that others are liable to bleeding at the nose, or habitually suffer from headache, and that this accounts for much which has been laid to rarefaction of the air; and further, it is said, or conjectured, that the fatigues inseparable from travel in mountain-regions account for more: in short, that mountain-sickness is to be attributed to the frailties of human nature, or to the imperfections of individual constitutions, and is considered as a sign, or indication, of weakness or incompetency.
It is undeniable that there is some truth in these observations, and it can scarcely be doubted that effects which have been produced by fatigue have often, wrongly, been attributed to rarefaction of the air, and that effects which have been produced by rarefaction of the air have often been assigned to fatigue. The immunity from unpleasant symptoms which has sometimes been enjoyed by aeronauts, even when bounding in a few minutes to enormous elevations, has tended to foster scepticism; and has appeared to support the opinion that fatigue and personal imperfections have had much to do with mountain-sickness, and not to accord with the view that it is produced by diminished pressure—otherwise, why should these persons, transported without effort to superior elevations in the air, have escaped, whilst others, at much inferior ones upon the earth, suffer?
It is scarcely necessary to occupy these pages with a mass of ​extracts in support of the foregoing statements. Those who desire to pursue the matter in detail may usefully turn to the very comprehensive summary in La Pression Barométrique, by M. Paul Bert, where 156 pages are devoted to experiences in high places, 25 more to aeronauts, and 120 more to theories. Evidence of a nature similar to that which is quoted by M. Bert continues to accumulate, and is often, apparently, of a contradictory character. For example, since returning from the journey which is described in the following pages, three writers upon Mexico have mentioned that breathing is affected in that city by the ‘rarefied atmosphere,’ although the altitude in question is less than 8000 feet above the sea; while on the other hand, quite recently (in speaking of the Southern Andes up to heights 13,800 feet above the sea), Dr. A. Plagemann says, “with regard to the effects of rarefied air on the body at high elevations, neither he nor his companions suffered at all.” Still more divergent is the statement by Mr. W. W. Graham that he reached nearly the height of 24,000 feet in the Himalayas, and that “neither in this nor in any other ascent did he feel any inconvenience in breathing other than the ordinary panting inseparable from any great muscular exertion.”
This unique experience has met with little credence in India. ​It is, however, a certain fact that all individuals are not equally affected by diminished pressure, and that instances have occurred at such heights as 14–15,000 feet in which some persons have suffered whilst others have escaped, though the latter have not been exempt upon mounting to greater altitudes. But whilst this must be admitted; and also the probability that the effects of fatigue have often been wrongly interpreted; and, further, that personal frailties are frequently manifested upon mountain ascents, or at great elevations, there is a large residuum which cannot be explained away; and any one examining the matter can hardly fail to arrive at the conclusion that mountain-sickness is a world-wide reality.
This subject, long since, appeared to me to be worthy of investigation for its own sake, more particularly for ascertaining the heights at which effects begin to manifest themselves; the symptoms; and whether the effects are permanent. It seemed certain that, sooner or later, every one must be affected by diminished pressure, but the manner in which it would operate was uncertain, and whether its effects would be felt permanently at any given elevation was unknown. Those who have been affected by mountain-sickness have always desired to be rid of the infliction, and have descended to lower levels at the earliest opportunity. Hence it had not been ascertained whether cures might be effected on the spot; or, to put the matter in another way, whether one can become habituated to low pressures. The remarks which have fallen from those who are most entitled to attention have not been of an encouraging nature, and it may be inferred from their general tenor that as the cause is constant and permanent so will the effects be constant and permanent.
De Saussure, after finding himself through weakness, and difficulty in breathing, unable to make during a four and a half hours stay on the summit of Mont Blanc the experiments which he had repeatedly performed in less than three hours at the level of the ​sea, said he thought it probable that they would never be made at the higher station.
Darwin, who visited the Portillo Pass in the Chilian Andes, although but slightly affected there (at 13–14,000 feet), said, “certainly the exertion of walking was extreme, and the respiration became deep and laborious. It is incomprehensible to me how Humboldt and others were able to ascend to the elevation of 19,000 feet.”
The Schlagintweits attained great heights in Asia, and made some remarks that are more to the point than any others which I am able to quote, although they do not go much into detail. In the second volume of their Results of a Scientific Mission to India and High Asia, p. 484, they say, “As to the beneficial effect of acclimatisation, we can speak from our own personal experience.” [By this expression, I understand them to say that they became somewhat habituated to low pressures.] But they add, in continuation, ”what might have been the consequence had we prolonged our stay in these lofty regions it is impossible to say, the probability, however, being that a longer sojourn would have told severely upon our health.” This is said in connection with an attempt that they made to ascend Ibi Gamin (Kamet), on Aug. 19, 1855, upon which occasion they reached the height of 22,230 feet. In a Report by them which was published at Madras in 1855 (and was reprinted at Calcutta) there is this further information:—“At two o’clock at last it had become absolutely impossible to go ​any higher; two of our people who had got sick had remained behind, and we all the rest felt exceedingly tired and exhausted, as we certainly never were in our life... We had got much used to the influence of height, especially during our Thibetan journey, but up there not one escaped unhurt; we all felt headache.”
To attain results which might be of a more or less conclusive character, it appeared to me that it would be necessary to eliminate the complications arising from fatigue, privations, cold, and insufficiency or unsuitability of food; that the persons concerned should have been previously accustomed to mountain work; that the heights to be dealt with ought to be in excess of those at which it had been generally admitted serious inconveniences had occurred; and that preparations should be made for a prolonged sojourn at such elevations.
The Himalayas and their allied ranges offered the best field for research, and in 1874 I projected a scheme which would have taken me in the first instances on to the very ground where others had been placed hors de combat, and from these positions I proposed to carry exploration and research up to the highest attainable limits. But, just at the time when it was possible to start, our rulers entered upon the construction of a ‘scientific frontier’ for India, and rendered that region unsuitable for scientific investigations. I was recommended by experienced Anglo-Indians to defer my visit, and I followed their advice. Equally debarred, by the unhappy dissensions between Chili, Peru, and Bolivia, from travel amongst the highest of the Andes, I turned to the Republic of Ecuador, the most lofty remaining country which was accessible.
As the main object of the journey was to observe the effects of low pressure, and to attain the greatest possible height in order to experience it, Chimborazo naturally claimed the first attention, on account of its absolute elevation above the sea; and I proposed to ​encamp upon this mountain, at gradually increasing heights, with the ultimate aim of reaching the summit. But as there was no certainty that this could be done, and a possibility, at least, that the results of the investigations might be of a negative character, various other objects were kept in view; principal amongst them being the determination of the altitudes and of the relative positions of the chief mountains of Ecuador, the comparison of boiling-point observations and of aneroids against the mercurial barometer, and collecting in Botany and Zoology at great heights. I concerned myself neither with commerce or politics, nor with the natives and their curious ways; and there are, besides, many interesting topics which might be dwelt upon that find no place in this volume. The Ecuadorian Loan, for example, is a capital subject, and a few pages might well be devoted to a matter in which the public takes so much interest, and from which it derives so little.
Having only my own very small means to depend upon, my staff was necessarily upon the most modest scale. Three assistants were indispensable, and these I proposed to draw from the mountain-guides of Europe. My old guide, Jean-Antoine Carrel, of Val Tournanche, accepted my proposals, and two others also agreed to go but withdrew from their engagements shortly before the date for departure, and placed me in a great difficulty. After vainly endeavouring to obtain the services of some of the best-known men, I was obliged to instruct Carrel to bring any one he could. His cousin Louis (with whom I was already acquainted) came, but no one else could be procured at so short notice, and a third man had to be picked up in Ecuador, and proved, naturally, of no service when a knowledge of mountain-craft was wanted.
It was not advisable to attempt to travel in Ecuador without recognition, and I sought the good offices of the then President of the Alpine Club in this matter. I cannot acknowledge too warmly the cordial co-operation of Mr. Charles Edward Mathews, and the ​personal trouble he took that my wishes might be efficiently represented in the right quarters. Through his instrumentality, I was put in communication with the Ecuadorian Consul-General in Great Britain (Mr. Edmund Heuer of Manchester), and subsequently received from His Excellency the President of the Republic assurance that I should be heartily welcome in his country; and, upon application at the Foreign Office, Lord Salisbury was pleased to direct Her Majesty’s representatives at Guayaquil and Quito to afford every assistance in their power—an instruction which they interpreted sympathetically. Upon the introduction of Mr. Mathews, George Dixon, Esq., M.P. for Birmingham, rendered most valuable service by undertaking to send out in advance and to place in secure hands at Guaranda and Quito a quantity of my heavy baggage.
Through my old friend Mr. Douglas Freshfield, the Caucasian exploiter, the projected journey became known to Freiherr von Thielmann, who had recently ridden through Colombia and Ecuador, and he most kindly met me at Ostend, to give the benefit of his experiences; and from this accomplished diplomatist-traveller it was communicated to Dr. Alphons Stübel, of Dresden, who with rare liberality presented me with a copy of the unpublished altitudes in Ecuador which had been deduced from the observations made by him in 1871–73 in conjunction with Dr. W. Reiss. Many other equally friendly services were performed both by friends and strangers, especially by the fraternity of mountain-travellers, and amongst the very last communications which reached me, just before departure, came a cheering bon voyage from the veteran Boussingault, who forty-eight years earlier had himself endeavoured to ascend Chimborazo.
Similar good fortune continued on the outward voyage. My sincere thanks are due to the agents of the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company, and to the Acting-Consuls at Colon and Panama, ​for their undeserved attentions, and particularly to the Eight Hon. H. C. Childers (at that time chairman of the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company), who most courteously granted me the use of one of his cabins in order that work might be carried on uninterruptedly. Upon arrival at Guayaquil we were at once received into the house of Mr. George Chandlers, H.B.M.’s Consul, and were treated with genuine hospitality.
It is now my duty to acknowledge in the most prominent manner the invaluable services which were rendered throughout the journey by the cousins Carrel. Travellers are not always fortunate in their assistants, and, occasionally, even fall out with them. Under circumstances which were frequently trying, our party, although exceedingly small, was always closely united. The imperturbable good temper of the one man, and the grim humour of the other, were sources of continual satisfaction. I trusted my person, property, and interests to their care with perfect confidence, and they proved worthy of the trust, and equal to every demand which was made upon them.
We travelled through Ecuador unarmed, except with passports which were never exhibited, and with a number of letters of introduction which for the most part were not presented; adopting a policy of non-intervention in all that did not concern us, and rigidly respecting the customs of the country, even when we could not agree with them: and traversed that unsettled Republic without molestation, trusting more to our wits than to our credentials, and believing that a jest may conquer where force will fail, that a bon-mot is often better than a passport.
* ↑ In saying this, it is not meant that there is any doubt as to the possibility of the existence of life at great elevations, for aeronauts have several times shewn, since the commencement of this century, that life may exist, for short periods, at heights exceeding any as yet discovered upon the earth.
* ↑ The following data are taken from the Reports of Mr. J. Glaisher, F.R.S., to the British Association for the Advancement of Science, 1862-3— Date. Time. Barometer. Diff. of Time. Diff. of Pressure. July 17, 1862 9.43 a.m. 29.193 44 min. 14.55 inches. ” ” 10.27 ” 14.637 Sept. 5, ” 1.3 p.m. 29.17 33 ” 14.62 ” ” ” 1.27 ” 14.55 April 18, ” 1.17 p.m. 29.66 32 ” 14.85 ” ” ” 1.49 ” 14.81 Starting from the level of the sea, the height attained in each case was about 19,000 feet, without injurious effects being felt. I am not aware that any one, upon the earth, has ever experienced a natural difference of pressure of fourteen and a half inches in less than four or five days.
* ↑ G. Masson, Paris, 1878. This work has received the highest honours in France. The experiments made by M. Bert upon himself at low pressures, although extremely interesting, left off sooner than could have been desired. In the first of the two experiments which I quote in the Appendix to this volume, he submitted himself to an artificial diminution of pressure somewhat greater than that which is experienced at the summit of Chimborazo, and in the second one to about the pressure which would be enjoyed on the top of Mount Everest. But this was done for only a brief space of time. The first experiment extended over only sixty-six minutes and the second one over eighty-nine minutes; and, as soon as any ill effects commenced to manifest themselves, M. Bert refreshed himself with oxygen. The experiments seemed to shew that oxygen may exercise a beneficial influence.
* ↑ See A Trip lo Mexico, by H. C. R. Becher, Toronto, 1880, p. 73; Mexico To-Day, by T. U. Brocklehurst, London, 1883, p. 28; and Winter in the Slant of the Sun, in Good Words, 1887, p. 245, by the Bishop of Rochester.
* ↑ Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society, April 1887, p. 219.
* ↑ Proc. Royal Geog. Soc., August 1884, p. 434.
* ↑ “Quoique je ne perdisse pas un seul moment, je ne pus faire dans ces 4 heures & demie toutes les expériences que j’ai fréquerament achievées en moins de 3 heures au bord de la mer.”—Voyages dans les Alpes, vol. iv, p. 148. “Je conservois I’espérance bien fondue d’achever, sur le Col-du-Géant, ce que je n’avois pas fait, & que vraisemblablement l’on ne fera jamais sur le Mont Blanc.”—Id. § 2023, p. 215.
* ↑ Narrative of the Surveying Voyages of His Majesty’s Ships Adventure and Beagle, vol. iii, p. 393.
* ↑ London and Leipzig, 1862.
* ↑ The height was deduced from observations of mercurial barometer, and it is the greatest as yet attained upon the earth which has been determined by observations on the spot.
* ↑ Its height, according to Humboldt, is 21,425 feet. See Recueil d’observations astronomiques, d’operations trigométriques, et de mesures barométriques, par Alexandre de Humboldt, Paris, 1810, vol. i, p. lxxiii (introd.).
* ↑ For the antecedents of J.-A. Carrel, see Scrambles amongst the Alps, J. Murray, 1871.
* ↑ And made the ascent of Cotopaxi.
* ↑ Alturas tomadas en la Republica del Ecuador, Quito, 1873.
CONTENTS.
INTRODUCTION.
CHAPTER I.
FROM LONDON TO GUARANDA.
Pages 1–18
CHAPTER II.
FROM GUARANDA TO THE FIRST CAMP ON CHIMBORAZO.
19–40
CHAPTER III.
THE FIRST ASCENT OF CHIMBORAZO.
CHAPTER IV.
FROM CHUQUIPOQUIO TO AMBATO, LATACUNGA AND MACHACHI.
81–99
CHAPTER V.
ON AN ASCENT OF CORAZON, AND WALKS IN THE LANES OF MACHACHI.
100–119
CHAPTER VI.
ON COTOPAXI AND ILLINIZA.
CHAPTER VII.
THE ASCENT OF COTOPAXI, AND A NIGHT ON THE SUMMIT.
136–156
CHAPTER VIII.
THE FIRST ASCENT OF SINCHOLAGUA.
157–166
CHAPTER IX.
ON QUITO AND THE QUITONIANS.
167–183
CHAPTER X.
THE FIRST ASCENT OF ANTISANA.
CHAPTER XI.
UPON AN ASCENT OF PICHINCHA.
207–216
CHAPTER XII.
THE FIRST ASCENT OF CAYAMBE.
217–237
CHAPTER XIII.
THE FIRST ASCENT OF SARA-URCU.
238–255
CHAPTER XIV.
ON THE PROVINCE OF IMBABURA, AND THE FIRST ASCENT OF COTOCACHI.
CHAPTER XV.
A VISIT TO THE PYRAMIDS OF QUITO.
287–295
CHAPTER XVI.
UPON A WALK ON THE QUITO ROAD, AND A JOURNEY TO ALTAR.
296–309
CHAPTER XVII.
THE FIRST ASCENT OF CARIHUAIRAZO.
310–319
CHAPTER XVIII.
ON THE SECOND ASCENT OF CHIMBORAZO.
CHAPTER XIX.
UPON SOME RESULTS OF THE JOURNEY.
335–384
CHAPTER XX.
RETURN TO GUAYAQUIL—CONCLUSION.
385–392
APPENDIX.
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
The drawings were made by F. Babnard, A. Corbould, F. Dadd, W. L. Jones, W. E. Lapworth, W. H. Overend, P. Skelton, E. Wagner, E. Wilson, Joseph Wolf, and Others; and were Engraved on Wood by Edward Whymper.
FULL PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS.
IN THE TEXT.
MAPS, ETC.
This work was published before January 1, 1929, and is in the public domain worldwide because the author died at least 100 years ago.
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