Orleans independent standard. [volume] (Irasburgh, Vt.) 1856-1871, 1868-09-15
Chimborazo.

On our left is the most sublime
spectacle in the New World. 1t is a
majestic pile of snow-its clear out
line on the deep blue sky describing
the profile of lion in repose. At
noon the vertical sun and the profn-
sion of light reflected from the glitter
ing surface will not allow a shadow
to be cast on any part, so that you
can easily fancy the figure is cut out
of a mountain of spotless marble.
This is Chimborazo-yet not the
whole of it-you see but third of
the great giant. His feet are as eter-
nally green as his head is everlasting
ly white; but they are far away be-
meath bananas and cocoa-palms of
the Pacific coast.
Rnn0Soo"- woe disoPpointod wfion
he first saw the sea; and the first
glimpse of Niagara often fails to meet
ones expectations. But Chimhorazo
is sure of worshipper the moment its
overwhelming grandeur breaks upon
the traveller. You feel that you are
in the presence-chamber of the mon
arch of the Andes. There is sublim-
ity in his kingly look, of which the
ocean might be proud.
I 1t looks lofty from the very first.
Now and then an expanse of thin,
sky-like vapor would cut the noun
tain in twain, and the dome, islanded
in the deep blue of the upper regions,
seemed to belong more to Heaven
than to earth. We knew that Chin
5orazo was more than twice the alti-
tude of Etna. We could almost see
the great Humboldt struggling up the
mountain side till he looked like a
black speck moving over the mighty
white, but giving up in despair four
thousand feet below the summit We
see the intrepid Bolivar mounting still
higher; but the hero ofSpanish-Amer-
lean independence returns defeated
man. Last of all comes the philo-
sophie Boussingault, and attains the
prodigious elevation of 19,600 feet
the highest point reached by man
without the aid of balloon; but the
dome remains unsullied by his foot
Yet none of these facts increase our
admiration. The mountain has a
tongue which speaks louder than all
mathematical calculations.
There must be something singularIy
sublime about Chimborazo, for the
spectator at RiObamba is already
about nine thousand feet high, and
the mountain is not so elevated above
him as Mont Blanc above the vale of
Chamouni. when in reality that cul
minating point of Europe would not
reach up even to the snow-limit of
ChimboraZo by two Thousand, ;, feet
1T IS only Whlle sailing on the Pacift
) that one sees ChimboraZO In It's com
) plete proportions. Its very magni
= tudc diminiShes the impression of awe
and wonder, for the Andes on which
it rests are heaved to such vast al
i, titude above the sea that the relative
elevation of its summit becomes re
, duced by comparison with the sur
rounding mountains. Its altitude il
) 21 1,420 feet. One fourth of this il
!. perpetually covered with snow, Sc
that its ancient name. Chimpurazu-
= the mountain of snow-is very appro
pirate.
| Chimborazo was long supposed tt
/ be the tallest mountain on the globe
) but It's supremacy has been supplant
: ed by Mt Everest in Asia and Aeon
cagua in Chill in mountain gloon
and glory. however, it still stands un
rivaled. The Alps have the avalanche
-"the thunderbolt of snow" and th'
glaciers-tho>c icy Niagaras, so beau
tiful and grand. Here they are want
: ing. The monarch of the Andes sit
motionless in calm serenity and un
, broken silence. The silence is abso
lutte and actually oppressive. Th'
road from Guyaquil to Quito crosses
Chimborazo at the elevation of four
teen thousand feet. Save the rusl
of the trade wind in the afternoon
as it sweeps over the Andes, not /;
sound is audible; not the hum of al
insect. nor the chirp of bird, nor th'
roar of the puma, nor the music of run
Ming waters Mid-ocean is never S,
silent. You can almost hear tn,
globe turning on its axis. There wa
time when the monarch deigned tt
, speak, and spoke with voice of thun
der; for the lava on its sides is an ev
idence of volcanic activity. But eve
since the morning stars sang togetheI
over mans creation, Chimborazo ha
sat. in sullen silence, satisfied to lool
"from his throne of clouds DER hal
, the world" There is something yer,
suggestive in this silence of Chimbo
razo. 1t was once full of noise ant
fury; it is now completed noun
: tain, and thunders no more.
As Geo. Fl. Pendleton, of Ohio, wa
leaving the platform recently, afte,
delivering one of his most vigorous
speeches, he was accosted by a one
armed man, who stepped up to hin
and said =
"Mr. Pendleton, allow me to con
gratulate you on the excellence Of
: your speech. can well appreciate
( it, as | lost this arm in defense of th'
principles you advocate" at the sam,
time holding up to view the stump OF