The Red Cloud chief., 1877-10-04
COTOPAxL.

= "uIb OUT u lIfInen-
dous Torrent of Water-Loss Of Over q
ThOusand Lives and of MilIfous Of nol-
lars of Property.
NEW YORK, Sept. IA letter from
Latacunga, Peru, gives the story of the
eruption of the Volcano of Cotopaxi.
Which took place June 25th. Streams
of water poured from all the craters at
once, on the Gallo side, sweeping away
everything in their course. Another
irresistible torrent followed the course
of the Saquimal river. The hacienda of
SIgnor EonosO is in ruins; the very soil
is gone. OF the place of Signor Larrea.
nothing IS left. The river carried off
800 head of cattle at pasture in the fields.
The Aluques river Overflowed, and
caused great damage. The Cutchico
ovelflowed, carrying everything before
it. A splendid machine shop went down
like card house at the first rush of
waters; SO did various mills. The en-.
tire district was like a sea, and the in
undation would have destroyed the city
had not the course of the floods been
timely diverted into the river channel.
The total loss of life will reach. if if
does not exceed 1000 persons. At least
1900 head of cattle have been DESTROYED,
and of smaller animals the loss is much
greater. In the midst of the roar of
waters and the crashing of houses. the
volcano poured out enormous quantities
OF clnders, which gradually darkened
the whole face of the heavens, and left
Latacunga in the prOfOundest obscurity
from q in the afternoon until ten at
night.
PREVIOUS E%RCPfIoNs.
History has recorded ten great erup-
tons OF CotOpaxi-I might say, with
more truth, that they have craven
themselves in characters of fire and
blood in the sad annals which they gill
with misery and ruin, with desolation.
mourning and tears. The first two
eruptions were of no great consequence
Of the third We have detailed accounts
in the Historical Narrative" of Don
Jorge Juan and Don Antonio de Clloa.
They tell of its having submerged the
spacious valley from Gallo to Latacun-
ga, filling it with turbld w in which
great numbers persisted. The eruption
that followed in the succeeding wear.
the fourth, Was still more disastrous.
According to the Jesuit Father Velas-
CO, IN his history of Quito, it carried
ruin to a distance of six hundred miles.
Humboldt relates, in his Cosmos that
Ill Honda, 436 miles from the volcano.
explosions like the sound of cannon
were heard. In the seventh eruption.
April 4, 116S, the shock and the rain of
earth extended from Popayan to Guya-
qull-dlstance, 456 miles. Quito and
other towns were plunged in complete
darkness from 8 a. IN. to l p. a., the
6y 1ffqneht earthquakes and by the
frighttul roaring o. the Infatuated gianr
The head of the government sent to the
court OF Madrid acuIiOus report of this
Catastrophe, beginning: "The presi.
dent of Quito informs YOUR majesty of
What took place On the 4th day of April,
III consequence of the bursting of the
great volcano and mountain of Coto-
PAX, situated in the bosom of Tacunga.
thirteen leagues from the city"
\lllav:cenciO, in his Geography of
Ecuador calls the eruption Of 1863 the
eighth, whereas The historian Cevallos
denominates 1t the seventh. Villavi.
cenclo adds that it was reputed the
most horrible of all. COtopaxi was not
responsible for the great earthquake of
1881, which destroyed Rich lmba, Lata-
cunga and Ambata, and cost so many |
lives. From 10000 to 10000 persisted |
by it. Humboldt ascribes that cata-
clysm to another volcano, the Galera,
and says it was n of the most terri |
bic phenomena in the physical history
CT II globe. The same thing happened |
with the Galera as with Vesuvius at the
time of the earthquake at Lisbon. Both
volcanoes ceased to pour out the clouds |
OF steam and smoke which thew had
thrown eff before the CONFUSION. The
Galera. nevertheless. is ninety two miles
from Quite, which was the nearest point
Effected. Humboldt mentions another |
phenomenon. The center of the explo
sion was RiObamba, and yet at Lata-
cunga and Ambata, the places nearest |
to 1t, the great sHbterranean noise was |
not heard. At Quito it sounded only
eighteen or twenty minutes after the
catastrophe. Walls changed places with
out falling. Crops made a sort of chasse-
croise, n assuming the position of the
other. Edifces of stone and mortar
flew through the air. some of them
falling upside down on their roofs. and
vice versa, while others were carried
off uninjured. with the land and planted
fields around them. to distant places,
thus giving rise to disputes which came
before the courts. Roads changed their
position and appearance; a lake burst
into flames lake Quirotoa). mountains
were leveled, and the valleys filled up.
In short. the day of judgment seemed
to have dawned for the wretched in.
habitants of those fated districts.
According to the German traveller.
Dr. w. Reiss, no recent eruption of
Cotopaxi has elected more lava than
that of 1854, the eighth. The ninth