New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1894-10-15
AMONG THE ANDES.
ASCENDING CHIMBORAzO AND COTOPAAl
IN SEARCH OF MOUNTAIN SICKNESS.

una was done many wears ago But the date Of
the adventures and that Jf the pubhshed hdr-
rative in which they are described nave bceh req
uisite for the study Of results. II was not at
first Mr. Whympers plan 70 visit the Ecua-
dorian Andes. lie would have preferred the
Hmalayas: but when he was to star, the imam
Government set about correcting the frontier
and II was feared that the great Asiatc noun
tain region would be an unpleasant place for
scientific Investigations. The war in when Chlh
Peru and Bolivia were engaged forbade travel
among the highest Andes. Thus choice was mar
rowed 10 the South American peaks under the
equator, Chimborazo being. OF course the most
important summit to be attained The authors
main object was to ascertain all that he could
about what is called mountain sickness" the
nausea headache weakness and ncapacity
which many persons feel at great heights above
the sea-level All are not liable to this kind Of
physical suffering. or at all events some trav-
oilers deny that they were affected TO any APP
preciable degree at heights which make the ordi-
nary dweller on the lOwlands of the earth dizzy
to think OF. Others have found the enemy not
on the submits, but at some spot lower DOWN
upon the Mountain side. or in an inclosed pass
For example. W. N. Conway. in his explorations
among the Karakoram Himalayas, had 10 pass
through a narrow valley shut in by lofty peaks
1t was respectable height. say 5000 feet above
the sea But the traveller blamed, not the ait-
tude but the narrowness Of the gorge. for his
sensations 1t seemed If the air stagnated in
the fierce heat Of the srn a. MONDAY. When the
sun was hidden by a thick cloud the lungs
worked with less difficulty, and the same was
true whenever slight breeze felt. But
when he assembled what he called Crystal Peak.
~ 400 feet above the sea-level. he and his COM
hprr
and a quarter. and so long they sat st suf-
fered no discomfort At the top of what he
named Pioneer Peak. about 22,5OO feet high he
recorded that all felt weak and Ill, like men just
lifted from beds Of sickness. though the Alpine
guide had strength to smoke a cigar Many
years ago the Schlagntweits cited by Mr..
Whymper in their travels among the Asiatic
mountains, attempted the ascent Of hi Gamin
CKameD. but were forced to deslst at the height
OF % 230 feet. every member of the party being
afflicted with intolerable headache. Still they
found evidence that one could become acclimated
70 the conditions existing at great heights above
the seq. This point. Mr. Whymper thinks. Is rem
dered still more probable b. the experience OF
himself and his companions. two Of whom were
mountaneers from the Alps. 1t happened In his
case also that the worst outbreak Of mountain
sickness attacked himself and his men far below
the summit Of the peak (Chimborazo) which they
climbed
He had taken all the precautions which he
could think Of TO prevent the problem from be-
ing complicated with extraneous circumstances,
such as fatigue from excessive labor. lack Of
nourishing food and the like His Journeys were
to be made by as short and easy stages as pos
sbe. His plan To encamp upon Chimbo-
razo at gradually increasing heights until the
summit reached. But he adds. as there
was nc certainty that this could be done. and a
possibility. at least that the results Of the nves-
tigation might be Of a negative character.
rious other objects kept In view principal
among them being the determination Of the
attitudes 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" These subsidiary
purposes were not neglected and the whole
party had a severe attack Of the sickness they
were in search Of the author has no complaint
to make of failure. But he did not find Chin
borazo all that he expected. In the first place
Prescott's Conquest of Peru led him 10 suppose
that he might get sight Of the famous peak
from the Pacific Ocean but he gives his readers
the idea that the mountain Is completely hidden
from the sea The journey to the mountain re-
\ veaed to him the fact that the continuous slope
from Chimborazo to the sea was error Of
the geogra piers. He found a whole range Of
mountains that had to be crossed before he could
reach the base of the he sought The pass
by which he left the seaside slopes and entered
the Andean region proper rose to a height Of
1o417 feet and there were peaks in the range
5000 feet high. He learned that this range of
small mountains which practically conceas the
al ms no CT from vi Of
the sea- going traveller was sixty-fve miles long
from north to south and from eighteen to twenty
miles in breadth. that is to say It is at least
twice the length and breadth Of the range Of
Mont Blanc. In crossing the valley 10 the foot Of
Chmborazo and later. while encamped on the
sides Of the great peak. he had unclouded views
Of the eastern side Of the small range: and still
later, in making a circuit OF ChimboraZo at
high level convinced himself that II was every
where we'll separated from the western hills He
proposes to call this short group of small noun
tains the Pacific Range Of Ecuador. and thus TO
obviate another of the geographers who
have outlined two parallel cordilleras. whereas
the country has such feature. He found the
main line Of the Andes running nearly north and
SOUTH and toward the western edge Of the
chain certain sequence OF peaks more less
IN line with each other. but In no sense contn-
uous. There is such thing, he declares. one
great valley In the interior Of Ecuador. the de-
pressions among the mountains being really ba-
sins varying greatly from each other in area and
in altitude. Nothing more striking to the
traveller than the change which he witnessed
as he began TO descend from the top Of the pass
through what he calls the Pacific Range Next
10 the ocean the mountain slopes Were densely
wooded to the very crest. while on the eastern
side they almost bare. Most OF the way
from these mountains to the foot OF ChimborazO
lay through desert of volcanic dust as dry as
the Sahara. II was curious fact that al
the verge OF this desert the Great Avena. which
Is really q slope from the sides Of Chimborazo.
the mountain itself was still invisible. "lf we had
not been aware" remarks the author that we