The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1899-09-07
ECUADOR'S VOLCANOES.


church. the famous artist. has as
serted that the ersndest mountain
scenery may be found m Ecuador, and
'hat there is nothing elsewhere so inn
posing, nothing 80 sublime as the
group or volcanic peaks that lie be-
tween Quito and the sea where ho
painted his wonderful picture The
Heart OF the Andes" Nowhere are
wilder freaks In geographical forma-
u0n; nowhere more startling contrasts.
Wlthin human vision are twenty-five
volcanoes covered with everlasting
soow and over fifty feet higher than
Mont Blanc. Three Of the volcanoes are
active, nve are slumbering and the re-
insihder are extinct. The mountains Of
ASIA may surpass those OF the Andes
III attitude, but there is no such group
Oh monsters elsewhere i'm the world.
says writer In the Chicago Record.
- sea or foothills with the vspor how
ering over them like sleep upon a
urowsy child. stands in the foreground
beyond the Jungles OF the coast, and
sroWlhg boldsr and bolder, more and
nioie rugged. risee in Irregular terraces
Whlch the Span.ards cali "sierras" be-
Nause their uneven SUBMITS are like
.he teeth of the saw. Behind and over
eneih the volcanoes lift their untrodden
~ uhapproachable submits with
stately grandeur, with SHOWS that have
iaih for ages and still defy the tropiSal
sun some OF the peaks are Irregular,
scme are sfisesque IN outline. ana the
iihdsihdtiVe minds of the natives have
iahcled rese;nblances 10 vatious other
WORKS OF nature. some are calmly,
Siahdly regular and the even snow up
vi 'heir crests seems edged with gold
Wheh IL catches the reflection of the
sun and is often rainbow OF coors--
violet crimson, purple and orange
No'opaNi Is the loftiest or active vol
canoes, but IL has been slumbering tor
nearly forty years. The only evidence
OF internal activity is the constant
fumbiing. which can often be heard
ana felt one hundred miles away. and
frequently a thin cloud 81 smoke ig
seen creeping from the crater and dis
solving into the thin a r. Edward whim-
per, the English scientist, climbed 10
the summit Of Chmborazo ten or
Twelve years ago, but no one has ever
reached the top OF Cotopaxi MANY have
attempted IL. but the walls are so steep
snd the snow ~ so deep that ascent IS
.mpossible.
49, paNdSt u tOiDDuNl Is a great
rock, more than 1000 feet high. which
me natives nave named The Incu's
Head. That unreliable old story-tellcr
called tradition says that it was once
the summit of the volcano. and fell on
the day when the Spanlards strangled
Atahualpa, the last Of the Inca en-
perors
The last great eruption OF Cotopaxi |
was In 1859 IL was followed by n severe |
earthquake, which caused great de- |
and loss of life In the sur |
rounding towns and villages In 1868 |
the volcano Tunguragua. one OF the |
largest OF the group. and over II 900 |
feet high, became very much excited. |
and discharged immense masses of |
laVa and ashes simultaneously with a |
terrestrial CONFUSION which extended !!
along the entire South Pacific coast. II |
was then that the tidal wave came into |
AFRICA that lifted the United States !
man-of-war Wateree over the roofs OF |
houses and landed IL with "a straight |
Keel In sandy plateau about half a |
mile from the ocean, where II still re- !
mains. When last saw IT, II was used |
as boarding house.