The weekly intelligencer. [volume] (Lexington, Mo.) 1891-1901, 1899-09-30
ECUADOR'S VOLCANOES.
within una Vision Three Are Ae-
tive, Five Are slumberingi
Fourteen Are Extinct.

Church, the famous artist, has assert
ed that the grandest mountain scenery
NAV be found in Ecuador, and that
there is nothing elsewhere so imposing,
nothing so sublime, as the group Of vol
canic peaks that lie between Quito and
the sea, where he painted his wonderful
picture, The Heart Of the Andes" No
where are wilder freaks in geographical
formation; nowhere more startling
contrasts. Within human vision are
22 volcanoes covered with everlasting
snow and over 80 feet higher than Mont
Blanc. Three of the volcanoes are nc
tive, five are s~lumbering and the re-
mainder are extinct. The mountains of
Asia may surpass those OF the Andes in
altitude, but there is no such group Of
monsters elsewhere in the world.
A sea Of foothills with the yapoI
lowering over them like sleep upon @
drowsy child stands In the foreground
beyond the jungles Of the coast, and
growing holder and holder, more and
more rugged, rises in irregular terraces
which the Spaniards call "sierras" be.
cause their uneven SUBMITS are like
the teeth OF a saw. Behind and over
them the volcanoes lift their untrodden
and unapproachable submits with
stately grandeur, with SHOWS that have
lain for ages and still defy the tropical
SUM-. Some OF the peaks are irregular,
some are grotesque In outline, and the
imaginative minds OF the natives have
fancied resemblances TO various other
works Of nature. Some are clamly,
grandly regular, and the even now
upon their crests seems edged with gold
when II catches the reflection Of the
sun, and is often a rainbow OF colors-
violet, crimson, purple and orange.
Cotopad is the loftiest of active vol
canoes, but it has been slumbering fol
nearly 40 years. The only evidence Of
Internal activity is the constant rum
bling. which can often be heard and fel
100 miles away, and frequently a thin
cloud Of smoke is seen creeping from
the crater and dissolving into the thin
air. Edward Whymper, the Englisl
scientist, climbed TO the summit o
Chimborazo ten or twelve years age
/ but no one has ever reached the top o
Cotopaxi. Many have attempted Il
but the walls are so steep and the sno'
is so deep that ascent is impossible.
On the breast Of CotopaN is a gres
rock, more than 1000 feet high, whic
e the natives have named "The Inca
Head" That unreliable old ~story-telle
e called tradition says that 1t was ono
the summit Of the volcano, and fell o
e the day when the Spaniards strange
d Atahualpa, the last Of the Inca en-
4 perors.
e The last great eruption Of Cotopa,
II was In 1859. 1t was followed by a sevei
earthquake, which caused great d
~struction mud loss Of life In the su
T. rounding towns and villages. In ISL
the volcano Tunguragua, one Of Il
re largest OF the group, and over l7,O
feet high, became very much excite
n and discharged immense masses of Ia,
y. and ashes simultaneously with a terre
trial %conyulsion which extended aloI
at the entire South Pacific coast. 1t W
h. then that the tidal wave came IN
In Africa that lifted the United Stat
o. man-of-war Wateree over the roofs
ou the houses and landed II with q straig
re keel in a sandy plateau about half
or mile from the ocean, where II still
A. mains. When / last saw it, It was US
as a clearinghouse Chicago Recoi