Year: 1873

THE CONQUEST or COTUPA9L


We have received copy of the report made
by DR.. Reiss to the President Of the Republic
of Ecuador. detailing the circumstances OF his
ascent of CotOpaxi, the highest active volcano
i'm the world The summit of the conc was
reached for the first time by Dr. Reiss on
the 28t! of November last. He tells his own
story so mOdestly that it seems strange that
the mystery of the crater should have en-
dured 80 long. He says distinctly that there
was little difficulty and almost no danger in
the ascent--thOugh the reader of his narrative
can easily see that there was something of
both. Still it is probable that the remOteness
of this famous peak was the first cause OF
its remaining 80 long inviolate. If it had
been on the continent OF Europe the
Alpine clubs would have made short work OF 1t.
Indeed it seems almost too easy to tempt the
true climber; ranking with those Carpathlan
mountains which some Englishmen recently
wasted their vacation in exploring, and found, to
their great discomfort, nothing anywhere but an
up hill promenade lasting all day, with no pos
sible chance of breaking ones neck. But with
Dr. Reiss, as with our own practical mountain
GERS like Clarence King, the danger and the sport
involved in climbing are merely secondary
attractions. The prime object is to obtain some
new fact which will fill a vacant space in a
map or a line or two in physical geography.
Whom DR.. Ress came down from the crater of
Cotopaxi, his chief regret seemed 20 be that
he had not brought facts enough to Justify his
visit.


At the foot of the mountain he passed the
abandoned palace of the Incas, and inveighs


&hn hr,,fo itxr e
the neighbOring farmers, who pen their pigs
and store their compost heaps in these curious
and important monuments of past age. lie
crossed the Cutuchi River early an the morn
ing, and proceeded rapidly over the sandy
slopes and hOllOws to the lava stretches of
ManzanaguaicO, and reached the snOw-lne IN
the afternoon, where he encamped for the
night lie makes light of the difficulties of this
Journey, but his poems found it so taxing to
their energies that when he halted they sat
down in the snow, refusing to assist him IN the
work of pitching the tent, and no seventies
could rouse them from their lethargic depres-
sion. 1t showed during the evening and night,
and the next morning the sand and lava were
covered BY coating of ice as smooth and hard
as glass. and shey were forced to wait until
the sun had melted it. DR.. Reiss then pushed
forward with the greatest ardOr and arrived


little after 10o'cock mt the base of the rocks which
crown the summit of the mountain. he turned to
wait for his companions, and found that all
had fallen discouraged by the way except his
major domo and his dog, who were toiling
painfully after him. The rocks among which
he had now arrived were the huge relics of
former lava deposits, from the assures of
which came occasional gusts of sulphuric acid,
while the climbing was made dangerous by
the fall Of dislodged fragments one of which
actually struck the Doctor, intlicting a trouble
some wound. But he and his faithful attend
ant clambered on and upward through the
| mist until about noon they found themselves
suddenly and Unexpectedly upon the south
| west point of the rim of the Crater. which,
| stretching fifteen hundred feet below them,
revealed itself probably for the first time to
human eyes. Its form was elliptical its longer
axis running from north to south. From all
its circumference rocky slopes descended
| in broken lines to meet in the center,
there being no plane of any extent. The north
| east portion was thickly covered with snow,
from which the rest of the crater was free.
The air was filed with the roar of falling
| fragments from the sides, ana WIN Wnlte Jets
of sulphurOus vapor hom the southwes por-
tion of the crater. The barometer gave Il hight
of 1893 meters, an estimate considerably larger
than that of former writers. A noticeable
| observation of Dr. Reiss is that chlordes are
found among the deposits of this crater; thus
contradicting the statement of Humboldt that
the absence of this acid was characteristic OF
| South American volcanoes.


Tho intrepid savant did not finish his obser-
vations, however, for while he was examining
a handful of earth, gust of wind filled his
eyes with dust impregnated with sulphuric
acid, causing immediate and acute inAamma-
ton, and driving him at once down the cone
He thinks that fhe tremendous floods which
often devastate the neighboring valleys have
| their origin in the sudden melting of the Ice
and snow in the high ravines by bursts of
| lava and hot air from the crater, and his ex-
planation seems as probable as it is ingenious.
DIR. Reiss adds another to the many refuta-
tions of the exploded tictions about respiration
being impossible at these great attitudes, ana
blood gushing from noses and ears. There Is
"A little difficulty of breathing at l., 600 feet,
but il does not appear to increase above that
hight. The doctors dog appeared to suffer
more than the poems; but though ms lungs
| were weak his conscience was strong, ana ne
follow odIis master. grumbiingl' 10 the summit