her Cordillera, there is a
greater accumulation of ashes, and less snow on the west slope. Cotopaxi
is a fine example of this. In Pichincha, Altar, and Ruminagua, however,
the western wall is lowest, apparently broken down.[64] There is no
synchronism in the eruptions of Cotopaxi and Pichincha. These volcanoes
must have independent reservoirs, for the former is 3000 feet higher
than the latter, and only thirty miles distant. The reputed eruptions of
Pichincha are dated 1534, 1539, 1566, 1575, 1588, and 1660; that of 1534
resting on the assertions of Checa, Garcilazo, and Herrera, indorsed by
Humboldt. Excepting the traditional eruption in 1534, which probably is
confounded with that of Pichincha, Cotopaxi did not open till 1742; then
followed the eruptions of 1743, 1744, 1746, 1766, 1768, 1803, 1851, and
1855. We must mention, however, that, since the recent awakening of
Pichincha, Cotopaxi has been unusually silent. There is also a
remarkable coincidence (which may not be wholly accidental) in the
renewed activity of Pichincha, and the great eruption of Mauna Loa, both
occurring in March, 1868. It is generally believed by the natives that
Cotopaxi and Tunguragua are sympathetic.

[Footnote 64: In the Galapagos volcanoes the south wall is lowest, while
the craters in Mexico and Sandwich Islands are lowest on the northeast.]

There are fifty-one volcanoes in the Andean chain. Of these, twenty
girdle the Valley of Quito, three active, five dormant, and twelve
extinct.[65] Besides these are numerous mountain peaks not properly
volcanic. Nowhere on the face of the earth is there such a grand
assemblage of mountains. Twenty-two summits are covered with perpetual
snow, and fifty are over ten thousand feet high.[66]

[Footnote 65: The altitudes of the most important Ecuadorian volcanoes
are:

WESTERN CHAIN.
_Chimborazo_, 21,420 feet (Humboldt).
_Caraguairazo_, 19,183 feet (Humboldt).
It is variously estimated from 15,673
feet to 19,720 feet; 18,000 feet is
not far from the truth.
_Iliniza_, 17,370 feet (Wisse); 16,300
(Hall).
_Cotocachi_, 16,440 feet (Humboldt);
16,409 (Wisse).
_Pichincha_, 15,922 feet (Humboldt);
15,827 (Orton).

EASTERN CHAIN.
_Cayambi_, 19,648 feet (Humboldt);
19,358 (Wisse).
_Antisana_, 19,148 feet (Humboldt);
19,279 (Wisse).
_Cotopaxi_, 18,880 feet (Humboldt);
18,862 (Wisse).
_Altar_, 17,400 feet.
_Sangai_, 17,120 feet (Wisse).
_Tunguragua_, 16,579 feet (Humboldt).
_Sin