Personal Narrative Of Travels To The Equinoctial Regions Of America During The Years 1799-1804 - Volume 1 - By Alexander Von Humboldt And Aime Bonpland.
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It Appears Probable, That The More Elevated
Part Of The Kingdom Of Quito And The Neighbouring Cordilleras, Far
From Being
A group of distinct volcanoes, constitute a single
swollen mass, an enormous volcanic wall, stretching from south to
north, and
The crest of which presents a superficies of more than
six hundred square leagues. Cotopaxi, Tunguragua, Antisana, and
Pichincha, are on this same raised ground. They have different
names, but they are merely separate summits of the same volcanic
mass. The fire issues sometimes from one, sometimes from another of
these summits. The obstructed craters appear to be extinguished
volcanoes; but we may presume, that, while Cotopaxi or Tunguragua
have only one or two eruptions in the course of a century, the fire
is not less continually active under the town of Quito, under
Pichincha and Imbabura.
Advancing northward we find, between the volcano of Cotopaxi and
the town of Honda, two other systems of volcanic mountains, those
of los Pastos and of Popayan. The connection between these systems
was manifested in the Andes by a phenomenon which I have already
had occasion to notice, in speaking of the last destruction of
Cumana. In the month of November 1796 a thick column of smoke began
to issue from the volcano of Pasto, west of the town of that name,
and near the valley of Rio Guaytara. The mouths of the volcano are
lateral, and situated on its western declivity, yet during three
successive months the column of smoke rose so much higher than the
ridge of the mountain that it was constantly visible to the
inhabitants of the town of Pasto.
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