North Of Llactacanga, 0 Degrees 40 Minutes Latitude, Between The Tops Of Yliniza (2717 Toises) And Cotopaxi (2950 Toises), Of

Which the former belongs to the chain of Chimborazo, and the latter to that of Sangay, is situated the knot

Of Chisinche; a kind of narrow dyke that closes the basin, and divides the waters between the Atlantic and the Pacific. The Alto de Chisinche is only 80 toises above the surrounding table-lands. The waters of its northern declivity form the Rio de San Pedro, which, joining the Rio Pita, throws itself into the Gualabamba, or Rio de las Esmeraldas. The waters of the southern declivity, called Cerro de Tiopullo, run into the Rio San Felipe and the Pastaza, a tributary stream of the Amazon.

The bipartition of the Cordilleras re-commences and continues from 0 degrees 40 minutes latitude south to 0 degrees 20 minutes latitude north; that is, as far as the volcano of Imbabura near the villa of Ibarra. The eastern Cordillera presents the snowy summits of Antisana (2992 toises), of Guamani, Cayambe (3070 toises) and of Imbabura; the western Cordillera, those of Corazon, Atacazo, Pichinca (2491 toises) and Catocache (2570 toises). Between these two chains, which may be regarded as the classic soil of the astronomy of the 18th century, is a valley, part of which is again divided longitudinally by the hills of Ichimbio and Poignasi. The table-lands of Puembo and Chillo are situated eastward of those hills; and those of Quito, Inaquito and Turubamba lie westward. The equator crosses the summit of the Nevado de Cayambe and the valley of Quito, in the village of San Antonio de Lulumbamba. When we consider the small mass of the knot of Assuy, and above all, of that of Chisinche, we are inclined to regard the three basins of Cuenca, Hambato and Quito as one valley (from the Paramo de Sarar to the Villa de Ibarra) 73 sea leagues long, from 4 to 5 leagues broad, having a general direction north 8 degrees east, and divided by two transverse dykes one between Alausi and Cuenca (2 degrees 27 minutes south latitude), and the other between Machache and Tambilbo (0 degrees 40 minutes). Nowhere in the Cordillera of the Andes are there more colossal mountains heaped together than on the east and west of this vast basin of the province of Quito, one degree and a half south, and a quarter of a degree north of the equator. This basin which, next to the basin of Titicaca, is the centre of the most ancient native civilization, touches, southward, the knot of the mountains of Loxa, and northward the tableland of the province of Los Pastos.

In this province, a little beyond the villa of Ibarra, between the snowy summits of Cotocache and Imbabura, the two Cordilleras of Quito unite, and form one mass, extending to Meneses and Voisaco, from 0 degrees 21 minutes north latitude to 1 degree 13 minutes. I call this mass, on which are situated the volcanoes of Cumbal and Chiles, the knot of the mountains of Los Pastos, from the name of the province that forms the centre. The volcano of Pasto, the last eruption of which took place in the year 1727, is on the south of Yenoi, near the northern limit of this group, of which the inhabited table-lands are more than 1600 toises above sea-level. It is the Thibet of the equinoctial regions of the New World.

On the north of the town of Pasto (latitude 1 degree 13 minutes north; longitude 79 degrees 41 minutes) the Andes again divide into two branches and surround the table-land of Mamendoy and Almaguer. The eastern Cordillera contains the Sienega of Sebondoy (an alpine lake which gives birth to the Putumayo), the sources of the Jupura or Caqueta, and the Paramos of Aponte and Iscanse. The western Cordillera, that of Mamacondy, called in the country Cordillera de la Costa, on account of its proximity to the shore of the Pacific, is broken by the great Rio de Patias, which receives the Guativa, the Guachicon and the Quilquase. The table-land or intermediary basin has great inequalities; it is partly filled by the Paramos of Pitatumba and Paraguay, and the separation of the two chains appeared to me indistinct as far as the parallel of Almaguer (latitude 1 degree 54 minutes; longitude 79 degrees 15 minutes). The general direction of the Andes, from the extremity of the basin of the province of Quito to the vicinity of Popayan, changes from north 8 degrees east to north 36 degrees east; and follows the direction of the coast of Esmeralda and Barbacoas.

On the parallel of Almaguer, or rather a little north-east of that town, the geological structure of the ground displays very remarkable changes. The Cordillera, to which we have given the name of eastern, that of the lake of Sebondoy, widens considerably between Pansitara and Ceja. The knot of the Paramo de las Papas and of Socoboni gives birth to the great rivers of Cauca and Magdalena, and is divided into two chains, latitude 2 degrees 5 minutes east and west of La Plata, Vieja and Timana. These two chains continue nearly parallel as far as 5 degrees of latitude, and they bound the longitudinal valley through which winds the Rio Magdalena. We shall give the name of the eastern Cordillera of New Grenada to that chain which stretches towards Santa Fe de Bogota, and the Sierra Nevada de Merida, east of Magdalena; the chain which lies between the Magdalena and the Cauca, in the direction of Mariquita, we will call the central Cordillera of New Grenada; and the chain which continues the Cordillera de la Costa from the basin of Almaguer, and separates the bed of the Rio Cauca from the platiniferous territory of Choco, we will designate the western Cordillera of New Grenada. For additional clearness, we may also name the chain, that of Suma Paz, after the colossal group of mountains on the south of Santa Fe de Bogota, which empties the waters of its eastern declivity into the Rio Meta.

Enter page number Go  Previous Next
Page 123 of 170
Words from 125562 to 126586 of 174507