you to catch some alligators for me.' Want me to do what?' he said in astonishment; and when I showed him the passage in Stevenson he declared it was a fiction-a pure invention. 'I never heard of such a thing, mister;' and I got no alligators at Bodegas.'

When next we heard of Mr. Whym per he was going up country, with a train of mules, and accompanied by Mr. Perring, as interpreter, as well as by the two Carrels. We were not so unfortunate in the first team of beasts we hired," he said, "as we were on some subsequent occasions, though on the very first day, and almost in the very first hour, one horrible brute managed to dislodge its load and went careering about over hillocks and among ruts with my photographic apparatus kicking about between its hoofs in a way which made me turn hot and cold, and expect that everything would be smashed to atoms." On December 15th the party left Le Mona and went to the village of Munapamba, and on the latter part of this day began to quit the low-lying land on the Pacific side of Ecuador. At night they were about 1250 feet above the level of the sea.

*

On the next day they went from Munapamba to Tambo Loma. A "tambo," Mr. Whymper says, is supposed to be an inn. This particular one "could not afford either food or forage, bed or bedding. It was not at this time considered a first-class establishment by the

The other method is, by taking a fowl in one hand and a sharp strong knife in the other; the man swims till he is directly opposite to the alligator, and at the moment when it springs at the fowl the man dives under the water, leaving the fowl on the surface; he then holds up the knife to the belly of the animal, and cuts it open, when the alligator immediately rolls over on its back, and is carried away by the stream. Much has been said about the surprising agility of some of the Spanish bull-fighters, and I have often beheld feats that have astonished me; but this diversion at Babahoyo, for so the natives consider it, evinced more bravery and agility than I had ever before witnessed.' - Historical and Descriptive Narrative of Twenty Years' Residence in South America. By W. B. Stevenson.

*During the 212 days which were passed in the interior of the country, there were only four at which they found themselves under 6000 feet above the level of the sea. Thirty-six nights were passed at elevations over 14,000 feet.

party, but subsequent experience caused a different opinion to be entertained."

Upon leaving the tambo the ascent was continuous and very steep, until the outer range of the Andes was crossed at about 10,365 feet, whence a descent was made on S. José de Chimbo, and a subsequent ascent to Guaranda (8870). "The route thus far followed was called a 'road.' So far, however, as a few miles to the west of the summit of the outer range, it was only a track, or a series of tracks, made by men and beasts. For a few miles on the western side of the pass, and from the summit down to S. José de Chimbo, the route was over a good made road, which a very little additional labor would convert into a road fit for wheeled vehicles. On the rest of the route mud was generally one foot, and was frequently two or more feet, deep."

All travellers who have ever been in Ecuador have said much about the badness of the roads in that country. Mr. Whymper writes: "As a general rule, they are worse than none at all. There never has been more than one considerable stretch of made road in the country, and as this receives no mending whatever, it is rapidly falling to pieces. What Ecuadorians are pleased to call roads would anywhere in Europe be caled tracks-and they are very bad tracks too. I have not myself seen mud on them more than four feet deep, but there are places where this depth is exceeded, and one foreigner with whom I conversed told me that he did not consider the road was bad unless the animals vanished right out of sight in the mud.”

On December 18th they arrived at Guaranda, hired a house, and decided to make this place a base for attack on Chimborazo. On the 19th Mr. Whymper and the Carrels inade a prospecting journey from Guaranda to the "Arenal" (sandy plain) on the south of ChimboraZO. He says: "The route from Guaythe south and afterward to the east of aquil to Quito, vid Bodegas, passes to Chimborazo, going over, at its highest point, a locality which is called the Arenal grande (to distinguish it from the lesser arenales, which are numerous in the country), the summit of which is, roughly, 14,000 feet above the level of

the sea. This route has been in use since the time of the Spanish conquest, and is still by far the best way of arriving at Quito from the coast. A second route has been opened in recent years, via Riobamba, Guamote, and the bridge of Chimbo (where a railway leads to Yaguachi, upon a branch of the River Guayas). In returning, Mr. Whymper's party followed this route, and found it to be in all respects worse than the old and well-established way between Guayaquil and Quito.

The object of this day's journey was the close inspection of the route which had been previously determined upon for an ascent of Chimborazo. The reconnaisance was satisfactory, though the mountain was cloudy, and the party retured to Guaranda; but while going back Mr. Whymper was severely affected by the diminished barometric pressure, and had to be supported for a large part of the way. Whenever any of the party were affected from this cause the symptoms were intense headache, feverishness, and a feeling of weakness and prostration, but on no single occasion did bleeding occur, and in respect to the other symptoms which have been spoken of by previous travellers, Mr. Whymper says it is his opinion that there has been gross exaggeration, and that during all his mountain experiences throughout the world he has not known a dozen instances of bleeding at the nose at great elevations, and that when such occurrences happened they took place with persons who would probably hve been similarly affected at the level of the sea. "Up till December 21st we had not had anything like a general view of Chimborazo, although at Guaranda we ought to have been in full view of the mountain. On the 21st it was seen more clearly than hitherto, though it was not free from clouds at any portion of the day. For the first time it was clear enough to render it possible to trace a route over the upper part of the mountain and to sketch it. I indicated the direction to the Carrels that I wished to be followed, and started them off in the afternoon to inspect the proposed line of ascent, and if possible to select a camping-place, remaining myself at Guaranda to complete preparations. The Carrels did not return till the 23d, and came

back much fatigued. They had followed the route taken on the 19th as far as the summit of the Arenal grande, and had then made directly toward the mountain. They had selected a camping-place at a height (so it appeared by an aneroid which had been lent to them) of over 16,000 feet, and said that it would be very fatiguing to get there, as the soil was sandy, and so soft as to allow one to sink in knee deep. Preparations were completed on the 23d, but the muleteers would not be away from Guaranda on Christmas Day, and our departure was delayed until the 26th.

At last, on the 26th, we started to make a serious attempt to ascend the mountain. Our party was a large one, comprising the two Carrels, Mr. Perring, two Indians as porters, three arrieros, and fourteen mules. By the afternoon we got to the summit of the Arenal grande, and encamped, at 5.30 P.M., a little below the summit of the arenal. The minimum temperature at night was 21° Fahr. It was a superb night with a brilliant moon, and the great cliffs of Chimborazo, crowned with their snowy dome, 7000 feet above us, were indescribably magnificent.

"Though they had been very well treated, the two Indians deserted during the night. Five mules also disappeared. This was not so extraordinary. The arrieros treat their beasts with great brutality, and neglect them shamefully, and any intelligent quadruped naturally gets as far away as it can from its inhuman masters. The carrying power being thus reduced, it was necessary to make two journeys from the first camp to the place selected by the Carrels. I started off J. A. Carrel at 10 A.M. with three natives and eight mules. Carrel remained above to cominence the preparation of the camping place, and the others returned to the lower station in the afternoon.

The remainder of us then started upward, and arrived at the second camp at 4.45 P.M. We brought up four mule-loads of wood, and left twelve packages of provisions, etc., in the depôt below. Then I sent back the whole of the mules and natives, and encamped with the two Carrels and Mr. Perring.

"Shortly after our arrival all the party except Perring had frightful head

aches, and felt much exhausted (although all had ridden up the entire distance from Guaranda), and we retired to bed early, feeling incapable of making the least exertion. The height of the second camp was 16,600 feet above the sea, and the minimum temperature in the night was again eleven degrees below freezingpoint.

"On the morning of December 28th the Carrels were somewhat better, and were eager to be off exploring, so I sent them away at 7.50 A.M. to continue the ascent of the ridge on which the camp was placed, instructing them not to try to go to any great height, and to look out for another and higher camping-place. They returned at 6.30 P.M., quite exhausted, having made a push toward the summit, and reached a height of nearly 19,000 feet. I have never before, on any mountain expedition, seen men in such a complete state of prostration as they were on this occasion. They could scarcely crawl home.

"The next morning both Carrels were still hors de combat, lying down in the tent most of the day. The eyes of both were badly inflamed, especially J. A. Carrel's. Louis became better tow ard mid-day, and I sent him with Perring to fetch up the second tent from the first camp. They returned just at nightfall, having found it as much as they could manage to carry. On the 31st we were all somewhat better, and as it was evident that the camp was not high enough, we started to select a loftier position. Having found one at about 17,400 feet above the sea, we returned to the second camp. In the afternoon I heard from an arriero (who was retained as a courier to go backward and forward between Chimborazo and Guaranda) that some of the boxes at the depôt at the first camp had been broken open and robbed; so I sent Perring down with the arriero, with a letter to the authorities at Guaranda, asking for a guard for the baggage. Three Indians had been sent up to replace those who had deserted, and these were dispatched with the Carrels, carrying light loads, up to the place which had been selected for the third camp. By nightfall they returned to

the second camp.

"New Year's Day, 1880.-The CarNEW SERIES.-VOL. XXXIII., No. 4

rels continued to move things up to the third camp, and as the stock of firing was running low I went down with the three Indians to the first camp to collect more wood, and to inspect the boxes which had been robbed. I dispatched the Indians upward with loads of wood, but all three deserted and were not again seen. In the afternoon I returned to the second camp. There was a truly terrific wind in the night, blowing in squalls, and for several hours I continually expected that we and all our belongings would be blown away. This was the first occasion upon which inconvenience was experienced from high wind, and upon the whole we were less frequently inconvenienced by it than I had anticipated we should be from reading the accounts of other travellers in the Andes.

"The following morning was fine, and the Carrels went off at an early hour with more things to the third camp. Perring returned at 10 A. M. with a new arriero and an Indian lad, and two soldiers out of four who had been sent to guard the baggage. It appeared that Perring suspected that the late arriero was the thief, and had had him arrested and sent to Guaranda. With the help of the new men we got the whole of the necessaries up to the third camp by night, leaving, however, one tent and the bulk of the stores at the second camp.

Being now well established and provided with sufficient food and firing at our high station, I considered that we might prudently attempt to make for the summit, and on the 3d of January, 1880, we started at 5.35 A.M., to try to ascend the mountain. At that time there was no wind, and we mounted for a thousand feet without any great difficulty, excepting such as arose from shortness of breath. Our course led up the ridge on which our two camps were placed. On one side of us, and deep down below, there was a large glacier, and on the other some very extensive snow fields. It appeared to me, from the description of Boussingault, to be the same ridge which that traveller had attempted to mount nearly fifty years ago; but the absence of precision in his published narrative renders it impossi ble for me to be certain.

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'If I am in doubt as to the ridge followed by Boussingault, I am in still greater uncertainty as to the line taken by Humboldt. In none of his remarks upon his expedition have I observed any reference to points of the compass. I only know that he started from the direction of the Arenal; but the Arenal grande is a tract of considerable size, three or four miles long, and at least several routes might be followed when starting from it. Then again he mentions particularly the height that he attained, and the nature of the obstruction which stopped him. This causes me great perplexity; for, at the elevation he mentions, there is not, upon the side of the Arenal, a place answering to his description. There are, however, places of that kind considerably lower down than the altitude which he claims to have reached. As it cannot be doubted that his expedition was actually made from the direction of the Arenal, the conclusion can hardly be resisted that he over-estimated the height that he reached; unless, indeed, the whole mountain has sunk since his time, and this, according to my opinion, is not impossible. "Soon after 7 wind began to spring up, and at 7.30 it blew so hard as to render further progress highly dangerous. At this time we had scarcely mounted more than a thousand feet above our third camp, and as it was certain that we could not reach the summit on that day, we came down again, holding ourselves, however, in readiness to start again on the following morning.

Ascent of Chimborazo.—I started with the two Carrels at 5.40 A.M., on January 4th, on a very fine and nearly cloudless morning, leaving Perring in charge of the camp. We followed the track made yesterday, and benefitted by the steps which had been then cut in the snow. At first the line of ascent was on the southern side of the mountain, but after the height of 18,500 feet had been attained we commenced to bear round to the west, and mounted spirally, arriving on the plateau at the summit from a northerly direction.

"The ascent was mainly over snow, and entirely so after 19,500 feet had been passed. Up to nearly 20,000 feet it was in good condition, and we sank in but slightly, and progressed at a rea

sonable rate. Until II A.M. we had met with no great difficulties, and up to that time had experienced fine weather, with a good deal of sunshine.

"We were now twenty thousand feet high, and the summit seemed within our grasp. We could see the great plateau which is at the top of the mountain, and the two fine snowy domes, one on its northern and the other on its southern side. But, alas! the sky became clouded all over, the wind rose, and we entered upon a large tract of exceedingly soft snow, which could not be traversed in the ordinary way, and it was found necessary to flog every yard of it down, and then to crawl over it on all-fours. The ascent of the last thousand feet occupied more than five hours, and it was 5 P.M. before we reached the summit of the higher of the two domes of Chimborazo.

"On the immediate summit the snow was not so extremely soft; it was possible to stand up upon it. The wind, however, was furious, and the temperature fell to 21° Fah. We remained only long enough to read the barometers, and left at 5.20 P.M.; by great exertion succeeding in crossing the most difficult rocks which had to be passed over just as the last gleam of daylight disappeared; but we were then benighted, and occupied more than two hours descending the last thousand feet, arriving at the camp about 9 P.M."

Mr. Whymper tells us that the very hurried way in which he was compelled to leave the summit prevented several observations being taken which he had desired to make, and he consequently wished to make another ascent before he quitted the mountain. In consultation with his mountaineers it came out that the feet of Louis Carrel were badly frostbitten, and he was consequently obliged to descend without first going up again. The retreat occupied a considerable length of time, as mules and men had to be fetched from Guaranda. By January 12th all the party and the baggage were safely got down to the inn of Chuquipoquio, on the east side of the mountain, and several days of rest were taken there. They then went on to the town of Ambato and procured medical assistance for Louis Carrel. Both his feet were frightfully swollen, and when

the swelling was reduced the flesh parted in great gashes. producing sores. "More than three weeks elapsed before he was able to walk, and more than five weeks before he made another ascent. We thus lost an entire month in the finest part of our season."

Six months more passed before another ascent of Chimborazo could be made, and this time it was resolved to try to improve upon the first route. The frequency of the easterly winds, which largely preponderate in the interior of Ecuador, had, upon his other expeditions, induced Mr. Whymper generally to prefer the western sides of the mountains that he ascended, and, in returning toward the coast, he passed between Carihuàirazo and Chimborazo, to reach the western side of the latter.

On July 3, 1880, after having encamped at a height of about 16,000 feet, he again reached the summit, going up and down again under twelve hours, out of which time one and a quarter hours were passed on the top. As there was very general incredulity in Ecuador as to the possibility of ascending the mountain, Mr. Whymper took two natives with him on this occasion, and, on his re-arrival at Guayaquil, he caused one of them-Javier Campana-to make the following formal declaration before the British Consul at that port. We reprint this at length, as it gives, in a few words, a straightforward account of a remarkable achievement.

"I, Javier Campana, of Quito, hereby declare, that upon July 3, 1880, I accompanied Mr. Edward Whymper to the very highest point of the summit of Chimborazo. We were also accompanied by Jean-Antoine Carrel, and by Louis Carrel (Mr. Whymper's two Italian mountaineers), and by David Beltran, of Machachi. Mr. Whymper placed his tent on July 2, 1880, on the north-west side of Chimborazo, at a height, so he tells me, of about 16,000 feet, and he provided for the use of my self and of David the things which were necessary for an ascent, namely, good strong boots with large nails, warm gloves, spectacles to protect the eyes against the glare of the snow, and iceaxes to help us along. We started from the tent at 5.15 on the morning of July 3d, 1880, and at once commenced to

ascend toward the summit. The way at first was over loose stones, but after we had ascended for about 1000 feet we came to snow, and the remainder of the ascent was entirely over snow, with the exception of one or two little places where rocks came through the snow. We stopped to eat on one of these little patches of rock at 8.35 A.M., and after Mr. Whymper had examined his mercurial barometer he encouraged us to proceed by telling us that we had already got more than half way up from the tent. From this place we saw the sea. We went on again at 9.5 A.M., and found the snow get steeper and steeper. We were all tied together with a good strong rope in case any one should slip, and except for this and for the things with which we had been provided I should not have able to get along at all. Sometimes it was very cold, and there was much wind, but when we were in the sun it was very hot. Whether in the sun or in the shade the snow was very soft, and we sank in deeply, often up to the knees. This was very fatiguing and it was owing to this that we took so much longer time in ascending the upper than the lower part of the mountain. To break the ascent we zigzaged about, and at one time came round to the side fronting Guaranda, and then came back to above the place where the tent was pitched. At last we got on to the top, and could see the two summits. The snow was very soft indeed here, and we went along very slowly, and had often to stop to get breath. The highest of the two summits was on our left hand, that is. upon the north side of the mountain, and we went to it, without going upon the lower one. As we approached the very highest point we saw that there was something strange upon it, and when we got up we found the pole of the flag which Mr. Whymper had put up on January 4, 1880. It stood up about 11⁄2 varas above the snow, and very little of the flag remained, as it had been torn to pieces by the wind. I took a small piece of the flag to show to my friends below, and was filled with joy at being the first Ecuadorian to reach the summi tof the great Chimborazo! We arrived on the very highest point of the summit at 1.20 P. M., and about the same time ashes from Cotopaxi began to fall.