Rensselaer Union, Volume 5, Number 30, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 17 April 1873 — The First Ascent of Cotopaxi. [ARTICLE]

The First Ascent of Cotopaxi.

The ascent of the loftiest active volcano on the globe is no ordinary event Its achievement would have filled many pages in the worksof Humboldt, Standing fifty miles below the equator, and a hundred west of the meridian of Washington, Cotopaxi is at once the most beautiful and the most terrible of volcanoes. From the valley of the Quito it appears like a huge truncated cone, in altitude equaling five Vesuviuses piled upon each other, its summit rising for a thousand feet above the limit of perpetual snow, its sides presenting-alternate ridges and gorges plowed by descending floods of water, and around the base for miles heaps of ruins—bowlders twenty feet square and volcanic ashes and mud six hundred feet deep. Very seldom does Cotopaxi wake up to. intense activity, for as a rule the higher a volcano the less frequent its eruptions. Generally the only signs of life are deep rumbling thunders and a cloud of. smoke lazily issuing from the crater. The scientific world has long desired to know the structure of the crater of Cotopaxi. The great Humboldt, although he attempted to climb Chimborazo, seemed to think the top of this volcano unap : proaehr.ble, and contented himself by examining it through his telescope. Fifty years ago Col. Hall, an American citizen, tried it with scaling ladder 3 only to fail. In 1869 I)r. Felipe Sarrade, an Ecuadorian, said he reached the summit, where he found seven craters; but nobody believed his story. The glory was reserved for Dr. Reiss, a german naturalist, who, with Dr. Stubcl, has been exploring the valley of Quito during the last four years. Lxvill give a condensed account of ills ascent. On the 27th of November, 1872, I)r. Reiss set out from Muloio with ten peones for the southwest point of the crater. Crossing the river Cutuche at Limpiopungo, where the stream cuts through vast deposits of volcanic ashes, lie reached the “Yeatanillas,” a dry anil sterile pampa, since the porous earth retains no moisture. Here the ascent of the cone began. Following the triangular ridge that divides the deep defiles of Manzanaguaico and Pucahuaico, and whose apex reaches the snow limit, he crossed subordinate cerros and pampas, which are so many steps in the grand staircase he was a’seending. Vegetation how ceased entirely, and the surface was covered with ashes and black sand. In fact, nearly the whole occidental slope of Cotopaxi, between 12,500 and 16,000 feet, presents the aspect of a dismal black desert. In this lofty, lifeless, silent solitude, says our traveler, man seems an intrusion. He found it difficult to judge of the distances and dimensions of objects. Progress was slow, for at every step the foot sank into the sand, which increased in depth with the ascent. The < mules were scarcely able to move, sinking to the knees and suffering from the rarefaction of the air. Occasionally the magnificent vista be low and the neighborhood of the snowy cone above absorbed attention: but clouds and driving hail-storms generally cut off all prospects. Suddenly a profound chasm, containing fresh, smoking lava, was discovered on the left. This lava stream was the lower limit of a vast mass, which from the valley appearedlike a long, black line. At 2 p.'rn., our travel er reached the point where the two quebradas unite, marked by an immense pile of rocks. Here he encamped for the night at an altitude Of 15,179 feet. At six o’clock tlie upper part of the mountain was cleared of smoke and mist, and gave a grand and imposing view. The white cone rose immediately above, appearing' very huge but not high. The border of the crater showed itself as a broad line. with a lofty rock on the north end and another on the south. An immense stream of lava came down the eone, and near the place of encampment divided, entering the two quebrada3 or ravines mentioned. The lava was still warm, clouds of vapor rising along the whole extent of the stream. During the afternoon the thermometer Lad stood at freczing point; but in the night fell to twentyfive degrees. The next day Dr. Reiss attained all his hopes. The top stpod out clear, while at his feet the accumulated clouds looked like a sea of cotton wrapping the mountain up to the altitude of 12,000 feet, leaving here and there an islanded peak or promontory. Cropping out of the lava stream, but mainly disposed along the borders of it, were numeroas rough stones, upon "which lie advanced as on the rounds of a ladder. The greatest width of the lava current before it divided was about 3;ooo4eet, aarLlhe .estimated thickness 150 feet. The lava was entirely black and warm in all its coupe; its temperature being from sixty-eight to ninety one degrees, while that of the atmosphere was thirty-two .degrees This elevated temperature explains the absence of snow or this part of the slope. The gaseous exhalations from 1 he. crevices seemed to bp nothing more than air mixed with vapor. This is doubtless the lava stream which, flowedip 1854, and which, by /melting vast -quantities of'snow, caused much devastation in the viliey by floods. These sadden floods, caused by fresh eruptions of lava on the mountain side, are the teitof oflhe villages at the foot of Cotopaxi. Sometimes, however, the cone, especially on the east side, appears

block, owing, not to the absence of snow, but to a covering of black ashes. No fissure or accumulation of scoriae indicates the source of the lava stream. But the altitude of the point of departure is 18,700 feet. At 8:45 lie reached the arenal, a deep mass of fine sand stretching upward at an angle of forty degrees. Over this he must advance, difficult as it was, for on either side were impassable fields of snow and Ice. Tlie temperature of the sand was twenty-seven degrees. Another stream of lava was discovered, which must have flowed with great velocity, since, instead of following the Inclination of ihe cone, it had descended diagonally. Only the peaks of Iliniza and Chimborazo In the opposite Cordillera were visible; but above the clouds, towards the southwest, a dense mars of smoke rose perpendicularly to a prodigious height, and then by an east wind was carried off in a horizontal line westward. This came from the furious and ever-ac-tive volcano of Sangay, whose top Was invisible, but whose activity was manifested in this manner. As the clouds shifted, the diversified valley and its royal mountains were spread out like a map. Near by, on the southern (lank of the volcano, was the porphyritic peak called Cabeza del Cotopaxi, torn off by an eruption on the very day Atahual'pa was murdered by Pizarro. Dr. Reiss thinks it really formsuwpart of Cotopaxi, but belongs to a more ancient volcano. The old eruptions produced much obsidian, not found in the lavas of Cotopaxi, and probably the heaps of pumice around Tacunga came from some ancient crater. The clouds were ascending the mountain more rapidly than our traveler, as if in hot pursuit to intercept his view of the unseen crater. More than once, while ascending the arenal his courage nearly failed him. The sapd became mingled with ice; but turning a little to the south ho found a series of huge rocks rising above the sdow and ashes and giving him a firm foothold. It was now 10:15 a. m., thermometer twenty-eight degrees. Fumerolea abounded, giviDg forth, sulphurous gas. And now followed a sheet.of compact blue ice, inclined from thirtyfive degrees to forty degrees; but fortunately it was not smooth, but covered with myriads of points or icicles three or four inches high. Scrambling over this, and climbing over and between wallsl someof immense size, suddenly lie reached the edge of the crater. At the same moment a cloud which had hovered over the summit, dispersed;- and for the first time human eyes looked into the profound crater of far-famed Cotopaxi. “I confess,” says the doctor, “an unutterable satisfaction in having accomplished this feat, the ascent of the highest active volcano on the globe.” fie had reached the western part of the . outbern lip. The crater presented an. elliptical fonn, the major axis lying north and south. The stories which are continually telling in from all sides, bat especially from the west side, rolled together as to the bottom of a funnel; there were no signs of a level bottom. The depth, roughly estimated, appeared to be 1,500 feet. The side of the funnel least inclined, and by which alone it is possible to descend, is the southwest; but here are large fumaroles sending forth dense masses of • vapor charged with gas, and having a temperature of 156 degrees. Around these fumaroles were masses of sulphur and a deposit of gypsum mixed with chloride of lime. This is of great interest as being the first instance of a chloride being found among the products of the South American volcanoes. Humboldt thought that the absence of hydrochloric acid was a characteristic of the new world volcanoes. The barometer gave 19,660 feet as the altitude, while the doctor’s trigonometrical observations, re j peated at various times from independent bases in the valley, had given him 19,496 as the height of the north peak, and 19,427 for the southern. Both results exceed the altitude estimated by other travelers. Humboldt made it 18,880 feet. While standing on the rim of the crater holding to his Indian servant with one hand and with the other examining the deposits of a fumurole, a gust of air filled both eyes with, sand impregnated with sulphuric acid, causing violent inflammation. This put an end to observation, and made it the part of wisdom to descend as soon as possible.—He left the crater at 1:45 p. m., and reached hi 3 encampment at the head of the ridge in three hours and a half, just as a heavy snow storm began. “If the scientific results of my ascent (says M. Reiss) do not meet the expectations oisavans, I console myself with the reflection that I have pointed out the road, and that other travelers may make the ascent without being hindered by the general notion that it is impossible to reach the crater.” He says it is possible to ascend froih the snow-limit to the summit in four or five hours. But as the ascent is steep and laborious, it is better to sleep the first night at the limit, and the second night on the arenal, the sand of which is warm. This will give a long third day to the crater, and enable the traveler to explore the whole circumference. He says he felt no inconvenience from the Rarefaction of the air. This difficulty in ascending high altitudes, begins at the height of 12,000 or 13,000 feet, but does not appear to augment with the altitude. In 1867 the writer of these lines ran a race with a fellow traveler on the side of Antisanaat the bracing altitude of 16,000 feet. Ail the pepnes with Dr. Reiss complained of sickness, and one stout fellow bled at the nose. The mules also suffered much above the altitude of 13,000 feet; but his dog, although evidently troubled for breath, followed him to the crater.— Cor. N. Y. Evening Post. —The Princess Pierre Bonaparte is, perhaps, the first woman to successfully unite the two classes of society widest apart. In her workshop in London she is a real princess amoDg her twenty French seamstresses, who are said to worshipper and serve her devotedly. From London she goes to visit the ex-Empress, where she is received as her rank and character deserve to be, and the fact that she has just superintended the fitting and making of—perhaps—a servant girl’s dress is either forgotten or ignored. Her busy hands and admirable business tact support her husband, who is an invalid in Belgium, and educate her children. —There is much to be said in favor ol young ladies adopting the medical profession. Among other things it has an excellent effect on the sensibilities and the natural delicacy of the sex A Massachusetts maiden studying medicine out West lately wrote home for S2O, and explained in another letter'tyra dear friend that she wanted the money “to buy a man to cut up.” The’sanguinary sex is rather too fond of cutting up men. —The race"ot jokers is not yet extinct. A Hampshire wag put the following advertisement in a Weekly paper: “Who wants a new milch-cow, that is every way kind, only five years old, and gives sis-, teen quarts of milk to a milking?— Jack Rogeks.” The next week Mr. Rogers received no fewer than fifty applications through the paper for the cow, which were answered thus: “If I hear of any stith cow I will let you know immediately.—Yourfe truly, J. Rogers ” —One of (he Freshmen at Dartmouth is fifty years of age. He is a retired clergy-man-who intends, as he says, to “finish .up his mortal career with a college course.”