Though celebrated for its great hight, Pichincha is three thousand,
eight hundred and forty-nine feet, or three-fourths of a mile, lower
than the perpendicular elevation of Cotopaxi. It was formerly a volcano;
but the mouth or crater on one of its sides is now covered with sand or
calcined matter, so that at present neither smoke nor ashes issue from
it.
When it was ascended by Don George Juan and Don Antonio de Ulloa, for
the purpose of their astronomical observations, they found the cold on
the top of this mountain extremely intense, the wind very violent, and
the fog, or, in other words, the cloud, so thick, that objects at the
distance of six or eight paces were scarcely discernible. On the air
becoming clear, by the clouds descending nearer the earth, in such a
manner as to surround the mountain on all sides to a vast distance,
these clouds afforded a lively representation of the sea, in which the
top of the mountain seemed to stand, like an island in the center.
“With aspect mild, and elevated eye,
Behold him seated on a mount serene,
Above the fogs of sense, and passion’s storm:
All the black cares and tumults of this life,
Like harmless thunders, breaking at his feet.”—YOUNG.
When the clouds descended, the astronomers heard the dreadful noise of
tempests, which discharged themselves from them on the adjacent country.
They saw the lightning issue from the clouds, and heard the thunder roll
far beneath them. While the lower parts were thus involved in tempests
of thunder and rain, they enjoyed a delightful serenity; the wind
abated, the sky cleared, and the enlivening rays of the sun moderated
the severity of the cold. But when the clouds rose, their density
rendered respiration difficult: snow and hail fell continually, and the
winds returned with such violence, that it was impossible to overcome
the fear of being blown down the precipices, or of being buried by the
accumulation of ice and snow, or by the enormous fragments of rocks
which rolled around them. Every crevice in their hut was stopped, and
though the hut was small, was crowded with inhabitants, and several
lamps were constantly burning, the cold was so great, that each
individual was obliged to have a chafing-dish of coals, and several men
were employed every morning in removing the snow which had fallen during
the night. Their feet were swollen, and they became so tender and
sensible, that walking was attended with extreme pain; their hands also
were covered with chilblains, and their lips were so swollen and
chapped, that every motion in speaking brought blood.