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Alexander von Humboldt: „Description of the volcano at Cotopaxi“, in: ders., Sämtliche Schriften digital, herausgegeben von Oliver Lubrich und Thomas Nehrlich, Universität Bern 2021. URL: <https://humboldt.unibe.ch/text/1810-Pittoreske_Ansichten_in-13-neu> [abgerufen am 13.10.2024].
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| Titel | Description of the volcano at Cotopaxi | ||||||
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| Jahr | 1821 | ||||||
| Ort | Chillicothe, Ohio | ||||||
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Nachweis in: The Weekly Recorder 7:28/340 (14. März 1821), S. 221–222.
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| Sprache | Englisch | ||||||
| Typografischer Befund | Antiqua; Spaltensatz; Auszeichnung: Kursivierung; Fußnoten mit Asterisken und Kreuzen; Schmuck: Trennzeichen. | ||||||
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|221|
description of the volcano atcotopaxi.
“Cotopaxi is the loftiest of those volcanos ofthe Andes, which at recent epochs have under-gone eruptions. Its absolute height is five thou-sand seven hundred and fifty four metres;*
(about eighteen thousand seven hundred andthirty-six English feet.) It is double that ofCanigou; and consequently eight hundred metreshigher than Vesuvius would be, were it placedon the top of the Peak of Teneriffe.† Cotopaxiis also the most dreadful volcano of the kingdomof Quito, and its explosions the most frequentand disastrous. The mass of scoria, and thehuge pieces of rock thrown out of this volcano,which are spread over the neighbouring valleys,covering a surface of several square leagues,would form, were they heaped together, a collos-sal mountain.
In 1738, the flames of Cotopaxi rose nine hun-dred metres above the brink of the crater. In1744, the roaring of the volcano were heard asfar as Henda, a town on the boarders of the Mag-dalena, and at a distance of two hundred com-mon leagues. On the 4th of April, 1768, thequantity of ashes ejected by the mouth of Coto-paxi was so great, that in the towns of Hambatoand Tacunga day broke only at three in the af-ternoon, and the inhabitants were obliged to uselanterns in walking the streets. The explosionwhich took place in the month of January, 1803,was preceded by a most dreadful phenomenon,the sudden melting of the snows that covered themountain. For twenty years before, no smokeor vapour, that could be perceived, had issuedfrom the crater; and in a single night the subter-raneous fire became so active, that at sun-rise theexternal walls of the cone, heated, no doubt, toa very considerable temperature, appeared nakedand of a dark colour, which is peculiar to vitri-fied scoræ. At the port of Guayaquil, fifty twoleagues distant in a straight line from the crater,
* The French metre is equal to 3,987,100 Eng-lish inches.† Vesuvius is 3,900 feet above the level of thesea; the Peak of Teneriffe 12,236 feet.|222| we heard, day and night, the constant noises ofthe volcano, like continual discharges of a batte-ry: we distinguished these tremendous soundseven on the Pacific ocean, to the south-west ofthe island of Puna. “Cotopaxi is situated to the south-east of thecity of Quito, at the distance of twelve leagues,between the mountain of Ruminnavi, the summitof which, rugged with small separate rocks, ex-tends itself like a wall of enormous height; andQuelendanna, which enters the boundary of theeternal snows. It is in this part of the Andes, that a longitu-dinal valley separates the Cordilleras into twoparallel chains. The bottom of the valley is threethousand metres above the level of the ocean, sothat Chimborazo and Cotopaxi, seen from theelevated plains of Lican and Mulalo, appear nohigher than the Col de Geant and du Cramont,measured by Saussure. As there is reason tosuppose, that the proximity of the ocean contri-butes to feed the volcanic fire, the geologist is as-tonished to find that the most active volcanoes inthe kingdom of Quito, Cotopaxia, Tungurahua,and Sangay, belong to the eastern chain of theAndes, and consequently that which is the far-thest from the coasts. The whole of the peaks,except Ruca-Pichinca, which crown the westernCordilleras, seem to be volcanoes extinguishedfor a long series of ages; but this mountain,which is 2 deg. 2 sec. distant from the nearestcoasts, those of Esmeralda, and the bay of San-Mateo, spouts out at different periods cataractsof fire, and spreads destruction over the surround-ing plains. “The form of Cotopaxi is the most beautifuland regular of the collossal summits of the highAndes. It is a perfect cone, which, covered withan enormous layer of snow, shines with dazzlingsplendor at the setting of the sun, and detachesitself in the most picturesque manner from theazure vault of heaven. This covering of snowconceals from the eye of the observer, even thesmallest inequalities of the soil; no point of rock,no stony mass, penetrates the coating of ice, orbreaks the regularity of the figure of the cone.The summit of Cotopaxi resembles the sugar-loaf,(Pan de azucar) which terminates the peak ofTeyde; but the height of the cone is six times theheight of that great volcano in the island of Ten-eriffe. “It is only at the brink of the crater we seeledges of rocks, that are never covered with snow,and that look at a distance like stripes of thedarkest hue; the greatest steepness of this partof the cone; and the crevices from which issuecurrents of heated air, are probably the causes ofthis phenomenon. The crater, like that of thePeak of Teneriffe, is surrounded by a small circu-lar wall, which, examined with a good telescope,looks like a parapet. This is more distinctlyseen on the southern declivity, when the behold-er is placed either on the Lion mountain, (PuonaUrcu) or on the banks of the small lake of Yura-coche. “The conic point of the Peak of Teneriffe is ofeasy access, rising from the midst of a plain, co-vered with pumice stones, and on which a fewtufts of spartium supranubium vegetate.—In scal-ing the volcano of Cotopaxi, it is extremely diffi-cult to attain the inferior boundary of the per-petual snows, as we experienced in an excursionwe made in the month of May, in the year 1802.The cone is surrounded by deep crevices, whichat the moment of the eruptions bear down scoræ,pumice stone, water, and blocks of ice, to RioNapo, and Rio de les Alaques. After a near ex-amination of the summit of Cotopaxi, we mayventure to assert, that it would be impossible toreach the brink of the crater. ********* I sketched Cotopaxi, and the head of the Inca, to |Spaltenumbruch| the west of the volcano, at the farm Sienega,*****. The colossal volcano, the pyramidalpeaks of Illinisa, and the Nevado de Quelendana,open here at once on the spectator, and in dread-ful proximity. This is one of the most majesticand awful views I ever beheld in either hemis-phere.”—Researches in South America, by Alex-ander de Humboldt.
* The French metre is equal to 3,987,100 Eng-lish inches.† Vesuvius is 3,900 feet above the level of thesea; the Peak of Teneriffe 12,236 feet.|222| we heard, day and night, the constant noises ofthe volcano, like continual discharges of a batte-ry: we distinguished these tremendous soundseven on the Pacific ocean, to the south-west ofthe island of Puna. “Cotopaxi is situated to the south-east of thecity of Quito, at the distance of twelve leagues,between the mountain of Ruminnavi, the summitof which, rugged with small separate rocks, ex-tends itself like a wall of enormous height; andQuelendanna, which enters the boundary of theeternal snows. It is in this part of the Andes, that a longitu-dinal valley separates the Cordilleras into twoparallel chains. The bottom of the valley is threethousand metres above the level of the ocean, sothat Chimborazo and Cotopaxi, seen from theelevated plains of Lican and Mulalo, appear nohigher than the Col de Geant and du Cramont,measured by Saussure. As there is reason tosuppose, that the proximity of the ocean contri-butes to feed the volcanic fire, the geologist is as-tonished to find that the most active volcanoes inthe kingdom of Quito, Cotopaxia, Tungurahua,and Sangay, belong to the eastern chain of theAndes, and consequently that which is the far-thest from the coasts. The whole of the peaks,except Ruca-Pichinca, which crown the westernCordilleras, seem to be volcanoes extinguishedfor a long series of ages; but this mountain,which is 2 deg. 2 sec. distant from the nearestcoasts, those of Esmeralda, and the bay of San-Mateo, spouts out at different periods cataractsof fire, and spreads destruction over the surround-ing plains. “The form of Cotopaxi is the most beautifuland regular of the collossal summits of the highAndes. It is a perfect cone, which, covered withan enormous layer of snow, shines with dazzlingsplendor at the setting of the sun, and detachesitself in the most picturesque manner from theazure vault of heaven. This covering of snowconceals from the eye of the observer, even thesmallest inequalities of the soil; no point of rock,no stony mass, penetrates the coating of ice, orbreaks the regularity of the figure of the cone.The summit of Cotopaxi resembles the sugar-loaf,(Pan de azucar) which terminates the peak ofTeyde; but the height of the cone is six times theheight of that great volcano in the island of Ten-eriffe. “It is only at the brink of the crater we seeledges of rocks, that are never covered with snow,and that look at a distance like stripes of thedarkest hue; the greatest steepness of this partof the cone; and the crevices from which issuecurrents of heated air, are probably the causes ofthis phenomenon. The crater, like that of thePeak of Teneriffe, is surrounded by a small circu-lar wall, which, examined with a good telescope,looks like a parapet. This is more distinctlyseen on the southern declivity, when the behold-er is placed either on the Lion mountain, (PuonaUrcu) or on the banks of the small lake of Yura-coche. “The conic point of the Peak of Teneriffe is ofeasy access, rising from the midst of a plain, co-vered with pumice stones, and on which a fewtufts of spartium supranubium vegetate.—In scal-ing the volcano of Cotopaxi, it is extremely diffi-cult to attain the inferior boundary of the per-petual snows, as we experienced in an excursionwe made in the month of May, in the year 1802.The cone is surrounded by deep crevices, whichat the moment of the eruptions bear down scoræ,pumice stone, water, and blocks of ice, to RioNapo, and Rio de les Alaques. After a near ex-amination of the summit of Cotopaxi, we mayventure to assert, that it would be impossible toreach the brink of the crater. ********* I sketched Cotopaxi, and the head of the Inca, to |Spaltenumbruch| the west of the volcano, at the farm Sienega,*****. The colossal volcano, the pyramidalpeaks of Illinisa, and the Nevado de Quelendana,open here at once on the spectator, and in dread-ful proximity. This is one of the most majesticand awful views I ever beheld in either hemis-phere.”—Researches in South America, by Alex-ander de Humboldt.