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Alexander von Humboldt: „Chimborazo and 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-18-neu> [abgerufen am 26.04.2024].
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| Titel | Chimborazo and Cotopaxi | ||||
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| Jahr | 1823 | ||||
| Ort | London | ||||
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Nachweis in: Simeon Shaw, Nature Displayed in the Heavens, and on the Earth, According to the Latest Observations and Discoveries, 6 Bände, London: Whitaker 1823, Band 2, S. XX–XXI.
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| Sprache | Englisch | ||||
| Typografischer Befund | Antiqua; Auszeichnung: Kapitälchen. | ||||
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Chimborazo is 21,000 feet above the level of the sea, and9000 above the elevated plains on which they stand; andCotopaxi, 19,000. Till the discovery of the Himalayas,they were considered the highest points on the globe.
We distinguish, says Humboldt, three kinds of principalforms belonging to the high tops of the Andes: the volca-noes which are yet burning; volcanoes, the summits ofwhich have sunk after a long series of eruptions, exhibitingridges bristled with points, needles leaning in different di-rections, and broken rocks falling into ruins; and a thirdform of the high tops of the Andes, and the most majesticof the whole, is that of Chimborazo, the summit of whichis circular. The aspect of mountains of granite has littleanalogy with that of Chimborazo. Granite summits areflattened hemispheres, and the trappean porphyry formsslender cupolas: but Chimborazo appears like a cloud at thedistance of 200 miles. It detaches itself from the neigh-bouring summits, and towers over the whole chain of theAndes, like that majestic dome produced by the genius ofMichael Angelo, over the antique monuments which sur-round the Roman Capitol.
The bulk of Chimborazo is so enormous, that the partwhich the eye embraces at once, near the limit of theeternal snows, is 8000 yards in breadth. The extreme rarityof the strata of air, across which we see the tops of theAndes, contributes, too, greatly to the splendour of thesnow, and the magical effect of its reflection. Underthe Tropics, at a height of 6000 yards, the azure vault ofthe sky appears of an indigo tint. The outlines of themountain detach themselves from the sky in this pure andtransparent atmosphere; while the inferior strata of the air,reposing on a plain destitute of vegetation, which reflectsthe radiant heat, are vaporous, and appear to veil the middleof the mountain.
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Cotopaxi is the loftiest of the volcanoes of the Andes,which at recent epochs have undergone eruptions; and,notwithstanding it lies near the Equator, its summits arecovered with perpetual snows. The absolute height ofCotopaxi is 18,876 feet, or these miles and a half; conse-quently it is 2,622 feet, or half a mile, higher than Vesuviuswould be, were that mountain placed on the top of the Peakof Teneriffe! Cotopaxi is the most mischievous of thevolcanoes in the kingdom of Quito, and its explosions arethe most frequent and disastrous. The masses of scoriæand the pieces of rock thrown out of this volcano cover asurface of several square leagues, and would form, werethey heaped together, a prodigious mountain. In 1738,the flames of Cotopaxi rose 3000 feet, or upwards of half amile; above the brink of the crater. In 1744, the roaringsof this volcano were heard at the distance of 600 miles.On the 4th of April, 1768, the quantity of ashes ejected atthe mouth of Cotopaxi was so great, that it was dark tillthree in the afternoon. The form of Cotopaxi is the mostbeautiful and regular of the colossal summits of the highAndes. It is a perfect cone, which, covered with a perpetuallayer of snow, shines with dazzling splendour at the settingof the sun, and detaches itself in the most picturesquemanner from the azure vault above. This covering of snowconceals from the eye of the observer even the smallest
inequalities of the soil; no point of rock, no stony mass,penetrating this coat of ice, or breaking the regularity ofthe figure of the cone.
CHIMBORAZO AND COTOPAXI.