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Alexander von Humboldt: „The works of God displayed in the history of Cotopaxi a mountain in South America“, 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-20-neu> [abgerufen am 19.04.2024].
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| Titel | The works of God displayed in the history of Cotopaxi a mountain in South America | ||||
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| Jahr | 1825 | ||||
| Ort | New York City, New York | ||||
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Nachweis in: The Telescope 2:17 (24. September 1825), S. 67.
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| Sprache | Englisch | ||||
| Typografischer Befund | Antiqua; Spaltensatz. | ||||
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This mountain is the loftiest ofthose volcanoes of the Andes, which,at epochs, have undergone eruptions.Notwithstanding it lies near theEquator, its summits are coveredwith perpetual snows. The absoluteheight of Cotopaxi is 18,876 feet, orthree miles and a half, consequentlyit is 2,622 feet, or half a mile higherthan Vesuvius would be, were thatmountain placed on the top of thepeak of Teneriffe!—Cotopaxi is themost mischievous of the volcanos inthe kingdom of Quito; and its ex-plosions are the most frequent anddisastrous. The masses of scoria,and the pieces of rocks thrown outof this volcano, cover a surface ofseveral square leagues, and wouldform were they heaped together, aprodigious mountain. In 1738, theflames of Cotopaxi rose three thou-sand feet, or upwards of half a mileabove the brink of the crater. In1744, the roarings of this volcanowere heard at the distance of sixhundred miles. On the 4th of April,
1768, the quantity of ashes ejectedat the mouth of Cotopaxi was sogreat, that it was dark till three in theafternoon.
The explosion which took placein 1803, was preceded by the suddenmelting of the snows which coveredthe mountain. For twenty years, nosmoke or vapor that could be percei-ved, had issued from the crater, but,in a single night, the subterraneousfires became so active, that at sunrisethe external walls of the cone, heatedto a very considerable degree of tem-perature, appeared naked, and of thedark colour which is peculiar to vit-rified scoriæ. At the port of Guay-aquil, observes Humboldt, “fifty-twoleagues distant, in a straight line fromthe crater, we heard day and night,the noise of this volcano, like contin-ual discharges of a battery; andwe distinguished these tremendoussounds even on the Pacific Ocean.”
The form of Cotopaxi is the mostbeautiful and regular of the colossalsummits of the high Andes. It is aperfect cone, which, covered with aperpetual layer of snow, shines withdazzling splendour at the setting ofthe sun, and detaches itself in themost picturesque manner from theazure vault above. This coveringof the snow, conceals from the eyesof the observer, even the smallest in-equalities of the soil; no point of rock,no stony mass, penetrating this coatof ice, or breaking the regularity ofthe figure of the cone.
The works of God displayed in the history of Cotopaxi a mountain in South America.