"Our surroundings were not conducive to late sleeping, and we were off soon after daybreak. The morning was very cold, but as the sun ascended in the heavens the air grew warmer, and we ceased shivering. In a little while we reached the summit of a ridge several thousand feet above the level of the sea, and had a magnificent view.
A MOUNTAIN CASCADE.
"There was a mist when we started, but it rolled away when we came to the top of the sierra; on one side we had the lofty mountains far above us, and on the other the country dropped away at our feet till it was lost in the distant shore of the Pacific. The great snowy peak of Chimborazo was in full view, and we longed to ascend to its summit and look out upon the wide stretch of land it commands. One traveller says the view from its top would embrace an area of fully ten thousand square miles, and I can readily believe him. Nobody has yet been there, and the name of the man who first ascends it is destined to be remembered.
BARON VON HUMBOLDT IN 1802.
"Humboldt and his companions endeavored, in 1802, to ascend to the top of Chimborazo, but were obliged to stop short when they had yet two thousand and more feet above them.
"They were stopped by an immense chasm that stretched across the line they were ascending, and by the inconveniences that are generally experienced at high altitudes. Blood spurted from their eyes and lips, and they breathed with great difficulty. According to barometrical observations, Humboldt was within 2138 feet of the summit when he turned back.