Llanganati or Cerro Hermoso is chiefly known through the tradition that the treasures of the Incas were buried in a lake on its slopes. It consists of a group of summits, the highest being credited with 17,843 ft. Tunguragua, or Tungurahua, has a cone-shaped summit like that of Cotopaxi, with a slope of 38°. It rises from a plain somewhat lower than the neighbouring central plateau and stands free from the surrounding elevations, except on the south, which give it an exceptionally imposing appearance. Among its characteristic features is a cataract fed by melting snows, which descends 1500 ft. in three leaps, and an enormous basaltic lava-stream, which crosses the face of the mountain in a north-easterly direction. Its most notable eruption was in 1777. It has been sometimes classed among the extinct volcanoes, but smoke has been seen issuing from it at different dates, and a violent eruption occurred on January 12, 1886. The fertile cultivated valley of Baños, with its thermal springs, lies at the base of Tunguragua, which F. Hassaurek describes as “the most beautiful of all the snow peaks in the country.” The next in line is El Altar, which the natives call Capac-Urcu (“king mountain”), whose broken cone and impressive outlines make it one of the most attractive mountains of Ecuador. Its summit comprises a group of eight snow-clad peaks, and its crater is surrounded by a steep and jagged wall of rocks. There is a tradition that this mountain was once higher than Chimborazo, but a series of eruptions caused the cone to fall in and reduced its summit to its present altitude and broken appearance. Altar has shown no signs of activity since the discovery of America. Sangay, or Sangai, the next and last large volcano to the south, is in a state of frequent eruption, however, and is known as one of the most restless volcanoes of the world. Since the Spanish conquest it has been in a state of uninterrupted activity, but no damage has been done, because there are no civilized settlements in its immediate vicinity. Though of great interest to scientific investigators because of this unceasing activity, and of its peculiar position in the Andean system, and because of the difficult and dangerous country by which it is surrounded, Sangay has been but rarely visited by European travellers. Its eruptions are not on a grand scale, but small outbursts of lava and explosions of steam occur at frequent intervals, and at longer intervals more violent explosions in which the molten rock is thrown 2000 ft. above its summit, and ashes are carried away as far as the streets of Guayaquil.

Turning to the Cordillera Occidental and taking the principal peaks in order from south to north, the first to claim attention is Chimborazo (from Chimpu-raza, “mountain of snow”), the highest summit of Ecuador, and once believed to be the culminating point of the Andes. Humboldt, who unsuccessfully attempted its ascent in 1802, gives its elevation as 21,425 ft., Reiss and Stubel as 20,703, and Whymper as 20,498. It stands 76 m. north-east of Guayaquil, and, according to Spruce, rises majestically from the valley of the Guayas, on the west, without a “positive break from the summit down to the plain.” This, however, is erroneous, for Whymper located a detached range running parallel with the Cordillera on the west, for a distance of 65 m. with the Chimbo valley between them. The magnificence of its mass is imposing from almost any point of view, but it can be most fully appreciated from its western or Pacific side, where its base is covered with forest up to the snow-line, above which its pure white cone rises another 5000 ft. An unobstructed view of the great mountain is rarely obtained, however, because of the mists and clouds which cover its cone. Its summits were reached for the first time in 1880 by Edward Whymper, all previous attempts having failed. It is considered to be an extinct volcano because it makes the plumb-line deviate only 7″ to 8″, from which it is deduced that the mountain is hollow. Moreover, the calcined matter resembling white sand which covers its sides below the snow-line, extensive beds of lava, and the issue of streams of hot water from its northern side, seem to confirm the deduction that Chimborazo is an extinct volcano. Immediately north of Chimborazo, and separated from it by only a narrow valley, are the lower triple summits of Carahuairazo, or Carguairazo (which the natives call Chimborazo-embra, “Chimborazo’s wife”), whose hollow cone collapsed in 1698 during a great earthquake, and left the jagged rim which adds so much to its present picturesque appearance. Mr Whymper’s measurement is for the middle peak. Quirotoa, still farther north, is supposed to have suffered a similar catastrophe. Its hollow summit, 13,510 ft. above sea-level, now contains a large lake. Iliniza, which stands west by north of Cotopaxi, has two pyramidal peaks, and is one of the most interesting mountains of the Ecuadorean group. It stands at the western end of the Tiupullo ridge, and overlooks the Quito basin to the north-east. The French academician Bouger, who was chief of the scientific commission sent to Ecuador in 1736 to measure a degree of the meridian on the equator, made a trigonometrical measurement of Iliniza, and Wagner ascended to within 800 ft. of its summit in 1859. The geological structure of the mountain furnishes no evidence of volcanic activity. Chamalari, which the Spaniards called El Corazon from its heart-shaped appearance, is similarly destitute of a crater. It overlooks the Quito basin and has been ascended many times. Among the earlier explorers to reach its summit were Bouger and La Condamine, Humboldt and Bonpland, and José Cáldas, the Granadian naturalist. Atacatzo is an extinct volcano, with nothing noteworthy in its appearance and history. Pichincha, its famous neighbour, is apparently of later origin, according to Wagner, and of slightly lower elevation. Perhaps no Ecuadorean volcano is better known than Pichincha, the “boiling mountain,” because of its destructive eruptions and its proximity to the city of Quito. Its summit comprises three groups of rocky peaks, of which the most westerly, Rucu-Pichincha (Old Pichincha), contains the crater, a funnel-shaped basin 2460 ft. deep and about 1500 ft. wide at the bottom, whose walls in places rise perpendicularly and in others at an angle of 20°. The exterior of the cone has an angle of 30°. Bouger and La Condamine were the first to reach its brink in 1742, after which Humboldt made the ascent in 1802, Boussingault and Hall in 1831, Garcia Moreno and Sebastian Wisse in 1844 and 1845 (descending into the crater for the first time), Garcia Moreno and Jameson in 1857, Farrand and Hassaurek in 1862, Orton in 1867, and Whymper in 1880. Farrand spent more than a week in the crater trying to get some good photographic views, and Orton has given a graphic description of his experiences in the same place. He found that the real cone of eruption was an irregular heap 250 ft. in height and 800 ft. in diameter, containing about 70 vents. The temperature of the vapour within the fumarole was 184°, and water boiled at 189°. There have been five eruptions of Pichincha since the Spanish conquest—in 1539, 1566, 1575, 1587 and 1660. The second covered Quito 3 ft. deep with ashes and stones, but the last three were considered as the most destructive to that city. The last happily broke down the western side of the crater, which, it is believed, will ensure the city against harm in any subsequent eruption. Since the earthquake of August 1867 Pichincha has sent forth dense masses of black smoke and great quantities of fine sand. Cotocachi is a double-peaked mountain, rising from an extremely rough country. It was ascended by Whymper in 1880. All the higher summits of Ecuador have true glaciers, the largest being found on Antisana, Cayambe and Chimborazo. Whymper located and named no less than eleven on Chimborazo, and counted twelve on Cayambe.

There are two distinct hydrographic systems in Ecuador—the streams that flow south-eastward to the Marañon, or Amazon, and those which flow westward to the Pacific. The southern part of the great central plateau is arid and has a very Rivers. light rainfall; it has no streams, therefore, except from melting snows, and the higher elevations which receive the impact of the easterly winds. Farther north the rainfall becomes heavier, the plateau is covered with vegetation, and a considerable number of small rivers flow westward through the Cordillera to the Pacific. The Eastern Cordillera, or Andes, forms the water-parting between the two systems. The largest of the eastward-flowing rivers is the Napo, which rises in the eastern defiles of Cotopaxi and Sincholagua—the principal source being the Rio del Valle, which traverses the Valle Vicioso. It at first flows south by east, and at the village of Napo is 1450 ft. above sea-level, at the mouth of the Coca 858 ft., at the mouth of the Aguarico 586 ft., 500 at the mouth of the Curaray, and 385 at its junction with the Marañon. Orton estimates its current at Napo in the month of November as 6 m. an hour; in the next 80 m. the river falls 350 ft. and produces a fine series of rapids; and from Santa Rosa downwards the rate is not less than 4 m. an hour. Its breadth at Napo is only 120 ft., but at Coca it has widened to 1500 ft., and at its mouth to nearly 1 m. Like most of the large Amazon tributaries, its discharge into the Marañon is through several distinct channels. The Napo is navigable for steam-boats for some distance above the mouth of the Coca, and thence for canoes as far as the Cando cataract, 3332 ft. above the sea. Its total length is 920 m. The principal tributaries of the Napo are the Coca and Aguarico from the north, and the Curaray from the south. The Coca rises on the eastern slopes of the Andes near Cayambe and the Guamani range, and flows eastward near the equator to San Rafael (about 76° 30′ W. long.), where it turns sharply southward to a junction with the Napo in about lat. 1° S., long. 76° W. The Coca forms the provisional boundary line between Ecuador and Colombia from its source to the Napo. The Aguarico also rises on the eastern slopes of the Andes north of Cayambe and flows south-eastward to a junction with the Napo in about long. 75° W., its length being roughly estimated at 420 m. Little is known of its course, or of the country through which it flows, which is provisionally occupied by Colombia. The Curaray has its sources in the defiles of the Cerros de Llanganati, and flows south-eastward to the Napo, its length being estimated at 490 m. Its lower course is sluggish, where its waters are made unpalatable by a reddish slime. The Napo and its tributaries are celebrated in the early history of South America as the route by which Gonzalo Pizarro and Orellana first reached the Amazon, and it was afterwards the principal route by which the early expeditions across the continent at this point connected the Andean Plateau with the Amazon. The other rivers which flow through the Oriente territory of Ecuador into the Marañon are the Tigre, Pastaza, Morona and Santiago. The Tigre, of which little was known until a recent date, is formed by the confluence of the Cunambo and Huiviyacu, whose sources are on the eastern slopes of the Andes near those of the Curaray. Its length below this confluence is 416 m., into which are received 109 tributaries, the largest of which are the Pucacuro and Corrientes. The Tigre is navigable at all stages up to the Cunambo confluence, and promises to afford one of the most valuable river routes in Ecuador. It enters the Marañon very near the 74th meridian. The Pastaza, or Pastassa, unlike the rivers already described, has its source on the central plateau west of the principal chain of the Andes, within the shadow of Cotopaxi, and breaks through the Cordillera to the north of Tunguragua. After flowing southward along the base of the high Andes for a short distance and receiving a number of torrents from the snowclad heights, it turns south-eastward across the plain and enters the Marañon about 70 m. above the mouth of the Huallaga. The stream is known as the Patate down to its junction with the Chambo, near Baños, and is not called Pastaza until the Agoyan falls are passed. It was navigated by Don Pedro Maldonado as early as 1741, and is navigable for steamboats of 2 to 4 ft. draft up to the mouth of the Huasaga (about 124 m.) in times of high water, and for canoes nearly 200 m. farther. The Pastaza, however, is subject to irresistible floods caused by the sudden rising of the mountain torrents on its upper course, especially the Toro, which sweep down with such fury that navigation on the river is practically impossible. The shallowness of the lower stream, where the current is sluggish, is probably due to the great quantities of silt brought down by these floods. Many of the rivers of eastern Ecuador are subject to similar floods from the Andean slopes, which have cut away broad, deep channels, through the adjacent plains, leaving long, narrow ridges between their courses which the natives call cuchillas. The Morona is formed by the confluence of the Manhuasisa and Cangaima about 310 m. above its mouth, and is freely navigable for small steamboats to that point. The two confluents just mentioned have their sources in the Andes, and flow for some distance across the plain before uniting to form the Morona. Both are navigable for considerable distances. The Morona follows a very tortuous course before entering the Marañon, at long. 70° W., and receives a large number of affluents, one of which serves as the outlet for Lake Rimachuma, in Peruvian territory. Very little is definitely known of the affluents of the Morona, Pastaza and Tigre, as the territory through which they run has been but slightly explored. The Santiago, which enters the Marañon near the Pongo de Manseriche, is formed by the confluence of the Paute, which rises in the province of Azuay, and the Zamora, which has its source among the mountains of Loja. According to Alexander Garland (Peru in 1906), the rivers of eastern Ecuador are navigable at low water for steamers of 2 to 4 ft. draft for an aggregate distance of 1503 m., as follows:—

Miles.
Napo, to the mouth of the Aguarico559
Curaray, up to Canonaco286
Tigre, up to Cunambo-Huiviyacu confluence416
Pastaza 31
Morona, up to the Rarayacu211

These same rivers are navigable at high water for steamers of 19½ ft. draft for an aggregate distance of 1330 m., including 68 m. of the Aguarico, and for steamers of 2 to 4 ft. draft for an additional 733 m. The last aggregate includes an extension of 93 m. on the Pastaza, 99 on the Morona, 186 on the Napo, and the balance on the Manhuasisa, Cangaima, Pucacuro, Corrientes, Cunambo and Huiviyacu.

On the western versant of the Andes of Ecuador there are three river systems of considerable size—the Mira, the Esmeraldas and the Guayas. The sources of the first—the Rioblanco, Pisco and Puntal—are to be found on the northern slopes of the transverse ridge which culminates in the Imbabura volcano. Its course is north and north-west to the Colombian frontier, thence westward and north-west to the Pacific, breaking through the Western Cordillera on its way. It forms the boundary line for some distance between Ecuador and Colombia, but near its mouth where the river turns northward Colombia has taken possession of the left bank and all the territory covered by its large delta. Its principal tributaries on the left are the San Pedro, Paramba, Cachiyacu, Chachavi and Canumbi, and on the right the San Juan, Caiquer and Nulpe. The delta channels of the Mira are navigable, being tributary to the Colombian port of Tumaco. The Esmeraldas drains all that part of the central plateau lying between the transverse ridge of Tiupullo on the south, and the Imbabura ridge on the north, together with the western slopes of the Cordillera between Iliniza and Cotocachi, and a considerable part of the lower plain. It is formed by the confluence of the Quininde and Toachi with the Guaillabamba between 40 and 50 m. above its mouth, and discharges into the Pacific in lat. 1° N., long. 79° 40′ W., through a narrow and precipitous gorge. The volume and current of the river is sufficient to freshen the sea 2 m. from the coast. The Guaillabamba is the larger and more important tributary, and should be considered the main stream. It rises in the Chillo valley in the vicinity of Cayambe, and flows across the northern end of the central plateau, breaking through the Western Cordillera between Cotocachi and Pichincha. One of its plateau tributaries, Rio Pedregal, rises on the slopes of Cotopaxi and is celebrated for its three beautiful cascades, the highest of which is about 220 ft. The Toachi and Quininde have their sources on the western slopes of the Cordillera. The Guayas or Guayaquil river is in part an estuary extending northward from the Gulf of Guayaquil, bordered by mangrove swamps and mud banks formed by the silt brought down from the neighbouring mountains. All the bordering country on both sides is of the same description, and for a long distance inland extensive areas of swampy country are submerged during the rainy season. Above the mouth of the Daule the river is known as the Bodegas, which in turn is formed by the confluence of the Babahoyo and the Vinces. The Guayas also receives a large tributary from the east called the Yaguachi. All these streams are navigable on their lower courses, regular steamboat communication being maintained on the Guayas and Bodegas to a river port of the latter name, 80 m. above Guayaquil, and for 40 m. on the Daule. The navigable channels of all the rivers are computed at 200 m. The drainage basin of the Guayas, according to Theodor Wolf, covers an area of 14,000 sq. m., and includes the greater part of the lower plain and the western slopes of the Cordillera Occidental as far north as Iliniza. The Babahoyo, which is the main stream, has its sources on the slopes of Chimborazo, the Daule on the Sandomo ridge in the latitude of Pichincha, the Yaguachi on the south-eastern slopes of Chimborazo, whence it flows southward for a considerable distance before breaking through the Cordillera to the western plain. The Guayas is one of the most interesting and varied of the South American river systems, and is of great economic importance to Ecuador. In addition to these three river systems, there are a large number of short streams on the coast flowing into the Pacific and Gulf of Guayaquil, only two of which have any special importance in the present undeveloped state of the country. These are the Santiago, which drains several fertile valleys in northern Esmeraldas and western Carchi, and whose outlet is connected with some navigable tide-water channels, including the Pailon basin and the Caráquez, or Caracas, on which is located the village of Bahia de Caráquez (lat. 0° 34′ S.), the nearest port to the city of Quito.

There are a considerable number of small lakes in Ecuador, but no large ones. These are of two classes—those of the bowl-like valleys and extinct craters of the mountainous region, and the reservoir lakes of the lowland plains caused by Lakes. the annual overflow of the rivers. It is impossible to say how many of the latter there may be, for much of the territory where they are found is unexplored. They are usually shallow and malarial. Among the upland lakes, there are some of special interest because of their position and historical association. The Yaguar-cocha (“lake of blood”), in the province of Imbabura, near Ibarra, which is only 1½ m. in circumference, is celebrated for the tradition that Huayna-Capac, one of the great conquerors of the Inca dynasty, defeated an army of rebellious Carranquis on its shores, and threw so many of their bleeding corpses into it as to turn its waters to the colour of blood. On the south-east skirt of Cotocachi, 10,200 ft. above the sea, is the beautiful little Cuy-cocha, which originated, it is believed, through the falling in of the mountain’s sides. There are two others of apparently the same origin on the north-west slopes of the Mojanda volcano, but they are less attractive because of their gloomy surroundings. In the deep valley between the mountains of Imbabura and Mojanda is the lake of San Pablo, 8848 ft. above the sea. It is one of the largest of its class, being about 5 m. in circumference, and is situated in an exceptionally fertile region. It drains through the Peguchi into the Rio Blanco, a tributary of the Mira. Other well-known lakes of the plateau region are Quirotoa, about 4600 ft. in diameter; Colta, east of Riobamba, and Colay, south of the same place. Among the many thermal springs throughout the Andean districts, the best known are at Belermos and San Pedro del Tingo, north-east of Quito; at Cachillacta, in the district of Nanegal; at Timbugpoyo, near Latacunga; at Baños (5906 ft. elevation), near the foot of Tunguragua; and on the slopes of Rumiñagui and Chimborazo.

The coast of Ecuador extends from about lat. 1° 20′ N. to the vicinity of the Boca Jambeli on the southern shore of the Gulf of Guayaquil, in lat. 3° 14′ S., and has an outward curve. Its more prominent headlands are Punta Galera, Cabo Coast. Pasado, Cabo de San Lorenzo and La Puntilla, or Santa Élena Point. The bays on this coast are commonly broad indentations, and the rivers discharging into them are generally obstructed by bars. The small ports along the coast, therefore, do not afford much protection to shipping. The most northern of these bays is the Ancon de Sardinas, lying south of the Mira delta. The head of the bay is fringed with islands and reefs, behind which is the mouth of the Santiago river, Poza Harbour, San Lorenzo Bay, Pailon basin and a network of navigable channels, all of which are difficult of access. The small ports of La Tola and Pailon are located on these waters. The port of Esmeraldas, near the mouth of the Esmeraldas river, is located near the southern entrance to this bay. As the mouth of the river is obstructed by a bar and its current is swift, the anchorage is outside in an open roadstead, only slightly protected on the south. Farther south is the broad Bay of Manta, with a small port of the same name at its southern extremity. The most frequented port on this part of the coast is that of Bahia de Caráquez, at the mouth of the Caráquez, or Caracas river, which is also obstructed by a bar. There is a fertile, productive country back of this port, and it is the objective point of a road from Quito. Immediately north of the Gulf of Guayaquil is the Bay of Santa Élena, with a small port of the same name, which has a good, well-sheltered anchorage and is the landing-place of the West Coast cable. The Gulf of Guayaquil, which lies between the Ecuadorean and Peruvian coasts, is the largest gulf on the Pacific coast of South America between Panama and Chiloe. Its mouth is 140 m. wide between La Puntilla on the north and Cabo Blanco on the south, and it penetrates the land eastward, with a slight curve northward at its head, for a distance of about 100 m., terminating in the Guayas estuary or river, on which is located the port of Guayaquil. The upper end of the bay and its northern shores are fringed with swamps through which numerous estuaries penetrate for some distance inland. Immediately west of the Guayas river the Estero Salado, which comprises a great many shallow tide-water channels, or bayous, penetrates as far inland as Guayaquil, but is used only by canoes. The upper end of the gulf is filling up with the silt brought down from the Cordillera. It is divided midway by the large island of Puna, at the eastern end of which is the anchorage for steamers too large to ascend the Guayas. The steamship channel passes between this island and the Peruvian coast, and is known as the Jambeli channel. The passage north of Puna Island is known as the Morro channel, but its entrance is obstructed by shoals and it is considered dangerous for shipping. A small port in the Jambeli channel, on the south-east shore of the gulf, is that of Puerto Bolivar, or Puerto Huaila, the shipping port for the town of Machala and the Zaruma mining region.

There are few islands off the coast of Ecuador, and only one of any considerable size—that of Puna in the Gulf of Guayaquil, which is 29 m. long from north-east to south-west and 8 to 14 m. wide. It lies in the north-east part of the gulf, and is Islands. separated from the Ecuadorean mainland by the Morro channel, and from the southern mainland by the wider and deeper Jambeli channel. There is a low, mountainous ridge, called the Zampo Palo, running through it, and its eastern shores have some moderately high bluffs; otherwise the island is low and swampy, and its shores, except the eastern end, are fringed with mud banks. The island is densely wooded (in marked contrast with the opposite Peruvian shore), and is considered unhealthy throughout the greater part. It has a population of 200, chiefly centred in the village of Puna, at its north-east extremity, which is a shipping port and health resort for the city of Guayaquil. Puna island is celebrated for its connexion with Pizarro’s invasion of Peru in 1531. It is said that it had a considerable population at that time, and that the natives resisted the invaders so vigorously that it cost six months to reduce them. Midway in the outer part of the Gulf of Guayaquil is Amortajada or Santa Clara island, whose resemblance to a shrouded corpse suggested the name which it bears. It lies 12 m. south-west of Puna island and 80 m. from Guayaquil. It rises to a considerable elevation, and carries a light 256 ft. above sea-level. There are some low, swampy islands, or mud flats, covered with mangrove thickets, in the lower Guayas river, but they are uninhabited and of no importance. North of the Gulf of Guayaquil there are only two small islands on the coast of more than local interest. The first of these is Salango, in lat. 1° 25′ S., which is 2 m. in circumference and rises to a height of 524 ft. It is richly wooded, and has a well-sheltered anchorage much frequented by whalers in search of water and fresh provisions. The next is La Plata, in lat. 1° 16′ S., which rises to a height of 790 ft., and has a deep anchorage on its eastern side where Drake is said to have anchored in 1579 to divide the spoils of the Spanish treasure ship “Cacafuego.” The Galapagos Islands (q.v.) belong to the republic of Ecuador, and form a part of the province of Guayas.

Geology.[1]—The great longitudinal depression which lies between the eastern and the western branches of the Andes is also the boundary between the ancient rocks of the east and the Mesozoic beds which form the greater part of the west of the country. The Eastern Cordillera is composed of gneiss, mica and chlorite schist and other crystalline rocks of ancient date; the Western Cordillera, on the other hand, is formed of porphyritic eruptive rocks of Mesozoic age, together with sedimentary deposits containing Cretaceous fossils. Most of the country between the Andes and the sea is covered by Tertiary and Quaternary beds; but the range of hills which runs north-west from Guayaquil is formed of Cretaceous and porphyritic rocks similar to those of the Andes. In the intra-andine depression, between the East and West Cordilleras, recent deposits with plant remains occur near Loja, and to the north-east of Cuenca is a sandstone containing mercury ores, somewhat similar to that of Peru. Farther north nearly the whole of the depression is filled with lavas, tuffs and agglomerates, derived from the Tertiary and recent volcanoes which form the most striking feature of the Andes of Ecuador. These volcanoes are most numerous in the northern half of the country, and they stand indifferently upon the folded Mesozoic beds of the Western Cordillera (e.g. Chimborazo, Iliniza, Pichincha), the ancient rocks of the Eastern Cordillera (Altar, Tunguragua, Cotopaxi, Antisana), or the floor of the great depression between. The lavas and ashes are for the most part andesitic.