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The Andes: Quito

Their common food in this inhospitable region was a little rice boiled with some flesh or fowl, procured from Quito; and, instead of fluid water, their pot was filled with ice: they had the same resource with regard to what they drank; and while they were eating, every one was obliged to keep his plate over a chafing-dish of coals, to prevent his provisions from freezing. The same was done respecting the water. At first they imagined the drinking of strong liquors would diffuse a heat through the body, and consequently render it less sensible of the painful sharpness of the cold; but, to their surprise, they felt no manner of strength in such liquors, nor were they any greater preservatives against the cold than even common water.

It is affirmed, that there are in the Andes sixteen volcanoes, or burning mountains, which throw out fire and smoke with a terrible noise. The height of Chimborazo, said to be the highest peak of the Andes, has been determined by geometrical calculations to be 20,282 feet. As all or most rivers have their source in mountains, it is no wonder a great number run down the sides of the Andes. Some hurry along with a prodigious rapidity, while others form beautiful cascades, or run through holes in rocks, which look like bridges of a stupendous height. There is a public road through the mountains, 1000 miles in length, part of which runs from Quito to Cusco.