burst into fresh activity. No less than seven new vents were
formed; and from these were poured forth great streams of lava,
which wrought immense damage in the cultivated parts of the island.
The inhabitants sustained great loss by the destruction of their
cattle and crops.

Passing over to the South American continent, we come to the range
of the Andes, which contains numerous volcanoes. Among these the
most conspicuous is Cotopaxi, the highest volcano in the world,
situated in the territory of Quito. So perfect is the form of the
cone, that it looks as if it had been turned in a lathe. Its
coating of snow gives it a dazzling appearance, and so sharply is
the snow-line defined that it seems almost as if the volcano-king
wore a white night-cap instead of a crown.

The eruptions of this mountain are rare. One of the greatest of
them lasted for three years, and desolated an immense extent of
country with floods of lava. On this occasion, it is said, columns
of fire rose to the height of nearly 5000 feet, so great was the
energy of the volcanic force.

A little to the southward of Cotopaxi, but concealed from it by the
intervening mass of Chimborazo, lies the volcano of Tunguragua,
from which there was an extraordinary eruption in the year 1797,
that proved very destructive to the cities in its neighbourhood.
Indeed, so terrible was the convulsion of the ground, which lasted
four minutes, that the cities of Riobamba and Quero were reduced to
heaps of ruins. Then the base of Tunguragua was rent, and from
numerous apertures there were poured out streams of water and mud,
the latter gathering in the valleys to the depth of 600 feet. This