In America there are a great number of volcanos, particularly in the mountains of Peru and Mexico; that of Arequipa is one of the most famous; it often causes earthquakes, which are more common in Peru than in any other country in the world. The volcano of Carrappa and that of Malahallo are, according to the report of travellers, the most considerable, next to that of Arequipa; but there are many others in these parts of which we have no exact knowledge. M. Bouguer, in his voyage to Peru, published in the Memoirs of the Academy of the year 1744, mentions two volcanos, called Cotopaxi and Pichincha; the first at some distance from, the other near the town of Quito; he was witness of a conflagration of Botopaxi in 1742, and of the orifice which was made in that mountain; this eruption did no other damage than melting the snow and producing such torrents of water, that in less than three hours inundated a tract of country 18 leagues in extent, and overthrew all they met with in their way. At Mexico the most considerable volcanos are Popochampeche, and the Popoatepec; it was near this last that Cortes passed in his voyage to Mexico; some of the Spaniards ascended to the top, where they saw the mouth, which was about half a league in circumference. Sulphurous mountains are also met with at Guadaloupe, Tercera, and other islands of the Azores; and, if we were to consider as volcanos all those mountains which smoke, or emit flames, we might reckon more than sixty; we have only spoken of those formidable volcanos, near which no person dares to inhabit. These volcanos which are in such great numbers in the Cordeliers, as I have formerly said, cause almost continual earthquakes, which prevent the natives from building with stone above one story high, and to construct the upper stories of their houses with reeds and light wood. In these mountains are also many precipices and large vents, the sides of which are black and burnt, as in the precipice of Mount Ararat, in Armenia, which is called the Abyss; these abysses are the mouths of extinguished volcanos. There was lately an earthquake at Lima, the effects of which were dreadful. The town of Lima and Port Callao were almost entirely swallowed up; but the evil was still greater at Callao. The sea rose and covered every building in that town, drowned all the inhabitants, and left only one single tower remaining. Of twenty-five ships that were in this port, four were carried a league upon land, and the rest were swallowed up by the sea. At Lima, which was a large town, there remains only twenty-seven houses standing; a great number of persons were buried in the ruins, particularly monks and religious persons, as their buildings were higher and constructed of more solid materials than the other houses. This misfortune happened at night, in October 1746; the shock remained fifteen minutes.