_Pichincha_, which surmounts the city of Quito was formerly a very active volcano, but since the conquest, its eruptions have not been frequent; three peaks rise from the edge of its crater, which are generally free from snow, on account of the heat of the ascending vapours; at the summit of one of these is a projecting rock twelve feet long, by six broad, hanging over the precipice, and generally strongly agitated by convulsive shocks. M. de Humboldt lay on his breast on this stone, and looked down into the abyss of the crater below, which was so vast (being three miles in circumference) that the summits of several mountains were seen in it. Its sides were of a deep black, the tops of the mountains he observed in this awful situation were six hundred yards beneath him, and he supposes the bottom of the crater is on a level with the city of Quito. Its edges are always covered with snow, and flames rise from its surface, amid columns of dark smoke. Pichincha is 15,939 feet above the level of the sea. Of all the American volcanoes _Cotopaxi_ is the most noted, and is situated to the south-east of Quito, twelve leagues distant from that city, and five leagues north of Latacunga, between the mountains of Ruminavi, the summit of which is rugged and jagged with separate rocks, and Quelendama, whose peaks enter the regions of eternal frost. The form of Cotopaxi is very beautiful, being that of a perfect cone, covered with snow, and the crater appears surrounded with a wall of black rock, which is impossible to be reached by reason of the immense crevices in the sides of the mountain. In viewing this volcano every thing conspires to afford the most majestic and awful scene that can be imagined; the pyramidal summits of Ilinissa, the snowy ridges of the other mountains, the singular regularity of the inferior line of snow, and the luxuriancy of the great plains offer an unparalleled assemblage of the grand and picturesque features of nature. Cotopaxi is the loftiest volcano at present in activity in the world, being 18,891 feet above the level of the sea. It has ejected such masses of scoriæ, and immense pieces of rock on the plain below, that they would, of themselves, if heaped together, form an enormous mountain; and in a violent eruption in 1774 its roarings were heard at Honda at the distance of 200 leagues. In 1768, it sent forth such a volume of ashes, that the light of the sun was obscured in Hambato, till three in the afternoon, and then the people were forced to use lanthorns; at the same time, the cone was so heated, that the mass of snow which covered it suddenly melted away; and at Guayaquil, 150 miles distant, its eruptions were as audibly distinguished, as if there had been repeated discharges of cannon close to the town.