COTOPAXI, ko't 6-pii : fip. Aron. ko't (5- NV nb. The loftiest active volcano in the world. It is in Ecuador. in the eastern chain of the Andes, about 40 miles nearly south of Quito, and about 50 miles south of the equator, in longi tude 7S' 42' IV. (Map: Ecuador. B 4). La Con damine estimated the height at 18.860 feet: Reiss, the first to ascend it (in IS72). found it to be 19.500 feet: and Whymper (in 1880). 19. 613 feet. The valley at its foot. however. is itself over 9000 feet above the sea. The upper part of Cotopaxi, a perfect cone for a distance of 4400 feet. is entirely' covered with snow, with the ex eeption of the immediate margin of the crater, which is a bare parapet of rock. The snow-line on the northern exposure is 15,600 feet, and on the southern exposure 15,200 feet. above sea-level. Reiss. whose measurements are largely accordant with the more recent ones of Whymper. estimated that the crater, which is elliptical. has a depth of 1500 feet and a maximum diameter of about 2600 feet. Below the snow-line is a well-marked
barren belt covered with lichens and shrubs, below which again is forest. Smoke issues from the summit ; sounds as of explosions are occa sionally heard: and, also. a fiery glow is often visible by night. Lava rarely Zlotys even during eruptions, but flame, smoke, and immense vol umes of ashes are then ejected: and when the heat melts large masses of the snow lying on the sides, destructive floods ale occasioned in the \ a lleys beneath. The first eruption recorded was in 1533. Others followed in 1698 and 1743, since which date eruptions have occurred. One of the most violent was that of I709, during which ashes, thrown high into the air. were transported by the winds and thickly strewn over all area of about 250 miles in diameter. I Me of the more recent violent eruptions was in 1877.