America down to the slopes of Chimborazo; the Cordilleras of the Andes separating the Castilloas from the Heveas of Brazil.
There is a tradition that this mountain was once higher than Chimborazo, but a series of eruptions caused the cone to fall in and reduced its summit to its present altitude and broken appearance.
Turning to the Cordillera Occidental and taking the principal peaks in order from south to north, the first to claim attention is Chimborazo (from Chimpu-raza, " mountain of snow "), the highest summit of Ecuador, and once believed to be the culminating point of the Andes.
Moreover, the calcined matter resembling white sand which covers its sides below the snow-line, extensive beds of lava, and the issue of streams of hot water from its northern side, seem to confirm the deduction that Chimborazo is an extinct volcano.
Immediately north of Chimborazo, and separated from it by only a narrow valley, are the lower triple summits of Carahuairazo, or Carguairazo (which the natives call Chimborazo-embra, " Chimborazo's wife "), whose hollow cone collapsed in 1698 during a great earthquake, and left the jagged rim which adds so much to its present picturesque appearance.
