Popayan, 1st January, 1825[1]
You will perceive, by the date of this letter, that it is a month later than it ought to be, according to our epistolary agreement. You will not wonder at this delay, when you consider that I am in the middle of a long and incommodious journey. The day on which I should have written you, I was travelling from Otabalo to Ibarra, and of course had neither leisure nor convenience for conversing with you. I now seize the opportunity of a few days rest which I enjoy in this city, to write you a few lines.
You will probably be expecting some account of the country in which I now am, and through which I have lately passed. I shall endeavour to satisfy your curiosity in some measure upon this point. I shall begin with Guayaquil. That place contains from 12,000 to 15,000 inhabitants, and is situated upon a river of the same name. There are regular tides in the river opposite the town, twice in the 24 hours, and the same also takes place for a considerable distance above the town. The spot on which the town is built is very low, being only a very little higher than the river at the time of high water. The weather here is very hot, considerably more so than in Lima. This, together with a low and somewhat marshy situation, makes the place unhealthy, particularly in the rainy season. I could not help observing, however, during the short time I was there, that the want of cleanliness in the streets, and on the banks of the river, are circumstances which contribute, in my opinion, at least one half to the unhealthiness of the town. This port is the place on the Pacific which at present affords more articles of exportation than any other, and every succeeding year will make it more so.
The cocoa from which the chocolate is made is the principal article, and of this several shiploads go annually to Europe, besides what is used in Peru, Chile, &c. It is through this place that all the towns, as far as Quito, are supplied with European goods, and through this place also should these towns be supplied with the Holy Scriptures, and with other works which may contribute to enlighten and to benefit them with respect to time and to eternity. I have made arrangements there by which the Scriptures may be supplied to these quarters in future.
The town of Guaranda is high up on the Andes, and within a few miles of the great Chimborazo. It enjoys a temperate and healthy climate, notwithstanding its proximity to the Equator. I need not state to you the causes of this, as you are well aware of them. I may, however, say that Chimborazo exerts a considerable influence in moderating the heat which might be expected in this quarter. If you should ask me more particularly what I think of the climate, I would say, judging from my own feelings, that it is cold. So I felt, it to be, but that arose partly from my having just come from a very hot climate. It is curious to observe the different feelings of two persons met together on the declivity of the mountains, the one ascending from Guayaquil, and the other descending from Quito. If you ask one of them regarding the climate, or weather, he says it is very cold; and if you ask the other, he says it is very warm; and so they respectively feel from the opposite climates they have come from. Guaranda is situated on the western side of the western Cordillera of the Andes.
You will observe that the word Andes, is the general name of all these mountains, and Cordillera means the high ridge or line of mountains running nearly north and south. There are two great Cordilleras which extend from Cuenca to about 100 miles to the north of Popayan. To the south of Cuenca and to the north of the department of Popayan, one of the Cordilleras disappears. In going from Guaranda to Riobamba, you first ascend the western Cordillera to the top. On this top is the base, of Chimborazo. The road is close along the base of the mountain and you would think you could lay your hand upon it. From this spot it does not appear a very high mountain, and the reason is obvious, as this spot itself is at a great elevation.[2] The whole of Chimborazo, except perhaps, a few yards, is covered with snow—everlastingly covered. Having reached this top, you see, for the first time, the eastern cordillera, vying with the western in height.
You then descend down till you come to Riobamba, which is situated in a level plain between the two ridges, and at nearly an equal distance from both. The whole of my journey, from leaving Riobamba till my arrival in this city, has been in this great valley, between the two cordilleras of the Andes. In two days or three after leaving this place, I will have to cross the eastern cordillera on my way to Bogota.
The two principal towns between Riobamba and Quito, are Ambato and Tacunga, and of which I have spoken in my letters to Mr. B.; the former may contain 5,000, and the latter 6,000. The greater part of this population consists of Indians, who all speak the ancient Peruvian language. The largest town in the whole of this extensive valley, between the ridges of the Andes, is Quito. It is a city of 50,000 inhabitants and upwards, and will not yield to any city in South America in point of population, except to Lima and to Buenos Aires. Its public buildings are much superior to those of the latter place, and not much inferior to those of the former. Its site is unfavourable, as it is placed on an uneven piece of ground.
In travelling from Quito to Popayan you experience a great variety of climate. Sometimes you have the unmitigated heat of the torrid zone; at another time you might imagine yourself in the neighbourhood of one of the poles rather than the equator; and again at other times you have a climate of the most delightful kind, equally removed from the extremes of heat and of cold. One of the coldest nights I passed on the journey, was within a few yards of the line. You will wonder, perhaps, at this variety, but I will explain it to you. Here and there, during the whole course of this long valley, from Cuenca to Popayan, you have, rising out of the one Cordillera or the other, an enormous snow-capped mountain.
It is evident that the cold reigns uninterrupted on these towering summits, as the snow, its certain signal, is over spread over them. Of course when the wind blows from these, it temperates (or perhaps somewhat more) the heat of the sun wherever it passes. Any place situated near these mountains is necessarily temperate, or cold. The coldest place in the whole road, is a place called Tiupuyo, some 20 miles south of Quito, because there you have Cotopaxi on the one side, and right opposite on the other you have Ilinisa, both of which are always covered with snow. I have thus noticed to you the cause of the cold, and shall now point out what is the cause of the heat in those places where its effects are most felt. Wherever there is a deep valley with sloping mountains around, and no towering summits covered with snow, for a considerable distance, there you have a climate of the same kind as is met with in the same latitude on the sea coast. As to the temperate places I have spoken of, they are always to be met with in the absence of these snow-covered mountains on the one hand and the deep valleys, on the other. In these tracts the climate is delightful in the extreme, all the year round, in none of these parts have you Spring, Summer, Harvest, and Winter, but one uniform temperature from one end of the year to the other. In most of these places there are periodical times of rain, which form what they call the Winter, whilst the dry season is called Summer. The farmer there may sow when he chooses, and may have his harvest in any month of the year; notwithstanding, however, there is some order attended to in this respect, but it is not uniform in all places.
[1]It is not clear to whom this letter was sent by Thomson. It is not in the BFBS archives but was included in Thomson's Letters on the Moral and Religious State of South America. London: James Nisbet, 1827, pp. 230-236 (BM).
[2] The top of this ridge, or cordillera, cannot be less than 17,000 feet above the level of the sea. On arriving at this height, I recollected what I had often read of, that persons at great elevations felt much difficulty in breathing. I resolved to try the correctness of these accounts: and for this purpose, I alighted from my horse, and with a heavy great-coat on, I walked with a quick pace for half an hour. The result was, I felt not the slightest inconvenience in breathing.