most of which were of sand, the snow for a great, distance forming, as it were, the sides of the mountain. During their journey across this desert they suffered greatly from the cold, the severity of which was much increased by the violence of the wind. They lodged at night in caverns in the rock; and on emerging from the more dreary part of the waste, passed the ruins of a palace of the ancient incas of Peru.
On their arrival at Quito, they were received with splendid hospitality by Don Dioneso de Alzedo y Herrera, who provided them with apartments in the palace of the Andencia, while the clergy and the principal inhabitants vied with each other in their attention and civilities. Among the many remarkable natural curiosities observed by our traveller during his journey is a species of cane, from thirty-five to fifty feet in height, and about six inches in diameter. "From the time of their first appearance till they attain their full perfection, when they are cut down or begin to dry, most of the tubes contain a quantity of water; but with this remarkable difference, that at full moon they are entirely or very nearly full, and with the decrease of the moon the water ebbs, till at the conjunction little or none is found. I have myself cut them at all seasons, so that I here advance nothing but what I know to be true from experience. I have also observed that the water during the decrease appears turbid; but about the time of the full moon it is as clear as crystal."
The travellers had spent one whole year in reaching Quito, and the first few days after their arrival were necessarily devoted to rest and an exchange of civilities with the inhabitants. They then commenced their operations with measuring a piece of ground, which was to be the base of the whole work, and in this the remainder of the year 1736 was consumed. The plain of Yaruqui, selected for this purpose, is situated one thousand four hundred and
