COTOPAXI, a volcano of the Andes, in Ecuador, 35 miles S.S.E. of Quito, remarkable as the loftiest in the world. The earliest outbursts on record took place in 1532 and 1533; and since then the eruptions have been both numerous and destructive. Among the most important are those of 1744,1746, 1766, 1768, and 1803. In 1744 the thunderings of the volcano were heard at Honda on the Rio Magdalena, about 500 miles distant; in 1768 the quantity of ashes ejected was so great that it covered all the lesser vegetation as far as Riobamba; and in 1803 Humboldt reports that at the port of Guayaquil, 160 miles from the crater, he heard the noise day and night like continued discharges of a battery. There were considerable outbursts in 1850, 1854, 1856 and 1864; and the escape of steam and smoke still continues. The appearance of the mountain is in the highest degree sublime,—its summit presenting the aspect of a perfect cone, which stands out against the sky in bold relief and splendour of snow. In 1802 Humboldt made a vain attempt to sca 1 e the cone, and pronounced the enterprize impossible; and the failure of Boussingault in 1831, and the double failure of Wagner in 1858, seemed to confirm his opinion. In 1872, however, Dr Wilhelm Reiss succeeded on the 27th and 28th of November in reaching the top, and in the May of the following year the same feat was accomplished by Dr A. Stiibel. According to Dr Reiss the height of the north-west peak of Cotopaxi is 19,498 feet above the 'evel of the sea, and that of the south-west peak 19,429, while the snow-line on the western side is at a height of 15,180 feet, and on the southern at 15,174....