Note III-2 — Chapter III · ITINERARY, CONCLUDED: IN THE MOUNTAINS OF COLORADO ON HEADWATERS OF THE ARKANSAW AND RIO GRANDE, DECEMBER 1ST, 1806-FEBRUARY 26TH, 1807.
Reading edition
The excessive estimate of the height of Pike's Peak, 18,581 instead of 14,147, was in part due to a misapprehension of the elevation of the prairie whence the observation was taken. This was assumed to be 8,000, but is really little, if any, over 5,000. The altitude of Pico de Teyde, the volcanic Peak of Teneriffe, in the Canary isls., is given on good authority as 12,200; and that of Mt. Chimborazo, one of the highest peaks in the Ecuadorean Andes, is placed at 20,498 feet by Whymper, who ascended it in 1880.