H. G. Wells, “Country of the Blind”, 1904. CONTINUED.

INTRODUCTION.

H. G. Wells, “Country of the Blind“, 1904 is a fictional story were the book begins with the BELOW sentence. The setting of the story in the mountains, and the mountaineer protagonist and foil character dialogue make for a readable H. G. Wells fiction.

“Three hundred miles and more from Chimborazo, one hundred from the snows of Cotopaxi, in the wildest wastes of Ecuador’s Andes, there lies that mysterious mountain valley, cut off from all the world of men, the Country of the Blind“.

COMMENTS.

Chimborazo and Cotopaxi.

 Cotopaxi  is an active stratovolcano in the Andes Mountains, located near Latacunga city of Cotopaxi Province, about 50 km (31.1 mi) south of Quito, and 31 km (19 mi) northeast of the city of Latacunga, Ecuador. It is the second highest summit in Ecuador (after Chimborazo), reaching a height of 5,897 m (19,347 ft). Cotopaxi is among the highest active volcanoes in the world.

 

Cotopaxi is known to have erupted 87 times, resulting in the creation of numerous valleys formed by lahars (mudflows) around the volcano.  An ongoing eruption began on 21 October 2022.

 

At the end of February 2023, the Geophysical Institute of Ecuador reported that Cotopaxi had produced around 8,000 earthquakes since October 21, 2022, amounting to 1,600 events per month.