OCT., 1916. MAMMALS, COLLINS-DAY EXPEDITION OSGOOD. 203 



railroad station and all night long the whole party suffered intensely 

 from chills and fever. 



"The next day, and for several days following, we hunted these 

 wary animals, and each day becoming more and more accustomed to 

 the altitude, we were able to travel not only greater distances, but at 

 a higher altitude. Upon hearing from the Indians that there was a 

 water hole high up on one of the mountains just below the snow line 

 where game was very plentiful, we planned a hunt with the idea of spend- 

 ing a night at this water hole, believing that just before dark or early 

 in the morning might prove to be the best time to get our game. Hour 

 after hour we traveled, and higher and higher climbed, finding the water 

 hole much farther away than we had supposed and at an altitude which 

 taxed our hearts and lungs to the utmost. 



"I will never forget the night spent at this point, 18,000 feet above 

 sea level, in a little shelter of stones which had been erected by the 

 Indians and where they watched for game. What was known as a water 

 hole simply consisted of damp soil where, even by digging, we could not 

 get enough water to satisfy our own thirst let alone that of our mules. 

 All night long I was kept awake by the shaking of my companion who 

 had one chill after another, suffering myself all the time from a most 

 terrific headache and gasping all night for breath. The next morning, 

 as soon as it was light enough for us to see, we hurried down the moun- 

 tain for several thousand feet, and then as the sun came up, we fell to 

 the ground and were soon fast asleep, exhausted from the night's 

 experience. Not only did the altitude affect us but the air was so dry 

 and the wind on these mountains blew so violently that our faces and 

 hands became badly sunburned. In addition to the entire skin coming 

 off my face four times in ten days, my nose swelled to at least double 

 its normal size, my lips were badly cracked and almost constantly 

 bleeding, and my hands were blistered on the palms as well as the backs. 



"It is hard to imagine any animals being able to live where there is 

 such a lack of vegetation, but these sure-footed animals grow fat there. 

 They are seldom hunted by the white man but the Indians are con- 

 tinually after them, making them exceedingly shy and difficult to obtain. 

 While the guanaco and vicugna were found on the same mountains, 

 they were never found together. Those that we obtained were shot at 

 long range. A small deer, the guemal, was found on these same moun- 

 tains but much lower down, its range not exceeding an altitude of 

 from 12,000 to 13,000 feet, while the vicugna and guanaco were found 

 from 14,000 to 18,000 feet. 



"Pampa de Arrieros is a small settlement of a couple of dozen 

 mud houses occupied mostly by the workers on the railroad, a church, 



