356 NORTHERN CHILE. [chap. xvi. 



rain falls on the mud-bank, when left dry, it deepens the already- 

 formed shallow lines of excavation ; and so is it with the rain 

 of successive centuries on the bank of rock and soil, which we 

 call a continent. 



We rode on after it was dark, till we reached a side ravine 

 with a small well, called " Agua amarga." The water deserved 

 its name, for besides being saline it was most offensively putrid 

 and bitter ; so that we could not force ourselves to drink either 

 tea or mate. I suppose the distance from the river of Copiapo 

 to this spot was at least twenty- five or thirty English miles ; in the 

 whole space there was not a single drop of \vater, the country de- 

 serving the name of desert in the strictest sense. Yet about 

 halfway we passed some old Indian ruins near Punta Gorda: I 

 noticed also in front of some of the valleys, which branch off 

 from the Despoblado, two piles of stones placed a little way 

 -apart, and directed so as to point up the mouths of these small 

 valleys. My companions knew nothing about them, and only 

 answered my queries by their imperturbable " quien sabe?" 



I observed Indian ruins in several parts of the Cordillera : 

 the most perfect, which I saw, were the Ruinas de Tambillos, 

 in the Uspallata Pass. Small square rooms were there huddled 

 together in separate groups : some of the doorways were yet 

 standing ; they were formed by a cross slab of stone only about 

 three feet hio^h. Ulloa has remarked on the lowness of the doors 

 in the ancient Peruvian dwellings. These houses, when per- 

 fect, must have been capable of containing a considerable num- 

 ber of persons. Tradition says, that they were used as halt- 

 ing places for the Incas, when they crossed the mountains. 

 Traces of Indian habitations have been discovered in many other 

 parts, where it does not appear probable that they were used as 

 mere resting-places, but yet where the land is as utterly unfit for 

 any kind of cultivation as it is near the Tambillos or at the Incas 

 Bridge, or in the Portillo Pass, at all which places I saw ruins. 

 In the ravine of Jajuel, near Aconcagua, where there is no pass, 

 I heard of remains of houses situated at a great height, where 

 it is extremely cold and sterile. At first I imagined that these 

 buildings had been places of refuge, built by the Indians on the 

 first arrival of the Spaniards ; but I have since been inclined 

 to speculate on the probability of a small change of climate, 



