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saddle, which, with his poncho^ answer the purpose exceed- 

 ingly well after sitting all day on a mule. We were, there- 

 fore, of course, provided with furniture for an immense 

 empty apartment, into which we were conducted, and which 

 was to serve us for a dormitory. In Chili, most people on a 

 journey prefer sleeping in the open air. Those who have 

 never tasted the luxury of passing the night beneath the 

 bright starry sky of a climate like that of Chili, cannot form 

 an idea of the sound and refreshing sleep the traveller enjoys 

 there, nor of the elasticity of spirits, and perfect freedom from 

 fatigue, with which he springs from his grassy couch, when 

 the muleteer warns him that the day is beginning to dawn, 

 and the mules await him to pursue his journey. But in 

 Peru, especially in the vallies near the coast, where the 

 climate is " fair and false," it is usual to sleep under cover : 

 the traveller, who, unaccustomed to the climate, should 

 venture to pass the night in the open air, would most likely 

 awake with an ague, and very frequently, his only alternative 

 is to immure himself for the night amidst the smoke and 

 filth of an Indian hut. 



June 22d. — We could not start till eight o'clock, having to 

 wait for a fat sheep our host had ordered to be killed for 

 us. The carcase being duly packed in its own skin, and 

 placed between two trunks on a mule, we set out, accom- 

 panied by our hospitable friend, who rode with us to the 

 boundary of his estate, where he left us to pursue our journey. 

 The road continued to wind round the foot of the hills on 

 the south side of the valley, to the estate of Cavallero, where 

 there is a post-house, generally made the first stage from 

 Lima, from which it is distant six leagues. Near this place 

 there is a bend in the valley, and in order to avoid the de- 

 tour, it is usual to proceed up a ravine among the hills, from 

 whence the road falls again into the vallev, several leagues 

 farther up. The ravine is called Rio Seco, {dry river,) and 

 dry enough it certainly is, for not a drop of moisture is seen 

 for a distance of five leagues, although there are unquestion- 

 able marks of its having been, at some 'former period, the 

 bed of a considerable stream. This lUo Seco presents a 



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