34 Historical 



rarefaction of the air which therefore causes difficulty in breathing. 

 Three times I was forced to lie down on the ground before reaching the 

 top of the hill, and I experienced shortness of breath with pain and op- 

 pression in the chest and a sensation of nausea. The puna attacks some 

 persons so severely that blood issues from their mouths and nostrils. 

 However, I must say, our sufferings really began. (P. 104.) 



But all are not equally affected, especially when, as usually 

 happens in the favorable season, the journey is made on mule- 

 back. Miers, 23 who crossed in May 1819, explains this very well: 



Those who wish to undertake this journey will be dismayed t>y 

 the accounts of the difficulties caused by the puna, a name given to 

 the sensation of short and difficult respiration, which often attacks us 

 when we ascend into rarefied air. This is the terror and the subject 

 of conversation of all who have crossed the Cordillera, who tell you 

 that they escaped these terrifying symptoms only by eating a great 

 many onions, and by tasting no alcoholic liquors, except wine, which is 

 considered the antidote of the puna. These precautions, however, are 

 not necessary, for very few persons who make the ascent on horseback 

 experience this discomfort, except those who have a lung ailment; but 

 many of those who have climbed Cumbre on foot, overexerting them- 

 selves in driving the mules, have been affected. I do not think that 

 anyone would suffer much from the puna unless he overexerted him- 

 self. I have twice ascended and descended Cumbre on foot without 

 being affected. Moreover neither my wife nor my child, only six 

 months old, felt the least difficulty in breathing with the thermometer 

 at 35°F. and the barometer at 19 and Vs inches, although we might 

 have expected that in a child of this age with such delicate lungs one 

 would first observe modifications in respiration, even though they were 

 due only to excessive rarefaction of the air. (Vol. I, p. 321.) 



The account of the Scotchman Caldcleugh - 4 is particularly inter- 

 esting, because this traveller crossed the Andes twice in opposite 

 directions. The first time, March 17, 1820, in very bad weather, a 

 snowstorm, he crossed by Portillo and Piuquenes, going from Men- 

 doza to San Jose. He does not mention any symptoms. (Vol. I, 

 p. 285—323.) 



But on June 2 of the following year, while going from the Punta 

 of San Luis to Cordova (Argentine Republic), he crossed at a 

 much lower point, the Sierra of Cordova. He stopped at a little 

 hut at an elevation of 3200 meters and passed the night there. The 

 next day, ascent of the pass: 



The snow was frozen hard. . . . Two of the peons suffered severely 

 from an illness called puna, which attacked them shortly after we had 

 left the hut. This illness seemed to me to consist of heavings of the 

 diaphragm, accompanied by great exhaustion and loss of spirits. Those 

 attacked by it lie down, give themselves up, and often die before 

 reaching the descent. Great quantities of garlic and onion are con- 



