24 Historical 



From the translation printed in Paris in 1596 by Robert Renault 

 Cauxois, I copy the most interesting part of his account. 



In certain parts of the Indies, the air and the wind blowing there 

 dizzy men, not less but more than at sea .... 



In Peru there is a high mountain called Pariacaca, and having 

 heard tell of the variation it caused, I went there, prepared the best I 

 could according to the information given by those called Vaquianos or 

 experts; but in spite of all my preparation, when I began to mount the 

 stairs, as they call the highest part of this mountain, I was suddenly 

 attacked and surprised by an illness so deadly and strange, that I was 

 almost on the point of falling from my horse to the ground, and al- 

 though there were several in our company, each hastened his step 

 without waiting for his companion so that he might leave this evil 

 spot quickly. Being left alone then with an Indian, whom I asked to 

 help me sit on my horse, I was seized by such a spasm of panting and 

 vomiting that I thought I should give up the ghost. After vomiting 

 food, phlegm, and bile, one yellow and the other green, I next threw 

 up blood, so that I felt such distress in my stomach that I can say if it 

 had lasted I am sure I would have died. That lasted only three or four 

 hours until we had descended pretty low and had reached a tempera- 

 ture more suited to nature, at which point our companions, about 

 fourteen or fifteen in number, were very much exhausted, some of 

 them asked for confession on the road, thinking they were really going 

 to die, others dismounted and were wrecked with vomiting and diar- 

 rhea; I was told that in the past some had lost their lives from this 

 distress. I saw a man lying on the ground in a passion, crying out 

 with the rage and pain caused him by this passage of the Pariacaca. 

 But usually it does no important harm, except this annoying and dis- 

 agreeable trouble as long as it lasts. And it is not only the pass of 

 Mount Pariacaca that has this characteristic, but also this whole chain 

 of mountains, which extends more than five hundred leagues; no mat- 

 ter where one crosses it, he feels this strange distress, although it is 

 worse in some places than in others, and worse in passes up from the 

 seashore than in those from the plains. I myself crossed it, besides by 

 Pariacaca, by Lucanas and Soras, and in another place by Colleguas, 

 and in another by Cauanas, that is, by four different places in my 

 various comings and goings, and always in this place, I felt this dizzi- 

 ness and distress that I have mentioned, although never as much as the 

 first time at Pariacaca, and all who have passed that way have had the 

 same experience. . . . 



Not only men feel this distress, the animals do too, and sometimes 

 stop so that no spur can make them advance. For my part, I believe 

 that this place is one of the highest spots on earth. 



This whole chain of mountains is practically deserted, without any 

 villages or habitations of men, so that one can hardly find little houses 

 or retreats to lodge travellers at night. There are no animals either, 

 good or bad, except maybe a few vicunas, which are the sheep of the 

 country, which have a strange and marvellous characteristic, which I 

 shall mention in the proper place. The grass is often burned and 

 blackened by the wind I mentioned, and this desert lasts through the 



