Mountain Journeys 45 



The evidence of the French botanist Claude Gay 40 is no less con- 

 clusive. Now the authority of this scientist is great, since for nearly 

 fifteen years, from 1828 to 1842, he explored the Cordillera of the 

 Andes. He expresses himself thus: 



I left Lima (1841). . . . After a march of four days, we crossed the 

 first Cordillera by the pass of Tingo, 4815 meters above the level of the 

 sea. There we felt a strange discomfort, the result of the great rare- 

 faction of the air, known in America by the name of soroche, pouno, 

 etc. It can very well be compared to real seasickness; there are the 

 same symptoms, the same distress, headaches, vomiting, and such pros- 

 tration that it almost makes life a burden, and kept me from going to 

 consult my barometers and thermometers, which were only two paces 

 from me. . . . 



This illness lasted some time; but subsequently I finally became 

 accustomed to this rarity of the air, and I could take magnetic readings 

 at an elevation of 4685 meters and carry out several other tasks of ter- 

 restrial physics without being noticeably inconvenienced. (P. 28.) . . . 



The Indians of Cuzco . . ., although constantly at an elevation of 

 10,000 to 14,000 feet, are not at all inconvenienced by the great rarity 

 of the air; they walk and talk with as much ease as we do in the low 

 plains: and so there are found in these regions the loftiest towns and 

 cities in the world; Ocoruco at 4232 meters, Condoroma at 4343. There 

 are some post-houses, for example, that of Rumihuani, which are at 

 an elevation of 4685 meters, and shepherds' houses at 4778 meters, that 

 is, almost the height of Mont Blanc. (P. 33.) 



The celebrated German traveller J. J. von Tschudi 41 gives an 

 almost complete monograph on this subject. 



At the great altitudes to which the Cordillera rises, the effect of 

 the rarefied air upon the organism is seriously felt; it is evidenced 

 especially by a condition of extraordinary fatigue and great difficulty 

 in breathing. The natives call this effect Puna or Soroche, the Spanish 

 Creoles call it Mareo or Veta, and attribute it to metallic emanations, 

 especially those of antimony, which plays a very important part in 

 their physics and metallurgy. 



The first symptoms of the Veta usually appear at a height of 12,600 

 feet, and consist of vertigo, buzzing in the ears, and disturbances of 

 vision, accompanied by violent headaches and nausea. These symptoms 

 attack horsemen, but not so much as those on foot, it is true. The 

 higher one ascends, the more these symptoms increase, and to them is 

 added exhaustion of the legs so great that one can hardly move, with 

 very painful respiration and violent palpitations. Complete rest checks 

 these symptoms for an instant, but at the slightest movement they 

 instantly reappear, and are often accompanied then by fainting fits 

 and vomiting. The capillary vessels of the conjunctiva, the lips, and 

 the nose burst, and blood issues in drops. The respiratory and diges- 

 tive mucous membranes are the seat of similar symptoms; diarrhea 

 and the spitting of blood are the evidence of the Veta in its worst form. 



