36 Historical 



On my return across the Andes, in December, 1827, I saw that the 

 mules stopped frequently to breathe, especially when climbing Cumbre, 

 where they stopped at each zigzag, as if they suffered from pain in the 

 lungs, and, like Acosta, I found that neither shouts nor blows could 

 make them advance until it suited them. But that is not peculiar to 

 Cumbre or to the other mountains of the Cordillera, for mules often 

 stop thus, as if they felt pain in their lungs. 



It happened likewise to the peons, who suddenly, while walking, 

 stopped, shouted "puna, puna" and then continued ascending. It 

 seemed as if they knew the places where this would happen to them 

 when on foot, for they frequently said: "Here there is much puna." 

 I can attribute this only to the existence in these places of minerals 

 which alter the air more or less, whence comes their effect upon the 

 lungs. (P. 149.) 



The French officer De la Touanne,' who took part in the ex- 

 pedition of Bougainville, and who followed the same route as 

 Brand, was so severely attacked as to fall on the ground; he 

 crossed the pass January 29, 1826. 



I estimated that the point where we were is at least 2,000 fathoms 

 high. . . . The air is very much rarefied at this elevation; I had dis- 

 mounted from my mule, letting him go ahead with the caravan, and I 

 was examining some stones at the right and the left of the path. When 

 I afterwards wished to increase my pace to overtake my travelling 

 companions, respiration suddenly failed me; I fell down, my chest 

 oppressed and breathing with difficulty. A peon had to bring me my 

 mule; and from these slight symptoms I could judge what the arrieros 

 and the travellers who have to cross this pass in bad weather must 

 suffer. (P. 50.) 



After this testimony from travellers who only crossed the moun- 

 tain, here is what is said by an English engineer, Ed. Temple,- 1 who 

 lived for a year 1826-1827, at Potosi (4165 meters), where he was 

 employed in the exploitation of the rich mines of that country: 



While walking, I often experienced that difficulty in breathing 

 which is caused by the extreme rarity of the air, and to which even 

 the natives and the animals are subject. The royal sport of horse rac- 

 ing cannot take place here, for the horses seem to suffer more from the 

 zorochi than men do; I have often heard that they fall and die, if they 

 are hurried when they are climbing a hill. (Vol. I, p. 296.) 



I shall also quote the passages in which the English traveller 

 Bollaert,' 12 who in the month of June, 1827, ascended the mountain 

 Tata Jachura (5180 meters), describes the sufferings he experi- 

 enced during the ascent. 



We had slight nosebleeds, buzzings in the ears, headache, dimness 

 of vision, and our bodies were numbed by cold, all of which were 

 caused by the puna or soroche, that is, the expansion and cold of the 

 atmosphere. (P. 121.) 



