CHAPTER V 

 A CHILEAN RONDEO 



ON November 21, 1913, we crossed the 

 Andes into Chile by rail. The railway 

 led up the pass which, used from time 

 immemorial by the Indians, afterward marked 

 the course of traffic for their Spanish successors, 

 and was traversed by the army of San Martin in 

 the hazardous march that enabled him to strike 

 the decisive blows in the war for South Ameri- 

 can independence. The valleys were gray and 

 barren, the sides of the towering mountains 

 were bare, the landscape was one of desolate 

 grandeur. To the north the stupendous peak 

 of Aconquija rose in its snows. 



On the Chilean side, as we descended, we 

 passed a lovely lake, and went through wonder- 

 ful narrow gorges; and farther down were trees, 

 and huge cactus, and flowers of many colors. 

 Then we reached the lower valleys and the 

 plains; and the change was like magic. Sud- 

 denly we were in a rich fairy-land of teeming 

 plenty and beauty, a land of fertile fields and 



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