668 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 102 



from the virulent fury of the sun, all of them, from the tip of the 

 muzzle to the point of the tail, and all over the back, have lost their 

 skin and are all sores under the fiery heat of the sun ; and the only 

 way they can live in those uninhabitable deserts is to have the nights 

 and the period before sunrise for their comfort and repose. 



1755. The last village in this Province of Atacama is called 

 Tocompsi. From here it is a day's journey to the Pajonal (Bulrush 

 Swamp), in which there is a jagitey or well of water to refresh the 

 traveler; there is no other in that desert, which produces very fine 

 bloodstones, milkstones, emeralds, piedras moradas (purple stones), 

 turquoises and other sorts of green, yellow, and variegated stones 

 and other very fine varieties, so that one thanks God for having 

 created them. Certainly it is great wealth, but little benefit is got 

 from it, since it is so remote and isolated in that uninhabitable waste. 



1756. There are hills of pumice stone, and in this region appear 

 the mountains of Gilboa (Gelboe) and the people of that country 

 so call them, for neither rain nor dew falls there, nor is there any 

 memory that it has in the past. Those who die in that region, dry 

 up without corruption and become mummies. From this Pajonal to 

 Copiapo it is 14 leagues along the coast on the direct S. road to 

 Chile ; this is in the district of Atacama. 



Six leagues from the Pajonal there is a tiny bright green depression 

 full of couch grass (grama) ; with its cool attractiveness, this invites 

 the traveler who has passed over 6 hot leagues of desert, sandy 

 wastes, to stop and rest, for it is a necessary sleeping place if one 

 is to continue over the rest of the sandy desert ; this is all paved with 

 salt, as in the territory of Arica, and even more so, as is the case with 

 other dry plains along the Peruvian coast. 



1757. This dale is called Hatunllulla, which means big liar, for 

 it greatly deceives the chapetones (newcomers) or novices who travel 

 through here, in their ignorance of the country, unless they have 

 some Indian for a guide or someone else who knows the game. 

 These latter take a nap after eating and let the mules rest in the 

 grama some 4 hours ; then they take them out to a high blufif and 

 tie them up there till they have to start, to avoid the sad fate which 

 has befallen many who took no guide and lay down to sleep in the 

 coolness of the dale, with their mules hobbled, and were all drowned. 



1758. The fact is that 6 leagues E. of that locality there are some 

 high snow-clad ranges, in 26° S. Under the powerful heat of the 

 sun the snow melts and the water comes down off the snow banks 

 with a furious rush and in great volume ; and as it is only after 

 the evening coolness and the rising of the breeze that this melted 



