4ñ A A^OYAGE TO Book VI. 



brought to suffer the girts to be put round their bo- 

 dies, and when they find themselves suspended, kick 

 and fling, during their short passage, in a most terrible 

 manner. The river of Alchipichi may M'ell excite 

 terror in a young traveller, being between thirty and 

 forty fathoms from shore to shore ; and its perpendi- 

 cular height, above the surface of the water, twenty- 

 five fathoms. A representation of these bridges, and 

 the manner of conveying over the mules, was given 

 in the last plate, N° V. 



The roads of this country are suitable to the bridges; 

 for though there are large plains between Quito and 

 the river Bam bar, and the greatest part of the road 

 between the river Bamba and Alausi, and even to, the 

 north of that city, lies along the mountains, yet these 

 are interrupted by fruitful breaches, the acclivities and 

 declivities of which are not only of a great length and 

 very troublesome, but also dangerous. In some places 

 there is a necessity for travelling along tracts on the 

 declivities of mountains, which are sometimes so nar- 

 row as hardly to allow room for the feet of the beast; 

 part of its body, and that of the rider, being perpen- 

 dicular over a torrent fifty or sixty fathoms beneath 

 the road. So that certainly nothing but absolute 

 Becessity, there being no other road, and long custom^ 

 can get the better of that horror which must affect 

 the person at the sight of such imminent danger; and 

 there are too many instances of travellers losing their 

 effects, if not lives, their whole dependence being on 

 the sure foot of the mule. This danger is indeed, in 

 some measure, compensated by the security of the 

 roads ; so that we see here what none of the civi- 

 lized nations can boast of, namely, single persons 

 travelling, unarmed, with a great charge of gold and 

 silver, but equally safe as if strongly guarded. If 

 the traveller happens to be fatigued in a desert, he 

 lays him down, and sleeps without the least appre- 

 hension of danger. Or if he takes up his lodgings 

 1 in 



