Mr Cruckshanks's Excursion from Lima to Pasco. 117 



to move about in, they should endeavour to drive their mules up 

 the hill above the road, which was there rather less steep ; this, 

 with the assistance of our muleteers, was at length accomplished ; 

 and while we passed down they remained perched in situations 

 that hardly promised footing for as many goats. There is, per- 

 haps, more risk in the descent than in the ladera itself, the road 

 making several sudden turns on the face of the hill, where it is 

 cut into steps to prevent the mules from slipping. 



" In this part of the valley, on the south side, a hill rises 

 abruptly to an elevation of nearly a thousand feet, and from its 

 summit, a slender stream, like a band of silver, fringed with ver- 

 dure, winds its way down the steep declivity. At the highest 

 point, though not seen from the same spot, is a small Indian 

 village, very difficult of access, whose inhabitants are called in 

 the Quichua language by the now classic name of ' The Chil- 

 dren of the Mist.' 



" The valley, which had narrowed into a mere ravine, opens 

 a little on approaching the town of Obrajillo, three leagues from 

 Huarimayo. 



" Obrajillo is twenty-one leagues from Lima, about midway 

 between that city and Pasco. Most of the muleteers who pass 

 between the mines and the capital reside there ; a great conve- 

 nience to travellers, as they get fresh mules for the remaining 

 half of the journey. The valley is wide enough to allow some 

 ground to be cultivated between the town and the stream ; and 

 above the town, towards the south, there is a recess in the moun- 

 tains, occupied by low rounded hills, which have been levelled 

 and formed into a series of small terraces for the cultivation of 

 grain and vegetables, a sort of work for which the ancient Peru- 

 vians were celebrated. These patches of land being irrigated by 

 a stream of water brought from above, the tufaceous rock readily 

 decomposes by the constant moisture, and, combined with vege- 

 table mould washed down by the rains, forms a black fertile 

 loam, which yields luxuriant crops without manure. On an emi- 

 nence at the extremity of this cultivated land, about — feet above 

 the level of Obrajillo, and half a mile distant, in a straight line, 

 stands the town of Canta, the chief town of the province of the 

 same name, and the residence of the Intendant and a Governor ; 

 it consists, however, like Obrajillo, of small houses, little better 



