Mr Cruckshanks's Excursion from Lima to Pasco. 119 



and dances they had been accustomed to at their own feasts, and 

 the custom is continued to the present day. After mass, the 

 congregation, headed by the priests, marched in procession round 

 the plaza, and while the latter were chaunting a part of the 

 church service, the Indian girls continued to dance and sin°- 

 round them, accompanied by several men dressed in the ancient 

 costume of the Incas, some of them having their faces covered 

 with hideous masks made from calabashes. This performance 

 was continued even while the priests were officiating at a tem- 

 porary altar, erected on one side of the plaza. Immediately 

 after the procession, a cock-fight was exhibited, and the rest of 

 the day was consumed in eating and drinking. 



" The next stage, of seven leagues, lies across the Cordillera, 

 and there is no intermediate place to sleep at. 



" A little below Culluay, the valley expands. The alcalde, 

 at whose dwelling, being the largest in the place, we intended 

 to pass the night, was absent, like the rest, in the fields ; and 

 the door being locked, we had to wait patiently for his return. 



" It was evening when we arrived, and, as the sun went down, 

 we found the air piercingly cold, so that we were glad to crowd 

 round the turf fire of a smoky hovel, that served for a kitchen, 

 till our host came, and supper was prepared. A party from 

 Pasco arrived shortly after us, and informed us that snow had 

 fallen for several days in some parts of the Cordillera, where 

 partial snow-storms are occasionally experienced at all seasons, 

 but it seldom falls till after midday. 



" 27th. — As we had a rough day's journey before us, we 

 were obliged to rise before daylight, and several of our party who 

 had not quitted Lima for some years, did not at all relish the 

 fresh morning air, at a temperature very little above freezing. 



" Advancing from Culluay, there is a great sameness in the 

 appearance of the hills, which are mostly covered with a smooth 

 compact turf. A long ladera conducted us to the head of the 

 valley, where we crossed a small rill that takes its rise in a 

 neighbouring ravine, and is the source of the river of which we 

 had traced the course from the coast. At this spot, called the 

 Alto de Jacaybamba, two leagues from Culluay, we commenced 

 the ascent of the Cordillera. It was steep and rugged, lying 

 among rocks of porphyry and tufa, like that at Cauta. A large 



