254 MICUIPAMPA. 



they themselves onlj^ reared some kinds of kale and salad 

 Here, as in every town in the high mountains of Peru^ 

 ennui led the richer class of persons to pass their time in 

 gambling. They reminded Humboldt of the soldier of 

 Pizarro's troop, who, after the pillage of the temple at 

 Cuzco, complained that he had lost in one night at play 

 " a great piece of the sun." 



In a high plain not far from Micuipampa, there were 

 found throughout an area of above a square mile, imme- 

 diately under the turf, and as it were intertwined with 

 the roots of the alpine grasses, enormous masses of rich 

 red silver ore, and threads of pure silver. Another ele- 

 vated plain near the Quebrada de Chiquera, was called 

 the Field of Shells. The name referred to fossils which 

 belonged to the cretaceous group, and which were found 

 there in such abundance that they early attracted the 

 attention of the natives. In this place there was obtained 

 near the surface a mass of pure gold, spun round with 

 threads of silver in the richest manner. 



The path by which the travellers journeyed from 

 Micuipampa to Caxamarca was difficult even for mules. 

 Their way lay over a succession of Paramos, where they 

 were exposed almost incessantly to the fury of the wind, 

 and to the sharp-edged hail so peculiar to the ridges of 

 the Andes. The height of the route above the level of 

 the sea was generally between nine and ten thousand 

 feet. 



Reaching at length the last of these mountain wilder- 

 nesses, they looked down with increased pleasure on the 

 fertile valley of Caxamarca. It afforded a charming 

 prospect : a small river wound through the elevated 

 plain, which was of an oval form and about a hundred 



