X ix IN THE ECUADOREAN ANDES 219 



Canelos, and which consisted of a few trunks of 

 trees covered with bushes and earth. 



In the following " note " of a visit to Penipe- 

 a hill-village near Riobamba a much more perilous 

 kind of bridge, common in the Andes, is described.] 



" The distance from Riobamba is about 4 

 leagues. The road leads a little to the south of 

 Guano ; at near half-way it passes some low flats in- 

 undated in winter, or interspersed with small lagoons, 

 now (February) mostly left dry, and covered with a 

 whitish saline deposit. In places where moisture 

 is preserved there are beds of tall Cyperacea 

 (Scirpzts validus], of which mats are plaited. After 

 passing this the road ascends gradually to a consider- 

 able elevation (about 1 500 feet above Riobamba), 

 whence there is a splendid view of the western side 

 of Tunguragua, which is its most striking aspect. 

 The top of the ridge reached, there is a long descent 

 to the river Pastasa, with a narrow plateau about 

 midway, along which the roacl runs for some distance 

 parallel to the river. At last there is a steep wind- 

 ing descent to the hanging bridge of Penipe, which 

 is formed by cables made of roots of Agave, 4 inches 

 thick, stretched as in an ordinary suspension bridge ; 

 and the roadway consists of sticks tied across the 

 cables. These sticks should be flattened and touch- 

 ing each other, but many of them are left in their 

 original rotundity, and they arc sometimes wide 

 enough apart for a foot to slip between. The bridge 

 sways to and fro when the wind is high, and 

 oscillates fearfully as one passes over it. It has 

 also become lower on one side, and several sticks 

 are slipping away on that side. A rope is stretched 

 on each side at some height above the bridge ; its 



