Hfitorie of the Indies, lib.;; 171 



why there are fomanyXakes in the toppes of theft 

 mountaines, into the which no river enters , but con- 

 trariwifc, many great ftreames iffue forth , and yet do 

 wefcarcefee thefe Lakes to diminifh any thing at any 

 feafon of theyeere . To imagine that thefe Lakes grow 

 by thefnow that melts,or raine from heaven, that doth 

 not wholy fatisfie me: for there are many that have not 

 this aboundance of fnow , nor raine , and yet we fee 

 no decreafe in them, which makes me to beleeve they 

 are fprings which rife there naturally, although it be 

 notagainftreafon, tothinkethat thefnow and raine 

 helpefomewhat in fome feafons . Thefe Lakes arefo 

 common in the higheft toppes of the mountaines, 

 that you (hall hardly finde any famous river that takes 

 not his beginning from one of them. Their water is 

 Very cleere, and breedes little ft ore of fifh,and that lit- 

 tleis very finall, by reafon of the cold which is there 

 Continually. Notwithftanding, fome of thefe Lakes 

 be very hote, which is another wonder. Attheendof 

 the vallie of Tarapaya xi^ere to P0toz,i ,, there; is a Lake 

 in forme round , which feemes to havebeen made by 

 compa(Tc,whofe \vater is extrertmely h,pte,and yet the 

 land is very colde: they areaccuftomed t6 bathe them- 

 felves oeere the banke , for elfe they cannot indure the 

 heate being farther in. In the midft of this Lake, there 

 is a boiling of above twenty foote fqiiare , which is the 

 very fpring ,. and yet (notwithftanding the greatnes of 

 thisfpring) itisneverfeene toincrcalein any fort: it 

 feemes that it exhales of it felfe , or that it hath fome 

 hidden and vnknowne LTue', neither do they fee i t dc-, 

 create-; which is another wooder., .although they have 

 d r a\vnt from it agreatftreame , to make tertame icn- 

 gincs gandcfor iiiettall^confideruig the great quantity 



of 



