X83S-] INCAS BRIDGE. 843 



of the Portillo pass. Little can be seen beyond the bare waiis of the 

 one grand, flat-bottomed valley, which the road follows up to the 

 highest crest. The valley and the huge rocky mountains are extremely 

 barren : during the two previous nights the poor mules had absolutely 

 nothing to eat, for excepting a few low resinous bushes, scarcely a 

 plant can be seen. In the course of this day we crossed some of the 

 worst passes in the Cordillera, but their danger has been much 

 exaggerated. I was told that if I attempted to pass on foot, my head 

 would turn giddy, and that there was no room to dismount ; but I did 

 not see a place where any one might not have walked over backwards, 

 or got off his mule on either side. One of the bad passes, called las 

 Animas (the Souls), I had crossed, and did not find out till a day 

 afterwards, that it was one of the awful dangers. No doubt there are 

 many parts in which, if the mule should stumble, the rider would be 

 hurled down a great precipice; but of this there is little chance. I 

 daresay, in the spring, the "laderas," or roads, which each year are 

 formed anew across the piles of fallen detritus, are very bad ; but 

 from what I saw, I suspect the real danger is nothing. With cargo- 

 mules the case is rather different, for the loads project so far, that the 

 animals, occasionally running against each other, or against a point of 

 rock, lose their balance, and are thrown down the precipices. In 

 crossing the rivers I can well believe that the difficulty may be very 

 great : at this season there was little trouble, but in the summer they 

 must be very hazardous. I can quite imagine, as Sir F. Head describes, 

 the different expressions of those who have passed the gulf, and those 

 who are passing. I never heard of any man being drowned, but with 

 loaded mules it frequently happens. The arriero tells you to show 

 your mule the best line and then allow her to cross as she likes: 

 the cargo-mule takes a bad line, and is often lost. 



April $th. From the Rio de las Vacas to the Paente del Incas, 

 half a day's journey. As there was pasture for the mules, and geology 

 for me, we bivouacked here for the night. When one hears of a 

 natural Bridge, one pictures to oneself some deep and narrow ravine, 

 across which a bold mass of rock has fallen ; or a great arch hollowed 

 out like the vault of a cavern. Instead of this, the Incas Bridge 

 consists of a crust of stratified shingle, cemented together by the 

 deposits of the neighbouring hot springs. It appears, as if the stream 

 had scooped out a channel on one side, leaving an overhanging ledge, 

 which was met by earth and stones falling down from the opposite cliff. 

 Certainly an oblique junction, as would happen in such a case, was very 

 distinct on one side. The Bridge of the Incas is by no means worthy 

 of the great monarchs whose name it bears. 



April $th. We had a long day's ride across the central ridge, from 

 the Incas Bridge to the Ojos del Agua, which are situated near the 

 lowest casucha on the Chilian side. These casuchas are round little 

 towers, with steps outside to reach the floor, which is raised some feet 

 above the ground on account of the snow-drifts. They are eight in 

 number, and under the Spanish government were kept during the 

 winter well stored with food and charcoal, and each courier had a 



