216 PLAIN OF CRUCEllO. Chap. XIII. 



CHAPTEE XIII. 



CABAVAYA.— THE VALLEY OF SANDIA. 



On the IStli of April I left Crucero, on my way to the chin- 

 chona forests, rather late in the afternoon, accompanied by 

 Mr. Weir the gardener, a young mestizo named Pablo 

 Sevallos, and two cargo-mules. After a ride of three leagues 

 along the bleak plain of Crucero, covered with coarse Stipa 

 and stunted Cacti, we reached a little shepherd's hut, called 

 Choclari-piiia, at dusk. It was built of loose stones, with a 

 sheepskin hung across the doorway, but with no plaster or 

 mud between the interstices of the stones, so that the 

 piercingly cold wind blew right through the hut.^ The poor 

 Indian family were kind and hospitable, and gave us plenty 

 of fresh mUk. Next morning we continued the journey 

 along the same plain, with the snowy peaks of the Caravayan 

 Andes on the left, and the glorious nevada of Ananea 

 ahead, whence rise the rivers of Azangaro flo^\dng into lake 

 Titieaca, and of Ynambari finding its way to the Atlantic, 

 A ride of twelve miles brought us to a hut called Acco-kunka 

 (neck of sand), at the foot of long ridges of dark-coloured 

 cliffs, with huge boulders of rock scattered over the sides of 

 the hills. A liard white frost covered the ground. 



At Acco-kunka I met a red-faced man, about fifty yeai's 

 of age, who gave his name as Don Manuel Martel. He said 

 that he had been a colonel, and had suffered persecution 

 for being faithful to his party ; that he had lost much money 



' The Ihei'iuyiuuter wa« at 25' Fahr. iufcide tlie Imt. 



