218 CUYO-CUYO. Chap. XIII. 



black peaks, glittering with streaks of snow, pierced the 

 mist which concealed their bases. After descending for 

 some leagues through this glorious scenery, the path at 

 length crossed a ridge, and brought us to the crest of the 

 deep and narrow ravine of Cuyo-cuyo. 



The path down the side of the gorge is very precipitous, 

 through a succession of andeneria, or terraced gardens, some 

 abandoned, and others planted with ocas {Oxalis tuberosa), 

 barley, and potatoes ; the upper tiers from six to eight feet 

 wide, but gradually becoming broader. Their walled sides are 

 thickly clothed with Calceolarias, Celsias, Begonias, a large 

 purple Solanum, and a profusion of ferns. But it Avas not 

 until reaching the little village in the bottom of the hollow 

 that all the glories of the scene burst upon me. The river of 

 Sandia, wliich takes its rise at the head of the ravine, flows 

 by the village of Cuyo-cuyo, bordered by ferns and wild 

 flowers. It is faced, near the village, with fern-covered 

 masonry, and is crossed by several stone bridges of a single 

 arch. Almost immediately on either side, tlie steep preci- 

 pitous moimtaius, lined, at least a hundred deep, with well- 

 constructed andeneria, and faced with stone, rise up abruiatly. 

 In several places a cluster of cottages, built on one of tlie 

 terraces, seemed almost to be hanging in the au'. Above all 

 the dark rocks shoot up into snowy peaks, which stood out 

 against the blue sky. A most lovely scene, but very sad, 

 for the great majority of those carefully-constructed terraces, 

 eternal monuments of the beneficence of the Incas, are now 

 abandoned. The alcalde of Cuyo-cuyo received me most 

 hospitably. In the early morning numbers of lambs and 

 young llamas were playing about in the abandoned terraced 

 gardens near the village. Besides Cuyo-cuyo, there are two 

 small hamlets, called Muchucacbi and Sullanqui, and several 

 scattered huts in the ravine, the population of which is 

 estimated at 2000 souls. 



