226 INDIAN PORTERS. Chap. XIII. 



leaves and flowers, which had been collected as a tonic medi- 

 cine for a little daughter of my host. 



On the 24th of April, late in the afternoon, we left Sandia, 

 and reached the tambo, or travellers' hut, called Cahuan- 

 chaca, before dark. The road leads down the ravine, along 

 narrow ledges overhanging the river, which dashes furiously 

 along, in most places between perpendicular cliffs. The 

 path is very narrow and dangerous, but the scenery is 

 superb, and the vegetation becomes richer and more tropical 

 at every league of the descent. 



One of the Lidians traitorously fled on the first day, and 

 my party was thus reduced to three, who were barely able 

 to carry the necessary provisions. These three men proved 

 faithful and willing fellow-labourers. Their names were 

 Andres Vilca of the Oruro Ayllu, Julian Ccuri of Cuyo-cuyo, 

 and Santos Quispi of Apabuco. They were iine-looking young 

 fellows, wearing their hair in long plaits down their backs, 

 coarse canvas trousers and shirts. They carry the cargos in 

 large cloths tied in bundles, and placed in other cloths, which 

 are passed over one shoulder and tied across the chest, called 

 ccepis. They stoop forward and step out at a great rate ; and 

 it is in tliis way that Indians carry their burdens along the 

 roads, and women their childi-en, throughout Peru. The 

 tamho of Cahuan-chaca is a shed, with one side open, and we 

 slept in company with three Indians and a woman on their 

 way to get in a coca-harvest in the Hatun-yunca, who were 

 living very well on salt mutton, eggs, and potatoes. 



The river rushing down the valley winds along the small 

 breadth of level land, striking first against the precipitous 

 cliffs on one side, and then sweeping over to the other, so 

 that a road in the bottom of the valley would require a bridge 

 at almost every hundred yards. It has, therefore, been 

 necessary to excavate a path in the sides of the mountains, 

 high above the river, which in some places has a breadth of 



