C11.VP. XVI J. TO PORT OF ISLAY. 2bl 



thatched with ycJiii grass. The minimum thermometer, 

 during the night, was as low as 20^ Fahr. by my side. 



At daylight on May 19th Paco complained of having to 

 rise before the sun, although he must have been half-frozen. 

 The mules had escaped, and we were fully three liours in 

 catching them. The ground was covered with a crisp frost, 

 and during the forenoon we were travelhng over the same 

 lofty wilderness, consisting of grassy undulating hills, with 

 ridges of cliffs, and huge boulders here and there. The view 

 was bounded on the north and east by the splendid snowy 

 peaks of the Caravayan range, and to the north-west by 

 those of Yilcanota. The only living things, in these Avikl 

 solitudes, are the graceful vicunas, which peered at us with 

 their long necks from behind the grassy slopes, the guanacos, 

 the biscaches burrowing amongst the rocks, and the huallatas 

 or large geese on the margins of streams or pools of water. 



At about noon we began to descend a rocky dangerous 

 cuesta, where there was much trouble with the mules, which 

 were constantly attempting to lie do^nx and roll with the 

 plants. The steep descent led into the plain of Putina, 

 which was covered with flocks of sheep, with smaU farms, 

 shaded by clumps of quehua-Xiees, nestling under the sand- 

 stone cliffs which bound the plain. Crossing another range, 

 we reached a swampy plain, with sheep and cattle scattered 

 over it, and stopped at an abandoned shepherd's hut, the 

 exact counterpart of last night's lodging. 1 had been ten 

 hom-s in the saddle, and was faint from hunger, but had to 

 go supperless to bed. Paco was nearly breaking down from 

 a bad wound in his foot, but I bandaged it with hnt, and 

 he was able to proceed. He had an alco or Peruvian 

 dog with him, which was devotedly attached to its master. 

 These dogs are something like Newfoundlands, only much 

 smaller, generally black or white, and seldom bark. 



On the morrow the wa\ . lor the lirst twu hours, led over 



