46 THE OASES OF THE NORTH-WEST 



community or each channel is a syndic elected by the 

 interested parties. At Santa Maria the juez de agua is 

 elected by the owners and confirmed by the Government. 

 He controls irrigation throughout the department, 

 settling all differences, submitting plans of work to a 

 meeting of the owners, and assigning their respective 

 charges in labour and contributions according to their 

 rights. 



This land of customs and traditions is also a land 

 of lively movement. The briskness of the traffic is 

 primarily due to continuous exchange between the 

 various zones of the mountainous district. This large 

 trade, so scattered that the railways could not dream of 

 satisfying its needs, is carried, in the old fashion, on 

 the backs of mules. The lively aspect of the roads 

 between the tableland and the lower valleys of the 

 region, the brisk interchange of goods between zones 

 with different climates, is one of the common features 

 of life on the Andes, 



But the classic spectacle presents a different aspect 

 in different latitudes. In Peru, and in southern Bolivia, 

 the higher valleys — Jauja, Cuzco, the Pampas of 

 Cochabamba and Sucre — have centres of dense popu- 

 lation and agricultural wealth at a height of between 

 9,000 and ii,ooo feet. They raise cereals, and receive 

 from the tropical districts {mojttahas and yungas) sugar, 

 cane-brandy, cocoa, and coca-leaf. The valleys of 

 the Argentine Andes are usually at a less elevation 

 than the yimgas and montanas of Bolivia and Peru. 

 But they are not hot districts, and have not tropical 

 vegetation. Frost prevents the harvesting of sugar- 

 cane at Salta, at a height of 4,000 feet. As to the coca- 

 leaf, which is not as much used here as in the north, 

 the Argentine valles do not send it to the tableland, 

 but receive it indirectly from there, through the southern 

 yungas. In default of tropical crops, the Argentine 

 valles sow wheat and maize, which they sell to the 



