90 NOTES OF A NATURALIST. 



would be difficult, starting so late, to reach the summit 

 tunnel, if sufficient time were to be reserved for 

 botanizing. With snow on the ground the vegetation 

 would be concealed, and the chief interest of the 

 expedition lost, so that I readily made up my mind 

 that we should not attempt to reach the summit of 

 the pass. 



We had not gone far on the track when we came 

 to a suspension bridge, over which our soldier-guide 

 rode as a matter of course. Seeing the frail structure 

 swing to and fro under the horse's feet, I confess that 

 I felt much inclined to dismount and cross on foot ; 

 but in such cases one remembers that whatever men 

 or animals are accustomed to do they are sure to do 

 safely, and I rode on, admiring the judgment with 

 which my horse avoided the weak places in the 

 basket-work under his feet. 



The track is well beaten, and in easy places broad 

 and even ; but here and there, where it climbs over 

 some projecting buttress of rock, is rather rougher and 

 steeper than I have ever seen elsewhere in mountain 

 countries on a path intended for horsemen, excepting, 

 perhaps, some choice spots in the Great Atlas. It 

 was impossible to push on rapidly, for we overtook a 

 succession of long trains of baggage-animals — mules, 

 donkeys, and llamas — moving towards the interior at 

 a rate of little over two miles an hour. As it was 

 only in favourable places that it was possible to pass, 

 our patience went through many severe trials. 



At about thirteen thousand feet above the sea we 

 passed two farmhouses, evidently constructed by 

 European settlers, plain but neat in appearance, and 



