ABOVE THE CLOUDS. 211 



our A'iew, when Ave were beneath it, tlie form of the Cor- 

 dilleras. "We had passed through these clouds the day- 

 previous, or rather entered them, for the tambo in which 

 we passed the night was, upon the evening of our arrival, 

 wrapped in thick vapors which before morning had settled 

 about the base of the mountains. As we looked down 

 upon the bright surface of this vapor-sea, beautifully tinted 

 by tbe rising sun just shooting through the ragged sum- 

 mit of the Cordilleras, with all in our upper world sun- 

 shine and brightness, we really pitied those condemned to 

 live beneath its gloomy shade, and to look upon its dark 

 and cheerless surface. It was suggestive to us of human 

 life. Sometimes our sky seems to be darkened, and heav- 

 en appears to frown. Our position is at fault ; a higher 

 stand-point would show a serene sky and a smiling heaven. 

 The sun had commenced to lift those vapor-clouds, and 

 already we could discern detached masses rolling up the 

 deep gorges, convincing us that, unless we stopped moral- 

 izing, and proceeded to climb upward, we would very soon 

 be wrapped in cold, unpoetic mist. 



Slowly -we mounted the Cordilleras. Such was the 

 confidence with which our sure-footed mules had inspired 

 us, that we threw the bridle over their neck, and surren- 

 dered to them the privilege of choosing their own way. 

 We had less aj^prehension when astride them, passing 

 along knife-edged ridges and by dizzy precipices, than we 

 should have had if trusting to our own feet. Long trains 

 of donkeys and bulls, laden with products of the table-lands, 

 rushed recklessly down the precipitous path, caixsing us to 

 hug closely the clifis, to avoid being overturned or crowded 

 over into the abyss. One drove safely passed, we turned 

 our eyes upward only to see another train, winding down 

 the seemingly perpendicular sides of the mountains. The 

 llama is seldom employed in transporting burdens over 

 the Cordilleras of Ecuador — we met but one in our pas- 



