332 PUENTE DEL INCAS. [chap. xv. 



crossed, and did not find out till a day afterwards, that 

 it was one of the awful dangers. No doubt there are 

 many parts in which, if the mule should stumble, the 

 rider would be hurled down a great precipice ; but of 

 this there is little chance. I daresay, in the spring, the 

 "laderas," or roads, which each year are formed anew 

 across the piles of fallen detritus, are very bad ; but from 

 what I saw, I suspect the real danger is nothing. With 

 cargo-mules the case is rather different, for the loads 

 project so far, that the animals, occasionally running 

 against each other, or against a point of rock, lose their 

 balance, and are thrown down the precipices. In crossing 

 the rivers I can well believe that the difficulty may be 

 very great : at this season there was little trouble, but in 

 the summer they must be very hazardous. I can quite 

 imagine, as Sir F. Head describes, the different expressions 

 of those who have passed the gulf, and those who are 

 passing. I never heard of any man being drowned, but 

 with loaded mules it frequently happens. The arriero 

 tells you to show your mule the best line and then allow 

 her to cross as she likes : the cargo-mule takes a bad 

 line, and is often lost. 



April dfth. — From the Rio de las Vacas to the Puente 

 del Incas, half a day's journey. As there was pasture 

 for the mules, and geology for me, we bivouacked here 

 for the night. When one hears of a natural bridge, one 

 pictures to oneself some deep and narrow ravine, across 

 \yhich a bold mass of rock has fallen ; or a great arch 

 hollowed out like the vault of a cavern. Instead of this, 

 the Incas' Bridge consists of a crust of stratified shingle, 

 cemented together by the deposits of the neighbouring 

 hot springs. It appears, as if the stream had scooped 

 out a channel, on one side, leaving an overhanging ledge, 

 which was met by earth and stones falling down from 

 the opposite cliff. Certainly an oblique junction, as would 

 happen in such a case, was very distinct on one side. The 

 Bridge of the Incas is by no means worthy of the great 

 monarchs whose name it bears. 



April ^th. — We had a long day's ride across the central 

 ridge, from the Incas' Bridge to the Ojos del Agua, which 

 are situated near the lowest casucha on the Chilian side. 

 These casuchas are round little towers, with steps outside 

 to reach the floor, which is raised some feet above the 

 ground on account of the snow-drifts. They are eight in 



