CROSSING THE BOLIVIAN HIGHLANDS 283 



small parrakeets which clambered about over the rocks 

 and slept in holes in the high banks. Vast numbers of 

 cavies lived in the rock-piles, from which they sallied at all 

 hours of the day in quest of food, and many small rodents 

 inhabited the grain-fields. 



A good trail leads eastward from Cochicancha; the sum- 

 mit of the range rises about two leagues from the settle- 

 ment. At the time of our visit the black, rock}' peaks were 

 covered with a mantle of snow and an icy wind swept 

 through the cleft which serves as a pass. The elevation of 

 the trail is thirteen thousand four hundred feet. At the 

 base of the towering masses which rise several hundred 

 feet above the passage, lies a placid little lake, and ducks 

 and gulls were swimming on its peaceful surface. Condors 

 swept down from above to inspect us, and then soared back 

 to their dizzy perches among the unscalable crags. 



On the eastern side of the divide the trail leads down- 

 ward abruptly, and the character of the country changes; 

 at eleven thousand feet a sparse growth of bushes appears, 

 growing denser with each passing mile. Suddenly we 

 found ourselves on the rim of a gorge through which the 

 Incachaca River rushes — a raging mountain torrent fed by 

 snows melting in the high altitudes. The path is a mere 

 shelf cut in the face of the cliff; to the left rise the smooth 

 walls of frowning, black rock; to the right is a sheer drop 

 to the river. We could peer over the edge of the precipice 

 and see drifting clouds two thousand feet below, filling the 

 chasm and shutting from view the bottom hundreds of feet 

 lower down. 



At seven thousand seven hundred feet the forest begins; 

 a collection of half a dozen huts called Incachaca nestles in 

 its inner border, and there we decided to remain for a few 

 weeks. We secured space in a large house belonging to 

 an organization which is engaged in digging a canal along 

 the opposite side of the gorge; when this work is completed 

 the water of the river will be turned into the artificial 

 course and utilized for running dynamos to furnish elec- 



