342 IN THE WILDS OF SOUTH AMERICA 



sist entirely on oats grown by the Indians in irrigated areas. 

 The cost of keeping animals is prohibitive; instead of the 

 one or two cents a day charged in the settled parts of Co- 

 lombia, one is compelled to pay fifty cents or more. We 

 should probably have been forced to remain in Vallegrande 

 a long time, had it not been for one Senor Villazon who pro- 

 vided the pack-mules for the rest of the journey to Sucre. 



The first day's ride took us to the village of Pucara. A 

 part of the distance had been over a grass-covered plateau 

 ten thousand feet high, cut in places by deep ravines filled 

 with light woods. The second day we faced the unpleasant 

 prospect of having to cross the Rio Grande. The few na- 

 tives we met said that the river was probably very high 

 and were inclined to be pessimistic concerning our ability 

 to get across; they also advised us to return to Aiquile, 

 near Mizque, as the stream is narrow and spanned by a 

 bridge at that point; but as this meant retracing our steps 

 the greater part of the way, we could not consider the sug- 

 gestion. 



One has the first view of the Rio Grande from the top of 

 a rocky mountain nine thousand five hundred feet high, of 

 which we reached the summit a few hours after leaving 

 Pucara. Far below lay the dull, brown ribbon of water, 

 looking like a painted streak across a grayish background. 

 The descent to the watercourse is so abrupt that in many 

 instances the trail consisted of a succession of steps hewn 

 into the rock; toiling down the tortuous trail was life-sap- 

 ping work for the pack-animals; we relieved the riding ani- 

 mals by walking. Downward, always downward, led the 

 indistinct way, seemingly into a bottomless abyss. The 

 mountainside is dry and cheerless; no dainty flower or 

 blade of grass relieves the grim desolation of desert dust 

 and shattered rock, and even the few grayish, stunted cacti 

 seem to shrivel and die in the burning glare of a hostile sun. 

 After hours that seemed more like days we arrived at the 

 dry bed of a narrow stream and followed down its angular 

 course. The aneroid showed that we were exactly one mile 



