388 IN THE WILDS OF SOUTH AMERICA 



Apparently our Scytalopus was not a bird of the open 

 highlands. We even began to wonder if it existed at all, 

 because, so far, the most thorough search had failed to re- 

 veal any trace of it. There remained, however, the high 

 paramo above, and to this we next turned our attention. 



Our sudden arrival at Tafi had caused much comment 

 among the inhabitants. They found it impossible to be- 

 lieve that we had come to that remote region in search of a 

 small, dull-colored bird, and after a few days it became an 

 open secret that we were regarded as spies — though just 

 what nature of information we sought, could not be deter- 

 mined. They even went so far as to refer to the matter 

 occasionally in a good-natured manner; and when we were 

 away on hunting excursions, it was their custom to put our 

 cook, a Bolivian, through a sort of "third degree" in an 

 effort to compel him to confess the real object of our visit. 

 Therefore, when we planned to move to the high peaks 

 bordering the little valley, the natives considered their 

 evidence complete; we were going, they said, to prepare a 

 diagram of the country from our new point of vantage. 

 The only person who really understood the purpose of our 

 mission was a man from Tucuman who had been sent up 

 to vaccinate the Indians. He started out each morning 

 accompanied by two or three soldiers, rounded up all the 

 Indians of a given locality, and vaccinated them. The 

 natives did not at the time realize the significance of this 

 act; but when, a few weeks later, the inoculations had had 

 time to become effective, they grew frantic, and grim-faced 

 little parties began to scour the country in search of the 

 person who had "poisoned" them. Fortunately, none of 

 the scouting-parties came our way, for to them all strangers 

 look very much alike, and there was the possibility that 

 one of us might have been mistaken for the doctor. 



The paramo above Tafi is a bleak region, almost per- 

 petually enveloped in mist. Work in this type of country 

 possesses its disadvantages, for in addition to the intense 

 cold and the lack of fuel, there is always the possibility 



