The Andes or La Vinda. 

 Baiios. 



PERU. 



Huge condor seen. 



Portrait of the alcalde'! father-in-law. 



55 



of the delay necessary to pass down to the places 

 where they were at work ; and wishing to devote 

 their attention to the interesting region of botany 

 in which they then were, they gave up their pur- 

 pose of descending. 



On no part of their journey did they find so 

 many remarkable plants as on this mountain. 



Towards the middle of the afternoon they re- 

 turned to the hut, when they determined to pro- 

 ceed to Banos. Previous to leaving Alpamarca, 

 they had some difficulty with the guides, who were 

 dissatisfied with their bargain; it therefore required 

 some management to prevent them from deserting 

 altogether, and caused our gentlemen some fear 

 lest they might be compelled to return ; but after 

 much dispute, the guides consented to proceed, 

 although it must be allowed that the bargain was 

 far from being advantageous to them. 



Along the road to Banos they passed some high 

 ridges, with snow and ice coming at times down to 

 the path ; also lakes in deep ravines, somewhat re- 

 sembling small craters, which, like all the rest they 

 had seen, were tenanted by numerous water-fowl. 



The crest of the Andes did not appear here quite 

 so broad as it had been found to be four leagues to 

 the southward, but its elevation was thought to be 

 greater. The continuous ranges of snowy peaks in 

 the direction of Pasco were very striking. The 

 Indians have names for all the most remarkable 

 ones, but the Spaniards embrace the whole, toge- 

 ther with the principal one, under the name of La 

 Vimla. 



From the direction of the descent to the north- 

 ward and westward, they began to suspect they 

 were descending upon the western slope of the Cor- 

 dilleras instead of the eastern ; this proved to be 

 the case, which was no small disappointment, as it 

 was their original intention to reach the wooded 

 district on the eastern slope, termed " Montanas." 

 In this they were therefore disappointed. As they 

 proceeded the country improved, the climate be- 

 came milder, and the soil richer ; on their way 

 they crossed a small stream, which was said to be 

 the source of the river Chancai. 



At dark they reached Banos, which is computed 

 to be upwards of five leagues from Casa Cancha. 

 Banos is considered to be at about the same eleva- 

 tion as Culnai, but the descent is more rapid to the 

 former. According to the custom of the country, 

 they applied to the alcalde for accommodations, who 

 is obliged, according to law, to furnish travellers 

 with a house, if the town should possess none for 

 the use of strangers, free of expense, and to pro- 

 vide them with a cook ; the travellers buy their 

 own provisions, and pay for the cooking, one real 

 for each dish. 



Banos is celebrated for its mineral hot-springs, 

 from which it derives its name ; they flow from the 

 base of a high mountain. 



The town consists of about thirty houses and a 

 church, of which the inhabitants are very proud. 

 It is a neat village, situated in a deep ravine, by 

 the side of a tumbling stream, bounded on both 

 sides by mountains three thousand feet high. The 

 mountain sides appear so precipitous, that the 

 remark was made by one of the party, " that he 

 could not conceive why the cattle that were feeding 

 on their sides did not fall off." 



Along the margin of the stream, carnations, 

 pinks, stock gillyflowers, and French marigolds 



are naturalized ; the pinks grow in immense num- 

 bers in every crack and crevice. 



The cabbages here are woody and arborescent, 

 like the cow or tree-cabbage, the trunk and branches 

 being quite hard and covered with bark ; they 

 have at a distance some resemblance to the Brug- 

 mansia suaveolens. 



The thermometer stood at 50, and the weather, 

 in comparison with the day before, was quite mild. 



The soil in this valley is good, and cultivated in 

 some places with care : no fruit was observed. 

 The largest trees were a species of elder and 

 a buddlea ; calceolaria, salvia, and heliotropium 

 abounded. 



On the 22nd they determined to remain at Banos. 

 At an early hour in the morning they found the 

 village deserted, and it appeared on inquiry that all 

 the inhabitants had gone abroad to tend their herds. 

 For the purpose of taking as wide a range as pos- 

 sible in search of plants, our gentlemen separated, 

 some going up, while others descended ; they all 

 met with great success in their botanical researches. 

 Dr. Pickering attempted the ascent of one of the 

 summits ; by noon he had reached a high eleva- 

 tion, and looking up, he espied a huge condor soar- 

 ing down the valley. He stopped to observe the 

 majestic bird as it sailed slowly along. To his 

 surprise it took a turn around him, then a second 

 and a third, the last time drawing so near that he 

 began to apprehend it meditated an attack. He 

 describes himself as being in the worst possible 

 condition for a fight, his strength being exhausted 

 by climbing, and his right hand having been lamed 

 for some days from a hurt. The nature of the 

 ground, too, was any thing but favourable for de- 

 fence ; but there was nothing left but to prepare 

 for a fight, and with this intent he took a seat and 

 drew his knife. At the instant, as if intimidated 

 by the sight of the weapon, the bird whirled off in 

 a different direction. Dr. Pickering confessed, 

 however humiliating the acknowledgment, that he 

 was at the time very well satisfied with the coil- 

 dor's determination to let him alone. 



Dr. Pickering was enabled to reach the ridge 

 that bounded the valley, but there were many 

 higher beyond. The view thence was magnificent, 

 overlooking to the west eight distinct ridges be- 

 tween him and the sea, which was scarcely defined 

 enough to be made out with any certainty. He 

 descended by the same route again to the village. 

 The alcalde discovering that one of the party (Mr. 

 Agate) was an artist, became extremely anxious 

 that he should make a sketch of his father-in-law, 

 an old revolutionary soldier, who resided there. 

 As the son-in-law had been so attentive, and offered 

 them so many civilities, among others the loan of a 

 silver dish, spoon, and fork, he could do no less 

 than gratify these wishes. For this purpose the 

 old man dressed himself in his uniform. The task 

 of sitting was almost too much for him, and he was 

 nearly overcome with the excitement and exertion. 

 The old man was greatly delighted with the pic- 

 ture, as were all those about him, except the son- 

 in-law, who expressed great dissatisfaction that it 

 should be without legs, it being only a half-length, 

 and offered a large price to have them put on ; but 

 time did not admit of it. 



Mr. Agate's first effort was deemed so success- 

 ful that his reputation was at once established at 

 Banos, and shortly afterwards he was called upon 



