OVALLE S HISTORICAL RELATION OF CHILE* 47 



our breath quick and ftrong, and to open our mouths wider than ordinary, applying 

 to them likewife our handkerchiefs to condenfe our breath, andJDreak the extreme cold- 

 nefs of the air, and fo make it more proportionable to the temperament which the 

 heart requires, not to be fufFocated : this I have experienced every time that I have 

 paffed this mighty mountain. 



Don Antonio de Herrera fays, that thofe who pafs it in Peru, fufFer great reachings 

 and vomitings ; becaufe no one thing produces fo great an alteration at once, as a fud- 

 den change of air ; and that of the mountain being fo unproportioned to common re- 

 fpiration, produces in thofe who pafs over it thofe admirable and painful efFeds. He 

 fays moreover, that thofe who have endeavoured to dive into the caufes of them, do 

 find, that as that mountain is one of the highefl in the world, the air of it is fo ex- 

 tremely fubtile and fine, that it difcompofes the temperament of the animal, as has been 

 faid. It is true, that in that part of the Cordillera in Peru, which they call Pariacaca, 

 there may be a concurrence of other caufes and difpofition of the climate, to which 

 may be attributed fome of thefe effects ; for if they were to be attributed only to the 

 height of the mountain, we that pafs it in Chile ought to find thofe inconveniencies as 

 much, or more, becaufe the mountain is higheft without comparifon ; and yet I never 

 endured thofe reachings or vomitings, nor have feen any of thofe motions in others, 

 but only the difficulty of breathing, which 1 have mentioned. 



Others experience other effefts, which I have often heard them relate ; for the ex- 

 halations, and other meteors, (which from the earth feem fo high in the air, that fome- 

 times we take them for ftars,) are there under the feet of the mules, frighting them, 

 and buzzing about their ears. We go through the mountains, treading, as it were, 

 upon clouds ; fometimes we fee the earth without any oppofition to our fight, and 

 when we look up, we cannot fee the heavens for clouds ; but when we are afcended 

 to the highefl of the mountain, we can no longer fee the earth for the clouds below, 

 but the heavens are clear and bright, and the fun bright and fhining out, without any 

 impediment to hinder us from feeing its light and beauty. 



The Iris, or rain-bow, which upon the earth we fee crofling the heavens, we fee it 

 from this height extended under our feet ; whereas thofe on the lower parts fee it over 

 their heads ; nor is it a lefs wonder, that while we travel over thofe hills which are dry 

 and free from wet, we may fee, as I have done often, the clouds difcharge themfelves, 

 and overflow the earth with great force ; and at the fame time that I was contemplat- 

 ing, at a diftance, tempefls and florms falling in the valleys and deep places, as I lifted 

 up my eyes to heaven, I could not but admire the ferenity over my head, there being 

 not fo much as a cloud to be feen, to trouble or difcompofe that beautiful profpedt. 



The fecond thing which makes this mountain admirable, is the prodigious fnow 

 which falls upon it in winter, which is fo great, that though thefe mountains are fo 

 high and broad, there is no part of them uncovered with fnow, being in many places 

 feveral pikes deep. I am not informed how it is in the higheft part of all, which is 

 moft properly called the Cordillera, becaufe this being fo very high, that it is thought 

 to furpafs the middle region of the air, its point alone may perhaps be uncovered ; at 

 leaft when I paffed it, which has been fometimes in the beginning of winter, I have not 

 feen a crum of fnow ; when a little below, both at the coming up and going down, it 

 was fo thick, as our mules funk in without being able to go forward. 



But that which I have obferved, is, that after a glut of rain, which has lafted two 

 or three days, and the mountain appears clear, (for all the time it rains it is covered 

 with clouds,) it seems white from top to bottom, and is a moft beautiful fight ; for the 

 air is fo ferene in thofe parts, that when a ftorm is over, the heavens are fo bright, 



even 



