* ovalle's historical relation of chile. 51 - ^ 



The afcents and defcents of the hills are fo fteep, that when from below one looks at 

 thofe who are above, they look like figures ; and for my part I thought it a temerity, 

 if not an impoflibility, to venture to get up to them. 



The brooks and rivers which crofs the ways every ftep are fo violent, that there is 

 no head fo ftrong, but it turns to look on their current ; which is fo fwift, that if it 

 comes up to the mule's faddle, there is no paffing without evident danger of one's life ; 

 for thefe ftreams coming from on high, have the ftrength of a mill-ftream, carrying 

 along with them loofe ftones, which overturn a loaded mule as it were a chicken ; fo 

 that it is neceffary fometimes to flay two or three days till the fun does not fhine ; for 

 then thefe brooks are lower, becaufe there is lefs fnow melted : and for this reafon it 

 is always befl to pafs early in the morning, they having had all the night to run lower. 



It was neceffary for an allay of the dangers and irkfomenefs of thefe ways, that God 

 fhould temper the rigour of the fufferings, by the variety and diverfion which fo many ^ 

 waters give in their rife and courfe : fome are to be feen breaking out from almofl an 

 imperceptible height, and meeting with no intermediate objed, the whole mafs of 

 water, which is ufually very great, diffolves itfelf by the way into fo many drops, " "'f * 

 which make a lovely profpedt, like fo much pearl falling ; and being mingled by the 

 force of the air, which drives them acrofs one upon the other, it feems a chain hang- 

 ing from its firfl ilTue to the earth ; where, taking another fhape, it becomes a running 

 brook, and unites with the current of the chief river which runs in the middle. 



I faw others, which before they got to the earth, divided into two branches, forming 

 like a thick fhower in the midfl of the way, or atoms in the fun beams ; but it is im- 

 poffible to paint all the variety of objects produced by thefe feveral motions and com- 

 pofitions of flreams and fountains. I cannot leave them without mentioning one called 

 the Eyes of Water, which is very remarkable ; it is in the lafl mefa but one, at the 

 foot of the mountain. I call it mefa, becaufe providence has, for the relief of travellers, 

 difpofed, at fome leagues diflance, little valleys and agreeable plains, which eafe the 

 travellers in this moft tedious and long afcent. 



This valley is environed with a wall of moft prodigious high rocks ; it may be a 

 mile or thereabouts in its diameter, and is all the year round full of greens, odorife- 

 rous plants and flowers, which make it a pidure of paradife : in the midfl of it fprings 

 up this fountain, or fountains, becaufe the fprings of water are many that rife from 

 the ground all about, leaping with great force into the air, which in a little fpace all 

 unite, and make two great bodies, each of them full of water, as clear as chryflal. 

 Thefe two heads begin a kind of combat a little below, and mingling in their courfe 

 with one another, as if fome ingenious artifl had ordered it, make a great many turn- 

 ings and windings, fometimes far from one another, and fometimes united through the 

 whole valley, till at the end of it, joining together, they fall into one canal, which 

 empties itfelf into the principal river, compofed by many of thefe rivulets. 



One property of all thefe chryflal flreams, is extreme coolnefs, which they never lofe, CaAU. 

 no, not when the fun fhines out mofl in the heat of the day ; it is fuch, that no body j^vn^^w 

 can drink half a cup -full of it without refling, or taking breath ; and though all thefe 

 fprings have this quality, yet none in fo intenfe a degree as this fountain of Los Ojos 

 de Aqua ; of which, though the weather be never fo hot, it is not pofTible to drink 

 above two or three fups ; and one can hardly endure to hold the water in one's hand 

 above a minute. 



Behind one of thofe high mountains, which is to the eafl of this fountain, there is 

 a great lake or pond, fo deep and clear, that it appears as if it were of azure ; and 

 there is a tradition, that the lafl of the Ingas, kings of Peru, caufed vaft quantities 



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