ULLOA's voyage to south AMERICA. 417 



The manner of defcending from thefe heights is not lefs difficult and dangerous. In 

 order to underftand this, it is neceflfary to obferve, that in thofe parts of the mountains, 

 the exceffive fleepnefs will not admit of the camelones being lafting ; for the waters, by 

 continually foftening the earth, wafh them away. On one fide are fteep eminences, and 

 on the other frightful abyfles; and as they generally follow the diredlion of the moun- 

 tain, the road, inftead of lying in a level, forms two or three fteep eminences and decli- 

 vities, in the diftance of two or three hundred yards : and thefe are the parts where no 

 camelones can be lafting. The mules themfelves are fenfible of the caution requifite in 

 thefe defcents ; for, coming to the lop of an eminence, they ftop, and having placed 

 their fore feet clofe together, as in a pofture of ftopping themfelves, they alfo put their 

 hinder feet together, but a little forwards, as if going to lie down. In this attitude, 

 having as it were taken a furvey of the road, they Hide down with the fwiftnefs of a 

 meteor. All the rider has to do is to keep himfelf faft in the faddle without checking 

 his beaft ; for the leaft motion is fufficient to diforder the equilibrium of the mule, in 

 which cafe they both unavoidably perilh. The addrefs of thefe creatures is here truly 

 wonderful j for, in this rapid motion, when they feem to have loft all government of 

 themfelves, they follow exaftly the different windings of the road, as if they had before 

 accurately reconnoitred, and previoufly fettled in their minds, the route they were to 

 follow, and taken every precaution for their fafety, amidft fo many irregularities. There 

 would indeed otherwife be no poffibility of travelling over fuch places, where the fafety 

 of the rider depends on the experience and addrefs of his beaft. 



But the longeft pradice of travelling thefe roads cannot entirely free them from a kind 

 of dread or horror which appears when they arrive at the top of a fteep declivity. For 

 they ftop without being checked by the rider ; and if he inadvertently endeavours to 

 fpur them on, they continue immoveable j nor will they flir from the place till they 

 have put themfelves in the above-mentioned pofture. Now it is that they feem to be 

 actuated by reafon ; for they not only attentively view the road, but tremble and fnort 

 at the danger, which, if the rider be not accuftomed to thefe emotions, cannot fail of 

 filling him with terrible ideas. The Indians go before, and place themfelves along the 

 fides of the mountain, holding by the roots of trees, to animate the beafts with fhouts, 

 till they at once ftart down the declivity. 



There are indeed fome places where thefe declivities are not on the fides of pre- 

 cipices ; but the road is fo narrow and hollow, and the fides nearly perpendicular, that 

 the danger is almoft equal to the former ; for the track being extremely narrow, and 

 the road fcarce wide enough to admit the mule with its rider, if the former falls, the lat- 

 ter muft be neceffarily crufhed ; and for want of room to difengage himfelf, generally 

 has a leg or an arm broken, if he efcapes with life. It is really wonderful to confidcr 

 thefe mules, after having overcome the firft emotions of their fear, and are going to 

 flide down the declivity, with what exacftnefs they ftretch out their fore-legs, that by 

 preferving the equilibrium they may not fall on one fide ; yet at a proper diftance make, 

 with their body, that gentle inclination neceffary to follow the feveral windings of the 

 road ; and, laftly, their addrefs in ftopping themfelves at the end of their impetuous 

 career. Certainly the human fpecies themfelves could not fhow more prudence and 

 conduct. Some mules, after being long ufed to thefe journeys, acquire a kind of repu- 

 tation for their fkill and fafety, and accordingly are highly valued. 



The worft feafons for thefe journeys, though difficult and dangerous at all times, are 

 the beginnings of fummer and winter ; the rain then caufing fuch dreadful torrents, 

 that in fome places the roads are covered with water ; and in others fo damaged, that 

 there is no poffibility of paffing, but by fending Indians before to mend them ; though 



VOL. XIV. 3 H ^^^^^ 



