PLATEAU OP OAXAMABCA.. 407 



clothing, say that the subterranean heat in the Purgatorio is 

 etifling. 



The narrow path from Micuipampa to the ancient Inca city 

 Caxamarca is difficult even for mules. The original name 

 of the town was Cassamarca or Kazamarca, that is to say, the 

 City of Frost. Marca, in the signification of a district or town, 

 belongs to the northern dialect of the Chinchaysuyo, or 

 the Chinchasuyu, whilst in the common Quichua language the 

 word means the story of a house, and also a fortress and place 

 of defence. For the space of five or six miles, the road led 

 us through a succession of Paramos, where we were without 

 intermission exposed to the fury of a boisterous wind and the 

 sharp angular hail peculiar to the ridges of the Andes. The 

 height of the road is for the most part between 9600 and 

 10,700 feet above the sea-level. There I had the oppor- 

 tunity of making a magnetic observation of general interest, 

 viz., for determining the point where the north inclination of 

 the needle passes into the south inclination, and also the 

 point at which the traveller has to cross the magnetic equa- 

 tor (12). 



Having at length reached the last of these mountain 

 wildernesses, the Paramo de Yanaguanga, the traveller joy- 

 fully looks down into the fertile valley of Caxamarca. It 

 presents a charming prospect, for the valley, through 

 which winds a little serpentine rivulet, is an elevated plain 

 of an oval form, in extent from 96 to 112 square miles. The 

 plain bears a resemblance to that of Bogota, and like it is 

 probably the bed of an ancient lake; but in Caxamarca 

 there is wanting the myth of the miracle-working Botchia, 

 or Idacanzas, the High Priest of Iraca, who opened a passage 

 for the waters through the rocks of Tequendama. Caxa- 

 marca lies 640 feet higher than Santa Fe de Bogota, and 

 consequently its elevation is equal to that of the city of 

 Quito ; but being sheltered by surrounding mountains, 

 its climate is much more mild and agreeable. The soil of 



