10 INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY—PUBLICATION NO. 5 
pacos (a small llama), and alpacas graze on the 
short grass, and wild life is abundant, consisting in 
the main of vicufias, viscachas, and red foxes. 
Extensive flocks of Andean geese wade in the 
shallow streams of the upland meadows. 
Some 30 miles from Huancavelica the road 
climbs sharply to cross the Continental Divide at 
Chonta. Descending onto the Pacific watershed 
through bleak puna country, the road winds past 
several lakes fed by the melting snows of the 
nearby rocky peaks; the largest of these lakes are 
Choclococha and Orcococha, between which the 
mine of Santa Inés is situated. Continuing down 
the grade, past scattered groups of vicufa, across 
the dreary altiplano, between rocky hills devoid 
of vegetation, the road descends to the head- 
waters of the Pisco River and to Castrovirreina. 
HUANCAYO TO AYACUCHO 
The automobile road from Huancayo to Aya- 
cucho climbs out of the southern Jauja Valley 
following the Seco River, a small tributary of the 
Mantaro River. Winding through rolling hills, 
cultivated almost to their summits with fields of 
wheat and barley, the highway passes scattered 
clusters of thatched or tile-roofed farmhouses. 
As the road continues to climb, the fields of barley 
become more extensive, and extend up the hill- 
sides as far as the eye can see. Here and there, 
near the occasional farmhouses, there are small 
plots planted with potatoes. Near the summit of 
the pass between the Jauja Valley and the gorge 
of the Mantaro River evidences of cultivation 
become less frequent and the terrain is flatter and 
covered with coarse grass; the temperature drops 
noticeably and house groups and livestock become 
more scarce. 
Past the summit, cultivation begins almost 
immediately with appearance of the three typical 
upland crops: barley, quinoa, and_ potatoes. 
There are occasional small villages composed of 
some 50 adobe brick huts with thatched roofs, 
and the landscape, while still barren, becomes 
greener as the road descends toward Acostambo. 
Passing this town the highway winds down into 
the canyon of the Mantaro River, and parallels 
the track of the Huancavelica railway as far as 
the town of Izcuchaca. 
Between Izcuchaca and the point of juncture of 
the Mantaro and Huarpa Rivers the country is 
semiarid and thinly populated. Clumps of retama 
grow along the banks of the river, and the valley 
bottom is covered with cacti of many kinds, 
thorny shrubs, and stunted peppertrees. In 
sharp contrast to this semiarid vegetation, scat- 
tered hamlets along the river flats are surrounded 
by patches in which grow maize, sugarcane, and 
bananas. Here and there among the dusty 
algarroba trees there are small groups of wattle- 
and-daub huts, and small flocks of sheep and 
goats and oceasional burros take refuge from the 
heat in the shade afforded by thatched four- 
posted shelters. 
As the road turns almost due south and climbs, 
following the course of the Huarpa River, the 
rolling valley broadens and is filled with large 
stands of algarroba and peppertrees. Huanta, a 
small, Spanish Colonial town with narrow cobbled 
streets and tiled roofs, is situated in this semiarid 
valley. The town, famous for its fruit and wines, 
is surrounded by irrigated fields of sugarcane, 
maize, and by extensive vineyards. The outlying 
farms are shaded by guinda and fig trees, and the 
paths and roads are lined with hedges of tuna 
cacti. 
Leaving Huanta, the road climbs through hot, 
dry, rolling hills, thinly populated and sporadically 
farmed. It then descends, through a series of 
small, narrow, steep-sided valleys, green with 
cultivated fields and filled with groves of pepper- 
trees, to the city of Ayacucho. 
LA OROYA TO CERRO DE PASCO 
AND HUARON 
En route to Cerro de Pasco from the metallur- 
gical center of La Oroya the railway climbs 
sharply between rocky, desolate mountains, jagged 
in form and stained with the smoke from the 
smelters. The hillsides are barren, and almost 
devoid of vegetation. Here there are no houses, 
no livestock, no traces of human habitation. 
For 6 miles the railway travels up the rugged 
gorge of the Mantaro River—at this point a 
swift-flowing mountain stream—and then turns 
off up a steep, tributary canyon past cascading 
streams and lush, green meadows. Near the 
summit at La Cima the terrain becomes rolling 
grassland with rocky outcrops, and large flocks of 
sheep and llamas graze on the slopes. Imper- 
ceptibly the mountains recede toward the horizon, 
and the rolling hills give way to the pampas of 
the central altiplano. The puna of Bombén, as 
this broad upland plateau region is sometimes 
