BY THE PORTILLO PASS, AND RETURN HOME. 63 



all seated around a bright fire drinldng tea, sraoking cigars, and telling stories to enliven the 

 time. 



By sunset tlie snow-storm, wliicli before bad only raged in tbe eastern portillo, became settled 

 and spread over the whole valley of the Tunuyan. Our preparations for the night were neces- 

 sarily the same as usual ; but for the benefit of the curious, it may be well to describe them. 

 The arrieros^ in crossing the mountains, at convenient stopping-places have selected some rock, 

 or rocks, affording shelter from the wind, and on their lee sides have built out short walls of 

 loose stones, so as to make the shelter more perfect ; the rubbish being then cleared out, and the 

 surface made as smooth as possible, a bed-place was ready. Chileans have so many sheep-skins 

 on and under their saddles, that their beds made in such spots are not at all uncomfortable; but 

 the Mendocinos have seldom more than two or three sheep-skins, and perhaps a pair of ponchos 

 or blankets; and yet with these they appear to be comfortable on the coldest night. I think 

 that was about the amount of bed furniture each of my party had ; and it was a matter of sur- 

 prise to me to find that they suffered less than I did. My own bedding consisted of an os-hide 

 on the ground, two sheep-kins, a saddle-blanket, and one other spead upon it to make a soft 

 bed ; a thick blanket and a poncho for covering, and of course all my clothes, for these I never 

 took off. Yet with all this, I frequently suffered with cold. 



December 18.—- It turned out very well that we remained at the " 011a," for by sunset .the 

 Cordillera* looked so black and threatening that we congratulated ourselves on not having 

 attempted to pass. It snowed lightly all night ; but this, instead of being an inconvenience, 

 was a comfort ; my blankets were thick enough to turn water, and the coat of snow that fell on 

 them kept me as warm as I had ever been in the mountains. When we set out, it was not 

 snowing at the " OUa," and appearances seemed to indicate that it would clear up; but before 

 long it commenced to snow again, and a northeast wind sprung up, which drove the drift into 

 our faces with such violence as almost to blind us. As we advanced, we found that the fall of 

 snow had been so great as to obliterate entirely the path, and we were obliged to feel our way with 

 great caution. At the foot of the portillo it lay from three to five feet deep in the road ; and 

 in going up, the peon — who kept ahead to open the track — found that his mule was too much 

 frightened to proceed. It was, therefore, necessary for him to dismount and open the way on 

 foot ; through which we floundered along on a hill-side whose angle with the vertical is near 

 forty degrees, without knowing whether the next step would not take us into eternity ; but 

 placing our trust, after Providence, in the sure-footedness of the mules, we succeeded in reach- 

 ing the portillo. The wind there was blowing violently, and the drift-snow swept around us to 

 such extent as at times to obstruct our view entirely ; but enough was seen to prove that the 

 descent was as perilous as the ascent had been, and therefore we concluded to go down on foot. 

 The delay necessary to make a barometric observation gave the party time to get half way 

 down before I started ; and I had not gone far before everything began to look green around 

 me, and a severe attack of the puna rendered it impossible for me to proceed until the arriero, 

 who had seen me succumb, brought my mule back. 



We found the place where we proposed to pass the night, if we had started the day previous, 

 covered two feet deep with snow; and, indeed, from the " 011a " on the west side to the " Mai 

 Paso" on the east — a distance of seventeen miles, or seven hours' travel — the whole country 

 was covered with snow ; so that if we had set out, in all probability we should have perished. 



Bested and got dinner at "los arenales," and afterwards proceeded to the rancheria of the 

 Arboleda, where we stopped for the night. 



December 19. — I expected to be off for Mendoza this morning at daylight, but found that 

 both arriero and peon were nearly blind from the effects of travelling over the snow. At first 

 I supposed they were skulking ; but on examining their eyes, I saw that they were really sufier- 



»The anieros call only the spine of the mountains the cordillera; so that although one may be near the summit, he is not yet 

 in the cordillera. 



