Andean Tkavel. 385 



CHAPTER XXIX. 



Routes over the Andes. — A Polar Expedition at the Equator. — A Tramp 

 through the Forest. — Moyobamba and the Manufacture of Straw Hats. — 

 Crossing the Cordillera. 



Three routes are open to the traveler from the Marafion 

 to the Pacific : 1st. Up the Hiiallaga to Tingo Maria, a ca- 

 noe voyage of a month or more ; thence to Lima by mule 

 via Huanaco and Cerro de Pasco. 2d. Up the Huallaga 

 from Yurimaguas to Chasuta by canoe, eight days ; thence 

 by mule to Moyobamba via Tarapoto, one week. 3d. From 

 Yurimaguas by canoe up the Parana-pura to Balsa Puerto, 

 one week ; thence on foot through the forest to Moyobam- 

 ba, six days. From Moyobamba to Cajamarca via Chacha- 

 poyas is a miile-ride of twelve da^^s ; and a railway comes 

 up from the coast within one day of Cajamarca. The time 

 here given is that of actual travel, but the delays in pro- 

 curing canoes, peons, and mules more than double it. 



We chose the Balsa Puerto route. Whichever route the 

 traveler takes, he wishes he had taken another. We left 

 Yurimaguas in a long canoe with five Indians, providing 

 them with salt fish, plantains, and chicha, and ourselves 

 with more civilized food, for a six days' journey. De- 

 scending the Huallaga a short distance, we turned up the 

 Parana-pura, one of its main affluents. The first day we 

 had a comedy which might have been a tragedy. Our old 

 j)opero, or steersman, fell overboard, dead drunk ; another 

 Indian tumbled out twice for the same reason, and a third 

 dropped down into a heap in the canoe. A cold bath and 

 a long sleep brought them to, and we had for the rest of 

 the voyage an efficient crew. 



2B 



