394 The Andes and the Amazons. 



agricultural valley of the Upper Maranon ; and the min- 

 ing district between the western cordillera and the coast. 

 The lower part of the Montana is covered with a rich for- 

 est; but from Moyobamba westward the road, or rather 

 mule -path, for the most part winds over boggy valleys, 

 hleak paramos, and barren mountains. At some points it 

 is horrible, but the beasts understand their business, and 

 perform impossible feats. The route, in many cases, is 

 most absurdly chosen. Kow it is serpentine for no appar- 

 ent reason ; then it makes straight for the top of the high- 

 est, steepest hill. The distance from Moyobamba to Cha- 

 chapoyas is forty leagues ; for one hundred miles of which 

 on a stretch there is not an inhabitant, so that the traveler 

 must carry bedding and provisions, and sleep in cheerless 

 tambos. The reader must understand that these tambos 

 are not hotels. In the cold regions they are of stone, plas- 

 tered with mud and thatched ; the others are simply four 

 posts supporting a straw roof, which here and there sheds 

 rain. They are but rude shelters at the best, and not 

 very inviting under other circumstances ; but many a wea- 

 ry traveler has blessed the poor people who raised them. 

 In the open tambo of Almirante, ten by eighteen feet, my- 

 self and two companions slept with seventeen Indians, 

 who happened to arrive the same evening; and in the 

 stone tambo of Bagazc4n with nineteen. A spot for a fire 

 is also included. One cold niglit we camped under a huge 

 rock in the bleak valley of Yentilla. But the roar of un- 

 known rivers, and the splendor of the stars seen from the 

 top of the Andes, atone for all discomforts. The only vil- 

 lages on the route are Rioja and Taulia. 



The highest point on the road is the Puna Piscaguanuni 

 (meaning "the place where the birds die"), rising 11,000 

 feet above the sea. It is not covered with snow, but the 

 air is generally full of sleet. Geologically, it consists main- 



