52 THE ANDES OF SOUTHERN PERU 



time of peace are probably in large part responsible for the pres- 

 ent widespread occupation of the Peruvian mountains. 



The loftiest habitation in the world (Fig. 24) is in Peru. Be- 

 tween Antabamba and Cotahuasi occur the highest passes in the 

 Maritime Cordillera. We crossed at 17,400 feet (5,300 m.), and 

 three hundred feet lower is the last outpost of the Indian shep- 

 herds. The snowline, very steeply canted away from the sun, is 

 between 17,200 and 17,600 feet (5,240 to 5,360 m.). At frequent 

 intervals during the three months of winter, snowfalls during the 

 night and terrific hailstorms in the late afternoon drive both shep- 

 herds and flocks to the shelter of leeward slopes or steep canyon 

 walls. At our six camps, between 16,000 and 17,200 feet (4,876 

 and 5,240 m.), in September, 1911, the minimum temperature 

 ranged from 4° to 20° F. The thatched stone hut that we passed 

 at 17,100 feet and that enjoys the distinction of being the highest 

 in the world was in other respects the same as the thousands of 

 others in the same region. It sheltered a family of five. As we 

 passed, three rosy-cheeked children almost as fat as the sheep 

 about them were sitting on the ground in a corner of the corral 

 playing with balls of wool. Hundreds of alpacas and sheep 

 grazed on the hill slopes and valley floor, and their tracks showed 

 plainly that they were frequently driven up to the snowline in 

 those valleys where a trickle of water supported a band of pasture. 

 Less than a hundred feet below them were other huts and flocks. 



Here we have the limits of altitude and the limits of resources. 

 The intervalley spaces do not support grass. Some of them are 

 quite bare, others are covered with mosses. It is too high for even 

 the tola bush — that pioneer of Alpine vegetation in the Andes. 

 The distance 1 to Cotahuasi is 75 miles (120 km.), to Antabamba 

 50 miles (80 km.). Thence wool must be shipped by pack-train 

 to the railroad in the one case 250 miles (400 km.) to Arequipa, in 

 the other case 200 miles (320 km.) to Cuzco. Even the potatoes 

 and barley, which must be imported, come from valleys several 

 days ' journey away. The question naturally arises why these peo- 

 ple live on the rim of the world. Did they seek out these neglected 



1 Distances are not taken from the map but from the trail. 



