THE COUNTRY OF THE SHEPHERDS 59 



back and forth every few days. In a few places water is brought 

 to the stock by canal from the woodland streams above, as at 

 Corralpata. 2 In the same way a canal brings water to Pasaje 

 hacienda from a woodland strip many miles to the west. The 

 little canal in the figure is almost a toy construction a few inches 



VALLEY ZONE MOUNTAIN ZONE 



Fig. 33 — Valley climates of the canyoned region shown in Fig. 32. 



wide and deep and conveying only a trickle of water, Yet on it 

 depends the settlement at the spur end, and if it were cut the peo- 

 ple would have to repair it immediately or establish new homes. 

 The canal and the pasture are possible because the slopes are 

 moderate. They were formed in an earlier cycle of erosion when 

 the land was lower. They are hung midway between the rough 

 mountain slopes above and the steep canyon walls below (Fig. 32). 

 Their smooth descents and gentle profiles are in very pleasing 

 contrast to the rugged scenery about them. The trails follow them 

 easily. Where the slopes are flattest, farmers have settled and 

 produce good crops of corn, vegetables, and barley. Some farm- 

 ers have even developed three- and four-story farms. On an al- 

 luvial fan in the main valley they raise sugar cane and tropical 

 and subtropical fruits ; on the flat upper slopes they produce corn ; 

 in the moister soil near the edge of the woodland are fields of 

 mountain potatoes; and the upper pastures maintain flocks of 



3 Compare with Raimondi's description of Quiches on the left bank of the Maranon 

 at an elevation of 9,8S5 feet (3,013 m.) : "the few small springs scarcely suffice for 

 the little patches of alfalfa and other sowings have to depend on the precarious 

 rains. . . . Every drop of water is carefully guarded and from each spring a series 

 of well-like basins descending in staircase fashion make the most of the scant supply." 

 <E1 Departamento de Ancachs, Lima, 1873.) 



