94 THE ANDES OF SOUTHERN PERU 



circumstances. Our mules had been enfeebled by hot valley 

 work at Santa Ana and the lower Urubamba and the cold moun- 

 tain climate of the Cordillera Vilcapampa. The climb out of the 

 Apurimac canyon, even without packs, left them completely ex- 

 hausted. We were obliged to abandon one and actually to pull 

 another along. It had been a hard day in spite of a prolonged 

 noon rest. Everywhere our letters of introduction had won 

 an outpouring of hospitality among a people to whom hospitality 

 is one of the strongest of the unwritten laws of society. Our sol- 

 dier escort rode ahead of the pack train. 



As the clatter of his mules' hoofs echoed through the dark 

 buildings the manager rushed out, struck a light and demanded 

 " Who's there?" To the soldier's cheerful "Buena noche, Senor," 

 he sneeringly replied ' ' Halto ! Guardia de la Kepiiblica, aqui hay 

 nada para un soldado del gobierno." Whereupon the soldier 

 turned back to me and said we should not be able to stop here, 

 and coming nearer me he whispered "He is a revolutionary." 

 I dismounted and approached the haughty manager, who was 

 in a really terrible mood. Almost before I could begin to 

 ask him for accommodations he rattled off that there was no 

 pasture for our beasts, no food for us, and that we had better 

 go on to the next hacienda. "Absolutamente nada!" he re- 

 peated over and over again, and at first I thought him drunk. 

 Since it was then quite dark, with no moon, but instead heavy 

 black clouds over the southern half of the sky and a brisk valley 

 wind threatening rain, I mildly protested that we needed noth- 

 ing more than shelter. Our food boxes would supply our wants, 

 and our mules, even without fodder, could reach Abancay the 

 next day. Still he stormed at the government and would have 

 none of us. I reminded him that his fields were filled with 

 sugar cane and that it was the staple forage for beasts during 

 the part of the year when pasture was scarce. The cane was 

 too valuable, he said. It was impossible to supply us. I was on 

 the point of pitching camp beside the trail, for it was impossible 

 to reach the next hacienda with an exhausted outfit. 



Just then an older man stepped into the circle of light and ami- 



