PERU. 267 
path was clear. On one occasion, one of the party allowed his mnle 
to take the ontside ; the consequence was that a muleteer shoved mule 
and rider several feet over the bank. No injury was received, and 
the dilemma went off with a good laugh at the fright. 
The sagacity of the mules on these occasions is great. They 
endeavour always to cling to the wall side, and will succeed in doing 
it, if not prevented by the rider. Their caution is great when they 
apprehend danger in passing over steep places ; the instant danger 
was anticipated, the nose and fore feet were used to ascertain its 
extent, which done, the animals cautiously proceeded, and reached 
the bottom with great care and ease both to the rider and themselves. 
About three o'clock they had gained the fourth or alpine region, 
where they were met with sharp and cutting winds, accompanied 
with hail and snow, that proved very uncomfortable to their sunburnt 
faces; this was supposed to be at an elevation of about fifteen 
thousand feet. Our gentlemen now felt the effects of the elevation 
in headache, difficulty of breathing, and excessive lassitude. The 
crest of the Cordilleras is at this place a league in width, the surface 
very uneven, containing small lakes without outlets sunk in deep 
hollows; beyond this the streams which form the extreme sources 
of the Amazon were running to the eastward. After travelling 
two leagues on a gentle descent, they arrived at Casa Cancha about 
dusk. 
Those of the party who first arrived witnessed a fracas with the 
cuchillo, so often appealed to here when a misunderstanding occurs ; 
no injury, however, resulted from it. 
Casa Cancha consists of three huts, and is nothing more than a 
muleteers' rendezvous ; the place is in charge of two women, who in 
expression, if not in form, might have been taken for witches. The 
accommodations, if they may be so called, were an apartment 
common to all the inmates, with no fastening to the door or windows, 
without a fire, although the thermometer falls to the freezing point 
at night, and nothing but the hard ground to lie upon ; there is not a 
stick of wood nor any resinous Umbelliferae, as on the Chilian Andes, 
to be had, and the cooking is done with turf, when it can be obtained, 
but dry cow-dung is most frequently used for this purpose. This is 
the only and the best establishment the place affords; even the first 
females in the country can procure no better accommodations, and 
will bear it for the night with contentment. 
As a special mark of distinction, a smaller apartment was assigned 
