272 PERU ' 
to have reached the wooded district on the eastern slope, termed 
" montanas." In this they were therefore disappointed. As they 
proceeded the country improved, the climate became milder, and the 
soil richer : on their way they crossed a small stream, which was said 
to he the source of the river Chancai. 
At dark they reached Bafios, which is computed to be upwards of 
five leagues from Casa Cancha. Bafios is considered to be at about 
the same elevation as Culnai, but the descent is more rapid to the 
former. According to the custom of the country, they applied to the 
alcalde for accommodations, who is obliged, according to law, to 
furnish them with a house, if the town should possess none for the 
accommodation of strangers, free of expense, and to provide them 
with a cook ; the travellers buy their own provisions, and pay for the 
cooking, one real for each dish. 
Bafios is celebrated for its mineral hot springs, from which it 
derives its name ; they flow from the base of a high mountain. 
The town consists of about thirty houses, and a church of which 
the inhabitants are very proud. It is a neat village situated in a 
deep ravine, by the side of a tumbling stream, bounded on both sides 
by mountains three thousand feet high. The mountain sides appear 
so precipitous that the remark was made by one of the party, " that 
he could not conceive why the cattle that were feeding on their sides 
did not fall off." 
Along the margin of the stream, carnations, pinks, stock gilly- 
flowers, and French marigolds are naturalized; the pinks grow in 
immense numbers in every crack and crevice. 
The cabbages here are woody and arborescent, like the cow or tree 
cabbage, the trunk and branches being quite hard and covered with 
bark, and they have at a distance some resemblance to the Brug- 
mansia suaveolens. 
The thermometer stood at 50°, and the weather in comparison with 
the day before was quite mild. 
The hot spring is close to the village ; owing to their thermometer 
being for low temperatures, not graduated above 140° they did not get 
its exact temperature ; but eggs put in were cooked in about three 
minutes, and their tea was prepared by a vessel being placed in it, so 
that it could not be far from the boiling point at ten thousand feet 
elevation. No steam was seen to issue from the orifice, but vapour 
rises afterwards to mark the spot; there is also a strong smell of 
sulphur, and at night a thick cloud hangs over the spring. The 
