6 



DISPLACEMENT OF EARTH. 



"but which at present are little worked. The Indians prefer blue, in 

 their dresses, to any other color, and consume considerable quantities of 

 indigo. The demand for wax in the churches is of some account. 

 Eggs and wool are the principal exports to Lima, and are carried over 

 the Cordilleras on the backs of jackasses. Travellers do not know why 

 they meet with so many bad eggs at breakfast in Lima. It is us- 

 tomary to pass them round the country as current money or coin for 

 some time before they are sent to the coast to be eaten. Mrs. Jose says, 

 three eggs will buy her a glass of brandy, or sixpence worth of anything 

 in market. The carrying trade is superintended by the Indians. 



The mestizos are shoemakers, blacksmiths, and saddlers. They seem 

 fond of music and dancing, and assume the pride of a superior, and lord 

 it over the honest Indian. 



Our road lies through a rich valley, often four miles wide, and level 

 as a floor. The mountains on both sides are dry and unproductive, ex- 

 cept in the ravines. The half-yearly displacement of earth is very great ; 

 during the rainy season the mountain torrents come down from the 

 summit loaded with soil. # The decrease in the size of the mountains 

 from the time of their creation to the present day, and the filling up of 

 this basin, naturally leads one to wonder, whether the present valley was 

 not once a lake. The Juaja river, which takes its rise in Lake Chinehay- 

 cocha to the north of Tarma, flows sluggishly and serpent-like through 

 the whole length of the valley, and creeping through the Andes, suddenly 

 rushes off at a rapid rate, as though sensible of its long journey, by the 

 Ucayali and Amazon, to the Atlantic ocean. The bed of the river is half 

 a mile wide, and in the wet season is probably eighteen feet deep. 

 There is very little water in it now. The banks break down perpendi- 

 cularly. The growth of small trees and flowers gives a fresh appearance 

 to the valley, but the sun is very warm as we pace along the dusty road. 

 The apple trees are about the size of raspberry bushes. # 



There are few varieties of birds in the valley ; some pigeons and doves 

 keep the table pretty well supplied. Little Ignacio takes great interest 

 in the sport, and his sharp eyes are constantly on the look-out for a shot. 

 By the river snipe are found ; among the fl<?wers, the humming bird is 

 seen and heard. 



The road crosses a number of dry beds, streams of considerable size 

 in the rainy season. There is only water enough, at present, for the 

 washwomen, whose soap-suds spoil the water for our beasts. We pass 

 through the village of San Lorenzo, and the small town of Concepcion. 

 A death-like silence pervades these places ; the people are in the fields, 

 except some Creoles, seated among the flowers in their neat little court 



