SUGAR—CANE PATCHES. 



35 



noise ; the echo among these hills is very great. These people are very- 

 careful to unsaddle animals only after they are cool ; otherwise, they say 

 bumps rise on the back, which become sore. They even leave the 

 bridle a while for fear that taking it off suddenly will give the mule cold 

 in the head. 



We see at the bottom of the valley of Carquacahua the first sugar 

 plantation. An old Indian, with hoe in hand, is leading the snowy 

 waters of the Andes between rows of sugar plants, which are now two 

 feet high, with rich, yellow leaves. Man seems to suffer like the plant 

 from the heat of the sun ; both would perish under it in this valley, 

 without sufficient water for irrigating the soil ; with it, he plants and 

 produces a crop every year. A little above his head, on the mountain 

 side, there appears another climate, with stunted clusters of cactus, small 

 dry bunches of grass, rocks, and dusty soil, deserted by animal life, ex- 

 cept a green lizard basking in the parching rays of the sun. A little 

 higher the surface is covered with a lead-colored coat of grass, turning 

 a little greenish as the eye ascends ; when suddenly a streak of dark 

 earth is capped by the pure white snow, and as you look up it seems to 

 get deeper and deeper, until the soil is completely enclosed in a pyramid 

 of eternal snow. 



The old Indian exchanges his sugar crop in the plaza for Massachu- 

 setts cotton goods. 



Crossing a stone bridge, dated 1564, over a stream of water flowing 

 northwest, we met a party — ladies and gentlemen — travelling on horse- 

 back. The gentlemen w r ear green goggles, and the ladies green veils, to 

 protect the eyes from the glare of the sun, as the reflection of his rays 

 on the snow often causes inflammation of the eyes, said to be very painful 

 in the rainy season, when the snow-line reaches below the road. Though 

 we experienced no inconvenience from the surumpe, as this affection is 

 called, the creole portion of the population seem to be much afraid of it, 

 particularly the gentlemen. When a middy, on a visit to Lima, eleven 

 years ago, I formed a high opinion of the Peruvian horseman as he 

 pranced through the alameda in the evening, on a well- trained animal. 

 The Peruvians, anxious to make a show before strangers, put spurs to 

 their spirited horses, ride at full speed, halt suddenly, and worry the 

 animal by turning short round and jumping him. A man rode by me 

 at full speed, and drew up just before my mule; in doing so he pulled 

 rather hard on the Spanish bit, and the horse throwing up his head, 

 struck the rider in the mouth, cutting his lips and displacing six of his 

 teeth, which saved him from pitching over the horse's head. 



