138 



PRODUCTIONS OF COCHABAMBA. 



horse evidently had sense enough to know he should not venture. How- 

 ever, the riders had their way, but steered down stream instead of up. 

 When they got into the deepest, the rushing waters rose on the horse's 

 quarter, and the animal went down stern first, carrying ponchos and 

 company under. When their heads appeared above water, the shouts 

 of laughter from not less than one hundred Indians, made the valley 

 ring. The men were so frightened they clung to the horse as soon as 

 he could get up to breathe, and down they all went again. Finally, 

 they aided each other, and so found their way back, leaving the horse 

 to take care of himself. In two hours the water ran off, and we crossed 

 without a ducking. 



The valley of Cochabamba supplies many parts of Bolivia with flour; 

 wheat, maize, and barley are transported to the miners of Potosi and 

 Oruro, and to the coffee or chocolate planters of Yungas. This has 

 been called the granary of Bolivia ; although it is at the base of the 

 Andes, yet it is higher than the garden of Yungas. Following the 

 course of the Mamore, from Tapacari into the bottom of the Madeira 

 Plate, the descent is long and gradual. 



The apple, the pear, and the quince, are produced in the valley of 

 Cochabamba ; coffee and chocolate in Yungas. These are not plants 

 that flourish by the side of each other. Yungas is thickly wooded. 

 Here the hills and some of the plains are too dry to produce any vege- 

 tation without the help of man. 



The winds seem to draw up into the Yungas valley more than here, 

 while the crops suffer for the want of rain, and the heavens over Cocha- 

 bamba are perfectly clear. We have seen heavy clouds driven along 

 the northern side of the range, and heavy rains pouring down just on 

 the edge of the ridge, far enough on the south side to flood the tributa- 

 ries of the river which flow past the city. The clouds come in contact 

 with the Andes' sides, and seem to be turned and twisted up, so that 

 sheets of water fall to the earth, and produce a growth of forest trees. 

 The winds drive well up into Yungas, loaded with moisture, and meet- 

 ing the great lllimani and Sorata, form an immense quantity of snow 

 and ice. 



The moisture of this valley is carried up through the ravines of Tapa- 

 cari, and strike the table-lauds on the Andes, where we met the cedar 

 bushes. 



The rainy period fluctuates in some seasons a month. At Cocha- 

 bamba it usually commences about the first week in December, but 

 sometimes there are few showers until the first part of January ; yet it 

 seems, from our observations, that the heavy rains have set in in sight of 



