EXTRACT FROM A TRAVELLER. 235 



had lost three of them, and they could proceed 

 no further. I will now quote an extract from 

 a traveller, because it made a serious impression 

 on me before I entered the Cordillera of the An- 

 des ; and had I not been myself an old traveller, 

 I do not hesitate in saying that it might have in- 

 fluenced me in proceeding further. I shall there- 

 fore make no remarks upon it, but merely quote 

 it from his own work, wherein he says : " We soon 

 began to ascend that part of the Cordillera called 

 the Cumbre, or summit of the ridge; and shortly 

 the ground became so steep, and, owing to a 

 crust of frozen snow, so slippery, that our sur- 

 prise was great, when we saw that our mules 

 could carry us and our heavy loads along it: a 

 brow, where, had we attempted, not only to 

 walk, but even to stand on our feet, we must 

 instantly have slipped and rolled down, like 

 snow-balls, the distance of above a mile. Our 

 Peruvian fellow-traveller, who rode immediately 

 behind me, was from time to time exclaiming, 

 ^ Ave Maria, qual camino \' and I, fearing lest 



