THE GREAT CORDILLERA. 



135 



it, came suddenly to a little spot, in which were 

 the ruins of two or three huts, and three or four 

 tents. 



The huts and the tents were swarming with 

 people, and the discovery of twenty or thirty fel- 

 low-creatures in such a sequestered spot was alto- 

 gether unexpected. They had come there from 

 great distances for the purpose of bathing, and 

 many of them I afterwards learnt were very re- 

 spectable people. As I had no time to lose, and 

 wanted to bathe, I asked a man who was looking 

 out of a tent, where the baths were? With the 

 indifference and indolence usual in the country, he 

 made no reply, but he pointed with his chin to 

 some little walls close before him, two or three feet 

 high, built with loose stones and in ruins. I was 

 also close to them, so I took off my jacket and my 

 belt of pistols, and walked towards them ; but not 

 believing they could be baths, I looked towards the 

 man, and asked him if they were there. He made 

 with his head the usual sign of " Si so I walked 

 towards the walls, and to my astonishment I found 

 a hole a little bigger than a coffin, with a woman 

 lying in it ! Seeing that there was no room for me 



