166 



PASSAGE ACROSS 



then assured me with great earnestness, " that now 

 he was never seen, and that I need not be afraid." 



The torrent which we had so long followed, now 

 turned up the ravine to the right. We had pur- 

 sued it from the east towards the west, but our 

 path was now obstructed by the Cumbre, or upper 

 ridge of the Cordillera, which no artifice can avoid, 

 and which is a mountain covered with loose, de- 

 composed rock, at an angle of very nearly forty-five 

 degrees. At the foot is another of the huts, without 

 door, table, or lintel, and in which many people 

 have died. 



After resting my mule for a short time, and then 

 girthing my saddle as tight as possible, during 

 which operation he was always trying to bite me, I 

 whispered a little comfort into his long ear; I 

 mounted, and then squaring my shoulders and 

 giving a kick or two with my spurs, I commenced 

 the climb, followed by the party of riders and 

 carga mules. 



The path ascended in zig-zags from the bottom 

 to the top, and the whole time I was obliged to 

 hold on by the thin mane of the mule. The turn- 

 ings were so short, that the animal was almost 



