THE ANDES. 



5 



fire, took our coffee and bread, and were off by- 

 three. 



Our party now consisted of Villa Nueva and 

 two peons, five horses, and seven mules. One 

 peon was to return with some of the horses 

 when we had crossed the first Portillo, and 

 from thence we were to proceed with the re- 

 mainder of the animals to Santiago. 



The road we travelled at first starting did not 

 take us nearer to the foot of the mountains than 

 from thirty to forty miles. We skirted them 

 nearly half the day at the same distance, keep- 

 ing a due southerly course. The great height 

 of Tupangato is not very striking from this 

 point of view ; indeed several other neighbour- 

 ing ridges appeared almost as high ; and I was 

 not aware of the superior elevation of this 

 mountain, until I observed the way in which 

 the light of the sun had begun to illuminate its 



