THE ANDES. 



21 



handkerchiefs^ which we found to consist of no 

 less than three or four hundred yards of snow, 

 drifted by the wind into pyramids, each about 

 three feet high, and between which we stumbled 

 and scrambled about rather inconveniently. 

 There was nothing alarming in the appearance 

 of the precipice below us, for the sides were 

 not perpendicular. But a roll downwards from 

 the top of what appeared to have no bottom 

 (which must have been the inevitable result of 

 a false step), was no very inviting adventure. 

 The guanacoes might have descended on their 

 mountain legs ; but neither mule nor man could 

 have done it without a broken neck. 



It was in this region that we first heard the 

 condors flapping their great wings, and saw 

 them soaring over our heads, as if to speculate 

 upon the death of a tired mule. These birds 

 are very commonly seen in crossing the Andes, 



