BEGINNING OF OPERATIONS. 163 



The preliminaries being settled, we immediately 

 installed her as chef de cuisine, without assistants, 

 and sent off the mayoral to direct the Indians in 

 some clearings which we wished made immediately. 

 The first essay of Chaipa Chi was in boiling eggs, 

 which, according to the custom of the country, she 

 boiled para beber, or to drink ; that is, by breaking a 

 small hole in the shell, into which a stick is inserted 

 to mix together the white and yolk ; the egg is to be 

 disposed of through this hole in the primitive way 

 which nature indicates to the new-born babe. This 

 did not suit us, and we wished the process of cook- 

 ing to be continued a little longer, but Chaipa Chi 

 was impenetrable to hints or signs. We were obli- 

 ged to stand over her, and, but for the name of the 

 thing, we might as well have cooked them ourselves. 

 This over, we gave up, and left our dinner to the 

 mercies of our chef. 



Before we were in a condition to begin an exam- 

 ination and exploration of the ruins, we had a se- 

 rious business before us in making the necessary 

 clearings. These were not required for picturesque 

 effect; indeed, overgrown as the ruins were, they 

 addressed themselves more powerfully to the ima- 

 gination than if the whole field and every stone lay 

 bare ; but facilities of moving from place to place 

 were indispensable, and for this purpose we deter- 

 mined first to clear the terrace of the Casa del Gober- 

 nador, and cut roads from ruin to ruin, until we had 

 a complete line of communication; and that we 



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