THE VOYAGE OF THE BEAGLE 377 



some of the valleys, which branch off from the Despoblado, 

 two piles of stones placed a little way apart, and directed so 

 as to point up the mouths of these small valleys. My com- 

 panions knew nothing about them, and only answered my 

 queries by their imperturbable " quien sabe ? " 



I observed Indian ruins in several parts of the Cordillera : 

 the most perfect which I saw, were the Ruinas de Tambillos, 

 in the Uspallata Pass. Small square rooms were there hud- 

 dled together in separate groups : some of the doorways were 

 yet standing; they were formed by a cross slab of stone only 

 about three feet high. Ulloa has remarked on the lowness of 

 the doors in the ancient Peruvian dwellings. These houses, 

 when perfect, must have been capable of containing a con- 

 siderable number of persons. Tradition says, that they were 

 used as halting-places for the Incas, when they crossed the 

 mountains. Traces of Indian habitations have been dis- 

 covered in many other parts, where it does not appear proba- 

 ble that they were used as mere resting-places, but yet where 

 the land is as utterly unfit for any kind of cultivation, as it is 

 near the Tambillos or at the Incas Bridge, or in the Portillo 

 Pass, at all which places I saw ruins. In the ravine of 

 Jajuel, near Aconcagua, where there is no pass, I heard of 

 remains of houses situated at a great height, where it is 

 extremely cold and sterile. At first I imagined that these 

 buildings had been places of refuge, built by the Indians on 

 the first arrival of the Spaniards; but I have since been 

 inclined to speculate on the probability of a small change of 

 climate. 



In this northern part of Chile, within the Cordillera, old 

 Indian houses are said to be especially numerous : by digging 

 amongst the ruins, bits of woollen articles, instruments of 

 precious metals, and heads of Indian corn, are not unfre- 

 quently discovered: an arrow-head made of agate, and of 

 precisely the same form with those now used in Tierra del 

 Fuego, was given me. I am aware that the Peruvian Indians 

 now frequently inhabit most lofty and bleak situations; but 

 at Copiapo I was assured by men who had spent their lives in 

 travelling through the Andes, that there were very many 

 (muchisimas) buildings at heights so great as almost to bor- 

 der upon the perpetual snow, and in parts where there exist 



