5o6 NOTES OF A BOTANIST 
conclude the canon, ''which is the Way of the 
Inca," to be the upper part of the Rivera de los 
Llanganatis. This canon can hardly be artificial, 
like the hollow way I have seen running down 
through the hills and woods on the western side of 
the Cordillera, from the great road of Azuay, nearly 
to the river Yaguachi. "Guayra," said by Valverde 
to be the ancient name for a smelting-furnace, is 
nowadays applied only to the wind. The conclud- 
ing clause of this sentence, " que son tachoneados de 
oro," is considered by all competent persons to be 
a mistake for "que es tachoneado de oro." 
If Margasitas be considered the first mountain 
of the three to which Valverde refers, then the 
Tembladal or Bog, out of which Valverde extracted 
his wealth, the Socabon and the Guayra are in the 
second mountain, and the lake wherein the ancients 
threw their gold in the third. 
Difference of opinion among the gold-searchers 
as to the route to be pursued from Margasitas 
would appear also to have produced quarrels, for 
we find a steep hill east of that mountain, and 
separated from it by Mosquito Narrows (Chushpi 
Pongo), called by Guzman " El Pefion de las 
Discordias." 
If we retrace our steps from Margasitas till we 
reach the western margin of Yana-cocha, we find 
another track branching off to northward, crossing 
the river Zapala at a point marked Salto de Cobos, 
and then following the northern shore of the lake. 
Then follow two steep ascents, called respectively 
" La Escalera " and " La Subida de Ripalda," and 
the track ends suddenly at the river coming from 
the Inca's P'ountain (La Pila del Inca), with the 
