NORTHERN CHILE 
CHAP. 
380 
bank, when left dry, it deepens the already-formed shallow 
lines of excavation ; and so is it with the rain of successive 
centuries on the bank of rock and soil which we call a continent. 
We rode on after it was dark, till we reached a side ravine 
with a small well, called, “ Agua amarga .” The water deserved 
its name, for besides being saline it was most offensively 
putrid and bitter; so that we could not force ourselves to 
drink either tea or mate. I suppose the distance from the 
river of Copiapo to this spot was at least twenty-five or thirty 
English miles ; in the whole space there was not a single drop 
of water, the country deserving the name of desert in the 
strictest sense. Yet about half-way we passed some old Indian 
ruins near Punta Gorda : I noticed also in front of 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 companions 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 huddled 
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 consider¬ 
able 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 discovered in many 
other parts, where it does not appear probable 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. 
