278 CAVE AND CUFF DWELLERS. 
wind up the great tropical barranca be¬ 
fore we would reach the village. 
One of the most dangerous places on 
the entire trail, about six hundred feet 
above the river, was where the mountain 
had apparently caved in on a sharp curve. 
This cave-in was directly under the trail, 
and here it crossed it with an abrupt turn 
around the point of the mountain. A 
small torrent had cut its way down at 
this point, and goats and other animals, 
when grazing on the steep slope above, 
had loosened quantities of stones and 
earth, which had fallen and built out a sort 
of ledge or shelf at the same point. This 
shelf projected over the great curve in 
the hill, and on approaching this place it 
looked as if a mule must either walk off 
with his fore feet or let his hind ones 
drop over the cliff in making the turn. 
