DANGEROUS BRIDGES 
From La Merced there was a trail from one to three 
metres wide, cut out in the solid rock and skirting the 
foaming river, which flowed in the opposite direction from 
that in which we were travelling. In several places nar¬ 
row tunnels had been excavated in the rock, through 
which the trail proceeded. These tunnels were danger¬ 
ous when you encountered caravans of pack animals 
coming through from the opposite direction. The ani¬ 
mals often got jammed in the middle of the tunnel, tear¬ 
ing their loads to pieces in their attempts to disentangle 
themselves. Once I got jammed myself, and came out 
minus a patch of skin several inches long from my left 
shin and knee. 
Between La Merced and S. Ramon, a distance of 
some ten kilometres, one had to cross the shaky suspen¬ 
sion bridges of La Herreria and S. Ramon. The oscil¬ 
lations of those bridges were so great that it was always 
a marvel to me that the animals and riders were not 
precipitated into the river below. The planks of the 
bridges were in many places so rotten that it was not 
uncommon for the animals to put their legs right through 
them. Only one animal at a time could go across, as the 
bridges were not strong enough to support more. 
Farther on we arrived at two more bridges — the 
Puntayacu and the Rio Seco — one a suspension bridge, 
the other built of masonry. One met hundreds of In¬ 
dians upon the trail, in costumes resembling those of the 
Calabrese of Italy. The men wore heavy woollen hand- 
knitted stockings up to their knees, or else over their 
trousers, white leggings left open behind as far down 
as the knee. Round felt hats were worn by the women, 
who were garbed in bright blue or red petticoats, very 
full and much pleated, but quite short. Red was the 
favourite colour for the shawl which they threw round the 
body and over the shoulders. 
When we proceeded the next morning the heat in the 
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