OROYA 
toes and rock habitations. At some remote period there 
must have been a great upheaval in that country — at 
least, judging by the sedimentary foliated rock, the strata 
of which were from one to three feet thick and which 
had originally been deposited horizontally by water. 
These accumulations or sediments now stood up at an 
angle of 45°. We were now in a region where llamas 
were plentiful—most delightful animals, with their 
pointed ears pricked up, their luxuriant coats, and stumpy 
curled tails. 
We came to a steep ascent over a high pass, where 
the cold wind was fierce. On reaching the pass I found 
myself on a grassy plateau in which were to be seen two 
circles of stones by the side of each other. 
The partition of the waters flowing into the river 
Mantaro and the river Tarma took place at the point 
called Ricran, not far from the high pass we had crossed. 
It was always advisable when taking the journey be¬ 
tween Tarma and Oroya to start early in the morning, 
so as to be on that pass before noon. In the afternoon 
the wind was intensely cold and frequently accompanied 
by violent storms of hail and rain. 
I arrived in the evening at Oroya, the distance from 
Tarma being 30 kilometres 236 metres. The journey 
between the two places could be accomplished on a good 
mule in five or six hours. Oroya was an important point 
for me, as it was there that I saw the first railway since 
leaving Araguary in Brazil nearly a year before. 
Oroya is perhaps one of the highest railway stations 
in the world, its accurate elevation by boiling-point ther¬ 
mometers being 12,156 feet. 
The town, like all termini of railway lines, was not 
an attractive place. There were two or three hotels, all 
extremely bad. One began to feel the effects of civiliza¬ 
tion in the dishonesty of the people. 
Early the next morning, thanks to arrangements 
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