HANGING BRIDGE IN THE ANDES.
"Some of the torrents have been spanned with rope-bridges, which are secure enough, but very shaky. The mules hesitate to cross these structures, but they generally do so after a great deal of persuasion, which is mostly physical.
"The second night of our mountain journey was spent at the 'Casucha de las Puquios,' at the edge of a marsh where there was fairly good pasturage for our weary animals. We had a supper of charqui soup, made in the manner I have described, together with a partridge and a rabbit broiled over the coals. The rabbit was shot within a hundred yards of our camp, and the partridge about a couple of hours before we reached it. Game is not abundant in this region; rabbits, partridges, guanaco, and foxes are the principal products of the chase around Uspallata, and Federico says he has frequently made the journey without seeing a single wild bird or beast.
"Not long after our arrival a train of twenty mules came in from the westward and camped close to us. The drivers fraternized with our men and joined them at supper, and there was a general exchange of information concerning the condition of the roads. There is universal hospitality among the arrieros, and when one party meets another there is an immediate proffer of food, cigarettes, or anything else that may possibly be wanted. Every time we met a train the arrieros would stop to chat a few moments, and then, with an 'Adios!' and a graceful wave of the hand, hurried on to overtake their charges.
"Soon after starting the next morning we passed 'The Inca's Bridge,' a natural causeway over a stream which flows about forty feet below it. The bridge is sixty feet long and averages about the same in width; and Mr. Darwin thinks it was formed by the river breaking through underneath. Lieutenant Macrae, of the United States Navy, made a careful examination, and thinks it was formed by the concretion of the water from several calcareous springs in the hillside, which went on forming shelf after shelf till they reached across. On a shelf under the bridge there are two warm springs which have been hollowed out into baths. I tried the temperature, and found it 97° Fahrenheit; I wanted to take a bath in one of the springs, but was fearful of catching cold after immersion in the warm water.
DEEP CHASM IN THE MOUNTAINS.