kept his eyes open,
carefully marking in his mind the route by which they had come, so that
he might find his way back along it upon some future occasion. They had
now left the strictly mountainous region, and had entered upon the flat
dusty tableland in the midst of which Lake Titicaca is situated; and it
was for the northern end of the lake that the party was now heading.

Then, one day at dawn, they beheld a magnificent sight. There, before
them, lying at a slightly lower level than the surrounding country, lay
the blue waters of the lake, shimmering in the sun, whose beams had
already gilded the snowy summit of Mount Sorata, which lay a little to
the south-eastward. It was at the foot of this giant among mountains
that the village of Sorata was situated, and Jim realised that their
long journey of seven hundred miles was nearly ended.

It was exactly one month after the tragedy of Cuzco that the way-worn
troop marched into the village; and a fearful-looking lot of scarecrows
the prisoners were by that time, in truth. They had scarcely a rag to
their backs, while their boots and stockings had long since worn away
from their feet, and they had to tramp along barefooted. They were lean
and gaunt, with scarcely an ounce of flesh on their poor starved bodies;
in fact they presented the appearance of a squad of skeletons rather
than of living men. Tanned, as they were, to a deep mahogany colour by
the fierce sun and strong air, with hair growing down upon their
shoulders, and with coarse, matted beards, no one would have believed
that a few short months ago many of these men were among the smartest
and best-dressed officers in the Chilian army and navy. Jim himself
looked as bad as the rest, but he had one advantage which the others had
not, for under his tattered rags his brave heart beat as strongly and as
resolutely as ever, whereas the Chilians had entirely lost their
courage.

The sun was just setting, and the long day's work was over, when the
Chilians arrived, and they were just in time to see the prisoners who
were already there taking their evening meal. A few half-starved curs
had run out to meet the new arrivals, and now jumped and barked savagely
around them in a transport of fury at seeing a few new faces. The
village, if such it could be called, consisted simply of a number of
long wooden huts roofed over with corrugated iron. Some of the huts
were used as barracks for the convicts, some as quart