le "roughing it"
is far more enticing to the inexperienced and indiscreet explorer,
I learned in Peru that the humdrum expedient of carefully preparing,
months in advance, a comprehensive bill of fare sufficiently varied,
wholesome, and well-balanced, is "the better part of valor," The truth
is that providing an abundance of appetizing food adds very greatly
to the effectiveness of a party. To be sure, it may mean trouble
and expense for one's transportation department, and some of the
younger men may feel that their reputations as explorers are likely
to be damaged if it is known that strawberry jam, sweet chocolate and
pickles are frequently found on their menu! Nevertheless, experience
has shown that the results of "trusting to luck" and "living as the
natives do" means not only loss of efficiency in the day's work, but
also lessened powers of observation and diminished enthusiasm for
the drudgery of scientific exploration. Exciting things are always
easy to do, no matter how you are living, but frequently they produce
less important results than tasks which depend upon daily drudgery;
and daily drudgery depends upon a regular supply of wholesome food.

We reached Arequipa, the proposed base for our campaign against
Mt. Coropuna, in June, 1911. We learned that the Peruvian "winter"
reaches its climax in July or August, and that it would be folly to
try to climb Coropuna during the winter snowstorms. On the other
hand, the "summer months," beginning with November, are cloudy
and likely to add fog and mist to the difficulties of climbing a
new mountain. Furthermore, June and July are the best months for
exploration in the eastern slopes of the Andes in the upper Amazon
Basin, the lands "behind the Ranges." Although the montana, or jungle
country, is rarely actually dry, there is less rain then than in the
other months of the year; so we decided to go first to the Urubamba
Valley. The story of our discoveries there, of identifying Uiticos,
the capital of the last Incas, and of the finding of Machu Picchu will
be found in later chapters. In September I returned to Arequipa and
started the campaign against Coropuna by endeavoring to get adequate
transportation facilities for crossing the desert.

Arequipa, as everybody knows, is the home of a station of
the Harvard Observatory, but Arequipa is also famous for its
large mules. Unfortunately, a "mule trust" had recently been
formed--needless to say, by an American