temple there were many loads of silver, gold, and
precious stones buried in places which are now unknown. The Indians
concealed another great sum which was for the service of the idol,
and of the priests and virgins who attended upon it. But as there
are great masses of snow, people do not ascend to the summit, nor is
it known where these are hidden. This temple possessed many flocks,
farms, and service of Indians." No one lives here now, but there are
many flocks and llamas, and not far away we saw ancient storehouses
and burial places. That night we suffered from intense cold and were
kept awake by the bitter wind which swept down from the snow fields
of Coropuna and shook the walls of our tent violently.

The next day we crossed two small oases, little gulches watered from
the melting snow of Coropuna. Here there was an abundance of peat
and some small gnarled trees from which Chuquibamba derives part of
its fuel supply. We climbed slowly around the lower spurs of Coropuna
into a bleak desert wilderness of lava blocks and scoriaceous sand,
the Red Desert, or Pampa Colorada. It is for the most part between
15,000 and 16,000 feet above sea level, and is bounded on the northwest
by the canyon of the Rio Arma, 2000 feet deep, where we made our camp
and passed a more agreeable night. The following morning we climbed
out again on the farther side of the canyon and skirted the eastern
slopes of Mt. Solimana. Soon the trail turned abruptly to the left,
away from our old friend Coropuna.

We wondered how long ago our mountain was an active volcano. To-day,
less than two hundred miles south of here are live peaks, like El
Misti and Ubinas, which still smolder occasionally and have been
known in the memory of man to give forth great showers of cinders
covering a wide area. Possibly not so very long ago the great
truncated peak of Coropuna was formed by a last flickering of the
ancient fires. Dr. Bowman says that the greater part of the vast
accumulation of lavas and volcanic cinders in this vicinity goes
far back to a period preceding the last glacial epoch. The enormous
amount of erosion that has taken place in the adjacent canyons and
the great numbers of strata, composed of lava flows, laid bare by
the mighty streams of the glacial period all point to this conclusion.

My saddle mule was one of those cantankerous beasts that are gentle
enough as long as they are allowed to have their own way. In her
case this meant that