along the edge of a torrent that leaped and foamed over its rocky
bed. The torrent was no doubt on its way to join the greatest of rivers,
the mighty Amazon--the head-waters of which spring from all parts of the
Andes, draining the slopes of these mountains through more than twenty
degrees of latitude.

Towards evening the little party were beginning to enter among the
mountain spurs, or foot-hills. Here the travelling grew exceedingly
difficult, the path sometimes running up a steep acclivity and then
descending into deep ravines--so deep and dark that the sun's rays
seemed hardly to enter them. The road was what Spanish-Americans term,
"_Cuesta arriba, cuesta abajo_" (up hill, down hill).

In no part of the world are such roads to be met with as among the Andes
Mountains, both in South America and in their Mexican continuation
through the northern division of the continent. This arises from the
peculiar geological structure of these mountains. Vast clefts traverse
them, yawning far into the earth. In South America these are called
_quebradas_. You may stand on the edge of one of them and look sheer
down a precipice two thousand feet! You may fancy a whole mountain
scooped out and carried away, and yet you may have to reach the bottom
of this yawning gulf by a road which seems cut out of the face of the
cliff, or rather has been formed by a freak of Nature--for in these
countries the hand of man has done but little for the roads.

Sometimes the path traverses a ledge so narrow that scarce room is found
for the feet of your trusty mule. Sometimes a hanging bridge has to be
crossed, spanning a horrid chasm, at the bottom of which roars a foaming
torrent--the bridge itself, composed of ropes and brambles, all the
while swinging like a hammock under the tread of the affrighted
traveller!

He who journeys through the tame scenery of European countries can form
but little idea of the wild and dangerous highways of the Andes. Even
the passes of the Alps or Carpathians are safe in comparison. On the
Peruvian road the lives of men and animals are often sacrificed. Mules
slide from the narrow ledges, or break through the frail "soga" bridges,
carrying their riders along with them, whirling through empty air to be
plunged into foaming waters or dashed on sharp rocks below.

These are accidents of continual occurrence; and yet, on account of the
apathy of the Spano-Indian races that inhabit these countries, little is
done fo