steeper side of the ridge of La Banca, where it seemed hardly possible
for a goat to find foothold. It was a succession of abrupt zigzags, here
and there interrupted by a stretch of horizontal pathway. To see our
cavalcade it was necessary to look up or down, not before or behind. It
was like descending the coils of a flattened corkscrew. In places the
rocks encroached on the trail so that it was necessary to crouch low on
the saddle-bow to pass beneath them, or else throw the weight of the
body on the stirrup overhanging the declivity of the mountain, to avoid
a collision. The most dangerous parts, however, were where land-slips
had occurred, and where it was impossible to construct a pathway not
liable at any moment to glide away beneath the feet of our animals.
The gorge narrowed as we descended, until it was literally shut in by
precipices of stratified rock strangely contorted; while huge masses of
stone, rent and splintered as from some terrible convulsion of nature,
rose sheer before us, apparently preventing all exit from the sunless
and threatening ravine, at the bottom of which a considerable stream
struggled, with a hoarse roar, among the black boulders.
There was foothold for neither tree nor shrub, and our mules picked
their way warily, with head and ears pointed downward, among the broken
and angular masses. The occasional shouts of the arrieros sounded here
sharp and percussive, and seemed to smite themselves to death against
the adamantine walls. There was no room for echo. Finally the ravine
became so narrowed between the precipitous mountain-sides as barely to
afford room for the stream and our scant party. Here a roar, deeper,
stronger, and sterner than that of the stream which we had followed,
reached our ears, and we knew it was the voice of the "Great Speaker."
A little farther on we came in view of the river and two or three low
huts built on the circumscribed space where the two streams came close
together. Our muleteers were already busy in unloading the baggage,
preparatory to its being carried across the bridge on the cicatrized
backs of the occupants of the huts.
To the left of the huts, swinging high in a graceful curve, between the
precipices on either side, looking wonderfully frail and gossamer-like,
was the famed bridge of the Apurimac. A steep, narrow path, following
for some distance a natural shelf, formed by the stratification of the
rock, and for the rest of the way hewn in its face, led up, for a
hundred feet, to a little platform, also cut in the rock, where were
fastened the cables supporting the bridge. On the opposite bank was
another and rather larger platform, partly roofed by the rock, where was
the windlass for making the cables taut, and where, perched like goats
on some mountain-shelf, lived the custodians of the bridge. The path
could barely be discovered turning sharp around a rocky projection to
the left of this perch, then reappearing high above it, and then, after
many a zigzag, losing itself in the dark mouth of a tunnel.
My companions and myself lost no time in extracting the measuring tapes
and sounding lines from our _alforjas_, and hurriedly scrambled up the
rocky pathway to the bridge. It was in bad condition. The cables had
slacked so that the centre of the bridge hung from twelve to fifteen
feet lower than its ends, and, then, the cables had not stretched
evenly, so that one side was considerably lower than the other. The
cables on either hand, intended to answer the double purpose of stays
and parapets, had not sunk with the bridge, and were so high up that
they could not be reached without difficulty; and many of the lines
dropping from them to the floor, originally placed widely apart, had
been broken, so that practically they were useful neither for security
nor for inspiring confidence.
Travelling in the Andes soon cures one of any nervousness about heights
and depths, and is a specific against dizziness. Nevertheless, we all
gave a rather apprehensive glance at the frail structure before us,
but we had no difficulty in crossing and recrossing--as we did several
times--except on approaching the ends, to which our weight transferred
the sag of the cables and made the last few yards rather steep. A stiff
breeze swept up the canyon of the river, and caused a vibration of the
bridge from side to side of at least six feet. The motion, however,
inspired no sense of danger.
We carefully measured the length and altitude of the bridge, and found
it to be from fastening to fastening one hundred and forty-eight feet
long, and at its lowest part one hundred and eighteen feet above the
river. Mr. Markham, who crossed it in 1855, estimated the length at
ninety feet and the height at three hundred feet. Lieutenant Gibbon,
who crossed it in 1857, estimated the length at three hundred and
twenty-four feet and the height one hundred and fifty feet. Our
measurements, however, are exact. The height may be increased perhaps
ten feet when the cables are made taut. They are five in number, twisted
from the fibres of the _cabuya_, or maguey plant, and are about four
inches thick. The floor is of small sticks and canes, fastened
transversely with raw-hide strings. The Indians coming from Andahuaylas
and other districts where the cabuya grows, generally bring a quantity
of leaves with them wherewith to pay their toll. These are prepared and
made into rope by the custodians of the bridge, who must be glad of some
occupation in their lone and lofty eyrie.
Our baggage was carried over the bridge, and the animals were then
led across one by one, loaded and started up the mountain. The space
is too limited to receive more than two loaded mules at a time, and
instances are known of their having been toppled over the precipice
from overcrowding. We led our horses over without difficulty except in
getting them on the bridge. But once fairly on the swaying structure
they were as composed as if moving on the solid ground. Perhaps even to
the lowest animal intelligence it must be apparent that the centre of
the bridge of the Apurimac is not the place for antics, equine or
asinine.
Mounted once more, we commenced our steep and difficult ascent. At one
place the sheer precipice presented itself on one side, and a vertical
wall on the other; next it was a scramble up a ladder of stairs, partly
cut in the rock and partly built up with stones against it; then a
sudden turn, with a parapet built around it in a semi-circle, to prevent
descending animals from being carried into the abyss below by their own
momentum. Our cargo-mules toiled up painfully above us, stopping every
few steps to breathe, while the muleteers braced themselves against
their haunches to afford them some support and rest.
We had scarcely reached half-way to the mouth of the tunnel, which
enters the mountain at the base of a vast vertical mass of rock, when
our attention was arrested by the shouts of our men and a commotion
among the animals above us. It was occasioned by a descending train of
loaded mules, just plunging out of the black throat of the tunnel. The
mountain mule always seeks to take the wall of the animal it meets,
being perfectly aware of the danger of trying to pass on the outer side
of the pathway; and it sometimes happens that neither will give way
under any amount of persuasion or blows. The muleteers have to unload
the animals, which may then be got past each other. A similar difficulty
occurred now, and the conductor of the advancing train hurried down to
warn us to dismount and seek the widest part of the path, or some nook
by its side, and there await the passage of his mules. He had hardly
done speaking when we saw one of our own mules, loaded with our trunks,
come plunging down the narrow zigzagging way, evidently in fright,
followed wildly by its driver. Just before reaching the place where we
stood, the animal fell, going literally heels over head, and would have
been carried over the little platform of rock into the river had not the
master of the descending train caught the falling mule by its foreleg,
and in this way saved it from tumbling over. He at once placed his whole
weight on its ears, thus preventing it from struggling, and thus
obviating its destruction, while we detached its cargo. A foot farther,
and the mule would inevitably have been lost.
It was with no little satisfaction that we saw the last mule of the
train pass us, and resumed our ascent. We found the tunnel a roomy one,
two or three hundred yards in length, with openings from the face of the
precipice for the admission of light and air. Through these we caught
brief glimpses of the grand and solemn mountains on the opposite side
of the canyon, and through them came in also, hoarse and sullen, the
deep voice of the river. I am uncertain as to how far this tunnel may
be ascribed to the Incas, but feel sure that their bridge across the
Apurimac was at precisely the same point with the present one. We
were fully two hours in ascending the steeps, and reached the high
mountain-circled plain in which stands the straggling town of Curahuasi,
a well-watered village buried among trees and shrubbery.
INDEX.
PAGE
A Fine Scenic Route HENRY T. FINCK 31
Amazon and Madeira Rivers, Forests
of the FRANZ KELLER 200
Andes, Monarchs of the JAMES ORTON 251
Animals of British Guiana C. BARRINGTON BROWN 169
Ants and Monkeys, Brazilian HENRY W. BATES 240
BACON, ALFRED TERRY Country of the Cliff-dwellers 59
BATES, HENRY W. Brazilian Ants and Monkeys 240
Besieged by Peccaries JAMES W. WELLS 219
Big Trees, Lake Tahoe and The A. H. TEVIS 68
BRACE, CHARLES LORING Mariposa Grove and Yosemite
Valley 88
Brazilian Ants and Monkeys HENRY W. BATES 240
British Guiana, Animals of C. BARRINGTON BROWN 169
BROWN, C. BARRINGTON Animals of British Guiana 169
BUTLER, W. F. Winnipeg Lake and River 21
Canoe- and Camp-life on the Madeira FRANZ KELLER 212
Chicago, New York, Washington OLIVER H. G. LEIGH 5
Chinese Quarter in San Francisco HELEN HUNT JACKSON 78
Cliff-dwellers, Country of The ALFRED TERRY BACON 59
Country of the Cliff-dwellers ALFRED TERRY BACON 59
Destruction of San Salvador CARL SCHERZER 137
FINCK, HENRY T. A Fine Scenic Route 31
Forests of the Amazon and Madeira
Rivers FRANZ KELLER 200
FREMONT, JOHN C. South Pass and Fremont's Peak 42
Fremont's Peak, South Pass and JOHN C. FREMONT 42
FROEBEL, JULIUS Route of the Nicaragua Canal 130
FROUDE, JAMES ANTHONY Scenes in Trinidad and
Jamaica 145
HAYDEN, FERDINAND V. In the Yellowstone Park 49
HUMBOLDT, ALEXANDER VON Life and Scenery in Venezuela 179
Inca High-roads and Bridges E. GEORGE SQUIER 261
In the Yellowstone Park FERDINAND V. HAYDEN 49
JACKSON, HELEN HUNT Chinese Quarter in San
Francisco 78
Jamaica, Scenes in Trinidad and JAMES ANTHONY FROUDE 145
KELLER, FRANZ Forests of the Amazon and Madeira
Rivers 200
KELLER, FRANZ Canoe- and Camp-life on The
Madeira 212
KINGSLEY, CHARLES The High Woods of Trinidad 157
Lake Tahoe and the Big Trees A. H. TEVIS 68
LEIGH, OLIVER H. G. New York, Washington, Chicago 5
Life and Scenery In Venezuela ALEXANDER VON HUMBOLDT 179
Llaneros of Venezuela, The RAMON PAEZ 190
Madeira, Canoe- and Camp-Life on the FRANZ KELLER 212
Mariposa Grove and Yosemite Valley CHARLES LORING BRACE 88
Mexico, A Sportsman's Experience in SIR ROSE LAMBERT PRICE 99
Mexican Lowlands, Scenery of the FELIX L. OSWALD 108
Monarchs of the Andes JAMES ORTON 251
Monkeys, Brazilian Ants and HENRY W. BATES 240
New York, Washington, Chicago OLIVER H. G. LEIGH 5
Nicaragua Canal, Route of the JULIUS FROEBEL 130
ORTON, JAMES Monarchs of the Andes 251
OSWALD, FELIX L. Scenery of the Mexican
Lowlands 108
PAEZ, RAMON The Llaneros of Venezuela 190
Peccaries, Besieged by JAMES W. WELLS 219
Perils of Travel IDA PFEIFFER 232
PFEIFFER, IDA Perils of Travel 232
PRICE, SIR ROSE LAMBERT A Sportsman's Experience in
Mexico 99
Route of the Nicaragua Canal JULIUS FROEBEL 130
Ruins of Yucatan, Among the JOHN L. STEPHENS 119
San Francisco, Chinese Quarter in HELEN HUNT JACKSON 78
San Salvador, Destruction of CARL SCHERZER 137
Scenery of the Mexican Lowlands FELIX L. OSWALD 108
Scenes in Trinidad and Jamaica JAMES ANTHONY FROUDE 145
SCHERZER, CARL Destruction of San Salvador 137
South Pass and Fremont's Peak JOHN C. FREMONT 42
Sportsman's Experience in Mexico SIR ROSE LAMBERT PRICE 99
SQUIER, E. GEORGE Inca High-Roads and Bridges 261
STEPHENS, JOHN L. Among the Ruins of Yucatan 119
TEVIS, A. H. Lake Tahoe and the Big Trees 68
Travel, Perils of IDA PFEIFFER 232
Trinidad, The High Woods of CHARLES KINGSLEY 157
Trinidad and Jamaica, Scenes in JAMES ANTHONY FROUDE 145
Venezuela, Life and Scenery in ALEXANDER VON HUMBOLDT 179
Venezuela, The Llaneros of RAMON PAEZ 190
Washington, New York, Chicago OLIVER H. G. LEIGH 5
WELLS, JAMES W. Besieged by Peccaries 219
Winnipeg Lake and River BUTLER, W. F. 21
Woods of Trinidad, The High CHARLES KINGSLEY 157
Yellowstone Park, In the FERDINAND V. HAYDEN 49
Yosemite Valley, Mariposa Grove and CHARLES LORING BRACE 88
Yucatan, Among the Ruins of JOHN L. STEPHENS 119
TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE:
Minor changes have been made to correct typesetters' errors; otherwise,
every effort has been made to remain true to the authors' words and
intent.
End of Project Gutenberg's With the World's Great Travellers, v. 2, by Various