there, where they are paid 2 pesos apiece for feeding the beasts, digging out the irrigating canals, etc. If there is snow in the mountains they may remain longer. The men carry some al- falfa and dry barley in small quantities with their mules, and at Soncor they have to pay for the feed of their horses, which is one reason why that settlement has been long maintained.
Details of Routes
Señor Alvarez, who is one of the chief men in the cattle busi- ness at San Pedro, has furnished me with a schedule of the five principal cattle routes across the Puna as follows, and the points he gives are all indicated upon Bertrand’s map of 1884 entitled “Mapa de las Cordilleras en el Desierto de Atacama y rejiones adyacentes:”[1]
I. From Salta via Quebrada del Toro, Gélgota, and Cebada (where there is pasture), Tactil (not Tastil as usually written), Cuevas, Chorrillos, Cauchari, Catua, Guaitiquina, Puntas Negras, Aguas Calientes, Lejias, Pajonal, Soncor, Aguas Blancas, Tambillo, and San Pedro.
II. From Catua, Loslé, Chamaca, Hécar (pasture here), Toconao or Aguas Blancas to San Pedro. Few cattle go over this route.
III. Via Incahuasi (from Rinecén) to Socaire (where there ts a little pasture and alfalfa for sale), Quetena, and Carvajal (where there is pasture and water) to San Pedro.
IV. From Jujuy to San Pedro. This is similar in character to Route I.
V. From Jujuy to La Quiaca to Uyuni—thence by train to Antofagasta. This route is used only when the puna and the sierra are closed with snow.
In 1912 an experiment was made by Abaroa Brothers and A. Cerruti who sent cattle from Salta up to Catua or San Antonio de los Cobres. They were driven north to Quetena and thence
- ↑ Alejandro Bertrand: Memoria sobre la exploracién 4 las cordilleras del Desierto de Atacama efectuada en los meses de enero 4 abril de 1884, Annario Hidrogr. de la Marine de Chile, Vol. 10, 1885, pp. t-299 (map acale 1:1,000,000).
