grass at the border of the water that rans from the springs of Aguas Calientes, others sought shelter behind angles of the gorge walls, and still others wandered about the mountain slopes or climbed up into the sheltered ravines. At one point I counted seventy skeletons picked clean by the condors that hover over the droves as they drift slowly across the Puna. To rescue the men a relief expedition hac been organized, which was able to make its way into the mountains only with the greatest difficulty. The snow was from 5 to 10 feet deep in the high country and from 8 to 1o inches deep even in the desert at San Pedro de Atacama (Sooo feet). Even when the crossing is free from snow, both cattle and men often reach the desert on the west scarcely able to walk on account of the dust and the cold and the terrible viento blanco which glazes the eyeballs of the beasts and blinds them. At the Alto de Lari (16,500 feet) on the Antofagasta road ‘thousands of head of cattle have left their bones.”[1]
At short intervals along the trail little stone shelters a foot or two high are built to offer protection to travelers, and every boulder beside the trail is a refuge behind which the herders seek temporary relief from the cold wind. Coming from a high but warm valley (Calchaqui) and going to a hot desert (Ata- cama), these men are not prepared, like the polar traveler, for the arctic weather that prevails at intervals in the loftiest situations of the Puna. The difficulties and risks of the journey arise from improper clothing and unaccustomed exposure rather than an inherent quality of the climate itself. No amount of clothing, however, can make up for the deficiency of cir-. culation caused by the high altitude. The effect upon heart and respiration is annoying but is not the chief drawback. The poor circulation results in loss of sleep from cold, no matter how much clothing and bedding there may be, nor how excellent its quality. During our journey we slept inside eiderdown sleep- ing bags stretched out on sheepskins placed on the ground and
- ↑ J. B. Ambrosetti; Viaje a la Puna de Atacama, Bol, lust. Geogr, Argentino, Vol. 21, 1903, pp. 87-116. For a graphic description see Alejandro Bertrand: Memoria sobre la esploracién 4 las cordilleras del Desierto de Atacama, etectuada cn los meses de encro 4 abrilde 1884, Anuario Hidrogr. de la Marina de Chile, Vol. 10, Santiago de Chile, 1885, pp. 1-299.
