covered with several layers of saddle blankets. It was im- possible to keep warm even under these conditions, and the loss of sleep and the bad circulation resulted in skin eruptions and eczema wherever there was chafing from the saddle dur- ing the day. So far as sleeping was concerned we were as well provided as an arctic traveler and for the same degree of cold, but the altitude reinforced the cold out of all proportion to the records of the thermometer.
The deaths among the chinchilla hunters of whom we have spoken, among the herdsmen who follow the cattle trails across the cordillera, and among the shepherds that come into the high country from the desert below are brought to one's at- tention by the occasional rude cross that marks the burial place of a native. Beside the trail are other marks of special interest. There is an apacheta with a lined chamber in which are placed offerings of coca cuds; whittled sticks and candles are also left by passing Indians, and prayers are offered for the safety of the crossing. I had seen apachetas of another varicty in many places on the divides of Bolivia, northern Chile, and Peru, where, especially in the high passes, piles of rough stones are gathered together to mark the summit. Each traveler adds a stone for good luck, and thus some of them on the oldest trails have grown to be of large size. For example, in the Cordillera Sillilica, east of Iquique, there is one that stands at least ten feet high, with a wide circumference. Those of the Puna de Atacama had been made more carefully, and their use was more serious; in short, they are a kind of shrine and not merely a mark of the trail (see Figs. 6-8).
The Forage Question
The two principal salt basins on the route between Poma and San Pedro de Atacama are Quiron and Rincon, and neither has more than a trifling supply of fresh water. A few springs oecur at the base of the piedmont; and each one is marked, as we have said, by a strip of a local pasture and a belt of tola. The scattered forage is in the form of ichu grass. The mules are hobbled and turned out to graze. Sometimes they are left
