the
course of a few weeks.

We arrived one evening at a _tambo_, or post-house, which, from its
appearance and position on a portion of the great high road of the
Incas, we judged had been erected before the conquest. The walls were
very thick, and composed of large blocks of stone. It was divided into
two compartments; one had formerly been the storehouse and granary, the
other the common hall and kitchen. The roof was thatched, as it had
been originally.

At a little distance off was a village of Indian huts, mostly small; but
some were of larger size, in which the cacique and some of the chief men
resided. The _tambo_ stood in a beautiful valley, through which ran a
clear and rapid stream among meadows of ever verdant tints. The
mountains which rose on either side were to their very summit cut into
terraces. These terraces, or hanging gardens, as they are sometimes
called, were of no great width, but the walls which faced them were
built of large blocks of stone; and though in some places they were
crumbling into decay, in general they were in a perfect state, bearing
witness to the industry and intelligence of the ancient inhabitants of
the soil. These terraces are called _Andenes_, and from thence the
conquerors derived the name Andes, which they bestowed on the whole vast
range of mountains.

Our peons having taken charge of our mules and horses, and led them to a
shed adjoining the grey and moss-grown _tambo_, we entered the building.
The interior was sombre in the extreme; everybody and everything wore a
subdued look; and even the dogs slunk about as if their spirits were
depressed. The smoke of ages was on the walls and roof, and the tables
and benches at one side had a sadly dilapidated appearance. The master
was an Indian of lightish hue, his long, lank hair already turning grey
with age, and perhaps with care. Several Indian women were moving about
round a fire at the farther end of the room, preparing a meal for a
somewhat numerous company assembled there. The women about the house
were all dressed in loose garments of dark coarse woollen cloth, which
extended from the neck to the ankles, and were secured round the waist
by a broad belt of some gay colour. They wore, folded up on the crown
of the head, a small cloth mantle, a part of which drooped down to the
shoulders behind. Each woman wore over her right shoulder a black
scarf, which I understood was a sign of mourning, not for any relat