oyed our cigar; but what our hunter enjoyed still more was
a `coceada,' for he was a regular chewer of `coca.' He carried his
pouch of chinchilla skin filled with the dried leaves of the coca plant,
and around his neck was suspended the gourd bottle, filled with burnt
lime and ashes of the root of the `molle' tree.

"All things arranged, we started forth. It was to be a `still' hunt,
and we went afoot, leaving our horses safely tied by the hut. The
Indian took with him only one of his dogs--a faithful and trusty one, on
which, he could rely.

"We skirted the plain, and struck into a defile in the mountains. It
led upwards, among rocky boulders. A cold stream gurgled in its bottom,
now and then leaping over low falls, and churned into foam. At times
the path was a giddy one, leading along narrow ledges, rendered more
perilous by the frozen snow, that lay to the depth of several inches.
Our object was to reach the level of a plain still higher, where my
companion assured me we should be likely to happen upon a herd of
vicunas.

"As we climbed among the rocks, my eye was attracted by a moving object,
higher up. On looking more attentively, several animals were seen, of
large size, and reddish-brown colour. I took them at first for deer, as
I was thinking of that animal. I saw my mistake in a moment. They were
not deer, but creatures quite as nimble. They were bounding from rock
to rock, and running along the narrow ledges with the agility of the
chamois. These must be the vicunas, thought I.

"`No,' said my companion; `guanacos--nothing more.'

"I was anxious to have a shot at them.

"`Better leave them now,' suggested the hunter; `the report would
frighten the vicunas, if they be in the plain--it is near. I know these
guanacos. I know where they will retreat to--a defile close by--we can
have a chance at them on our return.'

"I forbore firing, though I certainly deemed the guanacos within shot,
but the hunter was thinking of the more precious skin of the vicunas,
and we passed on. I saw the guanacos run for a dark-looking cleft
between two mountain spurs.

"`We shall find them in there,' muttered my companion, `that is their
haunt.'

"Noble game are these guanacos--large fine animals--noble game as the
red deer himself. They differ much from the vicunas. They herd only in
small numbers, from six to ten or a dozen: while as many as four times
this number of vicunas may be seen together. There