sh, for there the wild horse is the principal
food of whole tribes. Their mode of cooking, both the flesh and the
aloe, is by baking them together in little ovens of stones sunk in the
ground, and then heated by fire until they are nearly red-hot. The
ashes are then cleared out, the meat and vegetables placed in the ovens,
and then buried until both are sufficiently done. In fact, there is one
tribe of the Apaches who have obtained the name of "Mezcaleros," from
the fact of their eating the wild aloe, which in those countries goes
under the name of "mezcal" plant.

In many parts of the Andes, where the soil is barren, the wild maguey is
almost the only vegetation to be seen, and in such places the Indians
use it as food. It seems to be a gift of Nature to the desert, so that
even there man may find something on which to subsist.

Guapo with his knife had soon cleared off several large pieces of the
maguey, and these, fried along with the vicuna meat, enabled the party
to make a supper sufficiently palatable. A cup of pure water from the
cold mountain stream, sweeter than all the wine in the world, washed it
down; and they went to rest with hearts full of contentment and
gratitude.

They rose at an early hour, and, breakfasting as they had supped, once
more took the road.

After travelling a mile or two, the path gradually ascended along one of
those narrow ledges that shelve out from the cliff, of which we have
already spoken. They soon found themselves hundreds of feet above the
bed of the torrent, yet still hundreds of feet above them rose the wall
of dark porphyry, seamed, and scarred, and frowning. The ledge or path
was of unequal breadth--here and there forming little tables or
platforms. At other places, however, it was so narrow that those who
were mounted could look over the brink of the precipice into the
frothing water below--so narrow that no two animals could have passed
each other. These terrible passes were sometimes more than an hundred
yards in length, and not straight, but winding around buttresses of the
rock, so that one end was not visible from the other.

On frequented roads, where such places occur, it is usual for
travellers, entering upon them, to shout, so that any one, who chances
to be coming from the opposite side, may have warning and halt.
Sometimes this warning is neglected, and two trains of mules or llamas
meet upon the ledge! Then there is a terrible scene--the drivers
q