lways choose some level spot
where there is no fear of rocks coming rolling down on us, and halt there.
The first shock may be so slight that one hardly feels it, but the mules
know all about it. They straddle their legs and brace themselves up or
else lie down on the ground. When I see them do that I know that the next
shock is going to be a smart one, and I lie down too. It is nothing when
you are out in the country, but in the towns it is terrible. People rush
out into the streets screaming with fear, If they are near a church they
make for that; if not, they kneel down in the streets, where they are
pretty safe, the houses being so low and mostly thatched. I have never
seen one severe enough to bring the houses down, but I have seen them
crack, and parapets tumble down, and great pieces peel off the walls. What
with the dust, and the screams of the women and children, and the ringing
of all the church bells, it is enough to shake a man's courage I can tell
you."

After proceeding some ten miles farther, by a road always ascending and
often steep, a halt was made. The muleteer removed the valises and packs,
gave a double handful of corn to each animal, and then, hobbling them,
allowed them to wander about to pick up what they could. He and Stephen
partook of some of the food they had brought with them, and then wrapping
themselves in their cloaks lay down for a few hours' sleep. At daylight
the journey was renewed. So they travelled on, halting for five or six
hours in the heat of the day, and riding in the morning early, and late on
into the evening. The climate, however, scarcely necessitated the mid-day
halt, and at night they were glad to wrap themselves in a blanket in
addition to the cloak. At last the summit of the pass was reached. In
front of them rose another chain of mountains almost as lofty as that
which they had climbed. Between these great ranges lay a plain varying in
width. Several towns and small villages were visible.

"That is Jauja to the right," the muleteer said, "and that is Pasco to the
left; they are both large towns. They do not look so very far apart from
here. But the air of the mountains is so clear it is difficult to judge
distances. You would not take them to be much more than twenty miles from
us; they are nearly three times as far, and are fully eighty miles apart."

"Where does the guide of whom you spoke live?"

"It is some twenty miles down; it is where the roads from the two to