sed of four ropes (sogas) made
of twisted cow-hide, and about the thickness of a man's arm. The four
ropes are connected together by thinner ones of the same material,
fastened over them transversely. The whole is covered with branches,
straw, and roots of the Agave tree. On either side, a rope rather more
than two feet above the bridge serves as a balustrade. The sogas are
fastened on each bank of the river by piles, or riveted into the rock.
During the long continuous rains these bridges become loose and require
to be tightened; but they are always lower in the middle than at the
ends, and when passengers are crossing them they swing like hammocks. It
requires some practice, and a very steady head, to go over the soga
bridges unaccompanied by a Puentero.[64] However strongly made, they are
not durable; for the changeableness of the weather quickly rots the
ropes, which are made of untanned leather. They frequently require
repairing, and travellers have sometimes no alternative but to wait for
several days until a bridge is passable, or to make a circuit of 20 or
30 leagues. The Puente de Soga of Oroya is fifty yards long, and one and
a half broad. It is one of the largest in Peru; but the bridge across
the Apurimac, in the province of Ayacucho, is nearly twice as long, and
it is carried over a much deeper gulf.

Another curious kind of bridge is that called the Huaro. It consists
of a thick rope extending over a river or across a rocky chasm. To
this rope are affixed a roller, and a strong piece of wood formed
like a yoke, and by means of two smaller ropes, this yoke is drawn
along the thick rope which forms the bridge. The passenger who has to
cross the Huaro is tied to the yoke, and grasps it firmly with both
hands. His feet, which are crossed one over the other, rest on the
thick rope, and the head is held as erectly as possible. All these
preliminaries being completed, an Indian, stationed on the opposite
side of the river or chasm, draws the passenger across the Huaro. This
is altogether the most disagreeable and dangerous mode of conveyance
that can possibly be conceived. If the rope breaks, an accident of no
unfrequent occurrence, the hapless traveller has no chance of escaping
with life, for being fastened, he can make no effort to save himself.
Horses and mules are driven by the Indians into the river, and are
made to swim across it, in doing which they frequently perish,
especially when being exhausted by a