was the cold, as
we were in constant exercise we scarcely felt it; while the rarity of
the air imparted wonderful lightness and elasticity to our frames, so
that sometimes I could scarcely help leaping and bounding forward. At
night we generally found shelter in a cave or under an overhanging
rock--always keeping up a blazing fire, to scare wild beasts, as well as
to afford us warmth.

At last we reached the entrance of a gloomy valley, between lofty and
snow-topped mountains, their sides in some places almost perpendicular.

"We must be prepared to push rapidly across the Paramo," observed
Padillo. "It is late in the year, and I do not altogether like the look
of the weather. We shall require two days at least to get to the
further end. Frequently three days are occupied by persons on
horseback, but you march so quickly that we may do it in less time; and
there is a tambo about midway where we can obtain shelter."

"Cross it we must, at all risks," answered Uncle Richard, who was
especially eager to get back to the neighbourhood of Popayan, to
ascertain how his family were faring. He intended also to try and raise
a corps.

It was not without reason that we dreaded passing across this bleak
region. The name of Paramo is given to those inhospitable
desert-regions high up among the mountains, of which there are so many
in the Andes. No human being can exist in them without keeping in
incessant and violent motion. Artificial means are incapable of
sustaining life while a person is exposed to the inclement air. Ardent
spirits are entirely void of any good effect, and generally increase the
evil consequences. These Paramos are usually long deep valleys between
lofty elevations, so shut in and obscured by the neighbouring hills as
to possess all the severities of their extreme height, while not a ray
of sunshine can enter to shed its gentle influence through them. Death
almost invariably overtakes those who attempt to rest in them
unsheltered at night. The extent of some of them is so great that it
requires two or three days to cross them; and in these small houses have
been erected, in which cooking utensils and other articles of
convenience are kept for the accommodation of travellers, as well as
stabling for their mules. Here, by means of large fires, they may
manage to keep themselves warm, though even then people suffer greatly.

In consequence of the highly rarefied air, the traveller at first
exper