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Show 410 J>ASSAGE OF CORDILLERA. April, 1835. at a great elevation, where it is both cold and extremely sterile. At first I imagined, that these houses were places of refuge built by the Indians on the first arrival. of. the Spaniards ; but subsequently I have been almost I.nclmed to speculate on the possibility of a small change of cl~mate. In the northern parts of Chile, within the Cordillera of Copiap6, old Indian houses ·are found in very ma~y par~s : by digging amongst the ruins, bits of woollen. articles, mstruments of precious metals, and heads of Indian corn, are not unfrequently discovered. I had likewise in m ~ possession the head of an arrow, made of agate, of precisely the same figure as those now used in Tierra del F~ego.. I am aware that the Peruvian Indians* frequently mhabit most lofty and bleak situations ; but in these cases~ I was assured by men, who had spent their lives in travelling the An.des, that very many (muchisimas) houses were found at elevatiOns so great as almost to border on the perpetual snow, and in parts where there exist no passes, and where the land produces absolutely nothing, and what is still more extraordinary, where there is no water. Nevertheless it is the opinion of the people of the country (although they are much puzzled by the circumstance), that, from the appearance of the houses the Indians must have used them as places of residence. ' In the Despoblado (uninhabited valley), near Copiap6, at a spot called Punta Gorda, I saw the remains of seven or eight square little rooms, which were of a similar form with those at the Tambillos, but built chiefly of mud (which the present inhabitants cannot by any means imitate in durabilityt) instead of with stone. They were situated in the most conspicuous and defenceless position, · • Mr. Pentland even considers, that the love of an elevated situation is characteristic of the constitution of this race .-Geograph. Journ. t Ulloa (Noticias Americanas, p. 302) remarks on the same circumstance in Peru. He adds, when speaking of the mud bricks, "which gives room to think that they had some particular method of working them, that they should become bard, without cracking, the secret of which the present inhabitants are ignorant of." April, 1835. INDIAN RUIN S. 411 at the bottom of a flat broad valley. There was no water nearer than three or four leagues, and that only in very small quantity, and bad : the soil was absolutely sterile;I looked in vain even for a lichen adhering to the rocks. At the present day, with the advantage of beasts of burden, a mine, unless it were very rich, could scarcely be worked there with profit. Yet the Indians formerly chose it as a place of residence! If at the present time two or three showers of rain were to fall annually, instead of one during as many years, as now is the case, a small rill of water would in all probability be formed in this great valley, draining a mountainous country; and then, by irrigation (the method of which was formerly so well understood by the Indians), the soil might easily be rendered sufficiently productive to support a few families. I have certain proofs that this part of the continent of South America has been elevated, near the coast, at least from four to five hundred feet, since the epoch of existing shells ; and further inland the rise possibly may have been greater. As the peculiarly arid character of the climate is evidently a consequence of the height of the great range of mountains, we may feel almost sure, that prior to the latter elevations, the atmosphere was not so completely drained of its moisture as at the present day. At a remote geological era, it is probable that the Andes consisted of a chain of islands, which were covered by luxuriant forests ; and many of the trees, in a silicified state, may now be seen embedded in the upper conglomerates. Of these I measured one which was cylindrical, with a circumference of fifteen feet. As it is nearly certain that the mountains have risen slowly, so would the climate likewise become deteriorated slowly. We need not feel greatly surprised at walls of stone and hardened mud here lasting for many ages, when we remember how many centuries the Druidical mounds have withstood even the climate of England. The only question is, whether the · amount of change, since the introduction of man into South America, has been suflicient to cause a sensible |