In the ravine of Jajuel, near Aconcagua, where there is
no pass, I heard of remains of houses situated at a great height,
where it is extremely cold and sterile. At first I imagined that
these buildings had been places of refuge, built by the Indians on
the first arrival of the Spaniards; but I have since been inclined
to speculate on the probability of a small change of climate.
In this northern part of Chile, within the Cordillera, old Indian
houses are said to be especially numerous: by digging amongst the
ruins, bits of woollen articles, instruments of precious metals,
and heads of Indian corn, are not unfrequently discovered: an
arrow-head made of agate, and of precisely the same form with those
now used in Tierra del Fuego, was given me. I am aware that the
Peruvian Indians now frequently inhabit most lofty and bleak
situations; but at Copiap? I was assured by men who had spent their
lives in travelling through the Andes, that there were very many
(muchisimas) buildings at heights 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.
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