The gale lasted for more
than a day; the men began to lose their strength, and the mules
would not move onwards. My guide's brother tried to return, but he
perished, and his body was found two years afterwards, lying by the
side of his mule near the road, with the bridle still in his hand.
Two other men in the party lost their fingers and toes; and out of
two hundred mules and thirty cows, only fourteen mules escaped
alive. Many years ago the whole of a large party are supposed to
have perished from a similar cause, but their bodies to this day
have never been discovered. The union of a cloudless sky, low
temperature, and a furious gale of wind, must be, I should think,
in all parts of the world an unusual occurrence.
JUNE 29, 1835.
We gladly travelled down the valley to our former night's lodging,
and thence to near the Agua amarga. On July 1st we reached the
valley of Copiap?. The smell of the fresh clover was quite
delightful, after the scentless air of the dry sterile Despoblado.
Whilst staying in the town I heard an account from several of the
inhabitants, of a hill in the neighbourhood which they called "El
Bramador,"--the roarer or bellower.
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