I Noticed Also In Front Of
Some Of The Valleys, Which Branch Off From The Despoblado,
Two Piles Of Stones Placed A Little Way Apart, And Directed So
As To Point Up The Mouths Of These Small Valleys.
My companions
knew nothing about them, and only answered my
queries by their imperturbable "quien sabe?"
I observed Indian ruins in several parts of the Cordillera:
the most perfect which I saw, were the Ruinas de Tambillos,
in the Uspallata Pass. Small square rooms were there huddled
together in separate groups: some of the doorways were
yet standing; they were formed by a cross slab of stone only
about three feet high. Ulloa has remarked on the lowness of
the doors in the ancient Peruvian dwellings. These houses,
when perfect, must have been capable of containing a
considerable number of persons. Tradition says, that they were
used as halting-places for the Incas, when they crossed the
mountains. Traces of Indian habitations have been discovered
in many other parts, where it does not appear probable
that they were used as mere resting-places, but yet where
the land is as utterly unfit for any kind of cultivation, as it
is near the Tambillos or at the Incas Bridge, or in the Portillo
Pass, at all which places I saw ruins. 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 Copiapo 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
upon 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 this valley, at Punta
Gorda, the remains consisted of seven or eight square little
rooms, which were of a similar form with those at Tambillos,
but built chiefly of mud, which the present inhabitants cannot,
either here or, according to Ulloa, in Peru, imitate in
durability.
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