The Root Of A Small Scrubby Plant Served As
Fuel, But It Made A Miserable Fire, And The Wind Was
Piercingly Cold.
Being quite tired with my days work, I
made up my bed as quickly as I could, and went
To sleep.
About midnight I observed the sky became suddenly clouded:
I awakened the arriero to know if there was any danger of
bad weather; but he said that without thunder and lightning
there was no risk of a heavy snow-storm. The peril is
imminent, and the difficulty of subsequent escape great, to
any one overtaken by bad weather between the two ranges.
A certain cave offers the only place of refuge: Mr. Caldcleugh,
who crossed on this same day of the month, was
detained there for some time by a heavy fall of snow. Casuchas,
or houses of refuge, have not been built in this pass
as in that of Uspallata, and, therefore, during the autumn,
the Portillo is little frequented. I may here remark that
within the main Cordillera rain never falls, for during the
summer the sky is cloudless, and in winter snow-storms alone
occur.
At the place where we slept water necessarily boiled, from
the diminished pressure of the atmosphere, at a lower
temperature than it does in a less lofty country; the case being
the converse of that of a Papin's digester. Hence the potatoes,
after remaining for some hours in the boiling water,
were nearly as hard as ever. The pot was left on the fire
all night, and next morning it was boiled again, but yet the
potatoes were not cooked.
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