But the general scenery of the Mendoza Andes is most disappointing. In autumn, at least, even the mighty Aconcagua shows very little snow, and in general the mountains are perfectly bare with the straightest of contours. Their size is their only attraction. In the Province of Mendoza alone the following huge mountains are to be found:-- Aconcagua 22,450 feet Tupungato 22,140 " San Jose 20,130 " Iglesia 18,000 " Cruz de Piedra 17,230 " San Francisco 17,100 " Nothing can be more desolate than the appearance of these unlovely monsters. In some places there is enough coarse herbage to afford scanty grazing for ponies, but there is literally nothing else, not a tree, not a blade of real grass, and all forage and supplies of every kind have to be brought up by rail. The valley up which the railway goes is redeemed to some extent by the river Mendoza, which rushes down crystal or foaming, but those who are accustomed to the green forests and boundless snows and rugged precipices of old-world mountains, will say, "The old is better." At Mendoza it was necessary to change carriages and enter the narrow-gauge train. The locomotive is a modest affair compared with the great trains which climb to much greater heights in the Peruvian Andes, but the gradients are very steep and sometimes the rack and pinion have to be used. After a run of eight or ten hours the famous Puente del Inca is reached. [Illustration: THE HOTEL, PUENTE DEL INCA.]