Close to Huaramayo, and by the old line of road, begin the steep ascents called the Paxaron, because of the number of paroquets always seen about this place. The path along their acclivity is narrow, fatiguing, and precipitous, to very near the village of Obrajillo, a distance of several leagues. On the airy hill-tops, that overlook this way and the ravine below it, are several villages which are only to be approached by a zigzag and arduous track; and hereabouts, if anywhere on the Canta route, are to be seen examples of the terrific in scenery, for those whose eyes are unaccustomed to the native ruggedness of bold and alpine regions. A young gentleman of our acquaintance, who was familiar with nothing but downs and lawns, was affected at the steeps of the Paxaron with a giddiness that, for some time after, disordered his imagination; and we have seen travellers clash at the worst passes with no small risk in the encounter, where the moving party on the outer verge of the declivity was obliged, for want of room, to brush rudely against the other party standing still on the higher and safer side of the road: and here too, when a weak or weary beast trips, the rider is in danger of toppling over the brink; and the want of parapets makes the road all but impracticable in a dark night. Canta and Obrajillo are situated in the same opening among the mountains: the latter is entirely the residence of muleteers, whose strong and active women share in the labours of the field; while Canta, on an eminence, is a provincial town, and the seat of a governorship. The village of Obrajillo is built in a sort of irregular hollow near the bed of a small river, surrounded by arable hills receding and expanding as they rise towards the loftier summits, and therefore affording better ventilation than is to be found in any part of the valley between this and Yanga. From Yanga to Huaramayo, the hills, as we formerly stated, are doomed to perpetual sterility, and are all unacquainted with the genial influence of dew or rain; but across the summits of the Paxaron we meet with footsteps of that plentiful herbage, with which, at Canta and Obrajillo, the straths and steeps are richly covered.