There are some ruins in the neighborhood of Huancané, but it was not considered worth while to visit them. They consist mostly of _chulpas_, or burial-towers, which are nothing more than towers, either round or square, with interior spaces for the reception of the remains of the dead. A description of one will suffice for all. It is seventeen feet square, and twenty-four feet high, and rises from a platform of cut stones twenty-two feet on each side, and raised a foot above the ground. Three feet below the top there is a cornice two feet deep, which projects about twelve inches on every side, and is the only external ornament. There is a door or opening eighteen inches square on the eastern face, and level with the platform on which the chulpa stands. Inside there is a vault or chamber eleven feet square and thirteen feet high; its sides rise vertically for about eight feet, and then come together to form a pointed arch. On each of the sides of the interior there is a niche three feet high and eighteen inches wide, and the entrance is directly under one of these niches. The round chulpas have a close resemblance to the turf huts of the shepherds; some of the huts have cornices, in imitation of the architecture of the chulpas, and it is possible that the form of the dwelling was taken from that of the burial-towers. On the road to Huancané Dr. Bronson and Frank turned aside to look at a sepulchre built of flat stones piled irregularly together. It is thought to be the earliest form of the chulpa, before the Inca architects had learned to shape their structures like the one just described. The stones were flat, some of them being five or six feet long, and correspondingly broad, with a thickness of twelve or fifteen inches. Frank made a sketch of the monument, and introduced the figure of a man standing beside it, so that its proportions could be readily seen. [Illustration: ANCIENT SEPULCHRE.] CHAPTER XIV. OVER THE EASTERN ANDES INTO THE AMAZON VALLEY.--AN EXCITING JOURNEY.--ADVENTURES BY THE WAY.--TROUBLES OF TRAVELLING WITH A TIGER. [Illustration: MANUEL.] The lodgings of the travellers on their night at Huancané were an improvement upon their quarters at Vilquechico. They had a stone floor to sleep upon in place of the bare ground, and the room was large enough to accommodate all three of them without crowding. They rose early, and managed to get out of the place in good season, in spite of the desire of their drivers to linger in the town, and the evident willingness of Manuel to accommodate them. It was deemed prudent to see the baggage-train on its way before venturing outside the limits of the town, and consequently our friends waited until the last of the burden-animals had received his load before they ordered the saddles placed on their mules. Under the eye of his employers Manuel worked vigorously, when he made up his mind that further delay was impossible.