We were surprised at the abundance of life in this naturally barren region. There were practically no indigenous trees, but a long line of willows had been planted near one of the houses, and to these thousands of cowbirds, doves, and finches came each night to sleep. A short walk across the stubble-fields always revealed something new. There were tinamou which rose with a loud _whir_, reminding one of partridges; many species of brownish birds belonging to the wood-hewer family, one of them with a long, curved bill, but they ran about on the ground or perched on the stone fences; large flickers lived among the rocks, and condors soared above; and there were even flocks of gulls and plovers. The most unusual birds were two species of very small parrakeets which clambered about over the rocks and slept in holes in the high banks. Vast numbers of cavies lived in the rock-piles, from which they sallied at all hours of the day in quest of food, and many small rodents inhabited the grain-fields. A good trail leads eastward from Cochicancha; the summit of the range rises about two leagues from the settlement. At the time of our visit the black, rocky peaks were covered with a mantle of snow and an icy wind swept through the cleft which serves as a pass. The elevation of the trail is thirteen thousand four hundred feet. At the base of the towering masses which rise several hundred feet above the passage, lies a placid little lake, and ducks, and gulls were swimming on its peaceful surface. Condors swept down from above to inspect us, and then soared back to their dizzy perches among the unscalable crags. On the eastern side of the divide the trail leads downward abruptly, and the character of the country changes; at eleven thousand feet a sparse growth of bushes appears, growing denser with each passing mile. Suddenly we found ourselves on the rim of a gorge through which the Incachaca River rushes--a raging mountain torrent fed by snows melting in the high altitudes. The path is a mere shelf cut in the face of the cliff; to the left rise the smooth walls of frowning, black rock; to the right is a sheer drop to the river. We could peer over the edge of the precipice and see drifting clouds two thousand feet below, filling the chasm and shutting from view the bottom hundreds of feet lower down.