The country was
traversed by lofty ranges of the Andes, and the adventurers were
soon entangled in their deep and intricate passes. As they rose
into the more elevated regions, the icy winds that swept down the
sides of the Cordilleras benumbed their limbs, and many of the
natives found a wintry grave in the wilderness. While crossing
this formidable barrier, they experienced one of those tremendous
earthquakes which, in these volcanic regions, so often shake the
mountains to their base. In one place, the earth was rent
asunder by the terrible throes of Nature, while streams of
sulphurous vapor issued from the cavity, and a village with some
hundreds of houses was precipitated into the frightful abyss! *2
[Footnote 2: Zarate states the number with precision at five
hundred houses. "Sobrevino vn tan gran Terremoto, con temblor, i
tempestad de Agua, i Relampagos, i Raios, i grandes Truenos, que
abriendose la Tierra por muchas partes, se hundieron quinientas
Casas." (Conq. del Peru, lib. 4, cap. 2.) There is nothing so
satisfactory to the mind of the reader as precise numbers; and
nothing so little deserving of his confidence.]
On descending the eastern slopes, the climate changed; and, as
they came on the lower level, the fierce cold was succeeded by a
suffocating heat, while tempests of thunder and lightning,
rushing from out the gorges of the sierra, poured on their heads
with scarcely any intermission day or night, as if the offended
deities of the place were willing to take vengeance on the
invaders of their mountain solitudes.
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