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506
NOTES OF A BOTANIST
conclude the canon, "-which is the Way
of the
Inca," to be the upper part of the Rivera de los
Llanganatis. This canon can hardly be artificial,
like the hollow way I have seen running down
the hills and woods on the western side ot
through
the Cordillera, from the great road of Azuay, nearly
to the river Yaguachi. "Guayra," said by Valverde
to be the ancient name for a smelting -furnace, is
nowadays applied only to the wind. The concluding
clause of this sentence, "que son tachoneados de
to be
oro," is considered by all competent persons
a mistake for "que es tachoneado de oro."
If Margasitas be considered the first mountain
of the three to which Valverde refers, then the
Tembladal or Bog, out of which Valverde extracted
his wealth, the Socabon and the Guayra are in the
second mountain, and the lake wherein the ancients
threw their gold in the third.
Difference of opinion among the gold-searchers
as to the route to be pursued from Margasitas
would appear also to have produced quarrels, for
we find a steep hill east of that mountain, and
separated from it by Mosquito Narrows (Chushpi
Pongo), called by Guzman " El Penon de las
Discordias."
If we retrace our steps from Margasitas till we
reach the western margin of Yana-cocha, wr
e find
another track branching off to northward, crossing
the river Zapala at a point marked Salto de Cobos,
and then following the northern shore of the lake.
Then follow two steep ascents, called respectively
" La Escalera " and " La Subida de Ripalda," and
the track ends suddenly at the river coming from
the Inca's Fountain (La Pila del Inca), with the