The higher, and, it is said, the shorter route from Palcomayo, is that by Hualliay, but it is fenny, and only practicable in the dry season; the other route by Diezmo, though somewhat longer, is the safest and best, and is usually followed by the arriero. By either direction, rivers are to be passed, deep and dark in times of flood. By the Hualliay way the ride is rendered interesting on account of the frequently-heard whistle of the vicuña, keeping watch over his fellows and giving warning of the traveller’s approach, when the whole herd leave their pasturage and bound away to more inaccessible heights. Geese, too, are very numerous; and there is a lake to be passed which is the favourite resort of the elegant flamingos. To see a flock of them upon wing is a magnificent sight.
Account of another route between Pasco and Lima, by Junin, Huaypacha, Pucara, Tucto.—Mines of Antacona, Casapalca, Pomacancha, San Mateo, San Juan de Matucana, Surco, Cocachacra, Santa Ana, and lastly, Chaclacayo.—Enumeration of a series of rocks, as they appear in succession from the pass of the Cordillera to the entrance into the Vale of Rimac.
The most frequented route between Lima and Pasco is that which we have described in the foregoing chapter; but, before we offer any particular account of Cerro Pasco, we may hastily run over the road which is sometimes taken from this place to the capital during the heavy falls of the periodical rains in the inland mountains, when several of the rivers on the road by Canta are deep and dangerous rapids. This route across a pass of the Cordillera at Tucto, near Yauli, is occasionally preferred, as being shorter than the post-road by Tarma.
The traveller, who starts at an early hour from Cerro Pasco, passes by the villages of Old Pasco and Carhuamayo, and arrives in good time at the village of Junin, or Reyes. The ride is mostly by the lake of Chinchaycocha, and on pampa or nearly level ground. From Junin, he, on his second day’s journey, which is only counted as seven leagues, traverses the spacious plain of the same name, so justly memorable in the annals of South American independence, till he reaches that swampy ground, and crosses the very defile, where, in the year 1824, the Patriots were charged by the Spanish cavalry; and now, leaving this field of glory behind, he crosses to Huaypacha along a hilly pastoral district, with scarcely any regular footpath,—a circumstance which often renders a guide necessary. The silver ore of Huaypacha is too poor in the present day to allow its mines to be worked with spirit. Here the principal metalliferous works are on the mine estate of Olevegoya and the well-informed Don Miguel Otero; where also a considerable portion of alcaser, or green barley, is raised as fodder for the cattle employed at the works. The entrance into Huaypacha is highly picturesque, from the striking configuration of the limestone rocks in which the silver is deposited, and which overhang and everywhere surround this neat mining village.