he says that, not deterred by the dangers of the jungle or the river, he constructed five rafts on which he put some of his soldiers and, accompanying them himself, went down the rapids, escaping death many times by swimming, until he arrived at a place called Momori, only to find that the Inca, learning of his approach, had gone farther into the woods.  Nothing daunted, Garcia followed him, although he and his men now had to go on foot and barefooted, with hardly anything to eat, most of their provisions having been lost in the river, until they finally caught Tupac and his friends; a tragic ending to a terrible chase, hard on the white man and fatal for the Incas.

It was with great regret that I was now unable to follow the Pampaconas River to its junction with the Urubamba.  It seemed possible that the Pampaconas might be known as the Sirialo, or the Cori-beni, both of which were believed by Dr. Bowman’s canoe-men to rise in the mountains of Vilcabamba.  It was not, however, until the summer of 1915 that we were able definitely to learn that the Pampaconas was really a branch of the Cosireni.  It seems likely that the Cosireni was once called the “Sima-ponte.”  Whether the Comberciato is the “Momori” is hard to say.

To be the next to follow in the footsteps of Tupac Amaru and Captain Garcia was the privilege of Messrs. Heller, Ford, and Maynard.  They found that the unpleasant features had not been exaggerated.  They were tormented by insects and great quantities of ants—­a small red ant found on tree trunks, and a large black one, about an inch in length, frequently seen among the leaves on the ground.  The bite of the red ant caused a stinging and burning for about fifteen minutes.  One of their carriers who was bitten in the foot by a black ant suffered intense pain for a number of hours.  Not only his foot, but also his leg and hip were affected.  The savages were both fishermen and hunters; the fish being taken with nets, the game killed with bows and arrows.  Peccaries were shot from a blind made of palm leaves a few feet from a runway.  Fishing brought rather meager results.  Three Indians fished all night and caught only one fish, a perch weighing about four pounds.

The temperature was so high that candles could easily be tied in knots.  Excessive humidity caused all leather articles to become blue with mould.  Clouds of flies and mosquitoes increased the likelihood of spreading communicable jungle fevers.

The river Comberciato was reached by Mr. Heller at a point not more than a league from its junction with the Urubamba.  The lower course of the Comberciato is not considered dangerous to canoe navigation, but the valley is much narrower than the Cosireni.  The width of the river is about 150 feet and its volume is twice that of the Cosireni.  The climate is very trying.  The nights are hot.  Insect pests are numerous.  Mr. Heller found that “the forest was filled with annoying, though sting-less, bees which persisted in attempting to roost on the countenance of any human being available.”  On the banks of the Comberciato he found several families of savages.  All the men were keen hunters and fishermen.  Their weapons consisted of powerful bows made from the wood of a small palm and long arrows made of reeds and finished with feathers arranged in a spiral.