Here as in the great valley of Tenochtitlan it seemed ancient, old, old beyond all computation.

Here and there, were ruins of which the Mexican peons knew nothing.

Sometimes these ruins stood out on a bare slope, and again they were almost hidden by vegetation.

In the valleys Ned saw peons at work with a crooked stick as a plow, and once or twice they passed swarthy Aztec women cooking tortillas and frijoles in the open air.
The troop could not advance very rapidly owing to the roughness of the way, and Ned learned from the talk about him that they would not overtake Cos until the evening of the following day.

About twilight they encamped in a slight depression in the mountain side.