The path runs along the upper part of a steep slope, which from a perpendicular weathered cliff drops some 400 feet down into a gorge.

As the declivity of the slope is about forty-five degrees, and the track in some places only about a foot wide, there is no saving it if an animal loses its foothold, or if its pack slips.

All went well, however, until we reached a point where the track commenced to descend, when our villain of a guide tried to drive some burros back on the track, instead of leading each one carefully.

The result was that one of the poor beasts tumbled down, making immense bounds, a hundred feet at a time, and, of course, was killed.
We had no difficulty in fording the Guaynopa Creek near its junction with the Aros River, and selected a camping place on a terrace 200 feet above it.

The stream, which is the one that passes the cave-dwellings, carries a good deal of limpid water, and there are abundant signs that at times it runs very high.