Page:Isaiah Bowman - Desert Trails of Atacama (1924).pdf/321

 in the settlement and tributary to it a population of about 250 souls of which about 100 are in the village itself. Judging by the number of abandoned huts it must have been of greater size in times past. The year round hundreds of cattle, sheep, and Ilamas graze upon the surrounding pastures (pastos de vegas), a short marsh grass interspersed with paja brava, or pajonal, a stiff clump grass less than a foot in height as a rule. Pingo-pingo (Fig. 77), tola at higher altitudes, ground moss, and the poisonous vizcachera also grow hereabouts. To the pastures about the settlement are driven in winter the herds and flocks that range the cordilleran pastures (paslos de cerros) in the more tolerable season of summer. Ilere, too, graze the cattle from lower valleys sent thither to winter, as for many years past, by the cattle exporters of the department of Belén (Catamarca). Vicufa and chinchilla hunting are supplemen- tary occupations. The exportable products, such as wool, meat, and skins, are taken either to Tinogasta on the south or to Salta on the northeast and exchanged principally for wine, brandy, corn, and wheat. ‘The place benefits from its position as the meeting place for trails which penetrate the Puna, en route to Pastos Grandes, Copiapé, and San Pedro de Atacama. From the two last-named it is distant 10 and 7 days’ journey respectively.

The names of the other minor settlements in the Puna de Atacama are as follows: Rosario de Atacama, Pairique Chico, Pairique Grande, Olaroz Grande, Olaroz Chico, Coranzuli, Catua, Santa Rosa de Pastos Grandes, and Pastos Grandes. Aside from those mentioned above, almost all the names on the map are only isolated Indian huts abandoned or temporarily inhabited or, as is often the case, mere camp sites which are well known either because they are situated at the crossing of trails or because of the good quality of the water and pas- ture or because they are on the border of the grazing grounds of a given village. These places are occupied for a short time only; for the greater part of the year the inhabitants follow their flocks into the mountains and camp where the pasture is best