New-York tribune., 1907-11-17
HIGH UP IN TIE ANDES.
Experiences IN Crossing Pass at an
-niitudc Of 1900 Feet.
By Lewis Il. Freeman.

In ondeayoring to cross the Andes at any time
In the fail after May | one stands something
more than an even chance of being turned back
at the summit 10y a snowstorm, ana such for
a while appeared to be the lot Of the big party
with which / recently jourueyed from Argentina
10 Chilli. Fortunately, there was waiting at
Mendoza, at the foot of the Andes, about five
hundred cattle t. GO over and these it was
decided to put through first in III attempt to
break out the trail. Those animals were started
off at dayhr,aN and the passengers were not
allowed to begin the ascent uutl the last of
the cattle had disappeared over the summit
1t was also frst asc, rtaiucd hv telephone THAI
no one was coming Up the trail from the Chilian
side, rs man. or even pack train. caught in
the wild rush Of a herd of crazy cattle down
a steep mountain side would have only IN"
shortest of shrfts
The cattle were for tre most part wild Pam
pas steers, that had been brought through ~
fast freight from almost SEA level Ir less than
two days time Their Thin coats were i'll cal
culated to withstand th, li;in@ ,oid of tha
lofty CordIl,ras. and their respiratory appa-
ratus stI less to meet the strain of .uhaling tn,
rarehed air Of the great altitude They wcr,
fun Of life from the cold. snarIy ana. and il was
as amusing as pittuI to 500 One of them cEarg,
away 1t full speed for nny yards .top abruptly
a the oxygen began to yum short. and then
stand s'iH in dumb wide eyed aluazcmeu, his
wildly throbhing heart threatening to tear IT'S
way through his Violently heayIn- sides.
When the herd would keep the trau every
thing was easy, but when they Would begin to
straggle and break away somcthiu. had 10 be
done and that quickly. But tho brcabin-,
away was always done in typical cow fashion
always 10y ones and twos. and then only half
heartedIy. If the whole herd of steers had
started at onoe-or even a dozen of them
they could have had everything their own way
and totogganed back to the valley without op-
position worth mentioning but as IT was only
one of them won his freedom.
This was a big red rack of bones with a
four-foot spread of horns and the body ana
legs Of a racehorse. Without warning he broke |
from the trail and came tearing back down the |
mountain side his raucous bellows boomin., |
out on the still air like foghorn. There was |
no time to head him. so one of the pIucL,, |
gauchos did the next best thing lie refned off |
the trail put his mule at a galIo2 and sent il |
ful INTO the shoulder Of the flying steer The |
mule lost It's feet for a moment but the rider !
Kept his seat: the steer went rolling
AS ihe big beast came up from its fall anoth n
gaucho let fly with his bolas and sent il down
again in tangled heap. The tie" was not pcr
feet, however for the great legs tbrasbed tbor,-
selves clear OF the rawhide and the steer was off
again Ten yards more and he had plunged over
ten-toot ledge into drift of snow As the
laborns body houndered again into view two
boIaS were launched down simultaneously one
He" WIDE and the other only caught the tins Of
the spreading horns, around which they wrapped
and held, GROWING the brave beast as with
garland o' victory. Pursuit out of the ques-
ton ana the steer had smooth and easy going
for the rest of the distance back to the valley |
But even while yet the gaunt image of the fugi-
tive loOmed large in the lenses of our binoculars
we saw it begin to waver, saw the snow before
IL suddenly go red, saw the sinewy legs totter
and collapse and then the whole great frame
sink down into a quverng heap. The steer must