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Updated: May 7, 2025
We have, then, evidence of a second great period of subsidence; and, as in the case of the subsidence which accompanied the accumulation of the cretaceo-oolitic strata, so this latter subsidence appears to have been complicated by alternate or local elevatory movement for the vertical trees, buried in the midst of the Uspallata strata, must have grown on dry land, formed by the upheaval of the lower submarine beds.
Great Bugs. Mendoza. Uspallata Pass. Silicified trees buried as they grew. Incas Bridge. Badness of the passes exaggerated. Cumbre. Casuchas. Valparaiso. We stayed three days at Concepcion, and then sailed for Valparaiso. The wind being northerly, we only reached the mouth of the harbour of Concepcion before it was dark. Being very near the land, and a fog coming on, the anchor was dropped.
I observed Indian ruins in several parts of the Cordillera: the most perfect which I saw, were the Ruinas de Tambillos, in the Uspallata Pass. Small square rooms were there huddled together in separate groups: some of the doorways were yet standing; they were formed by a cross slab of stone only about three feet high.
In this part of Chile there are two passes across the Andes to Mendoza: the one most commonly used, namely, that of Aconcagua or Uspallata is situated some way to the north; the other, called the Portillo, is to the south, and nearer, but more lofty and dangerous. We set out for the Portillo pass.
Valparaiso Portillo Pass Sagacity of Mules Mountain- torrents Mines, how discovered Proofs of the gradual Elevation of the Cordillera Effect of Snow on Rocks Geological Structure of the two main Ranges, their distinct Origin and Upheaval Great Subsidence Red Snow Winds Pinnacles of Snow Dry and clear Atmosphere Electricity Pampas Zoology of the opposite Side of the Andes Locusts Great Bugs Mendoza Uspallata Pass Silicified Trees buried as they grew Incas Bridge Badness of the Passes exaggerated Cumbre Casuchas Valparaiso.
To cross the mountains meant to transport men, horses, artillery, and stores to an altitude of thirteen thousand feet, where the Uspallata Pass afforded an outlet to Chilean soil. This pass was nearly a mile higher than the Great St. Bernard in the Alps, the crossing of which gave Napoleon Bonaparte such renown.
I stayed here and at some neighbouring mines during the two succeeding days. The geology of the surrounding country is very curious. The Uspallata range is separated from the main Cordillera by a long narrow plain or basin, like those so often mentioned in Chile, but higher, being six thousand feet above the sea.
To commemorate still further their international accord, in 1904 they erected on the summit of the Uspallata Pass, over which San Martin had crossed with his army of liberation in 1817, a bronze statue of Christ the Redeemer.
Caldcleugh, who crossed on this same day of the month, was detained there for some time by a heavy fall of snow. Casuchas, or houses of refuge, have not been built in this pass as in that of Uspallata, and therefore, during the autumn, the Portillo is little frequented.
The Uspallata chain corresponds in geographical position, though on a small scale, with the Portillo line; and its clay-slate formation is probably the equivalent of the mica-schist of the Portillo, there metamorphosed by the old white granites and syenites.
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