Print of steel engraving titled „Pont naturel de L‘Inca“.

Drawn by Sainson.

Engraved by Beyer.

From „Voyage pittoresque dans les Deux Ameriques. Resume general de tous les voyages“ by M. Alcide D‘orbigny. Paris. 1836.

Puente del Inca (Spanish "The Inca's Bridge"), is a natural arch that forms a bridge over the Vacas River, a tributary of the Mendoza River. It is located in Mendoza Province, Argentina, near Las Cuevas.Puente del Inca is also the name of the nearby hot springs. Scientists speculate that interaction of extreme elements like ice and hot springs was involved in the origin of the formation. They suppose that in ancient times ice covered the river and acted as support for avalanches of snow, dust and rocks. So the dust over the ice over the river would have served as a path for the sulfurous water and petrified the surface, so when the snow melted, the bridge remained by itself.

Approx. image size 13 x 9, 3/17, 5 x 13, 1 cm. Condition: good.