INVESTIGATIONS IN CENTRAL AND SOUTH AMERICA. 45 



man from whom I wished to liire donkeys, which had brought some cargoes of 

 yucca to Piura, to carry my luggage to the village from which he came, asked me 

 one dollar and forty cents for each donkey ; at the same time he was willing to sell 

 a donkey load of the yucca for one dollar and twenty cents ; asking me more for 

 transportation alone, than cargo and carriage were worth. It is a general practice 

 of guides, who are invariably paid before they start, to desert a traveller, and to 

 steal from him what they can easily take. The want of kindness and generous 

 feeling I experienced on several occasions. I have been refused repeatedly a drink 

 of water. In one instance the woman whom I asked for a drink, answered, " I am 

 tired;" and on the other occasion the answer was: "water is in the brook, or 

 stream." I will not say by this that all generous feeling is extinguished, for I 

 experienced it on other occasions. A woman who heard me asking for water to 

 drink in the house of her neighbor, called me to hers, offering a drink of maga- 

 Tnora ; and in the desert of Piura, a woman sold me, through pity, some maize for 

 my starving horses, asking for it a great deal less than its real value. 



I found the Pipe to be the only national musical instrument. It is of various 

 dimensions. Almost every travelling Indian' has one at hand, piping Avhile he 

 walks, just as the women are constantly spinning in and out-of-doors — on the road 

 or in the market. It were interesting to ascertain whetlier the Pan-pipe was known 

 before the conquest, which I do not doubt in the least, and which would prove an 

 independent invention of it on this continent. I have not seen any national dance, 

 nor heard of the existence of one. The only one which came to my notice was 

 of Spanish origin. 



There are two kinds of animals indigenous to the country, domesticated by the 

 natives; the Guinea-pig, Cui, and the Runa Llama, the sheep of the Indian. The Cui 

 is in every hut or house, except those in hot regions, the companion of the natives. 

 They are kept in great numbers, and occupy as much space in the room as the 

 family. They are very profitable on account of being prolific, and are used as fcod. 



I met with two varieties, not to call them species, of the Buna Llama, the I aco 

 and Guanaco. Long woolly hair covers the entire body of the Pam with the 

 exception of tlie face. On the forehead is a tuft of long hair similar to the mane 

 of a horse. The head of the Guanaco, as well as the neck and the feet up to 

 the knees, has only a short glossy hair, the body and thighs being covered with 

 long wool. The forehead of the Paco is broader, its face shorter, and the liip- 

 bones lower than those of the Guanaco. The Runa Llama is a counterpart of 

 his master, the Indian, when he is free. Its large black eyes look gentle and 

 sagacious, and it carries its long neck gracefully, walking with measured step upon 

 its delicate feet. It is very rarely if ever shorn, only the wool it sheds being col- 

 lected. Its principal use is carrying burdens, from seventy-five to a hundred poimds 

 in weight. When tired, whether carrying or not, it squats down on its legs, and 

 no kind of coaxing or force can make it rise; it will suffer itself to be killed rather 

 than rise before it is pleased to do so. It has no means of aggression or defence; 

 the only way it exhibits its anger is by spitting. It is as much disdained by the 

 mixed races and descendants of foreigners as his native master, and therefore only 

 owned by Indians. Its rearing is neglected, and consequently it is found only 



