INVESTIGATIONS IN CENTRAL AND SOUTH AMERICA. 51 



a govei-nment more progressive in its tendencies than its people. \Yith other 

 nations the case is reversed, the governments being more conservative than the 

 people. Under the presidency of General Mosquera the government had abolished 

 all monasteries and nnnneries ; their landed property was ordered to be sold for 

 the benefit of the respective communities, and in the year before my arrival in 

 that region all superfluous churches were closed and ordered to be taken down. 

 In Pasto, the capital of a department of Cauca, private individuals gave tlie nuns 

 houses to live in ; at the auction of the confiscated lands of churclies were no 

 bidders ; and the laborers refused to pull down the churches for the erection of 

 other edifices, fearing excommunication, proclaimed by the Pope. Nevertheless, 

 the Pastusos are less bigoted than the inhabitants of Ecuador. I heard a justice 

 of a village, whom a priest, a former brother of a closed convent, asked if the 

 villagers would not like to celebrate a festival with a mass, answer : " Saint Peter 

 does not need any mass ; the masses are only for the benefit of the clergy." 



In former times the inhabitants of Pasto and the State of Cauca enjoyed a high 

 reputation, even in Ecuador, for their kindness, honesty, and hospitality ; but the 

 character of the people has greatly deteriorated by a series of revolutions in the 

 confederacy. At the time of my visit, political brawls combined with bloodshed, 

 and even ending with murder, were common occurrences ; and the regular subject 

 of talk was revolutions, tlie past and the coming. Tlie Pastusos are more courage- 

 ous tlian the Ecuadoreiios, which was proved in the last war between Columbia and 

 Ecuador. 



Cups and bowls, wliich in the hot regions are made of the fruit of the different 

 calabash trees, are manufactured of wood in the elevated regions, in all shapes and 

 sizes. The principal industry carried on in Pasto is the varnishing of this wooden 

 ware, bafca.'^, which is done in a peculiar way. By the mastication of the tender 

 sprouts and buds of a plant brought from the mountainous region of Cagueta the 

 resinous portion is separated from the fibrous, wiiich latter is spit out. The resin- 

 ous portion, called liya, is then stretclied as thin as possible by the aid of heat, 

 when it is quite transparent. It is then applied to the wooden article and made 

 to stick by the help of charcoal heat. The vessels are usually painted red at first, 

 after which they are further ornamented with flowers of various colors and even 

 gildings. These colors are imparted to the llya, which is naturally greenish-yellow, 

 by chewing with it some coloring substance, as indigo for blue, saffron for yellow, 

 indigo and saffron for green, and the juice of a plant from the neighborhood of 

 Caqueta for red. To imitate gold, silver foil is laid between two layers of the li;/a 

 colored with saffron. Flowers or other objects are cut out of the liga with a pair 

 of scissors, and separately affixed to the article with the aid of heat. The varnish 

 is soluble in alcohol and even a spirit of less strength ; but they continue to work 

 in the old fashioned way, preferring to drink the spirits rather than use them as a 

 solvent. Both the Ivja and the sprouts from which it is extracted can be preserved 

 for a considerable time in water, if this is often changed. If tliey get once dry 

 they cannot be used again. 



Another branch of industry for which Pasto is celebrated is carpentering, espe- 

 cially in constructing trunks, boxes of different sizes, and furniture of inlaid wood 



