Riobamba boasts a large assortment of market places, the prin- 

 cipal one being the great square which accommodates the grain 

 market. Indians carry their grain to the city in great bags, which 

 may weigh eighty to one hundred pounds. Reaching the square 

 they open the bags to display the grain, offering small quantities for 

 sale for a pittance. This is more fun than peddling the whole bag 

 at once to a wholesale buyer. The Quechuas love to haggle. 



On other squares or vacant lots will be fruit and vegetable 

 markets, places where livestock is sold either butchered or on the 

 hoof, a hide market, textile market, clothing market, hat market, 

 pottery market — dozens of booths or squares where one may buy or 

 sell anything from necessities to trinkets. 



Skilled in primitive arts the Quechuas manufacture fine home- 

 spun fabrics from vicuna, alpaca and llama wool, as well as that of 

 domestic sheep and goats. They are far more interested in the prod- 

 ucts of their own domain than they are in the flimsy goods or fancy 

 gadgets of civilization's machine age. 



Ponchos woven by hand of homespun wool are universally worn 

 by the Quechuas, young and old. They serve as overcoats, rain 

 capes, sun shades and sleeping robes. No matter what the tem- 

 perature the Indians never are without them. Purchases are secreted 

 in the folds of the garment or packed in a length of cloth slung 

 across the shoulders. Hats too, are a fetish. The natives make their 

 own of hand-beaten felt. 



Highland hat makers have never reached the pinnacle of art in 

 manufacture that has been achieved by lowland Indians who weave 

 the so-called Panama or "jipijapa" hats worn by cosmopolites 

 throughout the world. Perhaps the eternal struggle for sustenance 

 in the high country has provided the Quechuas little leisure time 

 for development of ancient arts. Their forebears knew the secret of 

 tempering copper, but the Quechuas have lost much simpler arts. 



Habits and customs of these primitive peoples have been re- 

 corded at length by historians and archaeologists but they have 

 never been fully portrayed; much less understood. The interest of 

 Allan Hancock Expeditions in the Quechuas has been wholly pic- 

 torial, and excellent color films of a market day in Riobamba have 

 been accumulated for educational purposes. The intent is to encour- 

 age further investigation into subjects of scientific import. 258 



