41-? 



THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL 



from the shower of rockets and explod- 

 ing missiles. The hand halts at each 

 hovel for a drink of chicha, and then 

 continues along the dusty way. 



In the vicinity of Cochabamba ilio 

 Quichuas are rather civilized, com- 

 23aratively speaking, owing to their 



Quiehua woman from the Upper Pikomayo, who 

 daily carried goat's milk to the expedition's camp. 

 The front of her loose dress is tucked up for the 

 walk down the mountain. Her shawl is fastened 

 with spoon-shaped pins, tlie only jewelry common 

 in the Quiehua country 



constant association with the Bolivians. 

 As one goes farther toward the south, 

 however, a marked change is noticeable. 

 This reaches its climax in the regions 

 ])ordering the Upper Pilcomayo. 



On one of our excursions we left the 

 expedition's base at Sucre, and follow- 

 ing the Potosi road for a distance of 

 tliirty miles, made camp on the river 

 bank. The bed of the Pilcomayo is 

 several hundred feet wide at this point, 

 and is spanned by a suspension bridge 

 anchored at each end to picturesque 

 towers. At the time of our visit the 

 water was very low ; the shallow, muddy 

 stream, wending a sinuous course 

 througli the rock-strewn floor of the 

 NaUcy. was not more than fifty feet 

 .ici'oss. I eouhl not fail to be impressed 

 witli the ditferenee in character of the 

 river in the upper and the lower 

 sirctclics of its course. Here it was 

 hciniiicd in by towering peaks of rock 

 ii|iiiii wliicli .siu-h a light growth of 

 xcgctation obtains a foothold that it 

 can support only a few flocks of goats, 

 and tlu'se find great difficulty in eking 

 out a bare existence; lower down, it 

 sweeps through the steaming pantanales 

 of tlu' Gran C'haco, and finally enters 

 the Paraguay almost opposite to the 

 i-ity of Asuncion, a majestic, awe-in- 

 spiring river. 



As frequently occurs in semi-arid 

 country, birds were very abundant ; but 

 there was little else to indicate the close 

 l)roximity of other forms of life, un- 

 less one took into account the herds of 

 goats clambering about on the ledges 

 and seeming to delight in bombarding 

 (■\'ery one who ]:)assed below with 

 showt'rs of small stones; or the car- 

 avans of burros and llamas passing 

 along on the broad highway. A visit 

 to tlie top of one of the neighboring 

 moLintains, however, revealed a differ- 

 ent story. Patches of green dotted the 



