A GLIMPSE INTO SOUTHERN BOLIVIA 



413 



isolated little depressions to which the 

 name "valle^-s" can hardly be given, 

 and thin pillars of smoke ascended from 

 them straight into the cloudless sky. 

 After long and patient looking a small. 

 stone hut set among rocks would invari- 

 ably be discovered, and sometimes we 

 could even distinguish minute, moving 

 forms which we knew were Indians. 

 There, tucked away between the tower- 

 ing peaks they love so well, they were 

 living a life of peace and plenty, apjiav- 

 ently unmolested, and caring little aljout 

 the existence of the outer world. It was 

 as if one tore a page from the history 

 of bygone centuries, or found himself 

 suddenly transferred into the midst of 

 a contented, pastoral community such 

 as must have existed throughout the 

 vast empire before its despoliation by 

 the gold-crazed invaders. 



These Indians seldom come down 

 into the lower country ; their partiality 

 for the high puna is well known — some 

 of the ancient dwellings having been 

 discovered at an elevation of more than 

 seventeen thousand feet — and they are 

 doubtless happier in their almost in- 

 accessible fastnesses than if they lived 

 nearer to their Bolivian neighbors. 



In appearance and dress these Indi- 

 ans differ greatly from the other mem- 

 bers of the tribe living in the more 

 populous sections of the country. In- 

 stead of the more or less conventional 

 attire adopted by the latter, they still 

 adhere to a form of dress at least a 

 part of which may date back to the days 

 of Atahualpa. The women wear a 

 quantity of clothing — short, full skirts 

 of dark blue, and shawls of varied 

 colors. The men are garbed in loose, 

 white knee breeches, a gray or blue 

 shirt, and belts which are neatly em- 

 broidered in gay colors and are very 

 wide at the back so that they form a kind 

 of sash; also they wear the inevital)le 



Quichua man from the Upper Pilcomayo, wear- 

 ing a typical native costume : helmet-like hat of 

 skin, blouse woven in a peculiar Indian pattern, 

 wide loose trousers of coarse cloth, and sandals. 

 His hair is braided in a long queue 



poncho, a large square of heavy cloth 

 with a hole in the center through which 

 the head is thrust. Strange as it may 

 seem, the small children always wear 

 very long clothing, and the little girls 

 waddling along in their full, almost 



