popayAn and the CERRO MUNCHIQUE 25 



supported the heavy pack; usually a small child was car- 

 ried in a sling at her side, while several larger children clung 

 to her skirt or trudged behind. As she walked she worked, 

 spinning from a bunch of wool or cotton tucked under her 

 arm, the spindle, a sharpened stick with a potato stuck on 

 the end, dangling from her hands. The most characteristic 

 occupation of the women is the making of small fibre bags, 

 or muchilas, from hempen cord. They are meshed entirely 

 by hand as the overburdened worker trots along, and when 

 completed somewhat resemble a lady's shopping-bag. If 

 the meshes are close it requires weeks to finish one which 

 would fetch forty or fifty cents. 



The men are dressed in loose white-cotton trousers that 

 come below the knee; then there is the inevitable square of 

 homespun woollen cloth, usually brownish, gray, or blue, 

 called ruana; the head is thrust through a hole in the cen- 

 tre so that it drapes down to the waist, the corners often 

 touching the ground and giving the same effect as the toga 

 of a Roman senator. At night the ruana takes the place 

 of a blanket under which the whole family sleeps. A broad- 

 brimmed, high-crowned straw hat completes the outfit. 

 The women are fond of dark-blue skirts (also the product 

 of their industry), pink waists, and shawls of almost any 

 color so long as they have fringes. Their hats are similar 

 to those worn by the men. The feet of both sexes are, of 

 course, bare. 



Half an hour after leaving Belen we were cantering across 

 the great brick bridge that spans the Cauca and forms the 

 entrance to Popayan. This bridge is really a marvel of 

 ancient Spanish architecture, five hundred feet long, forty 

 feet wide, and supported by a series of arches. 



Popayan is one of the oldest and most picturesque of 

 Spanish-American cities, though by no means the largest. 

 I doubt if its population exceeds ten thousand. The early 

 history of the city is full of interest, and from it one gains 

 an insight into the conditions attendant upon the conquest 

 and colonization of a large part of South America. Spurred 



