THE ANDES SOUTHWEST OF POPAYAN 37 



the region for the purpose of ministering to the people's 

 spiritual needs. The fact had been widely advertised, so 

 early on the appointed day man}' natives appeared, bring- 

 ing small children to be baptized. About thirty had been 

 brought by noon, when the priest commanded the god- 

 parents to line up, each holding his gaudily dressed and 

 probably fretful little charge. The priest began at one 

 end of the row, dispensing one part of the sacrament to 

 each child as he passed; then he went back and began all 

 over again, giving the second part to each of them, and so 

 on until the rite was completed. 



It so happened that there was a small child in the hut 

 we had chosen for our several days' sojourn. To honor 

 the gringos who were stopping under her roof, the sefiora 

 asked Richardson to be the little one's godfather, while I 

 was permitted to suggest the name. We naturally felt as 

 if we should give the baby a present, but a thorough ran- 

 sacking through my effects revealed only a can of talcum 

 powder, w r hich I promptly presented to the mother. A few 

 days later she came to me in distress: "The baby has a 

 slight fever," she said. "I gave it some of the white pow- 

 der you made me a present of, but it did no good. How 

 much is it necessary to take at one time?" 



The western slope of the range is very abrupt. Large 

 forces of men were engaged in cutting a narrow ledge for a 

 footpath into the face of the steep mountainside. The trail 

 wound back and forth continuously; looking over the rim 

 of the narrow shelf one could count six or eight loops under- 

 neath, one below the other. 



The work of cutting such a way is hazardous for the men 

 engaged in it. The soil is loose and saturated with water, 

 so landslides were of frequent occurrence; and whenever 

 the irresistible avalanche swept the precipitous terrain, it 

 usually carried one or more of the laborers with it and 

 buried them under tons of rock and debris. It was in- 

 variably hopeless to try to find the body, so the survivors 

 simply erected a cross on the spot. Frequently there were 



