286 IN THE WILDS OF SOUTH AMERICA 



of the pupils he declared a vacation until the gringos should 

 move on. 



Chicha, the native drink of Quechuas and Bolivians alike, 

 is a kind of corn-beer; it is made by grinding maize into a 

 fine meal, after which the women and children thoroughly 

 masticate a part of it; water is added to the mass and the 

 thick liquid is boiled several hours, after which it is poured 

 into jars to ferment; it is of a yellow color, has a tart, agree- 

 able taste, and is intoxicating. 



The forest at Locotal is somewhat taller than at Inca- 

 chaca, but the birds are of a similar character. Very abun- 

 dant and beautiful were the brilliant cocks-of-the-rock ; the 

 bright, orange-red creatures flashed through the deep green 

 of the forest like fiery comets and, perching on the low 

 branch of a tree, quietly surveyed their surrounding, or 

 uttered hoarse, croaking calls. This bird is most conspicu- 

 ous in its natural environment. Among the other large 

 birds were green toucans (Aulacorhynchus) ; the natives 

 hunted them on every possible occasion for the sake of 

 obtaining the bill, which they use as remedio, the rasping 

 sound made by rubbing the mandibles together being sup- 

 posed to be an unfailing cure for epilepsy. 



While pursuing our work at Locotal, a man named 

 Quiroga chanced to pass, and begged that we pay him the 

 honor of stopping at his house some distance below; it was 

 a charming place, he said, in the very heart of the wonder- 

 ful Yungas. We gladly accepted his invitation, and one 

 morning loaded our outfit on mules and started down the 

 trail. For a mile there is only a narrow ledge in the face 

 of a rounded mountain of dark sandstone; a few stunted 

 sprouts, and myriads of orchids covered with purple blooms, 

 have secured a precarious foothold in crevices in the glazed 

 surface; hundreds of feet below, but invisible, the river 

 tears through a narrow gorge. At one point a strip of the 

 shelf upon which we travelled had entirely disappeared; 

 we could not see the bottom of the canyon — its depth was 

 too great — but there were evidences we could not mistake, 



