THE CACTUS FORESTS OF CENTRAL BOLIVIA 323 



religious fervor gives them license to indulge in acts that 

 would not be tolerated at other times. 



Padre Fulgencio, with whom we had become acquainted 

 at the mission on the Chimore, had told me a great deal 

 about the monastery of San Jose, located at Tarata, and 

 had given us a letter of introduction to the abbot. We 

 therefore called upon that personage at the first available 

 moment. 



The huge building stands on an eminence overlooking 

 the town and surrounding country, and is said to be the 

 largest of its kind in Bolivia. We were ushered through 

 long, gloomy corridors, past rows of small, cell-like rooms, 

 and finally into the quarters of the abbot. This good man 

 received us in his cell, and cordially offered to assist us in 

 any way possible. He also invited us to make the monas- 

 tery our home during our stay in Tarata. A group of 

 monks added their invitation to their superior's, but the 

 edifice, with walls eight or ten feet thick, small, narrow 

 windows, bare, gloomy rooms, and the chill damp as of a 

 dungeon was not very inviting, and we preferred to return 

 to the Quechua hut that seemed to belong more to the 

 every-day world. One of the priests, however, secured an 

 arriero and mules to take us the first stage of the journey. 



Our man arrived about noon on Sunday, September 18. 

 Much to our surprise we saw that he had but one arm, 

 but this did not prevent him from being one of the best 

 mule-men we ever employed. He had evolved a clever 

 system of loading the packs that was admirably suited to 

 his needs. Instead of the long ropes or thongs ordinarily 

 used to tie on the cargoes he had strong nets that fitted 

 over the packs, with loops that could be hooked over pegs 

 in the pack-saddle. He lifted the trunks, each weighing 

 one hundred and twenty-five pounds with his one arm, 

 slipped them into place, and then tied them securely to 

 prevent them from bouncing up and down as the animals 

 trotted along. 



The first afternoon's ride was short and ended at the 



