MOCHE; A PERUVIAN COASTAL COMMUNITY— GILLIN 



127 



Tlie diagnosis having been finished, Piscoya opened the ctii 

 with a knife and examined the entrails carefully. "Cliachu. 

 Chachu," he exclaimed, "It is all chachu [irritated or con- 

 gested]." And so it was in fact. The viscera appeared irri- 

 tated and congested, covered with violet spots. There was 

 not an organ which was not affected. The congestion was 

 general — todo estd chachu. 



Fortunately, it was mal de hombre, caused by an ayahtuiira 

 —bad wind— and could be cured. It all depended upon using 

 the proper paja [herb]. Thus said Piscoya as he rubbed the 

 body of the cui with vinegar and gave it to be buried, warn- 

 ing that the face not be turned, under threat of the immediate 

 death of the patient. (P. 179.) 



Following the diagnosis, a great difficulty developed. Tra- 

 ditional practice required that Don Jose Miguel be taken to a 

 solitary spot in the campo where at midnight, the limpiador — 

 provided with his classic equipment : table, chonia, and rattle 

 {macana) and accompanied by the ahadores who would 

 raise the spirit of the patient, and by the rastrero who would 

 direct the treatment — would ask the saints, the mountains 

 and the sacred lakes which herbs Don Jose Miguel would 

 have to drink there in infusion. Given the prostration of 

 the patient, it was not possible to move his bed . . . 



The preparations lasted only a short time. The following 

 night, Piscoya appeared with his bag and his group of 

 assistants : Casimiro Farronan and Miguel Peche, "sorbe- 

 dores," and Mateo Sernaque, "rastrero." Beside the bed . . . 

 the table was set up, consisting of a piece of cloth (tocuyo) 

 EI Inca, and the instruments were lined up: a rusty sword, 

 various images of saints in piedra Berengueta, bits of quartz, 

 sea shells (perlitas) and small idols taken from the huacas. 

 At the end of the table were the medicines, represented 

 mostly by the vegetable kingdom : sea weed, cactus and ver- 

 benaceas of the coastal plains, the gayas and perfumed 

 flowers of the mountain quebradas; the velvety and resinous 

 plants oi the jalcas [high plateaus], the liqucns charged with 

 metallic oxides and calcareous salts of the Cordillera. And 

 together with these vegetables, the egg of the Angelote, 

 against the tuberculosis ; the eye of the Gran Bestia, which 

 cures heart trouble ; the grease of the Yacumama, without 

 rival in rheumatism. Finally, within a tin of "Bacalao de 

 Noruega sin espinas" were placed three powerful panaceas of 

 the jungles of Jaen: the oje (Finctis glabrata), the Chuchu- 

 huasi, and the Ubos (Spoiidia mamborin). And, inside a 

 bottle of Spey Royal Whiskey were two lizards and a centi- 

 pede, drowmed in cane alcohol (cafiaso). (P. 181.) 



When the arrangement of the table was finished, Piscoya 

 took his macana, made from a dry calabash, and rattling the 

 dry seeds within, opened the affair with an invocation to San 

 Cipriavo, patron of the brujos: 



San Cipriano, niilagroso santo, 



ddfne la i-irtii 



pa la gloria de tus ai'ios, y de tu juventu. . . 



"Tirense una perlita." At this word of Piscoya, the "sorbe- 

 dores" filled the sea shells with a mixture of Agua Florida 

 and tobacco, and sniffed up, part of the contents in their 

 noses. The "rastrero" drank a glass of the infusion of 

 San Pedro de Cuatro Vientes (a cactus plant ; the flutings 

 of the stem are called zienios; its power is thought to in- 

 crease with the number of flutings ; also called huachwna; 



best grown on the sacred mountain of Lhaparri) and the 

 "mestro" began to chew some loaves of misha. By means 

 of these terrible narcotics, all aimed to place themselves in 

 a position to be able to "see" the cause of the "daiio" and to 

 select the herbs which would cure the patient. 



Various minutes passed ; half an hour; an hour, and noth- 

 ing. The invocations to San Cipriano, the Cruz de Chalpon, 

 and the sacred lakes and mountains seemed to have no end. 

 Neither the limpiador nor his assistants alcancaroit a ver: 



Santo San Cipriano 



pcnnllenos ver, 

 y que tu yerbita 

 Saiga diondeste. . . 



Suddenly the "rastrero"— v,ho had never stopped drinking 

 the infusion of San Pedro constantly— began to stagger. 

 "Yerbita, what do you see?" shouted Piscoya, stopping the 

 rattle and going near to the rastrero. "I am seeing a malero 

 who wishes to do harm to the table," answered the rastrero, 

 and getting hold of himself as much as possible, added, "He 

 is going to blow a remalaso [bad wind blown by an invidious 

 brujo]. Look out!" Upon hearing what the yerbita said 

 by the mouth of the rastrero, the sorbedores threw themselves 

 face downward, trying to cover the head with the poncho. 

 With a jump, Piscoya placed himself in the middle of the 

 table ; and seizing the sword, he started to cut the wind, while 

 he howled : 



Atrds Atrds sombra mala. 



Estoy con Dios, y los sanlos; 



Con el alto Yanahiianga, 



Con el ancho Chaparri. 



No podrds contra de mi. 



For a good while the sword, agilely wielded by Piscoya, 

 whistled through the air, while the rastrero did not tire in 

 "raising the spirit," of the Maestro: "Crie valor, mestro.^ 

 Crie valor. Yd estd cortdu el rainalaco. Yd se ju-e. 5- d 

 se jue." 



Now that the rcmala:o had passed, Piscoya wiped the 

 sweat off himself ; he made the sorbedores get up— they were 

 completely stupefied— and replacing the sword with the 

 chonta, he started to dance. 



There was a long period of singing and dancing : 



Yerbitas, Yerbitas, 

 vamas yd viniendo, 

 porque el enfermito 

 muclio estd padeciendo. 



At this point, one of the sorbedores— not being able to re- 

 strain himself and inspired by a force greater than his will- 

 got up and placed himself in front of Piscoya, making the 

 same movements as the latter. With his eyes turned inward, 

 his gaze fixed on the maestro and the muscles of his face 

 shaken as by an electric current, the sorbedor had a horrible 

 and strange aspect. There was a moment in which, balancing 

 himself on the threshold, he tried to leave; but Piscoya, sure 

 of the hypnotic power which he exercised over the unfor- 

 tunate man, retained him with a movement of the chonta; 

 with another movement he made him return to his place ; and 

 with another, he immobilized him. "Yerbita, que vest" he 

 demanded. "Una mujer gorda, con dos moi'ios largos, estd 



