Sl^ 



The National Geographic Magazine 



The chronicles of Potosi are interest- 

 ing as well as instructive. We see de- 

 picted the customs of those ages, with all 

 their preoccupations and fanaticism as 

 well as the spirit of chivalry and love of 

 adventure. Spanish hidalgoes prided 

 themselves on squandering great for- 

 tunes in feasts and revelry, which often 

 caused strife among the bands in which 

 the city was often divided. 



ANECDOTES OE THE MINERS 



The anecdotes of those times that have 

 reached us are really curious and amus- 

 ing, and as samples I will relate some of 

 them : A miner named Quiroz was one of 

 the most fortunate of his da}' — a man of 

 generous spirit, who by his liberality won 

 the affection of his fellow-men. It is 

 related that he caused to be made a series 

 of drawers in an immense wardrobe in 

 his home, and in each drawer he would 

 put a sum of money, varying from one 

 to thousands of dollar; Then, as today, 

 there was no lack of nich anxious to se- 

 cure a living without work, and when 

 any one presented himself to ask for help 

 he was ordered to open one of the draw- 

 ers and try his luck. The prodigality of 

 this man became a proverb ; it was said, 

 "After God, Ouiros" (Despues de Dios, 

 Quiroz). 



On a certain feast day the butlers of 

 two great houses met in the public mar- 

 ket, and both wished to purchase a cer- 

 tain delicacy, ver}' rare in such a place as 

 Potosi. The competition was started 

 between the two, who tried to outbid 

 each other. One of the butlers, believ- 

 ing that the price had gone too high, and 

 that he had done enough to uphold the 

 name of his master, left the other with 

 the coveted prize, and when he reached 

 home and related what had occurred he 

 was promptly discharged for not having 

 sustained the honor of the house and 

 allowed the other fellow to get the best 

 of him. 



One of the characteristics of those 

 times was the religious fanaticism ; and 

 the miners, in order to insure their sal- 

 vation or pardon for their sins, donated 



enormous sums of money for the build- 

 ing of churches and convents, and this 

 explains why so many churches are 

 found today in the old Spanish towns. 



The Carnegies of those days did not 

 possess the broad and high mind of our 

 own Carnegie, who has once more shown 

 his noble ambition by his recent magnifi- 

 cent gift of $750,000 toward the building 

 of the palace for the use of the Bureau 

 of the American Republics, which will be 

 a lasting monument to their friendship 

 and the cosmopolitan sentiments of its 

 promoters. 



If in political and administrative af- 

 fairs the sovereign will of the king and 

 his representatives was the law, so in 

 domestic life the father, as chief of the 

 family, was equally the supreme ruler, 

 the wife and children being his subjects. 

 It may surprise the young ladies to hear 

 that in many cases the contracting par- 

 ties, whose marriages were always ar- 

 ranged by the respective fathers, did not 

 know each other until the time of the 

 ceremony which was to link them to- 

 gether for life as man and wife. 



For fear that the girls would employ 

 their time in writing love letters, many 

 fathers prohibited their daughters from 

 learning to write, and the only books to 

 be had were those of a devotional char- 

 acter and the lives of the saints. Despot- 

 ism feared light, and books not approved 

 and selected by the ecclesiastical author- 

 ities were strictly forbidden. 



It is easy to see that public instruction 

 was very limited and little encouraged. 

 The city of Sucre, capital of Bolivia, 

 known in colonial times as Charcas, had 

 an university and was the residence of 

 the Royal Audiencia. whose jurisdiction 

 extended over all the territory that today 

 constitutes Bolivia, and it was at the 

 same time the highest tribunal of justice 

 and the delegated authorit}' of the king 

 in administrative affairs. 



THE WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE 



Thus, under the reign of absolute sub- 

 mission to the crown of Spain and its 

 representatives, the colonies of South 



