The Aymaeas. 



461 



they are grave, and deferential to caballeros — always re- 

 moving the hat vi^hen met on the highway. They also 

 dress similarly: the men with a broad-brim over a skull- 

 cap, a poncho of llama-wool (natural color), short trousers, 

 and hide sandals; the women with a short gown, blue, 

 brown, or black, and a shawl {manta) of fine wool but 

 coarse texture, pinned with a large, spoon -shaped topo. 



Aymara MeD,-Puno. (Prom a Photograph.) 



But the head - gear of the women is most extraordinary, 

 and, after the cathedral, the most conspicuous object in 

 Puno. It is of black cloth, lined with red, on a paste- 

 board frame, expanding at the top, from which flaps and 

 tinsel hang down. The Aymara is one of the most gut- 

 tural languages in the world, and peculiar also in its la- 

 bial and dental pronunciation ; but it is very expressive 



