304 IN THE WILDS OF SOUTH AMERICA 



of the clearing a stately cross had been erected; hewn from 

 the heart of a giant ceiba. 



The priest was delighted to see us and spared no effort 

 to make us comfortable. We were soon installed in a room 

 of one of the buildings which served as a boys' dormitory, 

 and a' short time later started out to inspect our surround- 

 ings. 



At first the Indians were reticent and would peer at us 

 from a distance. This was true particularly of the chil- 

 dren, but as the days wore on we made friends with them, 

 and from both the people themselves and the priest we 

 learned a great deal about their history and habits. 



The name Yuracar^, according to D'Orbigny, was given 

 to them by the Quechuas, and means "white man"; this is 

 most inappropriate, as they are of a decided brown color, 

 although perhaps averaging lighter than the Quechuas. 

 They were first discovered by Viedma in 1768. 



At the present time, at least, the Yuracarfe are a people 

 of the hot, humid lowlands. Those who have not been 

 captured and brought to the missions, or who escaped the 

 unenviable fate of having been taken from their forest home 

 by private "slaving expeditions," five along the smaller 

 branches of the streams, which eventually find their way 

 into the Mamore; this includes particularly the Chapare, 

 Chimore, the Ichilo, and the Isiboro. 



There were about four hundred Indians residing at the 

 mission. Although attempts have been made intermittently 

 to civihze these people for more than a himdred years, 

 there were long intervals when the work had to be aban- 

 doned, and the families natxu-ally returned to their homes 

 in the wilderness. Nearly all of the present aggregation 

 had been brought together during the last few years. New- 

 comers are added to their number frequently. The priest, 

 learning of other famiUes far up some unmapped quebrada 

 or streamlet, takes a few of the men who have learned to 

 place confidence in him and whom he trusts, and starts 

 forth on long canoe voyages in search of them. They ap- 



