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The National Geographic Magazine 



NEAR CUZCO 



ged, unkempt Mozo brought chocolate 

 and bread up to our room. This early 

 meal is called desayuno. Cuzco choco- 

 late is rich and sweet, with a dash of 

 cinnamon, and is made from native cocao. 

 As is the custom throughout the south- 

 ern republics, breakfast (almuerso) was 

 served at half-past eleven, and dinner 

 (comida) at six. We went daily to the 

 market to buy fruit, and although the city 

 is situated two miles above sea-level, its 

 market is filled with tropical and semi- 

 tropical fruits from the Santa Ana and 

 other valleys in the lowlands. Burros, 

 the little slaves of Latin America, bring 

 the produce to town over the steep moun- 

 tain trail. Among the many varieties 

 of fruit for sale in the market are ba- 

 nanas, oranges pineapples, figs, paltas 

 (alligator pears), sapotas, pomegranates, 

 and chirimoyas. 



This market place is one of the unique 

 features of the city. Here the country 



people gather, selling to the merchants 

 (usually women), who sit on the ground 

 under shelters, their wares spread out on 

 blankets. The ladies of the town come 

 early to buy the day's provisions, fol- 

 lowed by their servants carrying native 

 baskets. The senoras have sweet, pale 

 faces and large dark eyes. Their heads 

 and shoulders are draped in black man- 

 tos, their black skirts trailing. They are 

 of Spanish blood, but many have an In- 

 dian strain, and all can speak the Quichua 

 language, taught them by their nurses 

 and now used when conversing with the 

 servants. 



The costume of the Indians is most 

 picturesque. Both men and women are 

 bare-legged and wear sandals of llama 

 hide. The men are clothed in knee- 

 breeches and woolen ponchos ; the women 

 in low-cut blouses and short skirts. Both 

 sexes wear great cart-wheel hats, a rich 

 blue in shade, lined with red, and 



