54 



POSTMAN 



PROVINCE OF JAEN DE BRACAMOROS. 



PLATE XXXI. 



In order to render the communication between 

 the coasts of the Pacific Ocean, and the province 

 of Jean de Bracamoros, situate on the east of 

 the Andes, more easy, the postman of Peru 

 descends swimming, for two days, first the river 

 of Guancabamba, or Chamaya, and afterward 

 that of Amazons, from Pomahuaca and Inga- 

 tambo to Tomependa. He wraps the few let- 

 ters, of which he is the bearer every month, 

 sometimes in a handkerchief, sometimes in a 

 kind of drawers called guayuco, which he winds 

 as a turban around his head. This turban con- 

 tains also the great knife (machette), with which 

 every Indian is armed, rather to cut his way 

 through the forests, than as a weapon of de- 

 fence. 



