20 



CHICHA AND CHUPE. 



minded race of men ; but, upon closer examination, we found the work 

 going on in the side of a bank, which was being regularly divided off 

 into sugar-loaves. Had we entered this apparent encampment at mid- 

 night, I should have called out, for those rocks which stand off on the 

 plateau a little distance look like sentry boxes around the main body of • 

 an army. 



The constant wearing away of these elevated portions of the earth is 

 beautifully demonstrated here, where the uplands seem to be dissolv- 

 ing and settling down towards a level — examples of the natural working 

 of weather upon stones, so nearly resembling that of human hands with 

 hammer and chisel. We found these pyramids for some distance 

 along the road. Some of them were inhabited by families of Indians, 

 large square holes or rooms being cut in the north side. Some rooms 

 required steps to ascend ; others were even with the ground. I found 

 the family at home in one of them. Near the doorway was a horse- 

 trough cut in the stone, and above it a place like the handle of a pot, 

 where the end of the halter was tied. Cooking utensils, dogs, and 

 children were seen in the lower story, while the Indian woman was 

 spinning wool in the upper, or bed-room. A few regularly-built stone 

 houses near by are not so interesting. 



On this part of our journey, Indian girls, with chicha and chupe for 

 sale, are seated at the tops of the steep ascents. Chicha is the favorite 

 drink of the Indians. A party — generally old women — seat themselves 

 around a wooden trough containing maize. Each one takes a mouthful, 

 and mashes the grain between her teeth — if she has any — and casts it 

 back into the trough in the most sickening manner. As the mill-stones 

 are often pretty well worn, the operation requires time and perseverance. 

 The mass, with water added, is then boiled in large coppers, after 

 which it is left to ferment in huge earthen jars, when it is sold by the 

 brewers without a license. It is an intoxicating drink, but very healthful, 

 the Indians say. Chupe is the Peruvian national dish, and may be 

 made of any and everything, so long as it holds its relationship to soup. 

 It is made generally of mutton, potatoes, eggs, rice, all highly seasoned 

 with pepper, &c. 



As the weary traveller arrives almost breathless at the top of the hill, 

 the girl tempts him. I halted by one of them, and addressed her in 

 Spanish, but she answered in Quichua, and pointed to her chupe, which 

 I believe she had kept warm by sitting over it during the morning. I 

 thanked her kindly, and pushed on. Here and there an Indian hut is . 

 to be seen at a distance. In the valley to our right are flocks of sheep ; 

 and the merry laugh of the shepherdesses echoes through the mountains. 



