136 POPULATION. 



bits sounds not unlike that of a tin pedler's wagon. The horses are not 

 well gaited, and some of the men bad riders ; they all lean back, as 

 though riding Sown hill all the time. There was not much discipline 

 among the cavalry, unless smoking paper cigars and drinking chicha 

 are regulations for cavalry drill. The women fancy the horsemen; 

 crowds of them collect to look on. Some of them bring chicha, and 

 with the most daring manner slip in between the horses a jug or light 

 for a cigar. The population of Cochabamba is composed of about one 

 man to five women, or more when the government comes. There are 

 an unusual number of weddings, for the beauties of Cochabamba are 

 thought to surpass those of other towns in the country. 



The public force of Bolivia is composed of a standing army, an 

 organized national guard, or militia, and a police. The standing army 

 consists of three thousand men, with one officer to every six soldiers. 

 Indians are not enlisted, they being considered the agriculturists of the 

 country. 



Bolivia has a population of about one million five hundred thousand ; 

 more than one-half are Indians, so that there is one soldier in the stand- 

 ing army for less than every two hundred and fifty Creoles. The cost 

 of maintaining this army is not less than one million of dollars per 

 annum, drawn from the labor of the aborigines. This is a heavy tax, 

 when we consider that the value of the exports, exclusive of silver and 

 gold, are not over five 1 undred thousand dollars a year. 



The organized militia, about twenty thousand strong, are ready to 

 defend their country, and when called out, fight bravely. Those who 

 are natives of the Andes have an advantage over the soldiers of the 

 lower countries, in being able to exert themselves in a then natural 

 atmosphere. When men who live in the lowlands travel to the height 

 of fifteen thousand feet above sea level, they give out for want of breath, 

 and lay harmless upon the ground, while the Bolivian soldier smokes 

 his paper cigar with comfort, and laughs at the imprudence of his 

 enemy. 



We visited the family of a countryman, the widow and two handsome 

 children of a gentleman very much respected by the people of this 

 country. His son, a fine looking little fellow of ten years of age, had 

 the manners of a Spaniard, and spoke his mother's language ; but the 

 quick flash of his black eye, and his desire to join our expedition, 

 plainly bespoke his relationship to Uncle Sam. His sister, the elder of 

 the two, promises to be the beauty of Cochabamba. 



At daylight in the morning we passed the river Mamore ; it is called 

 here Rio Grande. The Indians waded across knee-deep. The width of 



