YURACARES. 



203 



They wait patiently until it passes away. I believe they think it is 

 a punishment sent to them, and they must bear it th^best way 

 they can. 



The Yuracares Indians are not navigators, but hunters, and are less 

 under the control of the church than either the cultivators of the soil 

 or our canoemen. I was unable to find out the number composing the 

 Yuracares tribe, but there are not many of them. Chimore is the 

 capital of the province, and in the list of "villas," which are given for 

 all places containing over three hundred inhabitants, Chimore is not 

 found. The Yuracares tribe are scattered along the base of the Andes 

 in this province in little bands of from seven to twenty ; and there may 

 be in the whole province six hundred Yuracares Indians. The present 

 productions of Yuracares are confined principally to the cinchona bark 

 and coca. 



As the streams and soils have not been carefully examined, we are 

 ignorant of its mineral wealth. Yuracares is an extensive province, well 

 wooded and watered, with a very sparse population throughout. At 

 the base of this ridge of mountains appears the most inviting place we 

 have met in Bolivia for the cultivator of the soil. It is within the rain- 

 belt. The coffee tree of Yuracares is much more heavily loaded with 

 grains than those seen at Rio Janeiro, in Brazil. 



The small-pox was brought by the Indians of the low country, who 

 in turn had it from Brazil, and finally bore it up the mountain-side into 

 the city of Cochabamba. 



A warehouse should be constructed in Vinchuta in the most careful 

 way, to avoid the dampness of the climate. Flour spoils quickly, 

 particularly that made from grain produced in a cold climate. South- 

 ern grain lasts the longest there. White cotton goods must be cov- 

 ered to avoid the wet, as well as all other articles which are in the least 

 injured by damp weather. All valuable goods should be well packed 

 in bales of seventy-five pounds weight. A mule carries half a cargo 

 up the eastern side of the Andes. Two bales, weighing one hundred 

 and fifty pounds, are taken at the same price three hundred are carried 

 for on better roads. 



The Indians bring up quantities of chocolate from Mojos enclosed in 

 raw-hides. They stow four of these bails on one platform in a canoe ; 

 but when they arrive here, the arriero must rip the bales open and 

 divide them, to form suitable loads for each of his mules. By this 

 means, some is wasted, and all exposed to the climate. 



Pieces of machinery, boxes of wine, or valuable articles, are often 

 left behind by not being of proper weight. Even if the animals were 



