KALEIDOSCOPIC LA PAZ: CITY OF THE CLOUDS 



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COURT-YARD OE THE HOTEL IN LA PAZ, FORMERLY A COLONIAL MANSION 



the latter slit at the knees and pieces of 

 cotton cloth inserted, permitting greater 

 freedom of action in hill climbing. The 

 men were bare-footed, but their heads 

 were well protected from the severe cold 

 by skull caps of vicuna wool worn under- 

 neath felt hats. These caps and the 

 woolen ponchos covering their broad 

 shoulders were multi-colored, and with 

 the shining copper jars they presented a 

 gay figure. The skin of these Andean 

 highlanders is a russet brown in shade, 

 the hair straight and black, while their 

 features bear a striking resemblance to 

 those of the Tibetan on the Himalayan 

 plateau. 



As the water-carriers started up hill 

 on a trot, bowed down under the weight 

 on their backs, we had an "intermission 

 for refreshments." Unlike a breakfast in 

 the States, this early repast consisted only 

 of thick, sweet chocolate and unbuttered 

 rolls, served in our room by a pongo. 



This odd character is an Aymara, who 

 is a relic of the Colonial days, when the 

 cruel repartimiento and mita systems 

 were enforced by the Spaniards. The 

 repartimiento was the distribution among 

 the natives of articles of European pro- 

 duction — a source of oppression and 

 fraud. The Indians were obliged to pay 

 exorbitant prices for articles utterly 

 useless to them. Far more oppressive 

 and cruel was the mita, consisting of 

 forced labor in the mines and plantations, 

 where the poor Indians died by the thou- 

 sands from over-exertion and ill-treat- 

 ment. 



Another sort of compulsory labor was 

 domestic service in the homes of pro- 

 vincial authorities and priests. These 

 house servants were called pongos, and a 

 modified form of this service exists today 

 in La Paz. A friend of mine, who rented 

 a house in the city, found that one of 

 these servants went with it, a new one for 



