1!)2 THE AMAZON AND MADEIRA RIVERS. 
a sort of allegorical dunce, with a gi’eat show of hraiulishing their 
inoifensivo weiipons, which they at last, breathless and perspii-ing, laid I 
doflTi, together with their savage diadems, at the foot of the crucifis ; 
the whole evidently representing the suhinission of the Indians and 
then’ conversion to Chiastianity. 
Old Bolivians have told me that these dances used to be executed I 
by dozens of macheteiros, and that they would probably have ceased i 
altogether if the chieftains did not exert the fuU weight of their j 
authority in behalf of keeping them up, oven forcing the young men, 
in case of need, to take part in them. 
Self-inflicted tortures are occasionally Avitnessed in these processions, 
imder the stimulus of religious fanaticism, apt to remind one of the 
great ear of Juggernaut. It may be an Indian who, tied by his 
outstretched arms and by one leg to a heavy wooden cross, aceoiupanies 
the corUge for hours in a painful crawl ; or it may be devotees (women 
among them) who drag themselves along on their btire knees, until, 
fainting and bleeding, they sink down before the altar. 
These festivals regularly end in sharp drinking bouts, in which they 
contrive to consume a very large quantity of caeha^a (brandy), or of 
their national beverage, cliicha; of which I shall treat below. i 
Among the chief “profane” occasions for shows and mii’th-making ! 
are the rare visits of the Prefect of the Departamento, who resides i 
at Trinidad, when ho passes through the Piieblos on one of his circuits. j 
Though it be no proud, richly-carved and gilt Venetian barge that i 
carries him down the Mamord, but quite an ordinary boat with palm- ' 
leaf awning, which at most boasts the green-yellow-red flag of the | 
Eepublic, yet the grace and dignity with which the Excellentissimo ' 
accepts the homage of the crowd waiting for him in the “port” 
certainly recall the proudest days of the noble city on the Lagoons. 
A volley of musketry is fired, and the high dignitary is solemnly ( 
conducted to the Pueblo, “with a concert contributed by the fiddles, I 
the pipes, aud the inevitable bajones, which on these occasions are ' 
supported by boys walking before the musicians, like the trombones ^ 
of antiq'uity. Headed by their chief, the whole Indian population 
passes under the vrindows of Sua Excellencia, after which a solemn 
.service is held ; but the setting of the sun is aAvaited impatiently all 
the day. Then begin the entertainments, which reach their climax 
in a bxill-fight of the most cruel kind, and terminate M’ith the night. 
