POSTMAN 
OF THE 
FROFINCE OF JAEN BE BEACAMOROS. 
PLATE XXXI, ^ 
In order to render the communication between 
the coasts of the Pacific Ocean^ and the province 
of Jean de Bracamoros, situate on the east of 
the Andes, more easy, the postman of Peru 
descends swimming, for two days, first the river 
of Guancabamba, or Chamaya, and afterward 
that of Amazons, from Pomahuaca and Inga- 
tambo to Tomependa. He wraps the few let- 
ters, of which he is the bearer every month, 
sometimes in a handkerchief, sometimes in a 
kind of drawers called guayuco, which he winds 
as a turban around his head. This turban con- 
tains also the great knife (machette) ^ with which 
every Indian is armed, rather to cut his way 
' through the forests, than as a weapon of de- 
fence. 
