The weekly mountain Democrat. [volume] (Placerville, El Dorado County, Calif.) 1861-1862, 1861-10-26
The Lazy Mans Paradise.

IT, Lieut.. GibsOn'S account of his explo
ratinns Of the valley Of the Amazon, or,
rnthcr Of one Of its main branches, the
Mcdeira river, (cxccutive document, No
3G,) from the Pacific side, we find the fol-
lowing account Of the daily life Of Gre.
ole family in the town Of Santa Cruz. the
capital Of the Bolivian Department Of that
name. For. lazy man. Santa Cruz de
Bolivia must be perfect Paradise, to say
nOthing~of the chance n bachelor has Of
being able to secure II I;artner III city
where there are five women to one man !:
VERY early in the morning, the Gre
ole, getting out Of bed, throws himself in
to Il hammock his wife stretches herself
upon bench near by, while the children
seat themselves, with their legs under
them, on The chairS--all in their night
dresses. The Indian girl enters with u
cup Of chocolate for each member Of the
family. After which, she brings some
cOals Of fire, on silver dish. The wife
lights for her husband cigar, then one
for herself. Some time is spent in rccli.
ming, chatting, and rrgaling. The man
slowly puts on his cotton tr0wScrS, wool.
TN coat, leather shoes, and Viena hat,
with his neck opened To the fresh mir
silk handkerchicfs are scarce then he
walks to Somt near ncighbOr'S. with whom
he again drinks chocolate, and smokes an.
other cigar
AT midday, q small, low table is set
in the centre Of the room, and the family
go TO breakfast. The wife sits next to
her husband. The women are very pref
", and affcctionatc to their husbands -
lie chooses her from among five, there be.
ing about that number Of women to one
man. The children seat themselves, and
the dogs form ring behind. The first
dish is chupc Of potatoes with large
piece Of meat. The man helps himself
first, and throws his bones straight across
the table; child lodges his head to give
it free passage, and the dogs rush after
1t as IL falls upon the ground floor. A
child then throws his bone, the mother
lodges, and the dogs rush behind her.
The second dish contains small pieces Of
beef without bones. The dogs are now
fighting. Next comee n dish Of finely
chopped beef; finally, coffee or chocolate.
After breakfast the man pulls off his coat
aud tr0wscrS, and lies down in the ham.
mock. His wife lights him a cigar. She
then finds her way TO bed, with cigar
The dogs lie down on the chair-the flcas
bite them on the ground. The dndian
girl closes the doors and windows. and
takes the children out to play, while the
rest Of the family sleep.
AT two p. NJ, the church bells ring
| I'm lat lhn nnn1hlsA
ing prayer for them, which rouses them.
The man raises his hand above his head
and gapcs; the dogs get down and viii.
ningly separate themselves; while the
wife sits up in the bed and loudly calls
for fire; the Indian girl reappears with a
chunk for her Mistress to light her mas
ter another cigar, and she smokes again
herself The dinner, which takes place
between three and five, is nearly the same
as breakfast, except when beef is recent
y killed by the Indians, when they have
u boil. The ribs and other long bones
Of the animal are trimmed Of flesh, leaving
the bones coated with meat; these are
laid across fire and roasted the mem.
bcrs Of the family, while employed with
tAtrttt t-iieeEt-as-if-they- were practising
music. "a.
" a horse is brought into the house by
an Indian man. who holds while the 'pa.
tron' brides and saddles him; he then
puts on large pair Of silver spurs, which
cost forty dollars, and mounting, he rides
out of the front door to the opposite house;
halting, he taKes off his hat and calls out
.buenGs tGrdes, senOritGs,' good evening,
ladies' The ladies make their appear.
ance; one lights him Q cigar, another
makes him lemonade to refresh himself
after the ride. He remains in the saddle,
talking, while they lean gracefully against
the door. posts, smiling with their bewitch-
Ing eyes. He touches his hat and rides off
to another neiShbOr After spending the
afternoon in this way. he rides into his
house again. The Indian holds the horse
by the bride while the master dismounts.
Taking off the saddle, he throws It into
one chair, the bride into another, his
spurs on third. and himself into ham
mock, the Indian leads out the horse, the
dogs pull down the riding gear to the
floor, and lay themselves on their usual
bedsteads. Chocolate and cigars are re-
peated.
THR gates of Heaven are low-arched.--