Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1890-08-23
The INDIAN At HONE.
a NUMEROUS CLASS OF SOUTH AMERI
CAN CITIZENS.
Life Among the LowIy--Indian Women
The Medicine Men-La Paz
-Beiigion.

LA 1AZ DOtiNldJ, Juif IL, 1OvV.
Many Of the Indians of Peru and b.
livia are independent farmers in a small
way, tolerably clean lot of people, as In
dians go. peaceable, industrious and con-
tented. Their besetting sin, however, is a
weakness for more alcohol and coca than
their means allow, whereby they involve
themselves deeper and deeper into debt
with the white race, which in the long
run means but one thing to the debtor
loss of all he possesses, even personal lib
erty, and peonism, amounting to slavery.
The great Andean plateau which
stretches between Sorrato and Illimani, at
an elevation of $4,000 feet, several hun
dred miles long and level as board floor,
is like vast but struggling Indian village,
covered with their adobe huts and poor
little farms. The only crops that will
grow at this hight are barley and potatoes,
and the former never comes to head, but
is left till dry and yellow and then cut.
stalks and all, for fodder. A good many
sheep also find living among the rocks
ana llamaS ABOUND.
THE WONDER Is
That anything can be raised on this cold
and breezy plateau, not only on account of
its elevation, but because of the deep layer
of small, round stones that literally cover
the face of the earth, and must be removed
before soil is visible. AS stone walls are
not in fashion here, there is no way of dis
Of thfc Hatrtc Of hut 20 10
1t up in heaps and so about half of the
best cultivated portion of the plateau is
occupied by huge mounds Of stones. The
Indians up here have different look from
those who inhabit the lower valleys, these
being even more silent and reserved, gen.
orally at work and never convivial. Their
emotlonleSs faces bear a striking resem-
blance to those on the ancient htdcos, or
water jars, as we see them patiently tilling
their fields, driving their llamas, or stop
ping to rest under the shelter of rock,
with sad eyes fixed upon vacancy, and not
glance to bestow upon the passer-by. The
women engage in the same pursuits as the
men, planting, blowing, reaping and dig
ging, or trotting barefooted over the
stones, keeping pace all day with their
llamas and mules
sEED-TIAIE AND HARVEST
Occur here whenever it suits the conven-
fence of the cultivator; and one sees in
the same field women doubled over like
!jack-knives scratching up potatoes with
hoes that have handles scarcely foot
long, followed by Others who scatter seed
In the burrows thus made. In this part of
the world potatoes are not considered fit
to eat until after they have been frozen.
This is purposely done during the coolest
months, May, June, July and August,
when they are spread out on the ground
in the higher attitudes till well frosted.
Potatoes hereabouts seldom attain more
than the size of a hickory nut, but if any
have grown larger they are cut in two.
After one nights freezing they are soaked
in water for twenty -four hours, then spread
again on the ground, softly stamped by
bare feet to squeeze out the surplus moist
ure, and frozen another night or two.
When this performance is completed they
are as hard as bones and will keep" for
ever. In order to cook them properly,
according to the notions of the people,
they must first be soaked in warm water
and then ground or beaten between stones.
They are seldom used except in combina-
tion, that is, put into the chupe or soup,
or stewed with bits OF dried sheep. If
first ground fine and then cooked soLus
they make poultice like mess similar to
the mashed potato" of more civilized
lands but infinitely nastier.
ABOUT THE ONLY MEAT
The Indian INDUCES in is chalond, or dried
mutton, which is prepared in this way:
When sheep has been killed it is laid
out h.... frozen, soaked in water and frozen
again after which it is hung up and dried
and !, then so hard and tough that decay
is IL ,ssible and no vermin will modest it.
To rcader chaload edible it must be cut
into small bits and boiled very long.
time, and in its best estate is about as
tender and juicy as sole leather. Bolivian
Indians rarely eat fresh meat of any kind
and have no fondness for the pieanter and
peppers SO priced by the Spaniards and
Cholos. Their greatest delic7cy in the
coca is considered the first essential of life,
and alcohol, or its equivalent, far more
necessary than water.
The prosperous Indian farmer owns
few llamas and perhaps a mule or two,
worth about $40 apiece, while he is very
nabob who possesses also a cow or flock of
sheep. Besides potatoes and barley he
has generally a little patch of rocaeho, a
vegetable resembling a parsnip, but
sweeter, and a field Of something that
grows up in beautiful reddish-yellow flow
ers, whose tall, feathery spikes bear small
seeds which taste like rolled oats when
cooked. His one-room casa of upholstered
adobe has no windows, no floor, but the
bare earth, and very scanty furnishings,
but its matched root is sure TO be
TOPPED BY A CROSS,
And inside is some figure or picture of
saint or angel, which answers for deyo-
tional purposes, and is the much-cherished
lares and penates of the home. The
family may be too poor to afford candles
for their own use, but one is burned before
the shrine on all feStG days, amid yotive
offerings of fruit and flowers. Chairs are
luxuries for which the inmates have no
use, all preferring to sit on the floor. The
bed is pile Of dried grass in the corner;
the entire wardrobe of the family is car
ried on their backs; cooking is done over
handful of sticks outside, and if a table
is used (but rarely, it is big fiat stone,
the stump Of tree, or at best few boards
nailed together Whenever a man, woman
or child of Indian blood starts out to drive
llama, sheep or other animal, he or she
does not look for a stick, but carries
small sling of woven wool, which among
these singular people is the sole weapon of
offense and defense. jogging along at a
slow trot behind the flock or herd, an In
dian will keep every member of it straight
in the path and up to time, without utter
ing a sound or changing his pace. If one
of the animals loiters by the wayside, or
shows a disposition TO go astray, small
stone. SHE'D from the sling with unerring
accuracy, hits him clip on the off ear
and reminds him that business must be
attended to. 1t sometimes happens that
the Aymaras and Quichuas have