Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1890-07-12

n
learning Is dangerous thingr' His mother.
wnom We naturally mistook for a servant in a
ulrty black dress and manta. with a mans hat
on her head. did not speak during our stay,
cite.
is the most picturesque village have vet seen,
perched on an outstretched arm Of the Andes.
with lofty heights on every hand The roof
uies or Its houses are green with moss and on
many OF them grass and bushes are growing
Tor some unknown reason the village is nearly
deserted. In the center OF its grassy plaza is
Irecian-temple sort Of structure of plastered
aoope' now empty. which probably once served
as market house. Just above the town on
tne slope OF the mountain is an ancient wall
VIM quaint arched gateway outlining the
paseo, or public promenade. which used TO be
.ne scene OF Sunday gaiety in Chircs's flourish
ing DAYS. The beautiful old church. inclosed
within wall as high a. ITSELF with a huge
Soouen gate facing the plaza, is surrounded
oy iuNurlant garden of roses and orange
trees. The main church, which has now
mostly fallen into disuse except by Indians
VINO straggie IN TO say their PRAYERS has some
remarkable images. The one which seems 20
receive most attention is q figure OF Christ
about four feet high,
ALTERED IN WHITE "MorHKR HURBARp.m
with one foot protruding, the great toe Of
which has actually been nearly worn off by the
kisses of worshipers. Another image repre-
SCENTS Christ about three feet high. attired in a
magnificent cloth-of-gold gown with long train,
ana on the head a mass of real hair (yellow)
falling below the knees. The pride of the
town IL In an upper hall Of the same building.
little back of the church proper and reached
by an outside stairway, IN which worship ia
conducted on all feita DAYS. When the splen-
did curtain OF cloth of-god that hides its altar
Is rolled away several life-size figures are dis
closed, all most richly dressed The virgin is
particularly harf A..
all over her robe, on her head tall golden
crown, and encircling all a kind of half
cart wheel, the spokes turned outward (sup-
posed TO represent rays of glory. all of pure
gold. As country Bolivia Is very poor and
the majority of her people enjoy few of the
comforts OF life; yet the tumbie-down sane
tuary OF this deserted village contains enough
gold and silver In its altar facings lamps
cruclhxes, vestments, DC, to restore the for
tunes of Chlrca, build school houses and rem
DER all Its inhabitants comfortable for life.
TO THE NEXT Town.
From Chrca to the next town, called Gimme
pronounced Chew-pay), the road is simply
horrlble-a narrow trail on the brink of
stupendous precipices winding up and down
and round and round as only Andean passes
can, several miles of the way being q regular
series OF stairs cut in the no OK, down which
our mules picked their way step by STEP
When one learns to ride with complscency over
that road he is prepared for any saddle exploit
on record or off
Following the course of the Chupe river.
winding tar below-feeling ourselves filled 20
the brim with the national dish called ''chupe."
having had little else &c eat for a for might've
arrived at the village of Chupe an hour after
nlghtfall, and learned to our distress that the
hamlet contained no tambo nor a spare room
In any OF the poor casas, the only place of
refuge being the empty school house, where
the few travellers who come this way are per-
United to lodge. So set up on edge is this little
town by reason of its sharp hills that though
the front door OF this tiny temple of learning
opens upon the street in regular fashion its
back door is high in air. with n lower story
below IT. This convenient ground floor, which
Is sometimes used for stabling mules and other
useful purposes. now served as a dormitory for
the gentlemen, while the ladies of the party
established themselves above. Imagine a low
narrow room, with earth floor and no windows,
row OF benches extending all around the
walls, with desks before them, and you have
the Chupe school house.
ANOTHER INTERESTING VILLAGE
in the Yungas department is named Yanacachi.
Its queer little casas are all two-storied and
nearly everybody lives above, reaching his
door by outside adobe stairs, not running
straight up, but crosswse of the house front
The oldest church 1 ever saw, though by no
means the Oldest, is here. 1t was built by the
Spaniards soon after the conquest in those
flush times when gold and silver wrested from
the natives were more plentiful than wood in
treeless sections for building purposes The
entire front Of the high altar is faced with
massive plates of silver-square yards of it
curiously wrought with faces and figures and
quaint inscriptions All this still remains after
more than three centuries, though Indians and
Cholos, VINO have no idea OF its real beauty aud
value, are now the only COMMITMENTS Besides
the altar front there are hundreds of dollars
worth of pure silver in bars and ratings
lamps and crucifxes-whiie most of the half
naked wretches who kneel before them never
knew In their lives what it is to have hunger
completely satisfied.
The churchyard, with its thickets of red roses.
Is surrounded by high wall of uneven
stones, jutting up here and there a curious lit
tie sugar-loaf tower. The bell tower over
grown from top TO bottom with ferns and
bushes, stands some distance from the main
ediice. Climbing the adobe staircase that
winds inside to a somewhat dangerous perch
among the bells and a colony of doves one
may enjoy beautiful view of the surrounding
country.
N AN OLD CHURCH.
Being obliged to stop some days in this vii
lage your correspondent spent most of her time
in the old church. Its inner walls are black
ened by time and leakage. The square bricks
that once foored it are mostly worn away and
the roof, OF bamboo woven together, is
propped and stayed overhead by a perfect
labyrinth of cross-pieces formed of small trees
merely stripped of their bark. The two high
square apertures that serve for windows show
the enormous thickness of the walls and were
once furnished with iron bars which long since
rusted away. Along each side runs an adobe
bench, much too high and damp for comfort.
but quite good enough for its purpose as here
the men sit at ease while their mothers, wives
sisters and sweethearts kneel on the dirty floor
praying for their ungrateful lords, as women
will the wide world over.
Opposite the little round pulpit which is
reached by a fight Of adobe stairs, and
hung with rich hand-wrought lace, now
tattered and yellow, in large shrine painted
blue and orange hangs the bleeding figure on
the cross in a short but gorgeous skirt of Japa-
nese embroidery on purple satin. Below stands
the Mother Of Sorrows with seven silver
handled daggers sticking in her heart, and by
her side is st. Joseph, looking the youngest of
the party, in a splendid dressing gown in
wrought with gold. In grotesque incongruity
are the tawdry images upon it. Among them
are two angels with tiny wings embroidered
pantalettes reaching the tops of their white
shoes, dresses of white muslin and ribbon
sashes in Bolivars national colors (red, yellow
and green) bound across their breasts. Among
others equally peculiar is a figure of Christ
donkey, dressed a Spanish cavalier-som-
brero, top boots, rapiers and ail-about to
make his entry into Jerusalem. On Palm Sun !
day this image is carried in procession through |
the-street of the town and the people cast their
palms before it, in full belief Of some mysteri-
Gus blessing.