Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1890-07-12


going at all by reports that reached us in
the interim The well-furnished drawing
room contained fine piano, a cabinet
organ, guitars, violins and other musical
instruments. Our Spanish American genius
rendered some operatic selections, the
houses srvants were called in to give US a
| specimen of native music, and the call was
| concluded with the most pleasant impress.
| sions on all sides. 1t came out afterwards,
however that we did not see anything Of
| the real entertainment of the evening, for
| our musical friend, understanding the ways
! of his countrymen better than we, slipped
over beforehand and posted the priest as
| 10 what is not customary among los An,eTt
canos and then judiciously hurried us
away before many of the guests arrived
and the dancing and wine-drinking began.
/ mention this not to defame the boy cure,
who no doubt lives up to his lights; but
| beg my readers to remember that in many
lands there are other ways than ours of re-
garding the Sabbath and its obligations
Here the people do not reserve their out
| ward piety for that day alone, but go to
church every day in the year, and look
upon the seventh day as one of recreation
and amusement, after morning service has
| been duly attended.
The interesting cure has another house
in the adjacent village of Chirca, his
proper home, wherein we breakfasted in
course of our journey, when the master
was absent. Such queer abode it is, the
| living rooms above, the animals stabbed
below, the walls of the patio painted with
| life-size soldiers in scarlet and blue, a
rampant lion with yellow name and
emerald eyes, and other striking devices.
| Under a bench in room where we break
tasted | observed suit of armor breast
| plate, helmet and all, which had probably
| belonged to some crusading ancestor
| There were scraps of wonderful tapestry
on the walls, and rare old pictures, though
the floor was bare and the furniture of the
simplest character. Among pile of books.
Catholic Brevariums and ponderous tones
in Greek and Latin, were many specimens
of modern literature in other languages,
| including Eugene, Sue, Ouida and NJ.
Zolas latest and nastiest
How out of place the handsome cure
must look amid such surroundings, and
what an example he affords of the effect
of education, of having eaten of ''the fruit
of the tree of good and evil" or perhaps of
the phrase "a little learning is danger
Gus thing" His mother, whom we natu-
rally mistook for servant, in dirty
black dress and manta, with aman's hat on
her head, did not speak during our stay,
| but sat on rude bench absorbed in Gig
arctic.
Chirca is the most picturesque village
have yet seen, perched on an outstretched
arm of the Andes, with lofty nights on
every hand. The roof-tiles of its houses
are green with moss, and on many of them
grass and bushes are growing. For some
unknown reason the village is nearly de-
serted. In the center of its grassy plaza is
| Greclan-temple sort of structure of plas-
tered adobe, now empty, which probably
once served as amarket house. Just above
the town on the slope of the mountain is
an ancient wall with quaint arched gate
way outlining the paseo, or public promen-
ade which used to be the scene of Sunday
gaiety in Chirca's Furnishing days. The
beautiful old church, inclosed within a
wall as high as itself, with huge wooden
gate facing the plaza, is surrounded by a
luxuriant garden of roses and orange trees.
The main church, which has now mostly
fallen into disuse except by Indians, who
straggle in to say their prayers, has some
remarkable images The one which seems
to receive most attention is figure of
Christ about four feet high, attired in a
white "Mother Hubbard with one foot
protrudlng, the great toe of which has ac-
tually been nearly worn off by the kisses of
worshIpers. Another image represents
Christ about three feet high, attired in a
magnificent cloth-ofgold gown with long
train, and on the head a mass of real hair
yellow falling below the knees.
The pride of the town is in an upper
hall of the same building, little back of
the church proper and reached by an out
side stairway, in which worship is con-
Quoted on all fiesta days. When the splen-
did curtain of cloth-of-gold that hides the
altar is rolled away, several life-sized fig
ures are disclosed, all most richly dressed.
The virgin is particularly gorgeous, having
Jewels wrought all over her robe, on her
head tall golden crown. and encirclipg
all kind of half cart wheel, the spokes
turned outward supposed to represent
rays of glory, all of pure gold. As a
country, Bolivia is very poor, and the ma
lority of her people enjoy few of the COM
forts of life; yet the tumble-down sanctu-
airy of this deserted village contains
enough gold and silver in its altar facings
lamps, crucitixes, vestments, ETC., to restore
the fortunes of Chirca, mild school houses
and render all its inhabitants comfortable
for life
From Chirca to the next town, called
Chupe pronounced (Chew-pay) the road
is simply horrible 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 regular series of stairs cut in
the rock, down which our mules picked
their way step by step. When one learns
to ride with complacency over that road,
he is prepared for any saddle exploit on
record. or off.
Following the course of the Chupe river,
winding far below-feeling ourselves filled
to the brim with the national dish called
''chupe," having had little else to eat for
fortnight-we arrived at the village of
Chupe an hour after nightfall, and learned
to our distress that the hamlet contained
no tambo nor spare room in any of the
poor cdsaS; the only place Of refuge being
the empty sehool-house, where the few
travellers who come this way are permitted
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 regu-
lar fashion, its back door is high in air
with lower story below it. This conve-
nient ground floor, which is sometimes
used for stabling mules and other useful
purposes, now served as a dormltory for
the gentlemen, while the ladies of the
party established themselves above. In
agine low, narrow room with earth floor
and no windows, row of benches extend
ing all around the walls with desks before
them, and you have the Chupe school
house. Hungry and tired, we fastened to
make chocolate over an alcohol lamp,
spread our canned supplies upon the desks,
and were about to enjoy the picnic meal,
when delegation of "leading citizens'i