Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1890-08-23

been the habits of an unmarried female she is
uniformly faithful in the matrimonial relation,
and not one of them, married or single, will
tolerate the slightest advance from a white
man. In some sections when an Indian girl is
about to take a companero for life custom
obliges her to go and live for eight or ten days
beforehand with the priest the ulcaidi, or the
man who Is looked upon as the highest local
authority. as his servant, il is said lille
ultimate children receive more love and atten-
ton than the fruits of wediock, and a woman
is not Cooked down upon if she happens to
have had two or three before settling with q
life companion.
woMAN's WORK
As rule the women are superior to their
lords in intelligence and earn the larger share
OF their mutual support. Being the older Of
the two she is naturally the head Of the house,
ana IS more likely to thrash her dutiful spouse
than he Is to misuse her. In the markets,
where farm products are disposed Of, she can
drive better bargain than he; she can carry
as heavy burdens. endure much manual
LABOR chew as much coca and drink much
alcohol. The Indians have little or no money
their mediums Of exchange being whatever
they may raise. or the labor of their hands.
lney viii eat when not hungry, drink
when not thirsty, sleep when not sleepy,
anywhere and at any time when opportunity
offers, against the time of need" as they say.
Inc majority are IN state of semi-into1ca-
ton from babyhood to the grave. alcohol being
used on every pretext, freely as their means
will allow, on occasions of births. deaths and
feast days, the latter occurring nearly every
day IN the year. They are social creatures and
not at all inclined to live alone; hence their
houses are always IN groups. and community
OF them though numbering not more than
half dozen, Is called an estancia. In the inte-
ror OF Bolivia if an Indian desires to change his
place OF residence he is not allowed to settle
IN another village until the authorities
thereof have looked INTO his private history,
when, II the record is not satisfactory. he is Or
dered TO move on. But that seldom happens,
for they are like cats in their attachment to
places. and will cultivate the same bit of poor
land from generation to generation, though
barely able to keep body and soul together.
THE TRAVELLING DOCTORS.
Just off the great sierra between Bolivia and
Peru and bordering on the section known as
the montana is a tribe of Indians known as the
Charlsonis, whose principal business is that of
medicos or travelling doctors. Apparently their
knowledge of the healing art is inherent or
transmitted from father to son, as, of course
they have no schools or instructors These
medicine men," who are greatly venerated by
all the other tribes and implicitly believed in
even by many white people. go off into the
deep forests of the montana for all their reme-
dies. They are well acquainted with the medi-
cInal virtues OF certain roots, herbs barks leaves
and blossoms, and know how to apply them in
the cure of various diseases. They also collect
the churches to be burned for incense.
FAvoRITE REMEDY
among them for all manner of ills is the dried
root and leaves of the huaco, a low plant whose
velvety green foliage is slightly purple on the
under side. 1t is, in truth, marvellous cure
for snake bites and the stings of the most VEN
omOus reptiles and insects the wound being
first cut open and alcohol poured in, and then
some chewed huaco leaves or strong decoction
of the root applied. They work charms for the
sick, too, by rubbing their feet with pebbles
from the nearest river, assisted by incanta-
tons. One may always know a Charisoni
medicine man by his many-colored wooden
sack, called tuepi. His poncho, also, is Of
the brightest hues that dyes can produce. and
his own skin is of reddish tint, much more
ruddy than that Of other Indians OF this Sec
ton.
A RED-HEADED TRIBE.
At Corabay there is another tribe with brown
blonde and even red hair among its members
whether from some freak of nature or on ac-
count of the sociabilty Of lighter colored
ne1ghbors, nobody seems to know. They, too
have medlcos, who practice with equal success
as the Charlsonis. When one Of them comes
to visit a patient he first looks all around to
see what article strikes his fancy, that he NAV
levy on for payment. Having settled that
question and secured his fee in advance. he
shakes the sick man by each foot, repeats
the air. and then departs with such a knowing
air that the faith cure immed atey takes effect
L know a woman who declares that her hus-
bands life was saved by one of these DOCTORS
his heart having somehow slipped over to the
wrong side and being charmed back into place
by the Incarnation.
WHITE INDIANS.
There is tradition of some white Indians
with flowing boards and fair hair. who are sail
a Qf no
montana and hunters may be found who de-
clare that they have caught glimpses of these
mysterious people, men and women. entirely
naked. in the depths of the forest. There are
other Indians living in the sierras around La
Paz who have remarkably smooth and delicate
skins, which they keep well oiled and shining
like satin. The men pride themselves on
having no more boards than the women, and
every supertluous hair is carefully removed
AS all wear their coltfures alike, in long braids
at the back of the head and heavy lock hang
ing over the forehead, it is impossible to dis
tingush the sexes when their figures are en-
veloped IN ponchos.
AMONG MANY SUGGESTIONS
of the Indians is one which corresponds to the
biblical advice about casting bread upon the
waters. for they believe that if one throws
away anything he highly prizes. as an Offering
to some unseen power, 1t will be returned TO
MN III due time, increased in value. Hence il
Is tnat they s4nander SO much coca, dashing it
against the rocks for luck, tossing il into the
rivers and strewing 1t along the waysde when
on journey. There certain Indians who
claim to be prophets. and those who desire to
avail themselves of the supernatural powers of
these rascals bring them coca and alcohol
The prophet first drinks the latter then chews
the former slowly, leaf by leaf and foretells
events by the shape the cud assumes. 1t is ex-
tremely difficult to persuade or compel an In
dian TO work in a mine that has not first been
consecrated by the following ceremony: Each
Indian gives alcohol and coca from his own
store to the prophet, who at once swallows the
liquor, prays, chews a part of the coca and
scatters the rest In every direction. Then he
sets fire to piece of the dried flesh of a baby
vlcuna (the rest OF the animal having been
secretly buried) and waves 1t two and fro to
call forth the gold. 1t is considered even better
if a stiil-born llama can be secured for the
latter part OF the ceremony, and hundreds of
abortlons are caused among these animals for
that purpose. This Is done to placate the devil.
who Is believed to have charge of all precious
metals hidden in the earth, God having moth
ing to do with them. For the same reason
they prefer to open mine OH tuesday
Devils Day" though they will not start on a
journey or begin work of any kind for them
selves on that unlucky day of the week.
ELECTRIC LIGHT AND THE ECLIPSE.
The city Of La Paz is lighted by electricity
and the Indians hereabout, not understanding
tue phenomenon, have been greatly troubled
thereby. A few weeks ago they were thrown
into state of wild confusion by a partial
eclipse of the moon, and the next days local
paper contained the following item: The In
Qians residing in the outskirts of the CITY wera