Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1890-08-23

dians who claim to be prophets, and those
who desire to avail themselves of the su-
pernatural powers of these rascals, bring
them coca and alcohol. The prophet first
drinks the latter, then chews the for
mer slowly, leaf by leaf, and foretells
events by the shape the cud assumes. 1t
is extremely difficult to persuade or COM
pei an Indian to work in 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 part of the coca and
scatters the rest in every direction. Then
he sets fire to piece of the dried flesh of
baby vicuna, (the rest of the animal
having been secretly buried) and waves it
to and fro to call forth the gold. 1t is con-
sidered even better if still-born llama
can be secured for the latter part of the
ceremony, and hundreds of abortions are
caused among these animals for that pur-
purpose This is done to placate the devil
who is believed to have charge of all
precious metals hidden in the earth, God
having nothing to do with them. For the
same reason they prefer to open mine on
Tuesday-"DeviPs Day." though they will
not start on a journey or begin work Of
any kind for themselves on that unlucky
day of the week.
THE CITY OF LA PAZ
Is lighted by electricity, and the Indians
| hereabout, not understanding the phenom-
enon, have been greatly troubled thereby.
A few weeks ago they were thrown into a
state of wild confusion by partial eclipse
of the moon, and the next days local
paper contained the following item: "The
Indians residing in the outskirts of the
city were smitten with terror last night at
the spectacle of the eclipse, believing the
electric light to be directly responsible for
it, and that the moon, becoming ashamed
of its inferior light, and therefore jealous
and angry, was trying to hide herself, and
what would they do if Luna should put
out her light altogether? The thought
was humble, but need surprise % one,
considering their ignorance 1t was the
duty of the sub-prefect to have explained
to them beforehand the workings of the
electrical machine, and that the eclipse of
last night was but the looked-for result of
natural causes. The panic became so
| great that the poor creatures huddled to-
gether in groups, crying like children,
and some fled to the caves and mountains.
Others showed fight and got out the reed
trumpets that are used in calling together
council of war, and began footing with
all their might. At this juncture the
police interfered, fearing trouble to the
electric light company and their works,
and two companies of soldiers were called
out to preserve order" As mentioned in a
previous letter, the Indians who wear hats
make them distinctive feature of the
tribe or pueblo to which they belong, so
that one accustomed to
THEIR PECULIARITIEs
Can place the wearer at glance. In the
villages between Arequipa and Cuzco no
less than eight different styles Of head
gear are worn, each being the distinguish
ing mark of community. The rarest
among them is of maroon-colored wool,
bordered with black, shaped like helmet
and coming down over the ears Men and
women wear the same. Another is very
broad brimmed affair, with high, square
crown, brown outside, lined with green
and profusely ornamented with red braid.
Others have fiat crowns with sides ex-
tending away out like butterfly wings.
The Cuzco Indians sport the largest
have yet seen, shaped exactly like star
with four points and covered with tinsel.
Not long ago the Government ordered
that none of these tribal monteras, or hats,
be worn in the market. 1t also compels
the Indians who are employed on the rail-
road or other Government works to have
their long hair cut of.
THE ToPA.
No matter how ragged and dirty an In
dian woman may be, she takes great pride
in the topa or pin that holds her shawl to-
gether. 1t is of silver, brass or copper,
FIVE or six inches long, the head always
shaped like spoon, and she uses it for
feeding her child and sometimes herself.
In the Inca days the head of the topa was
round, to represent the sun, which they
worshiped, but the Spaniards, desiring to
do away entirely with that religion, passed
law forbidding their use unless the head
were shaped like a spoon. In making
long journeys the women spin as they
walk, with revolving bobbins called mis-
macs, pulling the fleece as required from
their llamas. In this way they make
ropes, Sings sacks and the material for all
their clothing. They weave by planting
four short sticks in the ground for a frame,
winding the warp over cross-pieces and
throwing the shuttles in and out by hand.
Though outwardly
ROMAN CATHOLIC,
The religion of these people is strangely
,,,,-aI NTH Iarlr Of
their ancestors, which they never reveal
and nobody of the white race understands.
There has never been Protestant mis-
sionary among them, and the priests are
few for the vast extent of country. The
church, however, is very rich, its income
being chiefly derived from the large farms
in the form of rent; because the Spanish
crown during its dominion gave nearly all
the lands to the clergy, who still retain a
hold upon them, through the religious
sentiments Of the people, if no longer by
law. Sometimes a single parish extends
over many miles and is divided into sub
parishes, each with its chapel and cure,
the priest who has charge Of all not getting
around himself oftener than once or twice
year. / am sorry to say that the local
deputies generally half-breeds) are
sometimes a disgrace to the church
and the community. Being reyered
by the simple Indians, they live upon the
fat of the land and have things all their
own way. They levy baptismal, funeral,
and marrige fees to suit themselves and
will not bury the dead without
pay in advance, taking wool, pota-
toes, coca or whatever the poor
n ffiar Uha
is no money to be had. Each city has its
PATRON SAINT
Feast days, the latter generally degene-
rating into drunken orgies; and it is
positive fact that most of the Indians pray
to the image itself, believing it to possess
supernatural powers, although they have
Just seen a nail driven into its head to
fasten the crown on In Callamarea Ra-