Evening star., 1898-07-30
A BOLIVIAN STAGE COACH.

l was going to travel with the malls.
noticed that some of them rather smiled
at the Idea, and that others seemed to pity
rather than admire. This at the time ! at
tributed to jealousy envy or ignorance
know better now. l know what the Boliy-
ian mail coach Is. l had my first sight of
1t at o o'clock of the morning of my start
ing. 1t was the baggage wagon of the
stage. and the only seat on 1t was the one
With the driver. 1t was, in fact skeleton
va fgon on springs. The bed was so far
Up in the air that you could almost walk
under il without STOPPING The wagon box
was not over six inches high and how 1t
was supposed that ton and half of mall
and trunks could be put into 1t 1 could no.
see. 1 had my baggage hurried out. and it
went In at the bottom. The other pieces
were piled on top until there was noun
tain of stuff on the wagon. 1t now looked
more like hay wagon coming to the barn
in harvest time than the royal mail. A
rawhide 1cpe was bound round and round
the baggage, being run through hooks in
the sides of the wagon-bed and the bag
gage was covered with canvas 10 shield It
from the rain. By this time the mules
were in thefr places. and 1 was told to
climb to my seat beside the driver 1t was
at leas- seven or eight feet above the
ground and the soft side of the board was
the only cushion. until 1 improvised an
other of some blankets. The coach rode
however, very comfortably, and the springs
we're as good as any L have ever tried A
great discomfort was the lack of cover
when it rained and showed. as 1t did sey-
eral times during the Journey At such
times L could only put on my waterproof
and my Bolivian cap. This last is a krit-
ted affair covering the head and face, with
holes for the eyes, nose and mouth 1t
makes one ,lcok actually deviish bu. It is
such a. comfort that 1t should be aJopted
for winter travelling and sleigh-riding In
fur country.
Bolivian COachmen.
My coachmen in livery were In fact Bo-
Hvtan Cholos. They were half breeds. a
cross of the Spaniards and the Aymara In
dian, and as cruel a mixture as you will
finG among the races. They had no sympa-
thy whatever for the mules and their treat
ment of them was SO cruel that I several
times protested against it. In the first
place the harness was twisted out of all
shape. There was not a tug that was
straight and not a collar that fit. As re-
suit the necks of the animals were raw and
sore, and this became worse as we went on
the galiop over the road. 1 remember one
little yellow mule who had lost two patches
or skin, each big as the palm of your
hard, from the front of his shoulders be-
fore he was put into the harness I OBJ
1ected to taking him, as there were other
and better mules in the corral, but he was
hitched up all the same and was given one
OF the hardest places in the team This
was just below me, next to the wagon and
right under the driver. We started off on
eHS Sdiiop, Jul the little IellOW soon began
to lag behind Then the torture began.
The driver cut at him with whip, which
brought the blood to the hide at almost
every place 1t touched, and the helper who
ran along with the coach and whipped I'D
the lazy mules, picked out the little yellow
fellow as his special work. We had not
gone five miles before the back of the
mules legs were bleeding in half dozen
dinerent places. and l could see that his
collar was red with blood from the sores
on MS neck. From time to time 1 noticed
mat the driver when he found his whip-
ping and whfstling failed to stir I'D the
mules took up heavy tug with an iron
chain and ring at the end of il and ratified
II. This never failed to frighten the mules
into increased speed As the little yellow
fellow again fell behind found the secret
of the inspiring sound of the tug and chain.
The driver swung the tug about his head
and brought it down with terrible thud
upon the little mules back. 1t is a won
der II did not break the bones, for the
heavy iron chain hit him on the spine. and
the pain must have been intense. The blow
II this case did not break the skin. though I
saw subsequent ones given to other mules
which made bloody gashes In their backs.
We changed mules every fifteen or twenty
miles and rarely had team that was not
more or less SCARED and bloody when we
got through.
The Country Hotels of Bolivia.
During the trip had some chance to get
a taste Of the country hotels of Bolivia.
The stations where we stopped to eat
and sleep were more like COW stables
tnan hotels. As 3 rule the mules were