Omaha daily bee., 1898-07-31

fellow again fell behind I 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 a terrific thud
upon the little mules back. 1t is a Won
der it did not break the bones, for the
heavy iron chain hit him on the spine, and
the pain must have been intense. The blow
in this case did not break the skin, though
l 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 a team that was not
more or less SCARED and bloody when we
got through.
Country Hotels of Bolivia.
During the trip I 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 than
hotels. AS a rule, the mules were housed
in the courts on which the one-story huts
forming the hotel faced. None of the rooms
had windows and the floors were of mud or
stone. In some cases the beds were lodges
of sun-dried bricks upon which a mattress
had been laid. The only light 1 had was
the candle l brought with me and my can
dlestick was a spot of melted grease, which
l dropped on the table or a chair before set
'iHS hHN NabaiS wv AAShS "StS Hh'"J ~
several beds in a room, and 1 had room
mates in the shape of native Bolivians every
night. Before going to bed the woman who
kept the hotel always came in and col
lected a dollar for the use of the bed and a
dollar for dinner. We started at 5 every
morning, and at 4:30 / was usually up and
ready for the cup of tea which was made
for me before leaving. This, with a couple
Of biscuits, constitutes the breakfast Of all
, the hotels Of Bolivia. Our regular break
fast, which we had at II or IL o'clock, was
more like a dinner than a breakfast. 1t be-
gan with a vegetable soup and followed
| with two or three stewed dishes, all of
which fairly swan in grease. The dinner
was of the same order. Before leaving La
Paz / had taken the precaution to have a
lunch put up for my use on the road. This
cost me ten Bolivian dollars, but 1t seemed
cheap enough when l found 1t was about
all l had that l could eat on the road. Such
were the accommodations on one of the
most travelled roads of this country. The
fare on the mule trails is far worse. AS to
prospectors and those who get away from
the beaten tracks, there is often no chance
TO get anything. The only places where
you can sleep are in the huts OF the Indians,
and they will not allow you to conn in if
they can possibly prevent 1t. They do not
like strangers, and money seems to be no
inducement to them. The only way to get
a nights shelter in such cases is to tell
your muleteer to unsaddle and TO go in and
take possession OF the best part of the hut.
II there Is anything at hand which Is eata-
BILE, take it and give the Indian some money
for it. If you ask to buy 1t he will refuse.
and even II he has plenty will say he has
nothing. The chances are that when you
leave in the morning, having paid him for
your nights lodging, he viii be pleased. but
he will offer you nothing and will give as
little as he can. AS a rule, they are
towards. and they will submit to a great
deal of abuse without fighting.
Poorer Than China.
! have never seen a country where the
people have to work so hard for a bare liy-
ing as on this Bolivian plateau. 1t is bad
enough in China and India, where the
poorer classes live in nut huts and till to
the utmost their little patches of land.
But In those countries the land will pro-
duce three crops a year and the laborers
get something for their work. Here 1t is
so high that only potatoes, barley and a
grain called guinea, which is much like bird
seed, and which makes a very fair mush.
will grow. The barley does not ripen, and
it is raised chieny for fodder for the mules,