Historical and descriptive narrative of twenty years' residence in South America (Vol 2 of 3) / Containing travels in Arauco, Chile, Peru, and Colombia; with an account of the revolution, its rise, progress, and results

by active 1803-1825 William Bennet Stevenson

The indian women who employ themselves in bringing from the surrounding villages any produce to the market at Quito, carry their burthens in the same manner as the men. I have often seen them so covered with a cargo of brushwood, lucern, green barley, or other light bulky articles, that the load seemed to move along of itself, the carrier being completely enveloped.

Many indians in the city become butchers, weavers, shoemakers, bricklayers, &c.; but they are remarkably slothful and indolent, and apply themselves more commonly to drunkenness than to any kind of business. If you wish to employ one of them, he will demand part of the money beforehand, with the excuse that he wants to purchase materials, or some other indispensable requisite, but it is immediately spent in chicha or rum, and it often becomes necessary to apprehend the rascal (particularly among the shoemakers), and to send him to gaol, before you can oblige him to fulfil his agreement. Some of the indians are barbers, and manage the razor with the greatest dexterity; they may easily be distinguished among the indian tradesmen, because the brass or silver basin is always peeping from under their cloak.

Many of the mestisos, or descendants of the Spanish creoles and indians, are very fair; but the lowness of their foreheads, as well as their being very narrow, betrays their connexion with the indian. The quarterones, or descendants of a Spaniard and a mestiso, approach much nearer to the white creole; but in these the size and shape of the forehead, also a small rising about the middle of the nose, from whence it forms a curve terminating in a point bending towards the upper lip, and some dark stains in different parts of the body, particularly one below the region of the kidneys, which is always the last that disappears, though often not before the fourth or fifth generation, bespeak a mixture of the indian race. The mothers of mestisos generally begin very early to plat the hair of their children, dragging it back from the forehead and temples in very small plats, for the purpose of enlarging that feature.

The common dress of the male Spaniards and creoles is similar to ours, with the addition of a long red, white, or blue cloak. Their riding costume is very pretty: over a jacket, trowsers, and boots, they wear the white poncho, and over this a smaller one made of deer skin, having the hairy side outward. A pair of overalls, made of the hides of two old goats, are fastened round the waist, tied down the under side of the thighs, and buttoned round the legs, so that the necks of the hides fall over the feet; and as the hairy side is outwards, no rain can penetrate, however long the person may be exposed to it; a large hat is covered with leather, and to complete the costume, a large silk shawl is tied round the neck.

The ladies dress almost in the English style, except a few ancient dames, who wear a large hoop:—when going to church all wear the hoop, with a black velvet petticoat over it, sewed in small folds, and a broad piece of English flannel over their heads, generally of a brown colour, which they can fold over their faces so as to cover them. Jewellery is much worn by the ladies, of which many have a large stock, principally consisting of ear-rings, necklaces, rosaries, amulets, and bracelets of diamonds, emeralds, topazes, or other precious gems, in complete sets, for a mixture is considered a proof of poverty. On particular occasions, it is not uncommon for a lady to be adorned with these kind of ornaments to the amount of twenty or thirty thousand dollars.

The dress of the mestisos is composed of a jacket and small-clothes, the bottom of the drawers appearing below the knees; no stockings, and only sometimes shoes; a long Spanish cloak of blue cloth, manufactured in the country, and a black hat; these are called llapangos, a Quichua word signifying barefooted. The females often wear a large hoop, and a gaudy petticoat made of English flannel, red, pink, yellow, or pale blue, ornamented with a profusion of ribbon, lace, fringe, and spangles, wrought into a kind of arabesque about half a yard deep, near the bottom of the coat, below which a broad white lace hangs, attached to an under garment. The bodice is generally of brocade or tissue, or of embroidered satin, laced very tight round the waist; the bosom and sleeves of this are ornamented with white lace, ribbons, and spangles; a narrow shawl of English flannel to correspond with the petticoat is thrown over the shoulders; the head is uncovered, but ornamented with a fillet, ribbons, and flowers, and the hair hangs in small tresses down the back. Like the men the women seldom wear shoes or stockings, and it is considered a trait in their beauty to have small white feet, and red heels, to procure which cosmetics and rouge are often called in to lend their assistance: this practice is very common among a certain description of females.

The lowest or poorest class of indian men and women wear a very scanty and coarse apparel; the men have a pair of cotton drawers, hanging below the knees; a garment somewhat like a wide sack, having an opening to pass the head through, and two holes for the arms; this kind of tunic is made of cotton or wool, it reaches almost to the knees, and is girt round the waist. Sometimes a straw hat is worn, but they have more frequently nothing but a leather strap round their heads, and never put on either shoes or stockings. The women have only the species of tunic called anaco, but it is longer than that of the men: over their shoulders they wear a small kind of shawl, called ichlla, and this constitutes their whole wardrobe, and is generally the only bed which they possess. Their children immediately after their birth are swaddled or bandaged in such a manner, from their shoulders to below their feet, that they are deprived of all motion; the mother also frequently inserts a wooden hook between the folds of the bandage, and hangs the child to the wall, to the branch of a tree, or when she is travelling, to the fore part of the saddle.

Those indians who are in better circumstances clothe themselves in an elegant manner; the men wear white drawers with lace or fringe at the knees, they have a shirt and a small black poncho, laid in folds crossways of the stuff, each about an inch broad, and made very stiff with gum; when put on the two ends are drawn downwards, a little below the waist, and the sides are fastened together at the corners: this vestment is called a capisayo. Round the neck they wear a kind of ruffle, of lace, about eight or ten inches deep, and hanging over the shoulders like a tippet. The hat is generally of wool, having a low crown and very broad skirts. The Caciques, alcaldes, some butchers and barbers, also wear the long Spanish cloak, breeches over the drawers, shoes, and large square silver buckles, but never any stockings.

The women of the same class wear a white under-petticoat, called the anaco, with broad lace at the bottom; over this they have a piece of cloth, folded in the same manner as the capisayo of the men, except that the folds are vertical; this is called the chaupi anaco, and is merely fastened round the waist with a broad girdle of various colours, being left open on the right side, and reaching only halfway down the legs, the white lace hanging down almost to the ankles. Another piece of black cloth, named the lliglla, folded in the same manner is put over the shoulders; the two upper corners are brought together in front, and fastened with two large silver or gold pins, ornamented on the top, and called tupus; the folds being extended the lliglla covers the elbows; the hair is all collected behind, and made into a thick roll, by winding a fillet round it from near the head to the very ends of the hair; on the top of the head they have a large bunch of ribbons, usually red.