CHAPTER XX.
Pampas of Trinidad—Oxen of the Beni—Merchants of Trinidad—Carayanas—Cholos—Indios—Chicha, general drink in Bolivia—Baile and Spanish dance—Bolivian drinking—Bolivian peculiarities—The old maid’s black cat—Smallpox amongst the Indians—Depopulation of Trinidad—Wages of the peons—Drills, hammocks, shirts, and hats made by Indians—Prices of provisions—Trade in Trinidad—Depreciated currency—Melgarejos.
In the afternoon I was agreeably surprised by the arrival of Don Ignacio Bello, who very kindly rode over from Trinidad to escort me to the town, where he treated me in a most kind and hospitable manner. Don Bello is the principal merchant of Trinidad, and had, in 1872, made a journey down the rapids and to Pará, returning from thence in 1873; and as I had accompanied him from San Antonio to Pará, we were old friends.
The road from the Ybari is over a flat pampa, which stretches far beyond Trinidad, up to the Itenez River, and which is covered with a species of rough, tall grass that requires burning frequently. These pampas are almost annually flooded, and are, I think, more subject to these inundations than the pampas on the opposite side of the Mamoré and near Exaltacion. The inundations sometimes rise up to the town of Trinidad, there being only one street that is said to be left dry on these occasions. The grazing lands generally have some slight eminences upon them, where the cattle find refuge during these floods. Upon the retirement of the waters, and when the sun has dried the rubbish, it is set fire to in as many places as possible and burnt up, after which the young grass springs up quickly with renewed vigour, and the cattle thrive excellently. The oxen of the department of the Beni are really handsome animals, being nearly twice as large as those of Brazil; indeed, I have seen many that would compare very favourably with our ordinary English bullocks. The heaviest of them are kept for hauling purposes, and are very well trained both for carts and for the “trapiches,” or sugar-mills.
Trinidad is the capital of the department of the Beni, and is the seat of the prefecture. It is, however, but a small town, though larger than Exaltacion; the houses are many of them well built, of brick or adobe walls, and all have tiled roofs. There are a few merchants and storekeepers of considerable position and resources, whose principal trade appears to be the export of cocoa to Cochabamba and Santa Cruz, receiving in return flour and potatoes from Cochabamba, and dry goods from Santa Cruz, these latter being brought thither from the Brazilian town of Curumbá, on the river Paraguay. The merchants are all Bolivians of Spanish descent, but the bulk of the population is formed of Mojeño, or Trinitario Indians, who appear to me to be the most intelligent, as they certainly are the best-looking, of all the tribes of the Beni.
SKETCHES OF TRINITARIO INDIANS.