The houses are neatly painted, and some of them three stories in height, with an air of respectability about the place we little expected to find. The streets crowded with people of all sorts and sizes, and nearly all seemed to be busy. The large plaza was decorated with fine old willow trees.
Gaining the post-house we found a miserable woman and child its only inmates. Our baggage was piled up in one corner of the room. The child raised a terrible dust in sweeping the room and driving out the chickens, who laid eggs in the corners, and roosted on the centre table. Our postillions bade us farewell, and our mules were put in a yard close by. The woman cooked some chupe of mutton and potatoes. We were tired, sunburnt, and not a little disgusted with our situation.
On a platform, built of adobe, we spread our blankets. After an unsuccessful attempt to get to sleep upon this bed of sun-dried bricks, I got up and struck a light that I might see some rude, uninvited inmates of the posta, who were making themselves too familiar with us, and found them to be chicken lice, ticks, bed bugs, and fleas. It was difficult to tell which species predominated. There was no rest for the weary that night. Richards rolled and tossed in his sleep as though his bricks were baking. I generally watch José for information upon points which he has had some experience with. Looking out upon the bright starlight night, I found the old man sleeping soundly in the stable yard at the feet of the mules. He had shaken his cold blankets in the cold air and rolled himself in them, where the insects would not go.
After a long time daylight came to my relief; with an application of cold water and a change of clothes, the horrible little man-teazers were gotten rid of.
After breakfast I walked through the city. The streets are laid off at right angles. On the south side of the main plaza stands a large cathedral, and opposite to it the palace occupies the whole side of the block. It is remarkable for its handsome appearance, being much superior to the palace in Lima. The ladies are also beautiful. In the centre of the plaza is a fountain fed by water from a snow peak on the ridge in sight. From the appearance of the houses and stores, there certainly must be wealth here for an inland town.
Strolling along looking at the people, I came to a corner where there was an unusually neat-looking store, and in the doorway stood an intelligent-looking gentleman, who seemed a stranger to this country. He was a German. The house belonged to a Frenchman, of whom I had heard. As soon as they found out I came to make an examination of the rivers, men were called to fetch our baggage and mules, and we were at once comfortably quartered. The French gentleman had been many years in Bolivia, was married to a Cochabambina, and surrounded by a beautiful young flock, who heartily laughed at our dislike to fleas.
The stream between the mountains and the town is a tributary of the Mamoré. It flows around the town, and after creeping along the ridge some distance to the southward and eastward, it passes round the mountains, and enters northward into the Madeira.
The President of Bolivia, with his cabinet, were here on a visit, and would leave shortly, under a large escort of regular troops. As there was not much time to lose, I immediately employed myself in the preparation of a commercial proposition to the government. A Brazilian minister had concluded a treaty of limits and navigation between his country and Peru. He was now awaiting the action of this government in Sucre, the capital, for the purpose of securing the use of the navigable rivers of Bolivia for the Brazils alone. I decided to ask the right and privilege to navigate the rivers flowing through the territory of Bolivia by steamboats or other vessels.
On Sunday morning, agreeably to appointment, two influential merchants of the city accompanied me to the palace.
The soldiers drilling in the plaza were young, spirited-looking, well-disciplined men, though small in stature. They were stout built, and nearly all half-breeds, except the officers, who were white. There was but one negro among them; he was the drummajor, and the largest man in the regiment. The officers lounged about the doors of the palace in full uniform, buttoned up to the throat, and looked as uncomfortable as the soldiers in their thick Sunday mustering clothes.