The power of the government of Bolivia rests upon its armed force. The voting population is thinly scattered over an extensive country, and the army is large. Intelligent people of this country much dislike the mother country—Spain. They blame her rulers for the manner in which the creole portion of South America were treated while she held the country. To keep them ignorant and get their silver was the sole policy of that government.
I was surprised to be invited to the house of a family in great distress. The husband and father was thought to be dying. Without understanding why I was asked, I went. The house was situated on the corner of a street opposite to a church. It was crowded with ladies and gentlemen. The patio was filled with frame-work, made of reed, some ten feet high, to which fire-works were fastened. The street in front was crowded, and the centre of it carpeted the length of the house. The ladies on the balconies, as far as we could see along the street, were dressed in white, and had gathered quantities of flowers in baskets. The gentlemen were dressed in deep black, as if going to church. We were introduced to the lady of the house, who seemed to be greatly distressed, but was engaged paying attention to the people like at a ball. Her daughters were dressed with flowers, and with so much care as to lead us astray. The father was evidently dying in the next room, the doctors being said to have given him up.
The sound of music drew us all to the balconies to see a grand procession. A large wooden image of a female was carried on a platform; a company of regular soldiers followed with music; then came priests and attendants, with lighted candles, and a long train of young padres, all under a shower of flowers from the balcony. When the wooden image appeared opposite the house, the men under the front part of the platform let her down on the carpet; the priests knelt by her side. The bells of the city churches struck, and the population took off their hats and knelt in prayer for the dying man. After singing a hymn they marched away to the music. The carpets were removed from the street, and, as night came on, the fire-works commenced. Wires leading from the sick man's bed-room to the altar of the church, carried messengers of fire backwards and forwards, while brilliant fire works attached to the great frames were set off along the street. The noise made about the poor man was deafening. The crowd of people returned home, stopping on their way for ice-cream sold in little shops alongside of the plaza. In a few days after the doctors reported the sick man out of danger. The cost of these proceedings was two hundred dollars.
The climate of Cochabamba is very apt to deceive persons from the Andes. The people here are very careful about their dress, and never expose themselves by drinking water or sitting in a draft of wind when heated; severe colds taken in this way, with sore throats, frequently cause death.
We observe the same phenomenon as in the Titicaca basin. A vertical sun shines upon the valley, and at mid-day its effects are very powerful; while all around, on the tops of the highlands, hang curtains of clouds reaching half way down the mountains. The air underneath and on the snow, near the city, becomes very cold, and suddenly a puff of wind comes down, bringing along the clouds, and the population are shivering. In an instant they clap on their woollen ponchos and close their doors.
We have had processions through the streets for some days. Padres, with bands of music and wooden images, praying for rain, as the crops are suffering in some parts of the valley. Numbers of Indians join as they pass along. The praying continued till rain fell, and then the Indians believed the priests had the power of persuading the Almighty to send them relief.
We met the bishop of Cochabamba in society. He inquired anxiously whether "the people of the United States wanted to navigate the rivers of Bolivia?" He was told that "they desired to trade with the Bolivians." After he left, a lady said he was opposed to the opening of the navigable streams of the country to the commerce of the United States, and had informed the people that it would be the cause of declaring religious liberty.
The cabinet ministers returned visits, and expressed themselves highly in favor of the enterprise. The minister of state said my proposition should be attended to as soon as they arrived at the capital, and he should be pleased to hear from me, should I wish to address him on the subject.
The President enclosed a short note to the principal families in the city, saying he regretted his public duties kept him so much confined that he had not time to call upon them, but if they had any orders for Potosi or Sucre, he would be happy to attend to them.
The government troops were drawn up in the plaza on Sunday, December 21, 1851, and after being inspected, the cavalry was ordered off in advance of the president, who has appointed Monday morning for his own departure.