The merchants are keeping back their remittances to the Pacific on account of numerous robberies reported in the snowy regions.
The young gentlemen give a ball every month in the palace, and performances at the theatre, which was once a church. On both occasions the families of the city are brought sociably together. The balls are believed to produce political concord, and are very gay. A Sucre lady inquired if "Cochabamba girls dressed in good taste?" The creoles seem anxious to know the opinion strangers have of them. The North American midshipmen used to say, the height of their enjoyment was to dance with the South American girls. The beauty, manners, and grace of the ladies here cannot be disputed; they are naturally gifted with a pleasing flow of conversation, keen-sighted, and witty. Their bright black eyes flash beneath an irresistible and modest smile; their long, black hair is neatly arranged abroad, but at home it usually hangs plaited over the shoulders and breast. They appear more proud of small feet than of lovely eyes and snow-white necks. In walking they carry themselves straight, and show their graceful figures to advantage; their motions are slow and steady. A bloom on the cheek gives them a fresh, healthy appearance as they ride spirited horses by the side of their lovers, through the gardens of Calacala, before sunrise in the morning.
At midday, on the 12th of May, 1852, we mounted and followed a train of nineteen loaded mules towards the east. Our baggage was reduced one half upon each animal. By law, the arriero may charge full price in descending the eastern side of the Andes for half the load carried on the roads of the table lands. The train followed a white mare with a bell hung to her neck. Four arrieros were accompanied by a number of women, carrying jars of chicha. The party seemed to have been drinking over night, and bent upon a frolic. They succeeded in seducing José, who rode along with our tent pole on his shoulder, and hat pulled over his eyes, ordering about men and women, until I was called upon to settle a difficulty between him and the chief arriero's wife. Richards was carefully guarding Mamoré for fear we would lose him. After some trouble in keeping the baggage mules from escaping up the cross streets, we bid farewell to Cochabamba. On the river bank the women seated themselves in a row to take the last dram with the men who were going with us. They shouted, sang, and danced; then shaking hands all round, the arrieros called to their mules, and we all moved along single file on our way home through the river bed, which was now dry again, the wet season being just over.
The minister of state sent circular instructions to all the authorities on my route, rubriconded by President Belzu, by which they ordered the prefects and governors to facilitate the expedition.
The President usually signs public documents with his peculiar mark or flourish alone, without writing his name. No man's signature in the country is valued without getting him to "rubricar" the document also. The custom is a Spanish one. They have been known to use their own blood or red ink, but the black ink does as well and is lawful. Our receipt book is a most flourishing volume. After José signs his name for his monthly wages, he straddles his legs, turns his head sideways, and gives a most gallant dash, occupying the remainder of the page, often through the paper on to the next leaf, with the point of the pen. We observe all along the route that the people generally dash better than they write. The rule may have originated for the advantage of those who could not write.
Passing over a level road and through the small town of Sacaba, we slung our hammock on the piazza of a hacienda at the foot of the ridge of mountains. Mamoré whipped the big house-dog and played with the small ones, while the fleas retaliated upon us. The mule drivers laughed among themselves when they saw us washing our faces in the morning, while they were snugly wrapped up in their ponchos. The country girls are quite pretty. The drovers we met on the road with horned cattle for the Cochabamba market, said they came from Villa Grande, in the department of Santa Cruz, to the southeast of us. The cattle come up with the winds. They are of good size and condition.
We turned to the northeast, rising up on the mountain. Leaving the valley of Cochabamba, the road lies through a gorge in a range where the Indians were digging potatoes and reaping barley. Descending again, we encamped for the night by an Indian stone hut, amidst the harvest fields. Don Cornello, our head arriero, purchased a sheep in partnership with us, and his men dressed it for the journey. One of them, who suffered with chills, Cornello dosed with a solution of cinchona bark from a bottle he carried with his bread in his saddle wallets.
In this small mountain basin, the thermometer stands at 52°, at 6 p. m., and wet bulb, 53°, with heavy frost in the morning. From the last ridge of mountains we see that the waters flowing towards the northeast go directly to the river Mamoré, and those which run to the southeast are tributary to the same stream, winding around the ridge, at the end of which is situated the city of Santa Cruz, which has a population of six thousand souls. The department contains a population of forty-two thousand two hundred and eighty-four whites, and twenty-six thousand three hundred and seventy-three aborigines. Santa Cruz is the rice-growing state of this country; it being mostly situated in the bottom of the Madeira Plate. Its climate is truly tropical—both hot and moist. It is well wooded and watered. Among the level lands there are lakes, and on the road to the town of Matto Grosso, there are alternately forests and plains covered with a growth of herd grass on which cattle flourish. Tropical fruits are raised in the gardens of Santa Cruz. The weavers of Cochabamba receive their cotton thence, as well as sugar and molasses. Both coffee and chocolate are of excellent quality, and some of the tobacco is equal to that of Cuba. The Nankin cotton of China is produced of a bright color, and contrasts beautifully with the white. The vanilla bean grows by the side of the Indigo plant. The Indian cultivates the pea-nut along the sandy banks of the rivers. The white man reports signs of cinnabar among the mountains at the end of this ridge, where wheat, maize, potatoes, and grapes are found.
The skins of spotted and black tigers are exported to the cold departments, with hides of horned cattle, horses, and the sloth. The feathers and skins of rare birds, snakes, and lizards are gathered among forest trees of the most brilliant colors. The cochineal insect has its place, while different species of bees supply the inhabitants with honey and wax.
The distance from the town of Santa Cruz to Cochabamba is one hundred and seven leagues. The arrieros generally lag along the road thirty days with a cargo of chocolate, coffee, and sugar, or with cotton manufactures, glassware, and salt in return. The trip from Santa Cruz to Cobija is made generally within three months by the way of Cochabamba and Potosi; the distance by the road being three hundred and forty-five leagues. The return cargo may arrive in three months more, but it is not certain that two trips to the Pacific coast and back can be made in one year. It must not be supposed a very extensive foreign trade is carried on with the department of Santa Cruz, though a most dense population is found on its western border. When we look at the list of productions in that region of country, we are struck with the independence of its inhabitants upon all external trade. A breakfast table in Santa Cruz, constructed of beautiful cedar wood, is described, covered with white cotton cloth, silver plates and dishes, with silver cups, forks, and spoons; coffee, sugar, cream, butter, corn and wheat bread, mutton, eggs, and oranges, are all produced in the province. Beef is found on the pampa, game in the woods, and fish in the rivers. Potatoes and all the garden vegetables are raised upon the plantations. The arm chair of the creole is made of the ornamental "Caoba," or mahogany tree. Eight guests may be seated, each one in a different species of mahogany. His Indian servants gather grapes, make wine, collect the tropical fruits, and tobacco; while his wife or daughter take pride in well-made cigars. The climate is such that horses roam about all the year; there is no expense for stabling the animals. No barns are necessary for the protection of his harvests during a hard winter. His house may be as open as a shed. What little thin clothing and bedding his family require are supplied by the soil, and worked into fine cloth by the hands of Indians, who spin, weave, and sew. Silver he cares little for except in table use. Gold ounces are melted into crosses and earrings for the Indian girls. The inhabitants of Santa Cruz are therefore the most indolent in the world; under its hospitable climate, few men exert themselves beyond what is absolutely necessary.