The Boy Travellers in South America: Adventures of Two Youths in a Journey through Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Paraguay, Argentine Republic, and ChiliKnox, Thomas Wallace
General
The Boy Travellers in South America: Adventures of Two Youths in a Journey through Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Paraguay, Argentine Republic, and Chili
Knox, Thomas Wallace
South America -- Description and travel -- Juvenile literature
The rest of the dress of the Aymara women includes a gown of blue,
brown, or black material, and a shawl which is fastened at the neck with
a large pin, shaped somewhat like a spoon. Sometimes a handkerchief is
fastened around the neck, but it is rarely worn except on gala days.
[Illustration: AYMARA MEN, PUNO.]
The Aymara men wear short trousers, very broad in the legs, and incase
their feet in sandals, or shoes of rawhide. They wear ponchos over their
shoulders, and on their heads they constantly have skull-caps, which are
covered, when out of doors, with broad hats of braided grass. Men and
women keep the hair long; it is invariably black, except in extreme age,
when it assumes the frost that never melts, like the hair of people in
other parts of the world.
[Illustration: AYMARA WOMAN, PUNO.]
Though living side by side for centuries the Aymaraes and Quichuas
preserve their distinctness, rarely associating, and never uniting in
marriage. The Aymaraes hold their market at Puno in the plaza in front
of the cathedral, as already described, but the Quichua market is held
in another square. A Quichua woman can be distinguished from an Aymara
one at a glance, as she is without the remarkable head-covering, but the
dress of the men has only some slight points of difference, that cannot
be observed by a stranger. The Aymaraes are thought to represent an
older race than the Quichuas; the men are larger and more powerful, but
the women are less inclined to good looks.
Though the two people remain distinct they are perfectly friendly, and
their huts are often quite near each other. In their resistance to the
Spanish conquest they made common cause, and in every revolt against
their oppressors they have fought side by side. Both are grave,
dignified, silent, and sad, and as we look at them they seem to be
musing over the misfortunes of the last three centuries, and the
degradation that has followed the occupation of their land by the
avaricious invaders.
These musings of Frank and Fred were cut short by the announcement that
the boat was ready. Pushing along the tortuous channel through the reeds
they made slow progress; but all journeys have an end, and in due time
they reached the steamboat. Steam was already up, and as soon as the
party was on board, with its belongings, the paddles were put in motion,
and the prow turned in the direction of Titicaca Island.
[Illustration; A RIDE ON A BALSA, LAKE TITICACA.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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