File:The American Museum journal (c1900-(1918)) (17973199698).jpg

Title: The American Museum journal
Identifier: americanmuseumjo17amer (find matches)
Year: c1900-(1918) (c190s)
Authors: American Museum of Natural History
Subjects: Natural history
Publisher: New York : American Museum of Natural History
Contributing Library: American Museum of Natural History Library
Digitizing Sponsor: Biodiversity Heritage Library

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us most strongly were the beautiful blankets which were sometimes offered for sale. It seemed as if these differed in each locality, conforming perhaps to a custom of bygone days. The blankets we saw near Totora were of coarse weave, very heavy, and with wide stripes of subdued colors merging into each other and giving a pleasing rain- bow effect. At Sucre the stripes were very narrow and of many brilliant colors, and in one restricted locality beautiful geometric designs added greatly to the attractiveness of the pat- tern. Tn the vicinity of La Quiaca on the Argentine frontier, most of the blankets were made of llama's wool, 410 Tlic woman, wlio^e dress shows her to be a rliola, or Spjinish and Indian half breed, has tlie services of a full blooded Quichua highlander in her bread making. The mud oven was heated for several lioiirs, and then the embers were raked out; after which small cakes of dough tossed in baked rap- idly, not more than one minute intervening be- tween placing in the dough and taking out the bread and were white with a narrow brown border, and fringed on all four sides. The fine, silky wool of the vicuna is made into squares or ponchos of such close texture that they are practically impermeable to rain; they are greatly esteemed by their owners, who will part with them only for an exorbitant sum. When market day is over, and all the produce from the uplands has been sold, the greater part of the proceeds is spent for coca leaves from the lower country. The Indians then abandon themselves to a night of singing, dancing, and drinking. The song always begins in a very high key, and the shrill, pen- etrating voices of the women rise clear and piercing above the low drone of the men. There is only one tune, as far as I could discover, and an inter- minable number of verses are suntj to

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