The islands of Titicaca and Koati, illustrated . ve exceptllama dung: taquia.^^ The only redeeming featuresare: The sight of the glorious Andes, and the magnificentsky, when it condescends to exhibit itself in full redeeming features, however, have no influence onthe Indian ;^^ his heart is untouched by beauties of nature. That nature, so uninviting on the whole, must have, forages, exercised a steady pressure on the mind of the Indianwho was, and is yet, wholly dependent upon it. Threemethods of subsistence were open to him,—hunting, agricul-ture and fishery. Hunting was limite
The islands of Titicaca and Koati, illustrated . ve exceptllama dung: taquia.^^ The only redeeming featuresare: The sight of the glorious Andes, and the magnificentsky, when it condescends to exhibit itself in full redeeming features, however, have no influence onthe Indian ;^^ his heart is untouched by beauties of nature. That nature, so uninviting on the whole, must have, forages, exercised a steady pressure on the mind of the Indianwho was, and is yet, wholly dependent upon it. Threemethods of subsistence were open to him,—hunting, agricul-ture and fishery. Hunting was limited to quadrupeds ofgreat fleetness and to water-fowl. Although the guanacoand the vicuna were formerly abundant, they are shy andswift, and it was only in communal hunts that the Indianscould secure such game.^^ The same may be said of the in-digenous deer, or taruca. ^^ Birds were not so difficult toobtain, and an abundance of edible water-fowl is still seenin many places on the shores. Agriculture enjoyed the ad- > fL, CS Mo e3 S30) 55Dei. THE BASIN OF LAKE TITICACA 21 vantage of a moist climate, and, in the dry season, of irriga-tion. But the plants that could grow were of but few speciesand all of the coarsest kind of food. The cold rendered im-possible the storing of the potato, in its natural is not enough combustible wherewith to dry the bulbin quantities, hence the Indian resorted to the expedient offreezing the potato and then squeezing all the liquid out ofit, thus preparing the insipid chunu, one of the meanestarticles of vegetable diet.^^ Maize was rarely the dweller on the beach, fishing was possible. Yet itdoes not seem to have been extensively practised. Thus the primitive inhabitant of the Titicaca basin was,as his neighbor and congener of the Puna and Cordillera,weighed down by a hard climate and scanty resources. Itis true that the Indian, having the llama at his disposal,had the resource of commerce; but that commerce alsowas
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, bookidislandsoftit, bookyear1910
