Across the Andes . latform. Every one of his callapos was curi-ously enough w^recked in the same rapids on theday after he announced his thrifty general allowances is about two quarts a dayfor three men, and perhaps, if the day has been ahard one, a small teacupful each in the to them has no value compared with cafi-assa. Once, when trying to buy a fine bead neck^band from a Lecco, I offered him money up toa dollar, Bolivian, the equivalent of eight bot-tles of canassa, and he refused, for his Leccosweetheart had made it; then I began to barterall over again by offeri
Across the Andes . latform. Every one of his callapos was curi-ously enough w^recked in the same rapids on theday after he announced his thrifty general allowances is about two quarts a dayfor three men, and perhaps, if the day has been ahard one, a small teacupful each in the to them has no value compared with cafi-assa. Once, when trying to buy a fine bead neck^band from a Lecco, I offered him money up toa dollar, Bolivian, the equivalent of eight bot-tles of canassa, and he refused, for his Leccosweetheart had made it; then I began to barterall over again by offering him a bottle of can-assa, and at once he handed me the neck-bandwithout question. While the current was swift, from eight toten miles an hour, we had not come to the badrapids. Sometimes the river would open outinto broad shallows, where the callapo wouldbump and scrape along over the bottom, andthen would close up into another gorge that inits turn would merge into tortuous canons with OFF ON THE LONG DRIFT i8i. LECCOS LOWERING THE CAI,1,AP0 THROUGH SHAI,I,OWS. bluff walls of rock. Drunk though the Leccoswere, yet their river skill did not seem to be af-fected When we floated along the quieterreaches, they would play like silly children. Oc-casionally one would be tumbled into the river,and would swim alongside in sheepish embar-rassment until he decided to climb aboard, amidthe pleased cackles of the rest. One, a young Lecco about seventeen or eigh-teen years old, who handled one of the sternpaddles, accidentally stepped off backward intothe river. The others shrieked with delight asthe Lecco struck out for shore. We saw himland, pull his machete out from under his shirt,and start chopping down some saplings. Per- 182 ACROSS THE ANDES haps fifteen minutes later, in the next milderstretch of river, down came the Lecco like a cow-puncher on a pony, only his pony was a bundleof mere sticks lashed together with vine, and inplace of a rope he swung a bamboo pole, usingit as a p
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, bookpublishernewyo, bookyear1912
