. Pacific shores from Panama . caught the long nap of theirwoolly garments and fringes. We soon reached thefirst mud-built house sand stumbled up the winding,rock-paved streets, climbing higher and higher to-ward glimpses of gleaming white walls ahead. Suddenly we turned into the village green, for suchit truly was, a perfect pastoral hidden in this moun-tain valley. Eight giant trees {pisonays, I think theyare called) shaded its broad expanse, their gnarledtrunks girdled with stone seats, their lustrous leavesshining and sparkling in the sunlight. In the shadowswhich they cast, groups of Indi
. Pacific shores from Panama . caught the long nap of theirwoolly garments and fringes. We soon reached thefirst mud-built house sand stumbled up the winding,rock-paved streets, climbing higher and higher to-ward glimpses of gleaming white walls ahead. Suddenly we turned into the village green, for suchit truly was, a perfect pastoral hidden in this moun-tain valley. Eight giant trees {pisonays, I think theyare called) shaded its broad expanse, their gnarledtrunks girdled with stone seats, their lustrous leavesshining and sparkling in the sunlight. In the shadowswhich they cast, groups of Indian women squattedwith their children, and over by the village pumpanother group quietly gossiped. An old Spaniard, inhis threadbare black coat and flashy tie, returnedslowly from mass. A broad flight of steps, orna-mented with a tall stone crucifix, rose at the farthestend and led up to the church, whose single lava-builttower, dark and rich in tone, contrasted pleasantlywith the white arcades that adjoined it. The long [154]. Urcos THE LAND OF THE INCAS afternoon shadows, the ruddy glow of the scarletcostumes, the mighty hills, fat-flanked, gouged bylandslides, yet tilled to their very summits, composeda charming picture, and when we had enjoyed it forsome time we mounted the steps to the church. It, too, well repaid our visit. Its walls and ceiling,though white, are almost completely covered withstencils, executed apparently by Indians, like thoseof the California missions, but far richer in designand bolder and more vigorous in pattern, and par-ticularly powerful in tone. They form the back-ground for a multitude of objects: paintings, notvery good, to be sure, but following the fine old His-panic tradition and set in their original richly carvedand gilded frames; polychrome statues of saints andmartyrs in the golden niches of side altars, mingledwith bits of altar-cloths and laces and old Spanishmirrors. The vandal hand of no city antiquary hasas yet defiled this little tre
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