hen covered with leaves fixed on with small strips of leather, overlaid
with the hide of some forest animal. These operations being performed,
the loads are again fastened on the backs of the Indians. In their
native forests these people wear but little clothing. Their dress is
limited to a sort of loose tunic without sleeves for the women, and for
the men merely a piece of cloth fastened round the waist. They go
barefooted; but they paint their feet and legs with the juice of the
Huito (_Genipa oblongifolia_, R. Pav.) in such a manner that they seem
to be wearing half-boots. The juice of the Huito has the effect of
protecting them against the stings of insects. The coloring adheres so
strongly to the skin that it cannot be washed off by water; but oil
speedily removes it. In the Sierra these Indians put on warmer clothing,
and on their feet they wear a kind of boots called _aspargetas_, made of
the plaited tendrils of plants.

The stock of balsams and drugs being disposed of, the Indians, after a
few months' absence, return to their homes. Some of them, however,
wander to the distance of two or three hundred leagues from their native
forests, traversing the greater part of Peru, and even visiting Lima,
carrying large flask gourds filled with balsams. These wandering tribes
seek frequent contact with other nations. They are not distrustful and
reserved, but, on the contrary, annoyingly communicative. It is not easy
to discover the cause of this exception, or to ascertain the time when
the Indians began to travel the country as physicians and apothecaries.
The earliest writers on the oldest epochs of Peruvian history make no
mention of this race of medical pedlars.

The Indians here alluded to all profess Christianity, and must, as
_Indios Christianos_, in strict correctness, be distinguished from the
wild Indians, _Indios Bravos_, who exclusively inhabit the eastern
Montanas of Peru, towards the frontiers of Brazil. These Indios Bravos
comprehend numerous tribes, each of which has its own customs, religion,
and also, in general, its own language. Only very few of them are known,
for since the overthrow of the missions there is little communication
with them. Respecting the Indios Bravos who inhabit the Montanas of
Southern Peru, I have been unable to collect any accurate information.
They remain quite unknown, for impenetrable wilds intervene between them
and the civilized world, and seldom has a European foot ventured