Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
these mounds have a meaning attached to them, for if an Indian has been on a long journey
and approaches his village on his way home, he picks up a large stone and carries it for a mile
or two, and when he comes to one of the heaps near the village he deposits it there. The same
is done when he approaches the top of a long and steep incline, and thus, in the course of time
many large heaps have accumulated. The natives believe that by performing this simple cere-
mony they leave the pains, fatigue and sorrows of the journey behind.
When they travel with a troop of llamas and turn them loose after having made camp for
the night they often make a circle with pebbles, which is supposed to represent a corral. For
every animal they have, they put one llama dropping into this circle, firmly believing that this
brings good luck, and that, although the animals roam about loose, they will all be safe and
sound in the morning, just as if they had been in their corrals at home. Again, I had often no-
ticedminiaturehousesbuiltofafewsmall,flatstones,andthisalwaysinplaceswhereIndians
had camped whilst on a journey. It was explained to me that when a poor man goes travelling
hemakesoneofthesehouseseveryevening,forhisbeliefisthathewillbetheluckyownerof
a real house when he returns home, and that he will possess fields and animals if he has made
such stone houses every night before retiring to rest.
On every Indian hut there is a small wooden cross, and usually a bunch of barley, an earth-
enware pot filled with
chicha
(the native beer), a bottle of alcohol, a pot filled with corn and
with coca leaves, etc. All this is supposed to bring luck and to influence the gods to provide
themwiththesenecessariesoflifethroughouttheyear,andonceineverytwelvemonthsthese
tokens of good fortune are renewed.
