Page:Isaiah Bowman - Desert Trails of Atacama (1924).pdf/234

 He had at his disposal the police department of the town. In addition, the government sent twenty-five soldiers under the command of the sub-prefect to keep order. At night the place was patrolled by two hundred Indians in bodies of fifty each. The following table gives further statistics, as copied from Mr. Bosman's record: Number Charge

Horses brought bo fain: :..2 5 fo. 6.staeliiesd ial esses! te dece! 43 30¢ each Duress ag ite alah etal tae teksto rit cette ee 2786 © ©30¢ cach Ballocks, ebe sti i ri dteite it heaisas arse eieei eee weeds 1894 30¢ cach Donlieyss atest dains debrdetatle tricks tals dagle sda paws ceneaaed 1767 30¢ each Shope (only during Fats); sees ¢6 oe eee 7 cee seer sesees 53 Sroeach Tent) iisac ne poe eves Soeedev estes ads sade eee mers tt4 $3 each Hotela. o>. 8.24.52) oe anes oon ae rG peat Ee ene en ote 2 $50 cach Bocigd palma: tan 2 nts! oa) clasts ov gale eae x cantik ls eee ne stake ele 28 $10 cach Women sitting outside anywhere selling food... 0.00. ....00 97 «= S85 each Gambling: tables: 2.54.25 22.0 5,007 tg Bete thee eee a ee et 31 «$20 each Rotlettes« 305 fo tee cu 2 prc re re eta ere eaten ee 1 $500 each Butchery) tities i a4. tit. th 0 ee eh eee ee eee ae 2 Sio each Brabotrhee cas fada. alatatalabvrata nats tln ain! ra ita setatatahal et bied Gaeta ate 7 ‘Ss§each Canteétns- (saloon). crea ticte i ctecitecegtdigigsiice cheeeet 67 $20 each General merchandise stores. .... 0.0000 ce cece ree ucacareees 1 $50each Shope for cuca: 2235 is ka eeltucete cease Sissy eee eas 29 = $§ each Alcohol (government #upply).¢ is.f- 6.100. ce eeeeteuaeapecere 1 o each

Anyone journeying through the Central Andes from north- western Argentina to Lake ‘Titicaca westward to the Pacific at the present time could manage to see a great deal of the country from the railroad, but the conditions of rail transpor- tation would conceal the background of the people who had made the country in decades and centuries past. To under- stand the structure of the life of the region today, one must know that the railroad is a very recent affair, Until it came— and the beginnings of the Andean railroads date back but little more than twenty-five years except near mines or on the coast of Chile—goods had to be brought in on mule back. As late as the years 1901 to 1906 C. J. Bosman took yearly trips from the coast, and his experiences illustrate the sort of trading that is still done all through those districts not served by the railway. He bought six strong Argentinian mules at Calama, which was then the end of the railroad in Chile, and with a cargo of general merchandise set out for the plateau country