degrees. Sand-flies, however, resembling
our "punkies," abound; and the natives are constantly slapping their
naked sides, eating the little pests as the Papallactans do their
lice.[115] Archidona is the largest village in the Napo country,
containing about five hundred souls. The houses are of split bamboo and
palm-thatch, often hid in a plantation of yuca and plantain. The central
and most important structure is the little church; its rude belfry,
portico, chancel, images, and other attempts at ornament remind us of
the fitting words of Mrs. Agassiz, that "there is something touching in
the idea that these poor, uneducated people of the forest have cared to
build themselves a temple with their own hands, lavishing upon it such
ideas of beauty and taste as they have, and bringing at least their best
to their humble altar." Founded by Davalos in 1560, Archidona has been a
missionary station for two hundred years. The people are child-like and
docile, but the bishop confessed there was no intellectual advance.
Every morning and evening, at the tinkling of a little bell, all
Archidona assembled in the open porch, where the bishop taught them to
sing and pray. It was a novel sight to see these children of the forest
coming out of the woods on all sides and running up to the temple--for
these natives, whenever they move, almost invariably go on a run. The
men are tall and slim and of a dark red color, and their legs are bent
backward at the knees. The governor was the only portly individual we
saw. The women are short, with high shoulders, and are very timid; they
seldom stand erect, and with the knees bent forward they run sneakingly
to church. Their eyes have a characteristic, soft, drooping look. They
carry their babes generally on the hip; not on the back, as in Quito.
The men are hatless, shirtless, and shoeless; their only garments are
short drawers, about six inches long, and little ponchos, both of
lienzo, dyed a dark purple with achote--the red seeds of the bixa, which
the cooks of Quito use to color their soups. All paint their bodies with
the same pigment. The women wear a frock reaching from the waist to the
knees; it is nothing more than a yard or two of lienzo wound around the
body. The Archidonians are the most Christianized of all the Napo
Indians, but they can not be called religious. Their rites (they can
hardly be said to have a creed) are the _a_, _b_, _c_, of Romanism,
mingled with some strange notions--t