small percentage of
Africans, descendants of the negro slaves introduced in colonial times.
A roughly-taken census of 1900 gives the total population as 1,816,271,
including the Litoral department, now belonging to Chile (49,820), and
estimates the number of wild Indians of the forest regions at 91,000. Of
this total, 50.7% were classed as Indians, 12.8% as whites, 26.8% as
_mestizos_, 0.3% as negroes, and 9.4% as unknown. In 1904 an official
estimate made the population 2,181,415, also including the Litoral
(59,784), but of course all census returns and estimates in such a
country are subject to many allowances. The Indian population (920,860)
is largely composed of the so-called civilized tribes of the Andes,
which once formed part of the nationality ruled by the Incas, and of
those of the Mojos and Chiquitos regions, which were organized into
industrial communities by the Jesuits in the l7th century. The former,
which are chiefly Aymaras south of the latitude of Lake Titicaca,
attained a considerable degree of civilization before the discovery of
America and have been in closer contact with Europeans than the other
tribes of Bolivia. It is doubtful, however, whether their condition has
been improved under these influences. The Mojos and Chiquitos tribes,
also, have been less prosperous since the expulsion of the Jesuits, but
they have remained together in organized communities, and have followed
the industries and preserved the religion taught them as well as
circumstances permitted. Both these groups of Indians are peaceable and
industrious, and form an important labouring element. They are addicted
to the excessive use of _chica_ (a native beer made from Indian corn),
and have little or no ambition to improve their condition, but this may
be attributed in part to their profound ignorance and to the state of
peonage in which they are held. Inhabiting the southern part of the
Bolivian plain are the Chiriguanos, a detached tribe of the Guarani race
which drifted westward to the vicinity of the Andes long ago. They are
of a superior physical and mental type, and have made noteworthy
progress toward civilization. They are agriculturists and stock-raisers
and have the reputation of being peaceable and industrious. The
remaining native tribes under the supervision of the state have made
little progress, and their number is said to be decreasing
(notwithstanding the favourable climatic conditions under which most of
them li