Now, however, when without a gendarme we entered the smart little town of Lampa, we found ourselves immediately and unquestionably the objects of extreme suspicion and distrust.  Yet we could not help admiring the well-swept streets, freshly whitewashed houses, and general air of prosperity and enterprise.  The gobernador of the town lived on the main street in a red-tiled house, whose courtyard and colonnade were probably two hundred years old.  He had heard nothing of our undertaking from the government.  His friends urged him to take some hostile action.  Fortunately, our arrieros, respectable men of high grade, although strangers in Lampa, were able to allay his suspicions temporarily.  We were not placed under arrest, although I am sure his action was not approved by the very suspicious town councilors, who found it far easier to suggest reasons for our being fugitives from justice than to understand the real object of our journey.

The very fact that we were bound for Lake Parinacochas, a place well known in Lampa, added to their suspicion.  It seems that Lampa is famous for its weavers, who utilize the wool of the countless herds of sheep, alpacas, and vicunas in this vicinity to make ponchos and blankets of high grade, much desired not only in this locality but even in Arequipa.  These are marketed, as so often happens in the outlying parts of the world, at a great annual fair, attended by traders who come hundreds of miles, bringing the manufactured articles of the outer world and seeking the highly desired products of these secluded towns.  The great fair for this vicinity has been held, for untold generations, on the shores of Lake Parinacochas.  Every one is anxious to attend the fair, which is an occasion for seeing one’s friends, an opportunity for jollification, carousing, and general enjoyment—­like a large county fair at home.  Except for this annual fair week, the basin of Parinacochas is as bleak and desolate as our own fair-grounds, with scarcely a house to be seen except those that are used for the purposes of the fair.  Had we been bound for Parinacochas at the proper season nothing could have been more reasonable and praiseworthy.  Why anybody should want to go to Parinacochas during one of the other fifty-one weeks in the year was utterly beyond the comprehension or understanding of these village worthies.  So, to our “selectmen,” are the idiosyncrasies of itinerant gypsies who wish to camp in our deserted fair-grounds.

The Tejadas were not anxious to spend the night in town—­probably because, according to our contract, the cost of feeding the mules devolved entirely upon them and fodder is always far more expensive in town than in the country.  It was just as well for us that this was so, for I am sure that before morning the village gossips would have persuaded the gobernador to arrest us.  As it was, however, he was pleasant and hospitable, and considerably amused at the embarrassment of an Indian woman who was weaving