The Peruvian highlanders whom we met by the roadside were different in feature, attitude, and clothing from those of the Titicaca Basin or even of Santa Rosa, which is not far away.  They were typical Quichuas—­peaceful agriculturists—­usually spinning wool on the little hand spindles which have been used in the Andes from time immemorial.  Their huts are built of adobe, the roofs thatched with coarse grass.

The Quichuas are brown in color.  Their hair is straight and black.  Gray hair is seldom seen.  It is the custom among the men in certain localities to wear their hair long and braided.  Beards are sparse or lacking.  Bald heads are very rare.  Teeth seem to be more enduring than with us.  Throughout the Andes the frequency of well-preserved teeth was everywhere noteworthy except on sugar plantations, where there is opportunity to indulge freely in crude brown sugar nibbled from cakes or mixed with parched corn and eaten as a travel ration.

The Quichua face is broad and short.  Its breadth is nearly the same as the Eskimo.  Freckles are not common and appear to be limited to face and arms, in the few cases in which they were observed.  On the other hand, a large proportion of the Indians are pock-marked and show the effects of living in a country which is “free from medical tyranny.”  There is no compulsory vaccination.

One hardly ever sees a fat Quichua.  It is difficult to tell whether this is a racial characteristic or due rather to the lack of fat-producing foods in their diet.  Although the Peruvian highlander has made the best use he could of the llama, he was never able to develop its slender legs and weak back sufficiently to use it for loads weighing more than eighty or a hundred pounds.  Consequently, for the carrying of really heavy burdens he had to depend on himself.  As a result, it is not surprising to learn from Dr. Ferris that while his arms are poorly developed, his shoulders are broader, his back muscles stronger, and the calves of his legs larger and more powerful than those of almost any other race.

The Quichuas are fond of shaking hands.  When a visiting Indian joins a group he nearly always goes through the gentle ceremony with each person in turn.  I do not know whether this was introduced by the Spaniards or comes down from prehistoric times.  In any event, this handshaking in no way resembles the hearty clasp familiar to undergraduates at the beginning of the college year.  As a matter of fact the Quichua handshake is extremely fishy and lacks cordiality.  In testing the hand grip of the Quichuas by a dynamometer our surgeons found that the muscles of the forearm were poorly developed in the Quichua and the maximum grip was weak in both sexes, the average for the man being only about half of that found among American white adults of sedentary habits.