of Jujuy. Prospectors come more frequently. The land is divided among a small number of white proprietors almost all of whom live in the town of Jujuy. Each property has an enormous extent and is occupied by a hundred or more In- dians who must give up to the proprictor the greater part of the production of their small troops and, in addition, give per- sonal service when it is required. The greater part of the owners never visit their land in the Puna but are content from time to time to send an agent to settle problems among the Indians and return with supplies. The relation of the Indians to their masters is much like that which obtained under the system of Spanish encomiendas.
The Indians here are shy, reserved, and timid, tending to abandon their huts on the approach of a stranger—probably a response to the fact that they have been pillaged by bandits, which formerly overran the Puna de Jujuy, and to the excesses of certain civil and military authorities. ‘They are not able to assimilate European civilization in spite of the fact that some of them are workmen in the mines and the borax es- tablishments (since only they can stand the rare air and the cold). Asa whole they have no capacity to mingle with others or to improve themselves, even though occasionally one of them rises to a position of responsibility and confidence and establishes strong relations with the whites.
While the economic and social condition of the Indians of the Puna de Atacama is substantially the same as at the time of the Conquest, there have been certain ameliorations. The most important one was brought about by the introduction of sheep. Formerly the population was dependent entirely upon the domesticated llama. The pasture grounds are too dry for alpaca, and the forage is less suitable for the alpaca than the short, thick mat of green grass growing in moister situations under the snow line of the loftier districts of Bolivia and Peru. Undoubtedly some wool was obtained, then as now, from the pelts of the vicufia and guanaco, But it was certainly an impor- tant addition to the economy of the Indian to have the domes- ticated sheep. ‘The wool supply is more dependable and can be sold after shearing, and the skins of the slaughtered ani-
