Travels in Peru, on the Coast, in the Sierra, Across the Cordilleras and the Andes, into the Primeval Forests Part 11

At the entrance to the port of Huacho the breakers are so dangerous that an ordinary-sized boat cannot put in. Landing is therefore effected in the small canoes of the Indians. When we approached the sh.o.r.e we made signals, and called loudly for canoes, but in vain. The dismayed Huachanos showed no inclination to a.s.sist their supposed enemies. Our captain, who was with us in the boat, said, that as a fresh wind from the sh.o.r.e was springing up he could wait no longer, and that he must take us with him to Panama. This very unpleasant piece of information prompted us to put into execution a plan which was suggested by despair.

The tall, lank pastor, wrapped in the black ecclesiastical robe, called the _talar_, was placed at the prow, where he stood up, making signs of peace and friends.h.i.+p to the natives. This had the desired effect. The port captain had a good gla.s.s, with which he quickly recognized the marked features of the Cura, and several Indian boats were instantly despatched to convey us on sh.o.r.e. These Indian canoes consist of long narrow stumps of trees, hollowed longitudinally. On either side is nailed a _palo de balzas_, viz., a beam of a very porous kind of wood.

One Indian sits forward, another more backward, each having a short wooden shovel-shaped oar, with which they strike the water right and left, and thus scull the boat onward. The pa.s.sengers must crouch or kneel down in the middle, and dare not stir, for the least irregularity in the motion would upset the boat. We landed safely, and amused ourselves by referring to the mistake of the brave guardians of the coast. Horses were provided for us, and we rode to the town, which is situated at about half a league up the gently-rising coast.

My princ.i.p.al occupation, during a six weeks' residence on this part of the coast, which is very rich in fishes, was to augment my ichthyological collection, and to make myself well acquainted with the environs of Huacho. Every morning, at five o'clock, I rode down to the sh.o.r.e, and waited on the strand to see the boats returning with what had been caught, during the night, by the fishers, who readily descried me at a distance, and held up, in their boat, such strange inhabitants of the deep as had come into their possession. I succeeded in making out, from several hundred individual specimens, one hundred and twenty distinct species of sea and river fish. But an unlucky fate hovered over this fine collection. The fishes were all put into a cask with brandy, which, by neglect of the commissary of the port, was left on the Mole at Callao, for several months, in the burning heat of the sun: in consequence its contents were utterly destroyed. A second collection was prepared, and immediately s.h.i.+pped for Europe, and in the packing the greatest care was observed. Nevertheless it arrived, after a voyage of fifteen months, in a state quite useless. Thus the fruits of much labor and a considerable expense were entirely lost.

Huacho is a little village, which, since the war of Independence, has received the t.i.tle of "city." It has more than 5000 inhabitants, of whom four-fifths are Indians and the rest mestizes. Very few whites have settled here. Among them I met an old lame Spaniard, "Don Simon,"

who, at the beginning of the present century, accompanied the celebrated Alexander von Humboldt to the beds of salt situated a few miles to the south. In relating, with enthusiastic pleasure, his recollections of the youthful and indefatigable traveller, he told me that, some years ago, he had read through the book which Humboldt wrote on America, and he added, with great simplicity, "_pero, Senor, ahi he perdido los estribos_."[43]

The natives employ themselves in fis.h.i.+ng, agriculture, and the breeding of poultry. Most of the poultry brought to market in Lima comes from Huacho. Every Friday large caravan-like processions of Indian women repair to the capital with fowls, ducks, and turkeys.

Fifteen or twenty are tied together by the feet, and make a sort of bunch; and two of such bunches are hung at the pommel of the saddle, so that one hangs down on either side of the horse. The chola[44] sits in the middle. Under this burthen the poor animal has to travel two days and a half. Only when the caravan halts does he enjoy the relief of being unsaddled and fed. Some of the Indians of Huacho work in the salt-pits. The women plait coa.r.s.e straw hats, and a kind of mats called _petates_, which they carry to Lima for sale.

The Huachanos cannot be ranked among the best cla.s.ses of the Indians.

They are malicious, revengeful, and knavish. Their character has evidently deteriorated amidst the numerous revolutions which preceded the establishment of the Republic, and the frequent pa.s.sage of troops through the town. The Padre Requena sketched to me a terrible picture of his _Indios brutos_; but truly, under the guidance of such a shepherd, it were unreasonable to expect the flock to be very good.

This venerable Cura was a fair type of the Peruvian priesthood. He was pa.s.sionately fond of hunting, and for the enjoyment of that recreation he kept a number of excellent horses, and several packs of hounds, particularly _galgos_ (greyhounds), for some of which he paid 150 or 200 dollars. In the most shameless way he violated the ecclesiastical vow of celibacy, and he was usually surrounded by several of his own children, who called him _uncle_, addressing him by the appellation of _tio_, the term usually employed in Peru to express that sort of relations.h.i.+p. The Padre used to boast of his alleged friends.h.i.+p with Lord Cochrane, in which he affected to pride himself very greatly. He died in a few weeks after his return to Huacho. He refused so long to make his confession, that the Indians, uttering furious menaces, a.s.sembled in crowds about his house. Some even compelled a priest to go in to him, to represent the awful consequences of his obstinacy. On the approach of death, he declared that the thought which most occupied him was his separation from his hounds, and when his hands were becoming cold he called to his negro to fetch a pair of buckskin hunting gloves, and desired to have them drawn on.

In Peru the clergy have no fixed stipend. Their emoluments are derived from the fees and perquisites which their ecclesiastical functions bring in. For baptisms, marriages, and ma.s.ses, fixed sums are established; but it is not so with burials, for which the priest receives a present proportional to the circ.u.mstances of the deceased. The interment of a poor person (_entierro baxo_) costs at least from eight to ten dollars, which sum is extorted from the survivors with the most unrelenting rigor. For the burial of a rich person (_entierro alto_) the sum of two hundred dollars is frequently paid. If a wealthy man should express in his will his desire for an _entierro baxo_, the priest sets this clause aside, and proceeds with the costly ceremonies, the payment for which is insured by the pious feelings of the family. Hence some of the richer _comunerias_, of which Huacho is one, yield to the priest annually from 12,000 to 14,000 dollars. When a priest dies, the clergy of the neighboring villages meet and bury him with great pomp, free of any payment except a good banquet.

A rich Indian of Huacho made a bargain with his countrymen that, on their paying him weekly a medio (the sixteenth part of a dollar), he would defray the expenses of their funerals. By this agreement he realized a considerable sum of money. The Cholos made it a condition that they should be buried in coffins, which is not common with the lower cla.s.ses in Peru. The Indian complied with this condition. When a Cholo died, a coffin was sent to his residence. If too short, the corpse was bent and forced into it. The interment then took place according to the ritual of the Church. On the following night the Indian who had contracted for the burials repaired with a confidential servant to the churchyard, dug up the coffin, threw the body back into the grave, and carried off the coffin, with the _mortaja_ (the funeral garment), which served for the next customer. The contractor made each coffin last as long as the boards would hold together. This system, at all events, secured the Cholos against the danger of being buried alive.

The churchyard of Huacho presents a revolting spectacle. A low wall surrounds a s.p.a.ce of sandy ground, which is strewed with skulls, bones, fragments of burial clothes, and mutilated human bodies. The coffin plunderer, on replacing the corpse in the grave, merely throws some loose sand over it, and the consequence is that the remains of the dead frequently become the prey of dogs, foxes, and other carrion feeders.

When the family of a deceased person can contribute nothing to defray the funeral expenses, the body is conveyed privately during the night to the churchyard. In the morning it is found half consumed.

The environs of Huacho abound in fine fruit gardens, and productive Indian farms. The climate is healthful, though very hot. The vicinity of the sea and the convenience of good bathing would render it an agreeable place of residence, were it not infested with vermin. Fleas propagate in the sand in almost incredible mult.i.tudes, especially in the neighborhood of the Indian huts, and any person entering them is in a moment covered with hundreds of those tormentors. Bugs, too, swarm in the lime walls; though that description of vermin is less numerous in Huacho than in some of the more northern towns.

In a fine valley, about two short leagues from Huacho, the little town of Huaura is situated on the bank of a river of the same name. This Rio de Huaura is formed by the union of two rivers. The larger of the two rises in the Cordillera de Paria, and flows through the wild ravine of Chuichin: the smaller river, called the Rio Chico de Sayan, rises from a lake of considerable size in the Altos de Huaquimarci. Both unite below the village of Sayan. In the vicinity of Huaura the river forms several marshes, in which malaria is generated. In very few places have I seen the stratum of malaria so distinctly separated from the atmosphere as here. It lies at an average about two, or two and a half feet above the marsh, and is carried over it by strong atmospheric currents. It is distinguished by a peculiar kind of opalization, and on certain changes of light it exhibits a yellowish tint. This is particularly perceptible in the morning, on coming down from the high grounds. The marshy plain then appears overhung with a thick color-changing sheet of malaria. Malignant intermittent fever and diseases of the skin are frequent in Huaura. The town is thinly peopled; the number of inhabitants being not more than 2000.

A great sugar plantation, called El Ingenio, is situated at about a quarter of a league from Huaura. It formerly belonged to the Jesuits, but is now the property of a rich Lima family. The _trapiche_, or sugar-mill, is worked by a water-wheel, the first ever established in Peru, a circ.u.mstance of which the owner proudly boasts.

The valley which opens here is magnificent, and to ride through it easterly eleven leagues towards Sayan is one of the finest excursions which can be made in Peru. Over this beautiful district are scattered many rich plantations. The one next in importance to El Ingenio is Acaray, which, though not very large, is most carefully cultivated: another, called Huillcahuaura, has a splendid building erected on it. In the middle of the valley is the extensive sugar plantation of Luhmayo.

Near this place I saw, in a negro's hut, an ounce of immense size, which had been killed a few weeks previously. More than fifty Negroes and Indians had been engaged in subduing this ferocious animal, which was not killed until after a conflict of two days, in the course of which several negroes were dangerously wounded. This gigantic specimen measured, from the snout to the tip of the tail, eight feet three inches; the tail itself measuring two feet eight inches.

At the sugar works of Luhmayo, notwithstanding the number of pipes, and other methods of supplying water, the cylinders are always worked by oxen, and are kept in motion day and night. I took a view of the works during the night, and the extraordinary picture I beheld will never be effaced from my memory. In the middle of the s.p.a.cious building appropriated to the operations blazed a large fire, fed by the refuse of sugar canes. Around lay negroes, some asleep, and others muttering to each other in an under-tone. Here and there sat one perfectly silent, wrapped in his own reflections, and apparently brooding over some gloomy plan. The oxen paced slowly round the pole, which directed the movement of the cylinders; the animals alternately disappearing in the obscure background, and returning to the point where the glare of the fire, falling full upon them, lighted them up as if by the sudden effect of magic. Behind them stalked a tall black figure, driving them on with a rod made of brambles. Groups of children were busily employed in thrusting the full sugar canes between the cylinders; and after they were pressed, collecting together the sapless reeds, and piling them up in regular heaps.

Next morning the person who officiated as medical superintendant of the plantation, showed me all the arrangements of the establishment. He gave me an account of his cures and operations, and told me that he often found it necessary to amputate, because the slaves purposely injure their fingers and arms in the _Phalangeles_ (machines) in order to disable themselves. The worthy aesculapius had never in his life read a regular medical work. He had originally been an overseer of slaves, and had afterwards turned doctor. He informed me that some time before I saw him, ninety negroes, his patients, had died of small-pox in the s.p.a.ce of nine months, whereby the owner of the plantation had lost 45,000 dollars. The hospital was clean and well fitted up, but over-crowded with sick. Most of them died from intermitting fever, and from dropsy and rheumatism which followed it. Not a few of the male negroes suffer from a peculiar kind of cutaneous disease, which shows itself by large pustules on the arms and breast. After suppuration they dry and fall off, but leave indelible spots, which, on a black skin, are of a whitish color; on a brown skin, olive-green, and on a white skin, black. I never saw the disease in any other part of the country except in this valley. Negroes and persons of mixed blood are more subject to it than the whites.

The two plantations on the east side of the valley are Chambara and Quipico. The latter is celebrated for the fine sugar it produces, and is also well known on account of the original character of its late proprietor, Castilla. When I rode into the court, I was in a moment surrounded by about fifty fine greyhounds, and from every side others came springing forward. This was but a remnant of Castilla's collection.

He was pa.s.sionately devoted to hunting, and generally kept from 200 to 300 greyhounds, with which he rode out daily. A bell was rung at certain hours to collect the light-footed tribe to their meals. A gallows was erected in the court, where the intractable underwent capital punishment as a warning to the rest. One day when Castilla went out to hunt, he was joined in the chase by an Indian, who brought with him a common mongrel.

This animal outstripped some of the greyhounds in speed, and quickly overtook the deer. Castilla immediately bought the dog, for which he gave the immense price of 350 dollars. A few days after he rode out to hunt with his best greyhounds, together with the newly-purchased dog.

The pack being let loose, all the dogs set off in full chase, but the mongrel remained quietly beside the horses. On returning to the plantation, he was hung up on the gallows as a warning example.

To the north of Huacho, the _Pampa del medio mundo_, a sand plain, seven leagues long, stretches out to the village of Supe. At short successive distances farther to the north are the villages of _Baranca_, _Pativilca_ (or rather Pati Huillca), and _la Fortaleza_. Then there intervenes a vast waste, which extends nearly to Huarmay. Between that village and the Port of Casma there is a similar long plain of sand.

Thus do wastes, and fruitful valleys, alternate along the whole coast until near Tumbez, on the frontiers of the Republic of the Ecuador.

The whole district is rich in memorable monuments of the time of the Incas. The most important are the remains of the palace of King Chimu Cancha, not far from the harbor of Huanchaco, and the ruins of Paramanca, near la Fortaleza. Doctor Unanue[45] is of opinion that the latter edifice was built to commemorate the peace between King Chimu Cancha and his conqueror, Capac Yupanqui; and that of two other buildings, one (the larger), situated towards the east, marks the dominions of the powerful Inca Pachacutec, and the other (the smaller), towards the west, indicates the territory of the conquered Chimu. This supposition is, in my opinion, quite erroneous. Independently of the plainly-recognizable character of those ruins, the construction of which shows them to have been fortifications, their situation bears evidence against the inference of Unanue. Supposing the larger building to have indicated the position of the Inca Empire, it ought to have been situated to the south, and the smaller building would have been to the north. The only pa.s.sable road along the coast led between these two fortified hills; and by them the road on that side to the Kingdom of Chimu could be cut off. The Incas well knew, from experience, that the subdued populations, usually after a longer or a shorter time, again revolted, and endeavored to shake off their yoke, and therefore they were on their guard against such an occurrence. Capac Yupanqui must have greatly mistrusted an enemy so formidable as Chimu Cancha, who had only yielded after the most obstinate resistance, and it is no slight proof of this that Paramanca[46] was built as a fortress to hold the subjugated nations in check. It was not, however, built as a monument of victory, for such monuments were always erected in Cozco, the capital, and never on the field of battle. Etymology affords no solution of this question. Some write Paramonga, others Paramanca. I regard the latter as the most correct. Garcilaso de la Vega calls the valley Parmunca. In the Quichua dialect _Paramanca_[47] signifies a pot for rain. It is therefore possible that the name may indicate an allusion to heavy torrents of rain, which, though now unusual on this particular part of the coast, may have occurred in this basin-like valley after a great earthquake.

Five leagues to the south of Huacho are the extensive _Salinas_, or salt pits, which supply Peru and Chile with excellent salt. They spread from the sea coast to the distance of half a league eastward, and present a most extraordinary aspect. On approaching them the traveller might fancy he beholds a field of glaciers, on which the sun's rays produce wonderful effects of variegated color.

This salt is the produce of a natural evaporation of the sea water, which trickles through the porous stones of the coast, and fills every intervening hollow. The whole s.p.a.ce is parcelled into divisions, called fields, from which, according to a definite regulation, square ma.s.ses, weighing each one hundred pounds, are cut. In a few days the holes are again filled up with sea water, which, in the s.p.a.ce of twelve to sixteen, or sometimes twenty to twenty-four months, being evaporated by the sun, leaves a precipitate completely filling up the square holes.

The government has farmed the salinas to a private individual in Huacho, who keeps on the spot an overseer with the necessary number of laborers. This establishment is an inexhaustible source of wealth, and it can only be destroyed by a violent earthquake. In the bay on which the salinas border there is very convenient and secure anchoring ground, where coasters are constantly lying, ready to receive the salt, and convey it to any Peruvian or Chilean port. Most of the laborers employed in the salinas suffer from diseases of the skin and rheumatism. Water and provisions have to be brought from Huacho. The Indians, when they come from the mountains to convey salt, never take their llamas to the salinas. They go straight to Huacho, where the animals are loaded at the great depots. Each llama carries the weight of one hundred pounds, which, however, is not, like ordinary burthens, laid on the bare back of the animal--beneath it is placed a layer of thick woollen cloth, called a _jerga_.

The road southward from the Salinas runs, for the distance of nine leagues, through deep sand, chiefly along the sea-coast, and is bounded on the east by the _Lomas de Lachay_. Here flocks of strand snipes and flamingoes fly constantly before the traveller, as if to direct his course. In the _pescadores_ (fishermen's huts), five leagues from the Salinas, brackish water and broiled fish may be obtained, and sometimes even clover, which is brought hither, from the distance of several miles, to feed the hungry horses. From the pescadores the road crosses steep sand-hills, which rise from three to four hundred feet high, and fall with a declivity of more than sixty degrees towards the sea. The road leads along the side of these hills, and, where the ground is not firm, it is exceedingly dangerous. On a false step of the horse the ground yields beneath his hoof, and rolls down the declivity; but by due care the rider can easily recover a solid footing. There is on one of these hills a very large stone, which at a certain distance presents in color and form a deceptious similarity to an enormous-sized seal. Almost perpendicularly under it is a small bay, inhabited by a mult.i.tude of seals. The dull cras.h.i.+ng sound made by the breakers on the sh.o.r.e, mingling with the howling of these animals, makes a gloomy impression on the traveller who is pa.s.sing along the height above them, and creates a sort of shuddering sensation. The natives call this place and its sounds the _Grita Lobos_ (the Sea-dog's Howl). From this hilly ground the road descends into the fruitful valley of the _Pasamayo_, which contains two villages and eighteen plantations.

Chancay, the princ.i.p.al town in this valley, is the residence of a sub-prefect. It is a league and a half from the river, and a short league from the sea, where there is an inconsiderable and not very safe port, which can only be entered by small vessels. The number of inhabitants is about 1200, chiefly Indians and Mulattos. Excellent fruits and vegetables, good beef, mutton, and poultry, and well-flavored fish, are found here in abundance. The houses are all of the poorest structure, and are sparingly and rudely furnished. In the neighboring farms, some of which are large, as Torreblanco, Pasamayo, &c., maize is extensively cultivated for exportation and for food to the swine, which are very numerous. In no other valley of Peru are there so many earth-fleas, or _piques_, as they are called, particularly about the plantations. The _pique_ is a small, white insect, which lives in sand, but fastens as a parasite on man and beast, more particularly on swine.

It attacks man by penetrating the skin, for the most part under the toe-nails, where an egg is laid, from which a painful tumor is afterwards formed. Should this be neglected, the brood is developed, and penetrates further into the flesh. Then follow violent inflammations and imposthumes, which sometimes a.s.sume so serious a character that the amputation of the foot becomes necessary. While the _pique_ is penetrating there is no sensation of its presence; it is first felt on the development of the egg, and then it is still easy to remove the bag which contains it, and the mother with it. The Negresses accomplish this with great dexterity. They make an aperture in the skin by scratching it with a needle, and then they draw the bag out.

Should it burst, they take out the egg with the needle; but this is a very delicate operation. I have always been able to do it more speedily and more securely with the lancet. The hole is commonly of the size of a bean, and hot cigar ashes are put into it to destroy any eggs or larvae which may remain. These insects do not always confine themselves to the feet; they sometimes attack the body and the face, and it is in general extremely difficult for the patient to discover how or where he became acquainted with such troublesome companions. I once had six tumors, caused by broods of _piques_, on my right foot, and I could not trace the annoyance to any other cause than having stopped for a few minutes, while my horse was being saddled, in the _corral_, or yard, of a plantation.

The road from Chancay to the Haciendas of Bisquira, Andahuasi, and the village of Sayan, extends in a northeasterly direction, through a dreary valley of sand, between rows of sterile hillocks of the most singular forms. I had once to travel along twelve leagues of this wearisome road, under the most oppressive heat of the sun. The mules were quite overcome, and when we reached the _Cuesta de los ahorcados_ (the hill of the hanged) they would not move another step. We had to descend and give them a long rest. We stretched ourselves under the bellies of the animals, the only shade we could get in this treeless waste. At last, after a very difficult journey, during which we lost ourselves in a marsh in the neighborhood of Bisquira, we arrived about midnight at Andahuasi. On this road, only two leagues from Chancay, near the Hacienda of Chancayllo, are situated the Colcas, most remarkable subterraneous structures, of the time of the Incas. According to tradition, they were built by the Yuncas, during the campaign of Capac Yupanqui against Chimu Cancha, as provision magazines for the numerous army, more than 120,000 strong.

At the mouth of the Pasamayo, on the north bank, there are some salinas, which, however, are far more inconsiderable than those of Huacho.

The first time I went from Huacho to Lima, I wished to pa.s.s over the whole road, twenty-eight leagues, in one uninterrupted ride; accordingly I left Huacho at two o'clock, P. M., in order that I might cross the great sand-flats during the night. A negro who knew the road accompanied me. We pa.s.sed through Chancay at midnight. Some muleteers, lying before a hut, called to us, and warned us to stop, as the river had swelled very much. Nevertheless we proceeded onward, and by one o'clock we reached the Pasamayo, which, in consequence of the heavy rains from the mountains, had overflowed its banks. Several travellers had stretched themselves on the ground to wait for the morning light, and in the hope that the flood would by that time subside. No Chimbadores[48] were to be had. My negro guide looked at the water with dismay, and declared that he had never before witnessed so furious a swell. However, we had no time to lose, and I resolved to attempt the pa.s.sage of the river.

Trusting to my well tried horse, which had already carried me safely through many difficult coasting journeys, I cautiously rode into the river, which became deeper at every step. The overwhelming force of the stream was felt by my horse; and he presently lost his footing, though he still continued to struggle vigorously against the force of the current. At this juncture, some pa.s.sing clouds obscured the moon, and I lost sight of a group of trees which, before leaving the opposite bank, I fixed my eye upon as a guiding beacon. Quite powerless, my horse and I were carried away by the stream, and driven against a rock in the middle of the river. I now heard the anxious outcries of my negro and the travellers on the bank, whilst the waves rose over my head.

With a convulsive effort I pulled the bridle, and the horse then turning completely round, once more gained his solid footing. I then gave him the spur, and the courageous animal das.h.i.+ng again into the midst of the current, swam with me to the bank. I rode forward with my negro in search of a better fording-place, and after several fruitless attempts, we at length found one, and we crossed the river safely. The other travellers did not venture to follow our example, but called out begging us not to leave them behind. I sent the negro back on my horse to bring them over; and the n.o.ble animal went backward and forward no less than seven times without making one false step. After all this exertion, he bore me with unflagging spirit into Lima, where we arrived at noon on the following day.

From the Pasamayo, the road runs for the s.p.a.ce of two leagues tolerably level, and for the most part amidst plantations. Then succeed steep sandy hills, for the distance of about four leagues.

The roads are very wearisome both to horse and rider, especially in the declivities towards the plains, where the horse is frequently over his knees in sand. In those parts there are also some extraordinary atmospheric mirrors, in which we beheld ourselves in reflection, riding over our own heads, and our figures magnified to gigantic proportions. Six leagues from Chancay, there are two wretched huts, forming the tambo, or inn, in which travellers obtain refreshment. From thence the road runs through a stony tract, partially strewn with large ma.s.ses of rock, called the _Piedras gordas_, and leading to the marshes which surround the Copacahuana plantations. Two leagues further on is the river Chillon, which, like the Pasamayo, may generally be easily forded, but which swells furiously during heavy falls of rain. At a short distance behind the river, the road, called the Camino de Valles, joins that leading to Cerro de Pasco. About a league from Lima there is a place called _Palo seco_, which, like _Piedras gordas_, is a celebrated haunt of robbers.

The traveller has reason to congratulate himself if he pa.s.ses these two places without an attack.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 41: The Indians resort to very artful methods of hiding their money. They sometimes conceal it between the boards of the boxes in which their eggs are packed, or st.i.tch it into the stuffing of their a.s.ses' saddles. They often submit to be killed rather than avow where their money is concealed.]

[Footnote 42: The word Pacchacamac signifies _He who created the world out of nothing_. It is compounded of _Paccha_, the earth, and _camac_, the participle present of _caman_, to produce something from nothing.]

[Footnote 43: Literally--"But there, sir, I lost the stirrups." Meaning that he did not understand it. The Spanish phrase, _Perder los estribos_, signifies to get confused or embarra.s.sed.]

[Footnote 44: _Chola_ is the common designation for an Indian female.

The masculine is _Cholo_.]

[Footnote 45: Nuevo dia del Peru. 1824.]

[Footnote 46: According to some ancient authors Paramanca was built by King Chimu as a frontier fortress against the neighboring nations. There is some foundation for this view of the subject, as Chimu Cancha had, long before he was attacked by Capac Yupanqui, carried on war most fiercely with Cuyz Mancu, King of Pacchacama, and Chuquiz Mancu, King of Runahuanac (the present Lunahuana).]

[Footnote 47: _Para_ (rain) _Manca_ (pot).]

[Footnote 48: Guides, who conduct travellers across rivers, being well acquainted with the fords. They are also called Vadeadores.]

CHAPTER IX.

The Coast southward of Lima--Chilca--Curious Cigar cases made there--Yauyos--Pisco--Journey to Yca--A night on the Sand Plains--Fatal Catastrophe in the year 1823--Vine Plantations at Yca--Brandy and Wine--Don Domingo Elias--Vessels for transporting Brandy (Botijas and odres)--Cruel mode of skinning Goats--Negro Carnival--Peculiar species of Guinea Pig--The Salamanqueja--Cotton Plantations--Quebrada of Huaitara--Sangallan--Guano--Retrospect of the Peruvian Coast--Rivers--Medanos--Winds--Change of Seasons--the Garuas--The Lomas--Mammalia--Birds--Amphibia.

The coast, southward of Lima, is similar in aspect, climate, and character, to those parts north of the city which have just been described. Fruitful valleys, villages, and plantations, commodious sea-ports, and vast sandy wastes, alternate one with the other. Heat, sometimes almost insupportable, is succeeded by chilly and unhealthy mists; whilst here and there the scattered monuments of the wealth and greatness of bygone ages present a remarkable and painful contrast to present poverty and misery.

Proceeding southward of Lima by way of Lurin, we arrive at Chilca, a wretched village situated on a soil which affords nothing to supply the wants of human existence. It appears an incomprehensible mystery that man should have fixed his abode on a spot where Nature has granted nothing for his nourishment, not even a drop of pure water; whilst at the distance of a few miles, luxuriant valleys offer, spontaneously, those products which the most laborious toil must fail to extort from the ungrateful soil of Chilca. The hope of wealth from commercial speculation or mining industry has peopled many inhospitable sh.o.r.es, and has raised populous towns on barren deserts; but at Chilca there are no such stimuli of interests. Nevertheless, they may possibly have existed in former ages, for the numerous ruins scattered around the village tend to confirm the opinion that the population was very extensive under the government of the Incas. The force of custom and of local attachment which frequently chains man to the spot where his progenitors have lived happily, is all that can bind the natives of Chilca to their miserable dwelling-place. In few villages, as in Chilca, have the Indians for more than 300 years so carefully avoided mixing with people of other races.

They employ themselves in plaiting straw for hats and cigar-cases. The latter they make in a singularly beautiful style with white and colored straw, which they plait into various figures and patterns--sometimes into names, and even lines of poetry. Some of these cigar-cases sell for upwards of a hundred dollars. Fis.h.i.+ng is a less profitable occupation to the people of Chilca, or, as they are called in the country, the Chilquenos; for, owing to the great distance, only certain kinds of fish can be sent to the Lima market. Near the village there is a bed of very strong red-colored salt, which is exported to the mountains, but which sells at a lower price than the salt of Huacho.