Travels in Peru, on the Coast, in the Sierra, Across the Cordilleras and the Andes, into the Primeval Forests Part 14

The spirit of hospitality, so generally prevalent among the Sierra Indians, does not seem to animate the Cholos of San Mateo. Their manners are rude and reserved, and they are very distrustful of strangers. As soon as a traveller enters the village, the Alcade and the Rejidores make their appearance, and demand his pa.s.sport. If he cannot produce it, he may possibly be put upon a donkey, and conducted to the nearest Prefect, or may moreover run the risk of being ill-treated. But, fortunately, it is easy to escape such annoyances. Any sc.r.a.p of printed or written paper will answer for a pa.s.sport, as it rarely happens that either the Alcade or the Rejidores can read. On one occasion when my pa.s.sport was demanded, I discovered I had lost it. Fortunately, I had in my pocket a bit of waste paper, which I had used instead of wadding in loading my gun. I ventured at all hazards to hand it to the Indian Rejidor, who having unfolded it stared very gravely at the words _Lucia di Lammermoor_, which he saw printed in large characters. It was the bill of the opera I had attended a few evenings before my departure from Lima. After examining the bill very attentively, and then scanning me very narrowly, the Rejidor returned the paper, with the observation that the pa.s.sport was quite correct.

From San Mateo the road runs for half a league through a gloomy ravine; and then suddenly takes a steep ascent up the side of the mountain, over fragments of stones, lying one above another like flights of steps. The stream dashes from rock to rock, covering the narrow path with foam, and was.h.i.+ng away the blocks of stone which, in some of the most dangerous parts, serve as barriers along the edge of the precipice. On this road long trains of mules are frequently met coming from the Sierra. The traveller, at their approach, seeks some little recess into which he may creep, and there stand closely jammed against the mountain until the train pa.s.ses by. This is attended by great loss of time, owing to the slow and cautious pace at which the mules proceed. On such a rencounter in a narrow mountain path, I was once obliged to wait for several hours, whilst two hundred mules pa.s.sed by; and at the spot where I and my horse stood, the laden animals had scarcely s.p.a.ce sufficient to set down their feet at the very edge of the pathway. In some places it is perfectly impossible either to go on one side or to turn back; and when horses or mules meet at these difficult points, one of the animals is obliged to plunge into the stream, before the other can have room to pa.s.s. The numerous curvatures of the road, and the projecting ma.s.ses of mountain, render it impossible to see advancing objects in sufficient time to avoid collision.

After having pa.s.sed this difficult tract, which is called by the natives Cacray, we reach the summit of the acclivity down which the mountain stream descends. Here the valley presents quite the Sierra character. It is no longer confined within steep and rugged mountain walls, but runs in undulating contours along the bases of the hills, and gently ascends eastward towards the princ.i.p.al chain of the Cordillera. The road is sometimes on the right and sometimes on the left bank of the river. Two leagues beyond San Mateo lies Chicla, a miserable Indian village, which, according to Maclean's calculation, is 12,712 feet above sea level. In some of the more sheltered parts barley is planted; but it does not ripen, and is merely used as fodder (_Alcazer_). Chicla is the last place in this valley where the soil is in any degree capable of cultivation. Half a league further on, there are a few scattered Indian huts, called the village of Acchahuari. One of these huts is a tambo, which can never be forgotten by any unfortunate traveller who may have taken up his abode in it. Necessity several times compelled me to seek a night's lodging in this horrible tambo; but I never could remain in it till morning; and even amidst snow or rain I have been glad to get out, and take up my resting-place on the outside of the door. The hostess is a dirty old Indian woman, a.s.sisted by her daughter; and the hut is filthy beyond description. For supper, the old woman cooks a vile mess called _Chupe_, consisting of potatoes and water, mixed with Spanish pepper; but it is so dirtily prepared, that nothing but the most deadly hunger would induce any one to taste it. The beds consist of sheep-skins spread on the damp floor; and one bedchamber serves for the hostess, her daughter, her grandchildren, and the travellers; an immense woollen counterpane or blanket being spread over the whole party. But woe to the unwary traveller who trusts himself in this dormitory! He soon finds himself surrounded by enemies from whose attacks it is impossible to escape; for the hut is infested with vermin. Even should he withdraw into a corner, and make a pillow of his saddle, the annoyance pursues him. Add to all this a stifling smoke, and all sorts of mephitic exhalations, and troops of guinea-pigs who run about during the whole night, and gambol over the faces and bodies of the sleepers,--and it may readily be conceived how anxiously the traveller looks for the dawn of morning, when he may escape from the horrors of this miserable tambo.

Acchahuari is 13,056 feet above the sea level. The climate is very ungenial. During the winter months, rain and snow fall without intermission; and even during the summer, heavy drifts of snow are not unfrequent. From April to July, the medium temperature during the night is 4 R.

After pa.s.sing Cacray the diminished atmospheric pressure begins to produce an effect on coast horses which have not been accustomed to travel in the Sierra. They are attacked with a malady called the _veta_, which shows itself by difficulty of breathing and trembling. The animals are frequently so overpowered that they are unable either to move or stand, and if they are not immediately unsaddled and allowed to rest they perish. The arrieros consider bleeding a cure for this malady. They sometimes slit the horse's nostrils, a remedy which is probably efficacious, as it enables the animal to inhale the air freely. Chopped garlic put into the nostrils is supposed to be a preventive of the veta.

Mules are less liable to the malady probably because they ascend the acclivities more slowly than horses. The disease does not attack the native horses of the Sierra, for which reason they are better than the coast horses for mountain travelling. Mules, however, are preferable to either. It is wonderful with what tact and penetration the mule chooses his footing. When he doubts the firmness of the ground he pa.s.ses his muzzle over it, or turns up the loose parts with his hoof before he ventures to step forward. When he finds himself getting into soft and marshy ground he stands stock still, and refuses to obey either stirrup or whip. If by accident he sinks into a mora.s.s, he makes a halt, and waits very contentedly until he receives a.s.sistance. But in spite of all this sagacity the traveller will not do well to resign himself wholly to the guidance of his mule. In ordinary cases these animals allow themselves to be guided, and sometimes they appear to think it more safe to trust to the bridle than to themselves. One of my mules frequently gave me curious proofs of this sort of calculation. When, in very difficult parts of the road, I dismounted, in order to walk and lead him by the bridle, I found it impossible to get the animal to move either by force or persuasion. He spread out his legs, fixed his hoofs firmly into the ground, and obstinately resisted all my endeavors to make him move.

But as soon as I remounted he willingly obeyed every movement of the bridle. With this mule I could ride through marshes, which I could never do with any other. He appeared to reflect that, as I only dismounted when the road was unsafe, his life was in no less danger than mine.

About a league beyond Acchahuari the valley is bounded by the princ.i.p.al chain of the Cordillera. The ascent may be gained by two different roads. One, the steeper of the two, runs southward, across the Piedra Parada; the other, on which the ascent is somewhat easier, takes an easterly direction, over Antarangra. We will first trace the latter course, which is the most frequented. At the extremity of the valley, and twenty-eight leagues from the capital, is situated the last village, Cashapalca, 13,236 feet above the sea. Its inhabitants are chiefly employed in mining. Formerly, vast quant.i.ties of silver were obtained here. But most of the mines are now either under water or exhausted, and the village, with its mine works, has dwindled into insignificance. Beyond Cashapalca there is a tract of marshy ground, which being pa.s.sed, a narrow winding road of about two leagues leads up the acclivity. The soil is clayey, and thinly bestrewed with alpine gra.s.s, intermingled with syngenesious and cruciferous plants. Two plants which are called by the natives _mala yerba_ and _garban zillos_, and are a deadly poison to mules and horses, grow in great abundance here. The numerous skeletons of beasts of burthen seen along the road bear evidence of the fatal effects of those plants. Higher up the ascent the vegetation becomes more and more scanty, until at length it entirely disappears, and nothing is visible but the barren rock of the Sierra highlands.

The last division of acclivity is called by the natives the Antarangra (copper rock). On it there is a small heap of stones, which I shall describe by and by, and a cross made of the stems of the _Baccharis_.

From this point the traveller catches a distant glimpse of the heaven-towering summit of the Cordillera.

I speedily mounted the ascent, and reached the goal of my journey.

Here I found myself disappointed in the expectation I had formed of commanding an uninterrupted view over boundless s.p.a.ce and distance.

The prospect is greatly circ.u.mscribed by numerous rocky elevations, which spring up in every direction. The mountain pa.s.ses running across the ridge of the Cordillera are bounded on all sides by rocks, sometimes not very high, but at other times rising to the elevation of 1000 feet. The pa.s.s of Antarangra (also called Portachuelo del Tingo, or Pachachaca) is 15,600 above the sea.[63] Nevertheless it is, during a great part of the year, free from snow. Scarcely a quarter of a league further northward are the eternal glaciers, and they are several hundred feet lower than the Pa.s.s. That the Pa.s.s itself is not permanently covered with snow is a circ.u.mstance which may probably be accounted for by the direction of the atmospheric currents. The east winds penetrate into the deep recesses of the valleys, which are sheltered against the cold south wind by the adjacent mountain ridge.

The pa.s.ses have a gloomy character, and the rugged grandeur of the surrounding country presents an aspect of chaotic wildness and disorder. The ground is covered with huge ma.s.ses of rock; and the ungenial fruitless soil is shunned alike by plants and animals. The thin tendrils of a lichen, here and there twining on a damp ma.s.s of stone, are the only traces of life. Yet the remains of human industry and activity are everywhere observable. On all sides are seen the deep cavities which formed the entrances to the now exhausted mines. These cavities are sometimes situated at elevated points of the almost inaccessible walls of rock, and are occasionally found in the level part of the valley, and close on the roadway. Instances have occurred of travellers being killed by falling into these holes, when they have been covered by thick falls of snow.

It is curious to observe, on the Pa.s.s of Antarangra, the part.i.tion of the waters flowing into the two great oceans, the Atlantic and the Pacific. Scarcely thirty paces distant from each other there are two small lagunas. That situated most to the west is one of the sources of the Rio de San Mateo, which, under the name of the Rimac, falls into the Pacific. The other laguna, that to the eastward, sends its waters through a succession of small mountain lakes into the Rio de Pachachaca, a small tributary to the mighty Amazon river. It is amusing to take a cup of water from the one laguna and pour it into the other. I could not resist indulging this whim; and in so doing I thought I might possibly have sent into the Pacific some drops of the water destined for the Atlantic. But the whim, puerile as it may be, nevertheless suggests serious reflections on the mighty power of nature, which has thrown up these stupendous mountains from the bosom of the earth; and also on the testaceous animals found on these heights, memorials of the time when the ocean flowed over their lofty summits.

From the ridge the road runs eastward along a branch of the princ.i.p.al mountain chain. This branch forms the southern boundary of a gently-sloping valley. The declivity is terrace-formed, and on each terrace there is a small clear lake. This series of lakes is called _Huascacocha_ (the chain of lakes). In their waters, as in most of the mountain rivers, there is found in great numbers a small species of shad-fish (_Pygidium dispar_, Tsch.). They are caught during the night in nets, or by lines, to which the bait is fastened by small cactus-thorns.

The third in the series of the lagunas is called _Morococha_ (the colored lake). On its banks some buildings have been constructed, for the smelting of copper ore. The mines which yield this metal are on the southern declivity, close to the road leading down from the Cordillera.

Formerly these mines were worked for silver, but were not found very productive of that metal. Now they are again actively worked, and copper is obtained from them. The working of the Peruvian copper mines has. .h.i.therto been much neglected, though copper ore is exceedingly abundant.

The road from Morococha to Pachachaca is very uniform. The latter village, which is situated 12,240 feet above the level of the sea, was formerly a place of much greater importance than it now is. In its neighborhood there are a number of s.p.a.cious buildings constructed at the time of the unfortunate English mining speculation. Most of them are only half finished. At the entrance of the village there is a large hacienda. In some of the apartments the flooring is of wood; a thing seldom seen in these parts, where the wood for such purposes must be brought from the eastern declivity of the Andes: the difficulty and expense attending this transport are so considerable, that a wooden floor is a great rarity in the habitations of the Cordillera. A mine belonging to the hacienda is situated five leagues north-west of Pachachaca, and yields rich silver ore; but a great part of it is at present under water, and its drainage would be a very difficult undertaking.

Returning to the point where the two roads across the Cordillera separate at Cashapalca, we will now trace the route by way of Piedra Parada. This way is shorter than that by Antarangra, but the ascents are much steeper. The first objects met with by the traveller on this road are some Indian huts, called _yauliyacu_, and the ruined hacienda of San Rafael. These being pa.s.sed, the ascent continues over broken ma.s.ses of rock. About 15,200 feet above the sea there is a huge block of mountain, called the Piedra Parada, close against which a chapel was formerly erected; the mountain forming the back wall of the structure. Now there is merely an iron cross, fixed on the upper part of the block of mountain. On this spot the Archbishop used formerly to celebrate ma.s.s, when he was on his rounds through the diocese. The chapel was destroyed by lightning, and has not been rebuilt. The pa.s.s of the Piedra Parada is 16,008 feet above the sea, and is always covered with snow. Travellers frequently lose their way in this pa.s.s, an accident which befel me in March, 1842, when I was proceeding alone by that route. Being overtaken by a violent fall of snow, I could scarcely see a few paces before me. After wandering about for several hours, my horse became weary, and I began to despair of extricating myself from the dreary plains of snow. Late in the evening I reached a little valley, where, sheltered by some rocks, I pa.s.sed the night. On the following morning I renewed my journey, and after considerable exertion I arrived at an Indian hut, where I obtained such directions as enabled me to recover the right course.

The eastern declivity of the Pa.s.s of Piedra Parada is steeper than that of Huascacocha. After a difficult ride of about two leagues, we reach first the valley, and then the village of Yauli. The village lies at the height of 13,100 feet above the sea, and consists of about one hundred and fifty miserable huts, affording habitations for between twelve and fourteen thousand Indians, most of whom are employed in mining.

The Cordillera, in the neighborhood of Yauli, is exceedingly rich in lead ore, containing silver. Within the circuit of a few miles, above eight hundred shafts have been made, but they have not been found sufficiently productive to encourage extensive mining works. The difficulties which impede mine-working in these parts are caused chiefly by the dearness of labor and the scarcity of fuel. There being a total want of wood, the only fuel that can be obtained consists of the dried dung of sheep, llamas, and huanacus. This fuel is called _taquia_. It produces a very brisk and intense flame, and most of the mine-owners prefer it to coal. The process of smelting, as practised by the Indians, though extremely rude and imperfect, is nevertheless adapted to local circ.u.mstances. All European attempts to improve the system of smelting in these districts have either totally failed, or in their results have proved less effective than the simple Indian method. Complicated furnaces made after European models are exceedingly expensive, whilst the natives can construct theirs at the cost of fifty or sixty dollars each. These Indian furnaces can, moreover, be easily erected in the vicinity of the mines, and when the metal is not very abundant the furnaces may be abandoned without any great sacrifice. For the price of one European furnace the Indians may build more than a dozen, in each of which, notwithstanding the paucity of fuel, a considerably greater quant.i.ty of metal may be smelted than in one of European construction.

About half a league beyond Yauli there are upwards of twenty mineral springs, all situated within a circuit of a quarter of a mile. Several of them contain saline properties. One is called the _Hervidero_ (the whirlpool). It is in the form of a funnel, and at its upper part is between ten and twelve feet diameter. Its surface is covered with foam. The temperature of the water is only 7 C. higher than the atmosphere. Some of these springs are tepid and sulphuric; and the temperature of one of them is as high as 89 C. Near some of the springs quadrangular basins have been constructed for baths, which are said to be very efficacious in cutaneous and rheumatic complaints. The climate of Yauli is exceedingly rigorous. In summer the medium temperature of the night is 8 C., but the days are mild. In winter, on the other hand, the night is +1 C., and the day scarcely +3 C., as the sky is continually overhung with thick clouds, which disperse themselves in continual falls of snow. I pa.s.sed several weeks in Yauli and in the wild country around it, and during that time I made many valuable additions to my natural history collection.

The distance between Yauli and Pachachaca is two leagues. The road descends gently along the right bank of the Rio de Yauli, which forms the princ.i.p.al source of the Rio de Oroya. In this direction, as well as in other parts adjacent to Yauli, there are numerous remains of mining works, formerly the property of Portuguese. These works were destroyed at the time of the persecution of the Portuguese in Peru, when the consul, Juan Bautista, was hanged by the Inquisition, in Lima. Over those events there hangs a veil of mystery, which will probably never be removed. The Portuguese were the most powerful and intelligent mine-owners in Peru, and their prosperity excited the envy of the Spanish viceroy. A number of Portuguese emigrants, who came from Brazil, to settle in the Peruvian province of Maynas, furnished the viceroy with a ground of complaint, real or pretended. He set forth that the Portuguese of the eastern parts of South America intended to make themselves masters of Peru, and conjointly with the Inquisition he commenced coercive measures against them. Their consul was accused of heresy, condemned and hanged, and the emigrants were pursued and put to death. Some of them escaped into the forests, where they were ma.s.sacred by the Indians, and only a very few succeeded in getting back to Brazil. Many of the wealthy Portuguese mine-owners, seeing the danger that threatened them, sank their vast treasures in lakes, or buried them in retired places in the plains. These treasures consisted chiefly of smelted ore and silver coin, and only a very small portion was afterwards discovered. Thus were these active and intelligent mine-owners sacrificed, either to a chimerical and unfounded suspicion, or to a feeling of avarice, which, after all, failed in attaining its object. The consequences were disastrous to the country.

Peruvian mining has never recovered the prosperity which it enjoyed under the management of the Portuguese.

Between Yauli and Pachachaca the way is difficult, and without an accurate knowledge of the route, the traveller is likely to lose his way, and may even incur the danger of sinking in the marshes which spread along the bank of the river. From Pachachaca a broad and gentle sloping valley conducts to La Oroya, a distance of about three leagues.

In the range of mountains forming the southern boundary of this valley, the river winds its way through deep ravines. About half a league from Pachachaca there is a ford where the road divides; one division pa.s.sing over the steep mountains of Yanaclara to Jauja, and the other running into the wild valleys of Huayhuay. Midway between Pachachaca and La Oroya there is a small, miserable Indian village called Saco, which is seldom visited by travellers, as it is difficult to procure in it the commonest necessaries of food. In this place there is a natural bridge across the river, which has worked out a bed for itself beneath the rocks. At several points along the course of this river I observed similar bridges of rock, but this one only is pa.s.sable for horses.

La Oroya lies on the left bank of the river of that name, and communicates with the right bank by means of a large hanging bridge (Puente de Soga). These bridges are composed of four ropes (sogas) made of twisted cow-hide, and about the thickness of a man's arm. The four ropes are connected together by thinner ones of the same material, fastened over them transversely. The whole is covered with branches, straw, and roots of the Agave tree. On either side, a rope rather more than two feet above the bridge serves as a bal.u.s.trade. The sogas are fastened on each bank of the river by piles, or riveted into the rock.

During the long continuous rains these bridges become loose and require to be tightened; but they are always lower in the middle than at the ends, and when pa.s.sengers are crossing them they swing like hammocks. It requires some practice, and a very steady head, to go over the soga bridges unaccompanied by a Puentero.[64] However strongly made, they are not durable; for the changeableness of the weather quickly rots the ropes, which are made of untanned leather. They frequently require repairing, and travellers have sometimes no alternative but to wait for several days until a bridge is pa.s.sable, or to make a circuit of 20 or 30 leagues. The Puente de Soga of Oroya is fifty yards long, and one and a half broad. It is one of the largest in Peru; but the bridge across the Apurimac, in the province of Ayacucho, is nearly twice as long, and it is carried over a much deeper gulf.

Another curious kind of bridge is that called the Huaro. It consists of a thick rope extending over a river or across a rocky chasm. To this rope are affixed a roller, and a strong piece of wood formed like a yoke, and by means of two smaller ropes, this yoke is drawn along the thick rope which forms the bridge. The pa.s.senger who has to cross the Huaro is tied to the yoke, and grasps it firmly with both hands. His feet, which are crossed one over the other, rest on the thick rope, and the head is held as erectly as possible. All these preliminaries being completed, an Indian, stationed on the opposite side of the river or chasm, draws the pa.s.senger across the Huaro. This is altogether the most disagreeable and dangerous mode of conveyance that can possibly be conceived. If the rope breaks, an accident of no unfrequent occurrence, the hapless traveller has no chance of escaping with life, for being fastened, he can make no effort to save himself.

Horses and mules are driven by the Indians into the river, and are made to swim across it, in doing which they frequently perish, especially when being exhausted by a long journey, they have not strength to contend against the force of the current.

The village of Oroya, about a quarter of a mile from the bridge, is built on a declivity, and according to Maclean's calculation is 12,010 feet above the level of the sea. It contains fifty-one miserable huts, which are the habitations of about two hundred Indians. From Oroya several roads branch off into the different mountain districts. The most frequented is that over the level height of Cachi-Cachi to Jauja. Along this road there are extensive tracts of ground covered with calcareous petrifactions. Another road leading to Tarma pa.s.ses by the ancient Inca fortress Huichay. A third, and much frequented road is that by way of Huaypacha, and from thence to Junin and Cerro de Pasco.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 52: All these calculations are by English feet.]

[Footnote 53: Jardine and Selby's Annals of Natural History.]

[Footnote 54: Nivelacion barometrica desde el Callao hasta Pasco, por el camino de Obrajillo, y desde el mismo lugar hasta la capital por via de Tarma, hecha y calculada por Mariano Eduardo Rivero y Usturitz in Memorial de Ciencias naturales, &c.]

[Footnote 55: Darwin's Journal, p. 350]

[Footnote 56: The Spaniards term this plant _Una de gato_ (Cat's-claw), the stalk being furnished with hooked thorns resembling claws.]

[Footnote 57: For further information relative to this disease, see my communication to Wunderlich and Roser's "_Archiv fur Physiologische Heilkunde_."]

[Footnote 58: See page 153.]

[Footnote 59: By a nail is lost a shoe, by a shoe a horse, and by a horse a rider.]

[Footnote 60: According to Maclean, the elevation of Matucanas is 8026 feet above the level of the sea. I presume that this calculation refers to the village itself, which is situated about the eighth of a league from the tambo, and lies much lower.]

[Footnote 61: According to Maclean's calculation, the Tambo de Viso is 9072 feet above the sea.]

[Footnote 62: Maclean states the elevation to be 10,984 feet above the sea. Rivero makes it 9570, and Gay 10,408 feet. Gay's is the only measurement which in any manner corresponds with mine and Maclean's.

In general Gay's calculations are between 600 and 800 feet higher than ours.]

[Footnote 63: Maclean makes it 15,543 feet; Gay, 15,924 feet; and Rivero, only 14,608 feet above the level of the sea.]

[Footnote 64: The _Puenteros_ (Bridge Guides) are Indians who a.s.sist travellers in crossing these dangerous bridges.]

CHAPTER XI

The Cordillera and the Andes--Signification of the terms--Alt.i.tude of the Mountains and Pa.s.ses--Lakes--Metals--Aspect of the Cordillera--Shattered Rocks--Maladies caused by the diminished Atmospheric Pressure--The Veta and the Surumpe--Mountain Storms--The Condor--Its habits--Indian mode of Catching the Bird--The Puna or Despoblado--Climate--Currents of Warm Air--Vegetation--Tuberous Plant called the Maca--Animals of the Puna--The Llama, the Alpaco, the Huanacu and the Vicuna--The Chacu and the Bolas--Household Utensils of the Ancient Peruvians--The Viscacha and the Chinchilla--Puna Birds and Amphibia--Cattle and Pasture--Indian Farms--Shepherds' Huts--Ancient Peruvian Roads and Buildings--Treasure concealed by the Indians in the Puna.

Two great mountain chains, running parallel with each other, intersect Peru in the direction from S.S.W. to N.N.E. The chain nearest the coast of the Pacific is at the average distance of from sixty to seventy English miles from the sea. The other chain takes a parallel direction but describes throughout its whole course a slight curve eastward. These two ranges of mountain are called the Cordilleras, or the Andes: both terms being used indiscriminately. Even the creoles of Peru confound these two terms, sometimes calling the western chain by one name, and sometimes by the other. Nevertheless, a strict distinction ought to be observed:--the western chain should properly be called the Cordillera, and the eastern chain the Andes. The latter name is derived from the Quichua word Antasuyu; _Anta_ signifying metal generally, but especially copper, and _Suyu_ a district; the meaning of Antasuyu, therefore, is the metal district. In common parlance, the word Suyu was dropped, and the termination _a_ in _Anta_ was converted into _is_. Hence the word _Antis_, which is employed by all old writers and geographers; and even now is in common use among the Indian population of Southern Peru. The Spaniards, according to their practice of corrupting the words of the Quichua language, have transformed Antis into _Andes_, and they apply the name without distinction to the western and the eastern chain of mountains.[65]

The old inhabitants of Peru dwelt chiefly along the base of the eastern mountain chain, where they drew from the mines the metal which afforded material for their tasteful and ingenious workmans.h.i.+p: those mountains consequently retained the name of Antis or Andes. In the time of the Incas, both chains were called Ritisuyu (Snow-Districts). The Spaniards, on the invasion of the country, advancing from the sea-coast, first arrived at the western mountains, and to them they gave the name of _Cordillera_, the term commonly employed in the Spanish language, to designate any mountain chain. Most of the earlier travellers and topographists named the western chain the _Cordillera de los Andes_, and regarded it as the princ.i.p.al chain, of which they considered the eastern mountains to be merely a branch. To the eastern range of mountains they gave the name of _Cordillera Oriental_. I will here strictly observe the correct denominations, calling the western chain the Cordillera, or the coast mountains; and the eastern chain the Andes, or the inner Cordillera.

These two great mountain chains stand in respect to height in an inverse relation one to the other; that is to say, the greater the elevation of the Cordillera, the more considerable is the depression of the Andes. In South Peru the ridge of the Cordillera is considerably lower than that portion of the Andes which stretches through Bolivia. The medium height of the Cordillera in South Peru is 15,000 feet above the sea; but here and there particular points rise to a much more considerable elevation.

The medium height of the Andes is 17,000 feet above the sea. In central Peru the Cordillera is higher than the Andes. There the alt.i.tude of the latter along the body of the chain is 13,000 feet above the sea: on the ridge there are a few points some hundred feet higher. Between Pasco and Loxas the average height of the Cordillera is between 11,000 and 12,000 feet above the sea; and the average elevation of the Andes at the corresponding point is about 2000 feet lower.

The pa.s.ses do not run through valleys, but always over the ridges of the mountains. The highest mountain pa.s.ses are the Rinconada (16,452 feet above the sea); the Piedra Parada (16,008 feet); the Tingo (15,600 feet); the Huatillas (14,850 feet); the Portachuelo de la Viuda (14,544 feet); the Altos de Toledo (15,530 feet); and the Altos de los Huesos (14,300 feet). In both chains there are innumerable small lakes; these are met with in all the mountain pa.s.ses, and most of them are the sources of small rivers.

Both the mountain chains, as well as their lateral branches, are rich in metallic produce; but in the princ.i.p.al mountains gold is rare. Some rich mines on the coast, and in the province of Arequipa, are now nearly exhausted. Wash gold is plentiful in the rivers of North Peru, but it is not carefully collected. Silver, which const.i.tutes the princ.i.p.al wealth of Peru, is found in greatest abundance in the princ.i.p.al chains, viz., in Northern and Central Peru, in the Cordillera; and in Southern Peru in the Andes. It presents itself in all forms and combinations, from the pure metal to the lead-ore mixed with silver. Even in the highest elevations, in parts scarcely trodden by human footsteps, rich veins of silver are discovered. It is scarcely possible to pa.s.s half a day in these regions without encountering new streaks. Quicksilver is likewise found, but in such small quant.i.ties, that the gain does not pay the labor of the miners. The only quicksilver vein of any magnitude is at Huancavelica. Both mountain chains are very rich in copper-ore; but it is extracted only from the Cordillera, for the distance of the Andes from the coast renders the transport too expensive. The lead and iron mines, though amazingly prolific, are not worked; the price of the metal being too low to pay the labor.