  FROM Tumbez to Callao, the country presents a most arid and uninviting appearance. The high, steep hills near to the shore extend in an almost unbroken line of dull greyish brown, as the sun-baked clay, with here and there patches of dirty white indicating guano deposits. I must confess to a feeling of disappointment on first gazing upon the inhospitable shores of Peru. For my mind treasured recollections of all the glamour and romance that gather round the land and the history of the wonderful Incas. The world’s records contain few more fairy-like narratives than the well attested story of a civilisation equal in many of its aspects to any the world has known. Inland, many types are encountered, easily traceable to those “Children of the Sun” who migrated from the north to the interior highlands of the country and established at Cuzco the centre and capital of a great empire. Originally, their very contrast with surrounding tribes gave them a remarkable distinction, whilst their civilisation was full of sound and humane elements. Its keynote was an intelligent socialism, for the citizen had to supply the needs of the aged and infirm, the widow and the orphan, and the soldier on active service, before supplying his own. The person of the Emperor was regarded as divine, and he wielded supreme authority over his realm. In this enlightened society, hidden away for centuries from the eyes of the rest of the world, poverty was a thing unknown, for communism, tempered by an almost extravagant regard for authority, attained during the regime of the Incas an ideal height never achieved before or since. The Peruvians of those bygone times have left little doubt that [Image unavailable.] THE ARID COAST OF PERU. On a higher plane than this, they had evolved a religion full of sound rules for individual and social conduct and performed with a wealth of ritual. Its central feature was Sun-worship, Truly, here was a people widely differentiated from the ruck of South American natives—those squalid Indians with whom the Spanish adventurers came into contact. Possessed of sufficient enterprise to establish an empire which, from north to south, extended from Quito in Ecuador to the River Maule in Chili, they were a noble and withal peaceful race; and the inexplicable manner in which this fabric of civilisation arose can only be compared in sheer wonder with the sudden manner of its fall. Although nothing definite seems to have been known in Europe of the empire of the Incas, such an Eldorado had been adumbrated by dreamers and sung of by poets, and the outpourings of these men of fancy fired the hearts of adventurers in quest of a land rich in treasure beyond the dreams of avarice. The splendid dominion of the Incas fell a prey to the greatest of all the Spanish adventurers—Francisco Pizarro, who outshone his fellows in ability, daring, resourcefulness, and, alas! treachery. The illegitimate offspring of a gentleman and a woman of the people, Pizarro, although lacking in education, proved himself more than a match for the proudest sons of Spain who had received careful training in the schools of arms and diplomacy. In 1524, we find him settled in Panama with two companions, Almagro and Luque, the trio eager to discover that rich country which everyone was persuaded had other than imaginary existence. Having obtained permission from Pedrarias, the Governor of Panama, Pizarro set sail in a small vessel with 112 men, but after many privations was compelled to retire. Urged on, however, by the persistence of his comrades Almagro and Luque, and undeterred by the defections of his men, spent and weary after a sojourn on an inhospitable island in sight of a swampy shore, Pizarro at length landed at Tumbez on the Peruvian coast, where his eyes feasted for the first time upon the opulence of the Incas. Eldorado was discovered at last! Pizarro came and saw, but did not conquer, at any rate, not He returned to Peru and arrived on the scene at the psychological moment. The last Inca monarch, Huayna Capac, had divided his kingdom between his two sons—Huascar, the rightful heir, and Atahualpa, the old king’s son by an Ecuadorian mother. These two sons began to squabble over territorial questions, and at length Atahualpa endeavoured to appropriate the whole country to himself. This was Pizarro’s opportunity and he was quick to take advantage of it. The meeting between the Spanish conquistadors and the last of the great Incas was surely one of the most remarkable in history, resembling somewhat the splendours of the Field of the Cloth of Gold. On the surface at least, amity prevailed on both sides, Pizarro being lavish in his professions of good intentions, and Atahualpa child-like in his belief of them. [Image unavailable.] A LLAMA IN GOLD, MADE BY THE INCAS. The Inca king was carried to the meeting-place on a throne or couch adorned with plumes of various colours, and almost covered with plates of gold and silver embellished with precious stones. Following him were the chief officers of his court carried in a similar manner, singers and dancers accompanying the procession, whilst the plain was covered with countless troops. Pizarro could make no such gorgeous display, being attended merely by a small band of soldiers and a priest. As always, this latter accompanied the Spanish adventurers to furnish a religious excuse for any excesses that might be deemed necessary. As the royal procession approached, the priest, Valverde by name, holding The signal was given to fire, and for the first time in their existence the Peruvians were made acquainted with the deadly effect of firearms. In this unprovoked attack, more than four thousand of them were slain, and Atahualpa, rudely dragged from his throne by Pizarro’s own hand, was cast into prison. Although bent on the Inca’s destruction, Pizarro for a time, played with him with catlike cruelty. When there came a talk of liberty, Atahualpa offered to fill the room in which he was confined with vessels of gold as high as he could reach, provided he were allowed to go free. Pizarro jumped at so tempting a bargain, and the treasure was duly delivered, but the Inca was not given his liberty, and eventually the Spaniard had him strangled. Many pretexts were given for the crime, one being that he had ordered the death of his brother Huascar; another that he kept a great many concubines! But neither of these reasons nor any of the others cited revealed the dark motive in Pizarro’s soul. He was astute enough to perceive that so long as there was a single Inca alive a superstitious reverence would cling round his personality, and the domination of Spain would never be secure. So perished the last of the Incas, and thereafter the great edifice of civilisation which they had erected crumbled into ruins. There was now a profuse distribution of gold and other treasure, some of which went to the Spanish court, a goodly proportion being reserved for Pizarro and his men. It was only Almagro who did not get his just due, and Almagro must never be forgotten in the telling of this turbulent tale; for he played a big part in the events that preceded and followed the overthrow of the last Inca. Pizarro showed all through the piece that he was an implacable enemy and a treacherous friend, and his treatment of his comrade in arms exposes his character in the INCA PORTRAITURE ON A PIECE OF OLD POTTERY. For some years after, the history of Peru resolves itself into a duel between the two conquistadors, Almagro usually showing himself as the man of honour, Pizarro as the perjured schemer. But virtue did not avail men much in those days, and when Almagro at last fell into his rival’s hands it was plain that the game was up. He was sentenced to death, and bore his fate with fortitude. For a little time after that, Pizarro remains the dominant figure in the picture, his rule, for he had long since thrown to the winds all pretence of obedience to Spain, being practically absolute. But the friends and supporters of Almagro had not forgotten the foul way in which their hero had been done to death, and they bided their time. Their chance was not long in coming. On June 26th, 1541, Pizarro met his doom. A desperate band of conspirators burst into the palace in the square of Lima, broke down the resistance of the guard, and surprised the dictator just after he had risen from dinner. It may be said of him as it was said of Charles I, that nothing became him so much in life as his manner of leaving it. Armed with nothing more than a sword and buckler, he fought with all the vigour of his youthful days; but his courage was unavailing, for the conspirators were numerous and well-armed. Pizarro received a deadly thrust full in his throat, sank to the ground, and expired. After these picturesque, though lurid happenings, the history of Peru, like that of all the other South American Republics, But Peru has much to show the rambler in addition to the relics of its impressive past. As already intimated, it is a country of marvels, and not all of them are supplied by Incan civilisation. The Indians who preceded that regime were also possessed of quaint and curious knowledge. Amongst other things, they knew how to reduce the human head from its natural size to about four inches. The object of this strange craft was obvious. Just as the Indian of North America carried the scalps of his foes at his belt, so the Indian of North Peru carried the reduced heads of his victims strung together to show his warlike prowess. The modus operandi of this gruesome process was as follows: The severed head was boiled in an infusion of forest plants, so as to soften the bones, which were then taken out. The head was afterwards hung up, and hot pebbles constantly placed inside until the skin was dried and the required size attained. The custom is not confined to Peru, but is practised by savage tribes in other parts of northern South America. There is in the British Museum a reduced head from Venezuela, which was presented by Mr. Fagan, British Minister in Caracas. The human likeness of the features in these miniature heads is wonderfully retained and has a most weird appearance. It is not only savage heads that are treated in this barbarous fashion. At least one of the preserved heads which have been brought to Europe bears unmistakable evidence of its having belonged to a white man—probably some wretched adventurer who lost his way in the forest and perished at the hands of these fiendishly ingenious savages. Railways rise steadily from sea-level with an average grade of about four per cent, clinging to, or boring through, solid rock throughout almost the entire distance, to the highest point at Ticlio, 15,665 feet. The short branch from Ticlio to the mining camp of Morococha, beautiful with its many lakes and glaciers, [Image unavailable.] A REDUCED HUMAN HEAD. To revert to politics, the sore feeling engendered by the war between Chili and Peru has been much embittered by the conduct of Chili in the case of the Tacna and Arica provinces. It has often been said that treaties between nations are only made to be torn up, and this is evidently how Chili regards them. By the Treaty of Ancon, which was signed after the war on October 20th, 1883, the province of Tarapaca, which is extremely rich in nitrates, was ceded to Chili, while the provinces of Tacna and Arica were to remain in the possession of Chili for ten years as from the date of the treaty. At the end of that time, a plebiscite of the inhabitants of the provinces was to be taken on the point whether they preferred the territory to remain under the sovereignty of Chili. The clause in the treaty concludes: “The country in whose favour the provinces be annexed shall pay to the other the sum of £1,000,000.” Although twenty-nine years have passed since the signing of that treaty no plebiscite has yet been taken, and Peru charges her neighbours with always raising technical difficulties whenever the question of taking the vote is mooted. She prefers an even more serious charge than this, alleging that, as the time when the plebiscite must, owing to international pressure, be taken draws nearer, Chili is making it so hot for the Peruvians in the two provinces under dispute that In this country of marvels, a word must be given to coca, that wonderful plant which grows in the warm valleys of Peru and Bolivia, and will not flourish anywhere else. It grows in the form of a shrub, and seldom exceeds six feet in height. For centuries past the Peruvian Indians have recognised its dietetic value. It is at once refreshing and stimulating; it must be nutritious also, for a native can work for an extreme length of time without troubling about any other form of food. The local way of taking it is by chewing, generally with the admixture of a little lime. When infused, it makes a very refreshing beverage. Its value in medicine is also great, for it is the source of that indispensable alkaloid cocaine. The collection of the coca leaves involves much care, as they have to be gathered one by one for fear of injuring the plant. The person who has charge of this operation places a mantle alongside each plant and throws into this the leaves which he gathers. The preservation of the leaves is also a difficult matter; if too dry they become reduced to powder; if too damp they decompose. In the countries to which they are exported, the coca leaves, in the dried form, are used for making wines, tonics, and medicinal syrups. It will be seen from the foregoing description that coca is a very wonderful and unique product. In countless directions fortune has been kind to South America, showering distinctive gifts upon her with a lavish hand. It would really seem that nature believed in the principle of monopoly, for certainly the coca of Peru and Bolivia and the matÉ tea of Paraguay flourish on no other soil. With these two products may be bracketed the coffee of Brazil. The three things combined suggest, in the old Doctor’s phrase, “the potentiality of growing rich beyond the dreams of avarice,” and even when the gold, which tempted the cupidity of the Spaniard to the exclusion of everything else, is exhausted the continent will find (indeed, already is finding) a larger, a more regular, and a more constant source of wealth in its indigenous crops. The sustaining powers of coca, attested by centuries of use, as [Image unavailable.] AN INCA MASK IN GOLD. [Image unavailable.] PRE-INCA MONOLITHS IN BOLIVIA. |
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