Across Unknown South America

CHAPTER XXVII

The Peruvian Corporation Railway—The Land of the Incas—Lake Titicaca—Bolivia—Chile—The Argentine—A Last Narrow Escape—Back in England

Lima is a beautiful city, as everybody knows. Its wonderful churches, its clean streets, its commerce, the great charm of the people—indeed, the Peruvians are the most cultivated and polished people in South America, and the women the most beautiful—make it one of the most attractive cities I visited on that continent.

I was, nevertheless, anxious to return quickly to Europe. I had no strength left. The mental strain on that long journey had been so great that I had lost my memory altogether.

Owing to the great kindness of the British Minister, Mr. C. des Graz, and of Mr. Mockill, the chief of the Peruvian Corporation at Lima, arrangements were made for me to travel in luxurious comfort through the country of the Incas—so that, although terribly exhausted, I decided to take a further journey in the interior of Peru, Bolivia, and Chile.

Where a Stone Fight took place in the Inca Country.

(Notice the innumerable rocks which have been thrown down the hill from the high Inca structure.)

Entrance to Inca Subterranean Passages.

I left Lima five days after my arrival, on February 5th, going by steamer to the port of Mollendo, where I arrived on February 7th. There I met the railway line of the Peruvian Corporation from the sea coast to Arequipa and Cuzco. A magnificent private car had been placed at my disposal by the Peruvian Corporation, in which I was able to make myself comfortable for the several days which the journey lasted. Not only so, but the Peruvian Corporation kindly looked after my welfare in a most thoughtful way during the whole time I travelled on their line, for which I am indeed extremely grateful, as the travelling in that country would have otherwise been less pleasant.

The railroad from Mollendo went along the coast among curious eroded rocks of great interest; then gradually left the sea among sand-dunes and mounds upon the wide beach.

As the railway began to get higher and higher upon the steep gradient the scenery became more and more beautiful. Presently we found ourselves overlooking a wonderful flat valley between two high hill ranges in lovely green patches, cut with geometrical precision, and well cultivated. Giant cacti of the candelabrum type were plentiful. Farther on we got upon an elevated plateau with a white surface of pumice-stone, followed by red volcanic sand—an immense stretch of country surrounded by low hills of grey tufa and red volcanic rock.

Beyond that we came to a most interesting region of sand-dunes of extraordinary shapes, where the under soil was of a brilliant red, while the sand accumulations were of a grey colour. Some of the dunes were crescent-shaped. They stood usually in sets or rows extending from north-west to south-east. Then there were high mounds, also of sand, and dunes of all kinds, some with a double crescent, or with the inside of the crescent much indented, others with multiple concave curves. The concavity of all those dunes was on the north-east side.

I had seen a similar formation of dunes in the Salt Desert of Persia; also in the south-western desert of Afghanistan and in the northern desert of Beluchistan; but I do not remember ever having seen such a perfect formation of dunes as that to be seen in this part of Peru.

Beyond that sandy zone we had before us a red plateau with fluted sides. Great mounds of blackened volcanic sand were quite frequent, the railway winding its way around immense basins formed by depressions in the land. Then we entered a beautiful green narrow valley along a streamlet intersecting the plateau.

From Mollendo the railway gradually rose to an elevation of 2,301 m. (7,549 ft.) at Arequipa, where I remained for the night.

The Great Inca Ruins of Viraccocha, in Tinta (Cuzco).

Arequipa was an interesting city with its picturesque arcades, its magnificent church of Spanish architecture with marvellous ancient wood carvings, and its prettily-laid-out gardens. I visited the astronomical observatory of Harvard College, a few miles from the town, where excellent work is being done in star photography from that eminently suitable spot for the study of the sky. The observatory was situated at an elevation of 8,060 ft. It worked in conjunction with the Harvard observatory in North America. By having thus one station north and another south of the equator, the observations made by that institution included the stars in all parts of the sky from the North to the South Pole. A 24-inch Bruce photographic telescope, a 13-inch Boyden telescope, an 8-inch Bache telescope, and a 4-inch meridian photometer were the principal instruments used at the Arequipa station.

I left Arequipa on the morning of February 9th, going through country of volcanic tufa and red sand, with immense furrows quite devoid of vegetation. Occasionally we came upon great masses of boulders cast by some volcanic force upon the surface of tufa and sand. Then the railway gracefully climbed in great curves over a plateau nearly 14,000 ft. high, where tufts of grass could be seen, giving a greenish appearance to the landscape.

We travelled along that great table-land, occasionally seeing a herd of llamas stampede away at the approach of the train, now and then observing circular stone walls erected by shepherds as shelters. A gable-roofed hut was occasionally seen. Picturesque natives in their ponchos and red or yellow scarves gazed, astonished, at the train throbbing along slowly upon the steep gradient of that elevated barren country. The cold seemed intense after the tropical heat of Lima. It was snowing hard. In the daytime I generally travelled seated in front of the engine, in order to have a better view of the landscape. In the train everybody suffered from soroche or mountain-sickness, which attacked most people when brought up quickly by the railway from the sea to such high elevations. I was driven away from the front of the engine by the cold rain and sleet beating with great force into my face, and obscuring the landscape to such an extent that I could see nothing at all. When it cleared up we were travelling in a region of marshes and pools in the lowest point of depressions, then along a magnificent lake with green and brown fantastically-shaped mountains and hills in the foreground, and a high snowy range in the background. The effects of light when the storm was raging over the lake, with its conical and semi-spherical islands dotting the water, were intensely picturesque.

After that the plateau became less interesting. We descended gradually some 400 m. (1,312 ft.) to the junction of Juliaca, 3,825 m. (12,550 ft.) above the sea level.

At that place the luxurious car which had taken me there had to be switched off from the Puno Line to the Cuzco Line.

I had dinner in the hotel, and again was impressed by the great honesty of the Peruvian people in the interior, and their considerate manners. It was somewhat curious to see the Indian waiter—most clumsy, dressed up in uncomfortable and ill-fitting European clothes—waiting on a medley of strange passengers, such as red-faced Spanish priests, tidy, smooth, oily-haired Peruvians, and talkative commercial travellers. But all—whether fat or lean, rich or poor, Indian or Peruvian—were the essence of politeness and thoughtfulness.

Being able to sleep in the luxurious car, where I had two good bedrooms, my own kitchen, and a sitting-room, I was indeed extremely comfortable.

I left again on February 10th over a great flat grassy tableland, with hills terraced up for cultivation. We passed an old church with a wonderful dome, and behind it snow-capped blue mountains. The women wore peculiar hats with flapping edges in order to protect their faces from the wind. A black cloth was generally worn over the women's heads under the hat, while over their shoulders hung dark green or purple ponchos.

The Indians of that region showed remarkably strong Malay features.

The train steamed through the wide grassy valley, once crossing a fairly large stream. High snowy peaks loomed against the sky on our right, while we were travelling all the time at elevations varying from 3,531 m. (11,584 ft.) at Sicuani to 4,313 m. (14,150 ft.) at La Raya. The cold seemed intense. I got quite frozen sitting on the engine.

Quantities of llamas and sheep grazing were now to be seen on the land, foot-passengers and horsemen crossing the valley in all directions. At the stations large crowds of picturesque women squatted down selling pottery and fruit.

The farther we got into the interior the more picturesque the hats became. The women there wore hats with rectangular gold-braided brims, and with white, red or blue curtains at the sides. The men had pointed woollen caps with ear-flaps. The women were garbed in ample pleated skirts. Curiously enough, while the head and body were so well protected, most of them had bare legs and feet, the skirts reaching only just below the knee.

Near villages one saw neat patches of land turned, with trouble, into vegetable gardens. Stone enclosures were used by the natives as shelters for the animals during storms and to pen them up at night. The people themselves lived in stone huts.

The country reminded me forcibly of Tibet, and so, in a way, did the people—short and stumpy and smothered in clothes. I frequently noticed cairns of stones like the obos typical of Tibet and of the Himahlyas. There, too, as in Tibet, it seemed the fashion for passers-by to place a white stone on those cairns in order to bring good luck.

The men were curiously garbed in short, wide white woollen trouserettes, reaching just below the knees and split behind just over the calf. Under those they wore another pair of trousers, slightly longer. Their coats were short and tight, resembling Eton jackets. They wore wide and much embroidered belts, red and blue being their favourite colours.

An accident had happened to a bridge. It had collapsed, so that the trains could not proceed. Thanks to the great thoughtfulness of Mr. Mockill and his inspector of the line, Mr. Blaisdell, another private car, equally comfortable, had been sent down from Cuzco to the bridge. My baggage was transferred on men's backs to the opposite side of the stream. With the delay of only an hour or so I was able to proceed on another train to Cuzco, where I arrived that same evening.

Inca Pottery, Weapons and Ornaments of Gold and Copper.

The city of Cuzco is situated at an elevation of 11,062 ft. above the sea level. In its vicinity the most important remains of Inca civilization have been found. The city itself was most interesting. Its handsome Spanish cathedral had a faÇade of beautifully designed columns and a fine central doorway. The great bell in one of the towers contained a large quantity of gold in the bronze, giving wonderful resonance to its vibrating notes. A solid silver altar of great height was to be admired in the interior of the cathedral, while the chancel was of marvellously carved wood. So was a supplementary altar which had been stored away behind the silver one.

The principal square of Cuzco had recently been paved with cement, on which none of the natives could be induced to walk, as they were afraid of slipping, accustomed as they were to the roughest cobble-stone paving of their streets. Only the gentry of the city could be seen treading with great care on the polished pavement, and were looked upon with much admiration by the lower natives, who stared aghast from the porticoes around the square. In the centre of the square was a cheap terra-cotta statue of the Indian hero Atahualpa surmounting a fountain painted of a ghastly green. The gardens were nicely laid out with pretty lawns. Another beautiful church rose in the plaza, the doorway of which was also handsome, but not comparable in beauty with that of the cathedral. The stone carvings of its faÇade were nevertheless remarkable. There were arcades on three sides of the plaza, the houses being generally only one storey high above them. The buildings were painted light blue, pink, green, or bright yellow, the columns of beautifully cut stone being also covered with hideous paint to match.

Thanks to the kindness of the President of the Republic, Mr. B. B. Legujia, a telegram had been sent asking the Prefect of Cuzco to give me every possible assistance in visiting the Inca ruins in the neighbourhood. The Prefect, Mr. J. J. V. CuÑer, kindly placed at my disposal three excellent horses and an orderly.

It is seldom one can visit a place where the people have more primitive habits than in the city of Cuzco. The streets, so wonderfully picturesque, were not fit to walk upon. The people threw into them all that can be thrown out of the houses, which possess no sanitary arrangements of any kind. Much of the pleasure of looking at the magnificent Inca walls—constructed of great blocks of stone so well fitted that no cement was necessary to hold them together—was really lost through being absolutely stifled by the suffocating odour which was everywhere prevalent in Cuzco.

The photographs that are reproduced in the illustrations of this book will give an idea of the grandeur of the Inca works better than any description. As I intend to produce at a later date a special work on that country, I am unable here to go fully into the history of the marvellous civilization of that race.

A photograph will be seen in one of the illustrations showing the immensity of the three-walled fortress of Sacsayhuaman. Another photograph will show with what accuracy the Incas could carve stone—which, mind you, in those days must have been much softer than it is now, and not unlike the sandstone that is used in England for building purposes.

Many curious subterranean passages were to be found on the mountains near Cuzco, the entrances to which were among picturesque rocks. The Incas seemed to have a regular mania for carving steps and angular channels in rocks. Not far from the fortress could be found the place of recreation of the Incas—the Rodadeiro—over which the Incas tobogganed, perhaps sitting on hides. Thousands and thousands of people must have gone in for the sport, as the solid rock was deeply grooved by the friction of the persons who have slid on it.

The remains of ancient altars for the worship of the sun and an Inca throne, where the king of the Incas must have sat while battles were taking place, were indeed most interesting to examine.

More interesting than any other to me was the particular spot on the mountain side where a kind of throne existed carved out of a huge block of rock, and where a battle of the Incas against their enemies could be reconstructed. Mounds of ammunition, consisting of round stones as big as a lawn-tennis ball, had been accumulated above and near the throne. Just below that high spot I found scattered upon the mountain side quantities of ammunition which had evidently been thrown by the Incas at the attacking foes.

Farther on was the "round table" where the Incas had their feasts—a huge circular table of rock situated near a conical boulder of immense size.

Interesting fountains with carved figure-heads; an Inca bath of graceful lines; and, some kilometres beyond Cuzco, the marvellous ruins of Viraccocha at Tinta, where gigantic walls of a palace were to be seen standing, and ruins of other fortresses filled one with amazement.

On the mountain side near the town were the strange gateways of Choquechaca, which in their lines resembled ancient Egyptian buildings. Not far off were the blocks of rock to which the Incas fastened their prisoners by their legs, arms and heads, and exposed them to the ridicule of the populace.

Many were the wonderful things which had been found in digging near Cuzco; but most interesting of all to me were the deformed crania—some flattened to almost an incredible extent on the top, others elongated backward to an amazing degree, others still with the central part of the skull deeply depressed, so as to form two globular swellings at the sides. Others, again, had been squeezed so as to form an angular ridge longitudinally on the summit. One skull particularly interested me, which had a pronounced elongation backward, and a dent just above the forehead which must have been caused by tying the cranium while young and still in a soft condition. Most of the skulls were of gigantic size when compared with those of modern times. The lower part was under-developed. Many of them possessed magnificent teeth.

Several of the skulls had been trephined, evidently while the person was still alive, some of the perforations in the brain-case being circular in shape, others quadrangular—most of the trephinations having been made in the forehead, others on the top of the skull. I saw one skull with as many as eleven apertures thus made. The operation had evidently been performed by a very able surgeon, for the little cap of bone removed fitted beautifully into the opening that had been made.

Inca Towers of Sillistayni, PuÑo (Lake Titicaca).

An Inca Statue, Bolivia.

The Incas were great architects. They had an absolute craving for carving rock. They made models of their fortresses and palaces in blocks of hard stone, some of these being of remarkable perfection in their detail.

The pottery, red earthen vessels with geometrical designs upon them, was most interesting, especially the large jars which must have been used for fermenting wine. Those jars of a typical shape must have rested on a pedestal of wood, as they ended in a point at the bottom, which prevented their standing up on a flat surface. Two handles were attached to the lower part of those jars, and also to the great bottles in which they kept wine.

The Incas used tumblers, enamelled in red and green, and of most graceful shape.

They were fond of ornamenting their bottles and vessels with representations of human heads, reproduced with considerable artistic fidelity. Other bottles represented strange gnawing faces, with expanded eyes and a fierce moustache.

Judging from the representations of figures on their jars, the people in those days wore their hair in little plaits round the head. Heads of llamas sculptured in stone or else modelled in earthenware were used as vessels.

The Incas made serviceable mortars for grinding grain, of polished hard rock, mostly of a circular shape, seldom more than two feet in diameter.

The matrimonial stone was interesting enough. It was a double vessel carved out of a solid stone, a perforation being made in the partition between the two vessels. It seems, when marriages were performed, that the Incas placed a red liquid in one vessel and some water in the other, the perforation in the central partition being stopped up until the ceremony took place, when the liquids were allowed to mingle in emblem of the union of the two lives. Curious, too, was the pipe-like arrangement, called the kenko, ornamented with a carved jaguar head, also used at their marriage ceremonies.

Lake Titicaca.

Guaqui, the Port for La Paz on Lake Titicaca.

Their stone axes and other implements were of extraordinary interest—their rectangularly-shaped stone knives, the star- and cross-shaped heads for their war clubs, as well as the star-shaped weights which they used for offensive purposes, attached, perhaps, to a sling. Many were the weapons of offence made of stone which have been found near Cuzco, some of which were used by holding in the hand, others attached to sticks.

The Incas were fairly good sculptors, not only in stone but also in moulding human figures and animals in silver and gold. Llamas, deer, long-nosed human-faced idols were represented by them with fidelity of detail, although perhaps not so much accuracy in the general proportions. At a later date the Incas used metal implements, such as small rakes and chisels for smoothing rock. They made hair-pins and ear-rings, chiefly of a mixture of gold, silver, lead and copper.

I saw at Cuzco a stone arrangement which was used by the Incas for washing and milling gold. Many ornaments of silex, agate and emerald, and also of coral, which had evidently been brought there from the coast, have also been found near Cuzco. The spoons and knives which the Incas used were generally made of gold, with representations of heads attached to them. The average length of these articles was from two to four inches.

I left the city on Friday, February 16th, going back the way I had come as far as the junction of Juliaca.

The Cuzco railway, to my mind, crosses the most beautiful and most interesting scenery of any railway I have ever seen. It is a pity that more English people do not travel by it. The great elevation makes people suffer from mountain-sickness, and that perhaps deters many travellers from attempting the journey. The railway has to contend with great natural difficulties—land-slides, which often stop traffic for days at a time, being frequent.

From Cuzco I went direct to Lake Titicaca, where more Inca ruins, such as the cylindrical towers of Sillistayni, existed at Puno. Lake Titicaca is a heavenly sheet of water, situated at an elevation by hypsometrical apparatus of 12,202 ft. With its magnificent background of snowy peaks, the lake looked indeed too impressive for words, as I steamed across it in the excellent steamer of the Peruvian Corporation.

Early in the morning of February 17th, having travelled the entire night in order to cross the lake from north to south, we arrived at Guaqui, the port for La Paz, the capital of Bolivia. Although I travelled in the most luxurious comfort, owing to the kindness of the Peruvian Corporation, the journey by rail and the going about examining the ruins at Cuzco had tired me considerably. My brain was so exhausted that it would really take in no more. Worse luck, when I reached La Paz it was during carnival time, when it was impossible to go out of the hotel without being smothered in cornflour or chalk, and sprinkled with aniline dyed water. Even bottles of ink were emptied on one's head from the windows. So that, although I crossed Bolivia from one end to the other in its longest part, I was unable to do any further work. I tried to get down to the coast as quickly as possible in order to return home.

La Paz was a beautiful city, extremely neat, with bright red-tiled roofs and white buildings. It was situated in a deep hollow surrounded by a great barrier of mountains. So deep and sudden was the hollow that within a few metres of its upper edge one would never suppose a town to be at hand. Bolivia is a go-ahead country in which English people are greatly interested. We have in our Minister there, Mr. Gosling, a very able representative of British interests.

Bolivians have shown great enterprise in building railways in all directions in order properly to develop their enormously wealthy country. Many important lines are in construction; others are projected—of which, perhaps, the most interesting will be the one from Santa Cruz to Corumba on the Brazilian boundary.

The day will come when the port of Arica on the Pacific Ocean will be joined to Oruro, on the Antofagasta line, the well-known junction in Bolivia, and eventually to Santa Cruz. The present plan is to build a line from the already existing railway at Cochabamba to Porto Velarde on the Rio Grande (Rio Mamore), then to Santa Cruz. The Brazilians on their side will eventually connect SÃo Paulo with Cuyaba and Corumba. It will then be possible to travel by rail right across the South American continent in its richest part.

There is also a project of connecting Santa Cruz with Embarcacion and Campo Santo, in the Argentine Republic, and eventually with the Trans-Andine Railway.

Other smaller lines projected are those between PotosÍ and Sucre, and one from the Chilian boundary at La Quiada to Tarija. That system of railways will greatly develop the entire southern portion of Bolivia. A small railway is also proposed in the most northern part of the Republic, between Riberalta on the River Madre de Dios and Guajara Merim on the Madeira-Mamore railway, a district of immense wealth for the production of rubber.

The exact elevation of La Paz by hypsometrical apparatus was 12,129 ft.

I left La Paz on February 21st, and travelled through flat, alluvial, uninteresting country—only a huge flock of llamas or vicuÑas enlivening the landscape here and there, or a group of Indians in their picturesque costumes. The women, with their green, violet or red shawls and much-pleated short skirts, generally blue, afforded particularly gay patches of colour.

I saw a beautiful effect of mirage near the lake in the vicinity of Oruro, as I was on the railway to Antofagasta. We were going through flat country most of the time. It had all the appearance of having once been a lake bottom. Perhaps that great Titicaca Lake formerly extended as far south as Lake Poopo, which is connected with Lake Titicaca by the River Desaguadero. In fact, if I am not far wrong, the two lakes formed part, in days gone by, of one single immense lake. The mountains on our right as we went southwards towards Oruro showed evidence that the level of the then united lakes must have reached, in days gone by, some 150 ft. higher than the plain on which we were travelling. The low undulations on our left had evidently been formed under water in the lake bottom.

The junction of Oruro, from which the Cochabamba railway branches, was quite a large place, of 8,000 inhabitants, but with no particularly striking buildings. Tin and silver mining was carried on in the surrounding mountains.

From Oruro I continued the journey to Antofagasta via Uyuni. Immense deposits of borax were to be seen all along the line from the station of Ulaca; then we came to a most beautiful sight—the volcano of OllagÜe, 12,123 ft. above the sea level. It looked like a giant dome, snow-capped, and smoking on its southern side. Its slopes were fairly regular, and of most brilliant colouring, red and blue. Near the volcano were mounds of mud and shattered rock. OllagÜe stood on the boundary between Bolivia and Chile.

On the Andes.

After passing San Martin, the first station on the Chilian side, the railway skirted the bed of an ancient lake, an immense circular flat stretch with deposits of sand and borax, in which could be seen occasional pools of stagnant water. On the west side stood a high three-peaked mountain covered with snow, while at the southern end of that plain was a charming lakelet. We had no sooner left this beautiful view than we had before us to the south-west an immense conical mountain, flat-topped. It looked just like the well-known Fujiyama of Japan, only more regular in its sloping lines.

We passed the works of a Borax Company, which were between the stations of Sebollar and Ascotan. There was to be seen another immense lake of borax, some 40 kil. (24 miles) long.

I arrived that evening at Antofagasta, and was fortunate enough to get on board one of the Pacific Mail Line steamers the next morning on my way to Valparaiso. We were now in the height of civilization again—very hot, very uncomfortable, very ambitious, very dirty, the hotels abominable. Had it not been for the kindness of friends I should have fared badly indeed in Valparaiso, for the place was invaded by a swarm of American tourists, who had just landed from an excursion steamer and rendered the place unbearable.

From Valparaiso, as soon as it was possible to obtain accommodation, I travelled across the Andes and as far as Buenos Aires by the Trans-Andine railway. The scenery on this line was most disappointing to any one who has seen the Andes in their real grandeur farther north; but for the average traveller the journey may prove interesting enough, although hot, dull, dusty, and not particularly comfortable.

While I was travelling on the railway between Mendoza and Buenos Aires there was a serious strike of railway employÉs. The railway had been attacked at many different points. Amateur engineers and attendants ran the trains. We were only two hours from Buenos Aires. The heat and dust were intense as we crossed the great pampas. The shaking of the train had tired me to such an extent that I placed a pillow on the ledge of the open window, and was fast asleep with my head half outside the carriage, when I woke up startled by the sound of an explosion. I found myself covered with quantities of dÉbris of rock. A huge stone, as big as a man's head or bigger, had been thrown with great force at the passing train by the strikers, and had hit the side of my window only about three inches above my head, smashing the woodwork and tearing off the metal frame of the window. Had it struck a little lower it would have certainly ended my journey for good.

Llamas in Bolivia.

Borax Deposits, Bolivia.

As it was I arrived in Buenos Aires safely. A few days later I was on my way to Rio de Janeiro, by the excellent steamer Aragon. Shortly after, by the equally good vessel Araguaya, of the Royal Mail Steamship Company, I returned to England, where I arrived in broken health on April 20th, 1912. It was a relief to me to land at Southampton, with all my notes, the eight hundred photographs I had taken, and the maps which I had made of the regions traversed.

Clyx.com