The thickets of rushy grass are inhabited by the Pishacas, or Yutu, a species of partridge (Tinamotis Pentlandii, Vig.) which the Indians catch by dogs. These dogs of the Puna Indians are a peculiar race (Canis Ingæ, Tsch.). They are distinguished by a small head, a pointed muzzle, small erect ears, a tail curling upwards, and a thick shaggy skin. They are in a half-wild state, and very surly and snappish. They furiously attack strangers, and even after having received a deadly wound they will crawl along the ground, and make an effort to bite. To white people they appear to have a particular antipathy; and sometimes it becomes rather a venturous undertaking for a European traveller to approach an Indian hut, for these mountain dogs spring up to the sides of the horse, and try to bite the rider's legs. They are snarlish and intractable even to their masters, who are often obliged to enforce obedience by the help of a stick. Yet these dogs are very useful animals for guarding flocks, and they have a keen scent for the pishacas, which they catch and kill with a single bite.
There is a very curious little bird in the Puna, about the size of a starling. Its plumage is exceedingly pretty, being on the back brown, striped with black; on the throat grey, with two dark stripes, and on the breast white. This bird has the remarkable peculiarity of making a monotonous sound at the close of every hour, during the night. The Indians call it the Ingahuallpa, or Cock of the Inga (Thinocorus Ingæ, Tsch.), and they associate many superstitious notions with its regular hourly cry. The Puna morasses and lagunas are animated by numerous feathered inhabitants. Among them is the huachua (Chloephaga melanoptera, Eyt.), a species of goose. The plumage of the bodyis dazzlingly white, the wings green, shading into brilliant violet, and the feet and beak of a bright red. The Licli (Charadrius resplendens, Tsch.) is a plover, whose plumage in color is like that of the huachua, but with a sort of metallic brightness. There are two species of ibis which belong to the Puna, though they are occasionally seen in some of the lower valleys. One is the Bandurria (Theristocus melanopis, Wagl.), and the other is the Yanahuico (Ibis Ordi, Bonap.). On the lagunas swim large flocks of Quiullas (Larus serranus, Tsch.), white mews, with black heads and red beaks, and the gigantic water-hen (Fulica gigantea, Soul.). The plumage of the latter is dark-grey, and at the root of the red beak there is a large yellow botch, in the form of a bean, whence the Indians give this bird the name ofAnash sinqui, or bean nose. Among the few amphibia found in these regions one is particularly remarkable. It is a small kind of toad (Leiuperus viridis, Tsch.), and inhabits the boundaries of the perpetual snow.
The grasses of the Puna are used as fodder, and in many of the sheltered valleys there are farms (Haciendas de Ganado), where large herds of cattle are reared. The owners of some of these farms possess several thousand sheep, and from four to five hundred cows. During the rainy season the cattle are driven into the Altos. They graze in those high regions, often at the altitude of 15,000 feet above the sea. When the frost sets in they are brought down to the marshy valleys, and they suffer much from insufficiency of pasture. From the wool of the sheep a coarse kind of cloth, called Bayeta, is made in the Sierra. Some of this wool is exported, and is much prized in Europe. The old black cattle and sheep are slaughtered, and their flesh, when dried, is the principal food of the inhabitants of the Puna, particularly of the mining population. The dried beef is calledCharqui, and the mutton is calledChalona. The bulls graze in the remote Altos, and most of them are reserved for the bull fights in the Sierra villages. As they seldom see a human being they become exceedingly wild; so much so that the herdsmen are often afraid to approach them. In the daytime they roam about marshy places, and at nightfall they retire for shelter beneath some overhanging rock. These animals render travellingin many parts of the Puna extremely dangerous, for they often attack people so suddenly as to afford no time for defence. It is true they usually announce their approach by a deep bellow; but the open plain seldom presents any opportunity for escape. On several occasions a well-aimed shot alone saved me from the attack of one of these ferocious bulls.
The walls of the haciendas are of rough unhewn stone. They are divided into large square rooms, always damp, cold, and uninhabitable. Beneath the straw roofs there usually hang long rows of the stuffed skins of foxes; for every Indian who kills an old fox receives, by way of reward, a sheep, and for a young one a lamb. The Cholos are therefore zealous fox-hunters, and they may possibly succeed in altogether extirpating that animal which in some districts is so numerous as to be a perfect scourge.
As the sheep, even in the dry season, find pasture more easily than the horned cattle, they are left during the whole year in the higher parts of the Puna, under the care of Indian shepherds. At night they are driven intocerales, large square roofless buildings, and are guarded by dogs. The shepherds make a practice of every year burning the dry grass of the Puna, in order to improve the growth of the fodder. A Puna fire does not, however, present the imposing spectacle of the prairie fires, as described by travellers in North America, possibly because the Puna straw is shorter, and is always somewhat damp.
The dwellings of the shepherds are built in the same rude style which characterizes all the huts in the Puna, and they impress the European traveller with a very unfavorable notion of the intelligence of the people. The architecture of these huts consists in laying down some large stones, in a circle of about eight or ten feet in diameter, by way of a foundation. These stones are covered with earth or turf, and then with successive layers of stones and earth, until the wall attains the height of about four feet: at the point most sheltered from the wind, an opening of a foot and a half or two feet high serves as a door. On this low circular wall rests the roof, which is formed in the following manner. Six or eight magay[69]poles are fastenedtogether, so as to form a point at the top. Over these poles thin laths are laid horizontally, and fastened with straw-bands, and the whole conical-formed frame-work is overlaid with a covering of Puna straw. As a security against the wind, two thick straw-bands are crossed over the point of the roof, and at their ends, which hang down to the ground, heavy stones are fastened. The whole fabric is then completed. The hut at its central point is about eight feet high; but at the sides, no more than three and a half or four feet. The entrance is so low, that one is obliged to creep in almost bent double; and before the aperture hangs a cow-hide, by way of a door.
Internally these huts present miserable pictures of poverty and uncleanliness. Two stones serve as a stove, containing a scanty fire fed by dry dung (buñegas), and turf (champo). An earthen pot for cooking soup, another for roasting maize, two or three gourd-shells for plates, and a porongo for containing water, make up the catalogue of the goods and chattels in a Puna hut. On dirty sheep-skins spread on the ground, sit the Indian and his wife, listlessly munching their coca; whilst the naked children roll about paddling in pools of water formed by continual drippings from the roof. The other inhabitants of the hut are usually three or four hungry dogs, some lambs, and swarms of guinea-pigs.
From all this it will readily be imagined that a Puna hut is no very agreeable or inviting retreat. Yet, when worn out by the dangers and fatigues of a long day's journey, and exposed to the fury of a mountain storm, the weary traveller, heedless of suffocating clouds of smoke and mephitic odors, gladly creeps into the rude dwelling. Taking up his resting-place on the damp floor, with his saddle-cloth for a pillow, he is thankful to find himself once again in a human habitation, even though its occupants be not many degrees elevated above the brute creation.
In the Puna there are many remains of the great high road of the Incas, which led from Cuzco to Quito, stretching through thewhole extent of Peru. It was the grandest work that America possessed before European civilisation found its way to that quarter of the world. Even those who are unacquainted with the wise dominion of the ancient Peruvian sovereigns, their comprehensive laws, and the high civilisation they diffused over the whole country, must by this gigantic work be impressed with the highest idea of the cultivation of the age; for well-constructed roads may always be regarded as proofs of a nation's advancement. There is not in Peru at the present time any modern road in the most remote degree comparable to the Incas' highway. The best preserved fragments which came under my observation were in the Altos, between Jauja and Tarma. Judging from these portions, it would appear that the road must have been from twenty-five to thirty feet broad, and that it was paved with large flat stones. At intervals of about twelve paces distant one from another there is a row of smaller stones, laid horizontally and a little elevated, so that the road ascended, as it were, by a succession of terraces. It was edged on each side by a low wall of small stones.
Other remains of ancient Peru, frequently met with in these parts, are small buildings, formerly used as stations for the messengers who promulgated the commands of the Incas through all parts of the country. Some of these buildings are still in a tolerably good state of preservation. They were always erected on little hillocks, and at such distances apart, that from each station the nearest one on either side was discernible. When a messenger was despatched from a station a signal was hoisted, and a messenger from the next successive station met him halfway, and received from him the despatch, which was in this manner forwarded from one station to another till it reached its destination. A constant communication was thus kept up between the capital and the most distant parts of the country. A proof of the extraordinary rapidity with which these communications were carried on is the fact, recorded on unquestionable authority, that the royal table in Cuzco was served with fresh fish, caught in the sea near the Temple of the Sun in Lurin, a distance of more than 200 leagues from Cuzco.
The messenger stations have by some travellers beenconfounded with the forts, of which remains are met with along the great Inca road. The forts were buildings destined for totally different purposes. They were magazines for grain, and were built by the Incas to secure to their armies in these barren regions the requisite supplies of food. Vestiges of these forts are frequently seen in the Altos of Southern and Central Peru. They are broad round towers, usually built against a rocky declivity, and with numerous long apertures for the admission of air.
Even the broad level heights in which no trace of human habitations is discoverable, have been excavated by the mercenary Peruvian mestizos and creoles in search of hidden treasures. Their faith in the existence of concealed riches is founded on the following tradition. When the last reigning Inca, Atabiliba or Atahuallpa, was made prisoner by Don Francisco Pizarro, in Caxamarca, he proposed to ransom himself from the Spanish commander. The price he offered for his liberty was to fill with gold the cell in which he was confined, to the height of a certain line on the wall, which Pizarro marked with his sword. The cell, it may be mentioned, was twenty-two feet long and seventeen broad. A quantity of gold which the Inca ordered to be collected in Caxamarca and its vicinity, when piled up on the floor of the cell, did not reach above halfway to the given mark. The Inca then despatched messengers to Cuzco to obtain from the royal treasury the gold required to make up the deficiency; and accordingly eleven thousand llamas were despatched from Cuzco to Caxamarca, each laden with one hundred pounds of gold. But ere the treasure reached its destination, Atahuallpa was hanged by the advice of Don Diego de Almangra and the Dominican monk Vicente de Valverde. The terror-stirring news flew like wild-fire through the land, and speedily reached the convoy of Indians, who were driving their richly-laden llamas over the level heights into Central Peru. On the spot where the intelligence of Atahuallpa's death was communicated to them, the dismayed Indians concealed the treasure, and then dispersed.
Whether the number of the llamas was really so considerable as it is stated to have been, may fairly be doubted; but that a vast quantity of gold was on its way to Caxamarca, and wasconcealed, is a well-authenticated fact. That the Indians should never have made any attempt to recover this treasure is quite consistent with their character. It is not improbable that even now some particular individuals among them may know the place of concealment; but a certain feeling of awe transmitted through several centuries from father to son, has, in their minds, associated the hidden treasure with the blood of their last king, and this feeling doubtless prompts them to keep the secret inviolate.
From traditionary accounts, which bear the appearance of probability, it would appear that the gold was buried somewhere in the Altos of Mito, near the valley of Jauja. Searches have frequently been made in that vicinity, but no clue to the hiding-place has yet been discovered.
FOOTNOTES:[65]Some derive the word Andes from the people called Antis, who dwelt at the foot of these chains of mountains. A province in the department of Cuzco, which was probably the chief settlement of that nation, still bears the name of Antas.[66]From the most remote times the Ratanhia has been employed by the Indians as a medicine. It is one of their favorite remedies against spitting of blood and dysentery. Most of the Ratanhia exported to Europe is obtained in the southern provinces of Peru, particularly in Arica and Islay. The extract which is prepared in Peru, and which was formerly sent in large quantities to Europe, is now scarcely an object of traffic. For several years past no Ratanhia has been shipped from Callao, and but very little from Truxillo.[67]More lengthened information respecting them may be found in the "Fauna Peruana." I have there noted all their specific varieties, and have corrected the erroneous accounts given of them by some previous travellers.[68]Phalcoboenus montanus, Orb.[69]The Magay is the stem of the American Agave. It has a sort of spungy sap; but it is covered externally with a strong tough bast. The Magay supplies the inhabitants of Upper Peru with an excellent kind of light and strong building wood.
FOOTNOTES:
[65]Some derive the word Andes from the people called Antis, who dwelt at the foot of these chains of mountains. A province in the department of Cuzco, which was probably the chief settlement of that nation, still bears the name of Antas.
[65]Some derive the word Andes from the people called Antis, who dwelt at the foot of these chains of mountains. A province in the department of Cuzco, which was probably the chief settlement of that nation, still bears the name of Antas.
[66]From the most remote times the Ratanhia has been employed by the Indians as a medicine. It is one of their favorite remedies against spitting of blood and dysentery. Most of the Ratanhia exported to Europe is obtained in the southern provinces of Peru, particularly in Arica and Islay. The extract which is prepared in Peru, and which was formerly sent in large quantities to Europe, is now scarcely an object of traffic. For several years past no Ratanhia has been shipped from Callao, and but very little from Truxillo.
[66]From the most remote times the Ratanhia has been employed by the Indians as a medicine. It is one of their favorite remedies against spitting of blood and dysentery. Most of the Ratanhia exported to Europe is obtained in the southern provinces of Peru, particularly in Arica and Islay. The extract which is prepared in Peru, and which was formerly sent in large quantities to Europe, is now scarcely an object of traffic. For several years past no Ratanhia has been shipped from Callao, and but very little from Truxillo.
[67]More lengthened information respecting them may be found in the "Fauna Peruana." I have there noted all their specific varieties, and have corrected the erroneous accounts given of them by some previous travellers.
[67]More lengthened information respecting them may be found in the "Fauna Peruana." I have there noted all their specific varieties, and have corrected the erroneous accounts given of them by some previous travellers.
[68]Phalcoboenus montanus, Orb.
[68]Phalcoboenus montanus, Orb.
[69]The Magay is the stem of the American Agave. It has a sort of spungy sap; but it is covered externally with a strong tough bast. The Magay supplies the inhabitants of Upper Peru with an excellent kind of light and strong building wood.
[69]The Magay is the stem of the American Agave. It has a sort of spungy sap; but it is covered externally with a strong tough bast. The Magay supplies the inhabitants of Upper Peru with an excellent kind of light and strong building wood.
Cerro de Pasco—First discovery of the Mines—Careless mode of working them—Mine Owners and Mine Laborers—Amalgamating and Refining—Produce of the Mines—Life in Cerro de Pasco—Different Classes of the Population—Gaming and Drunkenness—Extravagance and Improvidence of the Indian Mine Laborers—The Cerro de San Fernando—Other Important Mining Districts in Peru—The Salcedo Mine—Castrovireyna—Vast Productiveness of the Silver Mines of Peru—Rich Mines secretly known to the Indians—Roads leading from Cerro de Pasco—The Laguna of Chinchaycocha—Battle of Junin—Indian Robbers—A Day and a Night in the Puna Wilds.
Having traversed the long and difficult route from the capital of Peru, by way of the wild Cordillera to the level heights of Bombon, and from thence having ascended the steep winding acclivities of the mountain chain of Olachin, the traveller suddenly beholds in the distance a large and populous city. This is the celebrated Cerro de Pasco, famed throughout the world for its rich silver mines. It is situated in 10° 48′ S. latitude and 76° 23′ W. longitude, and at the height of 13,673 feet above the sea level. It is built in a basin-shaped hollow, encircled by barren and precipitous rocks. Between these rocks difficult winding roads or paths lead down to the city, which spreads out in irregular divisions, surrounded on all sides by little lagunes, or swamps. The pleasing impression created by the first view of Cerro de Pasco from the heights is very greatly modified on entering the town. Crooked, narrow, and dirty streets are bordered by rows of irregularly-built houses; and miserable Indian huts abut close against well-built dwellings, whose size and structure give a certain European character to the city when viewed from a distance. Without bestowing a glance on the busy throng which circulates through the streets and squares, the varied styles of the buildings sufficiently indicate to the observer howmany different classes of people have united together to found, in the tropics, and on the very confines of the perpetual snow, a city of such magnitude, and of so motley an aspect. The wild barrenness of the surrounding scenery, and the extreme cold of the rigorous climate—the remote and solitary position of the city—all denote that one common bond of union must have drawn together the diversified elements which compose the population of Cerro de Pasco. And so it really is. In this inhospitable region, where the surface of the soil produces nothing, nature has buried boundless stores of wealth in the bowels of the earth, and the silver mines of Cerro de Pasco have drawn people from all parts of the world to one point, and for one object.
History relates that about two hundred and fifteen years ago an Indian shepherd, named Huari Capcha, tended his flocks on a small pampa to the south-east of the Lake of Llauricocha, the mother of the great river Amazon. One day, when the shepherd had wandered farther than usual from his hut, he sought a resting-place on a declivity of the Cerro de Santiestevan, and when evening drew in he kindled a fire to protect himself against the cold; he then lay down to sleep. When he awoke on the following morning, he was amazed to find the stone beneath the ashes of his fire melted and turned to silver. He joyfully communicated the discovery to his master, Don Jose Ugarte, a Spaniard, who owned a hacienda in the Quebrada de Huariaca. Ugarte forthwith repaired to the spot, where he found indications of a very rich vein of silver ore, which he immediately made active preparations for working. In this mine, which is distinguished by the name ofLa Descubridora(the discoverer), silver is still obtained. From the village of Pasco, about two leagues distant, where already productive mines were worked, several rich mine owners removed to Llauricocha; here they sought and discovered new veins, and established new mining works. The vast abundance of the ore drew new speculators to the spot; some to work the mines, and others to supply the necessary wants of the increasing population. In this manner was rapidly founded a city, which, at times when the produce of metal is very considerable, counts 18,000 inhabitants.
In Cerro de Pasco there are two very remarkable veins ofsilver. One of them, the Veta de Colquirirca, runs nearly in a straight line from north to south, and has already been traced to the length of 9,600 feet, and the breadth of 412; the other vein is the Veta de Pariarirca, which takes a direction from east-south-east to west-north-west, and which intersects the Veta de Colquirirca precisely, it is supposed, under the market-place of the city. Its known extent is 6,400 feet in length, and 380 feet in breadth. From these large veins numberless smaller ones branch off in various directions, so that a net-work of silver may be supposed to spread beneath the surface of the earth. Some thousand openings or mouths (bocaminas) are the entrances to these mines. Most of these entrances are within the city itself, in small houses; and some are in the dwellings of the mine-owners. Many of them are exceedingly shallow, and not more than five hundred deserve the name of shafts. All are worked in a very disorderly and careless way; the grand object of their owners being to avoid expense. The dangerous parts in the shafts are never walled up, and the excavations proceed without the adoption of any measures of security. The consequence is, that accidents caused by the falling in of the galleries are of frequent occurrence; and every year the lives of numbers of the Indian miners are sacrificed. A melancholy example of the effects of this negligence is presented by the now ruined mine of Matagente (literallyKill People), in which three hundred laborers were killed by the falling in of a shaft. I descended into several of the mines, among others into theDescubridora, which is one of the deepest, and I always felt that I had good reason to congratulate myself on returning to the surface of the earth in safety. Rotten blocks of wood and loose stones serve for steps, and, where these cannot be placed, the shaft, which in most instances runs nearly perpendicular, is descended by the help of rusty chains and ropes, whilst loose fragments of rubbish are continually falling from the damp walls.
The mine laborers, all of whom are Indians, are of two classes. One class consists of those who work in the mines all the year round without intermission, and who receive regular wages from the mine owners;—the other class consists of those who make only temporary visits to Cerro de Pasco, when they are attractedthither by theboyas.[70]This latter class of laborers are calledmaquipuros. Most of them come from the distant provinces, and they return to their homes when the boya is at an end. The mine laborers are also subdivided into two classes, the one calledbarreteros, whose employment consists in breaking the ore; and the other calledhapires, orchaquiris, who bring up the ore from the shaft. The work allotted to the hapires is exceedingly laborious. Each load consists of from fifty to seventy-five pounds of metal, which is carried in a very irksome and inconvenient manner in an untanned hide, called a capacho. The hapire performs his toilsome duty in a state of nudity, for, notwithstanding the coldness of the climate, he becomes so heated by his laborious exertion, that he is glad to divest himself of his clothing. As the work is carried on incessantly day and night, the miners are divided into parties calledpuntas, each party working for twelve successive hours. At six o'clock morning and evening thepuntasare relieved. Each one is under the inspection of a mayor-domo. When a mine yields a scanty supply of metal, the laborers are paid in money; the barreteros receiving six reals per day, and the hapires only four. During theboyasthe laborers receive instead of their wages in money, a share of the ore. The Indians often try to appropriate to themselves surreptitiously pieces of ore; but to do this requires great cunning and dexterity, so narrowly are they watched by the mayor-domos. Nevertheless, they sometimes succeed. One of the hapires related to me how he had contrived to carry off a most valuable piece of silver. He fastened it on his back, and then wrapping himself in his poncho, he pretended to be so ill, that he obtained permission to quit the mine. Two of his confederates who helped him out, assisted him in concealing the treasure. Thepolvorilla, a dark powdery kind of ore, very full of silver, used to be abstracted from the mines by the following stratagem. The workmen would strip off their clothes, and having moistened the wholeof their bodies with water, would roll themselves in thepolvorillawhich stuck to them. On their return home they washed off the silver-dust and sold it for several dollars. But this trick being detected, a stop was soon put to it, for, before leaving the mines, the laborers are now required to strip in order to be searched.
The operation of separating the silver from the dross is performed at some distance from Cerro de Pasco, in haciendas, belonging to the great mine owners. The process is executed in a very clumsy, imperfect, and at the same time, a very expensive manner. The amalgamation of the quicksilver with the metal is effected by the tramping of horses. The animals employed in this way are a small ill-looking race, brought from Ayacucho and Cuzco, where they are found in numerous herds. The quicksilver speedily has a fatal effect on their hoofs, and after a few years the animals become unfit for work. The separation of the metals is managed with as little judgment as the amalgamation, and the waste of quicksilver is enormous. It is computed that on each mark of silver, half a pound of quicksilver is expended. The quicksilver, with the exception of some little brought from Idria and Huancavelica, comes from Spain in iron jars, each containing about seventy-five pounds weight of the metal. In Lima the price of these jars is from sixty to 100 dollars each, but they are occasionally sold as high as 135 or 140 dollars. Considering the vast losses which the Peruvian mine owners sustain by the waste of quicksilver and the defective mode of refining, it may fairly be inferred, that their profits are about one-third less than they would be under a better system of management.
In Cerro de Pasco there are places calledboliches, in which the silver is separated from the dross by the same process as that practised in thehaciendas, only on a smaller scale. In thebolichesthe amalgamation is performed, not by horses but by Indians, who mix the quicksilver with the ore by stamping on it with their feet for several hours in succession. This occupation they usually perform barefooted, and the consequence is, that paralysis and other diseases caused by the action of mercury, are very frequent among the persons thus employed. Theowners of theboliches, who are mostly Italians, are not mine proprietors. They obtain the metal from the Indians, who give them theirhuachacas[71]in exchange for brandy and other articles. On the other hand, the owners of thebolichesobtain the money required for their speculations from capitalists, who make them pay an enormous interest. Nevertheless, many amass considerable fortunes in the course of a few years; for they scruple not to take the most unjust advantage of the Indians, whose laborious toil is rewarded by little gain.
The law requires that all the silver drawn from the mines of Cerro de Pasco shall be conveyed to a government smelting-house, called theCallana, there to be cast into bars of one hundred pounds weight, to be stamped, and charged with certain imposts. The value of silver in Cerro de Pasco varies from seven to eight dollars per mark. The standard value in Lima is eight dollars and a half.
It is impossible to form anything like an accurate estimate of the yearly produce of the mines of Cerro de Pasco; for a vast quantity of silver is never taken to the Callana, but is smuggled to the coast, and from thence shipped for Europe. In the year 1838, no less than 85,000 marks of contraband silver were conveyed to the sea port of Huacho, and safely shipped on board a schooner. The quantity of silver annually smelted and stamped in the Callana is from two to three hundred thousand marks—seldom exceeding the latter amount. From 1784 to 1820, 1826, and 1827, the amount was 8,051,409 marks; in the year 1784 it was 68,208 marks; and in 1785, 73,455 marks. During seventeen years it was under 200,000 marks; and only during three years above 300,000. The produce of the mines is exceedingly fluctuating. The successive revolutions which have agitated the country have tended very considerably to check mining operations. On the overthrow of Santa Cruz, Don Miguel Otero, the most active and intelligent mine owner of Cerro de Pasco, was banished; an event which had a very depressing influence on all the mining transactions of that part ofSouth America. Within the last few years, however, mining has received a new impetus, and attention has been directed to the adoption of a more speedy and less expensive system of amalgamation.
As a place of residence Cerro de Pasco is exceedingly disagreeable; nothing but the pursuit of wealth can reconcile any one to a long abode in it. The climate, like that of the higher Puna, is cold and stormy. The better sort of houses are well built, and are provided with good English fire-places and chimneys. But however comfortably lodged, the new comer cannot easily reconcile himself to the reflection that the earth is hollow beneath his feet. Still less agreeable is it to be awakened in the night by the incessant hammering of the Indian miners. Luckily earthquakes are of rare occurrence in those parts: it would require no very violent shock to bury the whole city in the bosom of the earth.
Silver being the only produce of the soil, the necessaries of life are all exceedingly dear in the Cerro, as they have to be brought from distant places. The warehouses are, it is true, always plentifully supplied even with the choicest luxuries; but the extortion of venders and the abundance of money render prices most exorbitant. The market is so well supplied with provisions that it may vie with that of Lima. The products of the coast, of the table-lands and the forests, are all to be procured in the market of Cerro de Pasco; but the price demanded for every article is invariably more than double its worth. House rents are also extravagantly high; and the keep of horses is exceedingly expensive.
The population of Cerro de Pasco presents a motley assemblage of human beings, such as one would scarcely expect to find in a city situated at 14,000 feet above the sea, and encircled by wild mountains. The Old and the New Worlds seem there to have joined hands, and there is scarcely any nation of Europe or America that has not its representative in Cerro de Pusco. The Swede and the Sicilian, the Canadian and the Argentinian, are all united here at one point, and for one object. The inhabitants of this city may be ranked in two divisions, viz., traders and miners—taking both terms in their most comprehensivesense. The mercantile population consists chiefly of Europeans or white Creoles, particularly those who are owners of large magazines. The keepers of coffee houses and brandy shops are here, as in Lima, chiefly Italians from Genoa. Other shops are kept by the Mestizos, and the provision-dealers are chiefly Indians, who bring their supplies from remote places.
The mining population may be divided into mine owners (mineros) and Indian laborers. The majority of the mineros are descendants of the old Spanish families, who, at an early period, became possessors of the mines, whence they derived enormous wealth, which most of them dissipated in prodigal extravagance. At the present time, only a very few of the mineros are rich enough to defray, from their own resources, the vast expense attending the operations of mining. They consequently raise the required money by loans from the capitalists of Lima, who require interest of 100 or 120 per cent., and, moreover, insist on having bars of silver at a price below standard value. To these hard conditions, together with the custom that has been forced upon the miners of paying their laborers in metal, at times when it is very abundant, may be traced the cause of the miserable system of mine-working practised in Cerro de Pasco. To liquidate his burthensome debts the minero makes his laborers dig as much ore as possible from the mine, without any precautions being taken to guard against accidents. The money-lenders, on the other hand, have no other security for the recovery of their re-payment than the promise of the minero, and a failure of the usual produce of a mine exposes them to the risk of losing the money they have advanced.
Under these circumstances it can scarcely be expected that the character and habits of the minero should qualify him to take a high rank in the social scale. His insatiable thirst for wealth continually prompts him to embark in new enterprises, whereby he frequently loses in one what he gains in another. After a mine has been worked without gain for a series of years, an unexpectedboyaprobably occurs, and an immense quantity of silver may be extracted. But a minero retiring on the proceeds of a boya is an event of rare occurrence. A vain hope of increasing fortune prompts him to risk the certain for theuncertain: and the result frequently is, that the once prosperous minero has nothing to bequeath to his children but a mine heavily burthened with debt. The persevering ardor of persons engaged in mining is truly remarkable. Unchecked by disappointment, they pursue the career in which they have embarked. Even when ruin appears inevitable, the love of money subdues the warnings of reason, and hope conjures up, from year to year, visionary pictures of riches yet to come.
Joined to this infatuated pursuit of the career once entered on, an inordinate passion for cards and dice contributes to ruin many of the mineros of Cerro de Pasco. In few other places are such vast sums staked at the gaming-table; for the superabundance of silver feeds that national vice of the Spaniards and their descendants. From the earliest hours of morning cards and dice are in requisition. The mine owner leaves his silver stores, and the shop-keeper forsakes his counter, to pass a few hours every day at the gaming-table; and card-playing is the only amusement in the best houses of the town. The mayordomos, after being engaged in the mines throughout the whole day, assemble with their comrades in the evening, round the gaming-table, from which they often do not rise until six in the morning, when the bell summons them to resume their subterraneous occupations. They not unfrequently gamble away their share of a boya before any indication of one is discernible in the mine.
The working class of miners is composed of Indians, who throng to Cerro de Pasco from all the provinces, far and near, especially when boyas are expected. At times, when the mines are not very productive, the number of Indian laborers amounts to between three and four thousand; but when there is a great supply of metal, the ordinary number of mine-workers is more than tripled. The Indians labor with a degree of patient industry, which it would be vain to expect from European workmen similarly circumstanced. This observation applies to the hapires in particular. Content with wretched food, and still more wretched lodging, the hapire goes through his hard day's work, partaking of no refreshment but coca, and at the end of the week (deduction being made for the food, &c., obtained on credit from the minero), he, possibly, finds himself in possession of a dollar.This sum he spends on his Sunday holiday in chicha and brandy, of which he takes as much as his money will pay for, or as he can get on credit. When excited by strong drinks, such as maize beer, chicha, and brandy, to which they are very much addicted, the Indian miners are exceedingly quarrelsome. The laborers belonging to the different mines go about the streets rioting and attacking each other, and they frequently get involved in dangerous affrays. No Sunday or Friday passes over without the occurrence of battles, in which knives, sticks, and stones are used as weapons; and the actors in these scenes of violence inflict on each other severe and often fatal wounds. Any effective police interference to quell these street riots, is out of the question.
When an unusually abundant produce of the mines throws extra payment into the hands of the mine laborers, they squander their money with the most absurd extravagance, and they are excellent customers to the European dealers in dress and other articles of luxury. Prompted by a ludicrous spirit of imitation, the Indian, in his fits of drunkenness, will purchase costly things which he can have no possible use for, and which he becomes weary of, after an hour's possession. I once saw an Indian purchase a cloak of fine cloth, for which he paid ninety-two dollars. He then repaired to a neighboring pulperia,[72]where he drank till he became intoxicated, and then, staggering into the street, he fell down, and rolled in the kennel. On rising, and discovering that his cloak was besmeared with mud, he threw it off, and left it in the street, for any one who might choose to pick it up. Such acts of reckless prodigality are of daily occurrence. A watchmaker in Cerro de Pasco informed me that one day an Indian came to his shop to purchase a gold watch. He showed him one, observing that the price was twelve gold ounces (204 dollars), and that it would probably be too dear for him. The Cholo paid the money, and took the watch; then, after having examined it for a few minutes, he dashed it on the ground, observing that the thing was of no use to him. When the Indian miner possesses money, he never thinks of laying by a part of it, as neither henor any of his family feel the least ambition to improve their miserable way of life. With them, drinking is the highest of all gratifications, and in the enjoyment of the present moment, they lose sight of all considerations for the future. Even those Cholos who come from distant parts of the country to share in the rich harvest of the mines of Cerro de Pasco, return to their homes as poor as when they left them, and with manners and morals vastly deteriorated.
Besides the mines of Cerro de Pasco, which in point of importance are nowise inferior to those of Potosi, there are numerous very rich mining districts in Peru. Among the most prolific may be ranked the provinces of Pataz, Huamanchuco, Caxamarca, and Hualgayoc. In this last-named province is situated the Cerro de San Fernando, on which Alexander Von Humboldt has conferred so much celebrity. The rich silver veins were discovered there in the year 1771; and there are now upwards of 1400 bocaminas. On the insulated mountain the veins of metal intersect each other in every direction, and they are alike remarkable for being easily worked and exceedingly prolific. The mines of Huantaxaya, situated on the coast in the neighborhood of Iquique, were also very rich, and the silver obtained from them was either pure or containing a very slight admixture of foreign substances. They yielded an incredible quantity of metal, but they were speedily exhausted; and are now totally barren. The chains of hills in the southern districts of Peru contain a multitude of very rich mines, of which the most remarkable are those of San Antonio de Esquilache, Tamayos, Picotani, Cancharani, and Chupicos; but owing to bad working and defective drainage, many of the veins are in a very ruinous state, and the metal drawn from them bears no proportion to the quantity they contain. The Salcedo mine is very celebrated for the vast abundance of its produce, and the tragical end of its original owner.
Don Jose Salcedo, a poor Spaniard, who dwelt in Puno, was in love with a young Indian girl, whose mother promised, on condition of his marrying her daughter, that she would show him a rich silver mine. Salcedo fulfilled the condition, obtained possession of the mine, and worked it with the greatest success. The report of his wealth soon roused the envy of the Count deLemos, then viceroy of Peru, who sought to possess himself of the mine. By his generosity and benevolence Salcedo had become a great favorite with the Indian population, and the viceroy took advantage of this circumstance to accuse him of high treason, on the ground that he was exciting the Indians against the Spanish government. Salcedo was arrested, tried, and condemned to death. Whilst he was in prison, he begged to be permitted to send to Madrid the documents relating to his trial, and to appeal to the mercy of the king. He proposed, if the viceroy would grant his request, that he would pay him the daily tribute of a bar of silver, from the time when the ship left the port of Callao with the documents, until the day of her return. When it is recollected that at that period the voyage from Callao to Spain occupied from twelve to sixteen months, some idea may be formed of the enormous wealth of Salcedo and his mine. The viceroy rejected this proposition, ordered Salcedo to be hanged, and set out for Puno to take possession of the mine.[73]
But this cruel and unjust proceeding failed in the attainment of its object. As soon as Salcedo's death-doom was pronounced, his mother-in-law, accompanied by a number of relations and friends, repaired to the mine, flooded it with water, destroyed the works, and closed up the entrance so effectually that it was impossible to trace it out. They then dispersed; but some of them, who were afterwards captured, could not be induced, either by promises or tortures, to reveal the position of the mouth of the mine, which to this day remains undiscovered. All that is known about it is that it was situated in the neighborhood of Cerro de Laycacota and Cananchari.
Another extraordinary example of the productiveness of the Peruvian mines, is found at San Jose, in the department of Huancavelica. The owner of the mines of San Jose requested the viceroy Castro, whose friend he was, to become godfather to his first child. The viceroy consented, but at the time fixed for the christening, some important affair of state prevented him from quitting the capital, and he sent the vice-queen to officiate as his proxy. To render honor to his illustrious guest, the owner of theSan Jose mines laid down a triple row of silver bars along the whole way (and it was no very short distance), from his house to church. Over this silver pavement the vice-queen accompanied the infant to the church, where it was baptized. On her return, her munificent host presented to her the whole of the silver road, in token of his gratitude for the honor she had conferred on him. Since that time, the mines and the province in which they are situated have borne the name of Castrovireyna. In most of these mines the works have been discontinued. Owing to defective arrangements, one of the richest of these mines fell in, and 122 workmen were buried in the ruins. Since that catastrophe, the Indians refuse to enter the mines. Many stories are related of spirits and apparitions said to haunt the mines of Castrovireyna. I was surprised to hear these tales, for the imagination of the Indian miners is not very fertile in the creation of this sort of superstitious terrors.
Notwithstanding the enormous amount of wealth, which the mines of Peru have already yielded, and still continue to yield, only a very small portion of the silver veins has been worked. It is a well-known fact, that the Indians are aware of the existence of many rich mines, the situation of which they will never disclose to the whites, nor to the detested mestizos. Heretofore mining has been to them all toil and little profit, and it has bound them in chains from which they will not easily emancipate themselves. For centuries past, the knowledge of some of the richest silver mines has been with inviolable secresy transmitted from father to son. All endeavors to prevail on them to divulge these secrets have hitherto been fruitless. In the village of Huancayo, there lived, a few years ago, two brothers, Don Jose and Don Pedro Yriarte, two of the most eminent mineros of Peru. Having obtained certain intelligence that in the neighboring mountains there existed some veins of pure silver, they sent a young man, their agent, to endeavor to gain further information on the subject. The agent took up his abode in the cottage of a shepherd, to whom, however, he gave not the slightest intimation of the object of his mission. After a little time, an attachment arose between the young man and the shepherd's daughter, and the girl promised to disclose to her lover the position of a veryrich mine. On a certain day, when she was going out to tend her sheep, she told him to follow her at a distance, and to notice the spot where she would let fall hermanta; by turning up the earth on that spot, she assured him he would find the mouth of a mine. The young man did as he was directed, and after digging for a little time, he discovered a mine of considerable depth, containing rich ore. Whilst busily engaged in breaking out the metal, he was joined by the girl's father, who expressed himself delighted at the discovery, and offered to assist him. After they had been at work for some hours, the old Indian handed to his companion a cup of chicha, which the young man thankfully accepted. But he had no sooner tasted the liquor than he felt ill, and he soon became convinced that poison had been mixed with the beverage. He snatched up the bag containing the metal he had collected, mounted his horse, and with the utmost speed galloped off to Huancayo. There, he related to Yriarte all that had occurred, described as accurately as he could the situation of the mine, and died on the following night. Active measures were immediately set on foot, to trace out the mine, but without effect. The Indian and all his family had disappeared, and the mine was never discovered.
In Huancayo there also dwelt a Franciscan monk. He was an inveterate gamester, and was involved in pecuniary embarrassments. The Indians in the neighborhood of his dwelling-place were much attached to him, and frequently sent him presents of poultry, cheese, butter, &c. One day, after he had been a loser at the gaming-table, he complained bitterly of his misfortunes to an Indian, who was his particular friend. After some deliberation, the Indian observed, that possibly he could render him some assistance; and, accordingly, on the following evening, he brought him a large bag full of rich silver ore. This present was several times repeated; but the monk, not satisfied, pressed the Indian to show him the mine from whence the treasure was drawn. The Indian consented, and on an appointed night he came, accompanied by two of his comrades, to the dwelling of the Franciscan. They blindfolded him, and each in turn carried him on his shoulders to a distance of several leagues, into the mountain passes. At length they set him down,and the bandage being removed from his eyes, he discovered that he was in a small and somewhat shallow shaft, and was surrounded by bright masses of silver. He was allowed to take as much as he could carry, and when laden with the rich prize, he was again blindfolded, and conveyed home in the same manner as he had been brought to the mine. Whilst the Indians were conducting him home, he hit on the following stratagem. He unfastened his rosary, and here and there dropped one of the beads, hoping by this means to be enabled to trace his way back on the following day; but in the course of a couple of hours his Indian friend again knocked at his door, and presenting to him a handful of beads, said, "Father, you dropped your rosary on the way, and I have picked it up."
When I was in Jauja, in the year 1841, an Indian whom I had previously known, from his having accompanied me on one of my journeys in the Sierra, came to me and asked me to lend him a crow-bar. I did so, and after a few days, when he returned it, I observed that the end was covered with silver. Some time afterwards I learned that this Indian had been imprisoned by order of the sub-prefect, because he had offered for sale some very rich silver ore, and on being questioned as to where he had obtained it, his answer was that he found it on the road; a tale, the truth of which was very naturally doubted. The following year, when I was again in Jauja, the Indian paid me another visit. He then informed me that he had been for several months confined in a dark dungeon and half-starved, because the sub-prefect wanted to compel him to reveal the situation of a mine which he knew of, but that he would not disclose the secret, and adhered firmly to the statement he had made of having found the ore. After a little further conversation, he became more communicative than I had any reason to expect, though he was fully convinced I would not betray him. He confessed to me that he actually knew of a large vein containing valuable silver, of which he showed me a specimen. He further told me that it was only when he was much in want of money that he had recourse to the mine, of which the shaft was not very deep; and, moreover, that after closing it up, he always carried the loose rubbish away to a distance of some miles, and then covered theopening so carefully with turf and cactus, that it was impossible for any one to discern it. This Indian dwelt in a miserable hut, about three leagues from Jauja, and his occupation was making wooden stirrups, which employment scarcely enabled him to earn a scanty subsistence. He assured me it was only when he was called upon to pay contributions, which the government exacts with merciless rigor, that he had recourse to the mine. He then extracted about half an aroba of ore, and sold it in Jauja, in order to pay the tax levied on him.
I could quote many well-authenticated instances of the same kind; but the above examples sufficiently prove the reluctance of the Indians to disclose the secret of their hidden treasures, and their indifference about obtaining wealth for themselves. It is true that the Indians are not, in all parts of the country, so resolutely reserved as they are in Huancayo and Jauja, for all the most important mines have been made known to the Spaniards by the natives. But the Peruvian Indians are composed of many different races, and though all were united by the Incas into one nation, yet they still differ from each other in manners and character. The sentiment of hatred towards the whites and their descendants has not been kept up in an equal degree among them all. In proportion as some are friendly and social with the Creoles, others are reserved and distrustful. In general, the Indians regard with unfriendly feelings those whites who seek to trace out new mines; for they cherish a bitter recollection of the fate of Huari Capcha, the discoverer of the mines of Cerro de Pasco, who, it is said, was thrown into a dungeon by the Spaniard, Ugarte, and ended his days in captivity. I have not met with any proofs of the authenticity of this story, but I frequently heard it related by the Indians, who referred to it as their justification for withholding from the whites any directions for finding mines.
But to return to Cerro de Pasco. That city has, by its wealth, become one of the most important in the Peruvian Republic; and under improved legislation, and a judicious mining system, it might be rendered still more prosperous and fully deserving of its title of "Treasury of Peru." Though from its situation Cerro de Pasco is cut off from the principal lines of communication withother parts of Peru, yet the city is itself the central point of four roads, on which there is considerable traffic. Westward runs the road to Lima, through the Quebrada of Canta, by which all the silver that is not contraband is transported to the capital. The silver, when melted into bars, is consigned to the care of the mule-drivers, merely on their giving a receipt for it; and in this manner they are sometimes entrusted with loads of the value of several hundred thousand dollars, which they convey to Lima unattended by any guards or escort. There is, however, no danger of their being plundered; for the robbers do not take the stamped bars of silver. The silver specie, on the other hand, which is sent from Lima, is escorted by a military guard as far as Llanga or Santa Rosa de Quibe. The escort is not, however, very adequate to resist the highway robbers, consisting of numerous bands of armed negroes. On the east is the road running through the Quebrada de Huarriaca to the town of Huanuco and the Huallaga Forests. The road on the north of Cerro de Pasco leads to the village of Huanuco el Viejo, one of the most remarkable places of Peru, being full of interesting ruins of the time of the Incas. From Huanuco the road leads to Huaraz, and from thence to the north coast. The south road passes over the level heights to Tarma, Jauja, and the other southern provinces.
From the village of Pasco two roads diverge, the one leading to Lima, the other to Tarma. The former crosses the Pampa of Bombon and the Diezmo, and continues onward to the Pass of La Viuda. The latter leads by way of the Tambo Ninacaca, and the village of Carhuamayo[74]to Junin, passing near a very large lake, situated at the height of 13,000 feet above the sea. This lake is the Laguna de Chinchaycocha,[75]which is twelve leagues long, and at its utmost breadth measures two leagues and a half. It is the largest of the South American lakes, next to the Laguna de Titicaca, which is eighty-four English miles long and forty-one broad. As the lake of Chinchaycocha loses by various outlets much more water than it receives from its tributary sources, it is evident that it must be fed by subterraneous springs. Its marshy banks are overgrown by totora (Malacochæte Totora), andare inhabited by numerous water fowl. The Indians entertain a superstitious belief that this lake is haunted by huge, fish-like animals, who at certain hours of the night leave their watery abode to prowl about the adjacent pasture lands, where they commit great havoc among the cattle. The southwestern end of the lake is intersected by a marshy piece of ground, interspersed with stones, called the Calzada, which forms a communication between the two banks of the lake. At the distance of about half a league from the lake is a village, which, under the Spanish domination, was called Reyes. Adjacent to it is the celebrated Pampa of Junin, which, on the 24th of August, 1824, was the scene of a battle between the Spanish forces, commanded by General Canterac, and the insurgents, headed by Don Simon Bolivar. The result of this battle had an important influence on the destiny of Peru. It is generally believed that treachery in the Spanish army threw the victory into the hands of the insurgents. A few days prior to the battle Bolivar is said to have received, from the Spanish camp, a letter in cypher, which he transmitted for explanation to his minister, Monteagudo, in Cerro de Pasco. The answer received from the minister was, that the letter recommended Bolivar to attack the enemy without a moment's delay, for that on the part of the Spaniards the victory was insured to him. The bearer of the letter is still living, and he does not deny that he was in the secret of the whole plot. The insurgents were victorious, and in commemoration of their triumph they gave to the village of Reyes, and to the whole province, the name of Junin, calling them after the plain on which the battle was fought.
From Junin, the road runs to the distance of eight leagues across a difficult level height, to Cacas, a hamlet containing only a few huts. From thence, it is continued three leagues further, through several narrow Quebradas, and finally terminates in the beautiful valley of Tarma.
Many of the Indians in the neighborhood of Cerro de Pasco, especially those who dwell in the Puna, in the direction of Cacas, infest the roads for the purpose of plunder. They conceal themselves behind the rocks, where they lie in wait for travellers, whom they severely wound, and sometimes even kill, by stones hurledfrom their slings. When great boyas occur in the mines of the Cerro, these roads are so unsafe that it is not prudent to travel, except in well-armed parties. The solitary traveller who seeks a night's lodging in one of the Puna huts, exposes himself to great peril; for the host not unfrequently assassinates his sleeping guest. Nor is there much greater security in villages, such as Junin and Carhuamayo. Only a few years ago, the bodies of three travellers were found in the house of the Alcalde of Junin, the principal authority in the village. The travellers had sought shelter for the night, and were inhumanly murdered. Every year persons known to have been travelling in these parts, mysteriously disappear, and there is every reason to believe they have been murdered by the Indians. Many of these Indians are mine laborers, who, for their incorrigible turpitude, have been banished from the Cerro, and who live by pillage.
I will close this chapter with a brief description of four-and-twenty hours which I passed during a journey in the wildest part of the Puna region.
On the 12th of January, 1840, having passed the night in the hut of a Puna shepherd, I awoke next morning at day-break. The sun was just beginning to cast a light tinge of red on the snow-capped tops of the Cordillera. Through the aperture in the roof of the hut, which served the purpose of a chimney, there penetrated a feeble light, just sufficient to show the misery and poverty that prevailed in the interior of the habitation. I rose from the resting-place on which, only a few hours previously, I had stretched myself exhausted by cold and fatigue, and raising the cow-hide, which closed the doorway of the hut, I crept out to make preparations for the continuance of my journey.
I saddled my mule, and put into one of the saddle-bags a small supply of food. Whilst I was thus engaged, one of those fierce little dogs which are domiciled in every Indian hut, slily watched my movements; and though he had rested at the foot of my bed during the night, yet he was only prevented, by the repeated threats of his master, from making an attack upon me. My Indian host handed me my gun; I paid for my night's lodging by a few reals and some paper cigars; and having asked him todirect me on my way, I rode off whilst he was expressing his gratitude, and his kind wishes in the words, "Dios lo pague!"
The sky was overhung by a thick mist, and the snow which had fallen during the night covered the ground as far as the eye could reach. On my way I met an old Indian woman driving her sheep. The bleating flock moved slowly on, leaving a deep furrow in the snow, and seeming impatient till the genial sun should dispel the mist and dissolve the white covering which overspread their scanty pasture. A little further on I met the son of this same Indian shepherdess. He and his dog were busily engaged in catching partridges, destined to be sold on the following Sunday, in the nearest village.
My road lay along a gentle acclivity, interspersed with rocks and swamps, which often obliged me to make wide detours. The swamps (or as the natives call them,Attoladeros) are dangerous enemies to travellers in the Puna, who, with their horses and mules, sometimes sink into them and perish. Even in the most open parts of the country it is not easy to discern the swamps, and the ground often sinks beneath the rider where he least expects it. At length the sun began to disperse the mist, and the snow gradually melted beneath his burning rays. Inspired with new vigor, I took a survey of the wild solitude around me. I was now on one of the level heights, about 14,000 feet above the sea. On both sides arose the high Cordillera summits crowned with eternal ice; detached peaks here and there towering to the skies. Behind me lay, deep and deeper, the dark valleys of the lower mountain regions, which, with the scarcely discernible Indian villages, receded in the distance, till they blended with the line of the horizon. Before me stretched the immeasurable extent of the level heights, at intervals broken by ridges of hills. It seemed as though here, in the snow plains of the Cordillera, Nature had breathed out her last breath. Here life and death meet together as it were to maintain the eternal struggle between being and annihilation.
How little life had the sun yet wakened around me! The dull yellow Puna grass, scarcely the length of one's finger, blended its tint with the greenish hue of the glaciers. Advancing further on my onward course, how joyfully I greeted asold acquaintance the purple gentiana and the brown calceolaria! With what pleasure I counted the yellow blossoms of the echino-cactus! and presently the sight of the ananas-cactus pictured in my mind all the luxuriance of the primeval forests. These cacti were growing amidst rushes and mosses and syngeneses, which the frost had changed to a rusty brown hue. Not a butterfly fluttered in the rarefied atmosphere; no fly nor winged insect of any kind was discernible. A beetle or a toad creeping from their holes, or a lizard warming himself in the sun, are all that reward the search of the naturalist.
As I journeyed onward, animate life awakened in rich variety around me. Birds, few in species, but numerous in individuals, everywhere met my view. Herds of vicuñas approached me with curious gaze, and then on a sudden fled with the swiftness of the wind. In the distance I observed stately groups of huanacus turning cautiously to look at me, and then passing on. The Puna stag (tarush) slowly advanced from his lair in the mountain recesses, and fixed on me his large, black, wondering eyes; whilst the nimble rock rabbits (viscachas) playfully disported and nibbled the scanty herbage growing in the mountain crevices.
I had wandered for some hours admiring the varieties of life in this peculiar alpine region, when I stumbled against a dead mule. The poor animal had probably sunk beneath his burthen, and had been left by his driver to perish of cold and hunger. My presence startled three voracious condors, which were feeding on the dead carcass. These kings of the air proudly shook their crowned heads, and darted at me furious glances with their blood-red eyes. Two of them rose on their giant wings, and in narrowing circles hovered threateningly above my head, whilst the third, croaking fiercely, kept guard over the booty. I cocked my gun in readiness for defence, and cautiously rode past the menacing group, without the least desire of further disturbing their banquet. These condors were the only hostile animals I encountered in this part of the Puna.
It was now two o'clock in the afternoon, and I had ridden on a continuous though gradual ascent since sunrise. My panting mule slackened his pace, and seemed unwilling to mount a rathersteep ascent which we had now arrived at. To relieve him I dismounted, and began walking at a rapid pace. But I soon felt the influence of the rarefied atmosphere, and I experienced an oppressive sensation which I had never known before. I stood still for a few moments to recover myself, and then tried to advance; but an indescribable oppression overcame me. My heart throbbed audibly; my breathing was short and interrupted. A world's weight seemed to lie upon my chest; my lips swelled and burst; the capillary vessels of my eyelids gave way, and blood flowed from them. In a few moments my senses began to leave me. I could neither see, hear, nor feel distinctly. A grey mist floated before my eyes, and I felt myself involved in that struggle between life and death which, a short time before, I fancied I could discern on the face of nature. Had all the riches of earth, or the glories of heaven, awaited me a hundred feet higher, I could not have stretched out my hand towards them.
In this half senseless state I lay stretched on the ground, until I felt sufficiently recovered to remount my mule. One of the Puna storms was now gathering, thunder and lightning accompanied a heavy fall of snow, which very soon lay a foot deep on the ground. In a short time I discovered that I had missed my way. Had I then known the Puna as well as I afterwards did, I should have shaped my course by the flight of birds. But unluckily I pursued the fresh track of a herd of vicuñas, which led me directly into a swamp. My mule sank, and was unable to extricate himself. I was almost in despair. Nevertheless, I cautiously alighted, and with incredible difficulty I succeeded in digging out with a dagger the mud in which the animal's legs were firmly fixed, and at length I got him back to a solid footing. After wandering about in various directions, I at length recovered the right path, which was marked by numerous skeletons protruding above the snow. These were the remains of beasts of burthen, which had perished on their journeys; a welcome, though an ominous guide to the wandering traveller. The clouds now suddenly separated, and the blazing light of the tropical sun glared dazzlingly on the white plain of snow. In a moment I felt my eyes stricken withsurumpe.
Suffering the most violent pain, and tormented by theapprehension of blindness, I with great difficulty pursued my way. My mule could scarcely wade through the sward, which was becoming more and more thick; and night was advancing. I had lost all feeling in my feet, my benumbed fingers could scarcely hold the bridle, and I well knew that the nearest point at which I could obtain the shelter of a human habitation was eight German miles distant. I was beginning to give myself up for lost, when I observed a cave beneath an overhanging rock. Mother Nature, in whose service I had undertaken my long and perilous wanderings, at that critical juncture, provided for me a retreat, though in one of her rudest sheltering places. I entered the cave, which protected me securely against the wind and the snow. Having unsaddled my mule, I made a bed of my saddle clothes and poncho. I tied the animal to a stone, and whilst he eagerly regaled himself with the little grass that was not buried beneath the snow, I satisfied my hunger with some roasted maize and cheese.
Exhausted by the fatigue of the day, I lay down to sleep; but no sooner had I fallen into a slumber, than I was awaked by a violent smarting in my eyes, occasioned by thesurumpe. There was no longer any hope of sleep. The night seemed endless. When the dawn of morning appeared, I made an effort to open my eyes, which were closed with coagulated blood. On looking around me I beheld all the horror of my situation. A human corpse had served for my pillow. Shuddering I went in search of my mule, for I was eager to hurry from this dismal spot; but my misery was not yet at an end. The poor beast lay dead on the ground; in his ravenous hunger he had eaten of the poisonousgarbancillo. What could I do! In despair I turned back to the cave.
The sun had now fully risen, and his genial rays diffused warmth over this frozen region. Somewhat roused by the reviving light and life around me, I began to examine the body of my lifeless companion. Haply, thought I, he may be one of my own race; a traveller who has perished of cold and hunger. No. He was a half-caste Indian, and many deadly wounds on his head showed that he had died of the slings of Indian robbers,who had stripped him even of his clothes, and concealed the body in the cave.
I seized my gun and shot a rock rabbit, then collecting some fuel, I kindled a fire, and roasted the little animal, which afforded me a no very savory breakfast. I then waited patiently in the hope that some timely help would deliver me from my dreary situation.
It was about noon. I heard a monotonous short cry. With joy I recognized the well-known sound. I climbed up the nearest rock, and looking down into a hollow, I perceived two Indians whom I had seen the day before, driving their llamas to the nearest mine works. I prevailed on them, by the gift of a little tobacco, to let me have one of their llamas to carry my luggage, and having strewed a few handfuls of earth on the corpse of the murdered man, I departed. The scene of the incidents above described was the Cave of Leñas, in the Altos which lead southward to the Quebrada of Huaitara.