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A PLEASURE PILGRIM IN
SOUTH AMERICA

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A PLEASURE PILGRIM
IN SOUTH AMERICA

BY C. D. MACKELLAR

WITH ILLUSTRATIONS AND MAP

LONDON
JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET, W.

1908

SPANISH PROVERBS

A monkey clad in silk is a monkey still — Aunque sea vestida de
seda mona mona queda.

Misfortune comes by the yard and goes by the inch — El mat entra
a brazadas y sale a 2nd'jadas.

The best cast at dice is not to play — M major lance de los dados
es Twjiigarlos.

It is useless to cast nets in a river that has no tish — En el rio do
no hay j^eces, jjor dcmas es echar redes.

Whoever washes an ass's head loses time and soap — Quien lava la
cabeza al asno pierde eljabon y d tiempo.

If fools did not go to market, the rubbish would never be sold —
Si el 7iecio noftiese al mercado^ no se vendera lo nudo.

Speak little and well, and you will be considered as somebody —
Habla poco y bien, y tenerte han por alguien.

To see, hear, and be silent are difficuh things -to do~^Oir, ver y
collar recias cosas son de obrar.

PREFACE

These letters are but a mere record of - the
writer's tour in South America. It is a continent
little known to the "globe-trotter," but which well
repays a visitor for a considerable amount of dis-
comfort, and is a distinct change from other better-
known lands. Friends amused and interested by
letters describing lands practically new to them
urged the publication, and they may be of use to
others following in the writer's footsteps, and who,
like him, are unable to obtain much practical in-
formation, as difficult to obtain in South America
as out of it.

The writer most gratefully acknowledges the great
kindness and thoughtfulness of Mrs Beauclerk, wife
of the late Mr W. IST. Beauclerk, His Majesty's
Minister to Peru, Ecuador, and Bolivia, and the
useful and practical advice she sent him for his
guidance, and which was worth all the rest of the
information and advice he received put together.

Anyone about to travel in these lands, especially
when ladies are of the party, would be wise to
provide themselves with ordinary comforts, and
amongst other things a tea-basket with its equip-
ment would be a real comfort and luxury.

The writer left behind him many friends who

X PREFACE

continue to remember him, and has retained many
pleasant memories of the countless kindnesses he
received from most kindly people, and of the
many interesting places he saw. Travel always
gives new interests in life. He trusts this was
but a preliminary glance at this great continent,
and hopes much to some day return there. Where
he has written what may be unpleasing to some of
those from whom he received much kindness, it is
not done with any ill-natured intention, but with
the hope that what is unpleasant may become a
thing of the past ; and there is much that needs to
be remedied.

Let others go, see, and judge for themselves.

The illustrations are from photographs by
myself, by my friend Mr W. H. Staver, Messrs
Timm of Guayaquil, T. Vargas, the Mission at
Cuzco, Garreaud, S. Boote and Marin and
Martiney, Guayaquil, and from views given to
me, or picked up here and there, which bear no
name, and the use of which I am therefore only
able to acknowledge generally. I regret time and
distance prevents me from finding out and obtain-
ing permission for their use in every case, as I
would have wished to do.

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Imperadoe, Panama Canal

General Huertas, Panama

Ruins of Old Panama

Fort at Puerto Bello, Panama

Guayaquil and Quito Railway i

Devil's Nose, Guayaquil and Quito Railway

On Road to Quito

Military Parade, Guayaquil .

Market-place, Ambato, Ecuador

Bridge of La Paz, Quito

Quito and the Panecillo

Chimborazo and Road to Quito

Street in|Quito .

CoTOPAXi IN Eruption

CoTOPAXi, from San Asa

Lima, Peru .

The Plaza, Arequipa

Rio Chili and Misti, Arequipa .

Crater of Misti, Arequipa

HuATANAY River, Cuzco .

Palace of Ynca Huayna Ccapac, Cuzco

Temple ov the Sun

Walls of Temple of the Sun .

Choir of Cathedral, Cuzco

To face page 12

106

126

134

160

188

196

200

216

230

240

244

248

Xll

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

FoETEESs Walls and Ynca's Theone, Cuzco

Ollantaytambo, neae Cuzco

Palace Wall, Ollantaytambo, neae Cuzco

Lake Titicaca ....

Indlait Balsas, Titicaca .

Ruined Ynca Palace, Island of the Sun
Titicaca ....

Capacabana, Lake Titicaca

TiAHUANiCA, Bolivia

TiAHUANicA, Bolivia

SuGAE Loaf and Coecovado, Rio Haeboue

FiJUCA Road, Rio de Janeieo .

Tojacepage 254
270
276

284
288

290
294
298
304
372
382

PLEASURE-PILGRIM IN
SOUTH AMERICA

Colon, Panama,
Sept. 6th, 1904.

I HAVE now touched this to me unknown
continent. The voyage from Southampton was
very quiet and uneventful. The boat, the La Plata,
was one of the oldest of the E-oyal Mail Line, and
said to be an unlucky ship. A voyage or two ago
her freezing -chamber blew up, and on her last
voyage the captain met with a strange and fatal
accident. He was sitting in his chair on deck,
outside his cabin, when suddenly a tidal wave
rushed on board, dashing one of the boats from its
holdings, and this pinned the captain down, break-
ing both his legs, and otherwise injuring him so
severely that he subsequently succumbed to his
injuries.

We had few passengers, all very quiet, amiable,
and inoffensive. Some were black, some white,
and others various degrees of colour. We had
only two girls on board, one white and the other
black. I preferred the black one, but it is not
"the thing" going to the West Indies to be more
than merely civil to the coloured people. The
fourth or fifth officer complained to me that "the
passengers had not got up anything to amuse the

9. MB €HAMBERLAIN^S EYEGLASS

officers," which way of putting it amused me
immensely, it never having struck me — much as I
have travelled on the ocean — that that was part
of a passenger's duty ; and as I loathe the so-called
amusements on a ship, I was the last one to come
to. I said he should get iip a ball — a white and
a black girl to dance with gave choice of partners.

Amongst the passengers was Mr Martinez, a
Venezuelan, who was amusing, and Don Eafael
EHzalde, an Ecuadoran, was very good-natured,
and keen on learning English, and delighted to be
taught to sing "Beel Bailey." We had a West
Indian governor, Sir Henry Jackson, bound for
Trinidad. He is, I think, a native of the West
Indies. His A.D.C. was W. H. Sarel, who was in
the Northumberland Fusiliers. We also had His
Honour Mr Hesketh Bell, who was Administrator
of Dominica. (He is now Commissioner and
Commander-in-Chief of Uganda, and I think a
"coming man.") He was very pleasant and
cultured, had a pretty taste in French literature,
had himself written at least one novel about the
West Indies, and he told me his hobby was
collecting spectacles or eyeglasses of all ages,
countries, of historical interest, or pertaining to
celebrities. He had just been on a visit to Mr
Chamberlain at Birmingham, and was the possessor
of that gentleman's eyeglass — or rather of one of
his eyeglasses. It is good to have a fad. I tried
to learn Spanish ; I won't say I tried very hard,
yet in a feeble way I did try. Daily I carried on
deck and deposited in my chair a horrid little
yellow Spanish grammar, and the funniest con-
versation-book you ever came across. Often they

LOOK IxN AT BARBADOES 3

slept in peace in the chair, but then it was my
chair, and you might have thought that somehow
the language they were supposed to teach would
enter into me somehow. Several times a friend —
was he a real friend, or only a pretended one ? —
threatened to throw the yellow grammar overboard,
but stupidly forbore to do it. However, one day
he took it from me by force, and you can imagine
how indignant I felt (and how relieved !), and how
I grumbled at not being allowed to continue my
studies in Spanish, and how plaintively I used to
cry No Hahlo Espaniola !

We sailed by the Azores, but did not stop there,
and in due time arrived at Barbadoes in the West
Indies, and I at once began to think of mangoes,
queer yellow pickles, guava jelly, and other
condiments, which in childish days one received
with rapture from those seemingly then remote
lands. I thought of the numberless families, some,
too, old Highland families, connected with the
West Indies, and the fascinating stories of the
planters and the negroes. The very name of the
West Indies had had a charm for me, and I hope
I may one day spend a winter amongst those isles
and see all their beauties. It was evening, August
29th, when we arrived at Barbadoes and anchored
off Bridgetown. The island rises to about 1000
feet or so, and looks very green. Nigger boys
came out in canoes and dived for money.

In the morning we went ashore, and I thought
it a most dusty, dirty, and dilapidated town — was
quite taken aback. It swarmed with very impudent
and by no means prepossessing niggers. I beheve
there are 1400 persons to every square mile.

4 DISCUSS OLD FRIENDS

There are about 20,000 whites. But Bougainvilleas,
scarlet hibiscus, palms, and much beautiful vegeta-
tion clothes the dilapidations in beauty. We
explored the town, lunched at the Ice House —
badly- — and tried unsuccessfully to feel some of the
long-looked-for West Indian glamour.

Sefior Villardi, Peruvian Minister to Colombia,
came on board here with his wife and family.
Though introduced to them, as they only spoke
Spanish, our acquaintance did not progress, owing
to His Excellency's A.D.C. having deprived me of
my yellow grammar.

How small the world really is ! I have never
been able to go to any place without meeting
someone who knew people I did, or of them.
Talking to a man who was bound for St Lucia to
teach in a school there, and discussing Germany,
he said they had had in their house a very pleasant
German staying to learn English, and wondered if
I had ever heard his name, a Count Arco-Zinnen-
berg. I said I knew well his cousins, the Loes,
had often stayed with his aunt, Countess Loe, at
her old moated castle in Rhineland, and also his
cousin, Count Leiningen, whose mother was an
Arco. Then it turned out his sister was governess
in the family of Baron Gumppenberg in Bayern,
near the Danube, and he was amazed to hear I
knew them also, and had been at Schloss Pottmes
on a visit ! It did seem odd to talk of all these
friends on the way to the West Indies. I then
found nearly everyone else knew people I did.

Captain Dagnall, we were told, had been so
unpopular on his former ship that he had been
transferred to this one, and this astonished everyone,

WHY IS THE SEA SALT? 5

as we all liked him very well. He one day asked
me, as he knew I had been so many voyages, if I
thought a captain should keep entirely to himself
or mix a great deal with the passengers. This is
always a debated question. Personally, I think a
captain should keep much to himself, but once a
day, or in passing, greet the passengers and give a
cheerful word here and there ; but, as I said to
Captain Dagnall, it is often not what the captain
wants, but what the passengers insist on, as some
won't leave him alone and others are indifferent to
him. On many lines now the officers^ — not, of
course, the captain or doctor — are not allowed to
speak to the passengers at all, so as to avoid
various sources of trouble.

But if the captain asked me that question, I,
one day, when lying idle and bored in my chair,
sprung another on him, which I knew by experience
would go round the ship and annoy everyone.

"Captain," said I, "why is the sea salt?" Of
course he had never thought of it before, no one
does ; and as I had guessed, they were all soon on
that ship discussing it. When you ask this
question, people promptly say, "What a silly
question to ask!" "Any fool knows that."
" Fancy you not knowing that," and so on — well,
" Why is the sea salt ? " If you can find one in a
hundred who knows or even thought of it before, it
is more than I have ever done.

The following day we arrived at Port of Spain,
Trinidad. I had slept on deck with W. Sarel, and
before sunrise was assisting the officer on watch
and the quartermaster to beflag the ship in honour
of our passenger, the new Governor of Trinidad,

6 AT PORT OF SPAIN

who had to make an early landing in state, whilst
his A.D.C. slumbered peacefully under his rug on
the deck, or rather under my rug, as he had calmly
filched it from me in the night. It was wonderfully
beautiful as we approached Trinidad at sunrise, and
I am glad to have seen it. At the last moment I
helped to buckle the A.D.C. into a tight uniform,
whilst His Excellency was fuming at the cabin door
at being kept waiting.

Going ashore with a fellow passenger, we took a
cab and drove all round the town and past the
pretty, home-like Government House situated in
the beautiful Botanical Gardens ; and then went to
see the swearing-in of the new governor at the
Court House. It was a gay and pretty scene, but
a little primitive.

Our quaint old negro coachman voiced the
somewhat bitter feeling of the people of Trinidad,
originating in unfortunate recent events occurring
under the governorship of Sir Alfred Moloney, and
it seems to me the new governor. Sir Henry
Jackson, will find his reign by no means a bed of
roses. It is not often the king's troops are called
upon to fire on the king's subjects in the streets,
and to shoot down women and children. Yet here
in Port of Spain the mob burned down the Govern-
ment buildings, which we saw in process of repair,
and the troops by order of the governor shot them
down.

"They shot a pore young white missie in de
mouf — shot her in de mouf ! " wailed our old negro
driver, and he told us how the people would never
forget and never forgive this dreadful blunder.
(No one in England remembered this recent event.

ARRIVE AT JAMAICA 7

this shooting of men, women, and children in
the streets of a British town by British soldiers,
when they screamed themselves hoarse over the
"Butchering Cossacks of Petersburg.") But this
day it was all peaceful and cheerful, with flowers
blooming, flags flying, troops presenting arms, and
the firing of salutes — and we could not hear the
murmurs of defiance and discontent. This town is
also ill-kept and dilapidated.

The town faces the Gulf of Paria, and Trinidad
through the silt deposited by the Orinoco will soon
be joined to Venezuela, as it probably was origin-
ally. Everything seems to grow in it, oranges and
all sorts of spices. Many Indian coolies are
employed in labour.

Three days later we lay alongside the wharf at
Kingston in Jamaica. I made haste to get ashore,
and get a room at the tolerably comfortable Myrtle
Bank Hotel in the town, on the sea. (Destroyed
since in the earthquake.)

Jamaica is about 144 miles long and 50 miles
wide at the broadest part, and its highest peak of
the Blue Mountains is 7360 feet. Kingston has
46,000 inhabitants.

Once one read so many yarns about Jamaica of
a romantic sort, but all these islands have been so
scandalously neglected by the Home Government
that they are falling on evil days. This old posses-
sion of ours — Cromwell wrested it from Spain in
1655 — should be cherished, and is to be of very
great value in the future. But there is one day to
be terrible trouble over all these islands between
the United States and Great Britain, France,
Holland, and Denmark — well, perhaps not Holland

8 ARE WE TO QUIT?

and Denmark so much, as Denmark has already
thought of sellmg her possessions. And there is
also the negro question. The negroes are out-of-
hand already ; there are 530,000 of them and
140,000 other coloured people to 12,000 whites.
Is it to be supposed that the United States, having
now got Cuba and Panama, with designs on
Colombia, is going to allow all these islands,
especially Jamaica, to remain the possession of
other powers if she can help it? For long,
Americans have been working in Jamaica amongst
the negroes, trying to discontent them with British
rule and draw them to the Stars and Stripes.
Americans point out the neglected state of our
West Indian possessions. They mean to have
Jamaica, if not them all — if they can. " You are
going to quit ! " is what many Americans have said
to me of Jamaica (surely even uninformed people
must have guessed from the famous incident at
the time of the earthquake, that there was some-
thing in the background unmentioned). The
West Indies being in rather a bad way, and in
Jamaica a certain amount of sedition — remember
the arrest of the American and the British
soldier, the latter for treason — our wise Imperial
Government of course must withdraw troops and
fleet!

When slavery was abolished in Jamaica in 1833
there were 309,000 slaves. They are such a
prolific race, these negroes, that they seem just to
swarm in the towns. Do you remember how in
1737, or about that period, they used to hunt down
the Maroons or escaped slaves with Cuban blood-
hounds and Mosquito Indians ? I used to devour

THE NIGGERS OF JAMAICA 9

those old stories once. Who wrote them, or where
are the books now ?

Kingston is a dirty, ill-paved, neglected, broken-
down place. I had no idea that anywhere in the
British Empire — and I have seen much of it —
there was a town so conspicuously ill looked after as
this. It is evident the West Indians want stirring
up a bit. (Probably the damage done by the earth-
quake will cause the town to be rebuilt in a better
way. It is no wonder the houses of the negroes
came down with a run ; tliey looked as if they
would do that at any moment.)

I went by train to Constant Springs Hotel, well
and prettily situated, and a resort of strangers ; but
I returned to town again to the Myrtle Bank. At
night Don Rafael EHzalde and I sat in the cool
gardens under the palms, near where the baby
alligators were splashing in a pond, and where
the neighbouring waves lapped the beach — we sat
there and talked philosophy ! We had dined well
and eaten of many strange fruits, and so felt the
West Indies a reality. It was a pleasant evening
and a change from the ship.

In the afternoon I went to the wharf to board
the ship, and found myself amongst several hundred
negro men, women, and children, embarking as
deck passengers. They had all their goods and
chattels, scores of babies, and every woman seemed
to carry a useful, but not ornamental, article of
bedroom ware, with frequently a live chicken tied
to the handle by a ribbon. No proper arrange-
ments were made for gaining the ship ; we had
to struggle through this unsavoury mob and
tight our way to the gangway. These niggers

10 THE CULT OF VAUDISM

were very hot, very unpleasant, very noisy, and
exceedingly impudent ; and it was too much of a
crush to find it amusing as they ejaculated, " Don't
you push me, sah — don't you be impudent to me,
sah. I'm a British subject too ; I as good as you,
sah," and so on, and they banged you in the back
vigorously with their deck chairs and luggage.
There were 400 of them, bound for the Panama
Canal.

These strange children need to be held in check
with a strong hand. It is wanting in the West
Indies. They have so many good qualities mingled
with some bad ones, and their future is a problem.
The coloured question in the States ought to be a
warning. The day is coming when we shall have
to face this question, and great trouble is in store
for us.

A lady said to me that when first she went to
live in the West Indies she regarded the nigger as
" a man and a brother," but, she said, '' It is not
so. They are not like us, but quite a different
sort of animal, and they are never meant to be on
equal terms with us."

Hayti is an instance of how, when left to himself,
the negro reverts to his primitive type, his worship
of Obi, his cult of Vaudism and Cannibalism.
Many years ago an uncle of mine was in Hayti,
and declared he saw human flesh hanging up in
the market for sale.

When I was once coming over from New York,
a few years ago, I happened to have at my table a
German and his daughter who had been resident
in Hayti, and when talking about it, I mentioned
the above fact. " Now, father," said the young

A LAPSE IN MANNERS 11

lady, " what did I not always tell you — that pork
was so suspicious ! I know, I am certain, they
eat human flesh." The father said he believed it
was true, but only done rarely and in segret.

However, we shall drift on till there comes, too
late perhaps, a sudden awakening.

All these deck passengers were huddled
together under an awning, in a steaming mob, for
two days or so till we reached Colon. It was a
sight to see, and I spent hours looking over from
the deck above upon them. Really extraordinary
people. One night the old quartermaster called
me, saying, "Just look here, sir, did you ever see
anything like that?" And he might well say it,
for the scene he showed me, whilst intensely
comic, is indescribable.

We also had as new passengers five British
officers going to Costa Rica to play polo. They
had their ponies on board. These well-bred
youths took possession of our deck-chairs, throw-
ing any books they found in them on to the deck,
and made themselves generally disagreeable and
objectionable. It would have been hard to find
an exhibition of more insufferable manners. The
stupidity and ignorance they showed did not speak
well for their knowledge of military matters, if they
had any knowledge on any subject.

In the early morning, amidst rain descending
and lightning flashing, we came to rest at Colon,
and I felt my real travelling was about to begin.
I was setting out to explore what was to me really
a terra incognita, though, unlike the generality of
my countrymen, I did know where the different
countries lay. I and Christopher Columbus, you

12 THE BEAUTIES OF COLON

know — but I will not make Christopher blush with
pride at linking his name with mine I

Panama,
Sept. 8th, 1904.

Colon, or Aspinwall, is not a prepossessing
place. It is, I believe, an island joined to the
mainland by the railway embankment ; but I take
this on faith, as I saw no signs of its being an
island or overlooked them. It is a very miserable
dilapidated place of wooden buildings, sadly in
want of paint and repair, straggling on piles over
swampy undrained land — a town peopled by a
seedy-looking race of mingled nationalities and
colours. An avenue of palms leads to the de
Lesseps mansion and a statue of Christopher
Columbus — Colon is the Spanish version of
Columbus. Near by is the mouth of the Chagres
Eiver.

In the other direction, lying by the seashore
amidst palms, are better houses and buildings and a
third-rate hotel. It is pretty in its way — a blue
sea with fringes of white surf, yellow sands, green
palms, and painted wooden houses — a familiar
aspect to those who know tropical lands. It is all
a mere straggling village. Our baggage was placed
in trucks alongside the ship, and boarding the train
we set out across the Isthmus for Panama City.
The distance is 45 miles, which seems a modest
distance for the joining of two oceans.

The way lies mostly through a low-lying
tropical jungle. Here and there stand villages

THE GREAT UNDERTAKER 13

or houses in fetid swamps, and everywhere, every-
where are graves ! What is it they call de Lesseps ?
The Great Undertaker ! Alas ! graves, graves,
graves everywhere ! Graves and abandoned
engines, and machinery — tons, hundreds of tons,
thousands of tons of machinery — rusting in swampy
ground grown over, matted round and buried in
tropical creepers and foliage. What a sight it is !
There lay the piles of rails, the rusting boilers, the
rotting trucks, the forgotten engines, tenderly held
in the close embrace of lovely pale-green flowering
creepers. Here and there high ground, patches of
cultivation, banana groves — there are niggers too,
and the ubiquitous John Chinaman. An iron
church, iron houses, much desolation, much swamp,
much tropical jungle — and ugh ! you almost see
the fevers breeding there.

What was the amount of money spent on this
abortive attempt to make a canal — was it not
§300,000,000 or something like that? I hate
big numbers, and dollars convey nothing to me
— yet even I seemed to see those dollars chucked
away into this dismal desperate failure. Dredges
in the river and the swamps, fields of discarded
machinery, deserted villages — a man's monument !
The great Culebra cutting is already a large and
deep work. No, all has not been quite in vain —
much was done, much remains, and the ultimate
completion of the canal is a dead certainty. The
great difficulties are not now so great, the outlook
is a hopeful one — Uncle Sam has energy, money,
and brains, and means to and will certainly carry
it through. It cannot, though, be a sea-level canal,
but must have many locks, a very great drawback.

16 AMERICAN RAILWAY CLERKS

escape from unbearable misery. It is a pleasant
picture to conjure up on the spot.

When we got to Panama I actually expected
to see the Demons of Yellow Fever — gaunt,
shadowy, yellow-clad figures — bumping against the
people in the streets ! Instead of that I forgot
them, so taken up was I with the impudence of
the bumptious, mannerless Yankee railway clerks,
who bossed everyone and everything. Where was
our baggage ? Not to be had till the following
day. Why? Shrugs of shoulders and general
indifi*erence — nobody knew, nobody cared, only we
could not have it. A rattle-trap took some sulky
people to the abominable Grand Central Hotel —
a disgraceful place under the circumstances. The
building is quite good if it were properly managed ;
but it is most uncomfortable, and the food very bad
indeed. I got a room to myself, which others did
not, so I ought to be thankful.

Panama City is a pretty place, beautifully
situated on a sloping point running out into the
lovely blue bay with its picturesque islands. Yes,
a beautiful spot, with the makings of a fine city,
probably some day to be a magnificent one, and
perfectly healthy. Being at present devoid of a
proper water supply and sanitation, it is, of course,
dirty and unhealthy to a degree. The Yankees
promise a perfect system of sanitation and an
unfailing supply of good water. I have no doubt
they will fulfil their promise, and that they will
force the people to lead sanitary lives, and so
transform the place that no one will recognise it.
At present they are waging war on the mosquitoes,
running about with tins of kerosene, which they

PANAMA BEING MADE HEALTHY 17

drop into all water they see. They rush into
private houses and kerosene even the pet mosquitoes.
Objections are useless — Uncle Sam is rampantly
enjoying himself. The republic of Panama is a
joke, a farce — a poor little Comic Opera State — the
Yankees have arrived to stay, and are in full
bossing order.

Whether it is a sea-level canal or one with locks,
the Panama Canal is now a dead certainty, and an
equal certainty is a fine, healthy, wealthy city of
Panama ; and as years roll on the whole isthmus
will gradually become more healthy, by the clearing
of the swampy jungles, more populated, and a
tourist-haunted ground. In the past it deserved
its shockingly bad name ; the future is to redeem
it.

But all this should have been done by us, the
British, and it would have been better and more
honestly done than by anyone else. We have
missed a great chance, thrown it away, and now
can only wish the Yankees success and good luck
in their enterprise ; and also we must strive to
mitigate the injury they mean to do our West
Indian possessions if allowed, for they will, if they
can, have us out of them, or, as they continually
put it, we "must quit." It is all so obvious, so
very obvious, yet in the *' drifting indifference"
that has fallen on the British Isles no one can see
it. The Americans all talk about the Phillipines
as " that scorpion we have got hold of by the tail
and cannot let go of."

Finding we are to have only four days here —
time to die of yellow fever^ — we decide on leaving
our heavy baggage at the station, having been

18 BREAKFAST AND A COCKTAIL

deprived of it for a night. Not so, the polite
Yankee clerks refuse to allow it to remain there,
and at much expense, with much grumbling, we
take it all to the hotel.

I went to interview the agents of the P.S.N.
Co., and to present a letter recommending all the
agents and commanders of the Company to give
me good accommodation and facilitate my move-
ments in every way, which the head office at
Liverpool had kindly sent to me. I found they
had already been advised of my coming, and
'' everything they could do for me," etc., etc. ; but
as I must take, not one of their boats but a South
American boat, I was trotted over to the office of
that company and promised " everything they could
do for me," etc., etc. (a formula I was to hear very
often later). I, of course, swallowed it all in real
Gringo simplicity !

I went to breakfast (lunch) with Mr Mallet,
the British Consul, and the mere breakfast was a
treat after the horrible hotel food. Mr Mallet
made a marvellous and enrapturing cocktail. I have
no idea what he put in it or how many things, as
it took long in making, but it was excellent. I
enjoyed my breakfast and a pleasant talk. But he
could not — for reasons — introduce me to Mr John
Barrett, and I wanted to meet Mr John Barrett.
Then unluckily he, Mr Mallet, was bound that
evening for the interior on a sporting expedition,
and had no chance of making me known to
someone else I did want to know so much, and
that was the "Liberator of Panama," the little,
one-armed, thirty-year-old General Huertas. He
had just arrived — I saw the arrival and reception —

THE " LIBERATOR OF PANAMA " 19

from a visit of a few months to Em^ope and the
States "to study military matters." I was told
£10,000 was voted him and two companion officers
for their expenses — a nice pleasure trip! But
there is something in General Huertas that is
attractive ; he has a genius or a spirit that is Very
interesting. I think that strange-looking, one-
armed little man will yet be heard of. When I
knew I was bound for Panama, I had hoped I
might meet him.

Mr Mallet knows South America well; lived
twenty-seven years in it. Ten years ago he proposed
to the Government that we should take or buy the
isthmus, when it was a matter easily done. Of
course our Government never can see the nose
before its face. He was at one time Charge
d' Affaires at Quito. I asked him if all the tales I
had heard of thieving were true, that in South
America everyone tried to rob you ? He said that
when he left Quito he had one pair of boots, and
they were on his feet, and the wonder was they
did not take them off his feet. Once an old woman
came to him and asked him to buy a rifle and
some cartridges from her husband, as, it being just
after a revolution, they were not allowed to keep
them. The next day the woman and her husband
brought the rifle and cartridges concealed in a
mattress. Mr Mallet took the rifle, stood it in a
corner, and went into the adjoining room to get the
money. When he came back the old couple and
their mattress were gone, and gone also were his
sheets, towels, and everything that could be packed
into the mattress.

Coming over in the ship, some of the officers had

20 " EL DORADO "

told me of a company which had obtained a con-
cession from the Colombian Government to drain
a lake, to obtain the golden idols thrown into this
lake by the Yncas. It seems slaves — as sacrifices,
I suppose — were covered with gold dust and also
thrown in, and the mud at the bottom was supposed
to be impregnated with gold dust. I had often
heard of one of the men — a Greek — who had
formed the company, was amused at hearing of
him in this new venture, and when the ship's
officers told me they had been given shares in this
wonderful company, I made merry over it. Mr
Mallet, however, informed me that he had shares
in it, that the lake was already drained, many golden
idols, etc., found, and that great expectations
awaited the sifting of the mud. I do not know
the name of this lake or where it is, but probably
it is Lake Guatavita, into which the great chief of
the Chibchas, powdered all over with gold dust,
plunged, this being taken as a proof that the
offering thus made of his wealth was accepted by
the god of the Chibcha nation. This was the true
El Dorado, or '* Man of Gold," the treasure-seekers
were for ever looking for.

Mr Mallet said I must let no one dissuade me
from going to Quito, as it was well worth a visit ;
and amongst other advice he gave me was that,
should I wish to make any return for kindness or
hospitality shown me, I must make presents of
tinned delicacies — sardines and such things ! I
could not picture myself presenting anyone with a
tin of sardines ! (I understood it afterwards.)

Now that Panama is a state in itself, there is,
of course, a diplomatic corps, various countries

A DRIVE ON THE SAVANNAH 21

being represented by ministers. Mr John Barrett
is Minister of the United States, and I believe
wants to be President of Panama as well ! But
perhaps that is a yarn. We, however, have only
our consul and vice-consul, and they must, of
course, take a lower place and come behind all the
*' important" ministers. One cannot help thinking
that Mr Mallet, with his wide experience, would
make an excellent minister elsewhere, instead of
rusticating as consul in Panama — where, however,
he would be much missed.

With some fellow passengers I drove out one
day to the Savannah, a really pretty drive, and the
air was invigorating after the heat and closeness of
the town. There were open vales and breezy
knolls, pretty country-houses, and a view of the
Gulf of Panama and the battlefield of Morgan the
buccaneer, and hard by the surf-tumbled shore
the ruined walls and towers of Old Panama peeped
out of tropical foliage. Our driver had seen a
battle here, showed us the rocks he hid behind,
and where the bullets rained down, and told us
how the dead lay neglected and going to dust on
the Savannah till eaten by crows. We visited the
country-house of the President of Panama, a small
modern villa with a pretty garden. We drank
cocoanut milk, ate his mangoes and other fruit,
plucked his flowers and made collections of scarlet
hibiscus leaves, and spent a pleasant idle hour well
entertained by His Excellency's gardeners. Our
driver, a West Indian nigger, was very amusing.
He thought Great Britain was the mightiest Power,
*'but so slow," and what he said was much to the
point. He told us the lands owned by old Spanish

22 PIRATES OF THE SPANISH MAIN

families were often taken up by others, and the
real owners let them keep it sooner than go to
law and lose all their money.

Old Panama — now in ruins and buried in a
tropical jungle — is about 4f miles from the modern
city. It was founded in 1518 by Pedrarias Davila,
and was the oldest European city in South America,
for Panama was considered South America ; and it
was famous for its wealth and treasure. It had a
cathedral, several churches, many monasteries, great
warehouses, a hospital, a Genoese chamber of com-
merce, and many very fine private houses. The
Spanish Viceroy and his court lived in great
splendour. Morgan the buccaneer destroyed it
all. Do you remember the fascinating tales one
read as a child of the pirates of the Spanish
Main, of the bold buccaneers — and here we were
on the very spot of some of their famous or in-
famous doings ! Meat cooked on a wooden grate
at a distance over the fire was called houcan ; and
the hunters who used it in this way came to
be called houcaniers, which the English called
buccaneers.

Henry Morgan was a Welshman — Taffy was a
Welshman, Taffy was a thief — the son of a respect-
able yeoman. He ran away to sea, was sold into
slavery in Barbadoes, escaped or was set free,
joined the buccaneers, and eventually became their
leader. With 9 ships and 460 followers he assaulted
and captured the stronghold of Porto Bello on the
Atlantic coast, he and his men behaving with great
cruelty and brutality, the town being given up to
fire and sword, rapine and murder. People were
tortured to make them reveal the whereabouts of

MORGAN THE BUCCANEER 23

buried treasure. Eventually, laden with gold and
costly booty, the buccaneers returned to their
ships. The fame of Morgan's exploit spread, and
brought countless reckless adventurers of all
nationalities to join his standard, and at one time
he commanded 37 ships and 2000 fighting men.

In 1617, after capturing and garrisoning the castle
of Chagres, Morgan advanced on Old Panama, and
after terrible hardships, many of his men dying of
starvation — though they ate their leather boots —
he came face to face with the Spaniards outside
the walls of Panama on the beautiful Savannah,
and engaged in a terrific battle, the result of which
was the buccaneers found themselves masters of
the town. A great conflagration broke out, which
destroyed the greater part of the town. The in-
habitants who fled to the hills and forests were
pursued and massacred, whilst their women fell
to the share of the pirates. Shocking deeds were
done. Morgan and his men returned to Chagres
for the division of the spoil, and here Morgan,
seizing for himself the greater part of the treasure,
and accompanied by a few ships manned entirely
by Englishmen, set sail secretly for Jamaica,
leaving his French and other followers behind
destitute, and deprived of everything. Some of
these ships are supposed to have carried their
treasure to desert isles, where it was buried, and
yet awaits the hand of the discoverer. Under the
walls of Old Panama there is supposed to be still
much treasure — gold and silver vessels, etc., from
the cathedral — buried, though it has been looked
for in vain. Morgan himself, by the power of his
ill-gotten gold, was knighted by King Charles II.,

24 FIRST IDEA OF A CANAL

became Captain Sir Henry Morgan, was appointed
Deputy-Governor of Jamaica, but subsequently fell
into disgrace and spent many years in prison.
Where he died, and how, I know not. His life
was a romance, but his career was a cruel and
wicked one, stained with shocking deeds of blood-
shed and cruelty.

On the destruction of Old Panama, a new city
was built by the Spaniards on the present site.
Next to Carthagena it was the strongest fortress
in South America, and was famed in the sixteenth
and seventeenth centuries for its fortifications. The
granite ramparts were in places 40 feet high and
60 feet broad. The cathedral, which faces on the
Plaza, was built in 1760, restored in 1876, but
much injured by the earthquake of 1882. The
Plaza is now a well-laid-out garden, and it is not
the only plaza in the town. Undoubtedly, Panama
will one day be a beautiful and pleasant town, and
is already a much better place than its bad name
would allow one to expect.

The idea of a canal joining the two oceans is
an old one. At Nuremburg in the town library is
a globe made by John Schoner in 1520, and on
this globe a canal crossing the isthmus is shown ;
and also in the same year Angel Saavedra made a
proposition for such a canal. In 1550 Antonio
Galvaa proposed four alternative routes, one of
which was across the Panama Isthmus. The
Spanish Cortes in 1814 ordered the viceroy to
undertake the work of piercing the Isthmus of
Tehuantepec, but the War of Independence stopped
the idea, and though later, in 1842, Jose de Garny
obtained a concession for the making of a canal,

AMERICAN ENTERPRISE 25

nothing was done. Many surveys were made at
different times.

The railway which was to aid the canal was
completed in 1855 by an American company, whose
engineers rejoiced in the extraordinary names of
Totten and Trautwine — which sounds like some-
thing to eat ! In 1876 Lieutenant Lucien Napoleon
Bonaparte-Wyse and others were sent out, under
the auspices of General Tlirr, brother-in-law of
Wyse, as a result of a discussion in the Congrcs
de Sciences Geographiques at Paris, 1875 ; and, in
1879, M. de Lesseps put in an appearance, and the
first meeting of his company was held in 1881.
The capital at that time deemed necessary was
six hundred million francs. The Panama scandals
are of recent date, and it is idle now to enter into
details of the blunders and mistakes, the reckless
waste of lives and money — thousands of lives
thrown away and millions of money ; ruined lives
and deserted homes ; all cast into those stagnant
fever-stricken swamps. Colombian concessions
apparently count for nothing, since Panama has
now gained independence from Colombia (from
Colombia !) and is a republican state in itself. The
Yankees have taken over all French interests and
are "bossing the whole show," and will eventually
bring the long-looked- for project to a successful
termination. The Nicaraguan Canal scheme does
not now assume the same importance in American
eyes — yet it is extremely probable that some day
the Nicaraguan Canal may also be built, and also
that from the Gulf of Darien by the Atrato Eiver
to its outlet at Cupica Bay on the Pacific, or
possibly by the joining of the Atrato and San

26 THE MAGDALENA RIVER

Juan rivers by a cutting only a mile long, when
the Pacific outlet would be just north of Buena-
ventura.

This latter Ocean Highway I hope and pray
may one day be completed as a purely British
undertaking. If Colombia were wise, if she wishes
to remain a state, let her, whilst there is time, grant
a concession for this object, and her safety will lie
in its being a British concern.

The delta of the Atrato Eiver in the Gulf of
Darien is silting up on account of the amount of
alluvial matter brought down by that river, but
channels could always be kept open. The Atrato
has a navigable course of 400 miles ; a canal 1 mile
long would join it to the San Juan, which with
its affluents has a navigable course of 300 miles.
Its delta on the Pacific has also a shifting bar, but
that is a difficulty to be overcome. This scheme
has been estimated to cost £11,000,000. Colombia
is a marvellous country I long to see. The great
Magdalena Eiver is the fourth great river of South
America, is 1000 miles long, and navigable for 830
miles with a break of 20 miles at the rapids, where
the upper and lower courses are, I believe, con-
nected by a railway under English management.
The drainage area of the Magdalena is 8000 square
miles greater than the total area of England, Scot-
land, and Wales; and it is joined by over 500
affluents. It is fascinating to think what all this
means in the far future, and of the millions of
people who are one day to dwell there — but the
Magdalena, the Orinoco, and the Amazon are the
highways to unoccupied, almost unexplored, areas,
one day to come under the dominion of the white

GERMANY DESIRES AN ISLAND 27

man — but what white man, what nationality or
combination of nationalities is to be paramount
there ? Always this great problem. Who knows
but it may be the yellow man and not the white
man ?

The distance from Colon to Panama is 45
miles, and it is supposed that, towed at the rate of
5 miles an hour, ships will pass through the canal
in 10 hours. By the Nicaraguan Canal it would
take about 45 hours. This is supposing it Avas a
sea-level canal. Ships, especially the enormous
modern liners, could only go through slowly, on
account of the displacement of water. Already
many envious eyes are fixed on the lands and
islands neighbouring the canal, and of these islands
probably the most desirable is Coiba, which is large,
well watered, fertile, has good anchorages, and
will be of great importance when the canal is
completed. Germany's ambition and attempt to
obtain possession of this or a neighbouring isle has
been frustrated. Poor Germany ! She is always
putting out fingers in vain endeavours to get a hold
somewhere, and with no result. The day is,
however, not far off, when her attempt to get a
hold somewhere will result in a mighty and per-
manent grab.

But whatever the Yankees think, and however
much they may talk of their Munroe Doctrine, they
are not going to have things all their own way.
We shall not always have governments in Great
Britain which cannot see beyond the shores of that
small isle, for it may be we have one day a really
Imperial Government realising what Empire means,
and that even the people of Britain may wake up

28 SCOTSMEN AND PANAMA HATS

to that knowledge as the people of Greater Britain
have done. The day is not yet. It may be it
comes too late.

As long ago as 1698, William Paterson founded
a Scottish Colony at Puerto Escoces (Scotch Point)
in Caledonia Bay. Let the Scottish people com-
bine to extend and perpetuate their influence, and,
once in, who can get them out ? Neither Jew nor
Yankee. Let them refound that Scottish Colony,
yay L

In the evenings here I visited the two plazas,
which were always full of over-dressed people, or
took walks on the sea-wall, where are some guns,
and from whence pretty views are obtained of the
bay and islands. Near by are the barracks for
"the army," which consists of 200 men.

The famous Panama hats are, it seems, not
made here at all, but in Ecuador and Peru, and a
good one costs a great many pounds, and becomes
a family heirloom. Those so-called Panamas we
buy and wear in England are made in Paris, and
the " good ones " we pay a guinea for are said to
be worth one shilling and sixpence each. "What a
profit someone must make. It is so annoying
to think that Joan of Arc was never burnt
as a witch, that Napoleon was a myth, and that
Panama never makes a hat — life is full of dis-
appointments.

There is good shooting to be obtained inland ;
very fair bags of partridges and wild duck may be
got. I should not at all mind spending a longer
time here, despite all the much - talked - about
horrors of Panama. It is amusing here to see
them turning up hands and eyes in disgust at

THE CHURCHES OF PANAMA 29

the name of Guayaquil, the Ecuadoran port
for which I am bound ! The pot calls the kettle
black !

Many of the churches are good examples of the
Spanish style, with their quaint Moorish towers, and
it is always a picturesque and imposing style. The
interiors are overloaded with ornament. The
cathedral towers are covered with a hard cement,
inlaid with pearl-shells — I cannot say I admire this
sort of shell ornamentation. Many of the churches
are connected by subterranean passages with the
old ramparts and great sea wall, probably as means
of escape in former troublous times. The sea-wall
is undermined by the sea, and great masses of
masonry have fallen from it. They were really
marvellous builders these wonderful Spaniards of
long ago. The church of San Domingo, in ruins
since the great fire of 1737, and clothed in vegeta-
tion, is noted as having been the work of the hands
of the monks of St Dominic themselves, and its
great heavy square "arch " still existing is supposed
to be unique.

Near this hotel is the Bishop's Palace, and from
my window I can see into his, and wondered why
so many ladies seemed to inhabit it ; but I learn
that it is a large building in which many people
have their dwelling, the Bishop using only one part.
It is quite a handsome building.

The people here have not a good reputation,
which is not surprising in a place where much riff-
raff of many lands is stranded ; but it is quiet and
orderly enough to the casual eye.

It is very beautiful, this calm Gulf of Panama,
with its pleasant wooded islands, great resorts for

30 RELIGIOUS LAND-CRABS AND IGUANAS

picnics from the city. Flamengo is also called
Dead Man's Island, as it contains a large cemetery
full of yellow fever victims. Eighty of the officers
and crew of the U. S. ship Jamestown, who died of
yellow fever, are interred in it and have a monument
to their memory. Their ship was sent for ten years
to the North Pacific and after that to! Hawaii, and
on going to the latter tropical clime the yellow fever
microbes were restored to vitality again and at once
recommenced their fatal work.

Tobago, El Moro, and Tobogoquilla are all near
each other, the two first being joined at low water.
Tobago is very pretty and interesting, is a pleasure
resort, has a town and villages, and is famous for
its pineapples. It was formerly the port of
Panama. It swarms with land-crabs, which at a
certain season, that of Easter, came down from the
hills to deposit their eggs on the seashore, but are
locally believed to be of a religious turn of mind and
bent on joining in the religious processions on
Good Friday. The iguanas which abound are con-
sidered good eating by the natives, and the women
cut holes in them to extract the strings of eggs,
which they dry and devour ; the iguana continuing
its life till its own turn comes. What it thinks
about it all no one has told me. Natives in all
countries where iguanas abound consider them good
eating. Personally they give me the creeps, and
when riding through the Australian forests one saw
a great huge brute, like a dragon, hanging its loath-
some head down as it clung to a tree and moaning
and hissing at you, cold shivers used to go down
my back; and those ones we called "blood-
suckers," which chased you at great speed through

FOUNDATION OF *'NEW EDINBURGH" 31

the grass, really terrified me, there was something
so malignant about them.

On El Moro the P.S.N. Co. once had their
works, till they removed to Callao, and at El Moro
all their employees were Scotsmen — seven hundred
of them. In either El Moro or Tobaga there is a
sea cave of great extent " full of hidden treasure " —
of course ! Paterson, the founder of the Bank of
England, who two hundred years ago or more
founded ''New Edinburgh" on the Isthmus of
Darien, had ambitious ideas ; but the 1800 Scots-
men he brought there as colonists were in fifteen
months reduced to 800, and drifted away through
illness and Spanish opposition.

About 40 miles further down the gulf are the
Pearl Islands, so famous for their pearls. On them
are some interesting, perhaps prehistoric ruins, and
they were the scene of all those exciting yarns one
used to read about of desperate fights between the
native divers and the sharks. On one of them
grows much of the pita grass, which is like thread,
very fine and strong, and which is used for a good
quality of the so-called Panama hats, which are not
made in Panama at all.

Guayaquil, Ecuador,
Sept. Uth, 1904.

This is the principal port of the republic of
Ecuador, and has 51,000 inhabitants — or says it
has.

Ecuador became a republic in 1830, and has
now a population of about 1,270,000. There are

32 THE RIVERS OF ECUADOR

more full-blooded Indians in it than in any of the
other South American countries, though a large
number of the families of Spanish descent have an
admixture of Indian blood. In the interior the
Quichuan tongue is universal. In the province of
the Oriente, that part of the country which slopes
towards the Amazon basin, and a great part of
which is unexplored, many of the Indians belong to
the uncivilised tribes which were unconquered by
the Spaniards. The rivers Tigre and Napo flow
through the Oriente, and a great part of the country
they drain is subjected to a heavy rainfall, is at times
a perfect quagmire from which rise enormously high
trees matted together with llanos and draped with
hanging moss. Here dwell the Aucas or uncivilised
Indians. The Jivaros, one of these tribes, rose in
1599 and destroyed all the Spanish settlements.
These are the people who reduce human heads by
some process to the size of a small orange — a
practice now forbidden.

The sea-board here is hot and dry ; the inland
plateau temperate and somewhat arid ; the montana
hot and moist. The Esmeraldas Eiver is only
navigable for a short distance; but the river
Guayas here, a mile and a half wide at Guayaquil,
is an important waterway, and is formed by the
junction of the Chimbo, Daule, and Babahoyo
rivers. The Guayaquil Estuary is the largest inlet
on the Pacific Coast.

The Quitus were the early inhabitants of Quitu,
as the whole country was called. The Caras came
from Peru, conquered them and founded a dynasty,
the fifteenth monarch of which was defeated in
battle by the Ynca emperor in 1487. Quitu was

THE SCYBLS OF QUITU 33

then kept as a separate state until it fell to the
Spanish conquerors. According to Velasco, who
wrote in 1789, it was in a.d. 980 that the Caras
conquered the country. Their religion was that
of the Sun and Moon, and they built a temple
on the height known as the Panecillo at Quito,
which had two column ^^ before its eastern door for
observing the solstices ; and on one side of the
temple twelve pillars, as gnomons to point out by
their order the first day of each month. Near by
was a temple of the Moon. The chiefs were called
Scyi'is, and there were about fifteen in four hundred
years. Hualcopo Duchicala, fourteenth Scyi^i,
succeeded in 1430, and reigned thirty-three years.
He built a palace in the plain of Callo, which was
rebuilt by the Ynca Huayna Ccapac, and of which
some fragments are left. The Ynca consolidated
his conquests, and returned to Cuzco in 1460.
The Scyri Hualcopo died of grief in 1463, and his
son Cacha succeeding him continued hostihties, but
was mortally wounded in battle. The great
emerald the Scyri wore as a badge of sovereignty
was fixed by the conquering Ynca in his llauta, the
royal fringe he wore on his head ; he married Queen
Paccha of Quitu, and so settled it. Some say Paccha
was only his concubine, but in any case she was
the mother of the Ynca Atahualpa, who was killed
by the conqueror Pizarro at Caxamalca near Cuzco.
Huayna Ccapac was the one of whom it is said that
he never refused a woman, old or young, anything
she asked — so perhaps it was leap-year and Paccha
proposed. Of the descendants of the old royal
House of Quito all were lost in the great earth-
quake at Cacha, except one, Dona Maria Duchicela,

34 QUITO IS FOUNDED

who escaped, was educated at Eiobamba, and had
the estate of Yaruquias. She left no descendants,
erected an asylum for children at Quito, and dying
at a great age in 1700, the old Quitonian royal
race became extinct.

Gonzalo Pizarro was the first governor of the
province in 1540, the present town of Quito having
been founded by Benalcazar in 1534, and in the
following year he founded this place, Guayaquil.

Quizquiz, an officer of Atahualpa's and in com-
mand of the army of Quito, was attacked by
Almagro with the aid of the subject Ynca Manco,
and defeated, and fled to the high plains of Quito,
where he held out for some time. Meanwhile, to
the rage of Pizarro, had arrived Don Pedro de
Alvarado, who had served under Cortes in Mexico,
and he, with his army of 500 and ambitious for
distinction, set out to march for Quito ; but by the
time he reached Eiobamba the greater part of
his force had perished from hunger and hardship,
augmented by the great eruption of Cotopaxi,
which devastated the country ; and after this
famous and terrible march he saw Spaniards had
been before him, for Pizarro had dispatched Benal-
cazar to San Miguel, but he, like Alvarado, set
out instead for Quito, gained a victory, and planted
the flag of Castile at the city he named San
Francisco del Quito. Meanwhile Almagro had
gone to San Miguel, found Benalcazar gone, and
he set out after him in a hurry. Eventually he,
Benalcazar and Alvarado all met at Eiobamba
and came to an agreement, and later Benalcazar
was appointed Governor of Quito ; but in 1540
Francisco Pizarro appointed his brother Gonzalo

GONZALO PIZARRO'S EXPEDITION 35

as Governor of the Territory of Quito, and the
latter set out with a force of 350 Spaniards — 150
of whom were mounted — and 4000 Indians, a
large stock of provisions, and a huge herd of swine.
He was to explore the unknown country to the
east of Quito. For months they endured heat,
cold, all the horrors of famine, got entangled in
the ten'ible forests, where they had to cut their
way with axes, lost their clothes, went naked save
for leaves, ate their dogs when all else failed, and
were reduced after that to herbs and roots. They
came to the Napo, managed to cross it and go
along it, devouring what horses, saddles, and belts
were left. They managed to make a boat, and
Orellana and fifty of them embarked and set off'
down stream in hope of finding provisions, the
others waiting their return ; but after waiting
weeks, they set out and came in two months to
where the Napo enters the Amazon, and there
they found a white man wandering in the woods,
and found he was one of Orellana's party, and
he related that that person had gone on down the
river to the sea — and Orellana reached the sea,
and eventually Spain — abandoning him, as he had
opposed this desertion of Gonzalo Pizarro and
his men. They had been now a year on their
journey, were at least 400 leagues from Quito ;
yet Gonzalo and his followers turned back, refaced
all the sufferings they knew they must go through,
and eventually, naked and starving, arrived at
Quito. It is a tale of incredible bravery and in-
credible sufferings. Such were the early days of
Spanish rule. At this day the country traversed
by Gonzalo Pizarro and his followers is in very

36 THE DEATH OF GONZALO PIZARRO

much the same state, and they say that great parts
of it remain unexplored. Meanwhile Francesco
Pizarro, the great conqueror, had been assassinated
at Lima (1541). Later Gonzalo went to Lima
and Cuzco, and withdrew to his silver mine at
Potosi, whence he was later to emerge again in
active participation in stirring events and become
Governor and Captain- General of Peru — but that
is all part of the history of Spanish dominion in
South America, and I must not yarn more about
it. As conqueror he was again in Quito in 1546, to
leave it to make a triumphal entry into Lima, the
archbishop of that place, and the bishops of Cuzco,
Quito, and Bogota at his side, to take up his
residence in his murdered brother's palace as un-
disputed master of the Spanish possessions, tempted
indeed to throw off all allegiance to Spain and
proclaim himself an independent sovereign, and
a nice state Spain was in when she heard all this.
The emperor, therefore, sent out Pedro de la
Gasca, with full powers as President of the Spanish
Audience to do as he pleased. Pizarro broke into
open rebellion, and after many stirring events was
defeated in battle, and at Cuzco surrendered himself
as a prisoner into the hands of de la Gasca ; and
when sentence had been pronounced on him, rode
to the scaffold clothed in yellow velvet and gold,
and was there beheaded. His body was laid in
the chapel of the convent of Our Lady of Mercy
at Cuzco, whilst his head was taken to Lima,
placed in a cage, and labelled traitor. His name,
as that of his great brother, is part of the heritage
of Ecuador.

Then came the reign of the viceroys and

ECUADOR BECOMES A REPUBLIC 37

Spanish tyranny, whilst all these lands were shut
to all but Spaniards, and Spanish officials were
given all the good places over the heads of the
colonial-born inhabitants, and all discontent was
suppressed with a strong hand. When the days
of Napoleon came and the South American
Spaniards found themselves under the changing
rule of Charles IV., Joseph Bonaparte, "King of
Spain," and Ferdinand VII., they began to think
they might as well set up for themselves, and the
first revolutionary outbreak occurred at Quito in
1809. Though suppressed, it was the beginning
of the end. Spain tried to reverse her policy ; it
was too late. South America found her Napoleon
or Washington in Simon Bolivar.

In 1821 Bolivar became President of Colombia.
He determined to free Ecuador, and in 1822 was
fought the battle of Pichincha, and Bolivar, enter-
ing Quito, set it free from Spanish rule, though
it was not till 1830 that Ecuador became an
independent republic ; since when hers has been
the usual history of continual revolutions and dis-
quiet. Garcia Moreno, one of her most enlightened
presidents, was assassinated in 1875.

The term of each president is four years. He
has in that time to line the pockets of his sup-
porters and his own ; to exile, imprison, or defeat
his opponents in the field of battle ; and when they
put him out of office, or he succeeds in holding out
till his term is up, then he and his adherents have
to try and get back again. Broadly speaking, that
is what happens.

General Plaza is at present in power, and his
— a peaceful term — is nearly up. (He was sue-

38 A MORNING DRINK

ceeded by President Garcia, but he did not last
long ; and now it is President Alfaro, who has three
very charming daughters, I am told, Esmeralda,
Colombia, and America! Two are unmarried —
but it seems a bold thing to aspire to the hand of
America !)

Now I had better return to my own poor little
affairs after this vain attempt at giving the exciting
and interesting history of these countries in a
letter.

I left Panama on a Thursday morning, and
arrived here on a Monday morning. At Panama
we took the train to Porta la Bocca (the mouth
of the canal), to board the South American boat,
the Loa. At the station of Panama was a singu-
larly impudent, ill-mannered Yankee clerk — how
we all regretted we did not "pull his nose," he
so deserved it ! All the arrangements for embark-
ing were bad and the luggage nearly left behind.
I had a special letter to the captain, but did not
present it. He was a Swede, and perhaps his bark
was worse than his bite.

The Loa is a good enough boat. All the cabins
opened on to the deck. This system has advan-
tages and disadvantages. Dressing, one must keep
the door and window closed ; but it is pleasant
to be able to sit at one's door in one's cabin and
yet be in the fresh air. The air, however, is not
always fresh, as live stock is carried on board on
the lower deck, and the smells from the animals
are at times overpowering. The South American
passengers revelled in seeing an animal killed, and
every morning drank cupfuls of blood from its
severed throat.

MR WHYMPER'S BABY VIPERS 39

It is necessary always to keep your cabin door
locked, and for the key you pay the steward two
dollars, which are returned to you when you leave
— or supposed to be ! I, however, locked up
nothing, left my door open, and lost nothing. I
used to go to the cabin after every meal to see
what had been stolen, and felt quite injured nothing
was gone. The Chilian crew were the most
animal-like, treacherous, and murderous-looking
lot I have ever seen. The food was abominable,
but apparently appreciated by the other passengers.
The captain always brought his cat to table.

We lay hours in the Bay of Panama, off the
islands, ere we sailed, waiting for some priests and
nuns. There was a young American couple with
a dying child — for which the doctor of the boat
they came in from the States had ordered hard-
boiled eggs — and they told me they had travelled
to Panama with General Huescar, and liked him.

It was on one of the coast boats, but one of
the P.S.N, ones, that occurred that curious inci-
dent of the snake Mr Whymper tells about in his
book (the officer to whom it happened told me
about it himself, but I cannot remember who he
was or where I met him), which caused the P.S.N.
to prohibit live snakes as passengers for the future.
A live specimen of the hooded viper was procured
for Whymper by the consul at Guayaquil, and dis-
patched by steamboat in a box, which box was
placed in one of the boats. One morning the
officer going on the bridge noticed the iron
stanchions to be quite alive, and found them
encircled by a multitude of baby vipers to which
the interesting lady in the box had just given birth.

40 A THRESHER AND A WHALE

thirty-six of them at a go. One of these small
creatures bit him on the arm with such bad effect
that he nearly died, and was long ill from the
poison. Naturally, the mother went overboard at
once. How pleasant if she had arrived in England
and given birth to these interesting little colonists
there ! What can snakes be invented for ? Dios
sabe !

The weather was warm, with an occasional
cool breeze. One day we saw thousands of
dolphins, numbers of a large flat fish which turned
a double somersault out of the water, and several
whales ; and I saw what I had never seen before
in my many voyages, and that was a terrific fight
between a thresher and a whale, which took place
quite near the ship. The thresher kept springing
out of the water and descending with great force
on its opponent ; it was a fine battle amidst
clouds of spray and foam. The passengers were
not so interesting as the whales, and by no means
attractive.

On the Monday morning, a close and hazy day,
we anchored off Puna Island in the Gulf of Guaya-
quil, where is the quarantine station for the
medical inspection. One could not but regard
that island with interest, on account of its con-
nection with the conquerors. Being assembled in
the music saloon, we all had to answer to our names,
and there were subdued smiles when a certain

Senora S , who occupied one cabin with Senor

S , had to give her own name as Senorita

D t Shocking, was it not ? And the naughty

creature was good-looking, refined, and modest !
Don Rafael Eliszalde was also on board; he

THE RIVER AT GUAYAQUIL 41

belongs to one of the good old families here, and is
bound for Quito.

The Eio Grande or Guayas River is broad, with
a very rapid current. The banks are low and
thickly wooded, with here and there a slight
eminence or open space decked with a house or
hacienda, with herds of cows and horses meander-
ing about. It is pretty in a tame way, and of
course we regarded it all with interest. An alligator
swam across the river in front of the Loa, so as to
give a touch of local colour ! It reminded me of
the Rockhampton River in Queensland, where a
stuffed alligator slept naturally and peacefully on
the bank for the passengers to shoot at; but
the Ecuadorans are not so enterprising as the
Australians. I remember, in coming through the
Rockies in the Canadian Pacific Railway, how much
one missed not seeing a few sham Indians and
bears posted amongst those monotonous forest-clad
mountains — people ought to think of those things.
You see, one could kodak them from the train, and
they would make nice pictures.

No one on the boat had been to Quito, and all
information was lacking ; but of course every one
tried to prevent me landing at Guayaquil^ — the
malaria, the yellow fever, and countless other
illnesses awaited me ; then, as to going alone into
the interior with my Spanish phrase-book for sole
companion, it was out of the question. Sorry,
I said, but I'm going all the same. Even the
Ecuadorans on board could tell me nothing.

How eagerly I looked for a glimpse of the
mighty mountain of Chimborazo, but it is seldom
visible from here save once in a month or so.

42 CUSTOMS-HOUSE FORMALITIES

Guayaquil presents a long frontage to the river,
with the towers of the cathedral and two churches
looming above it and hills beyond. On the other
side of the river is Duran, where one gets the
railway for the interior ; it is said to have a
number of inhabitants ; but the river is here a mile
and a half broad, and one sees Httle of that town.

I landed about 10 a.m. in a small boat, with my
piles of baggage, and J. Montgomerie, a good-
natured countryman, as interpreter. In the
custom - house all my baggage was opened, I
was detained two hours, and paid various sums
for wharfage and other dues, and then had to pay
the boatman 30s. for taking my things to the
'' Grand Hotel Victoria," two minutes' walk or so.
As M. had to leave for the south by the boat the
same day, we explored the town at once. It is
built along the bank of the river, which, though
broad, has very muddy, shallow banks at low tide.
The principal buildings, including my hotel and
another, the " Hotel de Paris," are on the Male9on,
facing the river. It is situated on flat, low ground,
and the back of the town is literally in a swamp ;
houses of negroes standing on piles in the mud,
which, as you can imagine, is most unpleasant
underneath them. Some of the streets are broad
and planted with trees, though often badly or only
partially paved; and the houses are not only
imposing and pretentious and often quite pretty,
but terrible shams. Most are built of bamboo and
plaster, with closed-in balconies, all painted elabor-
ately in imitation of marble. Here is a pink
marble Italian palace with white marble pillars
and flowers on the balconies — but they forgot to

MARBLE PALACES AxND DRESSY MEN 43

paint the end wall, which rather gives it away — and
you can stick your fingers through the marble.
Next comes a pale green marble mansion with
white marble '* dressings," very fresh and pretty,
and enlivened by palms and scarlet flowers.
Indeed, these sham marble palaces are all fresh
and pretty, and the effect is good. The pillars
supporting the balconies above and forming cool
arcades along the streets are of corrugated iron,
but also painted as marble. The paving of the
streets is good for a few yards, then suddenly
there is a hole or quagmire or some other trap for
the unwary.

The cathedral is quite imposing ; but it is all of
wood decorated inside and outside in the Empire
style, all sham painting, and inside there is even a
throne and grandly draped curtains painted on the
wall ! A pretty, well-kept garden with beautiful
trees faces it, with a good statue of Bohvar in the
centre. There are other churches, also pretty, in
this painted style. They look cool and fresh, a great
thing here. The inhabitants appear to be of all
shades and colours, and are very dressy indeed.
The young men favour black, white vests, and
pointed patent-leather shoes. The ladies go to
church with black mantillas and faces painted red
and white, except the neck and behind the ears,
which are generally brown. In the evenings they
break out into Paris frocks, pale blue, pale pink and
white being in great favour. The Malei^on abounds
in niggers from the West Indies, who are either
British subjects or American citizens, according
to the best chance of getting out of the particular
trouble they are in at the moment, and they always

44 STREET LIFE L\ GUAYAQUIL

are in trouble. They are amusing, but also asser-
tive and impudent.

My room in the hotel is large, with an ante-
room or balcony from whence I can survey the life
of the street and river-front below. A hammock
is slung across the room, and I soon learnt its use.
The door has to be kept locked always, for if I sit
out on the balcony landing-place leaving it open,
everyone who comes upstairs goes right in and
examines my belongings, and they are not in the
least put out when I use the handiest phrase in my
Spanish book on them. I discovered a bathroom,
and the first morning sallied forth in glee, un-
dressed and got into the bath, turned on all the
taps and pulled the shower-bath string, with no
result whatever ; so had to dress again, and stupid
people commented on the warmth of my language
as I returned to my own domain. The food, how-
ever, is horrid, as is all Spanish cookery, though
a little fruit is obtainable.

The life of the streets interests me, as it is varied,
and the white duck clothes look cool. Then
picturesque men in coloured ponchos stride about,
or vain-looking cahalleros on pacing steeds witli
silver-knobbed bridles clatter by, and the niggers
are never silent and never still. There are open-
air cafes, giving it quite a Parisian tone. (Paris to
an Ecudoran is simply Heaven !) Altogether I find
Guayaquil better than its very bad name, though
I don't pretend it is a sanitary or healthy town — far
from it. (I was to learn that it is much cleaner
and much better kept than most of the miserable
Pacific Coast towns further south, and altogether
preferable.)

UNHEALTHY SEAPORTS 45

There are signs of dilapidation and disaster
everywhere, as the town has been frequently burnt,
and fires are of almost daily occurrence. Naturally
the gimcrack marble palaces burn like paper. It
is very hot, the sun blazing down fiercely. There
are no chimneys or fireplaces so far as I can see.

In the morning after I arrived, Mr Cartwright,
the British Consul, called on me. He has been
over thirty years in Guayaquil, has a large business
here, and is agent for both the P.S.N, and South
American Steamship companies. He took me to
the Club de la Union, and put me down as a
member, and introduced me to a cocktail. It is
quite a good club — and is not the only one — and
has amongst other attractions a good ballroom.
Then we adjourned to a cafe where he and several of
the British colony meet daily for their morning

whisky and soda. There I met Mr N and

Mr W , local personages. None of them would

hear of Guayaquil being such a death-trap as it is
said to be, and as they have lived here many years
and survived everything — on a bottle of whisky a
day — it cannot be so black as it is painted. But
alas ! a " rare occurrence " has just taken place.
An English yacht, the Cavalier, with her owner,
Colonel Maude, on board has just been in ; her
captain promptly got yellow fever, and died ere he
reached Panama. They say here he brought it
with him from Panama, for everyone of these
unhealthy, unsanitary seaports vows that illness is
non-existent save in the other ports. Panama
faints at the name of Guayaquil, and Guayaquil
says Panama is a mere charnel-house, and "no
better than she ought to be."

46 GUAYAQUIL HOSPITALITY

At the club I read in the papers of another
massacre by the savage cannibals in German New
Guinea, the Catholic Mission being almost exter-
minated ; and this was sad news for me, when I
thought of the bishop and his coadjutors in their
enterprising settlement, and of the kind hospitality
I had enjoyed there — and those poor nuns, some
of them British — and the little children !

I dined at the British Consulate to meet Mrs
Cartwright, her daughters, and one or two English,
also a young German engaged to (and since married
to) one of the Miss Cartwrights. The patio is full
of orchids and palms and many birds in cages.
Everyone most kind, and Mr Cartwright gave me
local photographs taken by himself, alligators'
teeth, and an ivory vegetable nut. The young
ladies played a duet from Tannhauser whilst the
German conducted. I was not pleased at the
anything but imperialistic ideas of my fellow-
countrymen there, and said so. Mr Wheeler,
who was there, hailed from South Africa, and
was half a Boer, I think, by birth and senti-
ment. Let us hope "he will amend in time
coming."

Mr Cartwright showed me his cocoa sheds,
where the cocoa nibs were drying and being
packed. Many are spread out in the streets to
dry. He introduced me to a pleasant Englishman,
Mr Higgins, who is consul for — I think — Chile,
France, and Spain, and he amused me with the
story of an author writing a book about the country,
who was soliciting subscriptions and calling on the
consuls, for Spain, France, and Chile was dumb-
founded to find them represented by one man, or

Guayaquil and Quito Railway.

[To face page 4Q.

LOCAL JEALOUSY 47

as Mr Higgins put it, found the Trinity or Three
in One !

Mr Cartwright despatched my letters of intro-
duction for the interior for me, and insisted on
telegraphing to Quito and elsewhere, and is very
kind in every way.

But when I came to make inquiries as to how
to get to Quito, I could obtain little or no informa-
tion. No one seems to have been there, and I
soon discovered that Guayaquil, as the port and
the business place of the country, is very jealous
of the famous inland capital. They don't appreciate
the Guayaquil and Quito Eailway, and there are
many stories anent it. They would like this to be
the capital, and ignore Quito ; but it does seem
strange to me that Mr Cartwright has been here
for thirty years, and others nearly as long, and
they have never been to Quito, or indeed in the
interior at all. There are very few British subjects
— leaving out niggers — here or in the country ;
perhaps a dozen all told here, if that, and they tell
me there is one in Quito, and "he is only a
Scotchman."

I go by train from Duran for a day, and at
Colta, the present terminus of the railway, I find
"two new hotels," and coaches do the rest of the
journey to Quito. I can take all my baggage.
This is all I can glean, and it seems very simple.
So I have got my train ticket to Colta, and have
booked my seat by coach for Quito. I want to
leave a large trunk at the hotel here, but everyone
is doubtful if I dare do that, and none of them
think I shall see it again if I do. I shall risk it.

I have so often read and heard such tales of the

48 THE ROAD TO QUITO

famous road to Quito, of its difficulties and dis-
comforts, and have seen pictures of it and the
famous atmelones, and it has been regarded as the
most trying road in the world. Formerly it took
over two weeks of hard travelling on mule-back,
but the railway has altered all that. Mrs Beauclerk,
wife of H.M.'s Minister to Peru, Bolivia, and
Ecuador, told me about the official journey she
and her husband made to Quito, and though she
is a famous traveller, and they naturally travelled
with as much ** state and comfort " as was possible,
yet it seemed quite an undertaking. They had an
escort of soldiers, and one morning soldiers and
baggage-mules disappeared and were heard of no
more ! Then Mrs Beauclerk made the greater
part of her journey on foot or in a litter carried by
Indians, the journey being then much as Whymper
describes it in his Travels amongst the Great Andes
of the Equator. When she remarked I could yet
see the camelones, I asked what sort of animals
they were, and if they had horns ! They really are
mule paths, puddles, and stairways.

Quito, Ecuadoe,
Sept. ^2nd, 1904.

After a few days at Guayaquil I got up early
one morning, Mr Wheeler kindly coming to see
me ofiP and bringing his boy (Indian servants are
always called boys) to get my luggage on to the
ferry-boat for Duran, on the opposite side of the
river; the boat left at 6*30 a.m. On reaching
Duran, I at once boarded the waiting train, and

THE HARMANS OF THE RAILWAY 49

started with pleasurable excitement on my journey
to Quito. For years and years I had looked at
it on the map with longing eyes, and at last I was
bound for it. The train consisted of two cars,
seated in American fashion, and at the start was
very full. Luckily for me I found Mr Morley,
whom I had met in Guayaquil, on the train. He
is by birth a New Zealander, and a British subject,
though living here and having an American wife,
and is treasurer of this railway, and owns a hacienda,
and the hotel at Huigra on the line. He pointed
out all that was to be seen, gave me much informa-
tion, and made the time pass pleasantly.

The railway is, of course, the event of Ecuadoran
history, and great is the controversy over it. In
Guayaquil you hear Httle good of it — but we all
know there are two sides to a question. It was
for a time a French syndicate that had to do with
it ; now, I understand, that most of the capital is
British and especially Scottish, but it is practically
an American concern, and is to be a link in the
great trans-continental line, which is to traverse
and join the North and South American con-
tinents some day. Now that the Yankees have
got Panama, as they have, they mean to have
Venezuela, Colombia, and Ecuador, or, at least,
they are to be within their "sphere of influence."
Consequently every detail concerning this railway
goes to Washington. The line is " bossed " by one
family, the Harmans, an old Virginian family, I
think. The ''head boss," is Mr Archer Harman,
its "brains and sinews"; his brother. Major
Harman is manager of the line ; another Harman
is in charge at Duran, and Mr Kenton Harman, a

50 ENERGETIC AMERICAN WAYS

nephew I think of Mr Archer Harman, is traffic
manager. One hears them called ''the Harman
Gang," and some are against them, some for them.
It seems to me that they are having a very hard
fight of it to get their railway built, and have much
to contend with. Undoubtedly, Guayaquil stories
must be taken with a grain of salt, so great is the
jealousy there, and one can easily understand how
the forcibly energetic ways of the Americans are
unpalatable to the children of this Land of To-
morrow. Mr Archer Harman is away in the
Galapagos Islands at present. The railway will
make a revolution in Ecuador and open up the
country. The contract made with the Ecuadoran
Government by this railway is, I hear, somewhat
of a curiosity, and has given rise to differences of
opinion. Amongst other things, it empowers the
company to " use the roads of Ecuador " as they
see fit. There was practically only one road, the
famous road to Quito, so they have built the line
along it where it suited them, destroying the road,
and thereby forcing the people to use the railway.
This road to Quito has been the only outlet from
the interior ; all goods of every description had to
be and still have to be carried on mule-back or by
Indians by this route from or to the coast level
through the great mountains. The j ourney formerly
took about two weeks for travellers, more or less
according to where they came from or went to, and
for the goods in transit, months sometimes go by
ere they arrive at Quito, if they arrive at all. The
railway of course has changed all that, but the
same conditions prevail from its terminus to-day.
The Ecuadorans were perhaps ''done" over the

ASCENDING THE MOUNTAINS 51

railway, but at the same time the railway has had
to deal with and contend against shady govern-
ments composed of unscrupulous and very ignorant
members, whose one idea of keeping a bargain is
getting out of it. The "stations" so far on the
line are Duran, Taguachi, Chobo, Matilde, Milagro,
Venecia, Narangito, Pesqueria, Barraganetal, San
Rafael, Bucay, Chimbo, Huigra, Chunchi, Sibambe,
Alausi, Palmira, Guamote, and Colta, the present
terminus. The line is now building to Eiobamba,
an important town. The highest point is the
Palmira Pass, 10,625 feet above the sea. It is a
single line.

At first we traversed flat lands densely clothed
with the beautiful tropical vegetation, a regular
jungle. The stations on the way were poor and
the settlements somewhat ramshackle places. Then
we began gradually to ascend, and as we turned and
twisted about it was very interesting and beautiful.
High mountains were splendidly wooded, and clothed
in great luxuriance with beautiful tropical trees,
plants, palms, and gorgeous creepers, names un-
known to me. There was a fascination in watch-
ing all this beauty unfolding before one as the line
curved about, now bridging a stream, now winding
round a corner, and always ascending.

The passengers were a motley horde, but all very
friendly, and " Hail fellow, well met," with everyone
else.

Mr Morley told me of many of the difficulties
met with in inducing the proprietors along the line
to part with their land. Some did not want the
railway, and wished to be left in their proud and
dirty seclusion ; others asked fabulous prices for the

62 BREAKFAST AT HUIGRA

land. In one case the landowner stuck out against
them with determination, but on their naming the
station after him or his hacienda, gave in at once,
giving the land, and had spent his time ever since
gazing with pride at the station name.

When we arrived at Huigra, which is 4000 feet
above the sea, we stopped half an hour for break-
fast, and I was taken to the "hotel," a not very
imposing wooden building, and introduced to the
hostess, Mrs Julia Kennedy, a gay and handsome
lady in blue silk blouse, gold brooches, and many
black ringlets, and presented a note of introduction
I had brought from the Consul at Guayaquil request-
ing her to give me a "good breakfast." Mrs Julia
Kennedy, who is a Chilian by birth and the wife
of a Scotsman, whose father, she told me, was
" Sheriff of Scotland," received me graciously, and
I took her photograph.

The breakfast was waiting for all passengers,
and I cannot say much in praise of the meal, which
I partook of in company with the Messrs Sommers,
Baker, Kenton Harman, and the father of Mr
Morley. These young men were Americans in the
employ of the railway.

I remarked to Baker that he was surely
English, but he replied, "Certainly not, nothing
of the Britisher about me ! " which of course was
not his fault, poor fellow, though undoubtedly his
misfortune.

Huigra is a small collection of wooden houses,
with railway cars drawn up in sidings in which
dwell the railway people, and Major Harman, the
manager, has a house here. Letters of introduction
to the Harmans had been sent ahead of me, but

THE PONCHOS OF THE INDIANS 53

Mr Archer Harman is away, and Major Harman
is in Quito. Mr Kenton Harman— the freight
manager — is, liowever, here, and took possession of
me. Apparently a very hard-headed Yankee this,
for having been pitched off his horse head first on
to a large boulder, he, though injuring his head
somewhat, smashed the boulder to pieces !

I found him a most pleasant companion in the
train, and always and everywhere he showed me
very much kindness and attention, and I trust feels
for me the warm and sincere friendship I feel
for him.

Huigra is shut in by mountains, and on leaving
it we soon ascended into different scenery, both
interesting and fine in its way. The mountains
were somewhat disappointing, as one could not
reahse their height. They were mostly of rounded
hill formation. Many haciendas were dotted about,
and groups and plantations of eucalyptus, a tree
which thrives marvellously here and goes most
naturally with the scenery. Of course I was
much interested in the Indians at the stations and
by the wayside. The poncho, which is worn by
everyone and not by Indians alone, is a coloured
blanket with a hole for the head to slip through.
It is in every colour of the rainbow and all sorts
of patterns, and is a most useful garment. Natur-
ally the Indians go in for more gaudy colours than
the Europeans or " white people " — blue, green,
purple, scarlet, what you will. Most of the people
in Ecuador have a strain of Indian blood in them,
and though some deny it, it is only too patent.
But there are some very good old families of
Spanish blood, and with old titles which they

54 THE DEVIi;S NOSE

cannot use. The Indians at this part, mostly
arrieros, that is mule or donkey drivers, were by
no means attractive.

The line is an interesting one in many ways, and
the difficulties encountered and surmounted in its
construction were no mean ones. It is built mostly
on loose soil ; landslips are frequent, and during the
heavy rains a source of great trouble. Time will
remedy all this and consoHdate the road. As we
ascended higher many of the passengers appeared
unwell, especially when they looked out of the
windows to a curve of the line directly below them
and noted the loose earth road on which we
travelled. The feature of the line is the Devil's
Nose, which is a very pretty piece of engineering,
the line making various zig-zagging curves round
this obstruction. Here occurred a landslip block-
ing the line, so we got out and walked some
distance, and the beauties and difficulties of the
work were pointed out to me. When there is
rock to build on or bore through it is very simple,
as once done it is a permanent thing, but here
the loose friable soil requires unceasing attention.
Getting into the car again other passengers offered
glasses of brandy, which one had to accept with
a friendly handshake. This was supposed to be
a preventive to any ill effects from the pressure
of the air at this high altitude. Not only do
women and children — and men also — get sick,
have headaches, bleeding at the nose, and fainting
fits from the altitude, and I think from nervous-
ness at the eccentricities of the line, but they are
sometimes much more disagreeably affected.
Many showed symptoms of being affected by the

' '^^^5

■^iW"

HHy'Ti '-^^^^^H

Devil's Nose, Guayaquil and Quito Railway.

[To face page 54.

TRYING TO LIKE CHICHA 55

sorocche or mountain -sickness, but I felt nothing
and was very well.

It was my intention to go on to Colta, the
terminus, sleep there in one of the *'two new
hotels" they told me about in Guayaquil, and
proceed next day by coach ; but Kenton Harman
would not hear of it, and begged me to break the
journey and stay with him, which I was nothing
loth to do. When we got to Guamote we saw
an agent of the coach company, who wired to
Guayaquil that I had transferred my seat in the
coach to a later date, and I was assured it was
all right. My baggage went on to Colta and I
remained as Kenton Harman's guest at Guamote.
His car was there, and in it we dined comfortably
together. When not living in camp the railway
people live in these cars drawn up on a siding, and
compared to anything else in Ecuador they are
very comfortable. Each car has two compart-
ments, a bedroom and sitting-room, and has the
attraction of fresh air and cleanliness. This car
was given over to me to sleep in, and Kenton
Harman bestowed himself elsewhere. After dinner
we went for a walk through the Indian village,
inspecting the dirty unsavoury houses, and drinking
glasses of the majorca (?) or chicha, the native
liquor. We entered one abode tenanted by an
Ecuadoran and his wife, which consisted of one
room, and they regaled us with chicha, we and our
hostess sitting on the bed. I cannot say I liked
the drink, but was told that when good it is
excellent. Possibly an acquired taste.

Alas ! when I went to bed that night sleep as
usual fled from me and I never closed my eyes,

56 BREAKFAST IN CAMP

though I was tired after the long day's train
journey. Very early next morning I turned out,
and after breakfast about eight o'clock Kenton
Harman and I climbed on top of a coal truck to
ride to the camp. Part of the journey we per-
formed on the coal truck and the rest on the front
of the engine. The line had only been opened a
few days and was scarcely "set." It was an
interesting ride, and we scattered various Indians,
pigs, and so on, who would use the road to travel
on, and on the way we flew past the now famous
boulder my companion had split with his head.
The railway camp — a group of tents above which
floated the Stars and Stripes — was near the line,
and here we alighted and went to breakfast (lunch,
always called breakfast in South America), and I
was introduced to various of the camp inhabitants,
amongst whom were two Colombians, the Perez
brothers, a man Jones, and others. All were very
kind, frank, pleasant, cordial, and hospitable, and
we had a merry breakfast.

It here began to dawn on me that it was only
too certain that pleasure-pilgrims of my idle, lazy
stamp were unknown here, as they all assured
me they had never heard of anyone going to Quito
before as a simple tourist, and naturally they had
met and known every stranger who traversed the
country. Everyone going to Quito, or travelling
in the interior of Ecuador, had some object, some
business object, and I was, it seemed, an absolute
curiosity being there without any motive and only
to look-see, as the Chinese say. (I was to hear
enough of this later on.)

Jones showed me some Indian curiosities he

CHIMBORAZO AND RAILWAY TERMINUS 57

had, including one of the dried and reduced Indian
heads. It was a very good specimen, very small,
and was said to be only a year old. It is for-
bidden by law now to practise this strange process
— a secret of the Indians — but I was laughingly
told that at Quito I could pick out my Indian and
have his head in a year. It is quite extraordinary
how they can reduce a human head to the size of
a small orange, preserving all its features, hair,
eyebrows, and eyelashes.

I photographed the camjD and its clieery inhabi-
tants, and then it was proposed we should ride to
Riobamba for a night, so horses were procured,
and for me the loan of the prize pacing mule of
the district, as I wished to try one of them ; and
with Kenton Harman, Perez, and an Ecuadoran
youth I rode by way of the railway line to Colta,
the terminus. As we approached it, Chimborazo
— to whom I doffed my cap — loomed up in front
of us in glorious snowy majesty. I was to see
much of this magnificent mountain in the future,
and I never saw it but I admired it. When we
reached Colta, which is 10,815 feet above the sea,
the railway line ended abruptly in a plain, on one
side of which was an Indian adobe village and
on the other a reedy lake. Beyond the mud huts
of the Indians and a few tents there was nothing ;
no station, no village, and as for the "two new
hotels," they were figments of imagination. All
the goods brought by the train lay by the side of
the line in the open, and included all my own
luggage. A few cars were drawn up on one side,
I rescued my rugs and a suit- case, and they were
handed over to the care of one of the railway

58 TRYING TO PROFIT BY GOOD ADVICE

people, and a contract was made with an arriero
to transport the rest of my baggage to Quito on
mule-back for a stipulated sum, and if he did not
deliver it there in six or seven days the payment
was to be reduced. They said I might see it
again ! It might take weeks, or never reach Quito
at all, so I just had not to worry about it.

Before leaving England, Mrs Beauclerk had
given me most excellent advice. "Never worry
about things or lose your temper in South America,
w^hatever mishaps or disagreeables occur. Treat
it all as a joke. No one will care a bit about what
happens to you or your belongings, and less for
your complaints." I repHed that, being a Scotsman,
I was not supposed to see a joke, but that w^hat-
ever one side of my mouth was doing I would try
to smile with the other. (This excellent advice
I alw^ays tried to remember, and though I often
forgot and had to try, try again, I managed to
scrape through and appreciate the usefulness and
wisdom of the advice — and I don't think I left
any very bad memories of me behind in Ecuador.
Though that I should keep my temper and be
amiable under many intensely annoying circum-
stances was owing a good deal not to my noble
nature, but to the difficulty of expressing what I
felt in Spanish. I trust yet to learn some very
bad Spanish words and phrases, but always in the
hasty moments would only come across such things
as did not apply. Caramha ! was much too tame
for me. I often had to bear things silently when
inwardly raging.)

It was a blazingly hot day. We visited various
tents and were treated to drinks by all sorts of

MY MONEY IS BAD 59

people. I never grasped who they were, and could
not tell who were the governors of provhices and
who the mule-drivers ; but a vigorous hand-shake,
a Havana cigar, and a glass of red wine made
everything go smoothly. Here in Quito several
times people have greeted me with friendly hand-
shakes as if I was an old friend, and I can onlv
presume I met them somewhere on the way. I,
however, was nowhere at Colta, or elsewhere in
railway territory, allowed to return the hospitality
shown me, but was met everywhere with smiles
and informed that they had heard of me, and that
in railway territory and on the road to Quito
my money was bad! This was thought a great joke,
and was a polite American way of making me
everywhere their guest. Every one was cordial
and friendly, but I was thankful they did not think
it necessary to throw their arms round me and
embrace, as they do amongst themselves. I asked
why I was always introduced as a tourist who had
come all the way from England for nothing but to
see Ecuador ? There was great wonder over this,
and no one quite believed it. I must have some
deep design about mines or railways. I was told
in reply to my query that I was a good advertise-
ment for the railway, and that it pleased the
Ecuadorans, flattered their vanity — of which they
have enough — to think of a Gringo coming all that
way merely to see their country ! Pretty speeches
galore were made to me, but in their hearts all
were, I am sure, wondering what the silly Gringo
had come forth for to see, and it was just what the
silly Gringo was doing himself !

Needless to say, every Ecuadoran gentleman

60 SOUTH AMERICAN GENEROSITY

offered me everything he possessed, as is their
custom, he and all his were mine. I always
thanked equally politely, and thought no more of it.
I had taken warning by a story I heard of a young
Englishman, new to South America, who, visiting
some person somewhere, had admired his host's
favourite horse. "It is yours," said the host,
"pray accept it." "I couldn't do such a thing,"
exclaimed the flattered youth, " your best horse 1 "
" But I insist — it is yours — saddle and bridle and all.
I insist you must have it." So in the afternoon
the guileless youth went and got that horse,
mounted it, and rode away, mightily pleased with its
fine pacing qualities, but not liking its long tail, so
he went and had that docked. Then as he rode
down the street he met the generous donor, who
stared and exclaimed, "Why! you have got my
horse — and what have you done to its tail ? "
Explanations followed, and that youth learnt that
words are merely words, and that he was not
expected to take all these polite offers seriously. I
remembered this story, thanked every one gratefully
and politely and took nothing.

These festivities over, we set out on a fifteen-mile
ride to Eiobamba, four of us, a Yankee, an
Ecuadoran, a Colombian, and the Pleasure-pilgrim.
The sun was very hot and the road very dusty, but
the prize mule I rode paced along with the ease of
an arm-chair. All the horses pace here. We
went slowly, for Kenton Harman was feehng the
wound on his head, which was bandaged up. The
country was open, dotted about with haciendas and
eucalyptus trees — the familiar old blue gum, which
kept Australia continually in my mind— and the

ARISTOCRATIC RIOBAMBA 61

road was bordered with cactus plants. Some
Indian villages or adobe houses bordered it here
and there, generally gay with scarlet geraniums or
masses of pink oleanders ; and the dusty road itself
was occupied by a continuous procession of Indian
men, women, and children in their gaudy garments,
with their mules, hiirros (donkeys), and llamas.
They were very dirty, unattractive people. Now
and again we met Ecuadorans, sometimes "swells "
on pacing steeds — and a smartly dressed caballero
on a fine pacing stallion is a sight to see — pride
and vanity personified.

Riobamba lies at the height of 9028 feet, on a
plain encircled by great mountains, and has about
18,000 inhabitants. On one side towers Altar — a
holy mountain — with its snowy peaks, and on the
other the ground slopes up to the summit of
Chimborazo far away, of which we had magnifi-
cently clear and beautiful views. Its aspect from
Riobamba is I think superb, with its eternal cap
of snow and ice towering clear-cut in the sky.
Riobamba is not an imposing place. The houses
are low, sometimes only one story, and there is the
usual large plaza or square, without which a South
American town could not exist. It is an aristo-
cratic town, the residence of some of the " high-
born," but I should not have known it had I not
been told of it.

It swarmed with Indians. Scarlet, orange,
bright blue, or vivid green seemed the favourite
colours for the ponchos. The effect, therefore,
under the brilliant sunlight was gaudy in the
extreme. In the town and round it are many
eucalyptus trees.

62 THE ACQUISITIOxN OF PROPERTY

I heard of a well-known Ecuadoran family
who lived in this province who had their dinner-
table decorated with silver and plate bearing the
names of well-known European hotels. They had
made a tour in Europe and every hotel they entered
they took away a silver or plated fork, spoon, salt-
cellar, mustard-pot or something of the sort as a
souvenir. They were quite proud of this collection.
I heard too that being pleased with the attention
the captain of a coast- steamboat they had travelled
by had shown them, they wrote him they were
sending him a little souvenir, and when it reached
him it was a silver salt-cellar from his own ship !
They really did not seem to feel or realise they had
stolen the things ! (A year or two ago in Germany
there was a sensation when the wife of a member
of a well-known princely family was accused of
having stolen chest-loads of silver and plate from
hotels — all with the names on them — and which
even included soup-tureens and dish-covers !
When I read this I thought surely this is like
South America, turned the lady up in the
Almanack de Gotha, and sure enough she hailed
from Buenos Ayres ! It will be remembered that
the hotel-keepers who had been deprived of
these things treated it as a joke, saying they had
been well paid and the lady only wanted souvenirs
— but how very clever to take away a dish-cover !)
I suppose it is a sort of amiable simplicity
— they ofiFer you all that is theirs — so when they
admire or want a thing and don't want to be
impoHte and worry you for it, they just take it
to save trouble ! It seems quite a pleasant idea !

We alighted at the Hotel California, an odori-

THE FRESCOES OF RIOBAMBA 63

ferous abode. Perez, Kenton Harman, and I were
given a room with three mosquito-netted beds, with
a sitting-room adjoining. There was the usual
small patio or courtyard with balconies round it,
and this patio fascinated me, for the walls were
frescoed by some local genius with fanciful pictures
of Riobamba. There was one of the Almeda — a
broad road bordered with trees and the vista
terminating in Chimborazo. Down this Almeda
drove and cycled the aristocracy of the town. Far
in the distance two gigantic cyclists rode towards
the foreground, where a very diminutive carriage
full of gaily dressed ladies drove to meet them.
Far away as they were, the cyclists were much
larger than the carriage and its contents, and I
calculated that by the time they reached the front
of the picture they would be 40 feet high. It was
really a fascinating composition.

The sanitary arrangements of this dirty little
hotel were all en evidence, and unspeakably,
unbelievably horrible. I shuddered at the thought
of food after a gUmpse of the kitchen and the cook.
No policeman — not even an Indian one — could
possibly love that cook ! When I returned to our
room after a tour of exploration, I found my com-
panions yelling with laughter in anticipation of the
opinions I would express — and I expressed them.

We found a sick American connected with the
railway, installed in one room with an Englishman
in attendance. This Englishman had come from
Quito, where he had been resident for a time.

We explored the town, visited various stores,
where we were '* treated " to drinks and treated in
return, at least the others did, as even here, my

64 CHARMING ECUADORAN LADIES

*' money being bad," I was not allowed to do my
share.

In the evening we three went to dine with
Senora Dillon, whose long, low, one-storied house
bordered one side of the plaza and had the usual
patio inside. Senor Dillon is one of the wealthy
land-owners of Ecuador, is highly thought of and
respected, has been Governor of the Guayas
province, and was once a candidate for the Presi-
dency. He was away in Quito, where I have met
him since. He is of Irish origin, and he and his
family have been much in the States.

Senora Dillon and her family received us most
graciously and cordially, and to my intense relief
she, her sister, and her charming young daughter
spoke English. They had with them her young
sister, Seilorita Victoria Valdez, two young ladies
in deep mourning for their father (who had lately
been murdered in the Galapagos Islands, where he
was governor), and a smartly dressed, good-looking
youth, who was a cousin of Don Rafael Elizalde.
We were not smart, as we were in our dusty
riding-breeches and leggings, which, under the
circumstances, Senora Dillon kindly excused.

Though the family was in deep mourning, as
was also the piano and even the vases of flowers,
tied up with crape, we had a gay and merry
dinner and a very pleasant evening. The young
Ecuadoran ladies were full of life and spirits,
and the gayest of all was the particularly bright,
pretty, and clever young Senorita Victoria. The
piano, being in mourning, could not be touched,
but after dinner, as we sat round the salon in
rocking chairs — one of the customs — Senorita

THE JOYS OF INSOMNIA 65

Victoria, who had an excellent voice, sang song
after song without accompaniments, and imitated
in the cleverest manner some local would-be singer,
sending the company into fits of laughter. Even I,
who did not know the person taken off', could see
it was a clever imitation.

I told these young ladies that I had had an
idea that the girls of Ecuador were brought up in
strict seclusion, as they would be in Spain or
France, but they laughed at me. No doubt their
residence in the States made a difference in their
ideas.

When we returned to our hotel and went to
bed, the other two instantly fell asleep and never
moved till morning. I alas ! with my usual per-
versity, and though tired, could not close my eyes.
I thought of Prince Lowenstein in his home on the
beautiful Neckar, and how he had for a time entirely
cured me of insomnia, and what he would say now
to see me as bad as ever — what a hopeless thing it
is ! In desperation I at last got up, and without
striking a light, and trying to be very quiet so as
not to disturb the others, attempted to feel my
way in the dark into the adjoining sitting-room.
I fell over every blessed thing in the room, and as
it was strewn with our saddles, bridles, boots,
leggings, and so on, it was a procession of falls.
I whispered soft nothings and failed to see any
joke in it. I stole out on to the little balcony
looking down on the plaza, and there I remained
for hours longing for dawn. It was cold and very
dark. After a time dim forms began to move in
the darkness, Indians with their burros and mules,
and soon many motionless and scarce visible figures

66 MONKEYS AND THEIR TREES

were squatting in the plaza. Tliere were queer
sights ilhistrative of the by no means pleasing ways
of these degraded beings. Then gradually their
forms became more defined ; liundreds of them
came flocking in ; the colour of their ponchos
gradually began to show, and at last the sun rose
on a gaudy and brilliant scene, the whole large
plaza a mass of colour, for it was market-day.

Two days and two nights without even five
minutes' sleep did not tend to make me feel very
cheerful ; how I longed for a tub of cold water, an
impossible luxury ! We made a hasty and by no
means refreshing toilet, had some nasty coffee, and
an equally nasty roll of bread, and sallied out into
the town.

It was a pleasure to get out of the dirty hotel,
but the plaza and streets were just as filthy. The
Peruvians, who hate the Ecuadorans, say the latter
"are monkeys just down from their trees." (I
thought some of the Peruvians were still in their
own trees.)

About eleven o'clock we went to breakfast w^ith
Senora Dillon and her family, and had a cheery
meal with these kind, pleasant people, and how
thankful I was not to have to eat the hotel food !
After breakfast, we amused ourselves with purple
pansies, which we, with our cigarette smoke, turned
into wonderful colours.

"We then visited a monastery, where the Prior
received and entertained us most cordially, and
he and three German monks from Alsace-Lorraine
were delighted to talk German to me, and were
most amiable. We walked in the garden, sampled
the fruit, and I for the first time ate a tomato which

THE RETURN TO COLTA 67

grew on a tree. Kenton Harman had to interview
the prefect or governor or some " sw^ell " of the sort
about some trouble, and he had wondered if he
could settle the matter with a five-shilling bribe.
He came back full of glee, having settled it for
nothing.

When the railway reaches Riobamba it is
expected it will become an important place, and
already people are said to be buying plots of land
to build houses. (The railway was opened to
Riobamba in 1905.) It will be the principal
terminus for some time.

Kenton Harman and I rode back to Colta
together. It was dreadfully hot ; the road a cloud
of dust, as countless Indians were trooping in and
out to market, and we went slowly, as his horse
and my mule appeared knocked up. They had
been in a corral somewhere all night, and it was
evident the peons had disobeyed orders and had
not fed them. The dust in Ecuador is very trying,
being a dry, volcanic dust mixed with pumice stone,
the result of many eruptions. Ere we reached
Colta rain came on, the road became deep in mud,
and we were splashed from head to foot. Colta
was a quagmire. We installed ourselves in the
car of Sommers, one of the " Yankee boys " of the
railway. He was not there, and I devoutly hoped
we would be left in possession of it. I wanted my
suit- case and rugs, as I was dying for toilet
necessaries and a change of linen, but the person
who had them in charge had locked them up and
gone away. Meanwhile we awaited the arrival of
the train from Guayaquil, and heard there had been
a landsHp somewhere. Very late arrived the

68 THE TENDERFOOT WHO DID NOT SQUEAK

passengers, on an engine. They had had to walk
some distance over the landslip, and had come the
rest of the way on the engine and in a coal truck.
Mr Sommers' car had been placed at the disposal
of an American couple, Mr and Mrs Will. Staver,
and presently they arrived with Doceteo, their
Mestizo servant. Mr Staver was manager for the
South American Development Company at their
gold mines at or near Zaruma, in the south of
Ecuador, near the Peruvian frontier, and they had
had a very hard journey of several days on horse-
back from there to Guayaquil, where they took the
train at once for Colta, and consequently arrived
this night, dead tired and very thankful to get into
the car. Mrs Staver promptly retired to bed in the
bedroom partition, and everyone went foraging to
find them something to eat. Kenton Harman kept
calling out to her not to go to sleep, and enumerat-
ing all the delicacies which were coming for her
supper — a cruel thing, as all that could eventually
be obtained was coffee, bread, and some eggs.

It was retailed to them that " for a tenderfoot
I had done very well, and never squeaked once ! "
but I was squeaking inwardly, for I was very dirty,
very tired, and very hungry.

At last, about 8.30, we left the Stavers in
possession of the car, and walked through the rain
and a quagmire about a quarter of a mile to the
" hotel," where we hoped to get some much-needed
food.

The hotel was a small tent, the front part of
which was a bar and the back part the eating-
room. In this back part was a table and some
benches, and it was in semi- darkness, being lit by

A LUXURIOUS ECUADORAN HOTEL 69

a candle in a bottle. Various Ecuadorans in ponchos
joined us, and I was introduced to all, and a dinner
of many courses was served, each course being
apparently a steak or lump of meat buried in garlic
— but I was glad it was too dark to see what it was,
and that the others could not perceive I was only
playing with it, for swallow it I could not, hungry
as I was. We had some wine and coffee, and this
sumptuous meal over, we went to an adjoining
tent where two beds had been reserved for us. It
was a small tent, and was occupied already by eight
Ecuadorans, two of whom were in possession of
our beds. These two Kenton Harman promptly
turned out, and they had to join others, sleeping
two in a bed, and the beds were narrow stretchers !
We took off our boots and leggings and lay down
on the beds, and Kenton Harman placed an empty
revolver-case on mine, whispering that they would
think the revolver, which was under his pillow,
was in it, and that it was as well to be on the safe
side. Then he put out the light, and soon he was
sound asleep. But alas, not I ! The Ecuadorans
were very sociable, and talked for long ; the rain
was pouring down outside, and though none came
into the tent, it was yet damp and chilly, my clothes
were wet, and it was by no means pleasant or
savoury with ten people in such a small space.

Tired as I was, and so badly wanting sleep, it
would not come. I spent miserable hours turning
and twisting about, every nerve in my body on
edge, and with a violent attack of rheumatism.
At last in despairing disgust I rose, put on leggings
and boots, sallied out into the rain and mud, now^
knee-deep, and walked about up and down till

70 THE FAMOUS '>RAPIDE"

daylight came. My third night without sleep.
When daylight did come it found me a dirty,
dilapidated object sitting on the step of the
Stavers' car, hoping they would be up and have
coffee — something hot.

Not a bit of it ! They all appeared simul-
taneously, announcing it was time to walk to the
coach, which started for Quito at 7 a.m., and was
nearly a mile from us. I got my suit-case and
rugs — they all declaring I could not possibly take
them in the coach — and we started off for a mile
through the slush. I would not believe the coach
would not take these small things. When we got
there the coach, the famous " Rapide," was ready
waiting with four mules. It was a small covered
waggonette, held six passengers with a squeeze
inside, the driver and whip-boy outside. It makes
the journey to Quito in two days, halting for a
night at Ambato. We found Mr Wheeler from
Guayaquil and others there, and found we were
seven passengers, whereas it only held six. The
way-bill was produced, and they discovered my
seat had been transferred from an earlier date,
declared I was the one out, and they all mounted
hastily to their places. (I afterwards found out
that my transferred seat was the first one booked
for this day.) None of them were strangers to the
country, all spoke Spanish ; they knew I did not,
but they seemed amused to see me stranded there.
Kenton Harman reproached me ; I ought to have
mounted and retained my seat whatever they said,
he urged. I said I could not do that. " No," he
said, "that is just what you English gentlemen
do, and it is how you get left."

On Road to Quito.

Military Parade, Guayaquil.

[To face page 70.

THE START FOR AMBATO 71

There was nothing for it but I must hire a horse
and ride to Ambato, where one passenger was to
leave, and I would have a seat on from there.
Meanwhile, my suit-case and bundle of rugs lay on
the ground, and it was o])vious the coach had no
place even for a small bag. They said I must send
them by a pack-horse or mule to Ambato ; they
might arrive there that night, or to-morrow, or some
time ! Part of my baggage was in Guayaquil, part
already on the road to Quito, and I would not have
these left, perhaps also to disappear. I bribed the
driver with a sovereign, a large sum there, to tie
them on in front of the splash-board, and Mr
Wheeler promised to see them into the hotel at
Ambato, and the coach departed.

I then managed to hire a horse, of a sort,
borrowed a saddle from Mr Grau, a German on
the railway, and got an Indian "guide" to accom-
pany me to Ambato. I got a cup of coffee at the
" hotel," tried in vain to buy some biscuits at a tent
store which was being set up, but though they
opened some cases they could find nothing eatable,
so that I had to go without. So I bade adieu to
Kenton Harman and the others, and started feeling
very fagged and altogether unwell. Then my
Indian disappeared, so in disgust I went off alone.
One person said Ambato was 45 miles, the next
said 50, and someone else 60. I only knew that
for a certain distance I took the road to Kiobamba
and then branched off somewhere. At the first
village I halted, thinking I might get someone to
show me the way ; but here I found my Indian and
Doceteo, the servant of the Stavers, who had also
to ride, and meant to accompany me. They were

72 MARIQUITA AND ENGLISH GOLD

having a terrific row about the price of the fodder,
for we had a pack-horse also, and for their horses, and
appealed to me to settle it, which did much good.
However, I did settle it by some forcible expres-
sions, and whilst they got ready I witnessed a
cock-fight, a great form of amusement here, and at
last rode off, calling to the others to follow.

The day was warm and sunny, and became
overpoweringly hot ; the road having dried up was
extremely dusty, in fact the cactus hedges border-
ing it were white with dust, and the continual
stream of Indians kept clouds of it flying.

In Ecuador I carried all my money about with
me in English gold, and had a heavy belt of it
round my waist. How heavy and painful this
became I can only explain by saying I frequently
felt inclined to throw it away ! I who never know
I have an inside, or that I possess a "Little Mary "
(whom I introduced to Ecuador, and who is known
there as " Mariquita "), knew it on this occasion,
for I, this long, weary day, suffered tortures with
an intense inward pain, which my rheumatism,
combined with no sleep for three days and three
nights, did not tend to improve. There are two
banks in Ecuador, the Bank of Guayaquil and the
Bank of Quito ; they do not co-operate very well,
and I had been advised my safest and simplest way
was to have nothing to do with the banks, but
carry my money about me — but if anyone had
guessed I had all that gold on me, I never should
be writing this now. They had dozens of chances
to do for me had they known about it, and I
carried no revolver. But I never thought of that
or the money, it was its weight I objected to, as,

ON THE ROAD TO QUITO 73

not having had practically anything to eat since
breakfasting at Eiobamba the previous day, this
belt nearly cut me in two. " Con diner o no te con-
oceras, sin dinero no te conocerdn " is a vrise Spanish
saying, meaning, "With money you will not know
yourself, without it others will not know you."

Yet I enjoyed that ride immensely, and how
much more would I have done so had I been fit
and had my horse been fit also ; but it was tired
when 1 started, and had to be kicked and urged
along all day. Also, Doceteo and the Indian had
trouble with the pack-horse, and their own gees
were not up to much. I was always far ahead of
them, and had sometimes to wait for them in case I
went wrong.

The sun so near the equator is almost vertical,
and at this height, the air being rare, pours down
on one with fierce force, and of shade there is none.
The dust blew in clouds, and the dry, scorching air
burnt up one's skin and eyes. The country was
open, the mountains rounded in hill fashion, the
roadside hedges white with dust. We passed an
unending stream of Indian arineros and peo7is with
their animals laden with every imaginable sort of
thing. There were llamas also, but they never
carry more than 100 lbs. in weight; a fraction
over, they lie down and refuse to move for any-
one. One must pity these poor, degraded Indians ;
but I own I had already begun to take a dislike to
them, which afterwards became so great that I
tried not to look at them. They are the only
native race I felt like this to, and I have known
so many — yet I reproach myself that it is so.

Chimborazo towered above us, always beautiful,

74 THE WHIRLWIND OF THE ARENAL

always magnificent. Often as I saw it, it never
once was veiled in clouds, but always particularly
clear; yet for months sometimes it and its other
great neighbours are invisible through their cloud
mantle. Yet all unveiled for me, for I always had
exceptionally clear views of them. As we rode over
the Great Arenal, the great plain at its foot, I was
struck by the strange procession of dust whirlwinds
travelling across the country in battalions at a great
pace towards Chimborazo. It is really an extra-
ordinary sight, and why it should always take place
at this particular spot is a mystery. One saw the
dust, or probably it is sand and dust, eddying
about, being caught up and in no time whirled
round into a great and high, most compact pillar
perhaps 100 feet high, which then advanced with
others across the country. The more compact, the
greater the height and the pace. One passed
across the road directly in front of me, I reining
up to let it go, and at such a terrific pace, that
when it struck a shepherd, his sheep, and donkey,
it turned them all over instantly, and probably
would have done the same for me and my horse
had it struck us.

Looking at the snow-cap and great glaciers of
Chimborazo— the top of which by the lowest given
height is 20,498 feet above the sea^ — I could recognise
every part distinctly from the photographs in Mr
Edward Whymper's book. One imagined you
could see a pin on it, it was so clear. Strange
that for long people said there were no glaciers
on it, when they are strikingly visible, the blue and
green of the ice quite conspicuous under its snow
covering. Humboldt thought this was the greatest

THE GRANDEUR OF CHIMBORAZO 75

mountain and highest summit on earth, but we
know now that is not so. Yet it is a very grand
mountain. The actual mountain itself covers an
amount of ground equal to or greater than some
of the principal ranges of the Alps. At a height
above 9000 feet from S.E. to N.W. it is 30 miles
across ; whilst above 14,000 feet from Abraspungo
to the Grand Arenal it is 10 miles. Beyond it is
Carihuairazo, 16,600 feet, the northern slopes of
which extend to Ambato. It was in 1879-80 that
Whymper made his two ascents of Chimborazo.
How little has changed in this country since he
wrote about it. Chimborazo is the highest of the
Ecuadoran Andes, and slopes all the way down to
Eiobamba, beyond which rises Altar (17,730 feet),
the fifth highest mountain in Ecuador, and all
around rise in parallel lines the other great snow-
capped peaks of the Andes.

After a time we ascended over the shoulder of
Chimborazo, saw vestiges of the famous camelones,
which are deep furrows across the roads full of
mud and water ascending stair-wise. Mr Mallet
at Panama had shown me paintings of these
i-amelones, but this was on another road no longer
used now.

On the shoulder of Chimborazo we drew rein
at the famous or rather infamous Tambo of Chiqui-
poquio, which stands at a height of 11,704 feet,
and is about 25 miles from Ambato. It is a guest-
house— the only one on a long stretch of road —
and consists of a thatched barn, with one or two
other hovels beside it, enclosed in front by a wall
and gateway. It was here that Mr Whymper met
with his absurd experience at the hands of its

76 THE MARQUIS OF CHIMBORAZO

proprietor, Senor Chiriboga, the head of an old
Eucadoran family and Marquis of Chimborazo.
As I here in Quito have met the present owner
of Chimborazo, I presume he is the son of Mr
Whymper's friend, though I did not think it was
the same name. It is a mere roof to shelter
arrieros, but everyone has to use it as there is no
other place. It is exactly now as it was more
than twenty- five years ago ! Is it not an extra-
ordinary country, where no one has enterprise
enough to open a good guest-house on this great
road ? Doceteo, after an inspection, shook his
head, and as I had no fancy for refreshment —
could it have been had, which was doubtful — in
this hovel, we rode on, ascending the bleak, desolate
road round Chimborazo. Soon we struck the
famous paved road built by Garcia Moreno, the
president who was murdered. It is very broad
and wearisomely long, paved with round cobble
stones, which make it a penance for man and
beast. Everyone avoids it — there are miles of it,
and for over two miles it is perfectly straight —
and makes paths for themselves on the level ground
alongside it. If they would only break these cobble
stones into metal and crush it down it would be a
fine road. Here, though, it is all bare, bleak, and
desolate.

I was thankful when we got over the worst of
this and beginning to descend struck a dilapidated
village. The day was wearing on, but our sorry
steeds, poor, useless, and jaded things, would not
be hurried.

The country now became better, yet the heat
and dust were trying. We met, too, very few

THE VILLAGE OF MOCHA 77

people this part of the day. We left the road by
a path which led us by very steep descending ways
to a narrow river, the sight of which was welcome.
In a pool of this river an Indian woman was wash-
ing herself vigorously, and yes — really — was actually
washing her hair too ! It must have been some
great event of her life, some great day of joy —
her husband's funeral day, perhaps. From the
river we toiled up steep winding paths to the old
village of Mocha, which is a really pretty place
with blooming hedges and plantations of eucalyptus.
The coach road does not come near Mocha now, so
that it is not visited save by the arrieros. It is,
in its way, a charming spot, and there are lovely
views of the mountains all around. I saw no signs
of the Ynca ruins of which Cieza de Leon speaks
of as to "endure for ever." The village itself is
small and without interest, though we supplied
the interest this day. A Gringo all to themselves
was something for Mocha. "We alighted in the
dirty little patio of a dirty little inn about four
o'clock ; and all glad of the rest. Green fodder
was spread for the horses, and Doceteo and the
patrona engaged in a voluble conversation as to
refreshments, which we all needed. I had had
nothing all day but the cup of bad coffee at Colta.
Here we got a cup of coffee and some boiled eggs,
and the rest in the shade was most welcome.

Leaving Mocha, we rode on by winding and
descending roads through pretty country; but it
soon became dark, and much as I like driving or
riding in the dark, I was as jaded as my horse,
and as I was always far ahead of Doceteo and the
Indian, I had over and over again to make long

78 WE ARRIVE AT AMBATO

waits for them lest I took a wrong turning, as
here were some lanes branching from the road.

In the dark I was joined by a cahaUero on a
prancing white stalHon, who, discovering I was a
Gringo, and unable to make much way with Spanish
conversation or reply to all his questions, went to
Doceteo for information. This swell— intent on
showing off even in the dark — would suddenly
appear and circle round me and disappear again.
I imagine he wished to cheer me on the way, but
he only annoyed me. I saw some queer sights
indeed in that solitary, dark ride, especially as we
approached Ambato, and dark figures of Indians
were dimly seen by the roadside. The Indian and
Doceteo joined me, even the pack-horse brightening
up, and we rode down by steep ways to the welcome
lights of Ambato, and at last rode into the patio of
the Hotel Guyas about seven o'clock.

The coach people had of course arrived long
before me, had taken all the good rooms, and had
retired to bed. The hotel was a dirty, one-storied
place with two small patios, one of which was a
miniature garden, and each surrounded by a
verandah into which the rooms opened. No one
appeared at first, until at last the patrona — an old
lady of shrill and voluble tongue — and two Indian
boys strolled leisurely forth. One of these boys
was about fifteen and the other looked ten, but I
afterwards learnt was really fourteen, and had
been married three days previously to a woman
aged thirty, against his will ! These two boys ran
the hotel. The old woman left me to their tender
mercies.

I discovered there was a small room. It had

VAIN APPEALS FOR HOT WATER 79

a bed, a table, a chair, an iron washstand, and in
one corner a child's cot. I inquired for my baggage
which ought to have come by the coach, and which
Mr Wheeler, the Englishman, had promised to see
safely landed in the hotel. They knew nothing of
it. So I went to Wheeler's room, found him
entertaining Ambato friends there, and asked him
where it was.

"Oh," he said, "it was heavy, so we handed it
over to a mule- man on the road. I daresay it will
come to-night, or to-morrow, or sometime ! " They
knew I had paid a sovereign to the coach-driver,
and I found out afterwards that the minute they
were out of sight of me they had handed it over to
an arriero. My first idea was to wash. I had
soap in my pocket. I called for a towel and for
Avater. For half an hour the patio was filled with
my angry demands for hot and cold water. They
did not want to bring it. I could not get the hot
till to-morrow — the eternal manana. Then Doceteo
came, and, pointing to the child's cot, intimated he
wanted to sleep there. "I very quiet," he pleaded
in English, I only then learning that he knew any
at all ! He knew very little, but that little would
have been most useful on our long ride. This made
me very cross. I would not hear of his sleeping in
my room — and how he meant to double up in that
cot I know not — and drove him forth ; but I have
since learnt that it is the custom for the Indian
servants to sleep in a corner of their master's room,
and that poor Doceteo, who had attached himself
to me for the time being, was much hurt at my
refusal. I expect, too, he had to roll himself in his
poncho and sleep in the chilly verandah.

80 A WELCOME NIGGER

A meal was got ready, at which Doceteo and
two local men joined me. It began with the
inevitable potato soup floating in yellow grease,
went through the usual garlic- covered " beef-
steaks " to dessert, which is invariably another plate
of potato soup in red grease ! How nasty Spanish
cooking is ! Doceteo, however, got me some eggs,
and we revelled in bottles of ginger ale ! During
this meal a West Indian nigger who spoke English
came in, and told me he was driver of the " Rapide "
coach going on to Quito in the morning, and that
as seats had already been engaged by others in
Ambato there was none for me. As I was entitled
to a seat before anyone in Ambato, this annoyed
me, and I produced a letter I had to the coach
agent, in which he was requested to do everything
for me and attend to my comfort, and bade the
nigger give it to him and say I must go in the
morning. He came back and said the agent was
very sorry — placed himself, with his ox, his ass, and
all that was his, at my disposal — but a seat I could
not have.

The nigger then advised me to wait over two days
in Ambato, when I would get the public omnibus
to Latacunga, stay there a night and go on by it to
Quito the next day, and though it took much
longer, he assured me it was much more comfort-
able than the "Rapide." This I agreed to do, not
sorry for the rest. This West Indian nigger was a
gentleman compared to most of the people I saw
from Colta to Quito, and bestirred himself on my
behalf with the old patroiiay lecturing her as to
what was necessary ; and how welcome was his
ready "Yes, sah ! Yes, sah ! "

A PUBLIC BATH 81

Then a procession appeared — a very pleased and
smiling procession — of Doceteo, the nigger, the
two Indian boys, an arriero, and my suit-case and
rugs ! How happy I was to get to bed all by
myself in a little room ; to spread the warm tartan
of my name and clan over me, and to sink into a
real genuine sleep, from which I did not wake till
late in the morning ! What glory, what happiness
to sleep all night ! Who knows, who can imagine
what it means, save those poor victims of insomnia
like myself?

When I at last emerged pyjama-clad on to the
verandah in the morning, the coach people were
already gone. Doceteo and the boys came up
beaming. Now I had sponge and soap and clean
things to put on, and wash I would ! After
immense trouble, both hot and cold water were
brought in relays and poured into the tin basin on
the floor, and with the aid of a sponge I proceeded
to have a bath of sorts. More, more water for a
cold douche, I cried ; and, screaming with laughter,
the old patroha, the boys, Doceteo, my own
Indian, and some mules all came to assist, the
thirsty animals lapping up the soapy water as it
flooded the verandah. So much water they had
never seen used before, and so great a joke was it
that even when I was dressed the old patrona kept
running with more. Other arrieros too came in
and assisted, and relays of water in small tins were
handed across the patio. It was a public bath
but I did not care, as it was such a blessed thing
to feel clean and fresh again. The chatter and
excitement showed it was quite an event.

I paid ofi* my Indian and sent him back with

82 THE AMIABLE PEOPLE OF AMBATO

the horses, with strict injunctions to deliver the
borrowed saddle to Mr Grau at Colta ; and as he
was a good old thing I paid him what was far too
much, though I had been told if I did so he would
get drunk, and he, the horses, and the saddle never
turn up again. But I knew he would, and he
departed beaming. (He turned up at Colta in
good time, and restored the saddle all right.)

I had now a whole day before me, had plenty
of time to explore Ambato, and a dirty hole I
found it. It is 8608 feet above the sea, and has
10,000 inhabitants. The churches were picturesque,
and there were some old buildings and the usual
play of light and shadow with the brilliant colours
of the ponchos everywhere. It was market-day,
and the two plazas were crammed with thousands
of Indians. I strolled about with my kodak,
followed a good part of the time by the hotel
boys, who discoursed largely about me, shoved
the people aside so as not to be in the way of
my camera, and I could hear nothing but "the
Gringo" and "hot and cold water." Groups of
people collected to stare and laugh at me, a Gringo
to themselves was an amusement. Many people
came up to speak to me and went smiling away
when our conversation wouldn't go, my Spanish
being most original. But all this was in good
humour and not meant to be rude ; on the contrary,
whatever the boys and Doceteo had said, the result
was to make everyone amiable to me. Doceteo
increased his own importance by blowing my
trumpet, I am afraid, and retailed afterwards that
they thought I must be a great cahallero, because
I made everyone wait on me and do just what I

DOCETEO TAKES CARE OF ME 83

pleased ! Doceteo also said afterwards that it was
scandalous how everyone had cheated the Gringo
on the way up. The cheating, however, did not
amount to much, and foreigners always expect to
be cheated in money matters when travelling.
At the meals in the hotel other people were
present, residents I suppose, and also Doceteo, a
gentleman at large for the time being. He looked
after me as best he could, and at meals worried the
establishment to provide eggs and so on for me.
He led the conversation at table, and was quite
a personage. I had offered him a tip for his
trouble, and he had flushed up, refused it, and had
been quite offended. After that I treated him
as a friend, and he swelled with pleased importance,
and poor Doceteo was quite devoted to me. He
explained to me that his master had given him
plenty of money for his expenses to Quito, and
he noted down everything in a little book. He
intimated that he meant to take care of me till
we got to Quito. A little judicious flattery on
my part about his English gave him courage to
produce more of it.

Then he came in great grief and said he had
been to the coach-office and there was no seat for
him the following day. An American — detained
also for lack of room on the coach — then appeared
and went with me to the coach- office, where we
saw the agent to whose good offices I had been
recommended, and after much argument and talk
it was arranged that both I and Doceteo would go
on next day. I pointed out that my seat had
been paid for from Colta, that I had never had it,
had had to hire horses, and that I had all the extra

84 THE WATER OF AMBATO

expense of waiting in Ambato. He shrugged his
shoulders indifferently. Then I told him I would
wire to Guayaquil about it, and the instant I
arrived in Quito I would have the coach company
sued for all this extra expense and delay — instantly
he turned round and became flatteringly polite,
regretted he could not speak English and show
me round, etc., etc. What he needed was a good
thrashing, but I was not up in Ecuadoran ways
and did not know that that was a usual thing
to do !

Standing at the door of the hotel I learnt
where the water of Ambato came from. Down
the centre of the sloping street ran an open
ditch or drain of running water into which I saw
garbage of every description thrown ; saw it used
as a public latrine by the Indian men and women,
and whilst they so used it saw the hotel people
come out and take water from it. Anything more
loathsome and shameless there could not be. I
had never touched water since landing at Guaya-
quil, and needless to say made up my mind to
avoid it for the future. (I never touched water
once in South America, and it is partly owing to
this, I am sure, that I went unharmed through all
the various epidemics of illness raging everywhere ;
and also in all these insanitary places I smoked
cigarettes incessantly, as they are one of the safest
protections I know. Microbes abhor them !)

It is quite impossible to describe the filthy
ways and habits of not only the Indians but also
of many of the so-called "whites." Once for all
I will say, that a sight that meets your eye all
over Ecuador (and in many other parts of South

PLEASING CUSTOMS 86

America) is the picking of lice from each other's
heads and crunching them between the teeth. In
these inland towns you see it at every doorway and
in every street. Garcilasso de la Vega tells us
that when the Ynca king conquered Quito he found
the people " very vile and dirty, badly dressed, and
full of lice " ; and on those in the province of Pastu
he "imposed a tribute of lice, lest they should die
from being devoured by them " — it being they who
now do the devouring. The Tribute of Lice was
paid in points of cane full of them.

Don Ludovico Soderstrom told me a story of
Ambato which occurs to me here. Many years
before this he and a friend were at the Hotel
Guyas, and after they had left and had journeyed
60 miles, the friend suddenly discovered he had left
all his money in a bag behind him. It had been
under the pillow in his bed, and he had forgotten
it. Of course it was useless to think of ever
recovering it. A month later he was back in
Ambato, had the same room, and discovered the
bag of money still under the pillow ! The bed had
never been touched since he left it ! I can well,
well believe this. All sanitary arrangements are
non-existent. If by chance there are any, it is
always beside the kitchen. This is a custom of
Spanish origin. All this is the chief feature of
South American countries, cannot be ignored, and
is best mentioned as an illustration of what life
here really is.

During the day all the hotel work went astray,
and the shrill voice of the patrona never ceased
its revilings ; and I was the cause, for I exercised
quite a fascination over the two boys who ran the

86 AN AUTHOR^S BEST WORKS

establishment, and everyone and everything was
neglected for me. The contents of my suit-case,
its silver fittings, leather- covered bottles and the
like, entranced them. There was the fine roll of
soft leather bound with ribbon and fitted for
holding bottles, a most useful article, as nothing
in it ever got broken — despite mule-back riding
— and greatly prized by me as the work of the
hands and the outcome of the kindly good-nature
and interest of dear Mrs "L. B. Walford," the
authoress of Nan and Trouhlesome Daughters.
(Her best work, and they are not troublesome at
all, but charmingly frank and merry young ladies.
An author's best works are not always those
known to the public, and I agree with Charles
Godfrey Leland when he said Mark Twain's best
works were those bound in silk and muslin — the
three Miss Clemens.)

Mark Twain — how he could write of this
country and its ways. It seems but the other
day since I was drinking tea with him and one
of his " best works " in the huge and gorgeous
yellow satin salon of his Florentine villa — and here
to-day I am in the capital of Ecuador, under the
equator.

Well, when the youthful and reluctant bride-
groom of fourteen — a most merry, impudent youth
— and his not so pleasing coadjutor and shadow
were done with examining my belongings, they
insisted on conducting me somewhere, and ushered
me with great pride into the salon of the hotel —
quite a good-sized room looking on to the street.
It was tolerably furnished with gaudy furniture,
the usual rocking-chairs, and a piano modestly

A "MUSICAL^' PERFORMANCE 87

dressed in green baize. The baize skirts were
lifted, the piano opened with a flourish, and I was
entreated to perform. Now everyone who knows
me knows what a wonderful musician I am — an
exponent of the music which no doubt will be
appreciated in far, future ages, since it is not in
this. With malicious thoughts of the pain I had
inflicted on others, I yielded to their entreaties and
sat down on the music stool. Off came the top
and so did I. Having picked me up, dusted me,
and "kissed the place to make it well," they again
entreated. I threw my hat on a gilt console table,
and it at once collapsed, being only propped against
the wall. To recover from the dismay caused by
this accident I plumped down on the sofa, and at
once there was a rending and a crashing, and down
came that — I do not exaggerate at all. I learnt
later that most Ecuadoran furniture, especially if
assertive in appearance, is for ornament and not
use, is propped up against the wall for show and
must be gingerly approached. The cane rocking-
chairs which occupy the middle of the room in a
circle are alone for use.

I know there is some great charm in my music,
whatever so-called friends may say to the contrary.
Don't I remember years ago, in Mrs M'Nulty's hotel
at Thursday Island in Torres Straits, how I sat and
played "The Wearing of the Green," and how the
door opened and the Irish banker appeared and
with tears in his eyes said, " Oh ! don't play that — I
cannot — I cannot stand it ! " Of course you may
say he meant it in a way I did not take it, but that
is mere ill-natured spite.

I went through my f^epertoir^e — the boys were

88 A FIESTA FOR AMBATO

delighted. Flattered and encouraged, I broke into
song — it enraptured them. What did I not sing —
plaintive wails of Tosti — '* Won't you come home,
Bill Bailey " — '* Sam-ee, my little Sam-ee," with my
own words made up as I went along, and many
more choice things. The patrona stormed and
raved, stood listening, then burst out laughing;
Doceteo regarded me with astonished admiration
(any way that is how I interpreted his expression),
and half Ambato filled the patio! This concert
was a great success — the boys went '' Sam-ee, my
little Sam-ee-ing " all over the place, and considered
the day to be a flesta and no work to be done.
The patrona was half-angry, half-amused, and
whilst she stormed at them laughed at me, but ran
after me discoursing volubly in Quichua, and
always ending by being overcome with amusement.
Perro ladrador nunca huen mordedor. (A barking
dog is never a good biter.) I could not go out but
the boys darted after me, and called attention to the
Gringo and related something to the bystanders. I
explored Ambato thoroughly, and amused myself
very well.

On the following morning, Doceteo and I betook
ourselves to the coach -office accompanied by quite
a body of friends, including the bridegroom and his
shadow. The latter was a scamp, and when the
American and I were having a drink the night
before, attempted to cheat in giving back change,
and was not at all ashamed when the American
seized him, opened his left hand, and found in it
the money he had vowed he had returned. Whilst
waiting for the coach to start, my doings and
sayings were retailed to the crowd, who all dis-

WE LEAVE FOR LATACUNGA 89

cussed me with interest, examined my belongings,
asked and spelt out my name, and questioned
Doceteo about me. The next excitement was
when I persisted in taking a seat outside on the
coach instead of the higher-priced one to which I
was entitled inside. No one could understand that
I would gladly have paid double to sit in fresh air,
instead of in the hermetically sealed interior with
the very uninviting other passengers. Strangers
tried to explain to me that my seat was inside —
but at last they understood. It was all quite
kindly meant, and we departed waving adieux to
the whole crowd, Doceteo, I, and an old German
occupying the seat behind the driver and whip-boy.
It was certainly a much more comfortable coach
than the "Rapide," and my belongings were on
the roof ; and I was really fortunate in my mis-
fortunes, and saw more than if I had got my
original and rightful seat in the " Eapide."

We left Ambato at twelve o'clock, and arrived at
Latacunga in time for dinner in the evening, so that
it was a short journey. It was hot and dusty, of
course, but I enjoyed the drive. The old German
beside me was very talkative. He had been thirty
years at Guayaquil, and was now taking his first
holiday and paying his first visit to Quito. He had
been nowhere in the interior, and all was as new to
him as to me. The views of the many mountains
were magnificent and all most clear, and Cotopaxi
—great, wonderful, beautiful Cotopaxi — more than
answered all my expectations, and was in full
eruption, belching forth an enormous cloud of
smoke and steam. How I had looked forward to
seeing it, and how grand it was when I did see it !

90 HIGHEST VOLCANO IN THE WORLD

I have seen Vesuvius, Etna, Stromboli, Hecla in
Iceland, wonderful volcanoes in New Guinea and
elsewhere — but Cotopaxi excels them all in beauty.
It perhaps is not so beautiful as divine Fujijama in
Japan — but then Fuji is unique — but it appealed to
me greatly. Its form, its perfect cone, is splendid ;
it wore its snow-cap well, and was no tame, barely
living mountain, but instead was in such full activity
that any attempt to ascend it was out of the
question. It is the highest active volcano in the
world, is 19,618 feet high, and the second highest
mountain of the Ecuadoran Andes. The cone
alone is 6000 feet high, and when Whymper
ascended it in 1880 the crater was 2300 feet by
1650, and the bottom of it lay 1200 feet below the
edge of the crater. It is in a state of perpetual
activity, and has never been known to be otherwise.
There have been many disastrous eruptions, and the
last great one took place in 1877, when a deluge of
water, blocks of ice, mud and rocks erupted, rushed
down over the whole country, in places at the rate
of 50 miles an hour. The flood going north to
Esmeralda went at 17 miles an hour. The crater
bubbled over with lava, and the flood poured forth
in every direction. Blocks of ice, part of the
glacier, were borne a great distance, remained for
months, and when they did melt left hillocks of
rubbish 4 feet in height. Towards Latacunga the
flood destroyed road, houses, bridges, and overtook
and destroyed many arrieros with their animals.
The traces of it are everywhere visible now. It is
30 miles S.E. of Quito, and is visible from the
garden of the Consulate here where I am writing.
In 1797 there was a great earthquake which

THE MOUNTAINS UNVEIL 91

destroyed 40,000 people in Quito alone ; but the
country has had many upheavals ; in 1868 whole
towns and villages and 50,000 people were
destroyed and perished, in the Cotocachi and
Imbabura districts in the north ; also in 1896 was
another great earthquake.

When I could take my eyes from Cotopaxi it
was only to rest them on the quiescent dome of
Chimborazo or the snowy peak of lUiniza. The
latter for many months is never visible, yet I
always saw it perfectly, and my luck in this matter
was wonderful. Cotopaxi too, often invisible, was
always particularly clear. It has been ascended
frequently, and in the actual ascent is no great
difficulty ; but it means camping at the mountain
for some time, as there is no place near it to stay at.
Then, should the wind change, the amount of steam
and smoke is impossible to face.

No one could travel through these great
mountains and think of the discomforts of the way.
We had little incidents^ — the changing of the mules
— a quarrel between the driver and the whipman.
There is always a youth to wield the whip and
throw stones at the mules.

The evening light was lovely as we drove into
Latacunga, which is 9141 feet high and has 15,000
inhabitants.

The hotel situated in the inevitable plaza was
two-storied, with the usual patio, and was distinctly
better than the Ambato one. My room was toler-
able and airy. Doceteo and I dined together at a
little table in the dining-room, where actually a
few signs of civilisation were apparent, such as
vases of flowers on the tables. When I paid my

92 INDISCREET COTOPAXIAN REVELATIONS

bill at night, Doceteo was most indignant because
they charged me double what they did him.

The coach from Quito had come in, and an
Englishman who arrived by it — a Mr Eoberts, a
commercial traveller^ — introduced himself to me,
told me I had been expected for three weeks at
Quito, and that Don Ludovico Soderstrom, the
British Consul, had rooms ready for me at the
Consulate. I knew letters and telegrams concern-
ing me had been flying about, but I had had no
personal communication with the consul, and had
intended going to the hotel. Mr Roberts assured
me that would never do ; and he had promised to
wire to Quito if he came across me on his way
down, which he promptly did.

All the youths of Latacunga were drilling in
the plaza for war with Peru — a war always about
to take place. Chili and Ecuador are friends, but
Peru and Ecuador hate each other. The plaza
itself is of some size, surrounded by the cathedral,
the hotel, and the public buildings, all having a
good eff'ect; and above it towered the cone of
Cotopaxi. Latacunga is always in danger from
Cotopaxi. The evening was superb ; the most
lovely rosy light flooded the town and the great
mountain. As I stood at the hotel door watching
Cotopaxi clearly defined with its snow-cap against
the beauty of the rose-tinted sky, the smoke or
steam which was pouring forth in a dark cloud
assumed a strange form. It elongated out into a
long neck, and gradually the great mass at the
end, towering many thousands of feet into the sky,
perhaps over 20,000 feet, assumed the shape of
a strong likeness to Gladstone ; this gradually

THE AVENUE OF VOLCANOES 93

changed into the head of a satyr, and from that
into the head of a donkey ! I am sorry, but this
is literally true, and it was a curious sight.

I slept tolerably well that night in a passably
clean room. At 5 a.m., after a cup of coflPee, we
left Latacunga, in the omnibus with its four mules
as before, and in addition to Doceteo, the old
German, and I on the outside seat, we had an
old Indian woman with a terrible goUre sitting
amongst the baggage on the roof. Unluckily, I
happened to arrange the things more comfortably
for her, and this making her grateful, and she
regarding me as a friend — for they treat the
Indians as mere beasts — she would creep near my
back, and at every jolt of the coach that terrible
goUre bumped against me, and her near presence
was not pleasant otherwise, but had to be borne.
It was intensely cold in the early morning, and my
tartan rug over our knees was most necessary.
When we came to the bridge on leaving the town,
we had to alight and walk over it, as it is not safe.

As we drove on in the early morning light
through the grand avenue of volcanoes — for
volcanoes living and dead are marshalled there
in magnificent array — the scene was wonderfully
beautiful. On the right, Cotopaxi stood out clearly,
with its cone and steam-clouds tinted in lovely
colours ; and straight ahead rose Illiniza (17,400
feet), its lower slopes veiled in mystic gloom and
only its snow-cap sailing high and alone in the sky.
The Indians on the straight road were purple and
rose-coloured, and lovely lights were everywhere.
As the sun rose and the day broke into clear light,
the glory faded, but each mountain stood out in

94 THIRTY FAMOUS MOUNTAINS

vivid relief, every inch most clearly visible. The
glaciers of Cotopaxi were discoloured by ash and
smoke, but the great glaciers and ice-cHffs of
Chimborazo were vividly green and blue, with a
hood of dazzling white. It is seldom they are
seen like this.

I do not know the names of all we saw this
day, but during the journey to Quito, besides
Chimborazo, Cotopaxi, and Illiniza, we saw clearly
Cayambe (19,186 feet), Antisana (19,335 feet),
Altar (17,730 feet), Sangay, Tunguragua, Cari-
huairazo, Sincholagua, Cotocachi, Corazon, Sara-
urcu, Pichincha, and others, the lowest of which
was over 14,000 feet above the sea. Most, or I
presume all, are of volcanic origin, and some are
active. Thirty famous mountains met our view.
Yet, as we looked at them from a considerable
height, they did not seem so high, and I could not
help thinking that even — compared to these — the
baby mountains of the Scottish Highlands looked
as grand as these and as formidable. But after
seeing much of the world, I consider the Scottish
Highlands perhaps the most beautiful country I
know — few equal it in richness of colour or chang-
ing variety.

The dust and heat were intolerable, and the
rug was invaluable. We had also to cover up our
faces with silk handkerchiefs. The frequent chang-
ing of mules was very tedious. They were never
ready and waiting for us, for no one is in a hurry —
it is indeed the Land of To-morrow. One place
we drew up at there was not a house in sight, nor
a mule in the corral by the wayside. After waiting
half an hour the mules were seen being driven

MULES UNDERSTAND GOOD ENGLISH 95

leisurely across the plain. Then another half-hour
went by ere we started. One mule was very
obstreperous ; it kicked, plunged, bit, and did
everything an obstinate mule can do, and that is
much. I had returned to my seat on the coach.
The whipman sat there idly cracking the whip,
whilst the driver laboured hopelessly with the
obstinate mule. At last my patience was exhausted,
and I broke out into a torrent of good old English

d ns ! The effect was splendid. The bystanders

cried " Ingles ! Ingles ! " the mule stopped its
tricks, turned round on me with an astonished
stare, and then allowed itself to be harnessed up
like a lamb ; the whip-boy jumped down to assist,
and all was well. Everyone laughed, and we
started in a refreshed humour.

Two much beflowered, befeathered, and be-
painted ladies had preceded us in a private coach,
and here they left it for two waiting palfreys which
were here to meet them in charge of two smart
young cahalleros. One horse had a pale pink velvet
saddle much decorated with silver, and the other
saddle was pale blue — both much the worse for
wear. They were all deeply interested in me, and
stared me out of countenance, going from one side
of the coach to the other to do so. They departed
apparently across country to some hacienda, after all
saluting me, whilst they ignored the others. I
suppose at Latacunga or somewhere they had
heard of the Gringo who was travelling "for
pleasure," and thought me a curiosity.

As we neared Quito the country became more
populated with many haciendas, Indian adobe huts,
and the eucalyptus tree everywhere. The planting

96 MY WELCOME AT THE CONSULATE

of this tree, which suits the landscape admirably,
must have quite changed the aspect of the country.
We breakfasted at San Aiia on the way, a miserable
place, and also stopped at Machachi for refresh-
ment. At one place a terrible-looking old Indian
with long claws and a distorted body bent in two
tottered up begging. When I gave him something,
he grabbed it from my hand like a wild beast and
ambled off in haste. They told me he was one
hundred and twenty years old — one said one
hundred and forty — he was scarcely like a human
being. Death seemed to have forgotten him^ —
what can it mean, that he should be destined to
go on apparently living for ever this miserable
existence? Undoubtedly he was of a very great
age, you could see that at a glance.

At five o'clock we drove into Quito, and at the
coach-office I found Mr Wheeler with Don Ludovico
Soderstrom, the consul, and others awaiting my
arrival, all in frock-coats, high hats, and gloves^ —
and a nice dusty, dirty object I was to alight amidst
all these much-dressed, over-dressed people of
Quito. I was taken off at once to the Consulate,
and the minute I entered the door Don Ludovico
turned round and presented me with a Quito
walking-stick carved with figures of the Quito
Indians, the arms of Ecuador, the arms of Great
Britain, and my own monogram! It was there
ready Avaiting for me, and I prize it very much,
and feel honoured that in common with the British
ministers in South America, I am the possessor of
this souvenir of the consul's kindness.

We dined at Carpentier's Restaurant in the
town, and various people were introduced to me ;

A LACK OF UNPLEASANT ADVENTURES 97

but I was very glad to have arrived at last and to
get to bed. It was only on arriving at Quito that
I discovered that all my doings, and worse, my
sayings, since leaving Guayaquil had preceded me,
were known and discussed, and I met them all
face to face ! This taught me to be more discreet
for the future, especially as regards remarks about
the railway. But, as they say here, " Oir, ver y
callar' recias cosas son de ohr'ar" — "To see, hear,
and be silent are difficult things to do." I had
been expected for weeks, and all Quito awaited my
arrival — so few are the real strangers who come
here. I had had no idea of this, and was some-
what taken aback. It is possible to have very
unpleasant experiences in Ecuador, and for occa-
sions to arise when you are not particularly safe ;
but I had nothing to complain about, and these
sort of things never happen to me, because I never
think of them. At Guayaquil they said it was
necessary to carry a revolver in case of trouble ;
it may be for certain people, but I found all of them
inclined to be most friendly, and, barring one or
two incidents, both amiable and polite. In fact I
think they took more to me than I did to them,
and my one regret was that I had been so lazy
about learning Spanish that I knew only the
necessary things and could not converse, and of
course knew not a word of the Indian tongue.
They seemed at Quito surprised that I had come
through the journey absolutely unconscious that I
might have had unpleasant adventures — I really
believe some people seek them, or lay themselves
out to be insulted or attacked. I never even

98 A HUMMING-BIRD AND ITS NEST

thought of it. Quien mat no hace en mal no piensa.
(He that does no ill will not think any.)

Quito, Ecuador,
September 1904.

Often and often have I looked at Quito on the
map, and felt I wanted to go there. Four months
ago, had you told me that I should be here now,
I should have said it was impossible.

Yet, here I am in Quito, the ancient Ynca and
Spanish city under the equator, which, as a matter
of fact, is 16 miles north of Quito.

The British Consulate stands high on the north
of the city, and from one of its gardens you have a
view of the Panecillo, a rounded hill which is the
playground of the city, and a view over the whole
town. It contains several garden patios full of
interesting trees, plants, and orchids — and
humming-birds ! Yes, a dear dot of a brilliant
little humming-bird is building its nest above the
garden door of my sitting-room. Don Ludovico
has given me two large comfortable rooms, a bed-
room, and a sitting-room, and loads me with
kindness and attention. I am the first British
stranger guest to stay here, though he must have
had Ecuadoran people. The house is a museum
filled with old furniture, pictures, stuffed birds,
and all sorts of curiosities, for Don Ludovico is a
great and well-known collector ; and if you visit
the British and South Kensington Museums you
will see some of the collections presented by him
— particularly a very fine stuffed Condor of the
Ecuadoran Andes,

DON LUDOVICO SODERSTROM 99

Don Ludovico — as he is called by everyone
throughout Ecuador — is by birth a Swede, and
came to this country forty years ago. He is
known and respected everywhere throughout the
land, and when I have ridden with him in the
country every soul we passed saluted him with
a smile, and in Quito itself he has seen the young
generation grow up and knows everyone. He is
very proud of being British Consul, and in that
capacity is in favour with all. A great event of
his life seems to have been the official visit of Mr
Beauclerk, the British Minister to Peru, who in
his capacity of Consul- General to Ecuador, where
we had no Minister, came some years ago with
Mrs Beauclerk, to Quito. Endless are the tales
I have been told of the endurance and pluck of
Mrs Beauclerk — a daughter of Sir Kobert Hart
of China — on the, at that time, very long and
trying journey to Quito, for my journey was a
tame one compared to what theirs had been. On
one occasion they walked the night through in
dust, mud, and discomfort, and Don Ludovico
assures me that Mrs Beauclerk never complained
once, but had shown unceasing pluck and good
spirits — but she is a famous traveller. She had
written to Don Ludovico from England, long
before my arrival, asking him to look after me —
of which I was not aware — and this is but one of
the many kindnesses I have received at her hands.
Then I am able to talk with Don Ludovico
about the Kammerherr Magnus Lagerberg, the
Cederstroms, and other friends in Sweden known
to him by name.

In the morning I have my coffee in my own

100 MY BAGGAGE ARRIVES

room, the dogs all coming in with it to bid me
good -morning ; then we breakfast and dine at the
restaurant in the town, and I am never allowed to
leave the house without being decorated with a
gorgeous buttonhole, generally a beautiful orchid.
I am afraid I do not always do justice to the
orchid, for I am the worst dressed person in Quito.
How I longed for my baggage to arrive, and what
joy when walking in the street six days after my
arrival, Don Ludovico pointed out to me a mule
laden with my belongings ! I was ready to rain
tips galore on the arrieros, but was not allowed.
They were paid the exact sum agreed on, and I
was horrified at the smallness of the tip bestowed
on them on my behalf, but they ^departed all over
smiles, so it was evidently all right.

I was very lucky in getting my baggage so soon,
for the Brazilian Minister here told me he had
arrived with his family, taken a house, and had
been waiting for nearly two months for all his
effects. I was able to tell him that on the way
up I had noticed many mules laden with his things,
and that they were near at hand. Sometimes
months go by ere things arrive, sometimes they
disappear for ever; but as a rule everything
eventually turns up, for the arrieros are tolerably
honest, and as everything from the coast comes in
this manner, they are strictly dealt with if anything
happens. Don Ludovico told me that the huge
metal shield with the British Consulate arms was
stolen on its way up and never recovered, so that
he had to get another one. Why they should steal it,
and what they would do with such a uselessly con-
spicuous object when stolen, is hard to understand.

QUITONIAN ELEGANCE 101

With all this, it is surprising — and aggravating
too — to find that smart- dressing is the chief
thought of the people of Quito ! The men are
dressed in frock-coats, white waistcoats, pointed
patent leather boots and high hats, the latter made
in Quito. The ladies going to church or about the
streets dress in black, with black mantillas over
their heads and round their faces, giving them a
demure nun-like appearance ; but the same faces
are painted red and white, the brown neck showing
the original tint, and the eyes are by no means
demure. Shops for the sale of perfumes and
cosmetics abound, and you can obtain all the
preparations of Pinaud and other well-known
Parisian houses which cannot be so easily obtained
in London. Everyone is deluged with perfume.
Black is the favourite wear, following the Spanish
custom, and mourning is worn by everyone on
every pretext for very long periods. The ladies,
however, when they don lighter attire, are gorgeous
in the latest Parisian fashion — or what Quito
thinks is the latest — and break out into muslins,
pale blue and pale pink silks, many flowers,
feathers, and the like. Some are good-looking
and many have fine eyes — ^which they naturally
use — but all are too much painted. Even young
girls who might be attractive in the beauty of
youth, spoil themselves by a mask of red and white.
That I have come to Quito for pleasure— merely to
see it — is not believed. I must have some deep
designs, and everyone wants to know if it is
railway or mining business or what.

Unluckily for the first week here, I was very
unwell, and felt unfit for anything. Perhaps the

iO'2 THE ONE HOTEL OF QUITO

altitude of Quito, which affects many newcomers,
affected me, but I do not think so, for I felt none
of the proper symptoms. It was the want of
clean, wholesome food on the way up, and the long,
hot, dusty journeys. I know my inability to under-
take the long exploring journey with Don Ludovico
into northern and almost unknown places, and
which he hoped I would do, is a disappointment to
him, and I am rather a trouble on his hands.

When we go forth in the mornings I lock the
doors of my rooms, Don Ludovico locks his and
then the large outer door, for otherwise the nimble
thief would break through and steal. This I do
not like, and if left to myself I would never do it.
But I am so carefully looked after here that I am
never sure whether I am a state prisoner or a
guileless maiden of sixteen who must be chaperoned
everywhere. The consul never ceases his atten-
tions for my comfort and welfare.

The Stavers are installed in a pink silk and red
plush salon in the "Eoyal Palace Hotel" — the
only one in Quito, and dined us at Carpentier's one
night. This restaurant is poor, and the food — to
my taste anyway — is here, as elsewhere in Ecuador,
horrid. It is sometimes supplemented, however,
by partridges and pigeons brought by Don
Ludovico. There had been hotels — of sorts — in
previous days, but the present only one was opened
last year. Before that, strangers had to engage an
empty room and hire in some furniture, and eat
out. The hotel is a good enough and suitable
building, but already looks dirty and neglected.
It is the eternal servant question — the Indians are
impossible, and seem incapable of learning. Those

WE "KODAK" THE PEOPLE 103

Don Ludovico has, come for the day. The one
who attends to me has to be told each morning
afresh to bring my water, etc. They cannot under-
stand that they must do the same duties daily.
Gorgeous furniture is the fashion, but you must
only look at it, not use it. What is made in Quito
is somewhat rickety — yet there are good wood-
carvers here, and I saw at Riobamba some
beautifully carved wooden figures of Christ and
the Apostles which were made here.

I am frequently about with the Stavers, who
are only visitors to Quito, he having come to
interview the President on the subject of a railway.
We have done some walks together, and used our
kodaks unmercifully on the people. Once Mr
Staver turned his on an old woman in the market-
place who was a particularly savoury or unsavoury
and tattered person, and she screamed loudly and
rushed for cover till it was explained by the laugh-
ing bystanders that she was not going to be shot.
The Stavers managed to pick up a nice and very
cheap old cabinet and several good old silver
articles. There was a splendid old silver basin,
the size of a washing basin, which I did envy them ;
but I do not want to collect anything, as I have
too much baggage as it is.

With Don Ludovico I dined with a Dane, Mr
Morgenstein, long resident in Quito, at the house
of his parents-in-law, an old Quitonian couple of
Spanish origin. His sister-in-law was also there,
Mr Wheeler from Guayaquil, and my countryman
Mr Buttar, the only British resident in Quito at
present. We had a very good dinner, and spent
a very pleasant evening with very kind and hospit-

104 QUITO SOCIETY

able people. The old lady was like a picture by
Murillo, and I greatly regretted when she said
kind things to and about me in Spanish, not to be
able to make the return compliments in pretty
and proper Spanish phrases. She said I was " a
perfect type of an English gentleman," and was
much surprised when I repudiated the compliment,
and said I was not English, but a Scottish High-
lander. This family owns the largest druggist's
store in Quito.

The other Danes resident here whom we have
visited sometimes are Mr and Mrs Vorbeck at the
Victoria Brewery, the beer produced at which
brewery seemed to me to be excellent. Mrs
Vorbeck is a charming young Danish lady, of that
fair, clear-skinned Danish type I so often admired
in Copenhagen. She was so pleased to hear I
knew that bright and cheery capital, and had
visited the Danish possessions of Iceland and the
Faroe Isles, and we had talks about Stockholm,
Copenhagen, the famous Tivoli, Thorwaldsen,
Queen Alexandra, and the future of Scandinavia.
She had been in Behring Straits, had spent two
winters in Greenland^ — and how interested I was
to hear about that life there and her acquaintance
with the Peary family — and little had she ever
expected to be living one day in Quito under the
equator ! I feel quite sorry for this young Danish
lady living so alone, so far from her land and
people, for she has little in common with the
Ecuadoran ladies.

The Vorbecks gave us a delightful dinner, and
I could not help complimenting Mrs Vorbeck on
her beautiful embroidered table linen, her pretty

TENNIS UNDER THE EQUATOR 105

china, and table appointments — such a contrast to
anything I had seen since leaving England — but
she said it was a pleasure to have an excuse for
using her pretty things. They possessed a wonder-
ful solid silver figure of an Ynca, inlaid with bands
of gold and about a foot long. It had been found
by an Indian in a grave and bought by Mr
Vorbeck. It is the finest specimen of these silver
figures I have seen, and is fit only for a museum.

Before I came here I asked if there were no
British subjects in Quito, and was told " there is
one, and he is only a Scotsman." This was Mr
John Buttar. At present he and I represent our
country here, as Mr Wheeler has gone. Mr
Buttar, who is young, was once employed on the
railway, and has now set up in business here buy-
ing, drying, and selling hides. He lives in some
rooms on one side of the town, and on Sundays
the hides are cleared off the drying ground, and
the Foreign Colony of Quito assembles as his
guests for tea and tennis ; and how terrribly energetic
they are over tennis in the broiling vertical sun
at such a height !

Is it not curious to find only two Scotsmen in
this city of 80,000 inhabitants, and they the only
British subjects ? What has become of the enter-
prise of the Briton ? He is an almost unknown
quantity in Ecuador.

The Americans are represented by Mr and Mrs
Hallock, and Mr and Mrs Mayers, and the
Comptons ? The American Minister is away, and
the first-named couples live together in his house
in his absence. Don Ludovico has charge of
American interests for the time being, whereat

106 WE DANCE THE CAKE-WALK

there is great rejoicing, for he is so liked and
respected that they see a better chance of their
wants and desires being attained by him than
through their own minister. The American ladies
wanted Don Ludovico to hoist the Stars and
Stripes at our Consulate on Sundays, but I said I
would haul it down if he did, for our glorious old
rag must float there alone. Mr Hallock is Super-
intendent General of Public Works to the Govern-
ment, and at present has no one under him to
carry out any works he plans ! Mr Mayer is here
on electric light business. Mrs Hallock, a most
cheery, kind, and hospitable lady throws open her
house every Friday evening to the Foreign Colony,
augmented by some of the young Secretaries of
Legation, and we spend pleasant evenings there.
One room is devoted to bridge and in the other
" we frivolous young things " have music, coon
songs all about Caroline who is sleeping by the
long Californian shore — and what she does that
for I always want to know — valses. Sir Roger
de Coverley, and the cake-walk ! It would make
you laugh to see us all doing the cake-walk.
Mrs Staver's presence in Quito makes three
American ladies. There is always great excite-
ment, as each guest is ushered into Mrs Hallock's
salon to prevent them making rash dives for the
ornamental furniture, which is to be admired, not
used. There have been several collapses of rickety
legged chairs amidst general merriment. Mr
Molleno, a pleasant young Chilian and Naval
Attachd to the Chilian Legation is always one of
the party, and very popular. A Chilian Naval
Attache in Quito seems somewhat odd, considering

%, o

Q
<

O
H

THE FOREIGN LEGATIONS 107

that the Ecuadoran Navy at present consists of
one vessel stuck in the mud at Guayaquil. One
evening when we were visiting him at his house,
which has a pretty and interesting garden, he
informed us that he had just heard that he and
twenty others had been made captains — though
why twenty youthful naval officers should suddenly
develop into captains was a mystery to me. Of
course I could not keep my tongue still, and asked,
and he said he had no idea either! He had
always been in Legations, never on a ship !

We paid visits to the various foreign ministers,
and I called on Senor Dillon, whose family I had
seen at Eiobamba. The Colombian Minister, Don
Emiliano Isaza, I did not see, though we exchanged
calls. The Peruvian Minister has a very nice
house, well furnished, with a quite handsome salon
in red damask. He is going shortly to Lima,
where, he said, we should probably meet again.
All these South American Legations are very
important, and their ministers, secretaries, and
attaches might belong to European Embassies, to
hear them talk.

One day we went down to a convent and called on
the nuns. The Mother Superior and some of them
were Canadian. They received Don Ludovico as a
very welcome old friend, and were very amusing
and kind. The Government had been threatening
to turn them out of the convent and take posses-
sion of their property. There is now equality of
religion in Ecuador, though, of course, the Roman
Catholic Church is, and will remain the Church, and
there is no other ; but there is a Liberal Party,
which wishes to overthrow the power of the

108 VISIT TO A CONVENT

Church. The nuns, however, were in great glee
and full of worldly delight at having so far defeated
the Government, and hoped to be victors all along
the line. Whilst we were there Mr Stapleton, an
American or Irish-American, or something — the
Americans say he is not American, and the British
say he is not British — came in. He is a Catholic,
and had given large orders to the nuns for em-
broidered linen — which work they execute beauti-
fully— and they produced it all finished and
ready, and with much merriment the bill also,
which they suggested he should settle on the spot.
They laughed over the long face he pulled when he
read the total of the bill — and it was evident they
were first-rate business women.

Mr Stapleton, a pleasant man, is manager of
the mines and works at Esmeraldas on the Coast,
and gave an interesting description when I saw
him elsewhere afterwards, of that part of the
country.

The " Presidente del Ecuador " is General Don
Leonidas Plaza Gutierrez, whose four years of
office expires next month (November 1904).
He is a young man, not yet forty, and on the whole
his term of office has been a good one and also a
peaceful one. No one seems enthusiastic about
him, but also they are not his enemies — and in
South America you ought to be one or the other.
He has neither, I am told, banished his political
opponents from the country, nor imprisoned those
who are continually plotting against him, and
plots and attempted revolutions are the order of
the day here, as throughout the rest of the Con-
tinent. This surely is a sign of strength and

A MISHAP ON THE WAY TO THE PALACE 109

wisdom. All other presidents as soon as they
come into office revenge themselves on their
enemies and opponents by banishing or imprison-
ing them, and in these South American republics
there is continual political agitation and much
shooting in the streets. Here in the plaza is the
spot where President Moreno was assassinated —
other presidents can view it daily as a gentle
reminder.

When Don Ludovico had arranged a day for

my visit to the President, I imagined we were

going to his private house. Of course we went

high hat and all that, it being de rigueur. The

day being wet, and Don Ludovico discovering that

my umbrella was in holes, a fact I had concealed,

thinking it would not matter, insisted on lending

me his much-prized one with a fine carved ivory

handle, relating to me how many times it had been

lent, lost, and stolen — it was quite a storied article

— and so I felt I must be careful. We set out, and

descending the slippery, wet street I stepped on an

unpaved bit and went straight down on my back.

Endeavouring to pick myself up, I pitched forward

on the open umbrella and it went out just like a

star! Instead of apologising for this mishap,

I somehow was seized with a frivolous mood,

and laughed so much that Don Ludovico had to

join in — when suddenly we were at the Palace

and were ushered into an ante-room, and first

paid a visit to the Minister for Foreign Affairs,

a very smart, well-dressed personage, who was

very civil, and said my audience of His Excellency

the President was arranged. After international

courtesies we went to another ante -room, where

no HIS EXCELLENCY THE PRESIDENT

were various people and some young officers in
uniform, and to one, an A.D.C. I presume, I
handed my hat and after it the dissipated -looking
umbrella which hung down in tatters showing its
indecently bare and broken ribs, and the astonished
expression on the officer's face nearly made me
collapse, and I had not recovered when we were
bowed into a long room, where to my surprise I
found the President and all his ministry assembled
in state round a long table at the end. We made
our bows, the proper presentation took place, and
I was introduced to all the members of the
Government in turn. I was a little taken aback at
this formal state reception, which I had not
expected. Then I suddenly perceived Don Rafael
Elizalde, beaming all over, he being there paying
his first visit to the capital of his country ere going
to Chile to take up his post at the Ecuadoran
Legation at Santiago. He moved to the chair next
mine, he, Don Ludovico, and I sitting facing the
President, who was behind the raised table, with
the others on either side of him. Instantly, Don
Rafael commenced murmuring in my ear, sotto voce,
'* Won't you goom 'om wid me, Beel Bailey?
won't you goom 'om ? " and I nearly expired whilst
trying to ignore it and keep a straight face whilst
the most elaborate compliments and phrases were
being exchanged. On learning of my projected
tour into the northern and almost unknown parts —
which is not now to come off — General Plaza placed
himself, his country, and officials at my disposal, and
I duly returned thanks. He was very pleasant
and civil, and they all were. I, of course, was
charmed with Ecuador, and especially with the

THE PRESIDENT'S AMIABLE GENEROSITY 111

mountains ; and when he asked, did I mean to
ascend Cotopaxi ? I said, yes, if Don Rafael Elizalde
would go with me. This broke the ice, and there
was a general laugh, as that was not in his line.
Then, of course, they wanted to know what I had
come for, and I and Soderstrom endeavoured to
explain I had not come for anything, but merely to
"look-see" — that seemed impossible. Was there
anything he could do for me ? the President asked ;
was there nothing I wanted ? Now, you know, no
one goes to a South American President except
to get some something, a railway or mining conces-
sion or the like, aud you get that by giving the
President something — delicately, of course — shares
in your concession or whatever it is. They have
no use for anyone who wants nothing. At first I
said I wanted nothing, but seeing His Excellency's
eyebrows going up, I hastily asked for Chimborazo !
With a smile and a bow he said it was mine — so
mine it must be. Of course, it belongs to someone
else, but that does not matter, as in any case I have
no room in my portmanteau, and I am not collecting
antiquities. Afraid lest Don Ludovico would
think I was too frivolous, 1 asked him to express
my thanks for the reception in proper form, and to
say how much I was interested in and delighted
with my visit to Quito and Ecuador, which he did
in Spanish, and with many compliments, hand-
shakes, and bows we withdrew. In the ante-room
the smart young A.D.C. handed me back the
umbrella quite gravely, but I made a remark as to
its disreputable appearance and all was right. Don
Rafael Elizalde told me afterwards that they
thought me so very genial — but they didn't know

112 THE LAW-MAKERS OF ECUADOR

the cause of it, and I reproached him for nearly
making me disgrace myself.

We then went into the Congress building, as I
wanted to see what a sitting of Congress was like
and to view the law-makers of Ecuador. It was
not a large chamber, and our entrance turned every
face in our direction, especially as just at that
moment Mr Soderstrom's name was mentioned in
the matter under discussion. Everyone had a look
at the Gringo who wanted nothing — that was a
joke, if you Hke — and Mr Soderstrom chose this
moment for imparting information to me. He is,
though he may not be aware of it, rather deaf, and
did not realise how distinctly he was heard.

''Do you see that man," he said, "sitting so-
and-so — look well at him — that is so-and-so, the
man who murdered Garcia Moreno."

The indicated Senator instantly turned round
and glared at us. Every soul heard ; even if he
had not understood the words, they said the name
Garcia Moreno uttered in his neighbourhood let
him know what was being said ! I thought it time
to clear out, and said so.

One day, with Don Ludovico, I rode out of
Quito by the North Eoad, part of which is pretty,
towards San Antonio, and at a village about 16
miles from Quito we paid a visit to Mr Schmidt,
the German Consul, who had a small villa there.
He was very ill in bed, but seemed pleased to see
visitors. Mrs Schmidt gave us breakfast, to which
Don Ludovico contributed some tinned things he
had brought in his saddle-bags. I took to Frau
Schmidt, who reminded me a little of my dear kind
friend and kinswoman. Her Excellency Frau

UNDER THE EQUATOR 113

Generalin von Wurmb, nee Campbell, of Craignish,
in Germany. Frau Schmidt, though a German,
had been brought up and educated in England. I
truly sympathised with her when she told me she
had been thirty years in Ecuador, and she hated
every minute of those thirty years ! This is a
tragedy — for it seems likely she will have to spend
her whole life here. The men have their business,
and are here for a definite object — but the poor
ladies ! (They left, went to the States, but soon
returned to Ecuador as home !) Breakfast over,
Don Ludovico, who is an ardent sportsman, walked
me all over dusty fields under a blazing sun, intent
on shooting doves, which were plentiful and are
very good eating, but very poor sport. Above
towered the two peaks between which the line of
the equator runs, and which two peaks are borne
on the arms of Ecuador. We went also to a river
where there was a natural mineral bath and spring,
much used by the Indians and others, and supposed
to be of great efiicacy in the cure of many diseases.
Near it were great beds of coal of a sort. It has
been contemplated to exploit both the mineral
spring and the coal-beds, and no doubt some day
much will be made of both. (I suppose this was
the Guallabamba River, and the village may have
been Malchingi or Alchipichi, as we rode down the
great Quebrada of Guallabamba ; Cayambe on the
equator is 19,186 feet, and Moganda N.W. of it is
14,088 feet — a very large mountain. North of
these, Cotocachi and Imbabura, over 16,000 and
15,000 feet respectively. East of Cayambe and
Sara-Urea, 15,502 feet, the country, all mountainous,
is unexplored.)

114 THE WILD INDIANS

There is much fine country north of this, into
unexplored parts. Don Ludovico was full of
information, talked incessantly as we rode back
to Quito, but a good deal was lost on me whilst
he paced gaily and gallantly ahead — like a knight
of old, in his flowing poncho and mounted on his
pacing stallion — I was always behind him, for I
did not pace proudly and gallantly, as my horse,
a black stallion, most kindly lent to me by Mrs
Hallock, would not pace properly and needed much
spurring on. As Mrs Hallock thought much of
her black stallion, and said that with her it paced
well, I expect it was owing to my not understand-
ing the way to keep it to its best in the pacing line
that it kept continually breaking into a heavy trot,
which bored me. A good pacing horse has a very
fine action, and it and its sombrero-crowned, flow-
ing poncho-clad rider, with his bridle and saddle
ornamented with silver, make quite an imposing
and old-world eff'ect. Not a soul could we pass —
Indian or Ecuadoran — but every hat was doffed,
every face smiled, and everyone passed Buenos
Dias with Don Ludovico. Not only the Indian
men, but also the women take off" their hats — and
it did seem odd to see an old hag raise her hat to
you.

In Quito and its neighbourhood specimens were
often seen of pure-blooded Indians of the wild,
uncivilised tribes unconquered even by the Spaniards
— those who dwell in the Oriente or in remote
wilds towards the sources of the Amazon, and
occasionally come to Quito. They are supposed
to be much superior in every way to the Mestizos^
or those with a drop of Spanish blood in them ;

THE CONSUT.^S FOREIGN CEMETERY 115

but I cannot say they impressed me favourably,
and the more I saw of Indians the greater became
my feeling of repulsion towards them, and yet I
am usually in such sympathy with all native races.
I thought of my splendid Papuans in New Guinea,
savage cannibals though they be, who have killed
and even eaten many of the people I knew there,
but who yet were such stately gentlemen in so
many ways, and so physically superb. How
superior they seemed to these wild-looking, strange
Indians.

With the consul I traversed all the streets and
lanes of Quito, and what lanes ! I smoked vigor-
ously and stepped gingerly, as I thought of the old
Scottish proverb, "A ganging foot is aye getting,"
and what in God's name might I not be getting
there. I spent a whole afternoon with him in the
Foreign Cemetery, a pet hobby of his and supported
entirely by him. For some reason or other, we
gained it by scaling a high wall and descending by
a ladder. It is a quaint spot. There is a walled
enclosure, and outside it a thickly planted garden
and wood. It is full of orchids and strange plants
collected by the consul. In the enclosure are
buried not only all the foreigners, but also a negro,
or some negroes, and the suicides ! Nowhere else
can the latter sleep in peace. It has seen strange
scenes, too ; for some years everyone bm'ied there
was continually dug up again by the Indians,
probably seeking for the treasure they thought
would be with the body. An American minister
was dug up more than once, and eventually his
remains were taken to the States. An Englishman
w^as dug up many times, and the last time was in

116 MY GRAVE AT QUITO

fragments. The Europeans had to watch the
cemetery and make raids on the body snatchers.
Now the dead are buried 12 feet deep, and a
caretaker resides in the grounds. The door, too,
was used by the soldiers as a target when practising
rifle shooting, and the walls and even gravestones
bear marks of the bullets. A new door, on Don
Ludovico's remonstrances, was given by the Govern-
ment, but it also bears the marks of many bullets.
For a time the consul induced the other foreign
residents in Quito to contribute a very small sum
towards the upkeep of this place, but that lasted
no time — how much to their credit that is — and
now he supports it entirely himself, and often
buries people for nothing there. He pointed out
the spot I was to have, and said he would give me
a free burial 12 feet deep — some people are so
kind ! It is extraordinary how everyone seems to
take for granted that I am to die in Ecuador, but
it is the last thing I think of doing.

Near by is the racecourse, and there are pretty
views everywhere. We visited near here a house
with a pretty garden full of roses and brilliant
plants, and how delighted I was to discover a lovely
little jewelled humming-bird half-buried in a rose,
having a dainty meal. The owner of the house
was away, but his domestics welcomed us and offered
refreshments. There is a university in Quito, with
about 32 professors and perhaps about 300 students
— also universities at Guayaquil and Cuenca. The
theatre here is quite an imposing building, but at
present it is closed, as the manager is in prison for
not paying the salaries of his variety troupe, some
of whom are Americans and one English ; and I

STRAY COUNTRYMEN 117

expect it was this English youth who, looking like
a groom, once greeted me in English in the street,
and I passed on, thinking he was a beggar who
was "trying it on," airing an English word or two.
I have thought often of it since with regret, as
these poor people were in great distress and had to
be helped to get away, and had I but known, I
certainly would not have left a countryman stranded
here. There was also another Englishman I came
across and entertained here !

One day at the Consulate, when some people
were calling, Mr Soderstrom ushered in and intro-
duced a well-dressed young man as Mr . He

spoke with an American accent, and had just
arrived from the States, and from the similarity of
names, I jumped to the conclusion that he was "an
important personage" who had just arrived in
Quito, and whom I had not seen though I had had
a letter of introduction to him; therefore I was
very civil, had him on hand for long, wondered he
was so young and why he always called me " sir "
in a way familiar to English ears, until it suddenly
dawned on me that he was not the great man
himself, but the great man's English valet ! I had
heard of him, he bore the same name as his master,
was quite a superior person, and indeed quite a
personage. When the situation dawned on me I
nearly laughed out loud, as, thinking him to be his
master, I had been utterly puzzled during our talk
to make head or tail of it !

The great volcano of Pichincha towers over
Quito, and it is the thing "to do." I was not very
keen about it, for it never appealed to me much,
yet a volcano is always a volcano, and to be regarded

118 AN ECUADORAN RIDE

with curiosity and respect, and Don Ludovico
insisted I must ascend it. Mr Vorbeck and Buttar
— the latter never having been up it — consented to
join us, and one afternoon we set off, four of us,
for a hacienda situated on the slopes of the
mountain, where we were to sleep, so as to be able
to reach the summit at daybreak. The consul and
Buttar were well mounted on their own good
horses, but not so either Mr Vorbeck or I, and I
had a sorry, hired nag. We had a pack-mule with
us, a mounted peon, and a supply of provisions.

Pichincha is a huge mountain, covering an
enormous extent of ground, and some say it has
two craters, whilst Mr Whymper, I think, contends
it has but one— -but his account of this mountain is
most confusing. It is 15 miles from peak to peak,
is the fourteenth highest mountain of the Ecuadoran
Alps, and its summit is, at the lowest estimate,
15,918 feet above the sea — in reality it is believed
to be over 16,000 feet.

It was an interesting ride, though part of it very
rough, as we had to surmount and then descend
for a long time a steep spur, and this descent
was by one of those extraordinary fissures, paths,
ladders, water-courses, or whatever they are, which
are a striking feature here, and called quehradas.
This path was as steep as a ladder, was frequently
a water-course, was strewn with large and small
boulders interspersed with deep mud holes, and
was so narrow that your feet grazed the rocks on
both sides. Trees and shrubs met overhead.
Down this steep place for a length of time we
plunged, scrambled, slipped, staggered into water-
holes, grazed our shins on the rocks, and so on ;

A NIGHT AT A HACIENDA 119

but the horses are used to these places, and when
left to themselves get on all right. I thought one
of these places interesting, but there are so many
they become monotonous.

In a very narrow part I met a smartly attired,
good-looking, well-mounted cahallero — the owner
of the hacienda we were bound for — and wondered
how we were to pass, as the high rocks jammed
me on both sides. He smiled and saluted, my
horse slid down a big boulder into a hole, and
somehow it was accomplished, but how, I know
not. I think he and his horse climbed the branch
of a tree, or did some acrobatic feat.

When we got to the hacienda it was night. It
was a small place, surrounded by a few Indian huts
in plaza fashion. One room contained the owner's
bed ; another had a table and horse-hair sofa full
of hills and valleys; the third room contained
nothing. The room with the picturesque sofa
opened by a door on to a verandah, and I pleaded
hard that I might go to bed on the horse-hair hills
and valleys, for I thought I could slip out in the
night, if sleep came not ; but no one would listen
to me, and all insisted the bed of honom* with
pillows, and a — well, a white counterpane — must
be given to me. We had an excellent supper on
the provisions brought with us, and various bottles
and tinned things were left as a present for the
owner. I now understood Mr Mallet's advice at
Panama to present such things in return for civility,
as really in this country there seems little to eat.
We had intended going to another hacienda owned
by a lady, which was higher up, but on the way
Don Ludovico learnt that a number of young men

120 THE ASCENT OF PICHINCHA

with their horses were there, and that it was
impossible. It was supposed to be a gathering of
youthful plotters of revolution all met together to
develop their plans. How I should have liked to
go there and meet them.

After supper we all turned in, and soon all were
in the arms of Morpheus, as was apparent by the
chorus of snores all round. Don Ludovico declared
he never closed an eye, but I said from that room
came two distinct snores, so that Vorbeck must
have snored twice at once ! i^nyhow I — on the
bed of honour, too — had not a minute's sleep, but
spent the night counting the hours, and was afraid
of waking Buttar if I passed through his room to
the verandah. How thankful I was when I heard
Don Ludovico stirring, and I was up and out at
once, rt was pitch dark, but not very cold. We
had some coffee. It is easily made in Ecuador, as
it is always essence in a bottle, and you need only
pour in some hot water, and there you are — or are
not, for I never got to like it.

At three o'clock in the morning, in dense dark-
ness, we started for the top of Pichincha. It was
a queer ride. For hours we ascended by a quehrada
of the sort I have described ; going in single file.
Thick trees and shrubs interlaced with creepers
closed it in overhead, and one lay along one's
saddle so as to avoid catching one's head in them
and hanging there, for the horses plunged, climbed,
slipped, and fell ; branches caught you a smack in
the face, stakes dug into your legs, and then, when
the person in front fell with his horse — and Don
Ludovico, who fell several times, once fell under
his horse — you came on top of them. The dark-

THE CRATER OF PICHINCHA 121

ness under the thick foliage was inky. Scratched,
torn, battered, bruised ; falling over unseen things,
being whacked in the face by stinging branches,
jamming our legs and feet against the sides of the
narrow way, we went on for hours, always steeply
ascending; yet I enjoyed this queer ride in the
night and had no fall, though my horse came down
once or twice. We at last emerged on clearer
ground and a more open path, and gradually as it
grew lighter, gained open, but by no means interest-
ing ground. The bare slopes of Pichincha are not
beautiful. Once as the light came, a snowy peak
somewhere loomed far up in the sky, but soon the
clouds hid it. It was cold, of course, but not very
trying.

The last part of the ascent was more interest-
ing, and much harder climbing, especially the steep
slopes of debris leading to the edge of the crater.
Don Ludovico, who never parts with his gun, which
might have been battered to pieces with its many
falls, shot a brace of a sort of ptarmigan called
here partridge. I was glad to reach the crater at
last, and it was a strange scene. Our horses stood
in a group and gazed curiously over, and the consul's
stallion ceased from worrying the ladies with touch-
ing attentions. Now and again a mountain peak
showed, but an ocean of billowy clouds rolled
beneath us, and we had but a glimpse of the world
below. The crater, however, was all plainly visible,
and was of enormous extent and 2000 feet deep.
We did not climb down into it, as it would take
too long a time, though it is feasible ; but we rolled
great rocks and boulders down the steep slope, and
watched them crashing over the precipice below,

122 A BEAUTIFUL VISION AT DAWN

and hurtling into the unseen deeps. A cone of
sulphur was smoking with some volume far below
us, and the crater was streaked with sulphurous
ochre, and many tints. Great cliffs were around,
and down one into the crater led a little yellow
winding path, where the Indians descend to gather
the sulphur. It was a grand crater, but not active
enough to please me, and I wished it would burst
up a little.

Suddenly the clouds rolled away, as they do at
dawn, and the rising sun shone over peaks, valleys,
and winding rivers, a great extent of land ; mountain
peaks and valleys merging into unexplored lands.
It was a beautiful sight whilst it lasted — the veil
lifting to let us look on those far lands where
never, so far as known, has the foot of white man
trodden — and the consul rejoiced over our good
luck, as frequently nothing is to be seen. We all
felt the effects of the altitude a little, as did also
the horses, which during the last and steepest part
of the ascent had panted terribly, and I thought
my gee was going to burst. But had I not been
tired by want of sleep, I don't think I would have
felt anything, and none of us were much affected.
It was naturally cold at nearly or quite 16,000 feet
at dawn, but not particularly so. I wrapped myself
in my warm tartan rug, which had been on the
pack mule, and propped up under the lea of a big
rock, and the tartan rug said to me : " Oh, laird,
what are we doing up here ? " and I whispered :
"Dear, warm, old comfy friend, we are here for
pleasure ! " " Really ? " said the rug.

Cold chicken and other refreshments were
produced and done justice to, and were very

THE HUMMING-BIRD OF PICHINCHA 123

welcome. Poor chicken — dear tough old hen —
you never expected to be amongst the eagles,
16,000 feet above the sea, did you? No more did
I. Pichincha is a tame, active volcano, and great
mountaineers like Whymper despise a mountain
whose summit can be gained on horse-back, but
the rug outside me and the chicken within me, and
I, who then was loving both, all felt we had at
least done our duty in doing Pichincha. Then
suddenly I saw something — a tiny bright little
thing flashing past. Was it, could it be, a
humming-bird at such a height, and the snow
round us ? And a humming-bird it was, one of
a species dwelling only on this mountain; and
afterwards we saw others. Chimborazo too has its
own distinct species. I was very much surprised,
for I had no idea these tiny creatures dwelt at
such a height, and imagined they were denizens
only of low-lying lands. But Don Ludovico was
there to tell us everything.

" Be comforted," said I to the remains of what
had once been a hen inside me, "you are not
alone in solitary grandeur on the mountain, for
here is a humming-bird — a humming-bird which
dwells here on equal terms with the great condor
of the Andes — no less ! "

And how about the great condor ? I thought
they swooped round you and down on you, and
did battle with you ; and had had visions of being
borne aloft in their great claws and dropped
amidst the glaciers of Chimborazo, or down the
fiery crater of Cotopaxi — and never a condor had
I seen ! The snow that lay around us in patches
and decked the peak, was more like large coarse

124 A CONDOR OF THE AxNDES

hail than snow. Indians bear it down to Quito
to make ices. At last — after being photographed —
we mounted and commenced our descent. No
sooner had we started than I saw a black and
white bird sailing aloft and swooping down nearer
us. My first condor ! As it swept down nearer,
Don Ludovico and his gun were after it, but it
was too far off. It was the only one I saw on
Pichincha. As we descended to where trees com-
menced, as did also streams, gullies, and all sorts
of things, our way became both trying and hard,
despite of which, or on account of which, we lost
our way. It is such a huge mountain, one may
easily do that. We rode up, we rode down, and
gazed at heights before us to be scaled, and time
went on. Then we got again into those terrible
ladder-like, narrow quehradas, steep as the wall of
a house, strewn with boulders and mud, and the
stumbling, slipping, falling — and swearing — com-
menced again. Now it was daylight and one
could see what sort of riding we had done in the
dark — I preferred it in the dark. You leant back
with your head on your horse's tail, screening your
face with your arms from the mass of strong
branches, and slipped bumping down, catching
your feet in countless projections on both sides ;
and often forcing the branches aside with your
arms. Everyone kept repeating it was " fierce "
— wearisome it was anyhow, and interminable too.
We met some Indians and were misdirected, and
so the long day wore along. We were by way of
descending right on Quito in quite a different
direction to the way we had come. My wretched
pony was dead tired — so was I, only I pretended

DONE WITH PICHINCHA 125

I was not, "to save my face "^ — and so were all.
Don Ludovico on his powerful stallion and Buttar
on his good horse had the pull of Vorbeck and I.
At last we began ascending some beastly tree-clad
hill — precipice I call it — by one of the qiiehradas
which quite outdid the others — it went straight
up like a grey stone ladder! To me, looking
at it from below, it seemed an impossibility, and
everyone drew rein; but there was no place else
to go. It got so bad at last that Don Ludovico
and I both got off, and leading our horses climbed

the d I mean the tiresome thing, and it was

actual hard climbing, the only result of which was
I got so blown that I coughed myself weak and
continued coughing the rest of the day. So we
mounted again, and at last gaining the top,
descended by steep and slippery slopes to Quito,
which lay like a map at our feet, the rounded hill
of the Panecillo looking quite flat, and all the
interior of the patios open to our gaze in the clear
rarefied air. It was a fine view — but I thought
a finer would be something to eat on my plate
when we got down. I and my steed did not
prance through the streets of Quito; we were
modest and demure, and ambled along, hoping no
one was noticing us. After a good wash and some
dinner I did not feel in the least fatigued, though
the constant strain of descending is really very
tiring. I was glad to have done my duty in
doing Pichincha, and so far as I am concerned
that mountain may rest in peace for ever more.

I am not very sure if Pichincha is worth the
trouble of ascending, yet I am glad to have seen
those humming-birds in their cloud-wrapped home.

126 A CAVALRY REVIEW

(I have one of these in my collection, given me by
Mr Soderstrom, and prize it much.)

Quito, Ecuador,

October 2nd, 1904.

I have been asking everyone if they believe it
is true that during eruptions the crater of Cotopaxi
threw up enormous quantities of small fish, and
they say it really was so. Humboldt and most of
the scientific men who have been in the country
believed it, and though Whymper denies its being
possible, he still seems doubtful. These fish, un-
known elsewhere, were said to be blind. Probably
the eruption-caused floods carried them out of
their rivers or haunts all over the land.

The other day I was invited to be present at a
review in honour of Don Rafael Elizalde, at 8 a.m.
He had purchased the horses — eighty of them —
for the cavalry branch of the Ecuadoran army
when in Chile, and so was paid this honour. I
too was honoured in the invitation.

I thought I would walk to the review ground,
and attempted to do so, but could find it nowhere,
and consequently saw nothing of it. Don Eafael
on his way back met me and drove me home.
Lunching with him one day at the hotel, I made
comments on the backward state of the country,
and he begged me to remember how short a time
it was since they had gained their independence
from Spain ; to this I retorted that in half that
time some of our colonies had developed from
unknown lands, peopled only by aborigines into

Chimborazo and Road to Quito.

Street in Quito

A WELL-ARRANGED APARTMENT 127

populated, highly civilised countries teeming with
great cities, thousands of miles of roads and
railways, and so on — but Ecuadorans quite seriously
compare Quito with London or Paris, and the
Eepublic of Ecuador with the British Empire.
One subsides into hopeless silence before such
vanity as this. They know little and care less
about Britain — France is everything to them, a
Paradise.

I was greatly amused, on being taken to call on
a young Ecuadoran man, by his excited pleasure
in his rooms. The instant I had been introduced
to him, he said : " Let me show you my apartment,
the best arranged apartment in Quito. You see
it has four doors, one in front on the street, one in
the side street, one at the back, and one opening
into the Porte Cochere. So when a lady comes to
visit me on Sunday after church — for that is the
time they usually come — and there is risk of dis-
covery, she can slip out at any one of the doors in
safety." This gallant youth had been much in
Paris.

I paid an interesting visit with the consul and
Mr Stapleton to Padre Sodiro, a kind old priest,
who is a great botanist, and who presented me
with one of his works on Ecuadoran plants ; but I
stupidly left it behind, and so do not possess it.

I thought myself very smart in purchasing from
an Indian a large number of humming-bird skins,
and showed them to Don Ludovico with pride.
He was quite indignant with me, said they were
rubbish and badly preserved (when I got to Lima
I found them all in fragments), and disappeared, to
return after a time with a carefully selected collec-

128 A DEAD MAN S HEAD

tion for me, which included some beetles. He has
also presented me with carved wooden figures of
Indians and various other things, and I am afraid
to admire any object in his house lest it should be
given to me, he is so generous. He got a number
of the dried Indians' heads for me to see, and I
chose one, which I refuse to carry with me, so he
is to send it direct to England. It is a good
specimen, being very small indeed. (It is now in
the Ethnographical Section in the Natural History
Museum at South Kensington. It came by post
in a very small wooden box covered with seals.
I took it myself to the Museum, when they said
they would like to have it; and going along
Piccadilly with it in my hand, met a friend, who
asked me what I was carrying in that funny look-
ing little box. I said : "A dead man's head," and
persisted in the statement till he got quite cross.
" I suppose there is a joke somewhere," he said,
"though I do not see it." "No," I answered, "it
is in the box, so you can't see it." As the box
looked only large enough to contain a small orange,
it was no wonder he could not believe "a dead
man's head" was in it — doubters can see it for
themselves in the Museum.)

In the evenings we often take a walk in the
plaza which is large, well laid out, and surrounded
by arcaded buildings, the cathedral, and the
Government Palace. The turning of the plazas
into gardens is a good idea, as they cannot be so
freely used for revolutionary meetings. Before the
cathedral stretches a long terrace, and this is a
favourite evening promenade. I have been intro-
duced there to many people, but never knew who

YOUTHFUL IMPUDENCE 129

they were. A military band — or sometimes two —
plays in front of the President's private house.
They play very well, and always very inspiriting
music, and are very smart as to uniforms and
equipment. One evening the whole Foreign
Colony met in the plaza by accident, and as the
military bands were serenading someone, we all
walked many times round and round the square,
this procession of Gringos making a small sensa-
tion. Gringo, you understand, means stranger.
There is a club in the plaza, which I visited with
Captain Molleno, the Chilian Naval Attache and
Don Rafael Elizalde, but it is not much of a place.
The street corners of the plaza are always decor-
ated by the usual bands of over-dressed and much-
perfumed young men, who openly criticise the fair
sex, and at times are very impudent. Don Ludovico
told me he saw a band of these youths, of the better
class, too, annoying a young girl whom he knew,
and remonstrated with them. One was impudent,
so Don Ludovico thrashed him. The thrashed
young man took off his hat, made a low bow, and
said : " Pass on, Senor ! " A British minister too
once found it necessary to bring his stick across a
youth's face. But people in Ecuador are used to
being beaten.

Besides the great square there are other plazas,
and a favourite walk is to the Almeda, a prettily
laid-out garden with a pavilion, and near which is
the observatory. The life in the markets and
streets is characteristic and full of local colour —
but the dirt is not to be got out of one's mind.
The fountains where the public water comes from
are all polluted by the Indians, so particular people

130 AN ANCIENT CUSTOM

have it brought in big jars, for a small payment,
from a distance. These water-carriers are pictur-
esque figures. Such loads as these Indians carry !
Staver photographed two who each carried a sofa
and many other household things on their backs.

There are many quaint old Spanish churches,
very tawdry inside, but with fine stone carving
outside. The church of the Jesuits is magnificent.
The houses are built of stone, and there are some
really fine large old houses with the usual arcaded
patios often laid out as pretty gardens, or at least
adorned with flowers.

And there is progress. Electric light is in-
stalled, and tramcars are to be !

In the evening it is necessary to walk very
close to the walls of the houses under the bal-
conies, or else out in the middle of the street, as
the ladies of Quito and of Ecuador retain the
ancient pleasing custom of throwing the contents
of their bedroom utensils into the street from the
windows or overhanging balconies. I had eyes
everywhere, lest any fair creature should give me
a bath. There is a story that an Englishman was
so favoured, and rushed into the house and be-
laboured the fair one. This custom is forbidden
now ; but such customs die hard, and mine eyes
have seen what they have seen ! Before the town
was lighted by the authorities each householder
had to place a lighted candle in a lantern in front
of the windows, and in some streets I noticed it
was still so.

When you go a-courting — at least, they tell
me so — you stand all day and night before the
house of the lady you admire, till you attract

COURTING IN ECUADOR 131

attention. Then papa comes out and invites you
in, and asks you which daughter you want to
marry, how much you have got, and so on, and all
is arranged. Komance begins at a very youthful
age here, and according to all tales morals are
somewhat lax. In fact, at this very time the
Guayaquil papers are full of articles about Quito,
saying there is not a virgin in the town ; but
Guayaquil and other people laugh, and say that
Guayaquil ought to be the last place to say that
of any other. I do not know — all I can say is
that you see no outward sign of vice of any sort,
and the people seem most quiet and orderly.

There are amusing aspects of the sex question,
though, in Quito. Looking from the house here
one day, I saw a number of boys breaking a large
hole in the high garden wall of a house opposite,
and mentioned it to Don Ludovico, who said they
had done it before, and it was to get at the youth-
ful daughter of the owner of the house, with whom
they were all in love ! Why all the rivals should
join together I could not see — and I never saw
the end, as Don Ludovico was unkind enough to
interfere.

The surroundings of Quito are pretty and there
is much fine country within reach of it, both for
grazing, agriculture, and for plantations of various
sorts ; but it all awaits capital and development.
When the country has roads and railways, it will
develop rapidly ; and above all it needs Europeans.
A few days from Quito and you are in unknown,
unexplored lands. It is really a wonderful country,
full of possibilities, and is a much maligned one.
The people are devoid of brains or energy, so that

132 ECUADORAN LANt)OWNERS

for foreigners there are many chances. I am full
of amazement that the Germans have not started
decent hotels — one really good one in Quito when
the railway is completed (it is now completed,
1908) to Quito, would always be full. There is
the servant question — the Indians are impossible.
Chinese servants, however, would solve that
problem, they are so good.

The large landowners mostly live in Paris or
abroad, and some possess enormous tracts of
country, the limits of which, stretching to the un-
known, are undefined. But they as a rule are
very poor indeed. One large Ecuadoran land-
owner I met told me he was the proprietor of
the infamous Tambo of Chuiquipoqui and of
Chimborazo, so I presume he is the Marquis of
Chimborazo, but I did not catch his name. I was
on the point of discoursing on his Tambo when
he told me this, and was just saved from a terrible
faux pas. Various of the families bore proud old
Spanish titles, till the advent of republican govern-
ment deprived them of them.

Having now learnt something of the difficulties
and delays of travel in Ecuador, and hearing count-
less tales of the delays on the coast by quarantine
and so on, I felt I must leave Quito, and tried to
hire for myself a special coach, for which I was
asked £26. That was out of the question. It is
easy enough and pleasant enough to ride, but then
the baggage going by mule pack may not arrive
at the railway for so long. Now Mr and Mrs
Staver, who want to get away and who know the
transport people, have managed to hire a special
coach for £15, and have invited me to share it

THE FUTURE OF ECUADOR 133

with them, so that now I shall only have to pay
£5, and will have their company. Then Doceteo
is to be despatched with the arrieros in charge
of their and my baggage, and will see it safely and
quickly to the railway — so all is luckily arranged.

People often have to wait weeks ere they can
get a seat in a coach or hire anything to get away.
Now the railway will alter all that. It will really
be a revolution when it reaches here. Everything
and everyone must go by it then, as they will, I
presume, use the road. What is to become of
the arrieros and their means of living, I know
not. Many of these people will at first do their
best to disrail and wreck the train — but all will
adjust itself in time. Quito, I am certain, will
go ahead, and if sanitation is introduced, ought to
be one of the pleasantest and healthiest cities in
the world. I have the greatest faith in the future
of Ecuador, if only they can attain a decent, settled,
honourable government, and will try to raise the
status of the people. It is a wonderful country,
and ought to attract many strangers, mere tourists,
or those on business bent. It is astonishing to
think how little it is known (it is not better known
in other parts of South America, and I found it
to be in some ways ahead of some of them). I
have a very friendly feeling for this country and
its people, and have really met with so much
amiable kindness. Truly it is extraordinary in
many of its customs, but that will all vanish.
Roads and railways — a large addition of common
sense and energy— that is what it needs. I see
no reason the railway should not pay. On the
contrary, it must in time I imagine pay extremely

134 WE START FOR COLTA

well. All depends on an enlightened government
— if they can get such a thing. Some day, of
course, there will be a railway to Bogota, in
Colombia, and from there to Quito — that is certain,
but it may be many years yet ere it is built.

My great regret is, I must leave, I have so
much before me to see and do. But Vanse los
amoves y quedan los dolores as the Spanish say —
" Pleasures pass but sorrows stay."

Guayaquil, Ecuador,
October IVh, 1904.

The Stavers and I started at 5 a.m. from
Quito, in our special coach with four mules. We
were enabled to take some things with us, and the
hooded vehicle was comfortable enough. Need-
less to say, Don Ludovico continued his unceasing
kindness and attention till the last moment and
escorted me to the coach, bestowing on me a final
orchid, a cooked partridge, and various other things
for our provision basket. The heavy baggage had
gone under Doceteo's cliarge.

The day was terribly hot and the dust choking ;
it permeated everything. I lent Mrs Staver my
motoring dust coat and cap, which latter, strange
to say, unlike most motoring atrocities, makes a
very becoming headgear, and buttoned all round
the face gives the wearer the appearance of a
nun! Over this costume Mrs Staver and I had
a great falling-out. At one place where we halted
an old woman dropped down and kissed the hem
of Mrs Staver's garment, evidently thinking she

ARRIVE AT AMBATO 135

belonged to some holy order. I declared the old
woman kissed the hem of my garment, but Mrs
Staver would have it that it was the hem of her
own skirt and not of my dust coat that had been
kissed, and insisted on depriving me of the honour.
We bought fruit on the way, alligator pears and
the like, and did a certain amount of photography.
Again we had magnificently clear views of all the
mountains, and never ceased admiring them. We
stopped for lunch the first day — after having also
rested at Machachi and elsewhere — at the little
Tambo of San Ana, from which is a good view of
Cotopaxi, it indeed being the nearest place to it.
At lunch the butter was modelled after Cotopaxi,
and we greatly admired this work of art. With
international discussions as to our respective
countries and their ways, the time passed on the
whole quickly, though it was a long, tiring day, as
we made no more than a short halt at Latacunga
and went right on to Ambato, where we arrived at
7 P.M. From 5 a.m. to 7 p.m. was sufficient for us
all, and we longed for rest. We went to the Hotel
de Pares, which had been recommended as being
better than the other, but turned out to be an
awful place, much worse than the other. When
I carried some of our belongings into the verandah
of the 'patio — for no one was visible but an extra
stupid boy — I found Mrs Staver somewhat excited.

"Nothing," she said, "will induce me to have
you sleep in my room to-night."

"But I have no desire to sleep in your room,"
I replied in amazement.

"But see," she said, "the boy says it is the
only room, and it has three beds, and he insists

136 OUR BREAKFAST AT AMBATO

that we three must occupy it, as there is no
other."

How we laughed over this; but I soon dis-
covered a small room or cupboard adjoining, with
a bed in it, and took possession of that. I had,
however, to knock on the wall and warn the
Stavers that I was practically in the same room, as
there was but paper or canvas between us, and
everything they said was plainly audible. We
dined — in a way — and had our partridge, or rather
Don Ludovico's, were glad of it, and wished it had
been three !

It was 6 A.M. when I was up and dressed next
morning, and not a soul was stirring though they
knew we meant to leave exactly at seven. I opened
the front door, kicked up the Indian who lay asleep
in his poncho inside it, and explored for the boy,
who, with various other Indians I found sleeping
on the verandah, all wrapped in their ponchos.
Mrs Staver and I cleared a table of the remains
of our dinner of the night before, and hunted out
clean cups and spoons, etc., whilst Staver lit the
fire in the kitchen and set the w^ater to boil for
coffee, which was all we required — or could get!
This is an "hotel" for you, in a town of 10,000
or 12,000 inhabitants. Then we paid our bills.
However, by seven we got away again for our final
day's coaching.

At one place, I forget Avhich, as we approached
it, we met a bull careering along the road followed
by various horsemen, and on driving into the plaza
found a bull- fight in progress and the place crammed
with people. We lingered till the bull was recap-
tured, brought back, and the fight had commenced.

THE INFAMOUS TAMBO OF CHIUQUIPOQUI 137

We stopped for lunch at the Tambo of
Chiuquipoqui, eating, however, our own provisions,
though eggs and coffee were provided by the dirty
Indians, I, however, refusing to touch the coffee.
The room we lunched in was a large shed, and
contained in one corner a heap of green fodder for
the animals ; several four-post wooden beds, minus
tops and all equipment, but the posts were meant
to support mosquito curtains; and as well were
some long tables and wooden forms. The floor
was the earth, and all was very dirty and I am sure
very lively. Here generations of travellers have
camped — sometimes in crowds — for the night, as
best they could, and no doubt glad of even that
shelter. They have inscribed their names and
impressions of this tambo on the walls, and some
of these are " iligant " reading. There are no two
opinions about Chiquipoggia — which is the way it
is pronounced — and the recorded impressions are
couched in very strong language. " This is a h — 1
of a place, if you like," in English, is about the
mildest and most refined. Truly it is extraordinary
that for so many years, this, the only resting-place
on a long stretch of road, should remain as it is.

Don Ludovico told me that when the British
Minister and Mrs Beauclerk made their famous
journey to Quito some years before this, he, Don
Ludovico, arrived there and found it crammed
with travellers. "Clear out," he said, "everyone
of you, the British Minister is coming, and the place
must be empty and in order for him." When they
objected, he gave them a beating and turned them
out himself, telling them the British Minister was
too important a person to be incommoded by such

138 THE "HOTEL MARINA"

persons as they — and then the Beauclerks did not
arrive till the following night !

When we passed along that part of the road —
after being photographed on the way, with a glimpse
of Chimborazo as a suitable background — where
across the plain the whirlwinds of dust are always
advancing in great processions, I was anxious that
one should strike the coach, to see what happened,
but Mrs Staver was alarmed at the idea. Truly it
is a curious sight. The others saw some sheep
overturned by one, but I did not notice it. We
reached Colta about five o'clock, wondering what
we should do for the night. The Stavers wanted
to throw themselves on the hospitality of the
railway, as a matter of course. I, remembering my
last night at Colta, proposed that we should inspect
the '* Hotel Marina." This was a hacienda on the
hillside, a little distance from Colta, which on the
approach of the railway had hung out a board with
that name on it. It was one of the "two new
hotels" the Guayaquil people had talked about,
the tent being the other. We were received by the
usual boy and a friendly landlady. There were
some outbuildings, with the kitchen, etc., which I
carefully avoided looking into. The main house
had a verandah in front, and was one room ; but a
corner with a window had been boarded oflF as a
bedroom, and this the Stavers thought would do
them for the night, as we meant to go on hy train
in the morning. In another corner a small space
was partitioned off, and this I took. The main
room had six beds and one tin basin. I captured
the basin, found a jug and got water, and annexed
a towel which was hanging out to dry. The

DINE IN A RAILWAY TENT 139

patrona was an amiable lady — perhaps the owner
of the hacienda, perhaps the Marchioness of Colta,
who can say — anyway she was quite ready to sit
down and chat, and absolutely indifferent as to
what we did or got. As to where we were to eat,
on the floor or on our beds, I don't know, or what
we were to eat. She did not seem to know or
care, but we said " get something somewhere," and
I pleaded for tinned things. I was in the midst of
modest ablutions when we learnt our coach had
been sighted somewhere, and in came Kenton
Harman and Sommers, full of indignation — how
dared we, they said, go anywhere but to them, in
railway territory ? I suggested that I should sleep
where I was, but would walk down and feed with
them. All the answer I got was Kenton Harman
seizing my traps, pushing me out with : " Now you
get right along ! Not a word, just get ! " So we
shook the patroiia's hands, pressing some money
into them, leaving her still as amiably indififerent
and unruffled as we had found her, and went off to
the railway cars. Here we met the " boss," Major
Harman, whom I had not seen before, as he was
in Quito when I was at Colta, and left Quito
just before I arrived there. He gave up his car to
the Stavers, and Perez gave me shelter in his.
With Major Harman and various of the kindly
hospitable " Yankee boys," we dined in a tent.

The next day, at Major Harman's invitation,
we went by train with him to Huigra to stay at his
house there. It is a plain wooden building, with
bamboo lath walls, very simply furnished, but very
clean and bright. It seems funny to say one's
host's house is clean ! But this was so simple and

140 THE INIQUITY OF DOING NOTHING

bright after the awful places we had been in that
that was one's first impression. It has a verandah
in front, with steps descending directly to the
railway line, and the train drew up at the steps to
allow us to alight. Major Harman's wife and
daughter were away in the States.

All along our journey the Stavers had revealed
to me that they considered me a sort of enormity,
a person who did nothing and had come to do
nothing. They had never been in Europe and
could not understand my point of view. They
hoped to go one day to Europe to see it, as all
Americans do, and I pointed out I had come to
see South America in the same way, to learn a
little about it. Now, as I lay — doing nothing — in
a hammock on Major Harman's verandah, I heard,
through the open window, the Americans discuss-
ing me again, and had to go in and join them so as
not to be an eavesdropper. We are such different
peoples, with such different outlooks on the world
and such different lives, that the two sides of the
question are rather amusing, and Americans have
a quaint original way of expressing themselves that
always amuses me. Their ceaseless quest of the
Almighty Dollar never appeals to me — it is the
things the dollars give I like ; and it seems to me
that, by the time many Americans have acquired
the dollars, they have so learnt to do without those
things that they don't care for them.

I went down to Morley's car to have a chat
and smoke a cigar, and in the evening before dinner,
Kenton Harman, who had also come to Huigra,
took me to visit the American Dr Davis, in his car,
and we had our before-dinner cocktails with him

THE RAILWAY IN WAR 141

and his wife, an American lady who found railway
camp-life in Huigra very tedious, which is not to
be wondered at. Dr Davis prepared, from some
recipe of his own, wonderfully taking cocktails —
but cocktails are always a mystery to me.

After dinner, in the evening, Morley came in,
and we had a long yarn. Talking of the expected
war with Peru, they discussed, in the event of war,
the fate of the railway, and I was amused to hear
Major Harman say that the railway would go on
as usual, and they would transport the Peruvian-
invading soldiers as passengers at the usual fares !
That was one idea of war. Whoever interfered
with the railway would have to compensate the
Company, for the United States would see to that,
as Washington is at the back of that railway.
Ecuador and Colombia are eventually to come
completely under the Yankee influence, and every
phase of the warfare between the Railway Company
and the Ecuadoran Government is noted and
docketed at Washington. The interests of the
British shareholders must, I suppose, one day be
a matter to be settled between our Foreign Office
and Washington. However, it remains to be seen
what the eventual fate of the railway is.

Shortly before this there had been a robbery on
the railway of a large sum of money out of the
mail car. The Ecuadoran employees in charge
were suspected by the railway people. But the
Ecuadoran Government accused and arrested a
negro long in the Company's employment. "If
that nigger is not let out to-morrow," said Major
Harman, '* I chuck all the mails out of the train

142 RETURN TO GUAYAQUIL

and refuse to carry them longer." The nigger was
forthwith released !

Major Harman came to my room in the morning
as I was dressing, to ask how I had passed the
night, and I was able to assm-e him I had revelled
in the luxury of a real comfortable bed with beauti-
ful clean linen, and, think of it, only think of it,
there was a real bathroom with loads of water,
and what a luxury that seemed ! How I did enjoy
that blessed night's sleep and that lovely tub in the
morning !

The Stavers remained, but I departed at 12*30
next day, as I was afraid of missing the boat, w^hich
was due at Guayaquil, and by which I wished to
go south. At Huigra, before I left, I went to the
hotel to see Mrs Julia Kennedy, and bestowed a
little silver crucifix on one of her children as a
souvenir. Going down to Guayaquil, I experienced
the effects of the change of altitude, which everyone
else experiences going up. I felt unwell and faint,
had a violent headache, and thought my head and
throat would burst. You go down so many thousand
feet so quickly that the change of atmosphere is
marked. I arrived at Duran at 5 p.m., and crossed in
the ferry-boat to Guayaquil, and was soon installed
in the room at the Hotel Victoria I had occupied
before. I found all my baggage was with me in
the train — I and it passed on free ! — and recovered
the portmanteau I had left in the hotel, and was
delighted to have all my belongings round me
again, all intact. I had lost nothing, and no one
had robbed me of anything, as I was told they
certainly would, and I am sure they had had
plenty of opportunity. I like to record this, for the

THE DISHONESTY OF ECUADORANS 143

people and the country have a bad name, and I
saw little to justify it. It must be seen that when
I, a stranger, perfectly at sea as to the country and
its ways, unable to speak Quichuan and very little
Spanish, travelling with piles of unnecessary
baggage, which I seldom saw or knew where it
was, lost nothing and had nothing stolen, the
people have a worse name for dishonesty than they
deserve. I daresay they cheated me in paying for
things, just as foreigners are cheated in any country
under the same circumstances, and it did not
amount to much.

I found I need not have hurried down, as the
boat from Panama had not arrived (I waited in
Guayaquil for it eleven days, it being that time
overdue) ! The Stavers came down the following
day and put up at the Hotel de Paris, which hotel
I found on visiting them there frequently was much
better than the Victoria, especially as regards the
meals. There was a tame deer in it which used to
come into the dining-room in search of tit-bits,
and if startled would gallop along the corridor
with a great clatter and bowl over any unwary
person ascending the stairs ! A strange pet to
inhabit an hotel. I was all right, though, at the
Victoria, as the landlord, his son, and the hotel
boys welcomed me back in quite an affectionate
way, were I think pleased at my leaving the
portmanteau with them, and were full of interest
in what I thought of the interior and Quito.

Mr E. Whymper records and illustrates no less
than fifty terrible-looking beetles and other animals
he collected in his room in a Guayaquil hotel — I
was careful not to look for them, and what you

144 SCORPIONS AND JIGGERS

don't see, you don't think about. I did, however,
always look in the hammock for scorpions, as I
believe it was in this very room and very hammock
that a lady was bitten, and died or nearly died
from the poison, I forget which. Then I was
afraid always of the jigger. This is an insect,
which is, I believe, about the size of, and some-
thing like a flea. You may tread on it, or it may
otherwise enter into your flesh unperceived. It
burrows in, lays an egg which swells up, and you
may lose your foot or whatever it is. The tales
I heard of the jigger and other things of the sort
did frighten me. The yellow fever, smallpox, and
all other malarial fevers, etc., 1 did not fear at
all, or think about. (Major Harman of the rail-
way in 1908 went to Guayaquil for the day,
returned unwell to Huigra, and was dead in no
time of yellow fever, and is buried in his own
garden there — which shows how those long in the
country are not safe from it.)

I renewed my acquaintance with the Guayaquil
people, and with the Stavers dined one night with
the British Vice- Consul and Mrs Ashton. Mr
Ashton is manager of the American Cable Company,
in which American Company all the employees are
(or were) English — this sounds hopeful. Also, Mr
Staver, who is manager for the South American
Development Company (a U.S. concern), at Zarooma
in the south of Ecuador, told me that he was
trying to replace his Yankee employees by British
ones, as the Yankees are so restless and hard to
manage. They would sign an engagement for
three years and in six months throw it up and
depart, or, regardless of their contract, embark in

I REFUSE TO HAVE YELLOW FEVER 145

something they thought better. The British
youths, on the contrary, stuck honourably to their
engagement, and, as long as they did not take to
drink, did well. He was bringing out some young
fellows from England on a three years' engage-
ment, at a salary of £10 a month, with passage from
and to Liverpool paid, and they got their keep.
He had a high opinion of the British youths at his
mines, who, he said, did admirably just so long as
they did not drink — and drink brings many of them
to grief. Zarooma was three or four days' hard
journey south of Guayaquil, and they wished me
to go and stay with them at the camp for a time ;
and there is nothing I should have liked better,
but I could not afford the time.

I did not feel well the night I dined with the
Ashtons, and before I was dressed next morning,
Mr Ashton and his little boys appeared at my
room to see how I was. They had made up their
minds that I was sickening for yellow fever, and
were determined to take me into their house to
nurse me ! Everyone said : " How like the
Ashtons; they are so kind," when they heard it.
I assured them I had not the faintest intention of
getting yellow fever or anything else, and enter-
tained the boys by showing them my humming-
birds and Quito gleanings.

The consul, Mr Cartwright, and his family,
were very hospitable and kind, and with the
Stavers I spent an evening with them, breakfasted
another day, and so on. One night, dining there, I
found a small black child at my elbow, and Mrs
Cartwright gave me quite a shock by saying :
" That is my daughters' child ! " but then went on

146 PRESIDENT LIZARDO GARCIA

to explain that it was a custom in Ecuador — and
surely a very kindly one — for families to adopt an
orphaned child and bring it up, and her daughters
had taken charge of this little thing. Mr Cart-
wright is an ardent photographer and gave me a
batch of local views. I met various people in the
town, Harmans from Duran — Kenton Harman's
parents, and that was enough to make me like
them — a Mr de Montmorency, an Irishman, some-
thing to do with the railway ; a travelled French
surveyor, whose name I forget, but who was
interesting and full of information ; the Governor
of the EUora province, and others.

I made the acquaintance also of Senor Lizardo
Garcia, of the Bank of Ecuador, the leading candi-
date for the presidency. He is said to be a very
clever business man, and clever business men are
needed in Ecuador. He did not impress me as
being a very sympathetic man, and I doubt, if he
is elected, if his "reign" will be as peaceable a one
as General Plaza's has been. General Vente-
meilla, a former president, and now an exile in
Chile, is another candidate, but his chances are
small. (Senor Lizardo Garcia was duly elected
President of Ecuador in November 1904, in succes-
sion to General Plaza, whose term of office expired
peaceably then. The usual revolution took place ;
Alfaro, a former president, reinstated himself as
president, and Garcia fled the country. Some
people accuse the Hai'mans of having engineered
this revolution, but I know little about it.)

Don Rafael Elizalde arrived from Quito, and I
was glad to hear he is going south with me in the
boat w^e await, to take up his post as Charge

A RIVER PICNIC 147

d'Affaires for Ecuador in Chile. He introduced
me to a pleasant Ecuadoran couple, Senor Lopez
and his wife, who with their little girl are also
going by the same boat. Senora Lopez is a
Chilian lady, and very fair ; her husband is Consul
for Ecuador at Santiago. They are in the hotel
in rooms opposite me, and say they think I must
be writing a book, as they see me scribbling away
at my table — this is it ! Carlyle said — ** Write a
book" — I wonder what he would call all this
scribbling ?

One day I joined with the Stavers in the hire
of a steam launch, and we invited the three Miss
Cart Wrights and Mr Ashton, the Vice- Consul, and
one of his boys to accompany us on a picnic up
the Guayas and Daule rivers. It was a lovely
day, and we all enjoyed it immensely. Mrs Staver
and the landlady of her hotel had undertaken the
ordering of the eatables, and we all exclaimed in
amazement at the huge repast provided — apparently
tons of bread, bottles of olives, cold chickens, egg
sandwiches, etc. At the end of the day nothing
at all was left, and we were all asking for '' some-
thing more ! " The river is very broad at first, and
when it narrows is very beautiful, winding between
banks clothed with beautiful foliage and plantations
of various kinds. Some of the houses were quite
pretty, if somewhat of the ramshackle kind, with
charming tangled gardens. Here grew cocoa-palms,
bananas, and plantain trees, orange groves — the
golden fruit amidst its dark green leaves always
beautiful — bread-fruit, and mango trees, both
beautiful and with clusters of hanging fruits, pink,
yellow, and green ; beans, sugar-cane, Yuka — rice

148 A WHITE ALLIGATOR

also growing — in fact, everything seemed to be
doing well. There were beautiful flowering plants
unknown to me, and down the swift current of the
river floated great masses of tropical foliage from
some far inland place. We fished for these floating
islands, we grasped at beautiful purple water-lilies
as we glided pleasantly along. Beautiful red and
yellow birds darted about — and then there were
the alligators.

I had hoped to go a regular alligator shooting
expedition up these rivers, but the man who arranges
it all was not available, and it being as usual always
put off" till manana, it never came off*. This day
we amused ourselves potting away at every alligator
we saw on the banks ; it certainly amused us, and
I don't think troubled the alligators much. True,
when we hit them they made a great splashing, and
once I fired into the open mouth of a great brute
which lay on a mudbank, and it gave a mighty leap
into the water. They say here now that these
brutes do not touch people — you go and try, I
won't ! — and that the natives now enter the water
with no fear of them. Some people tell you this ;
others just the opposite.

We also saw a white alligator — quite white.
It is true it was a dead one, had long been dead,
and as it floated by, its white rotund figure was not
pleasing. Still it was an alligator, and white.

Birds, too, we potted at, and nearly got stuck in
the mud by going too near a bank to pick up one.
We landed and walked about, were objects of
interest to riverside dwellers, as they were to us —
and all the time kept turning to the rapidly dis-
appearing provisions. We got home in the evening

ROMANTIC EPISODES 149

having thoroughly enjoyed this brilliant, bright
day.

There is no sign of the boat from Panama, and
the waiting is becoming monotonous. Yet this
place is by no means uninteresting to a stranger ;
and as, so far, I have not got yellow fever or
malaria or the other things I should get here, I
have no need to complain. In fact, I rather like
Guayaquil. My daily programme is to rise when
my coffee and rolls come, dress leisurely, surveying
as I do so the life on the malecon below and on
another street which my window commands. Then
I go off to the gardens in front of the cathedral,
which, though closed to the public in the morning,
are always open for me, the gardeners flying to
welcome me and always vieing as to who is to give
me my daily buttonhole, and there I sit in the
shade and in peace and read. These gardens
though small are pretty, with many interesting
plants and trees. Then I stroll into the cathedral
or one of the churches — always cool and a relief
from the glare outside — and sit there a time, and
enjoy immensely the secret love-meetings which
take place daily. Black-veiled ladies with painted
faces, some pretty, some not, some devout, some
not, enter and do their devotions, and then stroll
into a side chapel. Then a gallant cavalier enters,
strolls also into that chapel, there is a tender
meeting, he departs by one door whilst she goes by
another and no one the wiser — save me ! But the
ladies generally come to have a look at me first.
I puzzle them. What does the Gringo there daily ?
Who can he be waiting for? Sometimes they
speak to me — what do they say, I wonder — the

150 A GLIMPSE OF CHIMBORAZO

Spanish plirase-book does not provide for this con-
tingency. But alas ! I can only sigh dolorously
and explain : No hahlo Espaniola, and they glide
away amused and laugh over the stupid Gringo.
Then a stroll through the streets or into the market,
which is full of interest. Meet acquaintances in
the street, look at papers in the Club, and then
generally look in on the Stavers at their hotel, and
often lunch with them. Doceteo has blossomed
out into gorgeous raiment and beams whenever he
sees me, regarding me as a special friend. I was
anxious to give him a present, and consulted his
employers as to what it should be — they could only
suggest clothes — but eventually I found an elaborate
pocket-purse-book and deposited a sovereign in it,
and Doceteo was gracious enough to be pleased.
He looked after my luggage all the way from
Quito. But his master says his journey with me
to Quito turned his head, and he is "a good servant
spoilt " ; and that now that he has got himself a
double-breasted white waistcoat, it is the end, as,
once they attain to that, they are done for I But
Doceteo is a good soul and fond of the Stavers, so
I trust he will stick to them.

In the afternoon I go with the Stavers to eat
ices at an open-air cafe, to pass the time, and then
stroll about with a kodak. Sometimes we take
rides on the trams to get a little air, or go over to
a place behind the town where an arm of the sea
comes up, and where we fondly imagine we feel
sea-breezes.

One evening, riding on the open tram, someone
exclaimed that there was Chimborazo. Everyone
saw it, save me, and in vain I looked across at

IMPUDENT NIGGERS 151

Duran, above which it should show. At last I saw
it, I had not looked high enough, and only then
did the full beauty and grandeur of this mighty
mountain dawn on me, for there, high, high in the
sky floated its magnificent white dome. I never
dreamt of looking so high for any mountain top^ —
and this one so far away — my Chimborazo ! This
was the only time I have seen it from here, as it is
seldom visible. In the evening we go to hear the
band play in the gardens and watch the gaily
dressed aristocracy of Guayaquil parading there,
and after a stroll on the malegon I turn in, get
into pyjamas and a hammock — for it is dangerous
to breathe the damp night air, laden with malarious
microbes.

I am pestered by the West Indian or American
negroes who are always about this malegon, for of
course they all know I am British and a stranger,
and am here to kill time, waiting for the boat.
They are amusing, but impudent. One stopped
me once and said : " Now, look here, sah ! you fine
rich English gentleman ; you come here to travel in
this land for pleasure and go to Quito. I am
British subject too, but I very poor nigger, and
now I get employment from Mr Staver to go to
Zarooma mines. When I get there I get good
wages ; but here I have no money and no clothes.
You must feel shame to see your countryman
dressed like this. You got fine tie and a new front
to your jacket (what he meant by that I know not),
and so you must give me your old clothes." I said
I had none : he would not hear of that. I said
then he must go to Mr Staver, who would, no
doubt, advance him enough to get clothes ; but that

152 TIRED OF BEING A NIGGER

would not do. To beg from anyone but his own
countryman was a shame ; it was a matter between
him and me. In the end I gave him something,
and his parting salutation was : " Well, so long,
dear chief ! " He went away, got drunk and into
trouble, was locked up when Staver left, and Mr
Ashton had no end of trouble over him !

Another night, when strolling up and down, I
caught fragments of a conversation between two
niggers which I only wish I could reproduce.

Said one: "I have been a nigger for thirty
years, and I am tired of it ! What is the good of
being a nigger — everywhere you go everyone says :
" Only that dam black nigger" ; I am tired of it —
nothing but kicks and blows, and moving on, and
dam black nigger. I want to die now. . . . Only
way is to kill off all de white men, eberyone ob
dem, and then all the niggers will do golly well
what dem please and get all de money. . . . What
is England? Fine country — finest in dis world,
but she is so slow. What she say? When de
Boer War is ober, plenty work for ebery man — fine
country Africa, full of gold — where am de gold ? "
It was such fragments that I caught; but the
pathetic boredom of the tone in which he bewailed
having been a nigger for thirty years and being
tired of it, came home to me. They all, too, have
the same plaint in almost the same words about
England, the war, and nothing coming of it.

October 9th or 10th was the celebration of the
Day of Independence, and of course the people saw
in it a chance for some excitement. Rumours of a
revolution were in the air, and hints of all sorts of
things. Since General Plaza's four years' term of

THE DAY OF INDEPENDENCE 153

office is up next month, it does seem useless to
have any upheaval. I know nothing of the ins and
outs of it— if anyone does — but I admit I was
dying to see some fighting ! However, the soldiers
were all confined to barracks and the fire brigades
turned out to demonstrate. Great preparations
were made. All the streets were gaily decorated,
wonderful arches erected everywhere, much noise
and confusion. Liberty, a lady in sky-blue and
gold, adorned in tottery fashion a great arch just
under my window, and made me nervous lest she
should not behave with becoming dignity, as
apparently she had been imbibing freely. Nothing
at all happened, as expected, when the exciting day
came, and I was so disappointed. The fire brigades
are the feature of Guayaquil, where fires are of
almost nightly occurrence, and everyone seems to
belong to them. All wear gorgeous uniforms, and
the ** Commander-in-Chief " and his A.D.C. wore
plumed cocked hats, gold-laced coats, decorations,
swords, and white trousers with gold braid, and
were mounted on prancing steeds. The beautiful
(to look at) engines were all scarlet and gold,
wreathed in flags and flowers, and all — for three
days — were hauled and pushed about the streets
with no apparent object. Unless the river is at
full tide there is no water, hence though you fell
over the fire hoses in every direction, no water did
you see. Then there were no horses to draw the
engines. I suggested the General and his A.D.C.
should give up their horses to draw the engine,
but that horrified them. Once under my balcony
a big block of stone was displaced from the pave-
ment and the wheels of the engine were jammed

154 A FIRE-ENGINE DISPLAY

against it, yet no one thought of moving it.
Hundreds hauled in front, hundreds pushed behind,
great was the excitement. The General pranced
about on horseback, waved his sword, delivered
orations, but the engine would not budge. My
balcony being low, I leant over it speechless nearly
with laughter, and forgetting in the excitement tliey
would not understand English, kept calling to them
to move the stone, and pointing to it — they could
not see it, but they obeyed all my gestures, and all
hot, panting, and excited rushed about, looking up
at me to see what I meant. It really was the
funniest thing; and when I realised how I had
interfered, I laughed till the tears were in my eyes,
yet no one seemed to at all mind, they were so
excited. In the end they left the stone and the
engine there ; they are still there, and may remain
there for ever — it would not be improbable. Blue
and gold Liberty got excited too, and swayed about,
and in the morning she was down on her nose on
the ground, looking, well, really not quite proper.
At dinner, a local poet delivered a poetical oration
from the window ; the people in the street were
convulsed with enthusiasm, and the General and his
A.D.C. rushed upstairs to embrace the poet, and
they had champagne all round. Comic opera was
not in it.

Then each night after all this great display there
were real alarms of fire, and I was always getting
out of bed and rushing out to see the fire ; but one
night I forgot the hammock strung across the room,
and fell right over it, nearly breaking my nose and
my toes, and said things. After that I let the fire-
alarms pass unheeded.

ROYAL PORTRAITS 155

Everyone in Guayaquil has been burnt out,
often several times, losing everything. When there
is a real fire, no water is available and no engines
out. Mrs Cartv^ight told me that when they
heard the first fire-alarm near them, they took no
notice ; at the second, they got up and dressed ;
at the third, they began to collect their belongings
ready for flight. The houses burn like tinder.
No doubt the frequent fires purify the town.

At last the Stavers departed for their mines,
and on the day they went the nigger who was
engaged by them, and who had begged clothes
from me, was not forthcoming, being in prison.

Mrs Ashton at our vice-consulate told me that
once, in one of the riots or revolution times, the
mob came beneath their windows and howled at
them, hooted at Britain, and cried death to the
British — why, no one knew. Not having a flag,
she sat up all night and made a Union Jack,
and hung it out in their faces in the morning ! I
cheered on hearing this. Then she lamented that
whilst you could see portraits of the Emperor
William of Germany about, no one ever saw a
sign of our sovereigns. (This I put right. His
Majesty the King was gracious enough to intimate
what he thought the suitable portraits for the
purpose, and now the Ashtons and many other
consulates or vice-consulates have large framed
portraits of the king and queen — even Quito has
them, and Panama too, and I flooded those
countries with other photographs and prints. Even
on the railway they had them in their cars, and
the Americans said they liked having them, as
they thought so much of our sovereigns. I did

156 GOOD-BYE TO ECUADOR

not care whether they liked them or not, but was
determined they should be there. Their majesties
travelled on mule-back to Quito, and I hope en-
joyed it ; went to Callao and Antoft^igasta, and so
on ; and any way, there they are now !)

I have bought up what boxes of good Havana
cigars I could find here, and despatched them up
the railway line to the " Yankee boys " who were
so kind to me, and have promised when I get to
Lima to report to them how I think their line
compares with the famous Oroya line there.

Lima, Peru,
Oct. 25, 1904.

I finished my last letter to you on board the
Chile. I left Guayquil on the 17th, and arrived
here on Sunday the 23rd. Ashton saw me off
at Guayaquil, looking after me and my belongings,
and though I was glad to get away I yet left with
regret. I liked Ecuador, and even the much
maligned Guayaquil is by no means a bad place.
Ashton, when he said "good-bye," congratulated
me on leaving the country alive, as no one expected
me to do so, and certainly not after an eleven days'
wait in Guayaquil for an overdue boat, for it is
usually the unacclimatised stranger who catches
the early microbe — but I had no intention of doing
that. I drank only apollinaris and ginger-ale,
both to be obtained everywhere ; smoked continu-
ously, for tobacco is the best of disinfectants ; and
having no fear of fevers or malaria, never thought
of being ill. I have passed through the fevers

JAPANESE AMBITIONS 157

and malarias of other tropical lands unharmed,
and did not fancy Guayaquil as a last resting-
place. (Don Ludovico at Quito to this day is
keeping my grave for me, though I have gener-
ously begged him to bestovr it elsewhere, and have
offered it to several "friends.")

What amused me Avas their indignation over
the bad name Guayaquil has acquired for yellow
fever, etc., their insistence that it was perfectly
healthy, and yet they all the time expect you to
die in it, and are quite put out you don't. I never
have been able to do the "correct thing" any-
where yet.

Captain Wallis of the Chile was attentive and
friendly, and frequently invited me to his cabin,
and when I came on board introduced me to a
pleasant Japanese gentleman, Mr Shiraishi, who
is Director and General Manager of the Toyo
Kisen Kaisha, or great Japanese mail-boat line.
He and Mr William Avery, the San Francisco
agent of that line, are travelling down the coast
studying its opportunities for introducing a service
of their ships here when the war is over. Both
were pleasant men, and with Mr Shiraishi I had
many cocktails and talks over things Japanese
and otherwise. Senor and Senora Lopez and their
daughter, who were in my hotel in Guayaquil,
were on board — he Ecuadoran and she Chilian —
bound for Santiago, where he is consul for Ecuador.
He was a particularly pleasant man. Don Raphael
Elizalde was also on board, and made many plans
for showing me Santiago, where he was to be in
charge of the Ecuadoran Legation. By me at
table sat a person I had seen in Quito, the Secre-

158 ON BOARD THE CHILE

tary of the Chilian Legation there, very delicate,
and who got on my nerves by always wearing
black kid gloves, even coming to dinner in them.
A pleasant couple, too, were the Zalles, he a
Bolivian and she an American of Bolivian origin,
daughter of Sen or Calderon, Bolivian Minister at
Washington. The Calderons are a very distin-
guished South American family, and have given
two princesses to well-known European princely
families. They had an English governess with
them, their little boy George, and the dearest,
merriest mite of a laughing, dark-eyed baby, who
coquetted with all the men on board, who were
all in love with her. The other passengers were
as devoid of interest as they were of civilised
manners. The food was the usual awful Spanish
arrangement, but it is what the people like.

The coast was most uninteresting, low and
sandy. At Payta, which we reached on the 19th
— a deadly looking hole — I did not land. Several
passengers came on board, including a distin-
guished personage who had been a candidate for
the presidency of Peru. We were all medically
inspected and the whole ship was fumigated —
they being absurdly fussy on such matters here,
and uselessly so, for common sense is entirely
lacking. Whole days are wasted at these ports,
owing to the dilatory ways of the customs-house
and other officials.

Between Peru and Ecuador is bitter hatred and
jealousy, and to spite one another they do every-
thing disagreeable they can think of Passengers
going north to Guayaquil are not allowed to land
there unless they undergo a long quarantine, but

THE DREARY PACIFIC COAST 159

are taken on to Panama and take a boat back from
there ! The steamship companies seem powerless
to alter anything.

The next day we got to Eten — only sand and
a pier visible. Next morning another port, and
in the evening Salavery, which seemed even worse
than the others, and, from the ship, appeared a
dreadful place. It is the most inhospitable and
uninteresting coast I know, and so much of it !
At these ports we waited for hours or a day, as
the ship could not leave till her papers were
cleared, and as time is no object in South America,
they kept her till it suited them to send out the
cargo. There is always a surf, and the ships
lie a long way out. Landing in small boats is
disagreeable and often dangerous.

There was a Peruvian on board who lives
beyond Iquitos, in the interior of Peru. He told
me that when he wants to go to Lima, the
capital of his country, he goes down the Amazon
to England, then round by Panama, as it takes
him less time and is easier travelling than doing
a two months' journey overland — it made me
reaHse the size of these great South American
countries.

As we neared Callao we passed various guano
islands, and through shoals of whales, porpoises,
and seals — or sea-lions — I never saw such a sight.
There were thousands of the seals and sea-lions,
and they rode in great battalions like regiments
of men — truly a strange and curious sight.

On Sunday, the 23rd, we anchored at Callao
about 3 P.M., and this tedious voyage was over. A
man from the Hotel Maury at Lima came on

160 ARRIVAL AT LIMA

board and took charge of me and all my baggage,
and told me he would see to everything. So he
put me and my belongings in a boat and sent us
ashore, saying he would be after me in a minute.
Having paid a fortune for the boat, porters carried
my quantity of baggage up the pier steps, and
to a bench placed out in the open square, where
the customs-house officers were waiting, and where
a few police stood on guard. It being Sunday,
it was crowded with idlers. Every mortal thing
I had was opened and the contents tumbled out,
whilst the crowd, principally boys and girls, crowded
round and pushed against me, and attempted to
finger things. Both the officers and the police
were as rude as they could be. This took three-
quarters of an hour. Then my things were put
into a cart, and I followed this cart to the railway
station, where the baggage was weighed and paid
on. I got my ticket, waited half an hour, and then
went by train to Lima. There my luggage was
dumped out, but as I had not the check for it,
which the cart-man had insisted on retaining to
give to the hotel- man, I left it there, and as no
cab was to be had, walked off to the Hotel Maury,
which I eventually found by questioning everyone
I met. I was not favourably impressed by my
landing in Lima, or the want of politeness of the
Peruvians. I found afterwards that the man who
carted the luggage was bound to show the check
for the baggage to the hotel-man, to show it had
gone to Lima. This hotel-man — who is the only
hotel employee who speaks English — turned up
late at night all smiles, as if he had done a lot !
I afterwards paid a large bill for his expenses in

THE BRITISH MINISTER 161

bringing my luggage to the hotel ! It is a beautiful
arrangement.

Whilst I waited for my baggage I went in to
dinner, and had just sat down when Mr Beauclerk,
the British Minister, came in to see me and to
take me to dine at the Legation. He had seen
my name telegraphed in the list of passengers, and
it was most kind of him to come at once. I
begged off that night as my baggage had not
arrived.

After dinner, A., who had been a fellow-pas-
senger from England, called ; took me for a drive
all round the town and to the English Club, where
he put my name down. Taking a stroll through
the town afterwards, I met a countryman, Mont-
gomery, who had also been a fellow-passenger,
and he introduced me to some friends of Scottish
origin but Peruvian birth, and we went to a cafe.
There a young American jockey who had been
riding for the prime minister was introduced to
me, a quaint youth, looking more like a poet than
a jockey, and whose American sayings and ideas
amused me much.

I got good rooms in the hotel, a little sitting-
room, a good bedroom, and a balcony dressing-
room. The hotel is most gorgeous, and on the
whole is satisfactory.

In the morning the British Minister came for
me early and took me to breakfast at the Legation,
where, in the absence of his wife (in England), his
daughter reigned as hostess. They had been
expecting me for weeks, and Miss Beauclerk
dumbfounded me by asking what I had brought
them in my boxes? For, she said, everyone

162 THE CLUBS OF LIMA

coming from England had to bring all sorts of
things ; and alas ! I had been asked to carry
none of their expected belongings. There was a
pleasant Englishman, Mr Lawson, at breakfast — on
a business and pleasure visit to Lima — and Mr
Fuller, who was the acting clerk or secretary of
the Legation.

Mr Fuller told me he had come here from
England many years ago an absolute invalid. He
quite recovered his health, married a Peruvian
lady, and had eighteen children, thirteen of whom
are living — and what do you think was my
comment^-in a moment of absent-mindedness—
"What a pity it is not twelve."

(It is seldom I am given that way, but when I
am it is generally something astounding. Never
shall I forget how once, when viewing a great
procession from the College of St Louis in Bruges,
and where I was locked up in a room with a
princess and a cardinal, the great Prince Arch-
bishop of Vienna, some priests, and a young boy,
I electrified them all by saying anent the boy, " I
suppose that is the Principal's son ! " — the Principal
being a most austere priest! Someone said the
joke went all round Belgium.)

I was surprised, too, when Mr Fuller, thoroughly
an Englishman, told me none of his family spoke
English, but were all quite Peruvian.

After breakfast, Mr Beauclerk took me to the
three clubs — the National, the Union, which is on
the Plaza, and the English, which is also on the
Plaza, and as A. had put my name down for the
latter, he put me down for the two others. Then
we visited the Palace or Government Buildings —

AN OLD SPANISH HOUSE 163

originally Pizarro's Palace— the cathedral where
are the remains of Pizarro ; and an old Spanish
house with some interesting old carved balconies
and a charming patio— the finest of the old houses
left in Lima.

Afterwards I inspected its picture gallery full
of "old masters," and many copies of famous
pictures, called here the originals ! There is an old
carriage belonging to the family who own it, and
one can picture them driving forth in state in the
grand old days. It is a beautiful and interesting
old house, well worthy of preservation, and where
so much has been destroyed and modernised, it
would be a shame were it demolished, as I hear
there is a talk of doing. If our Government would
buy it for a permanent legation and let it to the
successive ministers, they would do a good stroke
of business and have a suitable and dignified
residence for their representative. It was a real
pleasure to walk about the town and talk with
such a cultured man of the world as Mr Beauclerk,
and what a change from the queer conglomeration
of people I had been travelling with lately !

A. came in at night and took me for a walk,
and we had an ice in some fashionable resort,
that being the thing to do. The town is dis-
appointing on the whole, as it has been so modern-
ised, and there does not seem much of interest in
it. The Plaza is fine, though the buildings round
it, with the exception of the cathedral, are low,
and next the cathedral dilapidated boards and
hoardings mark "the Bishop of Lima's Palace."

In the evening the Plaza — which is a garden —
is lit by the most lovely rosy light, which also Hghts

164 THE BRITISH COLONY

up the picturesque hills which form a background
to the long, low palace.

Under the auspices of the British Minister and
his daughter I made the acquaintance of the
principal members of the British Colony, going
with them to a concert and dance at the house of
Mr Reid, one of the leading merchants. A fine
house and well-done party, good music, and many
smart women. Mrs Reid, our hostess, a very
pleasant, kind lady. Though introduced to many
people I am afraid I never grasped who they were,
as it is difficult for a stranger to at first remember
new faces and names. At this party I asked a
lady to point out any local celebrities. She said
they had none, but shortly afterwards indicated a
Peruvian man present, and said he might interest
me as he had committed a murder. " How did he
do it ? " I asked. " Tickled a man to death," she
answered.

This did sound interesting, so later I inquired
into it. One person said it was not true, another
said it was. The one who said it was true, said
that this Peruvian — the bearer of a well-known
name — together with others placed a man in an
electric bath, and as he did not die under numerous
shocks they cut his throat. "And he goes out
into society after that ! " I asked. " Oh ! but he
is quite an agreeable man, and * Somebody ' here."

Some fine houses are situated on the Passeo de
Colon, which is a broad, well-laid-out avenue.
Mostly, I think, Englishmen's houses. There is
quite a large British Colony, mostly commercial
people, and they go in much for the usual bridge,
tennis, and golf, without which the British seem

OLD BUILDINGS OF LIMA 165

unable to exist. Perhaps less golf and more brain
would be better here. They have no influence of
any sort in political matters, own they are not
liked by the Peruvians or others, but claim that
they are "respected." Perhaps so. They are as
much slaves to convention as our countrymen
always are.

Lima, Peru,
Xov. 11, 1904.

I am still here, and have been busy since I
wrote. In Lima, with its old history and tradi-
tions, there are a good many old buildings, but
in modernising it they have spoilt it much. The
existing buildings of the University of San Marcos
— the oldest foundation — were commenced in 1571.
The cathedral, cloisters of San Domingo and San
Pedro are interesting. The stone bridge over the
E/imac, the river here, was built by the Viceroy
Marquis of Montes Claros in 1618, and most of
the viceroys did something to embellish the town,
Don Manuel Amat planting the avenues or
alamedas. The walls built round the town by the
Duke of La Palata in 1685 were demolished and
turned into boulevards in 1878. It must have
been a beautiful city, even a grand one, in the
Spanish vice -regal days, for many old Castilian
families resided in it, and also many Peruvian
nobles were created. At the Declaration of Inde-
pendence in 1821 there was one duke, many
marquises and counts ; and a number of these, or
members of their families, remained, and are still

166 THE YNCA BLOOD

living here, though they do not use their titles
except in private. With their fine carriages with
Spanish trappings the streets must have been
picturesque ; and then, too, they had such fine old
houses.

The Indian blood that allied itself with many
of the noble families no doubt gave them notable
characteristics. I think more than one of the
viceroys had connection with the Ynca Indians by
marriage, and that the Viceroy Prince di Esquilache
in 1615 married a Ynca princess, or at least a
descendant of the Yncas. He was a Borgia.

The second President of Peru in 1829, Augustin
Gamarra, was an Ynca Indian of Cuzco ; and
General Don Eamon Castilla, who was President
in 1845, was an Indian of Tarapaca. Nor were
there wanting attempts to reinstate the Ynca
descendants in power. Tupac Amaru, an Ynca
descendant, raised an insurrection in 1780, and
many thousands flocking to his standard, he was
proclaimed Ynca of Peru. War went on for
nearly three years, but the Spaniards gained the
victory, and suppressed the rising with great
cruelty ; but in 1814 again Pumacagua rose in
rebellion at Cuzco, collecting round him a large
army, and many discontented Spanish Americans
joined him. He entered Arequipa triumphantly,
but the rising was suppressed in 1815. It was
in this rebellion that the poet Melgar, a patriot,
lost his life. In 1862, another Indian, General
San Remo, a native of Puno, was President, so
that the Indian blood had not altogether deterior-
ated. In the first forty years of the Eepublic they
had nine years of war.

THE INQUISITION 167

Then, of course, in the days of the Inquisition
there were tragic times. In all there had been
between 1569 and 1813, when it was abolished,
twenty-nine great massacres, and fifty-nine heretics
were burnt at the stake in Lima. Now tramcars
and golf do not seem half so interesting. Various
of the English here have " wondered " I have
not been down to play golf — but surely I never
came to South America for that ! It is something
new I want to see, something that has more local
colour than golf ; they do not seem to understand
that. No doubt the English Colony have many
pleasant society amusements amongst themselves,
and comprises pleasant people ; but they are
entirely concerned with their own affairs, which are
all commercial ones, by no means patriotic as
regards Peru or their own country, and it does
seem tame to come here and only engage in the
conventional amusements of, a small English com-
mercial community. What I long to see and learn
something about is the old and modern lives of the
Peruvians and their ways, and that is not easy
for a mere passer-by. Their history is interesting
and appeals to me, though the modern part is
by no means devoid of interest either — but one
would have to remain here quite a long time to
gain much knowledge of the real Peruvian families.
Lima is becoming just like any other modern
town, and in that losing its interest for one who
wants to "look-see."

I had wanted much to go to Truxillo, a city
founded by Pizarro in 1535, which is 339 miles
from Lima and the most important place north
of it, and I believe interesting, but I can find no

168 EARTHQUAKES AND TIDAL WAVES

time for it. Then I wanted so much to see and
study the old ruined adobe Ynca city at Caxamar-
quilla near here, and the famous temple and city of
Pachacamac on the coast, on a mound 500 feet
high overlooking the Pacific. Then there is the
painted and frescoed palace and fortress of Hervay
at the mouth of the river Cafiete — I have read so
much of them and looked forward so to seeing
them, and now I cannot do it. I find those I
thought might simplify matters for me, either have
their business afiairs and cannot give the time ; are
so familiar with it all, it bores them ; or else have
not the slightest interest in it. They are laughing
at my programme of what I want to do, saying
that I have not realised how long it will take, and
that I do not know what coast travel here is, the
delays, the constant quarantine, and so on. I shall
certainly, they say, have a month or six weeks
quarantine at Mollendo ! So it is dawning on me
I must just " hustle " and have a glimpse here and
there. Peru, and indeed this whole west coast,
has suffered terribly from earthquakes and tidal
waves. In the earthquake of 1746, which destroyed
Callao, the port here, a wave 80 feet in height
overwhelmed the place ; and in 1877 another great
upheaval did terrible damage in South Peru.
There have been seventy most serious and destructive
earthquakes recorded on this west coast since
1570.

Callao, 6 miles from Lima, is now a large and
important port, quite a city in itself, and I believe
much has been done to improve it as a port, and
it has now over 48,000 inhabitants. Lima has
133,000, and the whole of Peru has 4,559,550— at

THE PRESIDENT OF PERU 169

the least I should say, for there must be a large
number of Indians not included in this. It was in
May 1866 that the Spanish Fleet was defeated off
Callao, war having arisen between the Kepublic
and Spain over some rather trifling affair. The
Peruvians are proud of this naval repulse, and ever
so many people have mentioned it to me.

The President of Peru is Don Jose Pardo,
grandson of Don Felipe Pardo, who was a
distinguished patriot, and son of Don Manuel
Pardo, who was the first civilian president in 1872,
and noted as perhaps the best president Peru ever
had. He was assassinated as he was entering the
Senado in 1878, and his death was regretted by all.
The family are highly thought of, and this one is
much respected. Mr Beauclerk said he would
present me, if I desired it, but they are in
mourning, I believe. He either does not speak
English, or does not care to, and he is said not to
care for foreigners ; so I said it was no use troubling
about it — besides there is some little frictional
question on just now (I was sorry afterwards, when
I saw much of his brother, that I had not been
properly presented to the President, but no doubt
he will survive it !).

With Mr Beauclerk and his daughter I have
been many walks about the town and an expedition
to Borenco, a seaside place, which is not very
interesting. A second time we went there, and
had tea with the Kingsfords and inspected the
cable works. Mr Kingsford took no end of
trouble explaining to me all the working of the
cable, drawing diagrams and really explaining it all
most lucidly — but you know what a brain I have,

170 A CABLE IN A CUPBOARD

or rather want of brain, and I am ashamed to
say that though I said I understood it all — Mr
Beauclerk giving me a satirical smile at this —
I certainly could not explain it to you! Very
interesting was the duplicate of the cable which
stretches those thousands of miles across the ocean,
whilst the duplicate which is its counterpart and
completion is a whirligig of a thing in a small
wooden cupboard. Had I been honest, I would
have said to everything in Scottish fashion : " Why
that ? " but I did not dare. As you know, I belong
to some other planet and got here by accident, and
never really understand things here, but, like the
Red Indians, accept the greatest marvels as matters
of course without showing excitement or surprise,
though inwardly always saying, ''Why that?"
So I was aflFably interested over this cable in a
cupboard ; and you ought to know all about it, for
it is very ignorant not to, and every time the
patient explainer says *' Don't you see," when
you don't at all, you must really try to do so. Of
course, I said "Yes," and "Oh! of course," and
" Now I see," whenever it seemed the appropriate
thing to say — but that cable in a cupboard — why
that? You must not be like me, and think
electricity is "something that comes out of the
ground." When we got away, Mr Beauclerk
chuckled over me, and said, simple as was the
explanation and often as he had heard it, he did
not yet understand it.

As we were going down to Borenco this day,
I questioned my companions as to whether
Peruvians were musical. They profess to be, I
was told, but their tastes seem to lie more towards

MUSIC AND TRAMS 171

comic opera and the like, than real music. At tea
some Peruvian ladies were present, and I asked
one if the Lima people were very musical. " Oh,
very," she replied, "even the little boys in the
streets whistle tunes ! " I did not dare lift my
eyes and look at the others.

The trams are a feature here, but when you get
into them, they always do the usual thing and go
the opposite way to that which you want them
to go. I heard a story about the daughter of a
former British Minister here — a story of twenty years
ago — how this young lady made some observation
about the tram system, or perhaps it was train
system, which so oflFended a haughty Peruvian,
that he challenged her father, the Minister, to a
duel, which of course never came off. But from
that day to this. Great Britain has not existed for
this proud Peruvian. Is it not sad for us ?

No bull fight has taken place, and ere some
famous toreadors, eagerly expected, can arrive, I
shall have gone. I wanted much to see it here,
and the audience must be so characteristic.

The National Club is the best, and it is a good
one to lunch or dine at, but my great difficulty is
to understand the menu in Spanish, and I have
all sorts of strange things served to me. Once in
the Hotel Maury, when lunching with Mr Law son,
I asked him what was the dish he was partaking
of, and he said he did not know, but as it was not
bad, I had better try some. I said I had not the
courage, as it looked exactly like fried eyes, where-
upon he laid down his knife and fork and stared
at his plate in dismay. I had Mr Beauclerk and
his daughter and the Belgian Charge d' Affaires and

172 MH ALFRED ST JOHN

his wife to lunch at the club one day, and I was
driven to desperation to order that lunch, though
the club che/sind all the club servants came to my
aid, and we talked all languages. Luckily an
Englishman, Mr Harrison, some connection of the
Beauclerks, a nephew, I think, of Lady Amelius
Beauclerk, who was also coming, arrived early,
and as he knew Spanish settled the question.
You are told *' everyone speaks English," but
except the English and Americans, I meet no one
who speaks it, and in the hotel I have to speak
Spanish — my own sort of Spanish, of course.

One of the most sympathetic persons here is
Mr Alfred St John, our consul-general at Callao.
He was two years in Quito, also in Bolivia, knows
South America well, and is really interested in it,
having married a Peruvian lady. Lunching with
him at his house in the Carmen Alto — a rather
nice part of the town — he urged me by all means
to go to Cuzco and to let nothing deter me, as I
should be well repaid for the trouble, and that I must
also carry out my project of going to La Paz in
Bolivia, and across the desert there ; and, also, he said
that he had an invitation for me to stay at La Paz
with Don Felipe Pardo, the brother of the president
here. Mr Renshaw Neile, the pleasant and genial
United States Charge d' Affaires, who was also
lunching there, and who had never been to Cuzco,
urged me on no account to think of going, and
drew harrowing pictures of the difficulties and
discomforts of the journey. We shall see. I mean
to go, whatever anyone says. I get no encourage-
ment to go anywhere, and even the Oroya Railway
trip, which is the thing to do from Lima, is, I am

THE PALACE OF THE INQUISITION 173

told, full of horrors, what with fumigation, strange
insect pests you get if you drink the water, the
Sorocche or mountain sickness, and other things.
I ask how can I get to such a place, they answer
don't think of going, and give twenty reasons
against it!

Mr St John took me to the Senado — Senate
House — formerly the Palace of the Inquisition.
The sitting was just over, and the members of the
Government departing in carriages adorned with
big shields of the Peruvian Arms. I was intro-
duced to a very pleasant man, a senator and
formerly President of the Senate, who returned
with us and showed me the Chamber, which has
a very fine carved ceiling and doors dating from
Spanish vice-regal days. At the door occurred
the assassination of President Pardo. When Lima
was founded in 1535 by Pizarro, it bore the high-
sounding name of '^ La Ciudad de Los Reyes" —
that is " The City of Kings " — and though Lima is
pretty enough, it seems a pity they did not retain
the old name — most suitable doubtless for a
republic.

A visit that was of interest to me was one I
paid to the Penitentiary, having obtained by Mr
Beauclerk's kind offices an order from the Minister
of Justice to see it. There are two prisons, but I
could not see the other, which, it is whispered, is
not a model one. I had heard they tortured the
prisoners, and wanted to see if it was true. I
invited Mr Lawson to go with me, and we were
very amiably received, and shown all over it. It is
very well organised, very clean, bright, and airy,
and the prisoners looked quite happy and contented,

174 THE PENITENTIARY

and made many jokes at our expense. For some
reason, our hoots or our feet were commented on—
why that? In the courtyards or exercise yards,
they were all laughing and talking together. The
food was good and the culinary department clean.
By a combination of our Spanish vocabulary we
asked many questions, but got little satisfaction,
and our endeavours to see the punishment cells
and the torturing were in vain ; there were smiles
and shrugs of the shoulders, and my remark that
they must be very bad or else they would show
them only raised a laugh. They are proud of this
well-kept Penitentiary, and with some reason. We
bought carved trinkets from the prisoners, shook
many hands, gave many parting smiles and bows,
and shyly gave our backsheesh — though we need
not have been shy about that.

The Phoenix Club— that is the English Club-
gave a smoking concert, to which I was invited.
Mr Reid was chairman, and the other guest of the
evening was Monsieur Le Maire, the Belgian
Charge d' Affaires, with whom I had a chat about
friends in Belgium and the University of Louvain,
at which place he had been at the same time as
my friends. Princes Leo and Reginald of Croy ;
and when I retailed how they and their band of
fellow students entertained me so gaily at a
banquet, he said he had heard of it — it seemed so
odd to recall days in Louvain out here in Lima to
one who knew. The smoking concert was very
gay, followed by a supper, and the finale was the
smashing to pieces of all the club furniture by one
or two who liked that form of amusement.

In leisure moments I frequent the three clubs,

THE PLAZA 175

but the balconies of the Union and the Phoenix
overlook tlie Plaza, and are therefore more lively.
From one of these balconies I witnessed the draw-
ing for the lottery prizes, which took place in the
square in public, two boys from an orphan school
drawing the numbers. One day I saw a number
of well-dressed men crossing the Plaza, followed by
a mob of boys, to whom one of the men was
throwing handfuls of coin, for which they scrambled.
I asked someone if it was the president, but he
said it was someone who wanted to be president.

Another evening I saw two men sitting on a
seat, one showing the contents of his purse to the
other, when suddenly the other snatched the purse
out of his hands and tore away across the Plaza
and up the steps of the cathedral, snatching off his
hat as he entered and vanishing by a door at the
other end, followed by an excited throng of
pursuers.

In the evening I often sit on one of the seats in
the Plaza and watch the promenaders, though I
am told this is not "dignified." It is a quiet town,
and the people seem very orderly, no drunkenness
or noise anywhere.

There have been two functions at the Legation,
to which I went. One was a birthday party given
by Miss Beauclerk, where she had a number of
children and a few grown-ups. The children were
delightful, and it was a pretty and charming party.
The day before, I met in the street a little English
girl I knew, and asked her if she was going, saying
I would see her there. "What!" she said, "are
you going?" "Yes, I hope so." "Oh! I am so
sorry!" she said, "for mother has got me the

176 THE KING'S BIRTHDAY

ugliest and most unbecoming frock, and I am so
annoyed that you will see it." Never did I feel so
flattered — to think that I mattered. "Mother,"
she went on, "has absolutely no taste in dress,
and now that you are to be there, I shall refuse to
go." At the party I complimented her on the
despised frock. " At least it is comfortable," she
said, "and I always prefer comfort to beauty,
though really mother is quite devoid of taste."
Another little duck of a thing I knew also seized
my arm as I was passing her at the supper table,
and imperiously demanded : " Go and fetch Miss
Beauclerk at once, and tell her I have got a pain
inside me ! "

The other Legation function was a reception on
the King's birthday, at which all the Diplomatic
Corps and the British Colony were present. The
president was represented by his A.D.C., who
arrived in the state carriage, a portly, fine-uniformed
personage. Madame Pardo, the president's wife,
a German lady, had called the day before and
excused their attendance on account of mourning.
I just missed her, as she left as I entered. But
there was also a question of a flag not being hoisted
somewhere in honour of the day, and the president's
representative was treated coldly.

It seems difficult to avoid treading on corns
here, especially so for a stranger. I have given
offence, I hear, by not recognising people I have
met; but as they know me they might guess a
stranger cannot recall them all, and I never know
anyone unless they speak to me; I don't know
who or what they are, and am always saying the
wrong thing. At the Legation one day at tea

"LA PERICHOLE" 177

some English were there. Unhappily, I got talk-
ing about Payta or one of the dreadful coast places,
saying it must be terrible to live there — they lived
there, and thought it a paradise. Despite warning
looks from my hostess in my endeavours to leave
that paradise, I enlarged on the dreary ugliness of
the coast generally. "It is considered by good
judges quite beautiful in form and colour," I was
answered. So leaving the coast, I hastily embarked
on a South American coast steamboat — only to
find I was talking to the agent! "Anyway," he
said, "you must acknowledge that the South
American cooking is splendid." After that I said
no more. Nearly everyone seems connected with
steamship lines or railways, or the Peruvian
Corporation, which is the Big Mary of the country,
so that one is always on dangerous ground.

Do you remember the old opera " La Perichole ? "
One never hears it nowadays, but I can remember
many old favourites singing in it — and would like
to hear " The Letter Song " sung again. But did
you know "La Perichole" — which pretty name I
am informed means "Daughter of a Lady Dog" —
was a real personage and lived here in Lima ?
She was the mistress of a Spanish viceroy, and
to-day I saw the house, now a tavern, in which
she lived. Some say she lived opposite to it, where
now stands a brewery — which I also inspected —
but anyway she lived in that street and had quite
an interesting history, and I believe she has
descendants now living in Lima. It was like
hearing of an old friend again long lost sight of.

Now I must tell you all about my trip up the
Oroya Railway. This is one of the great engineer-

178 ABSURD REGULATIONS

ing works of the world, and also the highest railway
in the world. I was astonished to learn, the day
before I went, that it was necessary to send any
portmanteau or bag, even a hand-bag, to the
station the day before one went, to be fumigated,
and that if I did not do so, they would not let
me go. I asked about the horrible insect pest I
had been warned about, and found that it was
only by drinking the water out of some stream at
the bottom of a deep gorge across which is a
railway bridge, that you could get this horrible
thing, the illness produced by which sounds awful.
As the train does not stop, and as you cannot
possibly get at this water, and if you did need not
drink it, it seems useless to have mentioned it as
a warning. I determined to chance the fumigation,
and being stopped, and take only a small handbag
with what I wanted for one night. It seemed
absurd to have it fumigated the day before, or
at all.

Mr Townsend, the new traffic manager of the
railway, most kindly oiBfered to wire to the hotel
at Oroya for a room for me, and promised to speak
to Mr John Tucker, the English conductor or guard
on the line, who would look after me.

So next morning I sallied forth with the bag
hidden under an overcoat, and at the station it
eluded detection, and I just managed to catch the
train and jump into the car, which was crowded,
and where I had to stand. It left at 7 a.m.,
and I had had no coffee or anything, as in the
hotel they did not have it ready, though ordered
the night before. I was contemplating the crowded
car and my coffeeless condition in dismay, wonder-

THE OROYA RAILWAY 179

ing if I should have to stand all day — with the
dreaded Sorocche to face — when Mr Tucker, the
conductor, came along, and, asking my name, told
me he would presently come and fetch me to the
baggage car. When I got there, I found myself
in clover, as both sides of the large car were open ;
and I was installed in an armchair, and informed
that there were plenty of provisions in the car,
that I was to make myself at home, and could see
everything comfortably.

Nothing could possibly be greater than the
kindness and attention Mr "Johnnie Tucker"
showed me on my journeys up and down that
line, adding so greatly to my enjoyment and
comfort, and I shall never think of that wonderful
Oroya without connecting him with it. He had
been thirty years on this line, and naturally is quite
a " boss " of it. At the rear end of the train is a
small narrow platform, and though it is forbidden
for passengers to go on it, I was made free of it,
and there for long I sat with my legs round a
stanchion and revelled in the beauty of the journey.
It was ludicrous to see the faces of the people on
the stations as the train steamed out and I came
into view at its end. Shortly after leaving Lima
we began to ascend the Great Andes, with
intensely interesting views and some magnificent
scenery, and I saw it all to advantage, for as we
ascended, climbing always, and curving in and out
amidst the mountains, it all unrolled itself beneath
me. My back was to the end carriage, so that
nothing was in front of me, and my feet seemed
to overhang the precipices as we curved round
corners. At Matucana, which is 7788 feet above

180 THE YNCA TERRACES

the sea, we stopped for breakfast in the hotel.
"Johnnie Tucker" breakfasted with me, and I
was glad of the meal, as the keen air had made
me ravenous.

The scenery continued to be really fine. The
mountains are terraced to the very tops by the
Yncas, and the aqueducts they made for the dis-
tribution of the water for irrigation purposes are
still in existence and use, and to-day the same
terraces and the very rocks are scraped by the
industrious Indians to plant their various crops.
One marvels at it all, and at the greatness of this
conquered race. The line winds about along
precipices, round rocky corners, through tunnels,
of which there are sixty-three, simply carving its
way through these mighty mountains — it is a superb
work, and the curves of the line are bewildering.
You see them below you, and wonder how you
traversed them and got to where you are. Some
of the very small towns are picturesque and lie like
a map below you. There are remains at places of
old Ynca dwellings.

San Mateo, which we reached at 1 p.m., stands
10,534 feet high, is almost twice, or perhaps thrice
encircled by the line, and looking down on it, it is
confusing to see those lines encircling it, and to
try and trace how one ascended from it. Herds of
llamas were browsing at places with their devoted
Indian shepherds near them. There were many
eucalyptus trees, and it seemed odd to see them
at such an altitude. At 2 p.m. we reached
Chicla, and my enjoyment had in no way abated,
and I was too interested to heed the passage of
time. Here, however, I entered the baggage car

HIGHEST POINT OF THE RAILWAY 181

and took possession of the chair. How lucky I
was not to be in the car with the other passengers,
who, I was told, were all getting ill from the effects
of the rarefied air at this altitude. The highest
point of the line is the Tunel del Paso de Galera,
which is 15,665 feet above the sea, and lies under
Mount Meiggs, which mountain is 17,575 feet high.
I did not feel it at all cold, and felt no effects from
the altitude — on the contrary felt extremely well
and in the best of spirits. *' Ought I not to be
beginning to feel ill ? " I asked of Tucker. " Oh,
wait till the return journey," he said, "never mind
now." I had bought a bottle of cognac at the
hotel, and other refreshments and cigars being
handed round, we had high festivity. Cognac is
supposed to be efficacious in warding off the faint-
ing fits, sickness, and bleeding at the nose, which
are some of the symptoms of the Sorocche. I am
ashamed to say I could not do the right thing in
that way, but enjoyed the refreshments and cigars
immensely — but then I cannot even get seasick in
a dirty little tub of a steamer in a choppy sea.

The tops of the mountains were covered with
perpetual snow, and glaciers were brilliantly clear
and visible this beautiful day. The colours of the
mountains were extraordinary in beauty, red, yellow,
violet, and so on. After leaving the tunnel at the
highest point, we descended to Oroya, which is
12,178 feet high, and which we reached at 6 p.m.
I enjoyed every minute of that eleven hours' journey,
and much of the enjoyment I owed to Tucker's care
and kindness, his cheery conversation and anecdotes.
He pointed out everything of interest.

I don't know what the town of Oroya is hke,

182 DINxNER AT OROYA

as we arrived in the dark, but there was a broad,
dusty, rutty street. The hotel was opposite the
station, and was full of people, including a number
of officers. Mr Johnnie Tucker came up to me
with a small ulster-clad personage, who he said
was a countryman and fellow Pleasure-pilgrim,
and whom I greeted cordially, with instant visions
of perhaps finding some pleasant gentleman to travel
about with. When the ulster and wrappings were
removed, my fellow-countryman revealed himself
as a stout little Jew, with all the easy familiarity
and bumptious assertiveness of his race ! I invited
Tucker to dine with me, and he, I, the Jew, and
two German ladies who had come from the silver
mining town of Cerro di Pasco, had a gay little
dinner together. Afterwards I was invited to
cocktails by unknown but friendly strangers in
the hotel. Luckily, I got a bedroom to myself, as,
thanks to Mr Town send, it had been engaged for
me ; but I could not sleep, as the place was so
noisy, and it was only in the early morning I did
fall asleep.

Tucker had made the proprietor promise to call
me early — as the train left for Lima at 7 a.m. —
and to have breakfast ready for me. I awoke at
ten minutes to seven, to find Tucker at my door.
I declared it was impossible I could be ready by
seven ; he, however, said he would keep the train
as late as he could. So getting into some of my
clothes, but unwashed and unshaven, and grasping
the rest of my clothes and belongings, I tore out
of the hotel, across the street, scattering a bewildered
group of officers, and boarded the train just as it
was moving — followed by the hotel proprietor with

I BOLT WITHOUT PAYING 183

my bill ! The last I saw of him was waving that
bill and yelling out the amount. It was the first
time in my life T had ever bolted from an hotel
without paying my bill, and though novelty is
always desirable, yet I did not like it. Tucker,
however, said it was all right, and he would pay it
for me on his return journey, which he did, and
sent me the receipt. It was quite sufficient that I
was under his care. Instead of being angry with
me for delaying the train, he was as kind as ever.
The little Jew, self-invited, insisted on entering the
baggage car, and we had also a young American
from the Cerro di Pasco mines, who was entertain-
ing ; showed me some rubies he had found there,
and offered me a curious silver article he had found
in an Indian grave, but, though much desiring it, I
declined it. Though for some unknown reason
people persist in giving me things, and this
American almost tried to force this thing on me, it
is impossible to take presents from casual strangers
— yet I do wish I had that curious object.

The correct thing to do descending the Oroya
is to make the descent on a hand-truck ; it is said
to be very exciting and very dangerous flying down
at a terrific pace round those curves. But my late
getting up at Oroya had rendered that impossible.

A picturesque bit on the line is where they have
used a river-bed and turned the river through an
artificial arch ; but the picturesque bits are unend-
ing. When we halted. Tucker climbed banks to
get me specimens of a pretty fern, the under side
of which is silvery white. When dry, it curls up
and looks like a bit of white heath. He also gave
me specimens of quartz and other stones. I was

184 THE PERUVIAN ARMY

quite sorry when this delightful trip was over, and
am not in the least likely to forget Mr Johnnie
Tucker. Long may he live to own and run the
famous railway — for after forty years on it he does
seem to own it. When we arrived at Lima, I ran
into the arms of a party comprising Mrs Eeid and
some others of the smart English people I knew,
and was horrified to think how dirty and untidy I
was.

At ten o'clock the next morning Mr Beauclerk
and his daughter came to the hotel to " view the
fragments," but were surprised to find I had not
succumbed to the Sorocche or anything else, but
was very fit and well. He brought me a letter
from Kenton Harman, who gave me all the Ecuador
news, and said there had been " a nasty row " on
the railway, and Gaunt had had his leg shattered
by a pistol shot. Mr Beauclerk also told me that
a Scotsman named Stuart Menteith had been
murdered by Indians in Bolivia, and it had to be
inquired into. (When in Bolivia I asked about it,
no one seemed to know much about it, or to care.)

Mr Beauclerk had had a request from the
Foreign Office to furnish an official report on the
Peruvian Army, and found that the nominal
strengtli of the standing army on peace footing
was 6000 men and 2000 officers — an officer to
every two men ! But as there had been a reduction
in number, 4000 men and officers was the real
number. Many officers were youths who had
volunteered, and had been made officers to dis-
tinsjuish them from the others.

I had had a note of invitation one day from the
Belgian Charge d'Affaires to lunch with him next

LIMA POSTAL ARRANGEMENTS 185

day at the club, and posting an acceptance about
six o'clock, met Mr Beauclerk outside the post-
office, and on his asking me to breakfast at the
Legation, said I had just posted an acceptance to Le
Maire. *' You don't really think he'll get that note
to-morrow?" he asked me. The extraordinary
postal arrangements of Lima were then explained
to me. People, as a rule, go to the post-office —
where they have boxes — and ask for letters. True
enough, when I went to the club next day at twelve
o'clock, there was no sign of my host, and after
waiting an hour I was about to lunch by myself
when he and his wife arrived, having by accident
got my note at the post-office ! And yet Lima
thinks herself up-to-date !

Large dinners are always being given in the
Hotel Maury, and we hotel guests from the balcony
above survey the gorgeously decorated tables and
listen to the speeches. On one occasion the whole
hotel was guarded inside and out by police — why
I know not — and when I wanted to go upstairs to
my rooms, they would not let me go. So I calmly
took the little policeman by the shoulders, moved
him forcibly out of the way, and went up, and from
above I and the other people surveyed the intense
excitement this created. I suppose the banquet
was for some political personage who had to be
guarded.

There is a museum, but not much of interest in
it; even the Peruvian antiquities making a poor
show. There are a number of the dried mummified
bodies of Indians taken from graves. They are all
in sitting attitudes, and bear every token of having
been buried alive. The fingers of some are thrust

186 THE CLUB AT CALLAO

into the ears and eye-sockets, as if in terrible
agony, and yet on the dried faces is a dreadful
expression, and they are by no means festive things
to view. Though looking like mummies, they are
not actually mummified, being merely dried.

I am bidden to breakfast daily at the Legation,
and frequently go, and am never likely to forget
the constant kindness shown me by our hospitable
minister and his handsome daughter (now Mrs J.
Talbot Clifton), with both of whom I have made
many expeditions to suburban places and walks
about Lima. One day we went to Callao, called
on Mr St John, the consul-general there, at his
office, and then lunched at the club, which has a
balcony overlooking the sea and where it is always
cool.

My time is up, and I am bound now for Cuzco
and Bolivia, leaving so much unseen and undone.

I must tell you a little incident that happened
the other night. My dressing-room is a balcony
closed in with glass windows, and before going to
bed, and having completed my ablutions, I was
leaning out of the window smoking a cigarette, and
had thrown the towel over my head. The window
was in shadow, but if I leant far forward a near
street lamp shone full on me. Two young men
came along on the opposite side of the street, which
was quiet, it being late, halted right opposite, and
after some talk, began playing a guitar or mandolin
they had with them, and I soon saw this touching
attention was directed to me ; then it dawned on
me that in the shadow of my window they merely
saw a face and figure draped in white — the towel
no doubt looking like a white mantilla. Here was

LEAVE LIMA FOR MOLLENDO 187

an adventure. They were serenading one of the
** beautiful ladies of Lima " quite in the old style.
The music was pretty, and it was quite romantic.
Suddenly, however, 1 leant well forward without
the towel, and when my lean old head emerged
into the light of the street lamp the music came to
an abrupt conclusion, there was a loud " Caramba ! "
and those youths went simply tottering down the
street yelling with laughter^ — and it makes me
laugh yet when I think of it.

Arequipa, Peru,
Nov. 16, 1904.

I arrived here from MoUendo, the port, and
am en route for Cuzco, despite every mortal soul
having tried to dissuade me from going to that
famous but little visited place.

The leaving Lima promised to be disagreeable,
as at the last moment I suddenly learnt — you
learn everything at the last moment by accident—
that the whole of my baggage must be sent to
Callao, the port, the day before I sailed, to be
fumigated, and that everything I possessed would
be ruined. I sent the hotel-man with it, and
resigned myself as best I could to this iniquity.
I was told they put everything in a room and
steamed it well with disinfectant, then opened each
package and inserted some awful stuff which spoilt
clothes and everything else, and that when I opened
my trunks I would find the clothes rags and tinder,
and everything else done for.

I went to a farewell breakfast at the Legation,

188 DEATH OF MR W. N. BEAUCLERK

and then Mr Beauclerk himself insisted on coming
down to Callao to see me off. In the train I intro-
duced to him Mr Townsend, the new traffic manager
of the Oroya railroad. I had given Mr Townsend
the well-illustrated coloured guide to the Trans-
Andean Railway, and he had promised to have a
guide for the Oroya issued in the same style, which
shows the wonderful colouring of the mountains.

Mr Beauclerk wanted to introduce me to the
captain of the P.S.N, boat, the Guatamala, but he
was not on board, and I was quite put out that
Mr Beauclerk should have taken the trouble to
come all the way down to this uninviting place to
see me off, though it was only in keeping with his
continual kindness from the day I had arrived. I
liked him much and understood him, and he
had talked so freely to me about his position and
wishes, and all the Peruvian affairs of political
interest. He laughingly said that all my long
letters from everyone in Ecuador were as much
official reports as those that reached him. (Mr
Beauclerk died in Lima in March 1908, to the
grief of all who knew him. I had just received a
long letter from his wife with an account of their
official visit to Ecuador, put it down, took up the
paper, and saw his death announced by cable ; and
it was a real sorrow to me. He had before this
been appointed Minister Plenipotentiary and Envoy
Extraordinary to the three republics of Peru,
Ecuador, and Bolivia; having before that been
Minister-Resident to Peru and Consul-General for
the two other countries. He was son of Lord
Frederick Beauclerk, and grandson of a Duke of
St Albans.)

DEPART FROM CALLAO 189

When the hour for the departure of the boat
had arrived, there was not a sign of my baggage,
and only at the very last moment did it arrive, so
late as nearly to be left behind. Truly, arrange-
ments of all sorts are haphazard here. I opened
everything promptly, but could not discover the
shghtest sign of anything having been fumigated,
and certainly nothing had been put inside, so I
felt quite injured! We did not, however, leave
till long after the stated hour. Mr Birrell, the
P.S.N. Company's agent, was on board to dinner
in the evening ere we left, and introduced me to
the captain, who informed me that Mr Beauclerk
had sought him out on shore and bespoken his
kind attention for me — which was so like Mr
Beauclerk's thoughtfulness. This Captain Gronow
was a grand-nephew of the Gronow who wrote
the memoirs, so well-known.

We left Callao about 9 p.m., and morning found
us steaming down the same desert-like, uninterest-
ing coast. We called first at two uninteresting
ports, Tambe de Mora and Pisco, where a liqueur
is made. At this latter place quantities of melons
and much alpaca wool were shipped. At one
part of the coast there is visible a curious thing.
It is a figure of very great size, something like a
candelabra, cut on the face of a hill. What it
means or by whom it was done no one could
inform me. We again passed through great shoals
of porpoises, a whale, and thousands of seals and
sea-lions riding in battaKons, such a curious sight,
whilst overhead screamed thousands of birds. We
passed also some guano islands of curious forma-
tion, more than one with an arch through it.

190 THE TREASURE ISLES

These guano islands were strictly preserved in the
days of the Yncas, and still are a source of
revenue.

The most interesting group of islands off the
west coast of South America seem to be the
Galapagos Islands, which belong to Ecuador. The
birds and reptiles on these islands are of species
unknown elsewhere, and they have a large tortoise,
two lizards, and snakes peculiar to them. Even on
the dififerent islands the small birds differ, and this
makes the Galapagos Islands very interesting to
naturalists. There are rumours of more than one
country being desirous to secure these islands for
various uses when the Panama Canal is completed.

Captain Gronow invited me frequently to his
cabin, and told me many amusing yarns. He had
once been in the Cocos Islands — those mysterious
Treasure Isles^ — where two separate "treasures"
were said to be hidden ; one the unholy gains of
Morgan the Buccaneer. He said the holes dug in
search of treasure were full of water and over-
grown with creepers. One man lived there for
some years, built a house and made plantations.
During his absence a British ship of war came in
and the blue -jackets were set to work to dig and
search for this much-sought treasure. They
destroyed and blew up with dynamite all the poor
man's plantations in their keenness to find some-
thing, and could scarcely be induced to leave.
There have been countless attempts to discover
these hoards, and just now there is said to be an
English yacht there, or on her way there, with the
same object. But if there was anything hidden
there, it was probably found long ago. Those who

EMPEROR MAXLMILIAN S TREASURE-SHIP 191

found it would never mention it. Besides, if you
think it out, however much that treasure was, it
could never have been more than would fill one
chest, and could not possibly amount to very
much — it is only a glamour of romance that makes
people imagine otherwise.

Just at this time, too, there are a couple of
young Germans seeking in these waters for the
Emperor Maximilian of Mexico's treasure -ship
which was wrecked. It carried his crown jewels,
many valuables, and much gold. These Germans
have obtained permission from the Peruvian
Government to search for it, have hired a vessel,
and have a diver with them. Should they locate
the ship and find anything, they give one share
to the Government and keep the rest. I am dying
to go treasure- seeking also, but then I never found
anything in my life, and would certainly not be
lucky. On lands of my own, ancient regalia and
treasure is supposed to be hidden, and often have
I searched for it, but in vain.

There was a very bright, handsome, genial
young ship's officer on the boat, called Donovan,
who was very friendly and amusing; but shortly
before I left the ship, when we were having a
cocktail together, we got on to politics, and I dis-
covered him to be a red-hot Fenian. Since then
I have been told he is a son of O'Donovan Eossa's,
which, if true, quite accounts for his strenuous
Irish views. He was a cheery, natural fellow,
with much, I am sure, of the genius of his race in
him.

We called at various uninteresting ports,
Chalca was one — some rocks, much sand and

192 ARRIVE AT MOLLENDO

desert alone visible — and about 1.30 on November
15, three days and three nights out from Callao,
anchored oif Mollendo, a famous Peruvian port.

I had so much baggage, and did not want to
take it all into Bolivia, and wished some of it to go
on by the boat to Antofagasta in Chile, consigned to
the care of the P.S.N. Company's agent, there to
wait till my arrival. As the head office of the
P.S.N. Company in Liverpool had most kindly
given me a letter bidding all their captains and
agents to do all they could for me and facilitate
my travels, and as I also had a letter to the agent
at Antofagasta in his capacity as British Vice-
Consul, I thought this would be very simple. The
purser, however, who was a Peruvian, or perhaps
Chilian, and who seemed to spend most of his time
playing cards in his shirt sleeves in the smoking-
room with some Peruvians, one of whom was the
new Prefect of Cuzco on his way to that place,
was not at all prepared to be even civil, much less
obliging, and when I spoke to him about it, said
it was impossible and could not be done ; and even
when I produced the letters and showed that of
his employers, he merely shrugged his shoulders
and abruptly refused. However, just then the
captain came along and I appealed to him, so he
at once said that of course it could be done, and
ordered the purser to see to it, and told me to
give the purser a letter to deliver to the agent at
Antofagasta when they got there with my baggage.
So he had to do it, but he and his friends scowled
at me whenever they saw me.

At Mollendo, like most of the coast places, on
account of the heavy surf, landing is at times almost

A FASHIONABLE SEASIDE RESORT 193

impossible and often dangerous — at Mollendo
particularly so — and passengers are swung down
into the boats in chairs. Except at Callao, you
land always in . small boats. However, with my
usual luck it was that day perfectly calm, and we
landed without the slightest difficulty, quite an
exceptional thing. Mr Poole, the P.S.N.
Company's agent, came on board, introduced
himself, telling me that the consul was away, but
that he would take me ashore. He introduced me
to some other people, one of whom as we went
ashore, seized the occasion to attack violently the
British Minister, and was rather surprised at my
snubbing him on the spot, as I had heard about
him beforehand. On landing I was introduced to
Mr Clarke, who is British Consul here in Arequipa,
and manager of the Arequipa-Puno Railway, and
they all escorted me to the Ferrocarril Hotel,
where no room could be had, and then to the " 1st
of July Hotel," where a small sitting-room was
turned into a bedroom for me. I paid 16s. for
having my baggage brought to the hotel, a very
short distance. Mr Clarke and others went with
me to the customs-house, and talked the people
there into letting my things through unlocked at
and for nothing !

Mollendo is not only the Peruvian port for
Bolivia and the interior of Peru, but is also the
fashionable seaside resort for bathing for the
Bolivians, so it is an important place in many ways.
But you would never guess it. It seemed to me to
be a most miserable collection of wooden shanties
dotted about anyhow. I remembered hearing how
the Beauclerks were detained here a month in

194 EVERYONE TAKES CARE OF ME

quarantine, and how he had wired for a British man-
of-war, on board which they spent their quarantine,
and I am not surprised. The people there, though,
seemed to think it a charming place. I felt one
day of it was sufficient for me. How strange these
places should be so unnecessarily primitive !

The hotel was poor, merely a wooden building,
but crowded, and the food was the usual thing.
The hotel-keeper spoke English, was very civil, and
I asked him how it was he did not build a proper
hotel or make large additions to it, since it was
always overcrowded. He said he might do so
some day, but was making money as it was, and
people are used to an overcrowded place. A
young Englishman, Payne, was introduced to me,
and we dined together. He is a missionary in
Cuzco, and was down to meet the M^Nairs, a
young Scottish couple arriving straight from
Edinburgh, and to accompany them back to Cuzco,
where they were going to join the mission. This
was luck for me, as I got definite information at
last about Cuzco, and would have them as com-
panions on the journey.

The following morning I left Mollendo by train
at 8 A.M. Mr Payne came to see me off and help
me in getting my ticket, as by his advice I took a
ticket to Secuani, the terminus of the line towards
Cuzco, which ticket cost twenty- six dollars. Mr
Clarke, the manager of the railway — a most kind
and gentlemanly man — was at the station, reproved
me for having already got my ticket, insisted on
having all my baggage sent on free, found me a
seat in the train, gave me many magazines, and was
exceedingly kind and pleasant in every way. He

THE MEDANOS OF THE PAMPA 195

had designed sending me along the line free. He
wanted me to stay a day longer and he would take
me up to Arequipa in his own car, but I wanted to
have as much time in Arequipa as possible. Mr
Smart, the consul, also boarded the train to be
introduced to me, as he had been away and only
returned the evening before, and had not thought I
would leave so soon. He sat and chatted till the
train left. The car had the usual uncomfortable
narrow seats and was crowded with people.
Ai^equipa is 100 miles from Mollendo, and nothing
but the desert between, which they call the pampa.
At first the line goes along the coast over a sandy
desert, then gradually ascends amidst the most
dreary, desolate scenery. There appeared to be a
great range of mountains in the distance and at the
foot of them a lake, which as we came nearer
appeared to be full of huge floating blocks of ice.
This, however, was a mirage. The colouring was
particularly soft, like a water-colour drawing, and
the varied tints marvellous. At 12.15 we arrived
at La Joya, which is 4141 feet above sea-level,
merely a primitive station planted in the sand,
though it had a garden and some trees. Leaving
here, the lake mirage resolved itself into a sandy
desert, the ranges of apparently snow-capped
mountains into ash or sand-covered hills, and the
ice-blocks were the famous Medanos or crescent-
shaped sand-heaps which slowly move over the
desert. Most curious they are. The desert being
brown sand, they are delicate grey, and the inside
of the crescent is white, so that they stand out very
clearly. They advance in battalions, and some are
from 10 to 20 feet high. You do not see them

196 ARRIVE AT AREQUIPA

move, but bit by bit they advance, and when they
strike the railway line are cut through, but form
again on the other side — "Why that?" The
theory of their formation seems a simple one, yet
why are they here and not everywhere on every
sandy desert ? I had heard about them, but had no
conception they were so curious. They and those
dust whirlwinds on the Great Arenal in Ecuador
puzzle me. Uncanny things !

Gradually we ascended the hills, curving in and
out and up and down. At Uchamayo, 6450 feet,
with nothing but sandy, rocky, desert hills round
us, women came to the train selling neat pottles of
pears, strawberries, and other fruit, so that it was
evident somewhere near there must be a fertile
valley ; and soon we caught a glimpse of it, a very
narrow, deep valley, very green and fertile, with a
river running down it, truly an oasis of delight in
this arid waste. At Tiabayo some youths came on
board with the card of the Hotel Central y Europa
and took charge of the baggage, and about 5 p.m.
we arrived at Arequipa, and I came in a tram to
this hotel, which is a somewhat quaint building.
It has the usual small patio, from which a small
stone staircase leads up to a stone portico or terrace
where is my bedroom, which is tolerable. There
are many convolvulus and other creeping plants,
and from my door I see the great volcano of Misti
towering over the town. The windows look out on
the street. There is a large restaurant, and the
meals are — well, quite tolerable.

On the way up we had good views of Ampato
or Coropuna, a great glacier-clad mountain, 22,800
feet high, and of Misti and its neighbour Chachani.

a » ^«>

HIGHEST OBSERVATORY IN THE WORLD 197

Arequipa is 7550 feet high ; the nights are often
chilly, and people suffer from pneumonia a good
deal. It was founded by Pizarro — that wonderful
Pizarro — in 1536, and has about 35,000 inhabitants.
It has suffered terribly from earthquakes, and they
are of almost daily occurrence. By the terrible one
in 1868 much of the town was destroyed, and the
cathedral nearly ruined, whilst a great wave over-
whelmed the coast places, the marks of which are
visible to this day. It is an interesting old Spanish
town, though very ruinous. Most of the buildings
are only one story high, though solidly built and
with arched roofs to resist the effects of the earth-
quakes. The cathedral, a large building, has lost
its top story, as many of the buildings have done.
The town is said to resemble Jerusalem in appear-
ance, but, never having been there, I cannot say. I
have been wandering about with a kodak, taking
shots at countless picturesque " bits," as certainly
it is a quaint old place and quite different to any
other I have seen. It was once called Villa
Hermosa. On Mount Chachani, which is about
19,000 feet high, at 16,280 feet— more than 2000
feet higher than Pike's Peak in Colorado — is the
highest observatory in the world, and on the
summit of this mountain is the grave of an Ynca —
surely the highest grave in the world ! In an old
Spanish paper reference was made to this grave,
with a plan, and indicating where the treasure was
hidden, and Mr Wagner of the Cailloma Mine, who
had this paper, ascended the mountain and found
the site and made excavations for three days,
finding parts of the skeleton of a woman, some
pottery, and wooden cups and spoons. The pave-

198 MISTI AND AN EARTHQUAKE

ment and walls of the grave were of granite ; but it
bore signs of having been rifled before, so no
treasure was found.

Above the city, its great feature, towers Misti,
the great volcano, which is 20,032 feet according to
some, but others say it is 19,000, and some say
17,934 feet — who the liar is is not decided. Any-
way, it is a fine and imposing mountain and makes
a grand background to the cathedral and the town.
It is easily ascended in two days on mule-back.

The town is built of white volcanic stone. The
plaza is very large, surrounded by the cathedral and
arcaded buildings, and planted as a garden with
palm-trees and flowers. There are some quaint
old churches with good carvings.

The ladies of Arequipa are noted for beauty,
elegance, culture, and intelligence; are romantic, and
fond of singing the plaintive despedidas of the poet
Melgar, a native of Arequipa, the youthful patriot
who was shot by the Spaniards in the insurrection
of 1815. I take this on faith, as I know none of
the ladies, and certainly none of the beautiful ones
have been taking a walk since I came.

I always miss earthquakes, and even in Japan
never experienced one. I imagined that I should
be terrified ; but, strange to say, when I woke up in
bed about 12.30 and found the bed and the whole
room see-sawing about, I was not in the least
alarmed. The pictures were swinging out from the
walls and everything on the move, and they told
me afterwards it was quite a severe shock. I lay
in bed and regarded it all curiously, but with no
alarm. I believe, though, you do not grow accus-
tomed to earthquakes, but your dread of them

THE FAMOUS MISS PECK 199

increases. I have had two shocks here, one less
than the other, but am glad to have done the
correct thing. I remembered as I lay in bed a
story of the great earthquake at Nice. In one of
the hotels there was an English old maid who was
frantically in love with a young German, for whose
sake she was by way of learning German. The
German word for earthquake is Erdheben, and when
the earthquake took place the lady burst into the
young German's room in her night attire, shriek-
ing Erdbeeren ! Erdheeren I (strawberries ! straw-
berries !). There is a very pleasant American
business man here who feeds at my table, and he
has walked about the town with me. I had a
letter to Mr Canny, who is manager, or perhaps
owner, of the transport between Secuani and Cuzco,
and was civilly received by him. He gave me
letters to the jejico — or agent — at either end, and
assured me they would see to my comfort, help me
on my way, and do the civil every way.

I wish some good artist would visit Arequipa,
as there are countless studies to be obtained of
figures and groups against picturesque sculptured
backgrounds, and the white buildings with their
old archways, deep shadows, and glimpses of sun-
lit patios with the clear bright sky above are most
tempting subjects. The markets, too, are full of
characteristic life, and never lack colour.

Arequipa seems a busy, prosperous place whilst
yet retaining its old Spanish look, nor is it likely to
lose it for some time. Here, as elsewhere, I have
heard enough about the famous Yankee Miss
Peck, whom everyone says is "just the person" for
me ! This lady-traveller has terrified them all, was

200 LEAVE AREQUIPA

said to box the ears of her Indians and guides, has
ascended Misti and done all sorts of wonders. So
far I have not met my fate — if she be my fate — and
I have arrived everywhere after she has departed,
so do not scent romance in the air. It is very kind
of everyone to think she is the one for me— but
probably Miss Peck on that theme might be as
forcible as they say she is !

The observatory near the town is always visited
by strangers, but I had no time to go.

Cuzco, Peeu,

Nov. 21, 1904.

I left Arequipa at 7 a.m. en route for this place.
Mr Clarke, the consul and railway manager, was
at the station, and as usual most kind. He wanted
me to prolong my stay in Arequipa, and did all
he could to persuade me not to go to Cuzco,
retailing the discomforts of the journey as everyone
else did. None of these people who tried to dis-
suade me had ever been themselves, and to me
it seems strange that curiosity does not tempt
them. It is easy to understand how it is such
an unknown place, and I suppose many who
wanted to go have been disheartened.

In the train I found Payne and his newly
arrived friends, the M'Nairs, a young couple who
came straight from home to Mollendo, and who
were dumb with surprise at what they saw.
Indeed, who can realise what South America is
till they see it? I wondered how these young
people were going to convert the Indians ; he

,' 1 '^1 » ' '

THE SORROCHE 201

knew a little Spanish, but she did not, and
neither knew Quichua. There was also on the
train Mr Stark, the agent for the Bible Society,
from Callao, also bound for Cuzco, so I had
company and very proper company.

We had fine views of Misti and Ampato. The
country was very dreary and sterile. We were
gradually ascending, and at 12.30 were at Sumbay,
13,403 feet above the sea. From the train great
flocks of llamas, vicunas, and alpacas were visible,
grazing on sterility. Laguinilla was reached about
3 P.M., at an altitude of 14,250 feet, and by that
time the children in the car, some priests, and a
German were all under the influence of Sorocche,
were becoming faint and sick, and one of the
priests was seized with bleeding at the nose. I
felt nothing at all. There were two vouthful
priests, one a brown-faced, open-eyed, merry youth,
and the other a pale, conceited, affected youth who
gave himself tremendous airs and got on every-
one's nerves. The fuss he made over his bleeding
nose turned all sympathy into disgust. Another
old priest was most jovial and talkative, especially
with the missionaries ; he had numberless cages
of birds with him under charge of an Indian boy,
and all in the car. Indeed, that crowded car was
a pandemonium. If you moved from your seat
someone else at once took it ; no one was content
with their own. All, however, were very friendly
and sociable till Sorocche silenced them.

Crucero Alto, 14,668 feet, is the highest point,
and nothing could be seen but sterile mountains
clothed with patches of moss — the resinous moss
they use for fuel. What a place it seemed ! Here

202 SARACOCHA CHAPEL

we began to descend. At Saracocha was a lake
with two islands, and there was a small chapel,
13,940 feet, which I snapshotted. The country
continued much the same, all very bare and dreary.
At six o'clock we reached Juliaca, 12,550 feet,
where we who were bound for Cuzco had to
spend the night — the train going on to Puno on
Lake Titicaca ; but a branch line runs from Juliaca
to Secuani for Cuzco. The railway from Arequipa
to Puno is 232 miles long, cost £4,346,659, and
was finished in 1874. It is a route for Bolivia,
as at Puno you cross Lake Titicaca.

We arrived at Juliaca in the midst of a
terrific thunderstorm and deluge of rain, and you
should have seen us all bolting across the broad
plaza to the Hotel Eatti. This was the usual
wooden building, was tolerably clean, though the
food was as impossible as usual — the terrible
potato soup its chief feature. However, sardines
and eggs were procurable, and so I was happy.
What a luxury tinned things are in this land, and
one hugs a bottle of Worcester sauce as a dear
old friend, and says God save Crosse and Black-
well ! I used the Worcester sauce with everything,
seeking to drown the strange, horrible flavour
pertaining to Spanish cookery. I regret to say,
however, that disgraceful imitations of Worcester
sauce are to be met with everywhere ; bottles and
labels being almost identical, it is only when you
taste the decoction that you examine the bottle
and discover the fraud.

I was up at daylight, or before it, and found
the plaza full of silent Indians sitting in rows with
their faces to the rising sun. All these Indians

START FOR CUZCO 203

are supposed to be Christians and Catholics, but,
as can be imagined, their creed is a strange
mingling of their ancient rites and Catholic super-
stitions, and in their hearts they yet worship the
great Sun-god.

There is no religious equality in Peru. The
Catholic Church is supreme, and no other church
is allowed to be erected. Even in Lima the
English and Americans have a church inside a
private house, or at least in a building looking
like a private house, and are not permitted to erect
a church. Of course, if they had a spark of spirit
in them, if they cared in the very least for their
Church or religion, they would long ago have
altered that and compelled Peru to grant religious
equality. Everyone you speak to. Catholic and
Protestant alike, tells you endless tales of the
misdeeds, the tyrannies and the immoralities of
the priests, and indeed, I believe Catholic mission-
aries are being sent out to convert these same
priests. Of course, all are not like that.

I determined to leave some of my baggage at
the station, and a civil youth who spoke English
assured me that they would look after it until I
returned, but they would give me no ticket for
it. So I just chanced it, used a little judicious
flattery, and left the whole of the station clerks
bowing and smiling and promising to guard it well.
People like to be trusted. We left at 9 a.m. for
the so-called terrible journey to Cuzco. When I
tell you that there was a restaurant car on the
train, you will wonder what I mean by talking so
much of the discomfort of this journey, for surely
travelling by train and with so up-to-date a thing

204 THE JULIACA-SECUANI RAILWAY

as a restaurant car is no great hardship. Nor is
it ; only you don't have to eat the food in that car,
or sit a whole, long, weary, hot day jammed in with
a very dirty, highly perfumed, strange crowd of
fellow-passengers. There was only one car, divided
into two compartments separated by a door. One
was the first-class compartment, the other the
every class. The latter had a long double seat
running down the centre and a bench along either
side, and was crammed to suffocation with Indians
and others, every seat occupied, and the standing
space between the seats tightly packed with
wretched beings who had to stand there for eight
and a half hours ! On one seat a Peruvian lay at
full length, none of the Indians daring to interfere
with him. If the door between the cars opened,
the inrush of foul air was horrible. In our car
every seat was occupied, and the floor was covered
with baggage and bundles and Indian servants
squatting on it. This for many hot hours became
intolerable. It could not possibly ruin the railway
to put on another car.

The handsome, very smart, young conductor —
a great personage — who "bossed the whole show,"
had friends in the Indians' car, including a good-
looking girl in pale blue silk — most suitable for
the journey — and these he brought into our already
crowded car. Several priests, including the two
young ones and the jovial old one with the birds,
who had been with us before, were also there, and
a fine row took place. The affected youth of the
bloody nose was giving himself great airs and
annoying us all. The conductor came along and
asked to see our tickets and took our names.

THE VALE OF VILCAMAYU 205

which had to be telegraphed to Secuani ere we
arrived, why I know not. The young priest alone
refused to show his ticket or give his name, and
the conductor insisted. The priest threatened him
with the bishop and dire punishment; the whole
car joined in — all on the side of the conductor —
and at last the priest had to show his ticket.
"When quiet was restored, the conductor came up
to Mr Stark, and ostentatiously asked him if he
could sell him a Bible — Bibles being forbidden in
Peru — and paid his two dollars for one on the
spot, and instantly some others bought Bibles also !
This was defiance if you like !

The line from Juliaca to Secuani runs along
a valley by the side of the river Vilcamayu, and
it appeared fine and fertile country with many
grazing flocks of vicunas, alpacas, and llamas,
especially as we neared Secuani, where were fields
of potatoes, wheat, and other crops. The highest
point is La Kaya, 14,150 feet, and Secuani, the
terminus, is 11,650 feet. At the stations we
stopped at there were crowds of Indians in curious
attire, especially as to head -gear. The women
wore large flat hats with curtains of silk at the
sides and gold braid on the top — reministic of
ancient Spanish grandeur. I should have liked
to make a collection of the various head coverings,
from the great hats to the coloured wool Phrygian
caps worn by some men, but I could not possibly
buy them off their heads. They had " tempting "
delicacies to sell, and at some places some quaintly
shaped gaudy pottery. Some of the women had
brass or silver spoons pinning their shawls, and
two of these spoons I bought after much bargaining.

206 THE HOME OF THE POTATO

Terrible-looking beggars simply howled for money,
and were evidently nearly dying of starvation, and
indeed through the failure of the potato crop the
whole of the people in the interior of Peru are on
the verge of starvation. Many of these Indians
resembled wild beasts, and were degraded and
filthy in the extreme — and these the descendants
of the once great Ynca tribe !

The clothes they have they never take off until
they fall off by themselves in rotten rags.

This is the land, the home of the potato, and
it is, with maize, the national food. The potatoes
are used dried, frozen, and in many ways, and
always seemed to me horrible, and not in the
least like their European descendants.

We got to Secuani, a small place without
interest, about 5.30. The hotel was of course
primitive. I had the drawing-room as a bed-
room, and so was very grand. The landlord was
civil, but his painted wife was quite indifferent to
her guests. Though an uninteresting place, Secuani
was more civilised in a way than some others, and
the surroundings were better.

The coach left at 8 a.m., so we were up
early to breakfast, and to be ready. On going to
the coach-office I presented my letter from Mr
Canny to the jefico, or agent, who spoke English.
He read it, threw it down, turned his back and
walked off, not deigning to even answer my
questions ! He was even more insolent to the
other British — in fact, behaved atrociously.

The coach was a ramshackle affair. Inside
were twelve numbered seats, all uncomfortable,
and behind the driver outside was another seat.

THE COAC^H TO CUZCO 207

The top was piled high with baggage. It was
drawn by six mules. Another coach, drawn by
four mules — the baggage-coach — followed ; and a
special single coach, a small cart, preceded us.
The special cart was occupied by a very bumptious
young Peruvian, who had travelled from Lima to
MoUendo on the boat with me, who was a friend
of the new Prefect of Cuzco and of the purser on
the Guatamala. I believe it was to this youth that
I owed the annoyance I experienced on reaching
Cuzco.

In this order and amidst clouds of dust we set
forth. The scenery was rather fine but monotonous.
We stopped at a terrible place to change mules and
breakfast. This was merely a mule corral, with a
two-roomed building to which was affixed a shed
as kitchen, which shed was open to the dust and
dirt of the very dirty corral, and enabled us to see
our breakfast in course of preparation, and to see
the filthy Indian who cooked it, all of which did
not increase our appetites. When ready, and well
covered with black flies, it was handed through a
window into the eating-room. I being nearest the
window, acted as butler and passed on the tempting
dishes. I made public announcement that when
once I returned to civilisation if anyone oiBfered me
yellow or red soup I would throw it in their faces.
The M'Nairs, who had become very mute and
depressed, contented themselves with a boiled eg^
apiece, and cast furtive looks at the fly- strewn
plates of their neighbours.

A short stage after this brought us at five o'clock
to Cusipati, where we had to stay the night. This
was just a small wooden post-house with a common

208 A NIGHT AT CUSIPATI

room and some small bedrooms, but was clean for
a wonder, and kept by a civil young fellow and
his wife. A rush was made for the bedrooms.
I managed to secure a small one with just room
in it for a narrow bed, and deposited my coat
and belongings on the bed as sign of occupancy.
There was no fastening on the door, and on
returning later, I found the belongings of two
Peruvians also on the bed. Whether it was
their kind intention to share that narrow couch
with me or not, I cannot say, but on their appearing
I handed out their things with a bow, shut the
door in their faces, and disregarded their objections.
As a sort of afternoon tea I invited my compatriots
to ginger-beer, a tin of sardines, and a boiled egg,
and we all enjoyed it.

We then sallied forth for a walk and to inspect
our surroundings. We paid a visit to a flour mill,
and the owner appearing, I promptly presented him
with a Havana cigar, which pleased him mightily,
and he showed us his establishment, and became
most friendly. We also interviewed an old Indian
woman, and inspected her abode.

As we were to remain the night, and the baggage-
coach was in the yard, I wanted to get my suit-case,
and as no one would get it for me, or allow me to
take it, I got it for myself, whereupon the man in
charge of the baggage-van appeared in a great fury,
and there was a royal row — all in Spanish. Mr
Stark had to translate, and whilst the translation
went on I went off with my case. Then I returned
and had it translated to the man that it was wrong
to lose his temper and swear like that, and that
Mr Stark sold Bibles, and that he would be all the

WHIPPING THE INDIANS 209

better of buying one and reading it ; and to show
there was no ill-feeling, I bestowed a cigar on him.
Instantly, all was right; someone at once bought
a Bible, and others hearing of it came and did like-
wise ! They seemed eager to obtain this forbidden
book, and let us hope they found in it consolation,
hope, and the promise of good tidings, as so many
have done before them. But unluckily the tale of
these doings preceded us to Cuzco in that special
coach ! During the night a great storm came on,
but in the morning it was gone. Close to this
place was a mass of ruins, little more now than
heaps of stones. I don't know what they were.
But it is possible this place was Quespicanchi and
that these were the ruins of Eumi-Colca, a palace
of the Ynca Uira-Ccocha ; but I could get no infor-
mation, and they all called it Cusipata or Cusipati.
We left Cusipati in the same order next morning
at 6 A.M. The drive was through pretty pleasant
scenery following the course of a river, sometimes
through an open fertile valley, and sometimes through
narrow passes. The whip-boy had a large pile of
flints in the coach to throw at the mules when the
long whip availed not, and he varied this pleasant
occupation by whipping all the Indian men, women,
and children we passed on the road. These poor
wretches seemed to think it was only natural, and
some even laughed after the cruel whip had lashed
round their heads and faces. We breakfasted in
a filthy hovel on filthy food, in the mule-yard at
some place on the way. It is certainly a tiresome,
uncomfortable journey, and here, as elsewhere, it is
all unnecessary discomfort, owing to the extra-
ordinary lack of common- sense, which is one of

210 CUZCO, THE IMPERIAL CITY

the chief characteristics of South America ; but
then it must be remembered that what we
Europeans regard as dirty, unnecessary discomfort
these people regard as luxury.

Eventually we entered a wide, open valley, on
the opposite side of which, on the spur of a hill, the
sun was glittering on the spires and walls of Cuzco,
the imperial city of the Ynca Emperors — the holy
city of the Indians. About 3 p.m. we had
arrived at our destination, and all the discomforts
of the journey were forgotten in the fact that we
had arrived at Cuzco. The coach-office, where we
alighted, is about half a mile outside the town.
Here Mr and Mrs Jarrett and Mr Johnson were
in waiting to greet their new colleagues, Mr and
Mrs M'JSTair. I was introduced to them all, and our
baggage having been handed over to various Indians,
I walked to the town with my fellow-countrymen.
No sooner had we entered Cuzco than its character-
istics became noticeable, these being the unspeakable
dirt of its streets, the magnificent Ynca masonry,
which forms the ground-floor of many of the houses,
and the Spanish upper story with its quaint old
carved wooden balconies.

I was bound for the only hotel, the "Hotel
Commercial," and Mr Jarrett accompanied me.

This hotel is a huge caravanserai built round a
very large courtyard, which is surrounded by arched
stone balconies. On to this balcony, broad and
long, open the rooms, some of which are very
large and quite well furnished. The proprietor is
an Italian. As we advanced to meet him I saw
the young Peruvian, who had been on the boat
with me, also on the train, and who had preceded

REFUSED A BED IN CUZCO 211

us in a special coach, standing at the door of a room
with some friends, laughing and talking about us.
Before Mr Jarrett could open his lips, the proprietor
in the most uncivil manner declared he had not a
single room or bed vacant, and that he could not
take me in. This, of course, was absurd, and I
instantly guessed that he had been put up to this
by the young Peruvian ; but I could not understand
why the proprietor should be so uncivil, and refuse
admittance to the hotel, nor did I believe for an
instant that there was no room. Meanwhile, my
baggage was careering about somewhere on the
backs of various Indians, who had been directed to
bring it to the hotel. Seeing it was useless to talk
more with the uncivil landlord, I went with Mr
Jarrett to his house, which was in the same large
block of buildings, with its windows facing a plaza.
In Mr Jarrett's drawing-room were assembled the
Jarretts, M*Nairs, Mr Stark, Mr Payne, and Mr
Johnson, a young American, who had joined the
mission. Whilst we sat there talking, Mr Payne
and Mr Stark sallied forth to see if they could find
bedrooms for me and Mr Stark anywhere in the
town; but after some hours of hunting they returned
to say that no one in the town would take us in.

Then it was explained to me that feeling in
Cuzco — which town is entirely dominated by the
Catholic priests, who tyrannise over everyone — was
in an excited state against the Protestant mission-
aries, who had lately fitted up a room in their
house as a chapel ; that the advent of new colleagues
and of Mr Stark selling Bibles had increased the
feeling, and that perhaps serious disorders would
occur. My arrival in their company had caused

212 SMALLPOX AND TYPHOID FEVER

me to be included in this hostility, as they thought
I had to do with the mission ; and no doubt the
young Peruvian before referred to had hastened on
in front of us to prepare a disagreeable reception.

Mrs Jarrett said she would have ofiPered me a
room in their house, but it was impossible. Her
little child, who was in the room, was in the
convalescent — and worst for infection — stage of
smallpox, her little boy was dying of it in the next
room, and stooping down, she turned up the rug
where I was sitting, showing me the mark left on
the floor by the can where disinfectants had just been
burnt, as the previous day a European who had come
to them had died, on the very spot where was my
chair, of typhoid fever ! Of course it was out of
the question my foisting myself on them under such
circumstances even had they had a room, which
they had not. Having no fear of any sort of
infection, I was not alarmed, but Mr Stark looked
very blank, for he had a wife and children at
Callao, and meant also to go on a visit to mission-
aries in Bolivia, where there were children, and
there was risk of carrying infection.

By this time my patience was gone, and now
that I understood what it all meant, I asked Mr
Stark to return with me to the hotel, where I
announced my intention of staying despite the
landlord and everyone else. So we went. Mr
Stark had to do the translating, my Spanish not
being equal to a row, and looked quite appalled at
my demands. I told the landlord I would go at
once and make a formal complaint to the Prefect,
that I would wire to the British Minister at Lima,
and if necessary, would take possession of any

THE PROTESTANT MISSION 213

room I liked and turn out the occupants ! Stark
also, it seemed, enlarged on my being a "dis-
tinguished visitor," and at last the landlord very
surlily caved in and said there was one room we
must share together, and so it was arranged, and
we took possession of it. It had two beds and no
window or ventilation of any sort. My baggage at
last arrived and was locked into the room, and I
went off to have supper with the Jarretts, being
not at all in an amiable humour.

These missionaries form part of Dr Ginnis' (?)
Over-Seas Mission, and have to support themselves.
They therefore have a general store, a bakery, a
carpenter's shop, and a photographic atelier. They
are the only British subjects in Cuzco, and Mr
Johnson, who had joined them, is the only
American in the place. There are various Germans,
a few French and Italians, but the European colony
is a very small one, and all merely small shop-
keepers.

The house they occupy, forming part of a huge
block of old Spanish buildings, is a roomy one,
round a balconied patio, and one of the rooms they
had, as I said, just arranged as a chapel. It is
intolerable that such countries as Peru and Bolivia
should be permitted to act in this narrow intolerant
way as regards religion, and they ought to be com-
pelled to proclaim religious equality. The British,
however, in South America are as indifferent about
this matter as they are about everything but their
own immediate business interests.

Well, Mr Stark and I eventually retired to our
airless bedroom, where neither of us could sleep.
We dared not leave the door open, as the patio

214 MY BEDROOM AT CUZCO

was open to the street, and anyone could have
come in. I got up early, and in no pleasant mood
sallied forth, pyjama-clad, got hold of an Indian
servant and went exploring for another room ; and
then summoned the landlord, called up what Italian
I knew — with a great many Subitos — insisted on
proper attention and a room being found some-
where. His surly, uncivil manner so annoyed me
that I was really on the verge of giving him the
thrashing he so badly needed, and which such
people in South America are used to. I discovered
a large lumber-room with three very large windows
looking on to the street, and those windows settled
it. I wasted no words, commenced removing the
lumber myself at once, and then the landlord
intimated he would have it put right for me, and
this was eventually done. But what a bedroom !
They merely brushed it out after removing the
lumber, put in a bed and an iron washstand ; but
having left the broom, I locked the door, set to
work, and brushed it out again, and spent an hour
removing cobwebs and dust, calmly throwing all
the dirt I could gather out of the window in correct
Spanish fashion. It was quite a journey from one
end of the room to the other — but then I had my
big windows wide open, and was happy to get
light and air. The windows looked on to the church
of the Mercedes.

A day or two after this appeared paragraphs
about me in the local paper, announcing I was a
tourist who had come all the way from England to
see the antiquities of Cuzco, and it being shown I
had no connection with the missionaries, but was
merely a traveller, the landlord and others began

CUZCO FINDS I AM NO MISSIONARY 215

to be not only civil, but obsequious. I did not
understand the sudden change, as I had not seen
the papers, and in fact never knew Cuzco had a
paper. But I am not likely to forget or forgive
my very inhospitable, discourteous reception at
Cuzco.

There were billiard-tables, a bar, and a large
dihing-room frequented by, I suppose, the elite of
Cuzco ; and Mr Stark, who had retained the window-
less chamber, and I dined there always together.
The food, as usual, abominable. I had a letter to
the jejico of the Transport Company at Cuzco, who
was bidden to do all sorts of things for me and
arrange about my getting away again, and he was
all bows, smiles, and full of the usual polite phrases
as to he and all his being at my disposal, etc., etc.
Needless to say, all words, words. The Spaniards
have a proverb, '' Palahras y plumas viento las
lleva,'' which means, "Words and feathers are
carried off by the winds." They don't seem to
think it has any application to themselves.

A few days after my arrival the town was in
great excitement over the reception of the new
Prefect — the person who had been a fellow-
passenger on the boat from Callao to Mollefido.
It seems he is regarded as a somewhat distinguished
person, and wonder is expressed as to how long he
will be in office in Cuzco, as for some reason they
are determined to drive him forth ere a month is
up. He being a strong man, it is expected there
will be lively times. But also the intense feeling
against the Protestant missionaries is working to a
climax, and it is hoped the new Prefect will oppose
them in every way.

216 THREATENED ATTACK OxN THE MISSION

On the morning of his arrival, a message was
sent me that I must on no account leave my room
or the hotel, as the crowd meant to demonstrate
against the missionaries; they expected to be
stoned and attacked, and perhaps their residence
and store demolished. Needless to say I was out
at once, dying to be in the fray, and of course
determined to take my part with my own country-
men, and indeed rather looking forward to some
excitement. But on going outside, no one paid
the slightest attention to me, and after walking
about for a bit I came in again, and when the
Prefect did at last arrive and pass, I was leaning
out of my window. So I went round to the store,
which was in the same block as the hotel, found
the missionaries had just exchanged salutes with
the Prefect, and no one had apparently thought of
demonstrating at all — in fact, the little excitement
of the Prefect's arrival seemed to have put all
other thoughts out of their heads. The Prefect
had a formal reception with all Cuzco out to greet
him, and nothing could have taken place then, but
it was possible at night they might do something ;
however, nothing at all happened.

And now, before I begin to try and describe
this most wonderful place to you, and though I
have no intention of filling my letters with the
history of Peru, which you can read for yourself,
yet I feel it necessary to recall the bare facts of the
coming of the Conqueror Pizarro and what he
found when he arrived here, so that you may
understand better what this place is now; and
surely it is one of the most fascinating and curious
places I know, and I so regret that the time at my

HuATANAY River, Cuzco.

[To face page 216.

FUTURE TOURISTS TO CUZCO 217

disposal will not allow me to remain here long, and
visit other parts of the country. I ican only say
that when the railway reaches Cuzco, as it will
some day in the far future, and when there are
facilities for travellers and decent hotels, that then
thousands of tourists will pour in- — but that day is
far off. It is really extraordinary how few people,
even those long resident in Peru and South America,
ever visit this place. The discomforts of the
journey keep them away, but, as you will have
seen, there are no great difficulties to face. People
exaggerate so. Not long ago a party of titled
foreigners, Eussian and French, with servants and
a French cook came here, but no one can tell me
who they were. I envy them that French cook,
but wonder what he got to cook and where he
cooked it, and what he thought of the kitchen
here !

My time is spent continually out, and generally
on the rock-carven hill, and I can find little time
for writing. What photographs I have taken they
spoilt here in developing them, as their new stock
of materials has not arrived. I have just heard
that some of the better people of Cuzco greatly
resent the rudeness shown a harmless stranger on
arriving here^ — but I really don't care at all, as I
am fascinated with the place and roam about now
quite unheeded, poking in and out of places and
paying no attention to anyone— and they are such
feeble sort of people, you feel as if you could make
them do whatever you want if occasion arose. I
suppose the arrival of, as they thought, four new
missionaries was too much for them ! The clericals,
of course, are at the bottom of the fuss, and you

218 PIZARRO, THE CONQUEROR

can imagine the youthful priest of the bloody nose
laying oflF his grievances on arrival here to the
bishop, and telling about the sale of the Bibles.

Now that I have got a room with light and air
I don't care about much else, as I can devote myself
to this fascinating place.

Cuzco, Peru,

Nov. 24, 1904.

In many ways I think Francisco Pizarro was a
truly great man ; a born leader of men, full of
resolution, very brave, and within him forever
burning the fire that leads to the doing of great
and noble deeds, and of cruel and treacherous ones
also. Born at Truxillo in Spain, about 1471, the
illegitimate son of Gonzalo Pizarro, a colonel of
infantry, and Francisca Gonzales, a woman of no
origin, he was a foundling, a swineherd (some say
was suckled by a sow ! ), he grew up anyhow, and
never was able to read or write. He somehow
wandered to America, and is first heard of under
Alonzo de Ojeda in 1510 in the island of His-
paniola.

He was related to the mother of Cortes, the
Conqueror of Mexico, who was a Pizarro. He is
then found with Balboa, the discoverer of the
Pacific, and at the age of fifty was under Pedrarias,
Governor of Panama.

In November 1524, funds being provided by
Diego de Almagro and Hernando de Luque, a
vessel was fitted out and Pizarro sent in command.
He, with 100 followers, sailed up the river

THE PERUVIAN EMPIRE 219

Birii and explored, enduring great hardships;
sailed further south amidst storms ; landed again,
and sent back his vessel to the Isle of Pearls for
provisions, and then he and his men nearly
perished of starvation in a tropical forest, and he
lost twenty of his followers ; discovered an Indian
village, which they looted, getting maize, cocoa-nuts,
and gold and silver ornaments, and heard that ten
days' journey over the mountains there lived a
mighty sovereign called the Child of the Sun, who
was the conqueror of another great monarch, and
how gold and silver were as common in his palaces
as wood.

A ship with provisions arrived after six weeks ;
then they sailed further south, discovered villages
where the people were cannibals, had fights with
Indians, in one of which Pizarro received seven
wounds, but they always in the end defeated the
natives. Eeturning to Panama, the governor was
with difficulty prevailed on to give leave for
another expedition, and Almagro, de Luque, and
Pizarro in 1526 entered into a solemn compact
to discover and divide equally the country lying
south of the Gulf and called the Empire of Peru.
They set forth with two vessels, 160 men and a
few horses, fell in with an Indian vessel or balsa,
and were astonished at the gold and silver orna-
ments of the natives and their beautifully woven
clothes embroidered in glowing colours with birds
and flowers, and learnt more from them of the
great Peruvian Empire. They themselves gave it
the name of Peru, supposed to be a mistake for
Pelu, a river, or from the Quichua word Perua, a
granary.

220 PIZARRO AT PUNA

Some of these natives they took with them to
teach them Castilian, so that they might act as
interpreters ; and they learnt from them that near
Tumbez on the Gulf of Guayaquil, were great
flocks of the animal from which came the wool of
which their garments were woven, and that gold
and silver articles were exceedingly common. The
further south they went they saw more signs of
civilisation and cultivation, in the shape of Indian
villages and crops of potatoes, maize, and cacao.
They came to Tacamez, which was near what is
now Las Esmeraldas in Ecuador — the river of
Emeralds — and here found a town laid out
in streets, and with 2000 houses. Almagro
returned to Panama and Pizarro waited till a
relief ship with provisions should arrive, in various
of the islands, but seven months went by ere
relief came, whilst he and his men had to suffer
terrible hardships and nearly died of famine. Then
they sailed south to the Gulf of Guayaquil, and
lived for a time on the island of Puna (now the
quarantine station). They found many villages
on the shores of the Gulf, and the town of Tumbez,
with buildings of stone and plaster. The natives
greeted them in friendly wise, bringing for them
bananas, plantains, yuca, Indian corn, sweet
potatoes, pine-apples, and cocoa-nuts, and also a
number of llamas, the "little camel" of the
Indians. A Peruvian noble visited them and
was given a hatchet, as iron was unknown to him.
Here temples blazing with gold and silver were
seen. A Spanish cavalier sent ashore in his
shining armour electrified the simple people,
especially when he fired at a target with his

THE CONQUEROR GOES TO SPAIN 221

arquebus. Also here was beheld the garden of
the convent or residence of the brides destined for
the Ynca, full of imitation flowers and vegetables
made of gold and silver. Greatly excited and
encouraged by these marvels, they continued their
voyage south, landing here and there, always well
received by the natives, and everywhere hearing
of the great Ynca and his hoards of gold which
they intended should be theirs, and marvelling as
they saw the great road along the coast constructed
by this same Ynca. Satisfied that before them
lay El Dorado, they returned to Panama, leaving
some Spaniards at Tumbez, and taking away with
them some Peruvians, and, of course, as much gold
and silver as they could lay hands on.

It was then decided, in 1528, that Pizarro
should go to Spain to lay before the emperor his
plans for the conquest of Peru, and to obtain
proper authority and means to prosecute the enter-
prise. He took with him some of the Peruvians,
some llamas, some beautifully woven and em-
broidered fabrics, and a number of gold and silver
vases and ornaments, to vouch for his story, and as
presents for his sovereign so as to gain his favour.

On arriving in Spain, though he had been
absent for twenty years, he was promptly clapped
into prison for an old debt, which was certainly
hard lines. However, he soon obtained his release
and was summoned to the emperor, Charles V.,
who was at Toledo, where at the same time came
his distant kinsman Cortez, the Conqueror of
Mexico, who proved a good friend to him. The
emperor was interested and pleased — especially
with the llamas — and on his departure commended

222 PIZARRO MADE GOVERNOR FOR LIFE

Pizarro to the care of his Council of the Indies
and the good offices of the queen, and in 1529
the queen had executed the Capitulation, defining
the powers and privileges of Pizarro, giving him
the right of discovery and conquest in Peru within
certain limits, with the rank of governor and
captain-general and other offices for life, with a
large salary, with the obligation of maintaining
certain officers and military retainers, the right to
erect fortresses, and in fact full powers. Almagro
and de Luque and the thirteen or sixteen followers
who had stuck to him through thick and thin
were given high honours and rewards. Pizarro
was also permitted to augment his arms with the
black eagle and pillars of the royal arms and as
well with an Indian village and a llama for Peru.

He then paid a visit to his native place,
Truxillo in Estramadura, to see his legitimate
and illegitimate brothers ; with the help of Cortez,
who also hailed from there, he raised a following,
and with his brothers set sail again in January
1530, from the shores of Spain.

He had innumerable difficulties to contend
against, but his indomitable spirit conquered them
all. On his arrival at Panama he had 180 men,
27 horses, and 3 vessels, and in January 1531 he
set out on his third and final voyage. On his way
southward he ravished the coasts, looting gold,
silver, and jewels, and killing off the natives when-
ever they opposed him; hoisting, too, the flag of
old Castile wherever possible. The natives did
not know what he was talking about, but thought
it all great fun, and him a Big White Chief-
natives are and have always been the same — till

AN AMBASSADOR FROM THE YNCA 223

death ended the fun. They had a wily missionary
with them, who collected emeralds ; and so that his
nice little collection should not be depreciated in
value, he told his companions the only way to test
the reality of emeralds was to pound them with a
hammer, for if real they would not break, which
they did, thereby destroying what they had, whilst
his were intact. One of his kidney would do just
the same to-day.

Leaving their vessels, they marched down the
coast, enduring terrible hardships, and a plague of
ulcers broke out amongst them, which spread to
the natives and all over the country. On the island
of Puna, in the Gulf of Guayaquil, they had more
bloodshed with the natives, and on reaching Tumbez
found it deserted and dismantled ; but near this
place they remained, and founded the town of San
Miguel de Puira, the first white settlement in
South America.

In September 1532, with 177 followers, of whom
67 were cavalry, Pizarro marched into the interior.
A few of his men deserted him and returned to
San Miguel. Their journey was one of great toil
and hardship, but everywhere they were well
received by the Peruvians, and were met by an
ambassador from the Ynca Atahualpa, who invited
them to that monarch's court. They came upon
the famous highroad of the Yncas, the marvellous
work which stretched from Quito to Cuzco, and
were amazed at what they saw — this great road with
its borders of trees and shrubs, its bridges, and its
tambos, or houses of rest and refreshment, and its
elaborate system of posts — for within every five
miles was a post-house with a runner in livery

224 ROADS AND AQUEDUCTS OF THE YNCAS

stationed at it. This same running postman ran
his five miles with incredible speed, delivered his
message or letter to the next, who instantly set off,
and so on, so that enormous distances were covered
in no time. But there was also an up-to-date
parcel-post as well, as game, fruit, and even fish
were carried along in this fashion, so that fish even
could be brought from the coast in a short time (in
three days) so as to reach the Ynca's table fresh,
or what the Ynca called fresh ! Much Pizarro and
his armoured followers marvelled at it all, and no
less at the industry and knowledge of the Peruvians,
who had terraced and cultivated the hills and
mountains to the very tops, manured them with
guano, and fertilised them with water drawn
through perfectly constructed stone aqueducts,
irrigating every foot of ground, and growing end-
less crops of maize and potatoes. And despite the
Spaniards, many of these aqueducts are in use to
this day, and yet the Indians are cultivating those
terraces. One aqueduct was 500 miles long. But
of course the Spaniards have destroyed and neglected
most of them.

They saw also pits of an acre in extent and
20 feet deep dug down to moisture, lined with
sun-baked bricks, manured with little fish, and
growing crops of grain.

In the narrow and precipitous defiles of the
Corderillas of the Andes they found great strong
stone forts, and the further inland they went the
more signs of wealth and civilisation appeared.
They were welcomed in Indian cities and lodged
in the royal tambos.

At length they were met by an envoy with

PIZARRO AT CAXAMALCA 226

presents from the Ynca Atahualpa, and with an
invitation to visit that monarch's camp. Two
Indian youths Pizarro had taken to Spain acted
as interpreters. Pizarro then continued his march,
crossed the Great Divide of the Andes amidst
great difficulties, and descended into the beautiful,
cultivated, and thickly populated valley of Caxa-
malca, and far beyond on the ridges they saw,
covering the ground for miles, the white tents of
the Ynca. On the 15th November 1532, Pizarro
entered the city of Caxamalca, and found it deserted
by the inhabitants. At once Pizarro despatched
Hernando de Soto with fifteen horses on an
embassy to the Ynca, and the appearance of these
Spaniards clad in glistening armour, with plumes
waving, and pennons fluttering in the air, as they
dashed off at a gallop, seemed to dumbfound the
Indians. They were received by the Ynca in the
courtyard of an arcaded building, surrounded by
his attendants and nobles. Hernando Pizarro
addressed the Ynca, and he replied that he would
visit the Spanish commander on the mon'ow.
Chicha, the national beverage made from fermented
maize, was presented in golden cups by Indian
maidens. On returning to tell Pizarro what they
had seen, some were very despondent, for it seemed
impossible that their little band could oppose the
great army of the mighty Ynca.

Pizarro summoned a council and retailed his
plan, which was to capture the emperor by treachery,
and make him a prisoner in the face of his army.

On the morning of the 16th all was in readiness.
The great plaza was surrounded on three sides by
long, low buildings, or halls, with doors opening on

226 BETRAYAL AND CAFrURE OF ATAHUALPA

to the square. In these, he concealed his cavalry
and infantry, and posted his sentinels about the
town. At a given signal — the firing of a gun —
they were to rush forth, attack the Indians, and
seize the Ynca. Shortly before sunset, Atahualpa,
borne on a litter resting on the shoulders of his
nobles, seated on a golden throne, with a great
collar of emeralds and all his imperial insignia,
entered the square. Not a Spaniard was to be
seen as the doomed sovereign appeared, having
left his army encamped outside the city.

Suddenly appeared Pizarro's chaplain, Vicente
de Valverde, accompanied by the interpreter, a
breviary or Bible in one hand, a crucifix in the
other. He addressed the astonished emperor, say-
ing he had been ordered to expound to him the
doctrines of the true faith, and proceeded to do so,
and adjured the emperor to cast off his errors,
and acknowledge himself a tributary to the great
Christian emperor.

Atahualpa's eyes flashed with fire, and with
indignant scorn he threw the Bible tendered him
to the ground and pointed to his Deity, the rapidly
setting sun.

Pizarro gave the signal, a gmi fired, and instantly
the Spanish soldiers poured forth and fell upon the
betrayed and dumbfounded Indians, riding them
down and slashing at them right and left with their
swords. The Ynca's litter was thrown to the
ground, and he himself seized by Pizarro and others ;
his sign of sovereignty, the bor^la, was snatched
from his brow, and he was hurried to a neighbouring
building, where he was placed under strong guard.
The plaza was a shambles, the Indians flying — it

THE CONQUEST OF PERU 227

is said they thought horse and rider one animal,
and that it was the armour and the horses that
overcame them — the cavalry pursued them, cutting
down unarmed Indians till darkness came on — the
whole thing was over in half an hour — the conquest
of Peru. Not a Spaniard was wounded. Accord-
ing to different accounts, from 2000 to 10,000
Indians were slain. The following day the whole
camp and stores of the Ynca were seized, and large
numbers of prisoners — the Indian forces seeming
paralysed at the loss of the Child of the Sun, their
sacred sovereign. They offered no opposition.
Some of the Spaniards wanted to cut off all their
hands, and so render them helpless; this Pizarro
would not allow.

Meanwhile the Ynca was kept a close prisoner,
but well treated and allowed many of his attendants,
and he soon learnt that gold was the desire of the
Spaniards, and one day he told Pizarro that if
he would release him he would, as a ransom, fill
the floor of the room in which they stood with
gold, and not only the floor but the whole room
as high as he could reach. Pizarro, who was
dazzled by all he had heard of the riches of Cuzco,
agreed, and a red mark was drawn round the
room as high as the Ynca could reach. And in
the same manner he promised to fill an adjoining
room with silver. The room exists to this day.
The Ynca despatched couriers to Cuzco with orders
to bring all the gold and silver vessels from palaces
and temple at once.

Meanwhile Huescar, the brother of the Ynca,
and with whom he was at war, heard of all this,
and sent messages to Pizarro that he could pay

228 THE RANSOM OF THE YNCA

a higher ransom than Atahualpa, and Pizarro
announced that he would have Huescar at Caxa-
malca, too, and decide the rival claims of the
brothers. Atahualpa, alarmed at this, sent secret
messengers, and Huescar vras assassinated. Atahu-
alpa, who denied being the cause, pretended great
grief and horror. Meanwhile the supplies of gold
and silver plate and ornaments were being slowly
collected and brought in, and the Spaniards were
dazzled by all they saw, though grumbling at the
long delay. Their emissaries had been despatched
to Cuzco, and by the Ynca's orders were well
received and treated. The accounts they brought
back of Cuzco enthralled the Spaniards and made
them eager to gain it. They stripped the Temple
of the Sun of its golden plates, behaved with
insolent rapacity, even violating the convent of
the Virgins of the Sun, and returned laden with
booty. In February, Pizarro was reinforced by
the arrival of Almagro and his men. Now they
could wait no longer. All the precious vessels
were melted down, except what were kept as a
gift for the emperor, Charles V., and it is said that
in the money of to-day these golden ingots were
worth three and a half million pounds sterling.

Naturally, Almagro, Pizarro, and all the rest
began to quarrel at once over this booty; but
eventually it was all arranged.

Then for Cuzco — but how about Atahualpa?
They dared not liberate him, they had no way of
keeping him in captivity for long, nor men enough.
Rumours were current of a rising amongst the
Indians. The Spaniards cried out, " Kill him, and
be done with it ! " Pizarro shrank from the deed.

THE DEATH OF ATAHUALPA 229

Finally he determined to bring the Ynca to trial —
a sham trial. They accused him of murdering his
brother Huescar; that ''he had squandered the
public revenues since the conquest of the country by
the Spaniards;" that he was guilty of idolatry
and of trying to organise an insurrection ! They, of
course, found him guilty, and condemned him to be
burnt alive at once. It is said that when the Ynca
discovered that Pizarro could not read, he could
not disguise his scorn, and this Pizarro never could
forgive.

On the 29th of August 1533, they led out the
Ynca chained hand and foot, he was bound to the
stake and the faggots heaped round him. Then the
chaplain Valverde announced to him that if he
would embrace the cross he held up to him and
be baptised as a Christian, they would strangle
him instead of burning him alive. Eventually
Atahualpa gave way, was baptised, then strangled.
Read the black and bitter story for yourself.

Throughout the land rose a mighty cry of
wailing^ — but the Child of the Sun was dead. At
Cuzco and elsewhere gold, silver, hoards of price-
less wealth, were buried and concealed by the
Indians, and are said to be concealed to this day ;
that to this day the secret hiding-places are known
to and unrevealed by some of the Indians, the
descendants of the old race. I wonder !

Pizarro and his forces fought their way to
Cuzco, the Indians making despairing efforts to
oppose them, and on the 15th of November 1533,
Pizarro the Conqueror rode into the great Plaza
of Cuzco.

What did they find there ? It is said that in

230 THE RICHES OF CUZCO

Cuzco and its suburbs were 400,000 inhabitants.
A great city with well-planned streets lined with
palaces built of heavy masonry — the great plaza,
now forming three large plazas — the magnificent
Temple of the Sun, with its golden roof ; wealth of
eveiy description. The gates were of coloured
marbles, the walls of the palaces painted in gaudy
colours, but their roofs only of thatch. On the
hill above the city rose the great fortress, with its
triple walls of Cyclopean masonry and its three
towers. The gardens surrounding the Temple of
the Sun were full of gold and silver imitation
flowers; the golden plates of the roof of the
temple had been already removed, but the heavy
golden frieze still clung to the stones. Vast stores
of gold and silver vases, mummified figures covered
with gold, jewels, rich woven stuffs, granaries filled
with all produce — even planks of solid silver 20
feet long, 1 foot wide, and 3 inches thick !

Under the Yncas the empire was divided into
four provinces, each under a viceroy, who had
under him a council. At certain times the vice-
roys "came to town for the season," and then
formed a council of state for the Ynca. The whole
Empire was divided into departments of 10,000
inhabitants, each under a governor, a great Ynca
noble; every thousand persons had an officer in
authority over them, responsible in every way for
them and their good behaviour. If they did wrong
he punished them, and he himself was punished
for allowing them to do wrong. In the same way
every 500 had an officer over them responsible for
them to the one above him, and so on with every
100, 50, and 10 men. By this system every 10

PERUVIAN SOCIALISM 231

inhabitants were under charge of an official respon-
sible in every way for them. As regards their
courts of justice, the Ynca appointed the judges
for life; there was no appeal, and they had to
decide every case in five days. The minor courts
reported their proceedings monthly to the higher,
they to the viceroy, and he to the Ynca. Com-
mittees of officials patrolled the country to in-
vestigate the conduct of the magistrates. By
this system the lowest subject was in touch with
the Ynca.

The revenues of the empire were divided into
three parts, one for the sun, one for the Ynca,
and one for the people. The lands for the sun
supported the temples, priests, and religious cere-
monies; those for the Ynca, his court; and the
rest went so much per head in equal shares to the
people.

The people cultivated the land. First they
paid attention to the lands of the Sun ; then to
lands of the old, the sick, the widows and orphans,
and the soldiers away on active service ; and lastly
they tended the lands of the Ynca, which latter
was regarded as a great national holiday, the
Ynca going in state and himself turning the first
sod with a golden plough, accompanied by his
people in gala attire and singing songs. When a
man married, his community gave him a house
and land, with an addition as each child was born,
more for a son than a daughter.

The great flocks of llamas belonged exclusively
to the Ynca and the sun. The wool was deposited
in public stores and dealt out in equal portions to
the women, who spun and wove it. In the

232 STATE REGULATIONS

different provinces the wool was so distributed
and inspectors saw that everything was carried
out satisfactorily, whilst in Cuzco it was fixed how
much was necessary for the Ynca and the court.

Each man had to give a certain amount of
labour to the State, but it was regulated so that
he should be able to look after his own aflFairs ;
and it was always known where to find in each
department labourers suitable for the work
required. All births and deaths were registered,
and every year returns were made of the popu-
lation.

All produce was stored in granaries erected all
over the country. An inventory was taken every
year of the contents and presented to the Ynca.
The surplus left in the granaries was given to
those in want, and distributed equally in a bad
season. These granaries were found by the
Spaniards full of woollen and cotton stuffs, gold
and silver vases and other objects, and immense
quantities of maize, quinua, and other produce.

They believed in a universal resurrection, but
that every one returned to life, and so they
carefully preserved all their hair combings and
the parings of their nails in niches in the walls of
their houses, so that at the resurrection they would
know where to find them ! Garcilasso de la Yega
tells of one who, when questioned on this subject,
said : " Know that all persons who are born must
return to life, and the souls must rise out of their
tombs with all that belonged to their bodies. We,
therefore, in order that we may not have to search
for our hair and nails at a time when there will be
much hurry and confusion, place them in one

THEIR RELIGIOUS BELIEF 233

place, that they may be brought together more
conveniently, and, whenever it is possible, we are
also careful to spit in one place."

I should think some of us would have to look
for our lost hairs on the top of some one else's
head.

They believed in a Supreme Being who had
created the sun ; but the sun was their Deity, and
they had temples to the moon, stars, thunder,
lightning, and the rainbow — the latter being the
emblem on their banners. They had many legends
of the Deluge and the origin of mankind, and
the popular belief was that after the flood seven
people who had taken refuge in a cave escaped
and repeopled the world. They mummified their
dead and buried them in a sitting attitude accom-
panied by a certain amount of treasure, which
to-day every one is diligently digging up again.
Their military organisation was admirable, and at
short notice 200,000 men could be placed in the
field.

They had a wonderful system of agriculture,
and a superb system of irrigation. Marvellous
aqueducts were constructed of slabs of freestone
carefully fitted together, and often of great length,
one being said to have been 500 miles in length.
One at Nasca, still existing, is 5 feet deep and 3
wide. Many are still in use, and in places where
they are forgotten, the water is still flowing
through. Officials saw that each occupier of
ground irrigated properly and got his proper share,
and the water was brought to all sterile places,
either by open canal, or by subterranean aqueducts.

The hills were terraced to the very top, and

234 SYSTEM OF AGRICULTURE

where it was bare rock, fertile soil was carried and
deposited to a sufficient depth — these terraces are
everywhere yet, and still in many places in use and
cultivation. The guano islands off the coast were
carefully preserved, and the guano brought to the
mainland and distributed ; also quantities of small
fish for manure. Their ploughs were wooden, a
stake with a horizontal bar, pressed into the ground
by the foot, and then drawn along the furrows by
men with a rope.

In the high grounds they had maize— and the
Cuzco maize is particularly fine — and on the table-
lands they had tobacco and the cuca. The latter is
a shrub with delicate leaves which are dried in the
sun. They chew the leaves, but do not swallow
leaf or juice. It gives them great strength and
endurance, and is of great efficacy when applied to
outward wounds or sores. To-day no Indian is
ever without his chuspa or bag of cuca mixed with
lime, and with that and a little maize they can
travel long distances without food.

In the highest regions they cultivated the
indigenous potato, and had countless ways of
preparing it for use. Wheat and other cereals
were introduced by the Spaniards. They had no
iron, and their tools, etc., were of copper, hardened
with a little tin.

The wool of the llama, vicuna, and alpaca
provided them with clothes, and they wore linen
from the Maguey plant. The llama wool was the
least valuable. The llama as a beast of burden is
wonderfully useful, but has its little ways. It will
only take a load of a hundred pounds and no more ;
and attempts to overload or overdrive it, result in

THE MARRIAGE CUSTOMS 235

its lying down, and no earthly power can then move
it. It only travels a few leagues a day, but costs
nothing, as it can go without water for weeks or
months, and feeds on any stunted herbage it can
find. Its burden rests loosely on the wool on its
back. The huanacos and vicunas roam over the
Corderillas up to a great height, pasturing on the
ychu, a grass which grows everywhere except north
of the equator, where they are never found. At
certain seasons thousands of men made cordons
round parts of the country, gradually narrowing
to a circle, and driving in all animals. The vicunas
were then shorn and let free again, but all the
vicuna wool went to the making of the Ynca's
clothes, and those whom they permitted to use it.

Great nobles had many wives and concubines,
common people usually only one. On certain
dates they had great fiestas, when all the marriage-
able youths of the ages of twenty-four, and as to
girls of from eighteen to twenty, were assembled in
the plaza of their town or village, accompanied by
their parents to give consent, and the magistrate
came round and joined their hands, and that was
marriage.

Their religious ceremonies were frequent and
very elaborate. The high priest or villac mnu was
always of near kin to the Ynca, and was appointed
for life, he appointing those under him. All high
priests and all those in the service of the Temple
of the Sun were of the royal Ynca race. The
raymi, or feast of the summer solstice, was the
great event. It was preceded by a three days' fast,
and no fires were lighted. The Ynca and everyone
else at Cuzco assembled in the cusipati or great

236 THE VIRGINS OF THE SUN

square to await the sun, which was cheered, and
the Ynca stood everyone drinks of cMcha all
round, and then they went to the Corkancha — the
Temple of the Sun — where sacrifices were ofifered
— at raymi always a llama — of fruit, grain, flowers,
and animals, and, according to some writers, occa-
sionally a child or young girl; but others vigor-
ously deny that human sacrifices were ever made.
They focussed the sun's rays to make a fire, the
sacred flame, using a concave metal mirror on dried
cotton for the purpose. The sacred flame was
tended for a whole year by the Virgins of the
Sun, who dared not let it go out lest some great
calamity should occur. Then a big banquet,
balls, "at homes," much c/wc/^^^- drinking, and other
society functions took place. The Virgins of the
Sun were caught young, put in convents, taught
the weaving of clothes and temple-hangings for the
Ynca and Co. They were cut oflF from all their
friends and only the Ynca and his Coya or queen
could enter the convent. Their morals were well
looked after — if one was naughty, she was buried
alive and her lover strangled, whilst his town or
village was destroyed, as it was a sacrilegious
offence. At Cuzco they were all maidens of royal
blood, 1500 of them, and dwelt in sumptuous
buildings. They were also brides of the Ynca,
and the best-looking, at a certain age, filled his
palaces — if he got bored with one, she went to her
original home, not back to the convent, and there
was treated as a personage, a superior being, as
having been a bride of the Ynca.

From Cuzco extended the two very famous
roads, 2000 miles long, one along the coast and

GARCILASSO DE LA VEGA 237

the other over the mountains. They were between
25 and 30 feet wide. The Spaniards were roused to
enthusiasm over these magnificent works, which
did not prevent them destroying and allowing them
to fall into disrepair. Now the best-preserved
fragments are between Xauxa and Tarma. One
ran from Quito to Cuzco and right on into Chile.
Mountains were lowered, valleys filled up, streams
crossed by osier bridges, galleries cut through
rocks, the road itself paved, and tambos or post-
houses erected every 10 or 12 miles. The roads
were bordered with stone pillars at intervals of
over a league ; and I have already referred to their
chasqais or runners, who carried verbal messages
with incredible speed from post to post, and who
also acted as a parcel-post. They were trained to
the work, wore a distinguishing dress, and carried
a staff, which went from hand to hand. A message
went 160 miles a day.

When I read Prescott's Conquest of Peru, long
ago, I was deeply interested, but regarded it as
somewhat of a fairy-tale, and did not take seriously
all that glamour of golden temples, gardens of gold
and silver flowers and shrubs, and the enormous
amount of treasure — now I am here in Cuzco, I
see round me daily the descendants of those Yncas
and their people, the very palaces they dwelt in
before the conquest, and in fact countless evidences
of the truth of all one has read. I marvel and
wonder, and can realise it all so well.

The most authentic authority on those times is
probably Garcilasso de la Vega. He was of Ynca
blood, and wrote with authority and interest. His
Royal Commentaries of the Yncas have been trans-

238 SIR CLEMENTS MARKHAM

lated by Sir Clements Markham, and published by
the Hakluyt Society, and he (Sir Clements) also
translated, amongst other works published by the
same society, A7i Account of the Fables and Rites
of the Yncas, by Christoval de Molina, the priest of
the Hospital for Natives at Cuzco, for the Bishop
of Cuzco, between 1570 and 1584, from an original
manuscript in the National Society at Madrid ; An
Account of the Antiquities of Peru, by Juan de
Santa Cruz Pachacuti-yamqui Salcamayhua, an
Indian who wrote about 1620 ; a Narrative of the
Superstitions and Rites of the Indians of the
Province of Huarochiri, by Dr Francisco de Avila,
written about 1608 ; and a Report by the Licentiate
Polo de Onegardo, who was Corregidor of Cuzco
in 1560, and which report was found amongst his
papers, as a rough draft in a memorandum-book.
All these writings throw much light on the events
of the time. Sir Clements Markham is the his-
torian of Peru, and his many works on that country
and its people are invaluable. I carry his little
History of Peru in my pocket here everywhere.
(Sir Clements Markham did me the honour of
presenting me with copies of these interesting
translations of his, published by the Hakluyt
Society, and I value these books immensely.)

The Ynca Garcilasso de la Vega was born at
Cuzco in 1540, and died at Cordova in Spain in
1616, where he is buried. His Commentaries were
published at Lisbon in 1609. His father, of the
same name, was an important personage at Cuzco,
a man of noble descent and kin, numbering
amongst his relatives that Duke of Feria who
married Jane, daughter of Sir John Dormer, by

YNCA PRINCESSES 239

Mary Sidney. He married at Cuzco, Chirapa Ocllo,
baptised as Dona Isabel, the niece of the Ynca
Huayna Ccapac, and one of the royal race, who as a
child escaped the massacres of Atahualpa. She
was the mother of the author Garcilasso de la
Vega, and from her and her kin he heard many
traditions of their race. A portrait of her is
preserved in Cuzco. There are many descendants
of the Yncas and the early Spanish invaders here
now. I give the pedigree of a priest, Pablio
Policarpo, who died at a great age in 1858, and
who was a friend of Sir Clements Markham when
he was here, as an illustration of what their
descents are : —

Pedro Orting de Orne, == Doha Maria Tupac Usca,

one of the first
conquerors.

daughter of
Manco Ynca.

Catalina. === Don Louis Justiniani.
Louis Justiniani.
Nicolo Justiniani.

Dr Justo Pastor Justiniani. — Manuela Simanac Catafio,
i a descendant of

I Tupac Ynca Yupangriu.

Pablio Policarpo, a Priest, Three daughters,

died 1858.

The Spaniards were proud to ally themselves with
the princesses or descendants of the old Ynca
Imperial family.

Francisco Pizarro the Conqueror, whom they
generally speak of as " the Marquis," had a son,
Don Francisco Pizarro, by a daughter of Ynca
Atahualpa. He had also a daughter, Francisca, by

240 YNCA ALLIANCES

a daughter of the Ynca Huayna Ccapac, and this
lady, known as Dona Inez Huayllas Nusta, after-
wards married Martin de Ampuero of Lima— the
Ampuero family descended from these were always
treated with great deference by the Spanish
Viceroys as descendants of the Imperial Ynca line.
The daughter of Pizarro and this Ynca princess,
Dona Francisca Pizarro, married her uncle
Hernando Pizarro.

Another daughter of Huayna Ccapac, who was
baptised as Francisca, married Juan de CoUentes,
and their granddaughter Dominga married Her-
nandez Piedrahita, grandfather of Dr Lucas
Fernandez Piedrahita, the bishop, and historian of
the Conquest of Nueva Granada.

Almost all the conquerors allied themselves with
the Ynca princesses and left descendants, and here
in Cuzco it is of great interest to remember that as
you look around you at these people of mixed
blood.

Garcilasso de la Vega tells us that the Yncas
kept at Cuzco an old white and red jasper or
marble square cross. They had no idea how long
they had had it, or its origin, but they kept it in a
huaca or sacred place. The Spaniards placed it in
the church when they built one, and in 1560 it
hung there suspended by a piece of black velvet to
a nail on the wall. One cannot but wonder whence
it came and how it was they continued to regard it
as an object of value.

The Coracancha or Temple of the Sun is
described as the Spaniards found it. The roof
was of wood, and very lofty. The building was of
stone of magnificent masonry. Inside, one whole

^•■'^fe^'i^-:.

#.- ■ /-^ .' ^'. • ::^,{r:2^:fi^^

Temple of the Sun.

[ro/acepagre240.

TEMPLE OF THE SUN 241

wall was covered by a plate of gold, having on it a
circular face with rays of fire issuing from it.
This was the chief altar, if one may call it so, and
it fell to the share of the conqueror Mancio Serra
de Leguisamo, who gambled it away in a night,
and no doubt it was melted down at once. It was
this man who, when dying, as the last of the first
conquerors, confessed, to relieve his conscience, to
the great injustice, cruelty, and oppression meted
out by him and the other conquerors to the
Indians, whose good government and disposition
he lauds.

On either side of the Sun the dead bodies of
all the Ynca kings, wonderfully embalmed and
clad in their own royal robes, sat on gold chairs
on the golden slabs on which they had been used
to sit ; their eyes downcast, and their hands folded
over their breasts. All these and other mummies
the Indians hid. In 1559 the Licentiate Polo
discovered five, three kings and two queens ; they
were eventually taken to Lima, and after a time
buried in the court of the hospital of San Andres
there. The many others still lie in concealment
somewhere. The principal door to the north was
covered with plates of gold, as were most of the
doors, and outside a cornice of gold more than a
yard wide ran round the whole building. Needless
to say, the Spaniards very soon stripped off all the
gold everywhere. There was a cloister with foui*
sides, one of which was the wall of the temple,
and all round the upper part of the cloister was a
cornice of gold. The Spaniards replaced it by one
of white plaster. Eound the cloister were five
rooms or halls, square, each one standing by itself,

242 THE YNCA MUMMIES

covered in the form of a pyramid, and these formed
three sides of the cloister. One was dedicated to
the moon. Here all was silver, and the image, like
that of the Sun, was a woman's face on a plate of
silver. On either side of it were ranged the
mummified bodies of Coyas or queens in the
same fashion as those of the Yncas. The next
hall was to the stars, and its roof was covered with
stars, and here all too was silver ; then the hall to
the thunder and lightning, where all was gold ;
then the next was to the rainbow, with a coloured
representation of it on a golden plate. They also
bore the rainbow on their shields. They did not
worship these as deities, but venerated them as
satellites of the Sun. The fifth hall was a hall of
audience for the priests, and was all gold. Of the
five images the Spaniards secured three ; they lost
the benches of gold and silver and the images of
the moon and stars. These await discovery yet,
perhaps. On the golden mouldings round the
walls emeralds and turquoises were set in, and the
holes left by these were long visible. They had no
diamonds or rubies. The porches and doorways
were inlaid with plates and slabs of gold in the
form of porches — two in silver. There were many
other buildings for the priests and attendants.
In the garden were herbs, flowers, small plants,
large trees ; large and small animals, both wild and
domestic ; serpents, lizards, toads, shells, butterflies,
and birds, all in gold or silver, arranged in natural
positions and all marvellously made. There was
a large field of maize, quinua, and fruit-trees with
fruit, all in gold and silver. In the buildings were
imitation billets of wood, and great figures of men,

REMAINS OF THE CORACANCHA 248

women, and children in gold and silver, and even
the spades and hoes for garden use and other
utensils were of gold. As well were quantities of
vases and dishes, etc. The name of the temple,
Coracancha or Curicancha, means "a court of
gold."

This is what the Spaniards found and made
short work with ; and all about the kingdom were
other temples, copies of this one, and the palaces
also were internally furnished in the same way
with gold and silver — and always the imitation
billets of wood — and had the same sorts of gardens
of gold and silver plants. The ear of the maize
was a favourite subject to imitate. It is all very
barbaric, but if you think it out it could not have
been beautiful, though the silent mummified bodies
of the kings and queens, eternally sitting there
with bowed heads and crossed arms in the royal
robes against the background of gold or of silver,
must have had a solemn, imposing effect. Then
the gold applied to walls was in very, very thin
beaten-out sheets, and the vases, etc., made of
this same very thin gold. There is a magnificent
golden Ynca vase in the possession of Mr Gould in
America.

Now, this very day, I stood gazing at what
remains of the Temple of the Sun. The site is
occupied by the church of San Domingo, the
foundations and part of the walls of which are
those of the temple. What is visible is masonry of
the most wonderful beauty, very smooth polished
stones, which in themselves would make any
building marvellous. Behind it is the Garden of
the Sun, now the monastery garden ; but it is very

244 HOUSE OF THE VIRGINS

easy to, in one's mind's eye, reconstruct all as it
was in Ynca days. The church with its cloisters
covers now a large space of ground.

The Adla-huasi, or House of the Virgins of the
Sun, was inhabited by the 1500 Ynca maidens of
royal blood, and they were kept in strict seclusion.
All the furniture, even to the pots and pans, was
of gold and silver, and they had also the usual
garden of costly imitation objects. This building,
and the four great enclosures which had been
palaces of the Ynca, were the only ones the
Indians did not burn ; not that they destroyed all
the others, as even fire could only darken the
wonderful masonry, but they tried to do so. The
House of the Virgins is intact as to walls, and is
now the convent of Santa Catalina. Originally
one part of it was given to Pedro de Barco, and
the other to the Licentiate de la Gama; and
afterwards it belonged to Francisco Megia, and
Diego Ortin de Guzman. It faces the south side
of the great Cathedral Square. The church of the
Jesuits was called the Amaru- Canchay and was the
palace of Huayna Ccapac, and is in a line with
the above-mentioned building on the south side of
the Huacay-Pata, or great Cathedral Square. In
front of it once stood a famous round tower, now
gone. The walls of the church and cloisters are
those of the old Ynca palace. Hernando Pizarro,
Mancio Serra de Leguisamo, and Antonio Alti-
marono dwelt in it in their time. It was the latter
who had the first cows in Cuzco, and Garcilasso de
la Vega tells us how as a boy he was taken by a
mob of Indians to see the first three bullocks
ploughing, considered an extraordinary sight. It

Walls of Temple of the Sun.

[To face page 244.

CALLE DEL TRIUNFO 245

was impressed on his memory because his father
whipped him for playing truant from school, and
the schoolmaster gave him an extra dozen lashes
because his father had not given enough.

The cathedral occupies the site of the palace of
the Ynca Uira-ccocha, and of one of the great halls
of entertainment. It was in this hall the first
Spaniards encamped when they entered Cuzco, so
as to be able to defend themselves. The square
called the Huacay-Pata meant the square for
enjoyment or delight.

Part of the church of San Lazaro is formed of
the still standing walls of the Yacha-Huasi, the
school founded by the Ynca Rocca ; and to him are
attributed the walls of the palace which bound the
narrow Calle del Trmnfo, a place I visit daily with
increasing admiration. Marvellous are these walls
of huge stones or rocks of dark limestone of
different shapes, all fitting into each other with
wonderful precision and effect. One famous stone
in a palace wall has no less than twelve sides.
The stones are polished and darkened, perhaps by
fire, I cannot say, but are so beautiful. It is said
all the stones of Cuzco were not cut, but shaped
by the quarrymen using black pebbles called
hihuayas to rub them into shape, and that they
then received a last polish with certain herbs which
contained flint — which makes it all still more
wonderful. All these old Ynca walls and palaces
are topped by another story of white Spanish walls,
red-tiled roofs, and green balconies. Most of the
Ynca walls have no windows. In some cases the
people have been foolish enough to whitewash the
massive stonework. There are three distinct and

246 YNCA PALACES

diflferent styles of masonry; and many of the
houses are built of Ynca masonry filched from the
fortress above, and other buildings.

The palace of Huascar also faces the Cathedral
Square, and between it and the Amaru-cancha, or
church of the Jesuits, runs the Calle de la Carcel,
so called because the Spanish prison was in it, and
still is, I think, though its entrance is from another
street. This was formerly the Street of the Sun,
leading to the curi-cancha or temple. In this
palace dwelt Francisco Megia and Pedro del Barco
— but this palace and the House of the Virgins are
in one block.

The Hatun-cancha, which is the block at the
corner of the square nearer the cathedral, was the
palace of the Ynca Yupanqui, and later the dwel-
ling of Diego Maldonado and Francisco Hernandez
Giron.

Behind this, with a block of buildings between,
is the Puca Marca, a palace of the Ynca Tapac
Yupanqui, and here lived Francisco de Trias and
Sebastian de Ca^alla.

On the north side of the Cathedral Square —
which is very large — is the Cora-cora, which meant
pastures, and fell to the share of Gonzalo Pizarro.
Here is the palace of the Ynca Rocca, and later
the dwelling of Juan de Pancorvo ; and adjoining
it on the same side is the Cassana — meaning House
of Freezing, as its magnificence was supposed
to freeze you to the spot with astonishment — and
this was the palace of the Ynca Pachacutec, and
here for a time dwelt Alonzo Ma^uela, whose house
afterwards was next where now is the prison. The
Cassana and Cora- cor a became houses and shops

HALLS OF AMUSEMENT 247

fronted by deep arched arcades, were in Garcilasso
de la Vega's time owned by a schoolfellow of his,
Juan de Cellorico, and they are now much as then.
Behind them is the Yacha-huasi I have referred to.

Two streams, the Kodadero and the Huatanay,
run down through the town. The latter, to the
west, comes down a very wide street and is crossed
by old stone bridges built by the Spaniards out of
Ynca slabs, and is lined and bottomed with beauti-
ful Ynca masonry. Even the dirt they throw into
it cannot destroy its fascination.

There were four of the great halls for amuse-
ment. One now forms the cloister of the church
of the Jesuits at the palace of Huayna Ccapac, and
was the house of Hernando Pizarro. Another was
where the cathedral is, and in Garcilasso de la
Vega's time was covered with thatch, afterwards
replaced by tiles. Behind it lay the houses of Juan
de Berio.

Another great hall stood on the Colcampata,
the terrace under the fortress hill; where is now
one long wall with windows. Here was a palace
of Huayna Ccapac. This masonry, though, is not
equal to other palaces. It was at one time a
dwelling of the Ynca Paullu and his son Don
Carlos, who was a schoolfellow of de la Vega. It
was here was the Anden, or Garden of the Sun,
always first cultivated — this terrace Sir Clements
Markham calls "the most lovely, but the saddest
spot in Peru "• — and storied indeed is all you view
from it, spread out around and below you.

They are said to have used melted gold as a
mortar in building the walls of the Temple of the
Sun and in other places, and of course the

248 THE HOLY GATE

Spaniards demolished buildings merely to find this.
They did use a red clay, called llancac alpa, which
is sticky, and when made into mud no sign can be
detected of its having been used between the
stones. You certainly would not know anything
was there.

To the west of the town is the part called
Carmen^a, where was the Huaca-puncu, or Holy
Gate. There is here a very steep street, and as one
walks up it and out of it ascending the hill there is
a certain spot where every Indian stops to turn and
look back, or to gaze forward, as it is the first and
last point on the road from which is visible the
Temple of the Sun. They do it to-day as they
have always done it.

The great hospital to the west of the town was
built 1555-56. The father of Garcilasso de la
Vega placed a gold doubloon — the only one in
Cuzco at the time, as money had not been coined —
in the foundation stone, and Diego Maldonado put
in a plate of silver with his arms engraved on it.
The hospital is a large building, and seems ve^y
well kept, and I visited it more than once, being
always received with smiles from everyone.

The city was full of wards in which lived
stranger Indians from all parts, distinguished from
each other by their dress, especially the head-dress.
I suppose really the different head attires you see
now indicate different origins. There is, however,
not much to be picked up in the shops, and I
cannot find new, dean head-gear. One of the city
wards was called Pwnacurcu, meaning " the beam
of the lion," for here all the pumas, or mountain
lions, and other beasts were tied to beams until

HIDDEN TREASURE 249

they became tame enough to be taken to the
palaces. Another ward was called the Cantut
Pata, or ward of the pinks, or cantuts, a flower
growing there in quantities.

You must understand that at present I feel
most superior to the rest of the world, from the
fact that I inhabit Cuzco. In olden days, if one
Indian met another coming j^om Cuzco, he bowed
to him as to a superior being and so regarded him ;
much more so if he was an inhabitant or still more
a native of Cuzco. If I show signs of superiority
on my return, remember I have been in Cuzco and
am justified. After all it was not so long ago, and
here it seems as if it might have been yesterday,
for here are the descendants of the Yncas and the
conquerors, here yet their palaces, and the Indians
are an unchangeable race in many ways; and,
moreover, all those vanished treasures of gold and
silver are only hidden, not really lost, and may yet
be discovered. One hears of nothing else here.
The Indians hid all they could ere the Spaniards
could get it, throwing everything into lakes or
otherwise concealing it.

The treasure collected for the ransom of
Atahualpa was, at the news of his death, hastily
concealed. Much is supposed to be buried or
hidden at Azangaro, between Cuzco and Puno.
When the Indians heard of his death, they cried
Asuan-caru! "more distant," or "away from the
road with it," and it is still supposed to be
concealed there.

Then there is the famous Chain of Gold. It
was said to be made by order of Ynca Huayna
Ccapac for a festival in honour of the birth of his

250 THE CHAIN OF GOLD

son. It was very thick, and according to some
was of solid gold, and its length was 700 feet ; or
it was twice the length and width of the Cusipata,
or great square here. Some say each link was in
the form of a serpent with its tail in its mouth, and
enamelled in brilliant colours. The people danced
with hands interlinked, and the chain was to make
the dance seem more important at the great
festivals when the Ynca sat in the Cusipata in
state. In the valley of Urcos, six leagues south of
Cuzco, is a small, very deep lake, less than half a
league in circumference and surrounded by high
mountains. There was much Cuzco treasure
thrown into it, and, it is thought by some, the
Chain of Gold. Garcilasso de la Vega says : —
" Twelve or thirteen Spaniards of Cuzco, merchants
and traders, formed a company of profit or loss to
drain that lake and secure the treasure. It was
twenty-four fathoms, without counting the mud at
the bottom, which was deep. They agreed to
make a tunnel to east of the lake, where the river
Yucay flows, because the land is there lower than
the bottom of the lake, and that they could draw
off water and leave it dry. They began work in
1557, excavating underground, making a tunnel,
and excavated fifty paces." Then they came to
flint rock, which stopped them, and after spending
much money gave it up. " I (Garcilasso) entered
the tunnel two or three times when the work was
going on."

Sir Clements Markham says that one tradition
asserts that it was the lake of MoHna or Muyna
into which the chain was thrown, and not the lake
of Urcos. The missionaries here vow to me they

YNCA FESTIVALS 251

have discovered the place where it is hid — the
secret revealed to them by a priest (of all people !).
They say if I stay a long time I can go with them
to seek it. Give me, I reply, but one link of it and
I shall believe and be satisfied. It is- hidden in a
cave in a rock, and that cave and rock are under
water — that is all I can reveal. To get to that
cavern you must locate the hidden rock from a
boat and dive into the cavern ! Well ! Well !

Any way that chain is somewhere. If it has
not been found or is to be found, it has been or
will be kept secret and melted down.

Titicaca is full of treasures, enormous quantities
they say, thrown in by the Indians.

At all the great festivals the Ynca was carried
in a litter covered with gold and emeralds, and
wearing on his head the llauta, a scarlet-tasselled
fringe, surmounted by two erect black and white
feathers of the coraquenque, a rare bird of the
vulture species reserved for the Ynca's use ; and
the Cusipata, where all the festas were held, was
always strewn with sand brought from the sea.
They must have been gorgeous spectacles, and I can
well picture them here.

I find photographs dwarf everything here,
especially the fortress walls ; and the lack of colour
in a photograph robs it of what is the real charm
of everything here. I was always mad about
stone and masonry work ; here I am satisfied but
envious.

Some time anterior to the conquest of Peru a
certain Allan M'Ellar went from the Scottish
Highlands to Spain ; I am not so sure but that he
was the same person as Alonzo Ma^uela, one of

252 I FIND NO GOLD

the conquerors who dwelt here, and will some day
endeavour to find out. Many a soldier of fortune
went to France and Spain from Scotland in those
days, as they did to Russia, Austria, and Sweden,
and they sometimes, indeed often, adapted their
name to the country of their adoption. I am
looking round to see if I can, by some instinct,
recognise a long-lost cousin descended from the
said Alonzo and an Ynca princess^ — but I have no
intention of throwing my arms round his neck in
cousinly embrace. I shall have him fumigated
first. Besides, the first Ynca was no doubt a
Scotsman himself — the Germans say he was a Celt,
and they, as the "salt of the earth," must be right.
Behold me coming home with some little Ynky
relations !

Cuzco, Peru,
Nov, 26, 1904.

You will be thinking I am laying in stacks of dis-
covered gold and silver — but no ! I am not of the
getting sort. I am wandering about dreaming and
wondering, and entirely satisfied.

I have given you a long, bald outline of the
conquest and what the conquerors found here,
culled from Prescott and elsewhere, so as to re-
fresh your memory, and now I want to tell you
what is said by Garcilasso de la Vega and others
about the great fortress, the crown of this Imperial
city. One marvels and wonders over who they
could have been, those great Ynca sovereigns who
built these great monuments, if they did build
them, or where they came from.

WERE THE YNCAS CELTS? 253

Of course you know the legend of how a fair-
haired, blue-eyed man and woman came from Lake
Titicaca and ruled and conquered all the tribes ;
and the legend that they were the children of the
sun and moon. They were Manco Ccapac and
Mama Ocllo Huaco, brother and sister, husband
and wife, the sun and the moon. Another legend
says " certain white and bearded men " came from
Titicaca and founded the empire, and that this
took place 200, 400, and 600 years before the
conquest. Whoever they were, the Yncas con-
quered all the tribes and forced the Quichua
language on them as a universal tongue. Some
German writers insist and declare that the Yncas
were of Celtic race — were, in fact. Pagan Irish
who somehow found their way to South America.
Why Irish ? I think they were probably Scots !

Why do papa and mama mean the same thing
all over the world ? Mama Ocllo sounds as if she
was a kind, motherly old thing — everyone's
mama.

Now I say a bold thing ! I see no relation in
the scenery, the ruins, or the people of this land to
things Japanese — and yet now and again comes
over me suddenly a feeling that there is a connec-
tion between these people and the Japanese. I
feel it more than see it, and it comes as a sudden
vague reminiscence.

Some people think of China^ — again so widely
different. The Emperor of China is called the Son
of the Sun; he once a year went in state and
turned the first sod with a plough, and the
solstices and equinoxes were there as here noted
to determine the periods of their religious festivals.

254 THE SACSAHUAMAN

One has theory after theory here and dismisses
them in despair.

The Fortress Hill overlooking Cuzco is called
the Sacsahuaman. In front of it, on a lower plain
but high above the town, is a wide terrace fronted
by a long ruined wall and an old cross of the
conquerors, and backed by other walls and an area
of maize field. This is called the Colcampata.
Here once stood one of the great recreation halls,
and here the long wall — without windows or doors,
but with niches in the wall — is said to be part of
the palace of Ynca Manco Ccapac ; but it has a
different appearance to the other masonry. At the
back of the Sacsahuaman Hill is another, called the
Rododaro.

The Indians had neither iron nor steel for
cutting and working stone, nor had they bullocks
or carts ; so it remains a mystery how they shaped
and prepared the stones, and a still greater how
they moved them.

On the point of the hill overlooking Cuzco, and
which is nearly perpendicular on that side, stand
three crosses; the hill is surrounded there by a
wall of cut stones, or, originally perhaps, three
walls in terraces ; but it is sad to say this hill is still
a quarry for stones for the buildings in the town,
and much damage has been done. Garcilasso says
there was only one wall, Sir Clements Markham
describes three. On the side opposite the town
rise the triple Cyclopean walls, one of the great
monuments of the world. Sir Clements Markham
says : " They . . . are nearly straight. They are,
however, connected with the rocks overhanging the
town by a single flanking wall. The three walls

THE FORTRESS WALLS 255

each have twenty-two salient and retiring angles.
The height of the first wall is 18, of the second
16, and of the third 14 feet, more or less,
varying slightly with the inequality of the
ground."

Garcilasso de la Vega says : " In the first of
the three walls they sought to display the extent
of their power. For though all three are con-
structed in the same way, the first is the grandest,
and contains those enormous stones which make
the edifice incredible to those who have not seen
it, and wonderful to those who have examined it
with attention, when they consider well the size
and number of the stones and the few appliances
these people had for cutting, working, and adjust-
ing them." They were probably not hewn out of
quarries, "for some have convex surfaces, others
concave, and others oblique. Some are with
points at the corners, others without them. These
faults were not removed or levelled, but the hollow
or concavity of one enormous rock was filled by
the convexity of another as large and grand, if one
such could be found. . . . The angle which was
wanting in one rock was made up for in another ;
not by filling up the fault with a small stone, but
by fitting another rock to it which had a fault in
the opposite direction and would then complement
the other."

I did not measure these walls, but everyone at
Cuzco told me they were 600 feet long, the total
height nearly 60 feet ; that the lowest wall was 27
feet high, the next above 18 feet, and the highest 14
feet. They rise one above the other, with a broad
space between on which you walk and look out

256 THE GREAT STONES

over the ramparts. The width of the terraces is
between 25 and 30 feet. Garcilasso says : " Each
wall formed an inner breastwork more than a yard
in height, whence men could fight with more protec-
tion than if they were exposed." Sir Clements
Mai^kham says : " These parapets no longer exist " ;
but they certainly do, at least on the lower terrace
in places, as standing on it you rest your arms on
the wall to look over. Then one comes to the size
of some of the stones. The largest, a most famous
one, I always heard given as 27 feet by 14 feet, and
it must be about that. Sir Clements says : " My
measurements of some of the stones of the outer wall
are as follows : — 1. Great stone in the eighth salient
angle from the west, 10 feet high by 6 broad. 2.
Great stone in the ninth salient angle from the
west (the angle being 85 ) 16 feet 6 inches high by
6 feet 1 inch broad. 3. An inner stone, also in
the ninth salient angle, 14 feet by 8. 4. Great
stone in the eleventh salient angle from the west
(the angle being 90 ) 14 feet by 12. The stones in
the second and third walls are smaller." There is
a great difference between 27 feet by 14 feet and
16 feet 6 inches high by 6 feet 1 inch broad ; and
yet the size I gave is what I constantly heard
stated. In any case, it will be seen what gigantic
blocks they are. Garcilasso says : " It must have
been necessarv to raise and lower the stones a
great many times before such perfect adjustment
could have been attained. No cranes or pulleys
nor any engine to lift and lower the stones, which
were so large " ; and I had better here continue his
account of the building of the fortress and the state
it was in when he saw it.

TOWERS OF THE FORTRESS 257

" In each wall, nearly in the centre, there was
an opening, and each wall had a door capable of
being raised up, of the width and height of the
doorway which it closed. The first was called
Ttiu-puncu, which means 'the Gate of Sand,'
because that part is rather sandy. . . . The second
is called Acahuana-puncUy because the chief
architect had that name. The third was called
Uira-ccocha-puncu, consecrated to the god Uira-
ccocha. . . . Within the three walls there is a long,
narrow space, where there were three strong towers
in a prolonged triangle, conforming to the shape of
the ground. They called the chief and central
tower Moyoc Marca, which means a round fortress,
because it was built in a circular form. In it there
was an abundant fountain, brought from a distance
underground. . . . The kings lodged in that tower
when they visited the fortress. All its walls were
adorned with gold and silver in the shape of
animals, birds, and plants imitated from nature and
inlaid on the wall. . . . They called the second
tower Paucar-marcay and the third Sacllac-marca.
Both were square, and they contained lodgings for
the soldiers. . . . They must have been Yncas by
privilege, as the soldiers of other nations were not
allowed to enter the fortress. . . . Below the
towers there was an equal space excavated under-
ground ; and the vaults communicated from one
tower to another. Great skill was shown in the
construction of these subterranean passages. They
were built with so many streets and lanes, crossing
each other in all directions, and making so many
turns, that one might easily be lost as in a labyrinth
and not know how to get out. It was necessary

260 DESTRUCTION OF THE FORTRESS

style, and are the work of some very different people
in some prehistoric time.

The Spaniards dismantled the fortress to build
private houses. " The long stones which served as
beams in the subterranean passages were used for
lintels and porches and the smaller ones for
walls and foundations. . . . They pulled it down in
such a hurry that even I only remember seeing the
ruins which I have already mentioned. The three
mighty outer walls were left because the Spaniards
could not move them, owing to their immense size.
The good king Ynca Yapanqui commenced the
building of this inadequately described fortress,
although some would have it that it was begun by
his father Pachacutec. They say this because he
left a plan for it and a completed model, and
collected a great number of stones and rocks."

Mr Fergusson, in his History of Architecture,
says : "To use a modern term, it is a fortification
en tenaille; the re-entering angles are generally
right angles, so contrived that every part is seen,
and as perfectly flanked as in the best European
fortifications of the present day. It is not a little
singular that this perfection should have been
reached by a rude people in Southern America,
while it escaped the Greeks and Romans, as well as
the mediaeval engineers. The true method of its
attainment was never discovered in Europe until it
was forced on the attention of military men by the
discovery of gunpowder. Here it is used by a
people who never had an external war, but who,
nevertheless, have designed the most perfectly
planned fortress we know."

When I first ascended this hill and saw only

ITS SOLITUDE AND BEAUTY 261

the front where stand the three crosses, I was some-
what disappointed, though the view from there is
lovely and interesting. The towers of the fortress,
as we see, disappeared long ago, and now there is not
a sign of them, it being merely a bare hill, marked
here and there with signs of an excavation having
been made, and strewn everywhere with broken
pottery. You pick up many very quaint pieces.
But on strolling round the hill my eyes fell on a
great stone gateway, and as I approached and
turned the corner I held my breath with astonish-
ment when I beheld those three great lines of wall
— so wonderfully impressive, so beautiful in form
and tone, and undoubtedly amongst the wonders of
the world. In a photograph or a drawing it seems
nothing, as you do not realise the greatness and
grandeur of these silent, solitary witnesses of the
past. Here it is solitary undoubtedly, as no human
habitation is in sight, and around you are but rocky
hills and glades. Under the clear rarefied air and
the brilliant sunshine the shadows of the great walls
and their angles are clearly defined. There is
something indescribably beautiful about those great
walls standing immovable and solitary as they have
stood for — who can say how long ? No one really
knows who erected this great work ; it must for
ever remain a mystery. Long before the days of
Ynca sovereigns, surely, it stood here, and they but
copied from it. Probably the fortress towers were
of Ynca days.

Before it stretches what Garcilasso calls "the
great plain," a by no means great plain, but
a beautiful, smooth little plain, lying between the
walls and the Rodadero Hill, and evidently at one

262 THE YNCA^S THRONE

time partly walled round. Then the Eodadero Hill
is itself very curious. It is formed of great masses
of white rock, which at some period seem to have
surged up and round in curving waves and solidified
in that form. There are the beautiful smooth
curves intermingled with soft turf, and at the most
prominent point, cut with the perfection of precision,
in this rock is the beautiful seat they call the Ynca's
throne. How lovely it is I cannot describe. Here
must often have sat the Ynca, gazing perhaps at
military evolutions or festival dances in the plain
below him, or at his glorious fortress opposite. In
this wonderful seat I was photographed sitting
between two missionaries, like the jam in a sandwich
— but we do not look like Yncas !

Below on the plain lies by itself a very
conspicuous object, one single white stone cut in
the form of a bath. It certainly is not the "tired
stone" Garcilasso describes as almost having
disappeared in the ground, that "tired stone"
that wept blood because it never reached the
edifice it was intended for. I think this was
never meant to be anywhere but where it is, and
that it was used for sacrificial purposes in great
festivals. It is stone of an entirely different colour
and character to any in the walls.

I strolled about full of wondering admiration,
and came to one of the adjacent rocky knolls to
find that the natural rock of which it is composed
was carved all over with wonderful beauty and
accuracy into steps, seats, round enclosures, and I
know not what all, but in bewildering confusion,
and all the lovely angles as clean cut and perfect
as if done to-day. Then I found a cave within it.

THE ROCK-CARVED HILLS 263

with steps leading down, and inside more of these
carved seats. Further exploration revealed that
all around for a distance every rocky knoll and
all the many natural rocks were carved in this
way ; there were many caves and intricate passages,
and without doubt in former times from these caves
led subterranean passages under the plain into the
interior of the Fortress Hill. They have doubtless
been destroyed or filled up. Otherwise there
seems no meaning in all this riot of carved seats
and steps, amongst which grow now mosses and
flowers. Everyone has theories — for long I felt
sure that here had been suburban villas of the
princesses of the Yncas, and amidst these carven
rocks had been planted their golden trees and
shrubs. Then I thought not — day after day do
I sit there and wonder and marvel what it all
means. It is a more than fascinating spot.

It is so solitary. Now and again you see a
stray Indian in his brilliant attire, or with his group
of llamas, and they Hnger idly there as if dreaming
and pondering over the glories of their past.

Once I saw no soul anywhere, and strolling to
one of these places was about to descend into the
cave. Quite suddenly I saw an Indian standing
near me, though where he came from I could not
think. He was looking away from me, standing
like a statue, his whole figure in its poncho and
his dark aquiline face, crowned by its coloured
woollen Phrygian cap, outlined with clear sharpness
against the sky. When I made a sound he turned
his head, but moved not otherwise, and gazed at
me mournfully, and through me and beyond me, as
if he was looking at something I could not see.

264 THE SUBTERRANEAN MYSTERIES

I turned away and was about to descend into the
cave again, when something made me look back.
He had not moved, but by him stood another
Indian, and they looked at me and said something
to each other. It was very strange^ — I could see
all round me^ — and yet had neither seen or heard
these Indians come — it was as if they had suddenly
come out of the rock. My foot was on the step
to descend, when the strangest feeling came over
me— something seemed to hold me back forcibly,
to restrain me, and I seemed to hear from some-
where, " Do not go down. Oh ! do not go down ! "
So strong and strange was this feeling, that actually
I could not go down; so I turned back and
towards the Indians. They had vanished as
suddenly, as silently as they came, and then I
saw them a little distance off, walking away, their
brilliant coloured figures conspicuous against the
grey stones of the fortress walls. Once or twice
they paused and stood silently looking back at me,
without the least idea that they formed the most
picturesque of pictures. Surely, this is an eerie,
strange place, and one full of a strange fascination.
I think it the most wonderful spot I know in the
world.

In that fortress hill is yet, they say, a great
hall where lie concealed the mummified Ynca
sovereigns, golden statues, and much treasure. A
lady was once taken in by secret subterranean
ways, and saw it — then why do they not open it
all up? It is most probable the subterranean
ways and chambers were not all destroyed or dis-
covered. I can believe anything here. The people
who built those walls were capable of doing anything.

THE YNCA SETS FIRE TO CUZCO 265

An artist could paint wonderful pictures here —
the stones of Cuzco are an inspiration in themselves.
How glad I am I came, how glad I listened not
to those who would have prevented me. What
can they mean by such nonsense? But there is
always the fear that these wretched people here
will go on destroying, as they have been doing for
generations. Cannot some millionaire buy up the
whole thing to preserve it? It gives me a quite
nervous feeling to think all this great work may
yet vanish — and how much is gone !

Cuzco, Peru.

I have written you much about this place, but I
could go on for ever.

When Pizarro was settling this Cuzco business
in order, he set up Manco Ccapac as Ynca, under
the supremacy of Spain. They crowned him with
the llauta, and had high coronation jinks. They
even had some of the royal mummies (they must
have found them somewhere) paraded in the
square, seated them at the banquet, and drank
chicha to their healths. The Ynca Manco was for
a time a good boy ; then he rebelled, set up for
himself, besieged Cuzco for a long period, took the
fortress, and set the town on fire — it blazed for
days, the thatch roofs, of course, being like tinder.
The Spaniards had already done much damage ; he
did more. No doubt all the adobe houses and huts
were destroyed, but the solid stone Ynca masonry
defied the fire, and there it is to this day — dark

266 THE LLAMAS OF CUZCO

and polished stone. Even some of the wonderfully
cut cubes of stone lying loose in the streets are
worth carrying away if one could do it.

You cannot imagine what a picture it is to see
an Indian or two with a group of llamas standing
against the palace walls in the Calle del Triunfo.

You have only seen the llamas in a zoological
garden, awkward animals that spit at you if you
annoy them. You have no idea what a strangely
beautiful thing it is here in its native home. It
has such a proud head and stately mien. They
are mysterious creatures, like no other. Their
Indian shepherds adore them, and treat them
kindly. It is for them a holy animal, and here
surely there is something holy about it. The
restless, beautiful head, for ever turning this way
or that, the beautiful, sad eyes, for ever looking
beyond you for something they cannot find — what
is the mystery — do they know and remember they
were the holy animals of the strange children
of the Sun? And their aquihne-featured, brown-
faced, dark and sad- eyed masters — do they also
know and remember? People tell me not — that
they know nothing. I wonder! Why so sad,
then — why do their eyes, like the llama's, look
always beyond you for something they cannot find ?
I know, I am sure, I feel, that they do know and
remember. Would only that I could speak their
tongue, and learn something. Do you know, even
the long cactus spikes on the hedges are like the
llamas and these Indians — and all seem different
here to elsewhere.

I wander about this town, dreaming and
bewildered. Now I am a familiar object to them

THE CITY FROM ABOVE 267

all, and they let me go where I please, and
unheeded, and everyone is civil and friendly.

I go up the long, steep street of stone steps,
haunted by Indians, and filthily misused by them,
till I come to Manco Ccapac's palace on the hill,
that long wall of masonry with niches for windows
and doorway, and a terrace in front of it on which
stands an old cross. It looks down on the town.
I go higher to the Fortress Hill summit, and
collect quaint bits of pottery, and sit gazing on all
that lies below, the whole city of Cuzco spread out
like a map at my feet. You see all the country
round — the beautiful valley — the superb hills and
mountains, and below you, Cuzco, the most con-
spicuous thing in which is the huge square, now
divided by buildings into three; rising here and
there the stately Spanish churches, and beyond
the town, but near, are the battlefields of the Yncas
and the conquerors. I can people it easily with
the scenes I have read about. Down there the
two Almagros, father and son, at different periods
were executed in the great square, and buried in
that church ; and later the headless body of
Gonzalo Pizarro — executed out there on the
battlefield — was thrown into the same grave —
and here on the spot where I stand, another
Pizarro, Juan, lost his life in battle.

Quito was an Ynca city joined to Cuzco by
that wonderful road, but there is nothing about it
that impresses you as Cuzco does, that makes you
realise how really great was this Ynca race. The
very llamas in Quito looked different to those
here. Often I go up on the hill, have it all to
myself, sit in the Ynca's throne, elbow on knee,

268 DREAMS ON A THRONE

chin in hand, and gaze and gaze at those old walls,
trying to read the riddle of it all. Down below,
the town, situated on a slope, and at such a high
altitude, ought to be, and could easily be, particu-
larly healthy, but they have made of the Imperial
city a cesspool. Up on the hill, amidst these
solitary ruins, the air is so fresh, clear, and exhila-
rating, it is a pleasure to breathe it. One cannot
imagine shouting or noise there, it seems natural
to speak in low tones, so as not to intrude on that
eternal silence. Sitting in the Ynca's throne, I
can realise him distinctly; I can see the grey
walls before me crowded with brilliantly clad
soldiers, watch the stir as the Ynca comes, see the
flutter as a running messenger with his wand
dashes amongst them with some piece of news. I
have sat in the throne of Charlemagne in the
cathedral of Aix-la-Chapelle — he was an ancestor,
some diluted drop of his blood is in my veins — yet
I could not in any way realise him. Often I go
into those strange, sculptured caves — into that one
something or somebody would not let me enter
one time — but I can find no meaning for them.
Sometimes I have examined the rocks minutely,
wondering if there be not secret doors leading
down to concealed passages, some apparently solid-
looking rock that swings wide open. I picture
going down it — and how, probably, it would swing
to again, and close me in for ever. No ! not for
ever, for in some future time would come some
society of learned men, dig it up, find this secret
passage, and discover the interesting twentieth
century mummy crouching there — what a find !
Of course, I go prodding about with very material

THE SPANISH BUILDINGS 269

aims too — but no treasure can I find. I have
gathered seeds from the acacias growing round
the great walls, and w^onder if they will grow
elsewhere. (They grew and flourished in a Scottish
garden, till a severe frost killed them off. Some,
however, are yet in pots in a green-house.)

But Cuzco is not beautiful and interesting alone
through its Ynca associations. If it had none of
these it would still be a unique city in form and
colour. I scarcely heed the Spanish buildings, but
they are very fine, and the churches very stately.
The white- walled, red tiled, green-balconied Spanish
houses, with their deep arched arcades, their play
of light and shadow, are beautiful too. Then the
mass of colour, as the gaudily attired Indians
crowd the market-place and arcades under the
briUiant sunshine, is a feast for the eye. I envy
the artist who will one day depict all this.

There are two tawdry statues of Yncas in the
squares, and round about that in the market-place
are the white-domed market stalls. Here fruit,
vegetables, everything is sold. A most picturesque
sight. But alas ! you cannot approach these stalls,
for Indian men and women have defiled the whole
ground — poor degraded animals. Theirs is a great
degradation, I am afraid a hopeless one. What is
to become of these people? Yet amongst them
you see stately proud figures and faces, some with
striking, aquiline features — the Ynca blood, you
cannot help thinking. But what an indictment it
all is of Spanish and Catholic rule !

Here, though there is a Catholic Liberal party
that is trying to throw off the yoke of the Church,
the priests rule, and they are most bigoted and

270 ECCLESIASTICAL BIGOTRY

intolerant. It is difficult and unpleasant to view
the interiors of the churches, the priests scowl at
you, and plainly let it be seen they do not want
you. I entered one church with the English
missionaries ; there were workmen employed in it,
and they sent for the priest, who arrived in a fury,
harangued us violently, and said our presence
polluted and dishonoured the church ! He also
said he would send for the police to turn us out.
All this was lost on me, for I had discovered in a
side-chapel wonderful old Ynca tapestries rolled
up in bundles and thrown amongst dirt and rubbish
— and I had no idea he was insulting us, and paid
no heed.

But I think changes are coming. The men
care little for the Church — or religion — now ; it is
the women who bolster it up. The English
missionaries will not, I think, make many converts ;
they are not aggressive in their work. They can
and will do good otherwise, and have a civiHsing
effect in Cuzco. Though the people are so bigoted,
and the priests so opposed to them, yet they are
respected, have even good friends amongst more
enlightened priests and amongst the better classes.
There are, I am told, various very pleasant interest-
ing families resident here. One leading resident,
who owns a private museum of Peruvian antiquities
and who is a strict Catholic, yet, when he goes
away, leaves the key of his museum with Mr
Jarrett, the only person he can trust! They are
making themselves felt, and tell me they have
started cricket among the boys, though I have seen
none of it.

Just before my arrival they had fitted up a

THE SUN-CIRCLES 271

large room in their house as a church or chapel,
and this is what, together with the arrival of fresh
missionaries, had roused Cuzco against them, and
accounted for the hostile reception I met with on
my arrival with the agent of the Bible Society and
two others — they at first took me for number four !

I believe the Salvation Army let loose in Peru
and other South American countries would draw
the Indians after them in flocks. They would be
stoned, attacked, and imprisoned, but they would
like that ! Any way, they would rouse up some of
these hopeless natives.

I ought to be very energetic, visiting all the
countless interesting places and ruins, such as
OUantay-tampu and Pissac in the valley of
Vilcamayu, and think I will do so " to-morrow " ;
but my time is so short that I cannot drag myself
away from Cuzco and its Fortress Hill — it
fascinates me. I have not half seen it or studied
it. All is interesting. In most of the palaces was
an ynti-huatana or sun-circle for astronomical
observation — but the only one in proper preserva-
tion now is at Pissac, the one here is not in good
order. At Pissac it is carved out of rock with a
wall of masonry 20 feet high round it, and is
approached by a flight of steps through a doorway
in the wall opening on to the platform which is 18
feet in diameter. In the centre is a cone 16 inches
high cut from the solid rock, once surrounded by
a flat bronze ring. By this they ascertained the
periods of the solstices and regulated their
calendar.

At Cacha are the ruins of the temple of
Huiracocha ; walls 330 feet long and 40 feet high.

272 A PRIVATE MUSEUM

built of adobes or clay on stone foundations — a
strange building it must have been. The Ynca
palace of Yucay is also a famed spot.

Graves are everywhere about Cuzco, and though
the Indians do not like it they yet dig the mummies
up, searching for the copper, gold, and silver
articles, and the pottery found with them. I saw
a place where Mr Jarrett with his walking-stick
disinterred a body which he noticed projecting out
of the earth where some had fallen down, and
where he discovered some good things. I have of
course acquired some various things of the sort in
pottery, copper, and silver.

I visited the private museum I mentioned.
The owner was away, but his wife and daughter
received us, I and Mr Jarrett, and showed us
round. It contains six mummies of Indians buried
alive — supposed to be slaves of war — one, in agony,
had thrust his knees right under his ribs. They
are, of course, all in sitting position.

There was some very old, exceedingly interest-
ing, and perfectly priceless Ynca tapestry. In
European museums I have only seen small scraps
of this tapestry taken from graves. These here
are magnificent large pieces in fine repair. There
is also an interesting piece worked by Ynca women
for a Spanish viceroy with his arms in the centre.
This, though of course of much later date to the
others, is yet of great beauty and value. Quantities
of pottery and implements from graves, also gold
and silver figures. A copper armlet and a bracelet,
with seeds, and gold ornaments, were notable. Old,
inlaid furniture, old and modern pictures, Pizarro's
sword, and many other things, form a very interest-

TRACTS IN QUICHUA 273

ing collection. The owner wishes to sell the whole
collection, but only en bloc — will not part with
separate articles — and wants £4000 for it. I was
asked to make it known, and promised to do so ;
but I told them that, of course, a catalogue was
necessary, and that no one would dream of buying,
and not at that price, without seeing it. (I did my
best in London to make it known, writing to
various people, and acquainting the museum
authorities with its being for sale, explaining I
only wanted to let them know of its existence.
The courtesy of the museum people was so marked
that they never even acknowledged my letter —
though in another department they accepted from
me something I gave them. However, Germany
or America will get these things some day.)

The hospital I told you I have been visiting :
many patients, large courtyards, and it is light and
airy ; very interesting.

I also expressed a desire to see the prison, and
got permission, though everyone was most sur-
prised at my wish to see it. I invited Mr Stark,
the Bible Society agent, to go with me, and had the
American from the mission to act as interpreter if
necessary. On the way I noticed Mr Stark had a
pile of little books — gospels and tracts in the
Quichua tongue— and I was not pleased thereat,
for it was my visit to the prison, and I had not
contemplated interference that I knew would be
resented. However, I said nothing, as he thought
it his duty, I suppose, to give these things ; but
when he wanted me to take and distribute some I
refused decidedly. The prison is, I suppose, one
of the old Ynca buildings ; anyway, it is an ancient

276 A VISIT FROM THE PRISON GOVERNOR

to him that the new cells and some new ideas were
being introduced.

Next day the governor and one of the prisoners
came to see me at the hotel and to get the
promised cigarettes, which I had not forgotten
and had ready for them in huge bundles which
would give the whole prison some to smoke. The
governor then asked would I do them a further
kindness. The prisoners bought their food and
ate it in their hands ; someone had given them
a dozen tin plates, and they fought and struggled
for the use of these plates. Would I then give
them some spoons and forks — they had not one.
So we went to the mission store, and there I
bought a number of spoons and forks, and the
missionaries added a big sack of loaves of bread
(they having a bakery) — and you should have
seen the kindly, grateful governor and the prisoner
walking off in glee — the importance of the prisoner
was amusing !

Cuzco, when it heard of this little episode,
began asking why the visitor who had come from
such a far-off land to see their town, took the
trouble to be interested in their prison and gave
it things, should have had such an ungracious
reception on his arrival, and resented the action
of the priest ; so I think this visit did real good,
for it quickened their interest in the prison and
prisoners, and perhaps shame at what a stranger
had to see there may cause them to make those
improvements the governor wanted, and which
are so sadly needed ; and the missionaries have
promised me to take an interest in it. It is rather
absurd that a proud town — and Cuzco is a very

THE PREFECT OF CUZCO 277

proud place — of 30,000 inhabitants should have
to have its prison provided with eating implements
by a casual stranger from a foreign land.

I met to day the new prefect, Sefior Parra,
walking in one of the dirtiest streets in high hat,
frock-coat, and patent leather boots — very smart
indeed. I regret to say that I could not resist
giving a comprehensive look at the unutterable
filth around, and then straight at his shiny boots !
He saw what I thought — and I trust he has,
as he certainly has, heard w^hat I said about the
prison. He is a distinguished man, and they say a
strong man, and may want to clean up this
Augean stable — others have tried it — but Cuzco
loves and revels in its dirt, and won't have it, and
they say they will have Sefior Parra out of it
within a month !

Now a tiresome thing has happened. It is one
thing to get to Cuzco ; quite another to get away.
You are detained here weeks, sometimes, waiting
for a seat in the coach. I don't want in the least
to go, but must soon. I had a letter from Mr
Canny at Arequipa — the owner of the Transport
— to the jefico here, and have done the civil by
him, Havana cigars and all, and he of course
placed himself and everything that was his at my
disposal. The new prefect had arrived in a
special coach; I arranged with the jefico that I
should hire this for myself for the journey back,
and he promised I should have it. Mr Stark is
also going to Bolivia, and I offered him a seat in
it. Now the jefico has given the coach to other
people, shrugs his shoulders, and does not care a
hang ! Consequently, as Stark must go, we have

278 OFFERED AN YNCA PALACE

managed to get seats in the public coach, and
therefore must leave, as no other seats are to be
had later for some time. Then at Secuani there
is only a train on certain days. I wanted to hire
horses and ride, and see something of places on
the way, but Stark wants to go by coach, and I
shall be glad of his company on the journey to
Bolivia ; and also I want to be with my baggage,
so as not to be detained anywhere, so go we must.

With what regret I leave — so much undone
and unseen ! I cannot describe it to you as I
should like to do.

I have been hankering, too, after some of the
quaint, old, carved, wooden, Spanish balconies.
They will soon all be gone, as they are replacing
them with modern ones which are quite ordinary,
but I suppose more to their taste ; and also I have
been greatly tempted to buy one of the Ynca palaces
offered to me for quite a small sum. The
missionaries suggested they could live in it in my
absence — but I must banish such absurd ideas.

I go about with a kodak, but some of the
people resent it, and also somehow photographs
do nothing here justice ; seem to dwarf it.

It is a great place for religious processions,
which are very picturesque, and the interiors of
the churches are very fine. But I shall not be
sorry to leave this hotel. It is a queer place.
The Italian landlord is now most obsequious, and
his son, who aids, beams on me; but I have not
forgiven the old wretch's insolence on my first
arrival. They brought me the local paper with a
paragraph about myself in it, which lets Cuzco
know I am not a missionary, and now when I

A MISSION SERVICE 279

enter the billiard and bar-room at night to get my
key I am the centre of interest. I wish you saw
my bedroom. It is an enormous room with three
very large windows. At one end is my bed, a
chair, a small tin wash-stand and my baggage ; at
the other end are twelve large chairs left there,
and from my bed they look quite small, the room
is so large. There is no carpet, no curtains or no
blind. There are other bedrooms, also large and
quite well furnished, but these it seems were all
bespoken by the prefect's friends who came with
him. All these rooms — all the rooms in fact —
open on to the broad balcony with its heavy stone
arches. There is no story above, and below is the
huge courtyard open to the street. The scaramouch
of an Indian who acts as housemaid, throws all
the slops over the balcony, regardless of whether
they go on anyone below or not. The kitchen is
beside the dining-room, and open to view, but I
carefully look the other way, as it is not an inviting
sight.

In the evening I generally go to the Jarrett's,
who are always kind. I do hope their poor boy,
ill with the smallpox, will get over it, but I fear
he is dying. I suppose it is not right to risk
carrying infection about, but here every sort of
infectious illness prevails owing to the insanitary
state of the place, and for myself I have no fear of
such things. I went to a mission service ; it was
interesting, and about sixty people there. Beside
me sat a Peruvian gentleman, a strict Catholic,
who had come out of curiosity. What he thought
I know not, as he kept giving grunts every now
and then, and muttered remarks to me I neither

280 FEW FOREIGNERS x\T CUZCO

caught or understood. There are, of course, no
other British in the place but the mission people
and not many foreigners^ — a few German shop-
keepers, some Dalmatians, I think, and a few
others. The mission people are very anxious that
we should have a consul here, and that means, I
suppose, that Mr Jarrett should be consul. They
have asked me to bring it before Mr Beauclerk,
the minister at Lima. I have told them that it
is out of the question thinking a Protestant
missionary in this bigoted Catholic place could
ever be appointed consul. Then there are no
British here or anywhere near it. Almost no one
comes here. It is quite extraordinary how little
visited it is, and how everyone throws difficulties
in the way of a stranger coming here.

Some day I suppose the railway will come
here; it is all plain sailing from Secuani, and I
wonder if that will bring tourists and their
Baedekers — I shudder at the thought, but yet it
would be of great benefit to Cuzco. At present no
lady, however venturous, could come here alone,
though I cannot enter into the reasons which
prevent it : they are peculiar to Spanish ways
of life.

I passed the prison to-night. The guard
turned out at attention with beaming faces, and
saluted me !

LEAVE CUZCO 281

La Paz de Ayacucha,
Bolivia, Dec. 4, 1904.

Here I am in the capital of this republic, and it
is an interesting and unique place.

I must tell you about my journey from Cuzco.
The coach left at 7 a.m., and though I had arranged
with the hotel-keeper that Indian porters should
come for my baggage early, none arrived, and at the
last moment I was flying about to get some. Then,
laden with my belongings, they all rushed off
different ways and I could only follow one, wonder-
ing if I should ever see the others again. My
wretch did all he could to escape me, and I had
literally to kick him along, and we only arrived at
the coach, which was more than half a mile from
the town, in time. Stark had an outside seat, but
I had to go inside. The seats are numbered, and
there are fom* rows holding twelve people. We
were more than that, simply crushed together, and
very disagreeable the people were in every way.
The dust and heat were intolerable, and I was
indeed thankful when we got to Cusapati about
four o'clock, where we had to stay the night. The
young landlord and his wife gave us a friendly
welcome, and had not forgotten my judicious
compliments on the cleanness of this hotel, and so
were pleased and very attentive.

We left at 6.30 the next morning, with a
miserable team of mules quite unable to drag the
heavy coach. My seat had been seized by a woman
who was ill, who did nothing but groan and weep,
and occupied two seats. I had therefore to sit half

282 COACHING DELIGHTS

leaning out of the window in the greatest discomfort.
One of the passengers was a most facetious person,
and was delighted at my discomfort. At last I
could endure it no longer, and insisted on getting
out and mounting outside, where room was made
for me beside Stark and an old Indian woman, on
the seat behind the driver. What a relief it was !
To make matters all right I gave the whip-boy
cigarettes, and presented the driver — who I was
told was *' somebody" and "Don Filipe" — with a
good Havana cigar. He was delighted (I did not
forget the "Don Filipe" and flowery phrases),
beamed all over, and exclaimed, " Now I am as good
as the mayor!" and proceeded to wrap up the
cigar in paper and stow it away in his pocket with
the object of smoking it in the said mayor's face
when he got to Secuani. But I would not have
this, and when he found that more cigars were
forthcoming Don Filipe and I became fast friends,
and I could do as I liked with the coach, the whip,
the reins, and the mules ! I did take the whip,
with a very long lash, and endeavoured to urge on
the jaded, unfed mules with it, but after bringing it
several times round my own and others' ears I gave
it up. The others said I would tire myself ! The
mules, Don Filipe said, were always underfed, and
so unable to drag this heavy coach. The whip-boy
kept a supply of sharp, heavy flints with which to
belabour the wretched creatures, which were marked
all over with cuts and sores, and his idea was to
strike them with a flint on these sores. The flints
did no good, and I stopped him doing it, and more,
forbade them to whip the poor Indians on the road.
It was terrible to see these poor wretches, men,

LUNCH AT A CORRAL 283

women, and children, putting up theii^ arms to
protect their heads and shrinking away from the
expected blow of the cruel whip. Usually every
Indian they pass is whipped for sport, and you may
guess what the sting of a heavy mule whip round
your face is. But it hurt me much to see them
protecting themselves when it was not coming — so
used to it were they. I came down on Don Filipe
and the boy about this, and said if they whipped
one Indian whilst I was on the coach I would do
the same to them. They only laughed.

When we got to the mule corral where we
changed mules, breakfast (lunch) ought to have
been ready, but " when we got there the cupboard
was bare, the others were sad, but I didn't care ! " —
for I had some modest provisions with me.

It seemed that the clerk at Cuzco had never
telegraphed, as he was bound to do, so as to let
them know how many passengers would want a meal.
Then the facetious man, who was with us, owned
that he was the clerk, that he had been at a ball and
had forgotten to wire ! I was glad to see him sat
upon by a number of angry, hungry people.

When he saw my basket he wanted to be
friendly, but I ignored him. I invited Don Filipe,
the whip-boy, the old Indian woman, and Stark to
breakfast with me, and we had a merry, if modest,
meal, with coffee and cognac galore, and more
cigars. The old Indian woman thought herself in
very grand society !

The rest of the people went foraging to a village
near but came back without even having got an
egg, a roll of bread, or a box of sardines ! How-
ever, a meal was now in progress of cooking for

284 SLEEP AT PUN.0

them, so all was right. This was the hoiTible fly-
ridden place, where the food was cooked in an open
shed in the mule-yard and handed through the
window — how thankful I was not to have to eat it !

Our new team of mules was worse than the pre-
ceding one — mere skin and bones, and ivalked the
whole way to Secuani, where we arrived at 5*30 p.m.,
and went to the Lafayette Hotel. Secuani offers no
resom^ces in itself^ nevertheless I explored it all in
the evening.

We left by train at 7 a.m. next morning, and
had the usual uncomfortable journey. The people
were so silly. They got out at every station,
waited till the train had started, and then came
tearing after it in wild despair. One, a soldier, was
left behind amidst great excitement. Needless to
say, if you rose from your seat for a moment some-
one else took it, and they were really exasperating.
We got to Juliaca about 5 p.m., and had to wait an
hour and a half, which gave me time to see about
the baggage I had left at the station. It was all
right, and I was received by the clerks like an old
friend, and they all came to show me where it
was.

Before leaving Cuzco I had wired to Mr Clarke,
our consul and manager of the railway at Arequipa,
asking him for permission for Mr Stark and myself
to sleep on board the boat at Puno that night ; so
we took train for Puno at 6 '30, and arriving there
at 7*30 went straight on board the boat. Mr
Clarke had written, and I was greeted by name as
soon as I went on board, and we each got a cabin
to ourselves.

Puno, on the bank of Lake Titicaca, stands

HIGHEST GREAT LAKE L\ THE WORLD 285

12,540 feet above the level of the sea, and it was
very cold at night.

Captain Bergenlund — a Finn, I think — was
entertaining and cheery. Near by was lying a
dredging- vessel, and Crichton, a Scotsman in charge
of her, came to see us, and we sat up yarning till
12 '30. It was bitterly cold in my cabin, as the
door opened to the deck, and icy winds' were blow-
ing across the lake from the glaciers and snow-caps
of mighty Sorata, so I got no sleep.

I was up and out at 5 a.m., hoping to somehow
arrange to get my baggage registered to La Paz,
but I could not manage it. It ought to have been
registered through from Juliaca.

These steamboats were brought up in sections
and put together at Puno. In the revolutions they
have been objects of contention, held by opposing
parties in turn, are covered with bullet-marks, and
their decks have seen many a man shot.

The boat left at 7 a.m. to traverse this great
inland sea, the largest lake in South America, and
at 12,516 feet above sea level, the highest large lake
in the world.

The area of the basin of Lake Titicaca covers
16,000 square miles, the northern part being in
Bolivia. The Collao, as the Peruvian part is
called, is 150 miles long and 100 wide. At this
elevation maize does not ripen ; the land here is for
pasture, or for potatoes and quinua.

Lake Titicaca itself is about 100 miles long by
40 broad. The western side is very shallow and
reedy, and we seemed to steam amidst reeds. The
balsas, the Indian boats, now just as the Yncas had
them, are made of reeds and are very quaint. The

286 SORATA

wind blows dead rushes against tall living ones,
and they form a tangled mass, through which the
Indians in their balsas pass by winding waterways.
In the early morning it was a beautiful scene.
There were quantities of birds about, a large sort
of water-hen, large gulls, plover, ibis, and a sort of
goose called the huacha, which has a white body
with green wings shading into violet. The
flamingoes amidst the reeds were most decorative.
There are, I believe, fish of peculiar forms in
the lake. The Bolivian end is much deeper, but
the water everywhere is receding, as there is very
much evaporation. The day was lovely though
it was cold, and we had magnificent views of
Sorata or Illampu, at first 80 miles away, and of
a long line of snow-clad mountains 16,000 feet
high.

Senor Don Pedro Suarez, Consul-General for
Bolivia in London, says in his Notes on Bolivia
(which he was kind enough to send me) that the
lake is 120 miles long, and has an average depth of
100 fathoms. It is said that, judging by the easily
traced terraces of its ancient shores, it must have
had an elevation of 300 or 400 feet higher than at
present, and covered the whole great plains and
valleys between the two Andean systems of Bolivia
and Peru, and extending on beyond La Paz in
Bolivia.

According to Seiior Suarez, Illampu or Sorata
is, next to Mount Everest, the highest mountain in
the world, having an altitude of from 25,000 to
27,000 feet. Illimani, which is 125 miles further
south, he gives as 24,000 feet, but these measure-
ments do not agree with those of Sir Martin

ISLANDS OF THE SUN AND MOON 287

Conway (who has ascended both) and others. Sh*
Martin Conway gives Sorata as 21,500 feet.

Tradition says there is a large golden cross and
bull on the top of Sorata, of course regarded as
holy, and feared by the Indians. In 1878 occurred
one of the great electrical storms which are fre-
quent on the Puna and in these regions, and after
sunset and in darkness the cap of Sorata was seen
flaming red, and thunderous detonations clashed
and clattered round the mountain, terrifying all who
heard and saw. In these great disturbances the
clouds become phosphorescent, emit flames, and
the very ground crackles with electricity, whilst
continuous rumblings and sharp detonations are
emitted by the clouds.

Sorata, towering up from Lake Titicaca with
its eternal snow, is indeed a mighty mountain to
behold, even though viewed from a height of over
12,000 feet — but I own to a greater attachment to
Chimborazo, for is it not mine ? — it must be, since
the president gave it to me !

There are several islands on the lake. Taqueli
is where the political exiles are sent. The famous
ones are Titicaca and Coati, the islands of the sun
and the moon, from whence, it is said, came Manco
Ccapac and Mama OcUo, those fair-haired, blue-
eyed people who founded the Ynca dynasty. We
passed close along their shores, and had glimpses
of the famous ruins and terraces. Here are ruined
palaces and temples of the Yncas. They are
separated from the peninsula of Capacabana by the
Tiquina straits, the inner part of the lake being
called Vinamarca.

At Capacabana were crowds of people all

288 INDIAN ATTIRE

bent on some pilgrimage, and a gaudy array they
made.

The Aymaras Indians, formerly called CoUas,
are the aborigines of the Titicaca basin. One
branch of them, the Urus, a savage tribe, lived in
stone huts on the islands, and hid amidst the rushes
on the lake. The Yncas were in the Cuzco section,
and were composed of the Canas, the Quichuas,
the Chancas, the Huancas, and the Rucanas, who
all merged in the conquering race. The Yncas,
so-called, and the Aymaras combined, formed the
great armies of the Ynca sovereigns. They
resemble each other more or less. The men are
beardless and have plaited pig-tails, as also the
women.

Some of the Indian men wear blue or gi^een
coats, red vests, and black woollen breeches, with
bare legs and sandals, with a broad-brimmed velvet
montera trimmed with red or blue ribbon; they
carry long sticks, and the bag of coca, the chuspa,
is slung over the shoulder. The women wear
cotton shirts, various coloured mantles trimmed
with gold braid, skirts of blue or crimson cloth, and
broad hats, but the dresses and headgear vary.
The poncho in all colours is universal. Some of
the women pin their cloaks with the silver topu,
which is like a spoon. I bought some of these
pins from the women, and an old hag, after I had
paid her well, wanted to get it back again and yet
keep the money. She screamed and howled so,
that I was nearly letting her have it, but the other
women interfered and reasoned with her. There
was a potato famine, and the poor wretches were
all starving. The women everywhere are spinning

SAVAGE INDIANS 289

wool or cotton with thread on a spindle as they
walk along, and generally have a baby on their
back — they are mere beasts of burden.

On the Montana, that region of Peru which lies
east of the Andes^ — 800 miles of it, stretching down
to Bolivia — and where you come into the river
system of the Amazon, dwell many civilised, semi-
civilised and savage tribes of Indians never con-
quered by the Spaniards. The Jeveros are said to
be a fine race, and some are very fair, in conse-
quence of descent from Spanish women captured
by the tribe in 1599. They have fixed homes,
cultivate maize, but love liberty and maintain their
independence. The Cocomas are adepts with their
canoes on the rivers, and have the pleasing custom
of eating their dead relations, grinding the bones
to powder to mix with their chicha, or other fer-
mented liquor, because, they say, " It is better to
be inside a friend than in the black earth ! "

I trust, if ever I can carry out my wish to see
these parts, that the Cocomas will not ask me to
dinner.

The Cholones are noted for their cleverness
with the blow-gun — this is a hollowed piece of
palm with an arrow a foot long, and they kill birds
at 40 paces. On the Ucayali are many tribes,
some half-civilised, some trading on the rivers, and
others, said to be cannibals, dwelling as savages in
the forests. The Cashibos are very savage, and
attack all strangers who enter the forests. The
Mayorunas are believed to descend from Spanish
soldiers : they have fair skins and beards, are tall,
very ferocious, and are armed with clubs, spears,
and blow-guns, and go quite nude. They dwell

290 THE MESTIZOS

between the Ucayali and Yavari rivers. There are
many more tribes, friendly or otherwise, and many
languages. In Peru and Bolivia the Quichua and
Aymari tongues are in most use, and Quichua is
the language which is universal, and often used by
the more European lower classes in these various
countries.

It is very difficult, travelling here, to get informa-
tion on any subject, but especially so about the
native races, as people give you such contradictory
accounts and call the Indian tribes by different
names, as they do also the rivers and mountains.
But when you get questioning about the mixed
races, the half-castes, it is maddening. The
Mestizos are the half-castes^ — that is, the children
of white fathers and Indian mothers ; but there are
countless other mixtures, in and out, who all have
names, and I do not grasp them. A number of
Chinese came into Bolivia; and the child of a
Chinaman and a woman whose father was a
Mestizo^ and whose mother was something else, is —
what ? Negroes, too, go comphcating matters.

Barley, potatoes, etc., grow on the banks of
Lake Titicaca, but it is a bleak place. The waters
are receding on account of evaporation. The
famous ruins of Tiahuanico, once on the margin,
are now 6 miles away. The Desguardo River —
navigable — flows out of it to Lake Poopo. The
inhabitants of the Titicaca basin luxuriate in that
preparation of the potato called chunus. The
potatoes are steeped in water, and then spread out
on a thin layer of ychu or straw, and left in the
frost for several nights till frozen through, then
again steeped and trampled out with the feet to get

THE WONDERFUL POTATO 291

rid of all soluble matter. They are then dried, and
are quite small and very light. They keep any
time if kept dry. (I gave this recipe to Lieut.
Shackleton, the leader of the British Antarctic
Expedition, hoping he would try it, but he did not
seem enthusiastic ; but as a quantity of these light,
small potatoes can be carried, and as in cooking
they swell up, I think them suited to their Antarctic
" hoosh," and liable to he felt inside ! At the same
time I said I thought them, as I do, simply horrid.)
The chupe is the great dish of the Aymara and
Quichua Indians ; it is a soup made with potatoes,
vegetables, flesh, and red pepper-pods, and in it
you come across these frozen chunus, and for my
part, I think it an abominable mess ! The taste of
that chupe is to me like the smell of China, which,
a German mail-boat captain once said to me, you
" could hear miles out at sea ! "

The Indians also boil the seeds of the quinua
for food, and eat the leaves ; and the grain boiled,
dried, and ground down, is made into hard little
lumps, and is then called quispina. The foods are
very useful ones, easily procured and carried, and
liked by many besides the Indians, though all the
food and cooking in South America is, I think,
hateful. There is also their disgusting charqui,
dried meat.

There was a young German on the boat, a
youth of nineteen, a commercial traveller, who came
as far as La Paz. At the stations he was taking
notes of the ponchos worn by the Indians, and I
asked him what he was doing. He said he was
noting the colours and patterns they liked, to send
the particulars to his firm, who then sent out

292 THE PUNA RAILWAY

ponchos with these patterns and colours, and so
got enormous sales for them. The English make
ponchos at Manchester and elsewhere according to
one pattern, which, though better in quality and
wear, do not please the Indians, and hence the
poncho trade — a big one — has fallen to Germany.
Though so young, he was a clever youth, and would
soon make his way.

About ten o'clock at night we anchored off
Quaqui, the Bolivian port, slept on board, and
landed at 6 a.m. next morning. It was very cold.
The train that runs from here across the high
desert, the Puna, to La Paz, the capital of Bolivia,
has clean, comfortable carriages, though it is a slow
train. The line was built by the Peruvian Corpora-
tion, and taken over by Bolivia. The distance from
Chaqui to La Paz is 87 kilometres. It was opened
in 1903. Here I had a great work over my
baggage, before and after it was examined by the
customs-house people, and had to register it to
La Paz. As it was not registered so far, it was
no one's business to take it from the boat ashore,
and then no one's business to put it on the train.
As they say here, " Ohra comun, oWa de ningun,'' —
"General work is nobody's work." I tried my old
game, simply sat down on it, and waited indifferently
until someone came to the rescue. Everyone was
in the train, and there I sat on my baggage waiting,
I knew, as happened, that in despair they would
eventually come and settle us both. We were
nearly left behind, all the same. You are expected
to do everything for yourself, but it is easy to make
others do it for you, if you know the way. If you
sat long enough on your baggage, people would

THE RUINS OF TIAHUANICO 293

pass you all round the world just to get rid of
you.

Near Quaqui, and visible from the train, are the
famous and strange ruins of Tiahuanico, 6 miles
from Titicaca. These ruins are quite different to
those on Titicaca Island, or those at or near Cuzco,
and are supposed to be of much earlier date.
Here must have been huge buildings carved with
strange figures, something Assyrian, something
Mexican about them. What race could have
dwelt here in long past times, in this strange, high
world, towered over by Sorata? Garcilasso de la
Vega describes these ruins in his day, quoting those
who have seen them : — " Among other marvellous
things at this place there is a hill, made artificially,
and so high that the fact of its having been made
by man causes astonishment, and that it might not
be loosened, it was built upon great foundations of
stone. It is not known why this edifice was made.
In another part, away from the hill, there were two
figures of giants carved in stone, with long robes
down to the ground, and caps on their heads ; all
well worn by the hand of time, which proves their
great antiquity. There was also an enormous wall
of stones, so large that the greatest wonder is
caused to imagine how human force could have
raised them to the place where they now are. For
there are no rocks or quarries within a great
distance from whence they could have been brought.
In other parts there are grand edifices, and what
causes most astonishment are the great doorways
of masonry, some of them made out of a single
stone. The marvel is increased by their wonderful
size, for some of them were found to measure 80

294 THE MYSTERY OF ITS ORIGIN

feet in length, 15 in breadth, and 6 in depth. And
these stones, with their doorways, are all of one
single piece, so that it cannot be understood with
what instruments or tools they can have been
worked." He quotes a priest, Diego de Alcobasa :
— " Here are some very grand edifices, and amongst
them there is a square court, fifteen hrazas each
way, with walls two stories high. On one side of
this court there is a hall, 45 feet long by 22 broad,
apparently once covered in the same way as those
buildings you have seen in the House of the Sun at
Cuzco, with a roof of straw. The walls, roof, floor,
and doorways are all of one single piece, carved out
of a rock, and the walls of the court and of the
hall are f yard in breadth. The roof of the hall,
though it appears to be thatch, is really of
stone. . . . The waters of the lake wash the walls
of the court. . . . There are also many other
stones, carved into the shape of men and women
so naturally that they appear to be alive ; some
drinking with cups in their hands, others sitting,
others standing, and others walking in the stream
which flows by the walls. There are also statues
of women with their infants in their laps, others
with them on their backs, and in a thousand other
postures."

Some centuries have elapsed since the above
was written. The lake has receded 6 miles from
some of these ruins — but what has become of the
statues ? and how the ruins have become so very
much more ruinous is a mystery, and the whole
thing is a mystery !

There was little to see from the train save the
stony desert around us — a tableland 12,500 feet

THE DESCENT TO LA PAZ 295

above sea-level. Caravans of Indians with mules,
donkeys, and llamas laden with cebadUy which is
barley cut before ripe, and is the principal crop of
the puna, and fodder for mules and donkeys, now
and again were seen in the distance. Four hours
of this brought us to the Alto de la Paz, where
nothing was visible but the station and some
waiting coaches. You walk away a few steps
from the station, and suddenly you look over
precipitous slopes and see the red-tiled roofs of La
Paz lying in a deep valley or cavity over a thousand
feet below you! It is certainly a surprise. Yoii
drive down in coaches by steep zig-zag roads to
the town. There are many roads, and streams of
llamas and Indians are ascending and descending
by the narrow winding paths they have used from
time immemorial. They are now building a
railway up these precipitous places to join the
other at the Alto. We alighted at the Transport
station, and whilst I looked after the baggage —
hand-baggage being carried on Indians' backs — I
asked the young German to hurry to the Hotel
Guibert to get rooms if possible, as we heard there
were none to be had. When I got to the hotel I
found he had secured two rooms, one a very good
one and the other very high up on an open roof
patio, facing a kitchen. The front of it was glass,
and it was abominable. He had secured the good
room for himself, but half-heartedly offered to give
it up ; but of course I could not hear of that. My
room I found impossible, so then they got me a
room in an annex of the hotel across the plaza.
The following day, however, someone left, and I
moved back to the hotel, getting a very good well-

296 CHOLA GIRLS OF LA PAZ

furnished bedroom with a large sitting-room
attached. The hotel is a good building with a
patio surrounded by sculptured stone arched
arcades and balconies, which, with a group of
llamas often in the court below, has a picturesque
eflPect. It is full of people, and there are dining-
rooms on every floor — quite a number of eating-
rooms of various sorts, and all visible to the
balconies. The food is, however, to my taste
horrible, and the service is atrocious.

Yet the whole place is luxury compared to the
so-called hotels I have been in lately. The hotel
is entered through a cafe with a bar. It is near
the Plaza 16 de Julio, which is laid out as a garden,
and there the band plays in the evening, and all the
aristocracy walk about in very fine clothes — quite
smart some of them.

But astounding are the dresses of the Indians
and the Cholas, the half-caste people. The Chola
ladies, some of whom are very good-looking in a
way, appear to have walked out of the chorus of
an opera. They wear short skirts to the knee, not
one but many, in coloured velvets and silks,
sticking out like a ballet-girl's skirts with ftilled
petticoats also showing; very high-heeled shoes,
pale blue or pale pink open -worked silk stockings,
a little shawl over the shoulders, and a small billy-
cock felt hat on the side of the head. They put on
everything they possess, and are overpowering.
They walk with a jaunty air of coquettish pride,
smoking cigarettes, and Carmen is not in it for
assurance.

The men have arrived at a very extraordinary
costume. They wear the poncho, have black

BARON CLAES CEDERSTROM 297

trousers made enormously wide at the hips, tight
at the knees, and then going out wide again with a
sht behind the leg, out of which show wide white
under- drawers. These costumes certainly give"
much local colouring, and I spend hours sitting in
the plaza watching the people. (I see I am on a
post-card sitting in the plaza.) I went round the
town and left some cards and letters of introduc-
tion, and the first day Mr Stark brought a
missionary friend, Mr Mackay, to see me.

Mr George Harrison, the British Consul, came
for me, and I then went with him to call on Don
Jorge Zalles and his wife, who had travelled with me
on one of the boats ; they were both at home, and
amused to find I had really reached Bolivia at last
and had compassed Cuzco. I did not see their boy
Jorge, nor the duck of a baby which had captivated
the whole ship. The Zalles are a good old
Bolivian family, and Madame Zalles' father, Senor
Calderon, is Bolivian Minister at Washington.
I told them I had seen their English lady friend
for a few minutes at Juliaca station, on her return
journey to the coast.

Leaving this house we met in the street Baron
Claes Ceder Strom, to whom I was introduced. He
was surprised to hear I knew members of his
family in Sweden and elsewhere, and when I
called at his house later in the day we had a long
yarn about Sweden and people there. He is a
cousin of Baron Eolf, who married Madame
Adelina Patti, of Baron Carl at Stockholm, of
Princess Bernadotte, and of my old and intimate
friend Charlotte, Baroness Miinchhausen, n^e
Cederstrom, in Germany. I had heard of his

298 DON FELIPE PARDO

being in Lima giving some sort of electrical and
massage treatment which was very fashionable,
and he is doing the same here and has a large
number of patients. He showed me all his
arrangements for his treatment, which seemed to
be of an elaborate description, and also gave me
some books on the subject. He told me that here
he has to send all his patients back to wash them-
selves ere he can do anything with them ! He is
a real Swedish type, very tall, well-made, and
fair. I enjoy a chat with him when he comes to
iny room here, as one feels so far away fi'om every-
thing European.

I then paid visits to Mr Sorsby, the United
States Minister, and to Don Felipe Pardo, to whom
I was recommended, and who indeed had asked
and expected me to stay at his house. Don Felipe
Pardo is a most pleasant man of the world, who
has been everywhere and known everyone, and
in his ways is quite a European. In Spain he is a
marquis, a member of a distinguished titled Spanish
family who came in, I have been told, with the
Conqueror Pizarro. He is son of the murdered
President Pardo of Peru — noted as the best
president Peru ever had — and is brother of Don
Jos^ Pardo, who is now President of Peru. He
is living here at present in a nice and comfortable
house opposite this hotel (Don Felipe Pardo, now
married, is at present Peruvian Minister at
Washington). He is very cordial and kind, and
asked me to fix a night to dine with him. I then
did the forbidden thing and went for a long walk
to explore the town, and sauntered out into the
country by a very pretty road bordered by walls

THE VALLEY OF LA PAZ 299

topped with roses and cacti. There were pretty-
houses scattered about and many eucalyptus-trees,
and the scenery down this La Paz valley is unique
in its way. This great fissure or valley which has
broken out in the high plateau is all seamed,
water-worn, and distorted with earth pyramids
and clay hills and peaks of fantastic shape, which
are picturesque both in form and tint. They are
red, yellow, brown — all colours, and backed by
the precipitous cHffs, on top of which is the Alto.
It is a strange but beautiful scene. The town is
not so Spanish-looking as some others, and is
cleaner and better kept. Situated on a slope,
many of the streets are very steep, and with their
stone paving are very slippery. It is hard work
toiling up these, for here we are nearly 12,000 feet
above the sea, and people, even the ones who
dwell here, suffer from the effects of the altitude,
and no one can escape the Sorocche or mountain-
sickness here. It seems worse in a confined place
like this than in the open. Everyone has warned
me not to walk, and I own I arrived panting at
the top of every hill. I ought to have bleeding
at the nose, vomiting, racking headaches and
fainting fits, but I have none of these. Some
people cannot live here at all. Even at higher
heights I felt no bad effects, but La Paz they say
is a fatal place.

Mr Harrison, the consul, was born in South
America, is a partner in a German store here, and
has never been out of this continent. He has only
lately been appointed consul. Before that we had
none, nor have we a minister. Mr Beauclerk at
Lima, the British Minister Resident to Peru, is

300 LORD PALMERSTON AND BOLIVIA

Consul- General for Bolivia and Ecuador — ^an ex-
tensive charge. They ardently desire a British
Minister here, and the day has come for it.

In the time when Lord Palmerston was the
power in England — and how long ago that seems
— there was a British Minister at La Paz. He
offended the then president by not paying proper
deference to that personage's lady, who was not
his wife. There are various stories as to what
happened. The popular — and least unpleasant —
story is that the president compelled the British
Minister to do homage to the lady in the most
humiliating and degrading manner ; and then the
minister was drummed out of the city, mounted
on a donkey, with his face to its tail ! When the
news reached Lord Palmerston, instead of taking
the prompt measures of retaliation necessary, he
said " Bolivia ! Bolivia ! where is Bolivia ? Show
it me on the map." On its being pointed out he
drew his thumb over it and said, "It exists no
more ! " and accordingly it existed no more diplo-
matically for Great Britain. American ministers
took charge of British interests. Only this year
has even a consul been appointed here — in a
capital city of 60,000 inhabitants — and they desire
much to have a minister appointed.

La Paz was originally named Neustra Senora
de la Paz, which means " Our Lady of Peace," so
named by its founder Alonza de Mendoza, but its
official name is now La Paz de Ayacucho — the
Peace of Ayacucho^ — after the battle of that name.
It stands 11,945 feet above sea-level, and the Puna
above it is at least 1000 feet higher — in fact the
Puna is generally called 13,000 feet. The city with

FEARS OF AN INDIAN RISING 301

its suburbs contains 60,031 people, of whom they
say 30,000 cannot read or write, but people here
give you the vaguest numbers as they do heights.
The population of Bolivia in 1900 was 1,816,271.

The Indians, even on the Puna, are treacherous
and by no means always peaceable, and if roused
do very cruel things ; and the dread of an Indian
rising is the reason Bolivia does not go playing
about with -revolutions as frequently as she might
like, for it is during a revolution the Indians rise.
At the last rising the European manager of some
mines fled with his wife and daughter, was turned
back by some official of another department
because he had no passport, and in great danger
shot his wife and daughter to save them from a
dreadful fate at the hands of the Indians, and then
shot himself. At the village of CoUano, not far
from La Paz, the Indians exclude all white people,
even Government officials, only allowing them
shelter and food for one night. On the Puna,
bands of Indians go out on the rampage. Sir
Martin Conway when surveying in Bolivia had
various unpleasant experiences.

The department of La Paz has large flocks of
llamas, vicunas, alpacas, sheep, goats, and cattle
and horses; and produces cocoa, cotton, coffee,
cacao, bananas, sugar-cane, oranges and lemons,
cereals and potatoes ; and of minerals there are
gold, silver, and copper, and a very good marble.

Pneumonia is prevalent, and people do not live
to great ages. They say horses are terribly affected
by the altitude, and horses brought up for the races
can do little. Pigeon and partridge shooting is got
near the town.

302 BOLIVIAN TRAVEL ROUTES

Besides the MoUendo-Puno-Titicaca route to
La Paz, and that from Antofagasta to Oruro and
across the desert, the train may be taken from
Arica on the coast to Tacna, and from thence by
pack-mules for seven days to La Paz. The route
from La Paz to the Atlantic by the Argentine goes
by Tupizo and Tariga to Salta, terminus of the
Argentine Central Northern Railway, thence by
rail to Rosario on Parana River, and thence by
steamboat.

The Paraguay route is by Puerto Suarez and
Puerto Pacheco to the south of the River Paraguay
and to the east of Santa Cruz de la Sierra, descend-
ing the Paraguay and the Plata to the Atlantic. A
concession vras given to French and Belgian
capitalists to build a line from Santa Cruz to the
Paraguay River through the Chaco or tropical
agricultural area. The company was given a large
grant of public lands for colonisation, and in 1903
the route was gone over — but so far nothing has
come of it.

Then there is the Amazon route. From Villa
Bella, a port and customs-house station of Bolivia
at the confluence of the rivers Mamore and Beni,
where the River Madeira commences, the voyage is
made by vessels as far as Para, going round the
"Cachuelas" waterfalls, which render the naviga-
tion of the river difficult. The trade of Beni and of
the north-east passes over the Amazon. How
interesting these routes would be if one only had
the time ; and how great these rich countries are to
be in the future !

There is a regular army here and a National
Guard. All able-bodied Bolivians serve two years

RELIGIOUS INTOLERANCE 303

in the regular army ; and from the age of twenty-
five to thirty in the ordinary reserve, and from thirty
to forty in the extraordinary reserve. The clergy
and certain others are exempt. Roman Catholic
is the State Church and others are supposed to be
tolerated, but there are no others. It is not so long
ago since Mr Payne, a missionary, was arrested and
imprisoned in Cochabamba for selling Bibles, of
which a bonfire was made. He was then, at the
instigation of the bishop, condemned to death, and
they say old Indian women were in the market-
place seen heating pincers in the fire so as to
pull his flesh from him when he was killed. Need-
less to say he was not put to death. But I can well
believe they would have liked to do so, so ignorant
and so bigoted are the people.

All the same, Bolivia — at least La Paz^ — seems
to me in some ways surprisingly ahead of Peru.
The people seem more up-to-date and more
pleasant.

I own I should like to see Bolivia get back
Antofagasta and her lost provinces, to give her
access to the sea, and it would greatly tend to
peace in the future.

There is nothing very distinctive about the
architecture of the houses or buildings. Most are
rather plain. Yet the town looks well and has its
characteristic colours and features.

304 THE EARTH PYRAMIDS

La Paz de Ayacucho,

Bolivia, Dec 8, 1904.

It was lucky I managed to get good rooms here
and a sitting-room, as I have had many visitors
coming in, though I have scarcely grasped who
they are. The people here seem friendly and
hospitable, and somehow it seems — remote as it
is — more up-to-date than some other places, and
the people more people of the world.

I have just done a foolish thing^ — walked seven
or eight miles down the valley of the La Paz River
through a pretty little village, where I got La Paz
beer, which is not at all bad ; sat in a pretty
shady garden ; passed strings of Indians with their
donkeys and llamas, and I was so respectful to
the latter on the narrow way lest they should spit
at me. Foolish it was because I walked, which is
fatal here. But this strange basin of La Paz, with
the mighty and holy Illimani towering above it, is
very interesting — such a strange sterile waste of
fantastic earth pyramids of all colours, save down
in the valley which is green and fragrant. Beyond
in the country lie some Jincas, that is country-
houses, some of which are quite nice. Most
unfortunately I find I have no more kodak films,
cannot get any here, and there are scores of
fascinating " bits " and subjects. Nor have I been
able to get any good photographs of the town
anywhere.

I have been very busy. Baron Cederstrom
comes in to chat sometimes about Sweden, and
other callers drop in.

THE DIPLOMATIC CORPS 305

A young Scotsman came to see me, offering to
do anything or be of any use. He told me that a
Mr Bruce, who then owned the transport — all the
mules, coaches, and baggage-wagons — between La
Paz and Oruro, had brought him and three other
young fellows out from Aberdeen to act as drivers
for the coaches, and they shortened the distance by
doing it in two days and one night, whilst previously
it had taken longer. Now they are all of them
otherwise employed and doing well. This one
now owns the transport between the Alto and
the town^ — about a dozen coaches and as many
carts — and he hopes to do well by it. I was glad
to see him, and thought it very kind of him to
come and offer to do anything, but I have found all
my Scottish countrymen the same.

I dined the other night with Don Felipe Pardo,
who had asked to meet me the Chilian Minister
Don Beltran Mathieu, who had been in Quito and
had much to say about affairs there and people.
He was formerly Minister of War in Chile. The
others were the Chilian Secretary of Legation, Don
Domingo Gana, a good-looking, pleasant man, son
of the Chilian Minister in London; the Peruvian
Charge d' Affaires, Sefior Don Alejandro de Lafuente,
young and good-looking ; the Argentine Charge
d' Affaires, a tall, fair man, who though only twenty-
four looked older ; a Sefior Alfredo Neuliaur, a
Peruvian, I think; and Mr Harrison, our consul
— a very good dinner and a very pleasant evening
in very good company. Don Beltran Mathieu, the
Chilian Minister, seemed to me a particularly
agreeable and cultured man, with a sympathetic
manner and interesting to talk to; but everyone

306 THE AMERICAN MINISTER

was most friendly and pleasant. Don Felipe
showed me a series of extremely interesting photo-
graphs of the ruins of Tiahuanico. He also showed
me family photographs of his father, the president
who was assassinated, of his brother the present
one, and of other Peruvian and Spanish relatives.
He has a comfortable and well-furnished house.

I breakfasted with Mr Sorsby, the American
Minister, at his Legation, and when I entered the
drawing-room was amused to find there Mr Drake,
an American who had travelled down the coast
with me on the Gautamala, and who there had
been full of complaints about the discomfort of
South American travel and repinings for the States
— the only God's country on earth, as he called
it — and full of derision and wonder concerning
my aimless quest. Now he greeted me with :
"Ho ! Here is the only joke in South America —
the man who has come for pleasure ! Pleasure !
If I want pleasure, give me New York and Coney
Island ! "

I know nothing about Coney Island, but it does
sound a " Those-pretty-httle-rabbits-so-enticing-in-
their-habits-and-they Ve-all - got - a-mate - save - me "
sort of place. Mr Drake is financial agent for
some projected railway, has to go over the ground,
making a journey to Oruro and from thence via
Cochabamba into the wilds and right across to the
Atlantic — so I pictm'e to him as best I can all the
horrors awaiting him, and he groans at the thought.
Another American named Dillon was there — an
entertaining man who had been everywhere, and
we again talked Quito. Also Mr Harrison was
there. Mr Sorsby is very ? genial and we had a

THE WONDERFUL MISS PECK 307

most pleasant time, being afterwards photographed.
A young Bolivian dentist, just back from the
States, came in after lunch, and seemed a very
up-to-date, go-ahead person. I imagine the States
must put progressive ideas into the heads of young
South America. Here again the inevitable Miss
Peck came up for discussion. They say I am
following her, which is true, since she has preceded
me ; but why should they think she is my fate ?
You hear of nothing but Miss Peck everywhere ;
her energy (considered abnormal here), her doings,
her sayings — she dominated everyone wherever she
went, and they all seemed terrified of her. I am
getting quite to know the formula : " Did you hear
of Miss Peck ? " It has greeted me on steam-
boats, trains, everywhere. This energetic and
plucky Yankee maiden has been marching all over
South America, apparently, ascending mountains,
lectm'ing, and taking away the breaths of the South
Americans — these children of Manana — who are
not energetic. On one of the boats, when I was in
the captain's cabin, he said : " Oh ! I have a
photograph I must show you." "1 know, I know,"
I cried, " it is Miss Peck, it must be Miss Peck ! "
and it was Miss Peck !

Another evening the American Minister called
for me at the hotel, and we walked together down
by the Alameda and beyond its portals — an
arcaded stone gateway decorated with paintings of
Swiss scenery (why Swiss, I wonder ?) and guarded
by a fierce jaguar or cheetah in an iron cage — to
dine with our consul at a villa he had rented
outside the town. Mrs Harrison, a handsome and
pleasant Peruvian lady, was there, also another lady

308 THE APPOINTMENT OF A CONSUL

and a young German. We had a pleasant evening
with music and talk, but unluckily for me Mrs
Harrison speaks very little English, and her
children none — which is a pity. As we walked
back Mr Sorsby explained to me all the circum-
stances regarding the appointment of a British
Consul at La Paz, his correspondence with Lord
Lansdowne on the subject, and the why and where-
fore of the stipulations he made ere he agreed, as
United States Minister, to continue to take charge
diplomatically of our interests. This matter had
an interest for me ; various people in La Paz had
spoken to me about the relations of the country
with Great Britain and what was desired ; and also,
before leaving Lima, Mr Beauclerk, our minister
there, had explained some things to me, and had a
long conversation about "afiFairs." My own very
decided views as to our consular service in many
places, and some diplomatic affairs, I had made no
bones about enunciating where and when I pleased.
It is so lucky to be an irresponsible person, able to
say what one pleases !

The Alameda is a pretty, pleasant promenade of
some length, laid out with avenues of trees, flower-
beds, seats, and fountains, and is a favourite lounge
of the Chola ladies when in their best attire, and
how gorgeous that is ! A miniature railway runs
along it.

The market is always interesting everywhere —
on Sunday it seemed here to overflow into all the
streets, and the gaudy Indians and their wares
repay observation. Innumerable seem to be the
varieties of prepared potatoes — some, they think,
are as good as truffles. I do not agree. The

PRESIDENT OF GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY 309

flowers seem poor and badly arranged, and at
present the fruit seems principally pears and
apples, though I know that peaches, grapes,
custard apples, etc., grow well in the valleys. A
considerable amount of Indian clothing seems of
Enghsh manufacture, but the ponchos are " made
in Germany," and that is a big bit of business for
Germany. Oruro makes coarse baize of various
colours; the soldiers' uniforms are made of it.
Potosi makes a good cashmere. In La Paz itself,
they make woollen goods, ponchos, blankets and so
on, and all over the country they weave cloth from
llama, vicuna, and alpaca wools, also silk, using
looms brought into the country by the Spaniards at
the Conquest.

At the club, where my name was put down, I
was introduced to Mr Dunn, the manager of the
customs, and he gave me much information. Also,
I was glad to meet Seiior Don Manuel Vicente
Ballivain, the well-known and distinguished Presi-
dent of the Geographical Society here, and who is
also a member of our Royal Geographical Society.
Unluckily I was introduced to him in the street,
where, though we had a pleasant chat, I could not
ask many things I wanted to know. He invited
me to go to the rooms of the Geographical Society,
and offered to lend me books on Bolivia, but so far
I have not been able to find time to avail myself of
his kindness, much as I wish to.

I made a small sensation when I expressed my
wish to visit the prison of La Paz — why should
anyone want to see that? However, I had my
way, and it was arranged, and accompanied by a
young German clerk from Mr Harrison's house of

310 THE PRISON OF LA PAZ

business, as interpreter. I was received with
cordiality at the prison by some official who
apologised for the absence of the director. The
German youth thought it quite an odd idea, and
seemed bored at his mission, but soon woke up
into eager interest himself. We were shown every-
thing in the freest way, and the officials and warders
seemed quite pleased at conducting us round. I
was somewhat merciless in my inquiries, but got
answers to them all. I was surprised to find it so
well managed, and the system so good. The whole
place, cells, kitchens and all, was very clean and in
good order, the food plentiful and good, and some
of the cells even unnecessarily good. The tri-
angular courtyards were gardens with flowers and
trees, and on the whole the prisoners have rather a
good time there. There were about 240 male
prisoners and some females. There were many
workshops — bootmakers, tailors, etc. — and the
prisoners are allowed to keep the proceeds of their
work, except in the Government works, where they
get a percentage. In front of his cell, in the
pleasant garden, sat one prisoner, a priest, reading,
and of whom more anon.

But when I insisted on seeing the punishment
cells, they demurred. After a leading question or
two on my side they were shown. As I expected,
this was a different tale, and certainly they were
horrible and cruel, and I said so. They were in
the lavatory — bad in itself — and were mere recesses
in the wall in which the prisoner stood upright, his
back to the wall, his shoulders touching each side,
and his nose against the door in front of him, in
which was a small hole for ventilation. Imagine a

AN IMPRISONED PRIEST 311

day, and worse, days, in such a place and position,
unable to even move ! When they open the door
the prisoner drops out fainting. This is the blot
on this otherwise well-managed prison.

A large number of the Indian prisoners were
one gang, and they were all at work outside the
prison under guards. Originally there had been
200 of them, but not being in any distinctive garb a
good many had escaped by simply bolting in a
crowd of passing Indians and vanishing from sight,
and probably no one cared. Diu-ing one of the
rebellions a number of soldiers with their officers
arrived at a small village on the Puna and, it is
said, forced the priest to disgorge all the money and
food he had. I think there were some hundreds of
the soldiers with their officers. The priest, forced
to agree, but determined to be revenged, invited
them all to attend mass in the church, which they
did, stacking up all their arms outside. As soon
as they were in he locked the doors, collected the
200 Indians of the village, and they, with their
machetas, formidable knives, rushed into the church
and massacred the whole of the officers and soldiers,
simply hacking them to pieces, turning the church
into a shambles. For this they were in prison, and
the priest who instigated them was the placid-
looking one we saw in the prison reading his book
in his garden !

The prison official beamed all over when I told
him what I thought about the prison, and, calling up
all the warders, repeated it all to them, and they
were all smiles and bows, and we departed with
many salutations and hand- shakes. Friends in La
Paz were surprised and quite interested when I told

312 A GOLD MINE

them about my visit, and some expressed a purpose
of also seeing it and taking an interest in it, I
urging them to speak about the awful punishment
cells and get them reformed. So perhaps my visit
was of some use. Fourteen years is the longest
term they have to serve, but then it must be
remembered that most of the prisoners are Indians,
ignorant, uneducated, and not able to reason or
understand their guilt.

Don Felipe Pardo came for me early one morn-
ing and drove me in a carriage drawn by four mules,
to inspect a gold mine which is a few miles from the
city. It was once worked by the Yncas, then by
the Spaniards, and is now yielding heavy coarse
gold. It is owned by a German from Munich, Herr
Siedermeyer. When we approached his dwelling
we did so gingerly, for he possessed some large and
ferocious dogs which were wont to fly at and
attack strangers — which is what they were for, I
suppose. However, nothing happened, and one
dog made the greatest friends with me. Herr
Siedermeyer entertained us and showed us all about
the mine. When we were straggling over the piles
of boulders in the river-bed I asked him about the
gold. " Any amount of boulders of gold as big as
these stones," he said ; so when I wandered away
by myself seeking it, he asked me where I was
going. I replied that I thought, seeing there were
so very many big boulders of gold I might find one
and keep it ! He afterwards showed us some of
his nuggets. We got back, after a pleasant drive,
to La Paz about twelve, though it was a very rough
and bumpy road.

At three o'clock the same day Don Felipe drove

AN AMATEUR BULL-FIGHT 313

me and Don Alejandro de Lafuente, the Peruvian
Charge d'Affaires, to the bull-ring, where we
witnessed an amateur bull- fight. It was a private
entertainment, and there were only a few people
there, six ladies or so, belonging to the diplomatic
corps and including the beauties of La Paz, two
handsome young ladies in big black hats, and to all
I was presented. The Chilian Minister, Mathieu,
with his Secretary of Legation, Don Domingo Gana,
and Senora Gana and others, were there. All the
ladies very smart and handsome, and every one most
kind and pleasant. It amused and interested me
immensely. Amongst those fighting the bulls was
Don Mario Seeber, the Argentine Charge d'Affaires,
and being a tall, fair man with a splendid figure, he
looked quite heroic when, having managed to plant
a be-ribboned dart in a bull's neck, he struck a fine
attitude with a sword held firmly before him. The
bull ought to have charged him, rushed on the
sword and so received its coup de grace — but
instead of that it turned off and tried to find an
exit, or to climb the walls of the ring. The bulls
were small, none of them ferocious, yet it was
exciting and there were many near shaves. They
all fought on foot — no horses — and there was
nothing unpleasant about it. The bull had as good
a chance as the man, and I wished they had been
less tame. I was simply dying to go down and try,
but had not courage to suggest it, and more,
had to remember that I represented my country, and
it would not do to fail and be laughed at. But I
should have liked to have a try, and felt wildly
excited over it. I have seen as pretty play, wilder
charges, and as near shaves in a Queensland cattle

314 CARNE CON CUERRO

stock-yard. A very wild and ferocious bull is I
suppose more terrifying.

It was hot and dusty in the arena, and swarmed
with flies, so I was much astonished when we all,
ladies and all, descended into the arena amidst the
dust, dirt, and flies, and an animal was roasted
whole in its skin, its flesh cut off with a knife, or
torn off with his hands by a dirty Indian, dumped
into tin plates, and ladies and all fell to on it with
avidity ! And how the Indians revelled in it !
This is the old Spanish custom, and the meat so
cooked is supposed to be splendid — the Came con
cuerro — but still ! It was, however, a characteristic
scene and episode, and I enjoyed this, to me, so
novel sight. I have never seen a real Spanish bull-
fight— such as I saw in Ecuador were nothing.
This one was an amateur and private affair, so that
I was lucky to see it.

Another day I went down and called on the
Canadian missionaries, Mr and Mrs Baker, and
Mr and Mrs Eutledge, who had both good houses
some distance outside the town. There are only
three or four English families resident in La *Paz,
and it seems to me that each of the men wanted to
be, and thought he ought to have been, made
consul. In reality there were only three possible
ones to choose from, and the reasons why Mr
Harrison was appointed were satisfactory, though
his connection with a German firm is a drawback.
I pointed out to Mr Baker and Mr Rutledge that
a Protestant missionary was out of the question.

There was to be a great Indian feast at a quaint
little chapel poised on an earth pinnacle high up
the side of the La Paz cliffs. I had tea with Mr

AN INDIAN FIESTA 315

and Mrs Baker, and with them walked up to see it,
as everyone goes to it. The Bakers had a garden
round their house, and as we were leaving, Mrs
Baker gave directions to an Indian " boy " or man-
servant to look after her baby well, explaining to
me that the real nurse, another Indian "boy," a
perfect treasure, as good, honest, and sober as
possible, had been called away that day to nurse a
sick relative, and how touching was his devotion to
this relative. I think she called him Jim — but any
way I shall. Well, we walked by winding, steep
paths, up through the clay pinnacles towards the
highly placed, quaint chapel, whilst thousands of
Indians in the gaudiest attire swarmed over the
cliffs, ascending and descending in long lines.
Bands of them, clothed in every fantastic way, with
extravagant head-dresses of ribbons and artificial
flowers yards high, sometimes with masks, gold
embroideries, and some got up as women, were
shouting, singing, dancing, and leaping about, all
fearfully, madly drunk. Mingled with them were
all the La Paz people as sight- seers, and all the
Chola women in their most gorgeous and striking
attire. The Indians in their scarlet, green, blue,
and yellow ponchos were in and around the chapel,
all over the cliffs — thousands of them everywhere,
feasting, drinking, yelling, and dancing — every
figure standing out in the clear air, and bright
sunshine against the yellow-red earth-cliff* back-
ground. It was a most magnificently picturesque
scene — and what a picture it would make if any
artist could paint it !

Mrs Baker was still discoursing to me about
that perfect treasure, Jim, and all his virtuous

316 SIMPLE, SOBER JIM

qualities and sober habits, when one of these bands
in fantastic head-dress a yard high, of flowers,
tinsel feathers, with painted faces, women's muslin
gowns — in fact, in wildly extravagant attire — all
madly drunk and excited, came before us, leaping
and shouting for our benefit, and as one, the wildest
and most drunk of all, was flourishing flowers, or
feathers, or something in my face, Mrs Baker
suddenly gasped and cried out: "Jim! Why, it's
Jim ! " and Jim it was — dear, virtuous, simple, sober
Jim ! Mr Stark and I screamed with laughter, and, I
suppose, because I laughed so much, that either
pleased or angered Jim, for he would not leave me ;
and when Mrs Baker, in horrified reproach, kept
calling his name, he only yelled, leered, and leapt
the more ! I laughed so much that at last the
Bakers could only laugh also, and then the crowd
round us joined in too.

And to see the Chola girls swaggering down
the Alameda in their billycock hats, their eyes
everywhere, their silken legs, and high-heeled shoes,
and the lace petticoats showing under their many-
coloured short skirts, attracting all looks, was
truly a quaint and comic sight. Much the same
sort of Indian festas and dances I had seen in
Ecuador, also with masks, painted faces, and
fantastic head-dresses, and attire — but nothing to
equal this one, which the surroundings made so
picturesque. I wonder a Spanish artist has not
painted this scene : a picture of it would draw
crowds in a European gallery.

Below this the river runs through a deep gorge,
and a winding road, planted with eucalyptus,
willows, and other trees, and bordered by villas and

SUCCUMB TO SOROCCHE 317

the barracks, leads up to the frescoed gates of the
Alameda, guarded by the jaguar in its cage.

My silly walking has borne fruit. Each night
lately I have been miserable with a severe heart
attack, the form the Sorocche has taken with me.
To-day, as I stood at the hotel door, some one came
up to me and said : "Look here ! you are very ill —
you are going to have a stroke of paralysis all down
one side ! You must go away from La Paz ! " I
was surprised, and argued the question, but was
assured that to walk as I had done (besides, they
said, only arrieros walked here) was madness, and
that I would suffer for it, and was more seriously
ill than I imagined. My intention of going across
the desert to Oruro is considered out of the
question. But the thing is, that soon the rainy
season commences, when the desert is an impassable
bog ; it is not easy to get a place in a coach, and if
I am to go at all, it must be at once. I would give
anything to remain here, as I like it and have so
much to see and do yet — and I want to see the
President and some others. Still I am ill, very bad
at night, when I lie gasping and my heart scarcely
beating, but always better in the day-time. Mr
Clarke from Arequipa, the manager of the
Mollendo-Arequipa and Puno Railway, has
arrived here, and he came to my room last night
and implored me to give up the idea of crossing the
desert. I was not fit for it, he said, and did not
realise the discomfort of the journey of two days
and a night across the desert to Oruro, and then the
three long days' rail in a notoriously uncomfortable
train to the Chilian port of Antofagasta. If I
would only return with him to Mollendo, and ship

318 LEAVE LA PAZ

from there, he would look after me, and place his
own comfortable car at my disposal. His kindness
is great, but it seems too silly to be beaten and to
return the way I came, and, as I said, I don't
suppose I shall die. Their discomforts are worse
even than they realise here, but the hardships are
things one faces and overcomes. So go I shall if I
can (I can see you reading this and saying : " How
like him — obstinate, pig-headed person ! ") and if a
place can be got in a coach.

Oruro, Bolivia,
Dec. 12, 1904.

Here I am waiting impatiently for a train to
take me to Antofagasta, the Chilian port. The said
train only goes three days a week, if that. Oruro
likes me not : I am seedy, and by no means looking
forward to the journey to the coast.

My departure from La Paz was settled in haste.
Don Hugo Zalles, who owns and runs the transport
— that is, all the coaches and baggage waggons, etc.
— between La Paz and Oruro, came to me at the
Hotel Guibert and told me he was himself leaving
for Oruro on election business, he being a parha-
mentary candidate for that representation, that
evening, and would have a special coach with his best
relays of mules, and do the journey in record time,
travelling all night. The distance is 273 kilometres,
and it usually takes two days and one night. He
offered to take me, and it was a chance not to be
missed. I got my baggage ready, and had it sent to
the transport station, paid hasty farewell visits, and

THE PUNA 319

departed about 4.30 p.m. The coach was an awful
contrivance, very ramshackly, and just held four of
us : that is, Don Hugo and the whip-boy in front,
and I and Herr Harmsen, a German-Peruvian
merchant, behind. It had a hood, and when this
was drawn over us we were prisoners, and every
time we alighted or got in it was with a struggle.
The baggage, of course, followed later by baggage
waggon. We had four mules, and set oflp in high
spirits, I very sorry to leave La Paz, and yet con-
gratulating myself on my luck in being able to
journey like this. I had my comfy old rug, and had
insisted on stowing my suit-case under the seat, and
was secretly laughing at the warnings about the
hardship of the journey.

Having ascended by zig-zag roads over a
thousand feet up to the Alto, we emerged on the
famous, or infamous. Puna or Desert — this high table-"^]
land of Bolivia, a most dreary, arid, stony desert,
swept by icy winds from the glaciers of Illimani,
which towered above, its mighty peaks conquered
(authentically) by one man and his guides — Sir
Martin Conway. This high desert is likened, by
those who know, to the high table-land of Tibet,
and is of more or less the same altitude and extent.
It is somewhere about 13,000 feet above the level
of the sea. Bands of Indians infest it, who are
treacherous and bent on plunder and murder, and
unwary travellers must look to their safety. It is
of course at times very cold ; pneumonia is common,
and people never live to a great age.

At first it was beautiful, the mules were good,
the air keen and fresh, and our appetites the same.
Harmsen produced a small packet of sandwiches,

320 TRAVEL ON THE BOLIVIAN DESERT

and divided them amongst us, and in two minutes
they were gone ! They were for himself, poor man,
and only sufficient for "a snack " for one, not for
four.

Then darkness came on quickly, and so did a
cold icy wind and our troubles. We promptly in
the dark lost our road, or track rather, and bumped
and banged into and over heaps of stones and other
impediments, there being no actual made road,
everyone making their own track. The four mules
kept continually getting into a tangled mass
amongst boulders. We would get out with diffi-
culty, and spend time in disentangling them and
their harness with cold fingers ; then struggle into
the coach again, only to have to continually repeat
the process. The coach lamps kept going out, and
when lit their flickering light only made things
worse. How tiresome this became it is impossible
to describe. Oiice, when jumping out, I threw my
ring from my hand into the darkness, and instead
of going to the mules, to the amazement of the
others seized the lamp and went on hands and
knees over the desert, for this was to me a precious
ring, the souvenir of a dear, dead friend, The
Chisholm, and in itself a unique ring of great value.
With what joy did I see its great sapphire glitter-
ing like a blue star, and what luck to find it !

We bumped, banged, climbed over boulders and
heaps of debris, jumped in and out, and cursed
those unhappy mules, for it was no joke trying to
disentangle the four of them amidst boulders and
patching up their harness, and all by a light that
would go out and took ever so long to light again.
Where we were we knew not, and Herr Harmsen

OUR SLEEPING-QUARTERS 321

was groaning with disgust. At last we saw a light,
and struck on tw^o little mud huts on the desert,
and found we were all right and that this was the
corral where we were to change mules. But it
was almost midnight, bitterly cold, and we were
bruised and shaken to pieces with eight and a half
hours of what was certainly hard travelling, and
the German was on strike. I was for going on and
so was Don Hugo, but at last it was decided that
we should rest here till morning. (During this
journey I saw my walking-stick fall out of the
coach, but it was worth nothing, and I let it go ;
and that was the only thing I lost in South
America !)

An Indian, his wife, and two children tumbled
out of their miserable little hut and unharnessed
the mules, which were let loose. We three took
possession of the other dilapidated little mud hut ;
some tolerably clean straw was brought in, and
wrapping ourselves in our rugs we threw ourselves
down to wait till morning. The Indian woman
brought in a jug of what she called tea, or perhaps
coffee — a lukewarm beverage, a mouthful of which
was enough. There really was little to complain
of — straw is a soft warm bed, and we had rugs, and
in a few minutes the other two were sound asleep.
But alas ! tired and cold as I was, not an eye could
I close ; my heart got very bad, and for a couple of
hours perhaps I turned and twisted, trying to avoid
the cold draughts that stole in through many
apertures. Sleep I could not, so at last I got up
and went softly to the door and found it was tied
up outside, but by working at it for ten minutes I
at last burst it open, and, draped in my rug,

322 MY NIGHT ON THE DESERT

escaped outside, after carefully tying up the door
again.

It was pitch dark and an icy wind was blowing
over the desert from lUimani, and there till daylight
came I walked up and down to keep warm. My
heart attack grew worse and worse, and certainly I
had a night of it. One gets absolutely numb in
this night air at this altitude. It was still dark
when Don Hugo emerged horrified to hear what I
had been doing, and I had cared nothing for the
chance of prowling Indians, who would have made
short work of me and I should simply have dis-
appeared. They would have hacked me up with
their knives, buried me under a sand heap in a few
minutes, had they caught a hated Gringo alone on
the Puna at night. Don Hugo roused the Indians,
and as daylight appeared the fresh mules were
brought in and harnessed, but it was not till 6 a.m.
that we got off. How I longed for something warm,
or some food, as it was icily cold, but there was
nothing. My heart seemed scarcely to be beating
at all and I wondered how I was to survive the
day, but said nothing. It was a blessed thing
when the sun rose and brought light and a little
warmth, but it revealed a very melancholy, desolate
scene. We all sank into silence at last as the
hours passed by and the coach bumped and shook,
but of course it was plainer sailing than in the
dark. The rainy season was due, and then this
awful desert becomes almost impassable — a quag-
mire.

The village of Ayoayo is the first one we passed.
Here are abandoned graves or pre-historic dwellings
of mud, of rectangular shape, with a small entrance

VILLAGES OF THE PUNA 323

facing the east, and under the floor the people were
buried. I doubt if they were ever dwellings. Mr
and Mrs Bandolier had been excavating here on
behalf of some museum, so bones and skulls were
scattered about. At Patac-Amaya are more of
these ruined mud erections, round ones with oblong
additions. Then came Sicasica, the usual Indian
adobe village with a church. It was at one of
these villages the butchery of the soldiers by the
priest I saw in the prison and his Indians took
place, but I forget which. The road is bordered
by tall mud pillars at long distances apart, and they
have quite an imposing appearance stretching away
through the desert. These are the remains of
those which in olden days marked the route from
Lima to the famous silver mines of Potosi.

About one o'clock we halted at a village —
Aroma, I think — for breakfast, after seven hours
coach^ — a real breaking of our fast — but it was the
usual horrible uneatable meal, and beyond a glass
or two of claret and a cup of coffee I could touch
nothing, much as I needed it. Since twelve o'clock
the day before I had nothing except the two little
sandwiches Herr Harmsen gave us. This was the
usual halting-place for changing mules and break-
fasting, yet it was more than primitive, and nothing
was to be had.

There was a quaint old spinet or harpsicord in
this place, and they were all surprised and amused
at my desire to buy it and cart it along — which was
impossible. A baggage -coach had broken down
here, blocking the narrow street, as it was but a
small adobe village with narrow ways, and this
had to be unloaded and got aside ere we could

324 ^ I COLLAPSE AT LAST

proceed, which delayed and made us late in
starting. No sooner did we get away than I
became seriously ill. At first I said nothing, but
as my heart got worse and worse I owned up. I
thought I was dying, and I don't think I was far
from it. The others — as they told me afterwards —
thought so too, and were seriously alarmed. Herr
Harmsen gave me some unknown drops out of a little
bottle. It was cold, yet the perspiration streamed
down my face, and I gave spasmodic gasps.
Nothing could be done for me, however. At last
1 covered my head and face with the rug, determined
to die unseen and having only that feeling, and it
seemed to me that I had already stepped over the
Border into some strange place. Somewhere the
rug was thrust aside, and an Indian held a bean
up to my nose. I took it and threw it away,
though it seems he had been summoned, and that
this garlic bean, or whatever it was, was a cure for
the Sorocche, which was, after all, what caused me
tliis trouble. (From this journey and occurrence I
date that dreadful evil which attacked my spine
and has doomed me to so much present and future
mental and bodily sufferings.) As the day wore
on I got better, the others were kind and also left
me in peace. Suddenly the rain set in to add to
our discomfort, and as darkness came on the steady
downpour grew most annoying. I, however, revived
somewhat, and began to think of "nice things to
eat," which was a hopeful sign. I thought of every
unattainable thing, lingered in fancy over a bunch
of beautiful fresh ripe cool grapes ! Then how I
should like some champagne ; I simply craved for
it, and it is a wine I don't care for and seldom

A PINT OF CHAMPAGNE 325

drink — yet I kept conjuring up a foaming glass of
champagne and at least clean eggs and sardines, if
nothing else.

About 8.30, wet, cold and weary, we arrived at
the village of Carocollo, which is 120 miles S.E. of
Titicaca, and stopped at the post-house. As soon
as we got inside I announced that I felt better, was
ravenous, and " Oh ! did they think it possible to
get champagne?" They laughed at the idea, but
amongst a few bottles gracing the shelf behind the
sort of bar my eyes lit on a beautiful little gold-
necked bottle. "Never mind the landlord," I said,
"I can't wait. Here are glasses. Get it down."
Nothing loth, Don Hugo got it down, and we three
shared that pint — alas ! only a pint — on the spot, and
how delicious it seemed 1

"We shall drink nothing but champagne to-
night for our supper," I announced.

Alas ! that pint bottle was the only one — it was
the show bottle that had been on that shelf for
fourteen years ! The landlord was quite dismayed
at its fate, and, childish as it may seem, I sat down
feeling I could cry with disappointment. It was
just what I wanted at the moment. Even the eggs
and sardines — luxuries — were not forthcoming, and
after a long wait, humbly but not thankfully, I sat
down to potato soup and the other usual nasty
things. Then it was my companions told me how
relieved they were to see me right again, as they too
thought I was dying in that coach, and indeed it
was a near call. I pleaded that a room of some
sort should be found for me, where I might be
alone, and I got a bedroom to myself. This room
opened directly from the mule-yard, had three beds

326 A DESERT QUAGMIRE

close together and a tin basin on a chair, but I
could have it alone. That is to say, not by any
means quite alone, for a gay, lively and hungry
gathering lived there too, but I ignored the thought
of them, did not inspect the beds, but wrapped in
my damp rug lay down on top of one of them, after
carefully barricading the door, which had no fasten-
ing. There was no window, but air enough of
sorts came in through chinks. However, I got a
few hom^s very needful sleep.

By daylight I was up and out in the yard, and
when the first Indian appeared was ducking and
splashing under the pump regardless of appear-
ances, and even got some hot water carried to my
room in my tin basin.

At 6 A.M. we were off again, and luckily without
rain. But we soon saw what one night's rain had
done, for we had to cross a swamp of awful sticky
mud 3 feet deep. Mr Drake, who is here in Oruro,
crossed this place the day before we did, and it was
perfectly dry and hard. One night had turned it
into this. Some waggons attempting to cross it in
the night lost twelve mules, which were bogged and
suffocated in the mud, and we made our way
through an avenue of their carcasses. The waggon -
men clung on to our coach all over it to get across,
standing on the steps and holding on anyhow.
How we managed it I know not with this load, and
half-way through I thought we were done for, and
had such been the case we never could have got
through it. I have been in some fine bogs in
coaches or on horseback in Australia, but this one
quite outdid them, it was so sticky it held the
coach back. A most disreputable coach it was

THE MINING TOWN OF ORURO 327

when it did get through at last, and our entry into
Oruro about 10 a.m. was not an imposing one. In-
stead of doing the journey in two days and a night,
much less in record time, we had been two nights
and two days over it. All this high desert was
once part of a lake joined to Titicaca and of 20,000
square miles in area.

But here I am in Oruro and in a room of my
own, in a very tolerable hotel with tolerable food.
But there are many Europeans, mining people here,
and that makes all the dilfference.

I was delighted to see Mr Drake again, though
he was merciless in his chaffing about the man who
had come for pleasure. He has to set out from
here to Cochabamba, and on across the Continent
by the surveyed route of a projected railway line,
as he is the financial agent for it and has to
traverse it to decide the cost. Let him only get
back to the United States, he said, and never again
would he set foot in South America. He is, of
course, a person of importance in the eyes of the
Bolivian Government, and the Prefect of Oruro is
to provide him with a suitable carriage for his
journey, but so far none is forthcoming. He has
engaged a young member of the Zalles family to
accompany him.

This desert mining town of Oruro, standing
12,000 feet or more above the sea, is, of course, an
important place. From here it is a long journey
by coach or on horseback to Cochabamba, Sucre,
and Potosi in the interior. Much as I should
like to see these places, it is not possible. All
round Oruro are mines, and indeed the whole of
this part of Bolivia is rich in minerals of every

328 SAN JOSl^. SILVP:R MINE

description — old Ynca mines still being worked
and the whole country awaiting development.

Above the town rises the San Jose silver mine,
known from the Spanish days. It has many
galleries and a shaft 1000 feet deep. All coal
is brought from the sea, 924 kilometres. The
fuel of the Bolivian plateau is llama droppings,
Yareta, and the tola shrub. Tin, copper, and
antimony is found with the silver. About 800
labourers are employed at this mine. At Sicasica
are known deposits of silver, and also at other
places.

Oruro is not a pleasing or beautiful place and
has about 15,000 inhabitants, and in former times
had 80,000. Of course there is the usual plaza,
where a band plays in the evening and the local
society parades. Despite the cold, women were
walking round it in muslin frocks. It is a large
dreary waste, and in the centre is a small railed -in
garden, an object of unfailing interest to all. It
contains nothing but a few vegetables ! The build-
ings are of poor description, many mud huts, and
the shops are merely "general stores." I am still
suffering from my heart and a total lack of energy.
The landlord is an English-speaking young man,
civil and friendly, and the hotel seems luxurious
after recent nights. The trains for Antofagasta
only go on certain days and I am quite ready to
go when they do. Meanwhile I must await the
arrival of my baggage, if it ever does arrive, for
now the rains, this being the 12th of December,
have really set in and the heavy baggage waggons
have to face seas of mud.

I called on the British Vice-Consul, Dr Ilamsay

BRITISH AND GERMAN CONSULS 329

Smith, and even when I found his abode could not
find him, and ended by entering a room and leaving
a card on a table. Later I met him in the hotel,
and told him I had looked for his consular shield
of arms in vain and wondered he did not have some
means of showing which was his vice-consulate;
but he thought the more difficulty in finding it the
better, as then he would not be bothered with
people ! This is the real British consul and vice-
consul feeling all over the world. They don't want
to be bothered with their own countrymen at all.
How different is the German idea. The German
consul or vice-consul aims at being the centre for
his countrymen, supports them in every way as
they in their turn support him, keep him supplied
with information on every subject, and together, in
a patriotic way, they advertise their country and its
interests. The result is obvious, and no wonder
they go ahead everywhere in commerce. This is
very striking in the East, even indeed especially so
in our own possessions, such as Hong-kong and
Singapore. The flabby indifference to anything
but their own very trifling interests of the British
in South America is unpleasing and makes one
impatient. Some day I hope my proposition —
made frequently in certain quarters — that a sort of
travelling consuls or inspectors of consuls, should
be instituted, whose duties would be to learn the
trading and commercial wants of communities and
keep the consular service up to the mark — may
bear fruit.

I had a talk with a banker here, a Mr Haddon,
I think, a pleasant man ; but I am too lazy to get
up any interest in Oruro, and have to do a lot of

330 MR DRAKE^S CARRIAGE

lying down, though I potter about the town, which
is devoid of interest.

Oruro, Bolivia,

Dec. Uth, 1904.

My baggage has at last arrived. I am clean
and freshly clothed again, but still suffering from
lack of energy, and have bad nights.

Mr Drake has departed, after being delayed
some days waiting for the " carriage " to be provided
by the Prefect. He had young Alfredo Zalles
with him, nephew of Don Hugo and Don Jorge.
I said *' Good-bye " to Mr Drake one night, as he
expected to leave early in the morning ; but when
I emerged at ten o'clock on to the plaza, I found
him sitting there. "Why are you not gone?" I
asked. "Go right away down that street," he
said, " and see the carriage the Prefect, to whom I
was recommended by the President, has provided
for our journey." But just then the stately
carriage appeared. It was a dray, covered with
coils of barbed wire, and on top of this barbed
wire, Mr Drake and his companion were to journey
for many days in a broiling sun ! It was now my
turn to chaff about pleasure journeys, and what Mr
Drake said won't bear repeating. On his threat
to take train to Antofagasta, and "chuck the
whole show," a rickety coach and four mules was
at last secured, and in that he at last departed. I
do wonder how he gets on.

There is another American here who haunts
me, and who insisted I should go to his room,

POTOSI 331

where he displayed sheets and rugs full of mineral
ores — large rocks I call them — and discoursed of
the wonderful mines these had come from, and
explained his rocks and their riches. I never
grasped where the mines were, or if I was supposed
to buy them or what, as in any case "I am not
taking any," but he still hovers round me with his
rocks. I wonder all the time how he got them
here, he has a waggon-load of them. But, of
course, I must be interested in mines, or what
would I be doing here ? No one has any use for
pleasure - pilgrims, and cannot understand what
they are. I feel greatly tempted to journey to
Sucre and Potosi, but it is impossible.

Potosi stands about 13,325 feet above the sea,
the highest inhabited town in South America ; but
a decayed place now, though once so famous for its
silver mines. It was founded in 1545, and in 1611
had 160,000 inhabitants, and now about 20,900.
Children born there soon die or are deaf and dumb
— so they say. If I am telhng lies they are what
are told to me, so you can swallow them too. It
possesses some fine old buildings. Sucre is at
present put in the shade by La Paz, though it has
been, and claims yet to be, the capital. It also
possesses quite fine buildings, and is an important
place. Eailways and roads, means of transport, that
is all that is needed to develop this rich and
interesting land. It teams with riches and possi-
bilities. It is very cold here in Oruro at night, but
the sun is warm in the daytime.

332 TAKEN CARE OF AGAIN

Antofagasta, Chile,

Dec. I9th, 1904.

I was by no means sorry to quit Oruro. I
took the precaution, a very necessary one, of
bringing a basket of provisions with me, which
said basket included "a chicken," of which more
anon.

I left Oruro at 7 a.m. When I was getting my
ticket I was conscious of someone standing beside
me, and as soon as I boarded the train this person
came up to me, said he was a countryman, had
heard about me, had overlooked my getting my
ticket in case I was cheated, was going by the
train and hoped he might look after me, and then
introduced himself as "Sandy Cameron from
Strathspey." Was it not genuinely kind? I
wonder where is the Englishman who would so
naturally and kindly do a thing like that ? I told
him I had known many " Sandy Camerons " in my
day, so far as I knew all gentlemen, and was glad
to know another, and glad to be looked after. It is
a good name and a good clan. Mr Cameron, who
was a traveller for some commercial house at
Antofagasta, was as good as his word, and
has been so kind to me, and I shall always,
when I think of this place and that journey,
think of him. Though, as he hastened to
tell me, he only occupies this position here,
he is a man of good blood and connections,
which it is very easy for a Cameron to be,
and I expect few of the cock-a-hoop young

UYUNYI ON THE DESERT 333

English clerks and nobodies, who give them-
selves such absurd airs at some South American
clubs, especially at Iquique, are his equals in that
way.

It is a narrow-guage railway, and the distance to
Antofagasta is 924 kilometres. The car held many
seats, each very narrow and uncomfortable ; and of
all the tedious and comfortless journeys, this from
Oruro to Uyunyi, where we arrived at 6.30 at
night, can hold its own. In South America I do
think people try to make everything as uncomfort-
able as possible. The journey is all through the
desert. We had a distant glimpse of Lake Poopo
or Allaugas, which is 30 by 40 miles in area and is
280 miles south of Lake Titicaca, with which it is
connected by the Desaguadero Eiver, on which are
steamboats.^ The mirage on the desert, though, is
so deceptive that you never know what you are
really seeing. A few vicunas and llamas were seen
now and again. We alighted at some place for
lunch. The train does not travel at night, and
Uyunyi is a miserable hole planted down on the
desert. The hotel was the usual wooden one-
storied place, devoid of comfort, and the bedrooms
without windows, so you retire with locked doors
into an airless cabin. I presume, having no
windows is to prevent you being shot or robbed —
otherwise it seems to have no meaning. Near is
Pulacayo Silver Mine. Round the town is nothing
but sand, carcases of dead mules, and empty tins
and bottles.

We left Uyunyi (which is 12,010 feet) at 6 a.m.,
and this day's journey was certainly an interesting

' Desaguadero means drain, as it drains Lake Titicaca.

334 A STRANGE VOLCANIC DESERT

one, though still through an extraordinary desert.
I think it is Sir Martin Conway who has Hkened
this part to what we must suppose the surface of
the moon to be like ; it certainly resembles a burnt-
out land without a sign of life. Nothing but living
and dead volcanoes, which are coloured red, yellow,
brown, black, grey, and I know not what. Lava
fields, strange lakes of salt and borax — the whole in
fantastic confusion, but very interesting, though
desolate beyond measure and very weird and
uncanny. The desert sand is red, grey, or brown.
At Ollague (12,126 feet), which is across the Chilian
frontier, we lunched. Above it rises an active
volcano, and below on the crater of a small extinct
one is inscribed in large letters "Vive Chile."
Then more volcanoes, a lake of borax looking as if
it were a frozen lake, and at last we ascend to the
highest point, Ascotan (13,010 feet), which is at the
base of San Pedro and San Paulo, active volcanoes.
San Pedro was puffing away at a great rate. It
is a brilliantly coloured mountain, all yellow, red,
and all colours. There is a strange flow of lava
running out into the desert from quite a small crater,
and the train goes through this in a cutting. Then
there is the Cerro Colorado, another all-coloured
mountain covered with magnetic sand, and they say
in a storm this sand rises in solid masses and rushes
about, a flaming terror to everyone and everything
— truly it is a weird world here, a portion of the
globe becoming extinct. I give a vague description
of it, but it is most impressive and also confusing,
as the train steams in and out of it all, leaving the
mind bewildered. It is worth much discomfort to
see.

MRS NOAH'S PET HEN 335

Extraordinary people in the car — there is only
one car. One family, comprising a father, mother,
and children, took my seat and my belongings, and
sat on them all ; but I thought it no use making a
fuss, so did exactly the opposite, and nursed the
children and relieved the miseries of the comfortless
little wretches as best I could. It was weary work,
and so unending, and a wailing child is very
exasperating. How glad I was of my luncheon -
basket, which I, of course, shared with Cameron,
and it was on this morning I bethought me of
partaking of the "cold chicken." So I got it out,
invited Cameron to the feast, he however preferring
sandwiches, and calmly commenced to carve that
chicken. An axe would not have availed. In vain
I hacked, tore, banged, not the slightest impression
could I make on it. The car watched fascinated.
It must have been fed on iron ore or something like
that. I appealed to Cameron, and he at last after
heroic struggles got one bit asunder. The car
sighed sympathetically and gently smacked its lips
and gave me kind looks. But that limb remained
a limb, no knife would cut into it. The car
suggested various remedies. I beat it against the
woodwork in the hope of softening it, but nearly
knocked a hole in the train. It was, I am sure,
Mrs Noah's pet hen out of the Ark, probably
left here after the Flood. Mr Cameron said
he was sure it was a good chicken — but
he'd have some to-morrow, and the car smiled
at the familiar word to-morrow. With strained
wrists I restored it to the basket, " Little Mary "
bleating with disappointment, and rage in my
heart. Fancy traversing South America to be

336 A REAL LIVE MAN

beaten by a chicken ! An old Jew offered to
assist, and the whole car gave advice.^

At a wayside station I looked out and saw a
man — a real live man — in boots and breeches and
felt hat, sitting on a truck. I looked again — British,
of course. Could he be Australian, Canadian,
South African, what ? Bronzed, vigorous, athletic,
open-faced, blue-eyed — how different he looked and
how alive to everyone else upon whom South
America had laid her hand. I was introduced, and
found he was Mr Bosman, employed on the railway,
and a South African. I knew he hailed from some
part of Greater Britain. How pleasant, frank, and
cheery he seemed compared to the others. Here,
too, we were getting into "civilisation" again, no
longer Indians, but white people of a sort, and I
realised how much I had been amongst brown and
dark people.

We crossed the river Loa, and at 9.30 p.m. we
got to Calma (7435 feet), and made a rush for
the "hotel" so as to secure a room. This was
the usual wooden building. I carried my own
traps, of course, dived into the hotel, found a small
room and deposited my belongings on the bed,
closed the door, and thought I was happy.
Cameron also got a tiny room with one bed in it.
A little while after I met an Indian boy carrying
my belongings, dumping them down outside and
leaving them, and found the old Jew had evicted
them and was in possession of my room. Then

^ Someone quoted the Spanish proverb, ^^ Para el mat que Iwy
acaha, iw es remedio el de. mafiaim" which means "To-morrow's
remedy is too late for to-day's evil." I pass it on to you to give a
little local colour, and make you think I know more Spanish than I
really do !

THE CHILIAN TOWN OF CALMA 337

began a scene. Cameron interfered, and the hotel
people pointed out that I could sleep in a room in
which were six beds in a row. This six-bedded
room opened out of Cameron's room ; it had no
other entrance, and neither it or his room had any
window ! I did not waste much time. Out went
the old Jew and after him his belongings, and the
Indian "boys" were sent flying, and back went I
and my things into my original room, and I fixed
up the door and threatened dire things. Later on
I went to the dining-room to join Cameron, and
found the old Jew at the same table, quite at his
ease and most polite and friendly ! So I shared
my wine with him, and all was peace again. My
much desired room was about eight feet square
and had no window. This is up-to-date Chile.

After dinner, Mr Cameron and I did the town.
He had to make business visits to stores, mostly
kept by Dalmatians, who, he told me, were desir-
able customers. They all "treated" us, as they
say in Australia, to drinks and cigarettes, and I
was let into all the mysteries of sardines and other
grocer commodities, and felt as if I was selling the
things myself. These Dalmatians were clever, in-
telligent men, and, I was told, all very honest in a
land where few are honest.

Next morning we left at 7 a.m. through the
same desert country, but after a time began to
descend gradually to the coast. At Salinas (4400
feet) we were in the strange nitrate country, truly
unpleasant to see. It was very hot and we were
dead sick of the train. The much discussed
"chicken" was again brought forth, Cameron say-
ing he now felt strong enough to tackle it. For

338 1 SLEEP IN A SHOP

many hours he struggled bravely, but at last, an
older and wiser man, he owned himself beaten.
We used the one detached leg to hammer it, but
that did no good. At last we gave it to an Indian
boy on the desert, picking out a strong youth.
The last we saw of him he was struggling man-
fully with it, and no doubt is still at it, and will be at
it as long as he lives. As we descended lower we
still went through nitrate fields — like a destroyed
and desolate land.

At six o'clock we arrived at Antofagasta, which I
had heard described as a sort of up-to-date paradise,
and it being Saturday night could get no luggage
through the Customs till Monday morning. Going
to the hotel, I found it was crammed and not a
room to be had. After a fuss the proprietor said
he had one room that I could have. We went
through the back regions of the hotel, climbed over
packing-cases to get to the room, which was dirty
in the extreme though quite large. It evidently
was a shop. It had a large window, and a very
large door opening directly on to the street. I was
told I ought to be dehghted with it ; other men
would envy me, because I could go in and out by
the door on the street and bring in anyone I liked
without anyone else knowing ! I, however, nailed
up that desirable door. Every time I went to
or left my room I had to climb over packing-
cases.

Mr Cameron came to dine with me. The
dining-room had been the patiOy but was covered
in. Every table set for dinner was covered with
yellow gauze, which yellow gauze was a black
mass of flies. When you took your seat the gauze

CHARMING ANTOFAGASTA 339

was lifted and the flies rose up in a cloud. All
disgustingly unnecessary. There need never be a
fly in the room — if clean. There are many ways of
getting rid of them, as my knowledge of many hot
countries has taught me. The place was full of
young Englishmen, which made me wonder how
they could put up with such unnecessary discomforts.
I know no remote bush shanty in Australia that is
so dirty, nasty, and comfortless as these South
American places ; and this is Chile, the inhabitants
of which call themselves "the English of South
America." They may be; they certainly are not
the Scotch.

Sir Martin Conway, in his book about the
Bolivian Andes, is generally most correct in
his descriptions, and trusting to him I had looked
forward to finding Antofagasta a charming contrast
to other places, but he certainly describes it as
I never saw it.

"Antofagasta," he says, "is the prettiest town
I had seen since we left Panama; clean, wide-
streeted, with houses suggestive of India, and
verandahs furnished with long-armed chairs."
The streets may be broad, but there is little
resemblance to India about its houses, and I
certainly thought it a deadly uninteresting place
of shanties stuck down on the sand. There is,
of course, a plaza and garden where a band plays,
and an excellent and comfortable club, and it
is undoubtedly ahead of Mollendo — but that is
not saying much. Considering what very im-
portant ports are Mollendo and Antofagasta, the
outlets for such a Hinterland, I can only marvel
that they are the miserable places they are. The

340 TRADE WITH BOLIVIA

much decried Guayaquil is far, far ahead of them,
on a swamp though it be.

Mr Barnett, who has lived long here, who
is our Vice-Consul and agent for the P.S.N.
Company, took me to the club, and put my name
down. It is a comfortable house, and there I met
various local people.

Mr Bosman, the South African I had seen
on the railway, came down and dined at my
table one night, and again I was struck by his
manly, frank, open appearance and manner —
so like the real men you meet in out-of-the-
way parts of Australia or other parts of Greater
Britain. They do not exist now in the British
Isles — all the best blood goes away. What is
happening to the land ?

I am waiting here patiently, or impatiently,
for a boat to take me off. I got my baggage
sent on here from Mollendo.

In an issue of The Globe in August of this year
is the following extract from a report by the British
Consul at La Paz.

HOW BOLIVIAN TRADE IS HAMPERED.

WHOLESALE THEFTS OF MERCHANDISE.

The difficulty of carrying on trade in Bolivia, owing to thieving
at ports en route, is described in a recent report by the Hon. H. C.
Dundas, His Majesty's Consul at La Paz. Mr Dundas states that
the thieving from goods sent to Bolivia via Mollendo and Antofagasta
defies description, and that the dishonesty prevailing is appalling.
The thefts commence on board the vessel, are continued in the
lighters, and are rampant on shore. The recipients comfort them-
selves with the knowledge that the insurance company will have to
pay, the result being that no attempt is made to fasten the guilt on
any particular person.

Recently a regular system of robbery was discovered near Uyuni.

LEAVE ANTOFAGASTA 341

Many of the railway men were accomplices ; these stopped the train
in the desert and unloaded whatever quantity of goods the waiting-
thieves were able to dispose of, shops being started in Antofagasta
for this purpose. A further loss arises from the fact tliat the Bolivian
Government collect duties on the original invoice, even if all the
goods are stolen; this loss is not covered by the insurance, and
amounts to above 40 per cent, of the cost price. Moreover, the
Government send empty cases to their destination in Bolivia, and
the merchant has to pay full freight on empty boxes. Mr Dundas
also states that the Port of Molleildo, in Peru, bears an equally bad
reputation with that of Antofagasta. Nine months elapse from the
date of ordering goods to the date of receiving them. The goods are
more often than not subject to partial or total loss by theft, and it is
rare for a case to arrive which has not been tampered with. Some-
times, too, cases are lost by being dropped overboard, and recovery
is usually impossible.

The British Vice-Consul at Sucre (Mr E. F. Moore) writes that
the recent disorganised state of the port of Antofagasta made
importation no longer possible by that route. At one time the
cargoes of 183 steamers and sailing vessels, destined for Sucre, were
put ashore in inextricable confusion without the owners being assured
as to whether they were lost or not. The risk of definite loss was
increased tenfold without the security of the insurance policy being
available for reimbursement, and all charges for unloading, ware-
housing and forwarding were increased ; all this may be fully
appreciated by the fact that a circular has been issued by the
principal forwarding agents pointing out to their clients the reasons
why they have to disclaim all responsibility for thefts, shortage,
damage, and loss of goods.— 7'Ae Globe, August 1908.

Valparaiso, Chile,
Dec. 2Qth, 1904.

I left Antofagasta on December 20th about
5 P.M., on the Linai^i, a South American boat. I
had the pleasure of having in my cabin a Chilian.
The man was inoffensive, and indeed quite
apologetic for the discomfort he gave me, for
the cabin was filled with his belongings, which
included a sewing-machine, a huge sheet filled
with loaves of bread, and I am sure I don't

342 I GO ON STRIKE

know what else. It is necessary on all these
Pacific Coast boats to keep your cabin door,
which opens on to the deck, locked, and you
pay three or four shillings for the key, which
money is returned, or supposed to be returned,
when you leave and give up your key ; but of
course the steward expects to retain it as a tip. I
having paid for the key, the Chilian had the
use of it, and into that cabin I never could get.
He left at some port, and as soon as he had
gone I locked the door. I had seen that, there
not being many passengers, there was only one
person in each cabin, and even some empty
cabins, but as I was the only European on
board, the great big brutal-looking Chilian steward
had bestowed two in mine. So I was determined
no one else would come in. A passenger came
on board. I was sitting on deck, and up came
the steward and demanded my key. I asked
what he wanted it for. He said someone must
go into my cabin. I said no one would. He
stormed away to the captain's cabin, and the
minute the captain emerged I got up and walked
towards him. The captain — an Englishman —
commenced at once in a hectoring tone to demand
why I had not given up the key. I pointed
to the Chilian they destined for my cabin mate —
a sort of large baboon covered with black hair
— and said I absolutely refused to have that
man or anyone else in my cabin, as I had already
had one with his bread, sewing-machine, etc.,
and that the other few passengers, Chilians, had
each a cabin to themselves ; that some of them
were second-class people allowed in by favour

CABIN MATES 343

as friends of the captain himself and of the
steward ; that there were empty cabins ; and
that I really wondered he, an Englishman, who
must understand what it was to me to have
to share a cabin with one of these dirty creatures,
cared to inflict them on me — for these low-class
Chilians are singularly unpleasant in some ways.
I then gave him the key, said he could put
anyone in he liked, but that I would not even
enter it, and would hold the captain responsible
for the safety of my belongings. The captain
and steward were blustering, but I just walked
off and left them.

They did not put the man in my cabin, and
later the captain came to me and was apologetic.
I then let him see by my ticket and letters that I
was entitled to the best cabin on every boat on
the Pacific coast, having so paid ; and that every
captain and agent was requested to do all they
could for me. This made the captain look very
blue. What a fuss I made about a trifle, you will
be saying. Not at all. You don't know South
American boats and ways, and how every soul will
take advantage of you if you will allow them, and
appropriate all your belongings. Haceos miel y
come7Vs han moscas — "Make yourself honey and
the flies will eat you." If you have a South
American cabin mate, he is quite capable of using
your tooth-brush when you are not there ! Nor
have you seen the people you may have in your
cabin !

The food on this boat was atrocious, and there
was little of it — but it is all good enough for the
general class you meet travelling, who are not used

344 CHRISTMAS DAY AT VALPARAISO

to much, and it is their national food, to their taste.
We called at various uninteresting Chilian ports,
staying hours at each. I cannot conceive a more
dreary coast than this Pacific one, so destitute of
harbours or of any variety.

I arrived here at Valparaiso on the 24th, and
came to the Grand Hotel. The proprietor and
his son. Frenchmen, are very civil. As at all
the places on the coast, you land in small boats,
and it costs a perfect fortune to get one's baggage
to the hotel, quite a short distance. I am greatly
disappointed in Valparaiso. I had the idea it
was a fine city, and that as it is full of British, it
would be more up-to-date. There are few fine
houses or buildings ; it is all very ordinary.
Houses are built all over the cliffs, and look as
if it would not take much to bring them down (I
was not surprised at the damage done by the
great earthquake, and it may cause the town to
be rebuilt in a better way). I have been walking
all over it, but I still feel the effects of the
journey.

Christmas Day bore no resemblance to that
day with us, and I saw no Christmas signs any-
where. It was, however, enlivened by a number
of very drunk Yankee bluejackets, who were very
noisy and pugnacious; and I saw the funniest
scene. There was a very small, gentle-looking
Chilian policeman trying to arrest a very big,
burly, outrageously drunk man, the usual crowd
looking on. It was a comic scene, but was
beginning to be tragic, for the infuriated drunk
man began attacking the little policeman, who
was thrown here and there helplessly. Suddenly

A STREET ROW 345

two drunk Yankee bluejackets came round the
corner and instantly rushed at the big Chilian,
and a terrific fight took place, during which one
sailor got knocked down. The instant he got
up he rushed savagely, not at his former opponent,
but at his own comrade, and struck him, and
instantly the two friends were at it hammer and
tongs, blood flowing, women screeching, and the
greatest to-do. Then the big drunk Chilian, who
seemed quite bewildered, and the little police-
man, attempted to separate the combatants, and
in about two minutes the whole crowd had com-
menced fighting, and the last I saw of it was the
whole crowd and the three drunk men pur-
suing the little policeman, who was flying for his
life.

I have at last made up my mind to go by the
Straits of Magellan instead of going to Santiago and
thence by the Trans- Andean Railway to Buenos
Ayres. I have had so much railway lately, and
though I want to see the Trans-Andean, I also want
to go by the Straits, and particularly to the Falkland
Islands, and I cannot do both. Also, I don't feel
equal to going to Santiago, where Don Eafael
Elizalde, at the Ecuadoran Legation, has been
expecting me for long to show me the sights. I
have letters to our minister and others ; but my
heart is so bad I feel that unless I get away soon I
shall never leave at all.

Most of the great business houses here are
British, and English is much spoken, but Germany
as usual is making her mark. The roadstead is an
exposed one, much open to northern winds, and not
entirely sheltered from southern. The English

346 ASSERTIVE CHILE

predominance here has not impressed itself favour-
ably on the place as regards architecture. In
Antofagasta, too — so English a place — the amount
of corrugated iron and shingle-board buildings
arrests the eye, and many of these were brought from
England. I believe Iquique is much the same. I
do not know why Chile seems in England to be
regarded as a most important country of South
America. It is better known to us than the others ;
but the lower-class Chilians, who I presume
have Auricanian blood, seemed to be the least
pleasant of those I have come across. The poverty
of the labouring classes here is said to be extreme,
and even without a parallel in the world, but I do
not know if that is so. One year 80,000 emigrated
to Peru, and hence it is perhaps that Chile welcomes
emigrants from Europe. It is a strange country,
nowhere I believe more than 100 miles broad, the
mean width being 70 miles, whilst the length is
3000 miles. The total population is somewhere
about 2,900,000, that of Santiago 256,500, and of
Valparaiso 122,500, and none of the other towns
are very large. The nitrate fields cover something
like an area of 225,000 acres, and still yield many
million tons of nitrate. It is always believed in
England that Chile has a very large and fine navy ;
but this is not the case. She has a better one than
the other republics, but that is not saying much.
Don Beltran Mathieu, who was Minister of War,
told me that he conducted the sale of the two
Chilian ironclads to Japan at the time of the war.
From all I hear, Chile seems to me the least
interesting country of the Pacific Coast, but I may
be mistaken ; anyway, Valparaiso is by no means an

CHILIAN POPULATION 347

interesting place, and I can get up no enthusiasm
over it.

There is a broad Alameda, as I suppose they
call it, with bandstand and seats, all lit up at night,
and this seems the principal promenade of the
people, and in the evening is crowded.

Chile being such a long narrow strip of coast-
land, it is easy to see that in time it must become a
thickly populated country, and that it is capable of
supporting perhaps 20,000,000 more inhabitants than
it has at present. It is more easy to develop than
any of the other South American Republics. Yet
the European immigration has not probably exceeded
50,000 in half a century. There is a large German
element, dating from 1840, which is prosperous and
has had a good and marked effect on the population.
The number of fair Chilians one sees is probably
accounted for by a strain of German blood.
Spaniards, French, Italians, and Germans, in that
order are the principal European inhabitants, there
being fewer British, though Valparaiso is considered
essentially British. In parts there are a number of
Swiss, who naturally prefer the more mountainous
areas. The central area of the country is the
agricultural part, and the vine, olives, and corn are
cultivated. The Chilian wines may in time come to
the fore as more attention is paid to the vineyards.
They probably, like the Australian wines, want age.
In the south, cattle -raising and timber seem the
chief things, whilst the north is well known as a
country of saltpetre and borax, also of silver and
copper ; but many minerals, including coal and iron,
are spread through the country.

The Germans, of course, are the great brewers —

348 CHILE AFTER THE CONQUEST

beer seems the first thought of their minds. I
remember, years ago, in the German Colony of
JSTew Guinea the excitement of the small German
population when the Koman Catholic bishop, a
Frenchman, started a brewery, or intended start-
ing it, at his mission. How he went up in their
estimation ! On the arrival of the mail-boat small
boats put out from shore, and as they neared
the steamboat there was a universal cry of ** Wuf!
far Bier haben sie ? " Their success, though in a
new country, is always well deserved.

Chile ^ also has a name for horse-breeding, the
old Andalusian breed having been so much
improved by the introduction of stallions from
England, Germany, and France.

However interesting the republican history of
these countries is to the people of them, foreigners
must be excused for being unable to get enthusi-
astic over this or that episode, this or that
" patriot " ; and the names of some of the presidents
were never of mark beyond the shores of their
country, and not always within it. In Chile, of
course, one is attracted by the name of O'Higgins.

Chile after the Conquest was apportioned to
Diego de Almagro ; but he could not subdue the
natives, and it was Pedro de Valdivia who, leading
an army there in 1541, founded Santiago, but
behaved with such tyrannous cruelty that the
Araucanians rose, defeated, and killed him in
battle. They were, however, soon repressed by
the Spaniards, and then Chile fell under the heel
of various governors utterly indifferent to the
progress or interests of the country. In fact it

^ The spellings Chile and Chili are both used, and mean " chilly."

PRESIDENT AND GENERAL OlIIGGINS 349

was not allowed to progress. No European
imports or exports were permitted, no books or
literature of any sort admitted, and the people
remained poor and ignorant.

Ambrosius O'Higgins was a trader — an Irish-
man— and was sent as an official to Chile by the
Spanish king. He it was who built the cathedral,
the mint, and various public buildings, founded
towns, and made roads throughout the country.
Chile proclaimed her independence in 1810, and
Congress ordained that all the children of slaves
should be free. In 1812 the Spaniards defeated
the "rebels or patriots" after many battles under
General Bernardo O'Higgins, son of the President
O'Higgins, and revenged themselves cruelly on
their prisoners, banishing many to Juan Fernandez,
and executing many secretly in prison.

General O'Higgins and San Martin, the
Governor of Mendoza, raised an army of 5200
men, and on the 1st February 1817 defeated the
Spanish troops near Santiago and at Maipo, and
achieved the independence of the country. They
equipped a fleet under Admiral Lord Cochrane,
who came to serve the Chilians, and at Callao
defeated and captured the Spanish ships ; whereon
General San Martin marched to the relief of Lima,
whilst O'Higgins remained as Administrator in
Chile. He afterwards retired into private life
and died in 1842. From 1823 onwards were
various presidents, and then Spain found herself
at war with a combination of Ecuador, Peru,
Bolivia, and Chile, during which the Spanish fleet
bombarded Valparaiso. A truce was made in
1867 and a definite peace in 1879 ; whereupon

350 CHILE AND BOLIVIA

Chile was at once at war with Peru and Bolivia.
Off Iquique was fought a naval battle between
two Chilian wooden ships, the Esmeralda and
the Covadonga, and the two Peruvian ironclads
Huascar and Independencia, when the Esmeralda
sank with her flag flying, her captain having
distinguished himself by boarding the Huascar,
In 1884 peace was made, Chile obtaining the
Peruvian province of Tarapaca and the Bolivian
provinces of Tacna and Arica, thereby shutting
Bolivia out from the sea.

Were Chile wise she would come to an
amicable settlement with Bolivia, giving her a
strip of territory with access to the sea. It will
always be a question which may give rise to
trouble at any time, and unluckily for Bolivia
they are lands rich in ore which Chile has taken
from her, and will not relish parting with. Of
course Chile has had her civil war and played with
revolution — -it is in the blood of South Americans.

They say there are beautiful mountainous
lands and fiords in Chilian Patagonia, in some
far future time to be the haunts of pleasure-
pilgrims when thoroughly sick of Switzerland and
the Norwegian fiords.

The different South American Legations and
Consulates in England have official publications
in English, giving all their statistics as to imports
and exports and the resources of their countries
(one of these on Chile, Senor Don Domingo Gana,
the Chilian Minister in London, was kind enough
to send me). One wonders British business men
do not avail themselves more of these sources of
information, which in a concise form are always

LEAVE VALPARAISO 351

so useful, and are interesting even to those who
have no business interests to foster. These official
publications do not err on the side of modesty,
and naturally paint their country in the rosiest
aspect; but they generally show what it is the
country particularly desires or really wants. To
a mere careless passer-by it is evident in how
many ways our trade with these countries could
be fostered and increased, and little sympathy is
due to the narrow-minded, ignorant, "drifting
indifference " which sits down at home and bewails
the advance of our rivals, without attempting to
oppose them.

Port Stanley, Falkland Islands,
Ja7i. 3, 1905.

I left Valparaiso on 27th December, going on
board the P.S.N. Orissa at 11 '30, having had
the greatest trouble to get myself and my belong-
ings out of the hotel in time. They seemed to
delay me purposely so that I should miss the
boat. The Orissa is a good boat, and well found ;
and as captain, officers, and crew are British, here
at last was comfort and cleanliness, and I revelled
in the decent food. Mr Sharpe, the general
manager of the P.S.N. Company at Valparaiso,
came on board and introduced me to Captain
Taylor. The P.S.N. Company at home gave
me a letter to all their agents and captains, and
it makes the very greatest difference, and makes
travelling by their boats so much more agreeable.
I have not required anything particular at their

352 THE COUSINO FAMILY

hands, but have everywhere received kindness and
attention.

I found there was only one first-class passenger
besides myself, Mr Stuart, who has a sugar estate
in Argentina close to the Bolivian frontier. We
had been together some days ere I discovered I
had been offered a letter of introduction to him,
and had declined it because I knew I should not
have time to avail myself of it. He and I dined
alone at a table at one end of the long saloon, the
ship's officers at a table at the other end. When
after some days the captain joined us he was
surprised to find us alone, summoned the doctor,
and made him sit at our table, as it seems was his
duty. I assured the captain we had never missed
the doctor or the society of the officers, and it
had saved us the bore of having "to talk ship."
So few passengers now go by the Straits since the
Trans- Andean railway is open, but also this line
does not allow one a glimpse of the fine scenery
in Magellan Straits, and in order to see Smyth's
Sound, said to be very beautiful, it is necessary
to take a German boat. I enjoyed this quiet rest
on the Orissa much, sitting reading, resting, and
doing nothing in fresh air, and in no way felt the
want of other passengers. In fact I needed this
rest badly.

On the 28th we called at two ports, Talcahuana,
which has a good bay, and Lota, which has green,
tree-covered cliffs crowned with a chateau of the
Cousino family, who own the copper- smelting works
which are near it. This is the chateau all South
America is so proud about — to hear them talk
it might be Windsor or Versailles — though it is

THE STRAITS OF MAGELLAN 853

but a large villa. The Cousin o family are very
wealthy. One of the family came on board, as
did some of his copper. The next day, when the
coast was only occasionally visible, we passed the
Oruha, in which I once made a voyage to
Australia. New Year's Eve was very cold, quiet,
and dull. Snow-covered mountains of some
height were visible, and at night we entered the
Straits of Magellan. The Terra del Fuega side
was fine, with serrated mountains, some extinct
volcanoes, and the sun setting redly behind them.
The best part of the Straits we passed in the night.
At 9 A.M. on New Year's Day 1905, we arrived
at Punta Arenas or Sandy Point, in the Straits.
It was founded 1851 as an agricultural settlement,
was later used as a convict station, and is now a
Chilian port of some importance for all the ship-
ping passing through the Straits. It is not an
imposing place, but it is the most southern town
in the world. It is backed by hills, snow-covered,
and clothed with dead timber — rung or burnt for
clearing — with many houses and sheep-farms
scattered about. Many houses are built of
corrugated iron, which always has a dismal, cheap
effect, useful as it is. It reminded me, with its
background of dead timber, of a new Australian
settlement. Many hulks were lying at anchor,
but not much shipping. It was warm and sunny
whilst we lay there, but otherwise there was a
cold wind. We passed the wreck of a German
boat lately gone on the rocks; and I was told
wrecks are numerous, and the salvage people make
much. It was hinted that these numerous wrecks
had a meaning. A whale rose quite suddenly

354 FALKLAND ISLES

directly by the side of the ship ; we must have
disturbed its slumbers. There were countless
birds of the penguin species, which remained long
under the water and sprung out of it, like fish,
with a splash. There was a very strong current
in the Straits, and after we left Punta Arenas the
Straits became much wider, with various islands,
low-lying land, and a few lighthouses — not at all
interesting. It was bitterly cold once we emerged
into the open sea, and we found ourselves amongst a
great shoal of whales all busily spouting. On the
following evening we passed south of the East
Falkland Islands, and on 3rd January arrived at
Port Stanley about 9 a.m. We had shipped four
Chilian passengers at Punta Arenas, but they had
not contributed much to enliven us, though one,
an old German, was delighted to talk German to
me, and told Stuart he was sure I must have
studied in a German university, my German was
so good — as it is mostly my own composition, I
was much flattered.

The entrance to this land-locked harbour is
very narrow and winding, and it is a great harbour
of refuge for distressed vessels, as these cold
southern seas are very tempestuous. The island is
low, rocky, and with a few elevations. In the
harbour lie various old hulks, and one pier is
built of three or four hulks. Also in the harbour
lay — now a coal-hulk — the once so famous Great
Britain, in her day the ship on the Australian line,
and in her I made a voyage to Australia when I
was a boy. I said to Captain Taylor, that as we
had seen the Oruha and the Great Britain, in both
of which I had made voyages, that if we saw a

PORT STANLEY 355

third I knew "something would happen." How
small the poor old Great Britain looked, once the
great ship of her day. Her equally famous
captain — Captain Grey — I could well remember,
and in that long time ago he used to visit us. His
name was once a household word in Australia and
many other lands. He met a tragic and mysterious
end, disappearing one night from his ship. There
are various stories about it, but it has always been
believed that he was murdered at the instigation
of some Irish Secret Society. According to one
tale, he was pushed through a port-hole, which, as
he was a big stout man, does not seem likely.
Some other member of the ship's company was
found at the bottom of the ship's ladder with a
broken thigh which he could not account satis-
factorily for. It is all a very old story now, but to
me it seemed strange to have it all recalled, as I
surveyed the poor old Great Britain in the harbour
of these far Southern Isles, where neither she nor
I had ever expected to be.

I am greatly reminded here of Tiree, Coll,
and some of the West Highland Isles. The
neat, substantial stone houses are thoroughly
Scottish, and the Falkland Isles are full of
Scottish sheep-farmers. Port Stanley is, of course,
a primitive little place, swept by icy winds from
the Antarctic, but it has a clean, neat look
with its stone houses — though some are of
corrugated iron — several churches, and its Govern-
ment House. No trees will grow, but there are
flowers in the gardens. As Stuart and I strolled
along on first landing, we met a trim, prim,
thoroughly Scottish-looking lassie, who did not

356 CHARACTERISTICS OF THE ISLES

even glance at us, nor did she even turn round
to look after she had passed us, though the
arrival of the mail-boat is an event. But doubtless
she regarded us with a sort of contemptuous
pity, since we were strangers to the Isles, as
the inhabitants are devoted to their cold, wind-
swept home.

One of the sailors told me that on a previous
voyage they had a man named Dixon or Dickson,
who had lived on an island, where his family
had grown up and had never seen any woman
save their own mother ! They had been well
educated, and were musical. They thought Port
Stanley, when they saw it, a wonderful place,
and Monte Video rendered them speechless. They
were bound for Canada to settle there, but soon
returned to the Falkland Isles, as " no place could
be compared to them."

The captain told me, on his arrival on a
previous voyage he learnt that a man was to
be hanged — why, I know not — and as a con-
demned prisoner at his last meal is allowed to have
what he pleases, this poor wretch had clamoured
for a pine-apple, a thing utterly unprocurable in
the Islands. The captain, however, had one,
handed it over, and the man devoured it, rind
and all, and was hanged quite happily after it !

The Falkland Sound, which is shallow, divides
the Islands into two almost equal sections, with
a total area of 6500 square miles, surrounded
by about one hundred isles and reefs. There
are many almost land-locked harbours and narrow
winding inlets. They lie 340 miles east of the
Straits of Magellan. The death-rate is very low

A HIGH BIRTH-RATE 357

and the birth-rate very high, so that they are
very healthy, yet are damp, foggy, and subjected
to terrific gales. Though it is midsummer now,
it is bitterly cold and windy. There is much
tussock grass {Dactylis caespitosa), which grows
in tufts 5 or 6 feet high and is excellent feed
for cattle, sheep, and horses as green fodder
or hay. Ships are being loaded with frozen meat.
The cattle spring from some let loose by
Bougainville in 1764, and have increased in
size. The horses, on the contrary, have grown
smaller. The governor is called "King of the
Penguins," as there are so many of these quaint
birds.

The Islands were first sighted by Davis in 1592,
and visited in 1594 by Hawkins, who called
them the "Maiden Islands," after Queen Ehzabeth ;
but in 1689 were named after Lord Falkland by
Strong. At the time of Bougainville's visit the
Spaniards established a military station at a
point occupied by English settlers, whom they
treated badly, so Admiral Byron came with a
squadron, reinstated the settlers, and founded
the station of Egmount on that bay, but it was
abandoned. Argentina — as heir of Spain — in 1828
made a concession of the Islands to Louis Varnet,
a French stock-breeder. He was not recognised
by the Powers, and when he tried to levy taxes
on some North American whalers his settlement
was destroyed by a U.S. man-of-war in 1831. In
1838, heedless of the protests of Argentina, Great
Britain resumed possession, and Port Stanley was
made the seat of government. The Falkland Isles
are now a Crown Colony, with a population

358 BRIGHTEST GEM IN ENGLAND^S DIADEM

(in 1897) of 2050; and with 732,000 sheep,
7340 cattle, and 2758 horses.

South Georgia, lying south of these isles, has
peaks 6000 to 8000 feet high, with glaciers, and
is suitable for sheep, but has never been occupied.
It must be a bleak dweUing-place, as in February,
the warmest month of the year, snow falls. It has
an area of 1600 square miles, and no doubt one
day will be inhabited.

The captain entertained His Excellency the
Governor, Mrs Allardyce, family, and suite to lunch
on the Orissa, and had asked me to meet them, but
being on shore I could not get a boat to the ship,
and so missed that honour. I remember, years ago,
at a London dinner-party was Lady Maria
Spearman and her son, and the latter announced
that he had been A.D.C. to the Governor of the
Falkland Islands, "the brightest gem in the diadem
of England," as he put it ; and on some lady nerv-
ously asking : " Where are the Falkland Islands ? "
there was a sigh of relief, as not a soul at table knew
where they were ! (When I returned to England
and people asked where I had been, and I said in
South America, they invariably said : " Oli ! how
interesting ! How you must have liked Mexico and
the — er — Yncas — and things ! " Everyone seemed
to think Mexico was in South America. An
" Ynca," it seems, was a brown pottery jar.)

It interests me much to be here, but I certainly
should never care to live here. Yet the people love
their islands. They have become a coaling-station
for the fleet ; which is very well — but where is the
fleet?

REPUBLIC OF URUGUAY 359

Grand Hotel, Buenos Ayres,
Jan. 27, 1905.

The Orissa made a straight line from the Falk-
lands to Monte Video, the capital of Uruguay,
where we arrived on the 6th January in the
evening. We lay a long way out from the shore, as
the harbour is shallow and exposed. Stuart and I,
accompanied by our baggage, went in the launch
and deposited our belongings on the boat for
Buenos Ayres, handing it over to a forwarding
agent. We then went ashore and spent the day
in Monte Video, a large town, but not very
interesting. Drove all about it to see its sights,
sat in cafes and so on ; but I did not feel inclined to
stay there or make any use of letters of introduction.
Uruguay did not attract me from the first, and the
more I have heard about it the less have I felt
inclined to spend any of my limited time in it, as I
am really homeward bound now.

Uruguay is the smallest of the republics and is
72,000 square miles in extent, with a population
(in 1902) of 978,048, which has no doubt much
increased. There are not many full-blooded
aborigines left, merely half-breeds — Gauchos^ — and
in these and many Uruguayans is a strain of
Charrua blood, which is said to account for their
strength and fierceness. The whole country is
described as a sort of shambles or slaughter-
house ; the people feed entirely on meat and
probably drink blood, as I have seen so many
South Americans do on the Pacific coast. This
blood everywhere, with the cattle-slaughtering

360 SLAUGHTER-HOUSES AND OX-TONGUES

business, presumably has made them indifferent to
human life, cruel in nature, and especially so to
animals. So they are represented, and the picture
is not a pleasing one.

Between Paysandu and Salto, on the Uruguay
River, is a headland called the Mesa de Artigas,
named after General Artigas, the "Liberator of
Uruguay," who during the War of Independence in
1814 had all his captives sewn up in ox-hides and
thrown down into the river. A deed of heroism !

Wheat, maize, olives, vines, and fruits are
cultivated, but Uruguay is famous mostly for its
meat-canning. In 1896 there were 17,000,000
sheep, 6,000,000 cattle, and 420,000 horses and
mules in the country, valued at £16,000,000, Fray
Bentos employs 2000 hands for its Liebig's Extract
Factory, and uses sometimes 1000 cattle a day !
Isn't it a charming country ? Paysandu, a town of
26,000 inhabitants, is the town of ox-tongues, and
Salto is another important place for canning.
British capital runs these places mostly. A
country given up to the slaughter of animals is not
fascinating for a mere idle pleasure -pilgrim, who
never looks at a butcher's shop without a shudder.
The horrible charqui you find all over South
America — with potatoes, the national food — is
exported mostly from Uruguay. It is beef cut in
strips, dried in the sun, very dirty and nasty, and
as hard as leather. Mutton is prepared in the
same way. In the markets I have seen and
shuddered at — but no, I won't ! In 1895 a million
pounds sterling worth of charqui was exported
from Uruguay.

The central and south part of the country is

THE RIVER SYSTEM 361

covered with grassy ranges of hills of natural
pasture without trees, except along the water-
courses and around the Estancias. The eucalyptus
here, as everywhere else in South America, has
been much planted. There are many Italians,
Spaniards, Portuguese, Basques from the Pyrenees,
but not so many British or Germans ; but the
population therefore is more pure-blooded than
elsewhere. All those agate ornaments and boxes
you see in Germany are made from material
brought from the Uruguay River, and there are
also many coloured crystals.

Most of the rivers flow into the Uruguay ; one
of its affluents, the Eio Negro, with its many
affluents, drains the country. The Rio Negro has
a length of 960 miles. The Uruguay is navigable
for sea-going vessels 200 miles to Paysandu, and
much beyond that. You know, or ought to, that
the Uruguay and Parana rivers, with their count-
less affluents, flow into the one estuary called the
Rio de la Plata ; but it is confusing, as the rivers
are called all sorts of names and you never know
where you are. The pamperos blow with great
fury, and the heaviest rainfall comes with the
pampero sucio (dirty pampero), when the rain
descends in sheets accompanied by thunder and the
whole heavens aflame with lightning.

Monte Video has about 300,000 inhabitants,
and is noted as having undergone a ten years' siege.
It was founded by the Spaniards in 1726 and was
captured by the British in 1807, but they had to
withdraw when General Whitelock was defeated at
Buenos Ayres. In 1897 President Borda was
assassinated in the street, and its history is that

362 A DIRTY PAMPERO

of all these places, nothing but revolutions and
riots.

The cathedral, university, and law courts are
amongst the conspicuous buildings ; tramways are
running everywhere ; and it seemed a town full of
life and movement, but with nothing of much
interest about it.

In the evening we boarded the Buenos Ayres
boat — a sort of large ferry-boat — which left at
6 P.M. It was crowded with hundreds of passengers,
and the meals were a regular scramble. It was an
interesting sight, so many different types of people
there. During the night there was a real pampero
sucio, a terrific gale and thunderstorm, with deluges
of rain and continuous lightning. The peals of
thunder were almost equalled by the shrill squeals
from the many cabins. We got to Buenos Ayres
at 6 A.M., but spent a long time in the customs-
house over the baggage. This hotel is much
boasted about, but we would call it second-
rate. However, it is a real hotel with modern
requirements.

Buenos Ayres is no doubt a fine city, but much
like any other. The Avenido di Mayo is really a
very fine, straight, broad street, lined with handsome
buildings and cafes, outside which the people sit at
tables under the awnings and trees, and give it an
animated look. At one end it is faced by the
president's large and handsome pink palace, in
front of which is a well-laid-out plaza. There are
good buildings here and there — a notable one is the
office of the leading newspaper, which is also a
museum, and is an imposing establishment — and
some very handsome private houses, but that is all.

BUENOS AYRES 363

The city has little of interest, and has no pleasant
surroundings. It is, I suppose, the finest city in
South America, in the modern sense — but it may
well be that ; and in some ways it is not to be
compared to Melbourne or Sydney, and it entirely
lacks their large beautiful suburbs. The streets
which are not handsome are the opposite.

Buenos Ayres was founded in 1535 by Mendoza,
but it was only in 1776 that the Argentine became
a separate Vice- Royalty from Peru. The capital
of the province of Buenos Ayres is not this town,
but La Plata, which has many fine buildings. In
1905 the population of Buenos Ayres was 994,320,
and the total population of Argentina is somewhere
about 5,200,000, of whom considerably over a
million are foreigners. The area of Argentina is
1,320,000 square miles.

The Great Southern Railway has an imposing
station, with marble hall and staircase and many
decorations, and the cathedral. Houses of Parlia-
ment, and opera-house are amongst the most
important buildings. The museum is a very poor
show. There are various theatres and variety places
of entertainment, and a considerable amount of
" life " of the boulevards sort.

Mr W. D. Haggard is the British Minister (he
is now at Rio de Janiero). He is a brother of Mr
Rider Haggard, the well-known author. The
Legation is at No. — - Suipacha, but he lives in a villa
at Flores, a suburb, a fact of which I was not at
first aware. When he called at my hotel I was
out, as also when he telephoned asking me to
dinner ; so when I was going to dine with him I
was about to proceed to Suipacha, when the hotel

364 THE BRITISH LEGATION

porter came and said my cab had been waiting, it
was a forty minutes' drive to Flores, and unless I
went at once I would be late — and very late I was,
as at Flores my cabman could not find the house.
Mr Haggard was once Minister at Quito, and we
had a yarn about Ecuadoran affairs, he having by
no means lost his interest in that country, which is
always interesting to me. He had been in Greece,
Tunis, Persia, and many other places, so had much
of interest to relate, and the house was full of
things collected from many lands. He had been
and was looking very ill.

The Italian Minister, Count F. Bottaro- Costa,
an amusing man of the world, was there with his
wife, and besides a Mrs Stephenson, there was a
Mr Fairbairn and Mr Henderson — director of
some railway. The Countess Bottaro- Costa, a
bright and handsome lady, is, I think, of a South
American family of British origin. Count Bottaro-
Costa told me he and ten others introduced bridge
into England — in doing which, in my opinion, they
did England no good turn, as the bridge maniacs
are I think the silliest and most boring people in
creation. Of course, after dinner at the Legation
there was bridge, and that I, a new arrival from
Europe, would not play was considered astound-
ing— so Mrs Haggard, Mrs Stephenson, and I
sought refuge in music.

Flores does not seem a very attractive part of
the town. Mr F. D. Harford is Secretary of
Legation, but is away, and Mr G. D. Graham e — of
Cumberland family — a very tall, handsome man, is
second secretary. The latter offered to put my
name down at the Jockey Club and ij.t the English

MR SHENNAN OF NEGRETTI 365

Club, but my stay is to be so short and is drawing
to a close, so it was not worth while.

I had hoped to visit Negretti, the well-known
estate — and a show-place of the Argentine — of Mr
David Shennan. I fancy it now belongs to a
company, and it is managed by Mr Reid, who has
property of his own. This magnificent estate is
the creation of Mr Shennan, but he lives now in
England. At Negretti he entertained the Princes
Edward and George of Wales when on their tour
round the world, and most prominent visitors to
the Argentine have been his guests there. When
I saw Mr Shennan before leaving England he told
me he had written about my going there, and he urged
me to be sure and go up the La Plata River and into
Paraguay, to see the great falls, but it is, it seems,
the wrong season now, and there is a revolution in
Paraguay which prevents people getting about ; but
that would not have deterred me if I had time,
which I have not, as I am beginning to have an
uneasy conscience as to whether all is well at
home, and to feel that many things require me
there ; so I must just gallop on with a glimpse
here and there.

Of Mr Shennan, whose name is a household
word far beyond the confines of Argentina, a
Venezuelan in the north said to me, " You know
David Shennan — why that is a good introduction
to all South America ! " and another person said
to me, "David Shennan — that is a White Man if
you like, and you'll hear nothing else said any-
where,"— nor did I. Mrs Shennan, a very
handsome lady, was a Parish, a well-known
family also connected with South America.

366 CARGOES OF PEACHES

Mr Reid, who now lives at Negretti, most
kindly called, and then wrote asking me to go
there ; but I missed seeing him, and now I cannot
fit it in, as each day is engaged, and I did not
know at first that I could go there and return in
one day. It is a pity.

Mr Johnston Higgins, to whose good offices I
was consigned by Mr Shennan, and who lives in
the Avenido di Mayo, has been exceedingly kind
shpwing me round the city. After dining with
him and his wife the other night, he took me for a
drive in the cool of the evening to show me many
of the palatial privata residences of the aristocracy
of Buenos Ayres. The days are now so hot that
the evening is the pleasantest time. With him
another time I visited the docks — always interest-
ing— and it was quite a sight to see the cargoes of
peaches and other fruit; and it was a pleasing
thing to sit down on the spot and sample the
peaches as we did ! These peaches come from
Delta Island in the main channel of the Parana-
Uruguay, where are whole forests of peach-trees,
which when abloom in August are said to be a
beautiful sight. In the Delta are many islands,
but some are shifting and sometimes swept away.
The estuary — the Eio de la Plata — is formed by
the junction of the Parana and Uruguay, and is
62 miles wide at Monte Video. The amount of
sedimentary matter brought down is so great that
shoals, mud -banks, and quicksands are forming
everywhere. The Parana is navigable for deep-
sea vessels for 1300 miles, and between Santa Fe
and Eosario is from 25 to 30 miles broad. All
these rivers must be interesting to see ; but when

FLOCKS AND HERDS OF ARGENTINA 367

they are so broad you do not see the banks, and
they are not like rivers at all.

Then, with Mr Higgins, I went one morning
very early to see the great wool-warehouses, which
appeared to contain the fleeces of millions of sheep ;
but of course the Argentine has become the rival
of Australia in wool-growing. In 1898 there were
80,000,000 sheep in Argentina, and now the
number must be enormous — imagine, then, the
output of wool and what wealth these great wool-
warehouses represented. At the same time they
had in Argentina 2,000,000 cattle and 5,000,000
horses !

The fashionable resort is Palermo Park, with
fine avenues of palms, where the smart folk drive.
There is a restaurant, the Pabellon de los Lagos,
and I dined one night in the garden, lit up by
Japanese lanterns, with Mr Simson, who is
director or manager of the Western Railway, and
whose other guest was Mr Gooch of the Pacific
Railway, and I motored back with Mr Simson
later on. There is a Mr Crane I met when dining
with the Johnston Higgins, who has also to do
with railways ; but as I know nothing about the
different lines here, I avoid the subject when I can,
as I have found I was always speaking about the
wrong railway to the wrong people ! They all
seemed to resent with scorn being allotted to the
wrong railway !

I hear rumours here of a threatened revolution,
but most of those I asked say Buenos Ayres is
done with revolutions — which is annoying, as I
have not participated in one ! (It took place the
day after I left Buenos Ayres !) But for lack of

368 THE BRITISH CONSULATE

time, I should certainly go to Paraguay and risk
that stray bullet which the stray tourist always
gets. I have resigned myself to leaving these
shores without seeing so much I do want to see — a
whole continent at one go is too much.

I had to go to the British Consulate the other
day, and though I had the number and the street,
it was long ere I found it. At last I found my
way through a narrow passage and across a little
patio, to the apparently only two rooms which are
the Consulate of this mighty empire of ours in this
large, important city ! It is quite extraordinary
how our "drifting indifference" goes on for ever,
and if there is anywhere a country requires to make
"a big show" it is in a republic, and especially in
a South American one. If our Government only
had sense enough to lodge our ministers and
consuls — at least in the capitals — handsomely,
what a difference it would make in every way.
There are certain great cities throughout the world
where we ought to have very fine permanent
Legation and Consulate buildings, the property of
our empire. I know a case where a Minister
applied to the Foreign Office for a portrait of the
King for his Legation — refused, as Legations are
not supplied with them ! All this foolish parsi-
monious littleness has a very bad effect. How
wise are the Germans in this matter — their
emperor is visible everywhere in all sorts of
portraits, and they take good care to advertise
their country in their official buildings, and reap
accordingly. No people are so impressed by
outward show and the insignia of royalty as
republicans, and especially is it so in South America.

ROYALTY AND REPUBLICS 369

The King's — as also the Queen's — journeys and
yachting trips have really advertised their country —
and we need it too, little as some people think
so — wonderfully, and foreigners take now so much
interest in them, and admire and are so curious
about them. The many questions I have been
asked about Alexandra the Gentle and Good has
been wonderful — they all seem to have realised
that she is a beautiful, gentle, pure-hearted queen,
whose fame is spread far and wide. Queen Victoria
of course was unique — she was the Great White
Queen of the whole world, in the estimation of
natives of every land and creed; a very, very
great personality indeed. I think a visit of the
King of Spain to these South American lands
would create frantic excitement. Who knows but
the idea once promulgated of a Federated Spanish
Empire here, with the King of Spain as Emperor
and Spain at the head of it, might not prove the
solution of the problem as to the future of these
lands which faces you everywhere. I do not
know if it be feasible, but I think it is. It
would make these turbulent, unruly, somewhat
comic- opera countries one great nation. Brazil —
or the United States of Brazil as they say now —
has gone back since she lost her emperor. As to
the Monroe doctrine, no one cares twopence about
it here, and it is astonishing how few Yankees
one sees in South America, and how devoid of
influence they are. Imagine that on the Pacific
Coast there is not a single line of North American
boats, and I think the stars and stripes is the flag
you see least of any here, save perhaps our own.
The port here is not a good one. The quays of

2 A

370 LAKES AND PAMPAS

Buenos Ayres are only approachable through
constant dredging, and the condition of the La
Plata Estuary with its shoals and shifting channels,
will give cause for anxiety in the futm*e. One of
my desires was to go up the Rio Negro, between
Patagonia and Argentina — as also to see Baron
Hirsch's Jewish colonies, and the Welsh colony
of Port Madryn (now full of Italians), which was
founded in 1865 in Patagonia — but it cannot be.
The Rio Negro is navigable for 600 miles, up to
the famous Lake Nahuelhauapi, which is said to
be so beautiful, is 40 miles long by 10 broad, and
embosomed in pine-clad snow-capped mountains.
There are many beautiful lakes in the Argentine
Cordilleras; and in Patagonia is Lake Viedma,
which is 50 miles long by 12 broad. Between
Jujuy and Mendoza and about the eastern slopes
of the Cordilleras are many traces of a very ancient
civilisation ; the great Ynca road, rock inscriptions,
carvings, remains of great irrigation works, and so
on, telling of perhaps a pre- Ynca civilisation.

The great pampas — seas of waving grass —
which appeal to so many, do not so much attract
me. I think that part must be much like the
great Australian plains, and they suffer so much
from the drought. I do not know if they have the
same terrible locust plagues as they do in Australia,
where those insects pass in clouds over the land,
leaving it desolate and bare for hundreds of miles,
and then die in such quantities that they pollute
the whole country. I remember in Australia a
man telling me that he was driving when he met a
cloud of locusts, his horses reared, and the locusts
were so thick the horses could not get down again.

''CHILDREN OF THE PAMPAS WIND" 371

Another man told me that after he viewed his land
made bare by these pests, he returned home, to see
large locusts sitting on the fence playing fiddles,
and the tune was "Wait till our clouds roll by,
Johnnie." These were good men, so their lies must
have been good also.

Here I hear of the great dragon-fly storms
which pass in clouds in advance of the wind, and
go by the poetical name of hijos del pampero or
" Children of the Pampas Wind " — I wonder what
tune they sing ? A thing I do not desire to
experience is the extraordinary effect created by
the pampas winds when the air Ijecomes electrified,
and you may have an "air-stroke," which may be
fatal or produce paralysis. There is a story of
two men sitting together, and one was " air-struck "
dead and the other paralysed. I do not like that
idea at all.

The great mountains near the Bolivian and
Chilian frontiers are more in my line than the
pampas — great ranges of 11,000 and 18,000 feet
high ; and there is Aconcagua, which is 23,080 feet,
and Tupungato, which is 22,000 feet — these have
been conquered by Mr Vines in 1897. The normal
snow-line of these great mountains is 17,000 feet.

The Indians of the pampas were practically
cleared out by General Eoca in 1879, and I believe
the famous Gauchos are a vanishing race also.
The Guarini between the Parana and Uruguay
have merged in the white race, though I believe
the Quichuan tongue they spoke is yet in common
use amongst even Europeans, and their connection
with the Ynca race made them most interesting.
But even in Argentina, civilised as it is becoming,

372 LEAVE BUENOS AYRES

are still in Gran Chaco wild Indians, and the Tobas
group yet number many thousands, and repel all
intruders. I cannot go to Cordoba, where they
say "all the people are the worst thieves and
murderers in South America." To me they would
not be so, I am sure, as no one robs me ; and even
the savage cannibals of New Guinea would neither
kill nor eat me — said I was too salt and would
taste too much of tobacco — and I expect, as others
tell me, the people of Cordoba are maligned, and
are really amiable and kind. It is aggravating to
be told of these enticing places and people and be
unable to see them.

I have no doubt there is a very gay and amus-
ing society in Buenos Ayres, but I know^ it not.
They are great polo players, and I see many motors
darting about ; but someone complained to me he
could only do fifteen miles in Buenos Ayres, and
it had always to be the same fifteen miles — I pre-
sume there are no suitable roads running out to
the country. Tennis playing, too, is in full force.
But this sort of society is the same everywhere.

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil,
Feb. 3, 1905.

I left Buenos Ayres on 27th January, on the
R.M.S. Danube^ about 9 a.m. Rather, I went
on board then, but on account of there being
no water in the river we had to remain the whole
day in dock under a sweltering sun. A most
mixed lot of passengers. I had at my table
several Americans — Yankees — all interesting and

SANTOS IN BRAZIL 373

amusing. There was a Mr Inglis and his wife
from Chicago. He was great on Klondyke as
a touriM 7'esort; but his wife implored me never
to mention wheat to him, as he was so wild
about it, and she entered into such elaborate
histories about " corners in wheat " and such
things, that this poor pleasure-pilgrim's brain
went round, and I could only assure her it was
all Greek to me, that I had no desire to be
enlightened, and had no idea what "a corner in
wheat " really means. There were also the Black-
fords, who had had to do with the Cerro de
Pasco Mines, or railway perhaps, and Mrs
Blackford told me that it was when going to
visit them that Mrs Beauclerk had all her baggage
stolen. This lady waxed eloquent on the subject
of Nell Gwynn, the famous ancestress of the
Beauclerk family, and wondered any one could
mention that low-born person !

This was a tedious voyage, and most of the
people on board less than interesting. The coast
of Uruguay is low, with sandy dunes and strong
currents, and wrecks are common as there are few
land-marks. The wild Gauchos who inhabit it
are said to be professional wreckers. On the 31st
we arrived at Santos, which is on a pretty river,
and which seemed a pleasant well-laid-out town,
and struck me as being clean. There were some
good houses and very pretty gardens. The
Laurieres, who had been fellow-passengers, landed
here. I would have liked to accept their invitation
to remain here or revisit it, but it was impossible.
The following morning we entered the wonderfully
beautiful harbour of Rio — surely one of the most

374 RIO DE JANEIRO HARBOUR

beautiful jolaces in the world. Whilst dressing
I looked out of the porthole and saw we were
just passing the Sugar Loaf, that strangest of
strange hills or rocks, and I managed to get a
pretty snapshot of it through the porthole.

People are fond of making comparisons between
Eio and Sydney harbours — there can be no com-
parison— they are so totally different. It is
possible that Sydney, as a harbour, may be a
better one, but I doubt it ; but as regards beauty
of scenery, it is ridiculous to name Sydney in the
same breath with Rio. On every side tower high
mountains with the most fantastic outlines, all
clothed with wonderful foliage — the beautiful
islands — the picturesque buildings — it is all a
strikingly impressive scene. We landed as usual
in small boats, and I and my belongings were
taken in charge by the West Indian Manager
of the International Hotel, and transported by
a railway up the steep hills, all clothed in dense
tropical foliage, to this beautifully situated hotel,
the views from the garden of which are superb.
The hotel itself is comfortable enough, and one
could pass a long spell of idle, contented days
up in this lovely spot. At the same time it has a
shut-in feeling, as the only way of getting out
of it is by the electric tram which goes down
to the city. Of course it is much more healthy
up here, as in the town is no air and much
fever.

Now, will you believe it, a revolution took
place in Buenos Ayres the day after I left, and
one took place here not long ago, and Eio is
still in a state of siege. I see no signs of it except

AMATEUR DOCTORING 375

armed guards everywhere. At Buenos Ayres
the president and his ministers fied to an island
on the river, but soon they got the upper hand, and
all was right again. No one seems to know or
care much what it was about, either here or there
— but I feel I have been defrauded. I am passing
idle, pleasant days in a double-seated swing in
the high terrace garden here, with glimpses, far
down below me, on one side of the beautiful
harbour and the Sugar Loaf, and on the
other, towering above me, of the extraordinary
Corcovado.

I had a surprise the other night, as I found
in the hotel Colonel and Mrs Gascoigne, of
Craignish Castle in Argyll — actually the only two
people I have met in many months travelling
like myself for pleasure. They were only here
for a night, and are bound for Chile via Buenos
Ayres and the Trans-Andean. I am fervently
trusting they reach there safely, as, Mrs Gascoigne
complaining of a bad throat, I presented her
with a little bottle of tabloids some one had
given me for the same thing, and which had
at once cured me. After they left I discovered
another little bottle which I did not know I
possessed, and have been in a state of disquiet
as to what I had really given her, for many
people foisted medicinal remedies on me which
I never used or thought of using. For all I know
she may by now be dead and buried ! (It was
all right, as later in London Mrs Gascoigne herself
assured me.)

The city itself is not particularly fine, though
there are picturesque buildings and some tine shops,

376 THE SUGAR LOAF

but they are making great improvements. A new
broad avenue is being constructed right through
the tovrn, whicli will be magnificent when finished
if the buildings are fine, for at one end will rise the
fantastic rock of the Sugar Loaf. There is a yarn
about this great smooth rock, that no one had ever
got to the top of it till a British middy did so, and
planted the British flag on the summit, which, to
the rage of the Brazilians, had to remain there, as
no one could get it down — till at last an American
girl came along and dipped it !

The people are so markedly different here to in
other parts of the continent. They are a mixture
of Portuguese and negroes — a very different type
to the mixed Spaniard and Indian. It seems to
me a land full of fascination, and how beautiful it
is ! To-day I wandered down a narrow path
amidst the dense tropical jungle, full of extra-
ordinarily beautiful shrubs, creepers, and blossoms,
and saw one after the other the most wonderful
butterflies. Some jewellers' shops are full of
humming-birds mounted as brooches or other
ornaments, beautiful things which gleam like jewels,
but it is not a pretty or tasteful fashion.

Going up and down in the car one sees strange
types, and numberless little intrigues in progi'ess,
and I imagine little love affairs form part of the
daily occupation of the people. The life is varied.
It is so hot, though, that it is fatiguing getting
about, and all this tropical foliage, beautiful as it is,
is somewhat overpowering. I am, therefore, going
up to Petropolis, to escape the heat and see that
place.

PETROPOLIS 377

Petropolis, Brazil,
Feb. 11, 1905.

I left Rio on tlie 4th, from the Prahina wharf,
in a very crowded ferry-boat, and, crossing the
harbour, took the train, which ascends by very
steep gradients (2634 feet) to Petropolis. I left Rio
at four o'clock, and the train took an hour and ten
minutes to ascend the mountains — a wonderful
jom^ney, as the beauty of the scenery can scarcely
be described. One sees the lovely harbour spread
below, and the train winds about, ascending amongst
waterfalls, streams, magnificent trees and shrubs,
strange rocks, and fantastic mountains — Nature
seems to have run riot here.

Petropolis. is an old German settlement, and
bears many traces of its origin. It was the usual
summer abode of the Imperial family. I came to
the Hotel Central — a collection of bungalows in a
garden. It is altogether quiet and out of the world
up here. There are many villas, one principal
street with poor little shops, and canals bordered
with trees run down the centre of the streets,
giving it an old-world look, and a certain Germanic
air. The emperor's palace is now a girls' school,
and is not visible, as it is so surrounded by trees.
The palace of the Princess Isabella, Countess d'Eu,
is now the German Legation, and is merely a roomy
villa. There are several quite handsome villas, and
the president has one and has just arrived to stay.
There was a queer procession to meet him the day
he came. Men and girls with banners, jockeys
on horseback, and so on.

378 THE BRITISH MINISTER

The Diplomatic Corps reside here, and must, I
imagine, have rather a slow time of it. The British
Minister is Sir Henry Bering, of Surrenden Bering
in Kent — the head of one of the undoubted old
Saxon families. He came to see me at the hotel,
and we sat in the garden for a long time, and I
enjoyed much a long talk with him. He said he
liked President Alves much, but that there were
very few honest people in the country, all were
open to bribes. I afterwards drove with him to
the Legation and got all the late English news-
papers. Mr H. C. Lowther, the Secretary of
Legation, also called. He bemoaned his fate at
being tied to South America, and had the common
complaint of all the diplomatic people that, once
sent there, they are forgotten, and see all the good
posts in Europe going to young new people ; and
there is much truth in this plaint. Men long
in the Service in many lands have gained much
useful experience; and it is certainly hard, and
also foolish, that young untried men should be
foisted into all the good posts. Besides it is
obvious that men left long in such climates as they
dwell in in South America must become stale and
indifferent to things. I certainly sympathised with
the Derings, and with Mr Lowther, and could not
help thinking how useful a public servant the latter
would be elsewhere.

Breakfasting at the Legation with Sir Henry
and Lady Bering, Mr Lowther being also there,
they told me many things which showed how
justified they were in desiring a change, and I
could understand how weary they were of Brazil.
Sir Henry had been formerly Minister to Mexico.

A DUTCHMAN 379

Their son, Mr Arthur Bering, was also there, and
a young Mr Hancock, brother of Mrs Haggard at
Buenos Ayres. (Later I saw the Derings in
London, they lunching with me one day at Prince's,
and Sir Henry, who had been to see the King, was
full of hopes of getting a new post. They returned
to Brazil, and, coming back to England, poor Sir
Henry died in London shortly after his arrival,)

Meeting Mr Arthur Bering and a young Cariati,
son of Prince Cariati, the Italian Minister, in the
street, this very bright, cheery young Italian amused
me by saying that after a course of Petropolis
nothing remained but suicide, as one got so bored !
Suicide through boredom did not go with the gay,
merry manner of this boy.

An interesting acquaintance was an old Butch-
man, Mr Frankin (?), who generally lived in Paris,
but seemed to know all the world and was full of
anecdotes about people and places. I enjoyed
chats with him. He told me that story I have
always liked so much about how the women of
Amsterdam, on one of the visits of Queen
Wilhelmina when a child, would allow no man to
cross the Bam in his boots, as '* the child sleeps "
and no one must disturb her, and said it was really
true. Once, he said, the Emperor William I. of
Germany pointed out to the Butch Ambassador
one of his regiments, and, alluding to the great
height of the soldiers, all over six feet high, said,
" Have you soldiers to defend your country against
these ? " ** No, Sire," replied the Butchman, " only
seven feet of water to drown them in ! " The
Austrian Consul, to whom Mr Bering introduced
me when breakfasting with me at my hotel, was

380 DOM PEDRO II. OF BRAZIL

also a very pleasant, entertaining man, and, meeting
him later when having tea at the Legation with
Lady Bering, I was much entertained by his stories,
but I have forgotten his name ! There was also
at the Legation a very pleasant French lady. The
Derings were extremely kind and pleasant, as was
also Mr Lowther, and Sir Henry was so genial and
somehow seemed thrown away on Petropolis.
(Mr Haggard is now Minister to Brazil.)

I explored Petropolis and did long walks into
the country, but the sun was very hot and the
roads very dusty, and I lacked energy. It is a
pleasant place, Petropolis, but a little of it goes a
long way. Many people come up from Eio every
night and return to business in the morning, and
more than once a dance took place in the hotel.
Various Eio people resided in this hotel or in some
of its bungalows.

What strikes one is how every vestige of Imperial
rule seems to have vanished. I could see nothing
to recall the days of the empire. What a blot on
the history of Brazil is the betrayal of Dom
Pedi'o II., Emperor of Brazil ! He was such a blame-
less character, that through confidence in him foreign
countries were inspired with security in negotiating
loans and otherwise, and it was the same with the
wealthy Brazilians of the better class. The country
progressed under his rule, and he was generally
respected and beloved. Even those of republican
tendencies respected him, and never proposed that
their aspirations should be attained during his life-
time. His journey to Europe was in the interest of
his country, and he was able to bring the aims and
needs of Brazil before foreign potentates and states-

SLAVERY x\BOLISHED 381

men. In Brazil he led the simplest of lives,
accessible to all, a gentle, kindly, tolerant, broad-
minded, good man. Unluckily, the heiress to the
throne, his daughter. Princess Isabel, and her
husband, the Conde d'Eu, were not so popular,
though the princess was a good and noble woman.
She was thought to be too austere and reserved,
and somewhat narrow-minded in religious matters.
During the Emperor's absence in Europe in 1887, the
princess was regent, and the question of the abolition
of slavery came to a crisis. The Emperor was an
abolitionist, but desired the change to take place
gradually, so that the slave-holders should not be
ruined. In 1887 a disturbance took place at Sao
Paulo, where many Italians were settled, and
these, finding slave-labour interfered with their
interests, encouraged the slaves to desert. The
troops sent to capture the runaways refused to do
so, and the Princess-regent, who was in favour of
total abolition of slavery, seized the opportunity,
and though warned it might cost her the
throne, said she might lose her throne, but the
slaves must be free ; and on 8th May 1888 a
proposition was presented to the Chamber of
Deputies, by order of Her Highness the Princess-
regent, in the name of His Majesty the Emperor,
that an Act should be passed that, *' Slavery in Brazil
is declared extinct. All Acts to the contrary are re-
voked." After discussion it was passed, and on 15th
May the Koyal Decree emancipating all the slaves
in Brazil was proclaimed, amidst great rejoicings of
those made free — that is, 720,000 slaves became
free. The discontented plantation and slave owners
joined with the republican party, and rumours of

382 PHOCLAMATION OF THE REPUBLIC

plots and sedition hastened the return of the
Emperor in August.

Even the republicans had always professed
attachment to the Emperor, and it was not supposed
any attempt would be made to overthrow the
Imperial power during his lifetime. The younger
military officers, however, had been tampered with,
and bribed to sedition by promises of future gain
under a republic. General Deodora da Fonseca
and General Floriana Peixoto — both owing their
positions to the favour of the Emperor — were at
the head of the movement. On 14th November
1889, the Emperor was at a ball in Rio, but retm'ned
to Petropolis the same evening. The revolutionists
seized the palace in Rio, and the Emperor was
made prisoner at PetropoHs, and brought under
escort to Rio, and a few days later he and his family
were placed on board a vessel and shipped off to
Portugal, and General da Fonseca was proclaimed,
or proclaimed himself. President of the Republic ;
and immediately the officers and soldiers gave
themselves up to licence, and despotism and anarchy
throughout Brazil replaced the peace and prosperity
the country had enjoyed under the sixty years' rule
of the good Dom Pedro. The death of this noble
monarch in exile, in December 1891, gave rise in
Brazil to deep regret, and the general public realised
what they had lost, and how little they had gained.
Since then their history has been that of all such
republics — each man for himself.

I r » . ' ?

THE AMAZOiNIAN BASIN 383

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil,
Feb. 14, 1905.

I regret much my stay here can now be only a
short one. I have not time to explore this lovely
harbour and its surroundings, much less to see any-
thing of Brazil itself. Why, it V70uld take years
to see even part of the great Amazonian basin and
the countless tributaries of the mighty river. It
is like an arm of the sea, and there are 27,000 miles
of navigable waters within the Brazilian frontiers.
There are — as affluents of the Amazon^ — eighteen
rivers of the largest size, and six much longer and
more copious than the Rhine ; and there are at
least a hundred navigable branches. It is all a
great aqueous zone of lakes, lagoons, and rivers
buried in forest — a liquid mass out of which every
vegetable thing fights its way, creeping and crawl-
ing, clinging to others to gain the hght above —
hence the trees rise to great heights, and fruit and
blossom at the top in the sun and air, whilst below
all is a dark, dank mass of rank vegetation. Tender
creeping plants grow to gigantic rope-like forms,
the rope as thick as the trunk of a tree. In those
strange lagoons, shifting rivers, and islands dwell
yet the unconquered aborigines. Imagine the great
future before this as yet uncivilised aqueous forest-
clad land. If Brazil ever became as populous as
Belgium, it would contain 1,600,000,000, inhabi-
tants ! It has an extent of 3,210,000 square miles,
with a present population of over 17,000,000. You
can now sail direct from England far up the Amazon

384 THE *^ HIDDEN WATER"

and into Bolivia and Peru, and in future times all
this great continent will be opened up by river
tratfic. The aborigines will in time disappear or
become fused with the predominating race. Between
the Amazon and Kio the people are a mixture of
aborigines, negroes, and Europeans. The Paulistas
in the region of Minas Gerdes have little or no
negro blood, being a mixture of the Indian and
Portuguese blood ; but in the extreme south there
is much less mixed blood, owing to the continual
influx of Em'opeans, particularly Italians, who pre-
dominate. There are many Spaniards, Austrians,
and Germans, much fewer British and French ;
and it is said there are now more Austrians than
Germans, but I should doubt that. But Italian,
Spanish, and Portuguese blood predominates.

Rio Harbour was first sighted by de Solis in
1515, and by Magellan the following year. It was
called the Nictheroy or Hidden Water, by the
Tamoyo natives who dwelt there. De Souza, in
1532, thinking it was the mouth of a great river,
and entering it on the 1st of January, named it
Eio de Janeiro (January River). A town called
Nichteroy lies opposite to Rio. The population of
Rio to-day is about 700,000— in 1898 it was 800,000.
S. Paulo, the second city, had in 1898 220,000
inhabitants.

The great bay is 30 miles long by 20 broad, and
is surrounded by great mountain ranges, from which
pour down countless rivers and cascades into its
basin. On the Ilha das Cobras are beautiful villas
of wealthy BraziHans, and near the great granitic
rock called the Sugar Loaf is the small fortified
island da Lagem. The fantastically shaped

THE LAND OF INTRIGUE 385

mountains and hills, clothed with clumps of palms
and other trees, and luxuriant and gorgeous tropical
foliage, make a superb setting to this wonderful
scene. There are a few fine buildings in the town
and many picturesque ones, and from every part
you get new and surprising views of the surround-
ings. It is still an insanitary and unhealthy place,
and the dreaded yellow fever haunts it ; but it is
progressing in sanitary matters, and the easy access
to the surrounding heights must turn them all into
healthy, residential suburbs.

The people vary much in looks, and it is an
interesting problem what they are to become in
process of time. It seems the land of sentimental
intrigue, and there is a somewhat lax morality.
Often, travelling up to my hotel in the ascending
electric cars, I see two smart, distinguished-looking
ladies, sisters, who always alight at the gate of their
own handsome house, and every one on the car at once
informs you that these ladies, though very haughty
and exclusive, make no bones about receiving male
visitors, and especially strangers, and those on the
car seem always surprised one does not at once leap
off and follow the ladies.

This car business is a bore, but is the only way
of gaining the heights, and gives one, when up here,
a shut-in feeling. I have introductions to people
living in Rio, but none of them are in residence and
I am not very sorry, as it is more interesting to
roam about in freedom and study the life of the
place. There are pretty Botanical Gardens, where
there is always a cool breeze, and I often go there.
In the street I go down daily there is always a
handsome lady seated in the window of a very fine

2 B

386 A NEW STEP-MAMMA

house, who smiles and bows to me, and I return
it poHtely, but there it remains. She seems to be
always at the window. In the slums, I should say
there was much sticking of the knife business into
one another, as they look like it. That seems natural
in this over-heated, too beautiful, tropical spot.

I have just been witnessing a comedy in this
hotel garden. A young-looking Brazilian has been
lunching with his new-made bride, a handsome but
somewhat overblown widow, certainly much older
than he is. His children, with their attendants, one
of whom is a negress, have been living here, and
after lunch were summoned to make acquaintance
with their new step-mamma. There are seven or
eight children, from a big boy and girl down to a
small baby, so that it is evid.ent they cannot long
have lost their own mother. Patently the new
mamma thought them a bore, and patently they
bitterly resented her, and I could see the negress
nurse was quivering with hate and contempt. One
little girl, evidently her father's pet, made great
friends with the new mamma, but the elder ones
regarded her with disdain and were dumb and
sullen, whilst the younger howled under her forced
caresses. But when she pretended to gush over
the baby I thought the negress would strike her,
and there was nearly being a scene. Both nurse
and governess as they passed me made me a
contemptuous sign towards the laJy, and I could
see she will have her work cut out for her in that
family. The hotel people were in full sympathy
with the children, and hinted to me that the buxom
lady was — well, no lady ! I am quite happy here
sometimes lying in the comfortable swing under

LEAVE RIO 387

the trees, with the lovely harbour spread out far
below me, and watching all the little goings-on of
the other people around me. They are very polite,
and all come and speak to me and want to be
friendly, but I am dreadfully lazy here and have not
energy to do anything. (Though I w^as unaware of
it then, I was suffering from an injury to the spine,
which was the cause of the inertia I could not
understand.)

Everyone has heard of Brazilian diamonds. I
looked at them in the shops, but bought none.
They were not graceful in setting, though doubt-
less fine stones. In fact I bought nothing, always
putting it ofiF "till to-morrow."

Southampton,
March 4, 1905.

Here I am back again, and my gallop round the
coasts of South America is but now a memory.

I left Rio on 15th February on the RM.S. Clyde,
embarking about 12 a.m. All my baggage had to
be brought down from the hotel in a little cart
drawn by two bullocks, for which I had to pay an
enormous sum. I met it at the customs-house
wharf, hired a boat, which cost 12 milreis, and
rowed out with it a long distance to the ship.
When I got on board sailors seized it at once, that
marked " not wanted " going to the hold, and the
rest being at once taken to my cabin. Then some
one who turned out to be the doctor spoke to me,
and I became conscious that there were five officials,
one of whom was a negro, surveying me. These

388 I HAVE NO DESPACHO

were the customs officials, and they demanded my
Despmho, Not having the slightest idea what it
was, I said so, and said I had none. Then it was
explained that my baggage should have been
examined on shore at the customs -house, and that
it could not leave unless I had my Despacho, for
which too I must pay 10 milreis. I must there-
fore, they said, take it all back again to the shore,
have it examined, and could not leave till that was
done. It was swelteringly hot, the baggage was
already all stowed away, and I declared I simply
wouldn't budge. I had come through the customs-
house with it, no one had spoken to me there or
interfered with me as they should have done, and
go back with that baggage I would not ! The
doctor kept explaining to me I must : one of the
officials spoke EngHsh, and also attacked me. They
declared I could not leave unless I and that baggage
returned to shore. I looked at them all and said I
saw they were much too amiable and polite to
insist on such folly, and I had not the remotest
idea of returning to shore, and they ought to
have been on shore to stop me or any one else
coming on board without a Despacho, and I walked
away to look at the view. When they followed me
I at once began asking them the names of places in
the harbour and admiring everything, told them
yarns, compared Brazil to other South American
countries, begged it might all be translated to the
others, and soon they were all eager to speak,
friendly, interested, and amused, and the fat old
negro one was chortling and chuckling to himself
Every time they approached the subject of the
Despacho I " did not understand," and asked them

I GET THE BETTER OF BRAZIL 389

for more information about the scenery, and in the
end we all went to the smoking-room bar, and I
entertained them to iced ginger-ale and cigarettes !
The boat was coaling and did not leave till 8 p.m.,
so till nearly seven o'clock those wretched officials
remained on the ship. Every time I saw them
discussing me I went up to them to chat, ignoring
the Despacho business, and in the end they all came
cap in hand, beaming with smiles, and bade me a
]3olite farewell, and accompanying them to the
gangway I saw them into their boat, they all waving
friendly good-byes, and when that boat had really
started I called out, "Oh, I have forgotten the
Despacho, what a pity ! " I saw one tell the others,
and they all yelled with laughter, especially the old
negro, who had enjoyed my little manoeuvres all
along. Of course I knew, had I bribed them with
the 10 milreis of which I had cheated Brazil, it
would have been all right — only they might have
taken the money and still made me go ashore, so I
waited till the end, prepared to give it ; but, as it
was, left without my Despacho, and with the easiest
conscience at having got the best of them and
cheated Brazil out of her due. The cost of taking
myself and my baggage from the hotel to the ship
was nearly five pounds !

We had not many passengers ; amongst them I
found Mrs Eeid, of Negretti in Argentine, and her
daughters, and was able to explain how at Buenos
Ayres I could not accept her husband's invitation.
There was also Mr Ramsay and his family — he had
gold mines near Rosario in the Argentine, where
he was employing dredgers from New Zealand ;
and my neighbour at table was Mr Wilkinson, who

390 "KEEP YOUR EYES OPEN"

had been everywhere and done everything, and
had many interesting and amusing yarns to tell.
(Miss Ramsay is now Mrs Lancelot Wilkinson, and
I see them sometimes in their London abode.)
We had also a "music-hall person," as the other
ladies called her, an English damsel who had been
performing at a theatre in Buenos Ayres. The
other " ladies " would have none of her, and when
I said they might at least speak to her, as she was
most harmless, they all shrieked, turned up eyes
and said " harmless " ! The young lady was, of
course, a very quiet and harmless person, with as
perfect a right to travel on a mail-boat as any one
else, and to claim as much ordinary politeness as
any one else — but they all sent her to Coventry and
ignored her being on board.

The coast of Brazil, like most of the South
American coast, is monotonous and uninteresting.
There are few harbours or inlets save Rio, Bahia,
and the Amazon Estuary, and not many islands.
The north part is full of dangerous shoals and
quicksands and shifting river bars.

Fernando Noronha is an island 5 miles long by 2
broad, surmounted by a peak they call the Pyramid,
and is inhabited by convicts and rats. The
Abrolhos {Abra os Othos, or "Keep your eyes
open") are 34 miles from the coast between Rio
and Bahia, and consist of five islets and many reefs,
are barren, and, as the name implies, dangerous
to navigation.

Bahia, on the Bahia de Todos os Santos, has a
large and fine bay. It was founded in 1510 by
Diego Alvares. The lower town is on the sea-
level, and a hydraulic lift conveys people to the

GOOD-BYE TO SOUTH AMERICA 391

upper town, on a headland 200 feet high. The
white houses, bhie sky, and green pahus and
vegetation give it a bright tropical look. It is full
of chui'ches, an archbishop's palace, and large
Government buildings. Much coffee is shipped
here, and it has a large export and import trade,
and is a flourishing place. Yellow fever rages and
the climate is very hot and moist. Negroes pre-
dominate. The ague or coast fever is bad, and it
has had visitations of cholera.

On the following day we were at Pernambuco.
A natural reef forms a good breakwater, leaving
several good open passages for shipping. It is a
picturesque place with handsome buildings, and
has various detached parts all built on and joined
by bridges. The imports and exports average
over £8,000,000, and it is a busy place. The Dutch
seized and held it from 1630 to 1654, and managed
to leave their mark on its architecture. From
here it was good-bye to South America, and I saw
the last of it with some relief and much regret. I
took away with me many memories of scenes
and peoples which are likely to remain with me
long, and surely I had been very, very lucky — no
yellow fever or other malarial complaints, no one
had robbed me and I had lost nothing, and how
much kindness I had received at so many hands !
It was, I hoped — and hope — merely a preliminary
canter round this huge continent, which taught me
a little geography and made me realise the
enormous importance in the future this continent
is to be to the world, with its teeming, undeveloped
riches of every description, all awaiting exploitation.
The most interesting countries certainly are Eucador,

392 CAPE DE VERDE ISLANDS

Peru, Bolivia, and Brazil, and of all I saw I pre-
ferred Ecuador — the most decried of them all —
which has a wonderful future before it. Colombia,
Venezuela, and the British and Dutch Guianas
were beyond my scope. But how much better is
even a glimpse at unknown lands than any amount
of reading. East and west my wanderings have
made a network about this old globe; but how
good it is to go and " look-see " for oneself, and to
know where to return to and how to do it. Such a
gallop round as mine but whets the appetite to
know more of these wonderful lands, where there
is so much to see that it would need a hfetime to
see all — but I have seen Cuzco and Quito, and that
alone has made me happy. One cannot in a few
brief letters describe even what one has seen of a
great continent, but how strange it is that some
of these countries are so little visited by the mere
idle tourist. Truly there is much discomfort, and
the tourist is not catered for ; but it is all a thorough
change from other parts of the world, and some
of the lands are full of fascination.

On the 24th we passed St Vincent, one of the
Cape de Verde Islands, which I had visited so
many years ago. Here the purser of the ship
presented us all with printed documents which we
were ordered to sign, and which documents asked
all about us, who we were, where we came from,
where we were going, what we did, and even where
we were going on reaching England ! It was said
to be for the Sanitary Authorities at Southampton,
and we were told that if we did not sign it we
would be fined a large sum and quarantined ! The
ship's doctor told me he did not know what it was

MADEIRA AND LISBON 393

for, and always refused his address. Needless to
say, no one has the right to demand this informa-
tion, neither the Eoyal Mail or the Sanitary
Authorities, and it is a piece of impertinence which
ought to be suppressed.

On the 27th we were at anchor at Funchal in
Madeira. The place looked very beautiful and
picturesque, with mountains, pinnacles, and valleys
everywhere. Boys came out, diving round the ship.
I got a silver model of one of the quaint bullock
carts for H.S.H. Princess de C, Avho once spent
a time here, and often talks of it ; and I thought
of her stories as I gazed on the winding hill roads.
We only remained a few hours, but I hope to see it
again some winter.

On the 1st of March we were at Lisbon ; it
was very cold, and there was a great downpour of
rain. We heard the news of the assassination
of the Grand Duke Sergius, and learnt also that
the British Minister, Sir Martin Gosselin, was
dead. The rain made the surroundings look
dismal, and I was much disappointed in the
approach to Lisbon, of which I had heard much.
The next morning we were for a few hours at
that picturesque place Vigo, but again it was
raining and cold, and I felt I was really returning
home to the country of wet and fog upon which
the sun never rises, and this shabby, shabby,
dingy Southampton puts the final touch. I suppose
people who know no other land but Great Britain
do not realise what one means when one talks
about its dingy dismalness. They have no con-
ception of what brilliant skies and clear dry air are.
Still each country has something of its own, and

394 THE FUTURE OF SOUTH AMERICA

one is always glad to be home again ; and Avhatever
England may be, it is no desert, but a very garden.

Time has gone by, but I have never ceased
pondering over the future of that Great Continent.
What race is to predominate, or is it no particular
race, but a mingling of many? Millions of
Europeans are yet to seek its shores — in the far
future they will amalgamate with the varied races
already there — but in the interval what? The
United States Government may become the Power
in one or two of the northern countries, but I
doubt it. Certainly the rest of the Continent
has some other fate, and it is a remarkable
thing in what a minority are the Yankees, and
how little influence or power they wield.

Now is the time for our Government, by
a broad-minded, far-seeing, bold policy — one laughs
as one writes such words — ^not only to recover
her vanishing trade but to enormously increase
it. There is not a sign they reahse this. The
completion of the Panama Canal will make
such a great difference, that it is time to study
the question and take precautions. As this
continent must be developed and exploited by
Europeans, we must and should take our proper
place. Are we ever hkely to do that now? I
fear not.

INDEX

Aberdeen, 305

Abraspungo, 75

Acahuana-puncu, 257

Acahuana Ynca, 258

Aclla-huasi, 244

Agriculture, system of, 233, 234

Aix-la-Chapelle, 2G8

Alausi, 51

Ak'hipichi, 113

Alcobasa, Diego de, 294

Alexandra, Queen, 104, 369

Alfaro, President, 38, 146

AUangas, 333

Allardyce, Mrs, 358

AUiraarono, Antonio, 244

Alraagro, Diego de, 34, 218, 219, 222,

228, 267, 348
Altar, 61, 75, 94
Alto de La Paz, 295
Alto, the, 299, 305, 319
Alvarado, Pedro de, 34
Alvares, Diego, 390
Alves, President, 378
Araantas, 259
Amaru-cancha, 244, 246
Araat, Don Manuel, 105
Amazon, the, 26, 159, 302, 383, 390
Ambato, 71, 75, 78, 84, 85, 89, 135
American, 8, 213, 830, 376

Cable Co., 144
Americans, 17, 155, 372
Ampato, 19G, 201
Ampuero, Martin de, 240
Family, 240

Andes, the, 90, 179, 289

Antarctic winds, 355

Antisana, 94

Antofagasta, 156, 192, 302, 303, 328,

333, 338, 339, 341, 346
Arco-Zinnenberg, Count, 4
Arenal, Grand, 74, 75
Arequipa, 166, 187, 196, 197, 198, 199,

200
Arequipa-Puno railway, 193, 195, 202
Argentina, 357, 363, 365, 367, 371
Argentine Charge d'Aflaires, 305
Arica, 350

Arica-Tacna route, 302
Aroma, 323
Artigas, General, 360
Ascotan, 334
Ashton, Mr, 144, 145, 147, 152, 156

Mrs, 144, 145
Aspinwall, 12
Asuan-caru, 249
Atahualpa, 33, 34, 225, 226, 228, 229,

239
Atlantic coast, 22

Atrato River, 25, 26

Australia, 326, 354, 370

Austrian consul, 379

Avenido di Mayo, 362, 366

Avery, Mr William, 157

Avilo, Francisco de, 238

Ayacucho, 300

Aymaras Indians, 288

Aymara tongue, 290

Ayoayo, 322

Azangaro, 249

Azores, the, 3

396

INDEX

Babahoyo River, 32

Bahia, 390

Baker, Mr, 52

Balboa, 218

Ballivain, Don Manuel Vicente, 309

Bandolier, Mr, 322

Mrs, 322
Bank of Quito, 72
Bank of Guayaquil, 72
Barbadoes, 3

Barco, Pedro del, 244, 246
Barrett, Mr John, 18, 21
Basques, 361

Beauclerk, Lady Amelius, 172
Beauclerk, Lord Frederick, 188
Beauclerk, Miss, 161, 175, 176
Beauclerk, Mr W. N., 137, 162, 163

166, 169, 170, 171, 173, 184, 185,

188, 189, 280, 299, 308
Beauclerk, Mrs, 48, 58, 99, 137, 373
Beauclerks, the, 138, 172, 193
Behring's Straits, 104
BelgianCharged'AfPaires,171, 174,184
Belgium, 174, 383
Bell, Mr Hesketh, 2
Benalcazar, 34
Beni, 302

Bergenlund, Capt, 285
Berio, Juan de, 247
Bernadotte, Princess, 297
Birrell, Mr, 189
Blackfords, 273
Blue Mountains, 7
Boer War, 152
Bogota, 36, 134
Bolivar, Simon, 37
Bolivia, 48, 184, 186, 193, 280, 286,

290, 292, 300, 301, 303, 319, 349,

350
Bolivian Minister, 158

Andes, 338
Bonaparte, Joseph, King of Spain, 36
Bonaparte-Wyse, Lieutenant Lucien

Napoleon, 25
Borda, President, 361
Borenco, 169, 170
Borgia, 166

Bosraan, Mr, 336
Bottaro-Costa, Count F,, 364

Countess, 364
Brazil, 372, 377, 380, 381-3, 396
Brazilian Minister, 100
Brazilians, 386
Bridgetown, 3
Britain, 27, 155

British, 7, 47, 105, 155, 164, 280, 836,
345, 361, 376
Colony, Lima, 164, 176
Consul, 18, 45, 92, 99, 145, 193, 329,

340
Consulate, 46, 98, 100, 368
Legation, Lima, 161, 162, 175, 176,

186
Ministers, 99, 129, 137, 164, 171,

193, 299, 300, 378, 393
Vice-consul, 144, 147, 192, 328,
329, 340, 341
Bruce, Mr, 305
Bruges, 162
Bucay, 51
Buccaneers, 22
Buenos Ayres, 62, 359, 362, 363, 368,

367, 372
Buttar, Mr, 103, 105, 118
Byron, Admiral, 357

Ca^alla, Sebastian de, 246

Cacha, 33, 271

" Cachuelas," 202

Cailloma Mine, 197

Calderon, Sefior, 158, 297

Calderons, the, 158

Caledonia Bay, 28

Callao, 31, 156, 159, IfiO, 168, 169,

172, 186,' 187, 188, 192, 193, 201,

215
Calle Cunchuy, 258
Calle de la Carcel, 246
Calle de Triunfo, 266
Callo, 33
Calma, 336
Cameron, Mr, 332, 335, 336, 337,

338

INDEX

397

Campbell of Craignish, 113

Canada, 356

Canadian, 107

Canadian Pacific Railway, 41

Canas, 288

Caiiele River, 168

Cannibalism, 10

Canny, Mr, 199, 206, 277

Cantutputa, 240

Capacabana, 287

Cape de Verde Isles, 392

Capitulation, the, 222

Caras, 32, 33

Cariati, Prince, 379

Carihuairazo, 75, 94

Carlos, Don, 247

Carlyle, 147

Carmen^'a, 248

Carocollo, 325

Carpentier's Restaurant, 96, 102

Carthagena, 24

Cartwright, Mr, 45, 47, 145, 146
Mrs, 46, 145, 155
Misses, 46, 147

Cashibos, 289

Cassana, 246

Castile, 222

Castilian families, 165

Castilla, General Don Ramon, 166

Cataiio, Manuela, 239

Catholic Church, 107, 203

Cavalier, English yacht, 45

Cayambe, 94, 113

Caxamalca, 33, 225, 228

Caxamarquilla, 168

Ccapac, Ynca, Huayna, 33

Cederstrom, Baron Claes, 297
Baron Carl, 297

Charlotte, Baroness Munchhausen,
297

Cellorico, Juan de, 247

Celtic, Ynca race, 253

Cerro Colorado, 334

Cerro di Pasco, 182, 183, 373

Chachani, 196, 197

Chaco, the, 302

Chagres River, 12, 14
Castle of, 23

Chain of Gold, 249, 250

Chalca, 191

Chamberlain, Mr, 2

Chancas, 288

Chaqui, 292

Charlemagne, 268

Charles II., King, 23

Charles V., Emperor, 221, 228

Charrua blood, 359

Chibchas, 20

Chicha, native liquor, 55, 225, 236

Chicla, 180

Child of the Sun, 227,229

*' Children of the Pampas Wind," 371

Chile, 46, 92, 126, 146, 237, 337, 341,

346, 347, 348, 349, 350, 375
"Chile," the, 156, 157
Chilian, 39, 52, 192, 334, 341, 342,

344, 345, 347, 354, 371
Chilian Legation, Secretary of, 159,

305, 313
Chilian Legation, 106
Naval Attache, 106, 129
Minister, the, 305, 313, 350

Chilians, 342, 343, 346, 347

Chimbo, 32, 51

Chimborazo, 41, 57, 61, 63, 74, 75,
76, 91, 94, 111, 123, 287
Marquis of, 76, 132, 138, 150, 151

China, 99

Chinese, 13, 290

Chiriboga, Senor, 76

Chisholm, The, 320

Chiuquipoqui, 75, 132, 137

Chobo, 51

Cholas, 296, 308, 316

Cholones, 296, 308, 316

Christmas Day, 344

City of Kings, 173

Clarke, Mr, 193, 194, 200, 285, 317

Clemens, Miss, 86

Clifton, Mrs J. Talbot, 186

CZyrfg, R.M.S., 387

Coati Isle, 287

Cobras, Islade, 384

Cochabamba, 303, 306, 327

Cochrane, Admiral Lord, 349

Cocomas Indians, 289

Cocos Isles, 190

Coiba, 27

398

INDEX

Colcampata, the, 247, 254

Coll, Island of, 355

Collano, 301

Collas Indians, 288

Collentes, Juan de, 240

Colloa, the, 285

Colombia, 8, 25, 26, 37, 38, 49, 134,

141
Colombian Minister, 107
Colombians, 55, 60
Colon, 1, 11, 12, 27
Colta, 47, 51, 56, 57, 67, 68, 77, 83,
138
Marchioness of, 139
Colorado, 197

Columbus, Christopher, 11, 12
Comptons, 105
Condor, the, 98
Coney Island, 306
Congress, Quito, 112
Conqueror, the, 239, 298
Conquerors, the, 249
Conquest of Peru ^ Prescott's, 237
Consulate at Quito, 96
Consul at Quito, 102
Consul-General, Bolivia, 286
Consul-General, Callao, 172
Conway, Sir Martin, 319, 334,

339
Copenhagen, 104
Cora-Cora, 246
Coraquenque, 251
Corazon, 94
Corcovado, 375
Cordilleras of the Andes, 224, 235,

370
Cordoba, 372
Cordova, Spain, 238
Corichancha, 236, 240, 243
Coropuna, 196
Corregidor of Cuzco, 238
Cortes, Conqueror of Mexico, 218,

221, 222
Costa Rica, 11
Cotocachi, 91, 94, 113
Cotopaxi, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 111,

123
Council of the Indies, 222
Cousino family, 352, 353

Coya, 236, 242

Craignish Castle, 375

Crichton, Mr, 285

Cromwell, 7

Crosse and Blackwell, 202

Croy, Prince Leo de, 174

Croy, Prince Reginald de, 174

Croy, H.S.H. Princess de, 393

Crucero Alto, 201

Cuba, 8

Cuenca, 116

Culebra, 13

Cupica Bay, 25

Cusipati, 207, 209, 250, 277

Cuzco, 33, 36, 166, 172, 186, 187,
194, 200, 201, 208, 207, 209, 210,
211, 213, 215, 216, 217, 218, 223,
227, 228, 229, 230, 232, 235, 236,
237, 238, 239, 240, 244, 245, 248,
249, 252, 254, 255, 265, 267, 269,
270, 271, 272,276, 277, 278, 280,
281, 283, 284, 392

Cyclopean masonry, 230, 254

Dalmatians, 280, 337
Danish possessions, 104
Danube, R.M.S., 372
Darien, Gulf of, 26

Isthmus of, 31
Daule River, 32, 147
Davila, Pedrarias, 22
Davis, Dr, 140, 141
Day of Independence, 152
Dead Man's Island, 30
Declaration of Independence, Peru,

165
Denmark, 7, 8
Dering, Lady, 378, 380

Mr Arthur, 379

Sir Henry, 378
Desguardero River, 290, 333
DespacJio, the, 388, 389
D'Eu, Conde, 381
D'Eu, Princess Isabella, Countess,

377
Devil's Nose, 54

INDEX

399

Dillon, Mr, 306
Dillon, Sefior, 64, 107

Senora, 64, 66
Doceteo, 68, 71, 73, 77, 79, 80, 81,

88,89, 91, 133, 134, 150
Dominica, administrator of, 2
Donovan Rossa, 191
Dormer, Jane, 238

Sir John, 238
Drake, Mr, 306, 326, 327, 330
Duchicala, Doiia Maria, 33

Hualcopo, 33
Dundas, Hon. H. C, 340, 341
Dunn, Mr, 309

Duran, 48, 49, 51, 142, 146, 150
Dutch Ambassador, 379

English Club, Lima, 161, 162, 174
Englishman, 46, 60, 63, 79, 115, 117,

839
Esmeralda, 38, 90
Esmeraldas River, 32
Esquilache, Viceroy Prince di, 166
Estramadura, 222
Eten, 159
Etna, 90

Europe, 260, 346, 378, 380
European, 107, 206, 212, 316, 342,

347, 349
Europeans, 53, 116, 327, 371, 394

Ecuador, 31, 36, 37, 49, 55, 56, 59,
64, 67, 72, 75, 84, 92, 96, 97, 99,
105, 108, 110, 111, 112, 113, 116,
126, 127, 129, 130, 132, 133, 134,
141, 144, 147, 156, 220, 314, 316,
349
Bank of, 146
Presidentof, 129, 146

Ecuadoran, 44, 55, 57, 59, 60, 62, 64,
84, 98, 104, 107, 114, 126, 345
Legation, 157
Government, 141

Ecuadorans, 41, 50, 61, 66, 69, 127

Edinburgh, 194

Egmount, 357

El Dorado, 20, 221

Elizabeth, Queen, 357

Elizalde, Don Rafael, 2, 9, 40, 110,
111, 126, 129, 146, 157, 345

El Moro, 30, 31

Ellora, Governor of, 146

Emeralds, 220

Emperor Maximilian, 191

Emperor William L, 155

England, 59, 105, 846, 848, 350, 358,
383, 392

English, 72, 79, 84, 116, 117, 194,
203, 292, 345, 346
the, 167, 339

Fairbairn, Mr, 364

Falkland Isles, 354, 355, 356, 358,
359

Lord, 357

Sound, 356
Ferdinand IL, King, 37
Ferguson, Mr, 260
Feria, Duke of, 238
Filipe, Don, 282, 283
F'ive Years in Panama, 14
Flamengo, 30
Flores, 363, 364
Fonseca, General da, 382
Foreign Affairs, Minister of, 109

Office, 141, 184
Fortress Hill, 254, 263, 271
Frankin, Mr, 379
Fugijama, 90
Fuller, Mr, 162

Galapagos Islands, 64, 190
Galvaa, Antonio, 24
Gamarra, Augustin, 166
Gana, Don Domingo, 305, 313
Gana, Senor, Don Domingo, 350
Gana, Senora, 313

Garcia, Lizardo, President of Ecua-
dor, 38, 146

400

INDEX

Garcilasso, de la Vega, 232, 237, 240,
244, 247, 248, 250, 252, 254, 255,
256, 258, 261, 262, 293
Garden of the Sun, 248
Garnay, Jose de, 24
Gasca, Pedro de la, 36
Gascoigne, Colonel, 375

Mrs, 375
Gate of Sand, 257
Gauchos, 371, 373
Genoese, 22

Geographical Society, 309
German, 10, 66, 71, 89, 93, 113, 199,
252, 253, 291, 295, 299, 309, 312,
321, 347, 348, 353, 354, 361, 368,
377, 384

Consul, 112

Legation, 377

monks, 66

New Guinea, 46

-Peruvian, 319
Germany, 113, 273, 292, 309, 345,

348, 379
Gladstone, Mr, 92
Gooch, Mr, 367
Good Friday, 30
Gonzales, Francisca, 218
Gosselin, Sir Martin, 393
Gould, Mr, 243
Government House, Trinidad, 6

House, Port Stanley, 355

Palace, 128
Governor and Captain-General of

Peru, 36
Governor of Trinidad, 5

of the Guyas, 64

of Mendoza, 349

oftheFalklands, 358
Grahame, Mr G. D., 364
Gran, Mr, 71
Gran Chaco, 372
Grand Arenal, 75
Grand Central Hotel, Panama, 16
Grand Duke Sergius, 393
Grand Hotel, Victoria, 42

Valparaiso, 344
Great Britain, 21, 27, I7l, 300, 3P3
Great Britain^ s.s., 354, 355
Great Southern Railway, 363

Great White Queen, 369

Greater Britain, 27, 336

Greeks, 260

Greenland, 104

Grey, Captain, 355

Gringo, 83, 149, 150, 274, 392

Gronow, Captain, 189, 190

Guallabamba River, 113

Guamote, 51, 55

Guarini, 371

Guatamala, 207, 306

Guatarista Lake, 20

Guayaquil, 31, 32, 39, 41, 42, 44, 45,
48, 49, 50, 52, 55, 67, 68, 70, 71,
84, 89, 97, 116, 131, 134, 142,
143, 144, 145, 149, 151, 163, 155,
156, 157, 158

Guayaquil and Quito Railway, 141

Guayas River, 32, 41, 147

Guianas, British and Dutch, 392

Gulf of Panama, 21
Darien, 26
Guayaquil, 40, 220, 223

Gumppenberg, Baron, 4

Gutierrez, General Don L. Plaza, 108

Guzman, Diego Ortin de, 244

Haggard, Mr W. D., 363, 364, 380

Mrs, 364, 379

Mr Rider, 363
Hakluyt Society, 238
Hallock, Mr, 105, 106

Mrs, 105, 106, 114
Hancock, Mr, 379
Harford, Mr F. D., 364
Harman, Archer, 49, 50, 53

Kenton, 49, 52, 53, 55, 56, 57, 60,
63, 67, 69, 70, 71

Major, 49,52, 53, 139, 140, 141,142
Harmans, the, 49, 52, 146
Harmsen, Herr, 319, 320, 323, 324
Harrison, Mr George, 297, 299, 305,
306, 309

Mrs, 307, 308
Harrison, Mr, 172
Hart, of China, Sir Robert, 99

INDEX

401

Hatun-cancha, 246
Hawaii, 30
Hawkins, 357
Hayti, 10
Hecla, 90
Hervay, 168
Hidden Water, the, 384
Higgins, Mr, 46, 47

Mr Johnston, 366, 367
Hirsch, Baron, 370
Hispaniola, Isle of, 218
History of Architecture, 260
History of Peru, 238
Holland, 7
Holy Gate, 248
Home Government, 7
Hong-Kong, 13, 329
Hospital, Cuzco, 238
Hotel Central, Petropolis, 377

de Paris, Guayaquil, 42, 143

Guibert, La Paz, 295, 318

Maury, Lima, 159, 160, 171, 185

Ratti, Juliaca, 202

Victoria, Guayaquil, 142, 143
House of Parliament, Buenos Ayres,

363
House of Quito, 33
Huaca-puncu, 248
Huacay-pata, 244, 245
Hualpa Rimachi Ynca, 258
Huancas, 288
Huascar, the, 350
Huatanay, 247
Huertas, General, 18, 19
Huescar, 227, 228, 246
Huigra, 51, 52, 139, 140, 141, 142, 144
Huiracocha, 271
Humboldt, 74, 126

Indian, 77, 81, 249, 263, 283, 285, 288,

321, 376
Indian blood, 53, 165
Indians, 53, 54, 57, 61, 84, 96, 114,

115, 244, 248, 258, 259, 264, 282,

287, 288, 289, 291, 292, 301, 314,

315, 319
Inquisition, the, 167
International Hotel, Rio, 374
Iquique, 333, 346, 350
Iquitos, 159

Isaza, Don Erailiano, 107
Italians, 347, 361

Jackson, Sir Henry, 2, 6
Jamaica, 7, 8, 23, 24
Jamestown J U.S. ship, 30
January River, 384
Jarrett, Mr, 210, 211, 272

Mrs, 210, 212
Jarretts, the, 211, 213
Jerusalem, 197
Jesuits, church of, 244, 247
Jewish colonies, 370
Jigger, the, 144
Jim, 315, 316
Jivaros, 32
Joan of Arc, 28

Jockey Club, Buenos Ayres, 864
Johnson, Mr, 210, 211, 213
Jones, Mr, 56
Juliaca, 202, 205
Jujuy, 370
Justiniani, Don Luis, 239

Ice House, 4
Iceland, 104
lUampu, 286
lUimani, 286, 304, 322
Illiniza, 91, 93, 94
Imbabura, 113
Independencia, the, 350

Kennedy, Mrs Julia, 52, 142
Kent, 378

King Charles n.,23
King, H.M. the, 153, 368, 369
King of the Penguins, 357,
King of Spain, 37, 369
Kingsford, Mr, 169
Kingsfords, the, 169

402

INDEX

Kingston, 7, 9
Klondyke, 373

Lafayette Hotel, Secuani, 284
Lafuente, Don Alejandro de, 305, 313
Lagem, Island da, 384
Lagerberg, Kammerherr Magnus, 99
Laguinilla, 201
Land of To-morrow, 94
Lansdowne, Lord, 308
La Palata, Duke of, 165
La Paz, 172, 281, 285, 291, 292, 299,
300, 301, 302, 303, 304, 305, 308,
309, 312, 314, 315, 317, 318, 319,
331, 340
La Plata, 363
La Plata River, 365
La Perichola, 177

La Raya, 205

Las Esmeraldas, 220

Latacunga, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 135

Lawson, Mr, 162, 171, 173

Leguisamo, Mancio Serra de, 241, 244

Leiningen, Count, 4

Leland, Charles Godfrey, 86

Le Maire, M., 174, 185

Lesseps, de, 12, 13, 36

" Liberator of Panama," the, 18

•• Liberator of Uruguay," the, 360

Licentiate de la Garaa, 244

Licentiate Polo, 241

Liebig's Extract Factory, 360

Lima, 156, 159, 162, 163, 165, 167,
171, 172, 173, 182, 185, 186, 207,
240, 241, 280, 308

Lima, Plaza at, 163, 175

Linari, s.s., 341

Lisbon, 238, 393

Liverpool, 18

Loa, the, 38

Loa River, 336

Loe, Countess, 4

Loes, 4

London, 273, 305. 350, 358, 379

Lopez, Seilor, 147, 157
Senora, 147, 157

Lota, 352

Lou vain. University of, 174
Lowenstein-Wertheim, Prince Vzu, 65
Lowther, Mr H. C, 378, 380
Luque, Hernando de, 218

M'Ellar, Allan, 251
Machachi, 96, 135
M'Nair, Mr, 210

Mrs, 210
M'Nairs, 194, 200, 207, 211
M'Nulty. Mrs, 87
Ma9uela, Alonzo, 246, 251
Madeira River, 302
Magdalena River, 26
Magellan, 384

Magellan, Straits of, 352, 353, 356
Maiden Islands, 357
Maipo, 349
Malchingi, 113
Maldonado, Diego, 246, 248
Mallet, Mr, 18, 19, 20, 21, 75, 119
Mama OcUo, 287
Mamore River, 302
Manchester, 292
Manco Ccapac, 265, 267, 287
" Mariquita," 72
Markham, Sir Clements, 238, 239,

247, 250, 254, 256, 258
Maroons, 8
" Marquis," the, 239
Martinez, Mr, 2

Mathieu, Don Beltran, 305, 318, 346
Matilde, 51
Matucana, 179
Maude, Colonel, 45
Mayers, Mr, 105, 106

Mrs, 105
Mayorunas, 289
Medanos, 195

Megia, Francisco, 244, 246
Meiggs, Mount, 181
Melbourne, 363
Melgar, the poet, 166
Mendoza, Alonzo de, 300, 363

town, 370

INDEX

403

Mestizos, 114, 290

Mexican, 293

Mexico, 34, 358

Mexico, Conqueror of, 218, 222

Milagro, 51

Minas, Gerdes, 384

Minister to Brazil, 380

for Foreign Affairs, Quito, 109

to Mexico, 378

to Peru, Ecuador, and Bolivia, 48
Misti, 196, 198, 200, 201
Mocha, 77
Moganda, 113
Molina, 250

Christoval de, 238
Mollefido, 168, 187,192, 194, 195,200,

207, 215, 317, 339, 340, 341
Mollendo-Arequipa Railway, 317
MoUerido-Puno-Titicaca route, 302
Molleno, Captain, 106, 129
Moloney, Sir Alfred, 6
Monroe doctrine, 27
Montana, 289

Monte Video, 356, 359, 361, 366
Montes Claros, Viceroy Marquis of,

165
Montgomery, Mr, 42, 161
Montmorency. Mr de, 146
Moreno, President Garcia, 37, 112
Morgan the Buccaneer, 21, 22, 23,

24, 190
Morgenstein, Mr, 103
Morley, Mr, 49, 51, 52, 140, 141
Moon, Temple of, 33
Moore, Mr E. F., 341
Moorish towers, 29
Mosquito Indians, 8
Mother Superior, 107
Mount Everest, 286
Moyoc Marca, 257
Miinchhausen, Baroness, 297
Mimich, 312
Muyna, 250
Myrtle Bank Hotel, Kingston, 79

Napoleon, 28, 37

Narangito, 51

Nasca, 233

National Club, Lima, 162, 171

Natural History Museum, S. K., 128

Neckar, the, 65

Negretti, 365, 366, 389

Neile, Mr Renshaw, 172

Nelson, Dr, 14, 15

Neuhaur, Seiior Alfredo, 305

Neustra, Senora de la Paz, 300

" New Edinburgh," 31

New Guinea, 115

Nicaraguan Canal, 25, 27

Nice, 199

Nictheroy, 384

Noronha, Fernando, 390

Northumberland Fusiliers, 2

Nueva Granada, 240

Nureraburg, 24

Nusta, Dona Inez Huallys, 240

Obi, worship of, 10

O'Higgins, President Ambrosius, 349

General Bernado, 349
Ojeda, Alonzo de, 218
Old Panama, 21, 22, 23, 24
Ollague, 334

Ollantay-tambo, 258, 271
Onegardo, Licentiate Polo de, 238
Opera-house, Buenos Ayres, 363
Oriente, province of, 32
Orinoco, 7, 26

Orissa, P.S.N., 351, 352, 359
Orne, Pedro Orting de, 239
Oroya Town, 156, 181, 183

Railway, 172, 177, 179, 188
Oruba, s.s., 353, 354
Oruro, 302, 305, 306, 309, 317, 318,

326, 327, 329, 330, 331, 332, 333
Our Lady of Mercy, Convent of, 36
Over-Seas Mission, 213

Nahuelhauapi, Lake, 370
Napo, the, 35

Pabellon de los Lagos, 367
Paccha, Queen, 33

404

INDEX

Pachacamac, 168

Pachacutec, the Ynca, 246

Pacific, the, 25, 20, 32, 41, 218, 342,

343, 346, 359, 369
Padre Sodiro, 127
Pagan Irish, 253
Palermo Park, 367
Palmerston, Lord, 300
Palmira, 51
Palmira Pass, 51

Panama, 8, 14, 16, 17, 19, 20, 25, 27,
28, 30, 38, 39, 45, 218, 219, 220,
221, 222

Canal, 10, 190, 394
Pancorvo, Juan de, 246
Panecillo, Quito, 33, 125
Para, 302
Paraguay, 365, 368

River, 302

Route, 302
Parana River, 302, 366, 371
Parana-Uruguay, 366
Pardo, Don Felipe, 169, 172, 298,
305, 306, 312

Don Manuel, 169, 298

Madame, 176
Pardo, Don Jos6, 169, 298
Paris, 44, 127
Paseo de Colon, 164
Patac-Amaya, 323
Patagonia, 370

Chilian, 350
Paterson, William, 28
Patti, Madame AdeHna, 297
Paucar-raarca, 257
PauUstas, the, 384
Paullu, the Ynca, 247
Payne, Mr, 194, 200, 211

Mr, a missionary, 303
Paysandu, 360
Peace of Ayacucho, the, 300
Pearls, Isle of, 219
Peck, Miss, 199, 200, 307
Pedrarias, 218

Pedro II., Emperor of Brazil, 380
Peixoto, General Floriana, 382
Pelu, 219

Penitentiary, Lima, 174
Perez, Seiior, 57, 63, 139

Pernambuco, 391

Peru, 32, 48, 99, 141, 156, 158, 159,
165, 167, 168, 193, 200, 203, 205,
206, 210, 211, 212, 216, 217, 219,

221, 222, 227, 247, 251, 271, 2S9,
290, 346, 349, 350, 392

Perua, 219

Peruvian, 159, 162, 164, 167, 171, 185,
188, 192, 193, 204, 207, 208, 220,
270, 279. 285, 307, 350

Army, 184

Charge d'Affaires, 313

Corporation, 177

Empire, 219

Minister to Colombia, 4

Minister to Ecuador, 107

Minister at Washington, 298
Peruvians, the, 66, 160, 165, 169, 170,

192, 223, 224
Pesqueria, 51

Petropolis, 376, 377, 380, 382
Phoenix Club, Lima, 174, 175
Pichincha, 94, 117, 120, 121, 123, 125

battle of, 37
Piedrahita, Hernandez, 240

Bishop Lucas H., 240
Pisco, 189

Pizarro, the Conqueror, 33, 34, 36,
167, 173, 216, 218, 219, 220, 221,

222, 223, 224, 225, 227, 228, 229,
239, 265

Francisca, 240

Gonzalo, 34, 35, 36, 218, 246, 267

Hernando, 225, 240, 244, 247

Juan, 267
Pizarro's Palace, 162, 163
Plata River, 302, 361
Plaza of Cuzco, 229
Plaza 16 de Julio, 296
Plazo, General, 37, 146, 152
Pohcarpo, Pablio, 239
Polo, Licentiate, 241
Poole, Mr, 193
Poopoo, Lake, 290, 333
Port of Spain, 56

MoUendo, 341

Antofagasta, 341
Port Stanley, 351, 354, 355, 356, 357

Modryn, 370

INDEX

405

Porta la Bocca, 38
Porto Bello, 22
Portugal, 382
Portuguese, 361, 376, 384
Potosi, 309, 323, 327, 331
Pottmes, Schloss, 4
Prefect of Cuzco, 192, 207, 212, 215,
216

Oruro, 327, 330
Prescott's Conquest of Peru, 237, 252
President Moreno, 109

Alfaro, 38

Alves, of Brazil, 378

Borda, of Uruguay, 361

Garcia, 38

O'Higgins, of Chile, 349

of Bolivia, 330

of Colombia, 37

of Ecuador, 103, 108, 109, 110, 111

of Panama, 21

of Peru, 166, 169
Prince Cariati, 379
Princes Edward and George of Wales,

365
Princess Isabella, Countess d'Eu,

377, 381
Prior, the, 66
Puca Marca, 246
Puerto Escoces, 28

Pacheco, 302

Suarez, 302
Pulacayo Silver Mine, 333
Pumacagua, 166
Pumacurcu, 248
Puna Isle, 40, 220, 223
Puna, the, 292, 301, 311, 319, 322
Puno, 116, 202, 249, 284, 285
Punta Arenas, 353, 354
Pyrenees, the, 361

Quaqui, 292, 293

Quebrada of Quallabamba, 113

Queen Paccha of Quitu, 33

Alexandra's journeys, 369

Victoria, 369

Queensland, 313

Quespic-anchi, 209

Quichua, 88, 219, 273, 274, 291

Quichuan, 32, 371

Quichuas, 288

Quisquis, 34

Quito, 20, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 41, 47,
48, 50, 56, 57, 58, 59, 64, 70, 76,
80, 83, 84, 85, 89, 90, 91, 92, 94,
95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 102, 103, 104,
105, 106, 111, 112, 114, 115, 116,
117, 124, 125, 126, 127, 223, 267
Bank of, 72
San Francisco del, 34

Quitonian, 34, 103

Quitu, 32

Quitus, the, 32

Ramsay, Mr, 389

Miss, 390
Raymi, Feast of, 236
Reid, Mrs, of Negretti, 389

Mr, Lima, 164, 174

Mrs, Lima, 164, 184
Rhine, the, 383
Rhineland, 2
Riraac River, 165
Rio Negro, 361

de la Plata, 361, 366

de Janeiro, 363, 372, 374, 382, 383,
384, 387
Riobamba, 60, 61, 62, 67, 75
Roberts, Mr, 92
Roca, General, 371
Rockharapton River, 11
Rockies, the, 41
Rodadero Hill, 261, 263
Rosario, 366, 389
Royal Mail Line, 1

Palace Hotel, Quito, 102

Commentaries of the Yncas, 237

Geographical Society, 309
Russia, 252
Russian, 217
Rutledge, Mr, 314

Mrs, 314

406

INDEX

Saavedra, Angel, 24

Sacsahuaman, 254

Salavery, 159

Salcamayhua, Juan de Santa Cruz,

238
Salinas, 337
Salto, 360
San Aiia, 96, 135

Andres Hospital, Lima, 241

Domingo, Cuzco, 243

Domingo, Lima, 165

Domingo, Panama, 29

Francisco, 157

Francisco del Quito, 34

Jose Silver Mines, 328

Juan River, 26

Lazaro, 245

Marcos, University of, 165

Martin, General, 349

Mateo, 180

Miguel, 34

Miguel de Puira, 223

Paul, 334

Pedro, 334

Pedro, Lima, 165

Rafael, 51

Remo, General, 166
Sandy Point, 353
San gay, 94
Santa Catalina, Cuzco, 241

Cruz de la Sierra, 302
Santiago, 147, 157
Santos, 373
Saracocha, 202
Saraurcu, 94, 113
Sarel, W. H., 2, 5
Savannah, the, 23
Saxon families, 378
Scandinavia, 104
Schmidt, Herr, 112

Frau, 112, 113
Sehoner, John, 24
Scotch Point, 28
Scotland, 26
Scotsman, A, 105
Scottish Colony, 28

Highlands, 94

Scyri, 33

Scyri Hualcopo, 33

Scyris, 33

Secuani, 202, 205, 206, 2S4

Seeber, Don Mario, 313

Senado, the, 169, 173

Sergius, Grand Duke, 393

Shackleton, Lt. Ernest, 291

Sharpe, Mr, 351

Shennan, Mr, 365, 366

Mrs, 365
" Sheriff of Scotland," 52
Shiraishi, Mr, 157
Sibambe, 51
Sidney, 363, 373
Siedermayer, Herr, 312
Simon Bolivar, 37
Simson, Mr, 367

Soderstrom, Don Ludovico, 92, 96,
98, 99, 100, 102, 103, 106, 109,
110, 111, 112, 113, 116, 117, 120,
121, 124, 125, 126, 129, 131, 134,
136, 137, 157
Sodiro, Padre, 127
Sommers, Mr, 52, 68, 139
Sorata, 286, 287, 298
Sorocche, the, 173, 299, 224
Sorsby, Mr, 298, 306, 308
Soto, Hernandez de, 225
South African, 336

America, 24, 26, 37, 56, 60, 159,
167, 172, 190, 200, 214

American, 38, 61, 83, 111, 159, 177,
223, 335
Development Co., 68, 144

Georgia, 358
Southampton, 1
Souza de, 384
Spain, 36, 169, 221, 265
Spaniards, 35, 37, 166, 221, 228, 229,

232, 241, 357
Spanish, 2, 32, 36, 37, 165, 171, 269

Audience, 36

Cortes, the, 24

Fleet, 349

Viceroy, 22
St Albans, Duke of, 188
St John, Mr Alfred, 172, 173, 186
St Louis, College of, 162

LNDEX

407

St Vincent, 392

Stapleton, Mr, 108, 127

Stark, Mr, 201, 208, 211, 212, 213,

273, 277, 284, 297
Stars and Stripes, the, 8, 56
Staver, Mr W. H., 68, 103, 130, 132,

134, 136, 139, 140, 143, 144, 147,

150, 151, 152, 155
Mrs, 68, 106, 132, 135, 136, 138,
147
Stavers, the, 71, 102, 103
Stockholm, 104, 297
Straits of Magellan, 345, 353, 354,

356
Stromboli, 90
Stuart, Mr, 352, 354, 355

Menteith, murder of, 184
Suarez, Don Pedro, 286
Sugar Loaf, 384
Sumbay, 201

Sim and Moon, religion of, 33
Surrenden Bering, Kent, 378
Sweden, 252, 297

Tobagoquilla, 30

Toledo, 221

Torres Straits, 86

Totten, 25

Townsend, Mr, 178, 182, 188

Toyo Kisen Kaisha, 157

Trans-Andean Railway, 188, 345, 352

Trautwine, 25

Travels amongst the Great Ancles of

the Equator, 48
Trias, Franciscode, 246
Trinidad, 5, 6, 7
Troublesome Daughters , 86
Truxillo, 167
Tucker, Mr John, 178, 179, 180, 181,

182, 183, 184
Tumbez, 220, 221
Tunel de Paso de Galera, 181
Tunguragua, 94
Tupac Amaru, 166
Tiirr, General, 25
Twain, Mark, 86

Tacamez, 220

Tacna, 302, 350

Taguachi, 51

Talcahuana, 352

Tambo de Mora, 189

Taqueli, 287

Tarapaca, 168, 350

Tariga, 302

Tarma, 237

Tehuantepec, Isthmus of, 24

Temple of the Sun, 228, 235, 236,

240, 243, 247, 248
Terra del Fuega, 353
Territory of Quito, 35
Thorwaldsen, 104
Thursday Island, 86
Tiahuanico, 258, 259, 290, 293
Tiquina Straits, 287
Titicaca, Lake, 202, 251, 253, 284,

285, 287, 325, 333
Tivoli, the, 104
Tobago, 30, 31

Uganda, Commander-in-Chief of, 2

Uira-ccocha-puncu, 257

Uncle Sam, 13, 17

Union Club, Lima, 162, 175

United States, 7, 8, 21

Charge d'AfFaires, 105
Urcos, Lake of, 250
Uruguay, 357

River, 360, 361
Uruguayans, 359
Uyunyi, 333

Valdivia, Pedro di, 348

Valparaiso, 341, 344, 346, 347, 351

Valverde, Vicente de, 226, 229

Varnet, Louis, 357

Vaudism, cult of, 10

Vega, Garcilasso de la, 237, 238, 241,

247, 248, 250, 252, 254, 255, 256

262, 293

408

INDEX

Velasco, 33

Vencia, 51

Venezuela, 7, 49

Venezuelana, 2

Ventemeilla, General, 146

Vesuvius, 90

Victoria Brewery, 104

Victoria Valdez, Sefiorita, 64

Vienna, Prince Archbishop of,

162
Vilcaraayu, 205, 271
Villa Hermosa, 197
Villardi, Senor, 4

Seftora, 4
Vinaraarca, 287
Vines, Mr, 371
Virginian family, 49
Virgins, House of the, 246
Virgins of the Sun, 228, 236, 244
Vorbeck, Mr, 104, 185, 118, 120

Mrs, 104
Vorbecks, the, 104

Wales, 26

Wallis, Captain, 157

War of Independence, 24

Washington, 141, 298

Welsh colony, 370

Welshman, 22

West Indian, 2, 4, 9

West Indies, 1, 2, 3, 9, 10, 43

Wheeler, Mr, 46, 48, 70, 96, 103

Whitelock, General, 360

Whymper, Mr Edward, 39, 48, 74,

75, 76, 118, 123, 126
Wilhelmina, Queen, 379
Wilkinson, Lancelot, 389

Mrs, 390
Wurmb, H. E. Frau GeneraUn von

113

Xauxa, 237

Yacha-huasi, 245, 247
Yankee boys, 60, 139, 156

railway clerks, 16, 38
Yankees, 16, 17
Yaruquias, estate of, 34
Ynca Indians, 165, 166, 206

Atahualpa, 228, 239

Emperor, 32

Huayna Ccapac, 33, 239, 240,
249

Manca, 34, 265

Maricanchi, 258

Pachacutec, 246

Paullu, 247

Rocca, 245, 246

Tapac Yupanqui, 246

Uira-ccocha, 209, 245

Yapanqui, 246
Ynca of Peru, 166

Ynca, the, 221, 225, 226, 227, 228,
229, 230, 231, 232. 235, 236, 250,
251, 262, 268
Yncas, the, 166, 180, 190, 230, 237,

242
Ynti-huatana, 271
Yucay, 272

Zalles, Don Jorge, 297, 330

Don Alfredo, 330

Don Hugo, 218, 319, 321,, 322, 325,
330

Madame, 297

the, 158, 297, 327
Zarooma, 144, 145, 151

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