THE CORDILLERA OF THE ANDES
IN BOLIVIA, CHILE AND ARGENTINA
Still threading the high region of the Andes, our journey takes us into Bolivia, that comparatively little-known Republic.
Neither topographically nor historically is there any marked change from Peru to Bolivia. Both countries occupy the "roof of the world" here, the chain and uplands of the Cordillera, although, if such were possible, the punas, or steppes, of Bolivia are even more inclement than the corresponding antiplanicies of Peru.
Bolivia has, indeed, been termed the Tibet of America, where the yak is replaced by the llama. But it would be unjust to compare the one with the other as regards the human element, for the Andine Republic is peopled, or at least administered and animated, by the sensitive and progressive Spanish American civilization, and is not an old or decadent land, but, on the contrary, has all its life before it.
The highlands, we have said, are a continuation of those of Peru. In both countries, as well as in Northern Chile, we shall remark on our mountain expedition the herds of beautiful vicuña, fleet as the wind, living where nothing else will live, yielding a soft, tawny fur or skin, a boa of which is indeed a comforter around one's neck as a protection against the keen air of the heights. In the ramparts of the rocks myriads of viscachas squirrels, or rather conies, have their home, and it is a swift shot that will secure one for the evening meal.
Of the stupendous snowy peaks of Bolivia we have already spoken. There arise Sorata and Illimani, highest—with Huascaran and Coropuna, in Peru, and Aconcagua, in Chile, all near or over 23,000 feet—on the American Continent. Few travellers approach or ascend these mountains, whose beauties the inhabitants themselves generally prefer to contemplate from afar.
Bolivia is generally regarded as a "mountain republic," remote, inaccessible, backward. Such a concept requires some modification. It is true that the country, deprived of its seaboard, has its population and centres of life mainly upon the Andes, that its population is relatively small in comparison with those of its neighbours, and consists to a larger degree of the Indian element. But it is not all mountain, nor all Indian folk. A considerable area of the Republic extends to the lowlands of the Amazon Valley (and to the Plate), including those delightful sub-valleys and hill-slopes which Nature, by reason of climate and vegetation, has rendered of the most pleasant. As for the people, we find here the same Spanish American civilization, among the cultured class that is, with the traits and gifts common to their race. As for the Indian—that is their social problem.
La Paz, the capital of Bolivia, to which we may have ascended by rail from the coast, is approached almost unawares. There is nothing to foretell, as we cross the barren plains from Viacha, that so important a place will shortly be displayed to the view. Suddenly we reach the Alto, or "Height," and there, far below, is La Paz, reposing in the mighty amphitheatre of its abrupt valley. Before the train descends from the verge it is well to look again upon Illimani, Huayna-Potosi, and another giant, Mururata, whose snowy peaks reflect the colour of the sunset, bathed in an atmosphere so limpid that their distant slopes are brought to deceptive nearness.
The Valley of La Paz has the aspect of a vast crater, its floor lying over 12,000 feet above sea-level. Its buildings and institutions merit the traveller's attention. Its pleasing alameda and other planted or cultivated areas are a relief after the dreary and forbidding aspect of the valley around, with its scarred and precipitous sides. Who could have founded a city here, and why?
La Paz was founded by Alonzo de Mendoza in 1548, and first named to commemorate the temporary reconciliation between Pizarro and Almagro, who had grievously quarrelled. The cathedral was begun in the seventeenth century, when the famous mines of Potosi were at their height of productiveness. Some of the streets are of the most winding character possible, and many of them reflect the poverty of their Indian dwellers. Others are full of animation, constantly threaded by caravans of llamas, asses and mules, and thronged by a many-hued population of pure-blooded Indians, with garments negligent but picturesque; Cholas, or half-breed women, often extremely pretty, dressed in vivid colours, coquettish, wearing their home-made hats of white felt; and townsmen of white race, ladies of La Paz, and European folk: in brief, all the elements we shall have seen in the upland towns of Spanish America, where rich and poor do congregate together. On Sundays the animation increases, for this is the day of markets, and piles of wares and fruits and other products interest and attract. The streets are electrically lit. In the new part of the city are many handsome residences and evidences of wealth. The inevitable band in the plaza discourses its music, and the churches command their usual congregations. The museums—mining and archæological—show a regard for science here. La Paz is now becoming a comparatively cosmopolitan centre, and its interest and importance most undoubtedly increase.
The Republic of Bolivia took its name, as a token of gratitude, from Bolivar, the great Liberator. Since his time, from 1825 to 1913, it has had seventy-one different presidents, an average of a little over one per annum, an indication either of an experimental outlook towards self-government or of chronic unrest, whichever way we may prefer to view it. It is difficult for a European to comprehend the disabilities and difficulties of such a community, and criticism is easy. But we may again reflect that their future lies before these remote States, and that their human vitality and natural resource are storehouses for the future, not depleted or derelict.
To the observant foreigner perhaps the most interesting human element in the Andes is that of the Indians. They are the true children of the soil, Nature's product unadulterated, the specimen of her human handiwork in this special environment. They hide nothing, they expect nothing from her. But if the future lies before them they are nevertheless obsessed with their past. They are a raza conquistada as their masters term them—a conquered race. They may not always be so. Different writers take different views of them.
In Peru the natives of these uplands are the Quechuas; in Bolivia, the Quechuas and the Aymaras. These two differ somewhat in their habits and temperament. There are, in addition, a number of savage tribes, mostly in the forested regions.
"The Aymaras, one of the principal ethnical elements of the Bolivian nation, are found in the north, as far as Peruvian territory, on the banks, islands and peninsulas of Lake Titicaca, and on the plateau as far south as Oruro. The Quechuas occupy the south and the north of the Argentine.
"Between these two races there is a difference of type and a greater difference of character. The Aymara is a little above the average height, has the chest strongly developed, the calves powerful, and the feet small. The features are not on the whole attractive; they are prominent, and indicative neither of intelligence nor goodwill. The head is large, the neck short and thick, the cheeks wide, the nose massive; the eyes are small, the mouth wide, and the lips thick. The colour is coppery or an olive-brown, varying with the altitude. The hair is black, thick and strong, but the beard is absolutely lacking.
"While the Quechua is docile, submissive and obedient, the Aymara is hard, vindictive, bellicose, rebellious, egotistical, cruel and jealous of his liberty; he is always ready to resort to force. In times of disturbance the factions have always recruited the bulk of their fighters from the Aymaras. Yet they seem lacking in will, except the will to hate all that is unlike themselves. The Aymara is also fanatical, and his is not the fanaticism of religion, but of vanity; he wants to cut a figure in the religious fêtes, which are not unlike orgies of idolatry, and are marked by alcoholic and moral excesses of every kind.
"The plateaux are always cool, so the Aymara wears a comparatively warm costume, consisting of a thick woollen shirt and a poncho of many colours, with dark, narrow breeches coming just below the knee. The legs are bare, and the feet equally so, or are shod with sandals of raw hide. The Aymara, like the Tibetan, another dweller in plateaux, is insensible to cold; he sleeps bare-footed in the hardest frosts, and walks through freezing water or over ice without apparent inconvenience. On days of festival the Aymara replaces the poncho by a sort of tight-fitting tunic. The head is well covered with a large woollen bonnet, which protects the neck and ears. The women also wear a shirt or chemise of thick wool or cotton, over which they throw a mantle of coarse, heavy wool, striped with bright colours, and retained on the chest by a sort of spoon of silver or copper, the slender handle serving as a pin. A heavy woolle petticoat, pleated in front, and usually dyed a dark blue, covers the lower part of the body to the ankles. The Aymara woman wears several of these petticoats superimposed, which gives her a very bulky look about the hips. A somewhat unattractive hat completes the costume. Men and women alike having a perfect contempt for hygiene, all parts of the body are coated with a respectable layer of dirt. Their clothes, which they never put off, even to sleep, are worn until they fall into tatters, and usually give off a disagreeable ammoniacal odour.
"The Aymara tongue differs from the Quechua; it is a harsh, guttural idiom, rather formless, but having conjugations. It is forcible and concise. The peoples conquered by the Quechuas learned the language of their conquerors; but the Aymaras retained theirs, and when the Spaniards conquered the country, the Aymaras, who had long been a subject race, were decadent and diminishing in numbers.
"By the innumerable vestiges of building and the tombs near Lake Titicaca we may judge that this country was once thickly populated. But the plains afforded no refuge, and the inhabitants could not escape the forced recruiting which supplied the mining centres. At the time of Tupac-Amaru's insurrection the Aymaras, happy to reconquer their liberty, or perhaps merely to effect a change of masters and to satisfy their bellicose instincts, threw themselves into the revolt; whereupon war, sickness and famine considerably reduced their numbers. To-day they are estimated to be about 400,000 strong.
"The Aymaras are divided into six tribes, according to the regions they inhabit. These are the Omasuyos, the Pacasas, the Sicasicas, the Larecajas, the Carangas, and the Yungas. The Aymaras of the provinces of Yungas, Larecaja, and Muñecas are lighter in tint, cleaner, more intelligent and less uncouth than the rest.
"The Quechua race, whose numbers are greater, are found in many regions of Bolivia. The Quechua is lighter and yellower than the Aymara, and more of a Mongolian type. The features are irregular, the eyes black, the cheek-bones prominent; the narrow forehead is slightly protuberant, and the skull oblong; the mouth is wide and the nose massive. The stature is rather below the average, but there are tall individuals, who as a rule resemble the Aymara type. Solidly built, the Quechua looks a powerful and muscular man; but as from childhood both sexes are used to carrying extremely heavy burdens on the back they are not really very strong in the limbs, although the shoulders are very powerful. The Indian is an extraordinary walker; his legs of steel enable him to travel long distances in mountainous regions without the least fatigue. The women are even stronger than the men, their work being heavier, although they live practically the same life.
"The Quechua costume consists of a coloured poncho, a tight woollen vest, and breeches rarely falling below the knee; the feet are shod with ojotas, or rawhide sandals, which take the shape of the foot. The woman wears a small woollen vest, cut low on the bosom; the skirt is the same as that worn by the Aymara women; and on a feast-day the Quechua woman wears all the petticoats she possesses, one over another. As they are all of equal length, each shows the edge of that below it, whence a gamut of various colours. The Quechua women are distinguished from the Aymaras chiefly by their hats, which are flatter.
"The Quechua idiom is extremely rich and has been studied grammatically.
"The Indian race has never been assimilated; as it was at the moment of conquest, so it is now; with the same language, the same customs, and the same miserable dwellings, hardly fit to shelter beasts. Isolated and solitary, or gathered into hamlets of a few cabins, they are merely conical huts of unbaked bricks, covered with thatch or reeds, and consisting of one small chamber, in which all the members of the family live in the completest promiscuity. These huts, in which the most wretched poverty and uncleanliness reign supreme, contain nothing that we should call furniture; as a rule there is no bed but the hardened soil or a few coverings of ragged sheepskin."[38]
INDIAN RAFTS ON LAKE TITICACA.
Vol. I. To face p. 274.
The principal vice of the Indian is drink, both with men and women. Perhaps it drowns reflection—race-sorrow. But, as in the case of the Mexicans and all others of the brown race, this excess is not the fault alone of the drinker. The producing of alcohol is, in many cases, a lucrative trade for those above him, the large growers of cane or other alcohol-yielding plants. Legislation, moreover, against the evil, if it be necessary in other lands—for example, the United States or Britain—is surely necessary with the ignorant Indian.
The Indian is, as has been said, melancholy. He rarely laughs, except when he is drunk. Perhaps this is partly due to the melancholy environment of the Cordillera; perhaps the result of his practical enslavement and the downfall of his race.
Melancholy and music are here akin. The Indians of Peru and Bolivia have always been lovers of their national music—veritably the music of the Andes. They have many curious musical instruments, many weird songs and musical laments. Reed flutes or pipes and a species of guitar are among the principal of these instruments. The Bolivian Indian has a good ear for music, and, it is said, will execute any piece of classical music with precision. The military bands of Bolivia are mostly composed of Indians.
"The Bolivian Indian is also remarkable for his ability to execute long passages on wind instruments. Even while dancing he can blow the quena or the zampona, which shows the vigour of his lungs, a quality due to the altitudes in which he lives. Few inhabitants of ordinary altitudes could endure such a test.
"Native music is usually soft, plaintive and naïve; its tremulous notes, often repeated five or six times in a minor key, swell and die in a monotonous rhythm which, to European ears, becomes tedious. Never do the instruments or the songs of the Indian suggest an idea of gaiety, but always a profound melancholy, the idea of extreme unhappiness and the wretchedness of a disordered mind.
"However, for one reason or another the Indians are now rather improving their music; and in many parts one notes unmistakable efforts to imitate and adapt the foreign conceptions of music and to mingle them with their favourite native airs. The latter do not lose their melancholy, but are even more affecting.
"Despite these improvements, which are not general, the traveller is always greatly impressed when, as he journeys through the mountainous regions, surrounded on every hand by gloomy masses without horizon, he hears, suddenly, at the fall of night, rising near at hand in the midst of a profound silence, the long mournful notes of the quena, like a long and profound complaint, which echo repeats in distant sobs. Sometimes the flute is accompanied by the measured taps of a drum or tambourine, and sometimes it accompanies a song, monotonous and guttural as the songs of the Arabs; sounds inspiring sombre thoughts and provoking a shudder of melancholy in the stranger who hears them for the first time. The quena, indeed, produces sounds of a sinister melancholy; one manner of playing it consists of introducing it into a great crock of earthenware pierced with a hole on either side so that the hands may be introduced; and when so played it yields notes of sepulchral sonority. In all the arsenal of human music it would perhaps be impossible to discover more doleful sounds.
"When this primitive music seeks to interpret a comparatively calm and cheerful frame of mind it is certainly a little more inspiriting, but some of its notes are still like the moans of a stricken soul.
"The native dances are for the most part common to both Aymaras and Quechuas. The most ridiculous and grotesque of these, on account of the extravagant costumes worn by the dancers, are the Danzantes, the Huacas-Tocoris, the Pacoches, the Morenos, the Tundiques and others yet, such as the Sicuris and the Chiriguano.
"This last is a war-dance; the dancers wear each the skin of a jaguar, or something resembling one; each carries a heavy stick; the music is harsh and warlike. The sicuri is danced by a group of fourteen Indians, wearing petticoats of white cotton cloth; on the head of each is a hat adorned with long feathers, the whole having the shape of an umbrella; they wear tambourines at their girdles and play the zampona, using two instruments. The huaca-tocoris or toros danzantes is performed during the fêtes of Corpus. A wooden framework covered with hide vaguely represents a bull; in the back of the beast is a hole through which the dancer introduces his body; his face smeared with soot, and clad in the following costume: white breeches, an old coat, a red poncho, and a hat bearing a semicircular crown of feathers. To imitate a bull-fighter another dancer brandishes a wooden sword in one hand and waves a handkerchief with the other.
"The commonest dance among the Indians is a slow, almost automatic rondo, the head continually rising and falling and turning from side to side. In another dance the dancers form couples, keeping their ground, and facing one another, accelerating their steps only at the end of each figure.
"During Lent the majority of the natives do not employ any instrumental music, but, on the other hand, they attend nocturnal gatherings known as chochus, at which young people of both sexes dance round a cross and sing psalms. There is absolutely nothing edifying about these functions, those taking part in them displaying a most disconcerting cynicism. On Easter Day the Indians wear their gala costumes, and ornament their hats with flowers and ribbons; they make up for their forty days' silence, and fill the air with the sound of quenas, sicus and tambourines. But even while dancing they are never gay; their sombre natures unbend only under the influence of drink.
"Among the strange and savage customs of the natives, we must not forget to mention the fights with whips which take place in certain provinces on Good Friday. On the occasion of the procession of the Sepulchre the Indians build altars along the route of the procession. The latter takes place always at night. Once it is over the altars are demolished by two separate groups—the Huarcas and the Incas, who at once begin to strive for victory. The two groups then assemble in the public place or square, and lash one another with implacable ardour. Triumph or failure is a good or bad omen for the year's harvest.
"Poetical songs, accompanied on the quechua, are known as yaravis. They are greatly appreciated by the natives. The Quechua yaravis have been to some extent improved by the modern Bolivians. They are usually a species of round, with a good deal of repetition; each stanza has four to ten lines. These songs reflect the dreamy and sombre character of the race. Love is always their subject; a melancholy, plaintive and monotonous passion.
"The Bolivian Indian usually provides for his modest needs in his own way; ignorant of the advantages of the division of labour, he weaves the cloth of his own garments—mantle, breeches, or vest—and makes his hat and sandals himself. His chief occupations are agriculture and stockraising; but he is indolent, thriftless, imprudent and, above all, an obstinate conservative; so he confines himself to growing a few potatoes, a little barley, quinua, or oca, just as much as he needs to keep him alive. The land, cultivated by the most primitive of means—for the Indian will never accept any innovation, however practical and excellent—is generally very limited in extent, unless the neighbourhood of a city of a mine calls for a greater production than usual. Moreover, thousands of Indians are taken away from' their fields by all manner of tasks—by the necessity of transporting merchandise, provisions, machinery, etc., on the backs of mules, asses, llamas and even men, in countries innocent of other means of transport, to the mines and factories established in barren and uncultivated regions.
"Both the Aymaras and the Quechuas keep little herds of llamas, alpacas or sheep whenever possible, as their care calls; for less labour than the raising of crops. A few fowls and other birds give them eggs, a few pigs furnish leather, meat and fat; they have the wool of their llamas and sheep, and they utilize even the excrement of the former as a combustible, as the Tibetans do that of the yak. A mule or a donkey grazes round the Indian's hut. From the age of four or five years the Indian guards the little herd of swine belonging to his parents; a little later he grazes their sheep among the mountains, where by means of his quena, zampona or cicus he learns to play melancholy airs.
"On the produce of his crops and his herds he lives in poverty, leaving the mountains or the plain only to exchange some of his products for coca or brandy. The woman is rarely idle; whether in the market, or loitering over her household tasks, or even as she walks, one sees her always spinning the wool of the llama or the sheep of which her garments are made.
"The Bolivian Indian in general excels in carrying loads, in spite of the lack of tolerable highways, covering daily stages of twenty to thirty miles. The average load is 66 to 80 lb. With his shoulders free his speed and endurance are amazing; he will cover fifty miles a day for several days on end, and without feeling exhausted, unless for some reason he wishes to seem so. We have seen Indians follow or accompany the coach or the mule which bore us, at the trot, shouting or blowing a pan-pipe; and at night they seemed less eager to rest than our mules or ourselves.
"The Indian is to-day little better off than he was under Spanish rule. Since the proclamation of Bolivar, which declared him capable of holding property, many Governments have passed laws intended to protect the Indian; but they have either remained ineffective or they have been overlooked and violated by the very officials whose duty it was to apply them."[39]
The Cholo, or half-breed, race of the Cordillera—or indeed the lowlands—is, after the Indian, the most numerous element in the population. These folk unite the qualities of the Spaniard and the aboriginal.
"The Cholos of Bolivia possess excellent qualities. They are robust and well-built physically; they are courteous and intelligent, rapidly acquiring all sorts of knowledge; they are, as a rule, proud and courageous, and, like the Indians, make excellent soldiers. They are good industrial workers; many become foremen and artisans. But they are also, like the Indian race from which they have sprung, avid of pleasure, with a strong inclination to idleness and alcohol. They profoundly despise the Indians, whose worst enemies they are; and they have always retained the Indian's timidity or servility toward the white man. Like the Indians, they are often lacking in energy, will-power and commercial or agricultural initiative.
"The Cholos, except in the poor and backward classes of society, are in no wise distinguishable, as to costume, from the white inhabitants. The women, or Cholas, many of whom are extremely pretty, are generally well made, with small hands and feet; their costume is conspicuous and characteristic. The Cholas of the more well-to-do classes are always extremely well shod, wearing high-laced boots with high heels, made of leather soft as a glove and of a light shade. These boots show off the foot and a shapely leg, clad in well-fitting stockings. The head is protected by a round hat of whitish felt, two black tresses falling down the back. On the shoulders they wear light shawls, white or of some other bright colour, of silk or other material, which covers a low-cut bodice worn over a short white pleated skirt, beneath which is a white petticoat edged with lace, which is slightly longer than the skirt. As the skirt is gathered on the hips, which are thus enlarged, and the bottom of the skirt is weighted, it sways as the wearer walks like the skirt of a dancer. The whole costume has a rather pleasing effect.
"The Cholas of the lower classes wear the same hat, the same coiffure, and a skirt of heavy woollen stuff, gathered on the hips, but no laced petticoat. The legs are bare and the feet are shod with sandals or cheap shoes.
"Hygiene is not always respected by the half-breeds of the lower classes, who are very superstitious. They bathe, it seems, only on odd dates, and more particularly on the 9th, 17th or 21st, otherwise they would be ill the rest of the year; and one must never take more than twenty-one baths in the year, or the same results would follow.
"The Cholos are in the minority in the country districts, but live, as a rule, in the towns and cantons. Since they have participated directly and ardently in politics, they profess to live, if not for, at least by the State, and have a perfect passion for bureaucracy. In the towns and capitals the Cholos more especially enter the Army and the Church, and lately have also become schoolmasters. There are very distinguished men among the half-breeds, whose degree of education varies. At all times this class has furnished really remarkable statesmen and writers of talent.
"On account of the many crossings which have taken place, and are still taking place, it is not always possible, without great perspicacity, to distinguish a member of the white race from one of the superior classes of half-breeds. All Bolivians are very much alike physically, and the singular yellowish tint to be observed in the cornea of the mixed race, a noticeable and tenacious characteristic of the Indian, and one that often persists to the third and fourth generation, at last entirely disappears. The colour of the skin is not a certain indication, for it depends upon the local conditions.
"We are of opinion, and many agree with us, that the future of the half-breed race is henceforth assured; that in years to come, when it is still further improved by the admixture of fresh blood, it will play a very prominent and active part in the national life. Already the half-breeds, who are more numerous than the whites, and almost as numerous as the Indians, are beginning to accumulate capital and to fill important posts in commercial houses. A half-breed aristocracy is in process of formation, which, when it is more numerous and more wealthy, when it has lost a little of its indolence and timidity, and has acquired greater initiative and a more serious education, will no longer be content to take a secondary place. Little by little—and examples already exist—it will assume the direction of the great industrial and commercial undertakings, and we shall see it consolidating its numerical and financial superiority by assuming the political direction of the country, to the detriment of the whites."[40]
I have dwelt thus lengthily upon the Indian races of the Cordillera for the reason that they have been comparatively little studied, and are indeed almost unknown to the outside world in general. They are in reality a valuable folk, mainly because they alone can perform sustained labour in the Cordillera, due to the condition of climate and atmosphere. If they disappear—and they do not appear to be increasing—these vast uplands might become uninhabited wildernesses. They are not likely to increase until the economic condition of their lives is improved, and, as a consequence, the heavy mortality among infants arrested.
To suppose that the Indians of the Cordillera are incapable, or even will be incapable, of receiving a higher civilization is to fall into a sociological error. The governing classes of these republics often assert this, however. But it will depend very much how "civilization" is applied to them. They are capable of becoming good mechanics and craftsmen, they are extremely careful and painstaking, as the intricacy and exquisite finish often of their native arts show; they imitate perhaps better than they initiate, but they nevertheless display considerable resource. They will not be herded into factories, if civilization consists in that. They are independent, and prefer to work for themselves.
As to their numbers, if we take the combined population of Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia at, say, twelve to thirteen million people, and deduct ten to twenty per cent. for the whites and mestizos, we shall obtain approximately the number of these real sons and daughters of the soil to-day, mainly upon the Cordillera.
The Cordillera of the Andes is, we might fancifully say, the great banker of the West, the great guardian of gold and sliver, the father of minerals, and the progenitor of the treasure of the rocks. We have seen that Peru is a land fabulous for its mineral wealth; Colombia, far to the north, has only lesser stores of metals, precious or base; Ecuador has been but little favoured in this respect, but nevertheless has a famed old gold mine; Chile is markedly rich in almost every mineral. But Bolivia perhaps surpasses all these. There was a famous Peruvian scientist and traveller, of Italian extraction—Raimondi—who described the plateau of Bolivia as "a table of silver supported by a column of gold." The same might be said of Peru. In the Cordillera generally we find gold in the lower districts, silver in the higher. It would almost seem that the metals have some affinity with the climate. At least the native Peruvian miner says that "the gold looks for the warmth, the silver for the cold."
Thus in the cold and the bleakness of the high hills do we find the white metal in Bolivia: we find, indeed, two white metals verging upon the regions of perpetual snow—silver and tin.
The tin mines, indeed, were first worked for silver, and the tin ores thrown away.
For the lore of silver-mining let us ascend to Potosi, the Silver Mountain. Its summit rises in perfect sugar-loaf form to over 16,000 feet above the level of the sea. Upon the slopes of this wonderful mountain, some 2,000 or 3,000 feet lower down, stands a city, founded in 1545 by the adventurous Spaniards, with their keen olfato, or instinct for gold and silver, and fifty years later 150,000 folk had their habitations there. For lodes and seams of the richest silver ore lay here—native silver and others; and the shell of the mountain quickly became honeycombed with shafts and galleries. Of five thousand such, a thousand may be seen to-day.
All classes of adventurers flocked to Potosi. There were bankrupt Spanish nobles, thinking by a lucky stroke, or with their name and prestige, to recoup themselves; there were merchants, anxious to obtain sudden wealth; gamblers, thieves, demi-mondaines and all else, and Potosi became a centre of prodigality, romantic adventure, revelry and often disorder. Here Spanish hidalgos vied with each other in squandering fortunes in pleasure and ostentation, matters which caused faction-strife among the bands into which the people of the place were divided. The old chronicles of Potosi are very interesting, revealing as they do the custom of those times, the superstition, the chivalry and all else, which not even the high and solemn environment of the Cordillera could dampen.
To-day an English mining company works upon the mountain, striving to earn dividends for its shareholders. The silver is far from being exhausted, but methods of recovery fell back; and the low value of silver and the high rate of wage demanded by the miner were other factors in decadence.
The Potosi mountain was not a possession of the Spaniard alone. It has a metallurgical interest more remote. A traveller in the Cordillera before the time of the Conquest might have seen, as he approached the spot at night, a number of twinkling lights upon the slopes. They were the fires of the little furnaces in which the Indians, of the Incas, smelted the simpler silver ores, the winds of the Cordillera furnishing the needful blast; and these furnaces were called in Quechua Guayras, which word means "the wind." It is said that at one time more than 15,000 of these little furnaces were to be seen upon the Silver Mountain, which reared its desolate slopes to heaven, but was a treasure-house of Nature.
ACONCAGUA, THE HIGHEST ANDINE PEAK, CHILE.
Vol. I. To face p. 288.
It would not be possible here to dwell on the other great mines of Bolivia.[41] The mines of Huanchaca, with their great installation and considerable population, form a community of themselves, and have produced literally thousands of tons of silver. In winter, buried in snow, the place looks like a town of Northern Europe or Canada. The ores are first sorted by women, who are expert sorters of the grey argentiferous copper ores of the main lode. At times of late years nearly half a million pounds sterling have been distributed among the European shareholders of this important concern. Sometimes in a single month as much as seven tons of silver have been produced.
Silver to-day is less important than tin, however, which has become the principal article of Bolivian export, wrested from the bleakest places here in the Andes, as is the copper of Chile.
We have visited, in the Cordillera of South America, the highest inhabited places on the face of the globe.
But south of Bolivia the Andes no longer offers a place for the homes of mankind, for towns and populations, such as Nature has provided in those vast regions we have traversed. The Cordillera becomes a single chain or ridge, without intermediate valleys or plateaux, and so continues for an enormous distance, lowering its elevation by degrees towards the frigid regions of the southern extremity of the continent, where its glaciers veritably run down into the bosom of the ocean. Perhaps the Cordillera has sunk here, as its "drowned" valleys—the fiords of the south seem to indicate—sunk, split and shattered as if Nature had done enough in this vast range running half across the globe.
If, however, the Chilean Cordillera does not offer an abiding place for man, it nevertheless is the source of his comfort and wealth, for the streams which flow from its summits irrigate the fields and vineyards of Chile's fruitful vales and Argentina's productive plains, bringing to being corn, wine and oil, and other things which make glad the heart of man.
The Andes form the dividing-line between Chile and Argentina. The water-parting was adopted as the boundary under the arbitration of King Edward of Britain. A remarkable monument has been erected in Uspallata Pass, a token that these two nations will enter into conflict no more; a great bronze statue of Christ, on a huge pedestal—El Cristo de los Andes—standing solitary and majestic amid the eternal snows, looking out over the high places of the mighty Cordillera.
[INDEX]
Aguascalientes, [104]
Alligators, [137]
Almagro, [190], [241]
Alvarado, [65], [119]
Amazon, [209], [229]
Americans, [83], [94], [114], [142], [148], [149]
Andagoya, [156]
Andenes, [246]
Andes, [155], [160], [166], [209]
Antofagasta, [178]
Apaches, [104]
Araucanians, [194]
Archæology, [59], [69], [138], [157], [163], [164]
Areas, [33]
Arequipa, [177]
Argentina, [290]
Arica, [188]
Armchairs, stone, ancient, [157]
Arnica plant, [137]
Arts, native, [72]
Atahualpa, [236]
Ayacucho, [264]
Aymaras, [242], [270]
Aztecs, [13], [32], [57], [104], [160]
Bahamas, [41], [44]
Balboa, [63]
Bamboos, [159]
Bananas, [77], [104], [134]
Belize, [76]
Birds, [135], [137], [152], [159]
Bogata, [48]
Bolivar, [234], [266]
Bolivia, [20], [188]
Borax Lake, [188]
Brazil, [21], [48]
British Guiana, [21], [75]
British Honduras, [21], [75]
Brown labour [141], see also Indians
Buenaventura, [155]
Bull-fights, [144]
Cacao, see Chocolate
Cacti, [103], [134]
Cajamarca, [235]
Calendar stone, Mexican, [139]
Cali, [156]
California, [44], [147], [165]
Callao, [151], [166], [173]
Campeche, [136]
Carlota, Empress, [147]
Carnival time, [253]
Cathay, [40]
Cathedrals, [166]
Cauca Valley, [156]
Central America, [22]
Cerro de Pasco, [162]
Chihuahua, [104]
Chile, [20], [48], [164], [188], [266]
Chimborazo, [165], [218]
Chinese, [160]
Chocolate, [104], [134], [158]
Cholos, [170], [244], [282]
Cholula, [111]
Christ, statue of, [290]
Church of England, [33]
Church, Roman Catholic, [55], [66]
Coal, [133], [163], [207]
Cochrane, Admiral, [196], [264]
Coconuts, [77], [104], [134], [137], [158]
Coffee, [77], [104], [159]
Colluahuassi, [182]
Colombia, [47], [50], [67], [87], [151]
Colour line, [140]
Columbus, [34]
Concepcion, [196]
Concessionaries, foreign, [145]
Condor, [260]
Conquest of Peru, [237]
Copper, [247]
Cordillera, [152], [162], see Andes
Corinto, [81]
Cortes, [45]
Costa Rica, [84]
Cotopaxi, [218]
Cotton, [77], [145], [163]
Creation story, [66]
Cuba, [97]
Cuzco, [160], [223], [262]
Dances, Indian, [278]
Darien, [63]
Davila, [64]
Demerara, [21]
Diaz, [101], [140]
Doctorate, love of the, [169]
Don Quixote, [161]
Drake, [52]
Dress and morals, [175]
Dress, native, [254], [270]
Drink evil, [275]
Durango, [104]
Dyewood, [77]
Earthquakes, [69], [171], [196]
Ecuador, [151], [216], [151]
Edward, King, [20]
Elizabeth, Queen, [88], [166]
English in, [17]-24, [75], [142], [180], [204], [205], [261], [288]
Fibres, [77]
Fishing, [137]
Foreigners in, [16], [115], [142], [204], [255]
Forests, see Timber
Fossils, [209]
Galapagos Islands, [158]
Game, [38]
Garcia-Moreno, [234]
Germans, [162], [204]
Gold, [48], [77], [84], [154], [164], [256], etc.
Golden utensils, [236]
Government, [30]
Grau, [182]
Guadalajara, [136]
Guadalupe, [116]
Guahtemoc, [68], [120]
Guanajuato, [132], [104]
Guano, [154]
Guatemala, [43], [69]
Guayaquil, [151], [156]
Guayaquil-Quito railway, [220]
Guayas River, [156], [158]
Guianas, [21]
Hayti, [97]
Holy Alliance, [147]
Honduras, [68], [74], see British Honduras
Horse, the, [37]
Houses, native, [114], [141], [200], [225], [253]
Huacas, [247]
Huancavelica, [161]
Huanchaca, [289]
Huascar, [182]
Huayna Capac, [229]
Humboldt, [34], [217]
Inca roads, [223]
Incas of Peru, [13], [32], [57], [159], [229]
Indian folk, [13], [44], [51], [53], [57], [68], [101], [138], [163], [170], [243], [249], [275]
Inquisition, [50], [167]
Iquique, [151], [180]
Irrigation, [176]
Isabella, Queen, [41], [50]
Iturbide, [147]
Ixtaccihuatl, [113]
Juarez, [140]
Kosmos line, [162]
Labour, native, see Indian folk, also Peonage
La Condamine, [218]
La Paz, [268]
Leguia, President of Peru, [167]
Lima, [166]
Llamas, [154], [259]
Lower California, [140]
Magellan, [43], [207]
Maguey, [134]
Malaria, [157]
Manabi, [157]
Mangroves, [155]
Maximilian, [147]
Mayas, [65], [138], [160]
Melancholy, Indian, [275]
Merida, [138]
Mexico, [20], [45], [98]-150
Mexico, city of, [113]
Mining, [51], [104], [132], [133], [160], [243], [258], [288]
Misti, [177]
Mitla, [60]
Monroe Doctrine, [148]
Montezuma, [106]
Morgan, [88]
Music, native, [163], [275]
Natives, see Indians
Negroes, [92]
Nelson, Admiral, [83]
Nezahualcoyotl, [60]
Nicaragua, [80]
Nicoya, [82]
Nitrate, [179]
Noche Triste, [117]
Oaxaca, [136]
Oficinas, nitrate, [180]
O'Higgins, [195], [201]
Oligarchies, [169]
Olives, [176]
Ollague, mountain, [188]
Orchids, [137]
Orizaba, [105]
Oroya railway, [166]
Oruro, [188]
Otumba, Battle of, [120]
Pachuca, [104], [132]
Pacific Ocean, [64], [139], [151]-208
Pampa, [181]
Panama, [43], [63], [73], [86], [87], [91], [155]
Panama Canal, see Panama
Panama hats, [157]
Pardo, ex-President, [167]
Patagonia, [207]
Paterson, [90]
Pedro de Candia, [154]
Peonage, [138], [141]
Peru, [20], [47], [151]-265
Peruvians, the, [168]
Philip II, [51]
Picture-writing, [66]
Pierola, ex-President, [167]
Pineapples, [138]
Pizarro, [47], [151], [236]
Poetry, Indian, [279]
Poetry, native, [279]
Poetry, Spanish American, [26]
Ponchos, [254]
Popocateptl, [113]
Population, [34], [95]
Portugal, [41]
Potosi, [104], [162], [269], [287]
Prat, [182]
Proletariat, [145]
Puebla, [136], [145]
Putumayo, [34]
Quechuas, [242], [270]
Quesada, [48]
Quetzalcoatl, [104]
Quiches, [65]
Quicksilver, [161]
Quinine, [137]
Quipos, [66]
Quito, [166], [215], [222]
Rafts, native, [159]
Revolution, [143], [170]
Roosevelt, President, [87]
Rotos, Chilean, [180]
Rubber, [77], [86], [104], [135]
Sacsaihuaman, [263]
Salvador, [78]
Sand-dunes, [176]
San Martin, [264]
Santiago, [193], [199]
Santo Domingo, [97]
Seals, [152]
Shiris, [223], [229]
Silver, [132], [162], [256]
Slavery, [148]
Sorata, [178]
Soroche, [209]
Southern railway of Peru, [177]
Spain, fall of, [264]
Spanish language, [24]
Stelae, [72]
Strikes, [145]
Sugar, [104], [163]
Tabasco, [136]
Tarapaca, [180]
Tehuantepec, [73]
Tennis, Aboriginal, [135]
Tenochtitlan, [113]
Teotihuacan, [59], [120]
Terrace-farming, [246]
Texas, [147], [148]
Texcoco, [116]
Textiles, native, [227]
Tiahuanako, [163]
Tidal waves, [174]
Timber, [86], [101]
Tin, [162], [188]
Titicaca lake, [163], [177]
Tlascala, [106]
Toltecs, [12], [139], [160]
Travel methods, [36], [37], [152]
Trujillo, [166]
Tumbez, [154]
Turkey, original home of the, [135]
United States, see Americans
Unknown God, [61], [214]
Uynini, [188]
Valdivia, [48], [193]
Valparaiso, [151], [188], [197]
Venezuela, [21]
Volcanoes, [216]
Walker, American filibuster, [83]
Water power, [145]
Whymper, [217]
Wine, [176], [207]
Women, status of, [37], [115], [135], [143], [154], [163], [168], [202], [205], [252], [274]
Yareta, [260]
Yellow fever, [157]
Yucatan, [138]
Zacatecas, [104], [132]
THE ANGLO-SOUTH AMERICAN
BANK, LIMITED
AN
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INSTITUTION
The Bank has Branches in—
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