LIST OF PLATES.
| Page. | |
| Plate 1.—Cathedral of Lima, | ([to face title page].) |
| Plate 2.—Yanacoto. | [44] |
| Plate 3.—Hacienda de Moyoc. | [60] |
| Plate 4.—San Mateo. | [60] |
| Plate 5.—Summit of the Cordillera. | [60] |
| Plate 6.—Mountain of Puypuy. | [60] |
| Plate 7.—Oroya. | [76] |
| Plate 8.—Tarma. | [76] |
| Plate 9.—Fort San Ramon. | [92] |
| Plate 10.—Cerro Pasco. | [108] |
| Plate 11.—Miner. | [108] |
| Plate 12.—Ore carrier. | [108] |
| Plate 13.—Givaro. | [172] |
| Plate 14.—Givara. | [188] |
| Plate 15.—Zaparo, (Hunter). | [204] |
| Plate 16.—Zaparo, (Fisher). | [204] |
CHAPTER I.
INTRODUCTORY.
U. S. ship Vandalia—Valparaiso—Santiago—Vicente Pazos—Preparatory orders—Lima—Means of information—Conquests of the Incas in the Montaña—First explorations of the Spaniards—Madame Godin.
Attached to the U. S. ship Vandalia, of the Pacific squadron, lying at anchor in the harbor of Valparaiso, in the month of August, 1850, I received a communication from the Superintendent of the National Observatory, informing me that orders to explore the Valley of the Amazon would be sent me by the next mail steamer.
The ship was then bound for the Sandwich Islands, but Captain Gardner, with that kindness which ever characterized his intercourse with his officers, did not hesitate to detach me from the ship, and to give me permission to await, at Valparaiso, the arrival of my instructions.
The officers expressed much flattering regret at my leaving the ship, and loaded me with little personal mementos—things that might be of use to me on my proposed journey.
On the 6th of August I unexpectedly saw, from the windows of the club-house at Valparaiso, the topsails of the ship mounting to the mastheads; I saw that she must needs make a stretch in-shore to clear the rocks that lie off the western point of the bay; and desirous to say farewell to my friends, I leaped into a shore-boat, and shoved off, with the hope of reaching her before she went about. The oarsmen, influenced by the promise of a pair of dollars if they put me on board, bent to their oars with a will, and the light whale-boat seemed to fly; but just as I was clearing the outer line of merchantmen, the ship came sweeping up to the wind; and as she gracefully fell off on the other tack, her royals and courses were set; and bending to the steady northeast breeze, she darted out of the harbor at a rate that set pursuit at defiance. God's blessing go with the beautiful ship, and the gallant gentlemen, her officers, who had been to me as brothers.
Owing to the death of President Taylor, and the consequent change in the Cabinet, my orders were delayed, and I spent several weeks in Valparaiso, and Santiago, the capital of Chili. This time, however, was not thrown away: my residence in these cities improved my knowledge of the Spanish language, and gave me information regarding the Bolivian tributaries of the Amazon which I probably could have got nowhere else.
The commander of the English naval forces in the Pacific, Admiral Hornby, was much interested in my mission, and searched for me, through his valuable library, for all that had been written upon the subject. I am indebted to him, and the officers of his fleet, for much personal kindness.
I must also return thanks to Messrs. George Hobson, H. V. Ward, George Cood, and Commodore Simpson, of the Chilian navy, for the loan of books and maps which assisted me in forming my plans, and deciding as to route.
Mr. Bridges, an English florist and botanist, who had descended the Chaparé and Mamoré, tributaries of the Madeira, as far as the mouth of the Beni, and who sent the first specimen of the Victoria Regia to England from this country, gave me such a description of it as enabled me to point out to Mr. Gibbon the most practicable route to the headwaters of those streams.
I also had long conversations with General Ballivian, ex-President of Bolivia, then an exile to Chili. He lent me a map of Bolivia, executed under his orders whilst President of that republic, of which I took a tracing, but which I had afterwards the misfortune to lose.
At Santiago I received information regarding the river Beni, and the interior of Bolivia and Peru, from a French gentleman named Pissis, an engineer in the employment of the Chilian government; and also from a gentleman named Smith, an employé in the large mercantile house of Huth, Gruning & Co., who had travelled much in those countries.
To Don José Pardo, chargé d'affaires of Peru to the republic of Chili, I owe much for information and advice. He gave me copies of letters from Vicente Pazos, a citizen of Buenos Ayres, who has always manifested much interest in the improvement and advancement of South America, and who, in 1819, published a series of papers on the affairs of that country, directed to Henry Clay. These letters I deem of sufficient interest to give a translation of.
Buenos Ayres, July 14, 1850.
To Don Jose Pardo,
Minister of the Peruvian Republic, near the Government of Chili.
Sir: In a journal of this capital of the 2d inst., I have seen a transcript of a letter from you to the editor of a periodical of this place, in which you say, under date of the 25th of April last, that you have received special notice of the discovery, in the province of "Carabaya," of the ore and washings of gold. In consequence, the government of Peru invites all who desire it to take advantage, and make use of the natural productions of these regions, where emigrants of all nations shall have all the political and religious guarantees necessary in the exercise of their industry.
This announcement fills me with pleasure, because it is an evidence of the elevation of ideas which obtains in the government, and which will carry this part of Upper Peru to the height of prosperity to which it is called by its topographical and territorial position; and particularly because it has in its midst navigable rivers which connect it with the Atlantic. I allude to the navigation of the Amazon.
I have been now engaged some ten years in the thought and study of the political, social, and commercial relations concerning this matter, as is shown in my many publications which have circulated in Europe and America. These show the pains I have taken with the government of Louis Philippe, King of France, in order to open a new line of commercial communication between Cayenne and French Guyana and the republics of Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, and Venezuela.
But I have always thought that our America, by the intelligence of its people, was to make a great social and commercial change; and I have always thought that this change would operate by means of its gigantic and navigable rivers. This conception is corroborated by the announcement of the discovery of the gold regions of Carabaya. Its upper parts, which belong to the Andes, feed sheep of the most exquisite wool; and as it goes on descending, vegetation springs up with a fecundity and ease unknown in the Old World. The land is cut up with mountain torrents, whose banks contain gold, and which unite to form the river "Purus," one of the greatest tributaries of the Amazon.
Of this river, our celebrated botanist, D. Tadeo Há-enke, in a special report, says: "Purus, or Cachivara, is a river of the first order. It arises in the cordillera of Vilcanota, a little to the east of the mountains of Carabaya, from which descend many considerable streams, rich in gold." To the testimony of this wise naturalist I add that of Condamine, and of the English naval officer, Smyth, and lastly the works of the Count of Castelnau, who descended the Amazon from Cuzco.
The scientific and hydrographical works of these travellers persuade me that the "Purus" will be the best channel of interior commerce, and will put the centre of Peru in communication with the industrial, commercial, and manufacturing nations of Europe and North America.
For this effect it is proper not only to speak of and familiarize people with this easy line of communication, but also to stimulate foreign emigration, and the civilization of the inhabitants of our forests—a people of a gentle disposition and an active intelligence.
The first sight I had of steam in the United States of America, in 1818, gave me the idea that our rivers were equally susceptible with theirs of this motive power, so that, in a work which I published in New York in 1819, I said that the day would arrive in which vessels moved by steam would navigate upon the gold-bearing rivers of Peru, as upon the fabulous Pactolus. This prediction is not now to me a fable, and, therefore, my conviction is unshaken, as will be seen by a letter which I have written to the President of the republic, Prince Louis Napoleon Bonaparte. The note to which I refer in it is very long, which prevents me from copying it, but some day it will be published.
In the mean time, I congratulate you, and your government, that in its administration should have taken place a measure so necessary for the common good.
Permit me, also, to offer you my respects, and to subscribe myself,
Your obedient servant,
VICENTE PAZOS.
Buenos Ayres, February 2, 1850.
To His Excellency Prince Louis Napoleon Bonaparte,
President of the French Republic.
Prince: In bringing to the notice of your excellency the adjoined copy, which is a duplicate of my note, laid before the executive power which governed republican France in June, 1848, my object is to call the attention of your excellency to the same project which Napoleon, your august uncle, conceived for the aggrandizement of the most important colony which France possesses in the New World—French Guyana. Before the application of steam to navigation, this tutelar genius of France comprehended that Cayenne would some day be the key to a vast commerce in all those regions, where might be created great empires.
This sublime conception infused into my spirit the idea that the time had arrived to realize the views of the Emperor; and, with this object, I addressed myself to the French government, in April, 1840, when the Chambers decreed trans-atlantic steam navigation, to the end that there should also be established a river line between French Guyana and the republics of Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, and Venezuela. All the ministers who governed until February, 1848, including also the monarchy, approved my project, and took the preliminary measures necessary for beginning a system of navigation without equal since the days of Columbus and Vasco de Gama.
Officers of the French navy, stimulated by the example of those of the English, who had preceded them in the exploration of the Amazon, made also important hydrographical observations of the course of that river, which show that its principal outlet is along the shores of French Guyana, whence France may command the fluvial navigation and the commerce of those vast regions.
I thought that this advantage, which a glance at the geographical position of French Guyana shows, would work effectually in the judgment of M. Arago, then Minister of Marine and member of the provincial government of the French republic.
The reply of this wise astronomer, of April 14th, to my note of the 22d April preceding, smothered, not only my hopes, but closed the doors to the prosperity of the French colonies, and to that of those nations whose streams form the Amazon, and whose people desire with eagerness this new and short way of communication between Europe and meridional America.
The grandeur of this plan, which is found set forth in my notes, memorials, and writings, which may be found in the different ministerial bureaus of France, together with the opinions of many French writers and travellers, among whom the most distinguished is M. Castelnau, demonstrate the utility of encouraging the growth of Guyana.
To all the information furnished by these ought to be added the verbal communications which I have received from the commander of the "Astrolabe," M. Montravel, who is now on the station of the river Plate, under the order of Vice Admiral Le Predour. M. De Montravel, in the corvette Boulognaise, is the officer who made the exploration of the Amazon, and whose most valuable information, which exists in the department of the French marine, corroborates all that I have expressed to the French government for these ten years, and now animates me to address myself to your excellency directly, renewing the same project which I had the honor of presenting to the French nation, &c.
VICENTE PAZOS.
The city of Santiago is situated in a lovely plain at the very foot of the cordillera. The snowy summits of this chain, painted in bold relief against the hard, gray sky of the morning, have a very singular and beautiful appearance; they seem cut from white marble, and within reach of the hand. It is almost impossible to give an idea of the transparency of the atmosphere at this place. I was never tired of watching, from Lieut. Gillis's little observatory, the stars rising over these mountains. There was nothing of the faint and indistinct glimmer which stars generally present when rising from the ocean; but they burst forth in an instant of time, in the full blaze of their beauty, and seemed as if just created. Gillis told me that his small telescope, of American manufacture, of 6½ inches of aperture, was there fully equal in power to the German glass at Washington of 9 inches.
Chili, in arts and civilization, is far ahead of any other South American republic. There are many young men of native families, educated in the best manner in Europe, who would be ornaments to any society; and the manners of the ladies are marked by a simple, open, engaging cordiality, that seems peculiar to Creoles. I do not know a more pleasant place of residence than Santiago, except for two causes: one, earthquakes, to the terrors of which no familiarity breeds indifference; the other, the readiness of the people to appeal to the bayonet for the settlement of political differences, or in the struggle for political power. These two causes shook the city and society to their foundations a few months after I left it.
On the 20th of January, 1851, I received the following instructions from the Hon. William A. Graham, Secretary of the Navy:
Navy Department, October 30, 1850.
Sir: Proceed to Lima, for the purpose of collecting from the monasteries, and other authentic sources that may be accessible to you, information concerning the headwaters of the Amazon and the regions of country drained by its Peruvian tributaries. You will then visit the monasteries of Bolivia for a like purpose, touching the Bolivian tributaries of that river, should it in your judgment be desirable.
The object of the department in assigning you to this service is with the view of directing you to explore the Valley of the Amazon, should the consent of Brazil therefor be obtained; and the information you are directed to obtain is such as would tend to assist and guide you in such exploration, should you be directed to make it.
As this service to which you are now assigned may probably involve the necessity of the occasional expenditure of a small amount on government account, you are furnished with a bill of credit for one thousand dollars, for which you will account to the proper office.
Also, enclosed you will find a letter of introduction to Messrs. Clay and McClung, chargés d'affaires near the governments of Peru and Bolivia.
Respectfully, &c.,
WILLIAM A. GRAHAM.
As I had obtained from my Santiago and Valparaiso friends—particularly from General Ballivian—all the information that I would be likely to get in the cities of Bolivia, I determined to proceed to Lima, and accordingly embarked on board the mail boat of the 26th.
My residence in Valparaiso had made new friends and established new ties, that I found painful to break; but this is the lot of the navy officer: separated from his family for years, he is brought into the closest and most intimate association with his messmates, and forms ties which are made but to be broken, generally by many years of separation. Taken from these, he is thrown among strangers, and becomes dependent upon their kindness and hospitality for the only enjoyments that make his life endurable. Receiving these, his heart yearns towards the donors; and my Valparaiso friends will readily believe that I was sad enough when compelled to leave them.
I arrived in Lima on the 6th of February. This city has changed greatly since I was here, twenty years ago. Though we had bull-fights on the accession of the new President, General Echenique, (which accession, strange to say, took place without popular tumult, except a small outbreak at Arequipa, resulting in the immediate imprisonment at Lima of the opposing candidate, General Vivanco,) yet the noble amphitheatre was not crowded as in old times with the élite and fashion of Lima, but seemed abandoned to the vulgar. The ladies have given up their peculiar and most graceful national costume, the "Saya y Manto," and it is now the mark of a ragged reputation. They dress in the French style, frequent the opera, and, instead of the "Yerba de Paraguay," called Matté, of which they used a great quantity formerly, they now take tea. These are causes for regret, for one likes to see nationality preserved; but there is one cause for congratulation, (especially on the part of sea-going men, who have sometimes suffered,) the railroad between Lima and Callao has broken up the robbers.
But with these matters I have nothing to do. My first business at Lima was to establish relations with Don Francisco Paula y Vigil, the accomplished and learned superintendent of the public library. This gentleman, who is an ecclesiastic and a member of the Senate, has so high a character for learning and honesty, that, though a partisan politician, and a member of the opposition to the new government, he preserves (a rare thing in Peru) the respect and confidence of all. He placed the books of the library at my disposal, and kindly selected for me those that would be of service.
The sources of information, however, were small and unsatisfactory. The military expeditions into the country to the eastward of the Andes left little or no reliable traces of their labors. The records of the explorations of the Jesuits were out of my reach, in the archives of Quito—at that time the head of the diocese, and the starting-point of the missions into the interior—and nearly all that I could get at were some meagre accounts of the operations of the Franciscans, collected by Father Manuel Sobreviela, guardian of the missionary college of Ocopa, and published, in 1790, in a periodical called "Mercurio Peruano," edited by an association styling itself "Amantes del Pais," or lovers of their country.
Though the information obtained in Lima was not great, I still think that a slight historical sketch of the attempts to explore the Montaña,[1] of Peru, made since the conquest of that country by Pizarro, will not be uninteresting. Before commencing it, however, I desire to express my acknowledgments to the many gentlemen, both native and foreign, who have assisted me in my researches with information and advice, particularly to Don Nicholas Pierola, the Director of the National Museum, whose name is associated with that of Mariano de Rivero, as "par excellence" the scientific men of Peru; to the Hon. John Randolph Clay, chargé d'affaires of the United States; to Dr. Archibald Smith, an eminent physician, and author of a very clever book called "Peru as it is;" and to the courteous and hospitable partners of the mercantile house of Alsop & Co., Messrs. Prevost, Foster & McCall.
Modern books upon the subject—such as Prescott's Peru; Humboldt's Narrative; Von Tschude's Travels; Smith's "Peru as it is;" Condamine's Voyage on the Amazon; Prince Adalbert's Travels; the Journals of the English Lieutenants, Smyth and Maw; "Travels in Maynas" of Don Manuel Ijurra, who afterwards accompanied me as interpreter to the Indians; Southey's Brazil, and a Chorographic Essay on the Province of Pará, by a Brazilian named Baena—were all consulted, and, together with oral communications from persons who had visited various parts of the Valley of the Amazon, gave me all the information within my reach, and prepared me to start upon my journey at least with open eyes.
According to Garcilasso de la Vega, himself a descendant of the Incas, the attention of the Peruvian government was directed to the country east of the Andes even before the time of the Spanish conquest. The sixth Inca, Rocca, sent his son, Yahuar Huaccac, at the head of 15,000 men, with three generals as companions and advisers, to the conquest of the country to the northward and eastward of Cuzco, called Antisuyo, inhabited by Indians called Antis. The young prince added a space of thirty leagues in that direction to the dominions of his father, but could reach no further on account of the roughness of the country and the difficulties of the march. The tenth and great Inca, Yupanqui, sent an expedition of 10,000 men to pursue the conquests of Yahuar Huaccac. These reached the Montaña, and, embarking on rafts upon the great river Amarumayo,[2] fought their way through tribes called Chunchos, till they arrived, with only 1,000 men, into the territory of tribes called Musus. Finding their numbers now too small for conquest, they persuaded these Indians that they were friends, and, by their superior civilization, obtained such an ascendency among them, that the Musus agreed to send ambassadors to render homage and worship to the "Child of the Sun," and gave these men of the Inca race their daughters in marriage, and a place in their tribe.
Years afterwards, during the reign of Huaynal Capac, the Incas and their descendants desired to return to Cuzco; but in the midst of their preparations they received intelligence of the downfall of their nation, and settled finally among the Musus, who adopted many of the laws, customs, usages, and worship of the Incas.
I have little doubt of the truth of this account, for even at the present day may be found amongst the savages who dwell about the headwaters of the Ucayali, the Purus, and in the country between the Purus and Beni, traces of the warlike character of the mountain race, and that invincible hatred of the white man which the descendants of the Incas may well be supposed to feel. This determined hostility and warlike character prevented me from embarking upon the Chanchamayo to descend the Ucayali, was the cause why I could not get men to ascend the Ucayali from Sarayacu, and I have no doubt hindered Mr. Gibbon from penetrating to the eastward of Cuzco, and seeking in that direction the sources of the Purus.
This character is entirely distinct from that of the Indians of the plains everywhere in South America, who are, in general, gentle, docile, and obedient, and who fear the white man with an abject and craven fear.
Love of dominion and power had induced the Indian princes of Peru to waste their treasures and the lives of their subjects in the subjugation of the Montaña. A stronger passion was now to urge a stronger people in the same direction. Stories of great empires, which had obtained the names of Beni, or Gran Pará, Gran Pairiri, or Paititi, and El Dorado, filled with large and populous cities, whose streets were paved with gold; of a lake of golden sand, called Parima; of a gilded king, who, when he rose in the morning, was smeared with oil, and covered with gold dust blown upon him by his courtiers through long reeds, and of immense mineral and vegetable treasures, had for some time filled the ears and occupied the minds of the avaricious conquerors; and, after the partial settlement of affairs by the defeat of the Almagro faction at the battle of Salinas, near Cuzco, on the 26th April, 1538, various leaders sought opportunities of obtaining wealth and distinction by incursions into these unknown lands.
Hernando Pizarro fitted out two expeditions, giving to Pedro de Candia the command of the first, and to Pedro Anzulo that of the second. These men, led on by the report of the Indians, who constantly asserted that the rich countries they sought lay yet farther to the eastward, penetrated, it is supposed, as far as the Beni; but, overcome by danger, privation, and suffering, they returned with no results, save marvellous stories of what they had seen and learned, which inflamed the curiosity and cupidity of others. These parties were generally accompanied by an ecclesiastic, who was the historian of the expedition. Some idea may be formed of the worthlessness of their records by examining a few of the stories related by them. Here is one:
"Juan Alvarez Maldonado made an expedition from Cuzco in the year 1561. He descended the eastern range of the Andes, and had scarcely cleared the rough and rocky ground of the slope when his party encountered two pigmies. They shot the female, and the male died of grief six days afterwards.
"Following the course of the great river Mano downwards, at the distance of two hundred leagues they landed upon a beach, and a piquet of soldiers penetrated into the woods. They found the trees so tall as to exceed an arrow-shot in height, and so large that six men, with joined hands, could scarcely circle them. Here they found lying upon the ground a man, five yards in height, members in proportion, long snout, projecting teeth, vesture of beautiful leopard skin, short and shrivelled, and, for a walking-stick, a tree, which he played with as with a cane. On his attempting to rise, they shot him dead, and returned to the boat to give notice to their companions. These went to the spot, and found traces of his having been carried off. Following the track towards a neighboring hill, they heard thence such shouts and vociferations that they were astounded, and, horror-stricken, fled." One more:
"Between the years 1639 and 1648, Padre Tomas de Chaves, a Dominican, entered among the Chunchos, from Cochabamba, in Bolivia. He took twelve of them to Lima, where they were baptized. He then went back and lived among them fourteen years, making many expeditions. His last was in 1654 among the Moxos Indians of the Mamoré. He there cured a cacique of some infirmity, and the Emperor of the Musus (this is the great Paititi or gilded King of the Spaniards) sent six hundred armed men to the cacique of the Moxos, demanding that the reverend father should be sent to cure his Queen. The Moxos were very unwilling to part with their physician; but threats of extermination delivered by the ambassadors of the Emperor induced compliance; and the padre was carried off on the shoulders of the Indians. After a travel of thirty days, he came to the banks of a stream so wide that it could scarcely be seen across; (supposed to be the Beni.) Here the Indian ambassadors had left their canoes; loosing them from the banks, they launched, went down the stream twelve days, and then landed. Here the father found a large town inhabited by an incredible number of savages, all soldiers, guarding this great port of the river, and entrance into the empire of the Musus. No women were to be seen; they lived in another town, a league off, and only came in by day to bring food and drink to the warriors, and returned at night.
"He observed that the river at this place divided into many arms, all appearing navigable, and formed large islands, on which were great towns. He travelled hence twenty-seven days, when he arrived at court. The King came out to meet him, dressed in the finest and most delicate feathers, of different colors. He treated his guest with great courtesy, had a sumptuous feast prepared for him, and told him that, hearing of his wonderful powers as a physician, he had sent for him to cure the Queen of a disease which had baffled the skill of all his doctors. The good father remarked that he was no physician, and had not been bred to that art; but observing that the Queen was beset with devils, ('obsesa,') he exorcised her according to the formulary, whereby she was thankfully made a Christian. He was eleven months in the court of the Paititi; at the end of which time, seeing that the wine and flour for the sacred elements were giving out, and having baptized an infinite number of infants in 'Articulo Mortis,' he took leave of their majesties, recommending to the Queen that she hold fast the faith she had received, abstaining from all offence towards God. He refused from the King a great present of gold, silver, pearls, and rich feathers; whereat (says Father Tomas) the King and courtiers wondered greatly."
These are of the number of stories which, inflaming the cupidity of the Spaniards, led them to brave the perils of the wilderness in search of El Dorado. They serve to show at this day the little confidence which is to be placed in the relations of the friars concerning this country; I do not imagine, however, that they are broad lies. The soldiers of Maldonado evidently mistook monkeys for pigmies, and some beast of the forest, probably the tapir, for a giant; and there is doubtless some truth in the account of Padre Tomas, though one cannot credit the six hundred ambassadors; the river that could scarcely be seen across; the garrisoned port; and the gold, silver, and pearls of an alluvial country.
But the defeated followers of Almagro, flying from before the face of the still victorious Pizarros, did find to the eastward of Cuzco a country answering, in some degree, to the description of the fabulous El Dorado. They penetrated into the valleys of Carabaya, and found there washings of gold of great value. They subjugated the Indians; built the towns of San Juan del Oro, San Gaban, Sandia, &c.; and sent large quantities of gold to Spain. On one occasion they sent a mass of gold in the shape of an ox's head, and of the weight of two hundred pounds, as a present to Charles V. The Emperor, in acknowledgment, gave the title of "Royal City" to the town of San Juan del Oro, and ennobled its inhabitants. The Indians, however, in the course of time, revolted, murdered their oppressors, and destroyed their towns. Up to the last three years this has been a sealed country to the white man. I shall have occasion to refer to it again.
While these efforts to penetrate the Montaña to the eastward of Cuzco were being made, Gonzalo Pizarro fitted out at Quito an expedition consisting of 350 Spaniards and 4,000 Indians, with large supplies of provisions and live stock. All who have read the brilliant pages of Prescott know the history of this expedition: the discovery of cinnamon; the treachery of Orellana; and the origin of the present name of the great river. I shall not tread upon such ground; but shall content myself with observing that, if Pizarro built a brig, or anything that carried a mast, he either embarked low down upon the Napo, or, what I rather suspect, the Napo was a much larger stream then than now.
The failure of this expedition, and the almost incredible sufferings of the party who composed it, could not deter the Spaniards from their search for El Dorado. In 1560 the Marquis of Cañete, Viceroy of Peru, sent Pedro de Ursoa with a large company on this mission. This officer marched northward from Cuzco, and embarked upon the Huallaga. At Lamas, a small town near that river, he was murdered by his lieutenant, Lope de Aguirre, who determined to prosecute the enterprise. Aguirre descended the Huallaga—and the Amazon to its mouth—coasted along the shores of Guyana and Venezuela, and took possession of the small island of Marguerita. There raising a party, he landed at Cumaná, with the purpose of conquering an empire on the main land. He was, however, defeated by some Spanish troops who had already possession of the country, taken prisoner, carried to Trinidad and hung.
Aguirre appears to have been a bold and violent man. His letter to Philip II, published in Humboldt's narrative, is indicative of his character. He says: "On going out of the river Amazon we landed at an island called La Margaretta. We there received news from Spain of the great faction of the Lutherans. This news frightened us exceedingly. We found among us one of that faction; his name was Monteverde. I had him cut in pieces, as was just; for, believe me, signor, wherever I am, people live according to the law.
"In the year 1559 the Marquis of Cañete sent to the Amazon Pedro de Ursoa, a Navarrese, or rather a Frenchman. We sailed on the largest rivers of Peru till we came to a gulf of fresh water. We had already gone 300 leagues, when we killed that bad and ambitious captain. We chose a Cavallero of Seville, Fernando de Guzman, for king; and we swore fealty to him, as is done to thyself. I was named quartermaster general; and, because I did not consent to all his will, he wanted to kill me. But I killed this new king, the captain of his guards, his lieutenant general, his chaplain, a woman, a knight of the order of Rhodes, two ensigns, and five or six domestics of the pretended king. I then resolved to punish thy ministers and thy auditors. I named captains and sergeants. These again wanted to kill me; but I had them all hanged. In the midst of these adventures we navigated eleven months, till we reached the mouth of the river. We sailed more than 1,500 leagues. God knows how we got through that great mass of water. I advise thee, O great king, never to send Spanish fleets into that cursed river."
The following story, from the "Viagero Universal" of Ulloa, shows his barbarity in yet more revolting colors. It appears that in all his marches he carried with him a favorite daughter. When defeated and surrounded, so that escape was impossible, he called this lady, and addressing her, said: "I had hoped to make thee a queen. This now is impossible. I cannot bear that you should live to be pointed at as the child of a traitor and a felon. Thou must prepare for death at my hands." She requested a few minutes for prayer, which was granted; but her father, thinking she was too long at her devotions, fired upon her whilst on her knees. The unfortunate lady staggered towards him; but taking her by the hand as she approached, the villain plunged his knife into her bosom, and she sank at his feet, murmuring "Basta Padre Mio,"—It is enough, my father.
It is not to be expected that information of an exact and scientific character could be had from the voyages of adventurers like these. They were mere soldiers, and too much occupied in difficulties of travel, conflicts with Indians, ambitious designs, and internal dissentions, to make any notes of the topography or productions of the countries they passed through.
But a task that had baffled the ambition and power of the Incas and love of gold, backed by the indomitable spirit and courage of the hardy Spanish soldier, was now to be undertaken by men who were urged on by a yet more absorbing passion than either of these. I mean missionary zeal—the love of propagating the faith.
The first missionary stations established in the Montaña were founded by the Fathers Cuxia and Cueva, of the holy company of the Jesuits, in 1737.
They commenced operations at the village of St. Francis de Borja, founded by Don Pedro de Vaca, in 1634, when he conquered and settled the province of Mainas, under the direction of the Viceroy Don Francisco de Borja, prince of Esquilache. This village is situated on the left bank of the Marañon, not far below where it breaks its way through the last chain of hills that obstructs its course, at the Pongo[3] de Manseriché.
In the same year (1637,) according to Ulloa, (whose statements, I think, are always to be received "cum grano salis") Pedro Texeira, a Portuguese captain, ascended the Amazon with a fleet mounting forty-seven large guns. After an eight months' voyage from Pará, he arrived at the port of Payamino, or Frayamixa, in the province of Quixos, on the river Napo. I am unable to find out how far up the Napo this is; but Texeira, leaving his fleet there, went with some of his officers by land to Quito. The Royal Audience of that city determined to send explorers with him on his return, and the Jesuit Fathers, Acuña and Artieda, were selected for that purpose, and directed to report to the King of Spain. Passing through the town of Archidona, on the headwaters of the Napo, with much suffering they joined the fleet in the port of Payamino, and after a voyage of ten months, by land and water, arrived at Pará, whence they sailed for Spain.
The Spanish government, then occupied with the rebellion of Portugal, could lend no aid to the missionaries, and Father Artieda returned to Quito in 1643. He appealed to the Royal Audience, and to the college of the Jesuits at that city, for help to the missions, and the latter institution furnished him with five or six missionaries. These were well received by the Indians, and prosecuted their labors with such success, that in the year 1666 they had formed thirteen large and populous settlements in the country, bordering on the upper Marañon, and near the mouths of the Pastaza, Ucayali, and Huallaga.
About this time the Franciscans commenced pushing their explorations and missionary operations from Lima, by the way of Tarma and Jauxa, into the Montaña, drained by the headwaters of the Ucayali; and here (thanks to Father Sobreviela) we begin to get a little topographical information; and the map may now be consulted in elucidation of the text.
In 1673 the Franciscan Father Manuel Biedma penetrated into the Montaña from Jauxa, by the way of Comas and Andamarca, and established the missionary station of Santa Cruz de Sonomora, on the river Pangoa, a tributary of the Ucayali.
In 1681 he opened a mule road from Andamarca to Sonomora, and in 1684 one from Sonomora to the junction of the Pangoa with the Perene. In 1686 he embarked at this place with Antonio Vital, and descended the Ucayali to near the junction of the Pachitea. Here he established a station called "San Miguel de los Conibos," and, leaving Vital in charge, he attempted to ascend the river again, but was killed by the savages. Vital, hearing of his death, and seeing himself abandoned, without hope of succor, determined to commit himself to the downward current; and, embarking in a canoe with six Indians, he soon reached the Jesuit missionary stations near the mouth of the Ucayali. Directed by these missionaries, he ascended the Marañon, the Huallaga, and the river Mayo as far as it is navigable. He then disembarked, travelled by land through Moyobamba and Chachapoyas, and passing through Lima arrived at Jauxa, whence he had set out with Father Biedma.
About this time the Franciscans, also penetrating from Tarma by the valleys of Chanchamayo and Vitoc, established the missions of the Cerro de la Sal and the Pajonal. The Cerro de la Sal is described as a mountain of rock and red earth, with veins of salt of thirty yards in breadth, to which the Indians, for many miles round, were in the habit of repairing for their supply. The Pajonal is a great grassy plain, enclosed between the river Pachitea and a great bend of the Ucayali. It is about one hundred and twenty miles in length from north to south, and ninety from east to west; and I judge from its name, and some imperfect descriptions of it, that it is a very fine grazing country.
In the year 1712 Padre Francisco de San José established a college, "de propaganda fide," at the village of Ocopa, in the Andes, a few leagues from Jauxa. By his zeal and abilities he induced many European monks, of the order of St. Francis, to come over and join him in his missionary labors. These men labored so successfully, that up to 1742 they had established ten towns in the Pajonal and Cerro de la Sal, and had under their spiritual direction ten thousand converts. But in this year an Indian of Cuzco, who had been converted and baptized as Juan Santos, apostatized from the faith; and, taking upon himself the style and title of Inca, and the name of Atahuallpa, excited to rebellion all the Indians of the plain, and swept away every trace of the missionary rule; some seventy or eighty of the priests perishing in the wreck.
It is quite evident that no distaste for the Catholic religion induced this rebellion; for in the year 1750, eight years afterward, the Marquis of Minahermosa, marching into this country for the punishment of the rebels, found the church at Quimiri, on the river Perene, in perfect order, with candles burning before the images. He burned the town and church. And six years after this, when another entrance into this country was made by Gen. Bustamente, he found the town rebuilt, and a large cross erected in the middle of the plaza, or public square. I have had occasion myself to notice the respect and reverence of these Indians for their pastors, and their delight in participating in the ceremonial, and sense-striking worship of the Roman Church.
It remains but to speak of the conversions of the Ucayali, in the Pampa del Sacramento, made by the Franciscans of Ocopa, and which are the only trophies that now remain of the zeal, patience, and suffering of these devoted men.
The missions established on the Ucayali by Fathers Biedma and Caballero, in the years 1673 to 1686, were lost by insurrections of the Indians in 1704. In 1726, the converted Indians about the head of canoe navigation on the Huallaga, (the tidings of the gospel were first carried to these from Huanuco, by Felipe Luyendo, in 1631,) crossing the hills that border that river on its eastern bank, discovered a wooded plain, which was named Pampa del Sacramento, from the day of its discovery being the festival of Corpus Cristi. This was a new field for the missionary; and by 1760, the Fathers of the college at Ocopa had penetrated across this plain to the Ucayali, and re-established the missions of Manoa, the former spiritual conquests of Biedma. To get at these missions with less difficulty, expeditions were made from Huanuco by the way of Pozuzu, Mayro, and the Pachitea, in the years 1763 to 1767. Several missionaries lost their lives by the Cashibos Indians of the Pachitea; and in this last year the Indians of the Ucayali rose upon the missionaries, killed nine of them, and broke up their settlements. But not for this were they to be deterred. In 1790 Father Narciso Girbal, with two others, under the direction of Sobreviela, then guardian of the college at Ocopa, went down the Pachitea and again established these missions, of which there remain three at this time, called, respectively, Sarayacu, Tierra Blanca, and Sta. Catalina.
The difficulties of penetrating into these countries, where the path is to be broken for the first time, can only be conceived by one who has travelled over the roads already trodden. The broken and precipitous mountain track—the deep morass—the thick and tangled forest—the danger from Indians, wild beasts, and reptiles—the scarcity of provisions—the exposure to the almost appalling rains—and the navigation of the impetuous and rock-obstructed river, threatening at every moment shipwreck to the frail canoe—form obstacles that might daunt any heart but that of the gold-hunter or the missionary.
The most remarkable voyage down the Amazon was made by a woman. Madame Godin des Odonnais, wife of one of the French commissioners who was sent with Condamine to measure an arc of the meridian near Quito, started in 1769, from Rio Bamba, in Ecuador, to join her husband in Cayenne by the route of the Amazon. She embarked at Canelos, on the Borbonaza, with a company of eight persons, two, besides herself, being females. On the third day the Indians who conducted their canoe deserted: another Indian, whom they found sick in a hovel near the bank, and employed as pilot, fell from the canoe in endeavoring to pick up the hat of one of the party, and was drowned.
The canoe, under their own management, soon capsized, and they lost all their clothing and provisions. Three men of the party now started for Andoas, on the Pastaza, which they supposed themselves to be within five or six days of, and never returned. The party left behind, now consisting of the three females and two brothers of Madame Godin, lashed a few logs together and attempted again to navigate; but their frail vessel soon went to pieces by striking against the fallen trees in the river. They then attempted to journey on foot along the banks of the river, but finding the growth here too thick and tangled for them to make any way, they struck off into the forest in hopes of finding a less obstructed path.
They were soon lost: despair took possession of them, and they perished miserably of hunger and exhaustion. Madame Godin, recovering from a swoon, which she supposes to have been of many hours' duration, took the shoes from her dead brother's feet and started to walk, she knew not whither. Her clothes were soon torn to rags, her body lacerated by her exertions in forcing her way through the tangled and thorny undergrowth, and she was kept constantly in a state of deadly terror by the howl of the tiger and the hiss of the serpent. It is wonderful that she preserved her reason. Eight terrible days and nights did she wander alone in the howling wilderness, supported by a few berries and birds' eggs. Providentially (one cannot say accidentally) she struck the river at a point where two Indians (a man and a woman) were just launching a canoe. They received her with kindness, furnished her with food, gave her a coarse cotton petticoat, which she preserved for years afterwards as a memorial of their goodness, and carried her in their canoe to Andoas, whence she found a passage down the river, and finally joined her husband. Her hair turned gray from suffering, and she could never hear the incidents of her voyage alluded to without a feeling of horror that bordered on insanity.
CHAPTER II.
INTRODUCTORY.
Orders—Investigation of routes—Lake Rogoaguado—River Beni—Chanchamayo—Cuzco route—River Madre de Dios—Gold mines of Carabaya—Route through the cities of Truxillo, Caxamarca, Chachapoyas, Moyobamba, &c.—Preparations for the journey—The start.
On the 4th of April, 1851, Lieutenant Lardner Gibbon, of the navy, arrived at Lima, and delivered me orders from the Navy Department, of which the following is a copy:
Navy Department, February 15, 1851.
Sir: The department is about to confide to you a most important and delicate duty, which will call for the exercise of all those high qualities and attainments, on account of which you have been selected.
The government desires to be put in possession of certain information relating to the valley of the river Amazon, in which term is included the entire basin, or water-shed, drained by that river and its tributaries.
This desire extends not only to the present condition of that valley, with regard to the navigability of its streams; to the number and condition, both industrial and social, of its inhabitants, their trade and products; its climate, soil, and productions; but also to its capacities for cultivation, and to the character and extent of its undeveloped commercial resources, whether of the field, the forest, the river, or the mine.
You will, for the purpose of obtaining such information, proceed across the Cordillera, and explore the Amazon from its source to its mouth.
Passed Midshipman Lardner Gibbon, a prudent and intelligent officer, has been selected to accompany you on this service, and is instructed to report accordingly.
This, together with a few instruments, necessary for such an expedition, will be delivered to you by him.
Being joined by him, you will commence to make such arrangements as may be necessary for crossing the Andes and descending the Amazon; and having completed them, you will then proceed on your journey without further orders.
The route by which you may reach the Amazon river is left to your discretion. Whether you will descend the Ucayali, or the Huallaga, or any other of the Peruvian tributaries, or whether you will cross over into Bolivia, and, passing through the province of Yongas, embark on the Mamoré or Ytenes, or whether you will try the Beni or any other route to the Madeira, and thence to the Amazon, the state of the information which you have collected, under a former order, will enable you to decide more judiciously than it is possible for the department, with the meagre state of its information upon the subject, to do.
It is not desired that you should select any route by which you and your party would be exposed to savage hostility, beyond your means of defence and protection.
Neither is it desirable that your party should be so large, on the one hand, as to excite the suspicion of the people, or give offence to the authorities, of the country through which you may pass, nor so small, on the other, as to endanger its success.
You are, therefore, authorized to employ a cook, servant, guide, and interpreter, and to provide them with such arms as it is customary only for travellers generally, in that part of the world, to carry for their own protection. And these arms you will have returned to you at Pará.
The Navy Agent at Lima has been instructed to furnish, upon your requisition, the necessary articles for the outfit of yourself and party, and to honor your draft for a sum not exceeding five thousand dollars, to cover your expenses by the way. As these expenses will be mostly for mules and arrieros, boats and boats' crews, it is supposed that the sum named will be much more than sufficient. You will use of it only for the necessary expenses of the party.
The geographical situation and the commercial position of the Amazon indicate the future importance, to this country, of the free navigation of that river.
To enable the government to form a proper estimate as to the degree of that importance, present and prospective, is the object of your mission.
You will, therefore, avail yourself of the best sources of information that can be had in answer to any or all of the following questions:
What is the present condition of the silver mines of Peru, and Bolivia—their yield; how and by whom are they principally wrought?
What is the machinery used, whence obtained, and how transported?
Are mines of this metal, which are not worked, known to exist? What impulse would the free navigation of the Amazon give to the working of those mines? What are their capacities; and if the navigation of that river and its tributaries were open to commerce, what effect would it have in turning the stream of silver from those mines down these rivers? With what description of craft can they be navigated respectively?
What inducements are offered by the laws of Peru and Bolivia for emigrants to settle in the eastern provinces of those two republics, and what is the amount and character of the population already there? What the productions? the value of the trade with them—of what articles does it consist, where manufactured, how introduced, and at what charges upon prime cost?
What are the staple productions for which the climate and soil of the valley of the Amazon, in different parts, are adapted? What the state of tillage; of what class are the laborers; the value of a day's work; the yield per acre and per hand of the various staples, such as matté, coca and cocoa, sugar, rice, chinchona, hemp, cotton, India-rubber, coffee, balsams, drugs, spices, dyes, and ornamental woods; the season for planting and gathering; the price at the place of production, and at the principal commercial mart; the mode and means of transportation? with every other item of information that is calculated to interest a nautical and commercial people.
You will make such geographical and scientific observations by the way as may be consistent with the main object of the expedition, always bearing in mind that these are merely incidental, and that no part of the main objects of the expedition is to be interfered with by them.
It is desirable that you should bring home with you specimens or samples of the various articles of produce from the Amazon river, together with such seeds or plants as might probably be introduced into this country with advantage.
Arriving at Pará, you will embark by the first opportunity for the United States, and report in person to this department.
Wishing you a pleasant journey and a safe return to your country and friends,
I am, respectfully, your obedient servant,
WILL. A. GRAHAM.
Lieut. William L. Herndon, U. S. Navy, Peru, or Bolivia.
As the choice of route was thus left to my discretion, this, in connexion with the best and most efficient mode of carrying out my instructions, became an object of much consideration with me.
As I had some time previously received intimation of the intention of the department to issue such orders, whilst in Valparaiso and Santiago I had sought what information was to be had there, and conversed with many persons regarding the routes through Bolivia and the navigability of the Bolivian tributaries of the Amazon. Two interesting routes presented themselves through this country: one from Cochabamba, by the river Mamoré, a sketch of which had been given me by Mr. Bridges; and the other by the Beni, (also a confluent of the Madeira,) which seems nearly a "terra incognita."
Palacios, an officer of the Bolivian government, who had made some explorations in the country between the Mamoré and Beni, and who visited and navigated on the Lake Rogoaguado, (the existence of which has been a subject of dispute among geographers,) describes the Beni, between its sources and Los Reyes, (about half the course of the river,) as being much obstructed by shoals, with very narrow channels, and broken up into rapids, of which he enumerates twenty-two. He thinks, however, that flat-bottomed iron boats would overcome many of the difficulties, and navigate an immense distance up. He says that in some parts of the course of the river are found veins of silver and gold, salt springs, coal, lime, and (in Tequije) diamonds. I think that his description of the Lake Rogoaguado would be a valuable contribution to geography; for though it is evident that his account is not exact, or even correct, yet it settles the point that there is such a lake, and that it does not give rise to many of the large rivers that empty into the Amazon, as was long supposed, and as is so represented in many maps. I give a translation:
"The supreme government, being desirous of ascertaining if the great Lake Rogoaguado had communication with the Beni or proceeded from it, directed me to explore it for the purpose of facilitating communication between that river and the Mamoré. For this purpose I directed the construction of a boat and commenced my journey. I set out from the town of Exaltacion, (a village on the Mamoré, some distance above its junction with the Madeira,) the nearest point, and directed my course W. N. W. 15 miles, to the estate (estancia) of Santa Cruz, passing (a mile and a half from this point) the river Iruyani, which runs to the N. E., and appears navigable. Its sources are unknown; but it is supposed that it rises in some swamps situated in the flat country about Reyes, or that it runs from the Beni. At this estate of Santa Cruz there is a somewhat flat hill of 300 yards in height, and composed of white 'soroché,' the generator (criadero) of gold. It is constantly covered with grass and trees, among which are found those producing the India-rubber.
"Hence I directed my march W. ¼ N., to the estate denominated San Carlos, which is distant twenty-four miles from the first, and is situated among morasses, with some eminences, the good pastures of which maintain large flocks of cattle. The course from here was N. W., and at the distance of nine miles I encountered the Lake Ibachuna, or, of the winds, which is twelve miles broad and twenty-four long from north to south, and whose outlet runs among swamps into Lake Rogoaguado, known likewise by the name of Domú, on whose banks yet exist traces of the ancient tribe of the Cayubabos, who now form the population of the town of Exaltacion.
"Not finding the boat which I had ordered finished, I embarked in a small canoe, and directed my course towards two islands in the lake, about three miles from the shore. These are elevated a little above the surface of the lake, which has not more than a fathom (braza, 66 inches) of depth in this part, and are covered with an impenetrable thicket. On the following day I launched the boat; it was 33 feet (12 varas) long, 3⅔ feet wide, and 2¾ feet deep. It rocked much, and I directed two small canoes to be lashed, one on each side, to serve as counterpoises.
"I weighed from my port with a course N. W. ¼ N. At the distance of fifteen miles I encountered a stream which served as an outlet, and was connected with another small lake, called Yapacha, towards the N. E. I changed the course, coasting along W. N. W. for nine miles, continuing on other nine S. W. ¼ S.; thence I changed to S. twenty-four miles; to S. W. four and a half; to S. ¼ E. thirteen and a half. So that I sailed upon a bow-line" (much he knew about a bow-line) "with a depth of 2½ fathoms, (brazadas,) running six miles the hour. (!!)
"At the capes, or prominent points, I landed, and observed that the belt of woods surrounding the lake was narrow; and that outside of this the pasturages were so great that they formed a horizon, or could not be seen across. On one occasion I set fire to them, and saw towards the N. W. the answering smoke of the fires of the Chacobos savages. The country of this people was afterwards explored. The tribe was found to consist of three hundred souls; and among them were people white and ruddy.
"I continued on E. ¼ N., and having navigated twelve miles, the north wind came on so strong, and raised such a sea, that I was in danger of shipwreck. I therefore landed, and remained twenty-four hours, employing the time in examining the mouth of the rivulet called Ibachuna, where there were large morasses.
"I travelled the next day with oars against the wind, bailing the water from the boat continually. The course was N. N. E.; and eighteen miles brought me to the point whence I originally sailed.
"The lake is of good and clear water. It has a bottom of oxide of iron, with 2½ fathoms (brazadas) of water. There are many fish and rays, crocodiles and porpoises.
"In the woods there are almonds of various kinds and superior quality. Towards the east there is another small lake called Puaja, whose waters (united with those of Rogoaguado and Yapacha) form the river Yatachico, or Black river, which is a confluent of the Mamoré. I presume the Yata Grande is only an arm of the Beni from the clearness of its waters, from the declivity of the land towards the Mamoré, and because its sources are not found in the Steppes, (Llanos) there only arising from these the Black river of the Lake Rogagua of Reyes, which is a confluent of the Beni.
"The navigation of the Yata Grande is a matter of interest; and I would have attempted it when I descended the Mamoré had I had at my disposal an armed party, which is absolutely necessary on account of the multitude of savages which dwell upon its banks; nevertheless, I did ascend to its first rapids, where there is an abundance of pitch. The Iruyani should be explored for the same reasons as the Yata Grande."
It was suggested by Mr. Pissis that I should take the route of the Beni on account of the honor of discovery, and the addition I should make to geographical knowledge; and General Ballivian, ex-President of Bolivia, who was then in Valparaiso forming plans for revolution in that country, which he afterwards endeavored to execute, but without success, strongly urged me to take one of the Bolivian rivers; but an unanswerable objection to this in my mind was, that such a route would bring me into the Amazon very low down, and make the necessity of ascending that river to its sources; a work which would occupy years in its execution, and probably break down a much stronger man than I am.
Upon my arrival in Lima, I immediately set to work to investigate routes. The best informed people of Peru are wide awake to the importance of opening an inland communication between their territories to the east of the Andes and the Atlantic, and many attempts have been made to secure the aid of government in the opening of such a communication. From time immemorial a jealousy has existed upon this subject between the people inhabiting points on the three most feasible routes; that is, that of the valley of Huanuco, that of Chanchamayo, and that of Paucartambo, to the eastward of Cuzco. This jealousy originated in the fact that the valley of Huanuco, the first settled, at one time supplied all the coca that was used in Peru. The people of that valley saw in the opening of the Montaña of Chanchamayo a rival interest that would decrease their gains, and at one time they had such interest at Court as to get an order dismantling the fort that had been built in Chanchamayo, and breaking up the roads. The Tarma people never forgave this, and in 1808 Urrutia, the Intendente of that province, addressed a pamphlet to Abascal, the Viceroy, setting forth the advantages of the Chanchamayo, and depreciating the Mayro or Huanuco route to the Montaña.
"Surely, surely," says he, (and I entirely agree with him,) "nothing but the especial concitation of the devil (thus interfering with the conversion of the heathen) could have induced the government to so suicidal a step as to break up so thriving a colony as that at Chanchamayo." He says that he can scarcely refrain from tears at thinking to what it would have grown in the twenty-five years that have been lost between then and now. He writes with earnestness; and probably would have succeeded in obtaining the aid of the government, but that the cloud of the revolution was then above the horizon, and Viceroy and Intendente soon had other matters to think of.
In 1827 General La Mar again ordered the opening of the Chanchamayo country. The direction of the work was given to my acquaintance and very good friend General Otero, then prefect of the department. He pushed the matter of opening the roads with success for some time; but the roughness of the country, the difficulty of obtaining supplies, and the steady hostility of the Indians, interposed so many obstacles, that the work languished and was finally abandoned; the Indians taking possession of the few plantations that had been made.
In 1847, however, the people of Tarma resolved to take advantage of so fine a country so near them. They republished the pamphlet of Urrutia; made an appeal to the government, and themselves broke into the country under the lead of Colonel Pablo Salaverry. They drove the Indians over the rivers of Chanchamayo and Tulumayo; and Don Ramon Castilla, the President, (ever alive to the interests of his country,) sent a company of eighty soldiers, under a captain in the navy named Noel, with engineers, artificers, tools and supplies, and constructed the little stockade fort of San Ramon, at the junction of these rivers. Under the protection of this fort the Tarma people have begun to clear and cultivate, and the former desert is now beautiful with the waving cane, the yellow blossom of the cotton, and the red berry of the coffee.
Juan Centeno, deputy in Congress from Cuzco, in strong and earnest terms advocated the propriety of taking the Cuzco route, telling me that ten thousand dollars, appropriated by the government for the survey of the river Amarumayo, now lay in the treasury, waiting the proper time and man to take it up; and that he had no doubt but that I might organize a surveying party and employ this money for that purpose. It was a tempting proposition, but I feared the proverbially dilatory action of the Peruvian government; and what I had seen in the journals of Smyth and Castelnau regarding the efficiency of the co-operation of Peruvian officials, revived school-boy recollections and brought to my mind Virgil's
"Non tali auxilio; nec defensoribus istis."
This route had, moreover, the same objections as that by the Bolivian tributaries; that is, that it would bring me into the Amazon too low down. It is, however, a route of great importance, and well worth investigation. Señor Centeno placed in my hands a pamphlet ("El brillante porvenir de Cuzco") written by the confessor of his family, an Italian Franciscan, Father Julian Bobo de Revello, in which the advantages of this route are strongly and ably argued; and which argument induced the above-mentioned appropriation by the Peruvian government. The Father declares that he himself, in visiting the valleys of Paucartambo, in company with Don José Miguel Medina, prefect of the province, saw from the heights of Acobamba an interminable horizon of woods towards the N. E.; and in the midst of this immense plain, the winding course of the great navigable river "Madre de Dios." He labors to prove that this Madre de Dios is the same river which, under the name of Purus, enters the Amazon a few days' journey above the Barra do Rio Negro.
There is no doubt that there is a great unknown river in these parts. Every expedition made into this country brought back accounts of it, and represented it under various names—such as Amarumayu; Tono; Mano; Inambiri; Guariguari; and Madre de Dios, according to the nomenclature of the various tribes that live upon its banks—as great and containing much water—(Grande y Caudaloso.) It is impossible to say whether this river turns to the N. W. and joins the Ucayali, flows straight N. E., and, as either the Yavari, the Jutay, the Jurua, the Teffe, the Coari, or the Purus, empties into the Amazon; or, flowing east, is tributary to the Beni. It is, of course, likewise impossible to say whether or not it is free from obstructions to navigation; but it is reasonable to suppose, from the fact that the country through which it flows (supposing it to take the general direction of the rivers there and run N. E.) is very far from the Andes on one side, and the Cordillera Geral of Brazil, which form the obstructions to the Madeira, on the other, that it is free from impediments for an immense distance up. This route, however, takes its importance, in a commercial point of view, from the following facts:
It will be recollected that I stated, in the preceding chapter, that the defeated followers of Almagro, hiding themselves in the valleys and dens of the broken country to the eastward of Cuzco, called Carabaya, discovered, in the small streams that dashed down from the neighboring Cordillera, washings of gold of great value—that they built villages, and sent immense treasures to Spain.
In the month of June, 1849, two brothers named Poblete, seeking Peruvian bark in the valleys of Carabaya, discovered grains or pits (pepitas) of gold in the "Gulch" of Challuhuma. They were soon joined by other hunters of bark; the news spread in the province; companies were formed, and petitions made to the board of miners for titles; quarrels arose about priority of discovery and rights, and the paths were broken up, and bridges and rafts for crossing the rivers destroyed, so that, up to the time of my information, little had been done in gathering the gold.
It appears from an official letter of Pablo Pimentel, sub-prefect of the province of Carabaya, in answer to certain questions propounded to him by the Treasury Department, that the mining district is situated in the valleys to the N. and E. of Crucero, the capital of the province, and is reached from that place by the following routes and distances. (It will be as well to premise that Crucero is situated in about latitude 14° south, and longitude 74° west from Greenwich; and that to reach it by the nearest route from the Pacific coast, one should land at Islay; and travelling on horseback through the cities of Arequipa and Puno, he will arrive at Crucero, by easy stages of fifteen miles a day, in about twenty days.) From Crucero the route, running to the eastward, and crossing the Cordillera at probably its highest and most difficult pass, conducts the traveller to the small and abandoned village of Phara, forty-two miles from Crucero.
Here he puts foot to ground, and travels seventy-two miles (four days' journey) to the banks of the great river Guariguari; although his provisions and implements may be carried to this point on mules or asses. He crosses this river on a perilous swinging bridge, called Oroya, and makes his way thirty miles further towards the north without any broken track, save an occasional one made by the bark hunters.
This brings him to Challuhuma.
The valley, or gulch, is from thirty to thirty-six miles long from the top of the mountains, whence descend the three small torrents which form the auriferous stream called Challuhuma, to its entrance into the Guariguari; but it is calculated that only about a fifth part of this can be worked, as the other four parts are hemmed in by precipitous rocks on each side; and "to turn the course of the river at these parts, so as to get at its bed, would be about as easy a task as to remove the Andes."
Pimentel supposes that from the time of the discovery, in June, to the date of his letter, in November, about one hundred thousand dollars had been collected; but that the best parts had been worked, and such success was no longer to be looked for. He says, moreover, that the difficulty of obtaining provisions and supplies is very great, from the small number of persons engaged in agriculture, the general laziness of the people, and the difficulty of transportation.
It is quite evident that Pimentel is disposed to throw difficulties in the way, and to distract attention from Challuhuma by dwelling upon the undiscovered riches in other valleys, and the great vegetable wealth of the country a little to the eastward of it. Other accounts from this district give a different version, and represent Pimentel as a party in one of the mining companies, and interested in keeping secret the true state of affairs. The quarrel on this subject ran very high in the department of Puno, and even the motives and conduct of General Deustua, then prefect of the department, and now governor of the "Provincia Littoral" of Callao—a man of the very highest standing and character in his country—were impugned. He vindicated his reputation in a very spirited letter to the Secretary of State for the Treasury Department, demanding to be relieved, and receiving an apologetic reply from the government.
It appears from some notices of this country, written by Manuel Hurtado, a citizen of Puno, "that the province of Carabaya has an extent of one hundred and eighty miles, from north to south, rendered more to the traveller, who wishes to pass over its whole length, on account of his having to cross the spurs of the mountains, which divide the whole country into valleys, having auriferous streams; for, from Cuia to Quica, there are eighteen miles; to Sandia, forty-two; to Cuyo-Cuyo, twelve; to Patambuco, eighteen; to Phara, thirty-six; to Uricayas, forty-five; to Coasa, eighteen; to Thiata, thirty; to Ayapata, eighteen; to Ollachea, forty-two; and to Corani, eighteen; making three hundred and seven miles. All these villages, except the last, are in the line of the edge of the Montaña. The villages of Macusani and Crucero are on this other side of the Cordillera. The population of the province is thirty thousand souls, over and above strangers, who come to collect the gold and cascarilla.
"The exportation of the products of the province for the last year were about three hundred thousand pounds of cascarilla, twenty-five thousand baskets of coca, (of twenty-one pounds each,) and one thousand pounds of coffee. The small crops of maize, &c., are only for the consumption of the country. The only two plantations that have been opened in the last two years, by D. Augustin Aragon and D. Lorenzo Requelme, will begin to render their crops in the coming year.
"According to the notices acquired from different persons, and particularly from Pimentel and the Pobletes, we know that the gold taken from Challuhuma, from the middle of June to September, amounts to seven hundred pounds, of which the Pobletes hold three, and the balance has been sold by various individuals in the fairs and markets of Azangaro, Tangazuca, and Crucero, over and above the many pounds that have been sent for sale to Puno and Arequipa, and that which the Indians indubitably hold, seeing that they only sell enough to purchase themselves necessaries; although one has been known to sell the value of six hundred dollars. About the end of September the associates of the company styled 'Descubridora' destroyed the hanging bridges, (oroyas,) the rafts, and even some parts of the road, saying that in Challuhuma there is nothing, and advising all to return to their houses. This rather encouraged them to proceed. They plunged into the woods where human foot had never trodden, and, crossing the great river on temporary oroyas, many persons settled themselves in Challuhuma; whence they have been taking gold without its being known how much has been collected in the month and a half which has intervened. It is worthy of note that these people and the Pobletes have very imperfect means of extracting the gold: being reduced to what they call 'chichiquear,' which is, to place earth in a trough, wash it a little while in the stream, and collect the gold that has settled; which may be one, two, or more ounces, according to the fortune of the washer. They repeat this operation as many times a day as their strength will permit. On one occasion the sub-prefect Pimentel obtained from one trough-full twenty-odd ounces of gold, as he himself related to us; and no trough-full yields less than one ounce."
There seems exaggeration in this account; but an anonymous publication from Puno on this subject of Carabaya goes beyond this. It says:
"In the year 1713, a mine of silver was discovered in a hill called Uncuntayo, among the heights (Altos) of Ollachea, which gave more than four thousand marks to the caxon. (Six marks to the caxon is a paying yield in Cerro Pasco.) These riches gave rise to such disturbances, violences, and murders, that the Viceroy had to march to suppress the disorders; but after a few years the hill fell in and closed the mines.
"It has been always known that much gold existed in all the ravines of the district of Phara, and the proof is the discovery of it, in the present year, at the points called Beinisamayo, Rio Challuhuma, and Acomayo, from which 'placeres' it is certain that even in this short time many arrobas (twenty-five pounds) of fine gold, in the shape of melon seeds, have been taken and seen in Puno Arequipa, &c. The sight of this gold, and the conviction which is entertained of the existence of abundance of this metal, have awakened the avarice of all, and are attracting to Carabaya a concurrence of the people of the departments of La Paz, Puno, Arequipa, and Cuzco. The work must cease, on account of the rains, towards the end of October; but from May onwards, we shall have growing up there a society, heterogeneous, avaricious, and needing authorities and judges, that the 'placeres' may be appointed among the workers according to law; that property may be secured; and that those disorders which may be expected to grow out of such a state of affairs may be checked: for the sub-prefect, besides being a principal associate in the companies for collecting gold and cascarilla, has not the weight of character necessary in these cases. Moreover, the person who directs in mining matters (Diputado de Mineria) resides in Puno, two hundred miles from the point whence the gold is extracted. The companies endeavor, by every means in their power, to hide the riches which exist in the already discovered mines, and to throw difficulties in the way of getting there; but we know that every trough-full of the earth which is washed gives six ounces and upwards, and that there are only three days on horseback from Phara to the banks of the great river, though the road is somewhat rough; and from the other side of the river, (which may be crossed by an oroya or on rafts) to the mines is only one day on foot. The climate of the greater part of the Montaña of Carabaya is entirely healthy, and of an endurable heat. Its lands are so rich that they give three crops a year, and produce fine coca, coffee that rivals that of Mocha, superior cacao, potatoes, maize, fruits, raisins of every kind, the vanilla, superior and most abundant woods, and the cascarilla, called calisaya, with all the other classes. Added to this there are rivers with immense fisheries, so that people would do well to colonize there even if there were no gold. The savages, in tribes of more than two hundred souls, live scattered about sixty or ninety miles to the eastward of the placeres. It is necessary to adopt some measures of precaution to anticipate attacks which they would be likely to make on small parties."
Pimentel says that the Indians on some of the beaches of the great river "Inambari," which flows through this Montaña, make a sort of scaly pavement (empedrado, en forma de escama) just before the increase of the river, caused by the rains, so that the gold borne down by its current may be deposited. They call these their chacras, or farms of gold, and collect their crop at the falling of the river.
It will be perceived, from the above accounts, that, if the river "Madre de Dios" of Father Bobo should be identical with the Purus, and there should be a navigable communication between this country and the Atlantic, the advantages to commerce would be enormous, and the "Brillante Porvenir," or dazzling future of Cuzco, would be no dream. I judge, from the description of the country through which this "great river" (as it is called in all the accounts of people who have visited these parts) flows, that it is not navigable; and it is certain that neither the cascarilla nor the gold can be collected for six months in the year. Yet I judge that there is a much nearer and easier communication with the Atlantic, by this route, than that by the passage of the Cordillera, and the voyage around Cape Horn; and that the opening to trade of a country which produces, in abundance, gold, and the best quality of cinchona, would soon repay the courage, enterprise, and outlay of money which would be necessary to open, at most, but a short road, and to remove a few obstructions from a river.
Since writing the above I have received from Mr. Clay, our distinguished chargé at Lima, a slip from the Comercio, a Lima journal, containing an account of the fitting out of an expedition for the exploration of this river by the people of the town of Paucartambo. These, tired of waiting the tardy action of the government, met in council on the 10th of June, 1852, and subscribed one hundred and fifteen dollars to pay the expenses of the exploring party. Twenty Indians were hired, for twenty days, at five dollars a head, and ten dollars given as gratification to their overseer; the remaining five were expended in repairing the axes and other tools supplied by the farmers. The party, consisting of young volunteers, having their expeditionary flag blessed by the Curate, being exhorted by their governors and elders, and placed under the especial protection of our blessed Lady of Carmen, marched out, under the guidance of Don Manuel Ugaldi, amid the strains of music and the "vivas" blessings and tears of their relatives and friends. We have yet to see the result of so enthusiastic an outburst.
I was so much impressed with the importance of this route, that I left Lima undecided whether I should take it or not; and at Tarma, after long and anxious deliberation, (the measure being supported by Mr. Gibbon's advice and earnest personal solicitation,) I determined to take the responsibility of dividing the party, and did so, furnishing Mr. Gibbon with the following instructions, and verbally calling his attention to the river Beni:
Tarma, June 30, 1851.
Sir: From a careful perusal of my instructions from the Navy Department, it appears to be a matter of importance that as much of the great South American basin, drained by the Amazon and its tributaries, should be explored as the means placed at my disposal will allow; and having now arrived at a point where, if the party is kept together, some objects of much interest will have to be abandoned to secure others, I have determined to divide the party, and confide a portion of it to your direction.
You will, therefore, with "Mr. Richards" and a guide, proceed to "Cuzco," and examine the country to the eastward of that place. It is said that a large and navigable river, called the Madre de Dios, has its source in the mountains of Carabaya, and may be approached at a navigable point by descending the Andes from "Cuzco." Many arguments have been adduced to show that this river is the "Purus," which is known to empty into the Amazon.
It is desirable that this should be determined; and you will make such inquiries in Cuzco as will enable you to decide whether it is practicable to descend this river. I am under the impression that its shores, near where you would be likely to embark, are inhabited by tribes of savage and warlike Indians, who have committed frequent depredations upon the "haciendas" established in the neighborhood. You will constantly bear in mind that your loss will deprive the government of the after-services expected of you in the prosecution of our important and interesting enterprise. You will therefore run no unnecessary risk, nor expose yourself or party to unreasonable danger from the attacks of these savages. The inhabitants of Cuzco are said to be so much interested in this discovery, that they may furnish you an escort past the point of danger.
Should you find this route impracticable, you will proceed south, to Puno, on the banks of the "Lake Titicaca;" thence around the southern shores of this "lake" to La Paz, in Bolivia; thence to Cochabamba; and, descending the mountains in that neighborhood, embark upon the "Mamoré," and descend that river and the "Madeira" to the Amazon. You will then ascend the Amazon to the "Barra do Rio Negro," and, making that your headquarters, make excursions for the exploration of the main stream and adjacent tributaries, until my arrival, or you hear from me.
You are already possessed of the views of the department regarding the objects of this expedition. A copy of its instructions is herewith furnished you. You will follow them as closely as possible.
Should you go into "Bolivia," I would call your attention to the "cascarilla," or Peruvian bark, which is of a better quality in that country than elsewhere. Make yourself acquainted with its history and present condition.
Wishing you success, I remain your obedient servant,
WM. LEWIS HERNDON,
Lieutenant U. S. Navy.
Passed Midshipman Lardner Gibbon,
U. S. Navy.
Other reasons that induced me to take this step were, that I might carry out the instructions of the department as fully as lay in my power; and while I gave my own personal attention to the countries drained by the upper Marañon and its tributaries, Mr. Gibbon might explore some, and gather all the information he could respecting others, of the Bolivian tributaries of the Amazon. The objections were, that the department had not sanctioned the step, and that by separating we were deprived of the comfort and assistance to be derived from companionship—no small item in so long and lonely a journey. But I did not conceive that these should weigh against the consideration that we could cover more ground apart than together.
I felt that, under my instructions requiring me to explore the Amazon from its source to its mouth, I could not neglect the route I finally determined to take. This route would enable me to form a judgment respecting the practicability of a transitable connexion between Lima and the navigable headwaters of the tributaries of the Amazon—would lead me through the richest and most productive mineral district of Peru—would put under my observation nearly all the course of the Amazon—and would enable me to gather information regarding the Pampa del Sacramento, or great plain, shut in between four great rivers, and concerning which the "Viagero Universal" says "that the two continents of America do not contain another country so favorably situated, or so fertile."
The last and most commonly-used route to the Montaña is through the cities of Truxillo, Caxamarca, Chachapoyas, Moyobamba, &c. The Andes here break into many chains, sending off spurs in all directions, but none of any great height, so that there is a tolerably good mule road all the way to Moyobamba; and almost all articles of foreign manufacture—such as cloths and the necessary household articles used in the small towns that border the Huallaga and the Marañon—are supplied by this route. The climate and productions of this country are, on account of its precipitous elevations, and, consequently, deep valleys, very various; and here the sugar-cane and the pine-apple may be seen growing by a spectator standing in the barley field and the potato patch.
This route crosses the Amazon, or rather the Marañon, where, according to Lieut. Maw, it is sixty yards wide, and rushes between mountains whose summits are hid in the clouds. This point is about three degrees north of its source, in Lake Lauricocha; but the river is nowhere navigable until Tomependa, in the province of Jaen de Braca Moros, is reached; whence it may be descended, but with great peril and difficulty, on rafts. There are twenty-seven "pongos," or rapids, to pass, and the water rushes over these with frightful velocity. Four days of such navigation passes the last, called the Pongo de "Manseriché," near the village of San Borja, and I am satisfied that an unbroken channel, of at least eighteen feet in depth, may be found thence to the Atlantic Ocean.
That the rains might be entirely over, and the roads on the mend in the Cordillera, I fixed upon the 20th of May as the day of departure, and Mr. Gibbon and I set about making the necessary preparations. I engaged the services of Don Manuel Ijurra, a young Peruvian, who had made the voyage down the Amazon a few years before, as interpreter to the Indians; and Capt. Gauntt, of the frigate Raritan, then lying in the harbor of Callao, was kind enough to give me a young master's mate from his ship, named Richards; besides supplying me with carbines, pistols, ammunition, and a tent. Capt. Magruder, of the St. Mary's, also offered me anything that the ship could supply, and furnished me with more arms, and fifteen hundred fathoms of the fishing-line now put on board ships for deep-sea soundings.
Our purchases were four saddle-mules, which, through the agency of Dr. Smith, we were fortunate enough to get young, sound, and well bitted, (indispensable requisites,) out of a drove just in from the mountains. We consulted the learned in such matters on the propriety of having them shod, and found the doctors disagreeing upon this subject very much. As they were from the mountains, and their hoofs were round, sound, and apparently as hard as iron, we decided not to shoe; and, I believe, did better than if we had followed a contrary course. We also purchased about a thousand yards of coarse cotton cloth, made in the mills at Lima, and put up for mountain travel in bales of half a mule-load; hatchets, knives, tinder-boxes, fish-hooks, beads, looking-glasses, cotton handkerchiefs, ribbons, and cheap trinkets, which we thought might take the fancy of the Indians, and purchase us services and food when money would not. These things were also put up in boxes of the same size and shape, and each equal to half a mule-load. Our trunks were arranged in the same way, so that they might be lashed one on each side of the mule's back, with an India-rubber bag, (also obtained from the Raritan,) which carried our bedclothes, put on top in the space between them. This makes a compact and easily-handled load; and every traveller in the Cordillera should take care to arrange his baggage in this way, and have, as far as possible, everything under lock and key, and in water-tight chests. Such small, incongruous articles as our pots and pans for cooking, our tent, and particularly the tent-pole, which was carried fore and aft above a cargo, and which, from its length, was poking into everything, and constantly getting awry, gave us more trouble than anything else.
Our bedding consisted of the saddle-cloths, a stout blanket, and anything else that could be packed in the India-rubber bag. An Englishman, from New Holland, whom I met in Lima, gave me a coverlet made of the skins of a kind of racoon, which served me many a good turn; and often, when in the cold of the Cordillera I wrapped myself in its warm folds, I felt a thrill of gratitude for the thoughtful kindness which had provided me with such a comfort. We purchased thick flannel shirts, ponchos, of India-rubber, wool, and cotton, and had straw hats, covered with oil-cloth, and fitted with green veils, to protect our eyes from the painful affections which often occur by the sudden bursting out of the sunlight upon the masses of snow that lie forever upon the mountain tops.
We carried two small kegs—one containing brandy, for drinking, and the other the common rum of the country, called Ron de Quemar, for burning; also, some coarse knives, forks, spoons, tin cups, and plates. I did not carry, as I should have done, a few cases of preserved meat, sardines, cheese, &c., which would have given us a much more agreeable meal than we often got on the road; but I did carry, in the India-rubber bags, quite a large quantity of biscuit, which I had baked in Lima, which served a very good purpose, and lasted us to Tarma.
We had the mules fitted with the heavy, deep-seated box saddles of Peru. I believe the English saddle would be much more comfortable, and probably as safe to the rider accustomed to it; but it would be almost impossible with these to preserve the skin of the mule from chafe. The Peruvian saddles rest entirely upon the ribs of the animal, which are protected by at least six yards of a coarse woollen fabric manufactured in the country, called jerga, and touch the back-bone nowhere. These saddles are a wooden box frame, stuffed thickly on the inside, and covered outwardly with buckskin. They are fitted with heavy, square, wooden stirrups, which are thought to preserve the legs from contact with projecting rocks, and, being lined with fur, to keep the feet warm. There is also a heavy breast-strap and crupper for steep ascents and descents; and a thick pillon, or mat, made of thrums of cotton, silk, or hair, is thrown over the saddle, to make the seat soft. The reins and head-stall of the bridle should be broad and strong, and the bit the coarse and powerful one of the country. Our guns, in leathern cases, were slung to the crupper, and the pistols carried in holsters, made with large pockets, to carry powder-flasks, percussion caps, specimens that we might pick up on the road, &c. A small box of instruments for skinning birds and dissecting animals; a medicine chest, containing, among other things, some arsenical soap, for preserving skins; a few reams of coarse paper, for drying leaves and plants; chart paper, in a tin case; passports and other papers, also in a tin case; note-books, pencils, &c., completed our outfit. A chest was made, with compartments for the sextant, artificial horizon, boiling-point apparatus, camera lucida, and spy-glass. The chronometer was carried in the pocket, and the barometer, slung in a leathern case made for it, at the saddle-bow of Mr. Gibbon's mule.
On the 15th of May I engaged the services of an arriero, or muleteer. He engaged to furnish beasts to carry the party and its baggage from Lima to Tarma at ten dollars the head, stopping on the road wherever I pleased, and as long as I pleased, for that sum. An ordinary train of baggage mules may be had on the same route for about seven dollars the head. The arrieros of Peru, as a class, have a very indifferent reputation for faithfulness and honesty, and those on the route, (that from Lima to Cerro Pasco,) to which my friend particularly belonged, are said to be the worst of their class. He was a thin, spare, dark Indian, of the Sierra or mountain land, about forty-five years of age, with keen, black eye, thin moustache, and deliberate in his speech and gesture. I thought I had seldom seen a worse face; but Mr. McCall said that he was rather better looking than the generality of them. He managed to cheat me very soon after our acquaintance.
Arrieros, when they supply as many mules as I had engaged, always furnish a peon, or assistant, to help load and unload, and take care of the mules. Mine, taking advantage of my ignorance in these matters, said to me that his peon was "desanimado," (disheartened,) was afraid of the "Piedra Parada," or upright rock, where we were to cross the Cordillera, and had backed out; but that he himself could very well attend to the mules if I would be good enough to let him have the occasional assistance of my Indian servant. I unwarily promised, which was the cause of a good deal of difficulty; but when the old rascal complained of over-work and sickness on the road, I had an answer for him which always silenced him—that is, that it was his own cupidity and dishonesty which caused it, and that if he did not work and behave himself, I would discharge him without pay, and send back to Lima for another.
I directed him to bring the mules to the hotel door on the 20th; but, upon his finding that this was Tuesday, he demurred, saying that it was an unlucky day, and that no arriero was willing to start on that day, but that Monday was lucky, and begged that I would be ready by then. This I could not do; so that on Wednesday, the 21st of May, we loaded up, though I had to cajole, and finally to bribe the old fellow, to take on all the baggage, which he represented to be too much for his beasts.
I did wrong to start, for the party was short of a servant allowed by my instructions. (I had not been able to get one in Lima, except at an unreasonable price, and depended upon getting one in some of the towns of the Sierra.) The arriero needed a peon, and the mules were overloaded. I would strongly advise all travellers in these parts to imitate the conduct of the Jesuits, whose first day's journey is to load their burden mules, saddle and mount their riding-mules; go twice round the patio or square, on the inside of their dwelling, to see that everything is prepared and fits properly; and then unload and wait for the morning. However, I foresaw a longer delay by unloading again than I was willing to make; and after a hard morning's work in drumming up the Peruvian part of the expedition, (these people have not the slightest idea that a man will start on a journey on the day he proposes,) the party, consisting of myself, Mr. Gibbon, Mr. Richards, Mr. Ijurra, Mauricio, an Indian of Chamicuros, (a village on the Huallaga,) and the arriero, Pablo Luis Arredondo, with seven burden-mules, defiled out by the Gate of Marvels, (Puerta de Maravillas,) and took the broad and beaten road that ascends the left bank of the Rimac.