A Tour Through South America

by A. S. Forrest

CHAPTER XI
“The City of the Kings”

ABOUT 1500 miles down the coast from Panama lies Callao, the principal port of Peru, a large and busy town, by far the most imposing upon the seaboard of that country. The first town, which stood about a mile from the present one, was destroyed by an unusually violent earthquake shock in 1746. The port of to-day is fast adopting modern improvements, and most of the old mud and wickerwork houses have been replaced by substantial modern dwellings, and the docks and shipping facilities have grown to meet the increasing needs of the country. An electric tramway line connects Callao with the capital, running over a beautiful, richly cultivated plain. The road is wide and straight, and lined on either side with walls constructed with great adobe bricks. Cattle and husbandmen populate the fields, which are irrigated by many streams. “La Ciudad de las Reyes” was the name bestowed by Pizarro on the city that is to-day called “Lima,” a corruption of the Indian word “Rimac,” the name of the river upon which the capital stands. Lima retains more than any other city in Spanish America the subtle melancholy dignity so characteristic of the towns of Andalusia. The whole atmosphere is Spanish, and even the influence which the indigenous art of the conquered race had upon most of the architecture that arose in other cities after the conquest failed to make itself felt in “La Ciudad de las Reyes.” Time has not wrought many changes in the city, and it still preserves its ancient aspect. Even the architects of new buildings that have arisen have not been able to escape entirely from the old traditions, and they adopt timidly the cosmopolitan styles which have been so largely made use of in such cities as Valparaiso, Buenos Ayres, Rio, and São Paulo. The central and most important square in the city, the Plaza de Armas, is full of the old atmosphere. The long, solid building which occupies one side of the square continues to be the seat of the Republican Government, as it was formerly that of the Viceroy of Spain. The square is well shaded by leafy palms, which, in spite of the scarcity of rain, have a freshness that is astonishing, and can only be accounted for by the moist atmosphere which hovers over the city. Some years ago all the trees and shrubs in this square were cut down by order of nervous officials, who doubtless having in their minds the great tragedy enacted on this spot when Pizarro fell a victim to the conspiracy of his fellow-countrymen, saw a danger in the sheltering trees which might conceal armed assassins and conspirators against the Government. The cathedral, with its two towers and richly ornate façade, occupies the eastern side of the Plaza. It is the oldest church in the New World. The shocks of earthquakes and revolutions have failed to shake its strong foundations or massive walls. Inside the spacious aisles divided by plain and solid columns convey a sense of mysterious dignity and strength which highly gilded and ornamental interiors lack. A strong smell of burning incense pervades the silent building, and brown-robed monks glide noiselessly through the gloom. One of the brotherhood, a German, piloted me through the building, and showed with pride the fine choir stalls, whose rich carving so excited the admiration of an American millionaire that, according to my informant, one was sold to him for a hundred dollars, an act of vandalism which it is to be hoped will never be repeated, although my guide seemed to think it was good business. An old illuminated Psalter of the late sixteenth or early seventeenth century standing on the reading-desk in front of the choir was pointed out, its leaves all scribbled over with the sprawling autographs of tourists, and anyone wishing to add his name could doubtless have done so without any remonstrance from the priest. Of all the relics this ancient edifice contains, perhaps the most extraordinary is the actual body of Pizarro, contained in a glass case, which permits the visitor to inspect the very bones of the illustrious founder of the city.

Churches, monasteries, convents, and other religious houses abound in Lima. Monks and nuns attached to the different orders promenade its streets, which are lined with solidly built houses, through the wide-open doorways of which interesting

A PERUVIAN GIRL.

patios are visible, many of them surrounded by little galleries, supported by turned and carved wooden pillars, whilst the fronts of some are enriched with projecting wooden balconies, after the Moorish style, only more substantially constructed, and having heavy tiled roofs and buttressed sides; these features, together with the strong doors studded with iron bosses and spikes, and the windows railed with solid bars, betray an Eastern origin. The city is full of ancient houses and palaces which have been converted into tenements, each doorway in the patio giving entrance to a separate household. The city has a population of about 140,000, and their wants are supplied by four market-places, where a large variety of meats, birds, fish, vegetables, and fruits are for sale. Electric cars run through the ancient streets, and brush past mule trains, with their heavy loads and picturesque trappings, whilst the milkwomen, who sit perched up between great shining tins slung across the backs of their horses, have hardly recovered from the shock of seeing motor-cars whir past them. The capital contains the oldest university, as well as the oldest cathedral in South America, and for over three centuries it has been the centre of learning and education. The development of the latter in many of its branches has been steady, if slow, and the establishment of the National Institute of Peru and the Museum is doing much to further the study of the anthropology and archæology of the country. In the museum, a handsome building lying at the extreme south of the city, a collection of Inca curios has been brought together. Mummies, swathed in vicuna cloth and highly decorated, looking like a row of “Aunt Sallies,” occupy a prominent place, and the well-preserved remains of bodies found in the nitrate fields are interesting, although a little gruesome. Ancient fabrics with archaic designs, probably hieroglyphics, pan-pipes, earthenware pots, gold ornaments, all telling of vanished civilisation. The costumes of the country since the conquest, bizarre and curious, whilst the finely wrought specimens of vicuna gloves and masks used by travellers crossing the cold heights of the mountains are very ingenious. The picture gallery contains many portraits of illustrious Peruvians and historical tableaux, but these are of more archæological than artistic value. The National Library, which has been established about a hundred years, contained originally many rare and valuable manuscripts and books, many of which had been

THE CATHEDRAL, LIMA.

obtained from the monasteries in the country; but this nucleus of a fine national collection was stolen by the Chilian army when they invaded the capital in 1881, many items finding their way down to Santiago, the rest being sold at upset prices to the shopkeepers in the capital. Nothing daunted by this, the people of Lima started afresh to form the present collection of over 50,000 works, all of the available portions of the original library having been repurchased to restore in some measure the unique character of the collection. The environs of Lima are very pleasant. The vast plain upon which the city stands is well cultivated, and sowing goes on for nine months of the year. Little villages and hamlets with unpretentious houses and huts. The walls of the houses, like those which divide the fields, have a very solid and antique appearance. The brown mud colour is a feature which at once suggests the dominant characteristic of the old Moorish cities.