Historical and descriptive narrative of twenty years' residence in South America (Vol 2 of 3) / Containing travels in Arauco, Chile, Peru, and Colombia; with an account of the revolution, its rise, progress, and results

by active 1803-1825 William Bennet Stevenson

On the whole, the province of Huailas is most bountifully supplied with all the necessaries, and many of the luxuries of life; the situation is commanding, and Huaras is calculated to become a large mercantile town, the general mart for the provinces of Huailas, Huamalies alto, Huamalies bajo, and Conchucos; but for the furtherance of such a project, the port of Santa ought to be opened; it is a secure harbour, and is the nearest of any to Huaras.

After visiting the principal towns in Huailas, I went to the province of Conchucos, which adjoins it to the northward. This province is more irregular than the former; some of the valleys are very low, and consequently very hot; in these the tropical and equatorial fruits come to perfection, and at Huari del Rey, the capital, I have seen very fine pine-apples, grown in the province. The valleys are generally small, being merely bottoms of the ravines, quebradas, and the soil is produced by the heavy rains which fall on the adjoining mountains: these carry down the decayed animal and vegetable matter, as well as the decombres of the stone of which they are composed, and hence the soil is remarkably productive. Some of the villages are situated in very cold climates, being from five to eight thousand feet above the level of the sea; they are generally small miserable places, inhabited chiefly by indians, who cultivate patches of barley and maize, which seen from the valleys appear to hang in the clouds. I have often beheld a man ploughing with a yoke of oxen lent to him by the farmers, where I should have imagined that a goat could scarcely have tripped along in safety. A few small sheep and goats are the only animals which they possess, excepting dogs, of which useless animals, each hut, rancho, contains at least half a dozen. Many of these indians are employed by the more wealthy inhabitants in manufacturing tocuyos, bayetones, flannels, and coarse cotton stockings. The females generally spin and knit at home, and the men go to the obrages to weave, dye, full, &c. Some very fine ponchos are made in Conchucos, and sold at the amazing price of a hundred or a hundred and fifty dollars each; others, made of brown wool, are called bordillos, and fetch from five to ten dollars each; of the coarse wool and all the refuse jerga is made, which is formed into wrappers for sugar, and common dresses for the slaves and the poorer sort of indians. This province manufactures more of this kind of cloth than any of the neighbouring districts, and some of the inhabitants are wealthy, but the poor indians are truly miserable.

Some silver mines are wrought in Conchucos, but the quantity of silver yielded by the ore being small, the hardness of the ore which renders the breaking of it expensive, and the loss of mercury during the process of amalgamation, contribute to render mining a losing speculation, and the mines are consequently almost abandoned. Several attempts have been made to smelt the ores, but without success; could this be accomplished there is no doubt but that mining would become profitable in Conchucos, particularly as there is coal in several parts of this and the neighbouring provinces.

Along the margin of the river Miraflores, in Conchucos, there are labadores, washing places, where gold of the finest quality is found in the sand, and after the rains subside many persons are employed in gathering it; but so little are they acquainted with the extensive and easy method adopted on the coast of Choco, that the profit derived from their labour is very small; notwithstanding, if proper means were employed, it is very probable that an abundance might be extracted.

In the parish of Llamellin is a mine of sulphur, great quantities of which are extracted, and carried to Lima, and sold at the powder mills. In the same parish is a spring which falls down the sides of a rock, forming in its course innumerable hard white stalactites, that look like candles hung in the water; the natives call them Catachi, and apply them, reduced to powder, in cases of violent hæmorrhage, bloody flux, &c.; they also mix the powder with lard or the fat of the puma, or condor, apply it to fractured bones, and consider the application as useful in promoting the union of the parts.

The oca is cultivated in some of the colder parts of this and the neighbouring provinces; this plant is of a moderate size—in appearance somewhat like the acetous trefoil; the roots are yellow, each about five or six inches long and two in circumference; they have many eyes, like the potato, and are seldom straight like the the carrot or radish, but curved in different directions: one plant produces several roots, and they are propagated in the same manner as potatoes. The oca when boiled is much sweeter than the camote or batata of Malaga; indeed, it appears to contain more saccharine matter than any root I ever tasted; if eaten raw it is very much like the chesnut, and it may be kept for many months in a dry place. The transplanting of the oca to England, where, I am persuaded, it would prosper, would add another agreeable and useful esculent to our tables.

Among the plants used medicinally by the natives is the contrayerba, which grows in the mountains in cold shady places: the stem is about two feet high, of a purple colour; it is divided by knots like a cane, where the leaves grow opposite to each other; these are three or four inches long, narrow, denticulated, and of a very dark green colour. The flower stalks spring from the same knots, and the flower bears a great resemblance to that of agrimony. It is used, the leaves, flowers, and stem, as a febrifuge, and particularly in the small-pox and measles, to facilitate the eruption; it is also used as a tonic, or stomachic, in cases of habitual indigestions, and also in dysenteries. It is pretended that it will counteract the effects of poison, on which account it has obtained the name which it bears. This plant is quite different to that called contrayerba, which grows in Chile, and which I have already described. The natives administer this herb in a simple decoction.

The calaguala is another herb which grows in moist swampy places, where the climate is mild. The plant is composed of leaves about ten or twelve inches long, and one broad; it bears no flowers. A decoction of the leaves is considered as an excellent dissolvent of the coagulated blood in severe contusions; it is believed to be efficacious in affections of the viscera, when ulceration has taken place, by evacuating the purulent matter; it is also given in the falling sickness. There are two varieties of this plant: the leaves of the one are green; this is considered inefficacious, and is called the female; the other bears leaves of a brown colour, is called the male plant, and is the one used.

Another medicinal herb, which is found in this and the neighbouring provinces, is the quinchimali; it grows in temperate parts, and resembles the herb of the same name which grows in Chile. A decoction of it is drunk in cases of severe contusion, if it be suspected that coagulated blood, or lymph, be lodged in the intestines, and in gonorrheas it is used to promote the discharge, and prevent strictures.