"Fourthly—In the cities of Ica and Arequipa the greatest number of persons died from the bite of mad dogs. At Ica one dog bit fourteen individuals in one night. Notwithstanding the advice of the surgeon Estrada, they all refused medical assistance except two—the remaining twelve died. The method of cure adopted was, a caustic applied to the part affected, suppuration was promoted, and mercurial unctions were applied until a copious salivation was established. Professor Estrada says, that forty-two persons died at Ica, at different epochs from twelve to ninety days after they were bit. The symptoms were convulsions, oppression in the chest, languor, difficult respiration, horror at the sight of liquids or any shining substance, atrabilious vomit, and great fury against the nurses. After the first appearance of these symptoms, death ensued within about five days."
CHAPTER IV.
Travels to the North of Lima....Village of Pativilca....Of Huarmey....Of Casma....Cotton Mill....Santa....River Santa....Nepeña....Farm of Motocachi....Vineyard....Port of Santa....Tambo de Chao....Viru....Truxillo....Itinerary between Lima and Truxillo....Description of Truxillo....Buildings....Inhabitants....Climate....Commerce....Jurisdiction....Arms....Plain de Chimu....Huaca de Toledo....Tradition of....Huanchaco Port....Valleys of Chimu, Chicama, and Viru....Productions....Road to Caxamarca....Contumasa....Magdalena....Gold Mines....View of Caxamarca....Origin of Name of....Description of....Buildings....Inhabitants....Arts and Manufactures of....Visit to San Pablo....Market of Caxamarca....Trade of....Hot Baths....Description of.
As soon as the political affairs of South America rendered it safe for an Englishman to travel unsuspected, I visited some of the northern provinces. I remained at Pativilca a few days, and then prosecuted my journey to Huarmey: this is a small indian village, famous only for chicha, which is remarkably strong, eighteen gallons only being made from three bushels of jora, malted maize. The next village is Casma, where a considerable quantity of cotton is grown, and where a mill for separating the seeds is established by Don Benito Canicova. The machinery is very simple—a large drum or hollow cylinder is put in motion by two mules or oxen; straps pass round this drum and round a small wheel attached to a fluted steel cylinder, about half an inch in diameter; in the same horizontal line there is another similar steel cylinder: when put in motion, the cotton is applied to the steel cylinders, which drag it between them, separating the seeds from it, and these fall down on the side next the workmen, while the cotton is thrown out on the opposite side. A very powerful screw-press is used for packing the cotton, which is generally exported to the European market.
The soil here is sandy; the climate, owing to the position of the place, which is enclosed on three sides by high mountains, is hot, and the cotton is very fine; on this account Casma will probably become more populous than it is at present, and a town of more note. The pine-apples which grow here are very fine, and many of them are carried to Lima.
Our next stage brought us to Santa, having passed the small hamlet of Huambacho. Santa is the residence of the Subdelegado, and capital of the district of the same name; it is the poorest in Peru, for when a corregimiento its distribution, repartimiento, amounted only to twenty-five thousand dollars, and its alcavala to two hundred. The town is composed of about thirty ill-built houses and ranchos; the old town stood near to the sea coast, and was much larger than the present one, but it was destroyed in 1685 by Edward David, a Dutch pirate; the inhabitants afterwards established themselves about half a league further from the coast. The King granted to this hamlet the title of city, on account of the gallant resistance which the inhabitants made against David, and particularly for their having preserved from the hands of the pirate a miraculous image of Christ crucified, the gift of the Emperor Charles the Fifth, and which is still venerated in the new church.
About two leagues to the northward of the town is the river Santa; it rises in the province of Huailas, and enters the Pacific in 8° 57' 33" south latitude. At the mouth it is about one thousand eight hundred yards wide, and its current, during the rainy season in the interior, often flows at the rate of seven miles an hour; at this time of the year it cannot be forded without great risk. In 1795 a rope bridge was thrown across it, about a league from the mouth, but this was destroyed in 1806 by an unprecedented rise of the water, which caught the bridge and dragged it away.