The arms of the city are a shield, azure, bearing a griffin; in the centre two columns, one blue, the other white, over water, in which there is a crown, Or, crossed by two bars, Argent, underneath which is the letter K.
Truxillo suffered very much from earthquakes on the 14th of February, 1619—the 6th of January, 1625—the 20th of October, 1759—and the 2nd of September, 1759. The last shock was very violent, and some of the valleys near the coast, which, before it happened, produced the most abundant crops of wheat, became quite sterile for more than twenty years afterwards.
The plain on which the city of Truxillo is built is called del Chimu, this being the title of the sovereign chief who resided here, and signifying the powerful Lord: this chief, after resisting the Incas of Peru from the time of Lloqui Yupanqui to that of Pachacutec, the tenth Inca, at length subjected himself, swearing allegiance to the Inca at the fortalice of Paramonga. In the plain are the ruins of the ancient residence of the Chimu; they appear like the foundations of a large city or the walks of a garden, crossing each other at right angles, and denote the residence of the numerous tribe which formerly inhabited this site, and prove, also, that their chief had a respectable force at his command, with which he could oppose the incursions of the imperial army; this he continued to do until the Incas, by gradually augmenting their army with soldiers collected from the numerous tribes, which for nearly a century they had been annexing to their empire, were able to subdue this chief of the coast.
The custom of burying with the dead whatever belonged to them at their decease seems to have been prevalent among the Chimu tribes, for their huacas contain utensils, arms, clothing, and treasure, exactly in the manner as those of the indians in other parts of Peru. The same attention is also paid to economizing land fit for cultivation: the ruins just mentioned being situated on an elevated plain, where water could not be procured for the purpose of irrigation. In the year 1576, a Spaniard, named Juan Gutierres de Toledo, opened a huaca, which was supposed to have been that of one of the Chimus, in which he found so large a quantity of gold, that he paid into the royal treasury of Truxillo nine thousand three hundred and sixty-two ounces of gold, as the royal fifth, the value of the whole being upwards of a hundred and fifty thousand pounds sterling.
The tradition respecting the discovery of this treasure is as follows:—Toledo was a poor Spaniard, who, on his arrival at Huanchaco, the sea-port to Truxillo, took up his residence at the house of an indian named Tello: Toledo was of a mild disposition, and endeavoured to conciliate the good-will of his host, which he easily accomplished; he afterwards removed to Truxillo, and with the assistance of Tello opened a small store; the friendship of the Spaniard and the indian increased, so that Toledo became godfather to one of the children of Tello, which is considered to this day as the greatest favour that a white man can show to an indian. Tello one day told his friend that it was in his power to repay all the kindness which he had received, and to make his friend rich by giving to him a huaca, which, after some preliminary arrangements, he did. Toledo followed the directions of his friend, and found the value already mentioned in bars, and some household utensils of gold. Having thanked his guide who had conducted him to the wealth he had acquired, Tello told him that on a future day he would give him the great fish, the one which he had given him being only the little fish; but he died without discovering it, or giving him any clue to find it. Toledo, in gratitude to the memory of his benefactor, redeemed the tribute of the indians of Huauchaco by paying a certain sum of money into the treasury, the fruit of which just and generous action the indians still continue to enjoy; and a native of the village always carries with him, if he go to reside in any other part of the country, a certificate of his birth, which every where frees him from the payment of this tax. This action of Tello clearly proves that a South American indian is not incapable of possessing those feelings which have been denied to their character by some of their visitors and historians.
The great fish mentioned by Tello is generally believed to be a mountain or large hill near to the huaca de Toledo, and visible at Truxillo. This hill has every appearance of having been formed by art; it stands on the sandy plain of Chimu, quite isolated, and seems to be nothing but a huge portion of sand, which being poured down from an eminence would assume the shape which this mound bears. Many persons have attempted excavations, but the falling down of the loose materials, of which the hill is formed, has prevented the continuation of the work. If an adit were cut through it there is little reason to doubt but that an immense treasure would be found. Humboldt speaks of the same experiment being worthy of attention when describing the Teocalli of Cholula.
The sea-port to Truxillo is called Huanchaco; it is a roadstead in which the anchorage is not good, and where the landing, owing to the surf, is attended with considerable inconvenience; this, however, might be partly removed by the erection of a pier, which will probably be effected when the commerce with this part of Peru becomes interesting. The latitude of Huanchaco is 8° 6´—the church, which stands on an eminence, is an excellent land-mark.
The valleys of Chimu, Chicama, and Viru, may be considered as one, being separated from each other only by the branches of the Chicama river. United they are about twenty-eight leagues long and eleven broad; their soil, irrigated by the waters of the river, is very fertile, producing most abundant crops of wheat, maize and other pulse, as well as grapes, olives, sugar-cane, plantains, pine-apples, lucumas, guavas, mamey apples, custard apples, tumbos, chirimoyas, guanabanas, together with a variety of esculents, potatoes, camotes, yucas, radishes, &c. Formerly the valley of Chicama was called the granary of Peru, and until the great earthquake in 1687, the wheat produced its seed two hundred fold; this valley alone harvested annually two hundred thousand bushels of this grain. Here are many sugar plantations, but for want of hands they are not so well cultivated, and consequently not so productive as those in the valleys in the neighbourhood of Lima and Pisco. Little doubt can be entertained but that this beautiful and fruitful valley, at some future period, will become one of the most interesting settlements on the coast of Peru, on account of its great extent, the quality of its soil, and the abundance of water. Cotton and rice appear to claim particular attention, but their cultivation has hitherto been little promoted.
I left Truxillo with the chasquero, postman, which is a commodious and quick way of travelling, and especially if the person has no luggage, or can trust it to a muleteer to follow him; because the postman demands a horse or a mule at each stage, for which is paid a real, or one-eighth of a dollar per league. After travelling along the valley of Chicama about eight leagues, we stopped at a small village, called Simbal, changed horses for mules, and then began to ascend the cuesta; we continued to travel in this manner, with now and then a small descent or a little level road, till we arrived at Contumasá, at ten o'clock at night, having ridden twenty-one leagues in eleven hours. Although the latter part of the road appeared rugged from the frequent stumbling of the mules, I was obliged to allow mine to take its own choice, because for the last three hours the darkness prevented me from seeing how to direct it.
The village of Contumasá is situated on an eminence where the climate is much colder than that which I had just left; the houses are either thatched or tiled, and the whole of the country, habitations and people, appear different. The glow of a tropical sky at sunrise and sunset was changed to a pale blue, with light white clouds, or more dense ones charged with rain; the houses were so constructed as to exclude the rain and the cold; the clothing of the inhabitants was calculated to answer the same end, and all indicated a change like that from summer to winter; but the transition was so sudden, although expected, that in the morning, when I went into the corridor of the house where I had slept, I could not help looking on all around me with a certain degree of surprize. This village is composed of a long street, a plasa, and a church; some of the houses have a neat comfortable appearance, but the inhabitants are said to be somewhat akin to the Conchucanos. After taking mate, with some bread and cheese, we left Contumasá, and arrived in the evening at a hamlet called la Magdalena, situate in the bottom of a deep valley; the climate is very hot, and is considered unhealthy; small patches of sugar-cane, yucas, camotes, and some of the fruits of the coast, are here cultivated. At a small distance from the hamlet there are some abandoned gold mines, called de los Portugueses: it is said that they were formerly wrought by some natives of Portugal, and belonged to the unfortunate Juan Bautista, a Portuguese Jew, who was burnt by the inquisition of Lima in 1705.