PERUVIAN MUMMY, UNIVERSITY OF SAN MARCOS
Turning the corner to the right by the side of the library building one will find at the next corner the Palace of Justice. One block more after a second turn to the right brings one to the calle de Azangaro, the Normal School for Girls occupying a considerable portion of the block on the right. The entrance is near the Church of San Pedro. Four blocks to the left down Azangaro, but fronting on the calle del Inambari, is the University of San Marcos, the oldest in the Western Hemisphere, founded in 1551, almost a century earlier than Harvard. Established under a charter from Emperor Charles V and his mother, Queen Joana, it was at first in the monastery of Santo Domingo and under the charge of that Order. Twenty years later by order of Philip II the University was secularized, and in 1574 it received the designation of San Marcos. In 1576 a building was constructed for its use in the Plaza de la Inquisición. After two centuries in this location it was transferred to its present site, formerly that of the Jesuit college of San Carlos, then united with the University. Dr. Don Luis F. Villarán has been rector of the University since 1905. The University embraces Schools or Departments of Law, Medicine, Theology, Science, Philosophy and Letters, and Administrative and Political Science, in which a high standard of scholarship is maintained; the Medical School, as we have seen, occupies a separate building. The rooms are grouped around several patios. There is an assembly hall with a handsome carved ceiling, and in the museum are curious mummies. A University Review is published monthly. A few years ago a Centro was established, somewhat after the fashion of the Harvard Union. Women are admitted to the University.
The Engineering School is in quite another direction on the calle del Callao, four blocks from the southwest corner of the Plaza de Armas. This, established in 1876, continued under the direction of the Polish engineer, Señor Eduardo Habich, until his death in 1911. The school has complete laboratories, and courses in mining, civil, electric, and mechanical engineering; all of which in a country like Peru are of infinite importance.
The fine large school for boys in a splendid building on Avenue Alfonso Ugarte, the Collegio de Guadalupe, well deserves a visit.
The portion of Lima on the right bank of the river Rimac should not be ignored. Passing from the Plaza by Carabaya street, one comes to the fine new railway station of Desemparados, completed in the fall of 1912. After one block to the left a turn to the right leads one to the bridge across the Rimac, the river recently improved by being enclosed within a suitable channel. So much water is drawn off for irrigation all along its course that little is left in the ancient river bed. To one who wishes to see the life of the common people the walk affords good opportunity, but a drive to the Jardin de los Descalzos, the Garden of the Barefooted Friars, will be generally preferred. The garden extends half a mile or more along a broad avenue. It contains, besides plants and trees, handsome urns, marble benches, and twelve statues representing the Signs of the Zodiac. At the end is a fountain, and beyond, the ancient Church and Convent of the Friars under the shadow of the hill, San Christóbal. A path leads up from this point, but the more usual route is farther east. Returning from the Garden, one may take the first turn to the left, then one to the right past the Bull Ring, seating 8000 spectators and called the largest in the New World. It lies practically in front of the Balta Bridge, a modern structure named for one of the Presidents. The Bull Ring, said to be the second largest in the world, is on Sunday afternoons often thronged with spectators to witness this cruel sport, which will doubtless before many years be discontinued, as already at Buenos Aires and in most other cities of South America. Before returning by the Balta Bridge, the Alameda de Acho on the right hand should be visited. This was once a fashionable promenade and still boasts of large handsome trees, tall poplars forming three roadways.
It would be a pity to ignore the Cerro or Hill of San Christóbal, which rises 900 feet above the city. There is an easy path by which the ascent may be made, but for the benefit of the lame and the lazy an Aerial Tramway has recently been established; the transit requiring 8 or 10 minutes begins at Los Baños del Pueblo near the Alameda de los Descalzos. The summit on a clear day affords a delightful view of the city, the irrigated valley, the hills, the mountains, and the sea, which should well repay the effort of the climb, itself agreeable except to the incorrigibly indolent. More enticing than the view to some, will be the opportunity of visiting the Great Tower for Wireless Telegraphy, which rises 350 feet above the crest of the hill. It is, indeed, a triumph for wireless. Messages across the sea seem not so wonderful: but to send them over mountains and broad plateau, over or through a wall three and a half miles high and 100 miles thick appears marvellous. This wireless station, one of the highest powered in the world, has sent messages not only to Iquitos on the Amazon, 1030 kilometers away, for which purpose it was especially designed, in order to ensure communication between the central government and this important Peruvian commercial outpost, but also to Manaos in Brazil, 2300 kilometers (1435 miles) distant. The great mountain range between the two cities averages 18,000 feet in height, while beyond are dense tropical forests. The construction company did not venture to guarantee the success of an untried service, promising only to build an intermediate station if necessary. The great success of the undertaking renders this superfluous. The station at the other end is Itaya, two miles from Iquitos. The towers are identical, triangular steel structures, each weighing 120 tons. They rest on a concrete base by a steel ball point, insulated by thick glass plates. Each is kept vertical by means of three heavy steel cables at three angles. A power of 10 kilowatts is supplied but 7 only are used. The service was inaugurated June 16, 1912, with suitable ceremonies both at Lima and Iquitos. President Leguia, other officials and citizens to the number of 3000, made the ascent of the Cerro, though the hilltop was not large enough to contain all, the crowd as it were slipping over the edges. After various speeches the President started the machinery. At 5.05 a message of congratulation was sent and at 5.17 the reply was received. Then was unveiled a bronze tablet bearing the inscription in Spanish: “This station was inaugurated in 1912. His Excellency, Augusto B. Leguia, President of the Republic, Dr. José Manuel Garcia, Minister of Fomento, Dr. Edmundo N. de Habich, Director of Fomento, A. E. Tamayo and K. J. Holmvang, engineers in charge of construction. The Telefunken Company, June, 1912.”
A monument which should not be overlooked by the tourist is the Dos de Mayo standing in a circle, and passed by the electric cars to Callao. This monument commemorates the victory of May 2, 1866, when an attack of the Spanish fleet upon Callao was repelled and the Spaniards were finally driven from the Pacific coast. A column of Carrara marble 75 feet high is surmounted by a statue of victory. Around the base are figures representing the countries of Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, and Chile.