Cajamarca lies across the Continental Divide in the valley of the Marañon River. It is a town of 12,000 or 15,000 inhabitants, and is the centre of a large commerce. Freight rates by burros to the coast, the only present means of transportation, amount to $7 per ton. Historically Cajamarca has an attractiveness all its own. It was here that the usurping Inca emperor Atahualpa, who seized his brother Huascar’s birthright, hospitably received Pizarro, and, simple savage that he was, propounded the question which puzzled other untutored minds in other parts of the world during that epoch of discovery and conquest: By what right could the great man called the Pope give to the other great man called the King of Spain power and jurisdiction over land where he himself held no control?
Beyond Pacasmayo is the little sugar-loading port of Huanchaco. When the vessel puts in there, it is worth while going ashore and taking the diligencia (stage) or a horse across to Trujillo, for the road leads through a huaca, or ancient burial and treasure ground of the Incas. There is not much to see except the mud walls, but the short journey is a good introduction to the old civilization. Trujillo is a very pretty and active little place on a small river. The railroad runs down to Salaverry on the jutting slope of the mountain, the summit of which is marked by a cross. It is the fourth port of Peru in point of trade, the commerce being about $2,500,000 each twelvemonth. There is a cemetery which tourists seek in order to read the inscription, “Se prohibe pasar la muralla los botes—boats are forbidden to pass over the wall.” From this it may be understood that this graveyard sometimes is under water. From the sea Salaverry is an open roadstead nestling by a little cub of a mountain which crouches at the feet of a big mother mountain. All the time the towering peaks of the Andes are growing in grandeur.
Chimbote, the next port, as yet has little commercial importance, because the coal and other mineral wealth of the country back of it have not been developed. It has great prospects in the future, possibly as an American naval station, for the Peruvian government, it is understood, is anxious to grant the United States certain privileges there. It lies nearly midway between Panama and Valparaiso. The Bay of Ferrol, of which Chimbote is the port, is protected by a large number of islets. Its waters are always tranquil and seem more those of a lake in the interior than of the sea. The bay measures seven miles by five, and at all points offers anchorage of the first order. It is deep and a very large number of vessels of the heaviest tonnage could at all times find a shelter. Quays and wharves could easily be erected. The railway extends to Suchiman, a distance of thirty-two miles. It is to be prolonged to Recuay, and some day may form an important link in transcontinental communication to the affluents of the Amazon. The ruins of the Inca aqueduct at Chimbote possess an interest alike for tourists and for engineers.
Farther down the coast is the landing-place of Supe. I know Supe well. Five days were passed there once, not, the officials said, in quarantine, but simply under observation for the bubonic plague. The hamlet has artesian wells and a lighthouse, due to the public spirit of the planters. It ships cotton, sugar, cane rum, and rice. It also has a huaca. Several of my fellow-voyagers went ashore and dug in the graveyard. They came back with their finds,—pottery vessels looking suspiciously new and some of which, as they afterwards admitted, they bought from the natives. The visitor is allowed to dig up the pottery himself. The villagers are hospitable. They made no objection when the ship’s doctor unearthed a skeleton and left them a gratification, or hush money, for the privilege of carrying it off. His bribery was fruitless, for the captain of the Tucapel, complaining already of ill-luck and sailors’ superstitions, gave him the choice of dropping the skeleton overboard or of being dropped overboard himself.
Ancon is one of the minor ports sometimes utilized for commerce when Callao is under quarantine. When the fog rises, a perspective is disclosed of sandy mountains and of palm trees along the shore. The bay is a fine one. Seals and whales frequent it without disturbing the bathers, for Ancon is a resort to which all Lima comes by taking the railroad for thirty miles through the winding paths that penetrate and surmount the overlapping white sand-hills. Ancon is famous historically as the place in which the treaty of peace with Chile was signed when that victorious nation was exacting terms, and it is the Treaty of Ancon to which reference is so often made in the discussion of the still unsettled Tacna-Arica question.
To enter the port of Callao, the vessels follow a semicircular course around the rocks to get within the shelter of the island of San Lorenzo and the long sandy tongue of land. It is sometimes stated that the island of San Lorenzo was split off from the mainland by an earthquake, but geology gives no support to this assumption. Of recent years the government has initiated many improvements in the bay. One of the best is a fine new navy mole, and as the warships of all nations make Callao their frequent station, this improvement is appreciated. There are also the darsena, or system of wharves and piers, controlled by the government, and the floating iron dock which was constructed by a French company. This dock has a capacity of 5,000 tons. A new contract between the government and the company in 1905 relieved commerce of many burdens. Callao is a fine port. The plaza in the centre, with its blending of tropical trees and statuary, forms a refreshing picture. The custom house is the most pretentious building, but there are other tasteful structures. The population of Callao is 30,000, but in the daytime it seems to be larger, as many of the people doing business at the port live at Lima, which is only nine miles inland and is connected by an electric trolley and two steam railways. The foreign commercial colony is a large one. Much of its social life centres in the English Club.
All the commerce of central Peru passes through Callao. The shipping is extensive. Enterprising Chinese merchants have established a direct line to Hongkong via Panama, but the ships flying the English flag exceed all the other nations. Callao is visited annually by more than 1,000 coasting-vessels, steamers, and sailing-ships, with a cargo tonnage of 175,000 to 200,000 for discharge. England is first in the shipping, Chile next, and Germany third. The maritime movement is more active than at any port south of Panama except Valparaiso. With the completion of the Canal its commercial importance will be prodigiously enhanced. At present nearly half the trade of Peru pays tribute to its shipping, and the bulk of the revenues of the country are collected in its custom house. For the last year for which statistics are given, its foreign commerce amounted to $16,908,000 out of a total for the whole Republic of $37,058,000. The imports were about $13,000,000 and the exports $4,350,000. The coastwise traffic, in which foreign vessels are permitted to engage, centres in this port.
From Callao south are a large number of open roadsteads which hardly deserve to be called vessel landings, for they are entirely without harbor facilities. By means of lighters and small craft, freight and passengers are loaded and unloaded through the surf. Cerro de Azul means “blue hills,” but the place is not very blue except for ship-captains. It is a shipping-port for sugar and cattle which are driven in from the interior. Lomas is another wretched little place. Chala is an attractive coast village, chiefly a cattle-loading port. The region is noted for the production of the granadilla fruit. The granadilla is similar to the mandrake, or May apple.
Pisco is a thriving port, with an open bay sheltered by rocky islets. Among these are the Chinchas, or guano islands, which are yet capable of exploitation. The beach, with smooth rounded hills in the background, bends like a scythe. There is green vegetation, which is always grateful, and palm, olive, pine, and other trees. The beach is possible for bathing, but the sharks are too numerous to make it enjoyable.
The town lies about a mile back from the port, with which it is connected by a mule tramway. The commerce exceeds $1,100,000 yearly. A railroad runs from Pisco to Ica, forty miles. It follows a rich valley in which there are many fine haciendas, or plantations. The products are both tropical and temperate. They include cotton, sugar-cane, alfalfa, and corn. A big cotton field on the edge of the port looks like a small section of North Carolina. Pisco is noted especially for the vineyards, which extend to Ica and beyond. From these grapes is made the wine called Italia. It is enclosed in queer-looking oval-shaped earthen jars, some of them of enormous size. The best brandy that is to be had anywhere in South America takes its name from Pisco. It is a grape brandy. The pure article is superior to French cognac, but, alas! the art of adulteration has been learned, and the real distillation of the grape juice is not often procured.