View of Oroya, the Inter-Andine Crossroads
The extension of the line from Oroya south to Huancayo, the first dozen miles of which was coincident with the other railway construction, insures the progress of a very rich section. Well-populated valleys rich in agricultural products are traversed, while mineral veins, especially copper and coal, are tapped. The famous quicksilver mines of Huancavelica are in this zone. The region as a whole, from the variety of its climate, offers encouraging prospects for immigration. The valley of Jauja is one of the most inviting fields for irrigation that is to be found within the limits of Peru.
Routes from the Amazon to the Pacific are many. The one which promises the earliest realization is that known as the Pichis, or the central highway. When the contract was made with the Peruvian Corporation, this was one of the proposed extensions in which the greatest faith was felt, and the enormous land grant was chiefly to insure its construction. Disappointment at the failure to carry forward this line was one of the causes of the resentment of the government toward the corporation and of the friction that followed. The surveys and explorations of Arana, Werthemann, Tucker, Wolfe, Barandiaran, Father Sala, Carlos Perez, and others, showed the feasibility of navigation from Iquitos to the Pichis, a total distance of 900 to 1,000 miles according to the river courses followed. Navigation was established. Then came the greater problem of climbing the clinging eyebrow of the Eastern Cordilleras through untried passes and scaling mountain walls to the puna, or table-land.
Plans formed during the term of President Prado in 1879 were inaugurated by President Caceres, and under the administration of General Pierola in 1896 the government undertook to open communication from the terminus of the present road at Oroya to the Pichis. The central highway was laid out and made passable for man and beast. “The mule path grows to a trodden road”—but not in the Andes. For much of the distance the highway meant only a trail, yet a way was opened chiefly through the genius of the Peruvian engineer, Joaquin Capelo. It was enormously expensive, especially since, on account of the controversies with the Peruvian Corporation, the government made a detour to avoid crossing the lands granted to that company, and by pushing straight up the steepest mountain-sides ignored the engineering basis of road-making.
The history of the central highway has been written by Señor Capelo and other Peruvians. It is a brilliant chapter in hardy enterprise. Like so many State projects, the full benefits were not reaped immediately, and much costly engineering work was allowed to fall into disuse. But in spite of misuse and disuse the achievement stands out that the Pichis road was opened and communication with the Amazon established. This helped to preserve and strengthen the national spirit when the territorial integrity was threatened by the abortive movements for the separation of Iquitos and the Department of Loreto.
The methods of locomotion employed and the means of following the central highway from Lima to Iquitos are given below:
ITINERARY FROM LIMA TO IQUITOS
| Method of travel | Place of transit | Days | Total distance from Lima in kilometres |
|---|---|---|---|
| By railroad | Lima to Oroya | 1 | 206 |
| “ horse | Oroya to Tarma | 1 | 236 |
| “ mule | Tarma to Huacapistana | 1 | 280 |
| “ “ | Huacapistana to La Merced | 1 | 314 |
| “ “ | La Merced to Vista Alegre | 1 | 348 |
| “ “ | Vista Alegre to Tambo Enenas | 1 | 390 |
| “ “ | Enenas to Tambo kilometro 93 | 1 | 432 |
| “ “ | Tambo kilometro 93 to Azupizu | 1 | 482 |
| “ “ | Azupizu to Puerto Yessup | 1 | 524 |
| “ canoe | Puerto Yessup to Puerto Bermudez | 1 | 544 |
| “ steamer | Puerto Bermudez to Iquitos | 7 | 1,500 |
| Total | 17 | 2,044 |
In English terms the distance is 1,265 miles. The return journey requires five days more, as it is upstream from Iquitos to Port Bermudez. Variations of this route are possible. With a through railway from Lima to Port Bermudez, Victoria, or other navigable point, and the improved navigation which will follow, the time will be ten days. A telegraph line extends from Lima to Bermudez, and an irregular postal service is carried on with Iquitos. Under present conditions the traveller who makes the entire trip is rare, and there is no through traffic. Officials who may be ordered from Lima to the Department of Loreto prefer to make the trip by steamer from Callao to Panama, 1,570 miles, by rail and steamer to New York, 2,030 miles, by steamer from New York to Para at the mouth of the Amazon, 3,000 miles, and up the Amazon, 2,300 miles, to Iquitos. A journey of 8,900 miles in order to cover a distance of less than 1,300 miles is the most graphic illustration that can be given of the compelling force of through rail and water communication on the part of Peru with its Amazonian territory. It also is an example of the prospective advantage of traffic by the Panama Canal route, since the productive and undeveloped region of the Ucayali basin rivers is nearer to the Pacific than to the sources of the Amazon.