The last stage commences at Palca, and ends at Sucre. The ride is a short one of about eight leagues, but on account of the many ascents and descents it is advisable to set out early. We left about 6 a.m., and soon reached the “Cuesta de Jaboncillo,” so called from the greasy nature of the earth—apparently a steatite, or soapstone—on which the mules find great difficulty in keeping a footing. This cuesta, short but sharp in slope, is of no great height; but the next, called “Masa Cruz,” rises to about 8550 feet above sea-level, and on the Sucre side falls 1350 feet in about a couple of miles. This was perhaps the steepest hill that I ever recollect riding over; for although the ruling gradient would be only about 1 in 9, or say 11 per cent., many parts of the descent were 1 in 4, or 25 per cent., and in these places it was as much as I could do to preserve my seat in the saddle. A traveller in the interior of Bolivia must be careful to purchase a stout and strong crupper—the best being the native-made ones—to be made fast, by at least three thongs or laces, to as many rings or D hooks at the back of the saddle. These do not gall the mules so much as the English make; but many travellers prefer a breeching and breast-strap, so that they are ready for both ascents and descents.
At the foot of Masa Cruz, on a small plot of flat land, formed at the junction of three large and deep ravines, are a few houses and a flour-mill called “El Canto Molino.” Here most of the maize and wheat grown in the Cochabamba districts is ground. It seemed strange that corn should have to be brought all the way from Cochabamba to this place to be ground, and the fact offers a striking example of the difficulties caused by the want of good roads; for, just as Mahomet had to go to the mountain when he found that the mountain could not go to him, so the corn of Cochabamba has to be taken to Canto Molino to be turned into flour, for there only is good material for millstones to be found. It would be almost an impossibility to drag grindstones up the ascents between the Canto Molino and Cochabamba, but the corn and flour can be easily carried, and affords remunerative employment to a small army of mule and donkey proprietors. The machinery of the mill is, as may be supposed, of very old-fashioned and primitive construction, being principally made of hard wood. The power is obtained from a vertical wheel, driven by water led down from the neighbouring ravines.
From Canto Molino the road leads up a ravine of from 200 to 300 yards in width, with hilly country on either side offering good sidelong ground for a road; but here again the road is taken up the bed of the river, which, from being dry for the greater part of the year, offers a ready-made road quite good enough for animal traffic. At Huata, in this ravine, there is a thermal spring, at which a bathing establishment, much patronized by the residents of Sucre, has been built. The spring is led into a receptacle about twenty feet square by five or six feet deep, the water flowing constantly through, so that one can enjoy its delightful temperature notwithstanding the smallness of the bath. I had no means of gauging the temperature, but should guess that it was about 75° or 80° Fahr.; and it is necessary to be rather cautious about exposure after bathing, as the place being about 8000 feet above sea-level, changes in the temperature are not infrequent. Beyond Huata there is a very sharp cuesta, which rises to 10,000 feet elevation, and shortly after surmounting the crest of this hill, the capital of Bolivia, Sucre, or Chuquisaca as it is called in the Quichuan tongue, comes into view. The first appearance of the town is both pleasing and imposing, for the number of churches, convents, and other large public buildings give an air of importance to the place, which is not maintained upon closer inspection. The country round about is very bare and dull-looking, vegetation being, it may be said, entirely absent from the prospect, as water in the district is very scarce, and only to be met with in the bottom of the numerous ravines, with which the surrounding hills are deeply scored. On the eighth day from Cochabamba I arrived at Sucre, the time usually occupied in travelling between the two places being five to six days; the détour that I made, by Totora, occupying two days more than the route by the valley of San Pedro.
SUCRE, OR CHUQUISACA, CAPITAL OF BOLIVIA.
CHAPTER XXV.
Sucre—Seat of the Government—Court of Justice and Archbishopric—Cathedral—Image of “Our Lady of Guadalupe”—Plate and pictures—Revolting character of the pictures—The clergy of Bolivia—Palacio del Gobierno—Sala del Congreso—Deputies and Debates—Treaty with Chili—Diplomatic body—Politics and parties—Quintin Quevedo—Casimir Corral—Sack of his house in La Paz—Rojos, or Ballivianistas—Hilarion Daza—Schemes for roads to the river Paraguay—River Amazon v. river Paraguay—Remarks upon the finances of Bolivia—Results to be expected from the enterprise of the Madeira and Mamoré Railway—Closing of Congress—The Bolivian flag—Revolution of 1874—Defeat of Quevedo and Corral, and deposition of Frias by Daza.
The capital of Bolivia was formerly called “Chuquisaca,” which in the Quichuan tongue is said to mean “River of Gold,” but at the establishment of the independence of the republic, the town received the name of “Sucre,” in honour of Bolivar’s celebrated coadjutor. If General Sucre gained fame by the nomination, the town certainly lost a pretty name and received a very commonplace one. Amongst the Indians and lower orders the prettier title is preserved, but as amongst the educated classes the ugly one prevails, I suppose one must, in writing of the town, follow the lead of the upper ten.