The Prefect of Cuzco put his orderly at our disposal for the entire time of our stay. He proved to be most useful and agreeable. A word from him opened to us the doors of monasteries and churches, and his knowledge of prices enabled us to get examples of Quichua handiwork without being obliged to pay much more than the regular price. In our shopping excursions whenever we began to accumulate more Indian toys and trinkets than we could easily carry in our pockets, the orderly would summon the next police officer and tell him to act as our porter. It was rather hard to keep from laughing. Imagine a Broadway policeman toddling up Murray Hill carrying bundles for a foreign delegate to a Scientific Congress!
After my experience in the La Paz jail, I was curious to see what that of Cuzco might be like. Our obliging cicerone willingly consented to show all there was to be seen. The jail consists of an old-fashioned Spanish dwelling built around a large courtyard. Into this inclosure all classes of prisoners are put without any regard as to whether they are awaiting trial or condemned to life imprisonment. There did not seem to be any cells, and the forty or fifty prisoners were enjoying themselves after the fashion of the inmates of English prisons of the eighteenth century. The Government’s provision for food does not include any luxuries, but it is possible for the prisoners to earn money and purchase what they need. So far as we could see, there was no forced labor, and the men were thrown entirely on their own resources. Several were busily working at hand-looms making ponchos which they were glad enough to sell. Others had cups carved out of horns. One unfortunate, who happened to be asleep at the time of our visit, sent to the hotel a gaudily painted trinket with a note saying that he hoped we would purchase it for a good price, as he was much in need of funds. On the whole, although the building was old, dilapidated, and quite inadequate, according to our ideas, the prisoners seemed to be having a good time, and there was no evidence of cruelty. The Quichuas are such a mild, inoffensive folk that the jailers do not have the same incentive to punish them severely as do those in La Paz who have to deal with the cantankerous Aymarás.
On the south side of the historic plaza, next door to the Jesuit Church, is the University of Cuzco, rather squalid by comparison with the church, but containing some fine stone cloisters. It was founded in 1598, thirty-eight years before Harvard College. I had a very pleasant call on its distinguished Rector, a well-read lawyer. The principal work of the University at present consists of training men for the law. According to the annual report of the Rector, during the year 1907 the University conferred the degree of Bachelor of Philosophy and Letters on four candidates, that of Bachelor of Jurisprudence on two, Bachelor of Political Science on two, and Doctor of Jurisprudence on four. There are eighteen instructors. They receive salaries of $35 a month, and give, on the average, one hundred and thirty-five lectures a year. The Faculty of Letters has a three-year course and thirty-three students. The Faculty of Jurisprudence, a five-year course and forty-six students. The Faculty of Political Science, a three-year course and twenty-four students. The Section of Natural Science, a three-year course and nine students. The total income for the year is in the neighborhood of $10,000. Of this the Government gives $5500, and the rest is made up largely of students’ fees. One source of revenue for 1907 was $40 in fines levied on the members of the Faculty, “for failing to attend their classes and for other acts”!
The question of the education of South American youth is an interesting one. The opinion of the majority of British residents has been well expressed by an English mining engineer who has recently published a book on Peru. He says: “The Spanish-American youth educated in the United States, is not a happy product. London is the real home for the cosmopolitan refinement suited to their character”!
South American institutions of learning are built on such different lines from those in the United States that it seems to me extremely unlikely that a large number of students from South America will ever come to American universities. Ought we to do anything to encourage more to come? Spanish-Americans now studying in the States are devoting their attention chiefly to engineering and dentistry. Very few South Americans are likely to care for our academic or collegiate course or anything corresponding to it. It does not fit in at all with their customary scheme of education. To the average South American, a “college” means a kind of high school from which a student graduates to enter at once upon his professional studies. At first glance it looks like the familiar German idea of a gymnasium course followed immediately by professional studies in the university. But it would be unfair both to the gymnasium and the colegio to place their curriculum in parallel columns.
A large number of physicians in South America claim to have studied in Paris. The dentists usually advertise the fact that they were educated in Philadelphia or New York. Lawyers rarely ever receive any special training outside of the local university. On the other hand, while a large percentage of the native civil engineers are trained in the local engineering schools, a very considerable number have studied abroad. It is a generally recognized fact in South America, outside of Argentina and Chile, that the best engineers are Americans.
On the whole I am not disposed to agree with those who disparage American training for Latin-American youth. I am inclined to believe that it increases their efficiency more than the “cosmopolitan refinement” of London.
CHAPTER XX
SACSAHUAMAN
To defend Cuzco from attack by enemies coming from the north, the Incas built a great fortress on a hill overlooking the city. To reach it, the easiest way is to take a mule and ride through Cuzco’s narrow streets, up the ravine to the ancient gateway in the east side of the hill. At first sight it might seem ridiculous not to walk, as the fortress in only 600 feet above the city. But Cuzco has an elevation of 11,500 feet, and hill-climbing at this altitude is best done on mule-back.
The Prefect kindly supplied us mules and an escort. On our way we passed the church of Los Nazarenes whose superstructure is laid on ancient walls that are noteworthy because of the many serpents that are carved in relief on the stones. Among the crude pottery dishes that I bought in the streets of La Paz was one decorated with these same little wriggling serpents.