Travels in Peru, on the Coast, in the Sierra, Across the Cordilleras and the Andes, into the Primeval Forests

by Johann Jakob von Tschudi

Within the distance of a few leagues from Lima there are several pretty villages, to which the wealthier class of the inhabitants of the capital resort in the summer seasons, for sea-bathing. The nearest, situated about three-quarters of a league from Lima, is Magdalena, where the Viceroy of Peru formerly had a beautiful summer residence. Miraflores, about midway between Lima and Chorillos, is a small village containing a plaza and some neatly-built houses. Though the heat is greater here than in the capital, yet the air is purer, and Miraflores may be regarded as the healthiest spot in the neighborhood of Lima. The sultry atmosphere is refreshed by the sea breezes. Surrounded by verdant though not luxuriant vegetation, and sufficiently distant from the marshes, Miraflores appears to combine within itself all that can be wished for in a summer residence. For asthmatic patients the air is particularly favorable. An old Spaniard of my acquaintance, who was engaged during the day in business in Lima, used to go every night to sleep at Miraflores: he assured me that if he slept a night in the capital he suffered a severe attack of asthma.

Chorillos is a poor, ill-looking village. The streets are dirty and crooked, and the houses are mere ranchos. It is built close to the sea, on a steep sandy beach; but, though anything but a pleasant place, Chorillos is the favorite resort of the wealthy Limayan families. Not a tree is visible in the neighborhood of the village, and the unshaded rays of the sun are reflected with twofold power from the hot sand. A broad, steep road leads down to the bathing-place on the sea-beach, which is rough and shingly. A row of small huts, covered with matting, serve as dressing-rooms. Both ladies and gentlemen use bathing dresses, which are very neatly made of a kind of blue cloth. The ladies are accompanied by guides (bañaderos). These are Indians, who dwell in the village. In winter they employ themselves in fishing, and in summer they live by what they get from the visitors who resort to Chorillos. They are a good-looking, hardy race of people.

The time for bathing is early in the morning. The interval between breakfast and dinner is devoted to swinging in the hammock, either in the sala or in the corridor. The afternoon and evening are spent on the promenade, and the later hours of the night at the gaming-table. The routine of the day's occupations and amusements is much the same as in most of the watering-places of Europe, excepting that, in the latter, the hammock is suspended by the chair in the reading-room and coffee-house, or the bench on the promenade. The sultry nights in Chorillos are rendered doubly unpleasant by the swarms of vermin which infest the houses. Fleas, bugs, mosquitoes and sancudos, combine to banish rest from the couch of even the soundest sleeper.

Surco is situated about half a league from Chorillos, and further into the interior of the country. It is a poor but pleasant village, surrounded by tropical trees and luxuriant vegetation. The climate is not so hot as that of Lima or Chorillos. Surco is a very pretty spot, though seldom resorted to by the inhabitants of the capital; because it boasts neither baths nor gaming-tables.

Two leagues eastward of Lima, in the direction of the mountains, is the village El Ate. It lies in a fertile valley, and enjoys a pure and equal temperature. It is much resorted to by invalids suffering from pulmonary disorders, which, if not cured, are at least relieved by the pure air.

Lurin is situated five leagues south from the capital, and a quarter of a league from the Rio de Lurin, which intersects the Quebrada of Huarochirin. Fine gardens, and well-cultivated lands, impart beauty to the surrounding scenery. At Michaelmas Lurin is visited by many of the inhabitants of the capital, St. Michael being the patron saint of the place. The village stands about a thousand paces from the margin of the sea-shore, which is two miles distant from the rocky islands of Tarallones, Santo Domingo, and Pacchacamac. Prior to the Spanish conquest, the valley of Lurin was one of the most populous parts of the coast of Peru. The whole of the broad valley was then called Pacchacamac, because near the sea-shore and northward of the river, there was a temple sacred to the "Creator of the Earth."[42] Pacchacamac was the greatest deity of the Yuncas, who did not worship the sun until after their subjugation by the Incas. The temple of Pacchacamac was then dedicated to the sun by the Incas, who destroyed the idols which the Yuncas had worshipped, and appointed to the service of the temple a certain number of virgins of royal descent. In the year 1534, Pizarro invaded the village of Lurin: his troops destroyed the temple, and the Virgins of the Sun were dishonored and murdered.

The ruins of the temple of Pacchacamac are among the most interesting objects on the coast of Peru. They are situated on a hill about 558 feet high. The summit of the hill is overlaid with a solid mass of brick-work about thirty feet in height. On this artificial ridge stood the temple, enclosed by high walls, rising in the form of an amphitheatre. It is now a mass of ruins; all that remains of it being some niches, the walls of which present faint traces of red and yellow painting. At the foot, and on the sides of the hill, are scattered ruins which were formerly the walls of habitations. The whole was encircled by a wall eight feet in breadth, and it was probably of considerable height, for some of the parts now standing are twelve feet high, though the average height does not exceed three or four feet. The mania of digging for treasures every year makes encroachments on these vestiges of a bygone age, whose monuments are well deserving of more careful preservation.

Travelling on the coast of Peru is difficult and tedious. The roads lead through plains of sand, where often not a trace of vegetation is to be seen, nor a drop of water to be found for twenty or thirty miles. It is found desirable to take all possible advantage of the night, in order to escape the scorching rays of a tropical sun; but when there is no moonlight, and above all, when clouds of mist obscure the directing stars, the traveller runs the risk of getting out of his course, and at daybreak, discovering his error, he may have to retrace his weary way. This extra fatigue may possibly disable his horse, so that the animal cannot proceed further. In such an emergency a traveller finds his life in jeopardy; for should he attempt to go forward on foot he may, in all probability, fall a sacrifice to fatigue and thirst. Numbers of beasts of burden sink every year under the difficulties of such a journey; and their bones serve to mark the direction of the road. Long journeys over these sand plains should be undertaken only with good and well-tried horses. For the most part the horses cannot stand hunger and thirst forty-eight hours without becoming so exhausted that the rider has the greatest difficulty in making them drag on; and if he is inconsiderate enough to force the animal to take a quicker pace, the horse lies down and dies. The mule, which more easily supports the difficulties of a severe journey on the sparest food, is, in Peru, the camel of the desert. Without mules, a long journey on most parts of the coast would be impracticable. The horse obeys the spur until he falls dead under the rider. Not so the mule: when too weary to journey onward he stands stock still, and neither whip nor spur will move him until he has rested. After that he will willingly proceed on his way. By this means the traveller has a criterion by which he can judge of the powers of his animal.

Excursions along the coast have been greatly facilitated by the introduction of steam navigation, and travellers now eagerly avail themselves of that rapid and secure mode of conveyance. Even in sailing vessels voyages from south to north can be conveniently performed in consequence of the regularity of the tradewind.

During my residence in Lima, in the commencement of the year 1841, I visited the port of Huacho, situated to the north. A packet bound to Panama had permission to touch at Huacho, without casting anchor, as she had to convey political prisoners under sentence of transportation to Panama. I was one of five passengers who landed at Huacho, and among the number was the pastor of the town, that very original individual, "the Cura Requena." The passage, which is usually made in fourteen hours, lasted two days and a half. Off the port we fell in with a Peruvian sloop of war, which, on our sailing from Callao, had been sent to watch us, and to stop the prisoners in case they attempted to escape. Our captain lay to, and we stepped into a boat. Our movements were observed from the shore, where, for some days, a report had prevailed that Santa Cruz was coming with Corsairs, to make a descent. The inhabitants believed that our ship must belong to that expedition. They were the more confirmed in their notion, inasmuch as the appearance of a sloop of war, which had sailed about for some hours in the bay, could not otherwise be explained. Accordingly the alarm bell was rung. The custom-house officers and the coast guards, headed by the port captain, and followed by a crowd of people, came down to the shore, some armed with muskets and pistols, others with swords and cudgels, to repel the intended attack.