[51] The original word is Huanu, which is a term in the Quichua dialect meaning "animal dung;" for example, Huanacuhuanu (excrement of the Huanacu). As the word is now generally used it is an abbreviation of Pishu Huanu—Bird-dung. The Spaniards have converted the final syllable nu into no, as they do in all the words adopted from the Quichua which have the like termination. The European orthography Guano, which is also followed in Spanish America, is quite erroneous, for the Quichua language is deficient in the letter G, as it is in several other consonants. The H, in the commencement of the word, is strongly aspirated, whence the error in the orthography of the Spaniards, who have sadly corrupted the language of the Autochthones of Peru.
CHAPTER X.
Roads leading to the Sierra—Chaclacayo and Santa Iñes—Barometrical observations—San Pedro Mama—The Rio Seco—Extraordinary Geological Phenomenon—Similar one described by Mr. Darwin—Surco—Diseases peculiar to the Villages of Peru—The Verugas—Indian mode of treating the disorder—The Bird-catching Spider—Horse-Shoeing—Indian Tambos—San Juan de Matucanas—The Thorn-apple and the Tonga—The Tambo de Viso—Bridges—San Mateo—Passports—Acchahuari—Malady called the Veta—Its effects on horses—Singular tact and caution of Mules—Antarangra and Mountain Passes—Curious partition of Water—Piedra Parada—Yauli—Indian Smelting Furnaces—Mineral Springs—Portuguese Mine owners—Saco—Oroya—Hanging Bridges—Huaros—Roads leading from Oroya.
From Lima two main roads lead to the Sierra or the mountains. One runs northward through the valley of Canta, in the direction of the rich silver mines of Cerro de Pasco; the other, taking a more southerly direction, passes through the Quebrada of Matucanas, to the villages of Tarma, Jauja, and Huancayo; and still further south, leads to Huancavelica, Ayacucho, and Cuzco. All the roads running from the coast to the Sierra, present a similarity of character. Taking an oblique direction from the margin of the coast, they run into one or other of the fan-shaped Cordillera valleys, all of which are intersected by rivers. Following the course of these rivers, the roads become steeper and steeper, and the valleys soon contract into mere ravines, terminating at the foot of the Cordillera. The traveller then threads his way up the acclivity, amidst stupendous masses of rock, until he reaches the lofty ridge. Then a gradual descent leads to the level heights, and thence into the deep mountain valleys.
Former travellers having already described the route by way of Canta, I will here trace the course through the Quebrada of Matucanas. In so doing, I am enabled to present to the reader the results of some barometrical observations which are the more interesting, inasmuch as the Cordillera here advances more nearly to the coast than at any other point.
The most easterly gate of the city of Lima (the Portada de Maravillas) opens upon a broad road, which runs directly eastward. At the distance of about a league and a half from the city, the road passes over a stone bridge called the Puente de Surco, a place famed for robbers. At this point the surrounding country presents a wild and dreary aspect. Ranges of grey and barren hills encompass the valley; the ground is for the most part covered with sand and gravel. Desolate remains of plantations and the ruins of habitations bear evidence of the life and activity that once animated this desert region, now abandoned by all save the fierce bandit and his victim, the solitary traveller.
Along the margins of the river, patches of moor-ground here and there serve as pasture. Clover and maize are produced only in those parts where the soil is manured and artificially watered. Low brushwood and reeds, growing on the banks of the Rimac, supply firewood to the city of Lima, and are a source of profit to some of the plantation-owners in the valley. At Periachi, four leagues from the capital, the road takes a turn to north-east, and continues in that direction, with but little deviation, as far as the base of the Cordillera. Two leagues beyond Pariachi we reach Chaclacayo, a village containing about thirty miserable reed huts. The plantation of Santa Iñes, a little further on, is situated at 2386 feet above the level of the sea.[52] Mr. Maclean, an English merchant in Lima, who has sent many interesting Peruvian plants to the hothouses of England, and who has made some very attentive barometrical observations during a journey in the interior of the country, calculates the altitude of Chaclacayo at 2265 feet above the sea.[53] Rivero makes it 2010 feet above that level.[54] The difference between these calculations is remarkable; and in more considerable altitudes the discrepancy is still more considerable, being sometimes as much as from eight to nine hundred feet. I am inclined to believe that it is attributable less to inaccuracy of observation than to the very imperfect instrument made use of by Rivero. Maclean's observations, with some trifling exceptions, correspond with mine. He used one of Fortin's barometers, and I one of Lefevre's, which, prior to my departure from Europe, had, during several weeks, been regulated at the observatory in Paris. Unluckily, this excellent instrument was injured by a fall from my horse, and I found it impossible to get it repaired. Some barometrical observations made by M. C. Gay, during a journey in Peru, in the years 1839-40, with one of Bunten's barometers, deviate very considerably from all those above mentioned. Between the calculations of Gay and Rivero there is an average difference of from six hundred to one thousand feet.
On the road to Pasco, the Hacienda of Cavallero corresponds, in its distance from the capital, with the village of Chaclacayo, on the road I am here describing. At Chaclacayo wheat and sugar are cultivated. The sugar cane thrives well, and might be grown in greater quantity. In some of the coast districts I have seen the sugar cane cultivated at the height of 4500 feet above the sea; and I have seen it grow spontaneously, and attain perfect maturity, as high as 6800 feet.