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

by Johann Jakob von Tschudi

A glance at the history of Peru serves to show that prior to the Spanish conquest the Indians were the subjects of a dynasty, to which they rendered willing obedience. We find, indeed, an uninterrupted series of revolutions and wars, arising out of the continued extension of the empire, to which nations differing one from another in language, religion, and manners, were gradually annexed. For some time after their subjugation these nations struggled to recover their independence, but the wise and mild government of the Incas gradually restored peace, and established unity. In course of time, the magnitude of the empire led to its downfall. Huayna Inca-Capac divided his dominions between his two sons. To the elder, Huascar, he gave the southern portion of the empire, and to the younger, Atahuallpa, he gave the northern division. Between the two brothers there arose disputes, which led to a sanguinary war; and in that fatal interval, Pizarro, with his invading forces, landed in Peru. With a degree of speed, which internal union among the people would have rendered impossible, the Spaniards made themselves masters of the country, massacred alike sovereigns and subjects, destroyed the sanctuaries, and established a new religion and new laws. The barbarous cruelties by which that religion and those laws were upheld are too well known to require repetition here. Of the many oppressive measures to which the Spaniards enforced submission from the conquered people, I will briefly notice two: the Repartimiento and the Mita. The Repartimiento was the distribution, among the natives, of articles of European production. These distributions were under the superintendence of the provincial authorities, the corregidores, and the sub-delegados. The law was doubtless intended, in its origin, for the advantage and convenience of the native Indians, by supplying them with necessaries at a reasonable price. But, subsequently, the Repartimiento became a source of oppression and fraud, in the hands of the provincial authorities. All the corregidores and sub-delegados became traders. They purchased consignments of manufactured goods from Europe, at a cheap rate, and sold them to the Indians at exorbitant prices. To add to the grievance, the articles thus forced upon the natives were, in many instances, not necessaries, but objects of luxury utterly useless to them. Even more oppressive and cruel than the Repartimiento, was the Mita, which consisted of the forced labor of the Indians in the mines and plantations. Every Spaniard who wished to work a mine, obtained from the corregidor a certain number of Indians, to each of whom he gave daily four reals as wages, with the agreement of paying to the government a yearly tax of eight dollars. The condition of the Indians who were distributed to the plantation owners was even worse than that of the mine laborers; they received only two reals per day, and were required to work in the fields from three in the morning until after sunset. The Indians employed in this compulsory labor, whether in the mines or the plantations, were called Mitas. But there was another sort of forced labor, for which no wages were paid. It was indeed less toilsome than working in the mines and plantations, yet the Indians employed in it were frequently subject to much ill-treatment. I allude to domestic service in the houses of the corregidores, sub-delegados, and priests. The Indians thus employed were called Pongos, and they were required to continue in their places for the space of a year, after which they were discharged. A corregidor frequently had half a dozen of these pongos, whom he provided with miserable food and wretched clothing.[102]

In the mines and plantations countless numbers of Indians were annually swept away by the excessive labor consequent on the mita. Some writers estimate at nine millions the number of Indians sacrificed in the mines in the course of three centuries. This estimate is certainly too high; but three millions more may be added for the number of victims of the mita in the plantations.

That the government in Spain should have tolerated this barbarous system, so obviously calculated to bring ruin on the nation, may naturally be matter of surprise. But a glance at the Indian laws (Leyes de Indias) suffices to show the distinction between the intentions of the Spanish government and the corrupt legislation of the country. The laws are, with some few exceptions, conceived in a mild spirit, and show that their framers had in view the well-being of the colonies. The execution of these laws was consigned to the superintendence of what was termed the Indian council (Consejo de Indias). This council consisted of a certain number of men who resided in Spain, and who either were only in part acquainted with the real state of things in South America, or were bribed by Indian gold to wink at the abuses committed there. From this council were chosen the viceroys and high authorities of the colonies, who, whilst in the exercise of their official functions, amassed enormous wealth by unjust exactions from the Indians. One of the latest viceroys of Peru was a man who arrived in Lima in a state of utter poverty, and who, in the short space of three years, amassed the immense sum of five millions of dollars.

Could it be matter of surprise if at length the Indians rose against their oppressors, and made an effort to shake off the heavy yoke of their tyrants? For two hundred years they had borne it silently, without a single attempt to emancipate themselves. Juan Santos Atahuallpa was the first who stirred up revolt against the Spaniards. The insurrection which he had headed, though deemed too insignificant to fix the attention of the short-sighted government of Lima, nevertheless, convinced the Indians that they were strong enough to make a stand against their oppressors. Several partial risings in Southern Peru were speedily put down; a leader was wanted to organize the disconnected plans and movements of the insurgents. This want was at length supplied in the person of the ill-fated Tupac Amaru, cacique of Tungasuca, a descendant of the last Inca.

The event which caused Tupac Amaru to attempt a movement against the Spaniards occurred in 1780. In that year, the corregidor of Tinta, Don Antonio Ariaga, made repartimientos to the amount of 340,000 dollars, and with the most cruel rigor enforced payment of the useless articles distributed. The cacique of Tungasuca assembled the irritated Indians, who seized the corregidor and hanged him. This was the signal for a general rising in all the neighboring districts. The forces of Tupac Amaru augmented daily. He was invested with the title of Inca, and treated with the honors due to sovereignty. For several months an active war was maintained in the Puna, where several towns and villages were taken by the insurgents. Tupac Amaru had made himself master of the village of Chucuito, and was preparing to advance upon Cuzco, when, about the end of April, 1781, he, and all his family, were made prisoners by the Spaniards. He was tried and condemned to death, together with his wife, two sons, his brother-in-law, and several other individuals of note among the Indians.

But the execution of Tupac Amaru, which was marked by circumstances of monstrous barbarity, far from stemming the tide of revolution, served only to stimulate the vengeance of the insurgents. They once more mustered their warlike bands, under the command of Casimiro Tupac Amaru, the brother of the late cacique, his son Andres, and an intrepid Indian chief, named Nicacatari. The latter, assisted by Andres, burned several villages of Upper Peru, and murdered all the whites. They next advanced upon the strongly fortified town of Sorrata, whither the Spaniards of the surrounding districts had fled for protection. The town was taken by the insurgents, and the inhabitants, 22,000 in number, inhumanly put to death, with the exception of eighty-seven priests and monks. The Indians then advanced westwards, defeating several Spanish corps, and spreading terror and dismay through the country. But, that which neither the arms nor the executions of the Spaniards could accomplish, was effected by their gold. A treacherous Indian, bribed by the promise of a large reward, conducted a division of Spanish soldiers to the spot where the chiefs were accustomed to meet, unattended by any guard, to hold their council. They were surprised, captured, and condemned to death. Once more deprived of leaders, the Indians disbanded and withdrew, some to their homes, and others into the forests. Numberless victims paid the debt of retribution to the Spanish government, which now adopted every measure that could tend to annihilate the nationality of the native Indians. Their dances, their music, their dress—all that could revive the remembrance of their progenitors, was condemned to rigorous prohibition; they were even forbidden the use of their mother tongue, the Quichua language. The only beneficial result of these wars, in which upwards of a hundred thousand lives were sacrificed, was the abolition of the Repartimientos, which had been the cause of the insurrections.

Peace was now, at least to appearance, restored; and if, occasionally, symptoms of disturbance arose, they were immediately repressed. This state of things continued until the Creoles themselves gave the signal of revolt, and the War of Independence broke out in all the Spanish colonies of South America. In this enterprise the Indians readily took part. But it is a great mistake to suppose that the Indian natives made common cause with the Creoles against the Spaniards for the purpose of bringing about the present form of government. They wished to emancipate themselves in order to establish their own dynasty and a government modelled after that of their forefathers. They wanted not a republic, but a monarchy, and a sovereign chosen from the sacred race of the Incas. Having no clear comprehension of the real object of the War of Independence, the Indians, when they saw whites fighting against whites, directed their hostility against all Pucacuncas (pale faces) without distinction, killing loyalists or patriots, just as they happened to fall in their way. This hatred was so bitterly manifested, that in some provinces all the whites and mestizos were obliged to fly, even though they were the most decided enemies of the Spanish loyalists. In Jauja the Indians vowed not to leave even a white dog or a white fowl alive, and they even scraped the whitewash from the walls of the houses.

The provisional government ordered levies of troops to be made in the provinces which had fallen into the hands of the patriots; and then, for the first time, Indians were enrolled in the army as regular troops. But it was only in a very few districts that they voluntarily took part in the conflict for independence: they performed the forced service of conscripts, and whenever an opportunity enabled them to retire from it, they did so. The Spanish dominion being overthrown, the war terminated, and a republican constitution was established. The Indians then clearly perceived that they had been made the tools of the leaders of the revolution. Upon the whole, their condition was but little improved; for if they were relieved from some oppressive laws, other hardships weighed heavily on them, and they found that they still were slaves in the land of their fathers. The creoles, like the Spaniards, will draw the string of despotism till it snaps. Then will arise another Indian insurrection like that headed by Tupac Amaru, but with a more successful result. After a fearful struggle, they may reconquer their fatherland, and re-establish their ancient constitution; and can it be matter of surprise if they wreak cruel vengeance on the enemies of their race?

Since the War of Independence, the Indians have made immense progress. During the civil war, which was kept up uninterruptedly for the space of twenty years, they were taught military manœuvres and the use of fire-arms. After every lost battle the retreating Indians carried with them in their flight their muskets, which they still keep carefully concealed. They are also acquainted with the manufacture of gunpowder, of which in all their festivals they use great quantities for squibs and rockets. The materials for the preparation of gunpowder are found in abundance in the valleys of the Sierra.

In the year 1841, when I was passing through a miserable village on the confines of one of the Montañas of Central Peru, I took up my abode for some days in the hut of an Indian, and whilst there I accidentally saw eighteen muskets which were deposited in a place of concealment. I, quite unsuspectingly, inquired of the Indian, why he thought it requisite to keep so many weapons of defence? He replied, with a sinister frown, that the time would come when he should find them useful. I could easily perceive that my accidental discovery was by no means agreeable to him; and from the very marked change which I observed in his manner. I deemed it prudent to withdraw from the village and its vicinity. Whilst my horse was being saddled, I noticed my host and some of his confidential friends engaged in very earnest conversation, and I could easily perceive that I was the subject of it. On my departure the Indian asked me, with apparent friendliness of manner, which way I was going? When I was beyond the sphere of his observation, I deemed it prudent to proceed quite in an opposite direction from the route which I told him I intended to take.