The old and the new Peru

by Marie Robinson Wright

MATUCANA, EIGHT THOUSAND FEET ABOVE THE SEA, OROYA ROUTE.

The journey from Lima to Oroya may be made in a day, the train leaving the station of Desamparados at eight o’clock in the morning and arriving at Oroya at five in the evening. It affords an opportunity to see one of the scenic wonders of the world, and is an experience never to be forgotten. As the train leaves the Lima station, a short distance from the Balta bridge and within full view of the broad bed of the Rimac, the retreating city offers only a partial glimpse of its gleaming church towers and the avenues of shade trees that adorn its suburbs. The picturesque Cerro of San Cristobal, with a cross illuminating its summit, stands out in clear relief against the sky and may be seen until the train passes behind the Andean foothills on its way to Santa Clara. Although this point is more than a thousand feet above sea level, it differs little in aspect from the country around Lima. Wherever the waters of the Rimac have been brought into service to fertilize the gardens and plantations of the valley, exuberant vegetation exists, and abundant harvests smile under the blue skies; it is only beyond this strip of green that the sandy plain and gray, barren hillsides are to be seen. That the Incas had all the coast region under cultivation is indicated by the existence of their ruined cities in the very midst of the desert and their andenes along hillsides that, to-day, are counted of little value for agricultural purposes. At Santa Clara, a short walk from the station takes one to the ruins of an Incaic town, which, to judge from what remains, must have been a very populous settlement centuries ago. Its appearance to-day is one of utter dreariness, and it is difficult to imagine what charm such a site could have offered for the location of a city.

RAILWAY STATION IN THE SIERRA, OROYA ROUTE.

For fifteen miles beyond Santa Clara, the railway train climbs upward until the town of Chosica is reached, the scenery increasing in beauty as the valley narrows between the hills of the sierra and the foliage of the mountain side grows fresher and of more gorgeous hues. Chosica is one of the most popular health resorts of Peru, and has a delightful climate all the year round. Situated in the midst of mountains at an altitude of three thousand feet, it possesses many advantages as a sanitarium for invalids, and is a pleasant place of residence for those who like a restful and quiet retreat. The sky is blue during most of the year, and the pure atmosphere is exhilarating to tired nerves and over-wrought spirits. Here one may enjoy life in its simplicity, as Chosica has not taken on the fashionable airs and expensive luxuries of the modern spa, though supplying its greatest benefits. Aside from its attractiveness as a health resort and a picturesque mountain city, Chosica is important as the first distributing point for the electricity which supplies light and power to the cities of Lima and Callao and their suburbs.

CHILCA, A MINING TOWN ON THE OROYA ROUTE.

From Chosica to Matucana, the scenery is ever-varying and always magnificent. The train climbs five thousand feet within a distance of thirty miles, crossing the chasm of the river many times and plunging through tunnels that succeed one another with remarkable frequency. Purguay and Corona are the first bridges of importance along the line. Soon after leaving them behind, the train sweeps around the magnificent curve of San Bartolomé, passing through its famous orchards and gardens, and bringing into view all the glories of mountain foliage that adorn the sierra at this altitude. Purple and white heliotrope, convolvulus, clematis, the maguey plant, and the cactus are seen in profusion. Birds of bright plumage and butterflies of variegated wings give life to a scene which is impressively silent, save for the hard breathing of the locomotive as it plods sturdily around the curves. Though the valley broadens at San Bartolomé, it is soon enclosed again between gigantic walls of mountains; and, a few miles further on, the Verrugas bridge, the longest and highest of the Oroya Route, spans the space between opposite walls of granite that rise from the river bed to tower among the clouds. This bridge is five hundred and seventy-five feet long and two hundred and twenty-five feet above the river, which looks like a ribbon of silver as it sparkles at the bottom of the ravine. After crossing Verrugas bridge, the train disappears for a moment in the tunnel of Cuesta Blanca, emerging in the midst of the grandest scenery imaginable as it pushes on through Surco and across the Challapa bridge to Matucana, where a welcome half-hour’s stop is made. Matucana is, like Chosica, a favorite health resort, and the pines and eucalyptus trees of the neighborhood give added healthfulness to its pure mountain air. Few people suffer from the rarity of the atmosphere at this altitude, though it is well to spend a night here, if one can spare two days for the trip to Oroya, the rapid ascent from sea level to sixteen thousand feet above being a severe trial to the respiration. Soroche, as the mountain sickness is called, does not attack everyone, nor is there any certainty as to its visitation; many people have made repeated trips without feeling any inconvenience, and have been surprised by an attack when they thought themselves immune, while others never reach the high altitudes without suffering from soroche. The degree of this most uncomfortable experience varies according to one’s constitution. With some it is confined to a strenuous effort “to get one’s breath,” while, with others, the sensation is that of having the head slowly squeezed in a vice, or inflated by some process that threatens to burst it like an over-filled balloon. None of the phases of soroche are agreeable, but, happily, the disturbance disappears as soon as a lower altitude is reached.

OROYA.