The old and the new Peru

by Marie Robinson Wright

THE BELL ROCK OF ETEN.

QUEBRADA SANTA ROSA, ANCASH DEPARTMENT.

The Laguna of Santa Ana, in the Department of Huánuco, though only six square miles in circumference, is worthy of mention as the source of the Marañon, one of the parent streams of the great Amazon River. It is situated in the Nudo of Cerro de Pasco, a few leagues northwest of Junin. The Ucayali and the Madeira—the latter with its tributaries, the Beni and the Madre de Dios, being the longest of all the Amazon’s tributaries—have their source in the Nudo of Vilcanota, and, like the Marañon, have an inter-Andean course for a considerable distance before entering the vast Amazon plain. On the route from Puno to Cuzco, at a point called La Raya, the mountain summits surround a small basin, in the midst of which is a little pond; from this insignificant beginning, two streams take their course in opposite directions,—the Ramis, which flows into Lake Titicaca, and the Vilcanota, afterward the Urubamba, which, after forming a junction with the Apurimac, another important river of this region, becomes the chief affluent of the Ucayali. The Urubamba and the Apurimac run parallel along the separate valleys formed between the Occidental and Oriental ranges by the intermediary chain which accompanies them from the Nudo of Vilcanota northward, until the three Cordilleras join again in the Nudo of Cerro de Pasco. Separating north of Cerro de Pasco, these three great ranges form the valleys of the Marañon and the Huallaga. The rapids, or “pongos,” which interrupt navigation on nearly all the Amazon tributaries at some point of their course, usually indicate a break in the enclosing Andean walls, simultaneous with a change of their direction, the river resisting an effort to turn its channel, and plunging through the narrow gorge that affords it escape.

The rivers which have their source in Vilcanota or Cerro de Pasco are no more than little rivulets of melted snow as they first appear in the crevices of the high sierra; but they are fed by a thousand streams along their course, and increase rapidly in volume as they flow toward the plain, following the channel cut for them in the course of ages, now carved so deep that, in some places, it lies at the bottom of a chasm thousands of feet below the level of the bordering hills and plains. It is only after leaving the region of the sierra that these rivers are navigable, though they are capable of supplying unlimited motive power for manufacturing and other purposes. Many of them are famous in history and a few have claims to particular interest through their association with the legends and traditions of the Incas. The Apurimac, across which Maita-Ccapac swung the first American suspension bridge, has its source in the Laguna de Vilafro, fourteen thousand feet above sea level, in the Department of Arequipa. It receives many affluents, and, as it descends into the lower valleys, drains a country rich in agriculture, one of the most productive regions of Peru. It was on the border of this river that General Sucre and his army were encamped by Bolivar’s orders, when the news of the royalist army’s approach led to the rapid change of plans which resulted in General Sucre’s becoming the hero of Ayacucho. To-day, the beautiful valleys of this region blossom with the fruits of peaceful industry, and thriving towns adorn its landscapes. Abancay, the picturesque capital of the Department of Apurimac, is surrounded by sugar plantations, and the campiña is dotted with mulberry trees, the silkworm industry being a profitable source of revenue.

The Urubamba River, like the Apurimac, flows through a fertile valley, crossing the Department of Cuzco in a northwesterly course from the border of Puno to the southern limit of Loreto, where it forms a confluence with the Tambo—as the Apurimac is called after receiving its last tributary, the Perené,—and enters the broad channel of the Ucayali. The Urubamba has a number of tributaries, the most important of which is the Paucartambo; along the courses of these rivers are fields of sugar-cane, and in the lower valleys grow cacao and all tropical fruits.

The Marañon, and its tributary, the Huallaga, flowing northward from the Nudo of Cerro de Pasco, water a region of surpassing fertility, in the valleys of which are to be seen every variety of agricultural product. The Marañon receives a great many tributaries from the Occidental range as it flows northward across the Department of Huánuco, turning northwest between Loreto and Ancash, and traversing the Department of La Libertad. After dividing the Departments of Cajamarca and Amazonas for some distance, it makes a curve to the northeast and, turning sharply in an easterly direction, pursues a tortuous course until joined by the Ucayali, to form the Amazon. In changing its direction from northwest to east, the Marañon passes the “pongo,” or falls, of Manserriche, the last and most important of a series of rapids which mark an effort to free its current from the confining Andes. From the north, the Marañon receives the Santiago, Morona, Pastaza, Tigre, and other tributaries, while from the south, its chief affluent is the Huallaga. The greatest variety of scenery and climate marks its course, which begins on the high puna, in the midst of snowy peaks, and descends between mountain slopes, on which cattle and sheep graze in perennial pastures, through valleys dotted with orchards, and fertile levels where cotton, tobacco, and sugar-cane grow, to the region of the Montaña, fruitful in cacao, coca, and other products of a tropical zone. In the valleys drained by the tributaries of the Marañon are situated some of the most prosperous farms and plantations of Peru, though the wealth of this region has never been exploited on a scale of sufficient importance to show what it is capable of producing. Cajamarca, the capital of the Department of the same name, and Chachapoyas, the capital of the Department of Amazonas, are the most important industrial centres of this inter-Andean valley.

NATIVE BOATMEN ON LAKE TITICACA.

Cajamarca, the historic city of the Conquest, celebrated as the site of the capture and execution of Atahuallpa, lies in an oval plain surrounded by mountains and traversed by the Camarca River, a branch of the Marañon. Interesting ruins remain to give an idea of the great structures built by the Incas or their predecessors, and the hot springs are as efficacious to-day as they were when the last unhappy monarch of Cuzco found them a source of royal comfort and pleasure. The valley of Cajamarca is well cultivated, the inhabitants being industrious and thrifty.