The old and the new Peru

by Marie Robinson Wright

Leaving the inter-Andean region for the Montaña, it is interesting to observe the contrast in scenery and natural conditions. In the Andean valleys, the traveller who departs from the line of the railway must journey in a coach or on muleback; in the Montaña, the small steamer or the canoe is the accustomed means of travel through the forest, the waterways of this region affording transportation throughout their entire length. Among the most important rivers having their source in the Montaña—generally in a ledge branching off from the foothills of the Andes, are the Yavary, Yuruá, Purús, and some tributaries of the Madeira River. The great waterways, with their affluents, form a network of communication in the Amazon country, and contribute greatly to the development of the rich resources of this vast zone, which is essentially tropical, yielding the valuable products of the rubber tree, the dyewoods, medicinal herbs and hardwoods of commerce, and other precious gifts of nature.

With such a great variety of physical conditions as those which govern Peru, it is not surprising that its climate should present many contrasts, and some unique features. In the coast region, owing to the proximity of the snow-clad Andes and the cold Humboldt current, the average temperature is lower than that of any other country extending over the same degrees of latitude; in winter, the thermometer registers an average temperature of fifteen degrees centigrade, and in summer the average is twenty-six degrees centigrade, the hottest days marking no higher than thirty degrees in the shade. The mildness of the climate makes this region of Peru an agreeable place of residence even to those accustomed to the bracing air of the temperate zone; it is not so liable to the epidemics of a tropical climate as are less favored countries in the same latitude; and, with proper sanitation and the adoption of modern hygienic measures, there is no reason why the Peruvian coast should not be a paradise of health and longevity.

The climate of the sierra varies with the location and altitude of the inter-Andean valleys and the plateaus that separate them. In the lower slopes of the Cordilleras, the heat is greater than on the tablelands, which have a temperate climate; while on the lofty, snow-clad summits of the range, the cold is as intense as in the arctic regions. The seasons of the sierra are divided differently from those of the coast; the rainy season, from November to May, being called winter, and the dry season, though colder, being known as summer. The average temperature, within the populated region of the sierra, is ten degrees centigrade during the day and five degrees at night, the absence of the sun making a great difference in the atmosphere. The pure air of the plateaus is very beneficial to consumptives, and Jauja, Tarma, Huancayo, and other towns of the sierra have become famous as health resorts.

In the Montaña, the two seasons correspond to those of the sierra, the wet season being from November to May, called winter, and the dry and cooler season called summer. As the region of the Montaña slopes away from the Cordilleras, its higher levels present the evidences of a tropical zone in the exuberance of their vegetation, though the climate is as cool and mild as that of southern Europe. Foreigners who live in this region pronounce it healthful and delightful, as malaria is unknown, and illness of any kind is a rare visitor. As one descends to the lower Amazon plain, the heat becomes intense in places, though it is generally modified by the daily showers and the cooling effect of the trade winds. Taken as a whole, the climate of Peru may be considered benign and healthful, and favorable to the acclimation of foreigners, the conditions being such that every stranger may find, somewhere in the country, the same climate as in his native land, or a better one.

A LAKE AMONG THE GLACIERS OF YAULI.

The extensive territory of Peru, well provided by nature to meet the needs of a great population, has at present between four and five million inhabitants. The coast region supports one-fourth of this population, having an average of 4.53 inhabitants to each square kilometre; the sierra has about two-thirds of the entire population, with an average of 5.32 to each square kilometre: and the Montaña, with less than half a million inhabitants in its vast forests and plains, shows only one inhabitant to every three kilometres. It is in this region that the greatest opportunities are offered for colonization. Of the total population, the official statistics give fifteen per cent to those of European descent; fifty per cent are of Peruvian (Indian) origin; two per cent are African, one per cent is Asiatic, and the remainder are of mixed races, chiefly European and Indian. In the predominance of the descendants of the Incas’ gentle and obedient subjects is explained the peaceable and tractable character of the masses, whose faults are rather those of indolence than of evil intention. The governing class is chiefly of Spanish origin; and, notwithstanding all that has been written to the contrary, their Latin inheritance has peculiarly fitted them to be the rulers of this refined race. The Spanish conquerors treated the Indians with great cruelty, it is true, and reduced their number by forcing them to unaccustomed tasks; but the Indians of North America hardly fared better under the zeal and energy of the Puritan colonist, who instead of making them his servants, drove them away from their homes, took possession of their country, and gave himself no responsibility as to their future in this world,—though earnestly seeking to teach them how to find a haven in the next.

Peru could very well support many times its present population, which is only equal to that of Holland, though the Department of Lima alone covers more territory than the entire Dutch republic. The Department of Arequipa, equal to Switzerland in extent, and resembling it in mountainous character, though having the advantage of several good seaports, has only one-tenth of the population of that inland country. England covers less area than the Department of Cuzco, yet has a hundred times the population. One of the reasons for the limited European population to be found in South American countries is their remoteness from the great highways of travel, which have hitherto been between countries of the northern hemisphere. But the twentieth century finds the extension of international relations making rapid advances south of the equator; and new steamship lines are being constantly inaugurated to connect the ports of Europe and North America with those of the trans-equatorial countries. Nearly all these countries have good seaports and railway facilities for transportation to the interior. When the Panamá Canal is opened, Peru will be placed within easy communication with New York and Europe; in the meantime, the service is being improved so that it will soon be possible to make the trip from the Peruvian port of Callao to New York in ten days.

In a general description of the country, it is not possible to give details regarding the many interesting features of coast, sierra, and Montaña; the coast is closely related to its highland neighbor and may even dispute boundaries, where the mountains crowd near to the sea; the sierra and the Montaña encroach on each other’s domain in the equatorial region, offshoots of the great Andean chain extending far into the Amazon valley, while the virgin forest climbs high up the sides of the Cordillera’s slope. Many of the coast departments extend inland to the great range, and, as in Ancash, have their chief city in the sierra. Not far from Huaraz, the capital of Ancash, rises the lofty peak of Huascarán or Huascán, said to be one of the highest of the Western range, and in the coast departments of Arequipa, Moquegua, and Tacna are several extinct volcanoes, the summits of which are covered with perpetual snow.

Owing to the fact that the various altitudes of Peru have a modifying effect on the natural conditions of soil and climate, even though the latitude is equatorial, the same kinds of products are found in nearly all the departments, though each of the three natural divisions—the coast, the sierra, and the Montaña—has also its own peculiar vegetation, not to be found in the other regions. Along the coast are fisheries of growing importance; the Peruvian government has engaged the services of an expert from the United States to study the conditions most favorable to pisciculture and the results are most satisfactory. According to a recent report sent to the Minister of Fomento in reference to the fisheries of Lobos de Afuera and Lobos de Tierra, there is an abundance of fish off the shores of these islands. The peje-aguja, “needle fish,” measures as much as two and a half feet in length; the anchoveta, peje-blanco, bonito, cabrilla, castañeta, charlo, morena (three feet long), sardine and tiburon are among the largest varieties, besides which there are innumerable small fry. These islands have long been frequented by fishermen from the mainland, the inhabitants of Eten, Pacasmayo, and other coast towns having established a considerable trade in this product. In their primitive-looking boats, called balsas, the fishermen carry provisions and other necessary articles for a month’s sojourn on the islands, where they settle themselves until they are ready to make the return voyage. As soon as a fish is caught it is killed by a blow on the head, and each day’s “catch” is salted after the fishing is over. Nets are rarely used in these waters, the hook and line being usually employed.