TRAVELS IN PERU.

CHAPTER I.

Journey to Oruro.—The Devil and Saint Anthony.-Desolations of civil war.-" All for the best."-Hail-storm.— Ancient structures of the Indians.-Ruins of towns and villages. —Reflections on the conquest of Peru.-A nocturnal journey.-Misery.-Oruro.-Its former wealth.— Pleasing, interesting, and curious occurrence.

September 9th. By the arrival of a person from Oruro, I was informed that our agent in that town, to whom I had sent the late packet from the Directors, to be forwarded thence to General Paroissien, had been absent for some time, and that his return was uncertain. As it was of the utmost importance that no delay should attend the delivery of that packet to our chief

2

JOURNEY TO ORURO.

commissioner, I endeavoured to procure a propio (special messenger), but this being a stormy, inclement season of the year, I was unable to do so under the sum of 250 dollars, which in the existing state of our affairs I was unwilling, and indeed unable, to disburse. Independently of this circumstance, I held it to be a good maxim, never to do that by another which I could do myself. Moreover, I was determined that the Directors should not be deceived in their expectation, that every effort would be exerted in their cause. I therefore left Mr. Scriviner in charge of our concerns, and, mounting my sturdy Tortuga, accompanied by my servant on el Cura de Tucuman, and a peon upon Marquesa, a good old mule, with alforjas containing bread and cheese, and chifles filled with aguardiente, I left Potosi in the afternoon, on the journey to Oruro, about two hundred miles distant, which in this country is thought as little of as a ride from Edmonton to Ware.

About a league and a half from Potosi is a very narrow pass, called the puerto; the solid rocks rising abruptly on each side to the height of between two and three hundred feet, and in some places inclining so as nearly to touch at the top. The converters to Christianity have

THE DEVIL AND ST. ANTHONY.

3

induced the Indians to believe that this extraordinary fissure was occasioned by the Devil in a contest with Saint Anthony, who, of course, vanquished the former; but the pleasantry of the tale is in accusing the "fallen angel" of a breach of decorum, startling to the Indians themselves even in their unpolished state of society. The arch-fiend, say the monks, vexed at finding himself outwitted by the saint, and, when retiring discomfited from his presence, slapped his hand indecorously behind, and gave vent to his rage with so much violence, as to rend the surrounding mountains and form the existing chasm! To record this event, the image of the offended Anthony is placed in a niche in the rock on one side of the road, where none pass it without a becoming reverence, and doubtless a due feeling of indignation at the uncourteous insult, for which the downcast look of humility in the countenance of the saint plainly evinces his shame even to this day. Such are the legends of religionists, who at one time held the sway over these people and over all the civilized world!

I had imagined that, in the distance I had already travelled in Peru, I must have seen every description and shape of rock and mountain in existence; but, as I journeyed on, the new and

4

MOUNTAIN SCENERY.

extraordinary scenery that displayed itself at every turn reminded me that the variety of Nature's marvellous works is endless, and the fund of her invention inexhaustible. On this day's journey, of ten leagues, to the romantically situated Indian village of Yocalla, I saw rocks and mountains of more curious appearance and of more fantastic form than any I had yet observed. Upon the sides of some of the mountains were the remains of walls, built in regular stages round them from their base to their summits, forming terraces on which, or between which, the Indians in days of yore cultivated their crops; but where these signs of former population and industry are to be seen, all is now desolate, and no human habitation exists in their neighbourhood.

10th. On the plains and in the valleys I saw immense flocks of llamas with their young: these animals, as you pass near them, face towards you, raise their stately necks, point their ears, and examine you with their fine large eyes in a most inquisitive manner; but if you approach them they retreat, the sudden movement of one setting the whole flock in motion, as is usual with sheep. I also saw vicuñas and guanacos, (a variety of the llama, approaching

VILLAGE OF LAGUNILLAS.

5

to the deer,) in greater numbers than heretofore; the wild shrill bleat or neighing of these handsome animals, when they perceive a stranger, has a peculiarly striking effect in these vast regions of solitude and silence. During the whole of this day's journey, which, from the time it occupied, could not be less than fortyfive miles, I did not meet with a single human being, but occasionally I saw to the right and left of my road many deserted dwellings of Indians. The ride was extremely wearisome, owing to the continual ascent and descent of rugged mountains, and where I stopped for the night, which set in very cold, I considered myself fortunate in finding a cover from the weather in the hut of a family of Indians, who had recently returned to their ruined village, and were now actually its only inhabitants.

Lagunillas, situated in a valley under rocky mountains of colossal magnitude, was lately a village of sufficient consideration to possess a church. But neither church nor cottage is spared in the undiscriminating ravages of civil war. Here every thing was utterly destroyed, every house unroofed and pulled down by troops in their passage, either from a diabolical pleasure in mischief, or for the convenience of