ON THE WAY TO CALLAO
On board ship at the Balboa docks, recently enlarged by the United
States Government, the surroundings at high tide are beautiful. On three
sides are green wooded hills, some of which might almost be dignified as
mountains. The wide stream coming down at the northwest is the Pacific
entrance to the Canal. Below are pretty islands to one of which, Naos,
the breakwater, three and a quarter miles long, will extend. At low
tide, when the water has fallen 18 feet, as it does twice in the
twenty-four hours, an ugly expanse of flats is visible on each side of
the channel. Should one spend the night here, he may be so fortunate as
to see the sun or moon rise, not set, from the Pacific Ocean; so far
west is Panama City of the western shore of South America, at least of
Colombia, for the Isthmus runs east and west instead of north and south.
As the steamer leaves the dock, one should linger in the stern of the
vessel to look back at the charming picture. Thus standing and gazing
rearwards, the city of Panama will soon appear on the right, finely
situated on a promontory with water on three sides, thus with excellent
opportunities for drainage, and now as healthy a city as may be found in
the Torrid Zone, surpassing in this particular many of those in
temperate climes.
The Peaceful Ocean will gently “Rock the Cradle of the Deep” and the
voyage will be a pleasure. Formerly ten days to Callao, it is now six or
seven. The weather is warm, with summer clothes in order, probably until
Paita is reached; so warm that enthusiasts only will care for the
vigorous exercise of deck golf, yet not uncomfortably hot. The crossing
of the equator is made without ceremony: even with careful inquiry it is
difficult to ascertain just when the equinoctial line is passed. The
Pole star has vanished, yet in our summer months a part of the
constellation of the Dipper, still above the horizon, may be recognized
far down the coast.
With no sight of land for three days, there will be time on this
tranquil sea to brush up our Spanish, or if we have none to brush, at
least to pick up a few words and phrases. Or there is opportunity for a
brief review of South American history. Prescott perchance is in the
library, or other books, historical or descriptive, of the various
countries to be visited. That we see only what we are prepared to see is
an old saying, as true of South America as of Europe. A slight knowledge
of South American history and of present conditions will illumine the
journey, increasing both pleasure and profit. A course of reading at
home and a little study of Spanish will bring infinite reward. For those
who have neglected this, brief allusions to facts of history, geography,
etc., will be scattered here and there.
A BIT OF HISTORY
Every one has heard of the Incas and of the conquest of Peru by
Pizarro, but a few particulars of the remarkable subjugation of a
great people will here be recalled. As early as 1524 Francisco
Pizarro, incited by rumors at Panama of a country at the south
marvellously rich in gold, for the purpose of exploration only, made
his first expedition to Peru. Landing at Tumbes on the south shore
of the Gulf of Guayaquil, he found an opulent city, whence he
proceeded along the coast as far as Trujillo. Satisfied by this
reconnoissance as to the great wealth of the country, he was obliged
to return to Spain to procure royal warrant for the invasion. This
gained he set out from Panama in January, 1531, upon his
extraordinary career of conquest. Partners in his adventure were
Diego de Almagro and a priest, Hernando de Luque.
Again landing at Tumbes he advanced overland southward and in a
fertile valley founded the present city of Piura. Some months were
here passed, a vain delay for reinforcements; Pizarro meanwhile
learning of the quarrel between the two Inca princes, the brothers
Atahuallpa and Huascar, and that the former, victorious, was now
with a large retinue, ten days’ journey from Piura, at the town of
Cajamarca whither he had gone to take the baths.
To attempt the conquest of a great empire with an army of less than
200 men seems preposterous indeed, but the bold, one would say
insane, Pizarro, had he not succeeded, at length set out with 180
men, 67 of whom were cavalry. However, these last were equivalent to
a mighty host; for horses, never before seen in this country, struck
terror to the stoutest hearts. It was a hard march across the
desert, then up over the great coast range of the Andes down to the
longitudinal valley in which Cajamarca is situated. On the way they
were met by messengers bearing royal gifts, with an invitation to
visit the powerful ruler of this immense empire. Through narrow
defiles where a large force might easily have been annihilated, the
little army was permitted to march in safety. Upwards in bitter cold
and rarefied air they toiled to a height of 12,000 feet or more
until they looked down upon a beautiful valley, a prosperous city,
and the camp of a great army.
With bold faces if quaking hearts they descended, November 15, 1532,
to the city which they found deserted: that better accommodations,
it was said, might be furnished to the distinguished guests. The
next day, accepting the invitation of Pizarro that he should dine
with him, Atahuallpa with a large retinue, unarmed, came in royal
state to the Plaza. In place of the courteous greeting from Pizarro
which was here due, a priest, Father Valverde, came forward. Having
expounded the chief doctrines of the Christian religion he thereupon
demanded the Inca’s allegiance to the Pope and to the Emperor
Charles V. Upon Atahuallpa’s indignant rejection of this piece of
bold and insolent presumption, Valverde called on Pizarro to make an
assault. The signal was given, guns boomed, the cavalry charged upon
the defenseless throng. Instead of the hospitality that had been
proffered there was a scene of terrible slaughter. The Inca was
seized and imprisoned, after which a ransom was arranged. The
collection for this purpose of more than $15,000,000 worth of gold
dishes, plate, and other objects was followed by a second act of
perfidy. Accused of various crimes, Atahuallpa, instead of being
released, was condemned to be burned at the stake; or if he would
consent to embrace Christianity to have the easier death of
strangulation. This he chose. Thus the courtly monarch of this
highly civilized empire, one of the first on that continent to be
baptized (revolting mockery) into the Christian faith, was
ignominiously put to death after the most shameless betrayal of the
rites of hospitality, the most brutal treachery, to be found on the
pages of history.
Thus was accomplished the conquest of Peru. The Inca executed, his
humble subjects made but little and sporadic resistance. Cuzco, the
capital city, was visited and stripped of many of its treasures. For
the conciliation of the populace, Manco, a younger brother of
Atahuallpa, was crowned; but the real power was placed in the hands
of one of Pizarro’s brothers.
Francisco then descended to the coast and, on January 6, 1535,
founded on the banks of the Rimac, a capital which he named City of
the Kings in honor of the Epiphany, although Lima, a corruption of
Rimac, is the title by which it has been called. Such a beginning
was naturally followed by a period of dissensions and murders, which
lasted twenty years. For nearly three centuries a Spanish Viceroy
ruled over the country, until in 1824, at Ayacucho on the highlands
of Peru, the last battle of independence was fought, the whole of
South America was liberated from the domination of Spain, and the
realms of the Inca became free to develop a new civilization.
=Panama to Salaverry.= For three days after leaving Panama the ship is
out of sight of land, which is again approached near the northern
extremity of Peru. This coast is unlike that of any other country in the
world, to the uninitiated presenting a series of surprises. The first is
the climate, which in the Torrid Zone one naturally expects to be hot,
at least at sea level. On the East Coast of South America this is the
case, but not on the West after reaching Peru. Panama, Colombia, and
Ecuador have ordinary tropical weather, continuous heat with plenty of
rain and luxuriant vegetation. Peru is in striking contrast. From Paita,
5° south of the equator, throughout the journey of 1200 miles along the
coast, all within the tropics, the weather is so cool at least half of
the year that exercise is a pleasure, while wraps and steamer rugs are
frequently desirable. Of this moderate temperature the chief cause is
the Antarctic or Humboldt current, which flows along the coast from the
South Polar regions until, at Point Pariña, the western extremity of
South America, it meets a hot stream and both turn westward across the
Pacific. The proximity to the sea of the lofty range of the Andes also
contributes to the coolness.
Another surprising phenomenon is the barren shore. The entire coast for
2000 miles, from Tumbes, to Coquimbo in Chile, is a genuine desert, save
where, at considerable intervals, the fifty-eight streams in Peru,
coming down from the mountains, afford opportunity for irrigation. The
lack of verdure in Peru is not occasioned by the character of the soil;
it arises simply from the absence of rain.
=Paita.= The fourth morning after leaving Panama the ship is likely to
be at anchor in the harbor of Paita, having passed in the night the more
northern Peruvian shore. Otherwise one might from a distance perceive
near Point Pariña the pipes and derricks of many oil wells. For the
petroleum industry is important in Peru. In this Department, Piura, the
oil regions cover an area as large as Holland. It is said that the
petroleum is superior to that of the United States, having little
paraffine and no odor; that the kerosene gives a better light, and that
the crude oil may be employed as fuel after merely standing a few days
in the open air. For the last ten years the oil has been thus used in
the locomotives of the Oroya Railway; it is now similarly employed on
the Peruvian steamers. There is a great field for the development of the
industry in this and other districts of the country.
After several days on board ship most of the passengers improve the
opportunity of going ashore. The regular fare as at other ports is forty
_centavos_ (twenty cents) each way for each person. Paita is a curious
place, a small village, yet the third port in Peru in the amount of
exports and imports, serving a considerable district including the city
of Piura, with which it is connected by a railroad of standard gauge.
The walls of the houses are of bamboo, set perpendicularly, some
overspread with plaster often partly peeled off, others destitute of
covering. Climbing the hills back of the town you will perceive a
genuine desert, in the distance fringed by low mountains. “Paita,” said
the Captain on my first voyage in 1903, “is the dryest place on earth.”
From its appearance I was not inclined to dispute the fact, but having
heard that it rains there once in seven years and in Iquique not at all
I inquired how this might be. “That is easy,” replied the Captain. “In
Iquique there are heavy dews, here nothing, and now it has skipped one
shower and it is almost fourteen years since it has rained.” This was no
idle jest. The drought continued until February, 1910, when there was a
heavy shower, the first in nineteen years. There are no wells, hence all
water is brought by rail and sparingly used; therefore there is no
green. The town of _Piura_, on the contrary, 60 miles distant, is in an
irrigated valley where the finest cotton is a staple production and
where new irrigation canals are increasing the possibilities for
agriculture. A few miles farther is _Catacaos_, where half of the 20,000
inhabitants are engaged in making the 260,000 Panama hats here annually
produced. While Ecuador is the chief seat of the industry, hats may be
purchased at Paita to better advantage than at Guayaquil. The natives
who come on board ship bring various articles for sale, paroquets,
mocking-birds, fruit, pottery, ancient and modern, as well as the Panama
hats. These of good quality may be purchased at from $2.00 to $12 or $15
gold, the latter of the Monte Christo quality, all at about one-fourth
of the price commonly asked for a similar article in New York. The best
are rarely found in the United States at any price.
Some day Paita with its excellent harbor will become a port of great
importance. A railroad 400 miles long is planned and has been surveyed
to Melendez on the Marañon, the larger of the two rivers (the other, the
Ucayali) uniting to form the Amazon. Crossing the Andes in one of its
lowest sections, where a short tunnel at 5000 feet altitude will serve
instead of the long ones, above 10,000 and 15,000 feet, through the
mountains farther south, this road will bring the rubber country in the
neighborhood of Iquitos, the chief port on the upper Amazon, within two
weeks of New York, instead of the four or five weeks by way of Pará. On
this route, too, are said to be millions of tons of iron, as well as
coal and other minerals.
On leaving Paita, if not before, the tourist will be likely to feel the
need of heavier underwear. The air in winter is damp and chilly. The
temperature in my cabin was 60°. At this season clouds generally conceal
the sun, making a gloomy sea, and the little patches of blue sky are
small.
=Etén=, the next port, 161 miles farther south, the ship is likely to
reach the next morning. An iron pier 2000 feet long is noticeable,
though a good distance away. Callao is the only seaport below Panama
having docks which may be approached by large ships. The slope of the
beaches is so gradual that even for the use of the lighters long piers
are necessary. Etén has an especially poor anchorage, an open roadstead
where there is often a moderate swell, so that the passing traveler
seldom goes ashore. Frequently passengers must be taken on board by
means of a sort of barrel or hogshead destitute of one side. One person
sits, another stands on the edge. Thus they are raised with windlass,
chain, and pulley, and gently deposited on deck.
=Pacasmayo=, 34 miles farther, is usually visited the same day. This is
quite a town with a railroad running 85 miles up country, some day to be
prolonged to Cajamarca, now rather difficult of access.
The coast presents for the most part a study in browns, diversified by
occasional patches of green, the size of which varies with that of the
stream coming down from the mountains and the extent of irrigation in
the valley. The great mountain range is surprisingly near the sea. There
are indeed foothills, and in the northern and southern sections of Peru,
back of the high bluffs which generally line the coast, a plain
stretches away to lofty mountains. These, however, are near enough to be
always in sight if it were not for another peculiarity of this rainless
coast, the low clouds or mist which too often conceal or obscure them.
Along the central portion of Peru beginning with Salaverry, the
mountains come down to the shore in many bold headlands and are
sometimes so disposed as to present an appearance of several ranges of
varying altitudes, the rearmost, a frowning almost perpendicular black
wall, which, back of Chimbote and Samanco, rises to the extraordinary
height of 15,000 to 18,000 feet. Barely, a snow-crowned summit is there
seen peeping over a depression in the Black Range, the north peak of the
great _Huascarán_, 21,812 feet above the sea, first ascended in 1908 by
Miss Annie S. Peck with two Swiss guides. At present Huascarán is called
the second highest measured mountain in America, but it is far more
difficult to climb than Aconcagua, now holding first place. Had one a
clear view of these great ranges, the voyage to the mountain lover would
be of real fascination. As it is, the long halts at the various ports to
discharge and receive freight become a trifle monotonous. Possibly,
after the opening of the Canal, there will be through service with
direct express to Callao from Panama.
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