THE CORDILLERA OF THE ANDES
IN BOLIVIA, CHILE AND ARGENTINA
Still threading the high region of the Andes, our journey takes us
into Bolivia, that comparatively little-known Republic.
Neither topographically nor historically is there any marked change
from Peru to Bolivia. Both countries occupy the "roof of the world"
here, the chain and uplands of the Cordillera, although, if such
were possible, the _punas_, or steppes, of Bolivia are even more
inclement than the corresponding _antiplanicies_ of Peru.
Bolivia has, indeed, been termed the Tibet of America, where the yak
is replaced by the llama. But it would be unjust to compare the one
with the other as regards the human element, for the Andine Republic
is peopled, or at least administered and animated, by the sensitive
and progressive Spanish American civilization, and is not an old or
decadent land, but, on the contrary, has all its life before it.
The highlands, we have said, are a continuation of those of Peru. In
both countries, as well as in Northern Chile, we shall remark on
our mountain expedition the herds of beautiful vicuña, fleet as the
wind, living where nothing else will live, yielding a soft, tawny
fur or skin, a boa of which is indeed a comforter around one's neck
as a protection against the keen air of the heights. In the ramparts
of the rocks myriads of _viscachas_ squirrels, or rather conies,
have their home, and it is a swift shot that will secure one for the
evening meal.
Of the stupendous snowy peaks of Bolivia we have already spoken.
There arise Sorata and Illimani, highest--with Huascaran and
Coropuna, in Peru, and Aconcagua, in Chile, all near or over 23,000
feet--on the American Continent. Few travellers approach or ascend
these mountains, whose beauties the inhabitants themselves generally
prefer to contemplate from afar.
Bolivia is generally regarded as a "mountain republic," remote,
inaccessible, backward. Such a concept requires some modification.
It is true that the country, deprived of its seaboard, has its
population and centres of life mainly upon the Andes, that its
population is relatively small in comparison with those of its
neighbours, and consists to a larger degree of the Indian element.
But it is not all mountain, nor all Indian folk. A considerable area
of the Republic extends to the lowlands of the Amazon Valley (and to
the Plate), including those delightful sub-valleys and hill-slopes
which Nature, by reason of climate and vegetation, has rendered of
the most pleasant. As for the people, we find here the same Spanish
American civilization, among the cultured class that is, with the
traits and gifts common to their race. As for the Indian--that is
their social problem.
La Paz, the capital of Bolivia, to which we may have ascended by
rail from the coast, is approached almost unawares. There is nothing
to foretell, as we cross the barren plains from Viacha, that so
important a place will shortly be displayed to the view. Suddenly
we reach the Alto, or "Height," and there, far below, is La Paz,
reposing in the mighty amphitheatre of its abrupt valley. Before
the train descends from the verge it is well to look again upon
Illimani, Huayna-Potosi, and another giant, Mururata, whose snowy
peaks reflect the colour of the sunset, bathed in an atmosphere so
limpid that their distant slopes are brought to deceptive nearness.
The Valley of La Paz has the aspect of a vast crater, its floor
lying over 12,000 feet above sea-level. Its buildings and
institutions merit the traveller's attention. Its pleasing alameda
and other planted or cultivated areas are a relief after the dreary
and forbidding aspect of the valley around, with its scarred and
precipitous sides. Who could have founded a city here, and why?
La Paz was founded by Alonzo de Mendoza in 1548, and first named
to commemorate the temporary reconciliation between Pizarro and
Almagro, who had grievously quarrelled. The cathedral was begun in
the seventeenth century, when the famous mines of Potosi were at
their height of productiveness. Some of the streets are of the most
winding character possible, and many of them reflect the poverty
of their Indian dwellers. Others are full of animation, constantly
threaded by caravans of llamas, asses and mules, and thronged by
a many-hued population of pure-blooded Indians, with garments
negligent but picturesque; Cholas, or half-breed women, often
extremely pretty, dressed in vivid colours, coquettish, wearing
their home-made hats of white felt; and townsmen of white race,
ladies of La Paz, and European folk: in brief, all the elements we
shall have seen in the upland towns of Spanish America, where rich
and poor do congregate together. On Sundays the animation increases,
for this is the day of markets, and piles of wares and fruits and
other products interest and attract. The streets are electrically
lit. In the new part of the city are many handsome residences and
evidences of wealth. The inevitable band in the plaza discourses
its music, and the churches command their usual congregations. The
museums--mining and archæological--show a regard for science here.
La Paz is now becoming a comparatively cosmopolitan centre, and its
interest and importance most undoubtedly increase.
The Republic of Bolivia took its name, as a token of gratitude, from
Bolivar, the great Liberator. Since his time, from 1825 to 1913, it
has had seventy-one different presidents, an average of a little
over one per annum, an indication either of an experimental outlook
towards self-government or of chronic unrest, whichever way we may
prefer to view it. It is difficult for a European to comprehend the
disabilities and difficulties of such a community, and criticism is
easy. But we may again reflect that their future lies before these
remote States, and that their human vitality and natural resource
are storehouses for the future, not depleted or derelict.
To the observant foreigner perhaps the most interesting human
element in the Andes is that of the Indians. They are the true
children of the soil, Nature's product unadulterated, the specimen
of her human handiwork in this special environment. They hide
nothing, they expect nothing from her. But if the future lies before
them they are nevertheless obsessed with their past. They are a
_raza conquistada_ as their masters term them--a conquered race.
They may not always be so. Different writers take different views of
them.
In Peru the natives of these uplands are the Quechuas; in Bolivia,
the Quechuas and the Aymaras. These two differ somewhat in their
habits and temperament. There are, in addition, a number of savage
tribes, mostly in the forested regions.
"The Aymaras, one of the principal ethnical elements of the
Bolivian nation, are found in the north, as far as Peruvian
territory, on the banks, islands and peninsulas of Lake
Titicaca, and on the plateau as far south as Oruro. The
Quechuas occupy the south and the north of the Argentine.
"Between these two races there is a difference of type and a
greater difference of character. The Aymara is a little above
the average height, has the chest strongly developed, the calves
powerful, and the feet small. The features are not on the whole
attractive; they are prominent, and indicative neither of
intelligence nor goodwill. The head is large, the neck short and
thick, the cheeks wide, the nose massive; the eyes are small,
the mouth wide, and the lips thick. The colour is coppery or an
olive-brown, varying with the altitude. The hair is black, thick
and strong, but the beard is absolutely lacking.
"While the Quechua is docile, submissive and obedient, the
Aymara is hard, vindictive, bellicose, rebellious, egotistical,
cruel and jealous of his liberty; he is always ready to resort
to force. In times of disturbance the factions have always
recruited the bulk of their fighters from the Aymaras. Yet they
seem lacking in will, except the will to hate all that is unlike
themselves. The Aymara is also fanatical, and his is not the
fanaticism of religion, but of vanity; he wants to cut a figure
in the religious fêtes, which are not unlike orgies of idolatry,
and are marked by alcoholic and moral excesses of every kind.
"The plateaux are always cool, so the Aymara wears a
comparatively warm costume, consisting of a thick woollen shirt
and a poncho of many colours, with dark, narrow breeches coming
just below the knee. The legs are bare, and the feet equally
so, or are shod with sandals of raw hide. The Aymara, like the
Tibetan, another dweller in plateaux, is insensible to cold;
he sleeps bare-footed in the hardest frosts, and walks through
freezing water or over ice without apparent inconvenience. On
days of festival the Aymara replaces the poncho by a sort of
tight-fitting tunic. The head is well covered with a large
woollen bonnet, which protects the neck and ears. The women
also wear a shirt or chemise of thick wool or cotton, over
which they throw a mantle of coarse, heavy wool, striped with
bright colours, and retained on the chest by a sort of spoon
of silver or copper, the slender handle serving as a pin. A
heavy woolle petticoat, pleated in front, and usually dyed a
dark blue, covers the lower part of the body to the ankles. The
Aymara woman wears several of these petticoats superimposed,
which gives her a very bulky look about the hips. A somewhat
unattractive hat completes the costume. Men and women alike
having a perfect contempt for hygiene, all parts of the body are
coated with a respectable layer of dirt. Their clothes, which
they never put off, even to sleep, are worn until they fall into
tatters, and usually give off a disagreeable ammoniacal odour.
"The Aymara tongue differs from the Quechua; it is a harsh,
guttural idiom, rather formless, but having conjugations. It
is forcible and concise. The peoples conquered by the Quechuas
learned the language of their conquerors; but the Aymaras
retained theirs, and when the Spaniards conquered the country,
the Aymaras, who had long been a subject race, were decadent and
diminishing in numbers.
"By the innumerable vestiges of building and the tombs
near Lake Titicaca we may judge that this country was once
thickly populated. But the plains afforded no refuge, and
the inhabitants could not escape the forced recruiting which
supplied the mining centres. At the time of Tupac-Amaru's
insurrection the Aymaras, happy to reconquer their liberty, or
perhaps merely to effect a change of masters and to satisfy
their bellicose instincts, threw themselves into the revolt;
whereupon war, sickness and famine considerably reduced their
numbers. To-day they are estimated to be about 400,000 strong.
"The Aymaras are divided into six tribes, according to the
regions they inhabit. These are the Omasuyos, the Pacasas, the
Sicasicas, the Larecajas, the Carangas, and the Yungas. The
Aymaras of the provinces of Yungas, Larecaja, and Muñecas are
lighter in tint, cleaner, more intelligent and less uncouth than
the rest.
"The Quechua race, whose numbers are greater, are found in
many regions of Bolivia. The Quechua is lighter and yellower
than the Aymara, and more of a Mongolian type. The features
are irregular, the eyes black, the cheek-bones prominent; the
narrow forehead is slightly protuberant, and the skull oblong;
the mouth is wide and the nose massive. The stature is rather
below the average, but there are tall individuals, who as a
rule resemble the Aymara type. Solidly built, the Quechua looks
a powerful and muscular man; but as from childhood both sexes
are used to carrying extremely heavy burdens on the back they
are not really very strong in the limbs, although the shoulders
are very powerful. The Indian is an extraordinary walker; his
legs of steel enable him to travel long distances in mountainous
regions without the least fatigue. The women are even stronger
than the men, their work being heavier, although they live
practically the same life.
"The Quechua costume consists of a coloured poncho, a tight
woollen vest, and breeches rarely falling below the knee; the
feet are shod with _ojotas_, or rawhide sandals, which take the
shape of the foot. The woman wears a small woollen vest, cut
low on the bosom; the skirt is the same as that worn by the
Aymara women; and on a feast-day the Quechua woman wears all
the petticoats she possesses, one over another. As they are all
of equal length, each shows the edge of that below it, whence a
gamut of various colours. The Quechua women are distinguished
from the Aymaras chiefly by their hats, which are flatter.
"The Quechua idiom is extremely rich and has been studied
grammatically.
"The Indian race has never been assimilated; as it was at the
moment of conquest, so it is now; with the same language, the
same customs, and the same miserable dwellings, hardly fit to
shelter beasts. Isolated and solitary, or gathered into hamlets
of a few cabins, they are merely conical huts of unbaked bricks,
covered with thatch or reeds, and consisting of one small
chamber, in which all the members of the family live in the
completest promiscuity. These huts, in which the most wretched
poverty and uncleanliness reign supreme, contain nothing that
we should call furniture; as a rule there is no bed but the
hardened soil or a few coverings of ragged sheepskin."[38]
[38] See _Bolivia_, Wallé, South American Series.
[Illustration: INDIAN RAFTS ON LAKE TITICACA.
Vol. I. To face p. 274.
]
The principal vice of the Indian is drink, both with men and women.
Perhaps it drowns reflection--race-sorrow. But, as in the case of
the Mexicans and all others of the brown race, this excess is not
the fault alone of the drinker. The producing of alcohol is, in many
cases, a lucrative trade for those above him, the large growers
of cane or other alcohol-yielding plants. Legislation, moreover,
against the evil, if it be necessary in other lands--for example,
the United States or Britain--is surely necessary with the ignorant
Indian.
The Indian is, as has been said, melancholy. He rarely laughs,
except when he is drunk. Perhaps this is partly due to the
melancholy environment of the Cordillera; perhaps the result of his
practical enslavement and the downfall of his race.
Melancholy and music are here akin. The Indians of Peru and Bolivia
have always been lovers of their national music--veritably the music
of the Andes. They have many curious musical instruments, many weird
songs and musical laments. Reed flutes or pipes and a species of
guitar are among the principal of these instruments. The Bolivian
Indian has a good ear for music, and, it is said, will execute any
piece of classical music with precision. The military bands of
Bolivia are mostly composed of Indians.
"The Bolivian Indian is also remarkable for his ability to
execute long passages on wind instruments. Even while dancing he
can blow the _quena_ or the _zampona_, which shows the vigour of
his lungs, a quality due to the altitudes in which he lives. Few
inhabitants of ordinary altitudes could endure such a test.
"Native music is usually soft, plaintive and naïve; its
tremulous notes, often repeated five or six times in a minor
key, swell and die in a monotonous rhythm which, to European
ears, becomes tedious. Never do the instruments or the songs
of the Indian suggest an idea of gaiety, but always a profound
melancholy, the idea of extreme unhappiness and the wretchedness
of a disordered mind.
"However, for one reason or another the Indians are now rather
improving their music; and in many parts one notes unmistakable
efforts to imitate and adapt the foreign conceptions of music
and to mingle them with their favourite native airs. The latter
do not lose their melancholy, but are even more affecting.
"Despite these improvements, which are not general, the
traveller is always greatly impressed when, as he journeys
through the mountainous regions, surrounded on every hand by
gloomy masses without horizon, he hears, suddenly, at the
fall of night, rising near at hand in the midst of a profound
silence, the long mournful notes of the _quena_, like a long
and profound complaint, which echo repeats in distant sobs.
Sometimes the flute is accompanied by the measured taps of
a drum or tambourine, and sometimes it accompanies a song,
monotonous and guttural as the songs of the Arabs; sounds
inspiring sombre thoughts and provoking a shudder of melancholy
in the stranger who hears them for the first time. The _quena_,
indeed, produces sounds of a sinister melancholy; one manner
of playing it consists of introducing it into a great crock
of earthenware pierced with a hole on either side so that the
hands may be introduced; and when so played it yields notes of
sepulchral sonority. In all the arsenal of human music it would
perhaps be impossible to discover more doleful sounds.
"When this primitive music seeks to interpret a comparatively
calm and cheerful frame of mind it is certainly a little more
inspiriting, but some of its notes are still like the moans of a
stricken soul.
"The native dances are for the most part common to both Aymaras
and Quechuas. The most ridiculous and grotesque of these, on
account of the extravagant costumes worn by the dancers, are
the _Danzantes_, the _Huacas-Tocoris_, the _Pacoches_, the
_Morenos_, the _Tundiques_ and others yet, such as the _Sicuris_
and the _Chiriguano_.
"This last is a war-dance; the dancers wear each the skin of a
jaguar, or something resembling one; each carries a heavy stick;
the music is harsh and warlike. The _sicuri_ is danced by a
group of fourteen Indians, wearing petticoats of white cotton
cloth; on the head of each is a hat adorned with long feathers,
the whole having the shape of an umbrella; they wear tambourines
at their girdles and play the _zampona_, using two instruments.
The _huaca-tocoris_ or _toros danzantes_ is performed during the
fêtes of Corpus. A wooden framework covered with hide vaguely
represents a bull; in the back of the beast is a hole through
which the dancer introduces his body; his face smeared with
soot, and clad in the following costume: white breeches, an old
coat, a red poncho, and a hat bearing a semicircular crown of
feathers. To imitate a bull-fighter another dancer brandishes a
wooden sword in one hand and waves a handkerchief with the other.
"The commonest dance among the Indians is a slow, almost
automatic _rondo_, the head continually rising and falling
and turning from side to side. In another dance the dancers
form couples, keeping their ground, and facing one another,
accelerating their steps only at the end of each figure.
"During Lent the majority of the natives do not employ any
instrumental music, but, on the other hand, they attend
nocturnal gatherings known as _chochus_, at which young people
of both sexes dance round a cross and sing psalms. There is
absolutely nothing edifying about these functions, those taking
part in them displaying a most disconcerting cynicism. On Easter
Day the Indians wear their gala costumes, and ornament their
hats with flowers and ribbons; they make up for their forty
days' silence, and fill the air with the sound of _quenas_,
_sicus_ and tambourines. But even while dancing they are never
gay; their sombre natures unbend only under the influence of
drink.
"Among the strange and savage customs of the natives, we must
not forget to mention the fights with whips which take place
in certain provinces on Good Friday. On the occasion of the
procession of the Sepulchre the Indians build altars along
the route of the procession. The latter takes place always at
night. Once it is over the altars are demolished by two separate
groups--the Huarcas and the Incas, who at once begin to strive
for victory. The two groups then assemble in the public place or
square, and lash one another with implacable ardour. Triumph or
failure is a good or bad omen for the year's harvest.
"Poetical songs, accompanied on the _quechua_, are known as
_yaravis_. They are greatly appreciated by the natives. The
Quechua _yaravis_ have been to some extent improved by the
modern Bolivians. They are usually a species of round, with a
good deal of repetition; each stanza has four to ten lines.
These songs reflect the dreamy and sombre character of the
race. Love is always their subject; a melancholy, plaintive and
monotonous passion.
"The Bolivian Indian usually provides for his modest needs
in his own way; ignorant of the advantages of the division
of labour, he weaves the cloth of his own garments--mantle,
breeches, or vest--and makes his hat and sandals himself. His
chief occupations are agriculture and stockraising; but he is
indolent, thriftless, imprudent and, above all, an obstinate
conservative; so he confines himself to growing a few potatoes,
a little barley, _quinua_, or _oca_, just as much as he needs to
keep him alive. The land, cultivated by the most primitive of
means--for the Indian will never accept any innovation, however
practical and excellent--is generally very limited in extent,
unless the neighbourhood of a city of a mine calls for a greater
production than usual. Moreover, thousands of Indians are taken
away from' their fields by all manner of tasks--by the necessity
of transporting merchandise, provisions, machinery, etc., on
the backs of mules, asses, llamas and even men, in countries
innocent of other means of transport, to the mines and factories
established in barren and uncultivated regions.
"Both the Aymaras and the Quechuas keep little herds of llamas,
alpacas or sheep whenever possible, as their care calls; for
less labour than the raising of crops. A few fowls and other
birds give them eggs, a few pigs furnish leather, meat and
fat; they have the wool of their llamas and sheep, and they
utilize even the excrement of the former as a combustible, as
the Tibetans do that of the yak. A mule or a donkey grazes round
the Indian's hut. From the age of four or five years the Indian
guards the little herd of swine belonging to his parents; a
little later he grazes their sheep among the mountains, where
by means of his _quena_, _zampona_ or _cicus_ he learns to play
melancholy airs.
"On the produce of his crops and his herds he lives in poverty,
leaving the mountains or the plain only to exchange some of his
products for coca or brandy. The woman is rarely idle; whether
in the market, or loitering over her household tasks, or even as
she walks, one sees her always spinning the wool of the llama or
the sheep of which her garments are made.
"The Bolivian Indian in general excels in carrying loads, in
spite of the lack of tolerable highways, covering daily stages
of twenty to thirty miles. The average load is 66 to 80 lb. With
his shoulders free his speed and endurance are amazing; he will
cover fifty miles a day for several days on end, and without
feeling exhausted, unless for some reason he wishes to seem so.
We have seen Indians follow or accompany the coach or the mule
which bore us, at the trot, shouting or blowing a pan-pipe;
and at night they seemed less eager to rest than our mules or
ourselves.
"The Indian is to-day little better off than he was under
Spanish rule. Since the proclamation of Bolivar, which declared
him capable of holding property, many Governments have passed
laws intended to protect the Indian; but they have either
remained ineffective or they have been overlooked and violated
by the very officials whose duty it was to apply them."[39]
[39] _Bolivia_, loc. cit.
The Cholo, or half-breed, race of the Cordillera--or indeed the
lowlands--is, after the Indian, the most numerous element in the
population. These folk unite the qualities of the Spaniard and the
aboriginal.
"The Cholos of Bolivia possess excellent qualities. They are
robust and well-built physically; they are courteous and
intelligent, rapidly acquiring all sorts of knowledge; they
are, as a rule, proud and courageous, and, like the Indians,
make excellent soldiers. They are good industrial workers;
many become foremen and artisans. But they are also, like the
Indian race from which they have sprung, avid of pleasure, with
a strong inclination to idleness and alcohol. They profoundly
despise the Indians, whose worst enemies they are; and they have
always retained the Indian's timidity or servility toward the
white man. Like the Indians, they are often lacking in energy,
will-power and commercial or agricultural initiative.
"The Cholos, except in the poor and backward classes of society,
are in no wise distinguishable, as to costume, from the white
inhabitants. The women, or Cholas, many of whom are extremely
pretty, are generally well made, with small hands and feet;
their costume is conspicuous and characteristic. The Cholas of
the more well-to-do classes are always extremely well shod,
wearing high-laced boots with high heels, made of leather soft
as a glove and of a light shade. These boots show off the foot
and a shapely leg, clad in well-fitting stockings. The head is
protected by a round hat of whitish felt, two black tresses
falling down the back. On the shoulders they wear light shawls,
white or of some other bright colour, of silk or other material,
which covers a low-cut bodice worn over a short white pleated
skirt, beneath which is a white petticoat edged with lace, which
is slightly longer than the skirt. As the skirt is gathered on
the hips, which are thus enlarged, and the bottom of the skirt
is weighted, it sways as the wearer walks like the skirt of a
dancer. The whole costume has a rather pleasing effect.
"The Cholas of the lower classes wear the same hat, the same
coiffure, and a skirt of heavy woollen stuff, gathered on the
hips, but no laced petticoat. The legs are bare and the feet are
shod with sandals or cheap shoes.
"Hygiene is not always respected by the half-breeds of the lower
classes, who are very superstitious. They bathe, it seems, only
on odd dates, and more particularly on the 9th, 17th or 21st,
otherwise they would be ill the rest of the year; and one must
never take more than twenty-one baths in the year, or the same
results would follow.
"The Cholos are in the minority in the country districts, but
live, as a rule, in the towns and cantons. Since they have
participated directly and ardently in politics, they profess
to live, if not for, at least by the State, and have a perfect
passion for bureaucracy. In the towns and capitals the Cholos
more especially enter the Army and the Church, and lately have
also become schoolmasters. There are very distinguished men
among the half-breeds, whose degree of education varies. At all
times this class has furnished really remarkable statesmen and
writers of talent.
"On account of the many crossings which have taken place, and
are still taking place, it is not always possible, without great
perspicacity, to distinguish a member of the white race from
one of the superior classes of half-breeds. All Bolivians are
very much alike physically, and the singular yellowish tint
to be observed in the cornea of the mixed race, a noticeable
and tenacious characteristic of the Indian, and one that often
persists to the third and fourth generation, at last entirely
disappears. The colour of the skin is not a certain indication,
for it depends upon the local conditions.
"We are of opinion, and many agree with us, that the future of
the half-breed race is henceforth assured; that in years to
come, when it is still further improved by the admixture of
fresh blood, it will play a very prominent and active part
in the national life. Already the half-breeds, who are more
numerous than the whites, and almost as numerous as the Indians,
are beginning to accumulate capital and to fill important posts
in commercial houses. A half-breed aristocracy is in process of
formation, which, when it is more numerous and more wealthy,
when it has lost a little of its indolence and timidity, and
has acquired greater initiative and a more serious education,
will no longer be content to take a secondary place. Little
by little--and examples already exist--it will assume the
direction of the great industrial and commercial undertakings,
and we shall see it consolidating its numerical and financial
superiority by assuming the political direction of the country,
to the detriment of the whites."[40]
[40] _Bolivia_, loc. cit.
I have dwelt thus lengthily upon the Indian races of the Cordillera
for the reason that they have been comparatively little studied,
and are indeed almost unknown to the outside world in general.
They are in reality a valuable folk, mainly because they alone can
perform sustained labour in the Cordillera, due to the condition of
climate and atmosphere. If they disappear--and they do not appear
to be increasing--these vast uplands might become uninhabited
wildernesses. They are not likely to increase until the economic
condition of their lives is improved, and, as a consequence, the
heavy mortality among infants arrested.
To suppose that the Indians of the Cordillera are incapable, or
even will be incapable, of receiving a higher civilization is to
fall into a sociological error. The governing classes of these
republics often assert this, however. But it will depend very much
how "civilization" is applied to them. They are capable of becoming
good mechanics and craftsmen, they are extremely careful and
painstaking, as the intricacy and exquisite finish often of their
native arts show; they imitate perhaps better than they initiate,
but they nevertheless display considerable resource. They will not
be herded into factories, if civilization consists in that. They are
independent, and prefer to work for themselves.
As to their numbers, if we take the combined population of Colombia,
Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia at, say, twelve to thirteen million
people, and deduct ten to twenty per cent. for the whites and
mestizos, we shall obtain approximately the number of these real
sons and daughters of the soil to-day, mainly upon the Cordillera.
The Cordillera of the Andes is, we might fancifully say, the great
banker of the West, the great guardian of gold and sliver, the
father of minerals, and the progenitor of the treasure of the
rocks. We have seen that Peru is a land fabulous for its mineral
wealth; Colombia, far to the north, has only lesser stores of
metals, precious or base; Ecuador has been but little favoured in
this respect, but nevertheless has a famed old gold mine; Chile
is markedly rich in almost every mineral. But Bolivia perhaps
surpasses all these. There was a famous Peruvian scientist and
traveller, of Italian extraction--Raimondi--who described the
plateau of Bolivia as "a table of silver supported by a column of
gold." The same might be said of Peru. In the Cordillera generally
we find gold in the lower districts, silver in the higher. It would
almost seem that the metals have some affinity with the climate. At
least the native Peruvian miner says that "the gold looks for the
warmth, the silver for the cold."
Thus in the cold and the bleakness of the high hills do we find the
white metal in Bolivia: we find, indeed, two white metals verging
upon the regions of perpetual snow--silver and tin.
The tin mines, indeed, were first worked for silver, and the tin
ores thrown away.
For the lore of silver-mining let us ascend to Potosi, the Silver
Mountain. Its summit rises in perfect sugar-loaf form to over
16,000 feet above the level of the sea. Upon the slopes of this
wonderful mountain, some 2,000 or 3,000 feet lower down, stands a
city, founded in 1545 by the adventurous Spaniards, with their keen
_olfato_, or instinct for gold and silver, and fifty years later
150,000 folk had their habitations there. For lodes and seams of
the richest silver ore lay here--native silver and others; and the
shell of the mountain quickly became honeycombed with shafts and
galleries. Of five thousand such, a thousand may be seen to-day.
All classes of adventurers flocked to Potosi. There were bankrupt
Spanish nobles, thinking by a lucky stroke, or with their name and
prestige, to recoup themselves; there were merchants, anxious to
obtain sudden wealth; gamblers, thieves, _demi-mondaines_ and all
else, and Potosi became a centre of prodigality, romantic adventure,
revelry and often disorder. Here Spanish _hidalgos_ vied with each
other in squandering fortunes in pleasure and ostentation, matters
which caused faction-strife among the bands into which the people
of the place were divided. The old chronicles of Potosi are very
interesting, revealing as they do the custom of those times, the
superstition, the chivalry and all else, which not even the high and
solemn environment of the Cordillera could dampen.
To-day an English mining company works upon the mountain, striving
to earn dividends for its shareholders. The silver is far from being
exhausted, but methods of recovery fell back; and the low value of
silver and the high rate of wage demanded by the miner were other
factors in decadence.
The Potosi mountain was not a possession of the Spaniard alone.
It has a metallurgical interest more remote. A traveller in the
Cordillera before the time of the Conquest might have seen, as he
approached the spot at night, a number of twinkling lights upon the
slopes. They were the fires of the little furnaces in which the
Indians, of the Incas, smelted the simpler silver ores, the winds of
the Cordillera furnishing the needful blast; and these furnaces
were called in Quechua Guayras, which word means "the wind." It is
said that at one time more than 15,000 of these little furnaces
were to be seen upon the Silver Mountain, which reared its desolate
slopes to heaven, but was a treasure-house of Nature.
[Illustration: ACONCAGUA, THE HIGHEST ANDINE PEAK, CHILE.
Vol. I. To face p. 288.
]
It would not be possible here to dwell on the other great mines of
Bolivia.[41] The mines of Huanchaca, with their great installation
and considerable population, form a community of themselves, and
have produced literally thousands of tons of silver. In winter,
buried in snow, the place looks like a town of Northern Europe
or Canada. The ores are first sorted by women, who are expert
sorters of the grey argentiferous copper ores of the main lode.
At times of late years nearly half a million pounds sterling have
been distributed among the European shareholders of this important
concern. Sometimes in a single month as much as seven tons of silver
have been produced.
[41] An excellent account will be found in _Bolivia_, loc. cit.
Silver to-day is less important than tin, however, which has become
the principal article of Bolivian export, wrested from the bleakest
places here in the Andes, as is the copper of Chile.
We have visited, in the Cordillera of South America, the highest
inhabited places on the face of the globe.
But south of Bolivia the Andes no longer offers a place for the
homes of mankind, for towns and populations, such as Nature has
provided in those vast regions we have traversed. The Cordillera
becomes a single chain or ridge, without intermediate valleys or
plateaux, and so continues for an enormous distance, lowering its
elevation by degrees towards the frigid regions of the southern
extremity of the continent, where its glaciers veritably run down
into the bosom of the ocean. Perhaps the Cordillera has sunk
here, as its "drowned" valleys--the fiords of the south seem to
indicate--sunk, split and shattered as if Nature had done enough in
this vast range running half across the globe.
If, however, the Chilean Cordillera does not offer an abiding place
for man, it nevertheless is the source of his comfort and wealth,
for the streams which flow from its summits irrigate the fields
and vineyards of Chile's fruitful vales and Argentina's productive
plains, bringing to being corn, wine and oil, and other things which
make glad the heart of man.
The Andes form the dividing-line between Chile and Argentina. The
water-parting was adopted as the boundary under the arbitration
of King Edward of Britain. A remarkable monument has been erected
in Uspallata Pass, a token that these two nations will enter into
conflict no more; a great bronze statue of Christ, on a huge
pedestal--El Cristo de los Andes--standing solitary and majestic
amid the eternal snows, looking out over the high places of the
mighty Cordillera.
INDEX
Aguascalientes, 104
Alligators, 137
Almagro, 190, 241
Alvarado, 65, 119
Amazon, 209, 229
Americans, 83, 94, 114, 142, 148, 149
Andagoya, 156
_Andenes_, 246
Andes, 155, 160, 166, 209
Antofagasta, 178
Apaches, 104
Araucanians, 194
Archæology, 59, 69, 138, 157, 163, 164
Areas, 33
Arequipa, 177
Argentina, 290
Arica, 188
Armchairs, stone, ancient, 157
Arnica plant, 137
Arts, native, 72
Atahualpa, 236
Ayacucho, 264
Aymaras, 242, 270
Aztecs, 13, 32, 57, 104, 160
Bahamas, 41, 44
Balboa, 63
Bamboos, 159
Bananas, 77, 104, 134
Belize, 76
Birds, 135, 137, 152, 159
Bogata, 48
Bolivar, 234, 266
Bolivia, 20, 188
Borax Lake, 188
Brazil, 21, 48
British Guiana, 21, 75
British Honduras, 21, 75
Brown labour 141, _see also_ Indians
Buenaventura, 155
Bull-fights, 144
_Cacao_, _see_ Chocolate
Cacti, 103, 134
Cajamarca, 235
Calendar stone, Mexican, 139
Cali, 156
California, 44, 147, 165
Callao, 151, 166, 173
Campeche, 136
Carlota, Empress, 147
Carnival time, 253
Cathay, 40
Cathedrals, 166
Cauca Valley, 156
Central America, 22
Cerro de Pasco, 162
Chihuahua, 104
Chile, 20, 48, 164, 188, 266
Chimborazo, 165, 218
Chinese, 160
Chocolate, 104, 134, 158
Cholos, 170, 244, 282
Cholula, 111
Christ, statue of, 290
Church of England, 33
Church, Roman Catholic, 55, 66
Coal, 133, 163, 207
Cochrane, Admiral, 196, 264
Coconuts, 77, 104, 134, 137, 158
Coffee, 77, 104, 159
Colluahuassi, 182
Colombia, 47, 50, 67, 87, 151
Colour line, 140
Columbus, 34
Concepcion, 196
Concessionaries, foreign, 145
Condor, 260
Conquest of Peru, 237
Copper, 247
Cordillera, 152, 162, _see_ Andes
Corinto, 81
Cortes, 45
Costa Rica, 84
Cotopaxi, 218
Cotton, 77, 145, 163
Creation story, 66
Cuba, 97
Cuzco, 160, 223, 262
Dances, Indian, 278
Darien, 63
Davila, 64
Demerara, 21
Diaz, 101, 140
Doctorate, love of the, 169
Don Quixote, 161
Drake, 52
Dress and morals, 175
Dress, native, 254, 270
Drink evil, 275
Durango, 104
Dyewood, 77
Earthquakes, 69, 171, 196
Ecuador, 151, 216, 151
Edward, King, 20
Elizabeth, Queen, 88, 166
English in, 17-24, 75, 142, 180, 204, 205, 261, 288
Fibres, 77
Fishing, 137
Foreigners in, 16, 115, 142, 204, 255
Forests, _see_ Timber
Fossils, 209
Galapagos Islands, 158
Game, 38
Garcia-Moreno, 234
Germans, 162, 204
Gold, 48, 77, 84, 154, 164, 256, etc.
Golden utensils, 236
Government, 30
Grau, 182
Guadalajara, 136
Guadalupe, 116
Guahtemoc, 68, 120
Guanajuato, 132, 104
Guano, 154
Guatemala, 43, 69
Guayaquil, 151, 156
Guayaquil-Quito railway, 220
Guayas River, 156, 158
Guianas, 21
Hayti, 97
Holy Alliance, 147
Honduras, 68, 74, _see_ British Honduras
Horse, the, 37
Houses, native, 114, 141, 200, 225, 253
Huacas, 247
Huancavelica, 161
Huanchaca, 289
_Huascar_, 182
Huayna Capac, 229
Humboldt, 34, 217
Inca roads, 223
Incas of Peru, 13, 32, 57, 159, 229
Indian folk, 13, 44, 51, 53, 57, 68, 101, 138, 163, 170, 243,
249, 275
Inquisition, 50, 167
Iquique, 151, 180
Irrigation, 176
Isabella, Queen, 41, 50
Iturbide, 147
Ixtaccihuatl, 113
Juarez, 140
_Kosmos_ line, 162
Labour, native, _see_ Indian folk, _also_ Peonage
La Condamine, 218
La Paz, 268
Leguia, President of Peru, 167
Lima, 166
Llamas, 154, 259
Lower California, 140
Magellan, 43, 207
_Maguey_, 134
Malaria, 157
Manabi, 157
Mangroves, 155
Maximilian, 147
Mayas, 65, 138, 160
Melancholy, Indian, 275
Merida, 138
Mexico, 20, 45, 98-150
Mexico, city of, 113
Mining, 51, 104, 132, 133, 160, 243, 258, 288
Misti, 177
Mitla, 60
Monroe Doctrine, 148
Montezuma, 106
Morgan, 88
Music, native, 163, 275
Natives, _see_ Indians
Negroes, 92
Nelson, Admiral, 83
Nezahualcoyotl, 60
Nicaragua, 80
Nicoya, 82
Nitrate, 179
_Noche Triste_, 117
Oaxaca, 136
_Oficinas_, nitrate, 180
O'Higgins, 195, 201
Oligarchies, 169
Olives, 176
Ollague, mountain, 188
Orchids, 137
Orizaba, 105
Oroya railway, 166
Oruro, 188
Otumba, Battle of, 120
Pachuca, 104, 132
Pacific Ocean, 64, 139, 151-208
Pampa, 181
Panama, 43, 63, 73, 86, 87, 91, 155
Panama Canal, _see_ Panama
Panama hats, 157
Pardo, ex-President, 167
Patagonia, 207
Paterson, 90
Pedro de Candia, 154
Peonage, 138, 141
Peru, 20, 47, 151-265
Peruvians, the, 168
Philip II, 51
Picture-writing, 66
Pierola, ex-President, 167
Pineapples, 138
Pizarro, 47, 151, 236
Poetry, Indian, 279
Poetry, native, 279
Poetry, Spanish American, 26
Ponchos, 254
Popocateptl, 113
Population, 34, 95
Portugal, 41
Potosi, 104, 162, 269, 287
Prat, 182
Proletariat, 145
Puebla, 136, 145
Putumayo, 34
Quechuas, 242, 270
Quesada, 48
Quetzalcoatl, 104
Quiches, 65
Quicksilver, 161
Quinine, 137
Quipos, 66
Quito, 166, 215, 222
Rafts, native, 159
Revolution, 143, 170
Roosevelt, President, 87
_Rotos_, Chilean, 180
Rubber, 77, 86, 104, 135
Sacsaihuaman, 263
Salvador, 78
Sand-dunes, 176
San Martin, 264
Santiago, 193, 199
Santo Domingo, 97
Seals, 152
Shiris, 223, 229
Silver, 132, 162, 256
Slavery, 148
Sorata, 178
_Soroche_, 209
Southern railway of Peru, 177
Spain, fall of, 264
Spanish language, 24
Stelae, 72
Strikes, 145
Sugar, 104, 163
Tabasco, 136
Tarapaca, 180
Tehuantepec, 73
Tennis, Aboriginal, 135
Tenochtitlan, 113
Teotihuacan, 59, 120
Terrace-farming, 246
Texas, 147, 148
Texcoco, 116
Textiles, native, 227
Tiahuanako, 163
Tidal waves, 174
Timber, 86, 101
Tin, 162, 188
Titicaca lake, 163, 177
Tlascala, 106
Toltecs, 12, 139, 160
Travel methods, 36, 37, 152
Trujillo, 166
Tumbez, 154
Turkey, original home of the, 135
United States, see Americans
Unknown God, 61, 214
Uynini, 188
Valdivia, 48, 193
Valparaiso, 151, 188, 197
Venezuela, 21
Volcanoes, 216
Walker, American filibuster, 83
Water power, 145
Whymper, 217
Wine, 176, 207
Women, status of, 37, 115, 135, 143, 154, 163, 168, 202, 205,
252, 274
Yareta, 260
Yellow fever, 157
Yucatan, 138
Zacatecas, 104, 132
THE ANGLO-SOUTH AMERICAN BANK, LIMITED
AN INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTION
The Bank has Branches in--
GREAT BRITAIN
FRANCE
SPAIN
UNITED STATES
ARGENTINA
CHILE
URUGUAY
PERU &
MEXICO
and it is represented in BRAZIL and throughout CENTRAL AMERICA by
its affiliated Institutions, THE BRITISH BANK OF SOUTH AMERICA, Ltd.
and
THE COMMERCIAL BANK OF SPANISH AMERICA, Ltd.
[Illustration: Bank Advertisement first half]
[Illustration: Bank Advertisement second half]
THE ANGLO-SOUTH AMERICAN BANK
LIMITED
_Head Office: 62 OLD BROAD STREET, LONDON, E.C.2_
The Capital and Reserves exceed £12,500,000
¶ CURRENT ACCOUNTS opened at Head Office on the usual terms of
London Bankers; at Branches on customary local conditions.
¶ DEPOSIT ACCOUNTS may be arranged for long or short periods,
and interest allowed thereon at rates ascertainable on
application.
¶ FOREIGN EXCHANGE business is made a speciality, and particular
attention is given to the negotiation of FORWARD EXCHANGE
contracts, under which insurance may be effected against
commercial loss resulting from exchange fluctuations.
¶ DRAFTS and LETTERS OF CREDIT are issued on all of the
principal commercial centres of the world.
¶ The COLLECTION of cheques and bills is undertaken in all parts
of the world.
¶ The PURCHASE and SALE of Securities and the collection of
coupons, drawn bonds, dividends, etc., are undertaken on the
usual terms.
_Printed in Great Britain by_
UNWIN BROTHERS, LIMITED
WOKING AND LONDON
* * * * *
Transcriber's note:
Minor typographical and punctuation errors have been corrected
without note. Irregularities and inconsistencies in the text have
been retained as printed.
The illustrations have been moved so that they do not break up
paragraphs, thus the page number of the illustration might not match
the page number in the List of Illustrations.
Mismatched quotes are not fixed if it's not sufficiently clear where
the missing quote should be placed.
The cover for the eBook version of this book was created by the
transcriber and is placed in the public domain.
Page 116: the transcriber has changed Chalpulepec to Chalpultepec.
Page 229: for ease of reading, the transcriber inserted a new
paragraph break where there was none, to begin a block quote.
'was rapidly declining in health. "But his mind did not share the
ills'