PUNO AND LAKE TITICACA.--COCA AND ITS PROPERTIES.--THE LLAMA AND HIS
KINDRED.--EXCURSION TO THE SACRED ISLAND OF THE INCAS.
[Illustration: VIEW ON LAKE TITICACA.]
Puno is not an attractive spot. Lying at a great elevation, it has a
cool climate, and its inhabitants pass a good part of the time in trying
to keep warm. There are no trees in the neighborhood; before the opening
of the railway the only fuel was the dried dung of llamas and other
animals, and a small shrub known as tola. The nights are always cold,
the thermometer sometimes descending fifteen degrees below the
freezing-point, and even touching zero; people retire to bed very early,
and remain there till after sunrise, as the best means of escaping the
cold. Frank and Fred were obliged to follow the local custom, in spite
of their overcoats and rugs. Notwithstanding the severe temperature of
the place, the means of warming the houses do not receive much
attention. Since the railway came, and rendered it possible to have
coal, a few stoves have been set up, but they are not in general use.
[Illustration: PERUVIAN HEADS, ANCIENT AND MODERN.]
Nine tenths of the five thousand inhabitants of Puno are of the native
races; the Aymaraes occupy the southern part of the town, and the
Quichuas the northern, the former being the most numerous. The rest,
which includes the wealthier and more intelligent fraction of the
population, is made up of people of Spanish descent, a few German and
English merchants, and two or three American _attachés_ of the railway.
Puno owed its origin to the rich silver mines in the neighborhood, which
were discovered and operated about two hundred years ago. A romantic
story is told concerning these mines, and the romance is by no means
free from tragedy.
Jose de Salcedo, a Spaniard, was in love with an Indian girl, and was
beloved in return. She revealed to him the secret of the mines, and he
worked them with enormous profit; his wealth attracted the attention of
the royal officers, who found a pretext for arresting him, and taking
him to Lima. He was condemned to death, and his property was
confiscated to the government, which meant that the officials expected
to transfer his wealth to their own pockets. Salcedo offered to pay a
thousand marks of silver a day if they would wait until he could appeal
to the king, but his offer was refused.
He was executed in the public square at Lima, and the governors
proceeded to take possession of his property. He was well liked by the
tribe to which his Indian maiden belonged, and as soon as the natives
heard what had been done they stopped the drains of the mines, and
flooded them with water. There is now a small lake over the entrance of
the mine, and the Indians have ever since refused to give any
information concerning the extent of the deposit, or the direction of
the veins. These people will keep a secret with the utmost fidelity;
torture cannot wring it from them, and they are indifferent to bribes or
any other inducement. At the present time they know of rich deposits of
silver in various parts of the country, but absolutely refuse to give
any information concerning them.
[Illustration: CATHEDRAL OF PUNO.]
"The Cathedral of Puno," said Fred, in his note-book, "is the most
elevated building of its size in the world. It was begun in 1757, and is
an imposing structure, with a specially handsome front; it is at one
side of the grand plaza, where every morning is held the market for the
sale of provisions. We visited the market the morning after our
arrival, and were greatly interested in what we saw and learned there.
[Illustration: QUICHUA WOMAN (FROM A PHOTOGRAPH).]
"Most of the sales are managed by women, who sit on the ground in rows
stretching away from the fountain in the centre of the plaza, each with
little heaps of dried potatoes, fish, _charqui_ (dried beef), peppers,
beans, pease, maize, barley, and similar things for sale. Each heap has
a price fixed for it, and the rise and fall of the market are regulated
by the size of the heap, the price remaining the same. Pease, beans, and
pepper come from the coast, as they do not grow at the altitude of Puno;
flour is too dear to be used by the lower classes, though it has fallen
somewhat since the opening of the railway. Beans and pease must be
reduced to powder before cooking, at this altitude, and potatoes are
frozen, and then dried and pulverized, like the beans and pease.
[Illustration: COCA PLANT.]
"We were guided through the market by one of the English-speaking
residents, who called our attention to coca, which was sold as an
article of food, in the form of dried leaves. We had already seen the
leaves, and heard of their qualities, but this was the first time we had
seen them for sale at the side of the usual articles for supplying the
table. Our informant said that coca possessed wonderful properties; I
will give his words as nearly as I can remember them:
"'Coca is the dried leaf of the shrub _erythroxylon_, and is called
_cuca_ by the natives. It grows in the mountainous parts of Peru and
Bolivia, at elevations varying from two to six thousand feet, and is a
shrub or small tree about six feet high. Its leaves are gathered, and
dried in the sun, and are chewed with a little quicklime, in much the
same way that the natives of India and the Malay regions chew the leaf
of the betel or areca palm, and certain Americans chew tobacco. Its
effect is narcotic and stimulating, and the most remarkable stories are
told of the endurance of the people who use it.
"A Peruvian or Bolivian Indian will travel for days without any sign of
weariness, with only a small supply of coca and some dried maize; he
chews the coca while walking, and it really seems to be his chief
reliance. He will work or travel for twenty or thirty hours
continuously, without sleep or rest, if he is allowed plenty of coca;
Indians have been known to travel seventy miles a day for three days
with no other sustenance than this article. In the silver mines, where
the employers feed their laborers, they limit the quantity of other
supplies, but give the Indians all the coca they want.'
"I asked if there were no unpleasant after-effects from the use of this
drug, as in the case of opium and other narcotics.
"'Unhappily there are,' was the reply, 'but they are usually less
serious than in the case of opium. Sometimes the habit increases to such
a degree that the stomach cannot retain other food, and there is a
constant craving for coca. The system cannot be sustained by this
stimulant alone; the victim is reduced to a skeleton, becomes feverish
and restless, and ultimately dies in consequence of his passion. But, as
far as I have been able to learn since my residence in the country, the
deaths from coca are not near as numerous, in proportion to those who
use it, as those from opium, in China and other parts of the far East?
"Dr. Bronson said that an extract or alkaloid of coca, called cocaine,
had recently come into use in Europe and America as an anæsthetic, for
operations on the eye, and other sensitive parts of the human
organization. The patient is fully conscious of what is going on, but
does not experience the least pain. Its properties as a local anæsthetic
were discovered in 1884, by Dr. Koller, of Vienna; and it is freely used
by oculists in New York and elsewhere. It is a very costly substance,
being worth some hundreds of dollars an ounce, but the quantity used for
paralyzing the nerves of the eye during an operation is surprisingly
small. One or two drops of a solution containing from two to four per
cent. of cocaine are generally sufficient for a short operation, and
twice or three times that quantity, at intervals of five or ten minutes,
for a longer one.
"Thirty million pounds of coca are annually consumed in South America.
The finest is grown in the Yungas district, in Bolivia, where it is
cultivated somewhat as tea is cultivated in China. Its properties were
known to the ancient Peruvians, and it was used in their religious
ceremonies; it received divine honors, and under some of the Incas its
use was reserved for the nobility. Even at this day the Indians
sometimes put coca in the mouths of their dead, just as the ancient
Greeks placed an obolus in the mouth of a corpse to insure its ferriage
over the Styx. The miners of Peru throw quids of coca against the veins
of silver, under the belief that it causes them to be more easily
worked.
[Illustration: LLAMA.]
"So much for coca. Another curiosity of Puno is the large number of
llamas we see in the streets, either running at large or used as beasts
of burden. The llama, guanaco, alpaca, and vicuna were 'the four sheep
of the Incas,' according to Professor Orton; the first clothing the
common people, the second the nobles, the third the royal governors, and
the fourth the Incas. Llamas and alpacas are domesticated; guanacos and
vicunas are wild. They all go in flocks, and, in their wild state, one
of their number always keeps watch; if danger threatens he stamps his
feet, and gives the alarm, and it must be a very swift pursuer that can
overtake them.
"The four animals belong to the same family, and some naturalists say
the llama is nothing more than the domesticated guanaco. The llama is
found all through South America, from northern Peru to the Strait of
Magellan; it has been well described as having the head of a camel, the
body of a deer, the wool of a sheep, and the neigh of a horse. It
prefers a cold climate to a warm one; in the torrid zone it lives at a
high elevation, while on the cool plains of Patagonia, near the level of
the sea, it is found in great numbers. In Patagonia it is not
domesticated, but in Peru, Bolivia, and Chili it is used as a beast of
burden; it is about three feet high at the shoulder, and its head five
feet when the animal stands erect. It can carry a burden of not more
than a hundred pounds, lives on very scanty food, endures cold without
suffering, and requires no drink as long as it can find succulent
herbage. The pens where the animals are shut up at night have no shelter
against the cold winds, which they do not mind in the least, and they
are said to require very little care from one year's end to another.
[Illustration: ANCIENT GATEWAY NEAR PUNO.]
"Those that we saw in the streets seemed to have things their own way,
and to be indifferent to the presence of men; but when we tried to
approach one he refused our acquaintance and walked away. When angry the
llama stamps his feet, and ejects a saliva that causes a burning
sensation if it falls on the unprotected skin; we did not care to make
the experiment, and therefore refrained from irritating one of the
animals.
"The alpaca is not used as a beast of burden, but is reared for its wool
flesh, and skin, especially the former. You know that the alpaca wool is
fine; so is that of the vicuna, which closely resembles the alpaca. The
wool of the llama is about six inches long, and its fleece often weighs
ten pounds. The llama is interesting from being the only native
domesticated animal in South America. The horse, ox, sheep, hog, and all
other animals useful to man, came from other countries.
"The principal sport of some parts of South America, especially of
Patagonia, is the chase of the llama or guanaco. The hunters go on
horseback or on foot, and 'stalk' their game by moving slowly towards
them, being always careful not to alarm the animals. In this way they
may get near enough for a shot with their rifles, but very often the
guanacos are wary, and decline close acquaintance. Every hunter who can
afford it keeps a lot of dogs trained to the chase, and it is
interesting to see how well they understand their work.
"If the guanacos are grazing singly on the plains the chances of
overtaking them are doubtful, even for the swiftest and strongest dogs.
But when a herd is being chased each animal tries to crowd into the
centre of it, and so much confusion is caused that the aggregate speed
is considerably diminished. Knowing this, the dogs are always eager to
pursue a herd, while they look with indifference upon a solitary
guanaco."
[Illustration: THE VICUNA.]
When the subject of llamas and their kindred was under discussion, Frank
suggested that it would be a good plan to introduce the llama into the
United States, and wondered why it had not been done. Visions of a Llama
Stock Company filled his mind, but they were dispelled by Dr. Bronson,
who said the experiment had been tried, and was a failure.
"When was it made?" the youth inquired.
"In 1857," was the reply; "and the singular fact is that the difficulty
in adapting the llama to our country is that the food he obtains is too
good for him. What we give to our cattle and sheep does not seem to
agree with him; he prefers inferior grasses, together with pea-vines,
bean-stalks, straw, and such things, which our cattle would starve upon;
and where he has been turned out to graze in low regions he invariably
suffers from disease of the skin. In 1857 somebody shipped seventy-two
of these animals from Peru to New York; only thirty-eight lived to reach
the city, and were wintered on a farm on Long Island. In the spring
those that remained were sold for museums and menageries, and some of
them were sent to Australia. It is quite possible that the llama would
thrive on the great plains between the Missouri River and the Rocky
Mountains; the only difficulty would be in protecting the herds from the
lawless hunters until they had become sufficiently numerous and wild to
take care of themselves as the antelopes do."
[Illustration; INDIANS AND LLAMA AMONG THE RUINS.]
After a glance at the town, with its open market and massive cathedral,
our friends strolled to the shore of the bay on which Puno is built. It
is a sluggish body of water, fringed all around with _tortora_ or
rushes, which grow profusely, and serve many purposes. They are used for
making baskets, lining the walls of houses, filling beds, thatching
roofs, and in other ways are of material advantage to the inhabitants of
the region bordering the lake. They are an important item of fuel,
though they burn too quickly to give off much heat; cattle feed upon
these rushes, and as our friends stood on the shore of the bay they saw
cows and oxen in the water nearly up to their backs, making their
breakfasts on tortora.
[Illustration; CATTLE FEEDING ON RUSHES, LAKE TITICACA.]
Some distance out from the shore a steamboat was lying at anchor. The
guide said there were two steamboats on the lake, but the shallowness of
the water prevented their coming up to Puno; they were obliged to
communicate with the land by means of small boats, which were rowed or
pushed along the narrow channel through the bed of reeds. These
steamboats were placed on the lake before the construction of the
railway; they were brought in pieces on the backs of mules, and put
together on the shore. Other steamboats were promised, and it was
expected that the railway would lead to a considerable commercial
development which might require a dozen boats in the next decade.
Lake Titicaca is about one hundred and twenty miles long by fifty or
sixty in breadth, and its greatest measurement is nearly north and
south. It stands in an immense basin, roughly estimated to be six
hundred miles long by two hundred broad, or three times the area of the
State of New York. It receives several large streams, and discharges
into Lake Aullagas; the latter lake has not been carefully surveyed, and
though our friends made diligent inquiry they could learn very little
about its size, or the nature and direction of its outlet. The lake is
very deep in places; it never freezes over, but ice forms sometimes in
the bays and shallow places.
[Illustration: TORTORA BRIDGE OVER THE OUTLET OF LAKE TITICACA.]
Arrangements were made for a trip on the lake to visit Titicaca and
Coati islands, for an inspection of the monuments of the Incas and their
predecessors. Through the influence of the officials to whom he brought
letters of introduction, Dr. Bronson engaged the steamboat for a
moderate compensation, which included the wages and board of the crew,
but left the passengers to take care of themselves. A supply of canned
and other provisions was readily obtained from a merchant of Puno, and
in a few hours the party was under way. The captain wanted to wait until
the next morning, but the Doctor realized that one delay would be an
excuse for another, and wisely insisted upon leaving the same afternoon.
[Illustration: HEAD-DRESS OF AYMARA WOMEN.]
While they were waiting for the small boat to carry them to the steamer
Frank made a sketch of the head-dress of one of the Aymara women who was
looking on at their proceedings. It had a cap fitting close to the head,
and held in place by strings under the chin; near the top of the cap was
a horizontal piece of stiff pasteboard, oval in shape, and extending far
out from the head on every side. Around the edge was a valance of black
silk, or some similar material, which partially protected the face of
the wearer from the sun and wind. It was not unlike a small parasol in
appearance, and has been worn here from time immemorial.
The rest of the dress of the Aymara women includes a gown of blue,
brown, or black material, and a shawl which is fastened at the neck with
a large pin, shaped somewhat like a spoon. Sometimes a handkerchief is
fastened around the neck, but it is rarely worn except on gala days.
[Illustration: AYMARA MEN, PUNO.]
The Aymara men wear short trousers, very broad in the legs, and incase
their feet in sandals, or shoes of rawhide. They wear ponchos over their
shoulders, and on their heads they constantly have skull-caps, which are
covered, when out of doors, with broad hats of braided grass. Men and
women keep the hair long; it is invariably black, except in extreme age,
when it assumes the frost that never melts, like the hair of people in
other parts of the world.
[Illustration: AYMARA WOMAN, PUNO.]
Though living side by side for centuries the Aymaraes and Quichuas
preserve their distinctness, rarely associating, and never uniting in
marriage. The Aymaraes hold their market at Puno in the plaza in front
of the cathedral, as already described, but the Quichua market is held
in another square. A Quichua woman can be distinguished from an Aymara
one at a glance, as she is without the remarkable head-covering, but the
dress of the men has only some slight points of difference, that cannot
be observed by a stranger. The Aymaraes are thought to represent an
older race than the Quichuas; the men are larger and more powerful, but
the women are less inclined to good looks.
Though the two people remain distinct they are perfectly friendly, and
their huts are often quite near each other. In their resistance to the
Spanish conquest they made common cause, and in every revolt against
their oppressors they have fought side by side. Both are grave,
dignified, silent, and sad, and as we look at them they seem to be
musing over the misfortunes of the last three centuries, and the
degradation that has followed the occupation of their land by the
avaricious invaders.
These musings of Frank and Fred were cut short by the announcement that
the boat was ready. Pushing along the tortuous channel through the reeds
they made slow progress; but all journeys have an end, and in due time
they reached the steamboat. Steam was already up, and as soon as the
party was on board, with its belongings, the paddles were put in motion,
and the prow turned in the direction of Titicaca Island.
[Illustration; A RIDE ON A BALSA, LAKE TITICACA.]
Lake Titicaca is the largest body of water on the surface of the globe
at an elevation exceeding twelve thousand feet, and probably the most
elevated lake navigated by steam. Before the introduction of steamboats
the only mode of water transit was upon balsas, or rafts, made of the
tortora or rushes already mentioned; the lake is liable to be swept by
sudden winds, and the party who ventures upon it in one of these frail
craft runs a good chance of a wetting. The steamboats have not by any
means driven the balsa from the lake, but they have rendered it less
obligatory on strangers to trust themselves to its limited
accommodations and its certainty of discomfort.
It was after dark when the steamer reached Titicaca Island, and ran into
a little bay where there was a shelter from the wind. As nothing could
be seen on the land, during the night, it was decided to sleep on board,
and make an early visit to the shore in the morning. The Doctor and the
youths made a hearty supper from their provisions and some hot tea, and
then spread their beds on the floor of the cabin, which had no berths or
other sleeping accommodations.
Several balsas came from shore in the morning, and afforded means for
landing on the sacred island of Peru. Titicaca Island is about six
miles long by four in width; it is high and rugged, and the shores are
deeply indented in many places. It contains the ruins of a Temple of the
Sun, a palace of the Incas, and several other buildings, which have
sadly gone to decay. Frank and Fred ascended the steep acclivity at the
landing-place, closely followed by the Doctor, and were soon at a little
village near by, where they obtained a guide to show them through the
ruins.
[Illustration: CLOSED DOORWAY, TITICACA ISLAND.]
Near the village there were the remains of a building; tradition says it
was the place where pilgrims to the sacred islands were required to
remain for several days after their arrival in order to go through
certain ceremonies of purification. There was a broad platform in front
of the building, the latter being divided into two parts, measuring
thirty-five feet one way by twenty-seven the other. The upper part of
the walls had fallen, but the lower portion was well preserved. The
walls were of limestone, carefully cut, and set in tough clay, which
seems able to resist the ravages of the climate.
[Illustration: PALACE OF THE INCA.]
About half a mile from the landing-place is "the Palace of the Inca" on
a cliff overlooking the lake. Its walls are broken at the top, but
enough remains to show the style of the ancient architecture, and the
forms of the windows and doorways. Frank wondered that the earthquakes
had not destroyed the palace long ago; the Doctor said this part of
Bolivia is rarely visited by disturbances of the earth, the whole basin
of Titicaca being singularly free from them. The home of the South
American earthquake is practically confined to the western side of the
Andes.
[Illustration: BATH OF THE INCA.]
Near the palace they were shown "the Bath of the Inca," at the base of a
hill which was evidently terraced at great expense. The walls of the
terraces were made of cut stone, and the whole work was laid out with
the skill of a surveyor. Here the Incas had their gardens, but the
ground is not now cultivated, and little more than the terraces remain
to show what it once was. The bath is a tank or basin of stone about
five feet deep, and measuring twenty feet by forty on its surface. Vines
and other plants grow over the walls, and at one end of the tank there
are three streams of water each about two inches in diameter. The
sources of these streams is unknown; they come through subterranean
channels, and are flowing to-day exactly as they flowed during the time
of the Incas and their imperial splendor.
[Illustration: ROOM IN THE INCA'S PALACE.]
At the farther end of the island is the sacred rock of Manco Capac, but
there is little to be seen there except a high wall surrounding a
natural dome of sandstone. The Doctor did not think the sight would
compensate for the time and fatigue of the journey, and the stone was
left to take care of itself. The youths consoled themselves by studying
the engraving in Mr. Squier's work and reading the tradition concerning
the rock.
[Illustration; THE SACRED ROCK OF MANCO CAPAC.]
It was here that Manco Capac is said to have descended to earth, and
down to this day the natives approach the place with great reverence. It
was formerly believed that no bird would alight upon it, and no animal
would dare to set his foot there. The presence of mortal man was
forbidden. It was here that the sun rose to dispel the mists around the
mountains and over the land, and for many years none but the priests
could even come within sight of the rock. At one time it was plated with
gold and silver and covered with a veil, which was never removed except
on the occasion of religious festivals.
The sloping sides of the hill crowned by the rock are terraced and
walled off into platforms; these platforms contain the remains of small
buildings, which are supposed to have been the residences of the priests
and attendants upon the worship of the founder of the line of Incas.
There was formerly a garden on the terraces, and the earth for its
construction was said to have been brought on the backs of men a
distance of four hundred miles!
Doubtless the work of the Incas was performed under the same oppression
as that of the rulers of ancient Egypt. The latter built the Pyramids by
the unpaid labor of their subjects; the former terraced the rugged sides
of Titicaca Island, and erected their temples and palaces with little
thought of the lives that were lost in the toil. The history of the Old
World is repeated in the New.
[Illustration: GROUND-PLAN OF "PALACE OF THE INCA," TITICACA ISLAND.]