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The Treasure of the Incas
A Story of Adventure in Peru
BY
G. A. HENTY
[Illustration: IT DID NOT TAKE LONG TO TRANSFER THE SACKS INTO THE BOAT
_Page 339_]
PREFACE TO THE ORIGINAL EDITION
The mysterious loss of a large portion of the treasure of the Incas has
never been completely cleared up. By torturing the natives to whom the
secret had been entrusted, the Spaniards made two or three discoveries,
but there can be little doubt that these finds were only a small
proportion of the total amount of the missing hoards, although for
years after their occupation of the country the Spaniards spared no
pains and hesitated at no cruelty to bring to light the hidden wealth.
The story of the boat which put to sea laden with treasure is
historical, and it was generally supposed that she was lost in a storm
that took place soon after she sailed. It was also morally certain that
the Peruvians who left the country when the Spaniards became masters
carried off with them a very large amount of treasure into that part of
South America lying east of Peru. Legends are current that they founded
a great city there, and that their descendants occupy it at the present
time. But the forests are so thick, and the Indian tribes so hostile,
that the country has never yet been explored, and it may be reserved
for some future traveller, possessing the determination of my two
heroes, to clear up the mystery of this city as they penetrated that of
the lost treasure-ship. It need hardly be said that the state of
confusion, misrule, and incessant civil wars which I have described as
prevailing in Peru presents a true picture of the country at the period
in which this story is laid.
G. A. HENTY.
CONTENTS
CHAP.
I. HOW IT CAME ABOUT
II. THE START
III. AT LIMA
IV. A STREET FRAY
V. AMONG THE MOUNTAINS
VI. A TROPICAL FOREST
VII. AN INDIAN ATTACK
VIII. DEFEAT OF THE NATIVES
IX. THE SIGNAL STAR
X. A FRESH START
XI. BRIGANDS
XII. PRISONERS
XIII. LETTERS FROM HOME
XIV. THE CASTLE OF THE DEMONS
XV. INVESTIGATIONS
XVI. THE SEARCH BEGINS
XVII. AT WORK
XVIII. DISAPPOINTMENT
XIX. THE TREASURE
XX. HOME
ILLUSTRATIONS
IT DID NOT TAKE LONG TO TRANSFER THE SACKS INTO THE BOAT.
AN INDIAN SPIES THE EXPEDITION.
THEY SAW APPROACHING A PEASANT WOMAN SITTING ON A MULE.
HARRY DROPPED THE BARREL OF HIS RIFLE INTO THE PALM OF HIS LEFT HAND.
Map of Peru
[Illustration: MAP OF PERU]
THE TREASURE OF THE INCAS
CHAPTER I
HOW IT CAME ABOUT
Two men were sitting in the smoking-room of a London club. The room was
almost empty, and as they occupied arm-chairs in one corner of it, they
were able to talk freely without fear of being overheard. One of them
was a man of sixty, the other some five or six and twenty.
"I must do something," the younger man said, "for I have been kicking
my heels about London since my ship was paid off two years ago. At
first, of course, it didn't matter, for I have enough to live upon; but
recently I have been fool enough to fall in love with a girl whose
parents would never dream of allowing her to marry a half-pay
lieutenant of the navy with no chance in the world of getting employed
again, for I have no interest whatever."
"It is an awkward case certainly, Prendergast," the other said; "and
upon my word, though I sympathize with you, I cannot blame Fortescue.
He is not what you might call a genial man, but there is no doubt that
he was a splendid lawyer and a wonderful worker. For ten years he
earned more than any man at the bar. I know that he was twice offered
the solicitor-generalship, but as he was making two or three times the
official salary, he would not take it. I believe he would have gone on
working till now had he not suddenly come in for a very fine estate,
owing to the death, in the course of two or three years, of four men
who stood between him and it. Besides, I fancy he got hints that in the
general opinion of the bar he had had a wonderfully good innings, and
it was about time that younger men had a share in it. What his savings
were I do not know, but they must be very large. His three sons are all
at the bar, and are rising men, so there was no occasion for him to go
on piling up money for them. But, as I say, he has always had the
reputation of being a hard man, and it is practically certain that he
would never allow his daughter to marry a man whom he would regard as
next door to a pauper. Now, what are you thinking of doing?"
"Well, sir, Miss Fortescue has agreed to wait for me for two years, and
of course I am eager to do something, but the question is what? I can
sail a ship, but even could I get the command of a merchantman, it
would not improve my position in the eyes of the parents of the lady in
question. Now, you have been knocking about all over the world, I do
wish you would give me your advice. Where is there money to be got? I
am equally ready to go to the North Pole or the Equator, to enter the
service of an Indian prince, or to start in search of a treasure hidden
by the old bucaneers."
"You talk Spanish, don't you?"
"Yes; all my service has been in the Mediterranean. We were two years
off the coast of Spain, and in and out of its ports, and as time hung
heavily on our hands, I got up the language partly to amuse myself and
partly to be able to talk fluently with my partners at a ball."
The elder man did not speak for a minute or two.
"You have not thought of South America?" he said at last.
"No, Mr. Barnett; I don't know that I have ever thought of one place
more than another."
The other was again silent.
"I don't think you could do better anywhere," he said slowly. "It is a
land with great possibilities; at any rate it is a land where you could
be understood, and of course it would be folly to go anywhere without a
knowledge of the language. I was, as you know, five years out there,
and came home when the war broke out between Chili and the Spaniards. I
have been more in Peru than in Chili, and as Peru was still in the
hands of the Spanish, it would have been impossible for me to go there
again as long as the war lasted. Knocking about as I did, I heard a
great deal from the natives (I mean the Indians). I gathered from them
a number of their traditions, and I am convinced that they know of any
number of gold mines that were formerly worked, but were blocked up
when the Spaniards invaded the country, and have been kept secret ever
since.
"The natives have never spoken on the subject at all to the Spaniards.
If they had, they would have been flogged until they revealed all they
knew--that is to say, they would have been flogged to death, for no
tortures will wring from an Indian anything he knows about gold. They
look upon that metal as the source of all the misfortunes that have
fallen upon their race. With an Englishman whom they knew and trusted,
and who, as they also knew, had no wish whatever to discover gold
mines, they were a little less reticent. I never asked them any
questions on a subject in which I had not a shadow of interest, but I
certainly had some curiosity, not of a pecuniary kind, because the
matter had always been a riddle as to the hiding-place of the Incas'
treasures. And from what I learned I should say it is absolutely
certain that a great portion of these escaped the search of their
Spanish tyrants.
"Whether the men who were employed in the work all died without
revealing the secret, or whether it had been trusted to a chosen few, I
know not; but the natives believe that there are still a few among them
to whom the secret has been passed down from father to son. Anyhow, all
had heard vague traditions. Some said that part of the treasure was
carried hundreds of miles inland and given over to a tribe of fierce
savages, in a country into which no European can enter. Another
tradition is that a portion of it was carried off by sea in a great
canoe, which was never heard of again and was believed to have been
lost. I am not for a moment supposing, Prendergast, that if you went
out there you would have the most remote chance of discovering what the
Spaniards, ever since they landed there, have been in vain trying to
find, and I certainly should not think of recommending a mad-brained
adventure, but undoubtedly there are many rich gold mines yet to be
found. There are openings for trade, too; and I can give you
introductions to merchants both in Chili and Peru. It is not a thing I
should recommend to everyone, far from it; but if you want to combine
adventure with a chance, however small, of making money, I don't know
that you can do better than go to South America. You are fitted for no
calling here; your income, counting your half-pay, would suffice to
keep you out there, and a couple of years of such a life would do you
no harm."
"It is just what I should like," the young man said enthusiastically;
"though I don't know how I should set to work if I did find a mine."
"You would have to bring home specimens, with particulars of the width
of the lode. Of course you would crush pieces up and wash them
yourself, or get your Indian to wash them; that would give you an
approximate idea of the percentage of gold. If it were rich, I could
introduce you to men who would advance money for working it, giving you
a share of the profits. They would send out a mining expert with you.
He would verify your report, and then you would take up the concession.
I don't know whether there have been any changes in the regulations,
but there is no difficulty in learning how to proceed from one or other
of the men to whom I will give you introductions. The thing would not
be worth thinking of were it not that the man who always went with me
as guide and muleteer is an Indian, and has, I am convinced, a
knowledge of some of these places. He was with me all the time I was
out there. I saved his life when a puma sprang upon him, and he more
than once hinted that he could make me a rich man, but I had no
inclination that way, my income being sufficient for all my wants.
Still, on the chance that he is alive--and he was about thirty when he
was with me fifteen years ago, so it is probable that he is still to
the fore--I will give you a letter to him telling him that you are a
dear friend of mine, and that I trust to him to do any service he can
for you just as he would have done for myself. Had it not been for that
I should never have mentioned the matter to you. These old mines are
the dream of every Peruvian. They have been searching for them ever
since the conquest of the country, and as they have failed, it is
absurd to think that an Englishman would have the slightest chance of
lighting upon a mine, still less of finding any of the Incas'
treasures. But with the Indian's aid it is just possible that you may
find something, though I should advise you most strongly not to build
in any way upon the chance. I consider that you cannot possibly win
Miss Fortescue; that being so, two years of knocking about will not
make your position worse, and by the time you come back, you may have
ceased to struggle against fate. It will afford you a remote--but
distinctly remote--opportunity of bettering your position, will give
you something else to think about besides that young lady's charms, and
you may even come to recognize that life is, after all, possible
without her. You may shake your head, lad; but you know children cry
for the moon sometimes, yet afterwards come to understand that it would
not be a desirable plaything."
"Well, at any rate, Mr. Barnett, I am extremely obliged for your
suggestion and for your offer of introductions. It is just the life
that I should enjoy thoroughly. As you say, the chance that anything
will come of it is extremely small, but at least there is a
possibility, and I take it as a drowning man catches at a straw."
"By the way, you mustn't think only of gold; silver is, after all, the
chief source of the riches of Peru, and there are numbers of
extraordinarily rich mines. It is calculated that three hundred
millions have been produced since the first occupation by the
Spaniards. Quicksilver is also very abundant; copper and lead are found
too, but there is not much to be done with them at present, owing to
the cost of carriage. There is good shooting in the mountains on the
eastern side of the Andes, and you will find plenty of sport there."
They talked over the matter for some time before they separated, and
Harry Prendergast became quite excited over it. On his return to his
rooms he was astonished to find the candles alight and a strong smell
of tobacco pervading the place. A lad of about sixteen leapt from the
easy-chair in which he had been sitting, with his feet on another.
"Hullo, Harry, I didn't expect you back so soon! The maid said you were
dining out, and I suppose that generally means one o'clock before you
are back."
"Well, what brings you here, Bert? I thought I had got you off my hands
for a year at least."
"I thought so, myself," the lad said coolly; "but circumstances have
been too strong for me. We were running down the Channel the night
before last, when a craft that was beating up ran smack into us. I
don't know that it was his fault more than ours; the night was dark,
and it was very thick, and we did not see each other until she was
within a length of us. Luck was against us; if she had been a few
seconds quicker we should have caught her broadside, but as it was she
rammed us, knocking a hole in our side as big as a house, and we had
just time to jump on board her. Our old craft went down two minutes
after the skipper, who was of course the last man, left her. The other
fellow had stove his bow in. Luckily we were only about a couple of
miles off Dungeness, and though she leaked like a sieve, we were able
to run her into the bay, where she settled down in two and a half
fathoms of water. As soon as it was light we landed and tramped to
Dover. A hoy was starting for the river that evening, and most of us
came up in her, arriving at the Pool about three hours ago. It is a bad
job, Harry, and I am horribly put out about it. Of course nothing could
be saved, and there is all the new kit you bought for me down at the
bottom. I sha'n't bother you again; I have quite made up my mind that I
shall ship before the mast this time, and a five-pound note will buy me
a good enough outfit for that."
"We need not talk about that now, Bertie. You are certainly an unlucky
beggar; this is the second time you have been wrecked."
"It is a frightful nuisance," the boy said. "It is the kit I am
thinking of, otherwise I should not mind. I didn't care for the
skipper. He seemed all right and decent enough before we started, but I
soon heard from fellows who had sailed with him before that he was a
tartar; and what was worse, they said he was in the habit of being
drunk two nights out of three. However, that has nothing to do with it.
I am really awfully sorry, Harry. You have been a thundering good elder
brother. I hated to think that you had to shell out last time, and I
have quite made up my mind that you sha'n't do it again."
"Well, it cannot be helped; it is no fault of yours; still, of course,
it is a nuisance. Thank God that no harm has come to you, that is the
principal thing. Now, sit down and go on with your pipe, you young
monkey. I did not think you had taken to smoking."
"One has to," the lad said, "everyone else does it; and there is no
doubt that, when you have got the middle watch on cold nights with foul
winds, it is a comfort."
"Well, go on smoking," his brother said. "I will light up too. Now shut
your mouth altogether. I want to think."
They were silent for fully ten minutes, then Harry said;
"I told you about that business of mine with Miss Fortescue."
Bertie grinned all over his face, which, as he sat, was not visible to
his brother. Then with preternatural gravity he turned towards him.
"Yes, you told me about it; an uncomfortable business wasn't it?--surly
old father, lovely daughter, and so on."
"I will pull your ear for you, you young scamp," Harry said wrathfully,
"if you make fun of it; and I have a good mind not to say what I was
going to."
"Say it, Harry, don't mind my feelings," the lad said. "You can't say I
did not stand it well when I was here last week, and gave you no end of
sympathy. Go ahead, old fellow; I dare say I shall be taken bad some
day, and then I shall be able to make allowances for you."
"I'll have nothing more to say to you, you young imp."
"Don't say that, Harry," the lad said in a tone of alarm. "You know how
sympathizing I am, and I know what a comfort it is for you to unburden
yourself; but I do think that it won't be necessary to go into personal
descriptions, you know, or to tell me what you said to her or she said
to you, because you told me all that ten days ago, also what her
tyrannical old father said. But really seriously I am awfully sorry
about it all, and if there is anything that I can possibly do for you I
shall be only too pleased. I don't see that it would be any advantage
for me to go and give the old gentleman my opinion of him; but if you
think it would, and can coach me in some of his sore points, we might
see how we could work upon them."
"I always thought you were a young ass, Bertie," Harry said sternly,
"but I have not realized before how utterly assified you are."
"All right, Harry!" the lad said cheerfully; "hit me as hard as you
like, under the circumstances I feel that I cannot kick."
Harry said nothing for another five minutes.
"This is a serious matter," he said at last, "and I don't want any
tomfoolery."
"All right, Harry! I will be as serious as a judge."
"I am thinking of going away for two years."
The lad turned half round in his chair and had a good look at his
brother.
"Where are you going to?" seeing by Harry's rather gloomy face that he
was quite in earnest.
"I believe I am going to Peru."
"What are you going there for, Harry?" the lad said quietly.
"I told you," the other went on, "that Mr. Fortescue said that he had
no personal objection to me, but that if I was in a position to give
his daughter a home equal to that which I wanted her to leave, he would
be content."
Bertie nodded.
"This seemed to me hopeless," Harry went on. "I told you that she was
willing to wait for two years, but that she couldn't promise much
longer than that, for her father had set his mind on her making a good
match; he has certainly put a tremendous pressure upon her. When I was
talking at the club this evening to Mr. Barnett--you know that he is
our oldest friend and is one of our trustees--I told him about it, and
said that though I was ready to do anything and go anywhere I could not
see my way at all to making a big fortune straight away. He agreed with
me. After talking it over he said he knew of but one way by which such
a thing would be at all possible, but the betting would be twenty
thousand to one against it. Of course I said that if there was even a
possibility I would try it. Well, you know he was in Peru for some
years. He says that the natives have all sorts of legends about rich
mines that were hidden when the Spaniards came first, and that it is
certain that, tremendous as was the amount of loot they got, a great
part of the Incas' treasure was hidden away. Once or twice there had
been great finds-in one case two million and a half dollars. It is
believed that the secret is still known to certain Indians. When he
went out there he had a muleteer, whose life he saved when he was
attacked by some beast or other, and this man as much as hinted that he
knew of a place where treasure might be concealed; but as Barnett was
interested in beasts and plants and that sort of thing, and had a
comfortable fortune, he never troubled himself about it one way or
another. Well, he offered to give me a letter to this man, and he
regarded it as just possible that the fellow, who seems to be a
descendant of some of the people who were members of the Incas' court
at the time the Spaniards came, may have some knowledge of the rich
mines that were then closed down, and that he may be able to show them
to me, from his feeling of gratitude to Barnett. It is but one chance
in a million, and as I can see no other possibility of making a fortune
in two years, I am going to try it."
"Of course you will," the lad said excitedly, "and I should think that
you would take me with you."
"I certainly had not dreamt of doing so, Bertie. But if I have to keep
on getting fresh outfits for you, the idea has come into my mind during
the last half-hour that I could not do better."
"Harry, you are sure to be disappointed lots of times before you hit on
a treasure, and then if you were all by yourself you would get down in
the mouth. Now, I should be able to keep you going, pat you on the back
when you felt sick, help you to fight Indians and wild beasts, and be
useful in all sorts of ways."
"That is like your impudence, Bertie," the other laughed. "Seriously, I
know I shall be a fool to take you, and if I really thought I had any
chance to speak of I should not do so; but though I am going to try, I
don't expect for a moment that I shall succeed. I feel that really it
would be a comfort to have someone with me upon whom I could rely in
such a life as I should have to lead. It certainly would be lonely work
for one man. The only doubt in my mind is whether it will be fair to
you--you have got your profession."
"But I can go back to it if nothing good turns up, Harry. I can visit
the firm and tell them that I am going to travel with you for a bit,
and hope that on my return they will take me back again and let me
finish my apprenticeship. I should think they would be rather glad, for
they always build and never buy ships, and it will take them six months
to replace the _Stella_. Besides, it will do me a lot of good. I shall
pick up Spanish--at least, I suppose that is the language they speak
out there--and shall learn no end of things. As you know, we trade with
the west coast of America, so I should be a lot more useful to the firm
when I come back than I am now."
"Well, I will think it over, and let you know in the morning. I must
certainly consult Mr. Barnett, for he is your trustee as well as mine.
If we go I shall work my way out. It will be a big expense, anyhow, and
I don't mean, if possible, to draw upon my capital beyond three or four
hundred pounds. I believe living is cheap out there, and if I buy three
or four mules I shall then have to pay only the wages for the
muleteers, and the expenses of living. Of course I shall arrange for my
income and half-pay to be sent out to some firm at Lima. Now, you had
better go off to bed, and don't buoy yourself up with the belief that
you are going, for I have by no means decided upon taking you yet."
"You will decide to take me, Harry," the lad said confidently, and then
added with a laugh: "the fact that you should have adopted a plan like
this is quite sufficient to show that you want somebody to look after
you."
Harry Prendergast did not get much sleep that night. He blamed himself
for having mentioned the matter at all to Bertie, and yet the more he
thought over it the more he felt that it would be very pleasant to have
his brother with him. The lad was full of fun and mischief, but he knew
that he had plenty of sound sense, and would be a capital companion,
and the fact that he had been three years at sea, and was accustomed to
turn his hand to anything, was all in his favour. If nothing came of it
he would only have lost a couple of years, and, as the boy himself had
said, the time would not have been altogether wasted. Bertie was down
before him in the morning. He looked anxiously at his brother as he
came in.
"Well, Harry?"
"Well, I have thought it over in every light. But in the first place,
Bertie, if you go with me you will have to remember that I am your
commanding officer. I am ten years older than you, and besides I am a
lieutenant in the King's Navy, while you are only a midshipman in the
merchant service. Now, I shall expect as ready obedience from you as if
I were captain of my own ship and you one of my men; that is absolutely
essential."
"Of course, Harry, it could not be otherwise."
"Very well, then; in the next place I shall abide by what Mr. Barnett
says. He is your guardian as well as trustee, and has a perfect right
to put a veto upon any wild expedition of this sort. Lastly, I should
hope, although I don't say that this is absolutely necessary, that you
may get your employer's promise to take you back again in order that
you may complete your time."
"Thank you very much, Harry!" the lad said gratefully. "The first
condition you may rely upon being performed, and I think the third will
be all right, for I know that I have always been favourably reported
upon. Old Prosser told me so himself when he said that I should have a
rise in my pay this voyage. As to Mr. Barnett, of course I can't say,
but I should think, as it was he who put you up to this, he must see
that it would be good for you to have someone to take care of you."
"I think he is much more likely to say that I shall have quite enough
to do to take care of myself, without having the bother of looking
after you. However, I will go and see him this morning. You had better
call upon your employers."
"Don't you think I had better go to Mr. Barnett with you, Harry?"
"Not as you are now anyhow, Bertie. Your appearance is positively
disgraceful. You evidently had on your worst suit of clothes when you
were wrecked, and I can see that they have not been improved by the
experience. Why, there is a split right down one sleeve, and a big rent
in your trousers!"
"I got them climbing on board, for I had no time to pick and choose,
with the _Stella_ sinking under my feet."
"Well, you may as well go as you are, but you had better borrow a
needle and thread from the landlady and mend up the holes. You really
cannot walk through the city in that state. I will see about getting
you some more clothes when we get back, for I cannot have you coming
here in these in broad daylight. Here are three guineas; get yourself a
suit of pilot cloth at some outfitter's at the East End. It will be
useful to you anyhow, whether you go with me or ship again here."
"There is a good deal in what you say, Harry," Mr. Barnett said when
Prendergast asked his opinion as to his taking his brother with him.
"Two years would not make any material difference in his career as a
sailor; it simply means that he will be so much older when he passes as
mate. There is no harm in that. Two or three and twenty is quite young
enough for a young fellow to become an officer, and I don't think that
many captains care about having lads who have just got their
certificate. They have not the same sense of responsibility or the same
power of managing. Then, too, Bertie will certainly have a good deal of
knocking about if he spends a couple of years in South America, and the
knowledge he will gain of Spanish will add to his value with any firm
trading on that coast. As far as you are concerned, I think it would be
a great advantage to have him with you. In a long expedition, such as
you propose, it is a gain to have a companion with you. It makes the
work more pleasant, and two men can laugh over hardships and
disagreeables that one alone would grumble at; but apart from this, it
is very important in case of illness.
"A lonely man laid up with fever, or accidental injury, fares badly
indeed if he is at a distance from any town where he can obtain medical
attendance, and surrounded only by ignorant natives. I was myself at
one time down with fever for six weeks in a native hut, and during that
time I would have given pretty nearly all that I was worth for the
sight of a white face and the sound of an English voice. As to the fact
that it is possible that the lad might catch fever, or be killed in an
affray with natives, that must, of course, be faced; but as a sailor he
runs the risk of shipwreck, or of being washed overboard, or killed by
a falling spar. Everything considered, I think the idea of his going
with you is a good one. I don't suppose that many guardians would be of
the same opinion, but I have been so many years knocking about in one
part of the world or another, that I don't look at things in the same
light as men who have never been out of England."
"I am glad you see it in that way, sir. I own that it would be a great
satisfaction to have him with me. He certainly would be a cheery
companion, and I should say that he is as hard as nails, and can stand
as much fatigue and hardship as myself. Besides, there is no doubt that
in case of any trouble two men are better than one."
"I cannot advance any money out of the thousand pounds that will come
to him when he is of age. By your father's will it was ordered that, in
the event of his own death before that time, the interest was to
accumulate. Your father foresaw that, like you, probably Bertie would
take to the sea, and as the amount would be fully two thousand pounds
by the time he comes of age, it would enable him to buy a share in any
ship that he might, when he passed his last examination, command; but I
will myself draw a cheque for a hundred pounds, which will help towards
meeting expenses. I feel myself to some extent responsible for this
expedition. I somewhat regret now having ever spoken to you on the
subject, for I cannot conceal from myself that the chance of your
making a discovery, where the Spaniards, with all their power of
putting pressure on the natives for the past two or three hundred
years, have failed, is so slight as to be scarcely worth consideration.
"I tell you frankly that I broached the subject chiefly because I
thought it was much better for you to be doing something than kicking
your heels about London, and mooning over this affair with Miss
Fortescue. There is nothing worse for a young man than living in London
with just enough to keep him comfortably without the necessity of
working. Therefore I thought you would be far better travelling and
hunting for treasure in Peru, than staying here. Even if you fail, as I
feel is almost certain, in the object for which you go out, you will
have plenty to occupy your thoughts, and not be dwelling continually
upon an attachment which in all probability will not turn out
satisfactorily. I do not suppose that you are likely to forget Miss
Fortescue, but by the time you return you will have accustomed yourself
to the thought that it is useless to cry for the moon, and that, after
all, life may be very endurable even if she does not share it.
Therefore I propounded this Peruvian adventure, feeling sure that,
whatever came of it, it would be a benefit to you."
"No doubt it will, sir. I see myself the chance of success is small
indeed, but there is none at all in any other way. It is just the sort
of thing I should like, and I quite feel myself that it would be good
for me to have plenty to think about; and now that you have consented
to Bertie's going with me, I feel more eager than before to undertake
the expedition. The place is in rather a disturbed state, isn't it?"
"If you are going to wait until Peru ceases to be in a disturbed state,
Harry, you may wait another hundred years. The Spanish rule was bad,
but Peru was then a pleasant place to live in compared with what it is
now. It is a sort of cock-pit, where a succession of ambitious rascals
struggle for the spoils, and the moment one gets the better of his
rivals fresh intrigues are set on foot, and fresh rebellions break out.
There are good Peruvians--men who have estates and live upon them, and
who are good masters. But as to the politicians, there is no principle
whatever at stake. It is simply a question of who shall have the
handling of the national revenue, and divide it and the innumerable
posts among his adherents. But these struggles will not affect you
largely. In one respect they will even be an advantage. Bent upon their
own factious aims, the combatants have no time to concern themselves
with the doings of an English traveller, whose object out there is
ostensibly to botanize and shoot. Were one of them to obtain the
undisputed control of affairs he might meddle in all sorts of ways;
but, as it is, after you have once got pretty well beyond the area of
their operations, you can regard their doings with indifference,
knowing that the longer they go on fighting the fewer scoundrels there
will be in the land.
"But even were they to think that it was mining, and not science or
sport that took you out there, they would scarcely interfere with you.
It is admitted by all the factions that Peru needs capital for her
development, and at present that can best be got from this country. The
discovery of a fresh mine means employment to a large number of people,
and the increase of the revenues by a royalty or taxation. English
explorers who have gone out have never had any reason to complain of
interference on the part of the authorities. You will find the average
better class of Peruvians a charming people, and extremely hospitable.
The ladies are pretty enough to turn the head of anyone whose
affections are not already engaged. The men are kindly and courteous in
the extreme. However, you would have little to do with these.
"In the mountains you would largely depend upon your rifle for food,
and on what you could get in the scattered native villages. The Indians
have no love for the Peruvians. They find their condition no better off
under them than it was under the Spaniards. Once they find out that you
are English they will do all in their power for you. It is to Cochrane
and the English officers with him that they owe the overthrow and
expulsion of their Spanish tyrants, and they are vastly more grateful
than either the Chilians or Peruvians have shown themselves to be."
On returning to their lodgings Harry met his brother, who had been into
the city.
"Old Prosser was very civil," said Bertie. "He said that as their ships
were chiefly in the South American trade it would be a great advantage
for me to learn to speak Spanish well. They had not yet thought
anything about whether they should order another ship to replace the
_Stella_; at any rate, at present they had no vacancy, and would gladly
give me permission to travel in South America, and would find me a
berth to finish my apprenticeship when I returned. More than that, they
said that as I had always been so favourably reported upon they would
put me on as a supernumerary in the _Para_, which will sail in a
fortnight for Callao. I should not draw pay, but I should be in their
service, and the time would count, which would be a great pull, and I
should get my passage for nothing."
"That is capital. Of course I will take a passage in her too."
"And what does Mr. Barnett say?"
"Rather to my surprise, Bertie, he did not disapprove of the plan at
all. He thought it would be a good thing for me to have you with me in
case of illness or anything of that sort. Then no doubt he thought to
some extent it would keep you out of mischief."
"I don't believe he thought anything of the sort. Did he say so?"
"Well, no, he didn't; but I have no doubt he felt it in some way a sort
of relief."
"That is all very fine. I know, when I have been down to his place in
the country between voyages, I have always been as well behaved as if I
had been a model mid."
"Well, I have heard some tales of your doings, Bertie, that didn't seem
quite in accord with the character you give yourself."
"Oh, of course I had a few larks! You cannot expect a fellow who has
been away from England for a year to walk about as soberly as if he
were a Methodist parson!"
"No, I should not expect that, Bertie. But, on the other hand, I should
hardly have expected that he would, for example, risk breaking his neck
by climbing up to the top of the steeple and fastening a straw-hat on
the head of the weathercock."
"It gave it a very ornamental appearance; and that weathercock was
never before watched so regularly by the people of the village as it
was from that time till the hat was blown away in a gale."
"That I can quite believe. Still, Mr. Barnett told me that the rector
lodged a complaint about it."
"He might complain as much as he liked; there is no law in the land, as
far as I know, that makes the fixing of a straw-hat upon a weathercock
a penal offence. It did no end of good in the village, gave them
something to talk about, and woke them up wonderfully."
"And there were other things too, I think," his brother went on.
"Oh, well, you need not go into them now! they are an old story.
Besides, I fancy I have heard of various tricks played by Mr.
Midshipman Harry Prendergast, and, as I heard them from your lips, I
cannot doubt but that they were strictly veracious. Well, this is jolly
now. When are we going to begin to get our outfit?"
"We will lose no time about that. But really there is not much to
get--a couple of good rifles and two brace of pistols, with a good
store of ammunition, those clothes you have just bought, and two or
three suits of duck for the voyage. I shan't get any special kit until
we arrive there, and can take the advice of people at Lima whether we
had better travel in European clothes or in those worn by the
Peruvians. Of course saddles and bridles and all that sort of thing we
can buy there, and we shall want a small tent to use when we get into
out-of-the-way places. I shall take three hundred pounds in gold. I
have no doubt we can exchange it into silver profitably; besides, it is
much more handy for carrying about. I shall go down this afternoon and
see Prosser and secure a berth."
"I think you will have to arrange that with the captain. Very few of
our ships have accommodation for passengers, but the captains are
allowed to take one or two if they like."
"All right! At any rate I must go to the office first. They can refer
me to the skipper if they like; that would be better than my going to
him direct."