The southern press. [volume] (Washington City [i.e. Washington, D.C.]) 1850-1852, 1851-05-07

traveller through We nighianus " io'u
ound lately in the Desert Of Atacama, the dried
emains Of an assemblage Of human beings, seat
a in semi-circle, as when alive, ana staring
nto the burning waste before them. iney mao
lot been buried here; life had rot departed pc
ore they thus sat around but hope was gone
he invader was at hand and no escape being
aft. thew had come hither to die. They still sit
mmoyable in that dreary desert; dried like mum |
MES by the effect of the hot air. they still keep
heir position, sittingu as in solemn council
while over that dread Areopagus silence PROOFS
THE scene is described by DIR. Ried IN letter
from Valparaiso to a friend at Ratlsbon' 10
whom he sent some of the mummies FOR deposi,
ton in the museum Of Geological meteorological
Society of that city, where they now are. Inc
letter Il dated from the old Peruvian fortress OF
Lasana, on the skirts of the desert OF Atacaina'
and is as follows
A. announced to you in my last an, now
on the road to Sucre, the capital OF BOLIVIA
Four DAVIS after our departure from Valparaiso
vve reached Cohijs, from which the road leads
for one and d half or two leagues twenty
l,apues 10 degree) along the coast; It then
turns towards the East. The shore consists Of
coorsc sand. and is bespread with fragments OF
rock. which the frequent earthquakes have
shaken down from the overbangng cliffs. Inc
first mountain range, which runs parallel win
tbe sea. at a distance of at most 1000 PAGES,
rises to n height Of about 1000 feet. The way
mn leads through steep ravine, the bed OF an
antediluvian torrent, and in four, or tour ana
half hours, we find ourselves on the paln--in
the desert Of Atacama. ] will not venture 10
give description Of this waste lou may
IMAGINE, however, vast undulating PLAN,
wherein no trace of life is to be seen, where no
insect shows itself, where no plant grows, where
moaning Of the wn Sa.a Where j. 0as d the
earth consists of a calcareous mass-out OF
which salt and saltpetre, and similar products,
shine forth abundanty-where fine dust and
a garing refraction of the suns rays make it
painful to look around and where, finally, here
and there, as the sole proof that men had once
been here, the mummies Of mules, Of horses,
and of human beings, are seen dried and unde-
composed-and you may have faint picture Of
Atacama
After four days march came to Calama, a
colony in the midst Of an immense morass,
where the traveller gives the mules water, and
allows them to rest. One cannot possibly i'm.
agine anything more dreary than this place.
The marsh contains a sort Of bulrush, and a
liquid which has nothing in common with water,
except that it is liquid, and which it is almost
impossible to drink-and yet we must drink it,
although it produces diarrhGa. This morass is
the source Of river, which, nearer the coast, and
under appellation Loa, forms the boundary be-
tween Bolivia and Peru. If little channels are
made in tae banks Of this river, their bed soon
becomes petrifed and grass, bulrushes, and
whatever vegetation may be near, is covered with
a crust of lime In two days time reached
Chiu-Chiu, an ancient Peruvian burying place,
and here, in an extensive half moon, sit men,
women, and children-from 500 to 600-all in
the same attitude, and gazing vacantly before
them--some fallen down, and some partly COW
cred with sand One feels himself transplanted
into another world, and fancies that these CHASTITY
features ask, What seekest thou here?"
The common opinion is, that they were buried
in this place; mine is, that they buried them
selves. For, firstly there is no place in the
neighborhood where they could have dwellt
secondly, many women are among them with
their infants at the breast; and thirty, the SINH
lar attitude of them all, and the expression of
grief which is still discernible on most Of the
conferences, prove sufficiently that they had
withdrawn bther in despair when,the Spairards
conquered their land There is, moreover, on
the boundary Of this desert place called Tucu.
man, which, in The language of the country,
means, "All is lost"
They had the belief that if they died, they
would be removed to better world towards the
West. on which account there are cooking uten-
sils found beside them full of maize. The whole
scene produces deeply melancholy impression
-on me at least il had that effect With this
you will receive two Of these dried human
beings, more | cannot send, on account of the
ma difficulties, and the great expense Of trans
port The cases for these two must be sent
hither from Valparaiso, for in Cobija there is no
wood at oil. The people and the mules must be
hired at the lastnamed place, and for each mule
must pay from eighteen to twenty dollars
| At the Northeast end Of the coast reached
I.1sana, fortress Of the old Pernvians. II is
built on tongue Of land between the two arms
/ of a small river, and appears to have been the
/ last place of refuge whittier the Peruvians with.
drew when pursued on all sides by the Spaniards
The style Of building is exactly similar TO that
OF our old German marauder fortresses--the
walls being Of coarse masonry, and the small
rooms, holes. and hiding places endless and indie.
scribable. No room is more than eight feet
square, MANY scarcely Eve; doors two feet in
height; windows few in number, and those moi
larger than ones fist and with all the whole
town "a hundred or hundred and fifty families
perhaps may have dwelt here) built like one
house, in which the greater part had to pass
through from ten 10 fifteen rooms to get to their
own apartment. All this, together with The
widncss Of the site, the high river banks, which
so cover this castle Of the meas, that from the
level Of the desert one Is not aware Of It's exist.
ence--forms a remarkable spectacle. An old
negro, who has lived down by the river for up
wards Of forty years, told me was the frs,
white man who hal been there in that time
The inhabitants must have died Of hunger, for
we literally walked on skulls and bones Every
hole and corner is full of them. was unable
TO find out the meaning Of the word Lasana
The language of this district Is now unknown.
| ] got acquainted with Bolivian officer, who
at the command Of his government, had under
taken the journey 10 the frontier Of Paraguay
His accounts are very delightful, aud be showed
me various medicinal plants, as yet unknown, oil
which will send you some by-and-by. An iu.
sect which in Bolivia is found in great quaint.
ties, and which Instantly raises a blister on the
in like boiling water, is used by the natives as
remedy for sore throat; and plant which
causes much pain. is excellent for scrofua and