Mineral Point tribune. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1854-1858, 1856-01-22

neighborhood where they could have dwelt
seco,adYv many women are among them with
their infants at their breast and, thirdly, the
similar attitude of them all, and the expression
of grief which Is still discernible most of the
eountenances, prove sufficiently that they had
withdrew hiiher in dispair when the SPaniar Is
conquered and devastated their lands. There,
is, moreover, on the boundary of this desert
place called Tucuman, which, in the language
Of the country, means, +" All is lost"
They had the belief that if they died, they
would be removed TO a better world towards the
west, on which account there are cooking uten-
sis found beside them full of maize The whole
scene produced deep melancholy impression
On me, al least, ii had that effect. With this
you viii receive two of these dried human be-
ings; more ] cannot send, on account of the
many difficulties, and the great expense of trans
port. The eases for these two must be sent
hither from Valparaiso, for in Cobija there is no
wood at all The people and the mules must
be hired at the last named place, and for each
mule L must pay from eighteen to twenty dol
lars
Not far from the same place are the so-famous
meteorlithes [stones supposed TO have fallen from
the air. which you will receive at the same
time with the mumTnies. 1t is my opinion that
they are not meteorlithes, but are of volcanic
origin. The first was found about fifty wears
ago. They lie on the road by which the Indians
carried the Peruvian bark to Copiapo in Chilli
AT first they thought to be silver, and the
Indians made themselves spurs of them Those
which have been already collected are covered
over by the drifting sand, and one must dig in
order to get at them. With little trouble we
may convince ourselves that Il volcanic eruption
once took place here, for the direction of a dis
tinct vein easily be followed | have nv
compass with me, and find that these stones
contain large quantity of iron The stones
appear in about % 80 min. south latitude. and
I between forty-fve and fifty Spanish leagues
distant from the coast. You will get too. with
these, several Jumps of salt, of which L here
discovered six or eight enormous veins and
/ beds.
At the northeast end of the coast I reached
Lasana, fortress Of the old Peruvians 1t 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 all sides by the Span
iards 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 in
descrioable. No room is more than eight feet
square, many scarcely FIVE doors two feet in
height: windows few in number. and those not
larger than ones fist and witbal the old town
Ga hundred hundred and fifty families NAV
have dwelt here) built like one house. in which
the greater part had to pass through from ten to
fifteen rooms to get to their own apartment All
tins together with the wildness of site, the hirb
river banks, which so cover this castle of the
Incas, that from the level of the desert one is
not aware of its existence-forms remarkable
spectacle. An old negro, who has lived down
by the river for upwards of forty wears, told me
that L was the first white man that had been
there in that time The inhabitants must have
died of hunger, for we literally stand and walk
on skulls and bones Every corner and hole is
full of them. l was unable TO find out the mean
ing Of the word Lasana The language of the
district Is now unknown.
[ got acquainted with Bolivian officer, who
at the command of his government had under
taken the journey to the frontier Of Paraguay
His accounts are very delightful, and he showed
me various medicinal plants, rs yet unknown. of
which I viii send You some by and bv An
insect, which in Bolivia is found in great guam
titles, end which instantly raises blister on the
skin like boiling water, i used by the natives
as remedy for sore throat and a plant which
causes much pain is excellent for serofula and
rheumatism. 1t is called iarilla (chariia,) and
deserves to be used From this letter it viii be
seen that stay in this desert could alone fur
nish matter for researches and observations for n
whole year.
viii only add, that through the very middle
OF the desert a mountain-chain stretches itself
consisting of naked rocks, of which send some
fragments. Everywhere around we see the beds
of broad and deep rivers, one of which falls 8
GEO feet in the space of four leagues The gran
tie 10 the right and to the left is polished like
marble. Everywhere are traces of the gigantic
effects of water, but nowhere any water. neither
any historical accounts Of rain.
And now enough of Atacama. Nav what
have sent arrive safely at its destination. and
help to complete the picture which the pen of
passing wanderer is too weak to givel
me sensation produced by the sight of these
Iaumnies IS very different from that experienced
when viewing those Egyptian ones which we
have hitherto been accustomed TO see. Tn tho
latter, the recumbent posture takes from tbe
corpse all chat might connect it in our minds
with the functions of the living body Like our
own dead, IT lies stretched out at its full lengtb
the hands generally crossed over the breast, nor
does the countenanee retain much of a life-like
expression but in the former the attitude re-
minds Us At once of the time when the warm
blood still circulated through the now dry body
while the face has still Its distinct features. and
IN one instance, especially, the expression of in
tense suffering. They do not seem so far re-
moved from our own present state as the en-
6almed mummy of Egypt; by that expression
OF human suffering, and by their erect position,
there sun seems some link between Us and them
hehee perhaps our painful sympathy; while. as
we trays 10 ST.