The weekly Ottumwa courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1857-1872, 1869-12-09
"REMINISCENCES OF TRAVEL.

AAO Os loOOs
"REMINISCENCES OF TRAVEL
1.-THE sketches under this head are prepare
tin1ed IN these e columns rom time @ to to t%, S1
as the writer finds spare moments which h
may devote to the revision Of the notes jotte
down @Ts1 during the years covered BY his adven
NUMBER VT.
Down among the Dead Vice
.roys.
The city Of Lima was founded il
the year 1885, by Senior Don Fran
cisco Pizarro, Captain General Of hi
Spanish Majesty's forces, and Vice
roy of the Spanish possessions Soutl
of the Isthmus Of Panama. The On
cient capital of Peru was at Cuzco
some hundreds of miles in the inter
ior, at which place the Inca Atahu
allpa, was imprisoned and afterwardl
destroyed. Prescott, in his "con
quest of Peru" !" says that soon aftel
the subsection ofthe country to Span
ish rule, it became evident to Pizar
ro that to maintain the capital al
such q distance from the coast would
be well nigh impossible. Communi
cation with the feet was frequently
interrupted by large bands Of hostile
Indians, and it was soon determined
to found . permanent capital of the
new Viceroyalty at or near the
coast, as o matter of convenience az
well as Of necessity. In consequence
Of this determination the charter oi
Lima was formally proclaimed on
the 9th Of January, 1886, and the
erection of the walls lbegun on the
same day.
The city was laid out in an oblong
shape, being about three miles long
by two wide, and a brick wall TWEEN,
ty feet in height was built entirely
round the circumference of eight
miles, before the erection of a sin gle
permanent building within was com.
menced. The city maintains its old
form to the present day. The walls,
after the lapse OF over three centu-
ries, are standing as solidly as ever,
save where they have been cracked
by earthquakes, and the entire pop.
ulation numbering 100000 is yet
gathered within them as though the
necessity for Notifications still exist.
ed. The few huts outside the walls
are occupied by ladrones, to venture
among whom in the night time is Ger.
tain robbery, often death.
Long before tho completion Of the
city Francisco Pizarro was assassin
ated by q band ofdesperadoes led on
by one Almagro, whose father Pizar-
70 had put to death for treason, at
Cuzco. Almagro, proclaiming him.
self Vicery, was afterwards killed in
battle at Juaja, and was succeeded
by Vaca dc Castro, he by Blasco
Nunez Vela, and he in turn by Cos.
zales Pizarro, brother Of the conquer
or. The second Pizarro was killed
in battle in 154s. From this time
on until the year 1921 Gin which
year her independence was declared)
Peru was governed by successive
Viceroys, some ofwhom were killed,
others of whom died natural deaths
in Peru, and others of whom returned
to Spain. The remains of those who
died in Peru have been deposited in
a vault beneath the grand altar Of
the Cathedral of Lima.
The Cathedral, which was compile
ted within twenty years after the
city was founded, is q massive stone
structure $50 feet in front by 800 feet
in depth. Itstands ou the east side
Of the great square in the centre of
the city, and is one of the most i'm
posing edifces in the New World
The Archbishop's palace (now used
as a Senate house) adjoins the Cathe.
dral, while the convent faces the
square on the south side. Beneath
the city Of Lima there is perfect
labyrinth of passages leading from
the Cathedral and Archbishop's pal
ace in all directions. Comnunics.
ton seems to have been thus estab-
lished between all the churches, con-
vents and nunneries, and the passages
have even been followed beyond the
walls, by which means free ingress
and egress was afforded the iesuits
and priesthood, and whose indepen-
dence of the civil and military au-
thorities was thus preserved. The
writer had the rare good fortune to
explore many Of these passages in
the company of gentleman we'll
posted in their history.
The power Of the church has be-
come much broken in Peru, as it
has elsewhere in Spanish America,
and its authority is now entirely
subordinate to that of the State. As
a consequence many Of the secrets Of
the Church have been revealed, and
the searches occasionally instituted
by the government have brought to
light many curious things, have af:
forded to the world much interesting
and valuable knowledge. 1t was NO
secret, OF course, that the remains oi
Pizarro and many of his confreres
had found sepulchre beneath the
grand Cathedral. Indeed the gov
ernment, in the palmy days Of Span.
ish rule, had lent it's assistance to-
had even inaugurated-the custom
of depositing in tho vault specially y
constructed for tho purpose the re.
mains of the dead Viceroys, both Of
those who were killed and of those
whose rules were ended by natural
deaths. Still this vault was sacred
to the dead, and it is only within late
years that access can be had to the
mausoleum, and only now by the ia
vor ofhigh authority.
Possessed Of a carte blanche from
the Intendente we presented our
selves to the proper church authori.
ties, and after explaining the purpose
of our visit were conducted to the
vault.way in tho rear of the grand
altar of the Cathedral. A large trar
was raised with considerable Difficult.
ty and we followed the friar dowr
the long and gloomy fight OF stone
steps ending in square area Or vaul,
from which radiate the various pas
sages. This underground apartment
was lighted dimly. The frlar did no
pause, but, turning to the right,open
cd an iron door leading into another
vault OF considerable size into which